The Reason I Can't Find My Love

by Locomotion

Chapter 10: Race Against Time

Lucky was glad when at last they finished their lunch and Caramel managed to drag Braeburn away. His ears still echoing to the sound of the golden-furred stallion's ceaseless ramblings, he watched with a deep sense of relief as the two ponies went to continue their tour of Ponyville, making a mental note to be careful about ever asking anything of Braeburn again.

But predictably, what with Caramel's feeble attempts at being the cheery, knowledgeable tour guide, the horseshoe soon found itself on the other hoof – the longer the two of them spent walking around town, the more bored Braeburn became, and by the end of the day, he had had enough.

“Look, Caramel,” he spoke up, “Ah know yo' tryin' ta be helpful an' all, but can't we carry on with this whole 'guided tour' stuff some other time? Ah'm beat!”

“You're sure you don't want to see around the park?” offered Caramel anxiously. “It's pretty interesting at night, Applejack and I can both attest to that.”

“Nah, Ah'll save it fo' when Pinkie Pie comes home,” insisted Braeburn. “Right now Ah just wanna get back to the farm an' put mah hooves up.”

“Oh...well, alright then,” said Caramel, disappointed; and with that, he led the way back to the orchard.

What Caramel couldn't know, however, was that instead of quelling Braeburn's suspicions, his attempt at a guided tour had only succeeded in arousing them. As they made their way back to Sweet Apple Acres, the golden-furred stallion kept his distance from Caramel as he thought about everything that had been happening over the past few days, feigning tiredness in order to avoid worrying the other stallion.

“Well – this has been pretty weird,” he murmured. “First Applejack an' the others are sayin' that Pinkie's away in some other town, but they won't say where; then they start actin' all nervous whenever Ah mention 'er name; an' now Caramel drags me out on some...less than interestin' tour o' Ponyville?” He paused, his brow furrowing. “Sure, it's been real helpful an' all, but did 'e really 'ave ta make it so dull?!”

At that moment, he noticed that he and Caramel were nearly at the farm gate, with a noticeably worried Applejack headed their way.

“There ya are, Caramel!” she called. “Ah was wonderin' where y'all 'ad got to.”

“Yeah, sorry about that, Applejack,” apologised Caramel profusely. “We intended to get back here at around quarter after three, but...I must have gotten a bit carried away.” He looked back over his shoulder, whereupon Braeburn pretended not to notice. “Actually, A.J., there's something else I want to talk to you about – and it's...a bit intimate, I'm afraid.”

Braeburn raised an eyebrow, silently wondering why Caramel and Applejack would be discussing private matters out in the street so late in the day. What he didn't notice was a coy wink from Caramel.

“Yeah, what is it then?” asked Applejack, shooting a quick glance at her cousin to make sure he wasn't listening.

“Well, it's like this...” Caramel leaned forward and whispered into her ear. Braeburn strained his ears as much as he could, but their voices were too low for him to hear what they were saying – but from the look on Applejack's face, there didn't seem anything “intimate” about their conversation at all. If anything, it seemed rather disconcerting to the orange-coated mare.

The golden-furred stallion's eyes narrowed as his cousin and her coltfriend continued to whisper. “Hmm...there's somethin' real strange goin' on 'round 'ere,” he muttered warily...

---

The atmosphere at the dinner table was unusually quiet that evening. Far from his usual, chatty manner, Braeburn hardly spoke throughout the course of their meal; and even when he did, his responses were surprisingly brief and monosyllabic, something that his Ponyville relatives would normally have expected about Big Macintosh! Granny Smith wasn't sure what to make of this at first, but Big Macintosh quietly assured himself that his golden-furred cousin was just tired after looking around town with Caramel for so long.

Applejack, on the other hoof, couldn't shake a feeling of unease. Never in all her life had she known Braeburn to be so quiet, but there was something about it that made her feel as though he had been carrying a chip on his withers all this time. Even after they had finished eating and had gone to bed, there was still a lingering fear in the back of her mind that, soon enough, the truth would out...

Applejack awoke the following morning to the sound of somepony knocking on her bedroom door. As she stirred herself from her sleep, she could just about make out Caramel's voice from outside on the landing;

“Hey, Applejack, you awake?”

“Yeah, sure,” called Applejack, climbing out of bed and making for the door. “What did ya want?”

“It's about Braeburn and you-know-who.”

Applejack opened the door and furtively checked left and right before beckoning Caramel into the room. “So what's the trouble then?”

“Nothing, thankfully,” replied Caramel, shutting the door behind him. “I'd just been checking the timetable at the station, and I think I might have worked out when Pinkie Pie should be getting back here with Soarin and Rainbow Dash.”

His marefriend's face lit up. “When?!” she all but blurted out.

“Any time within the next hour, as far as I can remember. If we're really lucky, Braeburn probably won't be any the wiser.”

“Ah'm not so sure, Caramel,” said Applejack uneasily. “Fo' all Ah know, he might be onto us by now.”

Caramel's face fell. “How come?” he asked anxiously.

“Well...he's been givin' me this wary look since y'all got back from yo' tour o' Ponyville,” explained Applejack, “an' he'd been awful quiet at dinner too.”

“I see.” Caramel furrowed his brow grimly. “In that case, we're going to have to play it really cool from here on in – and hope he doesn't start questioning us,” he finished.

Applejack nodded in agreement and made for the door again. “Ah well,” she tried to reassure herself as she turned the handle, “Ah suppose things can't get much worse than they are now.”

“Applejack? A word, please!”

The two Earth ponies jumped back in shock. Right on the other side of the doorway stood a rather surly Braeburn, who seemed to be staring them down coldly as he entered the room.

It was Caramel who broke the silence first; “I...think they just did,” he said meekly.

“Uh...Ah don't get what yo' talkin' about, Braeburn,” stammered Applejack nervously.

“The hay ya don't!” snapped Braeburn sharply. “Y'all an' the rest o' yo' family – an' yo' coltfriend 'ere – y'all 'ave been hidin' somethin' from me ever since Ah arrived 'ere!”

“W...what do ya mean?”

Braeburn leaned threateningly into his cousin's face. “Where's Pinkie Pie?!” he demanded.

“Ah keep tellin' ya, we don't know!” insisted Applejack. “A' we know is that she's away on v...Ah mean, she's away hostin' a party someplace an' didn't say when she was gonna be back!”

“Not good enough, cuz!”

“But...how are we supposed ta know where she is if...”

“If this is yo' best attempt at lyin', Applejack, then it needs some serious work!” interrupted Braeburn. “In fact, ya know what – if a' yo' gonna do is lie to me about it, then don't even bother tellin' me anything! Ah'm goin' ta Sugarcube Corner ta find out what's goin' on!”

Applejack goggled in horror as her cousin turned on his fetlock and stomped off downstairs, alarm bells ringing with every thud of his hooves. “No! Braeburn, wait!” she blustered. “Ya can't go there now!”

“Oh, can't Ah?!” bellowed Braeburn, not even bothering to stop and listen.

“They're...they're redecorating the place! It's off limits to all customers!” chimed in Caramel.

“Only customers, huh?! Well, that changes everything then!”

“But Braeburn, hang on a second...”

“No!” snarled Braeburn. “Ah'm goin', an' that's final!”

Panicking, Caramel raced after Braeburn in a bid to stop him from leaving the house. Applejack made to follow, but just as she was crossing the threshold, she heard an even harder thud from within the front room. The orange-coated mare picked up her pace, anxiously hoping her cousin hadn't done what she thought he had just done – but when she reached the foot of the stairs, she realised to her horror that he had.

Caramel lay slumped against the front door, his face slightly contorted with pain and his left hoof clutching his right shoulder. He had tried to bar Braeburn's way, only to be knocked forcefully sideways into the door frame. “It's no use, Applejack!” he grunted, staggering to his hooves. “This guy's on the warpath right now – even if we do catch him, he's still gonna put up a heck of a fight!”

Applejack gripped her temples in desperation. “Now what are we gonna do?! There's no way Pinkie's gonna get back in the time!”

“In other words,” groaned Caramel as he attempted to massage the pain away from his bruised shoulder, “we've had it.”

But they hadn't. Just as Applejack was about to give up altogether, she was greeted with an unexpected bounty in the form of a yellow-furred, red-headed filly wearing a pink bow. In that very instant, she suddenly remembered – “O' course! This could be our last hope!”

“What could?” asked Caramel; but Applejack ignored him and galloped across the farmyard towards her younger sister.

“Apple Bloom! Aw, thank Celestia yo' back?!”

“Why?” Apple Bloom was confused. “What's goin' on?”

“No time to explain!” said Applejack hurriedly. “Cousin Braeburn's come ta visit, but we need ta keep 'im outta Sugarcube Corner long enough fo' Pinkie Pie ta get back. Can ya do that fo' me?”

Apple Bloom considered this. “Well...Ah can get ta Sugarcube Corner ahead o' Braeburn,” she answered doubtfully, “but how do Ah keep 'im out?”

“Any way ya la'k! Just do it!” urged Applejack. “Ah gotta go warn Rainbow Dash!”

“Right, Ah'm on it!” and Apple Bloom scurried away.

Luckily, the yellow-furred filly didn't have to think too hard about how she would go about her task. Barely had she reached the farm gate when an idea occurred to her – unicorns! If she could rally some of her unicorn friends together, she could easily hold Braeburn back for long enough! With this in mind, she redirected her course towards Carousel Boutique, taking advantage of every short-cut she and her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders had discovered during their many adventures together...

---

Half an hour went by, and Braeburn was still dodging through the streets of Ponyville, trying to find his way. In his determination to reach Sugarcube Corner, he had completely forgotten that his sense of direction left much to be desired, and by now, he was almost starting to regret having been so impetuous.

“Well that's just great!” he grumbled. “How am Ah gonna find mah way now?!”

Unbeknownst to him, Apple Bloom was also racing through the streets with Sweetie-Belle, Dinky Doo and Tootsie Flute close behind, checking all the while for any sign of her golden-furred cousin. Though the yellow-coated farm filly was all too aware of Braeburn's lacking sense of direction, they couldn't afford to take any chances, even now.

“There it is, Apple Bloom!” squeaked Dinky at last, pointing towards the rapidly approaching Sugarcube Corner.

“Any sign of Braeburn?” asked Sweetie-Belle anxiously.

Apple Bloom quickly scanned the surrounding area. “Nope – not as far as Ah can see,” she replied. “Let's get inside before he sees us!”

After a final quick check to make sure nopony else was looking, the four fillies stampeded into the bakery and began bolting all windows shut. The front door swiftly followed suit, courtesy of Sweetie-Belle, and Apple Bloom gazed out into the street.

Two minutes went by – six – ten – fifteen......until finally their quarry appeared in the distance.

“Here he comes,” hissed Apple Bloom. “Right – ya know what ta do. Ya ready?”

“As ready as we'll ever be,” affirmed Tootsie Flute grimly.

“An' remember,” warned Apple Bloom, “we can't afford no mistakes. On the count o' three – one, two...THREE!”

Right on cue, the three unicorns' horns began glowing with ever-increasing intensity, and an almost invisible silver dome began to form around them...

Braeburn checked his bearings once again, wondering if he was ever going to reach Sugarcube Corner – but then, just a few yards away, he noticed what looked like a huge gingerbread house with a cupcake standing on top of it.

“Well, finally!” he remarked in an exasperated tone. “Now perhaps Ah can get to the bottom of a' this!” and picking up his pace, he galloped towards the bakery......

BUMP!!

Without warning, Braeburn ran into something that wasn't there and was thrown backwards. Dazed by the sudden impact, he scrambled to his hooves and rubbed his forehead. “What in the hay was that?”

The golden-furred stallion looked around, trying to find the practical joker who had knocked him over – but to further his confusion, there was nopony close enough to have done so. Slowly advancing towards the door, he reached out with his hoof, only to meet resistance when he was nearly twenty yards away. His eyes widened in realisation...

“Forcefield!”

Braeburn darted round to the back of the bakery in the hopes that whoever owned the place would let him in through there – but what he didn't see was that Apple Bloom was lying in wait for him. As soon as he had passed the window, she whispered a warning to Sweetie-Belle, Tootsie Flute and Dinky, who all charged towards the back door.

They were just in time; before Braeburn could get anywhere near the door, they managed to create another forcefield and hold him back.

“Shucks, that was way too close!” remarked Apple Bloom as the pained grunt from her cousin met their ears.

“What do we do now?” asked Dinky.

“Keep it up, girls,” ordered Apple Bloom. “We can't let our guard down fo' one second, or we're stuffed – back to the front door!”

The three unicorns hurriedly obeyed, and recast their forcefield spell just as Braeburn raced past the window.

“We can't keep running back and forth forever,” called Tootsie Flute. “One slip-up, and Braeburn might still get in through an unguarded door.”

“Then we've no choice,” said Apple Bloom decisively. “Dinky can go back an' forth between the doors; Sweetie-Belle, you stand by the front door, an' Tootsie, you guard the back. If Braeburn reaches yo' door before Dinky does, hold the handle tight.”

“Okay, Apple Bloom, will do,” and Tootsie Flute galloped over to the back door with Dinky hot on her hooves...

Comments

[SageBrony07]

That is awesome. Now the only way to beat Braeburn is to find Pinkie and convince her that Brae is at Sugarcube corner. It's the only way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great chapter.

[ShadowLDrago]

I hope Pinkie can get here in time...