The Ponyville Grange Hall was filled with flowers, a few tables covered in food, and not many guests, which caused Sumac to let out a huff of relief. There was music playing, military sounding music, and hearing it inspired Sumac’s budding sense of patriotism. There were quite a number of draconic nocturnal pegasus ponies here, which made sense, as one of their own was getting married.
Sumac realised that some of the food might have had a face at some point, and he thought of the nocturnal pegasus pony he had seen in Lulamoon Hollow, eating her meal. It was then that Sumac understood why there weren’t as many guests here as one might expect. These thoughts gave the young colt pause; that was the real difference between him and Silver Lining, but it was no reason not to be friends, and it stood to reason that, if he could be friends with her, then he could be friends with others like her.
And just like that, the issue of eating meat became a non-issue for Sumac.
“There’s Hachikō,” Silver Lining said as she pointed one clawed talon-finger. “He’s talking to Wormwood right now. Mommy keeps interesting friends. Gleamgood is a crystal pony, isn’t that amazing? I’ve seen him glow and he’s pretty special. Picklesworth is off by himself it looks like, but that’s sorta what he does.”
Nodding, Sumac understood going off by oneself and he couldn’t help but notice how animated Silver Lining was. Around strangers, the little griffoness was clingy and scared, but around those she knew, she was warm, affectionate, and quite social. The colt wondered what Octavia had to say about this and if there was another lesson in introversion to be had. Thanks to Octavia’s teaching, Sumac understood so much more about himself, and this led to him feeling more comfortable in his own skin.
“After I hatched, I almost nipped off Hachikō’s finger,” Silver Lining whispered as she shared her embarrassing secret with Sumac and Pebble. “I don’t remember it, but he kept holding it out to me and saying, ‘look at the wiggly worm’ and I guess I thought it was a worm and I nipped him. Now, he tells that story every chance he gets. It is one of the rare things that makes Picklesworth laugh.”
“That’s actually funny.” Pebble looked around, eyed an open spot on a nearby table, and then took off to unload her selection of tasty treats.
Behind her, Sumac followed, and Silver Lining walked alongside Sumac, her tail swishing from side to side and sometimes stroking Sumac as they walked. On the other side of the table, the wall caught Sumac’s eye, and he froze in place to have a better look, so that he might take it all in just a little bit better.
A mural of the four princesses of Equestria and what they represented was on the wall. Princess Celestia, looking wise and serene, had her sun. Princess Luna, who had the suggestion of a smile upon her muzzle, she had her moon. Princess Cadance had a pink heart—but it was Twilight’s depiction that gave Sumac pause.
“What’s that?” he asked as he looked at the pink flames that surrounded Twilight’s side-profile portrait.
“That’s hearthfire,” Pebble replied as she slid her treats onto the table, “the symbolic representation of friendship. Don’t you pay attention to the reason for Hearth’s Warming?”
“Not really, no.” Sumac, taken aback a bit, give Pebble a sidelong glance. “Trixie and I were poor. We didn’t do much for Hearth’s Warming… we didn’t talk about it… we just had a nice day together and that was it.”
Pebble’s eyes widened and the filly somehow managed to look quite alarmed. “It’s my favourite holiday and my mother loves it too… it’s not about presents and stuff to us, but about friendship and togetherness. Mother, she’s been in some dark and dangerous situations and she says it was friendship that got her through. It’s a pretty big deal for her and she’s really made me aware of the importance of the real meaning of Hearth’s Warming. Looks like you’re due for a lesson, Sumac. I’m going to make sure that you have a nice holiday this year and I’m telling my mother.”
Not knowing what to say, Sumac just stood there and he looked back up at the pink flames wreathed around Twilight. He became aware of the fact that Silver Lining was pressed up against his side and the back of his mind began to think about what it meant to be friends with the griffoness.
“Princess Cadance was there when I hatched,” Silver Lining whispered as she looked up at the wall. Her feathers and her fur fluffed out and she looked thoughtful, her head tilting off to one side. “Friendship is a fine and good thing, but I’m here because a pegasus pony loved an egg.”
Feeling a tug on his tail, Sumac turned around…
Vinyl Scratch, as it turned out, loved to crash weddings and do the music. It was a thing she did, and she had done it for Gloomy and Wormwood, offering to be a disc jockey for the couple and refusing to take payment. Music made marriage groovy, or so Vinyl believed, and the start of every good marriage was a good wedding. Vinyl understood her sworn duty in life, and that was to help newlywed couples boogie down on what should be the happiest day of their lives.
Sumac, much to his surprise, was plopped down in a chair beside Vinyl, and he had a very different view of the room now. He watched the record spinning round and round on the turntable, his head bobbing up and down, and he pulled off his new poncho because he was starting to get too warm.
Today, I am putting you to work.
Blinking, Sumac looked at the words written in chalk on Vinyl’s slate. After taking a moment to consider these words, Sumac discovered that he was okay with that—being behind the turntables was better than being out in the crowd, small though it might be. Pebble was staring at him and Vinyl, her eyes half open or maybe half closed, and Silver Lining was looking at the music list, touching different titles with the tip of her claw as she read the words.
“He’s going to need a name,” Pebble suggested and as she spoke, Vinyl’s head bobbed up and down.
“A name?” Sumac eyed Boomer, who was making herself comfortable on top of his folded up poncho.
“Vinyl is DJ Pon-3.” Pebble sat down on the floor beside Sumac’s chair and her ears perked at the sound of laughter from the other end of the room. “Vinyl, who got you set up here?”
Scribbling on her slate, Vinyl wrote out her reply and then held it up. Tarnish did, but he couldn’t stay. Druid business.
Hearing this, Sumac wondered what sort of druid business, but he didn’t ask, as he was content to remain curious. Looking out at the crowd, which had grown a bit, Sumac saw Rainbow Dash strutting around and he wondered if Pinkie Pie might crash the party. Trixie was chatting with Wormwood and she showed no signs of fear being around him now. Lemon Hearts looked as though she was teasing Twinkleshine while walking in circles around her, the colt couldn’t say why it looked like teasing, it just did.
While yawning and looking disinterested, Vinyl mohawked Sumac’s mane and with a flash of magic, she turned his pale, unremarkable mane into a riotous rainbow of colour with every hue that could be found in his zap apple cutie mark. Grinning, she made a few adjustments and then looked over to where Trixie was, looking just a bit worried about being caught.
Lifting up her slate, Vinyl jotted down just a few more words, then held it up for Sumac to see. Don’t let the music stop. Smiling, she set down her slate, picked up a camera, and hobbled off to take photographs, leaving Sumac alone to pony up at the turntable. The colt watched his master go and noticed that she was indeed, getting better with each passing day.
In the back of his mind, some meaningful thoughts about how time makes things better almost came up to the surface of his consciousness, they were close enough for Sumac to almost have a profound realisation, but Sumac became distracted by the fact that the album on the turntable was about to end.
Without panicking, he selected another album, something random out of a rugged plastic bin, and he placed it upon the second turntable. He queued that up and had it ready to go by the time the first album ended. When the first album was done, he pulled it from the turntable, slid it back into the empty sleeve sitting upon the table, and slipped that back into the bin of albums as the second album began to play.
“All around the world, same song… all around the world, same song… ”
The music was a little strange and Sumac’s eyebrow raised just a little as he looked at the spinning record. He hadn’t heard anything quite like it, it was entirely alien to him. Not just him, he realised, lots of ponies in the room had tilted heads as they listened to the strange, funky beat. One of the big lunar mares began dancing, shuffling around at first, but then really getting into the groove of it.
“I’m not supposed to tell anypony, but Vinyl Scratch collects records from other whens and wheres.” Pebble whispered just loud enough for Sumac to hear. “It’s her hobby. You’re bound to find out sometime. That record we’re hearing, it’s not from Equestria, or anywhere on this world.”
“How did she get it?” Sumac asked.
Shrugging, Pebble shook her head. Saying nothing, she got up and wandered off, leaving Sumac alone at the turntables, hidden behind a bunker of plastic bins inside of a fortress of grooviness. Left to himself, Sumac began to examine the records and noticed that quite a few of them had non-descript cardboard sleeves with written words to mark them. Again, his eyebrow arched—the little colt wasn’t stupid—and he began to suspect that a record from another when or where would be easy to spot if the cover was a dead giveaway.
He pulled a record with a plain brown cardboard cover and placed it on the spare turntable, preparing it for when the current album was done playing. The song playing was electrifying and it had a profound effect upon the crowd. It had an effect upon Sumac as well, and his small head bobbed along in time to the funky beat.
Even Boomer had delayed her nap and was listening with her frills and spines sticking out in all directions, her head bobbing up and down in time with Sumac’s as she sat atop his folded poncho. Instead of talking, ponies were dancing and in the center of it all, Rainbow Dash was boogying down like a mad mare. She was doing something with her wings that made Sumac feel funny and confused to watch.
Pebble returned, bearing a little bright coloured paper plate in her teeth that was loaded down with treats. It sagged a little from the weight of the goodies piled upon it and Pebble let out a sigh of relief when she put it down upon the table. Offering no apologies, she shoved Sumac over in his chair as she climbed up and sat down beside him. There was just enough room for two, but only if they were squished together.
When the song came to an end, Sumac allowed the other record to begin to play. He had this handled, he had this down, he was in control, he was the DJ and he was what he played. Feeling a little peckish, he lifted up a treat—failing to notice Pebble’s twitching ear and the anxious way her nostrils flared.
Taking a bite, he was shocked. Quite literally—a faint electric current made his mouth tingle in a pleasant way and the scent of ozone crept up the back of his nose from his throat. The candy he was eating had a chocolate shell and had some sort of berries inside of it. When he popped the little berries between his broad, flat teeth, he received a shiver-inducing shock of electric current.
“Is it good?” There was a soft waver to Pebble’s voice and she pressed up against Sumac while placing her hoof against his barrel, waiting on some response. “It’s a stormberry bon bon. I experimented.”
“I like it.” Sumac took another bite and could feel static crackling around his ears.
“They’re a new species of plant, my father discovered them in the druid’s grove one day. The bushes can be deadly, but once picked, the berries lose their powerful charge and all that is left is a little tingle.”
After eating a bit more, Sumac nodded and licked his lips. “These are amazing.”
“Thank you…” Pebble’s voice trembled a bit and she pulled her hoof away from Sumac’s barrel. “I worked so very hard on them, and I’m glad you like them.” Pebble’s face turned a darker shade of chocolate and she looked away from Sumac. “Here comes Vinyl. I wonder when the wedding will start?”