//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Princess Twilight Sparkle's School for Fantastic Foals // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// “How is it that they don’t see her?” Sumac said in a conspiratorial whisper to his friend and boon companion, Pebble. The little colt shook his head, blinked, and took a bite of his apple cinnamon muffin, feeling a little confused, a little bewildered, and not quite believing what he was seeing. Little Silver Lining was hiding in plain sight among the chickens. The little griffoness cub was standing on her front legs somehow, her body was squished up against itself, her hind legs were tucked away and hidden beneath her wings. Her tail was curled up against her backside and only the feathered tuft protruded, giving her the appearance of tail feathers. She bobbed her head back and forth while clucking like a chicken, somehow escaping the watchful gaze of Rowanne and Garnet Targe. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Garnet said in a loud, clear voice as she stood near Silver Lining, who clucked in reply. Still undecided about the situation, Sumac decided that this had to be one of the most amazing things he had ever seen. The little griffon cub really did almost look like a chicken, lost among the other chickens. He took another bite of his muffin and felt Pebble lean up against him. Well, that was a little icky but he wasn’t going to let that ruin the moment. Rowanne was much larger than Silver Lining and quite interesting. Another griffon living among ponies. Rowanne seemed gentle, was kind to animals, and Fluttershy seemed to be fond of her. Sumac wondered what she ate and there were a million questions to be asked. As for Fluttershy and Starlight Glimmer, the two of them were helping a turtle with a cracked shell, applying some kind of smelly, goopy alchemical agent that would seal the crack and allow the turtle to heal. Sumac, still eating his muffin, thought this kind of life was marvelous. Helping others, helping nature, and trying to do good. He gobbled down the last bite and began licking sticky crumbs from his lips. Trixie often asked him what he wanted to do with his life, if he had any idea yet of what he thought might be nice to do as a grown up. Sumac of course, being so young, had no idea, but the world, his world, was full of possibilities. Helping nature was one of those possibilities. He liked graveyards and begged Trixie into letting him visit them when they had lived on the road. He had seen a number of famous bone yards and quite a few common burial sites. He really wanted to see Canterlot’s graveyard, the Necropolis. There would be all sorts of stories and neat things to read on the stones, if he was lucky a caretaker could be found so he could ask about local lore, and looking after a graveyard seemed like it would be a fun occupation if he could get it. Looking over at Pebble, Sumac asked the little filly sitting beside him, “Do you want to come with me to the graveyard?” Pebble Pie blinked twice. “What?” “The graveyard. It’s quiet, it’s peaceful, it’s a nice place to visit and there are all kinds of interesting rocks and there are nice shade trees. It isn’t creepy at all and there is nothing scary there. It’s really a very nice place.” Sumac gave Pebble a hopeful smile. “I dunno…” Pebble shook her head and wiped her muzzle with her foreleg. “It’s not like the park, the park is noisy and awful and full of ponies. The graveyard is really nice, I promise.” Sumac felt Pebble shift against him and then she pulled away. Right away, cool air hit Sumac where Pebble had been pressed up against him. “Just think of it as a quiet bedroom. Be respectful of the sleepers and everything will be okay.” “Alright, I’ll come with you, but if I get creeped out, we’re going.” Pebble blinked a few times in rapid succession and shook her head. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this. What would my father say I wonder?” Shrugging, Sumac didn’t know. He cast a final glance at Silver Lining, who was still hiding in plain sight as a chicken. He smiled, then looked up at a sleeping Boomer, thought about how much baby dragons slept, and then grabbed his saddlebags. It was time to continue his perfect day. Pebble sat beneath a large tree that provided a tremendous amount of shade, reading a book, and Sumac lifted his head to check on her. She seemed content enough and didn’t seem too creeped out. She had protested a bit when they had first arrived, but now didn’t seem bothered. Moving about, Sumac cleaned off tombstones, pulled weeds, and continued his work. It allowed him to exercise his magic, something he needed to do. Standing near the corner fence, Sumac dropped down an apple seed and then covered it up with dirt. He saved every apple seed he came across and buried them whenever he had the chance in places he felt needed apple trees. It was a strange compulsion of his, a need, an action that he performed that satisfied some desire deep within him. Satisfied that the apple seed was happily tucked away into the dirt, Sumac tossed a few weeds over the old, somewhat rusty wrought iron fence and then headed off for the next patch of weeds. He went to work, tugging and pulling, using his feeble telekinesis to yank weeds out of the ground, trying to free headstones, many of which were choked with unwanted and unwelcomed wild growth. This cemetery hadn’t been looked after in a long, long while. “Sumac Apple.” The deep baritone almost caused Sumac to jump out of his skin and he let out a shrill, startled cry. Turning about, his horn glowing with a green light that matched his eyes, he saw Big Mac. He let out a wheeze of relief and then took a few deep breaths as he tried to stop his heart from pounding within his barrel. “I had a pegasus come and tell me that you were digging in the cemetery, Sumac.” “I was cleaning up a bit and planting apple seeds,” Sumac replied, now feeling worried that Big Mac might be angry with him. He didn’t want Big Mac angry with him, that would be the worst thing ever. Letting down or otherwise disappointing Big Mac was too awful to even think about. “Planting apple seeds? Here?” Big Mac’s eyes narrowed and he let out a snort as he chewed on the long stalk of hay protruding from his lips. “Well, there are a lot of Apples buried here and no apple trees… it’s wrong… it just is.” Sumac sat down, his ears drooping, and he let out a worried sigh. He wasn’t sure what Big Mac was feeling right now. “Hmm.” Big Mac’s jaw clenched. Sumac glanced over at Pebble and then let out a small, worried whine. He really didn’t want Big Mac upset with him. He looked down at his own front hooves, suddenly feeling very, very small and miserable. All four of his tiny little hooves could fit into just one of Big Mac’s hoofprints. “Come over yonder,” Big Mac said to Sumac in a low voice. Popping up onto his hooves, Sumac moved right away, doing as he was told. He followed Big Mac over into another part of the cemetery, glancing over his shoulder at Pebble, who was still reading. Sumac, feeling very uncertain of himself, wondered just how much trouble he was in. Much to his surprise, Big Mac sat down next to two headstones that stood beside one another. There were a few weeds, but the stones didn’t appear to be too old. The grass around them was a little tall and Sumac noticed that both headstones had an apple carved into the stone. Blinking, he was able to read two names on the tombstones. The first was McIntosh, the second was Clementine. He watched as Big Mac reached out and touched the stone marked ‘Clementine.’ It was a soft, tender touch, and he could see the big stallion’s eyes glimmering. “You know, I think they would appreciate having an apple tree right about here,” Big Mac said as he pointed at the patch of ground between the stones. “Dig a little hole and plant one.” Doing as he was told, Sumac dug out a little hole with his magic, fished out an apple seed from his saddlebags, and dropped it down into the hole. Just as he was about to push the dirt back into the hole, Big Mac surprised him by doing it himself. He watched as Big Mac pressed his hoof down onto the freshly broken black dirt, packing it down upon the seed. Ears perking, Sumac could hear Big Mac sniffling. He looked at the tombstones, then up at Mac, and then back at the headstones. Then, it hit him. He understood what he was looking at. He understood who was buried here. Sumac felt even smaller and even more foalish as he stood near Big Mac, who was now sniffling and breathing hard even though he hadn’t been doing much in the way of physical effort. Stumbling, Sumac managed to scoot himself over closer to Big Mac and then wrapped one of his forelegs around one of Big Mac’s forelegs. He clung to the much larger pony, feeling very emotional and a little confused by the fact that the much bigger stallion, the very model of masculinity for Sumac, was now almost crying. Sumac wasn’t sure what to think or feel. “Eeyup, I miss ‘em.” Big Mac sat down in the grass and pulled Sumac closer. Listening to Big Mac’s strained, heavy breathing, Sumac resolved to clean this place up and make it look nice, no matter how hard it was or how much work it took. If Big Mac could build a wagon for him and Trixie, then Sumac could handle a little hard work. Glancing around, Sumac saw Pebble coming closer, the brim of her hat bobbing with every step she took. He felt Boomer’s steady breathing and knew that the baby dragon was still asleep. The cemetery was quiet, save for the sounds of breathing. Pebble sat down a few inches away from Sumac, looked up at Big Mac, and then turned her head so she could look at the headstones. The little filly’s barrel expanded, she held her breath for a moment, and then let everything out with a sigh. Turning her head once more, she looked over at Big Mac. “I know what it is like to miss your parents,” Pebble said in a flat voice devoid of feeling or emotion. “Eeyup.” Big Mac nodded. “I don’t miss my parents,” Sumac said in a low voice, worried that he might offend, “but I really didn’t know them. I just know that they’re gone from me. At least I have Trixie… and the Apples.” Nodding, Big Mac gave Sumac a gentle, careful squeeze. The big red stallion sighed and stared at the two headstones. He blinked a few times, chewed on his stalk of hay, and letting go another sigh, he gave Sumac another affectionate squeeze. Sumac, with no words needing to be said, understood that he was loved, wanted, needed. After all the time spent on the road, he had come home. Sweet Apple Acres was home, the Apples were family, and this was the place where he would put down some much needed roots so he could grow. “School is gonna be starting soon. Real soon.” Big Mac’s voice was husky. “Now, we’ve had a few unicorns in the Apple family…” Big Mac’s voice trailed off as he realised that the less said about the other unicorns in the Apple family, the better. “We have one very special unicorn in the Apple family right now. We ain’t ever had no unicorns go off to Princess Celestia’s fancy school and make us proud. Sumac, you getting into Twilight’s school is a big deal for all of us Apples. You’re representing us. We’re all rooting for you. We need for you to show the world that us Apples can do anything we work hard at, including being smart and using magic.” “I’m not that magical.” Sumac shook his head. “Maybe you haven’t grown enough. No matter. You’re smart… so you work hard at being smart. We Apples work hard at everything we do. We never go halfway. We put all of ourselves into everything we do. Now, my sister, Applejack, she might have once bragged about not learning a thing, but if I ever catch you slacking off on your studies and not learning, you won’t like what’ll happen next.” Big Mac’s voice was low, steady, and quiet. Sumac nodded, understanding that Big Mac wasn’t kidding around. Besides, he would rather die than let Big Mac down. He wanted to be like the big red stallion. Big Mac was everything an Apple, and more importantly, a stallion should be. Sumac knew he had some big shoes to fill. “I talked with Twilight… and she mentioned something about intellectual laziness… and if I catch you doing that, if I hear about you doing that, I am going to do my level best to give you a lesson in the value of hard work, be it physical or intellectual. Am I understood?” Big Mac’s green eyes focused on Sumac and his brows furrowed. “Yes sir,” Sumac replied in a voice squeakier than a door hinge needing oil. Sumac let out a worried squeak, cleared his throat, and took a deep breath. He looked up at his role model and tried to sound as grown up as possible. “I’m not gonna let you down. I’m gonna prove that I’m a good Apple and that I’m not like my father.” The big red stallion nodded. “I already know that you won’t let us down.” “You don’t need to worry,” Pebble interjected in a monotonous voice, “I’ll keep him straight.” “Well, I’m right glad to hear that,” Big Mac replied, a faint, almost sad smile spreading over his lips as he glanced at the two headstones. He recalled his own father talking to him about the value of hard work, being honest, and giving it your all. He wished that his father was here to meet Sumac, and his mother as well. “Applejack was making ice cream when I left. Who's hungry?” Sumac glanced at Pebble and then back up at Big Mac. A trip out to Sweet Apple Acres sounded ideal. He nodded and wondered what sort of ice cream Applejack had made. He watched as Big Mac stood up and felt much smaller in the big stallion’s shadow. Big Mac, recalling his father’s own words, began to recite them as they made ready to leave. “An Apple is forthright, honest, hardworking, and true…”