Chapter 120
The resplendent dawn was glorious and Sumac struggled to hold back a yawn as he witnessed it, not wishing to disturb the sanctity of the moment. Beside him, Princess Celestia had a look of rapturous joy upon her face as she raised the sun, bringing warmth and light to the near frozen morning. Perhaps it was the lingering zap apple tincture and Sumac’s sorcerous powers, but the dawn really was noteworthy.
The balcony was crowded with ponies, giving Sumac a rather foalish fear of being stepped on. The ponies present were of the rather large variety; Princess Celestia being the largest, but Princess Luna and Prince Gosling weren’t so small either. Twilight was miniscule by comparison, even though she had grown quite tall by Ponyville standards.
There was strange knowledge buzzing around inside of Sumac’s head, the aftereffects of assisting Princess Celestia with her efforts to help Adventus. Moondancer had used her magic as well, trying to help poor Adventus recover his memories and his name. Alas, Adventus was not present on the balcony, as he was fast asleep in his room after an exhausting night.
Stretching out his wings, Prince Gosling yawned out the words, “That sunrise is the only thing better looking than I am.”
His words seemed to set off Princess Luna, who rolled her eyes, stomped her hoof, shook her head, and smacked Prince Gosling in the back of the head with her wing at all once. Sumac’s ears jerked upright as Princess Celestia began to giggle. It was a strange sound, hearing a regal princess giggle, and Sumac was in awe of it.
The little colt was filled with a peace that he had not known for quite some time. All of his fears and worries seemed distant, which may have been the zap apple tincture wearing off, but Sumac liked to think that he was happy. He was surrounded by good ponies, the best ponies, and as little as he was, he had helped a noble cause. He had, in his own way, helped to make a difference.
With the glorious dawn, Sumac had a powerful reminder that the world was worth saving. The world was a beautiful place, full of promise and hope, and in his own way, he wanted to help save it, even though he didn’t think that he wanted to be an adventurer. He liked being at home, he liked moments just like this one, this feeling of togetherness and unity. It was at these moments that the call of the herd was the strongest, that need, that desire to be together, to be close, just like right now.
Exhausted, Sumac yawned and shuffled over a bit. He leaned up against Moondancer’s leg and the somewhat scratchy wool of her sweater sleeve was rough against his neck. It was cold enough to see his breath, which looked like clouds of steam coming out of his nose. The cold was invigourating, filling his lungs with stinging air that made him want to take off at a run so that he could get warm, his heart thudding and his blood pumping.
“I don’t like the fact that we have ponies that we can’t find hiding among us,” Prince Gosling said in a low voice, all of his mirth from earlier now gone. “I don’t like this at all… infiltrators, agitators, rogue changelings, bumble jelly that messes with a pony’s brain… I wish I knew what to do.”
“This is not the first time that Equestria has been beset by enemies from within.” Princess Celestia’s voice had a dull edge of fatigue to it and she shifted her weight from her left to her right. “Mind control is becoming an increasingly difficult problem to deal with though, I’ll admit. The Ascendency has powerful magic to do what they do.”
“I think the Ascendency was the ones pulling the strings when everything went down with Mister Mariner.”
“We don’t know that for certain, Gosling.”
“Well, call it a hunch,” Prince Gosling said with a surprising amount of insistence.
Princess Luna wrapped her wing over Gosling’s back and leaned in a little closer to him. She said nothing, but gave her sister a direct, penetrating stare, an expression that Sumac could not read or understand. The little colt was aware that something was up though, perhaps some disagreement or maybe even a squabble. From the looks of things, it seemed as though Princess Luna had taken Prince Gosling’s side.
“Hunches are fine, but we have to be careful not to make dangerous assumptions,” Princess Celestia said to her sister and to Prince Gosling. “Our resources are limited and our enemies are many. Gosling, I know that you are eager to begin hunting down the Ascendency and that you are just looking for a reason, but we have to be very, very careful where we commit our resources.”
“She is correct,” Princess Luna huffed, her barrel expanding and contracting as she spoke.
“I’ll be the first to admit that my anger is probably clouding my judgment, but I’m still sore about everything that happened.” Prince Gosling lifted his head as he struck a regal pose—something he did without trying or effort, an act that came as naturally as breathing—and he gazed at the sun on the distant horizon. “I’m having a hard time adjusting,” he confessed, his voice a little creaky. “Overnight, I became the proud papa pegasus to several million ponies. I take all of this very, very seriously. It weighs on me and there are times when I feel like I can’t do anything at all… I can’t fight Grogar, I certainly can’t fight Catrina, so when something comes along that I feel that I can do something about it, I wanna do it just so I don’t feel useless.”
“I know how you feel.” Blinking, Sumac looked up at Gosling. “It’s hard being so little, weak, and powerless. Not being able to do anything just makes you angry and frustrated. I think that’s why I have temper tantrums. I just get so angry sometimes and I just hold it all in ‘till I can’t hold it in no more.”
“Yeah?” Prince Gosling’s eyebrow arched.
“Yeah.” Sumac nodded.
“It’s rough, wanting to prove yourself, ain’t it?”
“Yep.” Again, Sumac nodded.
“Count yourself lucky, kid,” Prince Gosling remarked, “at least you don’t have everybody just waiting for you to fail so they can call you out and ridicule you, calling you a useless prettyboy and a plaything for the princesses.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I think I can understand that.” As Sumac spoke, he was all too aware that everypony present was now looking at him. His mouth went dry and he licked his lips while he looked up at Prince Gosling. “I have a filly that I really want to impress,” Sumac began and his own voice became squeaky. “I have Applejack and Big Mac breathing down my neck to be the best Apple that I can be, and I have to work really hard to be as good as they are because I have a bad case of the angries. I’m smart, but I’m not that smart, so I have to work really hard to even understand half of what Pebble says, and it’s not just Pebble, but the adults around me, because I’ve fallen into a trap where the adults sometimes talk to me like adults, and I don’t always know what is being said, but I can’t come right out and say it because I don’t want to let them down or look like a foal.”
Sumac sucked in a deep breath, filling his lungs with frigid air.
“When I do screw up or fail, I gotta worry about Applejack’s eyebrow and that face that Big Mac makes. Then there is Lemon Hearts, who just sort of sighs, and it is the worst sound in the world, because I know she is disappointed with me, but she’s too nice to be mean about it or punish me, so she just sighs, and I want to crawl under the bed and die of shame. And there is all of you…”—Sumac’s words trailed off and he looked around at the different ponies on the balcony—“all of you have come to expect so much from me and none of you are normal ponies. Because I’m a sorcerer, all of you watch me and the pressure and worry about screwing up almost crushes me sometimes.”
Embarrassed, Sumac felt tears stinging his eyes, which was made worse by the cold. He wished that Trixie was here, or Lemon Hearts, or even Twinkleshine, but they were all asleep, and he was about to start crying in front of some very important ponies. He was tired, maybe a little cranky, and he was up way, way past his bedtime.
“Aw, nuts,” Prince Gosling muttered as he pushed himself away from Princess Luna. He wiped at his eyes with his wings, let out a shuddering huff, and then shoved his way past Princess Celestia, who let out a startled whinny because of his sudden movement. “Come on, kid, you’re coming with me. We’re going to have breakfast and have a talk. I’m gonna make you some pancakes, how’s that sound?”
Sumac, saying nothing, allowed himself to be led away as he blinked back his own flood of emotion.
Looking at Sumac as he slept, Trixie Lulamoon let heave a maternal sigh. His face was sticky, messy, covered in syrup, whipped cream, applesauce, and there was a chocolate chip smeared into the short, coarse hairs around the corner of his mouth on the left side. She wanted to be mad at Prince Gosling for returning her foal to her in this condition, but she just couldn’t. At least, not now. Maybe later she would let Prince Gosling have it for returning Sumac as a sticky, dirty mess.
“Is that ice cream?” Lemon Hearts asked in a low whisper.
“Maybe.” Trixie shrugged.
“Was there a food fight?” Lemon brushed up against Trixie’s side and leaned against her.
Again, Trixie shrugged. “Maybe?”
“And I’m stuck cleaning that up later,” Twinkleshine said, sounding rather grumpy, “because both of you will be working.”
“Is that… is that some kind of syrup in Sumac’s ear?” Lemon Hearts edged a little closer to the bed, holding her head high and trying to peer downward at just the right angle so that she might see better. “I thought they had pancakes for breakfast, but the evidence suggests ice cream sundaes.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter what it is, Prince Gosling can no longer be trusted to be alone with Sumac.” Twinkleshine bristled as she rolled her eyes. “Do you know how much scrubbing that is going to take? It’s in his mane, ugh.” The pearlescent mare snorted and tossed her head back to get her pink mane out of her eyes.
“Oh, I don’t know, Sumac could probably use some guy time.” Lemon Hearts looked over at Twinkleshine, then over at Trixie, and then her eyes focused on Sumac. “I mean, this is what guys do, right? They talk about hoofball, complain about mares, and leave each other all sticky.”
“Lemon, that sounds so wrong.” Twinkleshine, looking disgusted, took a step back from Lemon while shaking her head.
“What?” Lemon blinked and shook her head, not understanding Twinkleshine’s words. “Males are messy, we all know that.”
“Prince Gosling might just be the most immaculate creature that has ever lived,” Trixie said to Lemon as she shook her head. “I’ve never seen a cleaner, more well groomed pony.”
Scowling, Lemon glanced at Trixie, then looked at Sumac once more. “Well, maybe we should reconsider and let Prince Gosling spend more time with Sumac, because Sumac can be one stinky little colt.”
“Oh, Lemon, tsk tsk tsk.” Twinkleshine clucked her tongue as she shook her head.
“What I do?” Lemon demanded in a hushed voice.
“To be fair, Sumac is pretty stinky.” Trixie bumped up against Lemon and there was the suggestion of a smile on her muzzle. “That’s my fault though, raising him the way I did, roaming the countryside, which is oddly free of things like plumbing. Rivers, lakes, and streams can be a bit chilly, but I got used to it and I guess I just sort of figured that he would as well.”
“Hey, both of you. I have something I need to tell you,” Twinkleshine said to Lemon and Trixie.
Ears perking, both mares looked at Twinkleshine and waited for her to continue.
“This foalsitting thing is hard,” Twinkleshine began in a low, scratchy whisper. “The world is such a dangerous place and it drives me nuts when I think about all of the different ways that Sumac might get hurt. Trixie, I don’t see how you do it… I mean, you take the free roaming approach to parenthood and you allow Sumac to experience the world in his own way, and I don’t want to say that what you are doing is wrong—”
Trixie’s eyebrows both raised as her ears pivoted around.
“—but I will say that I’m having a hard time with the free roaming approach. Especially now after Flam… the idea of letting Sumac out of my sight makes me feel panicky.”
“If we were to corral him or fence him in, he’d hate us.” Trixie’s words were a soft, patient whisper. “I did everything I could to teach Sumac how to look after himself. Most mothers scold a foal for independence, at least in my own experience, watching the world around me. I’ve always just sort of pushed Sumac away and then tried to reward him when he did the right things. I don’t know why, but it has always bothered me when I watched other mothers punish their foals for being curious and wanting to explore the world around them.”
“But Trixie, the world is a dangerous place—”
“And I know that better than just about anypony, Twinkleshine, don’t lecture me.” Trixie, calm and collected, nodded her head at Sumac. “And so does he. I’ve shown him what the world is really like, away from the cities, away from civilisation, I’ve shown him all of the nitty-gritty parts of life that most ponies are happier pretending don’t exist. He and I have found ponies that didn’t survive the wilds and we’ve buried them. Sumac grew up without illusions, I showed him what lies beyond the curtain of civilisation, and he’s a better pony for it.” After inhaling, Trixie added, “I gotta go to work.”
“So do I.” Lemon, looking downcast, let out a sigh. “I was up too late last night.”
“Have fun, both of you.” Twinkleshine’s barrel expanded and she held everything in for several long seconds, before letting it all out from her nose. “You know, Trixie, it’s funny, what you said, about Sumac growing up without illusions, seeing as how you’re the illusionist…”
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You know, once we get Sumac's story out of the way, I really hope we can get back to focusing on Prince Gosling and his two lovely wives.
Prince Gosling seems to have the talent to make all of the dirt fall upon other ponies, leaving him spiffy and clean. An undeniable advantage in a Royal Food Fight.
7912334 Hear, hear.
And maybe also find out about all the things that were mentioned, but never explained. Like, what is Ascendancy and when did Octavia decided she wants Tarnished to impregnate her. Speaking of Tarnished, I also want to know what has he been up to.
7912366
Tarnish didn't impregnate her, a doctor specialising in fertilisation methods did.
7912366
Also, the Ascendency.
http://www.fimfiction.net/group/210355/weed-world/thread/288026/introducing
Thank you for writing this. It makes me very happy whenever I read a scene when a character communicates, rather than simply letting misunderstandings fester and hijinx ensue. It was a very mature way for Sumac to handle it. I fear that it will backfire, and regardless of the content of the message, ponies will start to treat him as even more mature. Thank Harmony the Prince Gosling will be there to lower the overall maturity level.
7912374
When did Night Light get a second job?
Gosling and Sumac are a precious pair. More of them, please.
7912352
Well, his mark is a rubber ducky...
Freakcited? Or is that when someone quotes Freakzoid?
Does this mean that Sumac will fade from the main char spotlight? I've gotten so used to it, I dunno what I'd do without reading more about him!
I'm trying to imagine the food that Prince Gosling made for Sumac but I can't get a thought out otherwise because or my grumbling stomach. Methinks panckaes with whipped cream, strawberries, blueberries and syrup are in order... at nine pm.
Sure why not.
7912352
A consummate politico I see...
7912588
......and now because of you i've got that accursed theme song stuck in my head now.
I'm like pleasantly excited and feel like Sumac's come a long way since chapter one, the clever little colt.
This also means Perilous Gestation soon, yes?
7912799
He's been consummating his politics alright...
Hmmm... things I'm looking forward to seeing in no particular order.
1) The Ascendancy and how much I'll despise them or empathize with them.
it! I wind up loving every story in this verse! So many lovable characters and stories and you make from the most action-packed to the most mundane into an absolute joy to read!
2) More Tarnished and his now several children.
3) More Gosling and Princess interactions.
4) Definitely more Flicker.
5) Seeing if, indeed, Noctilucent makes it into this universe in some fashion.
6) ....
Okay, it's time for another one of my stupid-long posts. This one's a little different, though. Rather than berate morally challenged characters, bemoan someone's stupidity, or criticizing something Kudzu has done, I will instead be looking inward and seeing if I can figure out why certain fiction affects me the way it does. I personally think this is going to be a lot of fun, and I hope you all have fun, too. I hope I inspire some of you to think a bit more deeply about the fiction you partake in.
See, I have not been shy about not supporting Applejack's beating of Flam Apple, for reasons I have detailed extensively. Yet, it occurred to me recently that there's another fanfiction I've read in which a major enemy is neutralized as a threat before the protagonists brutally torture him to death. And by torture, I mean cutting with knives, burning with fire, melting his face off and literally ripping him in half. And I was okay with this. In fact, I cheered it. How is it that I have two completely different reactions to heroes brutalizing a helpless villain? To find the answer, I believe a certain amount of analysis is required. But before I can really do that, I have to explain why I bring up this story in particular. Get ready, this is gonna take awhile.
I've truthfully though about this other story more than one while reading Princess Twilight Sparkle's School for Fantastic Foals. The fanfiction is question is a video game novelization called Breath of Fire II: War of the Demons, by Magus523, and it is one of my absolute favorite fanfictions. It's a story about a group of people who struggle with a heroic, world-saving destiny that they want nothing to do with. So when I read about Sumac, Twinkleshine, or Twilight struggling with what's expected of them, I can't help but think of Ryu Bateson trying desperately to avoid all of the “destiny bullshit” plaguing his life. When Luna talks of putting aside your own desires for the greater good, I can't help but think of Ladon playing chessmaster one too many times and having his champion turn against him.
That last sentence there? That's going to be the focus of this post. And fair warning, I'm going to have to talk about War of the Demons quite a bit before I finally tie this post back around to Fantastic Foals.
Also: Massive spoiler alert. If you have any interest in this story, I urge you to check it out for yourself, also with its predecessor. I will link both at the bottom of the post.
War of the Demons is actually a sequel to a different story: Breath of Fire: War of the Dragons, a decent, though not spectacular fanfiction. Definitely a worthwhile read to an adventure fan. I am going to have to briefly summarize it in order to paint a full picture. The story centers around the Dragon Clan, beings who appear human but can assume the form of mighty dragons. The clan fractured into two parts, Light and Dark, in centuries past, and now the Dark Dragon Empire is trying to conquer the world. A young Light Dragon named Ryu, who would later go by the false name Martin, set out on a quest to rescue his sister following an attack on his town. Gathering allies, he swept across the land, driving the invading Dark Dragons out. Along the way, he would receive advice from the dragon god Ladon while visiting shrines dedicated to said god.
Eventually, it comes to light that Ladon has been giving advice to the upper echelons of the Dark Dragon Empire, specifically to those considered the opposites of Martin's group. Martin couldn't help but notice that following Ladon's advice wasn't working out so well for the Dark Dragons. Martin began to wonder if obeying Ladon wouldn't result in his own death or the deaths of his friends. He wasn't a soldier. He never signed up to martyr himself for the greater good. He was out to rescue his sister and exact vengeance. It was awhile before Martin spoke to Ladon again. At the end of the story, Martin made a sort of peace with Ladon. He didn't like Ladon, and he certainly had no intention of becoming one of Ladon's priests, but Martin left with only minimal animosity towards the dragon god.
War of the Demons picks up one thousand years later. Martin and several of his companions have been voluntarily been granted an elongated life, so they're still around. After the demons made a move against the new Ryu, Martin and Ladon come in to set terms with them. See, Martin is no longer acting on Ladon's behalf. In fact, he now absolutely despises Ladon. Martin acts as a third party between Ladon and the demons, threatening to join the other side if either steps out of line. He ultimately gets both sides to agree not to directly influence or mess with Ryu or any of the other destined ones. Though, since the demons already messed with Ryu, Ladon will be allowed to speak with them, under observation, through any of his statues.
Ten years later, Ryu and his best friend work with the Ranger's Guild, who get hired out to odd jobs. Their dream, however, is to start their own freelance mercenary group. When his friend gets framed for a crime, Ryu is forced to travel halfway across the world to clear his name. Along the way, he meets up with other travelers whom he convinces to join up with his future outfit. They also begin to uncover evidence of a demon conspiracy, fighting and defeating four demons, including one Demon Lord. (For frame of reference, if Catrina was a demon, then Grogar would be a Demon Lord.) After officially forming their mercenary group, the Dragonkin, they get hired by some high-ranking officials to weed out the demon infestation. Their intention is to treat this as just a job, and ignore all the uncomfortable coincidences that keep happening around their group. They also don't press when Ladon refuses to answer questions they'd rather not know the answer to. Eventually, however, the demons do something that hurts the Dragonkin so badly that they throw themselves into their destiny wholeheartedly, not for the sake of the world, but simply to make the demons pay and to honor the sacrifice of their fallen friends.
I'd like to break for a moment to relate this back to Fantastic Foals. You can't simply dedicate yourself to saving the world for its own sake. This is something both of those other stories understand. As good as it sounds, you will eventually falter unless you have something more substantial to drive you forward, be it love, friendship, or even personal gain. I fear Twilight Sparkle is struggling with that, as I detailed in a prior post. Many of her actions seem dedicated to pleasing those around her and living up to their expectations. Unless she can find a better reason to press forward, she will eventually break. The cracks are already starting to show.
Now, the big question in War of the Demons is: why does Martin detests Ladon so much? Unfortunately, to answer that here would take several paragraphs explaining how this world works, and most the details wouldn't be too useful to the overall point. The short answer is: in order to ensure that the Dragonkin would have what they needed to confront the demons, Ladon did something truly terrible to Martin and his wife. Martin's resulting fury was unparalleled, and a thousand years did little to cool it.
What's interesting is that Martin's outlook is not presented as being 100% correct. He's presented as being justified in his anger, but it's acknowledged by other characters that his opinion of Ladon is extremely biased. What Ladon did was absolutely necessary to preserve the world, and it was arguably Martin's fault in the first place (seriously, long story on that one). The Dragonkin are much friendlier towards the dragon god. They don't worship him, and it's doubtful they ever will, but they're very much aware that Ladon did everything he could to respect their autonomy. This is naturally something they truly appreciate, even if they ended up saving the world anyway.
This boils down to an issue about necessary evils. Sometimes, a leader must do something of moral ambiguity, sometimes they must sacrifice the well-being or even the life of one to preserve so many others, for the sake of the greater good. The problem is that nothing exists in a vacuum. No matter how justified they may be in how they act, such actions will inevitably end up creating enemies. Soldiers are one thing, they knew what they signed up for. But civilians? Your average Joe Schmoe on the street? They will not appreciate having their life ruined, no matter what the case. This is especially true if it is done without their knowledge or consent. Now, sometimes this has to happen. Sometimes making a new enemy is a necessary cost. I'm simply suggesting that a leader should be absolutely sure about such actions, and consider them very carefully. It may be necessary to treat those around them as chess pieces, but they must never forget that people are not inanimate objects. They have their own dreams, hopes, and desires, and most will not take kindly to having those casually brushed aside.
I think Princess Luna might struggle understanding this when she demands that Tarnish agree to extend his and Maud's lives. I don't think this is what she means, but the way she phrases it, it's almost like she's saying “Your desires and happiness don't matter, so quit whining and get with the program”. See, no matter how technically correct that may or may not be, people do not like being told such things. And why would they? Their desires might not matter in the big picture, but they sure as hell matter to themselves.
Let's say Tarnish and Maud became alicorns. They may even be happy, for awhile. But what about when their families and children die? Even if they have more children, it will happen again and again. How many centuries of outliving their children will it take for them to simply stop caring? At what point will nothing matter to them anymore? And what if it's worse than that? What if they become angry? What if they begin to hate Luna, and by extension Equestria? People have fallen to darkness over lesser things, as this story has pointed out. Luna has clearly made her peace with this situation, but I think she forgets that not everyone can endure that same hardship.
Let's talk about Sumac for a bit. As a Sorcerer, he is wanted by many powerful individuals. They may care for him, but they also see him as a tool to be used to some degree or another. Their position necessitates it. Sumac is thankfully held in place by ponies who care deeply for him and want to work with him, rather than using him against his will. He has Twilight who tells him flat out that she will help him with what he wants out of life. But let's imagine for a moment that the situation is slightly different.
Let's pretend that Trixie actually did give him up and leave Ponyville, and that Sumac now lives with the Apples. Already, this will have a huge negative impact on him, so let's assume that his new negativity prevents him from becoming closer friends with Pebble. He'll never grow close to Tarnish, the Pies, Octavia, or Vinyl. Of course, Trixie being gone means that Sumac will likely never grow close to Lemon Hearts or Twinkleshine. He'll never visit Lulamoon Hollow, and never have a heart-to-heart with Twilight Sparkle or gain her as an aunt. He will likely never visit Castle Midnight, as I doubt Applejack would be so willing to allow him to. Without the big villains around to grant him perspective, he may never learn to forgive Olive. Naturally, the Apples would punish him more harshly for the incident, which may create some bitterness.
So where are we now? We would have a Sumac who's still struggling with expectations, but with less love and care to go around. He would still notice how everyone around him wants to use him. He has no one to tell him that it's okay to do what he wants with his life, and he'll no doubt be pressed to bigger and greater things. And perhaps he would pull a Twilight. He wouldn't dare speak of his insecurities to the Apples. He wouldn't dare tell them he didn't want to aspire to greatness. He'd already driven off one parental figure, after all. He wouldn't want to risk losing more by disappointing them. Sumac would grow up. He would fulfill his purpose and serve the Crown diligently. And he would hate it. The Crown would still care for him, but Sumac wouldn't see it. He only sees how they want to use him. He would be secretly miserable, but he'll have long since resigned himself to his fate. He was too important to Equestria to get to worry about his own happiness.
But then something happens. An enemy would appear, perhaps from the Ascendancy, or perhaps someone else. They wouldn't attack or kidnap Sumac, though. They would talk to him. They would tell him things. They would promise him happiness, something he'd never dared hope for. They weren't like the Crown, who uses Sumac as a tool. This enemy would work with him. Sumac would be an equal, and get a say in what happens. And Sumac, who had long lived in misery, would turn to the side of evil in hopes of acquiring the one thing he's always wanted.
He'd be wrong to do so, of course, and it's highly likely that this theoretical enemy would betray Sumac at the earliest convenience. That's not the point. The point is that people turn dark and bitter when they don't feel like they matter. Under the right circumstances, Sumac could become like Martin, which would be bad for everyone. Now, I have no idea how plausible any of this is. Maybe I'm waaaay off base, but isn't it fascinating to think about?
So, long story short, necessary evils should be exactly that: necessary. Don't do them unless you absolutely have to, or the consequences could be terrible.
Okay, I'm ending the post here, because good god this has gone on too long. Next time, I will finally address the whole brutal violence question I started this post on. And hopefully, it won't take nearly as many pages to do so.
Breath of Fire: War of the Dragons: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2051403/1/Breath-Of-Fire-War-Of-The-Dragons
Breath of Fire II: War of the Demons: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6615342/1/Breath-Of-Fire-II-War-Of-The-Demons
7912477
To be fair, I think Sumac has communicated to present company before that he wants to not be treated/spoken to as a foal. Now he's saying he doesn't want to be treated (in what he describes as) as an adult. Making it kind of difficult to know just how to treat him.
7912923
You're welcome.
7913488
I didn't get that from my reading of it. What I read was Sumac delineating all the pressures he is feeling. Among those pressures is that of acting like an adult, and acting like he has an adult's understanding of what's going on. He acknowledges that this pressure is a responsibility he has taken on to himself as a consequence of them treating him as an adult, indeed, as he requested, but I did not get the feeling that he was complaining about being treated as an adult, but was instead merely listing it as one of the pressures under which he is operating.
Indeed, as I read it, the major pressures he feels are the expectations of Applejack and Bic Mac, what with Sumac apparently being the flag-bearer of the honour of the entire clan. And, although he didn't mention it, and indeed, might not even realize it, all of these pressures have been applied suddenly over a very short span of time. This time last year, it was just him, Trixie, and the road. All we readers have (arguably) similar pressures as Sumac does, but we're adults, and have had the pressures mount up over the years. He's a colt, 5 I believe, but no more that 6, whose life had given him no preparation for this sort of thing. Really, it's no wonder he gets the angries.
I read Kudz for the socialogical study through ponies.
More Gos and Sumac please.
7913342
Dear lord. Long post is long...
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I know, I know. Kudzu and his stupid well-written stories make me think. A lot. And if I don't get it out like this it bugs me for weeks. I do kinda feel bad that the many people who don't care have all that to scroll past. I imagine it's annoying. Sorry about that.
According to Sumac's hypothesis, magic is a finite resource. When Sumac powered Twilight up for the first time with zap apples, she was strong enough to smash Tirek and it felt like having the power of all the Princesses. So where did all the extra magic come from? Surely not the apples? They're powerful, but not that powerful, right?
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There are magics that come from other sources.
Careful readers who pay attention might already be aware of what some of these other sources are. Common, bone stock basic unicorn magic comes from the ley lines. Celestia and Luna draw magic from the celestial machinery of the heavens, the moon, the sun, the stars, the other planets and their ley lines. Think of magic as being quantum in nature, with the transfer of power being like spooky action.
Princess Cadance draws magic from love. Princess Twilight draws magic from friendship, which is what Hearthfire draws fuel to burn from. Tarnished Teapot draws raw, unfiltered magic from Terra Firma, but he has trouble drawing on the magic filtered through the ley lines.
Sumac, being a sorcerer, taps into and draws magic from any available source, including all of the sources I just mentioned in the above paragraphs. He acts as a conduit, allowing any being powered by magic to be able to draw from the sources mentioned, including the 'private reserves' of magic on other planets in the solar system that Celestia and Luna draw from.
See, Twinkleshine is worried about Sumac, but the minute someone shady caught him alone and tried to kidnap him, he beaned the guy on the head with a tombstone.
I think Sumac's going to be fine.
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Sumac OP, nerf plz.
120 chapters in 2 days and now i have to wait for more of this super great story ! I
hope there is 100 more chapters
7930959 The story is actually coming to a conclusion soon, but the author has confirmed there will be a winter break story and then it will pick back up for spring semester. Not to mention the million+ words of the rest of the stories that take place in the Weedverse that are already written and the other stories currently in progress like Skyreach.