The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 5 -- Faded Memories

by shysage

Chapter 17, Twin Time

Among Equestria's leadership, PonyRos' take-over had been the hardest on the Equestria ponies. These precious ladies simply 'forgot' with everypony else. The Group Link among Princess Twilight' girls in the Castle had been amazing, but the Twins still needed some time together.

Besides, as usual it seemed, Canterlot was not really in a position to do any celebration beyond the cheering, grateful crowds in Canterlot earlier that afternoon, after the Sonic Rainboom.

Princess Celestia therefore decreed "Twin Time" for the next day or so, then the Equestria Girls would return through the Portal, late the following afternoon. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would spend time with their Twins too.

It was late in the afternoon, but soon there were four Air Coaches on the Commons lawn. These four Air Coaches took Princess Twilight and her girls back to Ponyville.

Princess Cadance and Shining Armor stayed in Canterlot for now, in order to oversee the recovery of the realm.

Mom, dad, Cel and Lu all hugged tightly together for maybe ten minutes. Still, it was deemed too short, but would have to do for now.

Both Summers and Shysage then left, and flew to Ponyville. It took about an hour, and they arrived at the Castle at dusk. The lights were back on, but the six Twins were all outside, eating what they could find. It would still be a few days before food was again plentiful in Ponyville.

Shysage hugged his Mare tightly, and they rubbed noses, then Shysage sent the Summer Twins to join the rest.

Shysage headed to the meadow off to the East to eat himself. There were a number of other ponies there too, Dawn and Camille included.

Shysage hugged both Dawn and Camille. They appeared to have weathered the storm ok. Even though she forgot most everything else, Dawn still cared for Camille. They never wandered far from their home as a result.

After talking with Dawn some, Shysage just went home, turned into a 'people', and sat on their nice, new couch. After a few minutes, he got up, moved the pillows around, and was laying on his back, with his head up on the pillows.

Just like this, Shysage started to think through his next few 'Canterlot Recorder' tasks.

The first task would be he and Summer's amazing trip to 'Equestria past'.

Before the memory spell kicked in, Shysage had already made good progess on this. It just required a final proof or two, and was then ready. Shysage felt he and his Mare would go through it together at some point soon.

And Shysage still had no idea why he had ended up in Manehatten though; it wasn't related to this task.

Up next would be the Fury Run, but Shysage had already said that Summer and her Twin could help with that. Summer had done a few small, but intense chapters, and he would just add around them. Shysage had no intention of changing her work at all.

Shysage also suspected that PonyRos' take-over would be next after this. Cel had not asked for this yet, but Shysage knew it was just a matter of time. It would need to include sensitive operational details, and Shysage was not sure how he would be told to handle that.

Shysage sighed too... There was no amazing talk or 'scope' records for this... He would have to remember and research it all from scratch, start to finish. He would have to interview a lot too, in order to get the details on Star Dusk right. Still, he and Summer would enjoy doing this together.

It was dark, and Shysage was beat. He had been far too involved personally, with this last take-over. Even saying this sounded so ridiculous to Shysage.

This kind of thing seemed to be happening a lot to Equestria of late... Sunset Shimmer, Tireq, Eschate Zumulus, Furies, and now PonyRos... Would it ever end...

Shysage did not like that Summer was gone, but he knew her Twin and the Fluttershy Twins were good for her. All the girls were. They were all good for each other. They were true friends...

Shysage quickly fell asleep as a 'people' on the couch.

---

The seven sets of Twins in Princess' Castle were subdued, and spent most of the evening either Soul-Linked or Group Linked in Princess' new Library.

Until Princess Twilight and the Castle had pulled everypony together, it had simply been very hard on everypony; the Equestria Girls, because they saw first hand the results of what was going on, and the Equestria ponies, because they simply forgot with everypony else.

It was also clear that Equestria ponies Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had suffered the most, just because of who they are.

At one point, the Twilights and the Summers linked together with the Fluttershy Twins, and the Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity Twins linked together with the Pinkie Pie Twins. Nopony cared who was with who, this individual attention was just helpful.

Still, disaster had been averted, and Equestria rescued. And the Equestria Ponies all seemed on the road to recovery.

This had been a difficult few days for everypony, and most were soon asleep next to their Twin.

Shysage's Mare and her Twin talked quietly together with the Fluttershys until very late. Sisters and Twins was still so amazing.

Equestria pony Summer then tightly hugged each of the three of them, then walked quickly home.

---

Summer walked in the door of their home, then closed the door.

She noticed that Shysage was asleep as a 'people' on their couch, and she just looked at him for a few minutes. She loved him so much...

She really had given him everything, and she just didn't know how she could ever live without him. Hopefully she would not ever need to find out. Well, she asked true friend that she never have to find out, too.

Summer changed to a 'people', since he was a people. What she really wanted was some way she could show him, right here and now, just how deeply she loved him.

Her mind searched past a few options, but nothing seemed to fit. Plus, her Twin was in range of the Twin Link, and Summer didn't want to complicate her life. After a few minutes, Summer was sitting on the floor, leaning her back up against the couch, weeping softly...

The next thing Summer knew, Shysage had picked her up, and she was in his lap as he pulled her tightly to himself as he sat on the couch. He was weeping softly too.

Summer just hugged him back tightly.

For a little while, they just cried together, there on the couch.

Shysage was evidently feeling the same way Summer was, and said quietly, while crying "Summer, please don't ever leave me... I don't think I could live without you..."

This just made Summer cry harder.

When Summer heard her Twin crying, through the Twin Link, Summer knew they needed to stop, at least for now.

Summer just told Shysage the truth, because she knew he would understand. "Shysage, my Twin is crying now too, can we save this?"

Shysage kissed Summer, and tried to stop crying. Then he said "Apologize to your amazing Twin for me. I just love you a lot..."

Still, Shysage got up, still holding Summer in his arms, and kissed her again. Then he gently stood her back on the floor.

They both changed back to ponies, and Shysage walked into their room, and was soon on his side, with Summer pulled up to his chest.

Even though they felt like saying more, they said little, and just wept very quietly, and were soon asleep. Shysage was hugging his Mare, and that seemed to be enough for both of them, for now.

---

When Shysage and Summer awoke in the morning, Summer's Twin was standing in the doorway of their room quietly saying "Wake up, sleepy heads". Both suspected she had said this more than once.

Neither Summer nor Shysage felt threatened or uneasy at all by Summer's Twins presence in their room. There were few secrets between Twins, and Equestria Girls Summer had been an amazing help through some very difficult, even 'personal' times.

Shysage's Mare rolled out, then she and her Stallion both yawned at the same time, realized this, then laughed together... Then they rubbed noses briefly.

"We are all heading to the East meadow for breakfast, and I thought you both might want to come" Equestria Girls Summer said.

Shysage, laying on his belly at this point, said softly "Summer, maybe go have a fun day with your Twin and the sisters while they are all here."

Summer walked over, flopped down on her belly facing Shysage, then gently wrapped her neck up and over his. "Are you sure, Shysage?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, Summer, just give them all a hug for me." Shysage replied.

They rubbed noses again, then Summer got up.

The Summer Twins were soon out the door, and joined the rest of Princess Twilight's girls in the East meadow.

Shysage never did like being alone, but he knew Twin Time was best for his Mare. Well, it was good for all nine sets of Twins.

Shysage put his head down on the floor. It was still warm where he and his Mare had slept. Shysage fell asleep.

---

Later, Shysage awoke with a start to the sound of his Mare crying.

Shysage got up quickly, and headed into the main room of their house.

Summer and her Twin were already sitting at the 'compy', both as 'people', arm in arm, working on one of Shysage's Canterlot Recorder tasks. Shysage guessed it was the account of the Fury Run, since his Mare was already crying.

Shysage turned into a 'people', then walked up behind his Mare, and put his arms around her neck.

Equestria Girls Summer quickly said "Uhm... Shysage..."

His 'real' Mare turned to look at him, eyes still wet, and he realized his mistake immediately.

Shysage couldn't tell from behind, but if he was more awake, he would have realized that his Mare would not be in front of the 'compy' with Equestria Girls Summer here; Equestria Girls Summer was blazing fast at typing.

Still, there were no hard feelings or subtle concerns with this simple accident. Shysage's Mare already knew about what Shysage had to do to rescue her Twin and Cel. There was also no question in Summer's mind about Shysage's committment to her. He had proven that so many times.

Shysage quickly hugged his Mare, and put his head down gently on her shoulder, next to her face. They both wept softly for a minute ot two.

"Summer, you both really don't need to spend your Twin day doing this..." Shysage said softly.

Shysage's Mare answered honestly "Shysage, I want the people that I love the most around me when I write this account. It will hurt the least that way."

Shysage was not about to argue with his Mare on this. Shysage himself still couldn't even imagine the 'hurting and waiting' Summer had to endure. And he still did not know any of the details.

So he said softly "Summer, where do you want me while you do this, then?"

"As close to me as possible... please..." She almost pleaded, weeping softly again.

Shysage wasn't sure how well the 'scope' cover would hold up, but both Summers were pretty 'petite', and so the three of them managed to sit on the cover together. Equestria Girls Summer was in front of the compy, with Shysage's Mare in the middle.

Shysage thought there should be another chapter before Summer's initial 'first person' chapter. This chapter needed to include more detail about the pressures that Summer and Shysage faced as they were pretty much 'whisked' from the past back to the present.

Shysage supplied most of this content with his Mare's help, and Equestria Girls Summer did the typing, while crying. They used 'first person' for this chapter too, in order to match Summer's chapters.

Well, they all just cried a lot during this whole process.

Some of the details behind this first chapter were somewhat personal, but it was all a part of the account, and Summer's Twin probably knew all this anyway. Still, it was doubtful many others knew about all this when Summer and Shysage first returned.

Both Fluttershy Twins walked in at this point, and the two Fluttershys were quickly standing behind their sisters, as 'people', with their hands on their sister's shoulders.

After the first chapter looked good, they started together through the four chapters Summer had done by herself.

Summer cried a lot, but so did everypony else. Summer stopped a number of times, and buried her head on Shysage's shoulder and just cried there a minute or two. He cried with her.

Shysage cried a lot too. He didn't remember most of this, and couldn't even read any of it previously. This is the first time he had learned what actually happened. And to see what his Mare had to go through... It still tore him up...

Both Fluttershys cried too. Summer's sister stayed with her for those two terrible months. It wasn't easy, but Fluttershy loved her sister. They needed each other.

Overall, they didn't change much of Summer's chapters though.

The sixth chapter covered Shysage getting his memory back, and Shysage and his Mare worked together on the early part of that chapter.

When Shysage actually remembered, hearing Camille cry out, and thinking it was Lu, Shysage took over for the most part. Still, he found the 'first person' aspect a pleasant challenge again.

When Shysage talked through the text where he walked up in front of Summer, she pretty much did the same thing, again.

Summer pushed Shysage off the edge of the 'scope' cover, and she was quickly laying on top of him on the floor, bawling like a baby. She couldn't help it. Shysage cried with her.

Evidently this was one event that had burned itself in her soul... Seeing him again, with his memory, was such an emotionally tumultuous feeling... She was overwhelmed... and again...

Strangely, Twin and the two Fluttershys stayed 'people', even though Summer and Shysage were no longer on the cover. Shysage was pretty sure Summer's Twin was the reason for that.

Once Summer was ready again, they got back to work.

Summer and Shysage had to stop again and cry together, when they got to the part where Cel and Lu ran up... They both loved their girls...

The Twilight Twins were wandering past, and heard their friends voices, and came in at this point. They promptly joined the group, and helped with the next three chapters.

The next chapter covered the day after Shysage got his memory back, which was in the Equestria Girls world. Overall, that day was amazing. Beach days are usually awesome.

Well, Shysage noted mentally, that any day surrounded by Twins was amazing.

The next two chapters covered the following days in Equestria with the Twins.

Working through these three chapters, with everypony helping with the details, it was all just amazing. These three chapters, each came together very quickly and fluidly. And everypony had an amazing time doing this together. There was a lot of laughter.

At one point, Princess Twilight said "Shysage, I thought that your job was boring!" And everypony laughed, including Shysage. It wasn't boring now. And with friends like this...

Still, after these three chapters were finished, the Canterlot Recorder said this task was done. He thanked everypony for their help on it.

The next chapter Shysage and his Mare had to do together, and Shysage had his doubts if Cel would even clear it for printing. That night was amazing for Summer and Shysage, even though punctuated with times helping others.

---

The group seemed sad the task was done, everypony was really enjoying this, and it was only around noon.

Shysage offered them the opportunity of helping with a final proof of Summer and Shysage's trip to the past, and everypony enthusiastically jumped right in.

Shysage didn't think it would take very long. This proved incorrect.

Shysage helped Equestria Girls Summer pull in the first chapter, and the group went to work.

This account had a far different effect on everypony present.

For one thing, it was just seldom anypony had been so close to such a crucial chain of events in Equestria's early history. That part was both sobering and amazing at the same time.

Shysage loved history, and was thrilled to 'be there' himself at such a crucial time, then being able to record everything...

But more importantly, it was deeply moving for Summer and Shysage (and everypony else) to realize again that their simple decision, at the risk of their own lives, to be 'true friends' and rescue two 'nopony' foals from the brink of death, and literally on 'the spur of the moment'...

It would be a year before they even suspected who these two girls were... Their two beloved Princesses... They just had no way of knowing...

And Summer and Shysage so quickly bonded, and deeply loved them right away, regardless

Then to just watch all that align with past promises, and present needs as the King got his 'appointed ones' back, and the nation was pulled together...

Nopony could take credit for any of that...

And with tears in her eyes, Summer again thanked everypony else present... Time spent with Princess Twilight and her girls really had prepared both Summer and Shysage for what they did.

Also, Summer and Shysage both had to stop and cry for a while when they got to the chapter about Summer and Shysage coming back through the Portal to the present...

Both were hurting a lot at having to leave 'their girls' behind, but on their return, Cel and Lu were both present... And the process of Cel and Lu 'remembering' their mom and dad, 1,300 years later, drew gut-wrenching cries from both Summer and Shysage, again...

Even so, after maybe two hours, the account was proofed and ready.

The group decided to call the account 'Follow the Equestrium', even though those three stars disappeared once Summer and Shysage were close to 'Coptol'; i.e. very early on in the account.

The point was that the pursuit of what was best for Equestria seemed to be a repeating theme throughout the events covered. And it really seemed like Equestria was in charge, even at this early stage.

---

It would soon be time for Air Coach rides to the Portal room, so Princess Twilight and the rest headed to the Castle at this point.

Princess Twilight used her magic to carry the large stack of papers for 'Follow the Equestrium', and put them in the library for the Courier to pick up. Shysage just hoped they didn't blow away.

Again, to save some time, Shysage and the two Summers offered to fly to the balcony of the Portal room, and Princess Twilight said that was fine. They still had three or four hours until it started to get dark.

Just like they had done yesterday, the three of them flew maybe half way there, then stopped to rest and have a snack. Then they flew the rest of the way to the Portal room balcony. Everypony was much more relaxed today.

They landed inside, and just waited for the others.

The two Summers were Soul-Linked most of that time.

A little before dark, the rest of the Twins started into the Portal room. The Summers came out of the link, and joined everypony else.

Still, it seemed to Shysage like something was going on, but he just wasn't sure, and didn't feel confident enough to say anything.

The Principal Twins had evidently already gone through the Portal, but Princess Twilight and her girls started through, and as usual, Equestria Girls Summer, then Shysage and his Mare went.

Everypony was soon in the Equestria Girls world for 'too short' good-bys.

---

Maybe an hour later, Princess Twilight started sending the Equestria ponies back through the Portal to Equestria.

The Summers and Fluttershys had been talking together most of that time, and everypony hugged everypony, then Equestria pony Fluttershy went through the Portal.

Princess asked Summer an Shysage to follow her through. Shysage hugged the Equestria Girls sisters, then he and his Mare went through the Portal.

Still, something seemed different with Summer's Twin. Shysage just didn't know.

Shysage and Summer went through the Portal together, and were soon back in Equestria.

---

Near dusk, Air Coaches brought eight tired ponies back to Ponyville. Everypony hugged, then wandered off to their homes.