Breakups Hurt
Caramel twisted his head to the side, wincing at the sharp bolt of pain which shot through his neck. He must have bruised it on his fall from the second storey. He laid face down in the dirt, surrounded by a halo of broken glass. Perhaps the next time he decided to reveal his true form to a pony he'd make sure to check that he wasn't near any windows first.
He flopped himself onto his back and stared disbelievingly at the shattered remnants of what used to be a pane of glass. A few bucks to the face he could've handled and wholly understood... but getting thrown out of a window?
The front door to the quaint Apple family home burst open with a thunderous bang, revealing a bloodthirsty, red eyed Applejack. She bared her teeth in an animalistic snarl as she slowly stomped towards him, kicking up small clouds of dust with every step.
Dear Chrysalis, was she... growling?
Caramel instinctively began to pedal himself away from the vicious, imposing farm pony.
"N-now Applejack, be reasonable!" he spluttered, picking his words carefully. "We can talk about this, t-there's no reason to overreact!"
Bad choice of words...
"Overreact? OVERREACT?" the changeling winced as she raised her voice. "Ah trusted you, cherished you an' loved you fer over a year, an' y'all tell me not ta OVERREACT?" she spat out each syllable with disgust. Every word stabbed at the changeling's heart, dashing any hope he had of salvaging their relationship. "Oh, ah'll show ya overreactin'..."
Caramel's back met the trunk of one of the many apple trees that dotted the orchards. Applejack drew closer still, her eyes now twitching with rage. He swore that he could see small tongues of flame flickering in her irises.
If looks could kill, he'd be dead.
"Come on now Applejack, baby, please!" he whimpered as soothingly as possible. "Y-you wouldn't hurt little old me, would you? I mean, I'm still your coltfriend, right?"
"Ah ain't yer baby an' you definitely ain't mah coltfriend!" she replied coldly. "An' ah intend ta do a little more than hurt y'all!" she closed the gap between them and thrust a hoof into his chest, pinning him to the floor. Applejack pressed her weight down upon him, squeezing the air out of his lungs. "Ah'm gunna squash you like the bug you are, changeling."
*Knock knock knock*
Twilight grumbled in annoyance as she hauled herself out of bed. She snatched her alarm clock from her desk as she passed it and glared at its face, grinding her teeth together in anger. It was two in the morning, just who in tartarus goes around knocking on doors at TWO in the MORNING? Her purple aura of magic engulfed the brush which she kept on the shelf and ran it through her knotted purple mane.
*Knock knock knock knock knock*
"Just a minute!" she barked. For Celestia's sake, she was starting early tomorrow! Why couldn't Equestria just cut her a little slack? After all, she'd saved it twice. All she was asking for in return was a few more precious hours of sleep. Was that really too much to ask?
*Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock*
Evidently so.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" she snapped at the door as she made her way down the stairs. Whatever this pony had to say better be good, because currently, Twilight Sparkle was NOT a happy mare. "What?" she growled as she opened the door.
Her fury melted away as soon as she saw who was standing in front of her.
Applejack stood in the doorway, her glassy emerald eyes fixed on the ground. Her ears were splayed across her skull, and her mouth was bent in an emotionless frown. She was wearing her mane un-braided, letting it flow freely in the light breeze. The Stetson she commonly wore was tilted downwards, cloaking her grim face in shade. There was something led across her back, struggling and moaning in agony.
"Twi, I need ya to send somepony... something to the princess..." she croaked, keeping her gaze fixed firmly on the floor.
With a slow and calm movement, she removed her squirming package and hurled it past Twilight, where it hit the floorboards with a thud and a weak 'oof'. Twilight examined the wriggling bundle of rope and chitin with wide-eyed shock. Was that a changeling?
"Applejack!" she began, turning back to her friend. "Where did you-" Twilight cut herself off as soon as she realised that she was talking to an empty doorway. Applejack was walking solemnly into the distance, her silhouette melting into the other shadows of the night. "Applejack?" she called again to the depressed mare retreating into the darkness. "What's wrong?"
Applejack remained as silent as a spectre, and sliding away into the dark.
A green flash of fire awoke Princess Celestia from her slumber. She peeled her champagne pink eyes open to find an eloquently bow-tied roll of parchment resting against the tip of her nose, a crimson splotch of wax binding it shut. The small insignia stamped into the wax told her that it was a message from none other than her faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. But what in the world would coax the purple unicorn into sending a message at this hour? She may be a sun goddess, but even goddesses needed sleep.
As much as she wanted to, Celestia did not ignore the neat little piece of paper. If Twilight was sending messages at two in the morning, then it was bound to be about something important. She unfurled the parchment, and began to read.
Dear Princess Celestia
This may come as a shock to you, but Spike and I have received a changeling, and would be gracious if you could come and remove him from the premises as soon as possible. I ask of you not to worry, for I am quite safe. However, I'm afraid that the same cannot be said for our guest. I implore you once again to hurry, for I fear that the changeling may be in urgent need of medical attention. You'll understand when you see it for yourself.
P.S. It was like this when we found it. Honest.
Princess Celestia leapt from her four-poster bed and hastily threw on her golden regalia. If there was a changeling in Ponyville, then Twilight, as well as the rest of the town's inhabitants, were in danger whether they knew it or not. Changelings were a foe of many numbers, and she severely doubted the possibility of there being only one residing in the entirety of Ponyville. If Twilight had found one, then there were bound to be more.
"It doesn't look too... healthy." murmured Spike. He watched the changeling bound in rope from across the room, a big wad of pity building up inside of him. Spike disliked changelings as much as any pony, but he couldn't help but feel as if Applejack had taken it a step too far.
The changeling in question was curled up on the carpet in the foetal position, a length of rope binging his forelegs to his sides. One of its bulbous sapphire eyes had swollen shut, whilst the other rolled around lazily in its socket. It was missing a fang, which Spike presumed had been knocked out of the poor thing's mouth, which had a balled pair of socks crammed into it. Perhaps the strangest thing, though, was the two words scrawled on the changeling's forehead in red marker pen.
'Lying pig.'
"Yeah," said Twilight, eyeing the battered creature with concern. "Applejack really went to town."
"Uh, Twilight?"
"Yes Spike?"
"Do you mind if we take the socks out of its mouth? It seems a little overkill."
Twilight eyed the dirty pair of socks clogging the shape shifter’s airways with distain. Writing slander on somepony's forehead was bad enough, but gagging them with used socks?
"Agreed." she answered finally.
A plume of violet magic encapsulated the socks and unplugged them from the changeling's gob. Said changeling immediately broke into a violent fit of coughing and retching, spitting out the vile taste of sweat that the used pair of socks had left lingering on his tongue.
"Thank-" it began before being cut off by another fit of gagging. "you."
Twilight narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Its voice was eerily ponylike... eerily familiar. A cold shiver ran down her spine. A voice like that didn't belong on a creature like this. It was kind of like hearing a cat bark, or a cow tweet, or Spike apologise. It simply wasn't natural. She cautiously moved herself closer, analysing the creature's alien body. She'd never had the chance to examine one before, well not in detail anyways. All the others she'd met had either tried to bite her face off or left her for dead at the bottom of a dank, deserted mine. Maybe now that she had one that was actually willing to speak to her she could finally-
Her line of thought ended abruptly a Spike picked up a ruler and prodded the changeling in the gut.
"Hey Twi, check this out," he called to her excitedly before returning his attention to the creature's underbelly. "it's all squidgy underneath!" he ended his statement with another firm jab to the changeling's stomach, eliciting a small cough from its lips. "Neat."
"Spike!" snapped Twilight, using her magic to tear the ruler away from the young drake's grasp. "Stop poking our prisoner!"
"But Twilight," he said in a long, drawn out moan. "it's so weird!" he reached for the ruler hovering in mid-air, only for Twilight to lift it higher. "Puhleeaaase?"
"No means no Spike!" she stomped a hoof on the ground, swiftly ending the dragon's pleas. Spike crossed his arms with a 'hmph' and sat himself down next to the changeling, grumbling curses under his breath. Twilight was such a killjoy.
Applejack stared out into the orchards, oblivious to the cold breeze glancing across her withers. She felt... betrayed? Angry? Sad? She didn't know. The swelling ball of emotion in her chest was a new and painful experience. Her stomach twisted into a tight knot, each breath crawled out of her mouth in a ragged wheeze, and her eyes stung with the imminence of tears.
Her thoughts drifted to Caramel, and all of his weird quirks and habits. She thought about his clumsiness, the terrible jokes he made, his complete and utter lack of cooking skills, how he insisted on taking Applebloom to school on Thursdays because he 'liked the company', his fear of the dark (which she constantly teased him about), the firm yet delicate way he would kiss her every morning as she woke before whispering a subtle 'I love you' into her ear...
Lies. Nothing but sweet, loveable lies.
A traitor, a fiend, a cheat, a monster, Caramel, or whatever that thing's name was, was all of the above. And to think she'd been stupid enough to trust that... that scumbag!
A sudden wave of rage flowed through her body, washing away her glumness and filling the empty pit where her heart used to be with blind, burning fury. She approached the nearest tree and delivered a fierce buck to its trunk, breaking the ghostly silence with the thundering crack of hoof against wood. She spared a quick glace to survey the light imprint her hooves had left on the bark before firing off another firm kick.
Bucking trees had always been her personal way of relieving stress. Twilight had reading, Rainbow Dash had flying, and she bucked trees. It may have been an unusual method, but it worked nonetheless. It was rhythmic, busying, distracting...
And not working at all.
She increased her pace, beckoning the hollow clacking sound of her hooves drumming against the tree to drown out the raging storm of thought and emotion inside of her. Each buck grew stronger as she poured more and more of her anger into every strike.
He was a liar. A filthy, depraved, degenerate liar! How she'd ever loved such a vile, disgusting disgrace of a pony was beyond her. Looking back on it, he deserved far more than the light beating she had given him. In fact, had she the chance to turn back time, she would've... she would've killed him! She would have crushed his ugly, black hide beneath her hooves, tore his worthless body asunder and destroyed whatever remained in a blazing inferno of vengeful fire!
With a final buck, the tree split down the grain with a loud snap.
Applejack collapsed into the dirt, suddenly aware of the burning sensation in her thighs. She studied the long horizontal split that now ran down the base of the apple tree's slender trunk. Drops of thick, golden sap budded from the wound and oozed across its surface, as if the tree was silently weeping at her.
She sighed deeply and let her body slump fully to the ground. What was she doing? Venting her frustration into trees, acting all soppy over the fact that her ex-coltfriend turned out to be a changeling, for Celestia's sake, she thought she was better than this! She was the element of honesty, not some mopey teenager who whined about breakups!
Applejack got back on her hooves, settling herself with a deep, cleansing breath.
"C'mon AJ, you've been through tougher ruts than this." she said to herself as she made her way back indoors. She'd fought Nightmare Moon, did battle with Discord, and crossed metaphorical swords with an entire horde of changelings. She could deal with this... She'd be fine. Absolutely fine.
She got back into bed, and sobbed into her pillow.
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Oh damn... Betrayal within breakups.
Well, I"m sure there is a reason Caramel kept his identity, just hope it isn't 'Taking a pony's place' kind of explanation.
2007900 Don't worry, I've got something a little different in mind
2007904
Then I'm sure one possible explanation, Caramel fell in love with Applejack though hiding his true form.
Not feeling all the that bad for AJ. Poor Caramel. Should have kept his trap shut. Now he might be killed or stuck in jail forever.
2007913 I guess that's partly what I have in mind but also he's- gah! I'm giving away plot elements! Somebody taze me, quick!
2007925
Don't worry, Caramel was sincere in the first chap, so it was to be expected.
Poor Caramel... Applejack sure is hard on him.
2007985 That she is, but when you think about it, he WAS kinda lying to her about his identity for over a year. Changelings. They're natural trolls.
Ohhhh.... Hot damn AJ... Remind me not to get you mad. Even if the Changling wasn't Caramel... I'd still feel pretty bad for him. Out of all the ponies to tick off...
I wonder how long it will be till Applejack relizes that he never lied to her, except for his appeance
2008022
Ok, I gotta recommend this!
The tree isn't weeping, it's bleeding, you heartless monster.
Gonna read later. Pokemon on my phone now.
This is really good, I can't wait to read the next part!
Why there's only two chapters?! I want more!
Also, say 'thank you' to Kishin, that's because of him I'm here.
...wow....I hope to see much more of this!
fetal*
imageshack.us/a/img33/5764/likethischapter.jpg
This is really good. Though the title and description are misleading... unless Caramel will be looking to patch up things between them.
2011269 Wikipedia and the dictionary say otherwise.
2007925Update schedule...Is there one? Tell me, PL0X!
I can't agree with the "Caramel shoulda kept his trap shut" premise. When you love, you want no secrets. (Is a changeling actually capable of love? I'm inclined to give this one the benefit of the doubt.)
Aww, I feel so bad for poor Caramel! OnO
He needs a good hug.
I can't wait for the next chapter! O3O
Ooooo, excellent start to this! I'm really looking forward to more.
Poor AJ, poor Caramel, but most of all, poor Spike. Silly Twilight, not letting him poke the changeling.
Hah!
2011390 Correct! You've earned yourself an internet cookie point, spend it well
2010457 Read what I said on your wall, it applies here
THIS GUY! THIS GUY KNOWS HOW TO BE AWESOME!
2010502 It's true, I truly am a heartless beast, and I'm damn proud of it
Also, portal reference?
2010828 I've said thanks to Kishin, if somebody knows him personally, kiss that incredible SOB for me
2010880 and that you will, thanks for the support
2011400 I don't really have a schedule (pfft, like I'm that organised) but I'm going to be cracking out chapters as hard as I can starting from... now!
2011770>>2011752>>2011455 A hearty thanks to each of you for your support. I hope that you all enjoy reading this fic as much as I enjoy writing it
blog.vsee.us/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/kyle_moar.jpg
2012609
I'm still waiting....
...
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4x44nT4fV1rq8b24o1_500.png
Where is the next chapter.
I don't mean to prod, but where's that next chapter?!??!
Hm... just thinking. Was AJ lying when she said she'd still love him as a changeling? In theory, yes, but more likely, she wasn't aware of her own feelings at the time, so no... hm
Can I haz moar?
2026210 Why sure, I'm working on chapter three right now
2026324 Squee! You are amazing.
whats the ETA of chapter 3? im going crazy waiting on another chunk of great story
... lookin for some more great 'plot' 
2030449 Ack, sorry, I've spent the last six hours typing homework... I swear if I press one more key my fingertips are going to pop off and run away to the nearest police station to file a harrasment claim on me.
2031914 LOL, no rush just really like your story
2031928 thanks
I actually logged on to write more of the upcoming chapter, so I best get back on it. Thank you once again for the support, and I hope you like what I've got in store
It was kind of like hearing a cat bark, or a cow tweet, or Spike apologise. hahaha
You spelled premises wrong (in the letter to Celestia)
That's the only mistake I can see.
Ok. This confirms it. This song is perfect for AJ.
"a length of rope binding his forelegs to his sides"
I have no clue what binging is, but if it involves internet search engine Bing, it's not something I want to know.
I feel no pity for Applejack. If she was just angry that he lied to her, that would be understandable. However, she's obviously condemned an entire species based on one interaction. In a world with multiple non-equine species (all of which act exactly like ponies [even dragons]), AJ should know better.
But no, she's acting just like the USA did to the Japanese during WWII. Except instead of the Japanese, it would be like imprisoning all Asians, regardless of if they were from Japan or not. Even Koreans. That's how bigoted she is.
And then get charged for murder. Great plan, Applejack, great plan.