“Dancing is the highest form of expression between two ponies,” Pebble said in a matter-of-fact sort of way. “I should know, because I come from a family of dancers that goes back for whole generations. Dancing can only take place when there is harmony between two ponies.”
Sumac could not refute Pebble’s claim. He, Boomer, and Pebble were sitting on Limestone’s broad back, which was hard with muscle. Pebble was behind him, holding him tightly, and the rules had been made quite clear; they were to remain on Limestone’s back for the duration of the evening, for obvious reasons that could not be argued with.
“So, you think there is harmony between the sisters again?” Limestone asked, her ears pivoting around backwards to hear her niece’s voice better.
“If mother and father are dancing, it means that they’ve made up over whatever it was they were squabbling about,” Pebble replied, offering this up as irrefutable proof of her assertion. “Octavia and Vinyl too. Octavia is persnickety and if she is annoyed with Vinyl, you can see it in the way she dances. She’s out of time, clumsy, and there is no flow.”
“Huh.” The exclamation came out of Limestone with a whoosh, with her ribs expanding and contracting. Her head tilted off to one side, her ears pivoted to focus on different sounds, including the droning buzz of the bagpipes, and after a few seconds spent in thought, she nodded, as if agreeing with Pebble.
It was hard, if not downright impossible, to argue with Pebble’s blunt-force logic.
Watching Limestone’s ears made Sumac aware of his own ears and just how much they moved. Having omnidirectional hearing, his ears had to turn towards the direction of whatever it was he was listening to, and Pebble was behind him. This served as a marvellous distraction and it consumed the whole of his mind, this sudden twinge of self-consciousness about how much his ears moved. You could actually see if a pony was listening to you by paying attention to the ears, although a professional slacker might train their ears to remain focused even if their mind wasn’t.
“I think I’m out of harmony with other ponies,” Limestone said while Sumac explored the furthest reaches of space. “There’s no dance partner for me. It’s funny… maybe there’s something to what Mom said. The only pony I’ve danced well with was Tarnish… but I also dance pretty good with my sisters, so maybe it’s just a family closeness thing?”
“Or maybe you’re just not trying very hard, Auntie Limestone.”
“Ouch, Pebble… watch that honesty, will ya?”
“That sunset…” Pebble breathed out the words.
“I know…” Turning her head, Limestone too, gazed at the fading fire in the western sky. “I’m pretty certain that the sisters are working together to make this amazing sky. Look at it all. Moments like this one, I wish that I had a special somepony to share it with, but I’m not ready to settle down. I have a business to look after.”
Sumac came back down to earth right about the same time as Limestone said ‘business’ and he blinked a few times while he tried to gather his senses. The sensation of magic was overwhelming, only it didn’t come from the aether around him, no. It came from the ground below, down deep, down below the mountain, nestled in its roots. He became distinctly aware of the fact that it was Terra, the planet, pulling on the sun and the moon. Ripples of influence tugged on the orbiting bodies and he was back in space again, his mind galavanting off on a grand tangential journey through the cosmos of the mind.
“It’ll be awhile before the moon rises,” Limestone said while she watched the fading streaks of pink, gold, and glowing ribbons of vibrant violet. “Let’s go get a bite to eat.”
There was magic in the air. Real magic, actual magic, and not just the feeling of excitement or anticipation that ponies talked about when there was magic in the air. It felt raw, unpredictable, and Sumac was having trouble controlling himself, as was just about every other unicorn present. For Sumac, this was his first winter solstice when he had functional awareness of his magic, and the complex magery at play to shorten the day and extend the night all around the world had made a mess of things.
At least, for the unicorns.
Pebble and Limestone were acting funny; how, Sumac could not say. Neither of them seemed to be themselves and Sumac supposed that the weird magic was affecting them in a different way. Though he couldn’t say for certain, the earth ponies seemed brighter, more vibrant, more colourful somehow. Certainly more attractive in some odd, undefinable sort of way. Pebble had a certain allure to her, some captivating quality that made Sumac want to be near her. But it wasn’t just Pebble—the same could be said for Limestone, much to Sumac’s embarrassment, and there was something about the way Limestone smelled. Something earthy, like the ground in spring just after it rained, and it made him think of green growing things.
It was a confusing time, that much was for certain.
There was a lot of kissing going on, and nopony was doing much to hide it. Big gross sloppy kisses, the kind that left Sumac feeling embarrassed, with his insides squirming like slick, slippery serpents, and he didn’t want to see ponies slipping one another the tongue. Ew. Behind him, Pebble was clingy, there was no better way to describe it, and she kept squeezing him around his middle while rubbing her cheek against the back of his neck.
Trixie, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine sat on the floor, all huddled together on the other side of the table, talking to one another in low voices that Sumac couldn’t quite make out. Lemon Hearts had a sticky face, her lips were stained with dark red wine, and she swayed with her every movement. Twinkleshine seemed downright rambunctious and clung to one of Trixie’s forelegs.
How much wine were these ponies drinking? It was hard to tell. The air reeked with the cloying, spicy sweetness. It was so strong that it might have been one of the things that left Sumac feeling light-headed, though it was hard to be sure. Outside, the sky had turned the same colour that Sumac saw when he squeezed his eyes shut in a well-lit room. The band was playing something brassy, bold, and bouncy.
“It’s time.” Gosling’s voice reverberated through the hall and every single ear in the room pricked to attention. “Please, be orderly and have courtesy for others when filing out of the exits. Tonight, the only crime is to spoil another’s good time. Please, come and join me for the moonrise.”
“That voice really butters my bread,” Lemon Hearts remarked, and this got her a good-natured shove from Twinkleshine.
“Something about Prince Gosling really juices our Lemon—”
“Trixie”—Lemon gasped, then tittered—“that’s lewd.”
“He has quite a chest scruffle,” Twinkleshine confessed, hesitant. “I mean, it looks like a nice place to rest your head when snuggling. Like deep pile shag carpeting, or something. I dunno what I’m saying.”
Lemon Hearts leaned in closer to Trixie and Twinkleshine to say, “His fetlocks are a little shaggy and when he struts the hair moves in such a way that you can’t help but look. He’s made of eye candy.”
Examining one rather plain beige hoof, Sumac wondered if he would be handsome and felt a vague sense of worry. He could only be described as pale. Discord had called him beige. Where other ponies were colourful, eye-catching, and had chest scruffles that mares wanted to touch, Sumac felt that he was rather… blah. In a barn full of hay bales, why, he could practically disappear from view because nothing about him stood out. His unease grew to the point of actual physical discomfort and a terrible, awful, dreadful thought sprang into existence: perhaps he should be brushed a little more often and while he was at it, get his mane combed too.
Handsome was hard work, but maybe it was hard work worth doing.
The sky had never been so clear as it was right now and above Sumac was an ocean of darkness illuminated by millions of tiny, sparkling lights. Of course, he knew the secret of the stars and this knowledge was something that he treasured. His tiny nostrils stung from the cold, but for the most part, he was warm enough, though he worried about Limestone.
Princess Luna stood in waiting on the dais and Sumac could not help but feel that she was looking right at him. The light of the many braziers reflected in her eyes, giving her a spooky, otherworldly appearance. As for Princess Celestia, she stood elsewhere, and Princess Luna was alone on the dais because this was the Night Princess’ time to shine.
When he was plucked from Limestone’s back, Sumac almost let out a startled yelp of alarm. Trixie held him aloft, just as she had done so many times before, and he found himself looking into her happy-sad eyes. What was she thinking? Feeling? She was smiling, but it wasn’t a smile that he was familiar with and there was some unknown quality about it that filled him with some vague sense of worry, something that touched upon his introversion in some weird, fundamental way.
“The stars, Sumac… the stars are my legacy,” Trixie began, her voice husky and her tone rather melancholic. “I am one of Princess Luna’s stars, and it has been said that the stars will aid in her escape. Prophecy is so full of vagaries. But I digress.” She sighed, it was a breathy sound, a weary sound, and her breath was strong with the cloying reek of wine. “Princess Luna is still recovering from her trying ordeal, and I suppose I am too. You’ve been a big part of that, Sumac. These stars that are my legacy, I would share them with you if I could.”
A hard lump formed in Sumac’s throat and he was forced to swallow.
“I don’t know what they were thinking, putting you in my care, but I’m glad that somepony gave me a chance. Look how far we’ve come, Sumac. Look what we have now. In your own special way, you’ve helped us achieve this. The point I’m trying to make is, we’ve done this together. So this is our night. Our special night. Because of you, I found myself. Because of you, Lemon Hearts was finally able to ease the empty ache that has plagued her for such a long, long time. She wanted a family more than anything else in the whole wide world.”
Sumac found himself sniffling and he made a valiant struggle to not do so.
“Because of you, Twinkleshine has found her purpose and can now live out a foalhood fantasy of hers as a protector of a noble house. It is no longer a dream, a silly flight of fancy that a little silly filly clings to. We all have dreams, Sumac… I know I did.” With her foreleg, she made a gesture at the stars above. “Dream big, Sumac. Know that you are loved. I will find some way to share these stars with you.”
With that came a kiss and with the kiss came electric tingles that made Sumac wiggle. When Trixie pulled away, he reached for her, and, slipping his forelegs around her head, pulled her close once more, his body surrounded, suspended in a somewhat ticklish field of magic. Fond thoughts flooded his mind, time spent together in study, Trixie teaching him how to read, magic lessons, and the stories… so many stories… Trixie knew so many stories about every interesting thing to be found on the road.
Trixie’s extensive knowledge of history and the past defined Sumac’s future.
He clung to her and the thrum of her horn emitting magic was a soft, comforting drone in his ears. Boomer squirmed between them, having awoken from her slumber, and there was a muffled, smooshed yawn from beneath Sumac’s poncho. With Boomer’s stirrings, Sumac thought about family, and the sheer enormity of this moment struck him with terrific force, leaving him emotional.
Princess Luna rose into the air, her wings and body frozen in a graceful pose. Magic became a palpable force and Sumac clung to his mother, overwhelmed, unable to bear everything that was going on. Silver flames crackled along Luna’s body and gasps came from the crowd. Sumac squeezed his eyes shut, because it was all too much.
Sumac felt the moon rising. The sensation, on top of everything else, almost crushed him. Powerful magics, though distant, could be felt, perceived upon the very edges of his peripheral awareness. He had been warned about the source of the magic from Princess Celestia, but she was wrong. The full ramifications of what was taking place collided with Sumac’s mind. How could Princess Celestia not know? How could she not sense what was taking place?
A faint stream of magic rose from Trixie, like a faint scent lost in a strong breeze, but Sumac could sense it. Not just from Trixie though; it came from Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor too, as well as other sources somewhere nearby in the city that Sumac had no knowledge of. It was a kind of controlling magic. How did he know this? He had no idea. But this was not the source of the flood, no, this magic only directed the waters in some incomprehensible way that Sumac could sense, but not fathom.
Every earth pony around Sumac practically buzzed with magic, with Pebble being one of the loudest. It came off of them in waves, pulses, and Sumac gritted his teeth to bear it. The magic came up from the earth, moved through the bodies of the earth ponies, found purpose, found meaning, and left them to flow through the roots of the earth once more so that the moon might be influenced.
Dizzy with knowledge, Sumac remembered bits and pieces of the story about how unicorns once raised and lowered the sun and moon, but became exhausted. The ancient unicorn magic went away. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, it was said, could raise and lower the sun and the moon without effort; but this was not the case. The means of the magic was merely shifted, transfered over to those capable of bearing the heaviest of loads. Had this been accomplished without the sisters understanding what had been done?
Sumac had witnessed a living engine and had no idea what to do with the knowledge.
When he opened his eyes, pale silver light streamed from the distant horizon and the moon now peeped over the edge of the observable world. More of the odd magic seemed to coalesce inside of Sumac’s mind and his awareness of it grew. Some presence, perhaps even magic itself, suggested that this was harmony—multiple parts working together as a whole. Princess Celestia’s and Princess Luna’s earth pony magic was working in unison with other earth ponies to keep the celestial bodies in motion. It was something so unbelievably complex that Sumac doubted that he could ever put it into words.
Awed into silence, Sumac watched the moon rise.