“Half sister.” Trixie squirmed in Twilight’s over-eager embrace and managed to free Sumac, who was smart enough to scurry away. “Half!”
“You are not a half a pony!” Twilight retorted.
“But I am your half sister, it seems.”
“I don’t do anything halfway.” Twilight redoubled her efforts to pull Trixie closer.
“Go away! Equinal space! Now!”
“Nope!”
“Ugh, now you are even more of a pest!”
Twilight, looking wounded at being called a pest, did the only thing she could do with her recalcitrant sibling. She pulled Trixie into a headlock, blew a raspberry as she stuck out her orange tongue, and then proceeded to give Trixie a Great and Powerful Noogie, oblivious to the dumbfounded stares from the other ponies in the room.
“Stop that! I am the Big Sister! That means I’m in charge! I’m older!”
“BSBFF!” Twilight closed her eyes, ceased her relentless noogie, and pulled Trixie close again. Twilight was only all too happy to relent and she wrapped her wings around Trixie as well.
Sitting down upon the floor, Twilight Velvet shook her head, blinked a few times, snuffled back some snot lurking in her nose, and then watched as Twilight continued to dominate Trixie into submission. “This is not the reaction I expected. To be honest, I don’t know what I expected.”
“Be warned, rivalry between sisters can be dramatic and intense.” Princess Luna’s words fell upon the room like a falling anvil, which brought with it a devastating explosion of silence. The Princess of the Night stood there, looking both solemn and worried, as if fearing what this revelation might bring about. She looked about the room, focusing in particular on Night Light, Twilight Velvet, and Dandelia. “No doubt, your actions are what drove you to become the ponies that you are today, but this layer upon layer of dishonesty concerns Us. These are wounds that will take time to heal.”
Dandelia, who had a soggy, tear and snot soaked face, tried to clean herself up with her sodden hanky, but failed. With a flick of magic, she vanished it and summoned another, this one fresh and new. As she began to wipe her face, she shared what was on her mind. “There is still the matter of the will and there are some documents that will only reveal themselves to Trixie. There is also something for you, Night Light.”
Looking weary, Night Light let out a sigh. “Can it wait till morning?”
Nodding, Dandelia replied, “Of course.”
Spike, after an apprehensive look around, went over to where Twilight and Trixie sat together and plopped down close to Twilight. He scooted closer, then closer, and after grabbing Twilight, he pulled himself in and sat with the two mares. Closing his eyes, he rested his head against Twilight’s side, then let out a smoky sigh of satisfaction that curled up from his nose, which caused Trixie to sneeze.
“Achitchitchitcha!”
“You sneeze like a dork,” Twilight remarked.
Glowering in a way that only a big sister could, Trixie said nothing in reply.
“We shall return in the morning.” Before anypony could protest, Princess Luna just vanished and was gone in a cloud of glittering aethereal particles that drifted down to the floor like falling, swirling snowflakes. While it was said that Princess Celestia knew how to make an entrance, it was Princess Luna that knew how to make an exit.
The entire room was now silent and somber.
Sitting on a bed that smelled a little old and musty, Sumac tried to quiet and calm his mind. It had been a tumultuous evening and now it was a tumultuous bedtime. He didn’t have his Princess Cadance stuffy, and even though he was too ashamed to say it aloud, he worried that he might have nightmares without her. As odd as it was, she helped.
The door to the palatial room opened without a knock and Dandelia stuck her head into the room. “I just wanted to say goodnight.” When she wasn’t rebuked, she took a few cautious steps into the room, looked at her daughter, and then looked at her grandson with a sad, longing expression.
Prodding his mother with his hoof, Sumac whispered, “You know, she went through a lot of trouble to have you. You should give her a chance to make things right.”
“Sumac—”
“Does it feel good when somepony holds your past against you?” Sumac asked.
“Sumac, it isn’t that simple—”
“Well, does it?” Sumac waited for a reply.
Hanging her head, Trixie made a muted confession. “No.”
Taking a risk, Dandelia came further into the room, climbed up onto the end of the bed, and sat down. “We have Apples here in Lulamoon Hollow. They grow the dusk apples and they’re just as troublesome. Caper adored them.”
“Dusk apples?” Sumac asked.
“They grow best in the dark,” Dandelia replied as she made herself comfortable. “They’re dark purple, indigo, or dark blue, and if a pony eats one, the apple allows them to see in the dark. Lulamoon Hollow is the only place in Equestria where these apples grow.”
For some reason, Sumac thought about Pebble and her aversion to the sunlight. She sunburned all too easily and he realised that this would be a great place for her, living in the shadow of the mighty Canterhorn. The sunlight bothered him too, because of his astigmatism. Laying on his pillow, Boomer yawned in her sleep, then curled up into a new position.
A piercing howl rent the night and Sumac let out a startled yelp as he clung to his mother’s leg. Trixie shushed him, stroked his neck, and as he held on to her, shivering, he heard Dandelia say, “It’s just the moon wolves welcoming the rising moon, if you stay here long enough, you’ll get used to them. They’re the guardians of this place and they protect ponies. They’re quite friendly, but during the daytime, they are little more than insubstantial phantoms, should you see them.”
“I remember them,” Trixie said as she closed her eyes and began reminiscing. “I can remember playing tag with them. I used to feel so safe with them around, like nothing in the world could hurt me. I have missed that feeling of safety.”
“When Caper was a colt, he lived with the pack for a time, even sleeping in their dens. They were his puppies and he loved them a great deal.” Dandelia sighed, a forlorn sound, and she shook her head. “He was a horrible, wretched pony, and yet somehow, I miss him.”
“Mother…” Trixie’s voice was a spoken whisper and her eyes shimmered with tears. “I was wrong to demand that you choose between us. I can see that now. For whatever it is worth, I am sorry.”
“I am too.” Dandelia eased herself down onto the bed and got comfortable in a pony-loaf position. “He was my father. For all of his faults, he was my father. He was a terrible, terrible pony, cruel, heartless, a tyrant, but he was my father. I wanted to run away with you, really, I did, but he was all I had left of my mother.”
“I wish I could have met her.” Trixie, holding Sumac, had a tear roll down the bridge of her muzzle, towards the tip of her nose.
“She was his second cousin and she absolutely hated him.” Dandelia’s eyes glazed over. “But she was loyal and devoted in her own way. She understood the value of the Lulamoon name and she gave him an heir.”
Feeling a little icked out, Sumac tried not think about them being cousins. Instead he asked, “What happened to her?”
“She suffered from hemophilia,” Dandelia replied in a low, soft whisper. “Almost died having me. She had quite a number of close calls. And when I announced that I was pregnant, she couldn’t bear the shame.”
Trixie, whose lower lip began to tremble, looked into her mother’s now faded blue eyes. “Caper blamed you, didn’t he?”
Closing her eyes, Dandelia nodded, but remained silent.
Somewhat confused, Sumac wasn’t sure what was going on, or what had happened, but he tried to put the pieces together. After a few moments of intense thought, he didn’t like the picture this puzzle was forming. “You know, to me, it sounds as though Caper wanted to make sure that you two hated each other and were ashamed of each other. He doesn’t sound very nice. Why would he want a mother and daughter to hate each other?”
Eyes still closed, Dandelia replied, “To punish me. That’s what I think, anyway.”
“So why did you stay with him?” Sumac asked.
“Sumac, it’s complicated,” Trixie replied.
“It’s so horrible…” Sumac shook his head and he felt tears welling up in his eyes. “He was so awful and now the both of you hate each other, which is probably what he wanted. He’s dead now, but he’s still making the two of you do as he wants. He died and now we’re here and you and Trixie are fighting and hating each other.”
Sumac had hope that if Caper could manipulate them apart, maybe he could manipulate them back together. It didn’t feel wrong, not exactly, but it didn’t feel honest either. It felt like something that Applejack would give him the stinkeye over and maybe even have a long talk about over apple brown betties. The tears, which were real, he did nothing to hold them back and allowed them to fall with the hope that they would bring Trixie and her mother together.
The colt wondered what Lemon was doing. The last that he had seen of her, she was serving tea to Twilight Velvet, Twilight Sparkle, and Night Light. He had almost bonked his head getting whooshed from one floor to the next because he had gotten scared and moved when the wind lifted him.
“He’s really quite good at what he does,” Dandelia said to Trixie. “I suppose you had something to do with that.”
“I did,” Trixie replied, and then she coughed to get the phlegm out of her throat. “Twilight says that he gets his silver tongue from his father and I’ve been tasked with making certain that he uses it for good. Just about every word he utters has the weight of magic with it.”
Cheeks burning, Sumac had nothing to say in his own defense.
“A cheeky little colt with a magical silver tongue, raised by a Lulamoon,” Dandelia deadpanned. “I’m not sure that the world is ready. And you were allowed to keep him?”
“I was tricked!” Trixie gave Sumac a squeeze and looked down at the colt she called her own. “I thought it was my bright idea, but as it turns out, I got played. It was all a ploy to get me straightened out, to make me honest and respectable.”
“Fascinating.” Opening her eyes, Dandelia looked at Sumac and studied him. “Charisma magic, advanced intelligence fueled by magic no doubt, and a sorcerer as well. Any one of those things is useful, but to have such a powerful combination… Sumac, you are one very lucky colt.”
Not understanding everything that was said, Sumac just sat there and stared at his grandmother through the darkened lenses of his glasses. He couldn’t help but feel that he was being sized up though, and he wasn’t entirely certain that he liked the way that Dandelia was looking at him. Her eyes had a peculiar gleam to them that he could only describe as ‘hungry.’
“Twilight is positive that his intelligence is magic related. He knows things that he shouldn’t know. He is preternaturally intelligent and has a direct connection to the aether. Twilight suspects that he was able to come up with his own hypothesis about the state of magic because of his link with magic.” Trixie pulled Sumac a little closer and gave her mother a knowing stare. “He is free to make his own decisions, Mother. I want to make that very, very clear. If I think for even a moment that you’re trying to influence him or steer him in a direction you want him to go, our little truce, as nice as it is, is over.”
At that moment, Sumac realised that he was in over his head and that he was foolish for thinking he could somehow manipulate these two mares. Trixie was squeezing him hard enough that it almost hurt, and it percolated through his brain that his mother was terrified as well as trying to protect him. Did he really need protection from Dandelia?
Maybe.
“Very well, I surrender now.” Dandelia let out a resigned sigh. “I don’t want my only grandson hating me. Honestly, I would like for us to be a family, if such a thing were possible. I shall endeavour to be as honest as possible with the two of you.”
“What do you think, Sumac? Is she being honest?” Trixie relaxed her embrace just a little bit and Sumac was able to suck in a much needed deep breath.
“Something about her makes me suspicious,” Sumac replied, being honest himself.
“To be completely honest and straightforward,” Dandelia said to Sumac in a dry, flat voice, “I was thinking about how much of an asset you might be to Lulamoon interests as a career politician. With the proper education and coaching, you could take Canterlot by storm. The world could be yours for the taking.”
“I don’t want the world.” Sumac wrapped his forelegs around Trixie’s left front leg and peered at his grandmother, no longer certain that he liked her. Something about her left him feeling uneasy now, the casual way that she just mentioned exactly what she wanted from him.
“It’s not for my own selfish interests,” Dandelia said with a sniff. “It’s just, for the past few decades, Night Light, Twilight Velvet, and I have all been plotting to make the world a better place… we learned oh so very much during our time together in school…”
And this is her take on Sumac without the Zap Apple's!
Oh, and I've become so conditioned to the "Bing!" sounds from all of my devices when Kudzu posts a link to the next chapter that wake up in the middle of the night!
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My editor, everybody.
Say thank you!
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To be a pain sneak around setting them all at 30 seconds after the last one you meddled with....the bells the bells!
is twilight hugging another her and trixie?
If Dandy, Night and Velvet have been plotting for a long time, what did they intend to do before Sumac came along? One wonders?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't twilight velvet the one who brought sumac to Trixie?
7740639 Thank you. Like...A LOT !
You know every time somepony with power or influence meets Sumac, they all seem to take an interest in him.
It's clear he has the makings of being a powerful asset, but it almost feels like they see him as a tool and not an individual. Even Twilight, for all her Friendship and Harmony seems to have a lot of background things going on involving Sumac.
He is already starting to become uncomfortable with it. I wonder how long it will take before he just tells everypony to back off and leave him alone.
In any case, the Lulamoom bloodline (not the name) will end with Trixie, right?
I keep telling myself "when you see a new chapter, ignore it for a bit so more can come out and you can binge read" but I just don't have the power to do so. Another amazing chapter!
Hrm.... not sure this chapter worked for me.
1) Twilight moving from stunned silence to freaking out and going, "Yay! I have a sister". I guess I would have expected more of "Mom, Dad, you did WHAT!?" in there somewhere first.
2) Twilight jumping actively into the "big sister" role IMMEDIATELY - I'm guessing she always wanted to be a big sister and just dove in, but again the speed at which that happened surprises me. Goes back to my previous point.
3) Trixie's non-reaction. She wasn't sitting there with her mouth flapping going, "what?" While she was overwhelmed last chapter that sense of being overwhelmed didn't carry through to this one - she's just all of a sudden taking it more or less in stride. And, it just doesn't feel like the Trixie we've learned about up until now, the one who is still having issues with her place in all of this (but getting better about it). This just didn't really feel like Trixie at all to me.
Overall, I accept the outcome, but not the speed at which it all happened. So, I'm going to say I didn't enjoy this chapter. So, I'll just ignore how it played out but rather pay attention to the what of the chapter.
My $0.02.
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Hey now. Trixie's still a (relatively) young mare. There's no reason that she and Lemon Heart can't have a foal, should they so choose.
7740730 Not necessarily...she can have foals stills...even if she starts a relationship with lemon hearts (please do, please do !) seh can have an insemination and the bloodline keeps on...
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With how prolific you are, is this the hardest working editor on Fimfic?
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On 1)/2): It's Twilight after she's matured, and dealt with a lot more dark shit than anything in canon. Suffered a lot of losses and pains. If anything she'll likely deal with that in private, think she's over it, and then spring it on her parents when they ask if she's alright with it, not having realized there was still some emotional hangup on it. What Trixie needed right then was exactly what Twilight provided. With how fast her brain works and her Friendship Aspect, it's possible she calculated that this was what her friend needed right at that very moment - which just happened to coincide with one of her possible reactions.
On 3): Trixie's in a similar boat. She's a world-weary mare who's seen and done things most ponies don't even dream about. She's completely capable of internalizing issues. Which isn't healthy, but thanks to Twilight's intervention the initial shocked reaction was defused.
Everything about the situation you have a problem with was already answered by both character's histories.
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I can't argue against your points, I guess it all just felt rushed in my head, tho.
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That I can agree with. From an in-world perspective (that is, when I think about the situation from the point of view of a character who's been with them this whole way) everything makes perfect sense.
From a specifically audience-reading-writing perspective, it FEELS like it just came out of left field. But Kudz tends to almost always write scenes at least partially from one character's perspective or the other, so it's possible that it was meant that way. Also possible that it wasn't, despite being a typing machine, Kudz is also human.
Between this story and the new ballad of Flicker Nicker my days are always awesome! Thank you!
Well, Twilight certainly does get sorta excited about this sorta stuff. This is consistent with what we know of Twilight from the show, from the way she remembers Shining, and the way she leaped for joy when she learned she was gonna be an aunt and meet her niece.
Despite living away from them, Twilight's family is very important to her.
I understand this is not focus of scene... but too late, I have thoughts: I wonder why he's nervous about this?
Could be as simple as him not knowing if things are really tense or not, or something a bit more intense like he's jealous Twilight has drawn Trixie into a snuggle pile but doesn't know if it's acceptable to join. (Or something even more intense like he's trying to reaffirm he's part of the family unit by joining in on the fun, but nervous about asserting it.)
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Agreed. That's why I'm not shouting calling him a putz-bucket or some other random, derogatory term that I just made up.
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Yes, she plotted.
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This is nowhere near resolved.
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Spike being Spike, as per how he acts in the show. In tense situations, Spike becomes a little nervous. It'll pass.
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Kaaay.
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Really, relax, it'll be fine. You're reading too much into it and expecting the worst, when the answer is actually the most simple one.
Spike knows Twilight's secrets and her moods. It's really an indicator for the coming chapter, as Spike knows what Twilight is really feeling.
I suppose it might make sense considering he's, what, five years old here? However, I still find it incredibly hard to believe that he was the only one who had come to this hypohtesis based on regularly available data. Unless of course it had been thought up of and is being researched, in which case Sumac happened upon it on his lonesome, which is impressive for someone his age.
7740957
Sumac, like Tarnish, is a force of nature. Something to bring about a state of change.
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Well, that's the thing with a lot of innovations. No one has actually thought up anything new; they just thought up a different way to use things that already exist.
Paul Krugman won his Nobel Prize in Economics because he "discovered" a radical new way of calculating the cost of production: By including transportation costs. The actual chain of events is a bit more involved than that, but the gist is correct: His "innovation" was to do something with existing data that in hindsight seems ball-achingly obvious.
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So obvious that nobody noticed the elephant in the room and were quite surprised to suddenly see it there.
7740649 Gah.. i could not work at that store.
This chapter just opened up a whole barrel of new world building. the wolves, new type of Apple apple, a clan of Apples there, a nice shadowy place Sumac can call home with Pebble in the future, and the whole house with Lunamoon ancestry to explore.
*Head and happy place explosion!*
I would love to see Sumac bring home a shadow wolf pup as a pet for Pebble.
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This made me think of Spike in Lesson Zero, actually. In some ways he knows Twilight better than anyone else, and can pick up on what she's really feeling from very small clues. That bit definitely made me raise an eyebrow; I think this is going to blow up later.
7741116
You are correct.
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7740639
Thanks you!
I have finally created an account in this site. This is my first post. I wanted to thank you, kudzuhaiku for this story. It's helping me to keep my sanity considering that I have to finish my master's this week. Thank you.
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Thank you editor person extraordinaire~!
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On a related note... it does bring up the question about Spike's own feeling regarding his position in the Twilight family. I don't remember if this has been addressed in any of your many stories (I may be mixing it up with the many other stories I've read that address the subject, they do start to jumble a bit), but this Twilight refers to Spike as her little brother, doesn't she? So, it's made me wonder if Dandelia's earlier comment about Boomer being Sumac's "familiar" is bringing up some insecurities he may have about his position, too.
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Thanks for helping kudz with your hard work.
How to kill the mood 101.
Maybe I just don't get it because I come from a plain background and my parents were decent people, but if my parent treated me like crap to the point I was suicidal, and then treated my kid like crap, or worse, then unconditional family love or not, I think the choice was pretty damn clear and Dandy made the wrong one
I tried to make a relationship tree, with all the related characters in this story. My printer paper wasn't big enough and I forgot to include the Pie Family, including Tarnish and his child. Only proves how much of a good writer you are.
It's 4:15 AM and I concur.