//------------------------------//
// Love hurts 
// Story: The One That Got Away 
// by kudzuhaiku 
//------------------------------//

The day was a little too hot, the sun was a little too shiny, and the summer was a little too overbearing. An oppressive shimmer hung like a see-through curtain over everything as heat rose from every available surface. Bugs flew at lackadaisical speeds, birds roosted in shady trees to seek relief from the oppressive tyrant overhead, and time had slowed to a crawl because it had melted just like everything else.

Sumac Apple lay cradled in the roots of an old tree eating a bright green apple and his head rested against the gnarled, ancient trunk. The tree sat on the edge of the water and Sumac could dip his hind hooves into the drink, if he felt like it. Less than a yard away, Pebble Pie was once again pulling off her impressive hippopotamus impression, though Sumac would never, ever compliment her for her magnificent mimicry, because he liked living. Pebble’s dark, chocolate brown ears were visible, along with some of her violet mane, her eyes, and her nostrils. Everything else was submerged beneath the vivid blue water that sparkled like a puddle of spilled liquid sky filled with dazzling diamonds. Due to her rather unique and stony nature, Pebble could—and would—stay like this for hours at a time to avoid the tyrannical sun.

Not too far away from the chocolate hippopotamus lurked an even more fearsome beast, the ferocious aquatic manticore. Megara, having a much thicker, shaggier pelt, suffered in the heat like few other creatures, and so she stayed submerged, with only her snorkel to give her away. Alas, poor Megara, torn between two cruel fates; die of boredom, or die from heat. Probably any minute now, a stream of bubbles would rise up from the depths, and that would signal the end of Megara the Lioness, mauled by monotony.

Hanging by her tail above Sumac, Boomer Apple hung upside down and read a somewhat tattered and dog-eared comic book. One of nature’s most perfect jerks, the little tree dragoness was completely comfortable in the heat, and suffered only from boredom, because nopony wanted to play tag, or dodge-rock, the favourite game of the Pies, or hide-and-go-seek. With the turn of each page, she sighed, and one of her chameleon-esque eyes remained locked upon the pony down below.

Napping in a patch of shaded grass, Silver Lining the griffoness lay sprawled on her back, caring nothing for modesty, with her body kinked at odd angles in the way that only felinoid creatures could. Her wings were fully extended and her tail somehow remained active, swatting away any bugs that flew too close. On occasion, Sumac would turn his head to look at everything that Silver Lining had on display, and when he did, the dragon above him would get a smokey smirk upon her face.

Missing from this idyllic, sweaty summer scene was one pony: Olive. Sumac worried a bit, but not too much, because Olive was a big girl and she could take care of herself. With school out for the summer, Olive had been travelling back and forth to Canterlot almost on a weekly basis, and she had immersed herself in study. Sumac knew why, too, because Olive wanted to join the guard. Now fourteen, Olive had a hankering to prove herself and accomplish whatever she could. As of late, she had become downright martial, and had consigned herself to a regimented life. No doubt, she was either training or studying, and had forgot about the plans to spend as much of the day as possible at their private, out of the way waterhole.

Silver Lining mewed; which Sumac thought was a strange sound for her to make, and then began to scratch her belly with her talons while kicking one hind leg. Distracted by her movement, Sumac stopped eating his apple as he watched the big pear-shaped griffoness’ enticing jiggles. For a moment, the colt thought about going over there to give her a belly rub, but it was far too hot for such a thing. Snuggling fuzzy bodies together when it was cold was sublime, but it was dreadful torture in the summer, which was ironic in its own special way, because the summer brought the heat. It was the worst time to even think about such a thing and Sumac wished he was in the Crystal Empire, where it was about forty or so degrees cooler.

More thirsty than hungry, Sumac resumed eating his apple, slurping up as much juice as possible before taking a bite, and his eyes never left Silver Lining, who remained spread-eagle in the grass. Above him, Boomer’s chameleon-esque eyes swapped places, with each now looking at what the other had been watching. She shook her head, disgusted by the mammals around her, and continued reading her comic book which was titled, ‘Conquest of the Planet of the Naked Hairless Simians.’

This place, this waterhole, this was their sanctuary, their secret spot, and not much disturbed them here. Poison joke formed a natural obstacle along one side, a ravine wall wrapped around the area in an almost ‘C’ shaped barrier, and along the top of the ravine were downright hostile flora. Stranglesnatch, needler cacti, and pinchy plants made the area almost impassable. To reach this place, one needed to imbibe the tea of poison joke; a drink common for this herd of youngsters. Of course, sometimes others joined them, but few came unannounced.

“You wanna play with Silver Lining’s egg hole, don’t you, Sumac?” Boomer asked of her equine sibling.

Sumac had the following monosybillic unabashed grunt of response: “Yeah.”

“That’s gross.” Boomer spoke with a matter-of-fact tone and both of her independently focusing eyes focused on Sumac down below in disgust. “That is where eggs come out of.”

“Somepony has to fertilise those eggs—”

“NASTY! Mammals!” Boomer shivered with revulsion and refocused both of her eyes at two different elsewheres. “At least Silver Lining is an egg-layer, as is proper. Live birth is too gross to think about. Yuck. What a mess. Messy mammals.”

“You never know, Boomer. You could fall in love with a pony. Just saying.”

In response, Boomer swung her comic book aside, inhaled, then belched smoke in her brother’s direction, no doubt hoping to annoy him, or make his eyes water, because mammals were troubled by smoke, bad smells, and had so many other mammalian weaknesses. Hissing like a teakettle, she transferred her comic book from her front claws to her hind claws and waved her tiny fists in her brother’s direction to show him who was boss.

When Sumac ignored her, Boomer pitched a fit and inflated like a cheesed-off chuckwalla.

“Why would I love a pony?” Boomer demanded and she turned both of her omnidirectional eyes on Sumac once more.

“Love is a curious thing,” Sumac replied while tilting his head back to look up at the fuming dragon above him. “It just happens, if you let it, and besides, you already love a bunch of ponies. You love me, don’t you?”

Boomer, about to reply, held out her right claws and extended one clawed finger, but whatever it was that she was about to say failed to come out. What came out, however, was her tongue, and she licked her left eye in a thoughtful way while retracting her extended claw. Then, she licked her right eye, and with a slurp, her tongue vanished.

With a pootulent squeal, Boomer deflated.

“Mama, Mama, won’t you please stop naggin’... just ‘cause I love myself a little scaly dragon. I spread my wings and away I soared, she stole my heart for her hoard—”

“Stop!” Boomer whined while shaking her tiny balled-up fists at her brother. “Stop! Stop! That song is soooo embarrassing! I hate that song!”

“Oh come on, Boomer, that song is one of the few songs with the word ‘fjord’ in it.”

“Suuuumaaaac, stop or I’ll tell Mom!” Still holding her comic book in her hind claws, she crossed her front legs over her chest and then hung there, huffing smoke and pouting.

In the mood to sing, Sumac changed his tune and raised his voice in song, a song that Vinyl had collected from some distant, far off place. “You've got to give a little, take a little, and let your poor heart break a little… that's the story of, that's the glory of love!”

There was a splash from the water nearby when Pebble’s head broke the surface.

“You've got to laugh a little, cry a little, and let the clouds roll by a little! That's the story of, that's the glory of love!”

Unable to resist herself, Boomer joined in and her somewhat squeaky voice somehow harmonised well with Sumac’s cracking, fractured adolescent voice. Together, they sang, “Now, as long as there's the two of us, we've got this world and all its charms! And when the world is through with us… we've got each other's arms!”

From the water, Pebble joined in, having heard this song a million times or more, because of all of the times Vinyl had played it for Octavia. In a three part harmony, they continued, “You've got to win a little, lose a little, yes, and always have the blues a little! That's the story of, that's the glory of love! That's the story of, that's the glory of love!”

“What a magnificent concert,” a new voice said.

So startled was Sumac that he almost fell into the water, not that he would have minded. Whipping his head about, he turned to look at Olive, who was sweaty and panting. She was smiling, because Olive smiled a lot, but something about her eyes seemed sad. Trying to appear cool, Sumac stayed right where he was and didn’t leap up to greet her.

“Okay, spill your guts, Olive,” Pebble said from the water where she remained mostly submerged. “What’s wrong?”

“Who said anything’s wrong?” Olive shuffled on her hooves a bit, kicked the dirt, and flashed her teeth in a brilliant dung-eating-grin. “Sorry I’m late. It’s a hot one today, ain’t it?”

“Have a seat,” Sumac offered while gesturing at the grass. “Take a load off. Sit anywhere. My face is available for your comfort and convenience.”

At this, both Pebble and Olive began to giggle, while Boomer hissed in disgust. Down below the hissing dragon, Sumac waggled his eyebrows and then tried to eat his apple in the most seductive way possible, which of course made him look like a huge apple-eating mega-dork. With a splash, Megara came to the surface, gasping, and then while she spluttered, she waved at Olive.

With a wide yawn of her beak, Silver Lining awoke.

While the griffoness struggled to sit up, Olive sat down in the grass, sighed, and her gaze remained on Sumac, who was finishing up the last bites of his apple. Megara moved out of the deep and into the shallow, coming to float beside her sister, Pebble. Silver Lining yawned again, and Olive’s smile melted like an ice cream cone left in the direct sun. The drab green filly was brave though, and struggled to hold herself together.

There was a plop when Sumac threw his core into the water and then he asked, “No foolin’ around, Olive, what’s going on?”

Somehow, Olive resisted for several long seconds, and then she spilled her guts. Turning away, her eyes focused elsewhere while her ears went limp against her temples. “My helmet arrived this morning, brought by official courier.”

Sumac’s voice shattered like a dropped teacup and in a cracked whine, he managed to say one word: “No…”

With a great deal of splashing, Pebble dragged herself ashore and water poured from her naked body in diamond-sparking streams. She wore no sundress, no swimsuit, and under any other circumstance, Sumac’s eyes would have been all over her, drinking in every available inch, but his eyes remained on Olive, heartbroken.

“It’s funny, Sumac… because of that one little infraction on my academic record involving me just about tearing your legs off, I was almost rejected. But Twilight’s letter of recommendation and my commendable actions during the Battle of Ponyville cleared me. The Immortal Solars have accepted me as a recruit, with the hopes that one day I will stand with them as their Sister.” For some reason, Olive didn’t look happy, not at all, and Silver Lining lumbered over to be with her.

The much larger griffoness sat down, reached out, and crushed Olive to her girth in silence.

In denial, Sumac shook his head from side to side. “No…”

At the water’s edge, Pebble shook herself off, shedding water, and sending droplets flying in every direction. It was a sight that under any normal circumstances would have caused Sumac to suffer an embarrassing reaction, but suffering from shock, he failed to notice. Up in the tree, Boomer howled in protest when her comic got wet, and then glowered down at Pebble, not understanding the heartbreak that unfolded beneath her.

“Damn, Pebble, if you haven’t grown into a hot piece of tail.” Olive found her smile once more, though it only lasted for a second, and then she was almost beheaded when Silver Lining wrapped one foreleg around her neck to comfort her. “Silver!” With a strangled gasp, the drab green unicorn filly pleaded with the over-affectionate griffoness. “I need air! Please!”

Alas, no air seemed forthcoming, and Silver Lining began to stroke Olive’s mane while Pebble sat down on the grass. Reaching out with her hoof, Pebble placed it upon Olive’s ribs, and then with her wet ears sagging, she just sat there with her head hung low. Still in the water, what could be seen of Megara’s face revealed a profound sorrow, at least for those who knew the manticore spawn well enough to read her features.

Sumac too, remained where he was, stunned, still shaking his head from side to side.

Olive kicked and wiggled, and as strong as she was, as physically fit as she was, she could not even begin to budge Silver Lining’s iron embrace. The big griffoness was the gentlest of giants—she didn’t even work out and avoided exercise as a rule—but even in her plump, unfit state, she was able to overpower Olive with ease. The green unicorn filly was a doll to her, and Silver Lining loved all of her little dolls—especially the pony-shaped ones.

“When do you leave?” Pebble asked in the most intimate of whispers.

To which Olive replied in a muffled, almost suffocated whisper that was no less intimate, “On the evening train. Tonight. At dawn, there will be a ceremony, and then I’ll do my induction where I’ll stand guard and watch over something until I collapse from exhaustion. I’m scared, Pebble. I’m so scared.”

“Olive…” Sumac’s words were hesitant and he struggled to speak them. “Olive, why are you doing this? Why the Immortal Solars? Why not just the regular guard so you can be with us? Why can’t something be worked out?”

Silver Lining eased up her iron embrace—just a little—so Olive could respond.

“Sumac, you’ve known this day was coming for years now.” Though it was husky, cracked, and raspy, Olive’s voice was firm. “That’s why we made the most of the time that we had. These have been the best years of my life… all of you… you’ve all made me so happy—”

“Why are you doing this?” Sumac’s voice was a broken, pleading whine. “Can’t things be worked out somehow?”

“Sumac, I’m doing this because I love you—”

“Then stay!” Sumac rolled off of the roots where he lay and almost fell into the water. Nimble, he lept to the shore, landed, and then just stood there, pleading with his eyes. “Go into a different branch of service… please!”

For Olive, the first cracks in the floodgates happened, and her eyes turned glassy. “Sumac, a long time ago, I decided that I loved you. Not just you, I loved what we had. You and Pebble invited me to share a little bit of the wonderful love that you have, and Sumac, Pebble, it became the most meaningful thing in my life. The world needs a love like yours—”

“And the world also needs a protector to guard their love.” Silver Lining’s voice was sad and she slumped over onto Olive, crushing her. “You’ve grown to be a good pony, Olive.”

“Not all of us can stay at home with the ones we love…” Pebble’s voice was gritty with gravel and she nodded her head. “Some of us have to make sure those homes are safe. Olive, you’re one of my best friends, my fellow Basher, a fellow member of the Wipe-Outs, and my Battle Sister in the Wrecking-Crew. I’ll never get to call you my fellow wife, but hey, at least we have these moments to treasure, right?”

Reaching out her foreleg, Olive took Pebble’s fetlock in her own and gave it a squeeze.

“I suppose by tomorrow, you won’t even be my Battle Sister,” Pebble said while she stared at Olive’s hoof, which she had a tight grip on. “All bonds severed, all ties cut asunder, all connections cut in twain… an Immortal Solar is loyal to one and one only, for life, and never shall this sacred trust be broken. You’ll walk through that archway of flame that burns away all other obligations and you’ll begin your journey as a Solar.” Clearing her throat, she added, “I know you won’t fail. You’ll kick ass.”

Growling, Megara dug her claws into the turf and tugged her waterlogged body up onto dry land. She didn’t bother to shake herself off, but rather, she marched over to where Silver Lining, Olive, and Pebble all sat, and joined them. She too, sat down, and pressed herself into the huddle. Meanwhile, Sumac stood alone, his cheeks darkened and damp, and his mouth hanging open in shock.

Up in her tree, Boomer returned to reading her comic book, unconcerned about the drama below.

“I know I’ll be saying my vows to Princess Celestia,” Olive began, “but our time that we had together will always mean something to me. Even though I can’t promise it, I will love all of you for the rest of my life. You’ve given me so many wonderful memories, and I’ve had just about the best foalhood a filly could ask for.” Horn glowing, she yanked Sumac over and his hooves scraped over the grass while he flew through the air to join them in the huddle.

“Sumac’s tenth birthday…” Pebble gave Olive’s hoof a yank and the corner of her mouth curled into a smirk.

“We played spin-the-bottle,” both Pebble and Olive said together, and then, still in unison added, “Sumac called us chicken.”

Pebble blushed, turning a much darker shade of brown. “That was a confusing day for me. I suppose it was easier for you because you were older—”

“Wasn’t easy at all.” Olive shook her head and her cheek rubbed against Silver Lining’s breastbone. “It didn’t matter that I was older, because other than a few sweet pecks with Sumac, I’d never kissed anypony like that. I’m sorry, Pebble, I still don’t know what came over me. I guess I wanted to give Sumac a show for his birthday.”

“Oh, that we did.” Pebble’s voice was both vulnerable and nervous. “You left my dress a wet mess.”

Sumac closed his eyes and leaned up against Silver Lining, who was a solid, reassuring pillar of strength. He remembered that day like it was yesterday, and it was still one of his go-to memories when he needed something to get his fantasy fires burning. Pebble and Olive had done more than kiss: there was hot, sloppy, sweaty making out—and he had watched. It was the best birthday present he could have hoped for, and the memory—stored in his spank bank—was just about the hottest thing he could think of.

“Spin the bottle is frustrating for me,” Silver Lining murmured in the meekest voice of complaint possible so she wouldn’t spoil the mood. “But I like watching.”

“It’s a spectator sport,” Megara agreed, her tail swishing from side to side. Turning to look at Olive, her eyes narrowed and holding out her paw, she rested it atop Olive and Pebble’s fetlocks. “It was super, super weird watching you dry-hump my sister’s leg. I still have very confusing thoughts about that. Thanks for that.”

Olive laughed, but it was not a happy sound. Pebble continued to blush and her face was now the colour of black coffee. Silver Lining’s feathers fluffed out, and squeezing Olive almost to the point of juicing her, she let heave a sigh. Megara leaned in, wrapped one foreleg around Sumac, and tried to reassure him.

“We battled the mud monsters.” Pebble changed the subject. “Olive, you and I, we laid the smackdown on those muddy sons of bitches.”

Whimpering, Silver Lining squirmed. “I was hiding. Violence of any kind makes me anxious and I don’t like it. I’m practically a pony when it comes to violence, and there are times when I think I’m gonna faint.”

“Make me a promise…” Olive’s voice was pleading; it cracked and turned shrill on the last two syllables. “Look after Sumac. Give him all of the love that I can’t. Look, I know it’s a lot to ask, because I don’t know what the future is, but keep him safe and happy. I’m doing my part. Please, please, make everything I’m sacrificing mean something. It hurts so much to go, and I almost can’t bear it.”

Caring nothing for his glasses, Sumac buried his face into Megara’s tawny hide, bit down upon his lip, and battled to keep everything held in. It didn’t help that Megara was trembling, and Sumac knew that he was reaching his breaking point. If his emotions went out of control, the ink would come, and then things would be confusing as well as emotional.

“Sumac is about to be a big brother, and it won’t be long now.” Olive’s voice cracked again and held a sorrowful tremulation. “You’re going to get to see what he’s gonna be like as a Daddy and I’m gonna be in Canterlot busting my ass. Silver, Pebble, please, you gotta send me letters with every detail.”

“I’ll write every chance I get,” Silver Lining promised; again, she squeezed, and almost turned Olive into oil.  “I owe you so much, Olive. You helped me overcome my shyness. Olive, you gave me the courage to face the world. I can never thank you enough, but I’ll write.”

Fearful of his own words, but too heartbroken to care, Sumac turned to face Olive and looked her in the eye. “Please stay—”

“Sumac, don’t do this to me.” Tears streamed down Olive’s cheeks and her face contorted in concentration while she tried to resist Sumac’s charms. “Ask anything else you want from me, but don’t ask me to stay.”

Feeling sorry, Sumac didn’t know what else to say, and he felt guilty for what little he had said. A deep and abiding shame overcame him, and the crushing weight upon his heart was almost too much to bear. In his desperation, he had done something foolish, something stupid, but even as the guilt tore him apart, he longed to finish his words, he ached with the need to compel Olive to stay.

“Olive—”

“Sumac, watch what you say.” Olive’s voice had a hardness to it now, an unmistakable flintiness that was terrifying.

“Olive, why?” Consumed by his own shame, Sumac averted his gaze, no longer feeling worthy to look at her.

Reaching up with her foreleg, Olive wiped her eyes, gulped once, then a second time, scrubbed at her eyes with her foreleg, and in a creaky, heartbroken voice she replied, “Sumac, it’s the glory of love, Sumac… you were just singing about it”—here, her voice broke, becoming soft, feminine, vulnerable as she sang—“you've got to give a little, take a little, and let your poor heart break a little… that's the story of, that's the glory of love...” Trailing off with a sob, she could not continue.

Hearing Olive’s frail voice singing the song they had all sang so many times—together, they had worn out Vinyl’s record and earned her stern rebuke—Sumac’s heart shattered. Of all the pain he had experienced in his life, this was the worst. His brain struggled to even comprehend the whole of it; the guilt, the shame, the sudden rending pain, and knowledge of his own selfishness only amplified his torment. How could he? Wracked with remorse, he felt as though he didn't deserve Olive, or any of his friends, not after what he had just done.

“Sumac”—he felt a hoof come to rest upon him and he knew it was Olive— “Sumac, please”—the hoof pressed into his withers and he tried to shrug it away because the pain was too much to bear—“Sumac, I don’t love you any less. I would be disappointed and hurt if you didn’t at least try. It’s nice to know that I mean that much to you. Thank you, Sumac—”

“For what?” Sumac blurted out, and Olive’s hoof was like a red-hot poker burning into his very soul.

“For loving me enough to let me go.”

It was too much. Sumac felt the ink coming, and with it, a terrifying surge of magic. Anything could happen and in mere moments, everything would go spiraling out of control. This was no common surge, no, this promised to be the mother of all surges, and he felt a rising swell of devastation cresting within him. Yanking his head around, his jaw firmed and he looked Olive in the eye. He had to hold on for just a few seconds more, just a few more precious seconds, but with the way his teeth were tingling, these would be the longest seconds of his life. Even though it was risky, he allowed some of his magic to flow into his words.

“Go to Canterlot, Olive,” he commanded, and the power of his voice caused strange, weird wibbles to manifest in the air around him, looking very much like the shimmers of rising heat. “Let your greatness be equal to your love for me. Become an Immortal Solar that rivals the very Sun for splendour!”

As the last word left his mouth, Sumac felt his tongue go numb, and it seemed as though his jaw might split. He worried, fearing that all of his teeth might pop like popcorn. Pressure built like a sneeze, and with all of his concentration, he gazed into Olive’s eyes while she was held spellbound. All around him, the grass began to turn blue and flickers of raw aetherfire crackled,  dancing in the air like mischievous imps. Too close to his horn, Sumac’s spectacles disintegrated, turning into glittery dust that floated in the wavy shimmers like snowflakes. Weird flames danced in Olive’s eyes, which now blazed like two tiny suns. Ink began to bleed into his vision.

With a thunderous, deafening crackle that bowled his companions over, Sumac vanished.