Chapter 98
The kitchen was quiet, deserted, and everypony had gone to bed, save one who was troubled. Princess Luna had returned to Canterlot and Twilight Sparkle was alone in the kitchen, unable to sleep, her mind filled with far too many thoughts. Events were spiraling out of control, even as things seemed to be getting better. Ponyville had been attacked. Much of Equestria was still in shambles from the actions of Mister Mariner. There was a sorcerer to look after.
And now this.
Sighing, Twilight looked down at the scroll laying on the table in front of her. Spike had coughed it up a few hours ago and the contents frightened Twilight a great deal. Still in a state of disbelief and shock, Twilight lifted up the parchment scroll and read it again, her eyes lingering upon Celestia’s fine, looping script, and she was somewhat comforted by the familiar sight.
There has been a prison break. Catrina is believed to be responsible. Many dangerous criminals have escaped, including Flim, Flam, and Belladonna. Tell Trixie, as she needs to know, but do not tell Sumac, as he does not need to worry. This information is to be kept from him at all costs. C.
Rolling up the scroll, Twilight set it down upon the table. She had worried about this happening, and she had insisted that the prison in question get more guards, but as Twilight thought about it, if Catrina was responsible, more guards wouldn’t have done much good. Most of the active guard had gone to the southern expanses to deal with harpy incursions.
There just wasn’t enough protection to go around, and now it seemed, the enemy had found some much needed reinforcements, just as she had anticipated. An entire prison of dangerous unicorns, now emptied of its hazardous residents. The job of doing good just became a little bit more difficult, and Twilight found it taxing to lift her flagging spirit on her own. She needed her friends and their reassurance. She found herself missing Pinkie Pie’s laughter the most at this moment.
Twilight found it funny how she had once second guessed so many of Celestia’s choices, wondering why her mentor made the choices she did, many decisions that Twilight had felt were foolish. Now, now she understood. After learning many hard lessons, Twilight now had a far greater appreciation for Celestia’s caution, wisdom, and optimism. More and more, Twilight found her own methods coming into alignment with Celestia’s, but she also had her own sense for doing things.
Sitting in the dim, dark kitchen, Twilight realised that she was becoming the leader that her mentor had hoped that she would be. She thought of her many successes, and also of some of her biggest failures, such as banishing Tarnish. Looking back, it seemed so obvious that she was under the influence, but everything was clearer when viewed with hindsight. She had owned her mistake though, made it right, she had grown, and now, Tarnish was one of her closest allies, one of her most valued associates, one of her strongest supporters, and a fast friend. If there was trouble, he was there, right along with the rest of her friends.
If only she could get Tarnish and Starlight to stop bickering. Twilight honestly did not understand why those two just couldn’t let things go and deal with one another for the sake of the greater good. There was too much at stake for squabbling and bickering. It was frustrating having to deal with the two of them and their constant, never ending feud.
Again, Twilight had more appreciation for her mentor, who no doubt had to deal with many petty squabbles amongst her favoured movers and shakers. How Celestia managed to do it with so much grace and aplomb mystified Twilight. She crushed the scroll down into a tiny wad, and then vanished it with her magic.
“Twilight?”
The sorcerer himself. Twilight’s ears perked up and she looked at Sumac, who stood in the entryway. His glasses were askew, his mane was messy, and he shivered, no doubt feeling the cold after being in a warm bed. He was cute in the way that all foals were cute, and oh so very vulnerable.
“I had bad dreams… falling… I’m thirsty.”
Twilight responded with effortless ease. Her magic pulled out two glasses, she fetched some milk from the fridge, and there was chocolate powder in the cupboard. A spoon was pulled from a drawer, and everything was set down on the table in front of her. She began making chocolate milk and thought of Discord.
“Can I have something to eat?”
In silence, Twilight pulled out the remains of the chocolate cake, two plates, and two forks. Cake had everything a growing foal needed; grains, eggs, complex proteins, complex carbohydrates, it was perfect, or so Twilight’s sense of logic told her. There was about a third of the cake left and Twilight cut that third in half so she could split it with Sumac. She watched as Sumac climbed up into the chair across from her. He was so little, so fragile looking. As far as five year olds went, Sumac was on the smaller side, and Trixie had said that he was a runner, even with his short, stumpy legs.
She began making chocolate milk and was all too aware of the fact that Sumac was watching her every move. He was curious, too curious, he in fact, had a dangerous level of curiousity typically not found in most ponies, a curiousity aided by bravery. Ponies, by and large, tended to investigate things in groups, approaching the unknown as a unified whole. But not Sumac.
No, he was like a dangerous subset of ponies that Twilight knew, individuals, independent thinkers that had abandoned herd-think to make their own observations, ponies like Maud Pie. Maud had later been joined by Tarnish, and Tarnish was an individual due to circumstance, not necessarily by choice. A.K. Yearling was quite solitary in nature, but she had discovered the value of companionship with Tarnish and Rainbow Dash. Vinyl Scratch had eschewed traditional thought and value regarding magic, and was forging her own way, uncertain as it was.
Vinyl was creating a whole new school of thought as far as magic went, with her emotive evocations. Vinyl used music to alter her mood, she used her mood to alter her magic, and she used her magic to alter her music. Twilight wanted to know more, but there just hadn’t been time to ask.
“You’re quiet.”
Twilight blinked as she pulled the spoon out of the glass of chocolate milk and passed it to Sumac, along with a slice of cake. “I suppose I am, Sumac. How are you feeling? I’ve been worried. That was quite a scare, earlier.”
“I feel fine,” Sumac replied as he accepted his food and drink, “thank you.”
Feeling a strange new sense of affection, Twilight watched as the colt sipped his chocolate milk, being careful not to spill any. He was so cautious, so careful… he was mindful. Sumac was expressive, thoughtful, and kind, when he wasn’t being aggressive. These were all things that mattered a great deal to Twilight, they were meaningful things, treasured things—they were things that she would miss if they were somehow stolen away from Sumac.
Twilight thought of Luna’s story about the sorceress and felt her anger kindle with an uncomfortable heat. The bases of her ears burned and the underside of her wings felt a bit too warm for comfort. Sumac was more than a battery, more than a mere focusing device, Sumac was… her nephew. Well, in a sense. He was her half-sister’s adopted son, but her nephew if one just swept away the confusing complications.
“How’s your head, Sumac? Where you bumped it when you fell?”
“Itchy.” Sumac licked the chocolate milk from his upper lip and armed himself with a long, silver fork so that he might eat his cake.
Twilight, who noticed things, who had a tendency to catalogue everything she observed, could not help but notice that he held his fork off to his left side with his telekinesis. It was one of his many quirks that she found so endearing, so meaningful. It was like Fluttershy’s soft smile, Rainbow Dash’s scratchy voice, or Rarity’s constant craving for theatrical drama. Pinkie Pie had her laughter and her irrepressible cheerfulness without end.
And then there was Applejack and her wisdom. Twilight knew that she depended on that a great deal. Applejack had sensible, practical solutions, and could see things in a way that Twilight just couldn’t. Applejack covered Twilight’s blindspots. It had been Applejack who had come up with so much of the plan involving Sumac.
“Ready to go home, Sumac?”
“Yeah.” Sumac nodded. “I miss Pebble.” He crammed a forkful of chocolate cake into his mouth and began chewing, his little cheeks bulging like a chipmunk.
As she watched him eating, Twilight realised that she wanted to watch him grow. She wanted to see him develop, she wanted to know how he turned out. Meeting him, getting to know him, it was like reading the first book in a series. She had to know how his story turned out. A growing sense of worry plagued the back of her mind.
It was at that moment that Twilight truly understood a small part of what it meant to be Celestia—she got to see how so many stories ended. She got to read a book, to watch a life, from beginning to end. She got to see the many plot twists, unknowns, and shocking turnabouts. Sumac was a very precious book to her… and Twilight knew that in turn, she was a very precious book to her mentor, Celestia. She understood now more than ever why Celestia had such a vested interest in helping so many.
If the book ended too soon, the story was over. That was it. Each life was a story that could only be read once, and after that, all one had left was the memories of the story itself. Every life, every story, was sacred. Twilight felt her body begin to tremble as the full weight of her revelation settled into her mind.
There were so many important questions… would Sumac end up with Pebble? What career would he choose? What kind of big brother might he be? Would he live long enough to have all of these questions resolved. Twilight’s worry became a frantic, caged animal in the back of her mind, and she thought to herself, Am I having a Celestia moment?
“I’ll be taking you home soon,” Twilight said to Sumac, “and you’ll be able to see Pebble. School will continue. The routine will resume and everything will be fine. Moondancer is looking forwards to spending time with you and I know that Vinyl has some plans for you.”
“One time,” Sumac said to Twilight after he swallowed, “Trixie and I were travelling on the road. We were heading north, going up along the west coast.” Sumac paused, took a drink of chocolate milk, swallowed, and continued, “One day, a feral storm blew in off of the ocean, and there was lots of lightning, and everything got real scary. I don’t remember how old I was.”
Filled with anticipation, Twilight waited, as she loved a good story.
“The lightning hit the trees and in no time at all, everything was on fire. All around us, the woods were burning, the wild animals were all running, trying to get away, and everything got real scary. I started crying, because I thought I was gonna die. I didn’t want to burn to death. It was hot and real hard to breathe.”
Twilight could feel sweat trickling down the back of her scalp.
“And Trixie told me that everything would be okay, because she was the Great and Powerful Trixie. She cast a spell on me, on the wagon, and on herself. She had to carry me, because I was so scared that I couldn’t keep walking. Somehow, we walked through the flames, and we did not burn. I can remember being in the middle of the fire as it burned on both sides of the road. I can remember the fire touching me, but not burning me.”
“That sounds pretty scary, Sumac.”
“It was hot, it was miserable, it was awful, but everything was okay. We walked through the fire and we didn’t burn… because she really was the Great and Powerful Trixie. She kept telling me that everything was going to be okay and that I would be fine.” Sumac, ears drooping, took another drink of chocolate milk.
Twilight waited, wondering if Sumac was going somewhere with this.
“Right now, it feels like it did back then,” Sumac said, continuing, “everything's on fire, everything is scary, it feels like I couldn’t possibly get through everything that is going on.” The colt paused and licked the edge of his glass of chocolate milk, cleaning away a few fat droplets. “I’m probably going to get really scared at some point, and then I’ll have to be carried. But there is one thing I know that makes everything a little better.”
“And what’s that, Sumac?”
“I have a Great and Powerful Mama.”
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Believe or not Twilight, abuse victims tend to resent their tormentors for a long time.
Damnit! Who let those feels in here?
I wanna add something meaningful, but I don't know what to say, so I'll just say I
likelove it.vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/tomska/images/7/77/I_LOVE_IT.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131127110654
Twilight like Celestia the eternal optimist. how many succeses has she seen compared to how many failures. There is a good chance the successes mean so much than the failures and she doesn't want to dwell on the failures especially considering her life span
*sniff* Darn it, Kudz.
Too much cute, Kudz. Because of you and ypur stories, I migt vegin to think I have a heart.
>In silence, Twilight pulled out the remains of the chocolate cake, two plates, and two forks. Cake had everything a growing foal needed; grains, eggs, complex proteins, complex carbohydrates, it was perfect, or so Twilight’s sense of logic told her.
7763278 SNERK "You have to be careful with eggs?" - Bill
Yes. Faith in Twilight restored. This was a beautiful chapter of realizations.
Sumac in coming episodes, including his insides.
cdn.wegotthiscovered.com/wp-content/uploads/Southpaw2.jpg
Noted.
7763369
Link dead.
I loved-
7763278 beat me to it...
But yes, very strong chapter, and more insight on Celestia.
I feel this story is reaching its end. And hey! No one died this time.
7763373 That's weird, oh well this one then.
images.indianexpress.com/2015/07/southpaw-759.jpg
7763365 From this? I thought you had standards
As heavy and comforting as a warm embrace. Well done.
KudzuhaikuNow line up readers, do you all have your permission slips signed and ready before we leave on this feels trip?
Laughter FallsOh no, I didn't even pack a lunch
7763402
This mini story within a story is reaching it's end.
The story itself still has a small ways to go. There's another wedding, stuff with Spike and Boomer, and most of the whole cast dying.
7763815 oh, well that's good to- wait.
...
I don't think we are going to have a Chronicles of Narnia ending, and that doesn't seem very pleasing.
DAMNIT KUDZ! Why you say stuff like this? It's one thing to surprisingly kill someone i know an love, but to let me know it will happen, you're becoming Heath Leger's Joker at this rate.
7763822
Rated E story. Everything will be fine. Until they aren't.
7763828 Yes yes, no one dies, until they do.
Yup, you are becoming Heath Leger's Joker.
Catrina desperately needs to get kerbal'd onto a solar escape trajectory already.
d'aaaaw
7763853
#1 Twilight, you're being a TOTAL IDIOT, MORON, etc. when it comes to feeling Guilty for Banishing Tarnished Teapot. There was soooooo much good that came out of that, that NEVER would have happened if he stayed in Ponyville. That wasn't a mistake that was Destiny calling him to Greatness. I mean just having his relationship with his Mom being repaired, that ALONE was worth it.
#2 DAT ENDING! <3
God dammit i really needed to focus to not start crying at that ending.
7763815
Wedding.....
Spike and Boomer.....
Cast dying.....
soooo when is twilight gonna find out the correlation between books and the stories of ponies lives?
pony=book
s books
s ponies
twilight
therefor
twilight
7764887
She just did in this chapter?
7764955
the base for the theory is down
and all the correlations have been made
but the epiphany was shrouded by a Celistia moment
7766252
I'll have to look into that, it's been awhile since I did my dive into angelology (totally sounds better as seraphology...) and it was based more on the study of the choirs than interactions with humans.
7763736
I'm pretty sure this picture has been posted on one of these stories, but it applies here too.
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/715/693/bb7.png
My eyes are still misty, but I can't stop smiling. It's a strange sensation that I don't feel often.
This chapter. THIS CHAPTER.
I know a lot of people are focusing on Twilight finding a "new reason" to protect her ponies and that link with Celestia, but something else jumped out at me as well.
I wish we could get some of this in the show canon. Celestia seems to make a lot of questionable decisions, but we never get the whole story. "It's a test." Those words explain so much and so little, and I want to see what's actually going on behind the throne...
Uh... because there was a whole chapter dedicated to describing how Starlight had basically raped him. Ya know, that one crime that some would argue is worse than murder.
I wonder if Sumac'll become a necromancer when he eventually confronts grogar with the party of heros. Sumac is the party bard, if you will.
You are right to say that this is a great chapter/Twilight moment. Her thoughts fit her character yet it somehow aligns with Celestia's thought as well in the Weedverse.