Starlight Chronicles

by WanderingPhysicist

Camping in the Orchard

Main Characters: Satsuma, Razzly, Pumpkin
Cameos: Shaun, Summer Rain, Pound
Original Start Date: 23/02/2015

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Razzly watches Satsuma trot from the schoolhouse after classes have ended. The colt has his head down. Razzly frowns, upset at seeing her friend in that state.

Pumpkin trots up beside her. ‘Ugh. He is still sad about breaking up with whats-her-face.’

‘Freya did let him down pretty harshly...’

‘I can't believe he just hasn't gotten over it already.’ Pumpkin looks at her friend. ‘We have to fix it.’

‘Like how we fixed him and Freya in the first place?’

‘If you mean helping him for his own good, yes. We just need a plan.’ She thinks for a moment. ‘If growing up around Pinkie has taught me anything, it is that we should throw a party.’

Razzly raises an eyebrow. ‘A party? Really?’

‘It will be a "We're still your friend, so don't be sad" Party,’ Pumpkin suggests. ‘Oh! We should have it at his clubhouse, so we won't have parents bugging us all the time.’

Razzly rolls her eyes. ‘Because the three of us alone in the woods isn't suspicious at all.’

‘Well, no, we'll invite his other friends too, like my brother and...’ Pumpkin looks at the other students, thinking.

‘You don't know his other friends, do you?’ the other filly huffs.

‘Neither do you!’ Pumpkin snorts. ‘We'll get Pound to do it. He should know everypony.’

Razzly sighs. ‘Fine. You talk to your brother. I'll handle Satsuma. He's a little more receptive towards me.’

‘Deal. I'll catch up with you after I explain everything to Pound.’

Razzly nods and gallops after Satsuma. Pumpkin goes to her brother's desk. He is chatting with Shaun.

‘Yo, Dingus,’ Pumpkin interrupts. ‘I have an important mission for you.’

That weekend. A group of foals gathers at Satsuma's home. Applejack watches them from inside. Satsuma shows Shaun around the yard, explaining about the farm to the griffin. Pumpkin and Pound sit by a pile of saddlebags and knapsacks, waiting for their friends.

A pair of figures come down the road: Lemon escorting Razzly to the farm. The filly gallops ahead of her aunt when she sees her friends. Lemon sets Razzly's pack with the others and heads inside to talk with Applejack.

‘Is this everypony?’ Razzly asks, noting all of the foals.

‘Guess so,’ Pumpkin replies. She hits her brother. ‘Pound mustn't have done a good job recruiting everypony.’

‘I did more than you!’ her brother argues. ‘At least I know who my friend's friends are. Most were just busy.’

‘Excuses.’

Satsuma returns with Shaun. ‘Hey, Razzly. Is this everypony?’

‘Why does everypony keep asking me that!’ Pound shouts, getting his pack from the pile.

Everypony grabs their saddlebags and follows Satsuma towards the orchard. He looks back and waves to his mom.

‘Everypony, follow me,’ the colt states.

‘Wait! Wait for me!’ a voice shouts from above.

Summer Rain flies down and lands by the group. Pumpkin and Razzly glare at the new arrival.

‘Phew!’ the new pegasus breathes. ‘I thought I'd have to fly around looking for you.’ She sidles up to Pound. ‘I'm ready when you are.’

‘What are you doing here?’ Pumpkin snorts.

Summer frowns and rubs against Pound. ‘Pound invited me, of course. How could I say "no" to helping our dear friend Satsuma?’

Pumpkin glares at her brother. ‘Pound... Why did you invite Freya's closest friend?’

Pound sweats under his sister's gaze. ‘Uh...’
-------------------------------------------

After school. Pound and Shaun finish a conversation. As soon as the griffin leaves, Summer slips beside the colt. At the back of the class, Freya slowly packs her bag while Kain tries to make her hurry.

‘So, Pound,’ Summer coos, rubbing against him, ‘I hear you're planning an intervention for Satsuma.’

‘Huh? Wha?’ the colt stammers. ‘Well, uh, it is more of a camping trip with his friends.’

Summer shrugs. ‘Same difference. Are you going to invite me too?’

‘Uh... It is just supposed to be Satsuma's friends and all.’

‘Please?’ Summer begs, staring at him with big, puppy-dog eyes. ‘It would mean a lot to me.’

‘Uh...’

‘I'll let you sleep beside me when we're in our sleeping bags.’

Pound thinks about the offer. ‘Why would that tempt me?’

Freya stifles a laugh, confusing her brother.

Summer silently huffs at Pound's obliviousness. ‘Well, Razzly will be there, right? It could make her jealous. Besides, have you ever cuddled a filly other than your sister?’

‘Only when Pinkie would sleep in our crib...’

‘So, don't you want to sleep with me?’ Summer asks in a simpering tone.

Pound stares at the filly, trying to think of a reply.
-------------------------------------------

Pumpkin smacks her brother. ‘You idiot! We're trying to forget about Freya on this trip.’

Summer shoves the unicorn. ‘Stop hitting your brother! How would you like it if everypony hit you when you are confused or mess up?’

Pumpkin growls at the other filly.

‘Whatever,’ Satsuma groans. ‘If you're not going on the campout, stay here. Everypony else, follow me.’

Satsuma trots away. Razzly looks at Pumpkin then follows.

‘Come on. Let's have some fun this weekend,’ Shaun encourages.

Pound nods and trots off with his friends. Pumpkin and Summer look at each other, huff and follow. Summer skips ahead to trot with Pound.

The foals spend the afternoon and evening playing games and chatting. Despite some tension between Pumpkin and Summer, everypony gets along well. The Cake twins share a bunch of treats from their family's bakery. Satsuma has some apple fritters his mom made. Shaun even shares some griffin snacks, but the ponies politely decline the bacon-wrapped chicken he brought. As it gets later, Satsuma starts to feel better and more comfortable around his friends.

Everypony lays out their sleeping bags. Pumpkin and Razzly try setting up near Satsuma, but he positions himself in a corner and Shaun puts his bag down before they can. Summer keeps her promise and sits by Pound, but she keeps inching closer to the older pegasus. After everypony is settled, they leave a light on in the center of the room so they can still talk.

‘This was a fun trip,’ Shaun comments. ‘Thanks for having us.’

Satsuma nods. ‘It was fun. Hanging out with all of you really cheered me up after... Well, you know...’

Razzly smiles at her friend. ‘Don't worry about that, Satsuma. We're your friends and we're here for you.’

‘Besides, you're better off without her,’ Pumpkin snorts. ‘That batty troublemaker was no good for you.’

Summer groans. ‘Yeah. She's the troublemaker when you were the one harassing her all the time.’ She looks at Satsuma. ‘She really did like you, but you're the one that betrayed her trust.’

Satsuma frowns and stares at the ground. ‘I know that. I'm the one who screwed up.’

‘Don't think like that,’ Pumpkin argues. ‘I mean, how interesting could she have been if you rather spend all your time with us?’

‘What the hell is wrong with you!’ Summer shouts. ‘You were the ones stealing him away from Freya. Put yourself in her position for a moment! Sheesh!’ She closes her eyes and takes a breath before looking again at Satsuma. ‘It is good that you feel bad about what you did, but did you even think of apologizing to Freya?’

Satsuma keeps staring at the ground, but turns away from everypony. ‘No, I didn't... I'm sorry.’

‘She's not the filly you need to apologize to,’ Shaun interjects. ‘Summer has a good point. All three of you should try to make amends with Freya.’

Razzly nods. ‘I think you're...’

‘What the hell!’ Pumpkin interrupts. ‘You're supposed to be on our side, Shaun. We invited you because you were supposed to help Satsuma get over Freya,’ -- she glares at Summer -- ‘not side with her.’

Shaun huffs. ‘Part of moving on is coming to terms with how your actions affected everyone involved. A meaningful apology would be a good sign Satsuma realizes his mistake and wants to amend it. The fact that you're the only one not considering apologizing shows that you're the only one unwilling to move forward.’

Pumpkin growls and slumps in her sleeping bag. She snorts and looks at her brother. ‘Aren't you going to weigh in too?’

Pound looks at his sister, then at Summer beside him. He grimaces as he turns back to his sister. ‘I really don't know what to say.’

Pumpkin uses her magic to throw an apple core at her brother. ‘Come on! You have to have some opinion!’

‘M-my opinion s-shouldn't matter. Only Satsuma's...’

Pumpkin throws another apple core, but Summer catches it and hurls it back, hitting the unicorn in the face.

‘Stop picking on your brother!’ the pegasus filly yells. ‘You bully him all the time. You bullied Freya the whole time she was with Satsuma. You're bullying everypony now. You say it is because you're right, but you are just forcing us to go along with you and hurting us when we don't. Knock it off!’

Pumpkin snarls and stands up. ‘Who are you to tell me what to do and how to act!’

The two fillies keep shouting at each other. Satsuma groans and rolls over, covering his head.

Long after everypony is asleep. Satsuma cannot get any rest. Thoughts of the argument weigh on his mind. He tosses and turns, then desides to get up for a bit. He puts on his glasses and steps onto the deck around the treehouse. He sighs as he stares in the direction of his home.

‘Sup?’ a voice asks beside him.

Satsuma turns to see Shaun sitting on the deck.

‘What are you doing up?’ the colt asks.

‘I guess I'm a bit of a night owl,’ Shaun replies. He tries making a hooting noise, but it ends up sounding like an odd squawk.

Satsuma laughs at the poor impression. ‘I'm the same way. My mom says I get it from my dad. I think we all do, since Rei and Starlight are the same way.’

Shaun looks back into the clubhouse. ‘I wouldn't blame you tonight after everything we said...’

‘Yeah... I feel bad enough already. It felt like twisting the knife deeper...’

Shaun nods. ‘I think Summer just needed to vent since you hurt her friend, but most of the anger was between Summer and Pumpkin.’ He laughs. ‘If we were in Skualand, that would have been considered a courtship ritual.’ He laughs a bit more but stops when he sees Satsuma not laughing. ‘That's a griffin joke. Skualand is in the north, and griffins from there have a reputation of being... Eh. You'll find a book on it.’

‘I might have to,’ Satsuma replies.

Shaun looks at his friend. ‘In Eagleland, we have a saying: "If you come out of a fight with most of your feathers intact, apologize the next day. If too many are missing, wait until they grow back, then apologize."’

‘And if you don't have wings?’

‘That just means the sooner you can apologize about screwing up, the better. You might not be 100% when you do, but it is better than never saying anything at all.’

Satsuma nods and heads back towards the doorway. ‘Thanks, Shaun.’

The griffin catches his friend. ‘Listen, no matter what you do or don't do, in just want to say this: I may not be the Element of Honesty, like your mother, but if I were, I'd tell you to be true to your feelings and to others. You're not going to get far if you can't admit to yourself or others how you really feel.’

Satsuma stares at his friend for several seconds. ‘I feel bucking exhausted.’

They laugh. Shaun lets go and follows his friend back inside after a couple moments.

Morning. Razzly yawns and stretches as she wakes up. Beside her, Pumpkin drools into her pillow. Across the clubhouse, Summer snuggles next to Pound, who has a wing over the filly. Shaun sleeps on his back, kicking his talons and paws occasionally. Satsuma is nowhere to be seen, but his pack is still by his bedroll.

Razzly hears noises above her. She finds a ladder to the clubhouse's upper level and investigates. Satsuma is cleaning his telescope.

‘Ooo,’ Razzly gasps. ‘How come you didn't show this off last night?’

Satsuma snorts. ‘Because it was too late and you were too busy fighting for me to offer.’

The filly frowns. ‘I'm sorry about that. We got out of hoof.’

‘I'm not upset at you.’ He looks up at her and smiles. ‘Overall, I had a good time with all of you. It was fun.’

Razzly returns the smile. ‘I'm glad.’ She trots over and sits by him. ‘And doing worry about everything. We're still foals. We have plenty of time to screw up and find out who we're really meant to be... and be with.’

Satsuma looks at her. Razzly smiles and looks back at the telescope. The foals silently work on cleaning and reassembling the device together.

After everypony is awake, the foals trek back to Satsuma's house for breakfast. Pound slumps as he tries to wake. Summer catches up to Pumpkin.

‘Hey, sorry about yelling at you,’ the pegasus apologizes. ‘I get a little too upset about things, especially if they involve my friends.’

Pumpkin nods in agreement. ‘No worries. I am sorry for being a total nag and exploding at you. I... never even thought about Freya's feelings and how dumb I was for hurting her.’

‘Don't tell me that.’

‘I know, but you're her friend and I...’

‘Tell the filly who can sneak into your room undetected and slit your throat in the middle of the night and whose father can rule it an accident.’

Pumpkin stares at Summer in shock. The pegasus just laughs and keeps trotting. The unicorn sighs and shakes her head. She looks at her friends. They are all in good spirits, especially Satsuma and Razzly as they lead the pack back to the house. Pumpkin frowns she watches them. Shaun catches her reaction and looks where she is. He makes an odd face and tilts his head as he looks at them.

The next school day. Freya is unpacking her saddlebag at her desk before class when somepony trots up. She looks to see Satsuma bowing his head before her.

‘I'm so sorry for hurting you,’ the colt apologizes. ‘I took advantage of your trust and abused our relationship. I have no excuses and deserved all your wrath. I hope we can be friends again one day. I'm sorry.’

Freya stares at him, thinking of the right response. She smiles, raises Angel up and kisses him against Satsuma's nose. ‘Dummy.’

Satsuma smiles and goes back to his desk. Freya laughs and keeps unpacking her bag. She stops again when she hears another pony trot up. She looks to see Razzly levitating an annoyed Pumpkin.

‘We have something to say too,’ Razzly begins.

Author's Note:

Explanation what the previous chapter, "Cutie Mark Caper", would have contained and why it is missing.

Satsuma Timeline: Gets over Freya. Apologizes to her. Gets friendlier with Razzly.

RoH Connection: What Element was their Shaun?

Comments

[Patronum2000]

‘Yo, Dingus,’

It's nice seeing sibling love

Summer snuggles next to Pound, who has a wing over the filly.

in their sleeping bags?