//------------------------------// // Chapter 47 // Story: Princess Twilight Sparkle's School for Fantastic Foals // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// There was a sense of urgency to his archery now, a powerful need to do it right, so that he might better protect others. Looking at his target, he saw that many of his arrows had hit the hay bale, but only one arrow had hit his target. It was there, along the edge, poking out of the outer circle. One good hit today… so tomorrow, he had to make it two. Some of his classmates were doing better than he was, but he didn’t let it worry him. Sumac dismissed it and chalked it up to not having an archery cutie mark. He would just have to get better the Apple way—hard work, and lots of it. That was going to be his approach to life. Magic? Hard work. Archery? Hard work. Everything could be made better with hard work. From what little bit that Sumac knew about his father, Flam, he knew that his father had always tried to take the easy way. He avoided hard work. His father avoided effort. And because of this, Flam was no longer a free pony. Sumac felt as though he had learned from his father’s mistakes. Looking around, he saw his instructor, Mister Tweed, off talking to a filly that looked as though she needed a pep talk. Sumac smiled, he had given himself a pep talk. He was feeling pretty good about, well, everything. Okay, he had a minor setback this morning when Moondancer had told him that she couldn’t be his Master, but that was okay. Everything was fine. He would find a Master, it just took some hard work, and then everything would be as awesome as Rainbow Dash. “Sumac Apple…” The voice was big, deep, and booming. His concentration broken, Sumac dropped his bow in the grass. A smile spread over his face and as he turned around, his tail was almost wagging from happiness. His sore front shoulders went unnoticed as he turned himself around. “Hi, Big Mac, I was uh, just, uh, doing some hard work.” Squinting, Big Mac eyed the haybale many yards distant, then looked down at Sumac. “Eeyup.” The big red stallion eased himself down to his haunches and sat down in the grass, looking both calm and relaxed. He let out a contented sigh and said, “I wanted to talk with you.” “What?” Sumac sat down in the grass as well, his small face eager. He hardly even noticed when Mister Tweed came by and collected the bow. He stared up at his role model with a look of absolute adoration in his eyes, and worshipful respect. “Where is Boomer?” Big Mac asked. “With Pebble, in her cooking class,” Sumac replied. “I see.” Big Mac settled in and made himself a bit more comfortable, enjoying his chance to sit down and relax a bit in the grass. “I don’t know what happened, and I don’t want to know what happened, but I know that you helped Twilight.” “I did.” Sumac nodded and felt a growing sense of pride welling up inside of him. “Well, good job.” Big Mac took a deep breath and appeared to struggle for the right words to say. The breeze whipped his mane around his face and he took a moment to adjust the ever present wooden yoke around his neck. “Applejack has always been a key part of Twilight’s many successes. We Apples have something most ponies lack, common sense. Horse sense. When Twilight and her friends go off on some adventure, it’s always Applejack that brings along the common sense. She’s the trustworthy and reliable one.” “Oh?” Sumac leaned forwards, hanging on every wonderful word. “Yes, and I’d like to think that all of us Apples can serve Twilight in that capacity, including you.” Big Mac lowered his head and looked into Sumac’s green eyes. “As time goes on, Twilight might call on you more and more. It’s good that she can call upon us Apples when she needs the job done right. And I’m real proud that she can call on you, Sumac Apple.” Eyes watering, Sumac nodded, and then with a fierce motion, he rubbed his face, trying to make his eyes stop watering. There was dust in the air, it was messing with his eyes and making him sniffle. He wished that it would go away. “Ya did good. I gotta go. Lots to do right now, but Applejack and I both wanted you to know that we’re proud.” Big Mac rose, gave himself a shake, and then stood there as Sumac also stood up. He gave the little colt beside him a nudge with one large hoof. “Work hard, be dependable, and be reliable.” “Eeyup.” Sumac gave a nod. “Be nice to the mare-folk and they’ll be real nice to you right back.” Big Mac’s eyebrows rose as he spoke, and then eased back down. He looked like he was about to say more, but didn’t. “Eeyup.” Sumac nodded again. Big Mac’s eyes narrowed as he lowered his head, and when he spoke again this time, his voice was almost a whisper. “And if trouble comes, and something tries to hurt your friends, and the situation is lookin’ real bad…” “Yeah?” Sumac looked up at Big Mac, wondering what was about to be said. “You beat them down. You make applesauce out of them. It’s the Apple Family way.” “Okay!” Sumac was the very voice of youthful enthusiasm. “And Sumac…” “Yeah?” “About the mare-folk…” “Hmm?” Sumac’s ears darkened as he blushed. “If you ever have… you know… questions, you can come to me. You know, because talking to Trixie could be… well, talking to your mama about that stuff can be rough. And you don’t want to talk to Granny Smith about it, trust me. She’ll tell you things. Strange things.” The older stallion and the younger colt both stood there in awkward silence, unable to look at one another. Big Mac looked skywards, and Sumac found the grass to be mighty interesting. Big Mac looked a little redder somehow. “Applejack said she’d wring my neck if I didn’t have a talk with you about that, so, we talked, and I gotta go.” Big Mac gave Sumac another nudge. “Be good.” “Good talk,” Sumac replied, his voice squeaky. “Great talk.” And with that, a very embarrassed looking Big Mac departed, leaving behind one very embarrassed looking Sumac Apple. Sumac, who didn’t even watch Big Mac go, focused on the grass and all of the interesting things that could be found if one paid attention hard enough. Sumac of course, put a lot of hard work into paying attention. Sitting in the grass, enjoying the cool breeze, Sumac watched as Pebble drew nearer. It was time to wait on Trixie and Lemon Hearts. He was feeling great about himself, about life, he was riding a high. The little colt felt accomplished. He watched with some interest as Pebble’s dress fluttered in the breeze. He had never really noticed it before, but brown could be a pretty colour. Sure, it was earthy and simple, but a lot of good things in life were brown. When Pebble sat down beside him, Sumac asked, “You know Pebble, I’ve never seen your cutie mark.” Pebble froze, her eyes were wide and she became quite stiff. The tip of one ear quivered. She did not turn to look at Sumac, she just sat there, her breathing shallow, and Boomer tugged on her mane, wondering what was wrong. “You want to see me without my dress?” Pebble asked in a fearful, scratchy whisper. “Well, I… no, I just wanted—” “You want to see me naked?” This question was little more than Pebble’s panicked breathing, which seemed ragged and quick. “NO!” Sumac recoiled and shook his head, his cheeks blazing. “No, no! Nothing like that, I was just curious about your cutie mark, that’s all. I’m sorry… let’s just pretend this never happened.” Pebble nodded, but she did not look at Sumac. She hunched over in the grass and didn’t react when Boomer lept from her head over to Sumac’s horn. “It’s a lump of rock. Grey. Smooth. My mother says I’m a chip off of her block. I suppose I am.” “You know, I’m naked.” Sumac wasn’t sure what prompted him to state the obvious, but he did. He could hear Pebble’s breathing. Boomer was hugging his horn and life, which had been perfect just mere moments ago, was now confusing and weird. He had just learned something profound about his friend, and it confused him a great deal. “The clothes make the problem worse.” Pebble’s voice was soft, but flat. “It’s a solution that makes the problem worse.” The little filly’s lip protruded and she shook her head, causing her violet mane to tumble down around her face, framing it. “I’ll sunburn in seconds because I have a thin pelt. It’s very fine and silky. But wearing dresses…” her voice trailed off and she poked the grass with her hoof. “The dresses rub off more of my pelt and leave it very thin in places.” “Oh.” Not knowing what else to say, Sumac looked off towards Twilight’s castle. “Wearing the dresses and clothes all of the time has left me with an awareness of being naked. It scares me. I don’t like it. I don’t like the idea of it. I don’t like the idea of being naked and other ponies seeing what my dresses cover.” There was something in Sumac’s head, but it was too complex to put into words. Pebble had done something that made her different, and now that she was different, if she tried to be normal, she felt out of place. It made her feel vulnerable and exposed. Turning his head, he looked at his friend and thought about telling her that she was weird. He decided against it though, as she was upset enough as it was. “My daddy, he said that my cutie mark could be private if I wanted it to be private, and I didn’t have to show anypony if I didn’t want to. He said that I had a right to keep it covered if it made me happy. He said it was my body and my rules.” Pebble shifted, squirmed in the grass, and mindful of her dress, she scooted over to where Sumac was. Sighing, she leaned up against him, and sat pressed up against his side. Sumac, with Pebble pressed up against him, turned to look at her, surprised by this behaviour. She was warm, almost too warm, he had been enjoying the coolness of the day, but he didn’t push her away. He supposed that he could deal with being a little too warm on one side. Sniffing, he discovered that Pebble smelled sugary and spicy. He closed his eyes and inhaled, rather enjoying the experience. “Daddy gets a lot of funny ideas from my auntie Octavia. Marble says that Octavia has made him more aware, but I don’t know what this means. I don’t know what he’s aware of. I haven’t figured it out yet., and I don’t want to ask because I don’t want to look stupid. Auntie Marble also says that my daddy grew up isolated and that he was an empty vessel, ready to be filled with ideas. She also says that my daddy was lucky that he found good friends to fill him up with good ideas.” These words made Sumac start to think. Was he a vessel, ready to be filled with ideas? “I haven’t even figured out my family yet and already, they’re trying to change things. I hate it. I hate it so much and it is so frustrating. I want my daddy to stay just the way he is, and my mamma, I want her to stay just like she is, and I don’t want anything changing, but things do keep changing, and I wish that we were all a lot more like rocks.” Blinking, Sumac was startled by Pebble’s sudden outburst, and so was Boomer. “I want my daddy to love me and my momma to love me and I want to be right where I’ve always been, in between them, where I’m happy!” Pebble’s breathing became heavier and her voice more ragged. “We were happy together! Everything was perfect. I used to sleep right in between them and everything felt right in the world.” She began to sniffle a little bit and moisture could be seen in her vivid blue eyes. “But then they started kicking me out. Said they needed some time alone as adults. They needed their bed without me in it. They sent me away. They threw me out. And when I have a little brother or a little sister, I just know that my replacement will be sleeping in the bed with them. In between them. Right where I used to be!” Much to Sumac’s alarm, Pebble was crying. He didn’t know what to do. Confused, a little scared, and hoping that he wouldn’t make everything worse, he slipped his foreleg over her withers. He felt a stab of pain in his shoulder joint, but he ignored it. “I hate them!” Pebble shrieked, her voice rising in pitch and volume. “I hate them!” She broke away from Sumac, shrugging him off, and then shoving him aside. As he fell over into the grass, she rose to her hooves, and stomped off. “Pebble, wait, where are you going?” Sumac asked. “I’m doing what my aunt Pinkie did… hitting the road,” Pebble replied, her voice squeaky and husky with rage. Not knowing what to do, Sumac felt torn. He didn’t know the right thing to do in this situation. His friend needed him, but she was running away, and he had a feeling that what she was doing was wrong. She was upset and just needed time to calm down. He knew that she needed help, but he couldn’t go and get help at the moment, because it didn’t feel right to abandon her. “Wait, I’m coming with you.” Limping a bit, he followed after her, and was relieved when she didn’t say no. He knew all about the dangers of the road, and he figured that he could keep Pebble safe, at least until she calmed down and he could talk some reason into her. He could fix this. The pressure had become too great and Pebble had erupted, very much like a volcano. She needed him, and Sumac knew this. He hoped that his mother wouldn’t kill him, as he very much hoped to see what Pebble’s cutie mark looked like one day.