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

by shysage

Ch.3, Portal Beacon

Princess Twilight awoke with a gasp early in the morning, waking us up too. I said softly that my Stallion and I were still right next to her, and she calmed down.

My Stallion asked Princess if she would be interested in a walk around town, and she said that would be a nice idea.

By maybe half an hour later, somehow, all of Princess' girls had joined us, and we all walked together. My Stallion and I walked behind, as Princess and her girls spent some 'quality time' together. Princess Twilight clearly needed her girls, and was rapidly returning to her normal self as they shared their mutual devotion.

After Ponyville began to come to life for the morning, Princess led us all to the grass in front of the Castle, and she sat us all down. Then she told everypony about what happened last night, so they all knew.

Princess said though that she would like everypony back in the Castle tonight for Dinner, and that they should plan on staying tonight, should 'whatever it was' return. Princess shivered visibly as she said this.

Princess' girls are amazing, and said right away they were not leaving her at all today. They had sensed her fear, and were not about to leave their Princess alone until this was resolved.

Well, it really turned into a fun day together for the ten of us. By then, Filia and Fiona had joined us.

We wandered together in the meadow behind the Castle, and ate and drank some.

The Pegasi in the group then flew calmly around 'her town' Princess said, as the rest of the ponies sat in the grass near the Castle, talking together.

We all landed, and Princess had us all say together what we usually say.

"We are deeply devoted to each other..."

"We are true friends, and committed to true friendship..."

"We are... ...Equestria..."

Then Princess added her part.

"And I am only a Princess with you all at my side."

Princess Twilight started crying after this. We all knew we were in this together. We sat in a circle hugging for a little while.

Princess decided that the morning would be Magic lessons for the Unicorns, Dawn and Camille included. Filia and Fiona were also in on this, as was Rarity.

Rainbow went out, took care of the clouds, then stopped at Dawns, and they all soon arrived together.

And we were all in the Library by now.

As soon as the Unicorns began their lessons, my Stallion asked about taking a nap. We rubbed noses, I hugged him, and he was soon asleep, right next to me. I didn't mind him taking a nap, but I still wanted him near me. I didn't know what Princess saw either. I won't lie, I was a little apprehensive. I wanted my Stallion close.

My Sister and I just talked together for a while. Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rainbow joined us before too long, and the morning was amazing.

But I just had to smile at this... Whether flying or magic training; nopony in this group felt slighted or left out. We all accepted who we are, and loved each other regardless.

Magic lessons lasted until maybe half-way through the afternoon. It was clear that the Unicorns were really enjoying their time together. But at this point, Camille was tired, and Dawn hugged a few of us, I hugged Camille, then she and Camille went home.

Princess Twilight suggested a nap for everypony else, and we were soon all asleep on the floor in the Library.

Well, this only worked because I lovingly woke my Stallion up, and he stayed awake while the rest of us slept. He had already taken his nap.

My Stallion kept checking, and let us all sleep quite a while. When the Sun headed for the trees, he woke me up, and asked me to wake Princess Twilight up.

We all took our time waking up, and then had a nice Dinner together.

Our 'vigil' began soon after that.

---

After dinner, we all went back to the Library. Everypony let my Stallion and I go into the Library first, just in case...

As gently as he could, my Stallion asked Princess Twilight where she had seen what she saw last night.

She guessed; the 'thing' was maybe twenty feet in front of the Portal.

My Stallion found a spot further away, and also away from the Portal, and suggested that our group wait there. He sat down; still he faced the area that Princess had indicated. I quickly sat right next to him.

Our precious Princess... She sat directly behind us, and her girls fanned out to either side. Princess Twilight wanted Filia and Fiona to head to bed, but they politely indicated they wanted to stay with her.

Princess sighed, but wanted them behind her.

My Stallion mentioned that it might be a while, so everypony should probably have room to lay down. He was right. Before too long, most everypony was laying on their bellies. It was pretty quiet for the most part.

My Stallion and I stayed sitting however. I sat right next to him, well right up against him, and I found I could ever so gently hug him by rubbing my head against his, just a small amount. He did the same thing back to me. We did that quite a bit. Maybe this was a good way to 'be careful', I don't know. I love him a lot.

Soon, my sister moved, and sat on my other side, and we spent a long time just talking. Fluttershy and I don't need an excuse to enjoy our time together. It was very nice. And I think it helped the rest relax. We talked about all sorts of things. I love my sister a lot too.

After my Sister and I had talked for quite a while, I remembered Shyna and Canterlot. We asked my Stallion about a possible trip. He mentioned right away that if the Portal would not let Equestria Girls Shyna through, there would be nothing anypony could do.

Otherwise, he would try to arrange such a trip with Cel. He suggested that we wait and deal with that after sorting out what Princess had seen.

'What Princess had seen' reappeared abruptly at around midnight, my Stallion guessed. There was more than one gasp when it did.

There were eight dull, Orange circles or orbs, shaped really like large, thick, circular coins. Each one was maybe two feet in diameter, and maybe six inches off the ground. They appeared, evenly spaced around a maybe ten foot circle, and they were slowly rotating in unison. It looked like some image was contained inside each orb.

A garbled sound repeated every fifteen seconds or so, and lasted maybe a few seconds.

Princess stared at it for maybe a minute, then turned around sobbing. The rest of her girls crowded around her to comfort her.

Well, this was very eerie, there was certainly fear in this room.

...

"Summer, that image..." my Stallion said immediately.

I realized right away, because I had done that before, myself. It was a ponies' front hoof on the edge of the Portal, at roughly the same spot where we held it to come back from the past, last time.

My Stallion walked quickly into the center of the orbs, as Princess Twilight fearfully shouted 'Shysage, no..."

Ten seconds later, my Stallion said "Summer, come here please..."

I knew my Stallion wasn't scared at all, so neither was I. I joined him, and listened too; it was Cel speaking... "Shila, I need you..." And this was only intelligible in the center of the orbs.

I could not change the fact that, as the Phantom Alicorn, I was the 'Shila'. Equestria really did own me for that reason. I sighed though. I would rather be my Stallion's Mare...

My Stallion and I stood there, in the center of the orbs, listening, watching, for a while.

Everypony else in the room soon calmed down, and Princess Twilight came to the center of the orbs herself, and recognized Princess Celestia's voice too.

After maybe ten minutes, everything disappeared.

And it was very quite for maybe a minute.

My Stallion explained for everyone.

"The orbs held a picture of Princess Celestia's front hoof on the border of the Portal. The image was from Equestria past. I think it is some sort of alarm or something, and this whole thing was probably generated by the Portal.

"In the center of the circle of orbs, the sound made sense; 'Shila, I need you...', and the voice was Princess Celestia's as well.

My Stallion got this really thoughtful look on his face, then asked "Pinkie, did I leave anything out?"

Pinkie just smiled. "No, Shysage, that's pretty much it."

Pinkie Sense really is amazing...

It was quiet for maybe another minute.

My Stallion sighed and spoke quietly "Summer, I think we need to go back and see what Princess Celestia and Princess Luna need..."

It was quiet for another minute as I leaned over and hugged my Stallion.

Princess Twilight said softly "Can you both sleep here tonight, then maybe eat breakfast with us before you go?"

My Stallion answered for us. "That will probably work, but we shouldn't wait much longer than that."

Right where we were, my Stallion and I laid on our bellies on the floor next to each other.

Fluttershy was quickly on my other side; she was already having a hard time with this.

My Stallion and I talked briefly, pretty much oblivious to the ponies around us.

"Summer, if Cel and Lu need the Shila, this probably won't be easy..."

"I know, Stallion" I answered back quietly. "But as long as you're near me... And if Cel and Lu need us, we really need to go..."

"I know" my Stallion replied.

It was quiet for a few minutes, and then Princess Twilight again spoke up "Can I let Princess Celestia and Princess Luna know about all this? Or should I wait?"

My Stallion and I looked at each other.

Cel and Lu, in the present, really should know what is going on. "Yes, please tell them, tomorrow morning maybe." my Stallion answered.

But this question surfaced the very real hazard of accidentally changing the future while we were in the past. Everything we knew could be either drastically changed, or could even be erased. This was my Stallion and my fear, and was probably not common knowledge. And my Stallion felt that the longer we spent there, the more of a hazard it would become. This part was just scary.

The Portal had been very good to us up to this point, so all we could do was go back and see what was going on.

Most everypony found some spot on the floor near my Stallion and I, and tried to sleep.

Fluttershy spent most of the night, between my Stallion and I, weeping softly. I actually hugged her most of that time. I ended up weeping too. She suffered the most during times I was away like this. Still, we didn't know how long we would be gone. It might be thirty seconds, it might be three days, or even longer. But Fluttershy didn't know either, and this was just hard for her.

Breakfast was quiet, and our group was soon back in the Library near the Portal.

We hugged everypony, and I couldn't help it, and Fluttershy and I cried for a while together. I would miss her too.

Maybe mid-morning, my Stallion and I changed into people, held hands, and walked up to the Portal.

"Princess, take care of my sister, please" I asked quietly, without even turning around. I remembered asking that before.

"Summer, we all will" Rarity said quickly and quietly.

I reached up, grabbed the rim of the Portal, and squeezed.

There was a bright flash.

We were gone.