//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 // Story: Princess Twilight Sparkle's School for Fantastic Foals // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// As nice as it was to be held by Trixie, for reasons he could not explain, Sumac wanted to be with Big Mac. The big red stallion was sitting in the grass, staring at the new additions to the orchard, his green eyes wide. Sumac was still having a little trouble thinking, but for the most part, he had recovered his mind. He slipped free of Trixie’s grip and gamboled over to Big Mac on wobbling legs. He crashed into Big Mac’s forelegs and then locked on to the left one with a death grip. Big Mac, of course, said nothing as Sumac clung to him. Sumac, feeling bad for what he had done, gave Trixie an apologetic glance. He saw the blue mare that was now his adoptive mother get up, stretch her creaky knees, and come over to where Big Mac was sitting, then sit down. He was glad that she wasn’t angry and he didn’t know why he wanted to be with Big Mac at the moment. He just felt very confused, scared, and out of sorts. For whatever reason, Big Mac made it a little easier to deal with. “Twilight and Starlight done got the house fixed,” Applejack said as she came over and stood beside her brother. “I’m gonna go and get Hidden Rose and Ambrosia from school. Big Mac, you just keep lookin’ after Li’l Mac, he looks spooked.” Sumac’s ears stood up. Li’l Mac? He blinked as he registered the name. Big Mac was McIntosh and Sumac wasn’t a type of apple. His mind felt sludgy as he tried to process the words in his mind, trying to make sense of the connection. Perhaps he wasn’t as recovered as he thought. “He looks confused, best to keep an eye on him,” Applejack said as she took off at a trot. “I have to go and fetch my fillies from the schoolhouse. I’ll be back. Maybe. The gals’ll probably talk my ears off about the first day of school.” “I’m sorry about the orchard.” Sumac redoubled his grip on Big Mac’s leg. “You didn’t do it.” Trixie reached out and rubbed Sumac’s back. “But Twilight did it and it was because of me.” Sumac closed his eyes and rested his head against Big Mac’s leg. Sumac could remember the incident quite well, both of them. He had gone through much of his math textbook in a frenzy, writing out whole pages of mathematical equations. He couldn’t remember how to do them now though. Then came the crash and his mind fell down. Then along came Twilight. “I like cherries,” Big Mac said in a low, almost embarrassed voice. “Nice in fruit salad.” The three ponies all turned their heads as Pebble approached, walking with Boomer sitting on her back, clinging to Pebble’s dress. Boomer appeared to be frightened. When Pebble was close, Boomer lept from Pebble’s back to Trixie’s neck, clinging to her mane, and then scrambled up to Trixie’s horn. She stared down at Sumac with what could only be described as a look of disapproval. “Everything is back in order,” Pebble said as she sat down in the grass. “I think Twilight is scared though. She wouldn’t admit to it when I asked her. She told me to go outside so she and Starlight could talk about grownup stuff. I think Twilight needs a hug.” Hearing this, Sumac let out a whimper. He didn’t feel good about this at all. He couldn’t even begin to understand everything that was going on, but he knew that it was life changing. He had an apple cutie mark, but at the moment, he wasn’t so sure that he wanted it. Perhaps Starlight could remove it. He didn’t dare say that outloud though. He had only heard a few stories, eavesdropping on conversations, and he knew that he would get in big, big trouble if he revealed that he had been eavesdropping. The sort of trouble that might get a brush across his backside, and not in a nice, combing sort of way. Trixie had never actually spanked him, she had never needed to do so, but Sumac was worried that if he ever crossed the line, she might. So he kept an eye on that line and made certain to never cross it. Feeling a little mopey, Sumac listened as Trixie, Lemon Hearts, Twilight Sparkle, and Starlight Glimmer talked downstairs. Now at home and sitting in the room that he and Trixie shared, Sumac was torn between a need to listen and the knowledge that he was once again, eavesdropping. He felt a tug on his ear and looked up. At least Boomer had decided to trust him again. He saw her yellow eyes blink and she let out a trilling sound. There was another impatient tug upon his ear. Sumac wondered when Twilight would return the piece of eggshell that had been kept. “Do you want some food?” Sumac asked. “I have a gemstone for you.” Boomer made no reply, but waited. Sumac crossed the room, went to a wooden trunk, opened it, climbed over the edge, almost fell inside, and retrieved his box of valuables. The lid creaked as it opened. Inside was a collection of things that Sumac treasured, including a green gemstone. He lifted it in his telekinesis, his horn sparking, and held it up for Boomer, who took it with a happy whine. Something about her reminded Sumac of a squirrel as she took the green gem and held it in her front claws. Perched on his horn, she began nipping off pieces of the narrow gem, and Sumac wondered how she was able to bite through something so hard. Boomer was a greedy gobbler and appeared to have been starving. “I wonder what they’re going to do to with me,” Sumac said as he sat down upon the wooden floor. “Boomer, I’m scared.” The dragon hatchling paused mid-bite, twisted her head around, and looked Sumac in the eye. He looked at her upside down face and watched as she blinked. He saw… something in her eyes. Understanding perhaps? There was some feeling, some emotion. The hatchling let out a smokey belch and then resumed eating, making quick nips on the gem and then crunching the delicious treat. “Twilight thinks I’m dangerous and Starlight thinks that other ponies might try to foalnap me. What do I do, Boomer?” Sumac watched Boomer as she kept eating, knowing that he would not get a response from her, but still hoping for one anyway. He couldn’t wait for her to start talking. “I bet the foalnappers would be somepony like my father. He’s bad. I don’t want to be a bad pony and I don’t want to be dangerous.” Sumac closed the wooden trunk and then began pacing. “They’re all down there talking about me and they expect me not to listen somehow. They’re just down there talking about this and I’m all alone up here.” “I know, and that’s wrong.” Sumac froze. He hadn’t heard anypony on the stairs. He felt cold prickles on his neck as he turned his head to look at Starlight Glimmer. She stood in the doorway to the stairs, and something about her looked worried. “I thought maybe you could use a friend,” Starlight said as she took a single step forward. “You have an amazing talent that benefits others. Something unique and special. And everypony is arguing over what to do with you. Somepony should have been thinking about your feelings in all of this. I’m sorry.” Starlight sat down on the floor and tapped the wooden planks beside her, inviting Sumac to come over. Hesitant, Sumac studied Starlight, not quite sure of what to make of her. She had been bad once, real bad, just about as bad as a pony could be. What if she decided to be bad again? What if she foalnapped him and decided to do awful things? He had no way of stopping her. He swallowed and felt his insides clench up. The only option he had was to trust her and trust in Twilight. He went over, crossing the room, never taking his eyes off of Starlight, and sat down about a yard away in front of her. Her eyes seemed… sad somehow. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. “I had a friend that showed amazing magical talent… and he was taken away.” Starlight let out a sigh and shook her head. “I used that as an excuse for what I did, a cheap justification… look, what I’m trying to say is, I’m sympathetic to what you’re going through. You’re probably scared to death that you’re going to be taken away from Trixie.” Sumac nodded. “Fear is a dangerous thing, Sumac. Fear clouds your mind and poisons your thoughts and as a pony that lived in fear, I gotta say, right now, I am worried about you. I know what fear can motivate a pony to do. Fear does something to our minds… it makes us do awful things and we justify it any way we can because fear is so difficult to deal with.” Eyes narrowing, Sumac gave thought to Starlight’s words, and then gave voice to his thoughts. “Are you worried that if I’m scared, I’ll go down a dark path?” “Yes.” Starlight nodded. “I know what it did to me. Fear is an awful, awful thing, Sumac, and once you give into it, once you become desperate, you will find yourself doing things that normally, you would never do.” Starlight slumped and her ears drooped. “You’ll do things that you’ll regret later, should you get a second chance to regret them.” “What’s going to happen to me?” Sumac asked. “Twilight wants to send you to Canterlot. She thinks you’ll be safer there. The Royal Pony Sisters protect the city, and there is the guard to protect you as well. You’ll be a valuable asset to the princesses.” Starlight sighed, blinked, and then her eyes became sorrowful. Sumac saw her take a deep breath and her brows furrowed. “I worry about who is going to protect us from you, if we do this.” The words hit Sumac like a slap. He blinked, trying to take them in, trying to understand them. His mouth fell open and he shook his head. He felt a painful jerk inside of his barrel and his heart started to race. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. “Sumac, you have one really good friend and that’s Pebble. Here, you’ll have a somewhat normal life, with somewhat normal ponies, living in a somewhat normal town. Even if things become complicated trying to protect you. I’m worried that if you are shipped off to Canterlot, you’ll become afraid. Bitter. Alone. I’m worried that you’ll feel cheated because of everything being taken away from you.” Starlight sucked in a wheezing breath and her ears stood up straight. “Sumac, these are the things that make good ponies go bad in the worst way. I know this from experience. I’m scared, Sumac, because I don’t want you to slip into the darkness like I did. When you get afraid, when you feel angry, when you feel cheated, it becomes so easy to do bad things. You take little steps into darkness and with each step, it becomes easier and easier. Before long, you’ll find that you are capable of anything, and not in a good way.” Opening his eyes, Sumac’s vision was a little blurry with tears, and as his vision cleared, he realised that he and Starlight weren’t alone. Twilight was standing behind Starlight on the stairs. He gulped, feeling fearful, as he was unable to read Twilight’s expression. “I suppose sending him to Canterlot is no longer an option,” Twilight said in a low voice as she made her presence known. Her hooves made no sound as she climbed the last few steps, made her way into the room, and sat down beside Starlight. Sumac could see that Starlight was crying and she turned her face away from Twilight, trying to hide herself from Twilight’s eyes. He knew that something was going on, but he didn’t understand it, it was beyond him. He heard the sounds of Boomer crunching on her gemstone and he watched as Twilight tried to comfort Starlight. “I’m thinking that maybe, just maybe, I should have asked my pupil about her opinion on this. It sounds like she has a lot to say.” Twilight reached over and gave Starlight a nudge. Sniffling, Starlight wiped her nose with her foreleg, but did not turn to look at Twilight. Sumac, not knowing what to do, what to say, or how to react, continued to sit there with a bewildered and sad look upon his face. He was trapped in a very adult situation with no means of escape. He didn’t understand how pride could affect adults. The two mares were blocking the stairs, wholly and completely. “Trixie is downstairs with Lemon Hearts, fixing a late supper,” Twilight said to Sumac. “Sumac, I’d like to hear what you have to say about all of this. I bet Starlight has given you a lot to think about and I’m hoping that you listened to her. Starlight has a lot to say and she has a lot of understanding and insight about why we do what we do. Do you have anything you’d like to say, Sumac?” Stumped, Sumac shook his head, not knowing how to even begin replying to Twilight.