The Chronicles of Summer Rain

by shysage

Chapter 8, Fluttershy's Sister

After a brief pause, Fluttershy spoke up timidly "I promised that I would help you, but you haven't even told me your name. That doesn't seem very fair."

Summer sighed, then said quietly "My name is Summer Rain."

At this Fluttershy burst into tears, and simply cried for a while. Summer did what true friends do, she held Fluttershy, who quickly wrapped her front legs around Summer and held her tightly.

Soon they were both crying, but it was ok. Summer knew she needed this, and Summer also thought of a couple of reasons why Fluttershy did too.

After a while, Fluttershy loosened her grip and settled down some. They both sniffled for a few minutes, and it was quiet.

Summer took both of Fluttershy's spider leg things in hers, looked Fluttershy in the eyes and said quietly "Fluttershy, tell me about your sister."

Summer Rain didn't even know where that came from, but it made sense since a lot of the people in this world matched ponies back home. Besides, Summer needed to know this.

---

Still sniffling a little, Fluttershy began to tell her sister's story. "She was my big sister, and when we were younger we played together a lot. People said we were inseparable, a big word we couldn't even pronounce for the longest time. And we never seemed to run out of fun games to play together. Even when we started school, we would play together after we got home, and at school as much as we could. She was my only real friend.

"She changed in Junior High though. Maybe she got too old for me, or maybe she just got too wrapped up in sports, Soccer especially. I don't know."

Fluttershy paused here to think a minute, then continued.

"Sports, or maybe just competition, became all that mattered to Summer, but she was never the best at anything, and took a lot of teasing because of that. Well she just tried harder, I guess, but it didn't seem to make any difference, she still could never catch the front runners, regardless of the sport.

"Junior High, High School, it was the same cycle; train hard, lose, get mad. Summer became very mean, even to me. She started teasing me a lot, I guess because she was getting teased a lot too. But it really hurt me. It was so bad I didn't even want to be around her anymore, but that hurt too.

"Then about a year ago..."

Fluttershy stopped at this point, and Summer guessed she couldn't go on. Summer moved over next to Fluttershy, put her front leg around Fluttershy's neck, and said "Fluttershy, what happened to your sister?"

"She was mad... She was driving... She was drinking..."

As Fluttershy spelled this out, she began crying...

"They found her car... ...at the bottom of a ravine... ...it was burnt so bad they couldn't even identify the remains."

Fluttershy didn't even try to talk any more, and just cried on Summer's shoulder.

Summer Rain didn't understand the details, but it didn't matter. In this world, Fluttershy's sister was dead, finally engulfed in the same destructive cycle that Summer herself was locked in, before she learned that it didn't have to be that way.

Summer herself was also soon crying. Any life so horribly thrown away was a sad occasion. Summer Rain also cried for her own sister, Summer guessed she had put her Fluttershy through a lot as well, and Summer made a mental note to apologize to her sister when she could.

As they were both sitting there crying, almost without thinking, Summer said to Fluttershy "I'm so sorry Sis...", and Fluttershy just squeezed Summer tighter.

After a while, both of their crying subsided, and they sat there sniffling, and were both soon calm again.

---

Wiping tears from her eyes Fluttershy timidly asked Summer Rain if she had a sister. Fluttershy didn't yet understand how parallel their two worlds were.

Summer took a deep breath, then worked on answering this question.

"In my world, I have a younger sister. And by the way, I might start crying again trying to tell you this."

Fluttershy reached out her spider things this time and simply held Summer's.

After a pause, Summer said calmly "Her name is Fluttershy."

Fluttershy gasped at this, then said "Oh my gosh, I would have never guessed..."

Summer continued.

"She is almost identical to you; hair color, coat color, temperment...

"And like you she is the most quiet, giving, perceptive pony, er people I know."

Fluttershy stopped her at this point. "So your world is Ponies, just like there's people here, so your Fluttershy is just like me basically, except that she's a pony?"

Summer answered "Yes, but remember, I don't think the existance of my parallel world should be spread around much."

"Yes, but that explains a lot" Fluttershy answered. "Summer used to call me 'Sis' all the time too.." and at this Fluttershy smiled at Summer."

---

Fluttershy was quiet for a moment, then she squeezed Summer's spider leg things and said "Please... tell me about yourself Summer."

Summer Rain sighed and started putting some sentences together.

"Aside from the differences between your world and mine, I was pretty much just as you described your sister. When I was younger, Fluttershy and I played together constantly, but then I changed. In my world I can fly, so I decided I had to be the best at flying, only I wasn't. Ever."

Fluttershy interrupted Summer at this point. "So when we helped Princess Twilight defeat Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow and I were flying, and had wings. I am guessing they can fly in your world too?"

"Yes" Summer answered, then paused a minute, then continued "And to be honest, in my world, Rainbow Dash may have been one of the front runners I was chasing. We are best friends now though-- "

Fluttershy interrupted again at this point "Same with my sister. Rainbow Dash was younger than Summer, and part way through Rainbow's first year at Equestria High, Rainbow could easily beat my sister at just about every sport. Summer wasn't real happy about this. It didn't help that Rainbow was a part of our group of friends back then. I heard a lot about that.

"I'm sorry, you can keep going." Fluttershy said a little embarrassed for interrupting.

Again out of habit Summer quickly responded "Sis its ok, the more I learn about this world, the better."

Fluttershy smiled, and read Summer's mind. "It's ok I don't mind that at all. It is kind of like I have my sister back."

Summer Rain was more concerned about what to say next than to deal with this now. Putting her head down, Summer said quietly "I have no doubt that I would have ended up like your sister, and be dead now. But I learned something that changed my life, and changed me a lot. I learned that true friendship means putting others first. I chose this path, and it probably saved my life.

"I guess I'm a real dummy. I watched my sister live this way all her life, and never thought twice about it. But Princess Twilight, and her amazing friends accomplished so much built on true friendship, and I couldn't ignore it.

"I read about Princess Twilight's.. wait no, the whole group's accomplishments in some books the ruler of Equestria wrote about them. I decided that's what I really wanted, to enjoy friendships like that, and I changed. I decided to change."

At this point Summer paused, and looked out the window at the setting sun. Almost as if thinking to herself, Summer Rain said "A year ago, I was just like your sister, and headed the same way. True friendship made all the difference.

"Now I'm here with the hope that I can bring you and four other special people back together, hoping that I can help them experience the true friendship that changed my life. Princess Twilight and I both would dearly like to see this happen."

Fluttershy brought Summer back to the present, gently saying "Summer..."

Fluttershy looked into Summer Rain's eyes and said "I really want to help you."

"Thank you Fluttershy, I know I'll need it" Summer Rain replied.

"You mentioned before, that this is like having your sister back, and to a point that may be true. But Fluttershy, there is no way I can replace your sister, and I won't even try. But I will do everything I can to be the very best friend that you have ever had. And if I call you 'Sis', I hope you will understand that I mean well."

They hugged briefly, and Fluttershy said "Thank you Summer Rain from Ponyville, I think I was beginning to dispair of ever having a friend again."

In her mind Summer winced at this, remembering her first mental picture of Fluttershy curled up in a ball surrounded by a mess of little papers, staring off into the distance.

"It is sad to think that you had to come from so far away to be my friend..." Fluttershy said hesitantly.

Summer Rain interrupted Fluttershy at this point. "Wait Fluttershy, if I came all the way here, and you were the only true friend I made, I would consider the trip wildly successful and easily worth it."

Fluttershy smiled and said simply "I know."

Then Fluttershy said cheerfully "Tomorrow is Saturday, there's no school, and I usually spend mornings at the Animal Shelter helping out. Are you interested?

"Fluttershy, if you go, I'm going!" Summer answered with a smile.

---

Fluttershy sighed and said "Its way past dinner time, are you hungry?"

Summer Rain replied "If that's the meaning of the slight pain I feel where I think my stomach is, then I guess so."

"I'll make us both a salad" Fluttershy said. Fluttershy got up and went to where to food must have been. Fluttershy's 'apartment' was small, so they could easily continue talking.

Fluttershy said "Summer, we do have another big problem though, what are we going to tell everyone else? I understand that you don't want to tell everyone that you are from a different world."

"Yes, that would not go over well, and would cause a lot of problems I think" Summer answered. "However, I do intend to tell Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack the whole story, but will want them to keep it under wraps."

"But that isn't the real problem" Fluttershy offered. You look exactly like my sister, and I mean exactly, down to the colors, your voice, and everything else. You even have the same name. Most of the people at school will recognize you right away. What do we tell them?"

"But thats not the scary part" Fluttershy continued. "My parents simply will not believe that you are not their daughter, and they have gone through a lot already. I just don't know what to do, and don't want them to hurt any more than they already have."

Summer Rain thought for a minute then asked "Is there a possibility they will come by in the next few days?"

"Well I will probably get a text or two, but they are out of town until later next week." Fluttershy said.

"Well, we will need to come up with a plan for both soon then" Summer said with a frown. Just not tonight though, this has been a tough day for me" Summer said with a sigh.

Summer was quiet for a minute, then she sighed again. "Fluttershy, can I stay here with you, at least for now? I just realized I have no place to stay in this world."

Fluttershy put a bowl of leafy greens down in front of Summer, then smiled and said "Summer you can stay with me as long as you want, and I will enjoy every minute."

"Thanks Sis" Summer replied, and they both laughed.

---

Summer's 'crash course' about Fluttershy's world began right after dinner.

They both sat on the couch (the real name of the comfy bench), and talked for hours.

Fluttershy gave Summer a lot of the right words, and explained some of the peculiarities of this place -- bathrooms, toothbrushes, clothes, manners -- they talked until very late.

Fluttershy mentioned that the clothing area was very important, especially for Summer who came from a world where clothes were just occasional fashion accessories. Summer Rain accepted this, and just decided to trust what her sister said in this area.

Fluttershy also made it clear that there were a lot of hazards in her world. From electricity to cars, there were some things in this world that people would probably, and did frequently die if they did.

Summer told Fluttershy that she probably needed Fluttershy far more than she realized. In her head, Summer noted that this world was far more complicated than Ponyville.

Overall, Summer dearly missed her wings, but very much liked her arms, hands and fingers.

After a few minutes talking about it, Summer told Fluttershy that learning about her 'Cell-phone' would need to wait, there was just too much to take in.

At this point, they were both very tired. Fluttershy gave Summer a toothbrush, and showed her how to brush her teeth.

Next Fluttershy pulled her bed out of the closet and unfolded it. She called it a 'cot'. Fluttershy had two 'sleeping bags', and threw one on her cot, and the other at Summer, knocking her over onto the couch.

"You can sleep on the couch, I'll take the cot." she said.

Fluttershy checked to make sure all the doors and windows were locked, and the curtains were closed, then turned the lights off, and they were both soon cozy in their own beds.

"Thanks Sis" Summer said gently.

Fluttershy sighed, and said "It's been so long since a sister named Summer talked nice to me."

"You can count on more" Summer quickly replied.

Fluttershy quietly said "Thank you Summer Rain from Ponyville."