Distracted, Sumac Apple thought of nothing but archery as he walked Pebble back home to Sugarcube Corner. He thought of all of the ways he could improve his shots. He had balanced the bow, finding the very center, but he had not done the same with the string, to find out if he was drawing from the dead middle. His brain was on fire with a new obsession and he tried to think of creative solutions and new ways to use his magic to aid him in his new quest to make a perfect shot.
“I think I have another friend,” Pebble said in a low voice to Sumac after poking him to get his attention. She came to a stop and waited for Sumac to respond.
“Oh?” Sumac also came to a stop and tried to shove his growing mania about archery into the very back of his mind. Pebble deserved his attention and Sumac knew from experience that nothing felt quite as bad as needing to talk to somepony and not having their attention.
“Silver Lining and I get along well. She’s a little clingy, but I don’t think she can help it.”
“Yeah.” Sumac nodded to show that he was, in fact, paying attention.
“Sumac?”
“What?”
“I think I like being a tutor. I had a very fulfilling day today and I learned a lot.”
“That’s great, Pebble.”
“But I need your help,” Pebble said as her gaze dropped down and she stared at her front hooves. “I’m stuck and I don’t know what to do.”
“What’s wrong, Pebble?” Sumac sat down at the edge of the road where he and Pebble had been walking.
“How do I not be snobby?” Pebble asked, just blurting out exactly what was wrong and holding nothing back. “I haven’t had a lot of interaction with ponies my own age and I keep doing it, even without meaning to do so. It’s bothering me that I keep doing it by accident. I hurt somepony’s feelings today, and it is really, really bothering me. I tried to apologise, but they didn’t want to talk to me, and then I couldn’t help them. And I wanted to help them. I didn’t mean to act superiour.”
As Pebble sat down beside him, Sumac took a deep breath. He wasn’t quite sure what to say or do. His thoughts of archery were gone now, he had a far more pressing issue, a friendship conundrum. He realised that this was probably what Twilight Sparkle wanted from Pebble, a realisation of her problems followed by her trying to fix them. Pebble was scary smart, far, far smarter than he was for sure, and both of them had one thing in common. Neither got along with foals their own age. It was intimidating to even stand in Pebble’s shadow and annoying to deal with a filly that knew a little bit about everything.
“I don’t know,” Sumac said as he shook his head. “I’m stumped. But if it makes you feel any better, I think you’re a great teacher. You’ve been good to me and I’ll admit, I was scared at first, because I know how you can be and then there was that weird smile of yours—”
“I was really happy and I had trouble showing it,” Pebble said, cutting Sumac off. “Daddy says that while I have a lot of my mother in me, I have some of my grandfather too. Grandaddy has trouble with his emotions, which is where my mother gets it from, but he’s opened up a lot after he had a family and grew older. It’s hard for us, because we have to hold back so much.”
“Hold back so much?” Sumac asked, not understanding.
“We’re strong,” Pebble replied, “so very strong. And we can’t afford to get upset or lose our temper. We can’t afford to get too excited. We have to stay calm and focused because the world around us is made of glass and so are ponies and glass breaks.”
After listening to what Pebble had to say, Sumac gulped. He didn’t quite understand what it was that she was saying, but he had the general idea. He heard Pebble sniffling and he looked over. He couldn’t see any expression that he understood upon her face, but, she was sniffling and her ears were drooping.
“When I was little, I got excited when Daddy tickled me. I broke a bunch of his ribs. I didn’t mean to. But now, when he tickles me, he’s always scared and he holds himself back from me. I can tell. I still feel bad. I don’t understand how my mama does it.”
“Does what?” Sumac asked, not certain if he wanted to know the answer.
“Not kill him,” Pebble replied.
Sumac’s own ears drooped and deep furrows appeared upon his brow. He leaned a little closer to Pebble, knowing that she was in pain even if she didn’t show it, and he wanted to do something to make her feel better.
“How am I supposed to reach out to other ponies?” The distraught filly shook her head and pawed at the ground with her hoof. “I’m too smart and I’m too strong. The world is too fragile and other ponies are too stupid. It’s frustrating and sometimes, I just want to let go and start smashing stuff. I want to rage and throw stuff and crush things and hurl rocks until all the anger is gone.”
Hating himself, disgusted by own actions, Sumac scooted closer to Pebble, wrapped a foreleg over her withers, and gave her a sidelong hug. He could feel her heart thudding against her ribs, an indicator of her emotional state. He could feel the tension in her muscles and a part of him began to feel fear. Pebble was a dangerous creature. Pebble was a dangerous, terrifying creature. And she needed a friend. He gave her an apprehensive squeeze.
Belching out smoke, Boomer lept from Sumac’s head and landed on top of Pebble’s. She clung to the filly’s mane, grabbed an ear with her prehensile tail, and held on. Pebble’s eyes rolled upwards as she tried to look up at the dragon sitting on her head.
“There is such a burden to being exceptional,” Pebble said to Sumac. “You have to hold everything back. Not just your strength, but your mind as well, because if you sound too smart, ponies think you’re being snobby or stuck up or acting like a know-it-all. I hate being the way I am. I wish I was just normal. I hate being me.”
“Yeah, but Pebble, you’re stuck being you.” Sumac leaned a little closer and rested himself against Pebble. “Like it or not, you are what you are. That can’t be changed. The best you can do is make the most of it. Life isn’t fair… and Starlight is making me write a five hundred word essay about it because I said that life wasn’t fair.”
“That’s not fair,” Pebble said in a huff, showing some faint reaction. “Not fair at all.”
“I know, I’m kinda upset about it, but there isn’t anything I can do.”
“I can help you,” Pebble said to Sumac. “I can help you crank out a five hundred word essay in no time. That’s easy. My mother and father give me five thousand word essays to write whenever I say the words ‘I’m bored.’ I’ve stopped saying that I’m bored.”
“I also have a five hundred word essay on what you mean to me as a friend.” Sumac’s words hung in the air for a moment as Boomer began making a nest in Pebble’s mane. “Also from Starlight.”
“I can help with that, too. It’ll give me something to do and keep my mind off of my troubles. I hate being bored.” Pebble glanced upwards again at the dragon hatchling on her head. “She’s making a nest.”
“She is,” Sumac agreed. “Five thousand word essays?”
“The number kept going up until they found something that would keep me busy for a few hours. Grandma and Grandaddy would also give me essays if I said I was bored, and so would my aunts, Limestone and Marble. It’s a conspiracy. I should be allowed to say I’m bored whenever I feel like it without reprisal. It’s not fair.”
“That sounds awful.” Sumac pulled away from Pebble, who seemed to be feeling a little better. He flexed his foreleg, gave it a wiggle, and then used it to scratch his cheek. “We’re foals. We should have rights. But we don’t. It’s not fair that we get in trouble for saying it’s not fair.”
Nodding, Pebble agreed. “That’s going in the essay. We should have a right to protest our conditions. We have feelings and adults should respect them. And they wonder why we don’t always want to tell them what is wrong. When we do tell them what is wrong, that they are being unfair or that we are bored, we get punished. So when we go silent and say nothing about our condition or how we are feeling, they get all worked up and demand to know what is going on.” Pebble blinked a few times and shook her head. “And when I tell them what is wrong, that I am bored to death, I get punished after being made to answer their queries. That’s patently unfair and adults that do that deserve a kick in the plot.”
“Yeah!” Sumac’s head bobbed up and down as he expressed his enthusiasm. “And adults that give baths when they’re not wanted—”
Moving with startling swiftness, Pebble placed her hoof over Sumac’s mouth, silencing him. “Sumac, that’s strictly necessary. Other ponies have to live around you, and you’re a stinky colt. Lately, you’ve been smelling a whole lot nicer. Just take a bath and shut up about it.”
Wounded, Sumac stared at his companion through narrowed eyes, and then he pushed Pebble’s hoof away from his mouth. He let out an indignant whinny, then a wicker of protest. He opened his mouth to say something, but Pebble jammed her hoof back in front of his mouth.
“Face it, Sumac, colts are just naturally smelly. You can’t help it, might as well make peace with it.” Having said what needed to be said, Pebble pulled her hoof away and then patted Sumac on the cheek. “Come on, let’s go do those essays. We can have snacks.”
“Do I really smell that bad?” Sumac asked, feeling a little bit of self doubt now that Pebble had said something.
“I dunno, do I come across as being really snobby and stuck up?” Pebble replied with a question.
After thinking about Pebble’s response, Sumac decided that a change of subject was in order. “We should go take care of those essays.”
“Yes, yes we should,” Pebble agreed.
“Hmph, the two of you look grumpy,” Pinkie Pie said as she put down a plate of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Reaching over the table, she grabbed Sumac’s face and began stretching it in all directions like taffy. “Nope, can’t seem to fix the grumpy.” She pulled and tugged, showing no mercy, causing Sumac to make all sorts of ridiculous faces.
Slapping at Pinkie’s forelegs with his own, Sumac broke free and pulled away. He glared at Pinkie Pie through narrowed eyes and his lower lip protruded. He heard laughter and knew that Pumpkin and Pound were laughing at him. It was awful when older foals laughed at you, and Sumac wanted to crawl under the table and die.
“Lots of homework?” Pinkie asked.
“Just some short essays,” Pebble replied as she sat staring at her aunt.
“Oh… essays…” Pinkie nodded her head and gave an understanding wink. “See Pebble, all those times you said you were bored are paying off. You’re the essay master!”
Glowering, Pebble slumped down beside Sumac and glared daggers at Pinkie. She picked up a sandwich, her eyes never leaving her aunt, and began to eat it, nibbling on the edges. Pebble ate her crusts first and sometimes ignored the middle. The crusts were the best and most tastiest part, at least in Pebble’s humble opinion.
Laughing, Pinkie Pie pronked off and vanished through the batwing doors into the kitchen, leaving both Sumac and Pebble alone. Boomer climbed down from her nest on Pebble’s head, balanced on Pebble’s muzzle, and began nipping off bites from Pebble’s sandwich.
“Ew, dragon germs,” Pebble said in deadpan.
Boomer, nipping past the bread, discovered peanut butter. Her tiny mouth was gummed shut as she struggled to chew and a dribble of grape jelly ran down her chin. She smacked her lips, her tail lashed from side to side, and her bright eyes glittered as she enjoyed the sugary rush of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
“Dragon germs,” Pebble said as she stared down at her sandwich that she held in her hooves. She watched as Boomer struggled to eat the blob of peanut butter in her mouth. “Sumac, do you think she’ll be able to swallow this?”
“Somepony needs milk!” Pinkie Pie said as she exploded through the door. She descended upon the table like a pink blur, moving like a whirlwind, and when everything was said and done, there were two big glasses of milk, a glass pitcher of milk, and a platter of cookies.
Before either Pebble or Sumac had a chance to say thank you, the pink blur was gone, having vanished back into the kitchen. The batwing doors swung on their hinges, evidence of Pinkie’s passing.
Boomer lept down from Pebble’s muzzle, scampered over the table, wrapped her body around Pebble’s glass of milk, and stuck her snout down into the white liquid. She slurped up a drink to help with the peanut butter gumming up her mouth.
“Dragon germs in my milk,” Pebble said as she turned to look at Sumac. “Your familiar is a menace.”
“My what?” Sumac asked.
“Your familiar.”
“I don’t follow,” Sumac replied.
“Never mind. First I have to deal with a smelly colt and now, dragon germs. My parents sent me to Ponyville and my life is all kinds of messed up.” Pebble sighed, rolled her eyes, and continued eating her sandwich, now served with a side of dragon germs. She bit off the crusts, working her way around her sandwich, and watched as Boomer submerged her whole head into the glass of milk.
“Life just isn’t fair,” Sumac said to his companion. Having said what was on his mind, he too began to gobble down his sandwich, taking huge bites, and then was bogged down when the peanut butter got stuck to the roof of his mouth. He sat in his chair, trying to get the goopy peanut buttery mess free with his tongue, his mouth hanging open and showing the whole world his efforts, his valiant struggle with the peanut butter monster, the bane of foals everywhere.
Beside him, Pebble shook her head and rolled her eyes. Colts.