"Wake up, sleepy head." cooed a soothing voice to the earth pony stallion known as Caramel. "It's time to get up, silly."
"Just five more minutes, dear." replied the sleepy stallion. "Just let me sleep for five more minutes."
"Really, it's time to wake up. And who are you calling dear?" said the voice a noticeably harsher tone.
"Woah, honey." said Caramel "Is everything okay?"
"Honey! Who do you think you are talking to!? Now, get up this instant or I'll come in there and get your flank off the floor myself!" The furious voice was enough to jolt Caramel out of sleep. He had been dreaming about being in bed with his mare friend, but it had been only that. A dream. In reality, Caramel was not in abed, but rather lying on a cold and damp floor. Also unlike his dream, Caramel did not, in fact, have a marefriend. As the earth pony looked around, he started to begin to realize exactly where he was. He saw he was in a small room that had a blanket on the floor, a sink and toilet in the corner, and was completely encased in metal bars. Caramel gasped as he came to his senses and realized that he was in the local Ponyville prison.
"Well, look who's awake." said the angry voice that Caramel had spoke to in his dream. However, instead of being Caramel's dream marefriend, Caramel was talking to a royal guard who did not look happy. "Have anything to say for yourself, prisoner." the guard spat.
"Uh...How did I get here?" asked Caramel. Before the guard could speak, he was interrupted by the sounds of approaching hoof steps. Both ponies turned their heads to see a grey mare walking towards them.
"Octavia" Caramel gasped, instantly recognizing the pony. "What are you doing here?"
"You really don't remember anything that happened yesterday?"
"Not a clue, Tavi." replied Caramel.
"Don't call me Tavi." Octavia stated bluntly. "And trust me, you're in here for a good reason."
"Mind telling me what it is?"
"Of course."
It was a crystal clear sunday afternoon and the citizens of Ponyville were going about their daily business. It was a typical day for every pony, including the grey coated mare known as Octavia. She was busy strolling through the local market, focused on buying her weekly groceries. All that was left to buy was cheese. This wasn't a surprise to the mare, for cheese was on the list every week. Her roommate, Vinyl Scratch, always seemed to consume an excessive amount of cheese in her opinion.
"Oh well, " she sighed. "It's only one more item and the shop is right over th..."
Before Octavia could finish her thought, she felt herself collide with something soft. She fell back on her flank with a loud "thud" and began to rub the sore area.
"I'm so sorry Octavia. I wasn't looking where I was going." said a voice from above. Octavia looked up to see a pony that looked vaguely familiar to her. She knew she recalled his face, but could not place a name to it.
"It's quite alright. I don't think I was looking where I was walking either." she said, standing up. "I'm terribly sorry..." The pony looked at her, expecting her to see his name. "Mr...uh..."
"Caramel. My name is Caramel. We've known each other for years." Caramel sighed.
"Sorry Caramel, but I really must be going. I'll see you around." stated Octavia as she began to walk away.
"Oh yeah, I'm starting to remember now. I still don't get how I ended up in jail, though." Caramel interrupted.
"I was getting to that." respond Octavia. Now, if you would just allow me to finish, you would now how you got here."
"Allright. Please continue, Octavia."
"Gladly."
After her little incident with Caramel, Octavia bought the cheese she needed and was heading home. However, she could not help but wonder about the pony she had ran into earlier that day. Why could she not remember Caramel's name when she bumped into him earlier. After all, he was right when he said they had known each other for years. Quite frankly, it was embarrassing that she had forgotten the poor pony's name. Octavia really couldn't get the thought of that pony out of her head. Now, it seemed as if she was seeing him where've she went. Wait. She wasn't imagining Caramel was there. She looked behind her and saw him sitting alone at a cafe. His head was being concealed by a menu.
"Weird." she thought. "It's probably just a coincidence that he was here. Seeing that he had not noticed her yet, she decided to leave and avoid another awkward encounter with the stallion. As she continued to trot home, Octavia tried to get her train of thought off of Caramel.
"Think, Octavia. Think! What will get your mind off of Caramel? Oh yeah. Cheese. I just bought a lot of cheese. And next week I will have to buy more cheese. Because Vinyl eats way to much. She really needed to cut down. She's starting to get a little fat." Octavia's thoughts were finally off of the stallion when she noticed that Caramel was now to her right. He was inside of the Cakes' shop, browsing the pastors with his back turned to her. "Ok, now I know I'm going crazy!" she thought. "I have to get home." With that, the mare began to gallop home. "I just need a cold shower to clear my head. That's all. Everything will be better after that." She skidded to a stop when she saw that Caramel was running after her. As she turned back, Octavia saw him quickly duck behind a barrel. "Okay he's following me. I have to do something about this."
Octavia looked around and saw a phone booth near her. She stepped into the phone booth and shut the door. Octavia took out a bit from her saddlebags and dropped it into the slot. She then quickly dialed "9-1-1." As the phone rang she looked out the glass booth and saw that Caramel had now taken a position outside the library, pretending to read a newspaper.
"Hello?" she heard a voice on the other line ask. "This is the emergency services. Why have you contacted us?"
"Thank you. I need some pony to help me. I am in the phone booth near the Ponyville library. There is a pony stalking me. His name is Caramel and he's been following me ever since I left the market."
"Allright Ma'am. Do not worry. We have dispatched some guards to come and arrest the pony. Are you alright?"
"Yes, thank you so much." Octavia replied as she hung up the phone. She looked out of the booth one more time and saw Caramel being taken to the ground by a group of royal guards. She watched as one beat him over the head with a spear, knocking him unconscious. "Oh, Caramel. Why?
Caramel was absolutely speechless. He could not believe the story that Octavia had just told her. Caramel was ashamed as well because he knew the story was true. He touched his scalp with a hoof and sure enough he felt a tender lump on top of it. Caramel now recalled the whole incident, from start to finish.
"Octavia, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. After we ran into each other and I saw your face, I knew I had to keep seeing you. I didn't think it would go this far." apologized Caramel.
Octavia sighed as she looked upon the upset stallion. She knew he didn't mean to frighten her, but his actions were still not justified. "I forgive you, Caramel. You have feelings for me and impulsively acted on them. However, that does not excuse your actions. I think a little more jail time would teach you a lesson."
"I could not agree more." said the guard who had finally decided to speak up. "Don't worry Caramel, you only have one more day in here."
"Okay, " Caramel sighed. "I guess I deserve it."
"You sure do." Octavia responded. "Sorry, Caramel, but I don't feel the same way about you. I didn't even remember your name yesterday. I have to go, but promise me you'll leave me alone when you're out of here."
"I promise, Octavia." Caramel stated. "I won't bother you again."
"Good," Octavia said as she left the prison. "I hope you have learned your lesson."
Once Octavia was clearly out of earshot, Caramel decided he had one thing left to say.
"I prefer Vinyl Scratch anyways."
