Forgotten in Manehattan

by Locomotion

Chapter 13: Blast from the Past

Caramel awoke the following morning with a strong sense of confident resolve. Today, he told himself, would be the day he revealed all to Applejack; not only would he reveal his feelings for her, but he would also reveal that they had been friends – sweethearts, even – since foalhood.

“Let her forget who I am!” he thought aloud, a palpable tone of determination evident in his voice. “Whether she remembers me or not, I'm going to win that mare's heart, and I'm going to win it good!”

With that, he marched boldly out of his flat and on towards Sweet Apple Acres.

But when he arrived, the young stallion's resolution quickly began to falter. Not only was he having trouble working out how to broach the subject, but to his dismay, Applejack had descended into a bad mood, and was grumbling dreadfully as she loaded the apple baskets into the carts that she and Caramel were to take out to one of the lower orchards.

“Darn them pesky fruit bats!” she griped angrily. “How are we supposed ta provide fo' the whole of Equestria if them varmints keep nabbin' our apples whenever they feel la'k it?! Can't they just leave us be for once?!”

“Nope,” murmured Big Macintosh bluntly.

Applejack scowled at her older brother. “Yo' not helpin', Big Mac!” she hissed sharply.

Caramel stood and listened as Applejack continued to complain. He had never met a fruit bat before, but the way the orange-coated mare was talking made them sound so bothersome that he silently hoped he'd never have to. Of more immediate concern to him was how sour and abrasive she had become as a result of having to deal with these pests; somehow he couldn't shake the feeling that, with an attitude like that, any attempt to reveal how he felt would only serve to worsen her temper. If that happened, then he would probably live to regret it. Indeed, such was his unease that he found it almost impossible to say anything as they headed out towards the orchard.

Things were no better when they arrived at their designated grove and began harvesting the apples, for Applejack was so frustrated by the fruit bat fiasco that she took her frustrations out on the trees. From the other side of the grove, Caramel watched with growing concern as she worked her way from tree to tree, almost seeming to kick the living daylights out of them. Maybe now wasn't such a good time to make his move after all, he thought – not only that, but the way Applejack was behaving, he'd soon have a lot more to worry about than confessing his feelings.

The tan-coated stallion tried his best to ignore Applejack and carry on, but needless to say it wasn't easy. Apple-bucking had never been his strong point; he usually needed to go at each tree at least twice in order to shake all the apples loose, whereas Applejack and Big Macintosh were more than dexterous enough to bring the whole lot down with only a single kick. But today, so distracted was Caramel that, even after his second kick, he kept looking up to find that there were still plenty of apples left on the tree.

“Get a grip of yourself, you moron!” he scolded himself after a while. “You'll get your chance later – now for Celestia's sake, stop worrying and get on with it!”

As chance would have it, Big Macintosh was approaching with another cartload of empty baskets, and happened to overhear what the frustrated younger stallion was saying. “You okay, Caramel?” he asked as he pulled up alongside.

At this point, Caramel lost his temper for one of the few times in his life. “No, Mac, I'm not alright!” he burst out angrily. “I'm in a right muddle at the moment, and all because of...well, 'feelings' that I've been getting but don't know what to do with!”

The red-coated draft pony eyed the loaded apple baskets, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “Ya look fairly well organised ta me.”

“No, I mean emotionally,” objected Caramel. He paused for a few seconds before continuing in a lower tone, though no less frustrated; “I'm just feeling a little lost at the moment because I've got this really deep crush on somepony, but I'm a little scared of admitting it to her.”

Once again, Big Macintosh raised his eyebrow – but this time, it was accompanied by a broad smirk as if he knew more than he was letting on. “An' Ah presume that by 'somepony', ya mean Applejack?”

Caramel was so stunned he could hardly believe what he had just heard. “How in the hay did you find that out?!” he exclaimed.

“It's been written a' over yo' face since Winter Wrap-Up,” Big Macintosh clarified. “'Sides that, the way ya keep starin' at her ever' time ya think nopony's lookin', it's fairly obvious how ya feel fo' her.”

The tan-furred stallion looked down at his hooves, deeply ashamed and embarrassed at having blown his cover before he had even completed his mission. He should have had just a few hurdles to overcome before he reached the finishing line, but now another, much more difficult one had been placed in his path, barring his way to victory. “Am I really that easy to read?” he thought aloud.

“Eeyup,” affirmed Big Macintosh. He then smiled kindly upon the humiliated younger stallion; “Hey, no need ta gimme that look, Caramel. Ah think it's quite cute that y'all feel so strongly fo' mah sis.”

“But you don't understand...” began Caramel, almost letting a few tears loose he was in such turmoil.

“Yes, Ah do,” interrupted Big Macintosh. “Ah've actually been through a similar phase mahself with a mare named Fluttershy. See, when A.J. went to Manehattan back when Ah was about thirteen, Ah felt kinda lonely an' depressed without her, an' one day, Ah ended up gettin' lost in the woods above the north orchard. Ah was a li'l scared at first, but then this cute li'l Pegasus filly comes an' helps me fin' mah way back home. Ah was real grateful fo' her help, an' even happier when she moved down to Ponyville many years later; but it was only a few months after that move that Ah realised mah feelings fo' her ran far deeper than gratitude.

“Matter o' fact, that's why Ah was so upset about that Hearts an' Hooves Day fiasco with Miss Cheerilee; Ah wanted to go out an' tell Fluttershy exactly how Ah felt fo' her that day – maybe even ask 'er out ta dinner or somethin' – but then Apple Bloom an' 'er two friends pretty much ruined it fo' me with that love poison malarkey. It a' turned out okay in the end, though,” he finished. “A few days after that, the three of 'em tried ta make it up by arrangin' a li'l picnic date, an' even though Apple Bloom nearly drowned herself in a nearby ditch, they pretty much succeeded. Fluttershy an' Ah 'ave been datin' ever since.”

Caramel gazed admiringly at the red-coated draft pony. He had never known Big Macintosh to be so...romantic before, and yet, just like Lucky Clover, Brooklyn Dodger and Applejack before him, he was revealing something about himself that clearly showed how much he understood what the young stallion was going through. With Applejack, it was an inability to befriend anypony within the big city, and later the loss of her parents; with Brooklyn, it was having to part with the love of his life for what would turn out to be the rest of his days; and with Lucky, it was his own involvement in the walkway tragedy, and how he had coped with it afterwards. And now, Big Macintosh of all ponies was telling him that he too had been having mare troubles at one point in his life, just as he himself was doing right now.

“Do you......really think I have a chance with Applejack then?” he ventured at last.

“Only one way to find out,” replied Big Macintosh. “Ah'll handle the apple-buckin'; y'all better go over there an' tell her.”

“What?! Right now?”

“Eeyup – no time la'k the present, after all,” and before Caramel could answer, Big Macintosh delivered a hard kick to one of the trees as if to make himself clear.

Caramel sighed heavily. Big Macintosh really wasn't going to let him off that lightly, was he? “Alright then,” he muttered, “but don't blame me if she gives me an earful for playing truant.”

“Don't worry, Caramel,” grinned Big Macintosh. “That moody li'l sister o' mine gives y'all a hard time, Ah'll gladly set it straight mahself. By the way,” he added, “if it makes y'all feel any better, ya mo' than have mah blessings.”

“Wait – really?” asked Caramel, perking up a bit.

Big Macintosh smiled again, and affirmed his statement with a simple “Eeyup.” Almost immediately, Caramel began to feel a whole lot better about himself, and with a light spring in his step, he trotted briskly up the hill to where Applejack was working. Predictably, the orange-coated mare was still being rough with the trees, so she failed to notice Caramel approaching her until he was only a few yards away.

“Um...Applejack...” he began cautiously.

Applejack lowered her hind legs and turned to face the tan-furred stallion. “Caramel!” she snapped, still noticeably annoyed. “What do ya mean by bunkin' off work la'k this?!”

Caramel flinched slightly. For a fleeting moment, he nearly forgot about his resolution from earlier that day, and was ready to slink off back to the other grove. But no, he told himself – he couldn't turn back now that he had gotten this far. “Actually, I wasn't,” he replied, trying to sound calm. “Big Mac seemed to think I was having trouble with the apple-bucking, so he said to take over from me while I came over to talk to you about something.”

“What sort'a somethin'?” demanded Applejack.

“Well...” Caramel paused pathetically, “...it's a bit...I'm not really sure where to start – but it's still pretty important.”

Applejack sighed. “Alright – but make it brief, y'all.”

“Okay,” conceded Caramel, a slight stutter in his voice. “Anyway, it's like this; obviously we've known each other for...well, months, but there's something I've only just...” but he never finished. Looking up, he could see that a branch on one of the trees had become so loose that the slightest vibration could cause it to break free. He stared at it for a few seconds, wondering if maybe he should point it out to Applejack before he continued – but any such decision was suddenly stalled as the landscape around him seemed to change rapidly.

In an instant, the tan-furred young stallion's vision went blood-red, and he found himself standing in the same shopping mall in which his mother had lost her memory and Brooklyn Dodger had been killed. In the place of the tree branch, he could see the two ill-fated walkways hanging high above the lobby, threatening to plummet onto any helpless ponies that happened to be passing underneath. He stood and gazed upon them in terror, unable to utter a single word.

At last, Applejack lost patience. “Actually, ya know what, Caramel,” she said, perhaps a little rudely, “yo' just gonna have ta wait. Ah can't waste time listenin' to yo' silly babblin',” and with that, she continued to buck the apple trees, unaware that one of them posed a serious hazard.

It took a while for the orange-coated farm pony's words to register in Caramel's mind and snap him out of his trance. As he came to his senses, his first thought was the loose branch – if Applejack didn't spot it soon enough, she might soon become a completely different kind of crush. “Um...actually, Applejack...”

“WHAT?!”

“Uh...I think you might want to be careful where you kick,” advised Caramel nervously. “One of those...”

“Look, can't it wait?” ordered Applejack sharply, and moved over to the next tree – the very same tree that bore the loose branch. Without even bothering to look up and identify the danger that Caramel was referring to, she positioned herself right beneath the defective branch and raised her hind legs at the ready.

“WAIT!!!” yelled Caramel in alarm, raising a hoof as if to try and stop her. But he was too late; with a hard thump, Applejack's hooves slammed hard into the trunk, shaking the apples loose and causing the branch to sag down towards her before breaking away altogether.

In Caramel's mind, he could see the two walkways breaking free from their suspension rods and plunging towards the lobby floor. Now, just as they had claimed Brooklyn and his mother, they were about to claim Applejack as well – and if he didn't act fast, he would lose her forever. With a terrified shriek, he leaped towards the orange-coated mare, forcing her out of harm's way with only a split second to spare; the next moment, the branch fell right on top of him with a splintering thud, and he felt a huge pain in his back as if somepony had stabbed him in several different places all at the same time.

Applejack was sent into a short barrel roll down the slope, but escaped without any form of injury. Still dazed by what had just hit her, she picked herself up and began dusting herself down with an angry grunt. “Okay, Caramel,” she began, looking back towards the tree she had been trying to buck, “what in the hay was...” but what she saw came as such a bombshell that she completely forgot to be bad-tempered. Caramel was pinned down by a branch that she hadn't realised up till now had worked itself loose, and his face was contorted with agony.

“OH MAH STARS – CARAMEL!!!” she screamed in horror, and frantically ran back up the hill towards the stricken stallion. He was still conscious, but his back appeared to be bleeding heavily, and his breathing was starting to falter. In spite of the excruciating pain, he nevertheless managed to crack his eyes open and gaze into the orange-coated mare's eyes with an expression of deep remorse.

“I'm sorry...Applejack...” he wheezed. “I don't...I can't make it...”

“Don't talk la'k that, Caramel!” pleaded Applejack despairingly. “Yo' gonna be okay. Honest you will!”

“Applejack,” gasped Caramel weakly, “if I...don't live......I...”

Applejack waited anxiously for what he had to say next, but it never came. Overwhelmed by the unbearable pain in his back, his eyes closed again and his head slumped against the ground.

“No!” wailed Applejack, white-hot tears stinging her eyes and blurring her vision as she tried to bring him round again. “Wake up, Caramel, please! Ya can't just up an' leave! Please speak to me!”

But no amount of shaking and yelling would make the wounded young stallion regain consciousness. He just lay motionless beneath the fallen branch, his breathing now shallow and inaudible.

“What's up, A.J.?” called a voice from nearby. Applejack looked up to see her brother cantering anxiously towards her.

“Caramel's hurt,” choked Applejack, barely able to speak. “Please help me.”

Big Macintosh took one look at the almost lifeless form of Caramel, and swiftly lifted the branch off his back. The unconscious younger stallion having been freed, the red-coated draft pony turned back to his younger sister; “Keep an eye on 'im, A.J.,” he instructed tersely. “Ah'll go get help,” and he galloped away before Applejack could answer. All the distraught orange mare could do was watch over her foalhood friend, unable to control her sobbing for one of the few times in her life.

“Oh, Caramel,” she whimpered feverishly, burying her face in his chest fur and holding him tightly. “I'm sorry...this is a' mah fault...Ah should never 'ave been......Ah'm so sorry...please be okay...please forgive me...”

Comments

[DariunBoop]

4849498 You bet! In fact, I'm reading the next chapters now. It feels nice to see that NOT EVERYONE abandoned CaraJack