Ahead was Ponyville and Sumac let out a gasp when he saw the white spire of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle rising up above the trees. They were moving along at a good pace. There was a bit of an incline, so the trip was downhill, even if it felt like flat ground most of the time.
After seeing Twilight’s castle, Sumac worried that he wasn’t ready. His study had been minimal. He had a question; he had a hypothesis, but that was about all he had. He had very little evidence, very little in the way to support his question. He wasn’t sure if it was a good question. While he was worried, Sumac understood that everything would be okay. Even if his question was awful, the worst that could happen is that nothing happened, and that would be okay. Life would continue on as it had, with nothing happening, nothing changing. He would have a chance to try again, perhaps.
While this was a big deal for Trixie, Sumac didn’t want things to change too much. He liked how things were, for the most part. He liked learning about Percheron and Taureau. He liked learning how to fix clocks that projected illusions and candles that burned but never seemed to run out of wax.
“Sumac?”
Trixie sounded a little out of breath, but happy, and Sumac was pleased to hear that she was okay. His tiny ears perked and his slight muzzle split in a smile. “Yes?”
“When we get to Ponyville, there are going to be a lot of foals, and all of them will be working to get the attention of the princess. Some of them are going to be unbearably smart. Some of them will have their cutie marks and they’ll have a bit of an edge.”
Glancing up, Sumac could only see the side of Trixie’s face as they walked together. He waited as Trixie took a deep breath, his mane and tail bobbing with each prancing step. Behind him, the wagon creaked as Trixie pulled it, and the axles squealed something awful.
“No matter what, you must not get discouraged. You don’t have a cutie mark yet. That’s not a big deal. Just means you have to work just a little bit harder to get the same results as anypony else. As for smarter ponies, you aren’t stupid. You’re a smart little colt, but you didn’t have the same advantages as those who grew up in one place.”
This was the very sort of thing that Sumac was afraid of. He listened, his eyes locked upon Trixie, watching as her mane bounced up and down against the side of her face. The little colt stared up at his guardian with wide-eyed adoration.
“Sumac, you have something those other foals don’t, because you grew up on the road with me. Do you know what that is?” Trixie turned her head for a moment and gave Sumac a smile.
“Nope,” Sumac replied.
“Kiddo, you have panache. Do you remember what that is?” Trixie turned her head once more to keep her eyes upon the dusty, rutted road.
“Um… nope.” Sumac was trying to remember, but he kept drawing blanks. Did it have something to do with charisma?
“Panache… éclat… that certain special something. Confidence. Grace.” Trixie paused, took a deep breath, and then with a loud, theatrical, exaggerated voice she said, “A certain sense of greatness.”
“Greatness?” Sumac’s hooves kicked up little clouds of dust with each step as he followed along after Trixie, unaware that his prancing trot had changed, now having a lot more bounce and vigor.
“A little greatness is a good thing, kiddo. But too much greatness will leave you full of yourself. Don’t do that. I made that mistake.” Trixie’s smile faded. “Greatness has to be balanced with social grace and humility. Ponies can only take so much of greatness, sort of like how ponies can only take so much of the sun before they get sunburned or eat so many prunes before there are dangerous consequences.”
Now giggling, Sumac understood consequences. Maybe not prunes, but he had once eaten far too many dried apricots and he had been sunburned a number of times. Too much of a good thing was certainly bad.
“You though, Sumac, you’re little and kinda cute, so you can get away with having a little extra greatness.” Trixie tossed her head back, trying to get her forelock out of her face and draped over her ear.
“I’m cute?” Sumac asked.
“Kiddo, when you grow up, you’re going to make mares weak in the knees,” Trixie replied, “all that panache of yours is gonna knock them out.”
Shuddering, Sumac felt warmth blossoming in his cheeks. Fillies were icky and he wanted nothing to do with them. For the most part, fillies were confusing, something about them frightened Sumac a great deal, and he didn’t know how to deal with them. Blinking, he looked up at Trixie, studying her, thinking about how she fit into his life. Trixie was a mare, but it was different for some reason. Trixie was… his guardian. So she wasn’t icky, she was necessary. Trixie protected him from timber wolves and other things that could gobble a foal right up.
Looking ahead, Sumac remembered the last run in with timber wolves up near the Hollow Shades. He had stood beneath Trixie, hiding in the fortress of her legs, his head poking out from between her front knees as he had tried to be brave while blowing raspberries at the animated wooden horrors.
The memory buoyed his confidence. He had something else that the city dwellers didn’t have. Courage. Sumac couldn’t even begin to count all of the times he had been in mortal danger. Those nights of hiding in the wagon, listening to the horrors of the night lurking all around him, like those awful, awful birds that kept talking about whipping some poor pony named Will or those giant pony eating frogs that kept him up all night.
Puffing out his barrel, Sumac strutted.
Ahead, Ponyville looked… packed. Sumac peered through the trees at the town ahead. There were wagons by the bunches. A lot of ponies had arrived, mentors and their students. Parents and their foals. Sumac had trouble even guessing how many wagons there were. Thousands. Maybe millions, but he had trouble picturing that number. It was a big number, and as such, it was difficult to comprehend.
It wouldn’t be long now. They would pull into Ponyville, make camp somewhere, and would be able to get some rest. Perhaps Trixie would find some work. Sumac, hopeful, wondered if he could find work. Maybe he could earn a few bits doing something. If he did, he could get a comic book. His comic books were dog eared, tattered, and falling apart. Trixie kept repairing them, but magic could only do so much.
Sighing, Sumac, after giving some thoughts to how nice it would be to have a new comic book, realised it would be better to take those bits and buy food. Or purchase new parts for the wagon. Or maybe buy a new sewing kit for Trixie. All of her needles were dull, she was almost out of thread, and there were a lot of things that needed repair, like the quilt, the tears in Trixie’s cloak, the tears in Sumac’s own cloak, which didn’t do very much to keep the rain away, their blankets, and the awning that folded out from the wagon, which had more holes than the plot of a knockoff Daring Do novel. A comic book, as nice as it might be, would have to wait.
The sounds, the smells, the sights, it was all so overwhelming. Trixie had parked the wagon on the edge of town, away from the other wagons, and was now stretching her legs after freeing herself from the harness. Sumac, bashful, remained close to Trixie, watching the world around him. There were a lot of wagons.
“Sumac, Trixie needs to go and talk to somepony about where we’re supposed to park. I need you to be a big colt—”
“A big colt?” Sumac asked, feeling a bit overwhelmed and fearful.
“Yes, I need you to be a big, brave colt and guard the wagon while I’m away. Just stay here, be brave, and stay with the wagon. Can you do that?” Trixie’s eyes narrowed and she gave Sumac a serious, solemn look, hoping to inspire his bravery.
Looking around, Sumac eyed the wagons, the ponies, the pegasi flying overhead, the big crystal castle that loomed over the town, the banners saying hello to welcome the many visitors, and not too far away was an open air market. There was a lot to guard the wagon against. He looked up at Trixie, his eyes wide, and after swallowing his fear with a loud gulp, he gave her a hesitant nod.
“You’ll be fine,” Trixie said as she continued to flex her legs. “Just be polite and if somepony says the wagon can’t be parked here, tell them that it will be moved just as soon as I know where to park it.”
“Okay.” Sumac, a little distracted, smelled something delicious wafting over from the open air market. There was a festive, fair like atmosphere. Unable to help himself, he felt excited. He wondered if there were funnel cakes dusted with cinnamon and sugar. He liked those, they were a rare, special treat that he didn’t get very often.
“Be good, Sumac,” Trixie said as she turned to leave. “Be the brave little colt that I know you can be.”
Sumac, now officially on guard duty, began to circle the wagon, marching as best he could. He was a little stiff legged, but managed, and as he circled, he watched as Trixie vanished into the crowd. He had been given guard duty before and so far, he had never failed to keep the wagon safe. There had, however, been a close call with a flock of pigeons that had once tried to perch upon the wagon. Sumac knew all too well what pigeons did when they roosted on something and he had kept them away.
No sign of pigeons in Ponyville. Trixie had once told him a story about how Discord kept the pigeons out of Ponyville. Discord, who had spent one thousand years as a statue, had a strong dislike for pigeons, and if the story Trixie had told could be believed, went through a lot of trouble to keep Ponyville pigeon free.
The worst part of guard duty was boredom, but Sumac was resolute. He marched, because that was what guards did. He might have pronked a few times, but that was only because the long grass kept tickling his belly.
“Well I’ll be… I thought I recognised this here wagon.”
Turning about, Sumac saw a bright orange mare looking at him. She was wearing a hat. She was staring at the wagon, and then, much to his concern, she was staring at him. She seemed familiar, he had seen her before, at least, he thought he had. Something about her was very familiar. He stood there, frozen, staring, his eyes wide, his ears standing straight up.
“I’ll be hogtied,” the mare breathed, “if’n it ain’t Sumac Apple.”
When the mare started forwards towards him, Sumac turned and bolted, heading for the wagon, hoping to get inside and hide. He made it all of three or four steps before he ran into a red leg as thick as a tree trunk. He bounced, fell back on his haunches, dizzy, and sat there, stunned.
Much to his shame, he let out a frightened squeal as he felt a foreleg wrap around his middle and scoop him up. He was lifted, turned around, and he felt two forelegs holding him, gripping him just below his own forelegs, pressing into his ribs. He saw the orange mare sitting on her haunches, her face was wrinkled and scrunched up as she studied him.
A moment later, Sumac was crushed in a hug, being smooshed by a stranger that he wasn’t sure he knew. He kicked and wiggled, trying to get free, but she was too strong. Not knowing what else to do, he went limp and allowed himself to be hugged.
“Sumac Apple, how ya been?” the mare asked.
After wiggling a bit to get his head free so he could talk, he looked up, but all he could see was orange and yellow. His heart was thudding in his chest. Much to his relief, he was set down on the ground, and he could see the orange mare’s green eyes looking him over.
“You might not remember me… I’m Applejack and this is my brother, Big Mac.”
“Howdy,” the big red stallion with legs like tree trunks said.
“How is Trixie? Where is she?” Applejack asked.
Swallowing, Sumac tried to find his words. He let out a wordless squeak, swallowed again, and made another attempt. “She’s trying to find out where we can park.”
“Ah, I see.” Applejack took off her hat and set it down in the grass beside her. “Shucks, ya’ll both can stay with us. We’ll be glad to have you.”
“I don’t know you,” Sumac said, hoping he wasn’t being rude.
Applejack’s broad smile faded and her face became serious. Her ears drooped a bit, and she swallowed, a visible lump traveling down her throat. “Yeah, I suppose you don’t. We had to send you away.”
“Send me away?” Overcome with curiousity, Sumac scooted a little closer to the friendly mare, who was now looking quite sad. He felt bad for her, he felt confused, and for some reason, he felt a little like crying. The world was a big, scary place it and it was easy to get overwhelmed.
“Sumac, do you remember your mama and your daddy?” Applejack asked.
“A little,” Sumac replied.
“Well, they was bad ponies. We won’t talk too much about what they did. The past is in the past.” Applejack reached down, placed her hoof beneath Sumac’s chin, tilted his head back, and looked down into Sumac’s green eyes that seemed so very much like her own.
Entranced, Sumac listened, his ears erect and forward.
“Belladonna and Flam Apple did some awful stuff. They hoodwinked Ponyville with a get rich quick scheme that a lot of ponies fell for. I tried to warn them, but ain’t nopony listened to me. They wanted to get rich.” Applejack paused, pulled her hoof away from Sumac’s chin for a moment, and then stroked his cheek with the soft touch of her fetlock. “Somehow, in all the chaos, you were born and you slowed your parents down enough that they got caught.”
“Eeyup.”
“Now, we thought about keeping you, and I talked to my friends about it, ‘cause I trust them to help me with hard decisions.” Applejack’s face became somewhat pained. “We was all worried that ponies would take out their anger on you ‘cause o’ what happened. I didn’t want you growing up with ponies telling you how rotten your daddy was everyday, or what a horrible mare your mother was. That didn’t strike me as being fair to you.”
Blinking, Sumac felt tears stinging his eyes, but before he could wipe them away, Applejack already was. He leaned into her soft touch, taking whatever comfort he could. He shuddered, having trouble holding back more tears, wanting to cry, but not wanting to do so in front of strangers.
“So when Trixie came along asking to be your mentor, we all had ourselves another long talk. Twilight said that the obscurity of the road would protect you. I don’t reckon I understand what that means, but Twilight’s real smart like that. She told Trixie no at first, which drove Trixie crazy, but that was all part of the plan. Twilight mighta kinda conned Trixie into being a good guardian for you.” Sniffling, Applejack wiped her own nose with her foreleg. “Sending you away was real hard to do. You’re family, Sumac, and you can’t be blamed for what your mama and your daddy did.”
“Eenope.”
“I like Trixie… she’s been good to me. I’ve been reading her journals,” Sumac said.
“I kinda figured that Trixie would be good to you… Twilight said she just needed to learn to focus on somepony other than herself.” Applejack, still sniffling, continued to stroke Sumac, touching his face, his neck, and his ears. “Twilight is hardly ever wrong about these things. She’s learned an awful lot about princessin’ over the years. Sometimes I think she and Princess Celestia have contests on seeing who can trick the most ponies into doing good things.”
“Eeyup.”
“Applejack.”
Turning his head, Sumac saw Trixie, who had a fearful look upon her face. He hopped up, his legs made of springs, bounced a few times, and then collided with Trixie’s foreleg. He hugged her, clinging to her, never wanting to let go, feeling sad and happy at the same time.
“Come home with us, Trixie. You can park there. We don’t mind, we have the room, and if you want privacy, you can stay out in the orchard.” Applejack picked up her hat and stuffed it down upon her head.
“Twilight Sparkle has requested that I park close to the castle. She has a spot marked out for me.” Trixie chewed upon her lip, nervous, having trouble meeting Applejack’s gaze. “We might come out for a visit though, if you will have us.”
“We sure will,” Applejack replied.
“I can give the wagon a good fixin’ up.”
Both Applejack and Trixie looked at Big Mac, who was now eyeing the wagon. Sumac pulled away from Trixie’s leg and also stared up at the big red stallion, looking a little awed. All four of Sumac’s hooves would fit into Big Mac’s hoofprint.
“It would mean a lot to me,” Trixie said.
Something hot and wet splashed against Sumac’s ear, causing it to twitch. He looked up and another droplet hit him on the snoot. Trixie was crying, which was almost too much to bear. His barrel hitching, Sumac wasn’t able to hold it in any longer. He grabbed Trixie’s leg, redoubling his grip, and he felt himself being pulled closer.
Applejack, who also had something in her eye, pushed her hat down over her face to hide them. “Welcome back to Ponyville, little cousin. It’s good to see you again.”