“Coming!” Caramel yelled as the sound of somepony knocking on his door echoed through his house.
Caramel walked down the stairs and to the door. When he opened the door, he was met by a tall figure wearing a dark cloak.
But instead of being afraid of such a strange figure appearing at his doorstep, Caramel let out a tired sigh. “Do you really need to wear a cloak every time you come by?” he asked the figure.
“Sorry,” the figure said in an embarrassed tone. “It’s just that I don’t want anypony to see me. Who knows what rumors ponies would spread if they saw me here?” the figure finished as he entered Caramel’s house.
As soon as Caramel closed the door, the cloak was encased in a yellow glow, causing it to float off the body of the mysterious figure. The figure revealed himself to be a white unicorn with a glorious blond mane and a cutie mark that looked like the rose of a compass.
“Blueblood, you’re coming to my house in the middle of the night wearing a cloak. You couldn’t look more suspicious if you tried! We’re both lucky that everypony else in Ponyville is already asleep when you come here, or else you would see what a rumor is,” Caramel said in an annoyed tone. “Besides, weren’t you bugging Princess Celestia to teach you some kind of disguise spell?”
“Yeah... but Aunty Celly said that she doesn't trust me with that kind of spell...” A sheepish smile formed on Blueblood’s face as he finished his sentence.
Caramel put a hoof over his mouth as he tried his damn hardest not to laugh at Blueblood’s predicament. He was well aware of the rumors that Blueblood slept with any mare in sight, and he couldn’t help but laugh when that put his friend on an embarrassing situation.
Blueblood, meanwhile, looked at Caramel with an unamused expression. “Are you done?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m done,” Caramel answered after recomposing himself. “Make yourself at home. I’m gonna go get the grog.” He then walked away from Blueblood and towards the kitchen.
Blueblood made his way to the dining room, which was just to the right of the door, and sat at one of the four wooden chairs of the also-wooden circular table.
He looked around at his friend’s house. It was small, but cozy. In fact, Blueblood felt more in home here than he ever did back in the palace.
The ground level was just the small kitchen and the dining room, both separated by a stone counter. The dining room was just a wooden table with four chairs surrounding it, and on the floor there was a carpet with a black and white checkerboard pattern. The kitchen only had a fridge, an oven, a sink, and some small cabinets to store the few utensils Caramel had.
The upper level had a balcony and three doors. The doors led to the bathroom, Caramel’s room, and the guest room, which was usually used by Blueblood when he wanted to spend the night.
Caramel came back with a bottle, filled with a green liquid, and two iron mugs. He put them in the table and sat on the chair opposed to Blueblood. Blueblood used his magic to levitate and open the bottle, and then filled both mugs with the green liquid.
Both of them drank from their mugs, and after a few moments of silence Blueblood started the conversation.
“So, how’s life treating you? You know, with you working on a farm and all.”
“Never been better!” Caramel exclaimed. “The other day, the Apples insisted for me to stay for dinner. You know, it’s probably just my imagination, but I think they see me as part of their family.”
“What would make you think that?” Blueblood asked as he took a sip from his mug.
“Well, Big Mac was really talkative and friendly towards me, and he’s only like that around his family. Apple Bloom and Granny Smith were also really friendly and they kept looking at me in this weird way.” Caramel had his left hoof on his chin as he remembered the scene. Blueblood, on the other hand, listened quietly to his friend’s story. “And Applejack looked kinda embarrassed now that I think about it. And she never looked directly at me the entire dinner.”
When Caramel finished his tale, Blueblood stared at him with a wide grin. His eyes penetrated Caramel’s flesh; gazing directly into his soul.
“What?” Caramel said, creeped out by the way Blueblood was staring him.
“Well, it looks to me that all those years of trying to impress them finally paid off. Because it looks like Applejack is falling for you, and the family are all for it!” Blueblood finished with a smile so big that it looked like it would tear his face in half.
As Blueblood’s words sunk in, Caramel practically leapt in his seat, almost falling backwards. His eyes were as big as the moon, and his mouth open so wide that you could put a pineapple on it and still have space left over.
“D-do you really think so?” Caramel stuttered as he recovered from the shock.
“Yep!” said Blueblood, still with the smile on his face.
A big smile appeared on Caramel’s face, and his eyes glittered with happiness.
“Congratulations!” Blueblood shouted as he launched forward and enveloped Caramel in a bone-breaking hug.
“Blueblood... can’t... breathe...” Caramel whispered between breaths.
Blueblood released his friend from his happiness-filled grip. “Sorry, I got little carried away,” he said as he rubbed the back of neck.
“A little?! You almost broke me in half!” Caramel retorted as he rubbed his body in an attempt to wash the pain away, and to check if he didn’t break anything.
“I already apologized. But anyway, you’re a very lucky stallion, I meet her at the Gala and she is as beautiful as you describe. Such a shame she only uses apples on her treats though. I really hate apples.”
Caramel chuckled at his statement. “Don’t tell me. I still have nightmares from the Tartarus you raised at that restaurant when you saw that all the food there was made from apples.” Suddenly, Caramel remembered of something, causing a devilish grin appeared in his face. “Speaking of the Gala. Rarity told me of your little encounter with her.”
Blueblood’s eyes widened at that. He knew what was coming and he knew he couldn’t stop it.
“She called you, and I quote, ‘The most un-charming prince I have ever met’. Then she went on in full detail about how you made that the most horrible night she ever had: Taking a flower for yourself, refusing to open a door for her, and how you used her as shield to protect you from a flying cake!
“The image of you trying to be a douche was so hilarious that it took all the strength I had not to burst out laughing! But then she told me after that she shook all that cake off on you that you panicked like a little girl! I couldn’t help but laugh my flank off at that. She even had to grab a glass of water for me!”
Caramel continued to laugh and laugh. Once he stopped, a very red Blueblood asked. “Are you done?”
Caramel composed himself, dragging his hoof across his eyes to erase the tears that were forming. “Yeah, I’m done, but I do have a question.”
“What question?”
“Why did you act as such a douche to Rarity? I thought a mare like her was the thing you’ve been looking for all your life,” Caramel asked, taking another sip from his mug.
Blueblood hung his head low to hide the blush that formed on his face. “Well... you see... The thing is....”
Blueblood shifted uncomfortably on his seat, his eyes shifting from side to side as if he was looking for a way to escape. But then his gaze set on Caramel’s face, who eagerly waited for him to say something. As Blueblood looked at his friend, his uneasiness faded away and his shy expression changed for one of pride. Because Caramel was his friend, his best friend, he would be there for him no matter what. And so he deserved to know this.
“The truth is... I’m in love with Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Blueblood said in a powerful tone that only a pony of royalty could muster.
Caramel stared dumbfounded at that, but soon his expression changed to a smile. “Well, I’m happy for you. From what Rarity told me she is a fine mare. But you do realize that because of the way you treated Rarity you lost any chance with her right?”
The moment realization struck, Blueblood’s pupils shrank. His face hit the wooden table in one swoop, causing it to shake alongside the mugs and the bottle. “I know, but if I hadn't acted like that she would had fallen for me! And that would just make things more complicated!”
“I guess. But couldn’t you had thought of a better plan?” Caramel responded with a chuckle in an attempt to lift Blueblood’s spirit.
“I am not a clever pony,” Blueblood replied, not bothering to lift his head from the table.
Caramel looked down at Blueblood with a frown. He really hated to see Blueblood down like that, it just seemed wrong to him. Then an idea came to his mind, replacing his frown with a smile. “Say, acting like a jerk is fine... but what about you running away screaming like a little filly? Was that an act too?”
Blueblood lifted his head from the table and looked at Caramel, his face having a sheepish smile and slight blush. “No. That was genuine.”
Silence reigned for a moment as they stared at each other. But then the silence was broken by Caramel bursting out in laughter.
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” The table shook as Caramel constantly hit it with his right hoof, and tears streamed down from his face as he continued to laugh. His laughter was so great that he even fell from his chair and started rolling in the floor.
At this point, Blueblood’s entire coat was a deep crimson. But in an instant it returned to its natural color, and with it, grimness washed over his face. “Oh, yeah?” Blueblood’s voice was cold and firm. “I don’t remember you laughing like this back in Saddle Arabia.”
The laughter immediately stopped and Caramel got up from the floor. “Because that wasn’t funny! How was I suppose to know that in their culture giving a tulip to a mare was asking her hoof on marriage?” Caramel sat back on his chair and took another swig of grog.
“Yeah, you’re right, that wasn’t funny,” Blueblood said as Caramel re-filled his mug. “The funny part was you desperately trying to escape from consummating the marriage.” A wicked smile spread across Blueblood’s face at the exact moment that a faint blush appeared on Caramel’s. “How did you explain to me?” Blueblood stroked his chin as he thought back to the incident. “Oh yeah, now I remember! You ran from her as she desperately tried to bed you. But there’s something I don’t get it. How did you end up covered in glue and feathers?”
“That’s a long story. And who are you to talk? Need I remind you of what happened in Manehattan?”
Blueblood’s entire body stiffened at the mention of Manehattan. He could only stare with wide eyes as Caramel continued. “All those mares, and even some stallions, chasing you down the main street screaming your name. All that was missing were the torches and pitchforks!”
“That wasn’t funny! I still have the scars!”
“Of course that wasn’t funny. The funny part was the shock and fear on your face. You looked like something out of a slapstick movie!”
“What about that night in Ravenclaw? Sir Caramelos The Fourth?”
“Oh! Don’t you even start!” Caramel interrupted Blueblood and pointed his hoof at him while using the other to take a sip. “I wasn't the one that brought us to that damn party! ‘It’s alright, Caramel.’ ‘These gryphons are nice, Caramel.’ Next thing I know we’re tied upside down on the town’s clock! I don’t even remember how we got out of that one!”
“Neither do I. All that I remember is a lot of fire and something about a quarrelsome rhinoceros.”
“Wasn’t there a group of killer barbers, too?”
Blueblood shrugged and drank the last bit of grog that remained on his mug. He looked inside the empty mug and then at the empty bottle. Blueblood lowered his head and fiddled with the mug.
Noticing this, Caramel looked at his almost full mug and then back at Blueblood. With a smile Caramel lifted his mug and took it closer to Blueblood. “Hey,” Caramel said.
The fiddling stopped and Blueblood looked up to see his friend smiling at him while holding a mug in front of him.
“Here, you can have half of it.” Caramel turned his mug, the green liquid flowing into the other mug. He stopped when it was half full and then raised his own mug. “How about a toast?” Caramel asked.
“A toast to what?” Blueblood asked smiling.
“How about this: To our immortal friendship, and that luck may fill our love life.”
“Heh. How pompous.”
“I may be a farm-hoof, but I can be high class when I need to.”
“Well, that sounds good enough.”
And with that they lighty clanked their mugs together and drank the remaining grog in one gulp, before crashing the mugs against the wooden table, creating a solid sound that echoed through the house.
“Heh, heh, heh.”
“What are you laughing at?”
“Remember that old stallion that lent his ship to us?”
“When we went searching for El Dourado?” Caramel nodded. His face twisted as he tried to keep the laughter in. “What about him?”
“I just remembered his face of disbelief when we came back not with his ship but with one made of pure gold.”
A loud laughter erupted from Caramel, followed shortly by Blueblood. The laughter continued for a good five minutes until an idea caused Blueblood to stop.
“I have an idea.”
“Oh? What would that be? I hope it’s not like your last idea, because that one ended with us being banned from the city of Vanhoover.”
“No, it’s nothing like that. Okay, hear me out. I’m gonna go to Twilight’s house this instant, and ask her on a date!”
“Are you sure about this? It’s kinda late. Can’t this wait?”
“No! It needs to be today! Or else I might not have the guts to do it later!” Blueblood exclaimed as he triumphantly slammed his mug on the table.
Without giving time for Caramel to respond, Blueblood got up from the chair, grabbed his cloak with his magic, and walked out, closing the door behind him.
“Hey!” Caramel exclaimed loud enough that Blueblood could hear him from outside. “Don’t forget to send me the invitations for the wedding! And I would love to be the godfather of the first foal!”
“Screw you!” Blueblood shouted back, putting a smile on Caramel’s face.
With silence and peace slowly filling the room, Caramel sat back on his chair and looked at the ceiling with a big smile, his forelegs crossed behind his head.
“Well, if he can do it, I can too!” Caramel exclaimed pointing his hoof at the ceiling as if he were challenging the heavens itself. “Look out, Applejack! Your special somepony-to-be is coming for you!”
Caramel’s triumphant smile quickly vanished as his chair fell backwards, making him crash into the ground.
“Ouch.”
