Princess Twilight Sparkle's School for Fantastic Foals: Winter Break

by kudzuhaiku


Chapter 9

Pebble’s bed was crowded, but Sumac didn’t mind. He was sandwiched between the filly and the wall, in a spot where he was safe from rolling out of the bed and falling down to the floor, which was a pressing concern. At home, his own bed had a rail on the side of it, a rail that would remain until such a time he was recovered.

The bedroom was cold, much, much colder than his own, as this house did not have a furnace and heat vents. Of course, this place had started off as a barracks and over the many years had grown into something else, a vast meandering space that Sumac adored. The cold wasn’t so bad though, because the bed itself was toasty with so many bodies in it.

Everything in Pebble’s room had a fresh fireproofing spell on it for Boomer.

As for Boomer herself, the little dragoness was already sound asleep, making the warm space beneath the heavy blankets smell like wood smoke with a hint of rotten eggs. It was a smell that Sumac now associated with warmth, safety, and affection. Boomer had her own bed at home, a basket with a colourful embroidered cushion, but she had never slept in it.

The room, Pebble’s room, didn’t look like a foal’s room. It was more like a study that just so happened to have a bed in it. Pebble had a few toys, but from the looks of them, it appeared as though she did not play with them. Like so many other fillies, she had a collection of princess plushies, with the curious addition of a Prince Blueblood doll. Pebble’s reasoning? Prince Blueblood supported the arts and the sciences, and by extension, supported her parents and family.

Ownership of the doll was due to gratitude.

“Pebble?” Sumac’s voice had the quiet softness that only colts have when they are quite young. Beside him, Pebble stirred and he felt her foreleg slide over his side as she rolled over to face him. He found himself snoot to snoot with her, which somehow made the bed even warmer. With Pebble’s warm body right beside him, keeping the chill of winter away, Sumac understood why this quaint Trottingham tradition persisted.

“Yeah?”

“Are you happy having a sister?” Sumac, with Pebble right beside him, he became aware of the sound of Megara breathing. Without meaning to do so, he had put Pebble on the spot, and he hoped that she wouldn’t be angry or otherwise upset with him. He hadn’t given much thought to the question before asking it, such as the subject of said question being right here.

“Having a sister is the most wonderful thing in the world,” Pebble said in a muted whisper. “I have a job now. I’m Meg’s teacher and I’m supposed to teach her everything she needs to know. I’ve been left in charge, because my parents trust me.” The filly went silent for a moment, and there was a faint static crackle as various bodies shifted around in the bed, rubbing against the woollen flannel sheets.

“At first, I was a bit miffed about having to share my parents”—Pebble’s confession made her voice sound a little strained, robbing it of its usual flat intonation—“but then I realised what I was getting in return. It was a fair exchange. Now I am looking forward to being a big sister, but I’m still trying to sort a few things out.”

“Like what?” Sumac asked.

“Well, Meg calls both Octavia and Vinyl ‘Mom.’ I call them my aunts. Now I am reconsidering. I think… I think I’ve resented them just a little bit because they’ve remained separate and everypony isn’t married like I’d like for them to be. I’ve been bossy, rude, demanding, and maybe, just maybe, just a tiny bit monstrous. Just yesterday, before you came, I called Octavia ‘Mum’ and she got all weepy about it.”

“Oh.” Sumac wasn’t sure what to say about that. When your special somepony said she was monstrous, how did one respond to that? What was the proper etiquette? He was going to have to ask Lemon Hearts about that one, just to be certain. The colt put an immense amount of trust in that Lemon would have all of the answers he would ever need in life.

“By calling them my aunts, I think I was calling attention to the fact that we’re together, but separate. I don’t know. I’ve been having conversations inside of my own head for the past few days now and I’m not happy with myself, at all. I’ve really been an unhappy filly for a while now, and Megara… Nutmeg makes me happy.”

“Happy?” Megara’s voice was a sort of mix between a rough purr and soft velvet.

“Yes, you make me happy,” Pebble responded.

“This not like manticore pride.” Megara’s voice now had a waver to it, and it varied in pitch, becoming almost nasal. “Megara runt. Chewed on. Chomped on. Megara sent away to live with food. Megara have dreams about blue pony and blue pony tell Megara to go north to find pink pony. Blue pony make a star shine bright so Megara know which way to go. Megara the Lioness follow star at night.”

“That’s amazing,” Sumac whispered in awe. Megara had just said more in one go than she had all night, and Sumac began to understand just how much power Princess Luna had.

“Now, Megara happy. Have sister that not chew on head.”

“Head chewing is frowned upon in this house,” Pebble deadpanned. “We have rules. No head chewing and no harm is to come to Sumac, because he had his neck broken by Queen Chrysalis and he’s fragile. Also, we brush our teeth before bedtime, because carnivore breath is awful. Yuck.”

Yawning, Sumac wondered if he would dream of Princess Luna this night, when sleep came.


All of the world was pink. So much pink. Sumac blinked a few times, trying to figure out why the world was pink. The bed was warm and the air was cold, a pleasant, wonderful contrast. It felt good to breath invigourating cold air into his lungs while his body remained warm and toasty.

While he continued to wake, his legs twitched, something they were doing more and more. This made him happy, and with a great deal of effort, he was able to snuggle against the warm, pink, fuzzy body beside him. Some of the cobwebs cleared from his mind and he realised that Pinkie Pie was in the bed with him.

“No, Pinny, you can’t use my niece as a bowling ball,” Pinkie murmured as her body twitched. “Well… okay… if you insist, but I want a turn too.”

What?

“Pinkie, wake up,” Sumac said, and he used his magic to tug on her ear.

With a snort, Pinkie’s eyes opened, and she looked bewildered for a moment. “Did I get a strike?”

“Pinkie, help me, I need to go potty.” Sumac began to feel panicked by the strong urge to go, and his control over his body was still pretty weak at times. Then, unable to help himself, he asked, “What are you doing in Pebble’s bed?”

“Oh, the big bed was crowded and my sister’s farts smelled like rancid pumpkin,” Pinkie replied in a half-awake voice.

Unable to stop himself, Sumac began to giggle, which didn’t help his problem, not one bit.

All of a sudden, Pinkie Pie’s eyes flew wide open and her whole body tensed while her curly mane stood on end, a manifestation of her Pinkie sense. “Potty emergency! A foal has a potty emergency! Oh my gosh, potty emergency!” And with that, Pinkie Pie was wide awake and ready to go.

Sumac too, was ready to go, and he hoped that Pinkie would get him there on time.


The kitchen was cold, but warming. Frost made beautiful, exquisite patterns on the glass windows, which were fascinating to look at. A roaring fire had been revived from the embers in the fireplace, filling the kitchen with warmth and light. Boomer sat in the fire and refused to come out, as the floors were just too cold.

Sumac had a unique problem that he did not have a solution to. His hind legs were faster than his front legs for some reason, and when he hobbled around the kitchen, enjoying his newfound movement, his backside veered off to one side or the other. Being scared silly had done something to wake up his connections, but it was still a big strain, a struggle, a battle to hold his head up.

Vinyl, only half-awake, shuffled around the kitchen while the tea and coffee were being made. There was democracy in action and the question had been posed, “What’s for breakfast?” Alas, there was no answer, not yet, and in general, ponies were not awake enough to respond. A tyrant was needed to decide upon a breakfast fit for all of them.

A not-quite-awake Lemon Hearts sat on a plush cushion near the fireplace, holding a dozing Trixie close to her. Some ponies might rise in the morning, but then would refuse to shine. Twinkleshine however, seemed a bit more awake and aware than most ponies standing around in the kitchen, waiting for warm, restorative elixirs to be made.

“I have a big day planned for us,” Tarnish announced. His eyelids looked heavy and were only half-open. “To start things off, everypony is going to pair up with somepony, and this morning, we’re going to make birdhouses. All of the pieces and parts have all been pre-cut and just need to be put together. We’ll get creative with paint and decorating them. Sound good?”

“Yeah.” Twinkleshine seemed to be the adult pony most awake enough to respond. “I need a partner to help me make a home.” While she was still speaking, Twinkleshine blinked once and then her cheeks turned as pink as her mane. When the last word left her mouth, she began to giggle while her ears twitched.

Maud, still wearing her nightgown and covered in a blanket, angled her head to look up at her husband and said, “You and Megara should work together. Here’s a chance to make a memory and get a little much needed Daddy-Daughter time.”

Tarnish did not respond right away, and Sumac somehow managed to lift his head enough to look up at the tall stallion. He was looking at Megara, who was sitting on the hearth, watching Boomer in the fireplace with a look of intense fascination upon her feline-equine face. After a moment, Tarnish smiled and his eyes grew moist, but he did not start crying, much to Sumac’s relief.

“I get Pebble,” Octavia announced.

“What?” Sumac wobbled about, trying to turn around to look at Octavia. “What? No!”

“Sorry Sumac… but you’ll have to share. She called me ‘Mum’ finally and it’s about bloody time. I had myself a good cry about it and now I need some Pebble time.” Octavia, covered in a blanket, shuffled over to where Sumac stood, lowered her head down, and touched snoots with him. “I’m right sorry. Tell you what, the three of us will work together. How’s that?”

Was this mommy hormones? It might be. Blushing a little from the snoot bump, Sumac looked into Octavia’s eyes and saw an ocean of emotion. Octavia was his special friend and fellow introvert. After a few seconds, he couldn’t think of a better way to spend the morning than with two of his best friends. With each breath she took, Sumac could smell and feel minty coolness against the soft pad of his snoot.

“That’d be great.”

“Watching the two of you grow up together is going to be a treat,” Octavia murmured while she reached out with one foreleg to stroke Sumac’s cheek. “A mother has such hopes and dreams. There are going to be so many wonderful moments that I’ll be able to bear witness to.” The grey earth pony mare began to sniffle, and she pulled away from Sumac. “I’m sorry, I’ve been very emotional lately.”

“It’s okay,” Sumac replied. “You can talk to me if you need to. We can sit on a cushion together and get wrapped up in a blanket, if you’d like. Or, we could just be quiet together. That’s nice too.” While speaking, Sumac tried not to think about how many eyes were focused on him at this moment, or how uncomfortable it was.

Emerging from the hallway, Pinkie Pie yawned and gave herself a shake to be rid of the chill. Then, after smacking her lips together a few times, she said, “This reminds me of home. It got a little cold in the winter and we’d all gather together in the kitchen, and Mama’s stove kept us warm. You don’t realise you miss it until you haven’t had it for a while. This is great.” Crossing the kitchen, Pinkie Pie went to stand beside her sister, Maud.

Meanwhile, Octavia was making good on Sumac’s offer, and she pulled him closer while she got comfortable on a cushion. Hugging him close, she wrapped her blanket around the both of them, and then only Sumac’s head could be seen, peeping out from where the base of her neck was.

For Sumac, all of this just reinforced his belief of what he wanted in life, a big family gathered around a hearth. It was a profound desire now, and he felt a keen need to put down roots. This was the happiest he had been in a while, and wrapped in a blanket with Octavia, he felt warm, safe, and secure. This was shaping up to be a perfect morning, and everypony needed a perfect morning once in awhile.

Pebble, her eyelids sagging, approached Octavia and Sumac and asked, “Is there room for me?”

As it turned out, there was, and Octavia opened up her embrace for Pebble to join them. Sumac shivered, feeling the chill in the air while Pebble clambered up onto the cushion and sat down beside him. Then, Octavia wrapped her forelegs around them both, and the blanket formed a barrier that kept the cold out.

“I’m gonna bake a quiche!” Pinkie Pie announced, becoming the tyrant the family needed.

Maud, her ears perking, showed some interest in Pinkie’s outburst. “Can you make one with pumpkin? A whole one. Just for me? I’d appreciate that.”