Chapters Author's Note
Yes, this is all done via Dragon VTT and some judicious editing from dedicated people who know I usually don't make that many mistakes.
Also, while this is inspired by "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", it's not a breakup fic. Enjoy.
First Movement
It’s getting to the point where I’m no fun anymore, Caramel sighed as he walked the north field of Sweet Apple Acres. As the lone employee of the Apple Family’s farm (and a distant relative as well, though really, practically any earth pony in Ponyville could say the same thing) he tilled the farm and worked just as hard as either of the older Apple siblings.
“I am sorry,” he said to no one in particular, while staring at the mountains in the distance, in particular the Lonely Spire, the needle-like crag that reached towards the heavens. He’d never been there – in fact, he’d never really left Ponyville. Sure, he’d had plenty of opportunity, but somehow it never seemed to come. There was always some part of the field that needed to be tended to while Applejack was on one of her trips, always some part of the farm equipment needing to be fixed while Big Mac courted the schoolmarm, Cheerilee. Always something, always something.
“D’dja say somethin’?” Big Mac, a short step away, asked. As the two were currently preparing the north field for this year’s crops – a selection of non-apple products, as well as some of the lands that Carrot Top would be renting, since her Any Carrot All farm had a field tied up while she built a new barn – it was just them, sheltered from the rest of the world by the grassy plains to the north of the property, the central orchard to the south, Carrot Top’s farm to the east, and a section of the Everfree to the west. The main part of the farm, as well as Ponyville proper, lay nearly a mile to the south.
Caramel shook his head, but Big Mac merely sighed. “Ah know y’re clampin’ up, but y’ know ya don’t hafta do that ‘round me.”
The tan stallion nodded, then finally sighed. “Sometimes ... it hurts so badly I must cry out loud,” he admitted.
“Cry what?”
“I am lonely,” Caramel mourned.
“Lonely? With that smile y’ve always got on yer face?” The russet stallion shook his head. “Ah just don’t get it. Heck, this town’s filled with mares, an’ Ah know there’s more’na few gals lookin’ yer way.”
“Mac, in case you didn’t notice ... they’re always looking at you , even if you’re dating Cheerilee. Or, for that matter, they’ve got their eyes on someone more fancy, like Noteworthy, or athletic, like Thunderlane or great with the ladies, like Goldengrape. Hell, I’d even deal with being a brainiac like Dr. Hooves – at least he’s got whatsername to cozy up with at nights.”
“Still plenty of others, y’ know.”
“Like who? Lyra and Bon-Bon? Or maybe that DJ chick and her cellist lover? Mac, I’m a single, available stallion – and even with the high number of mare-to-mare relationships in town, somepony should still want me around!” He kicked a pebble, the small stone flipping end over end before colliding into another. “I’m beginning to think that maybe ... maybe I’m just not cut out for living in Ponyville.”
Big Mac just chuckled. “Now, y’ know that’s just ponyfeathers, Caramel. Why, y’re the best danged farmhoof we e’er had here at Sweet Apple Acres!”
“Because I’m the only one, Mac. And I’m beginning to think that at this rate, that’s gonna be my whole life story. I ... I just can’t live my life like this anymore. Not when there’s a whole world out there.” He sat down and spread his forelegs out to encompass the whole world. “Somewhere out there is my life, Mac, I just know it. And if I stay here, I’m never gonna find it.”
“Dontcha think yer rushin’ this?” his friend asked. “Y’ should at least take some time t’ think about it.”
“Maybe,” the goldenrod stallion said in a tone that indicated he didn’t quite agree. With that, the two continued their daily toils, with Caramel occasionally taking the time to look away and cast his eyes on the Lonely Spire, the Whitetail Woods that surrounded it, and the horizon where the sun would eventually take its rest. And as the shadows grew long and the two stallions called it a day, Caramel was all but sure that he’d made up his mind, but he needed to talk to somepony first – somepony important in his life and an individual that he couldn’t just leave behind.
“Heya, I’m home.” Caramel opened the door to his house, taking the time to wipe his hooves off just before shutting it.
A mare peeked her head out. “Heya, bro.” It was his sister, Bell Perrin, the town’s bellcaster along with her husband, Caster. Caramel had lived with them since he was a teenager, which had helped since Bell later gave birth to her son, a young colt they named after Caramel himself – kinda made things a little awkward at times when they forgot to call the tyke “Little Caramel”.
“Just put dinner in the oven,” she said with a smile. “Baked asparagus ziti.”
“Sounds good,” he said, heading towards his room.
“You sure you don’t want to talk about it? I can tell something’s on your mind,” Bell asked him.
He thought about it for a second, and then asked, “Bell ... do you think my life’s just not happy? That I deserve to be somewhere far away?”
Bell gave her brother a soft smile. “Look, if this is about you living with us even though you’re an adult now, well, neither Caster or I mind, really. Besides, Little Caramel loves having his uncle around – you two do look alike, y’ know.”
“Maybe. But lately, I’ve been thinking of going off…somewhere where I can find myself and find out who I really am. You know, see the world and all its colors and stuff.”
She chuckled. “Now you’re starting to sound like Paintpot. I swear, that gal’s got brains made of turpentine and acrylic sometimes. But even so, she’s got a point.” Bell went over and put a hoof on her brother’s wither. “You know, why don’t you hit the bar tonight? Go see your friends and really think about whether or not you want to do this.”
“And if I do?” he asked her.
“If you do, well, you do have enough money to wander a little – remember that trust fund our parents left us? It’s just sitting in the Royal Equestrian Bank, gathering dust, and personally, Caster and I make enough to keep us comfortable – hell, just fixing the school’s bell from when those three fillies tried to be bellringers landed us a heap of bits after the mayor paid us to fix it.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll do that, then. If nothing else, maybe they’ll give me a clue.”
Later that night, Caramel and his friends sat in the local bar, tossing back ciders and joking, for the most part. That was at least until Caramel told them about his plans. Then things got a lot more serious.
“Dude,” Goldengrape said, “if you’re doing this just to get a girl, my sister’s single.”
Caramel sighed. “Yes, and Berry’s still getting over her divorce and has a kid. Your sister’s hot, but I don’t think I’m ready for something like that yet,” he demurred.
Emerald Ray finished taking a drink from his cider and suggested, “What about that babe, Bell Perrin? She’s got a plot that just won’t quit.”
Caramel’s eyes narrowed. “One, she’s married. Two, she’s my sister. What is wrong with you?”
“She’s your sister? Oh, man, sorry, didn’t know. Anyway, is she single?”
“Caramel, ignore stupid here,” Thunderlane, the last of the group, said as he smacked Emerald Ray in the head. “If this taking a year to travel and go find yourself is what you need, well, Ponyville and the rest of us will still be here when you get back.” He signaled to the bartender for another round and insisted, “Hell, if I wasn’t so tied down with my fiancée, I’d go with you.”
“Yeah, but you’ve got Blossomforth, dude – that’s more than enough for anypony.”
Thunderlane laughed, and as the cider arrived, he passed them out to his friends. “So, when are you going?”
“By the end of the week,” Caramel commented. “If I don’t leave by that point, then I’ll never get going.”
“Well, then, here’s to your trip,” Thunderlane announced, taking his cider mug. “To Caramel and his travels – may we get to read interesting letters and not have to head to a jail in Dodge Junction to bail him out.” Four mugs were clinked and at that night, a promise was made.
It took longer than a week for Caramel to get ready, he had to admit. First there was resigning from his job at Sweet Apple Acres; Applejack had thought it was some whining over needing higher pay, but between him and Big Mac, they’d explained it and she finally and reluctantly accepted his resignation. Then there was checking the trust fund and making sure he could access it at any of the dozens of branches of the Royal Equestrian Bank around the realm, but eventually he was assured of that. Then there was plotting out a general traveling plan; while he just wanted to wander and let him go where his hooves would take him, Bell wanted to make sure she could reach him by flamefax if necessary. Between the two and Caster, they managed a general, though not precise, route. Finally, there was the comforting of Little Caramel, who didn’t want to see his uncle go. The young colt cried himself to sleep that night and the thought alone gave Caramel much to think about by the time he went to bed himself.
But finally the day came, and the moment dawn rose, Caramel awoke to the sounds of cooking going on in the kitchen. Heading there, he saw Bell, slaving over the stove, tears in her eyes. The moment she saw him, she smiled sadly. “Never thought this day was going to come,” she admitted, “but you’re a grownup and you deserve to go your own way.”
“You make it sound as if I’m leaving for good,” Caramel said as he sat down at the table.
“In a way, you are. When you come back – if you come back – you won’t be the same as when you left. You’ll be a different Caramel, and the little brother I knew will be gone.” She hugged and nuzzled him. “Promise me you won’t change too much?
He embraced her back. “I promise.”
That conversation had been two hours ago. And now, with filled saddlepacks, his old guitar slung to his back and clear skies courtesy of Blossomforth – who said it wouldn’t be a problem, given that Rainbow regularly ignored Weather Service regulations – he moved at a steady pace through the Whitetail Woods, following the old dirt road towards the northeastern fork. The right would take him towards Canterlot, which he had no real intention of going to. The left, however, led to a small village called Gallopway and towards the badlands. However, it seemed to skirt the edge of the Lonely Spire. Which way to go? He wasn’t sure of that, but he figured he’d realize it once he arrived.
However, soon he arrived ... and realized how very wrong he was. The left-hoof path didn’t lead around the spire – it led over it. The right side, while clear, also didn’t have the rugged, adventurous look of the left. In the past, he knew, he would take the right path, because it was the easier, safer path. But the left path was definitely the unknown, though he knew that was safe, too – after the Element Bearers had beaten a dragon that had lived in the cave at the top, the Wonderbolts had established a local guard garrison within the cave. So really, either way was fine ... and that itself presented a quandary: what to do?
He looked up, to see the sky and the sun heading towards its noontime position. He’d have to make a choice soon, if only so he could pitch his tent in a safe spot, or to make it to an inn or at the very least get a decent night’s sleep. But the question still remained: where to go, which path to choose?
As if Celestia herself decided to answer his question, it came to him a moment later. A gorgeously pure white pegasus split the skies, flying higher than any bird would dare. She swooped and soared through the air, an aerial ballet of refinement and dazzling motion that Caramel couldn’t help but stomp his hooves in applause. It seemed to have gotten the pegasus’ attention, because with a dive that would make Rainbow Dash jealous, she came to a stop just above him.
She was, to put it in a single word, breathtaking . From her pure-white coat to her sea-blue and seafoam-colored mane and tail, to her beautiful sea blue eyes, she was an utter thing of beauty. She wore a golden hairband, and saddlepacks as well – was she a traveller along the same road, metaphorically speaking? But most unique about her was her cutie mark: a shooting star moving in a circular motion. As she landed, he noticed she had a manestyle similar to that of Fluttershy; he had to admit, that manestyle made the animal caretaker incredibly cute, and it looked just as affecting on the mare before him.
“Thank you,” she said in a soft voice. “I ... just wanted to fly, stretch my wings a little, you know? Or, maybe you don’t know, because you’re an earth pony. But I think you get the idea anyway.” She offered a hoof to bump. “Hi, I’m Judy Blue Eyes, but you can just call me Judy.”
“Judy Blue Eyes?” he asked as he bumped her hoof. “That’s an unusual name.”
“It’s a type of flower, similar to a black-eyed susan. The judy blue-eyes grows mostly around the Manehattan area. That’s not where I’m from, though.” She eyed his packs. “So, travelling?”
“He nodded. On a journey to find myself and to see Equestria, maybe beyond.” He then went into a short explanation of the reasons he left home and why he was on his journey. “Left Ponyville a dozen miles back. You?”
“Same, actually,” she said with a smile, brushing the hair out of her eyes. “Wanted to get out and find myself. Left home, domineering mother, yadda yadda yadda.” A sudden thought came over her. “Say, want to travel together, even at least for a little while?” He looked at her and there was a smile in her eyes.
“But I’m an earth pony, and you’re a pegasus,” he pointed out. “Won’t I just slow you down?”
“Having friendly company’s much better than just getting faster to your destination,” she countered. “Besides, even though the Lonely Spire’s free of monsters, it can still be dangerous for travellers, and it’s safer to travel in two.”
He thought about it and said, “Sure, c’mon.” Judy let out a cheer and with a flap of her wings, landed at his side. With that, the two headed up towards the slope, beginning their ascent up the mountain.
The rain outside in the night sky howled – this far from Ponyville, the weather was allowed to exist in natural patterns – and that meant a heavy rainstorm during night on the edge of the cliffside. It would have been frightening, but the Wonderbolts patrolling the area had clearly decided to make sure any hikers were safe and so several smaller caves dotting the mountainside had been set up as shelters, complete with food, firewood and all the things needed for a decent camping situation. The equipment was well within the cave, avoiding the weather; and the cave itself had been clearly ensorcelled so that no creature save for ponies could enter.
Caramel, strumming on his guitar, had to admit something: Judy could barbecue the best carrots he’d ever had. She’d offered to do the cooking, and Caramel helped set up both his and her sleeping rolls. About thirty minutes later, he’d been treated to a simple, but delicious feast of the type he hadn’t had in years. He hated to admit it, but even his sister or Granny Smith couldn’t cook on her level. “So, you can cook, huh?”
“I guess,” she said as she washed off the cooking supplies and readied to put them back in the storage box for the next set of hikers. Seeing his guitar, she asked, “So, can you play, or is that thing just for show?”
His response was to start strumming on the instrument. He wasn’t much of a singer, never claimed to be. But he did know how to play a guitar and a banjo, something he learned during his stupid time trying to woo Octavia Melody before he found out she was a marelover. Even still, he’d kept up with it afterwards and even though he’d never win a mare just based on his musical skills, it was a nice thing to have, as the sounds echoed within the cave like a self-created symphony.
When he was done, she cooed. “That ... was ... awesome !” she squealed. “I wish I had talent like that!”
“You think so?”
“Yeah! If I could do that sort of thing…well, Mother would think it to be far more useful than just cooking.”
“Maybe, but it was your cooking that saved the day,” Caramel pointed out. “Honestly, I’ve never had anything as good, and if you’re mom’s complaining about that, then she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. What does your dad think?”
Judy turned away, her eyes reflecting pain. “I…I don’t know who my father is,” she told him. “Mother says that he left us when I was young. Maybe that’s why she’s always so angry and domineering. Well, no matter. I’m my own mare, and I’m doing this for me.”
“Know the feeling, that I do,” Caramel said as he set down his guitar. “Well, I’m guessing we should get some sleep; long day tomorrow if we’re going to try to make it to the other side of the mountain.”
She nodded as she crawled into her bedroll as he did the same. “Good night, Caramel.”
“Night, Judy. Oh, and thanks.”
“Thanks? For what?”
“I was almost headed towards the Canterlot path when I saw you. Glad I changed my mind.”
She smiled winsomely and the flickering fire gave it an otherworldly look. “I’m glad you did, too. Night.”
“Tuesday morning Please be gone I'm tired of you What have you got to lose?”
Judy’s voice, was as always, beautiful and sweet, Caramel thought, as they sat underneath a rowan tree. They had been travelling together for two months now, and while he wasn’t sure he’d found himself yet, he was pretty sure he’d found something: he’d discovered a bad case of wanderlust that had taken him well beyond what he’d ever imagined of his small world. Currently, and assuming the map was right, the pair of them were in the Undiscovered West – which was actually well known, but just had a weird name. They’d left a town far smaller than Ponyville, so small and remote that Luna’s return was considered recent news from the capital. They certainly didn’t know about the four alicorns (only Celestia and now Luna, thank you very much) and they weren’t aware of the wedding attack, or Discord, or Tirek’s assault – how did they manage to avoid that one? – or anything like that.
So Caramel and Judy updated the town. And the crowds grew. And by the time they’d started to explain about Friendship Castle and the aftermath of it all, the whole town had shown up to listen to the two of them, raconteurs filling the town with the news of what had occurred over the past four years. And when it was over? They were feted, wined, dined and given practically the keys to the town by a very grateful community. The square dancing later that night had been a blast, but Caramel couldn’t keep his eyes off his beautiful, balletic travelling companion, much to the frustrated sighs of more than a few of the single mares within town.
They next day, they set out, fully provisioned with a cart that Caramel had hitched himself to and with a promise that they would visit the tiny town of Sunbarrow the next time they were in the area. Hours later, they stopped in the remains of what used to be a rowan orchard. The farmhouse and barn were all but abandoned, but the rowan trees grew on their own and made for a great stopping point for the pair. They opted to have an early lunch under the nearest copse, and for no apparent reason, Judy started to sing what she said was an old folk tune from her hometown.
“Have I mentioned you have a sweet singing voice?” Caramel asked her, and Judy blushed.
“I don’t think so. Mother always thought that we should be simple in ways and deeds – stuff like singing wasn’t utilitarian enough for her.” She looked her friend straight in the eyes, and said, “I don’t ever want to go back to my hometown, Caramel. Promise that if we ever approach it, and I want to turn around, that you won’t make me go in, okay?”
“Sure, what’s the—”
“Promise me,” she said, her eyes pleading and on the verge of being wet with tears. Something about that made him sure that he never wanted to see her hurt, and so he simply nodded, deciding it was a topic best not brought up again. A smile crept up on her face, and the two dined on egg salad sandwiches, potato chips and some rowan cider that the mayor of Sunbarrow had personally given the pair. A group of birds began to sing and that brought a great smile to Judy’s face, and that warmed up Caramel’s heart.
Later that night, they’d taken shelter in the ruins of an old castle that dated back to the days of the Warring Tribes. It was drafty and had the musty smell of a place that hadn’t been cleaned in a while, but with the warnings about wolves – real wolves, not the magical timber type – running amok around the area, it was a serviceable location.
Sitting in the candlelight, Caramel read a letter from his sister. She’d sent it about a fortnight after he’d left, but he didn’t get it until yesterday, given that the Postal Service had to catch up with his travels. Thankfully flamefaxes were instantaneous, and he’d thought to ask the postmaster if he had anything on hold for him. The postmaster, a jovial stallion by the name of Express, dug up the letter for him a few minutes later, but it wasn’t until now that he’d had a chance to read the letter.
Dear Caramel,
I’m writing this and it seems forever that you’ve been gone, even though it’s only been a week. The house is certainly quieter than when you left. Little Caramel keeps asking when you’re coming back, and I can see the sad face he has whenever I have to tell him that we don’t know. Caster thinks that this is kinda like a hitch in the EUP or Royal Guard, so you’ll be gone for a couple of years. Sorry to be the downer, but as for myself, I hope it’s not anywhere near that long. I miss having my little brother around.
Speaking of which, a couple of days after you left, Thunderlane and Emerald Ray decided they wanted to experience the wide world as well. They got as far as Dodge Junction before they were thrown into jail because they made nuisances of themselves. Blossomforth went to bail them out and as you can imagine … well, Thunderlane’s in the dog house right now.
Lastly, there is one pony that wasn’t happy to see you go, and I’m not talking about any of us. About two days after you left, Lilac Links came by looking for you, wondering if it was true that you’d left. She then came in and told me that she’d been working up the courage to talk to you, but that you just seemed, well, untouchable for a mare like her. Honestly, I think she’ll burn a candle for you for some time, but depending on how far you go and for how long you’ll travel, I don’t think she’ll still be there when you get back. Besides, this is about letting the future define you, not the past.
Well, gotta go make dinner. Hope to hear from you soon.
Love,
Caramel folded the paper gently and as he did, he heard the peal of a wolf’s howl in the distance, followed soon by two others. Slightly unnerved by that, he decided to check the doors again – the magic in them still held, strangely, so they remained intact – before throwing more of the broken wooden furniture into the fireplace to last them the night. Even in late spring, this stone structure was cold enough to induce a chill.
Slipping into his bedroll, he was surprised to feel Judy creeping closer to him. “Do you mind if we sleep closer together?” she asked in a shaky voice. “Those wolves freak me out.”
“Not at all,” he said with a soft yet confident voice. “They can’t hurt you while we’re in here.”
Caramel didn’t mean any bravado within his statement, but something about it touched something within his companion. Murmuring a drowsy “My hero,” she then snuggled right next to him before falling asleep.
The blush on his face kept him up for several hours more.
“I’m going to go airborne for a little bit, see how far we are from the next town, okay?” Judy asked.
Caramel nodded, and, pausing only as she kissed him on the cheek, vaulted into the air, and within seconds was a white dot in the otherwise cloudless sky. Pulling their wagon, Caramel paused for a second, still feeling the soft touch of her muzzle on his cheek.
It had been like that for the past couple of weeks now. This growing closer together, in a hemming and hawing sort of way; two steps forward and one step back. Even still, he knew it couldn’t last. Sooner or later would come the point where they went their separate ways, as it was inevitable. They were looking for similar but distinct things, and soon would come the time when destiny pulled him south and her west, or maybe she would decide to stay in a town they came across. Then she would thank him for the trip, promise to write him when he got back to Ponyville, and that would be the end of that. He would never see her again, enjoy her smile or her sweet face, never say what had clearly become more and more obvious to him as the days went by.
He was falling for Judy. That bubbly mare who always smiled and often sang, but also snored and woke up with a bad case of bedmane. Who would be kind and generous and sweet, but always wanted to sleep in late and usually took the last of the sweets. A mare who was a great cook and a good dancer but hated to put up the tent when they had to and absolutely seemed to be afraid of wild animals, even if they were harmless. He’d seen the good and bad about her and it didn’t make a lick of difference to him. Caramel had, for the first time, found at least part of what he wanted in life, and that part had now disappeared into the distance…
…and was now coming back. “Caramel!” she cried, her voice barely audible in the air as she grew larger, a sign that she was flying as fast as she could. A few minutes later, she all but crashed on the grass by the side of the road. “W-we need to get going,” she gasped. “Town’s up ahead, but the EUP’s fighting a pack of manticores. I talked to the sergeant in charge, and he said there’s a road to the east that goes around the town.”
“Okay,” he replied, understanding. “You look exhausted – we’ll take it easy until you catch your breath.”
Tiredly nodding, she managed to make all of two steps towards the cart before collapsing in a heap. “Too wiped,” she admitted with some embarrassment. He merely nodded and unhitched himself before picking her up effortlessly and placing her on his back before walking back to rehitch himself.
“Caramel!” she gasped with some shock.
He gave her a smile as he looked over his withers. “You exhausted yourself and we don’t have time to rearrange the cart so you can ride in it. I promise I’ll try not to shift too much so you won’t feel the bumps on the road.” He didn’t get an answer out of her; not clearly anyway. Instead, she reluctantly laid her head down on his withers, letting her wings droop to cover him and for balance. Each feather felt like a soft kiss of a lover against his side, and the stallion couldn’t help but blush. But it was the words that he swore he heard from her that almost made him slip.
“Feels nice,” he thought he heard her murmur, “Just like the strong stallion I like.”
When she came to, hours and miles later, she didn’t offer any clarification or explanation. Caramel, for his part, didn’t ask either.
The next few days were mostly in silence, mainly because she’d done a lot of flying. In many ways, the trip was lonely, solitaire, and everything that was the opposite of all the weeks he’d spent in the company of Judy. Now, as he walked down a large, dusty road centered within what was Equestria’s tulip country, it was hard to focus on all the beauty around him, the technicolor fields of edible delights and the friendly farmponies working with the flowers. It was just about all he could do to smile and return the jovial waves and greetings they sent him.
Looking up in the sky and seeing nothing but the occasional cloud, he then turned his focus back on the road and the bridge crossing the stream before him. Past that was a sign welcoming him to Meadowglade, Tulip Capital of the World. Passing that, Caramel walked into the town. It seemed to be an older one, with two major rows of businesses down the central thoroughfare, while from what he could tell behind it were dozens of new houses. At the far end of the town was a park, and if he made it out just right, in the center of the park was another one of those statues dedicated to the Element Bearers. Part of him chuckled at that; he knew Applejack absolutely hated those, but as a famous pony, it was bound to happen.
Continuing to wave and flash a plastic smile as he made his way through the town, he finally came to a stop in front of the local inn, located in a building just adjacent to the park. It looked like it was a reconditioned mansion, and he idly wondered who had lived there once. His eyes then wandered over to the establishment’s sign – SUGAR BELLE’S PUB & INN, the lettering cheerfully informed him – and the inviting smell of something absolutely delicious being baked within. Unhitching himself from the cart, he decided to walk in.
As he walked in, a gorgeous-looking unicorn poked her head out of what must’ve been the kitchen. There was something about her that caught his attention. “Hi!” she said in a voice that meant every bit of the smile on her face. “Welcome to Our Town Hotel!”
Caramel blinked. “Our Town Hotel?”
She giggled. “Sorry! I keep forgetting I changed the name of the hotel after Mayor Night Glider changed the town’s name to reflect our main crop. Anyway, I’m Sugar Belle, proprietress of this inn, and I’m guessing you’re new here. Just in town or moving here? Hopefully the latter?” she asked, batting her lashes at him.
“Um, just passing through?” he told her. Admittedly, she was cute, but ... his heart wasn’t set that way. He didn’t want to admit it, but his heart belonged to the mare that wasn’t there. And given that they hadn’t talked all day so far, would she be there? He couldn’t answer.
“So, room for one, then?” Sugar asked with a sultry wink. “Got the perfect room for you, right across from mine. And I’m always available.” The mare was clearly merciless in coming onto him. Was she in heat? Granted, ponies could be amorous at any time in their lives post-puberty, but there was a difference between wanting it and having to have it.
Sugar Belle walked over to the front desk and pulled out a room key. “Bed’s mighty comfy,” she cooed. “Care to give it a spin?”
“Don’t mind if we do,” a voice growled, as a key was quickly snatched from a hoof. Caramel turned to see a soaking-wet Judy standing there, dripping all over the wooden floor of the inn.
“Don’t ask,” she said in a tone that brooked no argument. Giving Sugar Belle a glare, she said to Caramel, “Come along now, loverboy.” Without waiting for an answer, she walked towards the stairs leading to the guest rooms, and it was all Caramel could do to give Sugar Belle a glance of apology.
Watching his form ascend the flight of steps, Sugar Belle sighed. “Story of my life,” she groaned, before she headed back into the kitchen.
Upstairs, the happy couple was anything but. “What were you doing ?” Judy asked as she stormed into the bathroom with a towel.
“Getting us a room,” he told her. “Thought it’d be nice to stay in a hotel for a change, since we’ve been on the road the past few.”
Judy arched an eyebrow. “And flirting with the concierge was the best way to get us a room?”
“I wasn’t flirting with her! What ever gave you that idea?” Caramel asked. He almost blurted out Why would I even bother with her when I have you? but for some reason just couldn’t get the words out.
Meanwhile, it wasn’t entirely clear whether Judy had heard him. “And while I’m trying to help some of the pegasi in town because their local weather manager was sick, you’re flirting with the local hotel floozy! How could you?”
“How could I what , Judy?” Caramel shot back. “I didn’t do anything – she came on to me !”
Tears were in the pegasus’ eyes. “But you know how I feel about you an—” She suddenly gasped, covering her muzzle with her hooves. The room suddenly fell silent as a line had been crossed.
“What did you say?”
“I ... it was ... nothing. Forget about it,” she demurred, hoping her blurted admission would just go away. Her heart jackhammered within her barrel, and she tried to look away from him.
“Did you just say what I think you said?” Caramel, for his part, was just as stunned. He’d felt that way about her for the longest time, but he didn’t know how to express it. Love wasn’t exactly something that was normal in his life’s equation. He certainly didn’t know what the hell to say now.
Except Applejack would tell me just to be honest in this situation, he admitted. So would his sister, for that matter. And half his friends. Maybe not Thunderlane, but he could be more than a bit dense at times. Even still, just because she felt that way about him, didn’t necessarily mean she wanted a special somepony. After all, they were both travellers…
She looked at him for the longest time, then back at the door. Did that mean she was going to run out and never return? That was a horrifying possibility, and he didn’t want that. But her eyes kept drifting back to the door, more and more, as if that was the inevitable, inexorable choice. He had to do something and he had to do it soonest.
He had to say something. But before he could comment, the words just rolled out of him:
“Lacy lilting lady Losing love lamenting Change my life, make it right Be my lady”
She blinked. Now it was her turn to ask what he said.
“Judy, these past few months have been great. And I don’t want to lie to you: I’ve felt that way about you for the longest time, and I’d be happy if you’d be my special somepony.”
“You mean that?” she said in a surprised voice. “I thought you were flirting with that innkeep and I ... I thought I was going to lose you! But I wasn’t going to leave, really! I ... I love you, Caramel.” The two approached each other, slowly, carefully, and with the nervous trepidation of two individuals realizing they were about to become lovers, they carefully nuzzled each other before their lips moved ever closer. Finally they touched and the two didn’t stop, sharing their first moment of love forever.
When they finally broke, minutes later, she blushed furiously. “Wow. I mean….” She remained speechless, partially hiding her face behind her mane. “Can we do that again?”
Caramel could only smile as he smiled, pure joy in his heart. His sweet Judy Blue Eyes responded, and they gazed into each other’s eyes lovingly before their lips connected once more, the dance of love within their souls.
Caramel and Judy rushed out of the house, just seconds before it was torn to shreds by a dozen angry bugbears. Not bothering to look behind them, the two galloped as fast as they could, headed down the beach and away from their attackers. Unfortunately, their attackers were winged and fast and were slowly gaining on them.
“Judy! You can fly! Get out of here!” Caramel pled, gasping between breaths. While he was definitely in shape for a draftspony, sprinting was not his forte – he wasn’t an Equestria Games racehorse, after all.
“No!” she shouted back.
“You have to! If they get their claws on you….”
“No! I’m not leaving you!” she cried, and that was that. But it was clear that, even though she was a pony, she was a pegasus and meant for the skies, not the roads. So far she was keeping pace with him, but with his stronger build, sooner or later she would fall behind, lose strength and be within the reach of the bugbears. There was no way that he was going to allow it at all, so he dropped behind her and kept pushing.
The two ran for miles, pursued by the bugbears. It made no sense that the creatures continued to follow them, at least until they passed a sign that apparently should’ve been leagues up the beach:
WARNING
Judy and Caramel briefly looked at each other before racing on. “Now they say something!” Caramel cried as they pushed on, as the number of bugbears behind them continued to grow in number.
“Mel!” Judy gasped. “I can’t run much more!” She turned to see the increasing amount of bugbears starting to blot out the sky.
“Go! Fly! Leave me!” Caramel shouted as his hooves continued to thunder, spraying up gouts of sand, tacking to and fro like a great ship upon the waves, hoping the blasts of debris would slow down the bugbears behind them. It was their only chance to survive.
“I said I’m not leaving you!” Judy screamed back, even though the look on her face was one of terror. Their strength would give out. Soon, they couldn’t last much longer, and they would be at the mercy of countless angry monsters.
But Caramel wasn’t about to give up. Hoping to be able to use one last burst of speed to get away from their pursuers, he took a step…
... and the ground exploded underneath him.
Caramel woke up and blinked away the pain from his eyes; it was blinding him. Blinking away the sensoria, his eyes naturally followed the light to the sky above, easily several dozen feet up. Shrugging off the pain of his fall, he looked around to see nothing but darkness around him ... and then his world broke.
Lying on the other end of the circle of light, was his Judy, unconscious and crumpled to the ground. Blood stained her right flank, nearly obscuring her cutie mark, and from the position of her left wing, it was clear that it was broken. Even though she was knocked out, the look of clear agony that she’d be in once she came to cut Caramel sharper than any knife.
“JUDY!” he roared, leaping to his hooves ... and crashing back down as a searing pain tore through his lower left foreleg; he’d likely twisted his pastern during the fall. Grunting through the pain, he got back up to his feet and moved by her. “Judy, please, wake up!”
Slowly, she opened her eyes up, and they were dizzy from pain. “Mel? Where ... are ... we?” she asked in a woozy voice.
“I don’t know,” he told her. “I think we—” He stopped the moment he began to hear the angry buzzing. “Oh, no….”
Golden light began to radiate in the darkness, and titanic lantern-like shapes – a series of concentric rings set one upon another, similar to the foal’s toy where concentric rings were stacked on top of each other. But these were no toys, and from the angry, ursine-like creatures that boiled out from the hives like so many angry creatures of hate, they were nothing remotely related to that of a foal’s plaything, either.
As the bugbears began to circle the spotlight, Caramel managed to stand over Judy. Maybe it was hopeless, but he was going to give everything to protect the mare he loved, even if it meant his life. “Sweetie, don’t look,” he told her. Beneath her, he heard her gasp. The buzzing of the bugs was ringing in his ears, threatening to become a cacophony that would end in their ends.
“Mel?” he barely heard her ask. “Do you love me?”
“You know I do,” he told her. He wanted to hug and nuzzle her, the last thing he knew that he could ever do with her, but if he gave up, then they wouldn’t even be able to last that long; the bugbears would tear them to shreds in a heartbeat.
“Do you trust me?”
“With my heart and soul,” he told her, knowing it would be the last thing he would ever tell her.
“Good,” Judy said, and then pushed back to her hooves, knocking Mel off his. Staring at the bugbears with a baleful glare, she snarled, “And now to deal with you pests!”
And then she changed.
Her change didn’t seem to be just a change in demeanor, but a transformation. Her body lengthened and lowered, changing from a pure white to two shades of electric blue, not unlike that extremely loud DJ in the lone danceclub back in Ponyville. Her legs became shorter and ending in short, stubby paws. Her tail lengthened and became flatter, darting to and fro unlike that of a pony’s. But the biggest change was her head, as her head changed from its normal bulbous, pony form to that of something triangular, as whiskers grew to the sides. Finally, her beautiful eyes became beady founts of blinding blue as the thing she became began to glow, arcs of lightning rushing across her body.
Caramel blinked, astonished. Here stood before him a thunderstoat. He’d read dully somewhere that they tended to be the natural enemies of some various monsters in the Everfree, but he’d never seen one before – and he was pretty sure they weren’t the size of ponies, as the stoats around Fluttershy’s place tended to be pretty small. And he could barely keep his eye as the stoat blasted forward with a thunderclap, the creature becoming a literal jag of lightning as it careened into the bugbears, shocking them as it moved amongst their wake. Whole throngs of the ursinsectoids glowed like fireflies, save that wasn’t one of their natural abilities. And yet the stoat moved on, rushing through them, occasionally passing through a bugbear hive and turning its natural magic light from a warm golden hue to a burning blue as the electricity ripped through the whole cavern.
Bugbears collapsed as the lightning overwhelmed them, falling to the ground, smoking and twitching from residual arcing, but otherwise unhurt. Finally, the stoat screamed, “ENOUGH!” and, briefly rearing, slammed its forepaws onto the ground. Gouts of electromagnetic force poured into the area, turning the entire cave structure into a massive tokamak of lightning. Great booms filled the air, shocking all the creatures within, and it was all Caramel could do to remain conscious as he watched the utter insanity unravel before him.
But as he blacked out, a horrifying thought came to his mind: his marefriend was a changeling. Worse, given her power levels, she was likely Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, herself.
He came to, finding himself in a hospital bed, and with a doctor pleading for him to stay in bed. “Please, Mr. Caramel, lie down. You’ve had a stressful couple of days and I don’t want you injuring yourself further.” Caramel wordlessly complied, and as he returned to a reclining position, the unicorn looked at his chart. “Your pastern’s twisted, but you should recover in a day or two more – earth pony physiology, you know. You’re a bit exhausted, but given what your marefriend told us, that’s to be expected.”
“My…?” he asked, unable to finish the sentence. The doctor pointed to a bed across the room, where a pegasus mare slept. Her wing was in a cast, and she looked to be wrapped in a few bandages, but looked otherwise okay.
Caramel sat in stunned silence for a few while the doctor checked him over before he then answered questions asked of him. No, he didn’t feel dizzy or anything. Yes, he was a bit hungry, so he could use something to eat. He also asked that his sister be contacted as soon as possible.
Finally, the doctor smiled and said, “You and your marefriend should make a complete recovery. Now, if you’re up to it, the sergeant of the local EUP garrison is outside and would like to ask you a few questions, if that’s all right with you.”
Caramel wordlessly nodded, and the doctor went to the door, opening it. A pegasus in burnished armor approached him. “Good afternoon, Mr. Caramel. I’m Sgt. Dust Devil, and I’m the Commander for the EUP Acapulcolt Garrison. Now, I’d like to ask you a few questions, but I’ve already got most of what I need from your marefriend there,” the pegasus told him. “And frankly, I’m very impressed with your actions. Heck, if Miss Blue Eyes didn’t tell me what you did for a living, I’d have a recruiter in here to talk to you about signing up for the EUP.”
The next few minutes was one where the stallion could barely keep his mouth shut; otherwise, he’d gasp at what Dust Devil had been told. That killer bugbears had escaped from the cave system where they’d built most of their nests, and that while exploring, Judy had been captured by the creatures. That Caramel, enraged by their actions and desperate to save his marefriend, fought off hundreds of bugbears, heedless of the danger and knowing they were in the center of the biggest swarm of killer bugbears outside of their natural territory. That he’d faced off against the queen bugbear herself and defeated her solidly, then carried Judy to safety before using his prodigious earth pony strength to collapse the cavern’s mouth before succumbing to exhaustion.
“Speaking as a guardspony, that’s remarkably impressive,” Dust concluded with some admiration. “But speaking as a mare? I’m kinda jealous. My stallion just sits around the house and is lazy as Tartarus. He’s kinda a jerk, too, but I love the big lug. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself here. So, Mr. Caramel, can you confirm Miss Blue Eyes’ report?”
Caramel just sat there, slackjawed.
Dust pulled out a pencil and scribbled something on her report. “Too humble to answer,” were the words that managed to get out of her mouth. Finally done, she slipped the report and pencil back into her saddlebags and grinned. “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure that we sweep the area for further bugbears, but given what you did, I’d be surprised if they haven’t already made a beeline – pun intended! - back to bugbear country. Thanks for your cooperation, citizen.” Satisfied that all was right, she waved goodbye, then departed the room.
Caramel was still trying to process just what was going on a few minutes later when a nurse arrived with some food for Caramel and Judy. After the nurse departed, Caramel scarfed down the food as fast as he could, then settled into an uneasy rest as he watched the disguised changeling across from him. He had to escape her clutches soon.
“Mel? Are you awake?” Caramel opened his eyes and saw the light from Luna’s moon streaming light in through the window. It was a beautiful night, and under any other circumstances, he would have enjoyed it, because it meant spending it with the mare he loved more than anything else in this world. Too bad it had turned out to be nothing but a lie.
He turned and looked at her. The ... thing ... that called itself Judy Blue Eyes looked back at him. She was still in her bandages and splints, but otherwise looked absolutely beautiful to him. His heart skipped a beat, but it slowed back down as he realized that the beauty he gazed upon was artificial, the result of changeling magic.
“I’m awake, changeling ,” he spat.
“I ... guess I should have told you sooner,” she said in a soft voice.
“What, that you’re a changeling ? That you’re probably Chrysalis for all I know at this point?” he snarled.
“No, I’m not Chrysalis. But I am a queen ... well, I was a queen. Sorta. Now? I’m just your Judy.” She saw the anger in his eyes and winced. “I hope.”
“The mare I loved was my Judy! You? I don’t know who – or what – you are!” he accused.
Her eyes began to water. “You know, Mel, I never lied about how I feel about you. I do love you. And I should have told you the truth earlier. But I was afraid of how you’d react, and after that whole issue with Riesling? Definitely afraid.”
“Well, that explains how you got away from that; Bedazzle said that the spell doesn’t work on queens.”
“Oh, it does, I can assure you,” she told him. “Before I was in Berryville, I was in a town called Windy Hill, and they caught a queen there, hiding out. But the reason the spell doesn’t work on me is because I’m one-hundred percent pony.”
That completely threw Caramel off. “But I thought you just said you were a changeling?” he asked.
“I was ,” she answered, and that response confused him even more. “Will you listen to me?” she then asked. “I promise – no more secrets, love.” She looked at him for countless seconds before Caramel finally nodded, and with his agreement, she began to tell him her true origins.
Caramel could hardly believe what he heard. The story was completely unbelievable, and yet, there was no other way to explain it. “So ... wait, wait….” he said, interrupting her. “So let me get this straight: you were an immature queen working for Chrysalis—”
“More like daughter ,” Judy groaned. “And now you know why I hate my mother. You’d hate her too, if your mother was Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings.” That made absolute sense to him, and he nodded for her to go ahead. “I swore that I was going to leave and start my own hive, but then came the attack on Canterlot, and I had to make sure that the drones bonded to me were safe.” She looked down at the bedsheets as she told him, “I don’t know what happened to the others, but as for me, when Princess Cadance’s counterattack hit, I was thrown hundreds of miles away from Canterlot and came to a painful, near-fatal crash in the Everfree ... right into a grove of poison joke.”
“Near -fatal?” he asked, confused. He’d had to clean off plenty of the changeling bodies that had been splattered around Ponyville the day after the attack, and it wasn’t a pretty business by any stretch of the imagination.
She nodded. “There were two other changelings that didn’t make it whose bodies were in the grove. One of them looked like she turned as red as an apple before she died. The other looked like she’d been turned into living stone before she perished. As for me, it took me days to build enough strength to even get back on my hooves, and at the time I didn’t know what poison joke was. I only knew that I couldn’t hear the hivemind any longer, and that my transformation was ... limited.”
“Limited?”
“I can transform into unicorn and earth pony versions of myself, but I can’t imitate another pony, male or female. And I can’t change back to my original changeling form.” He looked at her strangely, and she chuckled. “I ... I don’t miss it. Back in the hive, I was supposedly a beautiful queen, but I suspect that’s because I was prime mating material and the daughter of the reigning queen. But looking at some pictures of changelings now? I was pretty hideous, at least by pony standards. But I’m digressing.
“It took me a while to get around, and I spent a lot of time learning about the Everfree and my new condition. Much of that help came from a zebra shaman named Zecora, who knows my secret. It was she that found out that I’d spent so long with the juice of the poison joke seeping into my wounds that it got into my bloodstream and mixed with my changeling magic, so ... my ‘affliction’ was permanent. I was no longer – could no longer be – a changeling queen. I was now just a typical pegasus mare, since I always loved flying, and that I was forever cut off from the hivemind.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “You must miss them.”
Unexpectedly, Judy laughed. “No, are you kidding? I’m free . I don’t have to listen to Mother’s insults or belittling statements. I don’t have to put up with friends who are just friends because they think that they will be my personal guard and thus improve their standing in the hive. I don’t have to worry about drones fawning over me, so much so that they change from female to male just so they could try to mount me.” He stared at her in surprise, and she blushed. “Yeah, it’s a changeling thing. I know mammals like ponies can’t get it, but it’s just how changelings are.
“So anyway, I wanted to find out who I was in this new body, and decided to leave the Everfree and find my way in the world. I spent some time in Windy Hill, then in Apple Grove, then back in Windy Hill before I opted to do some traveling. From there I went to Berryville, and was actually on the way to Ponyville when I came across you.”
“Are you who you say you are,” Caramel asked, “or should I worry some day about another Judy Blue Eyes?”
“If there is, I don’t know about her,” Judy admitted. “I woke up looking like this. The last pony I imitated was in Canterlot: a unicorn, thin and statuesque, pink hair and white coat. I think she was a model, certainly a bit taller than the average mare at least. Anyway, it was Zecora who helped me pick out a name, because I can’t even pronounce my old name anymore. Hurts the throat too much, you know?”
Caramel nodded in understanding – or at least mostly; he had no experience in trying to pronounce changeling names, let alone any of them having names. Maybe “Chrysalis” was a name the main changeling queen took for convenience’s sake when talking to non-changelings, he figured.
Still, there was one more thing he needed to know: the most important answer of them all. “One last question, and I want the honest truth,” he told her. “Did you ever really love me?”
She opened her mouth in shock, and then tears started to well up in her eyes. “How can you even ask that?” she sobbed. “I have loved you for the longest time, Caramel, you know that! My feelings have always been true! I am just as much a pony as you, and I am a mare who loves – I am not the queen I was years ago! I am a mare , and a mare who is absolutely mad for the stallion who’s sitting across from me and accusing me of faking my feelings!” She cried for a bit, then wiped her eyes. “I am just a mare whose special talent is transforming, Caramel. That’s all I am now. But I hoped I would be more.”
“More?”
“Yes. Your special somepony,” she told him.
“But how can I believe you?” he asked. “I want to, honest to Celestia, I do, but….” He turned away.
She closed her eyes and sang, from the deepest depths of her heart:
“I am yours, You are mine,"
“You are what you are,” he said, turning away. A few seconds more passed before he admitted, “You make it hard.”
In the end, the two could only look across the empty gulf of the room, and the emotional chasm between them.
“That’s amazing, Caramel!” Princess Twilight Sparkle said to him as he sat at a table in Friendship Castle, months later. “To think, you’ve been through so much in such a short span of a year.”
He took a drink from his tea and nodded. “Yeah, Twilight. It’s been a very interesting year.” He stared at the apple blossoms of the tree planted just outside the window, one of the many changes that had been made in his absence. The tree was an ornamental apple tree and thus non-fruiting, but magic kept the fragrant blossoms up for most of the year.
“So, Caramel, dear, I presume you’re not writing it down?” Rarity asked.
“No. That part of my life is private,” he told them, “warts and all. I have so many other things to write about in Wandering Hooves without getting into my emotional pain.”
“That’s so sad,” Fluttershy said, empathizing with the stallion’s sorrow. She’d heard the whole tale from start to finish, and was completely astonished that he was able to bear it as well as he had. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Caramel was about to reply when he’d been repeated by the fugue that was the laughter of dozens of foals.
“Do it again! Do it again!” one particular filly squealed.
“Your aunt is soooooo cool!” a colt told Little Caramel.
Little Caramel nodded, then looked towards the mare in question. “One more time?”
The mare nodded and said, “Okay, one more time and that’s it, okay? Even I need to catch my breath.” The mare concentrated and with a warping and weaving that looked like the flow of water, a second later a griffin stood where the mare was.
“Okay,” the griffin hen told the foals. “Adults have to talk now, so go out and play, okay?” The foals all happily departed the palace, with the exception of Little Caramel, who paused long enough to hug the griffin’s left claw before following his friends outside.
The griffin took a look at the crowd gathered around the table. Approaching them, she sat down in the chair next to Caramel. “Geez, these chairs aren’t really comfy for griffin butts,” she said to no one in particular, before looking at Twilight. “Maybe order some chairs for non-ponies?”
From her seat, Rainbow Dash cackled. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her! I know griffin butts and I know that Gilda would complain up a storm if she had to sit in these!”
“Fine, fine, fine,” Twilight demurred. “I’ll have Spike order some custom seats from Griffonstone. So, anyway, Judy, how do you feel?”
“Exhausted,” the pegasus said as she returned to her normal form. “Definitely pushed myself to the limit, today. Guess we should study that?”
The alicorn grinned. “Definitely.”
During the time they’d spent in the hospital, Caramel and Judy had come clean with one another and their relationship had become much stronger for it. Deciding to return to Ponyville so he could tell them about his relationship, they opted to take the long way, as Caramel had planned – Judy confessed that she’d actually never been to Highhaven before, and so now no longer had any reservations about visiting. During that time, they had no secrets between each other. Caramel had said what he could to her about fitting in with ponykind, and Judy had shared what knowledge she had of changelings, including the all-important tricks to notice one in disguise.
Once they arrived in Ponyville, however, the very first thing they did was to meet with Princess Twilight and the Bearers, as well as Caramel’s sister and brother in law. Judy told them everything about herself and what had happened, and while they reacted with shock at first, once they got to know her, and seeing how wildly in love she and Caramel were, they eased up. Zecora was contacted and confirmed Judy’s story, adding that so long as she had known the changling-come-pegasus, she was a sweet mare with a gentle disposition. After promising that she wanted to live her life only as a pony, Princess Twilight agreed, and the “most magical pegasus” was introduced to the public with her unique skills and all. Needless to say, she was a hit, and as Trixie Lulamoon was in town the same week, the two learned to perform together and Judy had learned a lot of stagecraft from the unicorn stage mage in that time.
“So, what’s yer plans fer th’ future?” Applejack asked both of them. “Yer not gonna come back t’ work on the farm, Ah reckon.”
“Nope!” Judy said as she nuzzled her beau. “First thing’s planning the wedding – that in itself is going to be a blast!”
Caramel nodded. “Then after that, we’ll head back to Acapulcolt and rebuild our house there. But we won’t be there long; we have a lot of traveling to do and a lot of places to see. After all, we have our whole lives ahead of us, don’t we?” She nodded and then nuzzled him again before they kissed. And like so many other stallions before him, he felt truly blessed, because he had somepony to love and somepony who loved him back: a wonderful mare he could call his own.
His own sweet Judy Blue Eyes.
Author's Note
Thanks for reading! Now that my hand is almost healed, in two weeks we'll be back to the normal schedule with stories.
Thanks go to my editors for putting up with more than the usual amount of errors (VTT is a pain) and indulging me this weird direction.
If you liked, a drop in the tip jar wouldn't be so bad.
Well, that's that! Back to scribblin'!
“Chestnut-brown canary, ruby-throated sparrow,” Judy sang as she laid on the grass next to Caramel. “Sing a song, don’t be long, fill me to the marrow!” Caramel said nothing, merely strumming whatever came to mind on his guitar as he was with his lady love. The late summer afternoon warmed the two as they sat under the shade of a large, sturdy oak, taking a break on their trip south towards Mexicolt.
“I remember that song,” Caramel noted as he stopped playing his guitar. “My schoolteacher used to make us sing it a lot, at least until one of the fillies in class told her that ruby-throated sparrows are technically finches and so the song doesn’t make sense. After that Mrs. Brightlight just made us sing ‘Celestia Raises a Lovely Sun’ over and over.” He chuckled at the memory; it seemed long ago, more so than it actually was, but he’d been a different pony back then.
“Do you miss them?” Judy asked, looking at him with soulful eyes. “It sounds like your time in Ponyville was wonderful.”
“It was. I mean, granted, I love exploring and wandering – and being with you,” he said, bending down to kiss her on the forehead quickly, “but yes, I miss Ponyville. Not in a hurry to go back there, though. What about you? Don’t you miss where you came from?” A thought crossed the stallion’s mind that in all this time, Judy really hadn’t talked much about her past. He knew everything about her: her likes, her fears, where she liked being kissed, and so forth and so on, but family didn’t come much into the picture. Nor did friends. Really, the farthest back in her personal history she’d ever talked about was the fact that prior to their meeting, she’d spent the week in Berryville, taking in the sights at the local museum there.
“I….” She paused for a second, as if in heavy thought. “No, no I really don’t miss it,” she finally answered. “Little mining town, stern mother, drab location and really nothing interesting at all about my family or the neighbors or the like. I had ... I guess you could call them friends, but at the same time, they really weren’t. More like ... just others my age that happened to live there, you know?”
“I suppose, but ... a mining town? That’s odd; usually mining is earth pony work, and you’re a pegasus.”
“Maybe, but the townsfolk really got good at it,” she replied in a tone that indicated that she didn’t want to talk about it any further. Caramel silently noted that and promised not to bring it up again. Now that lunch was done, she decided to pack up while he checked their cart to make sure that it was ready for travel.
“Caramel?” he heard her ask. “I’m ... sorry that I can’t talk more about the Hi ... Haven. There aren’t many good memories for me there.”
“High ... haven?” he repeated. “Your town’s name is Highhaven?”
“Yeah. Highhaven. Anyways, I was never really happy there,” she said once more. “I left for a reason, and I really wasn’t happy until I met you.” She blushed at that, and he followed in that flush; she went over and nuzzled him before placing the picnic equipment in the back of the cart. That done, he hitched himself and the two walked off, continuing down the road.
“Dank you for coming to help our town vith the Running of the Leaffes,” Apple Strudel said, grinning mightily at Caramel. “Our town’s not much for doing dis, zo Fall alvays comes late. Put now it's on time, danks to you vonterful young folk! Jawohl !”
“You’re welcome,” Caramel said, blushing; behind him, Judy easily talked to some of the other mares present, many of them much older than either of them with the “youngest” being in her sixties. During their travels, they’d found themselves in the town of Old Apple, and the town very much lived up to its name: The ponies who lived there were members of the Apple family and were in their silver years. The town’s mayor, Apfelbaum, had mentioned that most of their younger ponies either moved away or were otherwise busy, leaving the town elders – who made up most of the population anyway – to handle most of the town’s duties.
“Oh, I’m zure ve could haffe done it ourzelffes,” Apfelkuchen, Apple Strudel’s wife, explained, “but betveen mein club hoof and the other malaties the townsponies haffe, vell ... ve’re chust not vat ve uzed to be.”
“Well, we’re glad we can help,” Caramel replied with a proud smile. He remembered Strudel from the last time the old stallion had been in Ponyville, and had enjoyed his company and the many tall tales Strudel had told. The best of them, the younger pony had to admit, had been Strudel’s nonsensical and meandering tale about the time he’d donned “Battle Lederhosen” to fight some vicious foe whose name changed every time they were mentioned.
“Vell, I’m zure you’fe vorked up guite ein abedite,” Kuchen told both Caramel and Judy, “and ve’re about to haffe lunch! Vould you care to choin us?”
“That would be wonderful ,” Judy said with a smile. “Please, lead the w—”
“ACHTUNG! CHANGELINGS!” A mare, running as quick as she could on feeble legs, rushed up to the group. “You must stay avay from dem! Dey are changelings! I know! I zaw it vith mein own eyes!”
Strudel laughed. “Ah, Reisling Wine, you zay the funniest dings, alvays vith your tall tales,” he countered. “But I know young Caramel, and I’m guite zure he knows his latyfriend fery vell. I am abzoludely zure dey are not changelings.”
“But I zaw!” Reisling insisted. “I zaw dat she changed into ein hydra to knock down leaffes off the great oak near the cliffzide! Dere vas no one dere put her!” The mare stomped her foot in anger. “I know vat I zaw, Strudel!”
“Come to think of it, there was a section where they were ahead of us,” another pony commented.
Kuchen rolled her eyes. “Dere’s no hydras anyvere around here for hundreds of miles. You’re clearly misdaken.”
“I know vat I zaw,” Reisling said once more, refusing to back down. “And it vill be on your heads if ve let changelings into dis town!”
“This is crazy !” Caramel cried, then turned to Strudel. “You’ve known me for years, Mr. Strudel!”
“Dis is true, I know him to be vho he zays he is.” But he looked over at Judy briefly, before gently asking the younger stallion, “But are you zure she is vho she zays she is?”
Caramel was about to protest, until he saw his girl. She was shaking like a leaf, cowering into a ball. He knew she wasn’t a changeling – at least, he was fairly sure; Princess Twilight had warned him about the dangers of lotothosis , a coma-like condition caused by extreme exposure to a thymophage, and changelings were thymophages. No, had she been a changeling, he would have been in a coma, if not worse, by now.
But why was she afraid?
“No,” he told the older stallion. “She’s not. I know my Judy. She’s not a changeling, and I’m willing to stake my life on it.”
“Did you hear dat?” Strudel told the others. “Zuch loffe and braffery! Jawohl! I belieffe him – I belieffe dem poth.” Looking to the other youngest stallion present, a pony still well fit despite his advanced age, Strudel insisted, “Run to the next town and condact deir Royal Mage. Ve vill need the changeling deteczion spell berformed on deze two to make zure.” The other pony nodded and ran off.
“Wait, why do you need a magic spell if you believe me?” Caramel asked.
“I am sorry, Caramel, but it needs be done,” Strudel told him.
“Yeah, but … no, you’re right. I know,” he said, glaring at Reisling as he moved to Judy’s side, then nuzzled her for comfort. “I know.”
The silvery magic enveloped both Caramel and Judy for only a couple of moments, the magic turning to a warm golden hue after a few seconds. A soft chime accompanied the change.
“There, done!” a chipper young unicorn by the name of Bedazzle said. “All clear – they’re both ponies. Admittedly, Miss Judy has a much larger wellspring than the average pegasus, but that’s not exactly unheard of, and in any case not a crime.”
“Vat does ein vellsbring haffe to do vith vether she's ein changeling or not?” Reisling demanded.
“Oh, that’s easy,” Bedazzle replied. “You see, a pony’s magic wellspring, whether tiny as a newborn foal – well, for the first week or so, anyway – or as large as an alicorn, is always distinct and explainable by a pony’s soul. Every species has a different type of wellspring, including changelings. Therefore, it’s easy to tell, based on reading the wellspring, whether they’re changelings or not.”
Strudel smiled, satisfied with the answer. “Dank you, Miss Betazzle.”
“Oh, don’t thank me – thank Princess Twilight,” Bedazzle insisted. “Her highness held a symposium on the new detection spell last month, and I was there to learn it. It’s a vast improvement on the old one, which was made in a hurry for obvious reasons.” She then turned to Caramel and Judy and added, “Sorry for the inconvenience, but these old coots tend to worry about changelings, even though there haven’t been any recorded instances of changelings in the area since the attack on Canterlot.”
“I know vat I zaw!” Reisling glared at them all. “Dey are changelings! At least, she is one!”
“Dat’s enough from you, Reisling! Haffen’t you cauzed enough problems for one day?” Apfelbaum, now present as per town law, told her.
The old mare stuck her tongue at them and ran towards her home, shouting back, “Dis vill be on your heads!” She then slammed the door to her home shut.
“Ignore her, young ones,” Apfelbaum insisted. “Mein abologies to you for being inconffenienced. As far as I’m concerned, the vord of ein accredided Royal Mage is more dan enough for me.”
“Thank you, sir,” Judy said. She was still clearly nervous, but at least had gotten some of her composure back after she’d been cleared by Bedazzle. She moved next to Caramel and nuzzled him, more for her comfort than his.
“Vhy zo glum?” Strudel asked everyone. “Dis calls for ein banquet, ein great feast! Bleaze, you must stay, Miss Betazzle. And you, Caramel and Chudy, are the guests of honor!”
It had been a long, long feast, and the night had gone by easily. Bedazzle had talked to Caramel and was slightly jealous that he was from Ponyville, the seat from which Princess Twilight ruled. From what Caramel could tell, Bedazzle had a bit of a crush on the bookish librarian-turned-tetrarch, and he wasn’t going to spoil any of her notions about Twilight given all he’d seen from her over the years.
Besides, he thought as he saw Judy, much calmer now and talking to some of the mares her age who had been invited from Bedazzle’s village, he already had his attention on one mare and one mare alone.
“You love her, don’t you?” Bedazzle asked him.
“Yes, I do. Very much.”
Bedazzle whispered, “Then you should know something. I didn’t say it around Miss Reisling, because she’s histrionic about those things, but ... the changeling spell isn’t foolproof, and it depends on who is casting it. A changeling queen, for example, could bypass a spell that I cast, but couldn’t do it if, say, Princess Twilight did. I’m fairly sure that Judy’s not one – given how she looks at you and how healthy you are, you’d have been in lotothosis if she was – but I thought you’d want to know just for the record.”
Caramel blinked. He did not expect that. “Thank you for your candor,” was all he could say in response.
At that point, Judy came up to him. “Mel, I want to dance! With my special somepony !” she cooed, and before he could object, she wrapped a wing around his foreleg and dragged him to the center area, where dozens of ponies were dancing to a band’s music. She moved and twirled with the grace of a ballerina and for Caramel, his woes were temporarily forgotten.
It was well into the early hours of the morning by the time they’d returned to the guest room they were using at Apple Strudel’s home. He sat up in bed, thinking about Reisling’s warning and Bedazzle’s caution, and they gnawed on his mind. He knew without a doubt that Judy wasn’t a changeling; there were too many reasons to argue against it. And he loved her as much as she loved him. But there was still that nagging doubt, that metaphorical blade being slipped into his ribs, gowned in confusion and a tinge of despair….
“Mel? You awake?” he heard her ask.
“Yeah, can’t sleep,” he admitted.
“I know. It’s my fault. I’m sorry,” she said sadly, and it was an unusual tone for her. While she wasn’t exactly a happy-go-lucky Pinkie Pie type, she was nonetheless usually cheerful and bright. “I guess you want to know why I panicked this morning.” He didn’t say anything, but his silence was more than enough, and noting that, she continued. “Reisling ... she reminded me a lot of how my mother was. Always saying I wasn’t good enough, that I was useless for what I liked and because I wanted something different. I ... I got scared. I know I shouldn’t have, but I got scared.”
He reached over and caressed her face, his hoof tracing a comforting path down her muzzle. “You know I’d never let nothing happen to you, Judy.”
“I know, but old habits die hard, sweetheart.” She leaned over and nuzzled him. “Still, I’m glad you’re there for me.” The two kissed, and with that, snuggled closer together to get some sleep.
Caramel read the letter once more to make sure that he was reading it right.
Dear Caramel,
Guess what? I told Old Mr. Bubbles about your trip, and he mentioned that he has an old summer home in Acapulcolt that he and his wife used to use a long time ago. Since you’re in Mexicolt right now, he said that you can use it, so I’m sending the keys to the place. He mentioned that it’s a great spot for the winter and that you’ll love it.
It’s great to hear that you and Judy are a couple – I’d really like to meet her when you come back. Lilac Links stopped waiting for you and is dating Creme Brulee, and I think they make for an okay couple. Still, you’ve got Judy, and if she’s the mare for you, then I’m completely supportive of you, little brother.
Also, I was talking to Applejack and Rarity the other day about your travels, when Rarity mentioned a mutual acquaintance of theirs, a travel writer named Trenderhoof. Given all the travelling you’ve done lately, I suggested to them that maybe you could write a travelog of your trip, and Rarity thought it would be a great idea; Applejack, for some reason, didn’t agree with her. Still, Rarity said she’d contact him on your behalf. Maybe if it works out, you’ll have an entirely new career! Wouldn’t that be grand?
Well, we miss you and hope you come back soon! Hope to hear from you again!
Love,
Caramel looked at the keys in his hoof, and the road southward, continuing towards locations further beyond. To their right, the gleaming waters of the South Luna Ocean glittered in the afternoon sun. At the moment, they were in the town of Enseneighda, the gateway to the Mexicolt province of Equestria. It was a sleepy hamlet mostly populated by donkeys and the occasional pony, but nonetheless a good place for them to stock up on supplies and for Caramel to collect his mail.
Looking at the mailpony who had just given him the letter, he asked, “Anything else we should know, sir?”
“Nada mas, seňor,” the mailpony – actually a mailburro, to use the local vernacular – said in a slight Burroňeso accent local to the region. “Maybe some bugbears in the area, but they don’t bother nopony none, so long as you stay away from them. As for Acapulcolt, if you keep going down El Camino de la Princesa , you should reach it in another three days.”
“Awesome! Thanks for your advice!” Caramel cheerfully commented.
“Glad to help, seňor ,” the donkey replied, waving towards them. “You take care now, okay?”
Caramel trotted over to Judy, who was rearranging things in the cart and adding the supplies she’d just purchased. She noticed the wide smile on his face and asked, “Good news from home?”
“Wonderful news,” he said, explaining Old Mr. Bubbles’ gift to them, as well as the potential chance of a new livelihood. Naturally, she reacted with utter glee.
“Shall we get going, my dear?” he asked her.
“Please, let’s!” she cooed, and with that, they headed towards Acapulcolt and beautiful winter together.
Caramel woke up, the sun slipping through the blinds and making him turn away from the brightness while he blinked the glare away. Careful to not wake up the gently dozing beauty next to him, he silently walked towards the kitchen and made a pot of coffee while he rubbed his muzzle. The coat hairs there were starting to get a little long and dark, turning into stubble; he already looked as if he had a 5 O’Clock Shadow. A minute later, the coffee pot sang and he poured himself one, then sat down at the kitchen table and began to write. After all, his new job depended on it. Rarity had sent him a letter indicating that Trenderhoof was starting up a new travel magazine and was looking for a writer; a few days later, he’d received a contract, looked over by Princess Twilight as a courtesy, contracting him as a new travel writer.
He and Judy had celebrated that, but things only got better from there. Last week, when the first issue of Wandering Hooves came out, Caramel’s story on their time in Acapulcolt was the highlight of the magazine. That made him an established writer, and that meant he had to plan out the rest of his trip before he headed back to Ponyville. A year was nearly on the way to passing, and he promised his sister that he’d return. But he couldn’t see himself settling down back in his home town. He actually liked living here in Acapulcolt and intended to ask Mr. Bubbles if he’d be willing to part with the home.
He then felt two hooves encircle him, and a quick nip on the ear. “Mornin’, honey,” she said with a smile in her voice.
“Hi, sweetie,” he replied as she went for the coffee and poured herself a cup. “What’re you working on?”
“Just a plan for the rest of the trip, and places we should visit on the way back to Ponyville. A year’s almost up for me, and I promised Bell that I’d go back and let her know how I’m doing.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting her,” Judy admitted. “If she’s anything like you, she must be a delightful mare to know.” She sat down in the seat next to him and looked over his list. Most of the denoted destinations were places unfamiliar to her, which she found exciting, as nothing made her happier than going to new places with her special somepony. But it was the third to the last one on the list, just before Berryville and finally Ponyville, that bothered her.
“Highhaven?” She looked at him. “No, Mel. I don’t want to go back. It would be a waste of time, anyway – there’s nothing of interest there whatsoever.”
He sighed; he knew he was going to meet with resistance just for suggesting it. “Don’t you want your family to know how you’re doing and that you’ve found somepony to love?”
“No – no, if you ask me, I’d rather forget they exist and vice versa. Mel, there’s nothing I want from Highhaven and nothing that would ever draw me back. I just want to forget that place ever existed.”
“But what if I want to see it? Not even just to visit your family, just visiting in general?” Caramel insisted. “That’s part of my new job now, hon. Finding and exploring new places that ponies might want to go to.”
“No! You promised me we wouldn’t go there!” she countered. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“It does, but….” He paused for a second, sniffed, and then asked, “Do you smell honey?”
“You are not changing the subject, Caramel,” she argued.
“No, seriously. And it’s strong , too.” Ignoring her pout, he left the kitchen table and went to the side door to see an absolute horror. The house next door, which was also a summer home like this one – and apparently not as meticulously maintained – was now being covered in honey and the makings of a hive, and not of the changeling variety, either. Huge bugbears darted to and fro, building the repeated hexagonal patterns of waxy honeycomb. The air began to buzz with the sound of flapping wings, interspersed with the ursine grunts of the bugbears.
He turned to her. “Judy, we have to leave now,” he said, rushing over to her side.
“No, we’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s so import—” She never finished the sentence as the side door and a portion of the wall exploded as something rammed into it, hard. Caramel and Judy turned to find a bugbear, floating in the air, an angry look on its face and its compound eyes focusing right on them.
There was no way they could fight it, so Caramel did what his instincts naturally called for: Grabbing Judy’s hoof, he pulled her towards the front door, shouting, “RUN!”
