Chapter 82
His green eyes flashing with emotion behind his tea shades, Sumac Apple studied the photograph of himself, the sisters, a baby dragon, a phoenix, and what was sure to be an undead possum. Try as he might, he could not hold back his feelings, which threatened to overwhelm him. With a sniffle, he looked up at Princess Celestia and for a moment, he watched as Philomena preened herself while sitting upon the white alicorn’s horn.
“What if this burns up?” Sumac asked in a low voice that held a timid quaver.
For a moment, Princess Celestia froze in place and the only part of her that moved was her blinking eyes. She did not seem to breathe, even her flowing ethereal mane and tail seemed to almost go still, and on her horn, Philomena paused mid-feather in her preening to look at Sumac with wide, avian eyes.
“I don’t know if I want to keep anything if I can’t keep it safe somehow.” Sumac, still standing upon the edge of the table, sat down. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be an ungrateful sort. Thank you, all the same.”
“It can be very difficult to accept loss.” Princess Celestia’s words were soft and somehow maternal. “If something ever happens, come to me and I will make sure that you have a replacement photo from the Royal Archives. That photo is just to hold you over until Seville can get his photographs developed, and then I shall send you one in a fireproofed frame.”
“Thank you.” Sumac sniffled a bit until he felt the sniffles pass, and then he beamed up at the regal alicorn that towered over his diminutive frame. “Thank you for not making me feel like a whiny crybaby.” The colt’s ears stood up and Boomer reached out to grab one so she could give it a playful tug.
Lowering her head, Princess Celestia’s eyes darted around the room, and then she gave Sumac a soft kiss upon his cheek. As she pulled away, she said in a low whisper, “I think my work here is done. You should ask Pebble for a dance. I have other guests that I must entertain.”
Blushing, his ears burning, he nodded and Sumac looked up at his monarch as he felt a fierce love for her. He raised one small hoof, held it out, and waved as Princess Celestia pulled away. While he had no interest in being a soldier, a teeny, tiny fire burned within his breast, a fervent flame of devotion for the alicorn princess that had been so kind to him.
As the two sisters made ready to leave, Sumac had one final thing to say. “Princess Luna… thank you for taking notice of me and making me feel special. When you’re my size, it is easy to feel ignored and forgotten.”
Pausing, Princess Luna turned to look back at Sumac. Looking flustered, it soon became apparent that the Princess of the Night didn’t know what to say in return. Turning about, she now stood facing Sumac, one eye wide, one eye half-open as her ears performed various feats of dexterity. Unable to respond with words, she reached out with one wing, and using her primaries, she stroked Sumac’s cheek.
Then, turning back around in silence, Princess Luna prepared to leave.
Lifting up a plastic cup shaped like a wide-mouthed goldfish whose tail was folded around to form a handle of sorts, Sumac took a long drink of bright red-orange punch. He smacked his lips, licked them, and then drank a little bit more. It felt both funny and strange to place his lips on fish lips, even if they were fake plastic ones. With every drink, he was kissing a fish while he tried to work up his courage.
Sumac couldn’t dance. This was a problem. This was a big problem, the sort of problem that could stymie a five year old colt. With a wary stare, he watched as Lemon Hearts led Trixie around the dance floor in a slow and cautious step dance, trying to learn what he could through observation. He wished that Vinyl and Octavia were still dancing, but Vinyl needed rest and she looked as though she was in great pain. Sumac felt bad for her, but there was nothing that he could do.
With a sigh, he focused his attention on Pebble, which caused his mouth to go dry. He took another drink, which didn’t help much, and inside of his barrel his heart thumped out a funky rumba as it tried to climb up into his throat. He was nervous, sweaty, his frogs felt wet and sticky… was this what attraction was? If so, he didn’t like it, not one bit.
Taking another drink of punch, Sumac tried to think about how to approach this situation. He didn’t have a father around, so he couldn’t see how this was handled. All he really had was Lemon Hearts and Trixie as his best examples, and he honestly didn’t know how Big Mac might handle this situation. This was complicated and you had to approach it in just the right way.
For Sumac, who could be bold to the point of outright aggression, he decided to take a direct approach.
“Pebble.” Sumac held out his foreleg and made a come-hither gesture.
“Yes, Sumac?” Pebble’s head swiveled to look at her boon friend and companion.
“Get over here. You’re going to dance with me.” For a moment, Sumac was almost certain that he was going to swallow his tongue, which now dried out like an apricot left in the sun. He hated apricots, which were almost as bad as pears. No self respecting Apple would ever be caught eating pears.
“Meep!” Pebble’s face turned a dark chocolate brown as she froze in place.
Foreleg out, Sumac clopped his hoof on the table three times to let Pebble know that he meant business. Males were supposed to take charge, right? Lemon Hearts took charge and made Trixie dance. Maybe it was supposed to be the female who took charge? He didn’t know. Lifting his punch glass in his telekinesis, he took one final drink to wet his parched whistle.
Setting down his punch cup, he slid out of his chair, down onto the floor, and went over to where Pebble sat. Reaching up with his foreleg, he grasped her fetlock in his and then pulled her from her seat, ignoring her meeps of protest. When she plopped down onto the floor with him, he made it clear that he meant business.
“Pebble, I have tickle magic and I know how to use it. Now come dance with me.”
“Meep!”
Walking on three legs with Pebble in tow, Sumac headed for the dance floor, feeling as though he might throw up at any moment. He gave her fetlock a squeeze and got another ‘Meep!’ for his troubles. On the edge of the dance floor where the adults whirled around, he stopped and then looked at Pebble.
“I don’t know how to dance,” Sumac admitted, realising that there was a major flaw in his plan. Some of the dances he could see looked complicated, tricky, and some of them appeared to take a lot of effort. There was a half huff, half sigh, and Sumac thought about an expression he had once heard: ‘In for a bit, in for a pound.’ He didn’t know what it meant, but it sounded like it was suitable for the sort of trouble he found himself in.
Before he had a chance to say anything, Pebble reared up to take a bipedal stance and Sumac found himself being snatched. The filly holding him was strong, strong enough to crush him. He wobbled on his hind legs and it felt as though his heart was going to explode out of his chest. Pebble was hugging him and their bellies were touching. For Sumac, this was weird.
“I’ve been getting dance lessons since I was a yearling,” Pebble remarked in a casual tone. “It is a Pie family tradition. All of my aunts and my mother all dance. Grandmother was very insistent that I follow the tradition.”
With a crushing grip, Pebble pulled Sumac close, wrapping one foreleg around his middle, and she redoubled her grip around his fetlock. “Follow my lead and be careful.”
Then, without warning, Sumac was flung around by Pebble. Clinging to his horn, Boomer let out an awkward honk of protest, but then settled down a bit when he recovered his balance. Walking on two legs was super weird, but he managed. He could feel Pebble’s heart beating against his ribs and he wondered if she could feel the same.
As he stumbled around, he made the mistake of looking into Pebble’s blue eyes. At that moment, he froze up for a second and Pebble was forced to haul him around. He felt something, something profound and powerful, it was like the first time he managed to cast a light spell, then had the heady rush that came with the knowledge that he was a unicorn and he had magic.
There was a little more curl to her mane than usual, a lot more curl, and her cheeks had a dark chocolate blush to them. It was quite difficult to breathe all of a sudden, and Sumac wasn’t sure if Pebble squeezing him was the cause. He was sweaty, nervous, and his stomach was doing flip-flops as his hind legs fought to keep him balanced.
Looking into her eyes, Sumac found himself under some spell, some terrible spell, and he was unable to look away. Pebble moved with a fluid grace that Sumac was far too young to appreciate as he stumbled around to keep up with her. Her dress swished and swirled around his legs, tickling him, teasing him, and distracting him.
“Stop being so stiff,” Pebble said as her foreleg pressed tight against Sumac’s spine. “Flow like water and you will find your balance. Move with me.”
“Okay.” Sumac tried to relax a little, but it was difficult. “How does an adult teach a foal to dance? The size difference…”
“It’s tricky.” Pebble moved backward, off to the right, forward, off to the left, and then backwards once more. “You need a partner. My mother had her sisters, but I am an only foal. I’ve spent a lot of time dancing by myself in front of a mirror, but I’ve never really had a partner who matched me for size.”
“I’m your first?” Sumac asked and he saw that his words caused Pebble’s blush to intensify. Not only that, but he felt his own cheeks spontaneously combust and catch fire. No doubt, right now, marshmallows could be roasted over his face and he was thankful that Boomer was fireproof.
“You’re my first,” Pebble admitted in a rather squeaky voice. “I’ve danced with my father, but he’s big and he just swings me around the room. He’s too tall.”
Mindful of his hind hooves, Sumac maneuvered around, trying to match Pebble’s steps without looking down, which was far more difficult than he imagined. Pebble’s dresses hid a secret; Pebble was quite thick and stocky—she might even be chubby. He gave her a squeeze and discovered that she had a wonderful bit of cushion around her ribs. She was warm, she was soft, and Sumac’s brain had a moment of awakening when he realised that he liked her plump, inviting softness.
With Pebble being soft and squeezable, Sumac became a bit self-conscious about his own body—he was thin, maybe too thin, and bony. From what little he could remember about his father, Flam was a tall, thin sort and he had a mustache. A genuine sense of worry crept into the back of his mind and he wondered if perhaps he was a little too thin.
“Am I too thin?” he whispered.
“It’s nothing a little more fudge won’t fix,” Pebble replied, also whispering. “You grew up poor, Sumac, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s no real trouble though, I like you just the way you are.”
“Thank you, Pebble.”
“Do you think I’m fat?” Pebble asked in a breathy, fearful whisper. “I get teased about it sometimes… I worry all the time, and when I worry, I eat more. Being around my aunt Pinkie doesn’t help at all.”
“It’s nice being able to squeeze you,” Sumac replied as he tightened his grip around Pebble’s middle. “I like you just the way you are.”
“You’re being honest.” Pebble blinked a few times, inhaled as she shuddered, and then her ears pinned back against her head. “I really, really like you.”
“Pebble, I like you too…” Sumac’s words trailed off and he sucked in a deep breath. “I like you a lot.”
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*clutches heart*
Damn.
Nuu.
This brings back memories~.
Weird cause they're not memories of dancing. .-.
Whatever.
I miss the days when I could dance. Fuck you, progression of time and age. ... And consistent, repeated injuries. Definitely fuck those, too.
Go on Sumac and Pebble, go and get your love.
7723365
I know those feels.
7723366
7723365 Ditto!
Well that was well planned Sumac!
If only I hadn't done the same thing centuries ago.
Based on the harpy incident and the way Sumac spoke to the Sisters in the first half of this chapter I'm beginning to think Sumac's Special Talent is actually the Gift of Gab. Whether he knew it or not he said the exact right thing at the exact right time and touched the lives of multiple ponies here.
He felt something, something profound and powerful, it was like the first time he managed to cast a light spell, then had the heady rush that came with the knowledge that he was a unicorn and he had magic.
They ZINGED!
7723390
He inherited it from his father.
It is ancestral magic.
7723398 Now as long as he doesn't use it like his father did but then again I doubt that will be a problem.
Dammit.
Stop giving me tooth decay!
I can't afford the dentist bills.
Spoliers: Sumac will marry Olive instead
“Pebble, I have tickle magic and I know how to use it. Now come dance with me.”
The utter SWAGGER! It's too much from one little colt!
I lurve this.
7723398 A different sort of Honest Apple?
7723428
I dunno what you mean, exactly.
7723410
Insert image of Applejack chasing after him with a big wooden spoon, cursing and spitting.
7723429
I just realized a major flaw could be my assumption that Flim & Flam are related to the Apple lineage. With that assumption I was thinking about Flim & Flam's magic being from an offshoot of Honesty, less about the truth, more about your words having weight.
7723435
Oh, they are related to the Apple family. Granny Smith calls them cousins in the comics, which at the time, were canon. Flim and Flam Apple.
But, they is bad apples.
7723439
Maybe, maybe, but aren't you showing with Sumac that properly applied Sincerity is a boon to all?
7723442
Yes.
7723431 I have issues believing it would be just Applejack then again depends on who find out first and if they tell anyone
7723443 So little of the world is absolutes
7723476
7723443
Only a sith deals in absolutes!
(Above statement is an absolute)
Heart atta-
Time of death: 07:52
Cause of death: Heart attack
7723477
7723443 The news media likes to sell everything in terms of absolute since thats easier to sell rather than the shades everything comes in
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captainleisuretees.com/i/s_p/l__darksidecookiestshirt.jpg#Come%20to%20the%20Dark%20side%2C%20we%20have%20cookies%21%20350x350
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/a7/e9/26/a7e926e04b7364906f49490d59c3692e.jpg
Nothing like a little cuteness overload first thing in the morning.
How incredibly adorable!
Sumac: "Shut up and dance with me!"
Double ouch, my diabetes!
7723420
He is way too happy with far too few scars.
The fact that they seem perfect together leads me to believe that Sumac will not end up with Pebble.
And you just might be right in the end if Sumac's Super Charge ability needs to be coupled with Equestrias future Most Powerful Telekinetic.
GAAHD DAMNIT KUDZ YOUR GANNA KILL ME WITH THIS SHIT
Reminds me of how i am still uncapable of dancing. But yes, very cute chapter.
And every adult eye in the room is following them around the dance floor while
trying not to be obvious.
Does Sumac make me look fat?
No you make Sumac look too thin!
Tooth picks and Olives make a fine Martini
7724009
Thousands of readers clutch their chests yelling, "OUCH. MY diabetes."
7725099
Nono, like this: "Ouch! My diabeetus!"
Huh. Reminds me of my first prom, except the roles were reversed-girl without a dance partner saw me lounging/hiding in a corner and dragged me onto the dance floor.
Also, kudzu, what the hell were you thinking? That ending with the two of them had 20x the reccomended sugar levels to go D'aww. As it is, chances of diabetes significantly increased in all viewers.
7724216
What everypony is thinking:
Tarnish: Should I be happy or should I borrow Igneous' picaxe?
Maud: I should borrow Daddy's picaxe. Or at least his shotgun.
Trixie: Damn, I thought I had at least three years before some filly stole my son.
Lemon: Whoo-hoo! I won't have to wait three years for some filly to steal my son! Makeout-With-Trixie City, here I come!
Celestia: Thank Faust I can't die or the diabetes would be awful.
Luna: The cuteness has been doubled!
Candance: I wonder if I can bribe him with Pebble to go to my school.
Twilight: Man, this is some good punch. What's with the cups tho?
Alicorn Hubby Club: ATTA BOY, SUMAC!! *wolf noises*
Flurry Heart: I wonder if I exist in this universe.
7724055 Perfect couples can end up together in the Weedverse. Maud and Tarnish. Vinyl and Octavia. Princess Sunbutt, Princess Moonbutt and Prince Peacock, etcetera.
7730699
Gosling: Hey! That's Prince Duckbutt and don't you forget it!
Me: [Emotional response intensifies]
Now there's an approach. Reminds me of Flicker’s technique of just declaring a date instead of asking.
Yeah, that seems about right.
Good pair of answers.
kudzuhaiku! Did you put warning on this
I almost had diabetes heart attack from the cuteness overload. 
Pebble and Sumac are so cute together. You did wonderful job writing them. 
Chapterl? If you didn't you should have.
1. I have diabetes. I can feel a surge of ketones from this chapter. Excuse me while I enter ketoacidosis.
2. As an avid consumer and outright connoisseur of pears (I ask for pears as Christmas and birthday gifts still, despite my being an adult), I now have a beef with the main character. Apples taste pretty alright, but pears not only taste better, but they are softer, the skin doesn't get stuck between your teeth, and you can eat way more of a pear than of an apple of the same size. Pear master race. Also, I am hopelessly antagonistic against every Apple character, but I guess Big Mac would be fun to just hang out with. Quiet time can be nice.