Chapter 44
Canterlot. Canterlot Castle! Sumac ignored the gasps, cries, whinnies, and the retching he heard so he could focus more upon the fantastic sights all around him. Beneath the snows of winter, Canterlot was a beautiful place, so much so that it took his breath away and left him in a state of wide-eyed wonder. The unicorn guards, white ponies in gold armor, had thin red stripes on their horns to make them look like candy canes. Ginormous holiday decorations abounded. In the distance, the hedge maze appeared to be made out of gingerbread, a feast laid out for giants.
How could anything be more perfect?
For perhaps the first time, Sumac understood the appeal of the Royal Family, swept up in the moment as he was. They had a perfect life—a perfect, happy, wonderful, storybook life—and lived in a beautiful jewel of a city. Celestia was tall, calm, reserved, and her smile was welcoming. Gosling was strutting about, grinning, making others feel at ease. Princess Luna stood with a curious smile and a merry twinkle could be seen in her eyes.
“It’s all so beautiful…”
“Pebble?” Though he had trouble standing, Sumac somehow managed to turn and look at his friend, who stood beside him.
“This is a different place in winter,” the awestruck filly said in a frozen deadpan while her eyes went from place to place. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Before Sumac could respond in any sort of meaningful way, Gosling strode forward and addressed the crowd in a smooth, soul-jarring baritone that caused quite a few mares and even a few stallions to have weak, wobbly knees.
“Ladies… gentleponies… but especially you fine looking ladies that give life to a party… welcome to Canterlot Castle. It is my exquisite pleasure to have you here today as my guests. Thank you for joining me, because I intend to make this a big deal. We’re making history tonight, all of us, and for all of you that came, for all of you that braved the storm, you have my most sincere and heartfelt thanks. Especially you ladies.” His silken, electric words were punctuated with a flirty, exaggerated wink.
A mare fainted dead away into the snow and a guard rushed over to assist her.
“For all you fellas… do me a solid and see that your special somepony has a magical night to remember. Let’s make this the most magical night of the year. Can you help me?” Gosling clucked his tongue and then feathergunned the crowd, an action that made Princess Celestia cringe, but also caused another mare to topple over into the snow.
“Gosling, put those away before the hospital becomes overcrowded,” Princess Celestia said to the pegasus prince. Then, with a warm smile that drove away winter’s chill, she beamed at the crowd. “This is, indeed, a most important night, a celebration long overdue. Thank you, all of you, for coming to celebrate my sister’s sacred night. It means a great deal to me, and you have my gratitude.”
“The importance of the night was never forgotten, even if Princess Luna was.” A young earth pony mare shuffled in the snow, her mane windswept and her nose a little snotty from the bitter cold. “Why, as far back as I can remember as a filly, this was our night as earth ponies and it was more important to us than Hearth’s Warming.”
Princess Luna had gone still, save for the wavy haze of her mane and tail.
Before an awkward silence could take hold, Princess Celestia rescued the situation. “Come inside, all of you, so that you can get warmed up. Have some hot cocoa. Please, sample our hospitality. You are our guests and we are so pleased to have you join with us on this most special of nights.”
Having been abducted by Princess Cadance, Sumac found himself taken down a hallway, along with Pebble and Limestone—Limestone, who had been given foalsitter duties. Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Trixie needed time to get ready for this evening. Now, Sumac was being taken to someplace safe and out of the way.
A door opened and a humming Prince Shining Armor joined them. Pebble fell into step beside him, walking double time to keep up with him, and Sumac could not help but notice how uncomfortable Limestone was. The poor farm pony was out of her element and seemed quite bewildered. Normally a chatterbox, Limestone was oddly subdued and quiet.
“Look, Shiny, I have a sorcerer for us,” Princess Cadance said to her husband.
“Mmm-hmm.” Prince Shining Armor nodded while murmuring his reply.
“He has cute little socks.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Try as he might, Sumac still couldn’t see them.
“Are we going to be locked away in a room for our own good?” Pebble asked while she looked up at Prince Shining Armor with narrowed eyes.
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Too many strangers currently about.” Princess Cadance lifted her head high and let out a worried huff. “Too much chaos. It’s too fine an opportunity. Right now, Princess Celestia’s Immortal Solars are arranging a non-intrusive security detail so that you and your parents can enjoy tonight, free of worry. But for now, while it is still day, you must be watched over. It would probably be best if you took a nap while you have the chance so you’ll have some pep in your step for tonight.”
There were worse prisons to be locked away in. Perhaps he and Pebble would be locked away in a tower. Boomer stirred beneath his poncho and he heard a faint yawn, which was followed by a smokey smell. The tiny fire-belcher awoke just in time to guard he and Pebble in the tower that they would be sharing for the next decade or so, at least until somepony came to rescue them. Perhaps Twinkleshine would charge the castle, but it would be awful if she had to fight the dragon. Blinking, Sumac decided that this flight of fancy wasn’t going anywhere and thought about something else.
There was a flash of orange and yellow when Boomer poked her head out. One eye looked in one direction, and the other eye checked out something else in the other direction, leaving Boomer with an unhinged, demented look about her. Her tongue flicked out, licked one yellow eyeball, then the other, and was slurped up with a smokey hiss.
“Hi,” Boomer said, announcing her presence. Swivelling her eyes about, she brought them both to bear on the back of Princess Cadance’s head.
Looking down, Sumac tried to determine if Boomer had grown. Her body seemed to be the same as it was, maybe five six inches long at the most, but her tail was still hidden. For whatever reason, Boomer’s tail seemed to be growing out of control and was now at least three times her body length—maybe four. Boomer—not a pony—had a tremendous impact upon Sumac’s life and his current situation about being locked away in a tower for a decade or so was forgotten about while he considered his dragon.
“I miss having Spike around,” Prince Shining Armor said, his first actual sentence. He came to a sudden stop, turned, grinned, and gestured at a door. “We’re here.”
“Fluffalump!”
Sumac cringed at the embarrassing outburst and felt a searing pain in his neck that lasted for only a second before becoming a dull, burning ache. Prince Shining Armor surged forwards, his hooves clopping against the stone tile floor, and lifted a filly off of the ground so that he could lavish his affections upon her. Fluffalump burbled, spitting everywhere, and then let out a gleeful squeal when her father blew a raspberry against her stomach.
It was almost too much for an introvert to bear and Sumac cringed again.
“That is just disgusting,” Pebble deadpanned. She blushed as she turned away, her face turning a darker shade of brown. “What is it about fatherhood that makes a grown pony act this way? My father still does this to me. Shameful.”
Princess Cadance began to snicker and so did a stark white pegasus mare, who covered her mouth with her wing. Limestone too, joined in, but her laughter was hesitant, almost halting. After a moment, Limestone seemed to relax a little and her laughter didn’t seem quite so stifled. Sumac was put down upon a black and dark purple velvet sofa; much to his surprise, Princess Cadance kissed him before drawing away.
“This is Sleet, our esteemed nanny, and Flurry Heart.” Gesturing with her wing, Princess Cadance smiled. “Sleet, this is Limestone, Sumac, Boomer, and Pebble.” Turning, she looked Sumac right in the eye and her face became quite stern. “I just know that you’ll be well behaved and won’t give Sleet any problems.”
“Dragon!” Flurry cried, and she broke free from her father’s magic with a crackle.
She hit the floor running, her stubby legs pounding a staccato rhythm against the tiles, and Boomer, sensing grave danger, made a break for it. The tiny dragon burst free from Sumac’s poncho, ran up the back of the sofa, lept, soared over the head of Flurry Heart, and then cannonballed right into the fireplace, where she took cover among the glowing embers.
“Oy vey.” Sleet sighed out this exclamation while rolling her eyes.
“Dragon?” Flurry rushed over to the fireplace and stopped just short of the roaring flames. Looking sad, dejected, she sat down with a huff and stared at the object of her desire, which was, for now, out of her reach.
“Flurry wants her own Spike,” Prince Shining Armor said while he watched his daughter. “She’s too little understand that Spike isn’t a pet. She wants her own dragon. Please, try to be patient with her. She’ll sort all of this out eventually.”
“Is it safe?” Sleet asked, looking apprehensive.
“Is what safe?” Prince Shining Armor replied.
“That… lizard.”
“Sleet… how shameful. You like Spike.” Princess Cadance clucked her tongue a few times while looking disappointed.
“I know Spike.” Sleet seemed miffed and she gestured at the dragon hiding in the fireplace. “And that is not a Spike. She’s different. I don’t know her. She’s strange.”
“Boomer is a pygmy tree dragon and she is every bit as smart and sociable as Spike, I assure you.” Princess Cadance scooped up Flurry, levitated her over to the sofa, and plopped her down beside Sumac. “She’s a baby, Sleet. Boomer’s probably in more danger from Flurry. Make certain that Flurry behaves. You know how she can be when she wants something. She has to understand that Boomer is not a toy. Today will be a learning experience.”
Sleet, still apprehensive, nodded but said nothing.
“Boomer isn’t a pet.” Sumac’s eyes darted around the room, going from adult to adult, pony to pony. “It’s hard to say what she is to me, but she’s not a pet.”
“Twily called Spike a pet for a while, but outgrew it.” Prince Shining Armor’s eyes now seemed distant, as if he was reminiscent. “She was little, I don’t think she knew better, and she was probably too young to fully understand everything. But as she grew a little older, things changed. She was Spike’s caretaker and as far as I know, they never quite sorted out their relationship. I’ve always seen it as an odd mix of mother and sister, but I’m certain that Twily feels different. Getting her to talk about it is the trick, though. She’s private and defensive about it.”
“Dragon?” Flurry rubbed her front hooves together and cast a pleading stare upon her father. “Dragon, please?”
“Sumac and Boomer have a bond,” Pebble said in a matter-of-fact deadpan. “Honestly, I think it is better if we don’t try to explain it. The fact of the matter is, Boomer is a dragon and Sumac is a pony. Both are very different creatures. Whatever bond that forms isn’t something that either dragons or ponies would have, under normal circumstances. This is not a natural occurrence, and as such, is special.”
“Oy vey, so smart.” Sleet’s eyebrow rose while the corners of her mouth pulled downward into a frown of concentration.
“The world is getting smaller,” Prince Shining Armor said while staring into the fire. “In some parts of the world, wild dragon habitats are shrinking. Some come and live in cities. I think it’s great that we can live together. There’s problems though. Dragons and ponies are very different creatures. I would like to think that, when Spike grows older, he’ll be able to address these issues and offer solutions. Even though I worry about his acceptance by other dragons due to how he was raised, I am hopeful that solutions beneficial to both species can be reached.”
“Am I helping to do that?” Sumac asked.
“Yes,” Sleet replied before Prince Shining Armor had a chance to do so. “And you’re such a good colt for doing so. This sounds like an important duty. I bet your mother is proud.”
“I have three of them.” Turning his head a little, Sumac looked Sleet in the eye.
“It’s very hard on a colt to have three mothers, oy vey.” The snowy white pegasus rolled her eyes. “Was terrible on Gosling to just have one mother. A colt could just die with three. You poor dear… you’ll be under so much pressure. Three times the disappointment when something goes awry. How awful.”
This gave Sumac pause; disappointing one mother was bad enough, but three?
“Speaking of which, I have to go and speak with those three mothers. My services are needed. There are some things to sort out before the wedding.” Saying nothing else, Princess Cadance vanished with a crackle of aetherfire and was gone.
“Security won’t secure itself.” Prince Shining Armor sighed out the words, and then he too, vanished, leaving behind the stench of ozone.
“Who wants to hear a story?” Sleet said to the foals in her care. “Gather round, little ones, and I’ll tell you a story. Afterwards, maybe a nice nap, yes?”
“I like stories. Will it have history?” Sumac’s ears rose, expectant.
“Oh yes, it will be about real ponies, and a dragon,” Sleet replied.
At long last, Limestone relaxed and sat down, though she was quite careful with the furniture. Pebble crawled up beside Limestone, curled up against her aunt, and waited for Sleet to begin her story. Flurry Heart settled down while giving her nanny an adoring, worshipful stare. Boomer, cautious, crept out of the fire and waited upon the hearth to see if it was safe to emerge.
“This is a story about the First Tribes, and a silver dragon named Chromium…”
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I find myself absurdly happy that Shining Armor called Flurry Heart Fluffalump her whole life, & not just later on
Maybe not the story we are going to hear, but it was hilarious!
8939293
My father's dog Buster climbed trees with my brother and I when we were boys. As a result, I find myself defensive of a dog's right to climb trees.
cdn.drawception.com/images/panels/2017/4-29/asg1jZXeN9-8.png
What about the big old ones? Do they just buy a city block with their vast pile pies of gold, lie down on it, pay someone to build a turbine generator and a carbon scrubber over their nose and sell the electricity generated while they sleep, to be deposited into a numbered account for collection on their waking up?
Waitasecond. Chromium?
*Goes to another fic to confirm something.
I KNEW IT! Chromium is the Dragon who Shēdo got Conifer from. Seems he has something to do with the First Tribes. Were some of the ponies from the First Tribes his possessions as well which he imparted his knowledge upon to flaunt his true wealth in the past?
8939318
That actually sounds amazing.
Heckin' good stuff, say I.
I feel like Sumac's invisible socks are going to be a important plot point at some future moment.
Oooo, the first meeting of Sumac and Pebble with Flurry Heart?
Oh no.
So is this Flurry's first introduction into the timeline?
8944700
Nope.
... this better get explained out.
d1u5p3l4wpay3k.cloudfront.net/mtgsalvation_gamepedia/thumb/a/aa/Chromium_the_Mutable.jpg/300px-Chromium_the_Mutable.jpg?version=db47630d51c7abdd5b334636d07df43a
Among these are Paladia Mors, Vaevictus Asmadi, Nicol and Ugin. They were known as Elder Dragons.
I guess the tale of Chromium Rhuell works as he shapeshifts to a human form and lives amongst them for many years, but that (possible (probable)) reference caught me off guard.
Is the story of Chromium an MTG reference? I feel like it is.
Oh Sumac. How far you are from the truth.