Let's have a talk, shall we?
Let's have a talk, shall we?
Little Corbie had her father’s love of history. Oh, she didn’t know it yet, but Twilight Sparkle knew. Her ears twitched as she listened to Corbie regaling Spike with a detailed backstory of some comic book character that she didn’t recognise. The little filly seemed to know everything, every sordid detail, and how major events impacted the lives of other heroes. Spike of course, listened with eager interest, even though he already knew, and Twilight was proud of him for being so kind.
Being a teacher had given Twilight some unique perspectives on foals; she was finding that she could discern a foal’s talents and strengths in the oddest of things, like knowing a comic book character’s history. Corbie wasn’t the smartest foal, she was a five year old that acted like a five year old—not like a tiny adult trapped in a foal’s body—but she had a knack for detail, organising facts, and good memory for her age.
She was, without a doubt, her father’s daughter. Twilight watched with some vested interest; Spike was listening, actually listening, and not just nodding his head at the right time while pretending to listen. The little dragon was sincere and earnest in his participation of the conversation he was engaged in with Corbie. To Twilight, this was one of Spike’s better, more favoured qualities, and one she worked to nurture, rewarding Spike whenever she got the chance. Later, she was going to pull Spike aside, have a word with him, and lavish as much affection on him as she could get away with.
For a brief moment, Twilight was envious of Corbie; the little filly had just watched her brothers fight, she had been upset, and she had been crying just a few hours ago. Now, she was nattering on with Spike as if nothing had happened, as if the sad events hadn’t happened at all. Twilight’s memory was starting to dull, and she couldn’t quite remember what it was like to be a foal and have such a carefree, unburdened, happy existence. She could only remember bits and pieces, brief snatches, most of them involving her father, who had always been there for her during those moments when she was genuinely troubled.
Humming to herself, Twilight departed the room, went through the half-open door, into another room, which she breezed through, distracted, thoughtful, and then passed through yet another door. Corbie was happy and secure with Spike, and there was still some work that had to be done today. Twilight had to go and collect an assignment that was due.
Just as Twilight predicted, Sumac Apple was waiting for her. He looked a little nervous, a bit fidgety perhaps, and he was adjusting his round glasses as she approached. The colt was standing beside a high backed armchair, and not sitting, a sure sign that something was up. No doubt, he was worried about his assignment, an essay about the practical application of magic and technology in mechanical constructs.
Poor Sumac might be worried, but Twilight wasn’t. Sumac’s longform writing was technical, precise, and some might even say dreary. Even some of his instructors had trouble reading through his papers, which was why Twilight had taken to grading his essays. He had an attention to minute details, used concise language, and even included technical diagrams to illustrate more complex points that he tried to make. Twilight didn’t find his work dreary at all, but rather enjoyed it. Sumac was going to grow up to become a fine scientist, and Twilight felt immense pride in knowing that she had a hoof in that.
“Stop looking so nervous,” Twilight said to the colt as he looked up at her with his head tilted off to one side. She picked up the portfolio folder from the table beside the chair, glanced at it for a moment while hefting it to check its weight, and then she put it back down upon the table.
Having a moment of intuition, Twilight let out a sigh, sat down in the chair, scooted over to one side, then, ignoring his murmurs of protest, she pulled Sumac up beside her, sandwiching the colt between herself and the overstuffed arm of the chair. After some token protest, the colt gave up and leaned against her with a sigh.
“What’s bothering you?” Twilight asked.
“A lot,” Sumac replied.
“Well, what’s giving you trouble?”
“Quite a bit.”
“Yes, but what exactly is causing you so much distress right now, this moment? This is more than your usual anxiety when turning in a paper.” Twilight angled her head so that she might look down, and she found Sumac looking up at her, perhaps trying to read her expression.
“So, you’re dating Pinkie Pie…”
“You know, Sumac, that’s a funny thing to be troubled about.”
“Oh, I’m not bothered by that… I just think it’s nice, that’s all. Pinkie’s good lookin’.”
The colt’s words made her cheeks go warm, and Twilight’s mind raced to deal with the comment. She hadn’t expected this from Sumac, and her brain hurried to provide all relevant information and facts so that she could deal with this appropriately. It occurred to Twilight that all of the fillies that Sumac had as close friends were, well, they were all… well padded. Pinkie Pie was also plush as well. Eyes narrowing, Twilight reached one available conclusion.
Wrapping a wing around Sumac she said, “You have a crush on Pinkie Pie, don’t you?”
“Maybe just a little,” Sumac blurted out in response and he wiggled a bit against Twilight’s side as her feathers tickled him.
“Are you jealous?”
“Just a little,” Sumac confessed.
“Does this need to be a friendship lesson?”
“I don’t know. Maybe? Probably not. I have crushes on lots of fillies.”
“And a few mares?” Twilight asked in a low, conspiratorial whisper.
“Yeah…” A wolfish grin appeared on Sumac’s muzzle as the word poured from his mouth.
Twilight did not expect this, not at all. Was this normal for eleven year olds? She didn’t want it to be, but it probably was. She could feel Sumac growing warmer and she knew that he was having a full-body blush moment. Twilight had always admired Sumac’s ability to make friends with the opposite sex, even during the time when he thought fillies were kind of gross.
After being foalnapped by Queen Chrysalis, Sumac and Olive had become fast, close friends, brought together by shared trauma. This gave Twilight some pause, and she wondered just how friendly Sumac was with Olive. She had always thought their friendship to be sweet, endearing, but now, after seeing the truth of the matter and how he was with Pebble, she was having some doubts.
“Say… have you kissed Olive?” Twilight peered at the colt she was holding and her ears were folded back against her head.
“Yeah… well, actually, she kissed me first, she’s older you know.”
Upon hearing this, Twilight found herself in a rather flabbergasted state, and she felt her flight muscles tense as her wing squeezed Sumac a little tighter, but not enough to squish the Apple juice out of him. She had to know… “Is Pebble okay with this?”
“She watched it happen,” Sumac replied in a coy, shy sounding voice. “And then, I got to watch Pebble and Olive kiss… because fair is fair. It was great. I could watch that all day.”
Right ear rising and twitching, Twilight’s lips pressed into a straight line as she thought about all of the little chubby fillies that Sumac knew. A distressing thought occurred to her, how many of them had he kissed. Even more alarming, she thought of Flurry, because Flurry, well, Flurry was on the pudgy side, even though Twilight would never say this aloud, but she could get away with thinking it. Flurry was a little younger than Sumac, but not by much. Still, it was distressing.
“Sumac, if you don’t mind me asking, how do you deal with this? I mean, being the way you are—”
“I’ve had to wage war on my introversion.” The colt cut in on Twilight’s words with a smooth, inoffensive grace. “Yeah, I’m an introvert, but I still want to be kissed and do all of the things that normal ponies do. I just don’t want to do it in crowds or in packed public places. I like the quiet.”
“I see.” Twilight gave some careful consideration to Sumac’s words, and found that she had so many questions just waiting to be asked. She had her own problems to deal with and sort out. Perhaps there was something to be learned here. “So, Sumac, if you don’t mind me being nosy, is it serious between you and Olive?”
“I dunno.” The colt shrugged, brushing up against Twilight’s side and her wing. “I wish that it was, I really do, because I could see myself falling in love with Olive, but I don’t think it’s going to work.”
“Why not?” Twilight felt a faint prickle of apprehension and was baffled as to why love couldn’t work out. Sumac and Olive were close, close friends, and if Pebble was okay with it, there was no good reason why it couldn’t work. She felt Sumac tense as he drew in deep breath, and Twilight’s ears lifted as she focused her attention.
“Olive is going to go to Canterlot soon,” Sumac began, his voice squeaky with emotion. “She wants to join the guard. She’s gonna be a big hero, and she is gonna keep ponies safe, and with some luck, she’s probably going to join Princess Celestia’s Immortal Solars. She’s a one trick pony and she knows it… her telekinesis is the only thing she really has going for her, and this is her best chance to make something of her life. She wants to make her parents proud after being such a disappointment to them for so long.”
The colt’s words left a tightness in Twilight’s throat. “Sumac… honey… ponies grow up and join the guard all the time. They also fall in love and get married. They have families… you could talk to Olive… you could sort this out. You could still make this happen, if you wanted to. There is nothing stopping you from making this work—”
“And that’s the problem!” Sumac shouted, his voice almost a baritone for a moment before it cracked and became an awkward squeak. “I can talk anypony into almost anything! I could make this work! I could make Pebble take off her clothes and show me her cutie mark! If I wanted to, I could make Olive forget all about joining the guard, and make her stay here, with me and Pebble, so we could be together… that’s the thing, Twilight… if I talk at somepony long enough, I can make them do just about anything! I talked Queen Chrysalis into submission and made her realise that she couldn’t win! I robbed her of all hope with just a few words...”
Sumac squirmed beside her, and she felt one of his forelegs hook around hers.
“So I can’t talk about it,” Sumac squeaked. “I can’t talk about it at all, because if I do, I’ll wear down Olive’s free will on the subject and then my mother Lemon Hearts will hate me and I just can’t live with myself… so I have to stay silent.”
A crushing heaviness settled over Twilight Sparkle and it was worse than the crown she wore. It felt as though it was going to squeeze the air from her lungs and compress her spine like an accordion. Beneath that soul-smashing weight, Twilight Sparkle was thankful for her foalhood friend, Lemon Hearts. Sumac had a mother that had taught him scruples, and, truth be told, this was an issue that she herself had not anticipated, had not thought of, had not prepared for.
With her magic, Twilight pulled off Sumac’s glasses, folded them, and placed them upon the table beside the chair, on top of the portfolio folder that was his assignment. She conjured up a box of tissues, and then went to work dabbing away at what few tears were starting to fall. This was the worst part of being an aunt, but a part of Twilight still cherished it and found it rewarding.
“Sumac, I didn’t realise… I’m sorry. I mean, I understand your talent, or at least, I like to think that I do, but it never occurred to me how it might apply in situations like this.” Twilight felt tears stinging at her own eyes and she felt the needling of failure in the back of her mind. She had failed to prepare to deal with this outcome, and it bothered her.
“I really like Olive… and Silver Lining… and others… and if I wanted to have them all, I probably could. Even if they didn’t like it, or didn’t want to share, I could probably make them go along with it, and all I would need to do is talk them into it… just like my father was able to talk ponies into almost anything.” Sumac coughed, cleared his throat, and then sniffled a bit.
Twilight felt Sumac’s foreleg gripping her own and she thought about the fact that Flam Apple never had a pony named Lemon Hearts to teach him scruples, he had no qualms, had no compunction about performing an immoral act. He never hesitated when it came to taking what he felt was owed to him, and Flam Apple had believed that the world owed him everything.
Without Lemon Hearts, Sumac might already be well down the path of an unscrupulous grifter, taking everything he wanted from anypony and everypony. Twilight, who saw potential in every foal she met, she had seen just a glimpse of Corbie’s potential, saw the horrid potential that Sumac had if his talent wasn’t held in check. More than ever, Twilight was grateful for her friends, and she made a mental note to pull Lemon Hearts aside soon so they could speak.
“There is this constant worry I have about my friends… did they make a choice on their own or did I talk them into it? I stay so anxious… so afraid… I live in constant, horrible fear that I’m going to disappoint Lemon Hearts. I get worked up and I cry about it sometimes when nopony is around.”
Sumac began to sniffle again and Twilight went to work, wiping his nose.
“You wanted to know what I’m nervous about?” Sumac held still allowed his nose to be wiped as he endured his foalish moment. “The Crystal Cotillion. It’s freaking me out. There is so much pressure. It feels like so much is expected of me.”
“It’s just a dance,” Twilight said to Sumac, “and you are good at dancing. Better than I am, anyhow.”
“It feels like more than that.” Sumac looked up at Twilight.
“It’s a bunch of nobles who want to see if the next generation will get along with one another,” Twilight said, offering a reasonable explanation to her nephew. “You are a member of the aristocracy”—for a brief moment, Twilight gave thought to Sumac’s troubles and how they applied to his position— “and you have a chance to make a difference. You are the heir to Lulamoon Hollow. This dance… this cotillion, it’s a chance for you to learn how to deal with your fellow nobles and do what is best for your demesne, and by extension, all of Equestria.”
“I dunno, Twilight.”
“The old wants to see the new dress up in fancy clothing and dance with one another, that’s all.”
“It doesn’t feel that way, Twilight.”
“Maybe it doesn’t for you.” Twilight looked up and glanced at the clock before returning her attention to Sumac. “I never paid it much attention when I was growing up. Shining Armor was expected to deal with all of the aristocracy stuff. He was schooled for it, trained for it, and he was prepared for it. Occasionally, I was trotted out in a fancy dress, told to stand near the punchbowl, and smile at ponies who came to get a drink.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not being stood near a punchbowl, I have to dance with Princess Flurry Heart. She’s like… one of my best friends, and this just feels weird. Twinkleshine is teaching me kissing etiquette, and it’s just…” The colts words faded out while he shuddered.
Distracted by her own thoughts, she wondered what sort of noble Sumac might be. His silver tongue… his compulsion magic. It didn’t take Twilight very long to reach the conclusion that Sumac would be a good leader, mostly because he was being raised right. Trixie was always so proud of him, Lemon Hearts kept his moral compass well tuned, and Twinkleshine was teaching him how to deal with others who didn’t want to play nice. There were also his friends… Pebble had kept Sumac from making a terrible mistake on more than one occasion. He and Olive had long discussions about the very nature of right and wrong. Silver Lining was a fount of never-ending optimism that kept Sumac’s spirits lifted no matter how dark or how bleak things became. Sumac and Flurry Heart exchanged letters all the time, and while Twilight had no clue as to the nature of said letters, she had no doubt that Flurry was a good influence on Sumac.
Never once did Twilight think about her own impact upon Sumac’s upbringing.
“Once you start having crushes, it makes friendship complicated.”
Nodding, Twilight found herself in agreement, and she thought of her own crush. It had, of course, crushed her, but now she found herself seeking romance among her friends. Already, Twilight was feeling the ripples of the changes taking place, and she didn’t know how all of this would end. She had no idea, no clue, having thrown caution to the wind, Twilight had committed herself to something that she could not predict the outcome of.
“Like, with all the fillies I know, I want to kiss them, not just because it feels good, but because I want them to know how much I like them. It feels easier to kiss them than it does to tell them, because I have to be so careful with my words… what I say, how I say it, and what it is that I am wanting from them. It’s a little easier with Flurry, we exchange letters and I don’t have to worry about it as much.”
“Hmm.” Twilight gave Sumac a bit of a squeeze to let him know that she was listening.
“So, what attracts you to Pinkie?” Sumac asked, and his question caught Twilight off guard.
Blinking, Twilight tried to rearrange her many thoughts so that she could give Sumac an answer. There was the physical attraction, but Twilight was hesitant to talk about that. There was the familiarity between them, which Twilight wasn’t sure if she could put into words. This was a much, much tougher question than she had first realised.
“Pinkie gives nice hugs,” Sumac whispered, “and about a year or so ago, I really started to notice how good they made me feel… when she would squeeze me until I almost popped. It was Pebble who noticed that I had a crush on her.”
“Awkward.”
“You have no idea,” Sumac continued, and he shook his head. “Pinkie Pie threw me a party, she brought me a cake and everything, and it was to celebrate my crush. It got super weird and Pinkie thought it was hilarious. She told me that she was flattered, but that she was into older, somewhat more mature adults. She did say that I was very mature for my age though.”
“Awwwwwkward.”
The colt nodded and then Twilight felt him let go of her leg. He looked a little better now, though he was still red-eyed. She found herself smiling—she made yet another mental note to have a talk with Pinkie Pie as soon as possible, as there was, no doubt, a very funny story to tell, and Twilight wanted to hear it. Preferably with Seville, over dinner.
“It feels nice, being able to talk.” Sumac rested his foreleg on the arm of the chair and allowed his head to fall against Twilight’s side.
“It does, Sumac. If you ever need to talk to me, about anything, anything at all, I’m here to listen.” For a moment, Twilight thought of Cadance, and there was a painful twinge. All those times she had poured her heart out to Cadance had contributed to the terrible crush that had consumed her. There was a very real danger in baring your soul to somepony else. “It’s getting close to supper time. You’d better skedaddle.”
“You’re right, I’d better,” Sumac replied. “Twilight…”
“Yes?”
“Thanks for listening.”
“Don’t mention it.” After a moment, Twilight added, “I’ll be grading your paper soon. I’m sure it’s fine, try not to worry.” While she spoke, she slid Sumac’s glasses back onto his muzzle, and then made sure they were straight. It was a kind, affectionate gesture, and one that Twilight had done many times.
“Okay.”
Bending her neck, Twilight kissed Sumac on top of his head, a parting kiss goodbye. She gave him a final squeeze as well, and then watched as he shimmied out of the chair where they had sat together. He was getting big, though not too big, and soon, they both would not fit into a chair together for much longer. It made her sad.
“Goodbye, Sumac… remember, make good choices!”
Author's Note
The Crystal Cotillion will be coming soonish...
