//------------------------------// // Chapter 57 // Story: Princess Twilight Sparkle's School for Fantastic Foals // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// Sumac sat on the hard bench with his back against the wall and Seville was sitting beside him. Across from him, Twilight Velvet and her husband sat. Night Light seemed nice enough. Trixie was sitting on the floor with Lemon Hearts, who was still puking. Pebble had her entire family piled around her. Sumac looked down at his lantern, no longer certain about his feelings for it, and then looked over at Twilight Velvet, who was working on a crossword puzzle book. “Mrs. Velvet?” Sumac asked. “Yes?” she replied from behind her puzzle book. “Speak up a little, dear, there is a lot of noise.” “Mrs. Velvet, do you know anything about destiny?” Sumac watched as the crossword puzzle book fell away from Mrs. Velvet’s face. “A fair bit, actually.” Twilight Velvet put her crossword puzzle book away, stuffing it into her bag. She slipped away her pen, leaned forwards just a little on the bench, and looked Sumac in the eye. “What do you wish to know?” “Do we have a choice in anything?” As Sumac spoke, he became aware of the fact that Gosling was looking at him. So was Seville. He felt nervous, with all of these eyes on him, and he began to wonder if he was being foolish. He looked into Mrs. Velvet’s face and saw some deep wrinkles form across her brow, making her look very, very serious. “Sumac Apple,” she began, “to help pass the time, I shall tell you a story.” Twilight Velvet slipped a foreleg through her husband’s foreleg and she pulled him closer. “Once upon a time, there was a precocious little filly with a gift for magic, and she was without a doubt, the cleverest little filly in all of Canterlot.” Sumac nodded and knew that it had to be Twilight. “Now, this little filly, she had a talent for magic. And not just any magic, but impressive magic. The kind of magic that could change the world. A lot of pressure was placed on her to be the very best sort of pony that she could be. You see, she had a powerful destiny. She had the stars, you see, it all came down to the stars, and she found out about it quite by accident, or perhaps because destiny pointed her in the right direction. You see, the stars would aid in the escape of one locked away for so very long…” Ears perked, Sumac listened, intrigued. “It became obvious early on that she was the chosen one.” Twilight Velvet let out a soft sigh and leaned up against her husband. “Being such a smart filly, she figured it out. The great riddle, the great mystery, she understood and she knew.” Twilight has always been a smart one, Sumac thought to himself. “But, this little filly… she had other plans. By the time she was about your age, her heart belonged to another. Oh, she didn’t know it at the time, but she was very, very attached to her best friend. They were inseparable. And Princess Celestia spent so much time separating them as they grew older. Oh, she’d find them snogging in the library, or snogging in the astronomy tower, or snogging beneath the stairs.” What? Sumac’s muzzle crinkled as he tried to make sense of what was being said. “Eventually, that little filly grew up enough to realise that she had to make a choice. She could be the chosen one that the world had been waiting for… or she could follow her own dreams. And she had such dreams. Simple dreams, perhaps to some, but they were her dreams, and she placed a great deal of importance in them.” A little at a time, Sumac began to realise that this wasn’t about Twilight Sparkle, but rather, Twilight Velvet. The stars of her cutie mark were visible from where he sat. He glanced over at Night Light and saw a pleasant smile on the older stallion’s face. “That filly, she pushed destiny aside and she followed after what she wanted. She chose love, she chose to start a family, she chose home and hearth, because, why not? And destiny, like a river flowing, kept going. It seemed to be in no big hurry. This filly became a mare, she birthed one son who was ripe with promise, and he too, had the stars. There was much discussion if he might also be the one. But then, a little filly was born. And she was a real pain in the neck.” A giggle escaped Sumac and he found that he couldn’t hold them back as they came out in a flood. “She turned her parents into potted plants. She made a real mess of her entrance exam. But, she was the one. She chose to embrace magic, wholly and completely, with no other distractions. And destiny rewarded that. All of the pieces fell into place.” Twilight Velvet smiled a kind smile and gave her husband a nudge. “Now, you may or may not have a destiny of importance, but in the end, that doesn’t matter. You have to meet destiny halfway. You have to want it. Early on, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted and I stuck with that. I wanted to spend my life with my best friend, Night Light. Destiny made a few corrections and moved on.” “If I were to ask you some questions, would you give me honest answers?” Sumac asked as he thought about everything that Velvet had just said. “If I chose to give you an answer, it would be honest,” Twilight Velvet replied. “Princess Celestia has been watching me for a long time.” “That is not a question.” “But she has. And then I got my cutie mark and I became a sorcerer. I have the power to make others powerful.” Sumac cleared his throat. “What does Princess Celestia want from me? Why am I an asset? What is expected from me?” Twilight Velvet’s face wrinkled and her ears leaned forwards over her eyes. She sat there for a time, staring at Sumac, and she squeezed her husband’s foreleg with her own. “Princess Celestia would very much like to see you go into the guard. I know that she has discussed how much more powerful her Immortal Solars might be if they had a sorcerer among their number. She has thought of many ways to harness your unique and powerful gift.” Shrewd cunning glittered in Sumac’s eyes. “And what does Twilight Sparkle want from me?” “In time, Twilight Sparkle hopes that you will learn enough to become Moondancer’s protégé and become a powerful asset for Moondancer’s secret division, which I know that you are aware of.” Twilight Velvet glanced at her husband for a moment, then added, “Your destiny is open ended, you could do any of these things. You could have greatness.” “And what about Princess Cadance, the busybody?” As Sumac spoke, he heard Gosling chortling. “Kid, you have no idea,” Gosling quipped. “Princess Cadance wants you to help her spread the magic of love. She believes that you could greatly amplify the power of the Crystal Heart, and all those connected to it.” “So, Princess Celestia wants me for war, Twilight wants me for scholarly stuff, and Princess Cadance—” “The busybody,” Gosling added. “—wants me for love.” Sumac dropped his head and stared down at the floor. “Does it even matter what I want?” “Sure it does, kid.” Seville leaned over and nudged Sumac. “I got a cutie mark in juice squeezing. It’s an orange press. But I chose something different. Because I am a colossal idiot, for some reason, I chose to become a reporter, and now, everything tries to kill me. I am just another orange to squeeze.” “And he makes a mean glass of fresh squeezed juice.” Gosling socked his friend on an his armor and there was a sound like a bell ringing. “Me, I just want to look pretty and I just sort of let life happen.” “Sumac Apple, what is it that you want?” Twilight Velvet asked. She held up her hoof and cleared her throat before Sumac could answer. “Normally, most five year olds would not take this question very seriously, as five year olds tend to be flighty and full of daydreams, but you, you are no ordinary five year old.” Flattered, Sumac felt his cheeks go warm and the corners of his mouth were pulled upwards as little crinkles formed in the corners of his eyes. “I like cemeteries and I’m curious about being a mortician.” Sumac wiggled in his seat, feeling awkward. He thought about Pebble and her book about quantum entanglement. He was above average, but he wasn’t exceptional, not like her. “I might want to tinker a bit and fix things. I don’t know. I know that I am a smooth talker, and while Trixie has taught me a lot, I think I get a lot of it from my father, Flam. I was thinking that a smooth talker might be able to make ponies feel better if they were grieving. I don’t have to be a swindler or a con artist.” “I think those are very noble aspirations,” Night Light said as he nodded his head. “If you work in your happy place, then it isn’t such a pain in the neck,” Seville said, and beside Seville, Gosling nodded. “What’s that say about me if my happy place is the battlefield?” Hotspur pulled off his helmet and set it down upon the bench beside him. “I keep others safe. I put my body on the line so they don’t have to.” “Every pony has a place where they belong. For some, they get to pick the place where they are happy. For others, it is thrust upon them, but they learn to be happy there over time.” Twilight Velvet smiled and gave her husband’s foreleg another squeeze. “Sumac, no doubt, you could learn to be happy in the guard, or as a scholar with Twilight, or serving as one of Cadance’s many social workers. You have the gifts required to make any of those options work for you. But, but… you also have the option to chose for yourself. Not everypony gets that option, but you do.” For Sumac, Twilight Velvet’s words were comforting. Using his magic, he pulled Boomer from his horn and then embraced her in his forelegs. He gave her a hug and then just sat there, holding her, with his chin resting against her head. He felt a lot better about, well, everything. Twilight Velvet was talking to Gosling about something, but he didn’t pay attention to what was being said, as he was now lost in his own thoughts. Boomer yawned and Sumac found himself doing the same. The train rocked back and forth, side to side, swaying to and fro. While he found it rather soothing, poor Lemon Hearts was having a very different experience. He started to wonder why she had come along, but then he stopped. He already knew why she had come along. Family stuck together. Or friends, as the case may be. Laying on a cold metal floor puking was probably better than laying in a hospital bed worrying and wondering if those you cared about were okay. He made a mental note to be extra nice to Lemon and to let her know that he cared. Lifting his eyes, but not his head, he glanced at Twilight Velvet. She could have been the one. She might have been like Twilight Sparkle, her daughter. Twilight Velvet might have been an alicorn by now, a powerful princess working hard to ensure Equestria’s future. She had chosen to be a mother. He thought about Cloudy and her kitchen. Nopony had forced Cloudy into her kitchen, it was her choice to be there, and she found happiness there. These mares had made choices. There was a lesson to be learned here, and it was a meaningful one. He might have become the lantern bearer, he might be a sorcerer, and he might have become an asset, but he could still choose to be ordinary. This made him feel better. Turning his head, he glanced over at Pebble, and wondered what her future held, and what she might chose. She might have greatness… or, like Twilight Velvet, she might choose something else—Pebble might choose to be a cook, a baker, somepony like her grandmother, Cloudy. And Pebble’s greatness, whatever it might be, might be passed along to her foals. In the back of Sumac’s mind, a little voice suggested their foals. He supposed that he had to entertain that possibility. He looked at Night Light, then back at Twilight Velvet. In the face of a powerful destiny, of potentially becoming the Element of Magic, Twilight Velvet chose… love. This made him think of Princess Cadance. (The busybody.) Was perhaps, love the greater destiny? The higher calling? Some very big thoughts rattled around inside of his head. Twilight Velvet might have become the Element of Magic, but if she had, would there have been a Twilight Sparkle and a Shining Armor? He thought about it for a time, and then thought about the Elements of Harmony. None of them seemed to be particularly blessed in love. As far as he knew, only Applejack had married, and that had fallen apart. Their responsibilities and lives kept them busy. The thought pained him. If Twilight Velvet had followed destiny, if she had made the choice to answer the call, the world might not have Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle. No, Twilight Velvet had waited, she chose love, she chose to love and to spend all that time snogging Night Light—and—love had rewarded her. She was blessed with two foals, both of whom had changed the world. Sumac recalled his conversation with Moondancer about the sort of intelligence he had, but he could not recall what she had said, only that he was gifted with understanding. He needed to ask her about that again. The last that he had saw her, she had turned herself into an alicorn. Was she a princess now? The princess of what? For some reason, skunks came to mind. Skunks and musty old sweaters. The world was a very confusing sort of place when one was five years old. Sumac was just about to ask more questions when the door to another car crashed open with a clang. A unicorn wearing heavy armor stomped though and Sumac felt his blood run cold. He squeezed Boomer and feared that everything was about to go upside down. “We have incoming. Enemy sighted,” the unicorn reported. “How many?” Twilight Velvet asked. “We don’t know,” the unicorn replied, shaking his head. “Well over a hundred.” Night Light let out a sigh and banged his head against the wall behind him. “We didn’t anticipate that many. Our escape plans were made with a far smaller number in mind. Where could they have been hiding around here?” “Might have been another long range teleport, like Ponyville.” The unicorn stood there, as if waiting for further instructions. “We’ll play it by ear.” Twilight Velvet’s voice was cool and calm. “Let us see if we can wear down their numbers a bit with the turret on top of the train. Tarnish, if worst comes to worst, I want you to summon a storm. The train should survive it, but our enemies will not.” “Of course, Mrs. Velvet.” Twilight Velvet raised her voice to a more commanding tone. “Everypony brace yourselves… we have incoming.”