Chapter 15
Mischief. Mischief was a universal constant; doubly so for young foals experiencing boredom. And so it was for Sumac, who had a quick, intelligent mind as well as having a natural inclination for mischief. Among some ponies, turning to mischief was conceivable, while turning to evil was some vast, nebulous, inconceivable concept. There were those who told their foals that Nightmare Moon had turned to mischief, because it was easier to believe that there was great mischief in the world rather than great evil. After all, Nightmare Moon had been forgiven for her great mischief, had been redeemed, and was Princess Luna once more.
A long day was winding down, turning into a pleasant winter evening. The darkness, arriving early, brought with it fierce wind and cold, but the house was sturdy, and there were plenty of stout, fuzzy bodies to get warm with. A roaring fire burned in the grate, and sparks rose, dancing on whirling eddies of superheated current. It was, as many prairie intellectuals might have noticed, an environment conducive to the study of physics.
It was that dreadful time of the day when little foals went to bed soon, therefore, that meant doing nothing exciting, and thus, facing the great long nothing before bedtime. A camp of sorts had been struck in the living room, which was almost, but not quite, warm. Oh, it wasn’t cold enough to freeze, but the house was old, it hadn’t always been a house, and everything had a tendency to be a little chilly. A blanket became a source of great luxury, along with sweaters, smoking jackets, robes, fuzzy wool hats, or, as mentioned, a warm, consenting body to snuggle.
The great long nothing before bed was wearing down poor Sumac, who had faced far too much boredom lately. Sensation and movement were returning to his body, to his limbs, and was doing so in a manner most rapid. Firelight reflected in his round teashades, and his light, silken mane rustled in the waves of radiant heat that flowed from the fireplace. Beside him, Pebble was being studious and was reading one of the books written by her mother.
As it turned out, Maud wrote in deadpan as well.
With nothing left to do but stare down his own boredom, Sumac shone a spot on the wall, employing ‘spot on the wall’ variety of magic. It was rather mundane, all things considered, and nothing exciting, or so Sumac thought, until Megara reacted. Whiskers quivering, Megara the Lioness seemed to take great offense to the spot on the wall. She rose from her place, her body tense, rigid, and the hairs along her spine rose into a bristling ridge.
The hiss she made was rather scary—it was, indeed, shiver inducing—and she began to stalk the spot on the wall, which Sumac moved. Megara’s head whipped around, reorienting, re-acquiring her target, and Octavia began to snicker from behind the hoof she held up to her lips. What great power had he discovered? Sumac was enthralled by what he witnessed. There was a thump when Maud closed the book she was reading, put it down, and she began to watch Megara.
The spot on the wall zigzagged, and Megara reacted with a yowl. She raised one front paw, hissed again, and waved it at the spot, claws out, extended. What fearsome claws she had, this tiny lioness, this dreadful almost housebroken manticore spawn. Prodding Trixie in the ribs, Lemon Hearts got her attention, and Trixie awoke from her half-slumber with a snort. Now she too, was invested in the unfolding drama of the great hunt.
Sounding posh, Octavia provided some erudite narration. “Here we have the manticore spawn in its native habitat, the family room. See how she hunts her prey, the glowing spot on the wall. Let us observe what she does, shall we?” The dry, witty commentary was lost on most, but Pebble’s lips did quiver for a moment, almost becoming a smile. “Will there be bedlam? Gosh, I hope not.”
Pebble was a weird little filly, and she enjoyed watching Octavia’s narrated butterfly documentaries. Others used them to defeat insomnia.
Slapping the wall with her paw, Megara could not catch the swift-moving spot. She slapped and slapped, her tail twitching with offense, and a look of intense confusion could be seen upon her felinoid-equine face. The spot zoomed off, streaking along the wall, and stopped in another location. With a fierce, indignant yowl, she took off in hot pursuit, off to catch the elusive spot.
Lemon Hearts’ gentle voice could be heard over the crackle of the fire. “Sumac…”
The colt ignored her though, and continued to taunt the terrific hunter with the elusive, ever-moving spot. He was smiling now, almost laughing, and so were most of the adults. Megara moved like a pen creating poetry in fine cursive; she flowed, moving with what could only be described as feline grace. When the spot moved, she was on it in seconds, leaping and bounding over anything in her way.
Of course, things went wrong.
Sumac began to laugh, and his whole body shook, which caused the spot to go crazy. It zigged, it zagged, it shot left, it shot right, and it went all over the room, streaking in random directions. Megara, now unhinged, went right after it. Pebble, the smart one, dropped her book and scrambled for cover, leaving Sumac to his well deserved fate. Bounding away, she lept over the sofa, dove down behind it, and took cover while her new sister rampaged.
Boomer, following Pebble’s example, scurried beneath a chair.
“Die!” Claws out, Megara went for her foe, and her tail looked like a bottle scrub brush.
Twinkleshine let out a panicked cry, stood up on the sofa, and then with an impressive backflip, she joined Pebble in her place of relative safety. Vinyl fell apart, she clutched her sides and shook with silent, wheezing laughter. Octavia appeared quite concerned, and she was ready to defend Vinyl—who was exposed and helpless—should the need arise.
“Megara, behave,” Maud said, and was ignored.
When the spot appeared on the ceiling, Megara took a great, flying leap at it, made a swipe that left deep gashes in the decorative wooden ceiling panels, and then she came crashing down to the floor, almost landing on Sumac, who was now laughing like a lunatic. Lemon Hearts clutched Trixie, both mares were laughing, but this didn’t last long as they had to scramble for cover when Megara came charging in their direction.
“Oh… noodles!” Lemon Hearts swore while she scrambled out of the way.
“Yes, noodles!” Trixie cried as she was hefted up into the air by Lemon and thrown over the back of the sofa. By sheer luck, she had a soft cushion to land upon in her place of cover, as she came down atop Twinkleshine, smooshing her, and then a moment later, Lemon Hearts landed on top of her.
“Fancy meeting you here, Miss Lulamoon,” Twinkleshine remarked. “Nice of you to drop in.”
“Stop being so formal, we’re under attack!”
“Oui oui, mon capitaine!”
“There’s no need to weewee, it’s just a little manticore spawn going berserk because of my son!” Trixie sucked in a deep breath, and then shouted, “Sumac! Stop this at once before everything is destroyed!”
Behind the sofa, there was much giggling at all of the mentions of weewee.
The chaos peaked when Tarnish came storming into the room, looking a bit frantic. He paused in the doorway, taking in the whole of the situation, watching as his daughter went tearing around the room, trying to catch a tiny illuminated spot. Ears perking, legs stiffening, his neck extending, Tarnish took charge.
“What is going on in here? I step out to pinch a loaf and come back to this!”
Sumac focused on Tarnish, a terrible mistake. When the colt looked up at Tarnish, who stood in the doorway, the glowing spot stood out in high contrast against Tarnish’s chocolate pelt. There was a strange sound from Maud, a strange sound indeed, something that was almost, but not quite, a snort. Time seemed to stand still, and Megara coiled up, tensing, her tail lashing from side to side.
“Oh bother, it’ll be Sumac that kills me, it just doesn’t seem fair after everything else—OOOF!”
Tarnish never got to finish, because Megara plowed into him, her claws now retracted, trying to catch the ever-elusive spot. She toppled her father, slapping at his neck, trying to smoosh the spot, and when he was on the ground, she stepped on his face while she hunted, trying to find where the spot was now hiding.
“Meow?” Tail swishing, Megara stepped on her father’s face while she circled around, trying to find the hated spot, which had vanished. Confused, bewildered, she flopped over on her side, yowled, and began playing with her father’s mane instead, while also batting at his ears. “Where it go?” she asked her father while she slapped his ears around.
From behind the sofa, Pebble’s voice could be heard. “I think my mother almost laughed…”
“Are you mad?”
Leaning over the bed a bit, Octavia shook her head from side to side. “No, Sumac, I’m not mad. I don’t think anypony is angry.” Using her hoof, she smoothed out the blankets after having tucked the little ones into bed. She liked this—no, she adored this—and she knew that in about a year, she’d be tucking her own little one into bed.
“I got carried away,” Sumac said.
Octavia smiled, the sort of smile that patient earth ponies had. “That happens. No one got hurt, Maud almost laughed, and I think we’ll all cherish this memory as a family.”
Pebble yawned, wiggled around a bit, and snuggled closer to Megara. Octavia watched them, missing her own siblings; she missed her family back in Trottingham, but she had no desire to return there. A tightness manifested in her throat, accompanied by a pang of sadness. Longing as well as regret joined sadness, and Octavia let out a sigh.
“Are we a family?” Sumac asked.
Taken aback by the question, Octavia drew in a deep breath, and thought about the question. It was confusing, it was difficult to define what she and Vinyl shared with Tarnish and Maud, and now, after hearing Sumac’s question, she began to think of all of the things that they had endured together. Sumac’s foalnapping had almost destroyed Trixie, and it had been Tarnish who had stepped in to pick up the pieces, to lift her up, once more Tarnish had rescued Trixie when she was so distraught that not even Lemon Hearts or Twinkleshine could reach her.
“I used to think that I knew what a family was,” Octavia began as she leaned against the edge of the bed. She looked at Boomer, who looked up at her, then at Sumac, then at Pebble, and then at last, she looked at Megara. “I grew up in a very large one. A very traditional, conservative family. I was raised to believe in certain things, and to behave in a certain way. Back then, everything made sense. I didn’t have any great, complicated questions.”
Pebble replied, “But things changed.” It was not a question.
“I no longer know what a family is.” Octavia blinked, sighed, and her tail swished around her hind legs while she chose her next words. “I mean, I do know what a family is, don’t get me wrong, but what defines a family… these bonds we create… I don’t see any logical reason why I can’t love all of you as if you were my own. Why have restrictions? We’re herd animals, I suppose, and it is in our nature to come together.”
“But you do not fit in with the others.”
“No, Pebble, I do not.” After a moment, she added, “It’s a funny thing, when a pony no longer fits in with the greater herd. Perhaps that is what family is… we go off and find some lesser, smaller herd, some herd within the vast herd of equinity that accepts us for who and what we are.”
“Why wouldn’t somepony accept you?” Sumac asked.
“Oh, Sumac, that is very, very complicated, and not a good question to ask just before bed.” Octavia’s brows furrowed while she shook her head, and she clucked her tongue once. She was about to say more, when the door opened and somepony’s hooves clip-clopped against the stone floor. Turning, she saw Lemon Hearts.
“I know I said goodnight already, but I had to come and check in one last time.”
“They’re all safe and sound, Lemon.”
“I know, Octavia, but I… well, you know—”
“You worry.” Octavia’s head bobbed up and down in a prim nod. “We were just talking about family.”
“Oh, that’s complicated just before bed.” Lemon moved closer, her eyes were warm, vibrant, and she came to a stop pressed up against Octavia. “Maybe tomorrow, we’ll get a chance to talk about that. Now, go to bed, it’s getting late for little foals.”
“Sumac, no spots on the wall,” Octavia said.
“No spots, I promise. Not in bed.”
“Good.” There was another prim nod from Octavia. “Good night, you little rascals…”
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This would be a great scene to draw. If I only had a shred of artistic ability...
Tarnished will most likely be done in by a manticore. Probably one that falls on him from out of the sky for no apparent reason. The universe is just strange like that.
Why do I get the feeling that Sumac's laser pointer may be employed again later when Meg needs to be directed to attack a specific enemy?
now THIS is the chapter I have been waiting for, sumac invents the laser pointer.
Fun little family moment. Guess we know how to distract Megera now. good thing laser pointers aren't probably too common in Ponyville schools
8252062
Good thing there are no unicorns.
The Wipe-outs face off against Grogar at the end-times.
Sumac: "Go back to the shadow realm or I'll shine a spot on you"
Grogar: "Lol noob, that not how you play" (I have +10 poetic license)
*Megara attacks spot now stuck to Grogar*
Grogar flees back to the shadow realm, never to return
And now we know Megara's ultimate weakness.
Family is what you make of it, Sumac.
For those of you who know much about 40k, I'm imagining Sumac dressed in a T'au costume.
10/10 housecat fun.
turns out they beat grogar because sumac uses the sun and a lser pointer and smothers him under an army of manticores and other felines magical and otherwise.
8252104
Yes, Yes there is Dinky, and some of the other foals in twilight sparkles school for fantastic foals
8252359
Close they let sumac smite him removing his shields THEN the manticores get him
8252204 Also Sumac's ultimate weapon.
WMD Weapon of Manticore Disruption. (of heart)
8252916 There's a thought I didn't think of, a Mob of Manticores, stingy ooch!
8252062 Banned because of crashing Pegasi.
Dash temporarily blinded at critical moment.
static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Orbital_dfe9b3_2410111.jpg
8252916
Or they use that trick with Catrina
8252234
Fucking Marker lights. Again, an underrated comment from this lad.