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

by shysage

Ch.39, (Back Home) Dark Melvain

Well, fortunately, or unfortunately, Summer, Fluttershy and I did not end up in the Portal room in Princess Twilight's Library...

And I have to say... These events unfolded so... so slowly and majestically... It was clear Equestria was calling the shots. Maybe you can read it slowly, too...

Before the Portal actually moved us, I suspected that we would make a rather dramatic entrance, since the Portal spun Summer's Cutie Mark up so high; the Portal was clearly recharging itself, and then some... The rumble from Summer's Phantom Alicorn form was almost deafening, and the Portal held it that way for minutes...

But right before Equestria Past (and Cel...) disappeared from view, Summer's Cutie Mark unspun, and Summer changed back into a Blue pony... Well, we all changed back into ponies, and returned to Equestria Present as ponies.

And we arrived in 'Equestria Present' in almost complete silence...

And Fluttershy's 'Element of Harmony' immediately rose from out of her Cutie Mark, and moved above her head, and rotated slowly...

---

The three of us found ourselves in Equestria Present, on that small, 'round island' memorial garden along the left side of the Commons lawn in Canterlot. Well, there are no plants there, just grass, with water between this little island and the rest of the Commons lawn.

And I noticed the faint magical shield around this island right away.

We actually 'arrived' near the back side of the circle, furthest away from the center of the Commons lawn. And it looked like maybe noon here.

Summer had already quickly sized the situation up; she looked at me, then looked down.

She would leave any talking to me... I guessed she intended to fully play the Phantom part of her name, and stay the now nameless, markless Blue pony until she needed to act.

...

The rest of Princess Twilight's girls were crowded around the other side of this small, round island of grass... Crowded near where the small bridge across the water is, closest to the center of the Commons lawn; Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow were sitting, just watching, and weeping softly... (I think Pinkie stopped crying though.)

The two Red-heads, Filia and Fiona, were laying down a few feet behind them, also crying, as was Equestria pony Shyna.

I quickly saw, and heard why...

The four Princesses of Equestria were standing in a line, maybe in the center of the Commons lawn, magical beams blazing brightly towards...

...

"SERIOUSLY, USELESS PRINCESSES, JUST GIVE UP AND DIE... THERE IS NO HELP FOR YOU !!!"

This was bellowed loudly, followed by hideous laughter...

I gasped loudly...

And, as soon as I heard this angry bellowing, 'Hellriders' began to blare loudly in the background(1)...

"FINALLY... EQUESTRIA WILL BE MINE !!!"

...more hidious laughter...

...

That 'looming cloud' from before we left...

...It was Dark Melvain...

...Here in Equestria Present...

...And the Portal had placed us exactly where we were needed...

...

Dark Melvain's caustic bellowing continued unabated. It was vicious... It was incredibly abusive... Some of it was just disgusting...

We worked on ignoring it, and the magical shield around this small island muffled it quite a bit...

---

Fluttershy tried to get up; she wanted her Shyna back... But I held my leg out and quickly stopped Fluttershy, and she sat back down, without making a sound.

Shyna stopped weeping briefly. I honestly think Shyna felt Fluttershy's presence. Shyna looked up and saw Fluttershy, and got up right away. I again motioned to Shyna to be quite, and she walked quickly over and sat right next to Fluttershy. I motioned my foot over my mouth again, so both would stay quiet. Still, both wept softly together, heads close.

...

Less than a minute later, without even turning around, Pinkie Pie said very quietly "Summer, wait..."

Applejack clearly only heard 'wait', and was beside herself...

Applejack yelled, as quietly as she could, also without turning around... "Pinkie, what in tarnation are we supposed to wait for? It has been hours, and... ...they will probably die... ...soon..." Applejack couldn't go on...

Right then, I walked across that small island, and up to Applejack's side, and hugged her, and said softly "Applejack... I know you are very concerned... Just remember, Pinkie Pie has NEVER been wrong..."

Applejack worked on calming down... "Shysage, he has been telling them to give up and die for hours... I don't know how much longer..." Applejack couldn't continue, and just cried as I hugged her...

...

Less than a minute later, ALL of the 'Equestria Girls' suddenly appeared on that small circle island, in roughly the center where nopony was. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Filia, Fiona and Shyna; all the Twins; they were all here and ponies...

Almost immediately, the 'Elements of Harmony' of the six Equestria Girls surfaced from their Cutie Marks... There were soon eleven 'Elements of Harmony' slowly rotating over their chosen carrier's heads. Princess Twilight would supply the twelfth... Equestria was getting ready...

[I found out later that Summer's Twin and my Twin had tried to navigate the Portal too early, and were in the Library in the Castle in Ponyville.]

The Equestria Girls quickly realized what was going on from their Twins. And Dark Melvain's continual, vicious verbal attacks, while muffled, were easy to hear... Soon everypony was weeping softly. The Twins were all weeping together, at the same time, in the same way...

I realized that most were looking at me a lot, and I motioned a few times for them to stay quiet. Nopony paid any attention to the Blue pony next to Fluttershy...

...

I quietly asked 'the girls' to slowly 'Twin Up' around the periphery of the circle, with everypony else in the middle.

Once this was done, I spoke softly "Girls, I think Princess Twilight will need the Group Link very soon... Please MAKE SURE now that there are no hindrances to the devotion within this circle..."

Both Applejacks were quickly crying on both Pinkie Pie's shoulders, apologizing. I expected that Equestria ponies Applejack and Pinkie Pie needed this, but I guess something similar must have happened on the other side of the Portal too...

A few minutes later, both Applejack's returned to their places.

"Girls, please... Anything else... We need to be fully devoted. There will probably be no time..." I said this quietly.

Both Rainbow's cried on both Rarity's shoulders for a few minutes. The nature of the 'issue' was totally irrelevent...

The Rainbows returned to the circle.

I was about to ask one more time...

Both Pinkies said quietly "Shysage, the circle is complete. We are devoted. We are ready..."

The Group Link would now be ready as soon as it was needed...

Still, most everypony was weeping softly...

---

It was quiet for maybe a minute, and I noticed that more ponies were looking at this nameless, markless Blue pony, now at my side.

Without even looking up, Summer noticed too.

Summer kept her head down, then spoke slowly and quietly, but loud enough so all of Princess Twilight's girls could hear her. It didn't take much, my Mare was near the center of the circle island.

"Girls, let's focus on rescuing our Princesses first..."

The soft weeping stopped immediately. Everypony looked down as well, just like Summer, and ever so slightly... ...smiled...

The Phantom Alicorn...

This... changed... everything...

---

The 'Blue pony' leaned up against me. I am not sure how, but I understood immediately what my Mare wanted.

I spoke quietly "Filias and Fionas, we need a diversion. Please be careful, but go out there and add your magic to that of Equestria's Princesses."

I don't know why, but both Shynas went out, across the bridge first, together and quickly, almost running. Both Filias and Fionas followed them out...

I didn't have time to stop the Shyna Twins... But I realized that this was probably their devotion at work. On both sides of the Portal, Filia, Fiona and Shyna were close friends.

Both of these gifted Pegasus mares walked quickly out, and stopped some to the left of the line of four Princesses, and stood next to each other, but far enough apart so their wings cleared.

Both Shynas, at exactly the same time, quickly and fully extended their huge wings, up at about a 45 degree angle from straight out, then curved the tips of their wings inward some, towards Dark Melvain. Then both Shynas closed their eyes, and lifted their noses up, also at about a 45 degree angle. They did all this, together, in less than ten seconds...

This was clearly a taunt... Well, two of them...

The Shyna Twins were TAUNTING Dark Melvain...

Equestria pony Shyna had good reason to do this. She had suffered under this tyrant... Her Twin copied her exactly.

...

Dark Melvain was immediately enraged...

"FOOLS!!! I CAN DEAL WITH YOU TOO!!!" Dark Melvain bellowed loudly... He was clearly furious...

---

Right then, Dark Melvain's attention was clearly on the Shyna Twins.

Both Filias and both Fionas had walked to the line of Princesses; the Filia Twins stood next to Princess Twilight, and the Fiona Twins stood next to Princess Celestia.

The four Red-heads bent their Unicorn horns forward, all at the same time, and four thin Red beams of magic lunged quickly towards the 'point of impact' between Dark Melvain's dark Purple beam and the beams from the four Princesses...

...

Dark Melvain was clearly readying a 'response' to the Shyna's taunt...

"USELESS PONIES, TAKE THI--" Dark Melvain started...

...

At just that moment, the four beams from the Red-head Unicorns merged with the other four Princesses' beams...

...

I think the scientific term is 'resonance', but the beams from the four Red-head Unicorns, while insignificant individually, were FAR more powerful TOGETHER...

The very second that the four beams from the Filias and Fionas contacted each other, their size increased dramatically...

...

And as soon as these four more Red magic beams joined those of Equestria's four Princesses...

...the 'point of impact' between Dark Melvain's magic and that of the now eight Equestria Unicorns...

RACED IMMEDIATELY AND ALMOST COMPLETELY

...towards Dark Melvain...

His bellowing stopped...

'Whatever' he planned on doing to the Shyna Twins was gone...

...And Dark Melvain was able to stop the 'point of impact' maybe only inches from his own chest...

...And it seemed to take all his effort to SLOWLY return the 'point of impact' back to the center... It took maybe five minutes, and it was dead silent during that time...

---

Under the magical shield, and without even turning around, both Pinkies said quietly "Get ready, girls..."

...

Equestria pony Fluttershy had no intention of waiting any longer...

Fluttershy and her Twin immediately walked quickly, out from under the magical shield, across the bridge...

Both Fluttershys walked out together, and stood directly in front of Princess Celestia, fairly close to the magical beams.

Both Fluttershys said loudly (for Fluttershy) "Dark Melvain, you have attacked our family enough. We are standing up to you together..."

Then both Fluttershys sat down, and also closed their eyes, and looked up at about a 45 degree angle, just like the Shynas were doing...

...

Hearing and seeing this, the rest of Princess' Girls and their Twins walked quickly out, over the bridge, and were soon surrounding Equestria's Princesses.

The Rarity Twins ended up next to the Fiona Twins, and Equestria Girls Twilight Sparkle was next to Princess Twilight and the Filia Twins.

But all of the Twins did the same thing, sitting down facing Dark Melvain, closing their eyes, and then looking up.

...

This was most certainly a family matter.

And Equestria was defying this horrible bully...

---

Dark Melvain was now livid himself...

"NO!!!!" he shouted loudly...

...

Still, it was clear that the Filia and Fiona Twins were learning a LOT about using their magic TOGETHER, just from using it against this monster...

Only a few seconds after Dark Melvain shouted "No", the Filia and Fiona Twins together did 'something', and the four Red beams from the Red-head Unicorns suddenly got much bigger, and the 'point of impact' again launched rapidly towards Dark Melvain...

Like last time, Dark Melvain was able to stop the 'point of impact' only inches from his own chest, and it took a lot of effort on his part to only slowly push Equestria's beams back towards the center...

It would take a while this time...

And he could say nothing...

---

A lone, Blue pony flew quickly out the back of the magical shield...

High in the air, almost out of nowhere, the Phantom Alicorn appeared...

It was doubtful that Dark Melvain could even sense this; he was fighting for his very life...

When Dark Melvain had succeeded in slowly pushing the 'point of impact' of the magic beams maybe half way back to the center...

...From a fairly close fifty feet overhead, Summer pulled her right hand far back to her left, then back-hand slapped Dark Melvain brutally into the ground...

Dark Melvain's magical beam stopped immediately, but the beams from Equestria did not.

Dark Melvain screamed as they torched their way through his body...

...

At this point the eight Equestria Unicorns halted their magic...

And four Princesses slumped to the ground, exhausted...

...

Summer then landed, and motioned her right hand to slap the screaming Dark Melvain backwards once more, then she coated him with Fire with her left hand, and then quickly cupped her right hand and immediately motioned a small, bowl shaped shield tightly down over Dark Melvain's burning body, crushing his huge pony body tightly to the ground...

And even crushed under that shield, Dark Melvain's girth was still taller than the Phantom Alicorn...

Well, Dark Melvain could cloak if he wanted, but he couldn't move, and probably couldn't even breath... He wasn't going anywhere, not this time...

Summer held him there, pinned to the ground, burning...

...

"Princess Twilight, I think you and your girls need to finish this..." Summer yelled...

---

Summer was way too close to this monster for my comfort...

I had no intention of trying to face life without her, again...

I changed into a people, picked up a stray piece of paper, and stuffed it into my pocket. Then I ran out, and was quickly standing right next to my Mare...

From this close, I said quietly, so she knew I was there "I love you, Summer..."

If she died, I wanted to die too...

---

Princess Twilight slowly got back up...

"Girls, quickly, hoof to hoof, we need the Group Link..." Princess Twilight said weakly.

Once this was done, the Group Link sprang to life immediately...

With the Group Link active...

"Twilight, that emergency spell we talked about, cast it now with me..." Princess said.

Both Twilights cast together.

The magical 'pipe' or conduit sprang quickly up from the circle made by the now twelve 'Elements of Harmony' surrounding Equestria's Princesses... The conduit was the same diameter as the circle of Twins.

The magical conduit snaked around, and raced immediately over towards Dark Melvain, and was not blocked by the Phantom Alicorn's shield at all...

The magical conduit dove down and simply enveloped Dark Melvain...

The extremely dark Purple magic that flowed through Dark Melvain's body was being rapidly consumed by the brightest white 'casing' (I don't know) that slowly tightened around him...

---

It became immediately clear that Dark Melvain had given some thought to what would happen should he ever actually be killed.

His solution to this was to take as many of his killers with him as he could...

While the Magical Conduit was enveloping Dark Melvain, eating away at his magic, his body rapidly emitted the thickest black smoke... It quickly filled the entire Commons... It was soon hard to even see Summer through this smoke, and I was right next to her...

...

Dark Melvian's body next erupted in a thunderous explosion, and quickly launched a huge 'mushroom cloud' high into the sky...

The ground shook...

I heard buildings on either side of the Commons collapse from the shock-wave...

I guessed I would die with my mare instantly and soon...

At least we were together...

---

The music blaring in the background abruptly stopped...

...

...

...

The impact never came...

...

...

...

As the thick smoke only slowly cleared, I saw why...

My amazing Mare, the Phantom Alicorn...

Right arm stretched out straight...

Fingers pointed straight up...

Summer had simply unfolded the shield into a wall that had deflected the force of that terrible blast...

...

In so doing, she had delivered us both...

our friends...

our family...

Equestria's Princesses...

...from instant death...

...and I'm not sure anypony else even realized that...

...

...

...

She was the 'Shila'...

She was the deliverer...

---

I put my hands on Summer's shoulders, and slowly walked her backwards maybe fifty more feet, away from Dark Melvain's rapidly burning corpse...

Only then did I ask her to release the shield...

She didn't, and for a few minutes, she just stood there, waiting. Her gaze was still 'steeled', eyebrows furrowed, for the task she had faced. I think she wanted to make sure this was really over...

Five minutes later, the fire over Dark Melvain's corpse went out, revealing mostly charred, broken bones.

Summer only then dropped the shield, unspun her Cutie Mark, and collapsed in my arms, and cried loudly as I hugged her tightly...

The hideous bully from the Past was finally dead...

---

---

Author's Note:

1. Facing the Beast... The 'Hellriders'* tune from the locked-in 'Einherjar'* area of Vana'diel*, from the 'Treasures of Aht Urghan*' OST for FFXI*, *=c2014 Square Enix.