Twilight Sparkle found a very different scene than the one that Applejack had first described to her. The kitchen was in shambles. Things were broken and smashed. The big table lay on its side. Pebble and Sumac were in the corner, with Pebble holding Sumac up. The colt was drooling and his eyes were vacant. Pencils, papers, and books lay scattered about the floor.
Twilight moved forwards, her magic righting everything and repairing the various broken objects. Starlight Glimmer moved at her side, and then, with a cry, Trixie shot past, running for Sumac.
“What happened?” Trixie asked as she came to a skidding halt on the floor and almost crashed into Pebble and Sumac. She sat down and pulled both foals close, then began nosing Sumac, her expression one of terror.
Twilight waited, very curious about all of this.
“The magic wore off and he went stupid,” Pebble replied, looking up at Trixie. “He’s really, really stupid. I think his IQ slipped below the ambient room temperature.”
Applejack, who stood in the doorway, didn’t move, but stared as Twilight continued to set the kitchen straight. Her face was pinched with worry and she pushed her hat back on her head. “Twilight, what do you think happened? He went all smart and now look at ‘im.”
“I don’t know.” Twilight lowered her head down and looked at Sumac. He gazed back up at her with a dopey, affectionate expression, a stupid happy grin upon his face. His chin was shiny with drool.
“Sumac, can you say something?” Trixie asked.
A very confused expression crossed over Sumac’s face, like a cloud passing in front of the sun. He squirmed, craning his head around, and looked up at his mother. “Heh… Mom.” His voice sounded… thick.
Starlight Glimmer let out a startled squeal as Boomer went climbing up her leg, up her neck, and then perched upon her horn. The hatchling let out a worried honk and looked down at Sumac. Starlight, not knowing what to do, stood there, cross eyed, looking up at the tiny dragon clinging to her horn.
“Pebble, you were here to observe… what do you think happened?” Twilight asked.
The filly did not reply right away. She appeared to be deep in thought and Trixie rubbed her side. Deep furrows appeared in her brows and she pulled Sumac a little closer to her so that she could look into his eyes.
“If I was to guess, I would say that his stupidity is proportional to the temporary intelligence he gained. The zap apple jam wore off and now, he’s a dim witted dullard.” Pebble blinked and gave Sumac a gentle shake. “His IQ dropped sharply while Applejack was away.”
“Apple?” Sumac asked in a low, slow sounding voice.
“He also has a cutie mark now,” Pebble said to Twilight as she turned Sumac in her embrace, revealing his side to Twilight.
Looking down, Twilight saw a most peculiar cutie mark. There was a zap apple on his hip and it was surrounded by nine little rainbow coloured lightning bolts shooting out in all directions from around it. As she stared at it, the rainbow pattern seemed to shimmer and move. She blinked and the pattern went still. As she studied it, it appeared to start moving again, almost wavering, like heat rising up off of the road, it had a hypnotic effect. She shook her head and turned away. Whatever it was, it had to be an optical illusion.
“Sumac, kiddo, snap out of it,” Trixie said, whispering into Sumac’s ear.
“Zapple snapple,” Sumac mumbled in reply.
“Trixie, I’m positive that this state is temporary and will wear off.” Twilight sat down upon the floor, placed her hoof beneath Sumac’s slobbery chin, lifted his head, and looked into his eyes. The colt was suffering from some kind of magical mental retardation, but he didn’t appear to be hurt. He was smiling and appeared to be happy.
“Pebble soft!” Sumac blurted out, spraying his words upon the face of Twilight.
Reaching up, Twilight wiped her face and gave Sumac an understanding nod. “Yes, Pebble is very soft and snuggly. Do you like Pebble? Is she your friend?”
“Pebble… fuzzy!” Sumac’s ears stood up to show his simple-minded enthusiasm.
Wiping spittle from her face again, Twilight gave Sumac a smile. “Yes she is!”
“Twilight… do something to help Sumac, please,” Trixie said in a pleading voice as Applejack sat down beside her on the floor.
“I think this will wear off.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed and she became thoughtful. “It would be helpful if we understood what was going on. I wish I could have seen Sumac in his state of heightened awareness.”
“We could give him more jam,” Pebble suggested in a flat voice. “Just a tiny taste. He’ll get smart again, but then he’ll crash. I don’t know if it is a good idea though.”
“Hmm.” Twilight lifted her gaze and looked into Trixie’s eyes. She saw fear, worry, and concern. As she stared at Trixie, she saw Trixie nod. For a moment, Twilight admired Trixie’s bravery. To understand this, some risk was involved. They were dealing with unknown magic.
Twilight realised that she was dealing with another unicorn that had unique magic, deviant magic, magic that she did not understand. Tarnish had been the first, she had met others as well, and now, Sumac. Twilight’s lips pressed into a tight, pinched line. She turned her head and looked at Starlight Glimmer, another unicorn with deviant magic that fell far outside of what was known and understood about unicorn thaumaturgy.
Ears perking, Twilight thought about Sumac’s hypothesis. Unicorn magic seemed to be evolving, changing, and adapting, and in a stroke of serendipitous fortune, Sumac himself turned out to be one of the magical deviations. She needed to see it in action, she needed to know more, she needed to study it.
When Twilight lifted up the jar of zap apple jam, Boomer let out a fearful honk of warning, then lept from Starlight’s horn down to the floor. She scurried off, her tail flapping around behind her, and disappeared into the living room with a yelp of fright.
“I wonder what’s gotten into her?” Applejack asked.
Twilight picked up a spoon, then held it and the jar aloft. She dipped it into the jar and scooped out a smidgen of zap apple jam, just a tiny smear on the tip. She held it up to her nose, sniffed it, eyed it, and then, with shocking swiftness, she slipped the spoon into Pebble’s mouth, offering no warning.
The filly shuddered and shook. Her eyes went wide, she took a deep breath, and then let fly with a horrendous, resonant, gurgling, uvula waggling belch that caused Twilight’s mane to blow back from her face and would have made Spike jealous had he been here to witness it. Ears ringing from the sound, Twilight noted that Pebble seemed fine, if a little gassy.
She dipped the spoon again and this time, she held it out to Trixie. Hesitant, Trixie took the offered bite of zap apple jam. Not much of consequence happened, other than a few stray sparks shooting from Trixie’s horn. Trixie shrugged and smacked her lips.
So far, everything seemed fine. The jar of zap apple jam seemed to be perfectly normal, and had no ill effects upon those who consumed it. Twilight had no hesitation at all when she dipped the spoon back into the jar and then took a taste.
Delicious zap apple jam. It was like drinking a cup of coffee or drinking a sugary soda. Twilight didn’t feel peculiar at all. It was just a little pick-me-up. Twilight dipped the spoon again, held it up, and looked at the rainbow coloured smear on the tip. It was barely even magical. She had trouble understanding how it could have affected Sumac the way it did.
Shrugging, Twilight slipped the spoon in between Sumac’s lips. There was a terrified muffled honk of alarm from the living room and then the world went weird for Twilight Sparkle…
Twilight Sparkle found herself to be four alicorns strong again. She took a step backwards and her hoof smashed through the kitchen floor. She could feel a growing magical pressure in her horn. She heard cries of alarm coming from all around her. She was powerful, too powerful, and she was dangerous.
Shrieking in terror, Trixie blew a hole through the ceiling. Her horn glowed with a terrifying intensity. Starlight Glimmer was struggling to hold back her own magical surge and had raised a shield around herself.
In the living room, Boomer was wailing like an alarm klaxon.
Twilight could sense the source of the disturbance; it was Sumac. Somehow, Sumac was doing this. He was glowing. His eyes blazed with fierce intelligence. The world around Twilight lurched and it felt as though there was an earthquake. She was four alicorns strong again and memories of her battle with Tirek flashed through her mind. She was having trouble containing her magic. It wanted out. She gritted her teeth and tried to concentrate. She had experience in dealing with this sort of thing. Trixie let out another cry as she let go with another blast that ripped open the ceiling.
She had to get Sumac out of here before the house was wrecked. She needed to get Sumac away from the others. She slipped her magical influence around him and then teleported away, trying to prevent herself from surging. As Twilight slipped into the aether, she felt her control slipping. Touching Sumac with her magic had been a mistake…
With a thunderous crash, Twilight appeared in the orchard, holding Sumac overhead. She was more than four alicorns strong—right now, if Tirek was here, she knew that she could give him the beat down he deserved and then some. For Twilight, every step was an earthquake, every breath was a hurricane waiting to happen, and she didn’t even want to know what might take place if she flapped her wings.
Gritting her teeth, Twilight could not hold back. Some of her magic slipped out. A burst of chaotic energy tore free and struck a group of apple trees. Right away, the trees began growing, changing, warping, becoming something else. The apples became oversized. The wood gnarled. The trees became giants. New fruits sprouted, cherries, plums, oranges, pears, and avocados were all visible on the branches. The ground shuddered as the trees continued their explosive growth.
So much power… Twilight almost felt drunk with it. Her brain buzzed like a beehive. She felt smarter, more confident, her mind raced to understand her power, her new abilities. Her new intelligence offered her insight into everything taking place even as her magic threatened to destroy the very fabric of reality all around her.
Twilight Sparkle had tasted the sweet nectar of godhood and found it to her liking.
Then, much to her surprise, her power was gone. Her knees wobbled and she struggled to stand. She felt a little weak, a bit unsteady, and a whole lot hungry. She didn’t feel particularly stupid or anything, but she noticed that her thoughts lacked the clarity and seeming intelligence she had just experienced. She looked at Sumac.
He was sitting in the grass, looking stupid happy once again, a dull expression upon his face. Twilight, in shock, tried to take stock of everything that had just happened, and couldn’t. She sat down in the grass and shook her head, which caused her ears to flop around. The unbelievable power she had just felt was now gone and a part of her wanted it back.
Sumac took off after a butterfly, laughing like a simpleminded loon.
Twilight sucked in wind and tried to process everything that had just taken place. Sumac was some kind of supercharger—some kind of magical amplifier fueled by zap apple jam. Twilight looked at the trees around her and watched as an avocado plopped down to the ground. She tried not to think about what Discord might be like if exposed to Sumac during a supercharged state.
Life became complicated as Twilight gathered her thoughts. Sumac was powerful and dangerous. She watched as he pronked in the grass, laughing with simpleminded glee. Perhaps it was more accurate to say that what Sumac could bring out of others was powerful and dangerous. Testing needed to be done. This was something that needed to be understood. Twilight was going to have to find a way to understand this, to measure it, a means to make sense of everything.
She had no idea what she was dealing with. As Sumac continued to pronk, Twilight Sparkle felt a headache coming on.