Time had slowed to a crawl. How slow? Slower than pouring maple syrup in the morning after a cold night. Everything seemed to be happening all at once. Another foal had arrived just as the Black Hound had appeared, and there was so much shouting. The army was advancing and the best diamond dogs in all of existence were calmly speaking of their chosen end. Igneous too, was preparing for battle, and he held in his fetlocks an enormous mattock.
“Here, Sumac… keep Moon Rose safe.”
Before he could protest, a stranger put a filly he only barely knew beside him. Moon Rose was sobbing, a bit bloodied, but otherwise seemed to be okay. The students, all of them strangers, were preparing the portal gem. Pebble wrapped her forelegs around Moon Rose, squeezed tightly, and did not let go. Sumac wondered if, in that moment, a lifelong friendship had been made. Was this how friendships worked? What would Twilight say? Why was he thinking about his schoolwork right now, of all things?
Before he could distract himself, Sumac found himself the focus of the Black Hound. She approached, larger than life, wrapped in a cloak of swirling, coalescing shadows. A giant—an actual honest-to-alicorns giant—and in all of his life, he had never seen anything quite like her. As she drew nearer, she brought the cold with her, and Sumac found himself shivering.
The Black Hound was large enough that he could vanish completely inside of her paw.
“Are you good?” the giant asked with a faint suggestion of a growl lurking within her voice.
Never in his life had a question been so terrifying. No teacher had ever made such a soul-chilling inquiry. Sumac felt his heart freeze, because he didn’t know how to answer. Lying—even a tiny fiblet—would be bad right now, and he honestly wasn’t sure if he was good or just pretended to be good so he’d get nice things and stay out of trouble. It was hard to be good, so very hard.
When the Black Hound sniffed him, Sumac almost wet himself.
“He struggles to be good.”
Pebble’s voice was a stolid, unshakeable, unbreakable deadpan. How could she be so calm? Sumac was fighting to hold his water, his hind legs twisting and writhing against one another, and somehow, Pebble sounded as serene as a spring day. It wasn’t fair. Sumac, feeling the Black Hound’s eyes burning into his very soul, looked away as he felt ashamed for every horrible thing he’d ever done.
“Sumac works hard to be good. It’s not easy for him. Apples are known for hard work.”
The Black Hound sniffed again and then placed one paw finger beneath Sumac’s chin, lifting his head so that he had no choice but to look up at her. “That is the best kind of good. Shēdo smell trouble about you, but another believes in your goodness. The Black Hound will fight for you.” The giant stood up, straightening out to her full height. Turning about, she added, “Bad things approach. They are unfit to see the dawn. Time to collect heads.”
“Heads?” Pebble’s lone word somehow formed a question.
“Only cure for badness,” the Black Hound replied while her eyes narrowed and her tail wagged. “Those heads coming off. Heads come off and badness leaks out. Makes flowers grow. Badness serves a purpose. Give life to soil.”
Somehow, Pebble found just a bit of extra reach, and pulled Sumac into an embrace with Moon Rose. Sumac’s sense of introversion was wanting to scream, but now was not the time. He needed space, he needed air, he needed quiet—but none of these things were available to him. Tonight, if he survived it, would be a long one. Impossibly long.
“Begin charging up the portal gem!” one of the students commanded.
Igneous—standing bipedal—paused for a moment. He stared at his granddaughter and Sumac almost couldn’t bear the sight of him. The old stallion’s face was pained, but there was something more, something that Sumac could not recognise. As the Black Hound prepared herself, Igneous did too, and Sumac wondered if Pebble’s grandfather would live to see the dawn.
It was a terrifying thought, and Sumac, fearing the worst possible outcome, made a quiet, unspoken promise that he would be there for Pebble, that somehow, he would be the friend that she deserved, and he would see her through this, even though he had no idea how.
The Black Hound looked down at the pony beside her, who had a mattock clutched in a tight death-grip, and much to Sumac’s horror, she sniffed. Just once. Sumac felt his heart leap up into his throat and begin thrashing around like a frantic bird trapped in a cage. But then, as panic completely overtook Sumac, the Black Hound nodded.
“You are good,” she said to Igneous. “You give life if needed. Old, wise life most important life of all. Hardest life to give away. Hurts most. Easy to die young. Hard to die old. Work twice as hard. Shēdo will fight with you. Be honoured.”
Igneous’ head tilted back so he could look up, and the mattock trembled somewhat in his grip. Sumac watched, frozen, his heart still in his throat, and in this moment, during this unforgettable span of seconds, Igneous was more than a pony. More than a grandfather. Something too great for words… like Rainbow Dash but a whole lot more humble.
The old stallion offered up a solemn nod at the Black Hound in response.
“Gem is charging!”
Time seemed to grow ever slower. For Sumac, each passing second was agony. He wanted this to be over. Though mere moments had passed, it felt like hours. In the distance, he heard horns and the pounding of drums shook the earth. He heard shouts of alarm and watched as the diamond dog army drew into formation, ready to defend the farm—to defend him. Others would die this night for his sake.
“If you are good,” the Black Hound bellowed, “then fight with me! Those who know war in this life will know peace in next!” She raised her sword overhead, waved it, and this caused the gathered defenders to howl.
Then, she charged, and like a flood, all those around her moved with her. As the zebra galloped off, Boomer lept upon the zebra’s back and held on. Sumac could say nothing, all he could do was watch. Thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and the two armies collided together. Sumac heard the ring of steel on steel, he heard wails of anguish, and the furious cries of battle. It all happened so fast, even as time felt so slow. Boomer and the zebra were swallowed up by the sweeping tide of battle, and Sumac lost track of them far too quickly.
In the middle of it all was the Black Hound. She was the biggest, the tallest, the most imposing. As lightning crackled overhead, he could see the ghostly shadows of chains shooting out from her body, and these chains impaled her attackers so they could be dragged in. The cacophony was deafening and he could hardly hear his own thoughts. It was so close; the battle was so close, a stone’s throw away. Night became day as plumes of fire rose into the sky and unfurled like flapping banners in the breeze.
Heads rolled.
A bright, blinding nimbus of light surrounded Sumac, and his magic sense threatened to overwhelm him. The portal gem was working and he could feel the curious tug at his insides. Over the crackling buzz of the gem’s activation, he heard the sounds of battle; cries of pain, yelps, whimpers, wet, splashing sounds that upset him and unnerved him a great deal.
In the final seconds just before the gem took him elsewhere, Sumac said, “Goodbye, Boomer…”
The quiet was the greatest thing that Sumac had ever heard. Even better, he was given space to recover himself, rather than be buried beneath a thousand-million questions. Livingstone backed off after just a few polite inquiries, and Sumac had been left in a comfortable chair, all by himself. Pebble and Moon Rose were sitting together on a paisley-printed couch. Moon Rose was crying a bit, but Pebble could have very well been a statue.
Livingstone was a purplish pegasus with a massive, oversized handlebar mustache. There were others, too, two more who stood by the door. Barnabus Stubbs and Bertie Stubbs, and there was something scary-pleasant about them. Oh, they were scary earth ponies, no doubt, but Sumac was not scared of them. He felt safe around them. Barnabus’ cutie mark was a smashed, broken chair, and Bertie’s mark was a smashed, broken table.
Sumac suspected that they had marks for mayhem; mook marks.
“Go on, Bertie… go and gum at the lad. Yer a shy sort. Go speak shy.”
The mare shook her head at her brother and didn’t budge from her spot.
“Sumac is introverted,” Pebble said in a matter-of-fact deadpan. For a second, it seemed as though she was about to say more, but then she didn’t.
Closing his eyes, Sumac allowed himself to collapse back into his chair and he took a deep breath. Pebble knew these ponies, she had been raised around them, and that was enough for him to feel okay with this. These ponies had been with Pebble practically since the day of her birth, and her familiarity with them made everything so much better. He could almost breathe again.
“Some kind of night.” Livingstone shook his head, his wings flapped against his sides, and he began to pace before the empty, unlit fireplace that dominated the room. “Attacks in every major Equestrian city. The Great Enemy is out for whatever they can get. You’re safe here though. So don’t you worry.”
“Say…” Barnabus smiled and nudged his sister in a knowing way. “Would you foals like some sweets? I don’t think it matters much that yer up past yer bedtime. When the cat’s away, the mice’ll play.”
Pebble alone reacted. Sumac watched as the very tip of her tongue came peeking out and did a quick pass over her bottom lip. His thoughts became a jumbled mess, because Pebble was cute when she did that—cute enough to be a distraction. In times of trouble, Pebble turned to food to comfort herself, and watching this play out brought a bit of normalcy that Sumac needed.
A stunning transformation overtook Pebble, and something about her demeanour changed, though Sumac couldn’t say how or why. She seemed almost foalish now; a frightened expression could be seen on her face, her ears quivered, and she sat rubbing her front hooves together in a fretful sort of way.
“Are there any paving stones?” she asked. “Those cookies from the bakery down the street. The ones with big chunks of caramel, chocolate, and rock salt?”
Bertie exchanged a glance with her brother, and then smiled.
“We always keep those in stock,” Livingstone replied. “Have you calmed down enough to come with me to the pantry? Do you need a little bit more time?”
“Sumac?” Pebble turned her foalish, expressive eyes on him. “Sumac, do you need more time to get better? I think this has been the worst on you. Though, that’s hard to say. I don’t know Moon Rose very well.” Saying her name, Pebble cast a sidelong glance at the filly beside her. “I’m not budging unless you can come with me.”
She wasn’t thinking solely of herself, as Pebble tended to do. He felt proud of her—even with everything going on, with all of the bad things that had happened, he felt a curious amount of pride for the weird filly that was his best friend. Pebble had her moments, and Sumac, he treasured these moments.
Boomer was gone and Sumac was left unsettled. Not knowing was the worst. His mothers were in Ponyville, their fates unknown. From the sounds of it, all of Equestria was being attacked, and he could not help it, he blamed himself. All of this for a sorcerer. Sure, Moon Rose was just a few feet away, but this did nothing to assuage the guilt that he was feeling.
Breathless, a young unicorn came crashing into the room, nearly tearing the door right from the hinges. This unicorn was young, lost in the cruel throes of rabid, consumptive puberty. His entire back half was a lumpy-bumpy expanse of acne, while his front half was a greasy, oily mess. He smelled.
“Doctor Livingstone!”
“You’d better have a darn good reason to come bursting in here and scaring these poor wee ones, Basil.” The purplish pegasus turned stern and waited for the panting unicorn to recover himself.
“The reliquary!” the acne-savaged colt blurted out. “The reliquary has been broken into! The artifacts are being looted!”
“Bollocks,” Barnabus Stubbs muttered to himself.
“No, it’s true! Somehow, they’ve found their way into the reliquary! My brother Pesto, he’s all burnt and battered! He came as a messenger! He’s being patched up right now!”
“Soggy dog’s bollocks.” Barnabus now stood grinding his silver-capped teeth and his right front hoof tapped against the floor.
Sumac, smart colt that he was, realised that something important had just happened, but lacked the presence of mind to understand what it was. He wasn’t sure what a reliquary was, but he understood artifacts—he understood the dangers of those just a little too well. Tarnish found artifacts, and destroyed artifacts. Well, some of them. Some of them went into hiding places, like this reliquary, whatever it was.
“Basil, rouse the others. I want everypony awake and alert. This is now a crisis of the worst sort. If the reliquary across town has been broken into…” Livingstone’s words trailed off and the purplish pegasus shook his head. Holding out his wing, he pointed in the direction of the three foals. “We must keep them safe. At any cost. Don’t just stand there, Basil… shake a leg and get moving!”
“Right away, sir!” Lickety-split, the adolescent unicorn galloped away to do as he was told.