Element of Love

Chapter 16- The Friendship Games

"Hello?" I called out to the empty hall of the castle. I felt like something was watching me, or somepony.

"Ruby?"

"Caramel!" I said in surprise. "Don't scare me."

"Sorry. You called out, and I thought someone was with you," Caramel apologized.

"Caramel, I love you, but there's no one here. Twilight's dealing with Starlight, and the others are doing their own thing," I explained, bumping our noses together.

He smiled, kissing the top of my head.

"What's that?" I asked scaredly, looking down the hallway.

There was a shadow of a pony. It looked daunting. There was no pony in front of the shadow, only a black shade. Panic filled my body, but I didn't want to move. Maybe it was an illusion.

"Run," Caramel said.

We ran into the library. The shadow barged in, and Caramel backed into the mirror.

"Caramel!" I shouted as he was sucked in.

I braced myself and ran through the portal, getting swirled around in the portal. I fell on top of Caramel, making him groan. We were in front of Canterlot High once again. But something seemed different about the atmosphere.

"What happened?" he asked. He looked down at his hands and yelped.

"Caramel, don't panic-"

"What do you mean? I'm not a pony! I'm not myself!" Caramel hissed.

"Okay, look at me," I said calmly. He did as he was told. "This is going to be like teaching a foal how to walk. Okay, move your legs like you do in our world, like you're standing up."

He stood up slowly, his legs shaking. I held his arms to make sure he didn't fall. He looked at me adoringly, leaning down to kiss me awkwardly. I returned the kiss, pulling away after a moment.

My outfit changed again. My hair went down to the middle of my back. I wore a white dress that went down to my shins, with a pale pink belt showing off my waist. The belt had my cutie mark on it. I was wearing pale pink flats that fit snugly around my feet.

Carmel was wearing a white t-shirt with his cutie mark on it. He wore black jeans that were the perfect amount of baggy. His sneakers were tied and the cutie mark showed on the sides. His green hair was in a taper haircut and had a textured quiff on top. His caramel skin looked so perfect in the sunlight.

"Is something wrong?" Caramel asked.

"No, you're perfect—I mean, everything's perfect," I stammered.

Caramel smiled at my accidental slip. I smiled back, nuzzling our noses together.

"I think you're already getting the hang of this," I said, noticing how his hands slowly rested on my shoulders. "I have a place here. Come on."

Slowly, he learned how to walk without tripping. By the time we got to my house, he was walking at a steady pace and his hand in mine. I was so surprised about how fast he had adapted.

"This is where you lived?" Caramel asked, marveling at the decoration.

"Pretty, isn't it?" I said, smiling. "I tried to decorate like my home in Ponyville. You know, before I had the castle and you moved in with me."

Caramel smiled, sitting down on the couch. "It's weird not having a tail."

"If you play an instrument, we pony up. Rainbow loves to show it off," I said, rolling my eyes with a smile.

"Are we going to head back?" Caramel asked.

"Can we pay a visit to my friends? Sunset's been writing to us, and I think she'd enjoy the time," I asked.

"Of course."