Work Title: Story of a Background Pony or The Adventures of Supercolt
Chapter 1
By every apparent indication, it was to be a day like any other day. As it had always been, Caramel Apple had been awakened by the call of his rooster, Cluck. As it had always been, he got out of bed, did his mane, went downstairs and ate his breakfast. There was nothing special about today. Just like there’s nothing special about me, he thought, solemnly. It was true. While poor Caramel tried his best at life, the best never seemed to come to him. Just the other day, the day of Winter Wrap-up, he’d been entrusted with something as minor as carrying the grass seeds, and he couldn’t even do THAT right. He was, in short, a failure. He would never stop wanting more.
Presently, Caramel was going back upstairs to brush his teeth and find his saddlebag. Before he began brushing, he said to himself something he said to himself every morning in the mirror:
“Who knows, Caramel? Today might be your day.” He used to say it with confidence, but lately, he’d giggle after saying it. It being his day no longer seemed possible. The daily “Who knows?” was now all he had left of his once strong and unquenchable ambition. Having finished brushing his teeth, he went back into his room to look retrieve his saddle bag, which contained important documents for work. He kept it under the side table next to his bed. He trotted back downstairs, opened the door, walked outside, and closed it behind him.
Once again, there didn’t seem to be anything special about this day. All was as usual. He proceeded to turn in the direction of his workplace, but bumped right into somepony. The impact knocked him on his back and caused his saddle bag to pop open, spilling most of his work documents. The other pony, by contrast, seemed utterly unaffected by the collision, physically or emotionally. He was a rather big fellow, and he just walked right on by, with not so much as a “sorry”, thinking to himself how rude it was of Caramel to run into him. There was a time when this sort of thing would have made Caramel very cross, but at this point in his pathetic life, he’d gotten used to this sort of thing. He hustled to pick up all his documents, shove them back into his saddle bag, close it, and continue walking. The incident had cost him valuable time, and he had now had to walk slightly faster if there was to be any hope of getting to work on time.
As had become routine, incidents like this seemed to just keep on happening for the entire walk, to the point where he was forced to run as fast as he could for the final stretch. “Come on, come on, come on...” he yelled to himself while running. Despite his best efforts, he could not escape the inevitable conclusion; he was late to work. This never ceased to disappoint him, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. His life was not good. He worked at the Ponyville Express, the sole newspaper in Ponyville which wasn’t the school paper, which nopony cared about. Not that many more people cared about the Ponyville Express, but it was a job. There was a time when Caramel’s boss, Ink Murdoch, would have been infuriated at this tardiness, but he’d become used to it over the years. “Glad you decided to show up today, Caramel,” he said, quite insincerely. “I’m sorry, Chief,”, replied Caramel, “I’m trying to get here on time, I really am-”
“Shut up,” interrupted Murdoch. “I want to talk to you for a minute in my office.” Caramel sighed. “Yes, sir,” he said. He proceeded to follow Murdoch into his office. Murdoch sat down at his desk. There was another chair in the room, but he didn’t ask Caramel to take a seat, so he didn’t. “Listen, Kid,” said Murdoch, “I know you’re trying, but that’s not enough. I can’t have you late to work every day like this.”
“I know, Chief, and I-”
“Shut up.” Caramel obliged.
“Kid, I’ll give you one more chance. But if you’re ever late again, I’m sorry, but I’m gonna have to let you go.”
“Thank-you, Chief,” said Caramel, “it won’t happen again.”
“It’d better not.” Murdoch turned around in his swivel chair, so that his back was now to Caramel. “Now, get to work, assuming you remember where your cubicle is.”
“Yes, sir,” said Caramel, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. He backed out of the office and proceeded to his cubicle and set to work.
As he labored tirelessly at his desk, he thought of someone who used to work with him. Her name was Film Reel. She never seemed to notice that he existed, but he’d spent every minute of every work day noticing her. She was beautiful. She was also highly successful. While he remained at his dead-end job, she’d moved on first to another paper in Canterlot, and then to an on-air channel. She’d never known he’d existed, but he was so proud of her. It was a long while before he stopped daydreaming and got back to work.
It had been a long day, but Caramel was finally back in his bedroom. It wasn’t even dark out yet, but he was getting ready for bed nevertheless, because he REALLY needed the sleep. It was only around 5:15 PM, but it felt like 1:00 in the morning. He was simply THAT tired. The day, like most others, had dragged on and on by, as though it would never end. This was because he wanted more than anything for it to end. First there was being late to work, then there was the threat of losing his job, then there was an extremely long, extremely unsatisfying work day.
He got the job done, but it was an insidiously boring job. The Express faced the same problem as the local school paper, the Foal Free Press; nothing particularly interesting every really happened in Ponyville. Whenever something did, the story ALWAYS went to one of his coworkers rather than himself. Lady Luck never quite cared for him.
The walk home had been just as unfriendly as the walk to work. Incidents like the one from that morning happened so often on both walks that he was beginning to wonder if ponies might be going out of their way to run into him and put a damper in his already not particularly high spirits.
But none of that mattered now. It was finally time for bed now, finally time to put the troubles of the day behind him and escape to the land of rest.
Chapter 2
The night, by contrast to the day, seemed to zoom by like lightning. What seemed like mere seconds after he’d finally gone to sleep, he was once again awakened. Something was different this time. He couldn’t quite put his hoof on it, but something just didn’t seem right with today. Nothing particularly unusual was happening, nothing was out of place... But something just felt different. No matter, he decided, after thinking about this for a while, time for my awesome job. He got his saddle bag and went downstairs to eat his breakfast.
Once again, something seemed wrong. His breakfast tasted great. It shouldn’t have; it was just cereal. The cereal itself was no different from what it had been any other morning; it was just some processed wheat sharing its bowl with a puddle of milk. And yet, it tasted absolutely amazing. Caramel couldn’t deny that this was very strange indeed, but he decided not to think too hard about it. After all, it was something good. Good things happening to him were an extreme rarity, to be treasured when they occurred, not questioned.
He walked back upstairs to brush his teeth, and he nearly lost his breakfast at what he saw in the mirror. Now what felt different was staring him in the face. His very build had changed. Somehow, he was no longer the frail and weak pony he’d been all his life. In his mirror, he saw a complete stranger who happened to have his face. This complete stranger had a chest of steel and unbelievably muscular arms. He was simply stunned. How did this happen? he thought. He opened his mouth to brush his teeth, but they were already white as could be. But he’d just eaten less than 5 minutes prior.
What is happening to me? he thought as he walked downstairs. He opened the door and stepped outside, and was bumped into by none other than the exact same pony as he had bumped into the previous day. But this time, the outcome was very different indeed. The pony seemed small by comparison to him this time, and it was he, not Caramel, who fell over on his back this time. This left the other pony stunned. “How rude of you,” said Caramel, satisfied with the new version of events, “Watch your step next time.” He then proceeded to continue his walk to work.
Wow, he thought to himself on the walk, that was incredible. That pony has been one of the many banes of my existence for years, and I just beat him without even trying! I feel GREAT! He put his head in the sky, full of joy. After a while of looking, he noticed something odd about the clouds. They seemed to be moving closer. Is the sky falling?, he wondered. He looked back down at his hooves, and realized in awe that they were no longer touching the ground, and yet he wasn’t falling. The truth hit him like a speeding bullet; he was flying. Caramel, the Man of Fail, was flying. Not too long after noticing that he was flying, he noticed that everypony else was watching. Just like him, they were in utter shock. All eyes were on him, and some of their owners were pointing at him. “Ooooh yeah,” he said to nopony in particular, “this is going to be a fun morning.” He pent up all his newfound might, and darted through the air like a lightning bolt, creating a considerably powerful tailwind behind him as he dashed to work. But then, another thought hit him.
Wait a sec, he thought, I can fly. I can freaking FLY. Why the hay should I go to WORK? I can go literally ANYwhere! He slowed to a stop to think. He hovered slightly above the Ponyville TV store. Coincidentally, though he didn’t notice, the TVs in the window, which were always showing the news channel, were all displaying footage of him, the “Flying Earth Pony?”, from a few seconds prior. But where to go? he thought. Well, first, he thought, a little change of attire. He flew to the Carousel Boutique and approached its keeper; a rather attractive white unicorn with a flowing purple mane. He’d seen this beautiful mare before. Her name was Rarity. “Hello, Miss,” he said. Rarity was instantly impressed by Caramel’s new build. “Well, hello there, Handsome,” she said, invitingly, “What brings you to the Carousel Boutique?” she asked, getting as close to him as she could get while she said it.
He walked out of the boutique no longer donning his saddle bag, but a red cape and a chest-mounted shield with an ornamental letter “C” imprinted on it. He’d seen something of the like in a comic book somewhere. His clothing being taken care of, he proceeded to think of all the different places he’d always wanted to go but could never afford to. He thought about Canterlot, he thought about the Crystal Empire, he thought about the Griffon Kingdom... But then it hit him. Of all the places he’d ever wanted to go, one stood out. He pointed his head at the sky, pent up all the strength he could now muster, and shot straight upward. Up, up, and away he went. He flew higher than the skyscrapers of Canterlot, higher than the castle at the Crystal Empire, higher than the airspace of the Griffon Kingdom, higher than the very clouds, and finally past the atmosphere. He was in outer space. He saw the stars and distant worlds and nebulas in a way he’d never seen them before. No clouds in the way now, no air or light pollution, just the beauty of the immense cosmos. Then he turned around, and looked down on the planet Equestria** from thousands of miles above. He saw every continent, every ocean, all at once. It was beautiful. It was majestic. He remained there for hours on end, just looking. It was breathtaking.
**Just go with it. I like Equestria better as a planet than a country.
He had to wrap up taking in his planet’s natural beauty when he heard something. It should have been impossible to hear something in space, but he did. It sounded like it was coming from the planet. It was a cry for help. He darted to where he heard the noise from, which turned out to be the city of Canterlot. It turned out that none other than Film Reel herself had fallen out of a helicopter while covering Canterlot’s Winter Wrap-up and was now hanging for her life off the roof of one of Canterlot’s skyscrapers. Her grip was beginning to weaken. The Royal Guards were trying to get through the crowd with a trampoline to break her fall but couldn’t squeeze past. There were several pegasi in the area, but they were Canterlot snobs who were far too vain to use their “fragile” wings, even to save a life. Everypony was screaming, but none louder than Film Reel herself. Her grip was still slipping. She let go.
Film Reel had heard that, when somepony dies, he sees his entire life flash before his eyes just before it happens. Right now, however, she discovered that that was not true. She did see her life flash before her eyes, but not ALL of it; just the things she loved. She saw her first Christmas morning, she saw all the happy moments she’d ever had with her family, like that time they all went on a helicopter tour of Canterlot together back when they all lived in Baltimare, she saw her graduation from Baltimare University with her degree in Journalism, she saw her first day at work at the Ponyville Express, and then she saw one of her coworkers. A frail pony by the name of Caramel. He didn’t seem like much to anypony else, but she’d always seen something special in him. He didn’t have much going for him physically, but personality-wise, he was the kind of stallion she figured any mare should dream of. He was kind, he was funny, and he was loyal. He always wanted to be there for her. This was where her visions ended as she felt herself no longer falling. She looked, and here he was for her again. It was Caramel. “It’s okay,” he said, “I’ve got you.”
“You’ve got me,” repeated Film Reel, still trying to catch her breath, what with having almost died just now. She took a look around and couldn’t find anything holding Caramel up. No ladder, no aircraft, no kindly pegasus, nothing. “Who’s got you?” she asked. He smiled. “You’re not a pegasus,” she said. He thought about it for a few seconds, and nodded. “But you’re...”
“Flying,” he finished for her. He smiled again.
“But... how?” she asked.
“That’s not important,” he replied, “you’re safe. That’s what’s important.”
“You look different,” she said. “I remember you, from the Ponyville Express.”
“I feel different,” he agreed. “Is different okay?” She thought about this for a while.
“Yeah,” she concluded. “Yeah, different is great.” They continued simply smiling at each other as Caramel slowly descended and landed her safely on the ground. He then let go. The Royal Guards were able to keep the crowd at bay as the two finished up their little moment. “If you’ll excuse me, Ma’am,” he said, “I can hear somepony else needs my help.”
“You are one Super colt,” she said. Caramel prepared to fly away, but was interrupted when she asked “will I see you around?” He turned around, smiled at her one more time, and said,
“I’m always around.” He proceeded to once again look at the sky, and dart upward like a rocket.
“Look, up in the sky!” said a voice as he flew up, up, and away once again.
“It’s a bird!” suggested another.
“Nah, it’s a plane!” suggested yet another.
“No, no, no, it’s-”
And then the rooster crowed, and Caramel woke up. He was back in bed. It was 7:30 in the morning once more. He was puzzled. He rushed to the mirror, hoping against hope he would see his muscles once more, but no. He was back to poor, frail Caramel. But, for the first time in his life, he was at peace with this. Even thought it was all a dream, for one fleeting moment, he mattered. And that was all he needed.
~ The End ~
