Caramel 1/2

by Twinkletail

Here's Caramel! The Strange Stranger From Ponyville

The first order of business, oddly enough, was not figuring out where the miscommunication over Caramel's gender happened. Rather, the first order of business was to wake Cloudy Quartz, who had fainted dead away moments after Caramel's reveal.

Uncomfortable looks were exchanged between the family and the two newcomers as they set about trying to wake Cloudy up. Caramel, for her part, was incredibly apologetic about the entire thing, and she and Pokey were more than happy to get Cloudy comfortable while they figured out what to do. Or at least they were happy to try and help.

"Here, let me get her onto the couch," Caramel offered. Her offer was quickly rebuked by an angry Limestone.

"You get your hooves away from my mom!" Limestone growled, glaring a hole through her.

"Come on..." Caramel said, backing away a bit. "I'm just trying to help."

"Some help you've been so far!" Limestone replied. "It's your fault she fainted in the first place! You were supposed to be a stallion!"

"I can explain that..." Caramel started. Before she could do just that, Limestone attempted to shove her away. The attempt likely would have been successful if it wasn't for Maud stepping in.

"This isn't helping," Maud said, restraining her sister until she stopped trying to struggle.

"Agreed," Pokey chimed in, stepping between the two. "The most important thing right now is to tend to your mom."

"I think we are owed an explanation once my wife is awake," Igneous said, glancing over from his wife's side.

"Of course," Pokey agreed. Caramel, meanwhile, simply turned away from the group, unwilling to look at Limestone's hateful stare any longer. She opted to stay out of the way as the others tended to Cloudy, stepping away from the group. As it turned out, her choice of where to step ended up not being the best choice for one who wished to stay out of the way, as she managed to step right into the path of a galloping Marble, who had stepped out to get come cold water.

"Eep!" Marble squeaked, trying to divert her path but not having enough room to do so. The two mares quickly ended up in a pile in the ground, the bucket of water hurtling straight towards Pokey. A brief look of panic appeared on Pokey's face, but he managed to light his horn just in time to catch the bucket and stop the spill.

"Careful," Pokey said, seeming oddly shaken by almost being doused. He turned to hold the bucket over Cloudy, looking to Igneous for approval before dumping it over her head.

Cloudy sputtered and coughed as she came to. Being woken by a bucket of cold water to the face was not exactly the most optimal way of waking up. Then again, passing out from shock wasn't exactly the most optimal way of losing consciousness, so it all kind of worked out in a way.

"My daughters cannot marry a mare!" Cloudy exclaimed once she'd shaken herself out.

"Mother?" Marble said quietly. "That's...surprisingly intolerant..."

"Not for that reason!" Cloudy retorted. "How am I supposed to get grandfoals from two mares?!" Igneous sighed and put a foreleg around his wife, looking over to Caramel.

"Perhaps you should give her some space, young lady," Igneous said. "I am sure your friend here can explain what is going on in the meantime."

"Right..." Caramel replied. She looked up again, and was immediately met with Limestone's glare once more.

"Limestone," Igneous said. "Why don't you show Miss Caramel around the farm?"

"Me?!" Limestone shouted, ignoring the blush and light pout that her father's words appeared to ignite in Caramel. "Why me?"

"Because I said so, my daughter," Igneous replied. The words were so direct that it sent a brief chill down Limestone's back. It wasn't wise to disobey Father.

"Ugh..." Limestone groaned, before looking in Caramel's direction. "Move your rump. And you'd better not be slow." The smaller mare gulped and quickly followed Limestone out of the house. Igneous watched the two go, then turned to Pokey, his expression turning dark.

"Now then," Igneous said, sitting down next to his wife. "What exactly is the meaning of this? We have no qualms with two mares marrying each other, but we were promised a stallion to bear children with one of our daughters."

"And that's what I've brought you," Pokey responded calmly, eliciting what may very well have been the hundredth look of confusion from the family since Caramel and Pokey had arrived.

"Forgive me," Cloudy said, sitting up proper. "But we know the difference between a stallion and a mare, and Caramel there was most certainly a mare."

"At the moment," Pokey interrupted.

"At the moment?" Marble repeated. "What does that mean?" Pokey chuckled dryly, finding himself a seat and preparing for what looked to be a long story.

"Have you ever heard of the Cursed Everfree Springs?"

~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure we should be here? It seems kind of...restricted."

Caramel looked around the area he and Pokey had found themselves in. The grass was a lush green, its colors accentuated by the presence of the shining blue springs that mottled the meadows. It truly was a lovely place, as he had been led to expect. The only thing marring the otherwise pleasant view was the presence of wooden signs scattered about the area. Most were written in a language Caramel didn't recognize. The ones that were legible to him spoke various words of foreboding, ranging from the mostly non-confrontational "Restricted" to the decidedly more insistent "Leave At Once" that Caramel nearly tripped over while observing its brethren.

"Oh, we'll only be here for a bit," Pokey insisted, stepping over another of the signs. "You do want to get the best grass samples Equestria has to offer, right?"

"I guess..." Caramel responded, unable to pull his eyes away from the assortment of oppressive signage. "It would really help with my research."

"Exactly," Pokey said with a grin. "And you can't further said research if we just up and leave, can you?"

"Well I mean I could-" Caramel started.

"Exactly," Pokey repeated. "Now come along. No more dawdling."

"You know, just because you're a bit older than me doesn't mean you have to talk to me like I'm a colt," Caramel said as he trailed behind.

"I know," Pokey responded. "There are a lot of things I don't have to do that I do anyway." Despite the obvious joking nature of the comment, his voice remained calm and even. Caramel wasn't quite sure how he managed that, but he had long since gotten used to his friend and business partner's peculiar cadence. It was the second voice that really threw him for a loop.

"I hope you know these pools are cursed," a deep feminine voice called. "Be grateful my anger does not burst."

Caramel whirled around, nearly stumbling into the pool he stood near. He wished he could have thanked his amazing agility and sense of balance for saving him, but he found himself sadly lacking in both areas and could really only look to dumb luck as his savior. Pokey, in his typical Pokey manner, remained mostly stoic. A raise of the eyebrows was the most the surprise could get out of him.

Caramel's brain immediately set into motion, scouring his vast intellect for the proper words with which to respond to the surprise. If he had learned anything from those self-confidence classes, a clever retort was crucial to earning the respect of whoever had spoken and showing that he wasn't easily shaken. He trusted in his razor-sharp wit to guide him and make him shine.

"Gah!"

The brevity may have been present, but the wit was sorely lacking.

The two stallions set their sights upon the new speaker. Caramel was positive he'd seen the zebra in Ponyville before. Either that or he was being unintentionally racist.

"Zecora?" Pokey asked. Caramel was glad he wasn't the one to ask.

"Zecora is my name, that is correct," Zecora responded. "There are signs saying to leave, if you haven't checked."

"R-right..." Caramel stuttered, already making motions to leave. "We'll get out of your mane."

"Right after we get what we're here for, that is," Pokey added, putting a hoof on Caramel's back to stop him. The smaller stallion let out a quiet whinny of protest, but Pokey was insistent.

"If my words you do not heed, you might perform a terrible deed," Zecora said, her tone becoming more stern. "The curse on these pools is centuries old. If I were you, I would do as I'm told."

"What curse?" Caramel asked.

"The Curse of Everfree Springs, my friend," Zecora responded. "Of those who came to a watery end." She pointed out over the springs, a grave look crossing her face. "Each spring contains the spirit of those who have passed. If one falls in, their curse will take effect very fast. The spirit inhabits and brings upon change. Their influence makes the cursed one's body rearrange! Enhanced by cold water, suppressed by hot. If you try to remove it, you'll find you cannot. I shall give you my warming once more; please, take heed. You must find another place to harvest your seed!"

Caramel didn't need any more convincing than that. His spine was tingling adequately enough that staying here was about the last thing he wanted to do. And he would have left on the spot too, if it wasn't for Pokey's magic grabbing him.

"We'll take our chances," Pokey said. "That all sounds a bit too far-fetched to me." Caramel found himself spun around and set down neatly next to his fearless companion. He had no idea how Pokey could possibly remain this calm after hearing how cursed this place was, but there he was, the picture of serenity. He looked nervously to Zecora, waiting to see just how angry Pokey's comment had made her. Other than a brief frown, however, she seemed mostly unbothered.

"I find it foolish this curse you have scorned," Zecora spoke evenly. "Don't let it be said that you weren't warned." The zebra then turned her nose up at the two, giving them a look as if she was daring them to remain.

"Well then, that's settled," Pokey said, turning away to look over the lush grass that covered the area.

"Are you kidding me?!" Caramel exclaimed. "Did you hear all the things she said? Cursed! The ponds are cursed! We have to leave yesterday!"

"Oh, Caramel," the undaunted Pokey responded with a wave of his hoof. "So naive. Now let's get our samples."

The inappropriately calm demeanor in the face of potential danger combined with the unwarranted condescending tone finally proved to be too much for Caramel. The frustrated stallion was usually not one for violence, but he couldn't help himself as he gave Pokey a small shove.

"Why are you always so calm?" Caramel shouted. Then he gasped as he watched the unsuspecting Pokey topple over. He tried to reach out to stop him, but was too slow, and was subsequently left to watch in horror as his friend splashed into one of the cursed springs.

"Pokey!" Caramel shouted, as if his scream would reverse time and undo what had happened. Unsurprisingly, the desired result was not achieved. His eyes couldn't pull away from the spring, barely even registering the sight of Zecora in his peripheral as she walked up to his side and shook her head. A couple of bubbles drifted to the surface, each pop raising his heart rate.

"Please be okay please be okay please be okay..." Caramel muttered as the seconds passed like minutes. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally noticed a figure rising to the top of the water. He leaned in, ready to issue apology after apology as soon as Pokey's head breached the surface. He was only able to make out the very first "so" before he realized that he was now face-to-face with a huge grizzly bear. The startled stallion stumbled backwards, letting out a yelp.

"Your friend has discovered the Curse of Drowned Bear," Zecora said simply as Caramel flailed past her. He could barely control his limbs as he attempted to flee, and before he knew it, he was plummeting headfirst towards another spring.

Caramel's mind raced as he sank in the water, thankful that he'd possessed the forethought to catch and hold a breath before submerging. He'd already seen his close friend seemingly transformed into a bear, and could only fear what would become of him. He was already feeling odd in a way that he couldn't quite put his hoof on–although the fact that he still had a hoof to not put on it was likely a good sign. He did his best to right himself in the water and figure out which direction was up, then began frantically paddling up once he had. Something about his movement felt slightly unfamiliar, but not so much that it felt entirely wrong. Perhaps his spring wasn't cursed? Or maybe it was just inhabited by the spirit of a pony who felt tingly a lot?

Caramel's head breached the surface of the spring, and he gasped for air as he pulled himself towards solid ground. From what he could see as he flailed towards land, he was still in possession of his same yellow forelegs. Something about them, though, looked slightly different...a tiny bit more slender, perhaps? He could feel his wet mane pressed against his forehead, neck, and shoulder, and even saw a bit of it obscuring part of his vision. That in itself was a bit strange. His mane wasn't really long enough to cover that much of him. Apparently this spring was haunted by a long-maned pony.

Caramel pulled himself out of the spring and to the ground, and immediately noted the shocked look on the face of the bear that was apparently Pokey, as well as the bemused face of Zecora. Those expressions certainly did not fit Caramel's assumptions of what had happened to him, so there had to be something more. It was just then that he noticed how much smaller and rounder his muzzle appeared to be. Slowly but surely, the pieces began to come together in Caramel's head. A quick turn of the head gave Caramel a view of a smaller body with gentle curves, and it was only just then that he became intensely aware of a very different feeling between his hind legs.

"And you have discovered the Curse of Drowned Mare," Zecora said, before granting herself a light smirk. "I know I do not have to do it all the time, but how very fortunate that this happened to rhyme."

The last thing Caramel remembered before fainting was the bear rushing to his–or rather, her–side.

~~~~~~~~~~

"...So you can turn into a bear?"

Oddly enough, it was Marble's voice that broke the long silence following Pokey's explanation. She was typically one to promote silence, not break it. The rest of the family, on the other hoof, seemed to have embraced Marble's usual stance on the matter. She would have been proud if she wasn't so busy being curious.

"That's correct," Pokey responded.

"Can we see?" Maud asked.

"I...suppose," Pokey replied. "But being a bear would make it very hard for me to explain more about all of this."

"Fine," Maud said. If it was any other pony, there would likely have been a hint of disappointment in that statement. "But I want to see once you're done."

"Very well," Pokey said, giving the oldest Pie sister a raise of the eyebrow.

"So Caramel is not a mare then?" Igneous asked. "At least not all the time?"

"Precisely," Pokey said. "As Zecora so enigmatically described, a splash of cold water while we're in our original forms transforms us into our cursed forms, and hot water does the opposite. Caramel showed up to your door as a mare because we ran into a rainstorm on our way and he wasn't quick enough in deploying his umbrella." Before Pokey could continue, he felt a set of forelegs wrap around him.

"So he can still give us grandfoals!" Cloudy exclaimed, squeezing poor Pokey with all of her might.

"Y-yes..." Pokey choked out, surprised by the older mare's strength. Gentle attempts to pry her off proved fruitless until he employed the use of his magic, carefully untangling himself from the embrace.

"And you are positive this curse cannot be lifted?" Igneous asked. "There are many talented magicians out there. Surely one of them can figure it out."

"The curse seems to be beyond magic, if that makes any sense," Pokey explained. "Many have tried to remove the curse from other ponies, and all have failed. Even Princess Celestia could not manage to undo it. It seems that we're stuck dealing with our lots in life. I'm adjusting a bit better than Caramel, but even he seems to be slowly growing to accept it."

"That is a good attitude to uphold in the face of this predicament," Igneous said, offering a smile. "And so let it be known that the Pie family accepts you and Caramel for what you are, and that our arrangement for him to wed one of our daughters shall remain intact."

"Excellent," Pokey said, smiling lightly back at the Pie family patriarch. "I'm sure everything will work out just fine."

Not a second had passed following Pokey's sentence before he was doused with a bucket of cold water. The transformation was so quick that the ponies present could barely perceive it, and before they knew it, a large, confused grizzly bear was sitting right where Pokey had been.

"Well," Maud said, discarding the bucket. "He was done."

"Indeed," Igneous said, as Cloudy gently coaxed Marble out from hiding behind the couch. Then he tapped his chin with a hoof. "I wonder where Limestone and Caramel have gotten off to..."

Comments

[greyyy]

God. Damn. It. Now I'll have the theme song stuck in my head for a week

[Twinkletail]

8119431
Yapapa, yapapa...

[Seven Fates]

Interested to see where you take this. Favorite on account of ponifying one of my all-time favorite manga series.

[Philosophysics]

Be careful with Limestone's characterization is all I have to say.

OTHERWISE HYPED!

[Carapace]

... I'm almost afraid to ask who you've got lined up for the rest of the girls XD

[Winter Quill]

"I know I do not have to do it all the time, but how very fortunate that this happened to rhyme."

*passes Zercoa a lampshade*

I'm really enjoying this story. It's a pretty good merging of the two settings without being a direct plot line lift. Keep it up!

[Thule]

8119449 ... Ishanten....

[Twinkletail]

8121163
Haha, I was kinda hoping that nobody would bring the sisters' ages up. I had it in my headcanon that Maud was the oldest and actually didn't even know of that tweet until after I posted the first chapter. I wanted to keep the dynamic of Maud being able to guilt Limestone into things though, so I just left it, justifying it to myself by saying that it was never stated in the show itself so it was fair to interpret it whichever way.

Let's just say that within this slightly alternate setting, the ages are different

I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I'll try to work a bit harder to bring out the personalities that I have in my head for Caramel and Pokey.

[ChibiChabot]

Hehehe loving this story~ Thanks for the update

[NicLove]

... Caramel's head breached the surface of the spring, and he gasped for air as he pulled himself towards solid ground. From what he could see as he flailed towards land, he was still in possession of his same yellow forelegs. Something about them, though, looked slightly different...a tiny bit more slender, perhaps? He could feel his wet mane pressed against his forehead, neck, and shoulder, and even saw a bit of it obscuring part of his vision. That in itself was a bit strange. His mane wasn't really long enough to cover that much of him. Apparently this spring was haunted by a long-maned pony ...

Are you going to make a M rated one ?

[Viper Pit]

8120122
icon to cute going down tell my family that I had the last muffin

[Requiem-soul]

This great start to a story. I think you have a great story on your hands and I hope we get to see more

[Viper Pit]

If you need help with this story I am more then willing to step up to the plate