//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Trixie Lulamoon and the Horrendous Hypothesis // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// Trixie had tricked him. Sumac, his lower lip protruding, glared at his guardian as she combed her mane and made herself presentable. He smelled all flowery and girly—which was mortifying. He had been scrubbed with the pink soap. Pink. After being scrubbed with the pink soap, he had been slathered down in the wildflower conditioner, which was quite possibly the worst thing ever. Now, he was all fluffy, soft, and snuggly-wuggly, as Trixie had put it. Worst of all, she had trimmed his mane and his tail. He sat, balanced on his haunches, with his forelegs crossed over his barrel, trying to give Trixie the sort of stare that would burn a hole through her, but she was ignoring him, humming to herself, and happy. It just wasn’t fair that she was in such a peppy, good mood after humiliating him. “Sumac?” Lip still protruding, Sumac did not reply. “I need for you to be on your best behaviour tonight. It’s important. Can you please be a good colt?” Trixie put down her small mirror, turned, and looked at Sumac. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. If his lower lip protruded any further, birds would come and roost upon it. “Come on, Sumac, it’s not so bad. Cheer up. I really do need for you to be on your best behaviour though. We need to leave a good impression.” Rolling his eyes, Sumac sighed, then nodded, but he said nothing as he continued to glare at his guardian. Ponies had watched him being scrubbed and they had laughed at him. So much for a good impression. The mirror vanished and disappeared into the wagon, then the comb did as well. He saw Trixie approaching him. His glare softened as she drew close, then she filled his vision as she lowered her head down, and with a gentle touch, she kissed the bridge of his nose. At that point, it was hard to be angry. Sumac started to feel bad, just a little bit, for how he was acting. Trixie was just trying to look after him, and he was acting rather rotten. He slumped down, feeling ashamed as Trixie pulled away, and thought about the times he had been mean to her. When she wanted to cuddle with him in the bed because it was cold outside and the wagon had no means of heat. When she tried to hug him and he ran away. When she tried to give him a bath and he got soap in her eye. He felt Trixie’s hoof under his chin and his head was tilted up. “Don’t look so glum, chum,” Trixie said, “or the Great and Powerful Trixie will have to try and cheer you up.” Trixie blinked, her nose just inches away from Sumac’s. “Sometimes I worry about you, kiddo. Those moods of yours are just like the wind.” Hearing Trixie’s voice, sensing her closeness, Sumac gave Trixie a warm, genuine smile. She had brushed his teeth too, with baking soda. He stretched his neck out and bumped his snoot into Trixie’s, a wordless communication that he often relied upon. He had trouble putting into words what Trixie meant to him. “Ready for dinner?” Trixie asked. Sumac nodded and wondered what was on the menu. Seeing the huge crowd of ponies, Sumac whimpered and hid behind Trixie, wrapping one of his forelegs around one of her hindlegs and pressing his face into her hock. She smelled like flowers in a sneezy way. “Sumac, we have a table in the corner, away from the big crowd. It’ll be okay, I promise. Just stay close to me and I’ll lead you along, okay?” Trixie turned her head and looked behind her. She could see Sumac’s cream coloured pelt already needed to be brushed again. She sighed. Little colts had the mysterious ability to look completely disheveled in mere moments after a bath, a combing, and a full body brushing. Making her way forward, the sound of the crowded room caused Trixie’s ears to prick upwards. Round tables filled the room; around each table were foals of different ages, their parents or guardians, and the volunteers that made this event possible. The smell of savoury food filled Trixie’s nostrils and the rich smell of butter made her mouth water. Sumac was still clinging to her as she walked and she almost dragged him along behind her. She headed for the corner where the table was, glancing around, and taking in the sights. Lots of important ponies, all of which were hoping to have their foals get noticed. All one had to do was wow Twilight Sparkle. Sufficient wowing was enough to have a radical change of lifestyle. She saw Tarnished Teapot waving to her from where he was sitting at the table, with Pebble beside him, and Maud Pie sitting next to Pebble. Shaking her hind leg, Trixie had to rid herself of Sumac before she could sit down. After a few shakes, he let go, glanced around the room, then darted into his seat as Trixie herself was sitting down. “Hello again,” Trixie said to Maud and Tarnish. “Fancy meeting you here.” “You arrived with a fancy leg decoration. So did I.” Maud turned and looked at Pebble. “She has quite a grip though. Tarnish had to peel her off.” “Did not,” Pebble protested in a flat monotone that matched her mother’s. “Look, Pebs, it’s your new best friend.” Leaning over, Tarnished Teapot nudged the filly beside him, a teasing smile on his face, and then gestured at Sumac. “Hello again, Sumac. Say, did you get a trim?” “My name is Pebble Pie and he is not my friend.” The filly, who had no expression upon her face, stared straight ahead, ignoring both her father and Sumac, her eyes focused upon the wall. “I don’t even want to talk to you. You’re trying to ditch me because you don’t want me around anymore so you and mommy can have another foal.” Trixie could not help but notice Tarnish’s nervous glance, their eyes meeting, and she could see his worry. Maud was impassive as always, unaffected by what Pebble had said, and was looking off in another direction, appearing to be studying a stone column. “Pebble, darling, you’re too much like your mother… you’re smart, too smart, and regular school is just not challenging for you. You already know everything that your school can teach you. Your mother and I are trying to get you into a school where you can learn important stuff.” Tarnish swallowed, licked his lips, and then continued, “We’re not trying to ditch you. You’ll be able to come home during breaks, on holidays, and we’ll come and visit you.” “Are you going to ditch me?” Sumac asked, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Trixie. “What? No… after everything we’ve been through together?” Trixie unfolded the white napkin that had silverware inside, after undoing the lavender ribbon tied around it. She then freed Sumac’s silverware. “Sumac, you… you’re… you are my… Sumac, you are my best little buddy… I’m not leaving you, I promise, and that’s final.” Hearing Trixie’s words, Pebble turned and looked at her father, her half opened eyes and bored looking expression made it impossible to tell what she was feeling. She said nothing, but just sat there and stared. “Say, where is Twilight?” Sumac asked. “I would imagine that Twilight is trying to be fair,” Trixie replied as she laid out the silverware next to Sumac’s plate. “There is only one of her and a whole bunch of foals and ponies who all want Twilight to sit with them. Picking just one table would be unfair to everypony else.” Trixie paused, her brows wrinkling, and she shook her head. “I imagine that it must be horrible to be a princess. Trying to keep things fair. No matter what you do, somepony is going to be unhappy.” “Sort of like being a wife and a mother. It’s hard to keep everypony happy,” Maud said. The sleepy, perpetually bored looking mare turned and faced Sumac. “What do you like to study?” Sumac, put on the spot, sat there with a blank expression. He thought the interviews would be over by now. “Uh…” He rested both of his front hooves on the edge of the table. “I like learning the local lore when Trixie and I stop somewhere. There are a lot of stories to be told.” “Yeah? That’s really interesting.” Maud blinked once and then reached out and touched Sumac with her hoof. “History is important. I study history, but I do it with rocks. There is all kinds of history though. Somepony has to keep track of it.” Sitting between her parents, Pebble sighed and folded her forelegs in front of her barrel. She slumped down in her chair, staring over the edge of the table at Sumac, who had her mother’s attention. “Pebble?” Sumac, feeling brave, addressed the filly staring at him. “What?” Pebble sat unmoving, her eyes almost unblinking. “What do you study for fun?” Sumac asked. Silent for what felt like a full minute, Pebble then spoke, “I have all kinds of things I study as a hobby. Right now, I like studying bugs. Entomology is fascinating.” Not knowing what ‘entomology’ was, Sumac’s brows furrowed, he said nothing, but just nodded. “I like to catch fireflies. It’s fun.” “Lampyridae are interesting to study.” Pebble sat up a little, straightening herself out, and peered at Sumac through half opened eyes. “Venenum iocus seems to attract them, so I get to see them a lot.” “Pebble, if I might have a word with you… using big words to make other ponies feel small and stupid isn’t doing you any favours. Trust me, I know about these things. Sumac might not have the sort of book learning that you have, but he’s plenty smart. So far, all I’ve figured out about you is that you probably have a knack for rote memorisation.” Blinking a few times, Pebble said nothing, but stared at Trixie for a moment before turning away to look down at her own plate. “You brought that on yourself, Pebble,” Maud said to her daughter. “You really do need to try and learn how to make friends. I worry about you.” “I worry about Sumac.” Trixie leaned over the table. “Sumac spends most of his time around adults. He doesn’t get a chance to get to know many foals his own age on the road. It worries me sometimes. Put him into a crowd of adults and he’s fine, but in a crowd of foals his own age… sheesh.” “Trixie…” Sumac whined, closing his eyes. “What, kiddo, it’s true.” Trixie reached over and patted Sumac, trying to comfort the sullen looking little colt before he slipped into total grumpiness. “Honoured guests,” Twilight Velvet said, her magically amplified voice booming through the packed room, “dinner is served.” Sumac was starting to wonder if the second slice of chocolate cake had been a good idea. He lay on his back in the grass, near the wagon, staring up at the night sky as the stars twinkled to life, appearing in the black void one by one. Maybe it wasn’t the cake, it might have been the macaroni and cheese. Sumac ate a lot of soups and stews, rich foods were a rarity, a treat that he didn’t get often. He rubbed his stomach and regretted eating so much. It was going to be one of those sorts of nights and he hoped that he wouldn’t make any mistakes. “Hey, kiddo, enjoy dinner?” Trixie asked. “Yeah,” Sumac replied, still staring up at the stars. “Hey, Trixie, thank you.” “For what, kiddo?” Trixie sat down in the grass beside Sumac and looked up. “Pebble was making me feel stupid.” “Oh, that.” Trixie took a deep breath. “Trixie was guilty of the same thing when she attended Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.” Trixie paused, staring at the same stars as Sumac, trying to think of the right words to say. “Usually, when a pony does that, they feel very scared and insecure about themselves. I know I was. I still am, I suppose. Don’t make the same mistakes that I did, kiddo.” “You always call me ‘kiddo.’ Why?” Sumac turned his head and looked up at Trixie. She was looking up at the stars and he couldn’t see her face. “Well, it’s cause you’re my kiddo, that’s why.” Trixie fell silent and did not elaborate any further, unaware that Sumac was watching her. Looking back up at the stars, Sumac wondered if he could come up with a special name to call Trixie. He sighed, his stomach feeling as though it was full of lead, then yawned, and thought about going to bed. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.