//------------------------------// // Chapter 28: You have got to be kidding me mate // Story: What a wonderful world // by a touch of sparkles //------------------------------// The adults had taken Hope out, they, or more Miss Chestnut, didn’t want him out on a busy Saturday, despite him going to school in only a couple weeks. What Sombra decided to do was just have a nap, as he really didn’t have much else to do. However, when he woke up from that nap, he found Opal had left through one of his windows. It was about one o’clock when they all returned. As always, he met them in the living room. Each of the adults had a bag each but Hope also had a saddlebag and Cloud had another. “I want to see if this fits you” Miss Chestnut said to him, she pulled out a strip of long red and black striped fabric. She wrapped it around his neck before tying it into a tie. “Hopefully it will fit in a few years, I get the feeling your neck won’t be as thin as a ponies” she untied it and put it back in the bag. They told him how they had to guess what he’d like but ended up getting mostly plain stuff just in case. His saddlebag was navy and inside was a navy case which had pencils, crayons and a geometry set in. There were also a couple small pots with lids that were clamped on. Then a small fabric sleeve, inside was a green feather, its spine was carved to a tip. “I think it matches your eyes” Hope told him, she showed hers to him, it was white with a pink tip. Hopes saddle bag was purple with some flower embroidery over it, he caught a glimpse of her case, which seemed to match. (“I got your god damn peppers”) Opal flew up onto his shoulders, a brown bag in his talons, which Sombra grabbed in his teeth. He went into the kitchen and put it down on the table where he pulled out one of the peppers. It was small and round, but it had multiple hills and valleys. (“Go on, eat it”) there was a smugness in Opals voice, expecting a certain reaction. Sombra didn’t know what these habanero peppers were, so he just took a bite. There was a sweetness followed by a tingling burn. He didn’t mind it, what exactly was Opal expecting? (“…mate”) Sombra took another bite, it really wasn’t that bad. (“You have got to be god damn kidding me”) Opal was now in pure disbelief, as Sombra finished off one pepper and casually took another. He strolled over to the cupboard where he grabbed a bowl and proceeded to dump the peppers in before walking away, leaving Opal dumbfounded in the kitchen. “Here’s your stuff bud” Cloud looped his saddle bag onto his back so he could take it upstairs. He dumped his bag at the base of his bed and put the peppers on the bedside table. He sat on his bed, but he realised he didn’t have much to do. Then he saw Hopes ears peak above his hatch, along with her horn. “I can see you” he told her. Her head looked over and she trotted into his room. “Damn it” she sat on the bed with him, she had a little bag with her. She grabbed his hair in her magic and then started to brush it, which only got more violent. “Do you not brush your hair or somthin?” she started to almost rip knots out his hair, which were pulling on the sensitive skin of his neck. “It hurts” “If you brush it more often then it wouldn’t hurt” she told him, still brushing tangles out of his hair. She continued for what felt like hours for Sombra. Eventually she stopped, his hair was detangled and significantly more of it was floating. “Has your hair always floated?” “I think so” “Maybe if you should brushed it more, it would float more” Sombra didn’t even attempt to argue back her sarcasm, instead he just munched on his peppers. She pulled some ribbons out her bag and started to tie them into his hair. “What are you doing?” “I’m just practising” she braided ribbons in, then unwound them and did it again. She tested different kinds of braids, most turning out as a jumbled mess. Through it Sombra just kept eating his peppers, eating so many caught Hopes attention. “Are those nice?” she asked. “Yeah” Hope lifted one in her magic, she inspected it briefly. She took a hesitant small bite. She chewed for a moment. Sombra grew concerned as her face reddened, her eyes watered, and her magic stopped working. She whimpered before sprinting off down the stairs. “What’s wrong?!” he called out to her, not understanding what was wrong. (“I mean, that was the reaction I was expecting…just not on her”) Sombra followed her downstairs. “Are you okay Hope?” Miss Chestnut was in the kitchen, Sombra found Hope with a bottle of milk in her hooves, drinking it desperately. “What’s wrong?” Sombra asked her. “How do you eat those?!” she half cried and screamed at him. She was red faced and her nose was running. She took another swig of milk. “You can keep those to yourself” She sulked. “What’s happened” Miss Chestnut demanded from them. Sombra explained to her how Opal had bought some peppers for him, but Hope tried one and doesn’t seem to like them. “H-habaneros…you can just…eat them?” she asked confused. “There not bad” “Just…keep them to yourself okay” “Okay (Can I have more?)” (“Your insane”)