Chapter 1
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Soarin' Skies

Chapter 1

"I'm sorry Car, it's just not going to work out."

The words echoed through Caramel's mind as he lay in bed. It had been a few days since he and his boyfriend had broken up. They both saw it coming but chose to ignore it until it actually happened, it had been a train wreck since the second date. The boyfriend moved back to Canterlot, he just couldn't bare the sight of what could have been, and he left Caramel with a broken heart.

Caramel had tried to find love again in the small gap between then and now, it didn't work out. Big Macintosh had fallen for his cousin Braeburn when he moved to Sweet Apple Acres, meaning Caramel had to see them, together and happy, almost every day.

The curtains were closed, stopping any sunlight from entering the room. Caramel was laying on his bed, wishing he could just cry and get it over with. There was a knock on the door but it went unanswered, Caramel just buried his face in a pillow. Moments later the door opened and Caramel's sister Mocha walked into the room. She walked over to the curtains and threw them open, letting blinding light into the room. Caramel moaned and buried his face deeper into the pillow.

"Caramel, it's twelve. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and you need to get out of bed and get over the prick who dumped you." Mocha pushed Caramel off so he rolled onto the floor. "Now get up, you're doing things today."

"Can't you just let me die in peace?" Caramel moaned.

"You're not going to die." Mocha said. "If you died from a rough breakup then my deaths would be in the thirties." Mocha picked Caramel up and draped his arm around her shoulders. "Now come on, we're going to see the Wonderbolts preform."

She took a step forward but he didn't, making her need to drag him. "Oh man up, there'll be hot guys there."

"That doesn't help me at all. There is no guy hot enough to make me forget about him."

Caramel tried to pull away from Mocha and go back to bed, but she strengthened her grip. "You're going anyway. You need some sunshine and fun."

Mocha pilled Caramel through the house, out the door and into Ponyville. Caramel was blinded by the unfiltered light. "Why do we need to go outside?"

"So we can get to the show." Mocha replied. "Now stop whining and learn how to have fun."

The two walked silently through town. People who saw Mocha started to wave but when they saw Caramel they stopped. It was easy to see why, his hair was a mess, his eyes were bloodshot and there were dark circles under them.

Right when they sat in their seats, the show began. Mocha was very into it, she was cheering and clapping. Caramel, on the other hand, wasn't. He was just sitting there, barely paying attention to the show. He admitted that the show was pretty good, but he was still focused on two weeks ago. "Why did he have to just leave like that? He could have lied and said that his parents were forcing him to go back to Canterlot and he couldn't handle a long distance relationship." He put his face in his hands and tears started to fall. He smiled faintly. "F-finally."

Mocha put her hand on his back. "You okay Caramel?"

"Y-yeah, I'm perfectly fine."

The day quickly passed with numerous buckets of ice cream and a lot more crying. When the sun rose upon the next day Caramel was already up and getting ready for work. When he walked downstairs his sister was happily surprised.

"You actually look happy today," She said. "And your hair looks like actual hair. Good job."

Caramel smiled. "Shut up, you looked worse when you and Time Turner broke up."

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" She said. "But you've got to admit, I worked that shaved head look."

"Did you? I guess I have to look at the pictures again." Caramel turned towards the door. "I guess I gotta go and explain my absence to Applejack now."

Caramel walked out the door and started his way towards Sweet Apple Acres.

When Caramel arrived the first thing he saw was Applejack in her normal attire of a plain, orange shirt and short shorts.

"Well I'll be, you finally decided to show up for work." She said, forcefully kicking a tree. "I was damn near ready to fire you. What happened?"

Caramel frowned. "Can we not talk about that now? I want to make up for the work I missed."

"Well fine, tell me while you're working."

Caramel sighed. "I'm sorry Applejack, that's something I just don't want to talk about yet."

"Fine, now come on. We have a lot of work to do." She lead Caramel towards a section of the fields with trees in dire need of picking. "We need to get through this entire section today, so I hope you didn't make any plans for after work."

Caramel nodded and walked over to the closest tree. He delivered a swift kick to the side and the apples fell gently in the basket.

"So Caramel," Applejack said, kicking the side of a tree. "How are you and Event holding up? I hope you and him are doing fine with him in Canterlot and all."

Caramel cringed but stayed silent. He kicked the next tree harder than the last one.

"Not good then? I hope you two didn't break up, you're cute together." She put two and two together. "Wait, is that why...?"

Caramel stayed silent. He kicked the next tree hard enough to shake off one of the branches. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw that it was Applejack's.

"Sugarcube, I'm sorry for bringing it up. If you want to tell me about it, do it when you feel like it." She went over to another tree and kicked it, the apples didn't fall. She kicked it again, this time with double the force. The apples didn't fall. "Dang it, what's wrong with these apples?" She kicked it a third time with all of her strength. The apples fell into the baskets along with the tree's leaves. "Dang it."

"Applejack, I'd hate to interrupt you yelling at a tree but, I guess I could tell you what happened."

"You sure sugarcube? I don't want to reopen healing wounds."

"It's fine. Talking about it may even help me feel better." Caramel sat down and motioned for Applejack to sit next to him.

She sat down and Caramel began. "Okay, I guess I should start from the beginning. As you may know, I technically started dating him at his birthday party, that was also the first time I formally met him. We had our first date the day after and we slept under the stars, it was so romantic. Anyway, after that we slowly realized that we just weren't meant for each other. The more we talked, the more we saw it wouldn't work out." Caramel sighed and wiped away a few stray tears. "We just broke apart and fell to pieces, better yet, we invented a brand new method of breaking up. Never before have I heard of someone moving back with their parents just to break up with someone."

Applejack put her hand on his shoulder again. "Honey, I don't know much about break ups, on account of, I've never really dated much. But what I do know is, dwelling on the past'll just make you feel worse. You can hurt as long as you need to but, you need to move on at some point."

Caramel pulled Applejack into a hug. "Thanks for your help AJ, I feel much better now." He let Applejack go and stood up. "Is Big Mac still with Braeburn?"

"He is. I don't want you going after my brother, anyone else is fine, just not my brother." Applejack stood up. " Now why don't you take the rest of the day off? I can handle the rest by myself."

"You sure? I can still help if you need it."

Applejack pushed Caramel closer to the gates. "You've done more than enough for today."

Applejack went towards another tree and started kicking it. Caramel, deciding not to fight her decision, left for home.

Caramel opened the door to his house and stuck his head in. "Hey Mocha! You still home?"

"Yeah! Where else would I be?" Called Mocha from the next room over.

"Good, do you need anything from the market?"

"Yeah, we need some bread and milk." She said, entering the room Caramel was in. "You gonna pick some up?"

"I guess so, I need something to do before I go back to my room and die inside."

"Why are you even home so early? You should be working."

"I told Applejack why I was MIA and she let me go early." Caramel shrugged. "I'm not gonna say no to that."

"If you skip work any longer I'm going to have to kick you out."

"It's not my fault, I was too depressed to even eat, let alone work."

"And whose fault is that?" She asked.

"Mine?" Caramel suggested.

"No, it's that stupid SOB who can't even figure out how a relationship work's fault. Now stop beating yourself up and start being happy"

"But beating myself up is fun. It lets me know why he would want to break up with me."

"It's not fun to see you do this to yourself." Mocha pushed Caramel's head out of the doorway. "Now stop letting me see it and go to the market."

Mocha slammed the door in Caramel's face. "Well that was rude." He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked in the general direction of the market.

"Tch, seven bits for milk? Last week it was four, and that time it was fresh from the cow." Caramel muttered to himself. "What a ripoff. At least Golden Wheat was willing to-"

Caramel was interrupted by bumping into someone. That someone was running in the market, not usually something you want to do. The force of their impact knocked them both back.

"Ah, are you okay?" Asked the strange pegasus.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Not you, my pie!." The pegasus picked up a pie tin from off the ground. He inspected its contents, looking for anything broken. "Good, my pie is safe."

"Great, I'm held in less regard than a pie. That makes me feel great about myself." Caramel picked himself up off the ground and inspected his bag, hoping the bread wasn't crushed.

"Sorry, I just really like pie." He smiled widely. "But, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Caramel brushed some dirt off his jeans. "Is that a Sweet Apple Acre's pie?"

The pegasus' smile somehow widened. "Yeah! They make the best pies. I could just eat these all day, and I would if I didn't need to watch my weight."

"Oh come on, you can indulge yourself, right?"

"Nah, the Wonderbolts have a strict policy about weight. If I can't fit in my suit, then I get the boot." The pegasus giggled a bit. "I love saying that, it's so fun."

"You're a part of the Wonderbolts?"

"Not just a part, I'm the captain." The pegasus extended his hand. "My name's Soarin'"

Caramel nervously shook his hand. "I'm Caramel."

"Well Caramel, you're seemingly the nicest person I've met today."

"How so?"

"You didn't start hounding me for my autograph the moment you found out who I am." His smile dimmed a bit. "Speaking of which, I think I hear a particular pegasus presently pounding our way."

Just then a screeching sound was heard, known by all of Ponyville as...Rainbow Dash's laugh. "I hope we'll run into each other again, but for now I must take my leave." Soarin' sprinted past Caramel and through the market,. Moments later a rainbow blur zoomed in the direction that Soarin' went.

"He was cute. Maybe Mocha was right; maybe all I need is a cute guy to help me forget about him. Caramel frowned. "Best stop thinking about him too much."

"Hey Mocha, I'm home." There was silence. "Mocha?" More silence. Caramel walked into the living room. Mocha was sleeping on the couch. Caramel thought for a second and then he smirked. He then proceeded to push her off the couch.

She screamed as she fell. "You son of a-. Why did you push me off the couch?"

"You pushed me off of my bed. Turnabout is fair play."

"Doesn't mean you can still do it." Mocha stood up. "Did you get the stuff?"

Caramel held up the bag. "Yeah, I did. I also met someone." He smiled. "A cute someone."

"Oh? What's his name?"

"Soarin', you probably don't know him."

"Soarin?" Mocha grabbed onto Caramel's shoulders and shook him. "You met the co-captain of the Wonderbolts?"

Caramel brushed her hands off his shoulders. "Funny, he told me he was the captain. I should ask him about it if I see him again."

"Did you get his autograph?" She grabbed the bag and looked through it. "You didn't get his autograph?"

"No, I thought asking would be rude. I'll see if I can get one if I see him again."

Mocha's face darkened. "You get the autograph no matter what. I don't care if you have to hunt him down, just do it."

"Or I could just get it tomorrow, if I see him." Caramel stepped out of the living room and started up the stairs. "In fact, that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"What if he's not staying until tomorrow?"

Caramel walked down the hallway leading towards his room. "Then you'll have to live with the fact that you will never get an autograph. You will die alone, silently cursing me, who has long since passed on, about the fact that I could never get you an autograph." Caramel stepped into his room. "Anyway, goodnight. I'll see what I can do about the autograph, I'll even go out of my way to find him."

Mocha slowly made her way up the stairs. "You better, I'll have your head if you don't." When Mocha reached where Caramel was standing she pulled him into a hug. "But still, it's great to have you back."

Caramel smiled and hugged her as well. "It's great to be back." Caramel pulled away moments later "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to sleep."

"Are you sure? It's not even four."

Caramel shrugged. "It's not like I have anything else to do."

"What about dinner?"

"I'm not very hungry. If I wake up dying of hunger then I'll eat."

"That can't be healthy, you need to eat at some point."

"It's not, but I will eat. Tomorrow." Caramel slammed the door in her face.

Mocha stood there for a second. She sighed and went back down the stairs.