The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 8 -- Dark Melvain

by shysage

Ch.12, Twin Time / Group Link

Well, nopony liked that we ALL had to wait to see Shyna's Twin. And this was about as open-ended a 'wait' as could be. Still, we all understood what was going on now.

It was also clear to everypony that everything possible would be done to get this taken care of. Nopony less than Princess Celestia herself was 'on it'. I still think this part was pretty amazing.

Shyna would not meet her Twin this weekend, but she and everypony else seemed to be ok with that.

There was still about two hours of daylight left though. The Canterlot Recorder suggested very quietly that Shyna get her first flying lesson. He was next to Princess Twilight when he said this, and that was all it took.

Princess asked excitedly "Hey, yeah, let's get Shyna 'in the air' some... Rainbow, can you help with that?"

Rainbow was ALL OVER that... Well, everypony else was too!

At Equestria pony Rainbow Dash's direction, we were all soon walking to Sweet Apple Acres. Evidently, there was a 'perfect hill' for this at the Farm, Rainbow said.

My Stallion, my Twin and I were last, intentionally lagged behind some; we knew the way to the Farm. We changed into people, then just walked slowly while hugging. I really love my Stallion... Well, I love my Twin too.

My Sister either knew or checked, and before long, both Fluttershys and Shyna were walking with us, hugging as people, too. This was harder than it looked with 6 people. It was a lot of fun though.

I guessed we were laughing too much, and Princess heard...

She turned around, then she quietly said "Oh Summer..."

I laughed, and said it was my Stallion's fault. Well, it was, I love him a lot!

A few minutes later, we were all people, walking like this, all 20 of us, in a very crooked line. We all laughed a lot. Twin fun...

---

We changed back to ponies at the Farm, and followed Rainbow to that 'perfect hill'.

And by the way, when we taught Cel and Lu how to fly, in the Past, my Stallion and I worked on 'lift' first.

Well, Rainbow had a completely different plan, and we were not about to argue; she is the closest thing to a flying expert I know. She led us all to a small bluff with a gently falling hill beyond it. It wasn't very far from the barn. Still, it looked strangely familiar...

Rainbow shooed the rest of us back some, then she told Shyna to extend her wings, and hold them out straight and level. Rainbow walked slowly around Shyna, and checked her wings out. Well, Rainbow told me later she was really checking how strong Shyna's wing muscles were 'right now'.

Like I said, Rainbow is the expert here.

After a few minutes, Shyna's wings were right where she had put them. Rainbow asked her if she was having any trouble holding her wings up. Shyna quietly said "No, is that ok?"

Rainbow just hugged her.

Rainbow explained the next step to Shyna -- gliding down the hill. She wanted Shyna to keep her wings out, then run up to the top of the bluff, then just try to glide down the hill as far as she could. Rainbow said she would glide next to her, to talk her through it and keep an eye on things.

They both ran to the top of the bluff together, with their wings out, and both of them were quickly gliding along, not very far off the ground, as it sloped down past the bluff.

To BOTH Fluttershys, this was just plain scary... They were sitting, hugging each other TIGHTLY. Both Summers (My Twin and I) joined them, and hugged them too. They only SLOWLY calmed down.

But watching the two of them glide down together like that... Shyna's wings really were as big as Rainbow's... And Shyna would probably grow some more too...

Rainbow asked Shyna to land, and Shyna almost stumbled (she had a little too much forward speed), but she did ok. They walked back up to the rest of us.

Shyna really did very well. This was only her first time on her wings. She was very excited, and asked for another run.

Rainbow and Shyna started back a little further, and jumped together off the hill with their wings out.

Shyna couldn't wait, and started flapping her wings. It is doubtful she needed much instruction about this aspect. Well, Shyna pretty much headed for the sky, and was pulling steeply higher.

"Summer, help!" Rainbow cried as she headed up after Shyna.

We didn't know if this was a problem or not, but Rainbow clearly didn't want to take any chances.

I took off quickly, but knew that there was no way I could catch up with Rainbow. She is just faster than I, and that's fine. Still, I caught up with them quickly. It wasn't a race.

Shyna abruptly leveled off, and started gliding down in a large circle. Rainbow and I joined her, one of us on either side. Shyna had a HUGE smile on her face, and was weeping softly. The only thing Shyna COULD say was "Rainbow, flying is so amazing..."

This made Rainbow and I cry too. It was true.

When we were close to the ground, Shyna said she wanted to go back up again. Rainbow asked her if she felt tired AT ALL, and Shyna said quietly she could do this all day. Shyna must be in pretty good shape as a people, too.

The three of us were soon back up high, and again started into a slow glide down in a large circle. The rest of the Pegasi in our group joined us this time, even my Sister (Equestria pony Fluttershy)!

My Stallion stayed on the ground. He said this was 'girl time', and he was probably right...

"Shyna, flying is amazing, but flying with friends..." I couldn't finish the thought.

Well, my sister's Twin (Equestria Girls Fluttershy) LOVES flying, and she was crying too...

Well, ok... Fluttershys, Summers, Rainbows, Princess Twilight and Shyna... We were all weeping softly as we flew together. This really was amazing...

Again, when we got close to the ground, we all headed back up together, and did another slow glide back down.

Rainbow kept reminding everypony not to get too close to Shyna, and this was very good advice.

And maybe half way down, Rainbow shooed the rest of us away again, and Rainbow talked Shyna through a landing while flapping her wings at an angle to slow both forward speed and descent speed. Shyna did very well at this. And again, the size of her wings was clearly evident.

Regardless of what she was in the Equestria Girls world, Shyna was a gifted Pegasus here...

Once she was on the ground, we all ran up to her and hugged and cried together a while. Equestria Girls Filia and Fiona were in there with the rest, hugging their friend.

It was getting dark, Shyna's first flying lesson was done. She had made excellent progress.

---

The Rarity Twins and Twilight Sparkle took care of the Filia and Fiona Twins during flying lessons. This was pretty easy; the group just watched Shyna in amazement.

It was clear to all of the Equestria Girls, that Shyna really needed this. Shyna's home world considered her a nothing, a cast-off... But in Equestria...

While the Pegasi were flying, evidently the Pinkie Pie and Applejack Twins were in the farmhouse making dinner, under Granny Smith's direction, of course.

We had to take turns at the table; there were twenty of us. But the food was amazing.

My Twin, my Stallion and I were in the first group, so we wandered outside while the Fluttershys and Shyna ate with the second group.

Still, my Stallion, my Twin and I were by ourselves, and my Stallion asked my Twin (Equestria Girls Summer Rain) where 'her Stallion' (his Twin) was.

She laughed, but then got very quiet immediately, teared up, and said "I love my Stallion..." Then she continued.

"He is at work... There is some big meeting going on, and they needed him desparately this weekend, so he decided to stay there."

Both my Stallion and I knew this wasn't the only reason, and we said quietly, almost together "And?"

My Twin blushed, then she spoke.

"My amazing Stallion... He said that I was too much Mare for him to handle in Equestria, just yet." Then she almost whispered "I think it's a miracle I'm not pregnant yet, but don't tell anyone."

My Stallion and I looked at each other, and then we both blushed, too. It was dusk, so nopony could see. My Stallion and I could easily say the same thing...

Still my Twin said softly "I know, Twin..."

My amazing Stallion hugged me, then said softly "Your Twin is almost too much Lady in the Equestria Girls world for me to handle too, by the way."

My Twin smiled at this, then added "Besides, this is a Twin weekend anyway, and my Stallion reminded me to enjoy that while we could."

My Twin and I hugged tightly. I really love my Twin...

But my Twin started crying, and said through tears...

"Twin, we can't change the fact we are very beautiful, on either side of the Portal... I'm just so glad we both found Stallions that consistently put us first... That is just so rare... And, the stories I have heard just since classes started at the High School..."

This made me cry too...

My Stallion just hugged us both until we calmed down.

All twenty of us were soon walking back to the Castle. The Moon was up, and we didn't have any problems finding the way.

My Stallion and I talked on the way though. He too, was more than happy to give me all the 'Twin time' I wanted. He said he would look at what we needed to do to put together a record of our most recent trip to the Past.

On the steps of the Castle, my Stallion and I hugged briefly, then he walked off to our house.

I hugged my Twin, and we both started weeping softly together... at the same time... in the same way...

I think we both felt the same about leaving our Stallions.

Still, we worked on calming down, and headed inside the Castle with everypony else.

---

We were all soon sitting calmly, Twin with Twin, in the Library. For a while, we all just talked together quietly.

Princess Twilight spoke up though, and said that the rest of the time in Equestria would go something like this.

Tomorrow would be a Twin day together. It was anticipated that Shyna would have some more time flying, and the rest of the Pegasi may have some time doing that together, hopefully in the morning, if Rainbow felt it was ok. But the afternoon would be more Twin time. And tomorrow evening, everypony would be back at the Castle for dinner, then the rest of the night, again.

Princess also mentioned that the following day, the Equestria Girls would return to their world at around midnight (Equestria time), which 'should' give them half of their Sunday to get ready for School the next day. Still, this left all of the next day for Twin fun as well.

Princess was quickly done and everyone was quietly talking again.

My Twin and I had an idea though, we both realized this at the same time. So the two of us asked the two Twilights to join us in the hall next to the Library, as we talked to them briefly about our idea. It would really be up to Princess Twilight.

This had come up, because my Twin wanted to Twin Link with me so she could see Equestria pony Shyna. My Stallion and I actually spent quite a bit of time around her, not knowing who she was at the time.

But from there, we realized that, if we included both Fluttershys and Shyna in the link, then maybe they could see Shyna too.

Princess immediately saw where this was going. The 'Group Link' had allowed both us Summers to see what was inside my Stallion's heart, and this was crucial at the time. And Princess sensed that everypony was really 'invested' in Equestria pony Shyna already.

I jumped in quickly though. I pointed out that I didn't have a great deal of control over exactly which memories were shared. And I ended up by saying "Princess, I love my Stallion a lot, and he takes really good care of me..." I didn't think she understood my meaning though.

It was quiet for a minute as Princess Twilight and her Twin thought about this. Well, maybe they were doing more than just thinking. Princess looked at her Twin, and Equestria Girls Twilight nodded back.

The Twilight Twins headed back into the Library, and my Twin and I followed. I was suddently wondering what I was getting myself into...

Princess Twilight addressed the group.

"Girls, we need your input. Summer was around Shyna in the Past quite a bit when they went back into the Past, this last time. With the Group Link, we may be able see some of that with her."

My Sister started weeping softly right away. I knew for sure she wanted to see this.

Princess continued.

"However, there is a lot of risk here. The Group Link potentially exposes everyone's soul; memories, desires, and a lot of other things; we discussed this last time we did this as a group.

Some of Summer's memories are not appropriate for the rest of us, but we all probably have memories like that. And I cautioned last time that we all needed to do our best to not 'probe' where we didn't need to.

"Girls, I am not going to make this decision myself. We need to decide this together. And we won't try this unless it is unanimous. Everypony needs to understand, and agree. Let's take maybe five minutes to think it over, and talk, then we will decide. Shyna, Filias and Fionas we want you especially to approach this carefully, and ask us whatever questions you need to."

Then the ponies in the room quietly talked together.

I knew for a fact that both Fluttershys and Shyna had no qualms about this; the three of them already deeply loved this orphaned Twin that was 1000 years in the Past.

I didn't know about the rest, though. Princess' girls were all my friends, but still... They were for now... What if the wrong memory came up? I stopped right there. I really was scared...

After about five minutes, the Raritys spoke up. "Princess, what if something comes up that we really don't want to see? What about that?"

This was an excellent question, and Princess Twilight handled it correctly.

"In order for the Group Link to work, we will be sitting in a circle, with one of our front legs around the neck of the pony next to us. At any point, all you need to do is pull away from the group, and the Group Link will stop. It is really that simple. And I know this group well enough, that nopony will have issues if somepony does this. We want everyponies' wishes respected among us."

Princess Twilight asked if there were any more questions.

Nopony said anything.

Princess Twilight was thinking quietly for a minute maybe, then she added this, and spoke even more softly. I think she may have been near tears. This was pretty important.

"Girls you all know how the Group Link substantially amplifies our magic. But we all need to be completely devoted to each other for the Group Link to go active to begin with. This is an excellent opportunity to see where we stand. As I have said before, we simply never know when we may need to jump into the Group Link. The Fury Run showed us that we need to always be ready. For this reason alone, what we are thinking about doing now, is a very good exercise."

I think everypony that needed to, understood Princess Twilight's point here.

Still, I was very scared...

Princess then asked softly "Does anypony not want to do this? Please be honest. The devotion in this circle should make that very easy."

It was very quiet, nopony said anything.

Then Equestria Girls Shyna began to weep softly. She yearned to see her Twin... It was quickly clear; we would all take that risk, just for Shyna.

"Girls, circle up, Twin next to Twin with Shyna between the two Fluttershys. Put your right leg around the pony to your right, and let's try the link" Princess said next.

The Group Link sprang to life right away, which really spoke volumes about the mutual devotion in this circle... And I just relaxed into eighteen other loving hearts. I wasn't as scared. But I think the group also sensed this, and they all helped me calm down.

---

The memory of our last trip to the past was recent, and so surfaced pretty easily for me. It basically played through, start to finish, and included words sporadically, like a dream. That was ok, I hoped.

Everypony saw Shyna quite a bit, and she really did look just like the Shyna in our group. Both Fluttershys shrieked as the crazed Bat flew in, and Equestria Girls Shyna screamed here in the Library, just like I remember her Twin screaming when we were there in the Past.

But I realized from her words, that Shyna in the Past was trying to tell Princess Celestia about talking to her Twin, right as the bat flew in...

But everypony saw Shyna in the past. That was my goal.

But they also saw Princess Celestia in the past too... They saw her anguish at having to banish her own sister, and her fear about facing Dark Melvain, and our tears and hugs... Our family is pretty tightly knit, and that clearly showed. They saw a few walks around early Canterlot too. Watching as I brushed my girl's hair made me cry...

They also saw the confrontation with Dark Melvain... It was as if my memory slowed way down for this, and most of the words were clear, starting when he called us out of the Audience Hall. The 'battle of the beams' glared brightly... His vicious verbal attackes infuriated me again... The view did not include me as the Phantom Alicorn, since it was from my perspective. But the rumble was there, and watching Dark Melvain tumble to the side...

There was just no reason to stop any of this.

But after the battle was over, for some reason, my memory fast forwarded to my Stallion and I coming back through the Portal, and quickly crying with Fluttershy in her Cottage that morning.

Then I remembered when I was weeping softly on my Stallion's back at the top of Princess' Castle. This scared me...

---

I don't know how, but my Twin jumped in here, and pulled out a much deeper memory. We decided later this happened because my Twin really wanted to know more about this. It just started playing...

This other memory picked up as the five Equestria Girls knelt with me before the Portal, crying, reading that note... Everypony could clearly read what it said because I picked it up...

"Discord
Sunset Shimmer
Equestria Lost"

The view fast forwarded to the six of us standing before the Portal with oversized, black coats on, then going through into Equestria...

Our first hour or so was in the Portal room of the Crystal Palace, dealing with Discord, and the memory slowed way down for this...

We watched Spike both big and little, me saying 'Harmony' to bring Discord, me acting like a little girl to find out what was going on, that terrible vortex, then the shield, turning Discord to stone, what I said to him, then the magical shield...

And it probably took almost an hour to 'replay' this... It played out just like I remembered it...

The memory fast forwarded to me hugging a very scared Equestria Girls Rainbow as we walked away from the Crystal Palace... Rainbow was already learning to fly, and got yelled at just for smiling... But that was Sunset Shimmer's Equestria... And we thankfully saw me hugging Equestria Girls Rainbow and telling her she would be an amazing flyer...

The memory fast-forwarded through the train trip to Ponyville, and picked up as I rescued Dawn and Sunny Rays from the Zombie Green Eyes next to the pool, by accidentally touching them. Sending friends away that night was so hard...

From there it went straight to Princess' old Library... I think my memory of this part was even slower than it really happened. I don't think that mattered.

From this point on, it was very quiet in the room. I felt from the Equestria Girls that our beloved pony friends really did need to SEE all this... I just watched as the memories played out...

The Equestria Girls and I looked around her old Library, then discovered Princess Twilight out back...

The first 'Chronicles of Summer Rain' carefully describes these events, and the disgusting way Discord had murdered our Princess and her friends...

Still, actually walking out back behind the Library, in the Dusk, and SEEING our Princess stretched across that huge rock... And everypony in our circle right now, saw this too...

That night, I was sure we were too late to rescue our Princess, and wept bitterly, while holding her hoof... But the rock shifted, then shrank away, and our precious Princess was quickly in all of our arms; we were people, holding her up...

Princess Twilight screamed immediately and loudly as she fell from her 'tombstone'... She actually completed the scream that I had heard in my dream earlier, and my memory actually played the first part (from my dream), then the end of that scream as she fell into our arms. My head actually put these two sounds together that terrible night...

Princess kept screaming, and was soon crying loudly... And I really did hear her cry for help...

Crying our Princess back to life... I don't think the Equestria Girls and I will EVER forget that... But I seriously doubt our precious Equestria Pony friends had ever gotten this close to what happened that awful night...

I almost stopped everything right there. All I wanted to do right now was just cry on Princess Twilight's shoulder... Getting our Princess 'back from the dead'...

The memory rolled slowly onward... Princess rescued her brother (Shining Armor) from Green eyes, then he ran off to rescue Princess Cadance.

Then we rescued Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity then Pinkie Pie from their tombstones... The overall process covered was basically the same for all four ponies. My memory played everything back painfully slow...

And everypony now saw how Equestria Girls Rarity repaired, then gently put everyponies' Shield Necklace back around their necks on that awful night... And 'Rare' trading her 'fashion creation' with her Twin's...

But when our group started up the hill to my sister's Cottage... on that night, I went completely hysterical... I couldn't handle that memory again tonight either...

I pulled away from the group, breaking the link, fell backwards, and was quickly crying loudly on my side on the floor of the Library... Well, my sister and I were quickly crying and hugging...

These precious ponies could read about the miracle of rescuing my sister, but I never wanted to go through that ever again...

Well, we were all crying together for a little while. After seeing that, there was really nothing else we all could do...

---

After a few minutes, I realized there was another memory I wanted the girls to see. I didn't know how successful I would be in surfacing it, but I felt I had to try.

Still crying, I got up, then said as best as I could "Girls, we are not done. Please circle up again, there's another memory I think we all need to see..."

Nopony complained, and the Group Link was soon again active.

I had trouble finding what I wanted, but my Twin knew what I was looking for (because she is my Twin), and for some reason, she was able to quickly pull that memory out.

This memory happened soon after we had rescued my sister...

We had just rescued Zecora too, and we were back out of the Everfree Forest, waiting for word on our trip to Canterlot to go face Sunset Shimmer.

I remember looking across the field into the darkness, wondering why both Discord and Sunset Shimmer were perfectly content that Equestria would die around them in one generation... I was quickly disgusted, and had to walk away from those thoughts...

I turned around, and saw my sister and her Twin 'Soul Linking', but I didn't know what it was on that night. I asked Equestria Girls Pinkie Pie what they doing... Equestria Girls Fluttershy was taking pain from my sister's soul, into her own soul, to try and heal my sister...

The Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Twins were quickly doing the same thing...

I was completely overwhelmed, and just cried in the grass that night... These Equestria Girls were teaching me how to be a true friend... I was crying so vastly different at that point, that terrible night. I felt so completely unworthy being around the amazing devotion these Twins were showing each other...

Princess Twilight soon joined me, crying in the grass, that night.

But this is what I wanted my precious friends to see... This was the birth of the complete devotion that has been the basis of everything 'Twin'. We had a lot more Twins now, but everypony needed to see this...

I threw myself backwards, broke the link, and was soon laying on my belly crying... ...the exact same way... I really felt that way, even now...

Most of the Twins were now weeping softly, too...

---

I... I just couldn't... I couldn't do this any more... I needed...

Still crying, I got up and bolted down the hall that led to the door of the Castle...

I heard Princess Twilight say this...

"Girls let her go, she needs her Stallion... That poor mare has been through so much... The fact that she can even smile is probably because of him..."

I was quickly out the door, and down the steps...

I heard my name, and stopped...

My Stallion was sitting on the Castle steps, also crying.

He ran down into the grass to me...

We were quickly sitting, hugging tightly, crying together...

Still my Stallion tried to talk...

"Summer, I wanted so bad to help you through all that... I didn't want you to have to do all that alone... I just couldn't..."

We cried together a while.

He kept saying "Honey, I wanted to help you..."

After a little while, he and I calmed down.

But that was largely because there were eighteen other loving friends gathered around, crying with us.

Friendship is magic, and we all needed each other that night.