Chapter 5
“Why, Sumac Apple, such a serious little pony,” Discord said in a voice that almost couldn’t contain his faint, wheezing laughter. “And Pebble Pie. How are you, Pebble?”
“Discord,” Pebble replied as she looked up. She gave a very polite nod and stared upwards from beneath the brim of her sunhat.
“Why does everypony keep saying that?” Sumac asked.
“Sumac, Sumac, Sumac…” Discord’s words came out as three huffs and he lowered his head down. “Look at you. You walk around with that serious face. Also, you are beige. From hoof to ear.”
“I am not!” Sumac punctuated his reply with an indignant snort, while wondering if he really was beige. His coat was a pale cream colour and his mane was kind of on the light side.
“I like beige,” Pebble said in a flat voice as she glanced over at Sumac. “Greys, browns, beiges. Some colours are just painful to look at. Not everything needs to look like a rainbow.”
Sumac sat down so hard that Boomer let out a worried honk. Sumac watched as Discord’s eyebrow arched and the little colt realised that the draconequus was probably laughing it up on the inside. He wasn’t beige. He was cream coloured. If somepony wanted to be creative, he might be considered a very light shade of caramel perhaps, with the right artistic eye. His pelt was kind of the same colour as sand. Well, some sand. Plain old sensible sand, not that fancy black sand that he had seen during his travels.
“A pygmy tree dragon.” Discord settled down to the ground, his tail and hind legs coming to rest against the soil. He stroked his chin. “I haven’t seen one of you in a while. You’re becoming endangered.”
“What?” Sumac blinked a few times, trying to take in Discord’s words. “She’s in danger?”
“Well….” Discord stretched the word out so it lingered in the air for several long seconds. “You ponies are silly creatures. You cut down the forests. You build cities and settlements in places with no regards for who or what lives there. And pygmy tree dragons need room to roam. It’s getting harder and harder for them to do so. Their forests keep shrinking. Ponies make for rude neighbors, really. I don’t know how I manage.”
Sumac’s eyes narrowed.
“The pygmy tree dragons either need to find new forests, or, give up their way of life and learn to live with ponies in civilisation. Some pygmy dragons already do this. Manehattan and Fillydelphia both have dragon populations.” Discord reached up and rubbed his chin. “I do believe that a pygmy dragon raised around ponies would have a much easier time of adjustment though.” Discord extended his talons, reached down, and booped Boomer on the nose.
In response, Boomer let out a honk that echoed through the trees and caused a flock of birds to flee in panic.
Discord clapped his talons and his paw together. “I could not have said it better with any clever words of mine!” A manic grin appeared upon the draconequus’ face. “Do try to look after the beige one. He’s going to be a real stick in the mud. Try to make him have fun.”
“We should be going,” Pebble said to Discord. “Fluttershy is expecting us.”
“Oh, I was there,” Discord replied. “Starlight Glimmer is there with her. There’s another stick in the mud pony.” Discord shuddered. “No sense of humour, that one. Sumac, I bet you and her will get along famously.”
“Daddy’s magic made Starlight’s magic go all wonky and she caused an outbreak of the cutie pox.” Pebble shook her head. “Lots of ponies had extra cutie marks. It was a mess. It was all Twilight’s fault. She was trying to study his magic and why it works the way it does.”
“Pebble Pie, your father is a menace.” Discord drew himself up to his full height.
Standing up, Sumac eyed Discord, then looked at Pebble as his mind filled with millions of questions that he wanted to ask. But the little curious colt said nothing, asked nothing. He just looked at Pebble and waited to get moving. He was eager to go. He wasn’t comfortable around Discord.
“Don’t tease me, Discord, or Papa will null you.” Pebble’s deadpan threat carried no feeling, no emotion, no nothing. “You know what happens if he comes near you. You are unstable magic. He will make you behave.”
Raising his forelegs, Discord made a bipedal gesture of surrender. “Now now, no need for threats. I was just stating the popular public opinion. No need to get huffy puffy.” Snapping his talons, Discord vanished, leaving two foals and one baby pygmy dragon sitting all alone.
Pebble sighed. “We should get moving.”
As the two foals crested the hill, a cottage came into view. It was a bit ramshackle, but cosy looking. It was surrounded by smaller buildings, such as chicken coops, sheds, and pens for animals. A large bear was lounging in a patch of shade under a tree, he appeared to be dozing. A large eagle with a bandaged wing was sitting on a wooden perch next to a kite, who was also bandaged. Sumac could see the white bandages standing out in sharp contrast to everything else. This was a sanctuary and animals did not fight here.
In the middle of it all was a sunny yellow pegasus and a pale purple pinkish unicorn mare. Both of them were trying to help some kind of dog like creature, or so it appeared, Sumac had trouble making out the details no matter how hard he squinted.
“Looks like somebody met up with a porcupine,” Pebble said as she walked beside Sumac, the brim of her hat bouncing with every step.
“You can see that from here?” Sumac asked.
“You can’t?” Pebble asked. “It isn’t that far away.”
Sumac let out a groan but did not reply as he began to realise that there was something wrong with his eyes. He blinked a few times, squinted, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not focus on the two mares and the dog like creature.
“You need glasses,” Pebble said in a matter-of-fact monotone.
“No I don’t,” was Sumac’s hasty reply.
“Yes you do.”
“No I don’t.” Sumac swallowed and felt a rising feeling of anger. “Can’t afford glasses. We need a house before winter.”
Pebble stopped, turned her head, and leveled her cool stare upon her companion. “You need glasses. I can help you.”
“I don’t want help—”
“You shut up,” Pebble demanded, cutting Sumac off. “I’ll talk to Pinkie Pie.” The filly paused, blinked, and her tail swished. “Or I might be able to ask my aunt Octavia and my aunt Scratchy for help.” Reaching out her hoof, Pebble booped Sumac on the nose. “You need to stop being so proud, Sumac Apple. Trixie was also proud and kept running away when other ponies tried to help her.”
“I don’t understand Trixie,” Sumac said as he and Pebble resumed walking. “She took the bits she could get for caring for me, but refused other forms of help. It’s confusing.” Sumac’s hooves caused little puffs of dust to rise from the road with each step.
As the foals drew closer, they were noticed. The pale purple pink pony lifted up a hoof and waved, while the yellow pegasus extended a wing. Something about the warm, friendly greeting made Sumac feel good. It was nice to be welcomed, to be wanted, to have others happy to see you. It was nice to settle in, to live in one place. Sumac missed the road, but having ponies excited to see you more than made up for it. The serious looking little colt smiled as he approached, touched by the warm greeting.
“Sumac, this is Starlight Glimmer,” Fluttershy said as she made an introduction. “Starlight, this is Sumac.” Fluttershy paused, her wings fluttered, and then she began to gush. “Oh look at him, he’s so adorable, and such a serious looking little colt—”
The dog like creature, now free of quills, loped off, whimpering.
“Ugh.” Sumac bit down on his lip to keep from being rude. Fluttershy was already squealing as she came over to him and Boomer began to make a trilling sound. Sumac felt himself being hugged and then Pebble was being squished against him as Fluttershy hugged them both together.
“Hello, Sumac,” Starlight said in a warm, cheerful voice. “Twilight and I have spoken about you. I’m going to be one of your instructors when school starts.” Starlight turned her gaze upon Pebble and her smile broadened. “Hello again Pebble. How are you?”
“Abandoned and orphaned,” Pebble replied in monotone.
“Oh, it’s not that bad,” Starlight said to Pebble in a gentle voice. “You are a very gifted little filly. Sacrifices have to be made. You want to be educated like your mother, don’t you?”
Pebble Pie made no response. She pulled away from Fluttershy and Sumac, went over to a shady spot beneath a tree, and sat down. She let out a huff, took off her hat, laid it down in the grass, and sat with her ears drooping to the sides of her face.
Fluttershy let go of Sumac and gave Starlight a worried sidelong glance. Sumac noticed this, the look shared between the two mares, and then he peered over at Pebble. He suspected that if it were any other foal, that foal would be crying right about now.
But, from what Sumac knew about Pebble, she wasn’t like other foals. She didn’t cry. He didn’t know why, but he had been sat down and given a talking to. He felt bad for her and he didn’t know what to do. He looked at Fluttershy and much to his surprise, the yellow pegasus gave him a faint, solemn nod, then made a gesture in Pebble’s direction.
There was a flurry of motion on top of Sumac’s head as Boomer lept, her long tail streaming out behind her. She landed on Starlight’s horn, and the startled unicorn mare let out a cry as the hatchling began to make herself at home.
Sumac used this opportunity to go over, sit down next to Pebble, and then he looked at her, but did not know what to say. It had to be tough for Pebble, Sumac realised. She acted so very much like a little adult in miniature, but she was still a foal. Ponies probably expected her to deal with things like an adult, or so Sumac reckoned. Because she didn’t respond or show much in the way of emotions, very much like her mother, the little colt came to the conclusion that most ponies probably just made assumptions about what Pebble was feeling without actually knowing. And since most of the time, Pebble seemed okay, Sumac deduced that most adults just assumed that Pebble was okay.
“Thank you,” Pebble said in a low voice.
“For what?” Sumac asked.
“For sitting with me,” Pebble replied.
“Oh.” Sumac couldn’t think of anything else to say and he felt rather useless. He sat there, watching as Fluttershy fawned over Boomer, who was coiled around Starlight’s horn.
“You are my only friend, Sumac. Nopony else my age even tries to understand me or tries to be friends with me. I’m difficult and they’re stupid.”
Nodding, Sumac sat in silence, listening. He was good at that. He could listen and pay attention; he maintained eye contact and did his best to show interest. Trixie had told him it took a special type of pony to be a listener, good listeners were hard to find. Being a good listener would make him special. He had even asked Big Mac about it, and Big Mac had confirmed everything that Trixie had told him. Big Mac was the quiet sort who was good at listening.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that everypony else is stupid.” Pebble’s eyes narrowed a bit and she shook her head. “That makes me no better than Olive. Now I feel even worse. I just can’t seem to get anything right.” Pebble let heave a sigh and shook her head again. “I’m mean. I’ve been mean to you, I was mean to Pinkie, and I was mean to my Mama. I’m an awful pony.”
“We all have bad days.” Sumac scooted a little closer to Pebble.
“Sometimes, I don’t want to be smart. I just want to be happy. I don’t want to think about my academic career.” Pebble drew in a deep breath and then continued, “Sometimes I feel silly and I do want to go and play with other foals, but then I start thinking about how smart I am and I think that I’ll say something that they’ll not understand and then I’ll be called an egghead and in my mind I’ll think about all of the things that will go wrong and at the end of it all, after I’ve thought about all of these stupid scenarios that might happen, I’ll convince myself that it just isn’t worth it and then I’ll go and read something so I can do something productive with my time.”
Sumac blinked and tried to take everything Pebble had just said in. He was smart, but he wasn’t that smart, and he had trouble understanding everything that had just been blurted out in what was perhaps the longest run on sentence he had heard in his life.
“I’m so starved for attention,” Pebble admitted in a flat voice. “I love my mother and father so much. They understand me. And I want their attention so much… and I’ve been very selfish with them. I love them… I love my mother and I love my father and when they’re both paying me attention everything is good. But when they start loving each other and getting all moony eyed, I feel left out and I hate them. I hate them so much because they’re the only ponies that get me and I feel left out and I can’t get any attention from them when they’re all moony eyed and making kissy faces at one another. I am such an unhappy foal and I don’t know how to fix what is wrong with me.”
That is a little deep, Sumac thought to himself. He was in over his head now and he had some trouble keeping up with everything coming out of Pebble’s mouth. He was feeling the pressure—she was pouring her heart out to him and trusting him to listen. He was listening, but he wasn’t sure he was understanding. He felt a little bit of fear creeping up in his mind, the fear of letting Pebble down. She was baring her heart to him and he didn’t know what to do.
Looking over at Fluttershy and Starlight, he saw Starlight whispering something into Fluttershy’s ear. Could they hear everything being said? They weren’t that far away. If they could hear, maybe they could help Pebble. If not, well, Sumac wasn’t sure what to do, but he knew that he had to help Pebble somehow. She was his friend.
“You could play with me,” Sumac said, hoping he wouldn’t sound stupid. “I mean, I don’t get along too well with other foals my age and nopony asks me to play with them, and even my cousins, Hidden Rose and Ambrosia, even though they like me, they think I’m a little strange.”
“We don’t fit in,” Pebble replied.
“I didn’t grow up with other foals.” Sumac sighed and shook his head. “I don’t understand all of the rules to the silly games that others play and I don’t know their songs and I get confused by things like ‘bases’ and ‘no tag backs’ and rather than try to understand, I just walk away and don’t bother.”
Looking into Pebble’s eyes, Sumac realised that something had changed. Something was different. He didn’t know what it was, but he wasn’t afraid to look into her eyes and mean it. He didn’t feel like turning away. He still felt squirmy inside, but he could handle being squirmy.
“We should go and learn about Boomer. Hopefully, Boomer won’t grow up thinking we’re both insufferable eggheads.” Pebble Pie reached out one hoof, leaned over, and patted Sumac.
Unable to help himself, Sumac giggled as Boomer looped herself around his horn. He could feel her little claws and her tail on his skin, which caused him to feel shivers up and down his spine. She was chewing on a big fat bug of some kind as she returned to her usual perch.
“Do you have any questions, Sumac?” Fluttershy asked.
Ears perking, Sumac tried to think of a question. At any other moment, he might have had a million questions, but now that he was on the spot, his brain went blank. He blinked a few times and a smile lingered upon his lips as Boomer chewed her bug with great gusto.
“Pygmy tree dragons aren’t like other dragons and they’re not actually dragons, but drakes. They’re very smart and mostly friendly. In the wild, they have been known to help ponies in trouble. Some talk in the wild, others don’t.” Fluttershy focused upon Boomer and watched as the hatchling wrapped her tail around Sumac’s left ear. “They are the natural enemy of the giant leaping spider and the big giant spiders are known to prey upon the pygmy tree dragon. The pygmy tree dragons use their flames to burn away spiderwebs and free themselves from the spider’s clutches. They will also eat the giant spiders if given a chance. You might think a dragon, even a little dragon would be more than a match for a giant spider, but you’d be wrong. Those big spiders have developed special fangs that will punch through tough scales and they have special venom that paralyses dragons. They’ve been fighting for a long, long time and are evenly matched.”
“So Trixie and I will never have to worry about spiders in our wagon ever again?” As Sumac spoke, he heard Starlight Glimmer giggle.
“No, Sumac,” Fluttershy replied, “Boomer will be extra vigilant about keeping spiders of all kinds away from where she nests. If she sees a spider, even a cute, harmless little spider, she will hunt it down, catch it, and eat it.”
“Neat!” Sumac’s enthusiasm could not be contained. Having had some encounters with some rather large and dangerous spiders, he was glad to have an ally in the war against the eight legged, hairy menace. He and Trixie had once been ambushed by giant spiders on the road and he had almost been gobbled by a giant hairy face leaping spider.
Almost laughing, Sumac knew what to bring up. “Boomer poops firecrackers.”
Fluttershy’s face went pink and Starlight Glimmer began to chortle. Sumac, grinning, looked over at Pebble and hoped that she was feeling a little better. She seemed alert and was paying attention.
“Yeah, about that,” Starlight said as she took over for a very embarrassed and flustered Fluttershy. “Dragons of all types, from big to little, have high concentrations of ammonium nitrate in their droppings. There are other volatile chemicals as well, dragons are blessed with an amazing digestive system that doubles as an alchemical still. They ferment various chemicals in their long hind guts. Dragon poo is natural dynamite. Dragons will drop their dung down into the cracks and crags of rocks and then breathe fire down into the crevice so they can blow apart big chunks of stone. They then pick through the rubble looking for gems or stones with high concentrations of ore or minerals.” Starlight Glimmer paused for a moment, focused upon Sumac, and drew in a deep breath.
“Dragon dung is very, very valuable. Even small pieces will fetch a good amount of bits. Alchemists use it for all kinds of things and it is most useful to farmers. Burying it in the ground will fertilise the soil and make it perfect for growing almost anything. An enterprising young colt could collect dragon droppings, stick them in a container, store them very carefully and make a lot of bits.”
“Tree dragons will drop their pellets down into a rotten tree and then blow the old rotten tree apart so they can get to all of the delicious beetle grubs and other bugs in the tree.” Fluttershy’s head bobbed as she spoke and it was clear that nature was a fascinating subject for her. “By doing this, they clear away old dead trees and make room for new trees to start growing. Tree dragons help to manage the forest and keep it healthy, which is why we must protect them.”
“Discord said they are endangered,” Pebble said to Fluttershy.
“Oh, they are. The wild populations are getting fewer and fewer. They need a lot of room and the forests keep getting smaller.” Fluttershy’s expression changed to one of sadness and she shook her head. “Not all changes and progress are for the better. Sure, it might benefit us, but others suffer for our progress.”
Sumac, who was focused on making bits, lifted his head and his eyebrow arched. “A container of dragon dung could be pretty dangerous, but it is possible to sell it?” The colt began to chew his lip for a moment and began to wonder how valuable dragon poop was. He looked at Starlight, then at Fluttershy, and finally, he glanced at Pebble. Boomer was going to poop a whole lot. It occurred to Sumac that Boomer was pooping bits. But for poop to come out, stuff had to keep going in. His smile turned upside down and became a frown.
“Winter is coming… how will Boomer get bugs?” Sumac asked.
“Oh, not to worry, I farm bugs,” Fluttershy replied. “A lot of my patients need to eat and bugs are good for them. Especially my avian friends who come to me for help.”
“And she can eat other things too, right?” Sumac crossed his eyes and looked up at his horn, where Boomer was perched. She had her eyes closed and appeared to be sleeping.
“Well, dragons can eat anything, Spike certainly does, but they do need certain things to stay healthy. If Boomer ate nothing but cookies and ice cream, she would get very, very sick. But yes, it is safe to feed her almost anything and tree dragons love the sweet taste of fruit. You might want to keep an eye on her around Applejack’s apples. She’ll probably try and keep eating until she almost pops. Dragons are naturally greedy and will just keep eating as much as they can if you let them. Especially when they are small and don’t know any better. Twilight told me stories about Spike.”
“Embarrassing stories,” Starlight Glimmer added.
“So she’ll like apples?” Sumac’s eyes focused upon Fluttershy once more.
“Oh, no doubt, she’ll love apples.” Fluttershy’s head turned when the bear napping under the tree let out a grunt. “Oh bother, I think I’ll need to look after Hugo. He’ll be waking up soon. Poor dear has been constipated. I told him not to go to the dump and eat garbage.”
“Feel free to stay for a while longer,” Starlight offered.
Sumac nodded and looked over at the bear. “Where are Rowanne and Garnet?”
“Oh, those two? They’re cub sitting. They’re around here somewhere.” Starlight’s eyes narrowed and she had a look around. “Silver Lining is an adorable little scamp and she likes to go off and hide somewhere. Poor Rowanne and Garnet get frantic sometimes trying to find her.”
This looked like a nice enough place to hang out and surely, Olive would not come here. Sumac looked at Pebble and noticed that she was watching some chickens strutting around the yard. He looked up at Boomer, who was sleeping. Yes, this place would be an ideal place to spend some time.
“Thank you for having us,” Pebble said to Fluttershy and Starlight. “And thank you for the lesson about Boomer.”
“Oh, we’ll talk some more,” Starlight offered in reply, “just make yourselves at home and have a look around. Just… watch out for Hugo. He’s bound to be stinky…”
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This is great. I sense a budding romance between Sumac and Pebble
great story super characters, can you post a family tree so we can learn who's who?
pre12.deviantart.net/5c2b/th/pre/i/2015/325/8/5/bed_time_story_by_hillbe-d9hkh8m.jpg
7049351
Sumac comes from Flam Apple and Belladonna.
Hidden Rose and Ambrosia are Applejack's foals.
Pebble comes from Tarnished Teapot and Maud. See The Weed and Venenum Iocus for more background.
Criminy. I need to organise a weedverse directory, don't I? Oh bother. It's happened again.
I feel like a lot of the Boomer stuff was irrelevant exposition.
7049404
It was a lesson. It also expanded the lore of the world just a little bit.
7049431
I get that, but to me it felt like you put it in only because you were so proud of it, regardless of whether it would have any later relevance.
I'm not saying that Sumac should have been taught any less than he was; I'm saying that the reader didn't need to know every detail of the conversation.
7049453
Which is why the chapter ended when it did and the rest of the lesson will be conducted off screen.
I liked the tree dragon ecology. It would not be right to introduce tree dragons without expanding on how they fit in to the rest of the world. It reminds me of Terry Pratchett's swamp dragons.
Oh thank fuck, you ARE updating your current stories... I was getting worried you were gonna start up ANOTHER story... that's a relief...
Edit: not meaning to say you aren't updating enough, it's just nice to know that you aren't having any issues or complications...
7049489
No plans to start anything at the moment, not with the move and everything being unsettled.
*standard complement*
Really loving this so far n.n Sumac and pebble are cute with one another. hope Cinnamon is able to become a friend of theirs n.n
keep up the good work Kudz!
Pebble is... almost disconcertingly self-aware for a... ten year old? Twelve year old?
Like, smart is one thing, but self-aware is very different.
7050240
Pony five (Which is about a human ten, give or take)
She is a prodigy with hyper intelligence. Like, you know those kids you see on those videos with silly titles saying you won't believe it?
Pebble is Maud Pie levels of smart, and she has many of the same issues as her mother. She suffers from depersonalisation-derealisation syndrome. It's a mild case, but it makes it very difficult to have emotional reactions. Such people (and ponies) are unable to cry, even if they really want to. The sensation is called emotional blunting. They can still feel stuff, sometimes, but any attempt to express it externally just fails. No laughter, no crying, no anything.
Very much like her mother, Maud, it would be very, very challenging to be her friend. Her extreme intelligence, her mental illness, it would take a very special person with a lot of patience and concern to get past all of that.
Seriously? This is the chapter in which you reduced the most fearsome and awe-inspiring of civilizations (dragons) and reduced them (and by extension, Spike) to fucking animals. Fluttershy talks about pygmy dragons like they're just part of nature, and I cannot imagine any species of dragon becoming endangered because of deforestation. That was fucking ridiculous. Dragons never met with ponies and told them where their goddamn borders were!?
7056477
Technically, Boomer is not a dragon, but a drake. Says so in the chapter.
7056477 Dragons are migratory, so they have the same problem as the buffalo. Ponies move in when they're not around.
Also, it sounds like the tree dragons aren't part of the classical dragon civilization if you could even really call it that. Dragons are always losing ground to civilization in almost every story about them (not limited to pony-fic) because they don't care about each other. There's no loyalty to 'dragon-kind' or even to their own mates or children. One dragon might make a stink but it's one dragon making a stink, and you can band together to drive off or buy off that one dragon.
Dragons that learn about cooperation usually become politicians. In human/pony/whatever society. Or in Equestria, they work at a comic shop.
7056477
Good job. Apply logic using a commonly considered dragon with the ferocity of such common ideas behind dragons.
Good job.
It's alright. Not everybody can think of different types of dragons and take into consideration the differences in size and mannerisms.
you're good. All in the clear. This intellecual perspective is just fine by me.
I am a dragon! Well, a drake... I will burn your village down!
One square foot of house at a time...
BEWARE MY FIRECRACKER FECES!
7057421
In Shadowrun, Greater Dragons are the scariest, meaniest bastards around. And It's due more because their politic influence, economic resources and sheer mainpower, rather than for any personal power ; and believe me when I say they have A LOT of personal power.
One thing concerns me: if pygmy dragons are a sapient race, is ok to allow a foal to raise one of them like a pet?
It's like you're making a catalog: "101 ways to be terrible parents."
Pebble's parents are a classic screw-up: They KNOW their daughter is insecure, and extremely intelligent--- Instead of making her feel included and secure, reassuring her that she wasn't being replaced (a COMMON anxiety for small children with siblings on the way) and helping her embrace the idea of being a big sister, they push her aside whenever they get intimate with one another, spend months or even years talking about having another kid in front of her whenever they do.... and then they take her at the most emotionally vulnerable time in her life and dump her at a boarding school "for her academic career."
Talk about failing the friendship lesson. Twilight pushed aside family and friends for her academic career. Moondancer pushed aside family and friends for her academic career. Trixie pushed aside family and friends for her career in showbiz. Starlight Glimmer pushed aside family and friends for her ambitions. And didn't THEIR lives turn out grand.
Pebble doesn't need academic achievement one tenth as much as she needs her FAMILY.
Human beings are the stupidest beasts God ever made. No other beast of the field treats its offspring with the same sort of shocking, callous neglect that supposedly sapient Homo Sapiens does. Any other creature keeps its offspring close, watches them diligently, educates them their own damn selves, and at night sleeps with them right at their side-- and does so till the day they leave the nest or den or pride to strike out on their own as adults.
Humans? The first thing we do after giving birth is stick them in a crib and wheel them into another room. We get them home and stick them in a nursery on the far side of the house (then bitch and moan when we have to get up and trudge across the house to tend to them.) They're barely out of diapers and we send them off in the care of TOTAL STRANGERS (who have historically shown to do a SHITTY job of it) to be educated in things we could teach them ourselves for eight hours a day, five days a week, for the rest of their childhood... and we repeat that pattern with sports teams, clubs, summer camps, ballet classes, etc... anything and everything to get the little sprogs as far away from us as we can for as long as we can manage.
Then we wonder why they never write us.
7059697 While I'm not touching the second half of your comment with a ten foot pole, I completely agree with the first half. Pebble may be rather grown up for her age, but we've seen little evidence that her parents have really tried to get her adjusted to the idea of another sibling. I mean, yes we see them telling her they love her and, while I can't tell if it's just Pebble that believes they're going for another sibling it seems somewhat likely, but...they just left her at a boarding school. I honestly don't care if it's Twilight's School of friendship or not and how qualified all the staff are, this can't be good for her psyche. I think they didn't want to split up her first real friendship, and I can understand that, but they still left her there and the fact that it was to get a good education doesn't take away the fact that they left her there. Granted, they left her in Pinkie's care which mitigates this somewhat because Pinkie is family, but they still left while Pebble is adjusting to a new environment full of practical strangers and while she is convinced they're trying to replace her.
So, in summary, kind of a dick move, Maud and Teapot. I expected better from you two.
(I'm sure they had their reasons and since we've only seen Pebble's situation through Sumac's eyes we're probably getting a biased view and they probably did do more behind the scenes, but even accounting for that, I don't think her parents are handling this as well as they could).
It's a nice story BUUTTT I don't know who the characters fully are yet.
Hey, maybe Sumac could pay for some glasses and a house with dragon poop. Very efficient.
I'm still curious about the disposition of Spike's poop over the years. Proper management could conceivably have turned that into quite a nest egg by now.
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Hamsters and clownfish eat their children
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Oh! And how could I forget about dolphins?
I'm sure raping and playing with the corpses of their children is considered good parenting as well. A+++++ so GLAD they aren't human!
It's better to be eaten or raped than be sent to what is going to be the BEST school in the country with no immediate threat to your life!
This chapter did make me feel better.
AND I would love a dragon that ate spiders, sign me up.
Same, kid.
7057421 I've read world building that says that civilisations developed to combat the threat dragons posed to other sapients. Dragons are often to selfish to cooperate and suffer the consequences.
I really liked the description of draconid biology.
Its good to see Starlight changed. She was so INTENSE during those other arcs, and downright creepy. Seeing her be like this is both jarring and comforting. She was a great source of tension and fear, and now Twilight has worked her magic and showed Starlight the truth. It makes me happy.