Topsy-Turvy

Chapter 3

The Next Friday-

“Hey, Storm!” Caramel said brightly. “How’s it going?”

Stormfeather smiled as he saw his friend approach. He’d gotten to the bar a bit early tonight, and was nodding to the music while munching on some cheesy hayfries. “Hey there, yourself. Grab a seat!”

Caramel did so. He watched his friend carefully, looking him up and down, taking note of how chipper he was tonight. “I haven’t seen you all week. Where’ve you been?”

“Not here!” Stormfeather said. He squirted some ketchup on the corner of his plate and kept chowing down. “I did what you said, man! I went out and looked for some jobs outside of Ponyville. Spent a few days up in Cloudsdale and Canterlot!”

Caramel raised his eyebrows. “Really? How’d it go?”

“Great!” he said. “More than great! Get this: I got offers in both cities! I could start as soon as Monday if I wanted!”

Caramel’s heart skipped a beat. “Storm! That’s GREAT!”

“I KNOW!” Stormfeather shouted. He raised his hoof for a high-five, which Caramel happily took. “They’re even both willing to be flexible around my training for the Wonderbolts! I fucking did it, man! I finally fucking did it!”

Caramel could hardly believe his ears. His plan had worked! Stormfeather had snapped out of it! Now he could move on with his life and… and...

...oh.

Caramel’s grin became strained. “So I take it this means you’re moving, then?”

Stormfeather deflated a little. “Erm… yeah. Likely by the end of the month. I just gotta decide which job to take.”

The words punched a hole in Caramel’s heart. He’d known this would likely happen; had even encouraged it to happen, but now that he was actually faced with it…

A waitress came and took their orders. They got their usual drinks, then took a moment to look out at the crowd of ponies.

“The Cloudsdale gig would be nice,” Stormfeather continued. “You know, with it being Wonderbolts Central, and all. But to be honest, I’m leaning more towards the Canterlot one.”

Warning bells sounded in Caramel’s mind. “Why’s that?”

Stormfeather let out a happy sigh, resting his chin on his hoof. “Oh, it’s not any one thing. Pay’s a little less, but the benefits are better. It’s a little closer to Ponyville, and it is the capital, so there’s lots of opportunity for advancement. Plus I think I’d be happier in Canterlot, you know? More culture, better atmosphere, better food—”

“You met a girl, didn’t you.”

Stormfeather winced. “That obvious?”

Caramel playfully swatted his shoulder. “You look like a lovesick puppy right now.”

A faint blush formed in Stormfeather’s cheeks. He put a hoof behind his head, his gaze turning wistful. “Okay, you caught me. Yeah, I met a girl. She’s from Canterlot. Ran into her at the Bluestemme last weekend.”

Yep, he’d been afraid of this. “No shit?” Caramel said casually. “You actually went and talked a girl? I’m impressed.”

“No! That’s the thing!” Stormfeather burst out. “I was just minding my own business, and she came up and talked to me! And holy horseapples, did we hit it off! We found out we had a crapload in common, and we talked until the place closed, and then we decided to keep hanging out afterward, and before you know it, we uh… um… heh-heh…”

Oh, Caramel knew. He’d been replaying it in his mind all week. He hoped to never forget it. “Just like that, eh?”

Stormfeather’s wings fluttered a bit. “Mmhmm. Just like that. Was like a whirlwind, to be honest! She showed up, we talked, we had sex, then she left the next morning before I woke up. She was only in town for business, see, and I think she had to get back so she could work on Monday...”

Their drinks came. They took them with their thanks, then took a moment to sip at them before continuing.

“Did she give you her address or anything?” Caramel asked.

Stormfeather’s eyes lingered on Caramel’s cucumber gin and tonic. “...no, she didn’t. She just kinda vanished! Poof! She did mention that she worked on Restaurant Row, though, so I can probably—”

“You want to move up to Canterlot to be closer to her.” It wasn’t a question. Caramel could see the truth.

Stormfeather coughed and looked away. “Well, I mean, that’s not the only reason—”

“But it’s the main one.”

“N-No!” Stormfeather protested. “Canterlot’s nice! Really! I think it would be a better fit for me! I mean the Canterlot job has some downsides, but it’s really—”

“Storm, listen to me.” Caramel suddenly grew very serious. “What have you wanted to do your entire life? What have you been busting your ass for, sacrificing, training, working out, to the point of missing work?”

Stormfeather scrunched up his face. He worked his jaw like he was chewing on something, and he didn’t like the taste.

“The Wonderbolts.”

“Exactly.” Caramel hated himself for doing this, but it had to be done. “You’ve had your heart set on this for years. Decades! You wanted it back when you still thought girls had cooties, and you still want it now. Your whole face lights up when you talk about it!”

“It’s not like I can’t train in Canterlot!” Stormfeather said. “There’s lots of gyms there! I can still keep my regimen!”

Caramel folded his hooves. “You told me that you didn’t get into the Wonderbolts the first time around because you didn’t have the wingpower. What’s going to help you up there? Will you be able to keep your body on the bleeding edge of progression with a handicap?”

Stormfeather’s face twisted. “It’s not a handicap, it’s just something I’ll need to adjust to! It’s basically the same thing I’ve had to do here. Rainbow Dash has to do it, too!”

“Rainbow Dash is fucking crazy,” Caramel said. He knew he was being tough here, but some of this was a long time coming. “Everypony in town knows that. The mare’s in a league of her own.”

Stormfeather fiddled with his hooves. “Okay, I’ll give you that one... ”

Caramel took a long pull from his spirit, nearly draining the whole thing. “You’ve also told me in the past that the gyms in Cloudsdale are better suited for what you need. Not to mention you’ll be more motivated if you’re around other pegasus athletes, and you might even find some connections there if you network. You’re going to need every advantage you can get, Storm. Celestia knows what kind of competition you’re going up against.”

It was a bitter pill for Stormfeather to swallow. Everything Caramel was saying was making sense, but that didn’t mean he wanted to hear it. Toffee had been a marvel that’d completely swept him off his hooves, and he did not want to let her go.

“I really liked her,” Stormfeather finally said in a soft voice.

He may as well have stabbed Caramel in the heart. Caramel wanted nothing more than to tell Stormfeather the truth, but…

“You like her more than your dreams?” Caramel asked.

There was a long pause. Stormfeather wrestled with himself, staring into the suds of his beer, watching them swirl around in his mug.

At last, he sadly shook his head.

Caramel had been expecting that answer, but it hurt all the same. “Think about the situation you’d you be in if it didn’t work out. You’d be in a sub-par job in a strange city, fighting an uphill battle to try and keep your physique up. You’d be completely running off of your own drive and motivation, without any good way to revitalize it. That sound like fun?”

Stormfeather mumbled something intelligible. He drank his beer sullenly, his shoulders slumped forward.

Caramel steeled himself for the hardest thing he’d ever had to say. “You should go to Cloudsdale, Storm. Don’t go making things harder on yourself by chasing after some mare. I believe you really can get into the Wonderbolts, but in order to do it, you need to stay focused. Canterlot’s not gonna help you do that.”

Stormfeather suddenly looked up at his friend with searching eyes. “You’re not making a lot of sense. Here you were saying last week that I should get a marefriend, and when I actually find a girl, you tell me not to go after her. What gives?”

“This isn’t the same.” Caramel ran a hoof down his face. “You said this girl just up and left Sunday morning, right? No address, no contact info, no goodbye note?”

Stormfeather pursed his lips. “No. Nothing at all. I woke up mid-morning and she was just... gone.”

Caramel nodded. “I’d say that’s a pretty clear indicator.”

Stormfeather’s ears drooped. “She might’ve just forgot…”

Caramel gave him a flat look. “Really?”

Stormfeather conceded the point. “Okay, okay, but you also said—”

“Forget what I said!” Caramel snapped. He downed his drink and slammed it down on the table. “Listen to what I’m saying NOW, alright?! I get you had a one night stand with a girl that left you smitten, but you need to Move. On. She probably just wanted a good lay without any strings attached! You really want to set yourself back just because of that? You really want to throw away your DREAMS because of that?!”

Stormfeather was taken aback. It was rare for Caramel to get this worked up, and the passion in his friend’s voice held his attention like a magnet.

“I’m glad you got a morale boost, but trying to pursue this girl is just plain dumb,” Caramel said.“You need to put your life first right now, and we BOTH know that Cloudsdale is going to be a much better place for you! There are other fish in the sea, Storm, plenty of which will still be there the night after! She clearly didn’t c-care about you if she left so suddenly!”

Stormfeather caught the hitch in Caramel’s voice. He realized that his friend was shaking, his teeth gritted as he fought to keep his breathing steady.

“I want you to be happy, Storm.” Caramel’s eyes were starting to feel hot, his heartbeat thudding in his ears. “From the first time I met you, I knew you had the sky in your blood. But this is an earth pony town, and Canterlot is a unicorn town. You belong with all the other Wonderbolt hopefuls, and—”

“Okay.”

Caramel stopped dead. He stared in shock at Stormfeather, his lips still parted mid-sentence.

“You’re right,” Stormfeather said, letting out a short laugh. “You really are right! Cloudsdale is the better choice. I shouldn’t go to Canterlot just because of some mare. I need to be where I can get the best training; keep myself in the best environment. I can’t afford to get distracted if I wanna make this a reality.”

A voice in Caramel’s head was screaming. He wasn’t sure whose it was. The color of the world was bleeding away, leaving everything awash in gray, and enormity of everything crashed into everything at once.

“I’ll still come visit sometimes, you know,” Stormfeather laughed awkwardly, the tension putting him on edge. “My parents are still here, after all, and I might be able to get some time off now and again! Should be okay so long as I’m not too sore from training—”

“I have to go,” Caramel blurted. He stood up and backed away from the table, unable to even look at Stormfeather. The walls were suddenly too close, and he was finding it hard to breathe “I-I can’t...”

He turned and fled out of the bar, ignoring Stormfeather’s calls after him as he dashed out into the night.

Nopony stopped him as he galloped through the streets. Caramel ran, and ran, and ran, trying to escape the truth that kept repeating over and over. He ran past Sugarcube Corner, where he and Stormfeather loved to hang out after school. He ran past the alleyway where they snagged cardboard boxes to play with. He ran past the town marketplace, where they’d load up on food before hanging out on weekends. He ran past the the empty lot where they’d played for hours on end. He ran past the riverfront, where they’d take boats out and ride downstream. He ran past the lamppost they accidentally knocked over one year, the dents still visible on the top.

Eventually, he stopped. He was out on the edge of town, up on a hill that overlooked the Everfree Forest. The air was humid and thick, and his frenzied run had left him drenched in sweat. It was overcast tonight, and the air rumbled with thunder, signalling the approach of more rain.

Caramel gasped desperately for air. His vision was fuzzy at the edges, his stomach twisting and churning in knots. He dry heaved a few times, and he fell to his knees and coughed, taking great, wet, raspy breaths. He clutched his head and let out a small sob, and before he knew it the tears were running unheeded.

It started to rain. Caramel didn’t care. He just sat and stared up at the night sky, the drops mingling with the ones that fell down his face.