Forgotten in Manehattan

by Locomotion

Chapter 8: Forget Me Not, Dear Applejack

For the rest of the day, and throughout the next, Applejack stayed firmly by Caramel's side to ensure he made a complete recovery. She only ever left him once or twice to refill his hot water bottles if they ever felt anything but, or if she needed to use the toilet; the rest of the time, she just sat and stared anxiously upon him from beside her bed, almost as if she expected him to pass away the moment she turned her back. Even at mealtimes she refused to join the others for fear of what might happen if the ailing stallion was left unattended, and not even Granny Smith seemed able to persuade her otherwise. In the end, the elderly green-furred mare decided against pressurising her granddaughter any further, and left her with a tray of food on her bedside table before rejoining Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh in the dining room.

Needless to say, Big Macintosh was rather worried by his sister's behaviour, and so, understandably, was Apple Bloom. Stubborn though she may have been, Applejack wasn't usually the sort of pony to let anything worry her so easily, even when challenged by her multicoloured Pegasus friend Rainbow Dash – and yet, having rescued a complete stranger whose name they had yet to learn, all she ever seemed to do of late was to hover over him like a mare possessed, with an expression of deep concern plastered onto her face. Even when morning broke, Big Macintosh noted, her eyes looked so dark and baggy that he could have been forgiven for thinking she hadn't slept a wink all night.

Despite her obvious fatigue, Applejack remained firmly resolved not to leave her foalhood friend for very long, and though the rest of her family offered to take over from her, she never once accepted. But by the end of the second day, tiredness had finally caught up with her, and after many long hours of waiting for him to rise from his coma, she collapsed wearily onto her bedside rug and allowed herself to drift off to sleep...

---

Several hours later, as the orange-coated mare lay slumbering peacefully on the rug, a muffled groan from the occupant in her bed caused her to stir slightly and crack an eye open. Suppressing a tired yawn, she closed it again and gently brushed a forehoof against her face like a dreaming kitten – but at that moment, her eyes snapped open once more as she suddenly remembered why she had allowed herself to lose so much sleep in the first place. Mentally berating herself for having dozed off, Applejack quickly manoeuvred herself into a more upright position to see how Caramel was doing.

The tan-furred young stallion's eyes flickered, slowly adjusting to what little light had begun to invade the room. His head felt like it had been in a vice for the best part of a week, and everything around him seemed green and fuzzy, the only exception being an orange blur which hovered just next to him. With another groan, he lifted a hoof to his forehead in an attempt to rub the pain away.

“W...where am I?” he wondered out loud. “What happened?”

“You okay, partner?”

Puzzled, Caramel glanced towards where he thought the voice had just come from. It was rather faint, so he couldn't quite pinpoint its source, but at least he now had the sense to realise that he wasn't alone in that room. Slowly, his surroundings came further and further into focus, until he could see that the “blur” was actually an orange-furred Earth pony mare with blonde mane and tail, each of which were bound at the ends by a red hair-band. Her Cutie Mark consisted of three apples on each flank, and her leaf-green eyes bore an expression of gentle concern. She somehow seemed to remind him of somepony he had met in Manehattan many years ago – but why, he wondered? Why did she look so uncannily familiar?

“Who......who are you?” he asked weakly. “What is this place?”

“Sweet Apple Acres, just outside o' Ponyville,” the mare explained. “Ah found y'all buried under a heap o' snow just outside o' the farm entrance; y'all were mighty close to death by the time Ah dug ya out, so Ah brought ya back to the farmhouse.”

Caramel frowned with shame as he remembered being caught in that horrible, merciless blizzard just......wait, hang on a minute – how long ago exactly? Looking out of the window, he noticed that the sky was now a dull greyish blue in colour, and neither sun nor moon hung above the vast groves of trees that surrounded the Apple Family homestead. “How long have I been out?” he ventured, turning his attention back to the mare by his bedside.

“'Bout two days, give or take,” replied the mare.

“Wow – that long, huh?” Caramel rubbed his temples gingerly. “Heck, no wonder I feel so woozy then.”

The mare nodded in solemn understanding. “Ah figured as much – the doctor did say ta make sure ya got plenty o' fluids, after all,” she observed. “Ya want me ta go get ya somethin' then?”

“Uh...yeah,” replied Caramel. “I'd quite like that, Miss...um...” He broke off, remembering that the mare still hadn't properly introduced herself yet. Somehow, he had a hunch that he knew the identity of this pony already; but he wanted to be sure, so cautiously he asked, “...what's your name?”

“Applejack,” said the mare with a soft smile.

Upon hearing this, the tan-coated stallion's eyes widened, and he felt a sudden pang of euphoria sweeping right the way through him. Three months of aimless travelling, and he had finally reunited with the one living pony from his foalhood who had even bothered to befriend him – it was almost too good to be true!

“What's yours, then?”

All at once, Caramel's untold delight seemed to collapse around his ears. Where his heart had previously been aflutter with joy, it now seemed to ache horribly – could it really be that his foalhood friend didn't recognise him? “You...you mean you don't remember me?” he stammered.

Applejack paused pathetically. “Well, uh...even if Ah did, then...probably not that well.” That was true enough, she decided; for even though she remembered the stallion himself as a colt, there was probably plenty she had forgotten about him since leaving Manehattan.

“So...does the name of Caramel not mean anything to you?”

“Um...well, we do make some pretty good caramel apples here on Sweet Apple Acres, but......Ah ain't heard o' nopony from around 'ere who answers to that name,” replied Applejack, with a somewhat awkward grin on her face.

Caramel's heart sank. So she didn't recognise him after all. “Oh......okay then,” he muttered sadly. “I, er......I just thought you reminded me of somepony.”

Applejack didn't answer, but tactfully gave him a look of meek apology before heading downstairs. The moment Caramel was sure she was out of earshot, he slapped a hoof to his face in frustration and disbelief. First his mother had lost her memory, then his next best friend had been killed by falling debris – and now this! He had regained contact with the one remaining link to his foalhood at long last, only to find that she didn't remember him!

How could she possibly forget all about the only Manehattanite friend she had ever made? Was he really so forgettable? Or had he not been a good enough friend for her? Somehow, and with deep regret, he assumed that the latter might be the more likely theory; after all, she hadn't even bothered to slip a note through his letterbox before returning home, and he hadn't even realised that she had decided to leave Manehattan for good until after she had gone. And no wonder, after all the times he had tried to make new friends, only to fail miserably – anypony who did want to be friends with him would probably have been far more desperate than he could ever know.

But then he thought back to Brooklyn Dodger, and how the buff-coated colt had defended his honour against those three bullies during their high school years. If most of the other students were anything to go by, he probably had every reason to look down on Caramel just like the rest of the students – but no; instead, he had looked a lot closer at him than other ponies could even be bothered to do, and rather than the social leper that most would have seen in him, he had detected an injured, lonesome young soul who had been horribly mistreated by all except his own parents. He had shown sympathy where others would have shown disdain, and more importantly, he had given the tan-furred young stallion something that several other ponies all across Equestria tended to take for granted, something that he himself could only wish for – friendship.

Why, then, did Lady Luck have to punish Brooklyn in such a harsh manner just for making friends with him – for providing him with a conscience, even? Why couldn't she spare him from being crushed beneath the wreckage of two fallen walkways? And why, for that matter, did his own mother have to be so horribly injured that she would never be able to remember her own son ever again? He rolled over and buried his face in his arms, silently shedding tears as he recalled the gruesome aftermath of the collapse – the bodies trapped under mounds of twisted steel, shattered glass and smashed concrete; the screams of pain and horror from onlookers and survivors alike; the smattering of blood over certain parts of the rubble......

Suddenly, he felt what he thought must be a few chunks of rubble against his back, causing him to raise his head with a start. But when he finally gathered his awareness, he found that the “rubble” was actually Applejack's hoof – having returned with what looked like a wooden pint-mug, she had been tapping him gently on the shoulder to try and attract his attention. With a hoof against his chest to try and ease the pounding of his heart, Caramel lowered his guard with a deep, thankful sigh of relief.

Applejack, on the other hoof, seemed a little worried. “Is anythin' wrong, Caramel?” she asked anxiously. “Ya seemed a li'l jumpy just now.”

“Did I?” Caramel frowned ruefully as he realised how erratic he seemed to have acted at that moment. “Sorry about that, Applejack – I guess I just got a bit...um...distracted is all.”

The orange-coated mare furrowed her brow, deeply concerned. “Care ta tell me why?”

Caramel hung his head in sorrow, trying not to show the tears he could feel welling up in his eyes again. “Well......the fact that nopony wanted to make friends with me back in Manehattan for a start,” he began. “I don't know why, but...”

“Manehattan?!” repeated Applejack. “But...but what are ya doin' a' the way out here in Ponyville – an' livin' la'k a hobo too?”

“Something terrible happened to my mother and my only real friend,” explained Caramel glumly. “It's...well, pretty gruesome...but......” he broke off mid-sentence as he felt the flimsy emotional barrier he had tried to erect around his fear, grief and inner loneliness starting to crumble. At the same time, a solitary tear managed to escape from his eye, and trickled down his face towards the end of his muzzle. “I – I don't want to talk about it,” he faltered, burying his face in his arms again.

Applejack gazed upon the sobbing form of Caramel in utter dismay, barely able to hold back tears herself. Of all the ponies who could have befriended him, only one had ever had the heart to do so – and now that pony had been removed from Caramel's life along with his mother? “Whoa, Nelly,” she remarked softly, placing a hoof against her chest as she felt her heart go out to the distraught young stallion. “That must 'ave been real awful fo' ya.”

“You've no idea,” lamented Caramel, his voice muffled by the pillows and his own forelegs.

With a sad smile on her lips, Applejack leaned forward and rested her hoof between his shoulders in an attempt to offer him some comfort. “Well...Ah kinda do, actually,” she replied in a gentle, soothing tone. “Ah lost both mah parents a long time ago, so Ah know what it's la'k to lose a loved one.”

Caramel raised his head again, startled. “What?! As in...” but so baffled was the tan-coated stallion that he couldn't find the right words to finish his sentence without potentially hurting Applejack's feelings.

“Dead – both of 'em,” explained Applejack solemnly. “They were out harvestin' apples about six months after mah li'l sister Apple Bloom was born, an' Pop bucked one o' the trees so hard that it came down right on top o' them. The impact killed 'im instantly, an' Ma was so badly hurt that they had to put 'er in intensive care at the local hospital.” She paused, letting loose a small tear. “She din' make it, though; about a week later, she......she just passed away in the night.”

“Oh, Applejack,” gasped Caramel in dismay. “That's terrible.”

“Yeah – Ah'll say it was,” agreed Applejack with a wistful sigh. “It took me a heck of a long time to move on from a' that. Still,” she added, wiping her eyes and smiling faintly, “no point in dwellin' on the past – if it happens, it happens.”

“Yeah – I suppose so,” murmured Caramel. Deep down, he wasn't sure he could bring himself to agree; but he kept his thoughts to himself.

“Anyway,” went on Applejack, tactfully changing the subject, “Ah've got y'all a li'l somethin' that might help warm ya up.” As she spoke, she handed the tan-furred Manehattanite the mug she had brought with her.

With a small, grateful smile, Caramel manoeuvred himself round so that he was sitting upright and gingerly accepted the mug. As he looked inside it, he noticed that it contained a deep amber liquid that gave off a strong but not unpleasant smell. “What is that stuff?” he wondered out loud. “Smells like apple pie.”

“It should do,” beamed Applejack proudly. “It's our very own recipe of mulled apple cider.”

“Uh...what's cider?” quizzed Caramel, perplexed.

Applejack could only smirk in amusement at Caramel's query. Just like a Manehattanite to not know what cider was! “It's kinda la'k beer, but it's made from fruit juice rather than malt,” she explained simply.

But this explanation somehow seemed rather disconcerting to the tan-coated young stallion. He looked doubtfully into his mug, and then back to Applejack; “Are you sure it's a good idea for me to be taking alcohol in my state?”

“Don't y'all worry none, Caramel – Ah already took the precaution o' boilin' off the alcohol before Ah added the spices.”

“Oh – well...down the hatch, then,” and Caramel raised the mug to his lips, allowing the cider to flow gently into his mouth. As it did so, his eyes widened in amazement.

“You la'k it?” asked Applejack hopefully.

“Like it?!” repeated Caramel emphatically. “This...mulled cider or whatever you call it is the best thing I've had since leaving Manehattan – most I usually had while on my travels was stream water and wild grass and such.”

“So Ah figured,” mused Applejack with a smile. “That must've taken a hay of a lot o' gut, after all the caviar an' fine wines...” but she quickly broke off as the glimmer of an idea began to sparkle in her head. “Say, how would ya la'k to put some o' them guts into a job?” she offered.

Caramel's eyes widened once again, this time in delight. “You really mean it? Me work for Sweet Apple Acres?”

“If ya want the job, that is,” replied Applejack, whose demeanour had become rather bashful all of a sudden. “We don't normally hire other ponies to work here – but Ah reckon Ah can make an exception.”

Caramel beamed with joy for the first time in months. “I'd consider it a real honour, Applejack – it's the least I can do to thank you for saving my life.”

Applejack grinned modestly. “Well...if ya say so,” she chuckled. “Anyway, Ah'm gonna go an' cook up some breakfast fo' me an' everypony else. Gimme a shout if ya need anything.”

“Will do,” conceded Caramel as Applejack started to leave the room. “Oh, and Applejack...”

The orange-coated mare stopped a few inches short of the doorway, turning her head back to face him.

“Thank you – for everything,” smiled Caramel gratefully. Applejack gave a friendly nod in response, kindly returning the smile as she stepped into the hallway and made her way to the kitchen.

As soon as she had gone, Caramel sat back and sipped blissfully at his mulled cider, silently marvelling at his change of fortune. So what if Applejack no longer recognised him, he decided – not only had he been miraculously reunited with his foalhood friend, but she had allowed him to work alongside her on one of the biggest orchards in Equestria. And he couldn't be more grateful for it...

Comments

[Locomotion]

4839151 Ah well. It's early days yet with this fanfic; I'm sure it'll be a lot more popular when the whole thing's published. At least I hope it will...