Chapter 85
Foals were resilient—they had remarkable recovery rates—but even by the usual foalish standards, Sumac stood out. Young as he might be, he had walked the length and breadth of Equestria several times over already. He was a rough and ready survivor made hard by a life on the road. Other than some sore stomach muscles, he was fine from his morning misadventure.
His attention was focused upon three mares, who were all discussing him. Moondancer, who was to work with him on defensive magic studies, Vinyl Scratch, his master, and Twinkleshine, who had taken a keen interest in his instruction. It appeared that Twinkleshine was going to be the new dueling instructor and would teach swordplay in addition to offering magical instruction to the students in the school.
He wasn’t quite sure what was going on, he was only half-listening, but there seemed to be some debate. Vinyl appeared frustrated as her slate could only have so many words on it at once. Moondancer was listening though and waiting for Vinyl to communicate her thoughts, at least, it seemed to be that way.
Bored and unwilling to keep sitting in one spot while doing nothing, Sumac made a bold decision. After a bit of mental calculation on his odds, he decided to slip away. He spilled out of his chair, cast a final glance at the trio of mares discussing whatever it was that they were discussing, he took the opportunity to sneak away, keeping his head down and maintaining a low profile.
It was almost too easy.
While some foals might have taken the opportunity to play after sneaking away, Sumac intended to study and he already had something in mind as he shut the door behind him. He looked around the room where he, Trixie, and Lemon Hearts now lived. Princess Cadance stood upon his bed and her mane was a little bit messy. It needed to be brushed. On his bedside table, there was a picture of three silly ponies who had creatures perched upon their horns. It was a treasured keepsake.
Sumac didn’t think that he would get in trouble. School wasn’t exactly in session, but it wasn’t exactly out of session either, even after all this time. Classes were going on, but many students were missing, having gone to other places while reconstruction happened. It was a time of transition and Sumac wanted things to go back to how they were. He liked having a routine to follow, except for those times when he didn’t.
Drawing in a deep breath, it was time to get down to business, the same business that he had been practicing in secret for the past few days. He tried to clear his mind of clutter, organise his thoughts, and get focused. For a time, his eyes lingered upon the lantern. Twilight was about to do a whole bunch of tests soon, and he was to be an observer.
But that was a distraction.
Flexing his mental muscles, he wrapped a bed in a telekinetic bubble, strained, and lifted. He had it about three inches up off of the floor and he could feel his whole body tensing as sweat began to bead up in the places where his legs connected to his body. He was no Olive, but lifting a whole bed was pretty good. He set it down, rested, and then once more, he lifted the bed and held it aloft, trying to get warmed up for what he really planned to do.
The bed went down with a heavy thump and the colt cringed, worried that somepony might come and investigate the sound. This wasn’t the greatest hiding place, if somepony wanted to find him, they would come here looking for him first. A thought about Boomer crossed the back of his mind, the little dragon was with Pebble in one of her cooking classes. Having Boomer around gave Pebble confidence and helped her deal with the stress of having a class with foals that kept bullying her, even though they weren’t supposed to.
Anxious, he thought about Starlight Glimmer. She was the reason why he was here, doing what he was doing. Closing his eyes, he wrapped his own body in a telekinetic bubble and then tried to lift himself up off of the floor. He strained, confused, a little bit angry, and tried to pull himself up into the air. It didn’t make sense, he could lift up the bed with relative ease, but trying to lift his own body off of the ground felt impossible.
Perhaps what he needed was some zap apple jam, or zap apple tincture, or maybe just a whole fresh zap apple. The other day, he had lifted Lemon Hearts up off of the floor, so he knew that he could lift a pony, so why couldn’t he lift himself? Nothing about this made sense. Why couldn’t he lift his own hooves up off of the floor?
Now a little angry, he focused some of his telekinesis upon the floor and tried to push himself upwards, away from the planet, but some terrible, horrible, unknown force kept his hooves planted on the rug beneath him. How did Starlight Glimmer do it? His annoyance and frustration grew until it hit a breaking point.
“Fudge,” he muttered as his telekinesis fizzled out.
Maybe it was the rug? He stepped off of the rug, reached out with his mind, and lifted the rug up off of the floor. The rug seemed normal, mundane, and his magic sense detected nothing. The rug, held in a bright green glow, was now about six inches up off of the floor. On a whim, Sumac decided to see if he could step on it, just to observe the outcome of whatever happened.
Lifting his right front hoof, he pressed it against the edge of the rug, which was stiff as a board from his telekinesis. It was as unyielding as a stone. Much to his shock and surprise, what he stepped on was as sturdy and as stable as a stair. Not believing what he was experiencing, he put a bit more weight upon his hoof and tried to press down. The rug did not budge.
This was confusing to say the very least. Coming to the conclusion that he did not understand magic as much as he thought he did, he clambered up onto the rug, which remained about six inches in the air, hovering above the floor. Why? he thought to himself. How? He was now floating, suspended in the air, standing on a rug held in his telekinesis. When he tried to lift his own body, he had failed too many times to keep track of, but as of right now, he was in direct defiance of gravity.
For Sumac, this development was unexpected.
So, he couldn’t lift himself off of the ground, but he could lift a rug off of the ground and stand upon that. He willed the rug to rise a little and it did, it did so with startling ease. He was now at least a foot off of the ground. He licked his lips and tried to make sense of his situation. Could he make the rug fly while he was on it?
There was only one way to find out. He willed the rug to move forwards, towards the wall at the other end of the room. The rug did exactly as he willed it, it took off at blinding speeds, shooting out from beneath him, and Sumac tumbled off the back end of the rug as the rug zoomed towards the wall. Dumped onto the floor from the considerable height of about a foot, Sumac landed on the back of his head with a meaty thump.
“SON OF A BISCUIT EATER!” he swore as stars filled his vision. He writhed on the floor, his four legs kicking as blinding pain jolted up and down his spine. He could feel something wet and sticky creeping through his mane on the back of his head. Woozy, he had trouble trying to sit up, so he allowed himself to continue laying on the floor for a little longer.
Angry enough to grit his teeth, the frustrated colt tried to think of words to express his discomfort. His green eyes blazed with fury even as they glazed over from pain. “Oh… squirty… squishy… squashy alicorn farts!” He rubbed the back of his own neck, and then, after some struggle, he managed to sit up as his vision went in and out of focus.
Glaring daggers at the rug that had betrayed him, he knew that he needed to go and get some help.
For the second time this day, Sumac found himself back in the infirmary. Sullen, he tried to ignore his throbbing skull and the stabbing sensation in his neck. The pain medication was just starting to work and the local anesthetic had created a numb place where the nurse had stapled his scalp back together.
“Now, you say that you slipped on the rug,” Moondancer said in a manner most incredulous. She stood beside the bed where Sumac was sitting, looking a bit annoyed, but more worried than anything else.
Fighting back the urge to lose his temper, Sumac nodded, but didn’t say anything. Talking would be his undoing. If he said that he was trying to figure out how to fly, they might forbid him from doing it, and that would be the end of it. He didn’t want to lie, either, as he was an Apple. So, his only real option was to say as little as possible.
“Look here, you little stinker, I know there is something you’re not telling me, and I have ways of making you talk.” Twinkleshine’s eyes narrowed in a menacing way as she shoved Moondancer aside and moved closer to the bed. “Don’t you dare lie to me. I have ways of knowing.”
Standing about a yard away, Vinyl nodded and looked annoyed.
“I was moving the rug and I stumbled.” This was technically correct, the best kind of correct, and factually true. So far, he was still an Honest Apple and had not committed a spankable, punishable offense, or so he hoped. “I got bored because you three were standing around gabbing rather than teaching me.” His curt words got him a stern glare from all three mares present and he wondered if, perhaps, he had gone too far. Trying to shift the blame away from himself hadn’t quite worked out as planned.
“You have a two inch long gash in the back of your head and six staples.” Moondancer gave Sumac an accusing stare through her thick soda-bottle lenses. “Barring extraordinary bad luck, this is not an injury consistent with tripping over a rug.”
Silence was Sumac’s ally. He folded his forelegs over his barrel and settled into stony silence. Moondancer was making assumptions as to what happened, and he felt no need to correct her. He was going to let her make all the assumptions that she wanted. Keeping the details scarce worked out in his favour.
There was an annoyed sigh from Vinyl, who stepped forwards. She pulled off her glasses, squinted in the bright lights of the infirmary, and gave Sumac the sort of stare that only a mute unicorn master annoyed with her apprentice could give. Sumac didn’t like it, not one bit, and he squirmed on the bed. It was pretty awful and he felt guilty.
After what felt like hours, Vinyl relented. She lifted up her slate and began writing on it with some bright pink chalk. There were a few squeaks as she scribbled out many small words, Okay, you win, tough guy. Since you’re so tough, you get a magic lesson. With a headache.
Scowling, Sumac accepted his fate. His head hurt something awful, but it was better than trying to explain what had happened. Vinyl would probably go soft on him, he was counting on that, so he stowed away his crabby scowl and tried to look a little bit nicer as Twinkleshine continued to glare at him.
“Can I get something to drink first?” Sumac asked.
Vinyl nodded, cleared her slate, and began writing more words, which she held up when she was finished. And maybe a little snack too. Not to worry, I’ll be gentle.
Sumac let out a sigh of relief, releasing a deep breath that he hadn’t realised that he was holding. Of course Vinyl would be gentle, she was his master and he was supposed to trust her. He watched as she wrote down more words.
Our lesson will be about concentration while distracted or in pain.
Blinking, Sumac found that he liked the sound of that. It sounded like a good lesson to learn. Vinyl was in pain and he had yet to see her magic fizzle. He glanced at Twinkleshine, who had relaxed a bit, and then he looked at Moondancer, who looked apprehensive.
“I don’t know what happened,” Moondancer said to Sumac in a low voice, “and I guess you’re not going to spill the beans. In the future… try to be a bit more careful, okay? We’re only upset because we care about you, right Twinkleshine?”
Put on the spot, Twinkleshine’s ears drooped. “Right.”
“I was careless,” Sumac admitted, and he heard all three of the mares present inhale. “I promise I’ll try to be a bit more careful in the future.”
Twinkleshine, still a bit miffed, nodded. “I’m gonna hold you to that promise, Sumac.” She took a deep breath and then the volume of her voice dropped as she added, “And later, I’m probably just going to hold you. You scared me and I don’t like it. I’m new to all of this and I’m freaking out over here.”
“I’m sorry.” Sumac rubbed his neck and looked down at the bedspread, feeling more than a little ashamed of himself.
“Yeah, well, you better be,” Twinkleshine replied. “Let’s get out of here, the smell of antiseptic makes me wanna sneeze…”
- Bonk!
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Twinklemom engage.
Edit: WAIT. He has a flying rug and a magic
lamplantern! Sumac Applladin. And now we wait for Draconequus Robin Williams.I kinda want Tarnish to come back from an adventure with a new magical artifact... a Magic Carpet and have Sumac just lose it because of either lingering Trauma from what happened or from it not being fair that he tries to use magic to make a carpet fly and it doesn't work how he wanted but here is a semi-sentient carpet flying with it's own magic that doesn't leave ponies with the backs of their heads split open.
So a flying carpet scenario. I'm liking this
From this, I feel the only sound conclusion is that whatever it is that Starlight is lifting when she's levitating, it's not herself.
7728235 "Hey, how'd you know I was in the lantern?!?"
Pinky: "UNCLE ROBIN! I've missed you!"
Twilight: "Wut..."
7728235
7728242 Awww, you beat me to it!
7728258 She's actually levitating the entire world downwards. Duh. At a constant 9.81 m/s/s.
7728235 now THAT is a Disney movie I could get behind.
7728275
I highly doubt that. I mean, how can I be expected to believe that when we haven't seen her throw even one roundhouse kick?
I love how he told them the truth, but they just don't believe it.
7728258
She's probably got a whole different state of mind about the whole thing.
That said, Sumac could just ask how she does it.
Seatbelts are important!
No explosions?
COME ON!
When Sumac finally owns up!
mlpforums.com/uploads/post_images/img-2641208-1-552554__safe_animated_lyra_vinyl%20scratch_octavia_upvotes%20galore_bon%20bon_dj%20pon-dash-3_lyra%20heartstrings_octavia%20melody.gif
7728368
I can't tell, but is that a pleased music pone, or an amused music pone?
Sumac, Sumac, Sumac…
Magic is as magic does. Except when it doesn't. Or isn't.
Bonkle.
7728258
The air around her perhaps?
So, Sumac, have you obtained "preferred customer" status yet at the infirmary?
7728432 I think Vi is visualising his accident, soon to be dubbed the 'Sumac Suey Dive'!
7728589 He's racking up the frequent flier points, he has a 'staple diet' of visits.
Isn't Sumac a little young to have staples in his head?
Silly Sumac. Good life lesson to learn is this.
You don't get much without asking for it.
And Sumac, you got a friend that knows how to do what you want to learn. Or is she still out cold?
Boomer (if present) would later absolutely insist that Sumac's head made the sound of a hollow coconut when he fell.
7728589
Sumac: I'm working on it. Fillies dig scars, right? Ow, this hurts.
7728332 Asking would take the fun out of it.
7728748
I think I just heard all of the females in your life sighing heavily followed by a few facehoofs. You'll go far, kid. you'll go far.
7728758
(The author would like to note that the CMC survived mostly intact. Sumac too, might encounter some tree sap)
Do does Starlight have something invisible, like a brace she lifts? Or is there a different spell for lifting yourself? So many questions!
7728589 Miles Card. Gather 100 stitches and gain a free shoulder realignment...
7728833 Well in SOME Tabletop RPGs lifting OTHER things = Telekinesis. Lifting YOURSELF = Flight. So it's possible he doesn't have the necessary abilities for it.
Sumac on Flying Carpet?
I could get behind that.
'his magic sense'?
7728642
Oh it's a gif. Living in the sticks meant I just got the 1st image. So definitely an amused music pone.
7729640
Caramel with rock salt.
Hey Pebble, how would you feel about Sumac getting a flying carp- wait, dumb question. How would you feel about Sumac getting a magical carpet that can go to the deepest reaches of the ocean? Also, for the sake if amusing me regarding Sumac's comment on fillies digging scars; do you think Sumac would look more attractive with scars?
7729683
Pebble: I swear, I'm going to burrito that dumdum in bubble wrap.
Enjoyed this chapter and the last one. Highly entertaining foalish antics! :D
I think Vinyl needs to knock the stupid out of him.
Just saying.
7730703 Let's settle on Prince Sunsmooch. Or Moonsmooch, according to context.
7730699
Tarnish and Maud survived multiple violent permenantly scarring scenarios.
Vinyl had a BUILDING dropped on her and Octavia is a support herdsmemember.
Main characters in Kudz's stories usually suffer, and rarely does he do what we expect.
If the angry messages and comment sections are any proof.
Sumac needs to learn the sticky hooves spell
7728996 only if ya wanted ta get hit when he fell off XD
7728258 if ya look during the show she's in a bubble, maybe a pony resists their own magic affecting them directly in dangerous ways so what she's doing is casting a shield bubble and lifting THAT.
7732648
This is actually my theory. She's casting a shield around herself and then hitting that shield with telekinesis.
7732770
Or she's wearing horseshoes, and lifting those.
TK surfing!
I feel for Sumac, I got my head busted open when I was five too. Seven staples, three stitches and a whole lot of recovery time. I'm envious of the little guy, the day I got my scar was almost the day I died....
AAAAAAARABIAAAN COOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLT!
Instead of pulling against yourself, push against the ground.