Chapter 55
The dream. The bad dream about falling. Sumac feared that this dreadful dream would become a regular occurrence as he sat up in the bed. The room was a little too warm, a little too stuffy. It needed a window opened. As he wiped away the sleepy from his eyes, the little colt realised just how fluffy he was. What had Marble done to him? He had been conditioned! He could feel the luxurious silkiness of his pelt against his skin.
His glasses were on top of the cabinet, next to the lantern, with a lot of squinting he could make them out, but there was no sign of Boomer. It was going to be a challenge to get them on. Before having glasses, he couldn’t remember his eyes being this bad, but maybe it was a perspective thing. He didn’t have to work on focusing on things either, he could just see with his glasses.
Were Trixie and Lemon Hearts okay? Sumac wished that he had an answer. Just thinking about it made him feel like crying. Not wanting his face to get messy, he slipped out of bed and faced the troublesome task of getting his glasses on his face. This was a good place for him to be, and he was determined to make the most of his time here.
When Sumac stepped into the living room, he paused. Igneous was reading a paper. Cloudy was sitting on the couch and drinking a cup of tea. No sign of Marble and Pebble. He stood there, half in and half out of the hallway, blinking, and eyeballing the adults.
“Hello, sleepyhead,” Igneous said without looking up from his newspaper. “And before you ask, there is lots of news, but no news about your mother.”
There was a clink as Cloudy set down her teacup onto a saucer sitting on a wooden table, slipped off of the sofa, and moved into the kitchen. Sumac, instead of sitting on the couch, sat down upon a sunny patch of floor in front of a window. There was a hiss from the kitchen, and a moment later, Cloudy returned with a bottle of soda, but not sarsaparilla.
When she set it down on the floor in front of him, he saw that it was a bottle of Celestia~Cola. Cloudy returned to her seat on the couch, sat down, and smiled. Thirsty, Sumac took a drink, and then, still holding his bottle, he looked up at Igneous.
“What’s in the news?” Sumac asked.
“Our future prince is in some trouble,” Igneous replied.
“Oh?” This was intriguing.
“He wasn’t supposed to leave Canterlot, but he did anyway—”
“Oh, that was just the princesses being clever.”
“What, Cloudy?” Igneous’ newspaper crinkled as he peered over the top of it at his wife.
“Foal psychology.” Cloudy held her teacup between her hooves. “Clearly, the princesses wanted an opportunity to have our future prince be a hero. So they told him to stay in Canterlot and don’t move. Naturally, being a hotheaded colt, he does the exact opposite. He gathers up a loyal army of fellow Manehattanites, goes charging down the mountain, and gets some valuable leadership experience.”
“The mares in this family,” Igneous grumbled.
“I met Gosling. We had s'mores together. He was nice.” Sumac turned himself a little so more of the sun was shining on his back. “He was in Ponyville and he was stumbling through our back garden.”
“You didn’t meet him by accident then,” Cloudy said. “Did he have one of those big nighttime pegasi with him?”
“Hush.” Sumac’s head bobbed up and down.
“The princesses, all of them, are busybodies. They meddle in everything. They’re scary smart, and leave very little to chance. They hedge their bets, and there is no doubt, Gosling was supposed to meet you.”
As Cloudy spoke, Sumac thought about his letter from Princess Cadance. Somehow, she had known. She had known that he and Pebble were going to be special someponies. Somehow, Princess Cadance had known before he had known. He had a lurking suspicion that the letters weren’t about the kiss shared between him and Pebble the night before, or liking each other, no, Princess Cadance somehow knew the future.
“The big scary nighttime pegasi do Princess Luna’s bidding, though some of them do Princess Celestia’s work. If Gosling met you, it’s because you are an asset, colt.”
“Asset?” Sumac asked.
“Cloudy…” Igneous’ voice was firm.
“He’s bound to know sooner or later,” Cloudy said. “Asset. Pony of interest. When Princess Twilight Sparkle decided that our farm was a good place to send foals in an emergency, she sent out some of her agents to have a long talk with us. There are several ‘assets’ that might end up here. Moon Rose, of Canterlot. Chalcedony, of the Crystal Empire. There is you, of course, and Pebble, because she can talk to rocks.”
Brows furrowed, his bottle gripped tight in his fetlock, Sumac took a drink.
“You deserve the truth, Sumac.” Cloudy’s voice was now soft and reassuring. “You aren’t the most magical little unicorn, from what I understand, but you are a sorcerer. You make others magical and that makes you an asset. Assets are watched over and there is a network of dedicated protectors loyal to the Crown that has been created to help them.”
Hearing all of this made Sumac feel better. He took another drink. Talking to the rocks had to be a far more important talent than he realised and his curiousity about Pebble grew. Looking up, he saw Igneous staring at his wife with one gruff eye squinted. There was tension here, Cloudy had done something that Igneous was irked about, and Sumac wasn’t sure what was about to happen next.
“The mares in this family.” Igneous let out a snort. “Serves me right for marrying you, Cloudy Quartz. I find myself liking one mare that is too smart for her own good and I end up with a whole houseful of them for my trouble. Life has a funny way of giving a pony exactly what they deserve.”
“And I’m drop dead gorgeous, too.” Leaning over, Cloudy gave her husband a wink.
“But you never gave me a colt like I asked.” Igneous shook his head and then disappeared behind his newspaper once more.
Cloudy’s pleased smile soured and became a scowl. She glared at her husband through his newspaper, with deep creases across her brow and wrinkles in the corners of her eyes. Her nostrils flared and the corners of her mouth twitched. “Igneous, you are a cad.”
“A cad with four daughters,” the gruff old stallion replied in a dry voice.
Was this how married ponies were supposed to act? Sumac watched, a little worried, not sure what was funny and what was serious. He took a drink and waited to see what would happen next.
“Two of my daughters that I so lovingly created, with you, I might add, brought you home two fine sons that you love a great deal.”
Igneous’ newspaper dropped like a curtain. “I want one like that one. Little. A colt that I can teach my caddish ways and then there’ll be two of us demanding that you bring us something from your kitchen.”
“Oh, you sir, are impossible.” Cloudy tossed back her head and rolled her eyes.
“We’re stuck with two sons.” Igneous raised his paper again. “We’ll never have another.”
“And why do you say that, Igneous?”
“After the conniption fit that you had when Marble eloped, Limestone and Pinkie are under way too much pressure for a perfect wedding. Limestone is too smart to go anywhere near that ticking time bomb, and Pinkie, well, Pinkie Pie is Pinkie Pie. Not much can be done with my little Pinkie Pie.”
“Maud had a civil service in Ponyville and my precious little Marble ran off like some lovesick filly to Doc Hedge. It was right after Limestone came home with that puppy.”
“I liked that puppy,” Igneous remarked as he settled in to read more of his newspaper.
Cloudy’s flinty expression softened and something like a smile spread over her muzzle.
“Of course, we still might secure ourselves one last son,” Igneous said in a low, scratchy whisper. “I wonder what Trixie will take in trade—”
“Igneous!”
Much to his own surprise, Sumac found himself laughing.
“Think about it Cloudy, offer enough of that fudge of yours, and he could be ours.”
“Igneous…”
“Or better still, we could go to Princess Celestia and put in a petition for an arranged marriage—”
What?!
“Igneous!”
“The laws are still on the books, might as well take advantage of them. Somepony has to.” The old stallion let out a chuckle from behind his paper. “You’d finally get that wedding you wanted, and the Royal Guard would step in if any of the parties involved tried to skip out.”
Feeling a little nervous, Sumac took a sip of his soda while Cloudy glared at her husband. Igneous… well, Igneous was… there was no two ways about it, Igneous was a pony to look out for and be careful of. Igneous was a teaser. Sumac couldn’t even imagine how Trixie might react to such a thing. The more he thought about it, the more it bothered him. He didn’t know how Trixie would react. Trixie had taught him the art of the deal. The smooth talk. She had even taught him the Swindler’s Cant, the smooth words and expressions that put pressure on a pony to agree with the deal. A smart pony would take this deal and be glad. A smart pony would know just how good of a deal they were getting. You’re a smart pony, ain’t’cha?
Sumac’s overactive imagination began to get the best of him. His brain showed him all sorts of awful images of being sold off to work on a rock farm, never to have magic again, and always at risk of stabbing himself in the eye when he put on his glasses. It was awful, just awful.
“Oh, look, Igneous, I think he’s daydreaming about that arranged marriage with Pebble.”
Sumac blushed so hard that his glasses fogged over and his mouth went dry. He felt his dock clench and the muscles in his back pulled tight as the two adults began laughing. He tried to laugh as well, but his mouth was too dry, and all that came out was a squeak. Lifting his bottle, he took a sip of Celestia~Cola and kept a wary eye on Cloudy. She was just as bad as Igneous.
The moment of mirth was interrupted by a thunderclap. Sumac very nearly jumped out of his skin and his overactive imagination fled from him as he panicked. He almost dropped his bottle too, but regained his grip at the last second.
Both Igneous and Cloudy looked at one another and said, “Visitors.”
“Visitors?” Sumac asked, now frightened and worried.
“Sit still, colt,” Igneous instructed in a firm, flinty voice. “That was a portal gem, and you made the same sound when you arrived, so it has to be somepony that Twilight sent.”
Hearing these words, Sumac’s heart lept up into his throat. Cloudy put down her teacup and got up off of the couch, her ears perking as she tried to listen. Sumac had trouble sitting still. What if a portal gem was stolen? What if Igneous was wrong? Cloudy moved off to the kitchen and for one ridiculous moment, Sumac wondered if she was getting a spoon to fend off unwelcome guests.
He heard a squeal from outside and knew that it was Pebble. Fearful of dropping it, Sumac put down his bottle and tried to keep himself from shaking. He heard the opening of the back door, and the sound of voices, he heard Cloudy and Marble speaking, but could not make out what was being said.
“I need my son…”
Sumac knew that voice too well. His stomach lurched and he almost barfed up the soda that he had been drinking. He was paralysed now, and unable to move. Hooves could be heard on the floor and Sumac felt tears streaming out of the corners of his eyes.
When he saw her, Sumac let out a sob of relief. She stood in the doorway to the kitchen, one ear was bandaged and she was wearing an eyepatch. She had been scorched a bit, she was limping real bad on her bad leg, but she was alive, and everything was wonderful.
“Kiddo… I’m so sorry…”
As Trixie spoke, Lemon Hearts staggered into view and leaned up against Trixie.
“Kiddo, I hope you can forgive me… that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Trixie’s voice sounded strangled. “I had to pick between you and doing my job. I had to trust in others to keep you safe… and it killed me. I’m so sorry.”
Limping, Trixie moved with a pained slowness towards Sumac. Lemon Hearts, left without Trixie to lean on, leaned up against the doorframe instead. The living room was filled with the scent of fire, of smoke, and burned hair.
“Your eye…” Sumac breathed the words and was still unable to move.
“Harpy egg exploded a little too close to my face. I got blinded. I’ll be okay, though.”
“Mama…”
“Kiddo…” Trixie sat down on the floor with a muffled plop and swept Sumac up using her good front leg. “I feel so bad… I had to send you away. I almost turned away from my responsibilities to come with you. It broke my heart.”
“Trixie Lulamoon—”
“What, Igneous?” Trixie snapped. “Really, now of all times? Do you need to get your digs in?”
Sumac, who had his forelegs around Trixie’s neck, could hear the animosity in his mother’s words. He could feel her trembling, he could feel her heart racing. She was angry. He squeezed her neck a little tighter and hoped that this wouldn’t turn ugly.
“Miss Lulamoon, I said quite a number of bad things about you. Terrible things.”
“Sure did,” Trixie replied as she squeezed Sumac a little tighter, “and now you plan to say a few more about me, in front of my son? Want to drive that pickaxe home, Igneous? ”
“I take back every awful thing I said and I beg your forgiveness. A parent’s measure is found in their foals, and you, Miss Lulamoon, have raised a fine son. I’d be proud to call him my own.”
Sumac felt his mother shudder, and then he heard a sob. Her embrace tightened as she started to cry. He closed his eyes, his own tears streaming down his cheeks, and then he felt another warm body press up against him. When he cracked his eyes open, he saw yellow.
“That’s the nicest thing that anypony has ever said about me,” Trixie said as she sobbed, “and it came from the pony that I thought hated me the most.”
Sandwiched between two mares, Sumac could feel tears dripping down on top of his head. Lemon Hearts was warm against him, she smelled like a disaster, but he didn’t care. She was alive and he needed to hear her voice.
“You okay, Lemon?” Sumac managed to say, choking out the words.
“I took a changeling stun spell right to my kisser,” Lemon Hearts replied, and her words were somewhat slurred. “I fell and hit my head. I got concussed. Trixie saved me. Trixie saved a lot of ponies.” The lemony yellow mare sniffled, coughed, and cleared her throat. “Once I was safe, Trixie lead a charge to assist Gosling’s air support. She kissed me goodbye and that was the last I saw of her for quite a time. This was a lot worse than the invasion of Canterlot. This was bad. Oh, I was so scared for both of you.”
Wiggling around, he let go of Trixie’s neck and Sumac turned enough so that he could embrace Lemon Hearts. The pain of not knowing was over, it was finally over. His family, such as it was, was okay.
“We don’t have much time,” Trixie said in a low voice. “We have to catch a train. It’s gonna roll through Rock Haven and it isn’t going to stop. Reinforcements are on the train and I’m gonna teleport us all onto the train so it can keep rolling.”
“You’re gonna teleport us onto a moving train?” Sumac asked.
“Yup.” Trixie wrapped her good foreleg around Lemon Hearts and gave a squeeze, squishing Sumac between them. “Ponyville is safe, well, safe enough. There is still a lot of fighting in the south, but we’re winning. Twilight and Princess Luna’s planning has paid off. We thrashed them.”
“Planning is all fine and good,” Igneous said in a low, solemn voice, “but it is the soldiers that carry the war. Credit where credit is due, Miss Lulamoon.”
“I suppose I am a soldier now.” Trixie’s voice was little more than a whisper. “I am one of Sparkle’s Spartans, and I made a difference.”
“I’m a Spartan too, and I got a concussion.” With a feeble giggle, Lemon Hearts managed to slip one of her own forelegs around Trixie’s neck and steadied herself. “I do better in civil service and administration.”
“We need to get moving.” Trixie’s voice was commanding. “It’s gonna be a long walk to the train station and I’m slow—”
“I’ll give ya a ride,” Igneous offered. “I’ll have you there in no time.”
“Thank you, Igneous.” Trixie sniffled a bit. “Pebble, your father will be on that train, and your mom too. From what I understand, Octavia and Vinyl Scratch will be on the train as well. Vinyl is finally well enough to travel.”
“What happened?” Pebble asked.
There was a low groan from Trixie. “I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
“What happened?”
“That little conflict that happened in Manehattan a while back, when Mister Mariner tried to sink the nation, Vinyl was there when everything went down. You’ll find out all about it, I’m sure. Try not to worry, Pebble.”
“What happened?” This time, there was an edge of anger to Pebble’s voice.
“I don’t know,” Trixie replied. “But I know that she’s okay and that she is on the train.”
“Pebble Pie, don’t be rude.” Igneous’ voice had a tone of paternal command. “We need to get all of you to the train station. Come on, all of you, get moving. We all have our part to do and I need to get you to the train station. Let’s go. Make sure you grab everything and don’t forget the lantern.”
“Igneous…”
“Yes, Miss Lulamoon?”
“Thank you, Igneous, and you too, Cloudy.”
“Bah, I’m too old to fight, but I can foalsit.” Igneous’ voice was even gruffer than usual. “‘Twasn’t a chore at all. You raised a fine son. Now, everypony say your goodbyes, we don’t have time to waste.”
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Gosling? Sumac, maybe?
It just keeps coming
7617676
I got too hot. My brain started getting fuzzy.
The image of jumping onto a moving train to go to war sounds fucking baddass. It is referencing a lot of things but I can't name any off the top of my head.
And now the entire gang will be together, so I can't wait to see what you do with that.
7617709
They are going home. What's left of it.
This train ain't gonna stop for nopony.
You know, Cheese Sandwich would definitely qualify as Pinkie's soul mate.
7617713 *goes back to corner*
Damnit! I need to stop guessing!
Yaaaaaay yet another chapter
Purely platonic. I'm sure.
7617753
Made me think of this.
I CALL BULLSHIT.
7617794
I love my icon. I've gotten so much mileage out that expression.
7617888
Your avatar...
mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw3360-1330671248679.gif
7617585 WOOOOOOO!!!!
... and Pebble, because she can talk to rocks...
Heck, anybody can talk to rocks. Hearing what they say in return, that's where the trick is.
Just remember to compensate for inertia when you teleport onto that moving train, or the whole bunch of you is going to be piled up in a heap against the back wall of the car.
7617974
Or spliced into walls, chairs, and other ponies.
Just marathoned this one and love it!
I feel there was a missed apple pie pun during the marriage talk.
7617974
When you are stuck between a rock and a hard place, it would be very handy to make friends with the rock. And if you are lucky, rock will smash hardplace.
7617679
7617720
There ain't no brakes on the crazy pony train!
orig14.deviantart.net/4db7/f/2013/310/5/8/no_brakes_by_galapagois-d6t9svv.png
First the chase train of doom.
Now this.
WHAT MADNESS IS THIS
A TRAIN IS NOT A STAIRCASE, STOP TREATING TRAINS LIKE STAIRCASES, IT'S WRONG AND TROUBLING.
7618364
I have a story idea about an escalator that breaks down and the pony stuck in the middle is too stupid to use them like stairs.
I think one of these days Sumac needs to meet Shining Armor and have a little sorcery moment with him if Twilight is going to keep adventuring with him. Negating magic like Moondancer isn't a bad thing no, but outright protecting yourself without relying on others is a useful skill as well, especially if you can use that same skill to ranged protect others as well. He can ask his mothers about offence
7618379 oh dear...
Celestia have mercy.
Phew, so relieved~!
7617683
It's my fault, I mixed up Gosling and Sumac in an earlier comment!
7617713
Going home is a different kind of war.
Made my night.
7618930
Mang, The Weed and Venenum Iocus are full of princess colas of every flavour. It is a long running gag.
Celestia~Cola tastes of pineapple and tamarind.
I'm glad that Sumac is able to return to Ponyville.
7618364 Don't interrupt Kudz's TRAIN of thought...PLEASE!!
And don't STAIR, CASE he makes a stuff up or we'll be TREATING his MADNESS! 
7618933 Forget your silly fizzy drinks give a pony a decent Apple or Rockfarm cider anytime.
(especially the latter)
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/26/b2/e7/26b2e76eaa44bf218781ce826a25be93.jpg
edit: Another cola for ya!
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/21/07/59/210759f55ee922f07a6311258e05296e.jpg
7618379 SNERK
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/10/14/743094__safe_animated_upvotes+galore_edit_lyra_lyra+heartstrings_bon+bon_on+back_sweetie+drops_frown.gif
metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/ay113049892public-relations.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=748&h=0&crop=1
Budget Equestria Airways
derpicdn.net/img/2016/6/13/1177723/medium.jpeg
Related: Shampooed and conditioned cows.
7619181 I'm confused...
you're derailing me.
7619507
Yes, she acts soft and oh so very helpless and her entire family comes together to protect her and keep her safe as an immediate and primary goal.
It's quite cunning.
7618379
I like it.
That idea might fit Blueblood, if you wanted to mix "stupid" with "unwilling to engage in menial labor like some commoner."
Was this intentional?
“You didn’t meet him by accident then,” Cloudy said. “Did he have one of those big nighttime pegasi with him?”
“Hush.” Sumac’s head bobbed up and down.
It almost looks as though Sumac had told Cloudy to hush... Shades of "All in the Family" and Archie Bunker!
7626913
One day Sumac may enrage an enemy by telling her to "stifle yourself"
Sumac needs a Luna dream intervention.
Yeah, that's what I figured.
There are probably some very important rocks out there that one day might have very critical conversations with Pebble.
Hah!
Lemon Hearts! Trixie! Everyone is alive, or at least ambulatory!
Perfect.
Trixie and Lemon are Spartans? Neat. I suppose that says something interesting about all those powerful and talented unicorns that Twilight is collecting.
"Royal guards sure do have strange names nowadays. Take this thestral guard."
"What's his name?"
"Hush."
"Don't tell me to be quiet!"
"How did you guess the name of the second guard?"
So what as yet incomplete story was this oft repeated plot point supposed to be in...