The Crystal Cotillion is the social event of the year. Maybe even the century. It is a really, really big deal. Princess Flurry Heart wants nothing to do with it.
The Crystal Cotillion. Hobnobbing aristocrats, snooty nobles, and the upper crust of the upper crust. This strange and unfamiliar battlefield is where Flurry Heart finds herself fighting a war that she doesn't understand. Thankfully, she is not alone and there are allies who will come to her aid.
A crazed Vizard, Professor Egghead, and a perverted earth pony filly: these three are her only hope, her only chance at being free. Her enemies are many, including most of the aristocrats in attendance (whose views on society are one-thousand years out of date) and her younger sister, bratty little Princess Goody Fourshoes.
The dress looked itchy and Flurry Heart wanted nothing to do with it. It sat on the dressform in a state of near-completion, and she hated everything about it. Frills? Lace? Fabrics with weird, tuggy textures that would rub all of the wrong places? There was so much to hate about it that she didn’t know where to start. She didn’t want to wear the stupid dress to the stupid cotillion and she made her feelings known with a forlorn sigh.
“You know—”
Of course my sister has something to say, Flurry thought to herself with an accompanying huff.
“—you could try showing a little enthusiasm,” Skyla suggested in a voice filled with equal parts derision and saccharine.
In a mocking tone dripping with sarcasm, Flurry repeated, “You know, you could try showing a little enthusiasm, blah blah blah, I’m a bratty little sister and I like to lecture.”
With a deadpan expression, Skyla ignored her sister’s theatrics and went over to examine the gown on the dressform. “You should do what is right for the empire.” The filly took a moment to clear her throat and she also fixed her glasses so that she might examine the dress better. “This is a really big deal, Flurry. We need better relations with Lulamoon Hollow and Equestria at large. You’re making things worse.”
“You don’t know or understand half of what you are saying,” Flurry snapped while she rolled her eyes at her sister. “You’re just repeating stuff that Sunburst says so you can sound so smart and grown up. If you want to help the empire so much, why don’t you beg for an arranged marriage and be a lovely little doll for the aristocrats to play dress up with?”
“Maybe I will.” Skyla sniffed and focused on a hanging thread. It was obvious that she wanted to pull on it, but she didn’t. “Marrying somepony like Sumac wouldn’t be so bad. He’s kinda cute, he’s smart, and his mothers raised him to have some manners. I could do what was necessary for the Crystal Empire.”
“Yeah, but what about all of the ponies that aren’t Sumac? You might get somepony old and gross! Somepony mean! Somepony horrendous and gross… like Nuance! Skyla and Nuance! Smoochie smoochie! You could marry that disgusting little bedwetter and live happily ever after!”
Skyla shuddered so hard that her glasses fell off, and would have hit the floor if Flurry hadn’t caught them. The filly gagged, stuck her tongue out, and then stood there, making retching sounds. She shook her head from side to side for a short time, then whirled to face her older sibling.
“Daddy would protect me from having to marry old, gross ponies, and Nuance is my cousin and I don’t think Mommy and Daddy would make me marry him! I trust them to do the right thing and I don’t think they would do something to make me unhappy! You’re just gross, Flurry Fart!”
“Oh, shuddup, little Princess Goody Fourshoes!” Flurry, not done, sucked in a deep breath to get the lungful of air she needed to let her sister have it. “You’re such a suckup! You’re a spineless little suckup, Skyla! It’s always empire this, and empire that, and look at me, look at me, look how little I care about myself and I’ll do anything required of me!” With her lip curled back into a snarl, Flurry put her sister’s glasses down on a nearby table that was loaded down with measuring tapes, pincushions, pins, scissors, and scalloping shears.
“Maybe if you cared a little more, I wouldn’t have to try and overcome your shortcomings,” Skyla deadpanned in a voice that exuded calm authority. “We both know that you are the disappointment that I’ll spend the rest of my life making excuses for. I’ll have to get special stationary commissioned.”
Flurry’s eyes went wide, her mouth opened, and for a moment, it looked as though she might start hollering at her younger sibling. But she didn’t. Her lower jaw quivering, she just glared daggers at her sister for a time, then, without saying a word, she stormed out of the room, stomping every step of the way. There was no way to get away from her sister fast enough, and as she passed through the doorway, she gave her sibling a final rude tail flick in parting.
Though it was a sunny day, what appeared to be a steady rain fell into the small fountain filled with fish. Sniffling a bit, Flurry wiped her nose with her foreleg, leaving behind a shiny, glistening trail that would make her mother freak out if she saw it, and she wished that she could have some real privacy. Not that she minded Flash Sentry—he was nice and she trusted him as much as her mother trusted him—but right now, she just wanted to be alone so she could sulk without having to worry about what some other pony thought of her.
She was sick and tired of what other ponies thought of her, with the exception of her aunt, Twilight. Her aunt understood. Twilight got it and Flurry knew that she had her aunt’s much-treasured support. But everypony else? Tongues wagged, as the old saying went. The nobles and the aristocrats did not approve of her rough and tumble ways. Even though Twilight herself now recognised her as a princess, and had even said as much, others did not.
No, Flurry wasn’t prim and proper; she wasn’t genteel, soft-spoken, reserved, or refined. She didn’t have the grace that her sister Skyla seemed to have in abundance. Flurry liked being muddy, bloody, and in the thick of things. But this wasn’t seen as proper princessly behaviour. It seemed as though every aspect of her life brought nothing but the shame and disapproval of the ruling elite of the Crystal Empire. They wanted a princess, a paragon, they wanted another pink pillar of righteousness like her mother, Cadance. Every little thing that Flurry did was met with scrutiny and criticism. She hated it.
She had heard the whispers, the muted words exchanged in the background: Flurry needs to be tamed. Perhaps betrothal and marriage would set her straight. If one listened to the gossip long enough, one could determine that the aristocrats had already planned her life out for her, and had all manner of helpful suggestions to make her settle down.
Looking down at her own reflection, Flurry’s falling tears made circular ripples in the water, distorting her face and making her ugly. She felt ugly. But more than that, she felt angry. Already, she was considered rebellious, but rebellion just wasn’t enough. No, what Flurry wanted wasn’t just rebellion, what she wanted was revenge. But good fillies didn’t plan and plot revenge against the very ponies they were supposed to protect, because that wasn’t prim, proper, nor princessly.
Hearing hooves, she panicked and wondered if Flash was coming over to have a talk. She snorted, sucking in any boogers that might be visible, and then when she turned her head, she saw the pony that she least expected approaching her. Flash was still a respectful distance away, watching, waiting, and still as a statue.
“Dim,” Flurry said in greeting her tutor, teacher, and sometimes co-conspirator.
“You had a fight with your sister,” he said in a low voice that was difficult to hear to all but alicorn ears, and Flurry heard him just fine.
“Rotten little tattletale… she just had to rat me out, didn’t she? Oh, how I hate her sometimes.” Flurry shuddered with anger and wiped her face with her other foreleg, the one that wasn’t already shiny with snot.
“Oh, she didn’t tell on you,” Dim said and his whispery, somewhat reedy voice was like leaves rustling in the wind. “She came to Sunburst with her glasses shattered, having smashed them out of anger. I surmised on my own what had happened. Her telekinesis becomes faulty when she is angry and emotional.”
“I don’t want to do this… I don’t want any part of this stupid Crystal Cotillion. I don’t want to be forced to wear a stupid frilly dress and paraded around so the nobles can judge me and make plans for my future and I just don’t want to be their stupid princess and I—” Her barrel heaving, Flurry’s words came to an abrupt end and she clenched her teeth together. She blinked her red, bloodshot eyes once, then twice, and the muscles of her face quivered with rage.
“Dim,” she began, and her voice was scratchy, “I want them to rue the day they planned my future.”
“You want revenge, yes?”
“Yes.” Flurry hissed the word.
“I am not allowed to teach you about revenge, your mother would not approve—”
“I’ll pay you,” Flurry deadpanned, understanding all too well how this game was played.
“With the promise of payment, you have engaged my services.” Dim’s aristocratic voice was now professional and commanding. “Captain Sentry, leave us. This has become a private matter.”
“Oh, this is bad,” the captain muttered as he hurried away, shaking his head.
“Now, Flurry, you must understand, I will not move against your mother’s interests—”
“Yeah, yeah, just tell me what I need to know,” Flurry demanded as the flow of tears began to slow.
“Give them what they want. So much so that they regret having it.”
Flurry looked up at Dim, who was peering down at her through his thick smoked glass goggles. Her muzzle crinkled, her ears angled forwards, and her lower lip began to make an imperious protrusion. “Are you trying to use reverse psychology on me? I’m not paying for that.”
Dim chuckled, a sound that was not entirely wholesome, and the filly suffered an involuntary shiver. Flurry blinked at him while wondering what was so funny, and then she narrowed her eyes at him in an attempt to show him that she meant business. In a surprising move, Dim sat down beside her and began to dab her face with his cloak, which was something that she did not expect him to do. Dim was not known for compassion, or mercy, or anything considered ‘nice.’
In silence, he continued wiping her face and Flurry seemed to have no choice but to think about his words. Give them what they want. So much so that they regret having it. After a bit of contemplation, Flurry had an epiphany, and it was as if a proverbial light bulb was turned on inside of her head. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense, and she began to see the wisdom in Dim’s words.
“Ooooh…” Nodding, she reached the place where Dim wanted her to be, and his raspy, wheezy chuckles intensified. She began laughing too, and the wizard beside her elbowed her in the side. Understanding what needed to be done, Flurry did her best to imitate Dim’s unsettling chortles as the fish all swam to the other side of the pool.
Laughing together, Flurry began to see the shrewdness in Dim’s words.
Utilitarian smocks were sexy, and this confused poor Sumac to no end. Pebble was wearing what could only be described as a utilitarian smock, and this was sexy, but on the other hoof, her mother also wore utilitarian smocks—which caused Sumac no end of undesirable sexual curiousity. The very last thing that Sumac wanted to think about was the fact that Pebble had a hot mom.
But she did.
Sumac was at that age when every mare (or filly) had something appealing about them, like Rainbow Dash’s muscled thighs or Fluttershy’s generous leggy length—a length that he longed to rub his cheek along. Then there was the forbidden delights that he did his best to avoid thinking about, like Pinkie Pie’s ponderable pudge, which came pronking into his mind at all of the worst possible times to create unsettling awkward moments.
“Oh bother,” Pebble deadpanned, “not again.”
Hurrying, Sumac picked up the pace and hustled himself along. Now he too, could hear soft crying, and his ears stood erect as he drew nearer to the meeting spot, the place where he was supposed to meet up with Silver Lining. His hooves clopped along the flagstone path and his wings almost brushed the stone retaining wall where a shaped hedge grew. On the other side of the hedge where the shelter was, he could hear muffled sobbing, a sound that was growing all too common.
Coming around the corner, Sumac trotted up the steps to the covered park shelter and saw Silver Lining sitting at a picnic table at the far end. The colt walked with an exaggerated prance in his step—something he had learned from Big Mac of all ponies—and he saw the griffoness turning to look at him with teary eyes.
Being a griffoness, Silver Lining didn’t fit into furniture made for ponies. Over the course of the summer, she had suffered a tremendous growth spurt, as griffons matured faster than ponies, and was at the moment one of the most awkward looking creatures in existence. Like Pebble, Silver Lining was prone to drown her sorrows with food, and this led to an excess of bulk on her frame.
“Rejected?” Sumac asked, guessing the problem.
The griffoness nodded and her beak glistened with tears. “The postal service said I was too fat to join. I failed the physical exam and I got winded when flying the entrance course. My parents are going to be upset.”
Sighing, Sumac took a seat on the bench of the picnic table and Pebble sat down beside him. The griffoness rested her forelegs on the table and her head hung low. Sumac understood what it was like to feel pressure and he sympathised with Silver Lining. Her parents wanted her in some kind of apprenticeship or training position by summer’s end, and summer was ending. She had faced an entire summer of rejection, which had made her weight problems worse.
Sumac too, rested his forelegs upon the table and he sighed, a forlorn sound. Beside him, Pebble had her intense stare focused on Silver Lining and the filly appeared as though she was going to say something, but this something was going to take some time. No doubt, Pebble was choosing her words carefully, as the blunt, brutal approach didn’t work for Silver Lining.
“I’m fat, I’m clumsy, and I can’t fly because I’m scared of heights.” Crest drooping, Silver Lining toppled over and her beak slammed into the table. “I am ridden with social anxiety disorder and I start stuttering when I am around ponies I don’t know. I have no friends and it feels like nopony wants me—”
“Horseapples!” Sumac shouted and it was loud enough to echo in the covered park shelter. “You do have friends—”
“Yeah, the Weirdos, Rejects, and Losers’ Club.” The tip of Silver Lining’s beak was stuck in the wood of the table.
“Yes, the Weirdos, Rejects, and Losers’ Club,” Pebble deadpanned and she threw both of her forelegs up into the air with a snort. “The club that definitely isn’t your friends.”
“It hasn’t helped me get a job, or even get my beak into the door of a business. So far, all I’ve managed to do is earn a few coins foalsitting with Meg and that is the only reason why my parents have gone easy on me.”
Frowning, his face wrinkled with annoyance, the colt muttered, “The club does have an image problem, Pebble. Independent thinking is frowned upon—”
“And some of our members aren’t ponies, I know.” Pebble reached out and patted Silver Lining, who was now creating a puddle around the tip of her beak. “I am genuinely surprised that my sister even gets foalsitting jobs sometimes. Hi, I’m Megara, and I promise that I won’t gobble your young.”
“I gotta go home and face my parents and I don’t wanna.” Silver Lining tried to lift her head, but her beak was stuck. She tugged a few times, and then, with Pebble’s help, she yanked her beak free and held her head up. “I don’t want to hear my father telling me about how to apply myself or my mother saying that I just need to try harder. I can’t do it. The pressure is going to make me blow a gasket, I just know it.”
This was an awkward time for what Sumac had planned, and made all the more difficult by Silver Lining’s mood. Peering through his round spectacles, he studied his friend, watching her, taking note of her tawny hide and silvery white feathers. She was a subject that had many, many entries in the spank-bank and even now, Sumac could feel a heated adolescent arousal building, which left him hot under his wings.
Before he could become distracted, Sumac blurted out, “Hey, Silver, you wanna go to the Crystal Cotillion with Pebble and I?”
In response, the griffoness peeped and looked panicked. “What? What! Don’t you have a date? What about Flurry?”
“Sumac is going to the cotillon and he is bringing me as a guest,” Pebble explained, making an effort to smooth over Silver Lining’s proverbial feathers. “I am also his date, but it is complicated, and he refused to go if he couldn’t bring me along, even though he is expected to spend the cotillion with Flurry as her escort. To simplify things, do you want to be my date to the cotillion?”
“I’m pretty sure that my parents won’t let me go,” Silver Lining replied, and she shook her head. “I expect to be punished for my failure and I’ll probably be sentenced to filling out job applications in my room.”
“I bet I could talk your parents into it—”
“Sumac, you beige moron, Wormwood is immune to your charms.” Pebble’s head swiveled on her neck and she turned her powerful stare on Sumac. Reaching out, she booped the colt beside her on the nose, shook her head, and snorted.
“I don’t need my magic to talk Wormwood into this.” A little miffed, Sumac turned away from his fillyfriend and ignored her. When he looked at Silver Lining, his tongue went dry and stuck to the roof of his mouth. Maybe his bravado might get him into trouble, maybe not, but Silver Lining was worth it. Oh, was she ever worth it; her sleek, supple, tawny hide was worth a king’s ransom.
“How long have we been friends?” Sumac’s voice was little more than a high-pitched squeak, but he didn’t care right now, because he had a point to make.
“Since you came to Ponyville and settled down,” Silver Lining replied as she wiped at her eyes with her wings.
“I saw you doing that chicken disguise thing you did when you were little and it was the most amazing thing ever.” Sumac gulped and now the dryness from his tongue had crept into his throat. “We’ve been friends for a long time and we’ve been really close now for a while.”
“Sumac, I know where you are going with this, and you know how I feel. It feels awkward intruding into your relationship with Pebble.” Silver Lining turned away and her eyes seemed to focus on a distant water fountain.
“We’ve played spin the bottle together,” Sumac continued, and he felt torn because he knew the power of his words. How many words said would be too many? Had he already said too much? As the founding member of the Weirdos, Rejects, and Losers’ Club, Sumac actively avoided most ponies out of a fear of influencing them by accident. But Silver Lining was too precious to him to give up now.
“Because you didn’t have lips, we did a little a dry humping… do you remember?”
Still staring off into the distance, Silver Lining nodded.
“And later that night, you spied on Sumac while he was jerking off.” Pebble let out a chuckle and gave Sumac a nudge. “She and I laid in our sleeping bags and talked about it for half the night, Sumac, it was great.”
Embarrassed, this was his first time learning about this.
“She and I both rubbed one out that night after talking about you.” When Sumac was about to say something, Pebble nudged him into silence and kept going: “Made a mess in our sleeping bags and my mother was all snarky the next morning. Silver… you’re not intruding when you’re invited. I like you. Sumac likes you. Olive is leaving us soon and that throws everything into perspective. I don’t want to let Olive go, but she has plans. You on the other hoof”—the chocolate brown filly paused for a moment to let her words sink in— “you don’t seem to have a plan, so why not join our plan?”
Sumac let heave a sigh of relief, because Pebble had just saved him yet again.
Silver Lining turned to look at both Pebble and Sumac. “I couldn’t possibly—”
“Why not?” Pebble demanded before Sumac had a chance to open his mouth. “I’ve listened to you orgasm, Silver Lining. We’ve exchanged knowledge about technique and method—”
The griffoness let out a startled peep and then did her best to shrink. “Not so loud… my parents don’t know about any of that. As far as they know, that camping trip was innocent. If my parents find out, that’s it, no more camping trips with you.”
“I need to go visit the apple orchard,” Sumac muttered as he squirmed on the bench he was sitting on. His wings fluttered against his sides and without even thinking about it, he fanned himself with one of them.
“This is the part where everypony scatters and runs off to live their lives and the relationships of foalhood are ruined.” Pebble’s voice was a monotone, but there was something about it that conveyed a great deal of emotion. “Look, Silver Lining, Sumac can’t say much and you know why. But I know what he wants, and I know what I want, and so I aim to have it. Come to the Crystal Cotillion with us and let us make the most of this. Even if this can’t last forever, at least we can make the most of the time we have now before everything flies apart. This might be the last gasp of our foalhood or it could be just the beginning of something greater.”
“I would like to go…” Silver Lining’s words sounded more like an admission of defeat than joyous acknowledgment.
“By the way, you owe me snuggle-humps,” Pebble said to her friend. “If Sumac got them, then I should get them too. I still haven’t figured out which direction I go, but there is no harm in a few snuggle-humps.”
“Keep your voice down,” Silver Lining begged, “there are ponies right over there.”
There were, indeed, ponies right over there. Turning his head, Sumac saw Lyra and Bon Bon. Lyra wasn’t much to look at, but Bon Bon… Bon Bon was eye candy in both name and body. She was rounded, she was plush, and her backside was wider than her withers. The pair of mares were sitting on a bench and Sumac’s staring was interrupted by a rough elbowing from Pebble.
“Ow!”
“You’re a drooling moron,” Pebble said while she rolled her eyes.
“Am not!”
“What’s this?” Reaching out, Pebble wiped away a ribbon of slobber from her coltfriend’s chin with her fetlock. She held up the wet smear on her leg for Sumac to see and snorted in disgust. “It’s like you have some incurable disease or something.”
“I do,” he retorted in his own defense, “it’s called puberty and you have it too. Wanna go play doctor later? I keep experiencing stiffness, swelling, a fever, and runny discharge—OOMF!”
Reaching out with both forelegs, Pebble shoved Sumac away from her, snorted, rolled her eyes, and with a turn of her head, she glanced over at Silver Lining. “I’ll help with your parents. It is probably best if Sumac says very little. His words won’t work on Wormwood, but they will work on your mother, Gloomy, and this might set them to fighting if they disagree.”
“If you think you can convince my parents, I’ll go.” Silver Lining’s crest rose and she looked happier, though her bloodshot eyes gave her a somewhat manic looking appearance. “This still feels really awkward though. You two have this great and wonderful romance and I always feel like I am in the way. It’s strange, being around the two of you sometimes.”
“Come on, let’s go to the little fillies’ room, get you cleaned up, and then we’ll go and give your parents the bad news about your rejection together.” Pebble gave Sumac another shove because he was staring at Bon Bon again and she let out a petite snort. “I swear, Sumac, if you keep this up, I am going to give you a good sorting out.”
“I hope so,” he replied, not paying Pebble much attention, and only stopped staring when the filly and the griffoness got up from the table. “I’m going to run through the fountain… it’s really hot. I’m really hot. This is a really hot day. I’ll be waiting for both of you.”
“Stay out of trouble, Sumac.” Reaching across the table, Silver Lining tweaked the colt’s nose, which made him smile, and she let out a contented sigh. Her happiness turned to panic though and she blurted out, “I don’t have a dress!”
Always calm, the stoic Pebble held up her hoof. “Don’t worry about that, and you let me take care of it, okay? I’ve already planned ahead and had a dress made.”
The griffoness began to stammer and her beak clattered together: “But how… how… but you—”
“I am the future Lady of Lulamoon Hollow, and planning is expected of me.” For a moment, Pebble had an expression of unbearable smugness, but this faded back into her usual deadpan expression. “You know, instead of looking for a job or an apprenticeship, we should get you enrolled into a finishing school. I’ve already made plans for you.”
Little sisters were the bane of all existence and Flurry Heart thought about sending a letter to Auntie Celestia to express this. She would understand because she too, had a bratty younger sister. Of course, Flurry loved her sister, she did, really, but there were times when she just felt fed up over the issue of Skyla’s continued existence. The trouble started at birth, when everypony just had to fawn over the adorable newborn. Flurry couldn’t remember much from that time, other than she was peeved. About the only thing she remembered with any clarity was that her Uncle Gosling was there for her and tried to be her friend.
Rounding the corner, she took a few more steps towards the double doors and then threw them open so she could make her grand entrance for supper. Passing through the doorway, she let her wings unfurl and she strutted her stuff, because why not? Her long conversation with Dim had left her feeling better—she could face her bratty sister for certain—and she knew that she would blow her mother’s mind with what she had to say.
“You’re late,” Shining Armor said to his tardy-for-supper daughter.
“Hello to you too, Daddy.” Reaching the table, Flurry clambered up into a chair, sat down, and did her best to look as grown up as possible, while also ignoring her sister. Picking up her napkin, she gave it a flick to unfold it and then tossed it back down to the table in a wad, leaving it just the way she liked it. The fact it annoyed her sister to no end was a bonus.
“So, tell me, oh daughter of mine, when do we get the heartfelt and stirring speech about you leaving home to go and live with your aunts and your uncle?” Reaching out with her foreleg, Cadance took her husband’s fetlock into her own and gave it a squeeze.
Rolling her eyes, Flurry’s grown up facade crumbled and she let out an annoyed snort. “Actually, Mom, I’ll have you know that I’m ready to take my etiquette lessons seriously and I’ll stop sabotaging the dressmaker’s efforts—”
“What?” Her mother’s tone was curious and cool.
“Finally, my sister comes to her senses and will stop being an embarrassment to the entire family.” Skyla sounded relieved and she bounced in her chair to get a better view across the table. “Flurry—”
“That’s enough, Skyla.” Shining Armor silenced his daughter with a terse command. “Flurry, what game are you playing?”
“No game, Daddy.” Flurry did her best to sound as innocent and submissive as possible, just as her co-conspirator had instructed. “After thinking about it for a while, I understood that I have some obligations that I need to grow up and deal with. Maybe I’ll have fun with Sumac.”
“Well alright then.” Shining Armor let go a sigh of relief and smiled. “See Cadance, I told you that she would come to her senses. That’s because Flurry is Daddy’s little filly.”
There was a perverse shiver of glee that went pinging up Flurry’s spine when she saw the sour expression that appeared on Skyla’s face because of her father’s words. It was delightful and she took pleasure in watching her sibling squirm. She reveled in her sister’s discomfort and upset, finding that there was a sweet satisfaction to be had from it.
“So you are going to cooperate then?” Cadance asked while one perfect eyebrow arched.
“You sound like you don’t trust me.” Flurry poured herself a glass of water, lifted it, and gave her mother a dismissive look. Tipping her glass, she had a drink while maintaining eye contact.
“I don’t.” Cadance folded her hooves atop one another on the table in front of her, glanced at her husband, and then back at her daughter, Flurry. “Give up, Flurry. You’re not smart enough to carry a plot through to its end.”
I’m not, Flurry thought to herself, but Dim is, and he prepared me for this. She did her best to look disappointed, but not too disappointed, because she didn’t want her mother to catch on that she was acting. “Fine, you got me, there is something that I want,” she said, saying the words that Dim had coached her to speak.
“Ah-ha! There is my little filly that I know so well!” Cadance’s eyes narrowed and she lifted her hoof so she could make a gesture at her daughter. “Okay, out with it you little pink mercenary.”
Scowling, Skyla looked absolutely disgusted while Shining Armor’s lips pressed into a tight, straight line. Flurry remained silent, allowing the tension to build, and doing what she had been told to do. She pretended to be weighing her decision, hemming and hawing, and did her best to present a genuine look of concern.
“I want a luxurious ski vacation for me and the Wipe-Outs during winter break. One week. Minimal adult supervision. And I get to choose the adult who supervises.” She took another drink of water and then gave her mother a hard look. Now, it was just a matter of who blinked first and she settled in for a good long stare.
“Your bargaining position isn’t very—”
“Try me, Mom. Just try me. I’ll fly south where I have friends.”
“Flurry, don’t you dare make threats!”
“Then we have reason to bargain, Mom, so I don’t follow through with them.” Flurry maintained her calm while ignoring the distracting faces that her sibling was making. “Give me what I want and I’ll give you what you want. What is my cooperation worth to you?”
“Not a ski trip,” Cadance replied while shaking her head. “No way, Flurry. You… you will do as you are told, little Flurry Heart!”
“Well, what a sad, sad story I’ll have to tell the day I join the Underwatch—”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Cadance blinked once, then twice, and then her eyes narrowed.
“Pertinax mater irrumator praetores,” Flurry whispered, hoping to finish her mother off. She heard her father gasp, but she did not turn away and kept her eyes locked upon her mother. Now was not the time for distraction, not when there was a contest of wills to be settled. “My demands are reasonable. Me, my friends, and our ski lodge. Twilight is my chosen adult. Say yes and you get a pretty little princess doll to dress up and show off. Say no… and I’m going underground.”
Biting her lip, Cadance began to tap her two front hooves together, and she squirmed in her seat while considering Flurry’s offer. A minute or so passed, then another, and the seconds seemed to crawl on, stretching out like a prisoner on a rack. Banging her hooves against the table, Cadance made her response.
“Fine, but Twilight gets to bring Pinkie Pie and Seville!”
Hmm, Flurry thought to herself, this is exactly what Dim said would happen. Pinkie Pie had her Pinkie-Sense, but perhaps both Twilight and Seville could keep her occupied. Twilight could be distracted or misdirected. As for Seville, Flurry liked Seville because he kept to himself. He was practically her uncle and he could be managed in the same way that her Uncle Gosling could be managed.
“Okay, fine… I don’t like it one bit, but I guess I don’t have a choice.” While Flurry spoke, her mother let heave a breathy, ginormous sigh of relief and Flurry did her best to look crushed. Dim had told her to hard-sell her look of absolute defeat so that her mother’s pride would be engaged—it would leave her vulnerable to further suggestion.
“You know, for a moment there, I thought you were going to lose, Cadance.”
“Hush, Shining.” Cadance restored her focus and stared at her daughter unblinking.
Skyla’s head bobbed from side to side while she looked at both her mother and her big sister. She stuck her hoof into her mouth—a foalish habit—and began to gnaw on it. The little filly slumped down in her seat and her head almost vanished below the edge of the table. Her father nudged her, a gentle touch, and she did her best to sit up straight, to be the prim and proper little princess that her father believed her to be.
“One ski trip.” Cadance’s words were a heavy deadpan. “Consider your demands met.”
“Very well, Mom. You now have one obedient, compliant daughter who will do what she is told and will not complain. You will have your precious cotillion and I will be the belle of the ball. I’ll even let you take pictures, so that you may embarrass me later.”
“Oh, that’s generous, thank you, Flurry Heart.” Cadance gave her daughter a sincere smile. “I hope they hurry up with the food, I’m starving.”
In silence, Flurry Heart savoured her moment of victory.
There was little that Sumac could do but squirm while Wormwood paced back and forth. If the big nocturnal pegasus was upset about his daughter’s failure, he didn’t show it. Gloomy on the other hoof, was quite upset and had excused herself into the kitchen for a short time, leaving Sumac to wonder how things might have gone down had he and Pebble not been here when Silver Lining dropped the bad news. When Gloomy had returned to the room, it was pretty obvious that the lecture in waiting would be dropped like a bomb the moment that Pebble and Sumac were out the door.
“Sir, there is actually something I wish to speak to you about,” Pebble said to Wormwood as he paced through the narrow but long living room of the house he called home. “I would like to take Silver Lining to the Crystal Cotillion as my date.”
“Oh?” This made Wormwood stop in his tracks and he looked down at the filly in such a way that suggested that she had said something outrageous. “Now, why would I agree to that?”
“Because,” Pebble deadpanned in reply, “your daughter failed at something that can be sorted out if given enough time and you, you’re not cruel enough or stupid enough to rob her of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to punish her over something so petty. At least, I hope you’re not. I would be disappointed with you if you were, being the pillar of the community that you are.”
“Mmm, going right for the jugular.” Wormwood nodded and his fuzzy ears twitched. “I approve. Now, what might motivate you to act with such aggression…” His words trailed off and he extended one wing to rub his chin. “You’ve latched onto the throat, but can you score a kill, I wonder?”
For the first time, Sumac noticed the tension just hanging about and he felt Silver Lining grip his foreleg with her talons. On the couch beside him, she leaned over and her weight bore down on him, a sensation that he didn’t mind. Silver Lining was trembling and Sumac couldn’t blame her for being scared. Pebble might have bitten off more than she could chew, but there was little he could do but remain silent.
Pebble seemed to be blushing a darker, ruddier brown, and she kept her head pointed up at an odd angle to maintain eye contact with Wormwood—an impressive feat unto itself—evidence of haughty arrogance, brash confidence, or both. For Sumac, this was when Pebble was at her best and he loved her most; when she was crazy-brave, stubborn, and sticking her neck out just for the sake of doing so.
“She is one of my best friends and I am hoping that she can be something more.” Pebble’s voice wavered, her deadpan was gone, having fled her, and she sounded like a scared, insecure filly. “I am still coming to terms with losing Olive, a dear friend of mine, and this is a crazy, desperate bid to keep what is left of my foalhood friends together by making something a little more long term. So if you refuse, not only are you going to crush her, but me as well.”
Wormwood said nothing in return—in fact, he had no reaction at all—and Sumac was glad that it was Pebble doing the talking, because it seemed as though Silver Lining’s father was in the mood to strip souls bare. So far, Pebble hadn’t flinched and she dealt with Wormwood in the same way she dealt with every other adult in her life.
If only Sumac had looked over at Gloomy, he might have seen that she was reacting to the tension in the same way he was. She squirmed as though her insides were being tied into knots and her eyes were both troubled and hopeful. The mare’s ears kept rising and falling, like two pump handles, and if this kept up, there could be no doubt that water would come to flow.
“I want her to be more than a friend,” Pebble said to Wormwood. “I want a big family like the one I grew up in. Sumac is the Heir to Lulamoon Hollow and this is something I take seriously. I might even take it more seriously than he does. This is an opportunity like no other and I’ve worked very, very hard to make myself worthy of it. I want to make a difference. Lulamoon Hollow is a place where I can make a difference. But if I am going to pull this off, I know that I am going to need the help of my friends.”
With a measured turn of his head, Wormwood turned to look at his adopted daughter, and then in silence, considered her for a time. His face was a book written in some unknown language and it was impossible to read. Shifting his weight from the left to the right, he let out a rumbling sigh and stared at Silver Lining with what could only be described as paternal affection.
“You want a good future for your daughter and so do I.” Pebble also shifted her weight and she looked a little bit sweaty. “So we share a common cause and this familiarity gives us a platform for negotiation. I know how grown up all of this must sound and I am pretty sure that you are doubting me right now, but you are wrong to do that.” Emboldened, Pebble took a somewhat more hostile stance. “Never bet against an earth pony hoping to start a family.”
Wormwood said something at last: “That… that is something I trust.”
“All of Lulamoon Hollow will be my family,” Pebble continued and there was a hopeful tremulation in her voice. “I want to be a matriarch like the earth pony mares of old. I want those ponies to prosper. I want their success to be my success. I am competitive, I am ambitious, and I can be petty about it—I want to harness this and make it work for me and I want to be able to brag about how well off the ponies of my demesne are.”
“Therein lies truth, Pebble Pie.” Wormwood looked down at the filly, lowered his head, and stood nose to nose with her. “You might just be the most competitive pony I know. So that’s the game, eh? Competitive dynasty building?”
A furious blush overtook Pebble and she let out a squeak as she peered into Wormwood’s eyes. “I hate losing more than anything.”
“And having a poor peasant with nothing to show for all of their hard work… that would push you right over the edge, wouldn’t it?” Wormwood’s smooth voice was almost hypnotic and perhaps a little amused, having extracted some of Pebble’s secrets out of her.
“Like nothing else,” Pebble breathed in reply. “I would hate it. I can’t stand losing.”
“So, as a father, am I to understand that you and Sumac would be engaged in a competition to make my daughter happy?”
The words struck Sumac like a hearty slap in the face and he heard a gasp from Pebble. With a savage rip, the heart of the matter had just been exposed, laid bare, and the colt saw the truth of it all: Wormwood was looking after his daughter’s interests and was far, far more capable of ruthless exploitation than Pebble was. In fact, Pebble could learn a lesson from all of this, and it would be prudent for her to be taking notes. She was just learning how to play this game, and Wormwood was already an undisputed master of cold, calculating negotiation.
“I have something to say,” Gloomy blurted out and she began to rub her front hooves together. “All this talk of games and competition make me uncomfortable and I don’t like it! Sumac, Pebble, the both of you should know… little Silver has strong feelings for the two of you, I’ve sometimes snuck into her room and read her diaries and—”
“MOM!” Covering her face with her forelegs, Silver Lining flopped over on the couch and did her best to appear to be dead.
“What? I don’t care what you think of me right now! I’ll do anything to protect you… anything!” Gloomy’s voice rose in pitch and volume. “You are what is most dear to my heart… you’re my Silver Lining!” She stammered for a moment but found her words again so that she might continue to pour her heart out. “It’s not like she has options… there are no other griffons around and she’s so attached to both of you. It’s no wonder she feels the way she does. Why, she made it clear what she really wants—”
“Mom, no, Mom, nononono, Mom, please don’t say what I think you’re about to say! I wrote that in a fit of lovesick desperation!”
“No!” Silver Lining let out an ear piercing screech of protest and every ear in the room twitched in pain. With surprising speed, the chubby griffoness lept from the couch, bounded through the living room, bounced off the armchair, and then with her claws scratching against the wood, she vanished up the stairs with an alarming rapidity.
It was Pebble who recovered first and she stood there, blinking, regaining her senses. Looking up, she dared to face Wormwood’s gaze once more and cleared her throat to get his attention. “I’ve already had a dress made. As you have already no doubt figured out, I’ve been planning this for a while. I’ll let that be the evidence of how I feel about Silver Lining. Nothing else needs to be said.”
“Very well, you have my permission,” Wormwood said and he made a gesture at Gloomy. “And what about you, dear?”
“I can’t say no… but I worry. How I worry.” Gloomy’s voice cracked and all of her usual cheer seemed gone. “She wrote a story in her diary about having eggs with you. It is very revealing… she bared her heart in that story. I don’t know what normal griffon love is and Silver was raised around ponies, so I don’t think she knows either, and she is really scared and insecure and she wrote this beautiful, amazing story about looking after her eggs, how fragile they were, and how they symbolised all of her hopes and dreams and how easily everything could be broken and everything in those eggs would come to an end and it made me cry because it was just so beautiful and it made me think of when I looked after her egg and as her mother I just want her to be happy and I—”
Wormwood made a patient interjection: “Gloomy.”
Hearing her husband’s voice, the mare went silent and began to sniffle.
“See that my daughter has the time of her life,” Wormwood commanded.
“Will do,” was Pebble’s somewhat muddled response and she seemed shaken by everything that had been said.
“We’ll discuss some of these other issues later.” The nocturnal pegasus gestured at the stairs with his leathery, membranous wing. “Now, go on, both of you, go see if you can cheer her up while I try to sort her mother out. No funny business! I’m trusting you to behave yourselves in the privacy of my daughter’s room.”
Sumac nodded, bounced up off of the couch, and then bounded to the stairs, his hooves clattering on the hardwood floor. Pebble was just behind him, but she overtook him and shoved him out of the way so that she could be the first to go up the stairs. He bounced off of the wall with a thud, wobbled into the banister while regaining his senses, and had to scramble to keep his balance. It was fine for Pebble to go up the stairs first, because this gave him quite a view of her generous, ample backside.
“Mirror mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” With an almost shy sense of hesitation, Skyla peered into the mirror so that she could stare at her reflection. Of course, the mirror offered no answer, because this particular mirror wasn’t too magical. The little alicorn filly lifted up one short little leg and began to examine it while making a frustrated, unpleasant face.
“It gets better,” Flurry said to her sister while her younger sibling remained fixated on her image. “A few years ago when I was your age, I hated my short legs too and then I had a growth spurt. Stop worrying over nothing.”
“It’s not nothing,” Skyla huffed and she tossed her head around. “You and Mom are so leggy… Daddy keeps calling me his fuzzy little hoof rest and I hate it.” With her nostrils quivering, she turned away from the mirror and faced her bigger sister. “I want to be like you. You’re only a few years older than me but you are already as big as Sumac and Pebble and Megara and all of the others. You’re huge and I think in another year you’ll be bigger than Pebble.”
“Still hung up on size?” Flurry tossed herself down upon her bed, bounced, and came to rest in a nest of pillows. She wished that she was as big as Megara. “I don’t understand why you feel the need to be so big—”
“Because those who rule should also be the largest!” Skyla blurted out. “Just look at Auntie Celestia! Think about how wonderful it would be to be that big! To be able to look down upon all you survey! To be like a mother to all and to watch over them as if they were your foals.”
“You haven’t heard Auntie ranting about how much it sucks to be tall. Like that time that she and Uncle Goose broke the bed. She said that they just laid down to go to sleep and the bed broke. That really sucks eggs.”
Skyla hissed at her sister’s vulgarity, shook her head, and replied, “Auntie doesn’t know what she is talking about.” With a snort, the little filly with stubby legs returned her attention to the mirror, looking sad and forlorn. Blinking, she held up her foreleg again for both her and her reflection to inspect. After a moment, she began shaking her head from side to side, not liking what both her and her reflection saw. “There is no way that I’ll ever be tall and leggy.”
While her sister pouted, Flurry rolled over onto her back and prepared herself to face the day. Schooling, some etiquette lessons, and the afternoon would be spent finishing her dress. That was going to be… the worst. Standing on a wooden stool while the gown was fitted to her, being stuck with pins, and having to smell Perfect Measure’s stinky old-pony garlic breath.
“I’m sick of being a foal, this is awkward and unpleasant. I want this to be over.” Skyla stared into her reflection’s eyes with a pleading look and let heave yet another sigh. Both of her ears began twitching and then the very worst thing happened: her eyes went glassy with tears in the span of a single blink. “I want this to be over!” she whined, and then proceeded to have her morning meltdown.
Rolling her eyes, Flurry let out a huff and made an inviting gesture with her forelegs. “Come here, Skyla, and let me make it better.”
The smaller filly with stubby legs didn’t have to be told twice: she crossed the dividing line that separated the two halves of the room and lept over to her sister’s side. With another leap, a stumble, a bounce, and a little flap of her stubby wings, she launched herself into her sister’s bed. Flurry grunted when her sister cannonballed into her, but bore the rough affection without complaint.
Flurry knew the coming words by heart and shushed her sister before she could say them. Skyla wanted to prove herself as an alicorn and show her potential as a princess. Flurry understood—really, she did—because the instincts were too powerful and too commanding to ignore. No matter how strong either of them might be as princesses, the instincts would be stronger still, an authority that both of them would be forced to submit to. For Skyla, the pressure was getting to her, and Flurry worried for her sister even if she hated her for being a brat sometimes.
Reaching out with her magic, she opened up her music box—a gift from Sunburst and Starlight—and as the tinkly music began to play, the storm within Skyla peaked. Sighing with resignation, Flurry knew that she would be late for her lessons and would probably catch a lecture, but that was okay. With a vice-like grip, she squeezed her sobbing sibling and held on, determined to wait out the dreadful storm that was hurricane Skyla.
For now, the forecast called for a hard rain.
With what could only be described as a blank stare, Flurry focused upon the wall like a helpless halfwit. If she was a superhero, she would be the Witless Wonder, or maybe the Dippy Doltish Daft Horse, with extra emphasis on the horse. She felt that stupid. Instead of paying attention to her lessons or even thinking about the cotillion, little leggy Flurry Heart was fighting mud monsters again, her literal crowning achievement, the event that had her princess potential recognised by her Auntie Twilight.
Sunburst was droning on about something, but Flurry had lost track of the lesson long ago. She was so disconnected that she didn’t even notice Chartreuse and Chalcedony, her classmates in this particular lesson. Sunburst was holding up a book but Flurry failed to see what it was: in fact, Flurry failed to notice that she was failing, because there was going to be a test about this subject later.
“A pony is directly a natural being. As a natural being and as a living natural being he is on the one hoof endowed with natural powers, vital powers—he is an active natural being. These forces exist in him as tendencies and abilities—as instincts. On the other hoof, as a natural, corporeal, sensuous objective being he is a suffering, conditioned and limited creature, like animals and plants. That is to say, the objects of his instincts exist outside him, as objects independent of him; yet these objects are objects that he needs—essential objects, indispensable to the manifestation and confirmation of his essential powers. To say that a pony is a corporeal, living, real, sensuous, objective being full of natural vigour is to say that he has real, sensuous objects as the object of his being or of his life, or that he can only express his life in real, sensuous objects. To be objective, natural and sensuous, and at the same time to have object, nature and sense outside oneself, or oneself to be object, nature and sense for a third party, is one and the same thing.
“Hunger is a natural need; it therefore needs a nature outside itself, an object outside itself, in order to satisfy itself, to be stilled. Hunger is an acknowledged need of my body for an object existing outside it, indispensable to its integration and to the expression of its essential being. The sun is the object of the plant—an indispensable object to it, confirming its life—just as the plant is an object of the sun, being an expression of the life-awakening power of the sun, of the sun’s objective essential power.
“A being which does not have its nature outside itself is not a natural being, and plays no part in the system of nature. A being which has no object outside itself is not an objective being. A being which is not itself an object for some third being has no being for its object; i.e., it is not objectively related. Its being is not objective.
“A non-objective being is a non-being.”
A shimmering ribbon of drool dribbled from Flurry’s chin as her glazed-over eyes failed to even blink, and she was gone, just gone, her brain having excused itself from class and taking with it her chance at a passing grade. Sunburst, noticing the vacant space for rent in his student, slammed his book down upon his desk to get her attention.
The sudden bang snapped Flurry from her stupor and launched her from her seat. She was on her hooves in an instant, ready to fight, ready to go a few rounds with whatever threat had just manifested. Now, her eyes were bright and alert and her nerves telegraphed a need for action to her muscles.
“Flurry… what book was I quoting?” Sunburst asked.
“I dunno!” Flurry blurted out in response and she pranced in place, ready to do battle.
“A Critique of Haygel…” Sunburst interrupted himself with a sigh, rolled his eyes, and shook his head. “Flurry—”
“Yes?” Her eyes darted from side to side and she was ready to throw down.
“I hate to ask you this, but could you please leave the class so that I might teach my more willing students?” Sunburst’s glasses were somewhat askew—which was normal—and his ears were splayed out to the sides. He sighed again, a disappointed sound, and made a gesture with his hoof at the door.
“But I can pay attention! I can do good! Just give me a chance!” Flurry’s somewhat panicked voice became one of pleading. “Just give me a chance to get my head straight, I can do better, I promise—”
“You promised me that just twenty-seven minutes ago,” Sunburst said, remaining calm while he cut Flurry off.
“I did?”
“You did.” Sunburst took another deep breath to keep himself composed. “And that was already the second time this morning. Now is the third, so I must ask you to leave—”
“But my father—”
“Is going to be hearing about this.” Sunburst gestured at the door again. “Please, Flurry, you are taking away precious time from my other students, the ones willing to cooperate and learn.”
For Flurry, her vision became blurry, and her neck grew hot with humiliation while her cheeks burned with some great inner fire. This didn’t feel very fair, not at all, and she wished to say something about that, but that would be taking away even more time from her classmates. Her father was going to be upset about this, and she had already been warned about not paying attention in class. How many times now? She had lost count. One thing was for certain, there was going to be consequences from this.
Saying nothing, not even offering an apology, a dejected Flurry Heart made her way to the door, her hooves dragging, her wings sagging against her sides, and her floppy ears were limp against the sides of her burning, blushing face. A shuddering, shivery sigh escaped her and she did not turn back to look at Sunburst, Chartreuse, or Chalcedony, as she couldn’t face them.
What did a warrior princess need with philosophy, anyhow?
It was a morning with nothing to do, and that was fine. Sumac lay in the grass, sprawled out in his backyard, and watched as Boomer lept from tree to tree, enjoying her natural environment. The colt—a budding naturalist—thought about a pygmy tree dragon’s relationship with trees; a dragon such as Boomer’s sharp claws would open the bark often, causing sap to dribble, and this in turn would feed a multitude of insects. Boomer’s weight would snap off dead branches, keeping the tree healthy. Boomer was clearly a creature evolved to suit and serve her environment.
A bee went flying past and the colt paid it little attention. Reaching down, he scratched his belly and tried to discern just how different the world was now that he had wings. Upon examination, he could see the relationship in almost everything, if he studied it long enough and hard enough. Things had connections—like looping, flowing cursive letters—and if he focused hard enough he could read the written language of the world around him.
There was a clank of metal, a squeak, and then a faint creak of gate hinges that he was supposed to have oiled… a few weeks ago? He’d been busy and things just kept happening. Normally, he was a bit better on keeping up with the maintenance and upkeep around the house. The half-built gazebo in the back corner near the fence was evidence of his work ethic.
Twisting his head around, he saw a tall red figure approaching. Rolling over, Sumac got to his hooves in a hurry as Big Mac approached and he greeted the approaching stallion with a grin. The big red behemoth paused for a moment, looked around, and his gaze fell upon the gazebo. After a moment, he nodded, and then began to smile.
“The gate needs oiling,” Big Mac said to Sumac.
“I know,” Sumac replied and he began to rub the back of his neck with his wing in an absentminded manner, an action that he wasn’t even aware that he was doing. “So, what brings you here, Mac?”
“You.” Big Mac looked down at the colt. “Apple business, I reckon you could say.”
“Apple business.” Sumac understood Apple business. Ears erect, the colt straightened out his glasses and paid attention to his Apple elder. Sumac was quite unaware of the eagerness on his face while his tail flicked at invisible, nonexistent flies.
“I just wanted to say I’m proud of you,” Big Mac began. “For everything. You’ve done good, Sumac Apple, and you’ve exceeded everyponies’ expectations.” The big red stallion paused for a moment, looked left, looked right, and then looked back down at Sumac. “If I may, I’d like to express a somewhat political opinion… I am bothered that Princess Celestia did not recognise you as a prince after… well, whatever it was that happened.”
“That’s my doing,” Sumac confessed to his elder.
“Say what?” Big Mac’s eyes narrowed into paper thin slits and Sumac took a step backwards. “I don’t follow.”
“My doing,” Sumac squeaked. The colt took a moment to collect himself and he gave himself a shake to sort himself out. “Celestia only did what she did and said what she said to take the pressure off of me and keep it focused on her. I don’t want to be a prince… I don’t want no part of that. I am content to be the Heir of Lulamoon Hollow for now and the Lord of Lulamoon Hollow later, but let’s face it, Mac… I want to be a mortician. That is my goal in life.”
“I see.” Big Mac’s eyes un-narrowed, but did not go wide. “Well then.” The massive, muscular earth pony harrumphed once and with a turn of his head, he watched as Boomer frolicked in the trees.
“Look, Mac, I know that the Apple family would love to have a prince or a princess and it would help with the shame of what my father did, and I’m real sorry—”
“Don’t you be sorry!” Big Mac barked and the explosive suddenness made Sumac leap backwards while flapping his wings. The enormous earth pony closed the distance in an eyeblink and stood almost nose to nose with the much smaller colt. “You don’t be sorry, Sumac Apple! You ain’t done nothing that needs excuses and you haven’t done nothing wrong, so don’t you be sorry! You just keep doing what you’re doing and I’ll keep going on being proud of you. We’re all proud of you.”
“Thank you, Big Mac.” With a huff, Sumac relaxed a little bit and tried to figure out how to unruffle his now ruffled feathers. There was still so much to learn about himself now, but that was something to think about later. Like a startled bird, he stood with his feathers in quite a mess.
“I came into town to get supplies for cider making. I can’t stay long.” Big Mac shuffled on his hooves, pawed the grass a few times, and then gestured at the gate. “The gate needs oiled. See that it is done. I need to be going. Have fun at the Crystal Cotillion, Sumac.”
“Sure thing, Mac.”
“And Sumac?”
“Remember that we love you…”
Sumac moved with a smooth, fluid trot and Boomer bounced upon his back while she clung to his short cropped mane. The walk to get to Tarnish’s house was a bit of a long one and he was in a hurry to see Pebble. There was no particular reason, other than just wanting to be near to her. Since the gate was oiled, there was really nothing else to do today.
“Sumac…”
“Yes, Boomer?”
“Been feeling a little mean lately,” the yearling-sized dragoness confessed. “Been feeling super protective of you and sometimes I wanna burn stuff and I don’t know why, but I want others to see my fires and know you are mine… to… protect?” Her head bobbed as Sumac trotted and while her facial expressions were somewhat limited, the sagging state of her spines and frills said an awful lot about the state of her mind.
“Now, Boomer, you know that you can’t burn stuff down and do dragon displays—”
“I know!” The little pygmy tree dragon collapsed against Sumac’s neck and rested her scaly chin on top of his head, near his horn, the place where she had spent most of her hatchlinghood. A place where she was now far too big to perch, although she still tried on occasion, with disastrous results. “It’s like an itch, Sumac, a really bad itch that won’t go away and I talked to Spike about it and he told me stuff that works for him but it isn’t working for me and I’ve been feeling the need to hoard stuff too and that’s why I keep stealing all of your airship miniatures and I’m sorry!”
“I understand.”
“You understand?” Boomer let out a smoky huff. “You’re not a dragon, silly. You are a weak, squishy mammal, made of food.”
Grinning, Sumac pronked to give Boomer a hard bounce for what she had said. “Ever since getting these stupid wings, I’ve been absolutely overrun with new instincts. It’s driving me crazy, Boomer. And I can’t even take the time to sort all of this out, because of this stupid Crystal Cotillion that I really don’t want to go to, but I sorta hafta go because I’m the Heir of Lulamoon Hollow, and I understand how important it is, and Pebble understands how important it is, and she is really looking forward to it, but being an introvert, I just wanna hide in the corner and not be seen.”
“You don’t fit into our hollow tree anymore and that sucks.”
“No, Boomer, I don’t.”
“I hid all of your airships in there,” she admitted. “I just wanted to keep them safe.”
“It’s fine, Boomer, it’s fine.” The colt had to fix his glasses after pronking and while he set them straight Boomer sat up again, keeping her balance as a seasoned rider in much the same way Spike did. Reflecting upon what Boomer had said, Sumac thought about his own instincts and the confusing jumble of emotions that had come with them. He was deep in the throes of puberty, that was bad enough—it was horrid, really, it was—and it had been an impossible task to keep up with everything going on inside of him.
The sheer number of changes had been overwhelming.
But then Eternity had played her prank on him and a simple nose boop had been his undoing. She had secured the future that he wanted for himself, but at such a dreadful cost. Of course, she was dying anyway, and just as he wanted to have a choice, a say in his own future, she wanted a choice in how she died. The lunatic old mare had died laughing and bleeding ink.
“Incoming!” Boomer cried as she flung herself from Sumac’s back. She let out a honk of terror, then tucked and rolled so that she could crash into the dirt road unharmed.
Sumac looked right when he should have looked left, and when he did look left, it was too late. Silver Lining plowed into him full force and knocked him from his hooves. The horizon took a tumble and pitched around, leaving Sumac confused, dizzy, and disoriented. At some point, he came to a skidding halt on his back and when he did, a crushing weight slammed down on top of him, knocking the wind out of his lungs.
The impact had knocked his spectacles from his face.
Blinking, Sumac looked up at the blurry outline of the griffoness sitting on top of him. Suddenly, everything was aye-okay because there was a griffoness sitting on top of him, straddling him. Yes, this was good, even if he couldn’t breathe and was being crushed to death beneath her. It took him a moment to realise that his new alicorn body structure was quite a bit more durable, and he strained to fill his lungs with air.
Boomer collected his glasses and stood nearby, holding them.
“I got a job!” Silver Lining bounced up and down on top of Sumac and it was simultaneously the greatest thing ever and the worst thing ever. Parts of her jiggled in the most delightful way imaginable and she settled in for a good sit atop the colt. “Last night, after you and Pebble left, Mister Davenport from Quills and Sofas sent a messenger over saying that he was willing to take me on as an apprentice clerk! Indoor work at a desk! He was impressed by my cursive writing!” Reaching down with her talons, she smoothed over Sumac’s floofy chest scruffle.
“That’s wonderful—”
“I KNOW!” Silver Lining bounced up and down with even more enthusiasm and each time she did, she worked free a grunt from the colt pinned beneath her. Clapping her talons together, she failed to notice his straining, bulging eyes, his red face, or his wheezing grunts as his ribs creaked. A lesser pony might have been pulped at this point, but Sumac’s new alicorn frame endured the unspeakable abuse being done.
“My parents were so happy for me… not just the cotillion, but getting a job and you and Pebble and yesterday might have been the best day of my life and my mother and I hugged each other a whole lot and we had a very grown up talk and—AAAAAAAAAAIEEEEE! Something just poked me in my bottom!” With a shrieking squawk, the griffoness lept into the air and bounced away.
She landed, catlike, her tail tucked between her legs, and every feather on her body fluffed out in alarm. Sumac rolled over, got his hooves beneath him, and stood up, still wheezing, but also laughing while also trying to squeeze his hind legs together. Boomer stood, bipedal, and she squeezed her eyes shut, wanting no part of this, while also holding out Sumac’s eyeglasses.
Now, the griffoness began to giggle and she went over to help Sumac out. With a wing, she began dusting him off, knocking away the dirt from the road from his pale pelt, and then she stopped laughing when she saw the condition of his wings. She took a few swipes in an attempt to clean them, but it was an impossible task.
“You don’t groom your wings very well,” she said and was unable to hide the disapproval in her voice.
“I don’t know what I’m doing and it is so awkward to ask for help,” he replied. He blinked and a fierce blush overtook his cheeks. “The pegasus ponies see it as some kind of sexy thing I guess and when I asked Rainbow Dash to help me, she said that doing so would be like foal molestation and then she flew away like she was embarrassed or something.” The colt paused for a moment and then added, “It might explain why Fluttershy fainted when I asked her for help. This has been really super awkward. I’m too afraid to even ask Twilight, because she’s my aunt, and if things are the way that Rainbow says they are, that would make things weird and as an introvert, I don’t want weird between me and my aunt.”
“Fine then,” Silver Lining said to Sumac in a low voice that was about half a growl. “It falls on me to sort you out. But we gotta go somewhere first where nopony can see us because this is private and not something we can do in public. Now, we just need to find a private birdbath or something…”
High upon a private balcony, Flurry Heart looked down upon the city known as the Crystal Empire. It grew like some strange crystal organism, a curious garden tended by her mother. The buildings were shaped crystals that sprang up out of the ground. Everything possessed a strange organic flow to it, even with odd angles and asymmetrical shapes. Some of the spires and towers leaned off to one side, but inside, the floors were level and secure.
The population was exploding and new buildings were necessary. So very necessary. Almost every day it seemed that there was a new building, a new structure, or the start of something new. Flurry too, had this magic, but it was weak. It was a magic that would grow stronger with maturity, but it wasn’t a magic that she wanted to study because it was boring.
Having been crystallised, Sunburst could cast the magic too, but being a unicorn, his abilities were limited. It didn’t stop him from teaching though, because Sunburst had a direct connection to magic that allowed him to know and understand it in depth. Flurry wished that she had this connection, because then she would not need to study, she would only need to do. Flurry liked doing and thinking was best left to others, like her trusted Professor Egghead.
She sighed, missing Sumac. The ponies that she was trusted with here weren’t the types to get dirty, or have fun, or wrestle, or throw down in the mud, no, these were gentle, delicate, dainty ponies that got the vapours the moment there was even a whiff of danger. These were little ponies, helpless things for the most part, and she had been born to protect them. But they were awful to be around and all of her real friends were in Ponyville.
“Not all of us are called into the light, Flurry Heart.”
Without even turning around, Flurry knew who was speaking, and something about his voice made her shiver in the summer sun. She continued looking down, feeling sulky, and didn’t turn to look at him, knowing that he was just going to keep talking no matter what she did. Such was the way of things; she was a foal and was at the mercy of the adults in her life.
“Leave us, this is private matter.” Then, after a moment when no sounds of hooves could be heard: “I said to leave us. Do you think she is not safe with me? Am I to take this as an insult and deal with you accordingly? Begone before my patience exhausts itself and you find yourself taking on an unnatural new shape!”
Sighing, Flurry made a mental note, as that was clearly how one gave a meaningful, motivating command. The clank of armor and hooves making a hurried exit made her ears perk, and she heard the soft rustle of fabric as her other tutor approached. Even though she very much wanted to be alone—at least, as alone as she could be given the fact that there were always guards around—she was glad for Dim’s company.
“Flurry, the sun does not suit you,” Dim said in a low voice as he came to stand beside the pink alicorn filly.
“I don’t get what you mean,” she replied, and for a moment, she turned to look up at Dim. “Are you going to be cryptic and make me work for it, or will you be helpful today, I wonder.”
“You are already having a hard day, I will be straightforward.” Smoothing out his cloak, Dim sat down, balanced on his haunches, and rested his forelegs upon the balcony rail in front of him. The wind made the brim of his hat wobble, and the sun glinted off of the goggles that protected his eyes. “I have tried discussing this with your mother, but she does not wish to hear it. It distresses her, because she understands the parallel a little too well. Alas, I too have an understanding of this parallel, having experienced it for myself.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Give me time, Flurry.” Dim clucked his tongue and it was obvious that he was gathering his thoughts.
Having nothing to lose, Flurry decided to be patient and she looked back down upon the city. Her city. Well, one day, it would be her city. Maybe? Did she really want it? She didn’t know. It wasn’t like her mother would ever grow old, and Flurry didn’t know how succession would work. She had no real understanding of her own accession to power and how it would happen. Maybe when the time was right, a new crystal city would be started elsewhere, grown from the ground, and it would be like starting a new orchard, or something.
“Flurry, little Skyla is the sun, and you… you are the moon. You need to make peace with being the moon. This is something you need to make peace with now. Skyla will outshine you with her brilliance, making the darkness around you feel all the more… darker. Yes, darker. You are doomed to be the lesser light and you will know Luna’s pain—but this does not mean that you have to make Luna’s mistakes.”
Ears perking, this got Flurry’s attention, all of it, and she turned to look at Dim.
“Luna is of no less importance than her sister, Celestia, but it took her a while before she could see value in herself,” Dim said, his words slow-spoken and drawn out. “Her real talents lie not in ruling, though she is a wise and just ruler on her own, but in protecting. Luna is capable of rule, but her sister is far more suited for the task. For too long, she languished in her sister’s shadow and tried to compete with her sister to be better… to do better… to prove that she could. She has given up on that and now, she focuses on what she is good at. Tormenting and teasing me—”
“And protecting Equestria?” Flurry’s voice had a somewhat squeaky feminine quaver to it.
“Yes, I was getting to that.” Dim leaned forward and rested his goateed chin upon his forelegs. “She and I, we have embraced the night, but more importantly, we have truly come to believe that doing so does not make us evil. We are necessary and we do what must be done. It was… difficult making peace with that. For both of us. It was painful, but we endured it together.”
“And so now, I need to embrace the night? Is that what you are saying?”
“A winter’s day can be sunny and pleasant… but a winter’s night is bitter indeed.” Dim’s mouth moved for a few seconds, his thin lips trying to form words, but nothing came out. He kept trying though, determined to say something. “Isn’t that the point of the Hygge, Flurry? To hold back the bitter, life sapping cold of the night? The terror of darkness? Is this not why the light dwellers light fires, bury themselves beneath blankets, and have togetherness? The Hygge is responsible for Hearthfire, right? It kept the the cold, the darkness, and the monsters away. You, Flurry Heart, are the Luna of winter.”
“I am,” Flurry gasped as she saw the truth of it and she knew.
“I have my own connection to the fires of the hearth as the Champion of Chantico.” Dim struggled to say the words and Flurry Heart leaned up against him. “It is my sacred duty to keep the hearth fires burning and to protect the peasants from the terrors of the night. It was a long, long road, but this sacred duty helped me to make peace with myself.”
“You have your own connection to the Hygge because cosy love begins with home and hearth.” Flurry, now thoughtful, gave careful consideration to Dim’s words. There was truth in them, a powerful, burning, blazing truth that filled her brain with fire—but also peace. Why peace? She didn’t know, but she was intrigued. Even more interesting, Skyla was terrified of what the dark might bring and Flurry had been protecting her sister from the dark since she was a little yearling.
The Hygge was a love powered by winter’s cruelty—a cruelty that cut the deepest at night, when there was no sun to warm anything, the world was shrouded in darkness, and the terrors of the night came out of their shadowy sanctuaries. Thinking of this, Flurry had a moment of total clarity—something like an epiphany but stronger—and she felt a strange fire that seemed to blaze just beneath her cutie marks, both of them.
The way to move forward was unknown, as was gaining her mother’s acceptance.
Reclining in the grass, Sumac enjoyed his last day of freedom. Tomorrow, before the sun even came up, he would be on a train to the Crystal Empire where he would arrive and not be greeted as himself, but as the Heir of Lulamoon Hollow. He wasn’t looking forward to it, but he did his best not to stress out about it, knowing that his friends would carry him through.
Learning how to preen himself was… well, it could only be described as an experience in sensual discovery. Preening one’s self was customary, but allopreening, the very thing he had done with Silver Lining, was akin to making out. Sumac suspected that if Gloomy found out what had been done, there would be words, and he didn’t even want to think about how Wormwood might react.
“That was wonderful,” Silver Lining murmured to her companions.
“It sure was.” Pebble lay with her head resting against Silver Lining’s fuzzy thigh.
It seemed that Pebble liked watching and that was fine with Sumac. The itchiness in his wings was gone for the most part, but Silver Lining had told him that the itchies would return in a day or two if he didn’t follow through with proper preening. His spit had changed, which meant that he had done more than just grow a pair of wings. Now his spit had an oily rainbow sheen to it, like soap or oil in water.
“Why didn’t we do this sooner?” Pebble asked.
“Do what sooner?” Silver Lining grunted as she lifted her head from the grass and she strained to look Pebble in the face.
“This.” Pebble made a sort of half-shrug and her hind legs wiggled. “Why didn’t we just sort everything out and come together?”
“I didn’t want to come between you.” Silver Lining allowed her head to fall back down to the grass and her beak made a clicking sound. “It’s complicated and everything felt so strange. It still is, just a little, even though it just feels good to be in love and not have to hide it.”
“It is my sincere hope to come between friends,” Sumac said to the girls beside him and his words made Silver Lining start giggling. The big griffoness laughed—causing the best parts of her to jiggle—and she clutched her sides with her talons. Pebble though, she made strange faces, funny faces, and Sumac couldn’t quite figure out what it was that she was doing.
“Pebble, is something wrong?” Sumac asked.
“You… punned.” When she paused, Pebble sounded as though she was straining.
“You’ve been making a lot of funny faces lately, Pebble.”
The filly grunted, let out a huff, and made yet another a weird face. “Well, every time I get mad I do what my mother suggested and I practice my kegels.”
“What?” Sumac blinked and then studied Pebble’s face. Something about her laboured breathing was music to his ears. “What are those?”
“Get me angry someday,” she puffed in response, “and you’ll find out.” Sucking in a deep breath, she held it for a short time; then as she let out a slow, measured exhale, her body relaxed while a serene expression returned to her face. “My mother has been doing angry kegels all her life and it is her secret for staying so calm. ‘Don’t frown,’ she told me, ‘clench and flex.’ Best advice she ever gave me.”
“You’re such a weird filly, Pebble Pie.” Sumac had trouble making himself heard over the sound of Silver Lining’s laughter. Since he had no idea what she was talking about, he changed the subject. “Acceptance is hard, isn’t it?”
“Acceptance of what?” Pebble asked while she pulled herself up into a sitting position and smoothed out her dress. “Hey… hey… this entire time, you’ve been looking up my dress and checking out my panties, haven’t you?”
“Yeah.” Sumac too, pulled himself up into a sitting position and noticed that Pebble was making her funny faces again, but was also trying not to make her funny faces while she did whatever it was that she was doing. “Little dolphins and pink hearts.”
“You pervert!”
This sent Silver Lining into a fit of hysterics, and she began to roll from side to side in the grass, mussing her wings, and now her eyes were bloodshot from laughing too hard. Sumac gave his wings a half-flap to shake away any debris and was mindful about getting them dirty again. They were a chore to clean alone, but with Silver Lining around…
“You keep seeing my undies, Sumac Apple.”
“Well, you keep flashing them at me every chance you get. You can’t fault me for looking. If you don’t want me looking, do a better job of hiding them.”
“I’m going inside,” Pebble announced in a somewhat troubled deadpan. “I’m thirsty and that last batch of kegels gave me a cramp.” She rose, stood on all fours, and brushed some grass from her bright blue dress. “Also, I’m hot and I think I want some ice cream.”
As Sumac came in through the mudroom and into the kitchen, a flying playing card stuck into an apple. This made him pause and with a slow turn of his head, he looked at the thrower. Boomer stood on the end of the table, her dainty claws still raised, and her odd, omnidirectional eyes were both looking at her target. Beside her, standing on the floor, was Megara.
“Do it again, Boom Boom.”
Swiping up another card—Sumac saw that it was the nine of hearts when the face flashed towards him for a second—Boomer made another throw with a motion that had an uncanny fluidity. The card spun through the air and an eyeblink later, it too was lodged into the apple sitting on the hearth, almost, but not quite touching the first card.
Unimpressed, Pebble made her way to the fridge while her sister Megara studied Boomer’s efforts with a critical eye. Silver Lining sat down on the floor near Megara and her eyes were filled with curiousity as Boomer picked up another playing card. With a flick, this one too went soaring through the air and stuck into the apple a few yards away. Sumac whistled and gave Boomer a nod of support.
“It’s a neat trick, but it’s only a trick,” Pebble deadpanned. “I just don’t see the practicality of it. The both of you have spent what, five or six years practicing throwing stuff… all that time would have been better spent doing something else.”
“Oh, it has a use,” Megara replied in a pride-pricked rumble and her tail straightened into an outraged exclamation point.
“What?” Pebble, almost at the fridge, turned around to look at her sibling. “Show me. Prove me wrong, Meg.”
“Sumac, I’m sorry,” Megara said, apologising.
“Sorry for what”—as he spoke, Megara made a smooth flicking motion with her paw and something red and silver flew in a blur towards Sumac—“OOOOOO BY DAMN!” Feeling an agonising bloom of pain in his leg, Sumac’s head dropped downwards to see what Meg had done to him. When the colt looked down, he began to prance around in both pain and panic when he saw the dart sticking out his leg. “It’s in the bone! It’s in the bone! I can feel it in the bone!”
“Cast a spell, Sumac.”
“FRONK YOU SIDEWAYS, MEG! IT’S IN THE BONE! THE BONE!” Sumac made an effort to pull the dart out, but when it began to wiggle, rubbing against the bone, chills shot through his body like when claws were dragged down a blackboard, which caused his magic to fizzle out and let out a wordless screech. Sputtering, he pranced around, unable to stand still.
Boomer lept from the table, scurried across the floor, reached the spot where Sumac was prancing in place, stood up, and with a quick yank of her claws, tugged the dart from where it was lodged in the colt’s front leg. A little trickle of blood stained Sumac’s beige hide and Boomer made an expression that was almost like a cringe.
“I take back everything I’ve ever said,” Pebble deadpanned to her sister. “I can actually see the use in that.”
“Told you so.” Megara turned her head to look at Pebble for a moment, and then returned her attention to Sumac. “Sorry, you know how it is, Sumac. Sometimes, sisters just have to settle stuff.”
“It was in the bone!” Sumac hollered and he began to prance around again while Boomer retreated. “I could feel the metal squeaking against the bone and I couldn’t cast a spell! I couldn’t pull it out!”
“I’m pretty sure that Boom Boom could take out somepony’s eye with a playing card,” Megara said as she watched Sumac bounce around the kitchen. As the manticore spawn spoke, Boomer flicked another card at the apple on the hearth and hit her mark. “It’s nice having fingers.”
Silver Lining, still laughing, went over to help Sumac with his leg and when she reached him, she did her best to comfort him while blood dribbled down his fetlock. The colt gave Megara a wounded look and behind the lenses of his spectacles, his eyes were glassy with tears. Boomer flicked another card and this time, a thin slice of apple was sheared off.
“Professor Egghead can dance quite a jig, can’t he?”
“Fronk you right up your dirty tailhole, Meg!”
None of them heard the sound of hooves until it was too late, and Tarnished Teapot appeared in the doorway leading into the living room. “What is going on in here?” he demanded to know while his horn almost scratched the top of the doorframe.
Right away, every youthful face in the kitchen had done their best to look innocent, but Tarnish wasn’t having it. He glowered with terrific ferocity in the doorway and Sumac knew that Tarnish had heard what had been said about fronking Meg right up her dirty tailhole. The colt gulped and was no longer worried about the tiny hole in his leg, as there were bigger problems.
“I demand to know what is going on in here! What is with all of the cussing?”
A gleaming, luminous silver crescent rose over the Crystal Empire and bathed everything in the gentle, lesser light of night. For the first time in her life, young Flurry Heart looked up at the moon and felt hope, which was an odd thing to feel. In her mind, every word that Dim had said echoed through her grey matter and left her thoughtful in a way that she had never experienced before.
The night held promise.
During the daytime, the very sorts of ponies that gave her fits and caused her so much grief were out and about, gossiping, planning, and plotting. But at night… at nighttime, those same ponies were asleep. Well, most of them anyhow. Most ponies, crystal ponies especially, were scared of the dark and terrified of the night. Skyla was. Little Skyla required a nightlight or else tears were sure to fall. Flurry needed no such comforts and was capable of making her own light. Overhead, wispy clouds acted as prisms to scatter silver rays and Flurry noticed for the first time the beauty that the night had to offer.
Under the cover of the dark, sacred night, she would be free to work, to do her job, to be the protector that Equestria needed, and those with wagging tongues would be tucked away in their beds, snug, secure, and safe thanks to her efforts. She began to see the appeal and she also began to understand Dim. This, in and of itself was confusing, because she didn’t know if this was a good thing.
Ponies were terrified of Dim—Kommissar Dim, Hero of the Battle of Menagerie—and for good reason. Dim, like Luna, had embraced the night, and ponies feared the night. Flurry, little Flurry whose mind was not fully developed and who did not possess a wealth of intellect, she struggled to put it into terms that she could understand. Coffee or tea. Straight or gay. Day or night. Equestria was full of choices that defined you, choices that would set you apart and make you stand out as a pony.
Flurry began to see the appeal of the night…
A single choice could define a pony and Flurry had an inkling of how this happened. She had been around her mother long enough to know that coming out of the closet was a big deal. For some, it was a moment of terror and anxiety. It could also be a moment of profound relief. For Flurry, it was the only association that she could make that she could understand.
Dim had made her aware that there were other choices—there were other lifestyles that existed with ponies happy to live them—and that she could make a transition. She could make a choice. Embracing the dark had a certain appeal and Flurry was enchanted with the very notion of such a thing. With a wide-eyed expression of wonder, she stared out of her narrow window and wished that she could be outside enjoying the cool night air. She wanted a balcony, but the fear of intruders was far too great.
“I thought you’d be up.”
Her father’s voice was quiet, little more than a whisper, and it only existed inside of her ears. Soft as it was, It still startled her, but Flurry contained herself somehow and did not allow herself to spook. Turning her head around, she saw him approaching, stepping over the clutter scattered across the floor. Skyla was careless with her dolls and tended to leave them where ever it was that she had played with them last.
“My adorable little pink snow cone… I had a talk with Dim.” Magic kept Shining Armor’s voice from going anywhere but into his Flurry’s ears, and Skyla’s sleep was undisturbed. “He had a lot to say. Some of it I agreed with. Some of it angered me. A few parts infuriated me. So, here I am to have a talk with you.”
“Mom won’t listen to Dim,” Flurry said to her father in a low whisper and she sensed that her voice was muffled by magic.
“No,” Shining replied, shaking his head, “your mother has her own aspirations and desires for you, and what Dim has to say crushes her hopes and dreams.”
“And does anypony even care about what I want?” Flurry asked, even though she feared the answer.
“Well, Flurry, what do you want?” Shining Armor pulled up a cushion and sat down beside his daughter in front of the narrow window. Once he was settled, he leaned down his head, kissed her, and then scooted a little closer so he could be nearer to the one he so loved.
“I don’t know what I want,” she huffed, and this made her father chuckle.
“This is why nopony asks what foals want.” Turning his head, Shining Armor looked up out of the window at the rising moon. “Most foals have no idea what they really want, and so we parents try and do what is best for them. We provide them with what they need. Maybe not what they want, but what they need is given. At least, with good parents that is.”
Hearing these words made Flurry feel sulky because she didn’t know how to refute them. Even though she wasn’t the smartest little filly in the world, Flurry knew without a doubt that her father always did what was best for her. “I don’t want to marry Sumac and I don’t want the nobles deciding what I do.”
“Would it really be so terrible, Flurry?”
“Daddy?” She looked up at her father, wondering what he was getting at, but he did not look her in the eye. No, he was staring at the moon.
“Now, I’m not saying that you have to, I am just asking you a question with the hopes that you might examine the situation. You are an alicorn. Sumac is an alicorn. I think that pretty much everypony would be relieved and overjoyed if the two of you did gross stuff like kissing and having foals. It’s more than falling in love and having a fairytale wedding where the princess marries the handsome prince. In this instance, the prince is a male alicorn and such a union might mean the eventual restoration of an ancient tribe.”
Taking a deep breath, she started to say something in return, but her words failed her and came out as a lip-flapping raspberry. When her father put it this way, it put a whole new spin on things, and Flurry didn’t like it, not at all. Frustrated, she couldn’t even figure out why she didn’t like it, and she sat there simmering with her growing annoyance.
“Sometimes, for the good of others, we must sacrifice what we want; our desires, our dreams, our hopes, and our fondest wishes… it’s awful, Flurry, but there are times when it must be done. Those with the most potential, those capable of doing the most, they are usually the ones asked to sacrifice the most. It’s awful, it isn’t fair, and it is unpleasant, but this is how life is and I can’t protect you from that. One day, in some way or another, you are going to learn this lesson in some meaningful way, and when it sinks in, it is going to hurt.”
Her father’s words confused her, but she didn’t doubt him. He was telling her like it was and this was something she appreciated a great deal. Her father was at his best when he wasn’t pulling any punches and he was being direct. Sometimes, sometimes, her mother candy coated stuff to make a bitter pill easier to swallow, and Flurry hated that.
“If you asked me to marry Sumac, I would, and I would make the most of it. Is that what you want?” Mid-sentence, Flurry’s voice cracked as her insides began to twist and clench from fear. She found herself trembling, terrified by what she had just said to her father, and with each second that passed that he did not respond, her terror grew by leaps and bounds.
“No,” Shining Armor replied, and Flurry almost began sobbing with relief. “Sumac is a scoundrel, a rogue, and a scamp. The two of you would get into no end of trouble and my mane would turn grey in the first week.” Shining Armor began to chuckle and he looked down at his daughter, who sat with her barrel heaving. “No, Flurry, what I really want you to do is take your time and figure out what you want. I’m open for almost anything, but if you join the Underwatch, I am not saving you from your mother. Daddy has needs, Fluffalump.”
“Daddy… did… did… did Dim talk to you about the darkness?” Flurry asked and she had a pitched battle just to get the words out. Her panic was almost unbearable at the moment and fear made it hard to breathe, much less speak.
“He did,” her father whispered, and he turned away once more to look at the moon.
“What if I became like Auntie Luna and threw away all of my responsibilities of rule so that I could focus upon protecting? What if I did like she did? What if I embraced the dark? What would you do?”
Reaching out a foreleg, Shining slipped it over his daughter’s back and replied, “I would get you a lamp, so that you might do your job well…”
It was not yet dawn and the train trundled along the tracks, heading north towards the Crystal Empire. Sumac yawned, somehow both wide awake and sleepy at the same time. Beside him, Pebble had already succumbed to sleep and Silver Lining was losing the battle as well. The colt let out a startled snort when Lemon Hearts grabbed his injured foreleg, lifted it up, and held it against her barrel.
“I can’t believe that Meg did that to you,” Lemon Hearts whispered.
“She’s done worse—”
“I know, it’s awful.” Lemon’s words were almost hissy.
“I’ve done worse back.” Sumac turned to look at his mother, Lemon, and watched her as she hugged his leg. “You know how we are. We do things for realsies so that if we ever get into trouble, real trouble, we know just what to do. Meg has split my head open and I’ve given her electrical burns so bad it made her blister. We trust each other, Lemon… we trust each other so that we can learn the hard lessons.”
“Well, I don’t like it,” Lemon whined.
With a turn of his head, Sumac glanced over at where Boomer hung from the luggage rack overhead. She was sound asleep, wrapped up in her membranes, and below her on the seat, Spike dozed while making smoky little snorts. It had taken all of Boomer’s courage to ask Spike to be her date for the cotillion, and they agreed to ransack the buffet tables together.
“What were you thinking, Sumac?”
“What?” he asked. “What do you mean?”
Lemon sighed, shook her head, and sighed again. “When you were little… after Manehattan… when we were trying to sort everything out… you went up to Meg and told her, ‘I want you to hit me as hard as you can.’ Why did you do it? What were you thinking? She about broke your nose—”
“I wanted to learn how to take a punch,” Sumac said before Lemon could wind herself into hysterics. He thought back to that day and how liberating it was to have his face smashed. He had learned an awful lot about himself in that moment, and it had set off a lifetime of full contact learning. His crashes, his failures, his daredevil attitude, it all went back to that moment, and he was a better pony for having experienced it.
Lemon was still squeezing his injured leg, fretting over it, and Sumac wasn’t sure how to make her feel better. She had been extra smothery as of late, her moods kept changing, and she had been acting a bit peculiar. He didn’t know what was up, but worried that poor Lemon might be under a bit of stress, perhaps because of her job as a teacher.
Hearing the sound of cards being shuffled, Sumac tuned to look at Trixie and Twinkleshine, who were playing cards with one another on the little fold out table. Trixie liked playing cards a great deal, and had a constant, worthy foe with Twinkleshine. For the past few years, this was their happiness. Rain or shine, good times or bad times, up or down, no matter what happened, those two would play cards and everything would be okay. For Sumac, the sound of cards being shuffled was the sound of normality, of happiness, it was the sound of a happy home.
His mother still hadn’t given him his injured leg back.
With a yawn, Sumac poked at his breakfast but wasn’t sure what he wanted to eat. The cabin on the train was filled with sunlight, which streamed in through the windows to his right, with his right facing east. The cabin was big enough for four, but they had eight. His three mothers, himself, Pebble, Silver Lining, Boomer, and Spike. The dragons had already destroyed their breakfasts and now, Boomer was eyeing his plate.
Pebble and Silver Lining sat beside one another, crammed together on the other side of the small fold down table. His mothers were using the enormous steel trunk as a table, and their plates clattered upon its mirrored surface. With a gurgling belch that caused adult eyes to roll, Boomer excused herself from the table, lept upwards, and pulled herself up into the luggage rack overhead. Her prehensile tail wrapped around a brass rail and then, hanging upside down, she stared out of the window.
“What’s wrong, Sumac?” Pebble asked as she leaned over the table.
“A lot,” he sighed in return, and he shook his head from side to side. “This whole gala thing scares me a bit.”
“You are an excellent dancer when you let me lead.” Pebble’s injection of dry snark into her words did not go unnoticed by Sumac and he let go of another sigh. When he looked into her eyes, he heard her say, “Look, I know what you are really afraid of and I know what is bothering you. It’s hard being an introvert attending a social event, and this is even worse because pretty much everypony in attendance is expecting something from you.”
“Yeah,” Sumac nodded, “they are.”
“Let’s go over that, shall we?”
“I’d rather not,” Sumac started to say, but Pebble had already started.
“You, Sumac Apple, are an alicorn,” she said in a bored sounding monotone that was reminiscent of her mother’s, but different somehow. “Flurry Heart is also an alicorn. You are male, and she is female. The aristocrats of the Crystal Empire and most of the aristocrats of Canterlot want you to stick your alicorn peepee into her little alicorn weewee—”
At this point, Sumac lost it, he began to snicker, and so did his tablemates.
“—the weewee is what is important here, Sumac, because if you stick it in her pooper—”
“Pebble Pie!” Lemon shouted while choking back her giggles and covering her mouth with her hoof.
“Quiet, you giggly girls, adults are talking over here!” Pebble shouted as she threw a glance back over her shoulder. “Now, what was I saying? Oh yes, if you stick it in her pooper and drill for oil, the hopes and dreams of many will not be realised. All of Equestria is hankering for alicorn foals and you and Flurry are the best possible option to get more of them.”
The laughter of his mothers made Sumac’s ears perk and right now, it was hard to breathe. Spike covered his mouth with his claws, made a horking sound, and then almost fell over with laughter. There was a wicked, perverted gleam in Pebble’s eye and the filly was elbowing Silver Lining, who trembled as she tittered.
Overhead, Boomer sneezed out a jet of flame that she tried to hold back with her claws and then she too, was overcome with chortling. Chuckling, Sumac took a bite of breakfast—he didn’t even notice what he had stabbed with his fork—and it was only after he had stuck it in his mouth did he realise that he was eating cantaloup.
“Now I understand that there is a lot of pressure, Sumac, and I am not going to tell you to not worry, because that will only make you worry even more, so the only thing I can say is that I’ll be there for you and I hope that helps.” Lifting her napkin, Pebble wiped her mouth, smiled, and then batted her eyelashes at the colt across the table.
“Sumac,” Silver Lining asked, her voice both shy and sweet, “if you had to, would you?”
“What? Marry Flurry?” he replied around a mouthful of melon. Swallowing, he felt a tremendous lump in his throat. “She’s my friend. I guess if I had to, I would, and I would try to make the most of it, because I understand the importance of being a good lord for Lulamoon Hollow. I guess. I dunno.” He shrugged and stabbed something else on his plate without looking down to see what he was doing.
This time, it was a whole pickled egg, and he crammed the entire thing into his mouth in a way that only a distracted, hungry colt could. Pebble let out a groan of disgust and Silver Lining watched in awe as the seemingly impossible task was accomplished. Even Spike seemed impressed.
While Sumac chewed, Spike said, “Twilight Velvet and Night Light won’t be coming to the cotillion even though Mom was supposed to give a speech there about all of the promise and hope of a new generation. Mom is peeved because all of her socialite friends are pro-wedding and Dad told me that ponies are petitioning Princess Celestia to create a new law.”
Pebble rolled her eyes so hard that her scalp quivered and her mane wiggled.
“For the longest time, there was just one alicorn, and now there are a few of them, and they are considered an endangered species,” Spike said while he shrugged. “Poor Twilight is getting it too and almost every day she gets letters from concerned ponies stating that she ask Gosling for a little donation.” The dragon shuddered and looked disgusted.
“It’s like everypony is gripped with alicorn fever,” Trixie said from where she sat, “and nopony cares what the alicorns themselves want.”
“Times have changed… and we've often rewound the clock, since the Tribalists got a shock... when they founded Canterhorn Rock. If today... any shock they should try to stem, 'stead of landing on Canterhorn Rock, Canterhorn Rock would land on them! In olden days, a glimpse of preening was looked on as something demeaning, but now, Celestia knows... anything goes!”
Flurry’s hooves clopped against the floor at a furious, sweaty pace, revealing that she was quite a dancer. Wings out, she used them for balance, and this allowed her to make moves that might cause a regular pony to snap a fetlock. She floated on her hooves and seemed to defy gravity. In truth, the only reason why Flurry had agreed to learn dancing was to become a better fighter and she could already see the benefits of her many hours sacrificed.
She threw herself into the moment and allowed her emotions to bleed out into her dancing. Now, her hooves thundered against the crystalline floor and the tinny, jaunty tune coming from the hi-fi phonograph was almost drowned out by the elephantine force of her dancing. Dust rose from the floor as fractures began to manifest and with each hooffall, cracks spiderwebbed out from each point of impact.
Because it felt so good, Flurry let go and began to dance. The record began to skip, but she didn’t care, she was dancing. The whole room shuddered and she danced atop reverberating thunderclaps that prevented her from hearing her instructor’s frightened cries. Lightning flew from her hooves as they struck crystal, and the crystal, being only crystal, was never made to endure such abuse.
It shattered, the floor became a million tiny glittering fragments, yet another victim of Flurry’s rampage of destruction. Too startled to fly, she went straight down, fragments and all, and then landed in the room below, which just happened to be a magical laboratory that was mid-experiment. The sudden addition of a falling alicorn and crushed crystal was not good for the experiment, which began to fizzle out of control, and when Flurry’s hooves struck the floor, it too shattered from the impact, and she found herself going down to the next floor, which just so happened to be the alchemy apothecary.
The falling alicorn, the startled magical researchers, plus a storage space full of volatile reagents, these were things that should not be mixed under any circumstances, yet mixed they were, and to disastrous results. Potion bottles shattered, flasks burst, vats ruptured, and chaos began to construct a terrible, dreadful, complicated equation.
“Oh shit, not again,” Flurry deadpanned, deciding that things couldn’t possibly get any worse and that right now was a perfect time to use adult language. Reaching out with her magic, she wrapped all of the fragile, freefalling ponies around her in a protective bubble of magic, and just in time too, as the world around her began to detonate into a terrific super-explody mess.
Flurry coughed out a cloud of dust, pounded on her own barrel, and then shook her head to try and stop the ringing in her ears. As far as explosions went, that one was pretty mild and Flurry was becoming a connoisseur of explosions in much the same way that her mother was a known connoisseur of fine wines.
A falling chunk of ceiling—or perhaps it was a chunk of floor—came down and bonked her in the head. Where most ponies might have been brained, or even knocked unconscious, Flurry was only knocked somewhat silly. Her vision blurred for a moment and she had to give herself a good shake again to bring everything back into focus.
“Everypony, stay back!” a harsh voice shouted.
Blinking, Flurry realised that she was in the throne room. How many floors had she gone down? Five? Six? Another piece of what might have been a ceiling or a floor came down and cracked her on her noggin. She bleated in pain, rubbed her now lumpy-bumpy head, and began to get out of the landing zone of the falling debris. Around her, other ponies were doing the same.
She rose from the rubble, majestic, resplendent even when covered in debris, and kicked a pony-sized chunk of crystal out of her way just because she could. Nopony seemed hurt, other than some minor scrapes and maybe some scratches, and Flurry could not help but feel proud about her quick thinking.
Thinking nothing of herself, Flurry Heart moved to look after her little ponies.
Princess Cadance cut an imposing figure when she entered the room. Tall, calm, radiating an aura of serenity, those in her way stepped aside in a hurry as she made her way to her daughter, Flurry. With a big, beaming smile, the kind that made the corner of her eyes crinkle, Flurry looked up at her approaching mother and waved.
“She’s fine,” a nurse said to the imposing pink princess, “just the usual cuts, bruises, and scrapes.”
The parlour, full of ponies, was now an impromptu place of triage. Flurry, sitting in a high backed chair, looked very much like a princess holding court, and the fine white gauze that wrapped her head served her well as a crown. She looked up at her mother, wondering what to say, but not finding any useful words. Of course, she could make apologies, but those seemed so trite now after making so many. Apologies lost their strength after repetition and Flurry figured that she knew this better than just about anypony.
“You know, Flurry, if I didn’t know better, I’d think your effort to wreck our home was an attempt to get out of going to the cotillion.”
“Mom, I… it was an—” her mother’s sudden laughter gave Flurry pause and dumbfounded, Flurry felt the soft, reassuring touch of her mother’s wing against her cheek.
“I’ll have it fixed,” her mother said in a kind voice. “Sumac should be here tonight… in just a few hours even. And tomorrow, everything will go as planned. The Crystal Cotillion will happen as scheduled. There is something I want you to do, Flurry.”
“What’s that, Mom?”
“Forget about what the nobles want, ignore everything else, and focus on having a magical time. This is your cotillion, this year’s cotillion is your celebration of being a princess, and it is my heart’s fondest wish that you know the joys of being the belle of the ball… you are going to be a débutante, Flurry, and you only get to do that once… once. I know that you have your doubts, but I ask that you trust me, my sweet little palace puncher, because this will be a memory that you will treasure when you get older. This will be an experience.”
“I’ll try, Mom.”
“Flurry…” Hesitation could be heard in Cadance’s voice and she lowered her head to be eye-level with her daughter. “I’m not throwing this cotillion for them. All of them, they’re just guests. I’m doing this for you.”
Like magic, a lump appeared in her throat: Flurry tried to respond, but found that she couldn’t, no words seemed forthcoming, nothing she could think of seemed meaningful enough. The little filly felt a most peculiar sensation overcome her—she suffered a spell of being lightheaded and dizzy—and because of this she wondered if it was because she had hit her head.
But then she noticed the glow. Lifting her long, lean, almost lanky foreleg, she saw the glow. Through mysterious magic that she could not comprehend, she had turned translucent and had become crystalline in appearance. Looking into her mother’s eyes, she could see her own reflection and how she blazed with inner light. Now, not only was she speechless, but also breathless as well. These moments were rare, treasured, and there were no words to describe the joy that she now felt. Her mother’s love had transformed her, and she knew the truth of her mother’s words.
Launching herself up out of her chair, Flurry clung to her mother’s neck and wept tears of joy.
When Trixie reached over and tousled his mane, Sumac almost shot right out of his seat. She was gentle, but also firm when she grabbed him and pulled him in for a hug. Sumac resisted at first, because what colt wants to be hugged by his mother, but then the clock rewound by about five years and he wanted to be held by his mother. Trembling, he leaned against her and did his best to control his breathing.
“Having some troubles, Kiddo?” Trixie asked while giving her son a snuggle. “After Pebble and Silver Lining went off to visit the little fillies’ room together, you looked like you just sort of zoned out. I can tell that you are taking this hard.”
He was taking this hard. They had been on this train for a day, a night, and much of this day, with each minute that passed bringing them closer to the Crystal Empire. All those minutes, all those hours, there hadn’t been much to do but read, talk, and think. He wanted to be the Heir of Lulamoon Hollow, it was something that he was dedicating his entire life to, every fibre of his being as the old expression went, but some of the things he was expected to do were a bit more than he could handle.
“You could still run away,” Trixie said and there was much amusement in her voice. “You could live in a nice little wagon that you pull along behind you and you could see all of Equestria, until at last, when you become great and powerful, er, patient and humble, you could then settle down and accept your responsibilities.”
These words brought comfort to Sumac, and he pressed a little closer to his first mom, the one that had been there from the beginning of his memories. Oh, she might have been his master at that point, or at least the caregiver that would become his master when he was old enough to start learning, but in hindsight, she was his mother.
With a blink, Sumac’s eyes went inkshot, taking on a set of fine, spider-webby lines of black ink. The past became a palpable thing, with memories becoming just a little tiny bit more than just memories, and he was now lost somewhere between the past and present. Seconds passed like letters being scrawled upon a page, moments became sentences, and minutes became paragraphs.
“Such momentous events are in your future, Sumac,” Trixie said in a low voice as she rocked from side to side with her son. “Twilight wishes to restore the Clock Face Fiefdoms, the twelve regions around the Canterhorn with Canterlot in the middle. Lulamoon Hollow is in the twelfth hour position, so you’ll be a big part of Twilight’s plans. Ponyville is in the sixth hour position”—she paused for a moment, shook her head from side to side, and corrected herself—“Ponyville is in the fifth, sixth, and seventh hour positions… it’s gotten a little big under Twilight’s rule.”
Sumac knew about the Clock Face Fiefdoms because he had paid attention in school. After Nightmare Moon’s banishment, when Equestria was still wild, dangerous, and mostly unsettled, the Clock Face Fiefdoms were established, the protective ring around Canterlot. Lulamoon Hollow already existed, the land shrouded in midnight, but it had gone by another name: Luna’s Moonlit Hollow, the place where the moon shined, but the sun didn’t.
The Clock Face Fiefdoms formed a protective barrier of civilisation that pushed back the terrors of the wilderness, and all of Equestria radiated outwards from these strategic holdings. In the span of one thousand years, many cities rose and fell, fiefdoms rose to prominence and prosperity, then fell into infamy and decrepitude. Most of the nobles of these fiefdoms chose not to live amongst their peasants, but in Canterlot instead, so that they might look down upon all they surveyed.
“To rebuild Equestria and prepare it for the future, Twilight plans to reestablish those twelve fiefdoms and push outwards. It is going to be a grand, multi-generational undertaking, Sumac, and you will help her lay the foundations.”
“Mom, you’ve laid those foundations,” Sumac whispered to the mare holding him. “A lot of this plan was yours, not Twilight’s.”
“But Twilight will be remembered for it,” Trixie replied, and she let out a sigh. “I want Twilight remembered as a just, fair, and kind ruler. Sacrifices, Kiddo. You’ll learn to make them. By adding to Twilight’s lists of accomplishments, this great effort, this great push we’re making to prepare for the future, it’ll have more significance… more importance… it’s become so big and so meaningful that it is all that anypony can talk about and that will have a big impact on the history books, Kiddo.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?” Tilting his head up, Sumac pulled away just enough so that he could look up into his mother’s face.
“No,” she replied, and Sumac could see that she was being honest.
This puzzled him. There was a click from the door, indicating that Pebble and Silver Lining had returned. He watched the door open, saw them enter, and his mother gave him one final squeeze before letting him go. Being let go of wasn’t something he wanted, so he remained right where he was, not caring about being embarrassed in front of Pebble and Silver Lining.
“Oh, that’s cute,” Pebble said as she froze in place and Silver Lining bumped into her. “Hey, Silver, if you want to find a good husband, check out how a colt treats his mother. Look at our fluffy little guy.”
Groaning, there was nothing that Sumac could do but take the heaping helping of embarrassment. He felt his mother nudge him, a soft sensation of fuzz rubbing against fuzz, and then he heard his mother say, “Kiddo, they’re already making plans for you. That’s what took them so long in the fillies’ room.”
“Actually, Silver and I had a discussion about the illusion of safety and how I, a sweet, innocent, harmless little filly is so much safer with a big, ferocious griffoness as I go to the loo on a train.”
Squeezing his eyes shut, Sumac began to chortle and his mother did the same. Of course, the truth was far, far different, with Silver Lining being mostly harmless and Pebble being the real threat, but others didn’t know that. She was right, ponies went by what they saw, and what they saw was a big, scary looking griffoness with a little brown filly.
When he opened his eyes, his vision fuzzed over, going in and out of focus. For a moment, everything came into perfect clarity, but something was off: Pebble was a full grown adult and so was Silver Lining. The griffoness was much larger now, not so much fatter, but mature with fleshed out features, and Pebble now had somewhat longer legs, perhaps taking a little something from her father besides his chocolate-brown pelt. Then his vision fuzzed over and when he blinked, everything faded out of existence for a moment. When it returned, Pebble and Silver Lining were both how they were when he had first met them: small.
His Ink-primed eyes were playing tricks on him that he wasn’t prepared for.
While his head turned, he blinked as he went to look at his mother. Her face was now timeless, wise, it was a face untouched by aging, but something about her eyes suggested that time had passed. Trixie’s horn was longer, pointier, and while he sat staring, that was when he noticed the wing wrapped around his body. Her wing. So entranced was he by what he saw that he didn’t want to blink for fear of destroying a moment so precious and beautiful. After several seconds passed, his eyes began to sting and the conscious need to move his eyelids was overpowering, painful even.
This reality was too perfect to let go of, and when Sumac finally succumbed to the urge to blink, it felt as though it was the most tragic thing he had ever done: he was destroying perfection. When he opened his eyes once more, the sensation of the wing around him was gone, and his mother was normal: somewhat aged with crow’s feet in the corners of her eyes.
Trixie rose from where she sat and stood up on the floor, stretching. “We should wake up the others because we’ll be in the Crystal Empire soon…”
To amuse herself while waiting for the train, Flurry Heart made snowflakes. They didn’t last very long in the late summer sun, but make them she did and then she blew them about with a tiny, billowing gust of wind. She was learning—gaining some much needed restraint—though it was quite difficult to keep the micro-storm from taking on a life of its own and whirling out of control.
Of all of the things that Sunburst had taught her, his best lessons were about control. With a nudge of her mind, another batch of snowflakes came into existence and then were tossed about in a teeny, tiny whirlwind. Entranced by her own magic, Flurry watched the glittering flakes swirl around with rapt adoration. Her command was growing and just a couple of summers ago, this would have spiraled out of control.
The train station had been decorated so that the Lulamoons could get a proper welcome and something about the festive bits of paper strung about left Flurry excited. Ponies were armed with confetti poppers, streamer launchers, and party-based weaponry, which left her feeling embarrassed about being so foalishly exhilarated about everything. It just didn’t feel mature. Looking over at Chartreuse, Flurry saw the maturity that she desired, that she coveted. Chartreuse, a filly that was about the same age as Sumac, knew exactly what she wanted from life and had set out to get it. She had her stuff together… she was a filly that had seized control of her own destiny… and Flurry was just a smidgen jealous.
Chartreuse cut a commanding figure in her robes and wizard hat. Flurry thought about wearing a cloak, but that got in the way of wings and she tended to trip over the fabric when it somehow managed to get beneath her hooves. Sunburst wore no hat, he seldom did, but with his dignified goatee he looked the part. Dim too, had a goatee, but something about it made him look wicked, diabolical, and alas, it seemed that nothing Dim did could help him fit in better.
Wearing a cloak meant constant use of one’s magic to keep it aligned with the body and out from beneath the hooves. It meant constant situational awareness so one wouldn’t trip. This is what Sunburst had told her. It required constant little fixes, little tugs, little careful acts of magic to keep everything neat and tidy. Keeping a cloak sorted out was all about discipline. For Flurry, this had mind-blowing implications, as she had utterly failed at her attempts of wearing a cloak.
Possessed with an idea, Flurry reached out with her magic, and did her best to be careful. Her tongue lolled out from her intense concentration, and she undid the clasp that secured Sunburst’s cloak around his neck. Raising an eyebrow, Sunburst looked at her and the sun glinted off of the lenses of his spectacles, but he didn’t look annoyed. Seeing no signs of protest or disapproval, Flurry took his cloak, gave it a few shakes to get rid of the many orange hairs upon it, and then threw it over her own back. It took a few tries to get the clasp to lock, but she managed. It was a puzzle lock, designed to train telekinesis with each use, and Flurry was surprised by how well she had done.
Now, she looked regal and important, and she wished that her mother would stop making those faces she was making. Her mother was trying not to laugh, and not doing a very good job of it. Little Flurry felt a tug on her cloak and it was straightened out a little, but she couldn’t tell who was doing it, as several horns were lit at the moment.
“The cloak looks marvellous on you,” Chartreuse said with a smile.
“It’s a little big.” Flurry noticed Cadance’s tone was one of teasing. Oh, how she noticed. “Perhaps we should get something more suited to her… something pink… and frilly.”
This gave Flurry an idea, but it also made her anxious, because she knew that she lacked the magical know-how required to make this idea a reality. But Sumac on the other hoof, Sumac might be able to do what she could not, and if all else failed, she might try asking Trixie. As far as aunts went, Trixie was pretty laid back and was okay with mischief, which drove Flurry’s mother nuts. All the more reason to love her Auntie Trixie.
It also brought up a question that Flurry had been meaning to ask for a while: “Is Sumac my cousin?”
“Technically, yes,” Sunburst replied without a moment’s hesitation.
“Not exactly, no.” Cadance appeared irked, perhaps because she had been beaten to an answer by her court wizard.
With what was sure to be an eyeroll behind his goggles, Dim muttered, “Oh, here we go.”
“Look, Flurry, you’re not exactly related, okay? Sumac is an Apple and received a tiny bit of Trixie’s soul to help restore him. Trixie and Twilight are half-sisters through your grandfather, Night Light, so you are related to Trixie in a real, meaningful way. You’re relation to Sumac is… well, let’s just say it is different. You could be called cousins, but not really.”
“So begins the slippery slope… once cousins become acceptable, other options present themselves to create fascinating, complex family trees—”
“Dim! Shut up!” Cadance commanded as she turned her head to stare at the mumbling wizard. When he did his best to look wounded, she snorted, and Flurry began to giggle when her mother moved to soothe over Dim’s snide suffering. Spreading her wings, Cadance pulled Dim in for super-happy-huggy-fun-time while he grunted in protest of her smothering affection.
Flurry adored moments like these when her family was happy. Oh, they might bicker—she and her sister bickered all the time—but when trouble came, they were as thick as thieves, as Dim was fond of saying. Flurry laughed because her mother was trying to kiss Dim on his cheek, and Dim was trying to pull away. How they acted, what they did, their interactions, all of these things had left an impression upon Flurry and impacted how she treated others.
She had other family members, but they weren’t here just yet. Friends too. For Sumac, the line was blurry and Flurry didn’t know what he was to her, other than he was one of her best friends and a member of the Wipe-Outs. Unable to wait a second longer, Flurry spread her oversized wings, flapped once to get airborne, and then took off to look for the train.
“Flurry! No! Wait! Where are you going? Stop!” Cadance disentangled herself from Dim, and with a flap of her own wings, she took off after her daughter who already had a head start.
Pebble’s kiss tasted of toothpaste—fennel toothpaste, which to Sumac, tasted just a little bit like black licorice. It wasn’t a great flavour, but such was the cost of kissing Pebble. She had surprised him with a lippy smooch, and had done so in full view of his mothers, which Sumac reasoned was some kind of challenge that he just didn’t understand.
Now, Pebble was looking him in the eye and the tip of her orange tongue peeked out from between her dark, chocolate-brown lips. Aware that his parents were watching, aware that Lemon might be judging his performance, Sumac made a bold move by slipping his foreleg around Pebble, pulling her a little closer, but instead of kissing her, he pressed his cheek against hers and then just held her close.
This close, tender moment suffered a drastic change when the larger Silver Lining picked them both up and began to crush them against her pillowy body. She squeezed and squeezed, because of course she did, and Sumac could hear the blood pounding in his ears as parts of his body rubbed against both girls, overwhelming him.
“You’re both so little and cute!” Silver Lining cried. “I just want to hug you and love you and crush you and squeeze you!” So squeeze she did and the griffoness showed no mercy with her aggressive affection. “You’re both like little snuggly stuffed animals that I can play with! So tiny! So cute!”
Hanging upside down from her tail, Boomer turned the page of her book and ignored what was going on down below. Meanwhile, Spike kept himself occupied with a fresh comic, the latest edition of The Nightsinger. Crooning pop-star by day, hard-singing, bone-breaking vigilante by night. The comic had a ten rating on the cover, meaning that it should only be read by those ten and older.
“Mom,” Sumac said to no mare in particular, and he had to strain to get his words out. “When will I be a stallion?”
“Um…” Trixie’s response lacked definition to be certain.
“Uh…” Lemon began tapping on her chin with her hoof while she tried to think of a suitable Lemon-esque answer that was somehow noncommittal, but still sincere, meaningful, and inspiring.
Twinkleshine took a far more practical approach with her answer: “When you can hold down a job and fully support yourself, you’ll be grown up, Sumac.”
“Superhero work doesn’t seem to pay much,” Sumac said in a mock-whine. “I was gonna milk this Professor Egghead thing for all it was worth.”
“Aunt Pinkie left home when she was young to become an apprentice for the Cakes.” Pebble, held with Sumac in Silver Lining’s embrace, now looked almost thoughtful. “She was a foal when she left home to find her way, and like so many others, she went out into the world hoping to find her place. Some of us leave our parents before our parents are ready to let go, I think.”
“Yeah.” Lemon Hearts nodded and for a moment, it looked as though she was going to say something else, but she didn’t. Instead, her ears drooped, she patted her stomach, and belched. Closing her eyes, she burped again and leaned up against Twinkleshine, seeking comfort.
“The First Tribes put adulthood at fourteen,” Twinkleshine said, and was about to say more when Trixie cut her off.
“Yeah, but they also have a thing about twenty one being something like the age of wisdom, or something.” Leaning over a bit, Trixie looked at Lemon’s now bulging cheeks with concern. “They recognise that there is physical maturity and mental maturity. Lemon, are you going to spew?”
“Just a lot of gas all of a sudden, and a sour stomach,” the panting yellow mare replied.
“Poor sour Lemon.” Reaching out with her foreleg, Twinkleshine reached around the smaller yellow mare and held her close. “Sumac, do you think you are grown up?”
“Not at all,” Sumac replied right away. “For a time there, I thought I was getting closer to being grown up, but then the thing with the wings happened and now the finish line for adulthood seems a lot farther away as I have more things to figure out.”
“That is the best news that Trixie has heard all day.”
“Mom, I’m being serious.”
“So is the Great and Powerful Mom.”
Exasperated, Sumac rolled his eyes and let his mother have her fun. His gaze fell on Pebble because she was right there in front of him, pressed up against him, and he began to think about her. If she had to, Pebble could look after herself. She could cook, balance the books, and if necessary, work from sunup to sundown to secure a means of support for herself.
Silver Lining was even closer to actual adulthood because she matured faster, but Sumac was dubious about her ability to care for herself. She was like a big fluffy housecat, and he felt bad for even thinking this, but she was not the lean, mean hunter type that griffons tended to be.
“Incoming!” Boomer shouted, and this time, Sumac looked left first.
Right outside the window were two pink alicorns—with the smaller one wearing a cape—flying alongside the speeding train with relative ease. Flurry wasn’t even flapping her wings hard and she was waving through the glass at him. After working his leg free, he waved back, and so did Pebble. Flurry was getting sooty from the black coal dust being belched out by the locomotive, but Sumac knew her well enough to know that she didn’t care.
“Look, Sumac, your fiancé—”
“Shut up, Pebble!”
“Oh, come on, can’t we keep her? She’s cute. We need a maid.”
“Pebble!” This time, when he said her name, she booped him on the nose.
Sticking out her tongue, Boomer began licking her eyeball and this made Flurry cover her face with her forelegs. The alicorn filly veered away from the train, disgusted—her shrieks could be heard through the glass—and Boomer sucked her tongue back in with a slurp while looking pleased with herself. Based on Flurry’s reaction, it was hard to fly and cringe at the same time.
Soon, the train would pull into the station, and Sumac would be able to greet his dear friend…
With no hesitation whatsoever, Flurry threw herself at her friend and beloved companion. This brought a cheer from the ponies watching on the station platform, but she didn’t care about them or what they thought right now. Sumac was here—Professor Egghead—and that meant that everything was going to be okay. He was the best sort of friend, the kind that was willing to get into trouble with her and share the consequences, because that is what real friends did.
Even though she would be embarrassed about it later, Flurry burst into tears, though not from joy. No, her tears came from relief because her friends, a bunch of them, had crossed the continent to be with her, and just being with them made everything okay. Megara was missing, and that sucked just a little, but Flurry understood how things were sometimes.
Sniffling, blinking, she pulled back just a little so that she might have a better look at Sumac’s wings, something she had not yet seen. It was as shocking as it was thrilling, and seeing them, feeling them, touching them filled her with hope. She was about to say something about them when Pebble grabbed her, and whatever it was that she was about to say was forgotten, lost in the moment, and she continued to sob with relief, her tears forming black, sooty streaks on her cheeks.
Flashbulbs began to go off, and though Flurry didn’t see it, her mother reacted: flashbulbs were an excellent way to hide a spell and one such incident had already happened. Armor clanked as the assembled guards went rigid. Party poppers popped and the air was filled with the smell of black powder, the eggy stench of fireworks. The sudden, explosive bursts of celebratory sound caused Cadance to become even more protective over the foals huddled together on the platform, and several more of the guard moved in even closer, forming a protective ring.
These were dangerous times to be living in.
“Silver Lining, how have you been?” Flurry pulled away from Pebble and focused on the powerful feeling of love that demanded her attention. “Something is different… something has changed about you. What is it?” Every muscle of her body seemed to quiver with some sort of newfound sensation that left her feeling lightheaded and giddy. Reaching out, the pink filly touched Silver Lining and there was an electric tingle. Her mother had told her the story, it was a fond story, the story of a mother’s love.
“Yours is a love no longer hidden,” Flurry said, knowing without understanding how she knew. The griffoness seemed startled, but the young alicorn moved to reassure her. “The truth was made known and you are free to love without reservation—”
“How do you know this?” Silver Lining said in a low voice to the much smaller alicorn.
“I don’t know.” Flurry shrugged with her wings. “I can feel it. Sense it. I feel a love set free. You are relieved, right?”
Feathers fluffing, the chubby griffoness did not respond.
For the second time this day, Flurry transformed, becoming translucent and crystalline. She felt it, she had a keen awareness of it, and with it came a powerful swell of magic. Love was a powerful, intoxicating force, and Flurry, hungering for it, drank it in while revelling in all of the new sensations.
“Welcome to the Crystal Empire,” she said, and her voice sounded strange in her own ears. “Come with me, there is much to plan and to prepare. Sumac, I need to speak with you in private, because there is something that I need for you to do for me. As your princess, I require your assistance.”
The colt bowed his head, a sincere gesture, and replied, “All I have to give you is yours.”
Flurry broke her formality with a wide grin. “Let’s go eat! I’m starving! And maybe later we can chuck water balloons off of a balcony or something!” She ignored her mother’s rolling eyes but reveled with hoof-stomping abandon at the sound of her Auntie Trixie’s laughter. “We have plenty of time to get into trouble before the cotillion starts!”
The table was loaded down with all of Flurry’s favourite foods, including crystalline corn on the cob, but she hardly noticed these things. Being who she was, she could have them at almost any time that she demanded them, and as such, they just weren’t as important. Her friends though, her friends lived in Ponyville, a long, long ways away, and she didn’t get to see them often, which made them special, a rare treat worth savouring.
“This corn,” Sumac started to say while he held up his buttery, half-eaten corn cob, “it always kind of freaks me out when it comes out the other end—”
“SUMAC APPLE LULAMOON!”
Flurry saw Sumac cringe as he bore the brunt of Auntie Trixie using his full name.
“What?” The colt gave his mother an innocent look. “The little kernels continue to glitter and sparkle and glow—”
“Sumac…” This time it was Lemon that had said his name and from the looks of things, the lemony yellow mare didn’t feel good. Flurry knew why, but it was rude to spoil surprises and blurt out things when ponies didn’t know themselves. “Sumac, why?”
“It looks like crystal, but it isn’t crystal,” Boomer muttered while she gave her cob a dark look. “Stupid food is lying to me. I’ll teach you!” With a savage chomp, she began eating the cob itself, as Boomer wasted nothing that could be edible, and for the little pygmy tree dragon, everything was edible. Orange peels, banana skins, old newspapers, everything had a flavour just waiting to be explored, and Flurry knew this better than most.
It was almost as if Sumac was engaged in a contest of wrongness, as he spoke with his mouth full and had something terrible to say: “Crystal corn nibblets look like little sparkly turd treasures.”
“Sumac, I swear—”
“They do, actually,” Cadance said, interrupting Trixie before the lecture could begin in earnest. “I mean, you look down in the bowl and hey, lookit, something pretty!”
Skyla, who had been silent this whole time, looked disgusted by her mother’s words, and Flurry laughed; not at what her mother or Sumac had said, but at the face her smaller sibling was making. It was a magnificent look of disgust, and while she grinned from ear to ear, her father began to chortle.
“They don’t get to see each other often enough,” Cadance said in a gentle voice that exuded motherhood. “They’ll only be foals for so long… let them have their fun and act their ages. Let them get this out of their systems to they’ll behave during the cotillion. There is no harm in letting them blow off a little steam.”
“Which in grownup speak, means that it’s fine, do whatever right now, but make no mistake, we’ll be having a word about this later in private,” Sumac said and even while he spoke, Pebble’s head began to bob with acknowledgement.
Flurry speared an enormous candied crystalline carrot with her fork, lifted it, and took a bite that was far too large. Sticky glaze dribbled down her chin and for a second, she became lost in the moment while she thought about all of the things she needed to say to Sumac. Things that needed to be said in private, away from adults and bratty little sisters. She was nervous, so very nervous, as any filly would be when she was about to make a proposal that was going to change her life.
“Sumac, you’ve grown so clever.”
“Not really, Cadance,” Sumac replied with a coy smile. “I’ve just caught on to all of the ways that adults can get me.”
Auntie Trixie seemed to have relaxed just a little, because she was laughing now. Beside her, Lemon appeared to be hanging on to her chair, and kept reaching over to clutch at Trixie’s foreleg, as if she was seeking support.
“Tell me, Sumac, I know how you feel about adventuring,” Cadance said, “but do you think you are ready for a life of politics?”
“Yeah, sure.” Sumac nodded his head and Flurry chewed her candied carrot with great interest, never once even tasting what it was. “I have it all figured out. I have a master plan.”
“Oh, do you?” Shining Armor leaned in closer and his ears pivoted around forward so that he might hear better what Sumac had to say.
“Yep.” The colt kept nodding, looking cool, collected, and calm. “Gosling spent a whole day schooling me on the subject, and I am prepared.”
“Um…” Skyla appeared dubious, and Flurry listened to whatever input her sister had for the conversation. “What could you possibly learn from him in one day?”
“The secret to politics,” Sumac replied. Lifting his glass, he raised it as if he was making a toast, looked around the table, and made a ne'er-do-well grin. “Do no harm, but take no shit.”
Flurry only started laughing when her mother and father did, only when she realised it was safe to find this funny. The laughter felt good after all of the tension of the past few days and it seemed to unkink her muscles better than a hot bath. Was this the politics of laughter? Even as she laughed, she wondered why she needed her parents’ approval. Why hadn’t she laughed at this on her own? Lost in her own thoughts, she failed to notice the many varied reactions to Sumac’s words.
“That… that is sound advice.” Skyla seemed to have some trouble saying these words, and in the aftermath of her admittance, her ears revealed her discomfort. They went left, then right, then neutral, listening to the various sounds around her while trying to gain some manner of consensus from the ponies around her.
Flurry’s ears did much the same, as ponies had directional hearing; their ears had to be facing the right direction to pick up on the subtle sounds and cues in the world around them. Right now, without even realising it, both Flurry and her sister Skyla were learning ‘what was allowed’ and this meant trying to pick up on the subtle cues of the adult laughter around them, determining if it was sincere laughter or the fake laughter that adults sometimes did.
So far, this seemed to be real laughter, and Sumac had won them over. Sumac was a pony that was willing to take risks—his many attempts at flight were proof of that—and he was bold enough to say just about anything. She needed him on her side and there were so many things that needed to be said to him. It was dreadful, living with the anticipation that she had, because she needed to talk to Sumac about popping the question. The big question. She was going to give ponies what they wanted, whether they wanted it or not, they were going to get it.
Maybe after the meal, she could get Sumac alone and get him to agree to propose to her.
The parlour held a strange silence after Flurry had poured out her heart to her friends. Sumac sat in a chair that was probably worth more in value than several of the thatched roof cottages in Ponyville, rubbing his chin, and thinking about every single word that Flurry had said. She had just asked so much of him, and this was bound to be something with potential long-reaching consequences as well as ripple-effects that he had no way of comprehending now.
Thankfully, there were no adults present to ruin this moment, this session of plotting and insurrection. And Sumac was pretty sure that this counted as some form of insurrection. There would be Tartarus to pay, with all debts paid in full with bits, no credit. Not far away, Pebble sat on a chaise lounger with Flurry, holding her, and trying to console her. A few tears fell, but not many, and Flurry was holding up rather well under the pressure. Silver Lining lounged on a long couch, looking uncomfortable even though she sprawled out in opulent, palatial luxury.
“Help me, Professor Egghead. You’re my only hope.”
Saving princesses wasn’t something that Sumac was used to doing. Under normal circumstances, princesses saved him, and during his short life, he had been saved and or rescued by every adult princess in existence. After so much kindness and generousity, the colt supposed that it was time to give a little something back to Equestria’s newest and most recently recognised princess, but doing so was going to land him in hot water.
“Pebble, what do I do?” Sumac asked, seeking advice from somepony that he trusted.
“I’m not going to tell you what to do,” she replied while shaking her head.
“Help me sort out the pros and cons then,” he commanded, and this got him a resigned sigh. “Please help me sort out the pros and cons. Pebble, you’re better at this than I am and I trust your judgment.”
“If you do this, this will impact our future.” Pebble sounded a bit unsettled in Sumac’s ears, and from the faint quaver that could be detected in her voice, he was able to discern the gravity of the situation. “Lulamoon Hollow will certainly be impacted by your decision. The older generation of nobles might frown on what is being planned, but the new generation, our generation, they might respect you, or might not. It’s a gamble, Sumac Apple, so this is something you’re better at than I am.”
Leaning back in his chair, Sumac began to rub his front hooves together and his ears splayed out sideways since there was nothing to listen to except for the ticking of the clock. Pebble was going to make a fantastic Lady of Lulamoon Hollow, and would certainly do a better job at running things than he would. At least, this is what he believed.
Frowning, Pebble reached out and picked up a book sitting on the cushion beside Flurry. She stared at the cover, her brown face wrinkled with emotion, and she was making funny faces again, which to Sumac meant that she was doing that thing she did, but he couldn’t recall what it was. Stiff lipped, Sumac heard Pebble say, “Is this book for real? I mean, I know it is, I’m holding it, but a cursory glance reveals much horror.”
“Yep.” Flurry’s reply was squeaky and Sumac could see that she was terrified of the book that Pebble was holding. “It’s real alright. It’s over a thousand years old, written at a time when Princess Amore ruled the Crystal Empire, and now it is being reprinted. It’s a bestseller and they can’t be printed fast enough. It’s become a big deal for those with traditional, conservative, old fashioned values. Mom says it is fueling the neo-feudal revival, whatever that means.”
Sumac’s eyes lingered on the title: Noble Expectations. He hadn’t read it, and he didn’t want to judge a book by its cover, but at the moment, he didn’t much care for how Flurry was terrified of it. With a burst of willpower, he snatched it from Pebble’s grasp and levitated it over to where he sat so he could have a better look at it… later.
“Sumac, the book says that bloody sheets are to be hung from the balcony the morning after the nuptials so that the commoners can be calmed with blessed reassurance that the new bride has been properly bred.” The corner of Pebble’s eye began to twitch and this caused a frightful pressure on Sumac’s bladder, as the earth pony filly was scary when she was provoked to anger. “And if the sheets aren’t bloody enough, it mentions alternative ways to make your bride bleed so that suitably bloodied sheets can be hung out on display the next morning.”
When Flurry began shaking so hard that her teeth began to clatter, Pebble tightened her grip to keep the pink filly still. Sumac held the now hated book in his telekinesis, and though he did not know it, at that moment, sitting in the high backed chair, scowling at the book, he looked very much to be the Lord of Lulamoon Hollow that he would become.
“This is a bestseller?” Sumac’s voice was now filled with an icy, austere authority. “So, we can assume that most of the well to do, the upper crust, and the elite have read this, just for the sake of being ‘social’ and having something to talk about.”
Flurry nodded and clung to Pebble.
“I see.” Behind his glasses, his eyes narrowed. “Well then.”
“Sumac…” Silver Lining sounded fearful and her voice was almost a whine. “Sumac, what are you planning?”
“Rebellion,” he replied, his voice still icy. “Outright rebellion, nothing more, nothing less.”
“So you’re going to help me?” Flurry asked while she continued to quake.
Sumac did not respond right away, but sat there thinking, plotting, and planning. He believed in the cause, he saw a future in fiefdoms and the restoration of some of the old ways, but the bad parts… the bad stuff, that needed to stay in the past. Already, he could feel the dreadful beast that was his temper just begging to be let out of the dungeon.
“Yes,” he whispered as he focused on remaining calm. The only temper he knew of worse than Pebble’s was his own. “So, Flurry, during the cotillion, you and I will act as though we’ve come to our senses, we’ll not confess our love for one another, but instead our understanding of duty, and I’ll make a big scene as I propose to you for the sake of doing what is right.”
Flurry sniffled, but said nothing in response.
“Afterwards, I’ll turn on Pebble and I guess that Silver Lining becomes part of this plan too.” Sumac cleared his throat. “I’ll give them both a thorough denouncing and rejection, citing them as commoners who are beneath me. To add insult to injury, I’ll offer them positions as our new scullery maids, because that's bound to work the aristocrats into a frenzy. No doubt, some true colours will be shown after that, and we’ll know exactly who to avoid in the future.”
“Yeah.” Flurry sniffled and some of her courage could be heard in her voice again.
“Pebble, Silver, both of you are going to need to do a hard sell if we’re going to pull off this con job and grift these bastards.” Tapping his front hooves together, Sumac set the book down upon the arm of the chair beside him. “We’re going to need tears, lots of them, and the both of you will need to be absolutely crushed when I coldly and callously cast you aside.”
“I can try—”
“No, Silver, you can do. Let Pebble stomp on your toes or something, I don’t care.”
“Dim called you the Alicorn of Grift,” Flurry whispered, “and he said that you would begin fleshing out his plan. He was right… I’m having some second thoughts… this might be too successful—”
“No, I think this needs to be done.” Closing his eyes, Sumac focused on keeping the beast in the dungeon and he slowed his breathing. “We’re going to be the ones in charge one day, and the old will pass away. We need to establish our authority now, and show them that hard changes are coming. We need to make a statement that we will not be cowed, or intimidated, or that we will be coerced into immoral or amoral action. Be brave, Flurry.”
“I’ll try, Professor Egghead.”
“Whatever happens,” Sumac began, “I promise that I’ll be with you through this, from start to finish. That means the consequences too.” The colt sighed and wondered just how much trouble this act of insurrection would get him into. “You’re my princess, Flurry, long shall I serve you.”
“I give you my pledge as your princess to always look after the interests of Lulamoon Hollow and to champion the cause of your fiefdom.” Flurry hiccuped and Pebble began thumping her on the back. Turning her head, she looked at Pebble and started to say something, but no words came out. Instead, she redoubled her grip and clung to the stocky, sturdy earth pony.
“This might be the most grown up and adult thing we’ve ever done.” Pebble’s voice held none of its usual steadfastness or calm reassurance that some mistook for arrogance. “We’re sticking our necks out and risking our very futures. Lulamoon Hollow might become an island for lack of friends, contacts, and allies. If we do this, if we follow through with his con job, we might just find ourselves as social pariahs.”
“Pebble, this is a form of bullying, and you know how I feel about that.” Sumac’s eyes darted downwards to look at the book, then he glanced at Silver, and returned his gaze back to Pebble and Flurry. “This is gossip and peer pressure, all of the worst parts of herd-think are being used to overpower Flurry’s sense of individualism. She has a right to think and act for herself, princess or no.”
“I don’t disagree.” Pebble’s ears rose for a moment, then went limp once more. “I’m just trying to say that if we go into this, and it seems we’re diving into this septic tank of a shitshow, we’ll need to have a clear head for the consequences. The ponies of Lulamoon Hollow might suffer for their Lord’s conviction and his need to defend the tenets of individuality.”
This stung and Sumac cringed a little as the truth of Pebble’s words settled in. The weight of his wings against his sides manifested in his thoughts and his sudden awareness of them was painful. This was more than a lark, a romp, a bit of good natured mayhem. This was more than trying to set the Royal Brood straight by cracking them on their heads with a magical rod.
Ahead was the future, not just his own, but the lives of many, and this knowledge, this realisation put a painful pressure upon his neck, which bent when his head bowed. “Flurry, you’re the princess here, this is your call. What do we do?”
Hesitation filled the air with silence, which seemed to stretch on forever, until at last Flurry replied, “We give them what they want. So much so that they choke on it, as Dim said. And if they hate me for this, if they despise me for giving them what they want, I will go into the night and join Luna’s Crusade, just as Dim suggested. If they hate me so much that they can’t stand to look at me, at least the pressures will be eased and I will be free to live my own life.”
“Luna will look after Lulamoon Hollow. If the worst happens, I will trust that she will look after her own.” Sumac felt a tightness in his throat and there was something about Pebble’s sad, resigned expression that made his heart ache. He loved her, a fierce, all consuming love, because he knew that she would see this through with him.
“I’ve never been a part of palace intrigue before,” Silver Lining said to the ponies around her. “Is this normal? Is this what you do? Is this the sort of life I have to look forward to if I stick around?” The griffoness blinked. “If so, I’m in. This is a rush.”
“So, that’s it then. We’re committing to this.” Flurry looked around, meeting each eye in turn.
“I’m in.” Sumac’s eyes darted towards the hateful book while he made his response.
Pebble nodded. “I look after my friends and my loved ones.”
“You know how I feel already.” Silver Lining sat up a little and added, “This is dreadfully exciting. What would my father say if he knew I was plotting all out rebellion? Oh dear… oh dear… Oh, Daddy is going to be growly.”
A sad, resigned smile appeared on Flurry’s face. “So now, we need to iron out the plan and rehearse our roles…”
This was going to be the longest day in Flurry’s life and each hour was going to be agony. She couldn’t even hide in her room, or be with her friends, or while away the day; no, she had duties that she had to attend and her continued cooperation was needed to keep up the charade. The emissary yaks of Yakyakistan were arriving, Prince Rutherford along with a cadre of Yakyakistanian diplomats and goodwill ambassadors.
The train from the north was rounding the bend now and would soon come to a halt in the station. Grinning with anticipation, she wondered if there would be another yak doll. These were special, treasured keepsakes, and not meant for play. She kept them in a locked display cabinet in her room and she had quite the collection of little yaks. Carved from wood and made with real yak hair, no two dolls were alike and each one was unique.
“Oh dear, Hennessy was successful…”
“Mom?” Flurry looked up at her mother, who now pranced in place, and then followed her mother’s gaze. An airship was coming into the sky docks, a small nimble craft of practical design. Flurry knew it by sight alone and didn’t need to see the nameplate. It was the Don’t Panic.
“The timing, the timing… Flurry dear, we have other special guests to greet. We might need to find the time to schedule a nap for you today so you’ll be at your best tonight.”
“Mom, I’m not a foal—”
“Say again?” Her mother had a wry smile when she looked down and Flurry’s ears burned with inner heat. She looked into her mother’s eyes and heard her say, “Though not much longer, Flurry… not much longer. And then I’ll have to lock you in a tower when you hit that difficult phase.”
Flurry laughed at the idea of being a princess locked in a tower and she wondered who would come to save her. Probably her friends, the Wipe-Outs, and that was only if she didn’t bother trying to save herself. The laughter made her tension melt away and she felt better about things; sometimes, her mother knew just what to say.
“I miss how we used to laugh together,” her mother said while still smiling, but something about her eyes looked sad to Flurry. “You were my best friend. You were my little buddy and you used to follow me around with a big dopey grin, just happy to be near me. Now, you’re growing up a bit—”
“And I want different things than you want for me.” Leaning against her mother’s leg, Flurry watched as the train made a slow, chuffing approach as it pulled into the station. “Mom, I miss how things used to be, but I can’t pretend to like certain things just so we can get along. I’m not good at that sort of stuff.”
“I know, Flurry.” Cadance let out a sigh, reached down with her wing, and touched her daughter. “We’ll talk after the cotillion, I promise. Your father and I, we had a long talk with one another and it was all about you.”
Flurry Heart’s flurried heart fluttered at her mother’s words, and hope buoyed her spirits. She didn’t say anything, nothing needed to be said right now, but what her mother had said made her happy. Of course, this also made her feel a little guilty for what she was about to do, because she suspected that this would be a cotillion that nopony would ever forget.
“Be ready for yak hugs, Flurry… brace yourself!”
As Prince Rutherford and his yaks approached, Flurry made a series of complicated hoof strikes against the platform, clopping out a thunderous greeting. While her mother was graceful and could make the movements required for this form of greeting, she lacked a certain something, a certain gusto perhaps that gave the dance a yak-like authenticity. Yak hoof stomping could be complex and held much meaning. It could even be used to communicate long distance, provided there was stone for the vibrations to travel through. Flurry suspected that magic was involved, but didn’t know enough about it to even begin to present a hypothesis.
“You tap like yak!” bellowed Prince Rutherford as he drew nearer and he too, began to perform the stomp-dance of greeting.
Now, the platform trembled and Flurry reveled in a chance to outshine her mother. She held nothing in reserve, there was nothing shy about her movements, and she lost herself in the moment. No matter what her mother might say later, Flurry was acting like a princess: a yak princess. Flurry’s enthusiastic act of diplomacy got the other yaks dancing and the station platform threatened collapse, sending the other ponies present fleeing with panicked shouts.
“You show much heart! Heart like yak!” one of the yaks hollered, and the yak might have been a female yak, called a nak; it was hard to tell sometimes. Naks were just as big, hairy, and boisterous, plus they held equal hoofing with the males, provided that they had the strength. Yak society was all about strength, not gender.
Sometimes, Flurry Heart wanted to grow up to be a yak, or a nak as the case may be.
Yaks appeased.
Flurry knew that the last accomplishment was all hers and that the impromptu yak stomp dance had made the yaks feel welcome. The following yak hugs might’ve been a little too enthusiastic, but Flurry was fine with looking disheveled and was in no hurry to look straightened out. Now, the yaks had been shown to their yurts and were happy to be left to refresh themselves after a long trip.
Yak yurts were perhaps one of the greatest things ever, and Flurry longed to stay in one. Alas, the yurts of yaks were not considered secure buildings, and as such, her parents were opposed to such action. Setting up one indoors just wouldn’t be the same, so Flurry had to wait. Someday, she would be in charge of her own life, and when that day came, she would gather her closest friends, retreat into a yurt, and maybe not come out for a while. Should something dare to disturb the sanctity of their yurt, there would be Megara—who was like a big snuggly lion-skin rug, but with teeth, claws, muscle, and more head-twisty-offishness-out-of-anger.
“Mom, do you think Megara and Sumac will end up together?”
This made her mother pause mid-step, and there were clanks as the guard too, came to a halt. “Flurry, sometimes… sometimes Mama worries about what goes through your head.”
“But I want all of my friends to stay together and if they became a family, they would. I would have them all in one place and they would all be together for when I needed them.” Flurry wanted to say more, but the right words eluded her at the moment. So far, this just sounded bad, like having her friends all together for convenience. “I think they could be happy together.”
“Sumac, even being the mouthy little roguish charmer that he is, can’t just go off and marry all of your friends in a bid to keep them all together in one spot, Flurry. I know that what goes on when all of you get together seems like crushes, or even love, but this is just bonding between all of you as a social milieu. It is a safe space to experiment and this is normal behaviour for juvenile groups that form during foalhood. This is how little foals learn what they need to know to become adults and have successful relationships.”
“But Sumac has kissed Meg and she’s kissed him back.” For whatever reason, Flurry felt like arguing the point and she was quick to stay by her mother’s side when the procession began moving again. “They flirt all the time and they’re so sweet with one another.” She heard her mother sigh, a sad sound, and knew that grownup words were coming.
“Flurry, Sumac is the colt in that particular juvenile group. This is normal… well, just about as normal as life can be with those little troublemakers. This goes back to our most primitive selves and our most basic herd structures. Little fillies reenact and play out a herd structure to learn social behaviour and usually there is a little colt or two that ends up being doted on. This is normal. But life goes on, foals grow up, and these juvenile gangs get broken apart.”
“But why break them up?” Flurry demanded, wanting answers to why this tragedy had to happen. “Why not fight to keep them together? Why does it have it to end?”
“The reasons outnumber the stars, Flurry,” her mother replied, and the filly could hear the exquisite sadness in her mother’s voice. “Some ponies want to go out and see more than what a small town has to offer. Others have destinies, or goals, or things they want from life that they can’t get if they stay. Some grow up and develop emotional or physical wants that go beyond what their established group can give them.”
A long pause happened and the clank of armor around them was like the ticking of a clock, a means for Flurry to count the time as it passed. After a while, she heard her mother say, “Sometimes, the best lesson these juvenile gangs have to offer is that of a broken heart. The pain of moving on. As awful as it is, as painful as it might be, it is something that happens in life and it can be a learning experience. It can help a foal learn how to cope with the rejections they will face as adults, all of those painful moments when life just doesn’t quite go as planned.”
Hearing this hurt her heart, and little Flurry wanted to kick, stomp, and thrash about to let the pain out. She wanted to scream, to protest, to make the entire world know how she felt about the unfairness of life and how awful it was. But all that came out was a sigh and she followed along beside her mother, walled in on all sides by burly, capable protectors.
“Mom, I need time to myself—”
“Flurry, we must go and greet our guests. Flicker, Hennessy, and Piper just arrived.”
“Mom, I need some time to myself to sort out my head or I won’t make it tonight.” Flurry heard a sigh of defeat from her mother, a sound of profound disappointment.
“Okay, Flurry… go and take the time you need. But do keep in mind that we don’t always have the luxury of having time to ourselves. We have duties, obligations, and things that we must follow through with no matter how we might be feeling at the moment.”
“Yes, Mother.” Now, she felt a little guilty on top of being overwhelmed, and this just made her feel worse. “Mom…” She squirmed a bit, feeling out sorts, but she just had to make her feelings known, so she continued, “Mom, I could use a little time alone with you today. Please. I know that today is going to be super busy and everything is going to be hectic, and I know that you feel like you have to be the one that makes sure that everything is done to perfection… but I need you too.”
“Apprentice Chartreuse, please, escort Flurry back to the palace. You’re in charge.” Cadance drew in a deep breath, glanced at Flurry for a moment, then returned her gaze to her husband’s apprentice with a huff. “Speak with Sunburst and have him clear a half an hour in my schedule if he can, or a full hour if such a thing is possible. I demand teatime with my daughter.”
Flurry felt her heart bursting, and was thankful that her mother had once again pulled through for her.
“As you wish, Empress.” Chartreuse bowed her head somewhat, and gave Cadance a nod. “I can buy you an hour by dealing with the floral delegation myself, if you so desire. I have memorised your schedule.”
“You’d do that?” Cadance’s eyes narrowed and the volume of her voice dropped to a low, conspiratorial whisper. “Those mares are so insufferably terrible. I can’t stand them. They try my patience something awful and keep telling me about what I need to do if I am going to succeed as the Empress. No, I don’t want to bring back the stocks or public humiliation with rotten vegetables. Apprentice Chartreuse, I will give you your own fiefdom if you can save me from those wretched mares.”
“No need for that, Empress,” Chartreuse replied as Flurry covered her mouth and laughed. “Come, Princess Flurry. We must be going. Guards, I need some of you to attend me.”
“Thank you, Mom!” Flurry waved at her mother and added, “I look forward to tea!”
Sumac Apple Lulamoon, the future Lord of Lulamoon Hollow, was troubled. In the vivid glittery green glow of his magic he held a book, and his face was wizened with thoughtfulness. His glasses had slid down his muzzle, half-revealing his inkshot eyes, and something about his demeanour made him seem far, far older than he was. The seriousness upon his face was something not found on foals his age.
Most of the book was good. No, most of the book was beyond good. It was a treatise on compassionate rule and even suggested that peasants and serfs be seen as something more than common property, which was quite advanced for the time that it had been written. It suggested other things that were outlandish for the time that it had been written, such as educating your peasants to see what new and wonderful talents they might develop. It acknowledged the risks of such behaviour—even brought up the spectre of organised rebellion—but mentioned that the rewards could be great indeed.
It was, however, a product of its time, and as such, its treatment of common-stock mares and fillies was… well, Sumac lacked the words to describe how he felt about what he had just read. As for the noble born mares and fillies, their treatment wasn’t much better. Mares died, often and frequently, usually during birth or after birth. Males on the other hoof, lived longer and were vessels of experience. As such, males held more intrinsic value in society, having more to offer. A ‘mare’ might die by the age of fifteen, or maybe twenty, while a stallion typically lived a good while longer.
As awful as it was, Sumac understood the reasoning behind it. Find a wife, marry early, and hope that one might beat the odds. Breed frequently and often, having as many foals as equinely possible with your young bride, and then hope that at least one or two might survive to ‘adulthood,’ with adulthood being a breedable age. The book gave a horrifying glimpse into how life was and gave soul-curdling glimpses into surviving those times.
It offered insights into how to be a widower, after having lost a wife. How to grieve. How long to grieve. (Not long, it seemed, as life had to go on.) It held terrible advice on how to leave a sickly newborn out in the woods so that nature could take its course, as some foals were too frail to survive and would only be a drain on precious resources. More importantly, it offered advice on how to do all of this as a noble, a public example for the peasantry to follow, because by watching their Lord in all they did, they could mimic his behaviour.
And such was the distinction of living so long ago: males lived long enough to grow wise, providence willing, and females lived long enough to give birth. Both were valuable, but in different ways. It troubled Sumac a great deal, because he so very much wanted to judge society for how it was, but applying modern standards to such ancient times was wrong. Even worse, if one remained objective and kept one’s emotions in check, the advice was sensible, valuable even, as it was all about survival at all costs. It was pragmatism, living in outright defiance of a hostile world Tartarus-bent on killing anything that dared to draw breath.
Compassionate, but firm rule kept the peasants in line, kept them productive, and even gave them a little time to grieve when the inevitable happened. Still, it bothered him. Mares weren’t valued for their opinions, or ideas, or any cleverness they had to offer: no, their sole purpose seemed to be propagating the species, which, at the time, was on the verge of extinction.
As dark as those times were, the book still presented the viewpoints of enlightened rule, espousing the idea that kindness and gentle treatment would get more labour out of the peasantry than the lash. Sumac could see evidence of the values of the Elements of Harmony. Generousity, kindness, honesty, loyalty, and laughter. These things were to be placed at a higher value than raw authoritarianism and the effectiveness of rule based solely on the numbers of production.
Yes, the book had been quite thought provoking and Sumac knew that it would forever change his approach to leadership. But there were proverbial flies in the ointment, things that he wished that he just hadn’t read. Unsettled, he closed the book with a muffled thump and set it down upon the long steel trunk that sat by his chair.
Troubled, the young colt needed to talk to his mothers.
The teacup trembled in Trixie’s telekinesis, the only sign that she too, was troubled. Sumac had revealed everything in his plan to Trixie, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine, risking everything that was yet to go down. Lemon appeared quite disturbed and kept rubbing her head with her hoof. Twinkleshine though, Twinkleshine had the most alarming grin and something about it suggested pride.
“It’s a good thing you told us,” Trixie said as she held her teacup close. “I think it is pretty safe to say that we would have interfered. One of us might have even came up and slapped the smug look off of your face for making Pebble and Silver Lining cry.” She cast a sidelong glance at Lemon, then looked her son in the eye. When Lemon slurped some tea, Trixie’s ears stood up at attention.
“So, are you set on your course of action?” Twinkleshine asked as she leaned forwards closer to Sumac. “You’re going to stick your neck out for Flurry?”
“What else can I do?” Sumac asked and there was something foalish about his voice that he hated. The three mares exchanged a glance with one another, a common, familiar gesture that he had seen so many times during his life. Lifting up a tea biscuit, he gave it an aggressive chomp, then sat there trying to chew away his anger.
“This is our fault,” Lemon said to the mares that sat on either side of her. “This is how we raised him. We only have ourselves to blame. It would be wrong to stop him, because we would be contradicting ourselves and everything that we taught him to do.”
Trixie’s ears pivoted to her right to focus on the sound of Lemon Heart’s voice, but her eyes remained focused upon her son. She peered down her muzzle at him while slurping her tea. Lemon huffed a bit, rubbed her stomach, and then she too, picked up a tea biscuit with her magic so she could nibble on it. Sumac could feel a tension now that wasn’t here just a few minutes ago.
“We made him this way,” Lemon said with her mouth full, while crumbs went tumbling down from her chin.
“To be fair, I think some of the male influences in Sumac’s life had a hoof in this.” Twinkleshine’s tea sloshed in its cup when she made a sudden movement with it, but it did not spill. “Big Mac, most of all I think. I’m pretty certain that all those times Big Mac repeated that line of his, ‘Never turn down a mare in trouble, Sumac, or I’ll have words with ya,’ is the cause of this.”
“Yeah.” Sumac nodded and then stared down into his tea. “It is. There are times when I can hear his voice loud and clear inside of my head. Applejack too.”
“Kiddo, we’re in your corner.” Trixie blinked once, sighed, and then slumped over. “Once again, another Lulamoon will be known as a disturber of the peace and an instigator of trouble. It seems this trend is doomed to continue.”
“Don’t take it so hard, Trixie,” Twinkleshine said to the blue mare as she plucked crumbs from Lemon Heart’s chest scruffle. “Sumac, you should go and find Pebble and Silver Lining. See if they can cheer you up. The last thing you need to is walk into the cotillion tonight looking the way you do, because right now, you are a sour Apple.”
“Okay.”
“And uh, maybe see if, uh, Silver Lining can help you tidy up your wings again. You’ll, uh, um, you’ll be wanting those to look perfect for tonight. Now, go on, go and sort yourself out.” Twinkleshine made a dismissive gesture with her hoof, trying to wave Sumac away.
“Fine. Lemme finish my tea and I’ll go get myself sorted out and I’ll go make out with Silver Lining like you told me.”
“Uh… yeah.” Twinkleshine nodded. “Grooming, Sumac… call it grooming.”
“Whatever,” Sumac said in the manner of sulky adolescents everywhere.
“Have fun grooming!” Some of Lemon’s usual cheerfulness managed to burst through her malaise. “Good clean fun! Heh… heh… oh who am I kidding? Sumac, please, please be careful! All three of you are at the age of dangerous consequences. Pebble is about to start university lessons and you are going to start apprenticing for your profession soon… I hope… and I don’t know what Silver has planned, but a sudden, unexpected egg or a little foal would upset a lot of plans. Now, do you remember all of the ways I taught you to avoid sudden, unwanted pregnancies? Ever since you went to Appleloosa and ate all those quesadillas, I’ve been so worried! Pebble is having some earth pony filly problems and I know how hard it is for you to tell her no. So distract her with other things… good things… fun things… so many other things you could be doing besides that one little thing—”
Blushing, Sumac had to cut Lemon off. “I know, Lemon Mom, I know!” It was now time to make his exit for sure, but not before having a final say in the issue. He rose from the table, assumed a dignified posture, and his leg muscles were twitching with the need for quick escape. The last thing he wanted was another lengthy lecture about sex from Lemon Hearts. With a nervous flap of his wings, he had this to say as his parting words: “Thankfully, Pebble can’t get pregnant by swallowing.”
And with that, Sumac was gone, ignoring the disgusted cries of protest coming from his mothers.
The spa smelled… girly. There was no nice way of saying it, it was girly and Sumac kind of hated it. Something about the smell made him want to sneeze and he struggled with breathing while he was whisked off to see his friends and fellow accomplices in the coming insurrection. The big stocky crystal pony mare that led him down the hallway was kind of cute and Sumac couldn’t help but think about all of the delightful things she might to do to him on a massage table, like twisting him into a pretzel.
Without warning, he was shoved into a room and the door was slammed behind him. Well, he guessed that the royal spa had to be rather busy and he allowed himself to be distracted by what he saw. Pebble was wearing a smock and looked rather damp. Silver Lining was getting her beak polished by an attendant that knew what she was doing, by the looks of things. His glasses fogged over, so he took them off and set them down upon a table beside him, near the door.
The damp, clingy smock enhanced Pebble’s plushy plumpness, and Sumac had to struggle to keep his mind from racing. Saying nothing, fearing he might blurt out the wrong words, he sat down on a wooden bench that glistened with condensation and watched as Silver Lining’s beak was polished. Leaning back against the wall, Sumac closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried not to think about anything at all.
When Flurry saw her mother, she almost cried with relief because of what the nervous jitteriness was doing to her. Flurry wanted to fling herself at her mother, hoping to be held, to be comforted, but what she wanted to do and what she did were two very different things. Taking a deep breath, Flurry approached the table in a calm, dignified manner, and tried to hide how her hitching barrel made her wings quake.
Maintaining her quiet calm—which really wasn’t calm at all based on how her heart was thudding against her ribs—Flurry adjusted the cushion that sat on the floor next to the low table, fluffing it out a bit, and she sat down while looking up at her mother, who looked quite frazzled. Little Flurry took note of the bags beneath her mother’s eyes and the way that the tips of her mother’s ears drooped; a sure sign of exhaustion if ever there was one. Once her mother reached this point of being spent, she could hold her ears up, but the tips betrayed her. It was something that Flurry’s father had taught her to look for when trying to figure out her mother’s moods.
“How are Hennessy, Flicker, and Piper?” Flurry asked as she settled in and made herself comfortable upon her frosting-pink cushion. “You mentioned something about Hennessy earlier, but I can’t remember what it was.”
With her eyes half closed, or maybe they were half open, Flurry’s mother poured the tea into the ridiculous little teacups that Flurry was embarrassed to even look at. The whole tea set was a gift from her uncle, Gosling, and the little filly felt that she was far too grown up for a teddy bear tea set.
“Flicker was none too keen on attending the cotillion and refused to come. Hennessy tried everything, from cajoling Flicker to coming right out and threatening him, because threats are a language that Flicker understands. When everything failed, Hennessy petitioned your Auntie Celestia and she issued a royal decree, ordering Flicker to escort Hennessy to the cotillion. Hennessy is here not as himself, but as the official emissary of the Underwatch.”
“Oh good—”
“Don’t you even think about it, young lady.”
“Aw, nuts.” Flurry pulled her long, fluffy tail up from the floor and tucked it into place around her legs. At least her mother was smiling, that was good. The teacup in front of her had a teddy bear with big round eyeglasses holding some balloons in his paw, and and in bright pink print he told her in no uncertain terms, ‘You’re beary special.’ It was grotesque, saccharine even, but she had a soft spot in her heart for it.
It occurred to Flurry that her little sister Skyla adored this tea set and treasured it. The teapot was a teddy bear’s head, which was kind of disturbing if one thought about it, and the spout was a long smoking pipe. Her mother started to fix the tea, but Flurry stopped her, deciding it was time that she fixed her own cup of tea. This seemed to surprise her mother, and Flurry could see something on her mother’s face that was almost hurt, which made her feel terrible.
Unable to look at her mother, Flurry fixed her tea how she wanted it, adding a paper-thin slice of crystallised, dehydrated lemon, and then squirting in a little honey, a radical departure indeed. No more drinking tea with a ton of sugar and cream, Flurry wanted to taste some of the bitterness that the drink had to offer. It was time to stop being a foal and take a somewhat more grownup approach, and Flurry was curious about the honey and lemon, which was how her mother usually fixed her own cup of tea.
“You’re not even at your decade mark,” her mother said in a soft, tight-lipped whisper. “I thought I had more time with you, but you seem to be in a hurry to grow up.”
“Mom… I don’t know about that just yet… but I do kinda want things to change. I’m still a foal, I just don’t want to be treated like I’m little and helpless, like Skyla. You treat us both like we’re the same age… and sometimes, that makes me really super angry. Like giving us the same bedtime—”
“But you share the same room,” Cadance interjected in a soft voice. “If you went to bed later, you might wake her up and that wouldn’t be fair to her.”
“Mom, this isn’t very fair to me…” Again, Flurry could see the hurt in her mother’s eyes, and she felt terrible for being the cause of it. “Mom, I’m sorry—”
“No, don’t be sorry, you’re right. It isn’t fair to you and I’m not sure how to fix it. Keeping both you and your sister in one spot, in one room, it allows us to keep you both safe and secure. It’s so complicated, Flurry… and it isn’t very fair to you that we have enemies… that there are those who wish to do you harm.”
Little Flurry was surprised to see a single glistening tear fall from the corner of her mother’s eye, and unable to watch, she stared down into her teacup, because it was just too awful to see. Her mother’s words were a harsh reminder of how things were, and there had been incidents, dangerous, scary incidents. There were rules to keep her safe, such as never, ever getting aboard a train with her uncle, Gosling, because he had bad luck when it came to trains.
Superstitions stopped being silly when a statistical pattern emerged.
“There are so many things I want for you, Flurry,” Cadance said and Flurry’s ears perked at the scratchiness in her mother’s voice. “Things that I wish for you. I wish that you could run around outside and play and be free.”
To this, Flurry replied, “Sumac does.”
“And look at what has happened!” Cadance’s voice cracked now and her eyes narrowed. “I don’t mean to criticise Twilight or Trixie, but look at all that has happened because they’ve wanted him to run free! Look at the hurt that has befallen him! Look what his birth mother did to him! You know what happened, Flurry, don’t act like you don’t! I know that Sumac had to tell you!”
“He did.” Now, Flurry heard a raspy scratchiness in her own voice, and she didn’t like it. Hunched over, Flurry lifted her teacup and began to blow on it, because she hadn’t used any cream to cool it.
“Trixie and Twilight foolishly gave Sumac his freedom due to misguided ideals about liberty, rather than doing what is best for him. Look at how he has suffered… I know you see it… I know you sense it. Surely you must see how dangerous he’s become… cynical, bitter, jaded, and the way he casually dismisses danger. These are not good traits, Flurry. These are scars, Flurry, proof of harm, of damage, evidence of injury, and with that temper of his… I worry for him, I do.”
With each word that her mother had said, it felt as though Flurry’s soul was curdling like milk left in the hot summer sun. Ears drooping, she couldn’t even raise her head to look her mother in the eye. The truth in her mother’s words struck her like a painful, stinging slap to the face and she knew that she had no means to refute them, there could be no denying it.
But… “It’s made him strong,” Flurry murmured to her mother. No, she could not deny it, but she could see the good in it. “I know he’s hot tempered, and takes risks, and he’s mouthy, and he swears, and yeah, he has some issues. Mom, these are the reasons why he’s such a good friend to me. If I’m ever in trouble, I know he’ll come through for me. He’s kinda dumb, like I am, and he’s not afraid to get hurt. You’ve sheltered me for so long and when I had a house fall on me in Ponyville, I realised how little I’ve been hurt. Sumac doesn’t run from pain and this is what I like… no, this is what I love about him.”
“Flurry… I… you…” Her mother, gasping, began to splutter and stammer, but no discernable words came out.
“You do want me to marry him, don’t you?” Flurry asked and she dared to look up just in time to see her mother’s angry pinprick pupils focusing upon her. “I think you do… and if I did, you’d build a massive, mighty castle around the both of us so you could keep us safe. I can’t blame you for thinking that, if that is what you want. It just means that you love him too, just as much as you do me. Being the Princess of Love and all, I think that’s expected.” The anger in her mother’s eyes poured out, now in a liquid form, and Flurry felt a little ashamed for making her mother cry. “We feel love differently, don’t we, Mom?”
“Yes, Flurry, we do. It is our blessing and our curse. No creature will ever feel love as keenly as we do.” Damp streaks appeared upon her mother’s cheeks and Flurry looked away once more, fearing that she might start to cry herself.
Looking down, she saw the bespectacled bear staring back up at her, reminding her that she was beary special.
The steam was pleasant, even if it did make it just a little bit difficult to breathe, and Sumac lay belly down upon a damp wooden bench. Nearby, Silver Lining was doing much the same, only she had her beak open so she could pant. Preening in a hot, steamy sauna was quite an experience and Sumac doubted that he would forget it anytime soon.
There was a click from the door and it began to open, which meant that Pebble was back from the little fillies’ room. Lifting his head, Sumac saw her silhouette in the doorway and right away he noticed that something was… off. Her smock was off, because she wasn’t wearing it. Squinting, he strained to see, not having his glasses, and there was so much he wanted to see.
“You’re naked,” Sumac said, stating the obvious.
“So are you,” Pebble replied, and from the monotone of her voice, she too, was stating the obvious. When the door closed behind her, the vent released a massive cloud of steam, obscuring her from view.
Between his poor eyesight and the steam, Sumac could see nothing. Biting his lip, he cursed life for how unfair it was, because Pebble was stark raving naked and he couldn’t see a thing. There were things he was dying to see on Pebble, like her cutie mark. Flapping his wings, he tried to clear away the billowing steam, but to no avail.
When he could almost see again, Pebble was belly down on a wooden bench and a white towel covered her hindquarters. Sumac almost cried from just how unfair life was and for a moment, he entertained the notion of snatching away her towel with his magic. He could, and Pebble would no doubt forgive him. She would forgive him and he would finally know.
“Oh, so that’s what your cutie mark looks like,” Silver Lining said to Pebble.
Not fair! Now, Sumac was almost certain that he was now the source of the steam in the sauna. His neck was hot, his cheeks burned like the sun, and his ears were roaring furnaces that made it difficult to hear. Somehow, Silver Lining had seen Pebble’s cutie mark before he had, and that just wasn’t fair at all. Damn the sharp eyes of the griffons, damn them!
Scowling, Sumac made up his mind that he was going to have himself a closeup inspection of Pebble’s choco-licious rump: he was going to know its previously unknown secrets. Laying on her stomach, Pebble’s back had the most delightful curve to it, with her pudgy backside rising up higher than her withers. It inflamed his mind and ignited his passions.
He rose from his bench, his wings half-extended and quivering, and in his urgent hurry, he banged his foreleg against the hard edge of the bench as he tried to step over it. It was his darted foreleg, and the sudden explosive pain in his tender extremity made him lose his balance while he was half-straddled over his bench. His right hoof slipped on the wet tile floor when he tried to stop himself, and BANG!
Down he went.
He struck chin-first against the wood, which filled his vision with stars, and when his hind hoof slipped, he went down spread-eagled onto the bench, smashing his exposed, vulnerable groin right into the hard, unyielding edges of the wood. With a shriek that would disrupt this year’s nocturnal pegasus pony mating season, he tumbled to the floor with his eyes squeezed shut.
When he opened his eyes again, there was a flock of alicorns circling overhead, a condition common to a number of Equestrians. Sumac counted them one by one, or tried to, with his eyes glazed over and a squeal lodged in his throat. There was quite a flock and they all looked down at him with some concern.
“Poor dear,” Princess Celestia said and pity could be heard in her voice. “Crushed nuts are for sundaes.”
“Get up,” Princess Luna cried. “Do not admit defeat! What you long for is within reach!”
Prince Gosling said nothing, but flew in a wobbly circle with his hind legs clenched together while making ridiculous pained faces.
“Ow, Sumac, that looks like it hurts,” Princess Flurry Heart said while she veered away, cringing.
Shaking her head, Skyla winced in sympathetic pain. “When I rule, all benches will have cushioned edges! Were you about to do something naughty? I don’t think I should be here! I’m too young to be seeing this! Mom!”
“Call out for your friends,” Princess Twilight advised, “and they will comfort you!”
Princess Cadance proved to be the most vulgar: “Get up you fool, so you can tap that!”
Sumac saw a tiny version of himself hovering just above his nose, but before he had a chance to say anything to himself, the colt shook his head in an attempt to clear it, and the flock of alicorns vanished. It wasn’t the first time he had seen them, and no doubt, it wouldn’t be the last. The flock had grown a bit, and would continue to grow larger.
“Did you have to go to school to get that kind of grace?”
Looking up, Sumac saw Silver Lining looking down at him, blinking, and tilting her head off to odd angles to examine him better. He groaned, tried to make a response, and failed. Silver Lining lifted him up like a sack of potatoes, and dropped him back down upon his bench with a thump. The big griffoness was kind of clumsy, even though she meant well, and when his head slammed into the wood, he thought for a moment that he might see the alicorn flock again.
Holding out her talons, Silver Lining waved them in front of his eyes, and Sumac had to squint to focus on them. Tilting his head to one side, he could see Silver Lining’s glistening, tawny hide coming in and out of focus. Then, he looked into her eyes and said, “It’s just not fair… I’ve been waiting my whole life to have a look at her cutie mark.”
The colt heard the rustle of hair on hair, skin on skin, and when he turned to look, Pebble was now beside him. Heart thumping, Sumac realised that this might be the big moment, the moment, the moment that he had been waiting his whole life for. Blood roared in his ears and there was a fiery, throbbing ache in his groin that made a syncopated rhythm with his heart.
“Sumac, you took one for the team when you came here to help Flurry,” Pebble said in a voice that was about as warm as cooling lava. “With you being an introvert and all, I know how stressful this is for you, so you deserve a little something special.” Turning about, the chocolate brown filly presented her hip to the colt supine on the bench, and waited for his inspection.
It was then that Sumac saw it and his life changed forever. It wasn’t what he expected at all, and he was at a loss for what to say, or how to respond. Pebble’s cutie mark was… well, Sumac felt stupid for all of the things he imagined it to be and now that he was looking at it, all he could do was admire its understated simplicity.
“It’s a… pebble… with a blank speech bubble,” he stammered, and then he was overcome with emotion. Now, having seen what he had longed to see for so long, he didn’t know what else to do with his life. His purpose, his goal, the very thing that drove his existence, it was gone now, and he had no idea what else to do with his life. What came next? He didn’t know.
In this moment, it felt as though his foalhood was truly over and he had an inkling that he had moved on to some in between stage. The driving force of his entire foalhood had been revealed to him, and now, he just felt blank… empty. Never once had he tried to imagine life beyond this point, for him, this had always been the end: see Pebble’s cutie mark and then experience his happily-ever-after.
He was distracted when Pebble’s lips pressed into his, and her forelegs wrapped around his neck, leaving her half-on-top of him. A second later, her tongue was batting his uvula around like a punching bag and he felt her hard, muscular organ slithering against the roof of his mouth. This kiss was different, but Sumac could not reason how, all he could do was hang on and try to endure what was being done to him.
Gasping, Pebble pulled away with a wet, slobbery pop, and he lay on the bench, his barrel heaving, his tongue out, and he panted because he was far too warm. He needed cool air and to be out of this sauna. Pebble wiped her wet lips with her foreleg and gave Sumac a sultry, heavy-lidded stare.
“You do good things, Sumac Apple, and I will rock your world. Or at least rock your bed.”
“Are you sure this will work?” Flurry asked her co-conspirator, Sumac. With one raised eyebrow, she turned her head in his general direction and gave him a look that only traitors plotting treason could give. She studied him, trying to determine the confidence on his face and to see if there was any hesitation in his reply.
“It’ll work,” he replied while nodding his head. “After I got a sliver of Trixie’s soul, I suddenly gained an innate understanding of illusion magic that I never had before. When you say the magic words, your gown will transform. You need to trust me.”
“I do trust you, Professor Egghead.” Flurry, who felt ravenous parasprites in her stomach, began to gnaw on her lower lip. Standing in one place, she watched as Sumac made a final inspection of her finished, fitted gown. “I’m nervous, Sumac, and I’m so scared. This is my coming out of the closet moment and everything needs to be perfect.”
“I suppose that is one way of looking at it,” Pebble remarked, and Flurry was relieved that the earth pony filly did not disagree. “Sumac, did you manage to get a moment alone with Shining Armor?”
“I did,” the colt replied while he continued to look the gown over with a critical eye. “I was subtle and smooth and I don’t think he realised I was messing with his head. Flurry, at some point tonight, your parents are going to sneak off somewhere to be alone and they are gonna do something gross with each other. It’ll give us time to do what needs to be done.”
“Sumac, how did you manage to pull that off, anyhow?” Pebble asked.
Flurry found that she wanted to know too.
“I uh, asked Shining Armor for… advice… theoretical advice.” Lifting his head, Sumac pulled off his glasses and then used a spell to clean them, leaving them spotless. “I acted real innocent and a little shy and told him that I didn’t plan on doing anything this cotillion, but in the future, I might kind of want to have that special first time here in the Crystal Empire and I said I wanted it to be adventurous and exciting.”
Flurry groaned and thought about covering her ears.
“Shining Armor gave me some advice on how to sneak away, where to go, and uh, even some advice on useful positions.” Sumac slid his glasses back on and with a turn of his head, he looked Flurry in the eye, a gaze that Flurry was unable to return. “I repeated everything he said back to him and implanted as much suggestion into my words as I could muster. Flurry, you might end up with a new sibling. I’m not really sorry.”
“You wicked little shit.” Pebble’s eyes narrowed and Silver Lining began to giggle.
Feeling hot and flustered, Flurry’s ears burned and she found that she couldn’t look any of her friends in the eye. “So, uh, Dad will be overcome by his own suggestions and he’ll lead my mother away, if we’re lucky. Once they’ve slipped away, the floor will be ours and then you and I can make our announcement, Sumac.”
The parasprites in Flurry’s stomach proved to be too much and now, she felt sick. Belching, she could taste the tea from earlier and for a moment, she worried that the burp might turn into a full blown spew. Maybe spewing would make her feel better and get rid of that slight headache that lurked at the base of her skull.
“You’d better go,” Flurry said to her friends. “I think I need a nap before tonight because I need to be at my best and I already feel tired. Thank you so much for everything.”
“Don’t mention it, Princess.” Sumac bowed his head, a sincere gesture that Flurry appreciated, and she watched him smile his rogue’s smile. “You get the rest you need. Pebble, Silver, we should be going. We’ve got stuff to do.”
“Sleep well, Flurry,” Silver Lining said, and she gave a wave goodbye with her wing.
Stomach churning, her heart pounding, Flurry Heart watched as her friends departed. Tonight was going to be magical, perfect, and stressful. The aftermath was going to be awful and she could not even begin to imagine the dire punishments that her parents would have to think of to punish her. She might actually end up in a tower after all of this was over, it certainly seemed like a very real possibility.
And maybe Sumac might end up in one as well.
It felt as though Flurry was submerged underwater. The pressure seemed to exist as a physical sensation around her, pressing in on all sides, leaving all of her movements slow, laboured even, and it was a struggle just to move. The nap had been a terrible idea, as she had not slept for very long and upon waking, she somehow felt even worse.
Feeling dull and stupid, Flurry realised that she had become the perfect princess: she was now the witless wonder, the pretty, perfect princess doll that could be dressed up and led around for show without complaint. The headache was still there, a relentless thudding that seemed to be striking the base of her skull, and each thump made the jelly in her eyes quiver.
As she prepared to take a shower, Flurry thought about the males in her life, all of them. For whatever reason, she had gravitated towards them, seeking them out, asking for their advice, and she was blessed with good male role models. She loved her father and there were times when she prefered his company over her mother’s. Gosling and Seville both were very dear to her, with both of them being ponies that she trusted. She could talk to Gosling about stuff that she could never bring up to her father or mother, and Seville had unique insights about life that she valued.
Then, there was Sunburst. He existed in the earliest of her memories, a kind, gentle, loving figure. He was her tutor, but more than that, he might have been her first friend. It was tricky and hard to tell, and she wasn’t counting immediate family members as friends. Sunburst was the pony that she had cried with, laughed with, and most of her major experiences in life had been with Sunburst by her side, offering his wise advice. Sunburst had taught her how to blow dandelion fluff and send it flying into the wind. He had taught her painting and instilled in her a sense of art appreciation, something that she kept a secret from others. Sunburst had a patience that she valued, and when she thought about this, she felt guilty for disrupting his lesson. She would need to make that up to him, but first she would need an idea of how to make it right.
While Sunburst might be her proverbial sun, Dim was her proverbial moon. He had come home when she was young and her memories of that time were faint. As far as ponies went, he was scary, different, and seemed unapproachable. But Flurry’s courage and curiousity had soon been rewarded when she discovered that Dim held a sneering contempt for adult ponies, but not foals. Dim had been there for her during one of the... incidents, an event that Flurry could hardly even remember. The only thing that was clear about the confusing, terrifying event was the screaming—Dim had made her would-be abductor scream—and the sound still haunted Flurry. After that, the Crystal Empire had reluctantly accepted their new protector, or so she had been told.
After tonight, Sumac too would enter the stable of males that she gave implicit trust.
Zero hour drew ever-nearer and Sumac was doing his best to play it cool. On the outside, he looked fine, or he thought he did, but on the inside, he was a wreck. He paced to and fro, taking frequent sips from a tall glass of frothy chocolate milk while Pebble and Silver Lining did some last minute brushing. The last minute brushing was silly, Sumac felt, as they were both going to be wearing gowns. Clothing. Fabric that would cover the places they were brushing.
Mid-trek across the room, he stopped to look at the long steel trunk, which remained undisturbed. Once the cotillion was over, Trixie would ply the family trade upon Shining Armor, but this time she wasn’t here to sell fireworks. Sumac’s own experiments in flight had other far more interesting applications, and his customised vectored thrust nozzles in particular were of interest to his mother, Trixie. The Lulamoons now made more than fireworks and the family business was profitable.
Even if, for some reason, he failed to become a mortician, Sumac had other options, other paths. His skills as an inventor were growing—another talent he had no doubt inherited from his father—and his love of science had broadened his horizons considerably. Vinyl had taught him more than magic, she had given him a considerable knowledge of engineering to help him with his many projects, such as his attempts at constructing aircraft. It was important to have a hobby, because there would be plenty of days where nopony died.
Taking a sip of chocolate milk, Sumac swished it around inside of his mouth a bit and then swallowed. Turning away from the steel trunk, he faced Silver Lining, and said her name aloud to get her attention: “Silver…”
Eyes bright, her head turned around backward to look at him, and Sumac cringed. He would never get used to that, ever, and just looking at it made him want to dance around just to shake away the unpleasant sensation. It made him think of the time that his own neck had been broken, and he didn’t like it.
“What’s up, Sumac?”
“Silver, you need a plan.”
“I don’t know what you mean, Sumac.”
“Pebble and I, we have plans. Goals.” Sumac took another sip of chocolate milk, licked the froth from his lips, and then continued, “We have a roadmap of success. Even though Pebble hasn’t quite decided what to do with her life, she is preparing herself to be able to do most anything. There’s only two things for certain in Pebble’s life… she’s gonna marry me someday and she’s gonna take over her father’s position as Heliophant.”
Sitting on a cushion, Pebble blinked once and her ears pivoted around towards Sumac’s direction.
“Now, I don’t mean to sound like your dad, but you need a plan, Silver.” Sumac took a moment to adjust his glasses, he refolded his wings against his sides, and made a gesture at the steel trunk. “I have plans. Multiple plans just in case what I want don’t pan out. Silver, if you want to be with Pebble and I, you need a plan.”
“I understand.”
Silver Lining sounded quite calm to Sumac’s ears, but the way her feathers fluffed alerted Sumac to how she was really feeling. She had a beak, not a mouth, which made it difficult to read her face. Griffons were a difficult mark, as their facial expressions were so very different.
“I don’t know what options I have,” Silver Lining said to Sumac in a low, muted voice. “My parents are poor. My father, he doesn’t get paid very much for the work he does. There is just so much need and so little in resources, and he tells me there are other remunerations for altruism. I don’t even know what remunerations means and I’ve never asked him because I don’t want to look stupid.”
“It means getting paid or rewarded.” Reaching up with her foreleg, Pebble wrapped her fetlock around Silver Lining’s leg.
“My mother gets a weather worker’s salary, whatever that is. She and my father, they’ve put off having another foal until I’m self supporting, because we’re poor and after doing all of the math, they found that having a little one would be irresponsible. Daddy says it’s hard living within one’s means, and that sacrifices have to be made. They could have a foal, but it would make things too tight and wouldn’t be fair to my future little sibling.”
“He’s right.” Sumac drew in a deep breath, held it, and gave some thought to Silver Lining’s situation. “So this is why you had a meltdown every time you got rejected from a job, isn’t it?” He watched her nod and her eyes glazed over with the tears that threatened to fall. Even though he was well off now, Sumac understood poverty and the shame that came with it. Once again, his eyes focused on the steel trunk. The trunk itself was worth a small fortune, but what was inside was mind-boggling in value.
“Pebble, can we afford to send Silver Lining to some kind of secondary school or finishing school?”
“Wait, no… no… what if things don’t work out between us for some reason?” Perhaps in need of comfort, Silver Lining snatched up Pebble like a stuffed toy and began to squeeze her. “This puts a lot of pressure on me. I mean, I’m having the time of my life right now but I—”
“It doesn’t matter if things work out between us or not, you’ll still have a better future for having gone to school. Doors will open for you. Opportunities. Pebble and I can give you that.” Pursing his lips, Sumac blew his forelock out of his face and watched as Silver continued to try and crush Pebble in a worried, maybe even terrified embrace.
“We could afford it, Sumac. There is a considerable sum in our mutual savings account.”
“The two of you have a savings account?” Silver blinked a few times and then shook her head from side to side, astonished.
“We have plans,” Pebble deadpanned, “and we’ve made plans to protect those plans just in case things go wrong.”
“Fall is coming, Silver Lining, and with it school. No pressures, but just give it some thought, okay?” Lifting his glass, Sumac finished off his chocolate milk, cleaned it with a spell, and then vanished the glass back to the kitchen. “Well, ladies, I think it is about time that we were dressed. The pre-cotillion supper will be starting soon, and I’d like to be fashionably early. I’m starving.”
“Sumac, have fun with Flurry. Try to show her a good time. This is going to be hard on her.”
“Only if you have fun with Silver,” he replied as Pebble was being smooshed. “We’ll be sitting in different places, I’ve already spied on the dining room. Flurry and I have our own table all by ourselves. You and Silver are quite a ways away, actually.”
“Oh, I’m so terribly excited!” Silver showed her excitement by trying to pulp poor Pebble, but it was okay because Pebble was durable and didn’t seem to mind. “This is going to be the best worst night ever!”
Pausing at the door, Flurry thought of the hug that her nanny, Sleet had given to her before sending her off. It was just what she had needed. Flurry was almost envious of her little sister right now, because Skyla was going to have a special night with Sleet. Of course, this was being done to keep Skyla away from the cotillion and out of trouble. No doubt there would be popcorn, treats, storytime… but all of that was foalish stuff, and it was time for Flurry to put that behind her.
Taking a deep breath, she made a last minute check of her gown, a magnificent creation that was all of the colours of her Auntie Celestia’s pastel rainbow mane. The jitters were getting pretty bad, but this would all be over soon, and with luck, she would never have to endure anything quite like this ever again. When she nodded, one of the guards opened the doors for her, and Flurry strode into the room.
“Princess Flurry Heart!” one of the guards near the door announced.
The murmur of the crowd became a roar for a moment as she entered and just about every head in the room turned to look at her. After a quick look about, she spotted Sumac, who stood out. He was wearing some kind of amazing jacket of a style that she did not know. It was green, a bright, sour green apple shade of green, and beneath his jacket he wore a buttery yellow shirt. The overall effect was striking, handsome, and made him stand out in a crowd.
Boomer was sitting on his back and Spike was standing by his side. Together, the three of them were chatting up Chartreuse, Sunburst, and Starlight. Focusing on them, Flurry did her best to ignore the crowd around her and she approached them while wearing a big false smile. Everypony was staring at her, smiling at her, and the overall effect was like standing beneath the burning sun on a hot day. Even with the climate control turning the room into an icebox—a necessity for hairy creatures wearing fancy clothes—Flurry was sweating and the chilly air caressing her now damp skin made her have confused shivers.
Spike and Boomer split as she approached, and Flurry was sad to see them go. When she drew near, Sumac, Sunburst, Chartreuse, and Starlight all bowed in greeting. After bowing, Sumac followed through with his expected duties; he approached—causing Flurry’s heart to pound against her ribs—bowed his head somewhat, and then stood there waiting. It took Flurry a moment to raise her foreleg, and when she did, he kissed her offered fetlock. Then, she stepped in closer to him and they exchanged mutual kisses on each cheek, first to the left, then to the right.
He smelled good and having him so close like this left her flustered and confused. On one hoof, she found colts kind of gross, but on the other hoof, Sumac was her friend. Ears pivoting, she could hear ponies around her talking, and the sound of hooves striking the floor was a dreadful distraction. Some of the crowd was coming closer to have a better look. Much to her dismay, Sunburst, Starlight, and Chartreuse were retreating, no doubt so they could do their jobs. This left her alone with Sumac… alone in a crowd… alone in a room packed with ponies that thought they knew what was best for her.
“You’re beautiful, Flurry—”
“Oh, stop that, Sumac.” Now she felt even hotter and sweatier, which made everything worse.
“Oh, but you are beautiful, and everypony is looking at you because of that.” The colt made a gesture with his wing, but Flurry refused to look around. “Come, Flurry. Follow me and let’s go get something to eat. You and I, we’re going to have a nice time, and we’re going to ignore everything around us.”
“Sumac, I don’t know if I’m hungry—”
“Oh, but you are hungry, you want to eat, and you want to have a nice time with me.”
At that moment, she realised what it was that Sumac was doing, and she loved him for it. She was hungry, now that she thought about it, and the crowd didn’t seem so bad just so long as she kept her focus on Sumac. A little spark of courage ignited in her breast and burned with a warm, steady glow. Turning her head, she looked over the buffet tables, some of which were steaming, and there were so many delightful treats just waiting to be sampled. Cuisine from all over Equestria, and indeed, the world awaited her, and it would be a shame to miss out.
“You are brave, beautiful, and filled with courage,” Sumac said to her.
Flurry found that she really couldn’t argue. She did feel brave, her gown was a masterpiece, and she was feeling pretty charged up for what would come later. Yes, she was excited and looking forward to everything that would happen. Sumac was doing his confidence trick, but it didn’t matter.
“This will be a night to remember, Flurry.”
“It sure will, Sumac.”
Together, they walked side by side, and Flurry reveled in the social etiquette that she had cast aside with casual disregard. She was supposed to walk just a little behind Sumac, with her head aligned to his withers, (a symbolic gesture of protection and letting the stallion deal with danger first) but she was being naughty. With her ears turned off to each side, a neutral position, she could hear the the snap of fans being opened all around her, and Flurry wished that she too, had a fashionable folding fan, because it was far too hot.
Having wings had drawbacks: enormous wings had enormous sweaty drawbacks.
The crowd parted and the aristocrats stepped aside. Flurry saw smiling faces, ponies that knew her, but she didn’t really know them. Her mother and father trusted them, these ponies were vital to the well-being of the Crystal Empire, and Flurry knew through Sunburst that they were meaningful contributors to the explosive growth and prosperity that the Crystal Empire was blessed with. These were ponies with aspirations that went beyond growing crystalline corn or pulling a wagon. The cutie marks of these ponies—some of which were hidden beneath fancy gowns—were all symbols of greatness, of rule, of leadership. They were the true wealth of the empire, the treasured assets that allowed the empire to flourish. No amount of gold, wealth, or resources could ever replace them.
It made Flurry a little nervous to upset them, because in doing so, she would be upsetting the very empire itself, because they were the empire. Now, she felt conflicted; she wanted to protect the empire, to do good for it, but now she was about to cause some great upset. There would be ripples from this, consequences, these ponies would remember this night and when she was older, when she was grown up, some of them might bear her some resentment.
A dreadful fear overtook her and the need to have a talk with her Auntie Luna crept up on her, sort of like the panties she was wearing were doing right now, this very moment. Alas, there was no time to stop and adjust, or kick out her leg, or, Auntie Celestia forbid, twerking until the awful knickers were loosened from her crack. How did Pebble deal with this grating annoyance?
The buffet distracted her and she froze while taking it all in, now paralysed by the sheer number of choices being offered. Sumac paused beside her, and she felt the clumsy touch of his wing against her back. Without realising that she was doing so, she sidled a little closer to him, until she was pressed up against his side, where she remained, trembling and breathing a little hard.
“I don’t know what I want,” she said to her companion.
“I don’t know what I want,” Sumac heard Flurry say to him as she pressed up against his side and quaked against him. He understood; there was a massive spread laid out before them, the very reason that Boomer wanted to come in the first place. This buffet was one of legend, with everything prepared by the many young would-be cooks and chefs attending Cadance’s school. Where did one even start?
Sumac had an idea. “I can get salads and greens at any time,” he said as he lowered his head down closer to Flurry’s twitching ear, “But some of these desserts look like once in a lifetime opportunities… at least for me. Lucky you, you get to live here.”
“Maybe not for much longer,” he heard Flurry whisper to him.
“What do you mean, Flurry?”
“Sometimes, Sumac, a foal leaves home to become an apprentice.” Flurry’s voice had a dreadful tremour to it that alarmed Sumac a great deal. “Chartreuse left home to become my father’s apprentice. It is the great rite of passage, Sumac.”
“Twilight?” he asked, guessing without hesitation what Flurry might be thinking.
“Yes.” Sumac heard his companion gulp and her shaking caused the fabric of her gown to rustle. After a moment, she continued, “I’m smothering here, Sumac, and after tonight, it might be best if I left.”
“Don’t say that, Flurry—”
“But it’s true,” she retorted.
“Oh look, cheesecake with crystalline strawberries. The little paper tag says it was made by a student named, ‘Nomination.’ I think I’ll get some.” He took a bold step forward and sure enough, Flurry moved with him, remaining tucked under his wing. “These bits of paper are a good idea… a chef looking for an apprentice will know who to ask for.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Flurry replied. “Nopony ever teaches me about all of these hidden reasons for why things get done. Sometimes, Sumac, I get the feeling that I’m not that bright. I mean, I don’t think I’m stupid, but I’m not that bright, either.”
“I’ve had a giant rocket strapped to my back and I crashed into Applejack’s barn.” Sumac let out a sigh at the memory and he heard Flurry laughing beside him. “I’m supposed be a genius with a magically enhanced IQ, but with some of the stunts I pull, I can’t be that smart.” Lifting up two plates, he served himself and Flurry some cheesecake.
Moving along, so he wouldn’t block others from the buffet, Sumac kept his wing over Flurry’s back and held her close. The chocolate cake looked amazing, but would probably require a bib while eating. He took two slices, one for him, and one for Flurry, knowing that she had a soft spot for runny, oozy chocolate cakes. It was stressful, making her decisions for her, because Sumac hated when others did that for him, but she didn’t seem to mind. If anything, she seemed relieved, and was content to remain under his wing.
“Oh hey, that looks good!” Flurry pointed with her wing at an ice-glazed tray laden with custard cups and somehow avoided an unbridled disaster. “Cherry and smoked chili pepper custard from Dodge City Junction!”
Taking a cue, Sumac grabbed two of the sweet-heat treats and then held them aloft with the plates. Flurry somehow moved even closer, and he could feel the fabric of the collar of her gown rumpling between his neck and her neck as she rubbed up against him. The sensation was arousing, but Sumac struggled with it because Flurry was young—perhaps too young to have those kinds of feelings for. Now he understood some of Olive’s hesitation involving him, when he had flirted with her and things had been confusing for a time. Everything was even more confusing because Flurry’s relative size made her look far older than her age suggested.
It was then and there that Sumac had a distressing thought, a thought that almost every colt has at some point during their foalhood, and each of them tended to take it differently. For Sumac, he felt revulsion at the realisation of just how easy it would be to take advantage of Flurry. She trusted him, was affectionate with him, and it wouldn’t take much applied pressure at all to have his way with her.
The plates and custard cups wobbled in his telekinesis and he almost dropped them. Sumac, son of Lemon Hearts, knew the difference between right and wrong, even if Trixie had given him broad definitions to work with. There was wrong, such as what he and Flurry had planned for tonight, and then there was wrong, such as his most recent development of understanding of what could be done with the filly that held so much trust in him.
Sumac almost lost his appetite on the spot and he felt far too sweaty beneath his jacket. The plates and custard cups trembled even more, requiring his utmost concentration to keep them from falling to the floor. Such an act would almost leave him as slimy as Belladonna—it would be an evil from which there was no return—and his revulsion grew so powerful that he could taste it in the back of his throat.
Rogue though he might be, grifter he most certainly was, Sumac had honour and for him, this was a defining distinction. In the back of his mind, he could almost hear Rainbow Dash cheering him on for being a good colt, with her loud cries being accompanied by Lemon’s softer, but no less enthusiastic cheers.
A single haunting, “Eeyup,” in his ear was the only reminder he needed to be good.
“Oh look, cheeses!” Flurry cried and she began to shove Sumac in the direction that she wanted to go. “My dad once told me a super grody story about how they get bubbles in cheese.”
“Eh?” Distracted, Sumac shoved his negative thoughts aside.
Flurry’s voice dropped into a low, somewhat hissy whisper as she made her response, “Daddy said that ponies with big bubbly bwooshy bottoms sit down in the vats of runny cheese and blow butt bubbles as it starts to harden.”
Once more, Sumac almost dropped everything he was holding.
“Mom heard him and she called him a big gross super-mega-dork. She also said that his raisin-sized brain had been rotted by comic books.” Flurry giggled—a sweet sound to Sumac’s ears—and she continued to rub up against his side, rumpling their clothes together. “One time, my father convinced me that I was going to have watermelons grow out of me because I had swallowed some watermelon seeds. I freaked out and got real scared and I cried and Sleet scolded him and threatened to slap that silly smile right off of his face. Mom chased him around the room and threw watermelon chunks at him.”
One of the custard cups almost became a casualty to Sumac’s tested concentration.
“Sumac, I love my family and I don’t want to leave them behind,” Flurry said, her mood shifting with the same suddenness of a winter storm. “I want to stay, but if I do I feel like I’m going to suffocate! I can’t even have a later bedtime than my sister and everything really sucks right now and I can’t spend another day living in this crystal prison!”
“Flurry… remain calm.” Sumac used the power of his voice, throwing willpower and intent behind it. “Now is not the time to panic. We must remain calm.” He felt woozy as his own magical suggestion fell upon his own ears and went to work. This happened sometimes, but not other times, and it always left him feeling a little off when he was the recipient of his own magical whammy-jammy. Regardless of the ill-effects, he kept going: “We’ll deal with this and sort this out. After tonight, one way or another, things will change. Maybe for the better, maybe for the worse. But we have to get through tonight together, okay?”
“Okay, Sumac.” Flurry’s meek response worried him and he wondered if he had pushed too hard.
“I’m going to get us a good sampling of cheese and then we’ll go and sit down, okay, Flurry?”
“That sounds nice, Sumac… get the cheese with the bubbles in it…”
Sitting with her forelegs resting against the table’s edge, little Flurry Heart thought about all of the dreadful ways that this night could go wrong or come to a dramatic, crashing end. A flurry of fantasies flourished and in her mind’s eye she pictured angry mobs hollering for her punishment. Other scenarios ended with a forced marriage to somepony gross and unpleasant. Life imprisoned in a tower seemed possible, or worse, banishment. Maybe not to the moon, but there were some awful places that she could end up spending a few years and regretting what she had done.
It was, of course, a perfectly foalish response to the situation, and had Flurry been more aware, she would have known it was an indicator for her lack of maturity. At the moment, she was the very picture of foalhood; she had a napkin tied around her neck to protect her gown, her muzzle was smeared with chocolate, strawberry bits festooned her snoot, and somehow, custard had ended up on her ear, perhaps because she had abandoned her spoon to lick the bowl clean. She took immense equinal satisfaction when an old, snooty mare fainted dead away upon witnessing the dreaded bowl-licking.
“I don’t know where they put it,” Sumac said as he glanced off to his left.
Turning her head, Flurry saw the source of Sumac’s query. “Spike and Boomer?” Then, she answered her own question. “Sunburst says that dragons are just furnaces and soft foods burn away in no time. This is why dragons eat metals, rocks, and minerals, because it takes them a while to digest—” She paused when she realised that Sumac already knew this. Of course he knew this. He had raised Boomer and he was Professor Egghead. Feeling embarrassed without knowing why, Flurry let slip a stream of nervous, barking laughter.
“Flurry, there are actually dragons that use projectile vomit to defend themselves, and they spew powerful jets of their stomach acid. Boomer and I met a few when we went with Spike and Twilight to meet with Dragon Lady Ember.”
“Gross!” Flurry licked her lips, tasted chocolate, and then began to wipe her face with her napkin. Of course, all this did was smear everything deeper into her pelt and make a bigger mess. Taking teeny, tiny bites might have saved her from this indignity, but Flurry had torn into her food like a rabid, ravenous tarrasque. This was Sumac’s fault, it was, it had to be, because he had been the one who had suggested that she was hungry.
“Sumac… Sumac, you didn’t have to be my friend… why did you do it? When Twilight asked you—”
“Conscripted me,” he corrected in what could only be described as a teasing tone.
“Ahem, yes, when Auntie Twilight conscripted you and the others into being my foalsitters, you didn’t have to be my friend. I was just the bratty, spoiled little princess that Twilight forced you to look after because she was busy. Look, I treated you all pretty awful at first… like, worse than the hired help, and I’m sorry.”
She saw Sumac shrug and then she heard him say, “You weren’t that bad. You just needed friends. You were a natural fit for our little Weirdos, Rejects, and Losers’ Club. I mean, a socially retarded little filly—”
“Thanks, Professor Egghead!”
“—in dire need of a few friends and a major attitude readjustment—”
“You scruffy looking bushwoolie herder!”
“ —and Twilight, in her infinite dorkdom, er wisdom, decided that you needed to be with some ponies that wouldn’t put up with your crap and wouldn’t be cowed by you being an alicorn.” Sumac grinned and his ears pitched forward to point in Flurry’s direction. “You were unbearably snotty for a while, but Pebble throwing you into the mud pit sorted you right out.”
“All of you have been the best friends a filly could ask for.” Flurry’s cheeks grew hot, tight, and she was unable to tell if she was grinning or just tense. “I just wish I could see all of you more. You know, Sumac…”
“Yes?”
Something about how he said the word was endearing, and Flurry became aware of some new sensation of affection, something akin to what she felt for her little sister, Skyla. “One of my happiest unhappy memories is that day that all of you made me clean the cemetery with with you. I really hated you at first, I did, and I wanted to remind all of you that I was an alicorn and not some common gardener—”
“Um, actually, you did do that. You did exactly that.”
Flurry rewarded Sumac’s interruption with a raspberry and then continued, “At some point, I’m not sure when, I started having fun with all of you. That was the first time that I had really ever been put to work, and I kinda hated it, but then after a few hours or however long it was, it might have been ten minutes for all I know, I was younger then and time was funny, I really started having a nice time. There was something there I hadn’t had before.”
“Yeah,” Sumac replied, his head bobbing up and down, “you had friends. You had friends and you were doing something meaningful with your friends. Twilight calls it altruistic herd instinct.”
When Sumac reached across the table, Flurry forgot how to breathe as he took her fetlock into his own and held it. She felt him give her a squeeze and this made her heart go pitter-pat at a funky rumba-rhythm. For some odd reason, she thought about xylophones and imagined the sound of her heart bopping out a tune against her ribs.
“You and I,” Sumac began and Flurry saw—no, she felt him looking into her eyes, a most magical feeling indeed. “You and I are going to spend the rest of our lives cleaning up that cemetery. We’re going to be working together and it’s going to be just like that. It’ll probably feel like a chore at first, but then it will get better, and before we know it, we’ll be having the time of our lives, and the years will just go rolling by. This is how it’ll be, Flurry. The tough part is getting started, and right now, we’re just getting started.”
“So it’s only tough for now, but it will get better?”
“Yes, Flurry, it will get better. For now, we just have to wait it out. We’re little still, and we blow everything out of proportion. Everything feels like a major crisis even if it isn’t… and if it isn’t we try to turn it into one. You and I, we suffer from boredom just like every other foal, so we tend to create our own excitement. You, you dream of a life of action… me, I like to imagine myself as Equestria’s most daring aeronaut. Rainbow Dash tells me that I just might be, but I think she’s just trying to encourage me and when she does my mothers all take turns screaming at her.”
“I don’t get it…”
“Don’t get what, Flurry?”
“How are you going to grow up to be a mortician?” Flurry pulled her now sweaty fetlock away from Sumac, but continued to look into his eyes as though he was the only pony in the room. “I mean, it sounds so boring and you do so many other exciting things.” Her words had some impact, as she saw Sumac’s brows furrow, but then she knew that he already had an answer when he began to speak in reply.
“Miss Yearling is the world’s most adventurous author and professor. Her career consists of long periods of absolute and utter boredom, with sphincter-clenching moments of life-threatening excitement to keep things interesting.” Sumac chuckled for a time and Flurry found herself entranced by the look upon his face, which could only be described as a reckless daredevil expression. “Tarnish too… and Tarnish and Miss Yearling are happy ponies because they live in balance. I want to be a happy pony.”
“Well, I don’t want to say I’m bored right now, but I could use a little excitement.”
“Come, Flurry… dance with me. Let us begin our contra-cotillion.”
Taking a deep breath, Princess Flurry Heart prepared herself to deal with her subjects…
The first dance belonged to them, a ceremonial moment that would only last a few precious moments. The ballroom was crowded with the aristocracy, some from Equestria and others from the Crystal Empire. The yaks were present, but looked a little bored, but that was about to be remedied when the first of Sumac’s many surprises manifested. The orchestra was going to take an unscheduled detour into Swing City. A few meaningful words and some gold bits revealed that the musicians were a bunch of hep cats. Vinyl’s education of her apprentice was quite thorough.
Taking a deep breath, Sumac prepared himself: all of his dance lessons were about pay off in a big way. This first dance was supposed to be all hooves on the ground in a slow, boring shuffle, a real downer of a dance. With a turn of his head, Sumac gave the conductor a nod and got one in return. Trouble was about to start and he was giddy with anticipation.
The music started with pounding kettle drums, which freaked out everypony, but the yaks seemed to enjoy it so much that they began to stomp along in time. The thunderous ruckus made the entire ballroom quake and the assembled aristocrats were now wide-eyed with fear. So was Flurry, which was just what Sumac wanted. When the horn section kicked in, blowing sassy, brassy notes, Sumac rose into a bipedal stance, conjured up the broad-brimmed hat that complimented his zoot suit, and he held out his fetlock to his companion.
When she did not respond, Sumac pulled her to him, lifted her, and put his forelegs around her to give her a quick squeeze. So far, this was just like being at Pebble’s house, and it was time to swing! A jaunty, plinky tune erupted from the piano and the saxophones blew some heavy, flatulent notes. When Sumac gave Flurry a dizzying whirl to get things started, a nearby mare fainted dead away in a heap.
Flurry adapted much faster than he anticipated and it seemed that she had a knack for this. There was a lot of shaking, jiggling, wiggling, and rump waggling. Sumac cut a dashing figure in his broad brimmed green hat. He pulled Flurry close, swung her around, flung her outwards, whipped her about, and then with smooth momentum, he drew her back in like a yoyo.
Much to his amusement, Flurry began making saucy pelvic thrusts in time to the smashing-bashing beat of the kettle drums, and another middle-aged mare fell to the floor with a thump. Hind hooves clattering on the floor, Sumac was determined to go out in a zoot-suited blaze of glory. Using both his magic and his body, he tossed Flurry up into the air with a wild spin, which caused her gown to ripple and whip about with centrifugal force. It was an impressive display and he caught her a moment later when gravity demanded her return.
Hearing more hooves, Sumac realised that he and Flurry were no longer alone on the dance floor. Turning his head, he almost dropped his companion when he saw Shining Armor and Cadance in the corner of his vision. Not only were they dancing, but they were good. Like, Maud and Tarnish, or Octavia and Vinyl levels of good. The piano began an aggressive crescendo while the horn section softened into haunting, blaring bursts. This competition was unexpected and Sumac knew that he had to step up his game.
Spike went sliding past, trailing Boomer behind him like a windsock.
Sumac’s hooves clattered out a curious tempo against the floor and Flurry fell into near-perfect timing with him. Fetlock in fetlock, they whipped each other about, flung one another around, and were reckless in the way that only the very young could be. What they lacked in skill, they made up for in youthful abandon, which seemed to be infectious, as others now invaded the dance floor in droves.
The youth of the cotillion were out in force and what was supposed to be a slow, reserved, dignified ceremonial act was now a hot, sweaty, frenzy of frenetic, fanatical, fantastical, feverish fun. Sumac watched his mothers go by in a complicated trio that was dominated by the physical force of Twinkleshine, who seemed to have no trouble at all keeping up the momentum with Trixie and Lemon Hearts.
Sunburst went whirling by with Starlight, and it was clear that he was in control. Starlight appeared flustered, no doubt because she was being dominated, but she was powerless to resist Sunburst’s swinging charms. Sumac pulled Flurry close—they existed cheek to cheek for a moment—and then he flung her away while keeping a tight, firm grip on her fetlocks. Nearby, Pebble was tossing around the much larger Silver Lining as if the griffoness was a big sack of potatoes, and both of them looked as though they were having the time of their lives.
The orchestra, which now looked a little sweaty and disheveled, was rocking the room. So were the yaks, who were stomp-dancing off in their own little corner. Sumac reveled in this moment as the chandeliers overhead swung back and forth, joining the dance. Flurry’s pale blue eyes twinkled, filled with a thousand stars, and her sweaty mane clung to her face in sodden tendrils.
With a flick, he flung Flurry into a cartwheel and he slid over the floor beside her as she took her graceful tumble. When she was on her hind hooves once more, he took her by the fetlocks and gave her another fling to keep the momentum going. Together, they windmilled, jogged in place, and Sumac did fantastic electric slides across the floor. Lifting Flurry high over his head with his forelegs, he gave her a seven-hundred-and-twenty-degree twirly-whirl above him before returning the dizzy, giggling filly back to the floor.
Cadance squealed, no doubt because Shining Armor had groped her.
The two dragons danced in a swirly, smoking slide, and their claws raised sparks from the floor. Both Spike and Boomer, covered in spines and frills, had an awful lot to shake on the dance floor, and Boomer’s natural propensity for gliding allowed her to make fabulous, impossible moves. Spike flung her around as though she was a piece of fabric, whipping her from side to side, and then when momentum peaked, he let go and sent her flying.
Breathless, panting, Flurry collapsed against Sumac and cried, “I gotta stop! If I don’t, I’m going to mega-barf everywhere!”
With the same explosive suddenness as it had started with, the dance ended for Sumac and Flurry. There was a sweaty hug that seemed to linger for a brief eternity, and then he felt Flurry pull away from him. When he looked down into her eyes, he saw happiness. She took a step back, dropped down to all fours, and he did the same, never looking away from her.
“Flurry, you were amazing,” he said to her.
“Thank you, Sumac, so were you.” Panting, she added, “I need a moment to catch my breath. I ate too much.” Grinning, Flurry shuffled on her hooves, and it seemed that she wasn’t done talking, even though she was gulping in much needed air. “No matter what else happens tonight, this was perfect!”
Then, much to Sumac’s surprise, he received a chaste kiss on the cheek, which left him dumbfounded. Something about this kiss was different from the others and left him feeling both shaken and confused. No conclusion seemed forthcoming, no epiphany took place, and there was no sudden understanding, only a befuddled sense of disorientation.
The evening was so magical that Flurry Heart had second thoughts about its ruination. Things had slowed down to an almost sedate pace and the dancing was of a more socially acceptable variety—but was still beautiful to watch. Flowing, frilly gowns swooshed and swept over the floor, creating an exquisite display that delighted the eyes. The dance floor was populated with couples, trios, and even small herds.
Standing neck to neck with Sumac, not really moving but rather just swaying, a sweaty Flurry Heart thought about what this night meant to her. She hummed with the music, knowing this tune, because it was the waltz that her parents always danced to on their anniversary. It was the sound that everything was right in the world.
But not everything was right in the world. Not right now. Pulling away from Sumac, Flurry noticed that her parents were gone. Of Sunburst, there was no sign, and it could only be assumed that Starlight had lured him away. A quick scan of the room revealed that Pebble and Silver Lining had vanished. Trixie and Lemon Hearts were nowhere to be seen, but Twinkleshine stood guard near the punchbowl, which was located near the doors.
“Sumac—”
“I know,” he whispered.
Flurry’s mouth went dry, her frogs went sweaty, and her wingpits felt swampy. So this was it then, the point of no return. The line. The edge. Once crossed, there would be no going back. Her throat felt like it was closing and she knew that she was in danger of losing her nerve. Reaching out with one hot, prickly wing that she could not bear to keep pressed against her sides, she pulled her companion close.
“Sumac, tell me I’m fearless—”
“Oh, but you are fearless.”
“Tell me I’m brave—”
“You are brave and your courage knows no end.”
It was just what Flurry needed to hear and she felt her spirit soar as she looked up at Sumac’s face. “Sumac, you know what must be done. Let’s do this and get it over with, shall we?”
“We shall,” he replied in a low whisper.
Everything seemed to slow to a crawl as Flurry maneuvered herself to stand in front of Sumac, who seemed taller somehow. Looking at him, she saw all of the signs of a terrified pony in need of rescue and Flurry wondered what introversion might feel like. All of this time she had been so focused on herself that she hadn’t given much thought to what Sumac might be feeling.
Upon reaching this understanding, Flurry resolved to be a better friend. After all, Sumac was sticking his neck out for her, and she had been so focused upon herself, her own needs, how all of this was going to affect her, and Sumac… he was suffering. Why was it that Sumac was the one who always suffered during her adventures?
“I have an announcement,” Sumac said as the lull between songs settled in. “I have come to my senses on the issue of marriage and it is with great pleasure that I announce my engagement with Flurry Heart.”
There was a swell of silence—could silence swell, Flurry wondered—but the silence was only the forerunner of the coming flood. Deafening applause filled the room, a sound so overpowering that Flurry went swimmy-headed and her vision fuzzed over. All around her was endless sound, a constant celebratory cacophony that made her alicorn ears ache.
Mascara ran and there were many joyful, tearful faces on those overcome by exultation. When Flurry looked up at Sumac, she saw a most worrisome sight indeed, as the colt appeared to be cracking under the pressure of having become the center of attention. As ponies looked on in blissful elation, in exuberant, excited exilience, Sumac seemed to be seized with some kind of terrifying manic delirium. He had a crazed aspect about him that was rather frightening.
Ooh, he had the same kind of face twitchies as Auntie Twilight before she snapped.
“I can’t wait until we are married,” Flurry said as she fought to keep control over her voice, as sheer terror made her throat feel tight.
“Then why wait,” Sumac replied in a voice stretched thin. “We can get married tonight, Flurry! We’re aristocrats! We have privilege! Well, I do, but you don’t! Technically, you could have been married at birth, so you’ve wasted a whole lot of your life not married! All those wasted years, Flurry!”
This wasn’t in the script. Flurry stood there with her mouth hanging open, helpless as she watched her best friend have a meltdown. She was unable to decide if this was for the best, or if this was the worst, but one thing was for certain; there would be no stopping this now. Professor Egghead had pulled out his most terrifying weapon: insanity.
“If I marry you tonight, I’ll have unfettered access to the Crystal Throne by morning, when I hang your bloody sheets out on the balcony!”
Taking a step away, Flurry didn’t have to pretend to be scared. “Bloody sheets?”
“Yeah, Flurry! Bloody sheets! Gotta give the commoners a good show! They have to know that you were broken in properly! And if you don’t bleed when we breed, I have a solution, thanks to that most wonderful book!”
“You do?” Flurry asked.
“I do!” Sumac shouted and his mania seemed to be growing. “I’ll roll you over and stick it in your pooper! It’s going right in if I don’t get enough blood on the sheets from when I first take you!”
“In my pooper!” Flurry squeaked, and she began backing away while looking at the crowd. Some looked mortified. Others seemed a little disgusted, but still hopeful, still happy. Some had no expression at all, only a cool sense of calm, and she knew why: disparaging your betters was rude. With her and Sumac being alicorns, she and he were the betterest ponies in the room.
“Yes, Flurry, right in your pooper! You have to be humiliated and shamed so you won’t be willful and insolent! After I hang out those bloody sheets as a trophy of my total domination of you, you won’t be able to look anypony in the eye ever again, because they’ll know that you’ve been properly broke in and made to know your place!”
Turning about, Flurry tried to register the shock and awe that she was seeing. Much to her surprise, a majority of the aristocrats gathered seemed rather repulsed, some were disgusted, and others had left the room. But there were a few that seemed utterly unmoved and showed no emotion at all. A few still appeared happy and hopeful. For those particular ponies, Flurry did her best to memorise their faces, because they were going on the list.
“Is this really what all of you want for me? To be humiliated? To be broken? I’ve heard the gossip about me being ‘tamed.’ Is this really want you want for me? To have all of my hopes and dreams shattered? Does what I want mean anything to you?” Flurry moved in a slow circle, turning about so that she might see the faces of those she addressed. “Does anything that I want even matter to you?”
Casting a glance at her coconspirator, she worried, as it seemed that Sumac was falling apart and she knew that she had to wrap this up.
“My hopes and dreams are all about protecting and serving all of you… but right now, I am reconsidering those dreams. How am I supposed to be strong enough to be your guardian, your protector, if I break under all of this peer pressure that you place on me?” Flurry sucked in a wheezy deep breath and tried to remember all of the words that Dim had said. “If I give in to your demands, how could I possibly keep you safe from outside influence? The enemies of Equestria are many, but how could I possibly be fit to fight them if I give in so easily to the likes of you… you worthless, foppish, weak, ineffectual… you disgusting primitives! Yes! That is what some of you are! Don’t think I didn’t notice how gleeful some of you looked when Sumac brazenly talked about sexually assaulting me! Harming me! Making me bleed for your satisfaction and amusement! Some of you are exactly like the one-thousand-year-old horrors that come back from Equestria’s past to haunt the modern day!”
More ponies were leaving the room now and Flurry wondered about their motives. Were they just not in the mood to be lectured by a filly? Did shame make them flee? Disgust? Anger? Were they off to plot revenge? She didn’t know, but she had to keep going. Yes, all of this had to keep going: the wound had been lanced and now the poison had to be drained out.
“I want nothing to do with any of you and your plans. I am not a doll to be dressed up and led around. I am a filly that will one day be a mare, and I will decide what will be done with my life, not you, none of you have a say in what I do. Not even my parents have that right! Ultimately, I will do what it is right for me, myself, and if I can’t turn to any of you for help, I will turn to my friends! I reject everything this cotillion stands for!”
Even the yaks seemed stunned.
“If the bloodied sheets meant to humiliate me are to be hung in the light of day, then I reject the day and I choose Luna’s sacred night!”
At these words, Sumac’s spell on her gown activated and the soft pastel rainbow of colours began to darken like an incontinent stormcloud. First, it greyed out, then with each passing second, it grew darker, first becoming shadowy, then downright Stygian, and it became like a starless night, a void that devoured light. Dark, heavy shadows slithered around her eyes as illusory mascara manifested around her eyelashes. Where once stood a princess born of day was now a princess engulfed by night.
“COME INTO THE NIGHT TO TROUBLE ME AT YOUR OWN PERIL!”
Having said what needed to be said, she grabbed Sumac with a yank and made good on her escape. The now-black gown swirled and swished with each step, radiating some terrible dark majesty, some dreadful enchantment that made the crowd around her scatter like chickens. Tendrils of dark shadow trailed behind her and Flurry looked very much as though she was wrapped in nightmares.
Sumac allowed himself to be led along by Flurry as he struggled to contain his panic. Each heaving breath was agony and made his lungs burn. His throat, tight and raw, was in dire need of a cool drink. The way his ribs and spine ached from anxiety was only made worse by his erratic breathing, but Sumac had no choice: he either kept breathing and hurting himself, or he suffocated.
Much to his relief, Pebble fell into place by his side, along with Silver Lining. Flurry led the way, trailing streams of illusory shadows that devoured the light of the hallway. The four of them continued down the hall and none dared to stop them. Even the guards stepped aside, saying nothing, doing nothing, perhaps because of the irate, angry alicorn leading the way, or maybe because of the enraged earth pony filly right behind her.
Stumbling a bit, Sumac felt Pebble press up against him and he was glad to lean up against her. She was solid, reassuring, and was just what he needed at this moment. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to be cuddled up against her, like they did when they were foals. He longed for a return to those simpler times, those times when he could sleep in the same bed as her without worry or shame. Maturity had robbed him of his innocence, it had taken something dear from him, and had caused awkwardness between him and his very best friend.
Little did Sumac know that maturity had compensation waiting for him for all that it had taken.
Reclining supine on a chaise lounge, Sumac offered no struggle as Silver Lining undressed him at Pebble’s command. The clothing was just too hot, to restrictive, but he was in no condition to pull it off himself. They had retreated to the same parlour that they had planned in, and Flurry now paced the floor, muttering words to herself that Sumac could not make out.
“I stood on the other side of the doors and listened,” Pebble said as she stroked Sumac’s sweaty neck. “Things didn’t go as planned. I’m sorry I wasn’t there, but I made a tactical retreat with Silver. It seemed wise.” The filly offered no further elaborations for her actions, but went silent.
There seemed to be nothing left to do now but wait for the consequences. Sumac stared up at the glittery ceiling and grunted once as Silver Lining tugged his jacket out from beneath him. Each laboured breath ached, but his anxiety seemed to be easing. Pebble’s soft touch against his neck calmed him, the slow back and forth motion soothed his panic. Now, Silver Lining was working on removing his shirt.
The door opened and a looming pink figure filled the doorway. Sumac lept up from where he lay, his shirt tore free of his body, and the ripped remains hung from Silver Lining’s trembling talons. Baring his teeth, Sumac put himself between Flurry and her mother, standing in bold defiance.
Flurry, whimpering in fear, backed herself into the corner, getting as far away from her mother as she could.
“Sumac Apple Lulamoon,” Cadance began, “do you really think that you need to protect Flurry from me?”
It was a struggle to even remain upright, but somehow, Sumac managed. Tilting his head back, he gazed up at Cadance’s face and was confused when he saw a warm, loving expression, and not the rage he had expected. Filled with terror, he stammered out his reply: “I… I don’t… I don’t know what to… to expect… I made… I made a promise… I made a promise to Flurry to… to see this… through… to the very end. C-c-consequences t-too!”
“You adorable little rogue, I knew you would do something, but I didn’t expect this.” Cadance let out a soft chuckle, the door shut behind her, and locked with a metallic click.
“You knew?” Flurry’s voice was as squeaky as a yearling’s.
“Of course I knew,” Cadance replied, “and when Sumac talked with your father, he pretty much revealed everything. We knew something was planned—”
“W-what?” Trembling, Sumac still stood in defiance, but his legs threatened to betray him.
“Oh, you silly little colt… my husband and I are survivors!” Cadance’s voice made every ear in the room perk. “You are not in the provincial backwater of Ponyville, Sumac, where everypony is vulnerable to your charms. My husband and I, we shield ourselves from your suggestions. After dealing with changelings, master manipulators and mind controllers, did you really think that Shining and I weren’t prepared for you?”
Flummoxed, Sumac could not reply, and he heard Pebble sigh.
“We are utterly immune to your charms, Sumac, and when Shining Armor sensed that you were trying to influence him, he came and had a talk with me—”
“B-b-but you left!” Sumac cried, and then he let out a startled squeal when Cadance lifted him from the floor.
As she sat him down upon the chaise lounge where he had been laying, Cadance said, “Of course we left. Isn’t that what you wanted? You attempted to magically coerce Shining Armor into having a little romantic interlude with me, and I’m not even mad. I appreciate the gesture, because all of this has been quite stressful. Shining and I decided to step away for a while just to see what would happen… and something certainly happened!”
With a pained sigh, Sumac realised the futility of it all. He had made a gross underestimation of his marks and their abilities. The grift had not gone as planned, and if anything, he had been played. It stung—failure in any form hurt—and Sumac closed his eyes to shut out the outside world.
“Mom, I’m not sorry.”
In Sumac’s ears, Flurry’s voice quavered in fear and he rolled over onto his side, miserable about this outcome. Things had not gone off as perfectly as he had hoped. The knowledge that Cadance and Shining Armor were fully aware of what he was capable of unnerved him. It wasn’t often that Sumac tried to get his way—in fact, after a few foalhood incidents, he swore off trying to do so—and now that he had suffered spectacular failure, he was aware that some ponies were more than ready enough to deal with him and his charms.
The knowledge was crushing.
“I am actually proud of both you—”
“Oh good, you’re not angry,” Flurry gasped.
“Wrong, Flurry, I’m furious.” Cadance began to cluck her tongue, and Sumac heard Flurry begin to whimper again. “Neither one of you have any idea how upset I am, but believe me, under all this seeming calm is an ocean of fury. This foalish little stunt of yours upset a lot of ponies… guests… what you did was completely uncalled for—”
“Wrong, Mom!” Flurry stomped her hoof and it was like a thunderclap in the small room. “None of this would have happened if you had left me alone and not forced me to go! You made this happen! This is your fault!”
“Flurry, life is all about having to do unpleasant things. Awful things. Yes, you had a dreadful chore… you had to go and eat delicious food, wear a nice gown, and dance with your best friend. It was terrible, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it just dreadful? It was so bad that you had to go and ruin it for others! Poor little Flurry Heart, born into a life of privilege, having to give something back to the ponies that make her lavish lifestyle possible.”
“That’s not really fair of you to say, Cadance,” Pebble said in a voice that wasn’t quite a deadpan.
Fearing trouble, Sumac opened his eyes and focused upon Cadance. Before she could say anything in return to Pebble, Sumac managed to sneak in his own words: “Cadance, don’t. This won’t end well if you do. I don’t think you can out-angry Pebble and I am sick with worry and I can’t deal with anypony fighting right now.” He didn’t know what Cadance was thinking, or feeling, but she was chewing her lip and she appeared thoughtful.
“Perhaps you’re right, Sumac.” Cadance’s barrel expanded to considerable girth as she drew in a massive calming breath and held it.
This unexpected reply made Sumac feel better, and he realised that he had accomplished this without the use of his magic, just by choosing his words with care. Trouble had been avoided, for now at least, but was bound to return at some point. Pebble was breathing hard and Sumac could hear the faint snorts coming from her no doubt flared nostrils.
“Flurry, this was all about you… you… this was supposed to be a magical night for you. It wasn’t for them, it was never for them, and I know what most of them wanted. I am fully aware of their desires as they petition me almost every day and express their opinions.” After a sigh, Cadance kept going, but now to Sumac’s ears, her voice was thick, husky with emotion.
“I’m hurt, Flurry… I’m hurt real bad and I’m so angry with you and the situation that you didn’t trust me enough to protect you from them. I just wanted to give you a magical evening… I wanted you to feel like the princess that you are… Twilight said that you truly earned the title and I trusted in Twilight’s judgment. Flurry…”
At this point, Cadance’s calm broke and tears began to fall, which made Sumac turn away.
“Flurry, do you think that I’m such a terrible mother that I’d let those ponies have their way? Do you really think that I would give them what they want?” Cadance’s voice was the next thing to crack in her calm facade, which caused Sumac’s ears to collapse under their own weight, and they came to rest against the sides of his face. “Flurry… you just don’t understand… I have to play nice with those ponies. Their wealth is our wealth. Our empire flourishes and grows because of all of the hard work they do. While I engage in constant give and take with them, you were the one bargaining chip that was never on the table.”
“It doesn’t feel that way sometimes!” Flurry blurted out, and Sumac cringed as every muscle in his body went tight from the pain in her voice. “I can’t stand the gossip and the talk and the pressure and all those whispered words! I hate them! I hate them!” The last few words became shrieks and she had nothing more to say as she too, began to cry.
Sumac’s misery multiplied like compound interest.
“You don’t even understand what you’ve done,” Cadance said, sighing out the words. “You probably can’t even begin to comprehend the damage that you’ve done at a time when unity is needed more than ever. This foalish outburst is going to have long term consequences, Flurry, and I don’t want to be mean and make assumptions that you don’t care, but it is my fear that right now, you don’t. I understand that it probably felt good to lash out, but there will be long reaching aftereffects from this and trust me, you will care.”
“Mother... I…” Flurry’s words died on limp lips that hung slack in a wounded frown.
“At least you have good friends to see you through the aftermath of all of this. I wasn’t lying when I said that I’m proud of you. I recognise how much courage this must have took, and I acknowledge that all of you were quite brave to have organised all of this.” Bowing her head, Cadance sat there, weeping, and Sumac could not recall ever seeing a pony looking so distraught.
“You know what is needed right now—”
Sumac, panicked, had an interjection: “Pebble, please, don’t pick a fight, I can’t deal with that right now!”
“—is some tea and sympathy.” Pausing for a moment, Pebble gave Sumac a meaningful stare and then continued, “All of us. Together. I think Flurry needs us so she can feel listened to because sometimes, it’s scary and difficult to try and talk to your parent, because we’re foals, and we tend to want to obey our parents… well, some of us. But I stand by what I said… it’s scary to try and have a serious grown up talk with your parent.”
“Pebble, that is the most sensible thing that has been said all evening.” Cadance sniffled a bit, but managed to smile as she added, “Thank goodness for wise little earth ponies.”
“I’m parched,” Sumac admitted aloud. “Tea sounds good, but so does something cold and fizzy.”
“Can we call a truce during the revolution?” Cadance let out a weak laugh, sniffled a bit more, and a broad smile somehow managed to grace her muzzle. “I’d rather discuss terms over tea than exchange blows on the battlefield. I know that all of you are in a hurry to knock down the established order, but maybe we could talk about it?”
Advancing from her corner, Flurry drew close to her mother, looking hopeful. “I have a list of demands at the ready…”
It was snowing and Flurry was pretty certain that she had nothing to do with it. At least, she hoped that she had nothing to do with it. Given the state of her emotions, it was hard to tell. A hard snow at the end of summer was uncommon, but not impossible. Looking out the window of her father’s study, she heard Trixie clearing her throat and wondered what dreadful punishment awaited.
“This outcome was unexpected,” her father said in a low voice and Flurry turned away from the narrow arched window to pay attention to him. “Twinkleshine and I had to do a fair bit of cleanup last night to try and straighten out this mess, but this… this is unexpected.”
“I’m a little confused about it myself.” Sumac—who sat in a high backed chair in the corner, the same chair that Flurry herself usually sat in—fidgeted and was unable to sit still. “I mean, I woke up this morning and there was over a dozen of them and I just don’t understand.”
Hunched over in his own chair, Shining Armor tapped his front hooves together while letting out a thoughtful sigh. Without realising that she was doing so, Flurry mimicked her father, and she too, began tapping her front hooves together. It made her look serious and grown up, but she was unaware of this.
“The Nervous and Distressed Trixie is unaware of the required etiquette to turn down a marriage proposal.” After drawing in a hesitant, shuddering breath, she continued, “After what her son did, Trixie is at a loss to understand the reasoning behind these proposals.”
“Sis, is it really so hard to grasp?” Shining Armor asked as he leaned up against his desk. “Such are the vagaries of politics… almost all of these proposals come from mares… mothers, Trixie, mothers who want the best, safest possible marriage for their daughter. Once I made the situation clear last night, once ponies understood that Sumac did what he did in a misguided attempt to protect his best friend—”
Sumac’s breathy adolescent sigh was enough to make Shining Armor pause and Flurry’s head turned to look at her fellow insurrectionist. He looked miserable and his glasses were crooked. Even worse, he didn’t seem to notice and he did nothing to fix them. Yep, things had to be pretty bad.
“Anyhow, once I did all I could to clear things up, those still in attendance were quite understanding. Sumac proved himself to be a good catch, no doubt in part due to all of your hard work. He showed immense courage and was willing to do something immensely idiotic for the sake of his friend… a filly. Let’s face it, that’s a romantic gesture in the most classical sense, a knight in service of his lady fair, and that is something that these ponies understand.”
Extending a foreleg, Shining Armor allowed it to come to rest atop a sheaf of papers. “Flurry, you have no shortage of admirers yourself. These are formal requests for vassalisation… ponies who wish to swear fealty to you and bear your standard.”
Unable to respond, Flurry stared down at the floor. She didn’t feel like she deserved followers, not after what she had done. The events of last night proved that she lacked maturity and that she was in no position to take on any sort of responsibility. Her eyes burned and a single, stinging teardrop collected in the corner of her left eye, making it twitch.
“No political capital is wasted,” Shining Armor said in a calm voice. “Last night, there was a major debacle, but I am convinced that some good can come out of it. Cadance on the other hoof, she’s a bit too upset to see clearly at the moment, which is why she isn’t here with us. She is utterly incapable of being objective this morning, now that everything has settled in. She’s taking this hard.”
Unable to blink it away, Flurry’s tear rolled halfway down her cheek before being absorbed into her pelt.
“As for myself, I see opportunity. This act of monumental stupidity dragged some uncomfortable subjects out into the light of day, the most important of which is the treatment of mares in the Crystal Empire. The attitudes here are woefully out of date… my wife is Empress of the Empire, but many of the male aristocrats make demands of her and expect her to just obey. This is frustrating to her, and she doesn’t have the luxury of having a temper tantrum or lashing out. She has to bite her tongue and work to make progress. She has to make headway with effort and diplomacy.”
Sighing, Flurry knew those last words were directed at her.
“Already, I can see the enemy that my daughter will have to fight, and as a father, it terrifies me. There is a dangerous lurking enemy that is just as evil and insidious as Sombra at his most wicked. There is a shadowy, intangible disease that infects our great empire.” Shining paused for a moment, and Flurry became aware of the fact that her father was staring at her.
Feeling his eyes upon her, she somehow managed to lift her heavy head up to look at him. In his eyes, she saw pride, weariness, exhaustion, and a bit of amusement. She could feel sweat trickling from her wingpits and wondered at which point did such sweatiness become a problem, because she couldn’t remember it being an issue when she was little.
“The first fight went poorly,” Shining Armor continued, “as first fights often go. Flurry, you failed to understand your enemy and the right way to engage it. Now, the stallions of this empire will have an excuse for more mare bashing. They’ll be able to use your little outburst as an example, as an excuse for why mares are unfit to wield power, or rule, or do anything. They’ll be able to use your emotional temper tantrum to support their arguments and convince others of their cause. Last night, you made everything worse for every mare and filly in the Empire.”
“Daddy… I…” Flurry’s words became a squeak and at that moment, she understood the dreadful truth of what her father had said. She had committed one of the classical blunders: giving aid to the enemy, and the most famous of which was to never get involved in a land war in Windia.
“Sorry Flurry, no more soft language, no more padding my words. I’m done with that. You want to play rough? You want to take your lumps? Fine. You will. I want you to win, Flurry. You… you are going to accept these offers of vassalisation and you are going to accept these oaths of fealty. This is your punishment. You are going to learn how your every waking action has an effect upon those around you.”
Flurry started to protest, but her mouth betrayed her, much to her own shock and surprise. “Daddy… that seems fair.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she sat in stunned silence, unable to comprehend the utterance that had sprung from her lips. What had caused this? Would it ever be safe to speak again? Was this an alicorn problem? It was dreadful, whatever it was.
In her mind, Flurry began to pick apart the situation and realised that she had exactly what she wanted. It was not the fight that she had imagined or had daydreamed about, but it was a fight, and she had her father’s support. It was a fight she did not understand though, with difficult, nebulous concepts and a vague, ill-defined enemy that was more shadow or spectre. Saying nothing, she resolved to undo the damage that she had done and that somehow, she would take this fight to the enemy.
But only after she understood what she was fighting, as she didn’t want to commit further blunders.
“Flurry, as Heir of Lulamoon Hollow, I pledge my support and I offer my fiefdom as sanctuary for any of your subjects in need of asylum—”
“Sumac, what are you doing? Do you understand what you are saying? What you are offering?”
Before Sumac could respond, Shining Armor cut in with a smooth, well-practiced interjection: “Trixie, let them take their first steps. Let us see what they will do. Sumac, do continue, if you please.”
Turning to look at Sumac, Flurry felt her heart in her throat.
“As I was saying, Flurry, should any of your subjects need a place of refuge, I offer sanctuary in Lulamoon Hollow.” Squirming in his seat, Sumac wasn’t sure if he was sticking his hoof into his mouth. After the events of last night, his confidence was shaken and his usual faith in himself felt lacking. He could see what was going on, the punishment was being made to fit the crime. They wanted to act like adults? Well, they were now being treated as adults.
It was every bit as awful as he expected.
“Well, don’t just sit there, Fluffalump, say something,” Shining Armor commanded.
At this, Flurry turned a much brighter hue of pink and she seemed to be at a loss for words. Sumac understood; the power of parental embarrassment was mighty. Fluffalump? He stored that tidbit away for use at a later time when he needed the upper hoof against Flurry. The wings against his sides felt heavy, hot, and itchy.
As Sumac sat in the silence that Flurry could not break, he thought about the marriage proposals that had been delivered to his room this morning. It seemed that no time was ever wasted and even in the dead of the night, political maneuverings took place. He had read them, each and every one of them, and the outpouring of emotion contained in them had touched him. Many of the proposals pledged support even if he turned down the offer, which surprised him. Perhaps the proposals were just a veiled excuse to offer support, a means for a mare to contact him that her husband might approve of. Upon thinking of this, his imagination went into overdrive.
“Thank you, Sumac, for everything.” Flurry’s voice was squeaky, but endearing.
Distracted from his musings, Sumac nodded but failed to reply.
“Mistakes aren’t the end of the world,” Shining Armor said in a voice that Sumac could only register as ‘fatherly.’ It was the same sort of voice that Big Mac might use, or Tarnish, or Igneous, or any of the other males in his life.
“From the ashes of this unmitigated disaster will come change. This wasn’t the catalyst I was hoping for, but it is just the opportunity I need. Ponies are so disgusted by what Sumac said and the utter callousness that he drew from that book—”
Trixie began giggling and Shining Armor had to stop talking. The stern looking stallion sat behind his desk, his mouth hanging open, and Sumac watched as his mother was overcome with the most terrible outbreak of the giggles that he had seen in a long time. The giggles progressed into full-blown laughter and his mother threw her head back to let everything out. Nopony else in the room laughed, and Sumac wondered what could possibly be so funny.
“Dear sister, what is so funny?” Shining Armor asked.
Trixie could not respond and she laughed so hard that she almost fell out of her chair. Her barrel rose and fell, heaving, and tears began leaking from from her eyes. Sitting in the corner, Sumac was too far away to touch his mother and he wondered if she was having one of her spells that she sometimes had when her anxiety was too much to bear. She had already been talking in the third-pony, so it was possible that she was having one of her fits.
“My son”—these words came out a strained, near-wheeze in between barking coughs of laughter—“the precocious little malcontent that he is… he eviscerated a roomful of sexists with nothing but words, using their own literature against them! If only somepony had done the same for Trixie and Trixie’s Great and Powerful mom!”
Sumac knew. He knew, and with the knowledge came pain, pain like nothing else, and he wrapped his forelegs around his middle in a self-hug as his guts suffered a powerful clench. He knew what the pressure had done to his grandmother, Dandelia, and how it had affected Trixie as well. He looked at Shining Armor, and when their eyes met, somehow Sumac knew that the both of them were thinking the same thing. The pressure, the stress, the grind… it had driven Dandelia to go to extraordinary lengths to satisfy the demand. In Shining Armor’s gleaming eyes, he saw the pain—he could sense it too—but there was no way that Sumac could put any of this into words.
What might this pressure have done to Flurry over time?
How might Flurry’s life now be different because of what they had done?
As his stomach clenched once more, he understood his mother’s laughter: she had reached the point where one had to either laugh or cry, and she now laughed in defiance of the pain. Slipping out of his chair, he went to his mother’s side and then just stood there, unsure of what to do as his inner-anxieties manifested as physical pains in his guts.
Just as Sumac was about to make an attempt to say something meaningful to his mother, the door banged open and a bright orange pegasus pony stumbled into the room, looking terrified and panicked. His sudden appearance caused Trixie’s laughter to cease.
“I said I didn’t want to be disturbed!” Shining shouted. “Damnit, I don’t ask for much and I want some time to sort out my family! This had better be important, Captain Sentry!”
“Sir!” Captain Sentry drew himself to attention and sucked in a gulp of air. “Sir, we are under attack—”
“WHAT?”
“Sir, we are under attack! The snowstorm! There are reports that some of the falling snowflakes have turned into ice orcs, Sir! There is already heavy fighting in the streets and the guards have engaged them!”
Shining Armor lept over his desk in a fluid movement, landed on his hooves in front of Flash Sentry, and barked out some orders: “Marshal the defenses! Prepare the city for siege! There is snow everywhere which means the enemy is everywhere! Contact Canterlot! Evacuate the citizenry and get them into the palace at once!”
Stunned, in shock, Sumac glanced over at Flurry Heart and knew by her expression that they were about to get into trouble once more…
