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

by shysage

Ch.40, Unwinding Auguring Pain

An exceptionally hard-headed, huge Pony climbed out of the wreckage of his house, and shouted "What was that!?"

There were already a number of guards looking for other ponies in the rubble on both sides of the Commons near the edge.

We found out later that only three other ponies were hurt by the explosion, thankfully none seriously.

Overall, the only casualties were the nine ponies, four of whom were guards, that Dark Melvain had killed.

And the weather was kind to us. Though early Winter, it was not very cold, and the early afternoon Sun felt very nice.

And I think the only fitting background music is Summer's favorite(1), which gently began after Dark Melvain's death.

---

Summer and I cried together briefly, as people, hugging tightly.

I think we knew that we couldn't do this long, and that was fine. We both realized that we were surrounded by ponies still reeling from the spectre of Summer's death. A lot of pain would need to be unwound, and cried through and that was fine.

We could do that now.

Summer was alive...

And Dark Melvain was finally dead...

...

Though clearly exhausted, both Cel (Princess Celestia) and Lu (Princess Luna) walked slowly over to Summer and I, sobbing deeply.

Summer just kneeled down as a people, gently grabbed one of their heads with each arm, pulled them close, buried her head between theirs, and just sobbed deeply with them... Mom (Summer) easily felt their bleeding pain... The three of them needed this...

The healing of our family started here.

Summer was soon sitting on the grass, still a people, as both Cel and Lu had to lay down, but could still rest their heads in mom's lap as she hugged them both. Their crying didn't stop.

And I noticed that Princess Twilight was laying down too, surrounded by her girls; they were all crying together.

Well, Shining Armor was also taking care of his Mare (Princess Cadance).

Cel and Lu cried with mom for almost an hour. Cel kept saying through her tears "I'm so glad I didn't loo--..." Cel said this a few times as she cried, and always had to stop at the same place.

...

After Summer started crying with Cel and Lu, I knew that a far different pain was being felt by just one pony here on the Commons lawn...

It was my 'adopted sister' Fluttershy (Summer's sister). She was reeling now too, but it wasn't because of Summer... It was because of Cel...

Buried in the recesses of the Past, Cel and Fluttershy had helped each other through one of the most harrowing times of each other's lives, and a deep friendship had resulted. Leaving each other a thousand years ago had been excruciating for both of them, but that could all change soon.

Fluttershy needed to know that. And Fluttershy needed to know that I would not let that detail go.

Fluttershy and her Twin and the Shyna Twins were already off by themselves, away from the rest of Princess Twilight's girls, who were all crying together, probably 'venting' pain, realizing that Summer was alive now. Their turn would come.

And I don't know if Equestria Girls Fluttershy knew much more than that her Twin was hurting deeply.

I turned into a pony, then walked quickly over, and hugged Equestria pony Fluttershy. I just said quietly "Cel will remember you, and I will make sure she gets the chance."

Fluttershy burst into tears, and hugged me tightly, and was quickly sobbing. After a few minutes, I gently moved Fluttershy over to her Twin, and they cried together for a little while. Soon after, they had rejoined Princess Twilight and her girls, and were crying with them.

...

Equestria Girls Fluttershy had also mentioned that my Twin and Summer's Twin had tried to navigate the Portal too early, and were probably still in the Library in the Castle in Ponyville.

Finding Shining Armor wasn't hard; he was with his Mare, Princess Cadance. Well, there was now a substantial guard presence here, keeping other ponies far away, and carefully working through the rubble of some damaged buildings. Shining Armor was directing all that while at his Mare's side, helped, no doubt by his 'chain of command'.

We spoke briefly, and two Air Coaches soon headed off to Ponyville.

---

Still a pony, I walked back to Summer, Cel and Lu. Summer was still a people with both girl's heads in her lap. As a pony, I hugged Lu for a while as we cried, then I moved over and hugged Cel a while too.

Our girls cried with mom for over an hour. And even that was too short.

But I noticed that the Fluttershy Twins were off by themselves again, crying...

I was pretty sure that Equestria pony Fluttershy felt so ripped in half... She desparately wanted to 'find' this friend from so deep in the Past. But, sensitive soul that she was, she also didn't want to interrupt the 'Ruler of the Realm' or draw any attention to herself...

I really hurt for Fluttershy. I understood her pain...

But I also think my amazing Mare had this whole thing already figured out... I think Summer already felt her sister's pain, and she wasn't about to let her sister hurt any longer than she needed to.

Summer asked the girls (Cel and Lu, well Princess Celestia and Princess Luna) to stand up and Summer stood up too. Both were feeling a lot better.

Still a people, Summer hugged Lu briefly, and said quietly "I need to do this."

Still a people, only then did Summer change back into a pony... a Blue pony...

Lu gasped immediately, then tightly hugged her now Blue mom, and Lu and mom cried together. Their coats, mane and tails were almost the exact same color now.

Cel's response was far different...

Cel's gaze went blank for maybe ten seconds, as she dredged up memories from a thousand years ago...

Then Cel got this fearfully worried look on her face. Cel was immediately searching frantically around the the Commons lawn..

Already crying, Cel said loudly "Oh my goodness... Fluttershy... ...where are you?"

Fluttershy burst into tears right where she sat, cried loudly, and couldn't move...

Princess Celestia of Equestria quickly ran to Fluttershy's side, and these two 'dear friends from the Past' were quickly hugging tightly, sobbing deeply...

I... I watched this unfold...

I couldn't move either, and was quickly sobbing myself...

I couldn't help it...

I was glad Summer and Lu came over, and cried with me. I had to be hugging somepony right now...

Fluttershy and Cel cried together for almost an hour, and I think I did too.

I couldn't help it, I don't know...

---

Well, it had to happen...

At this point, Summer left me with Lu (I didn't mind), and Summer changed back to a people, than back into a pony with her usual Tan coat...

Then she literally bolted over to her Princess (Princess Twilight), and now Summer was really sobbing on Princess' shoulders. Well they cried together. The rest of Princess' girls quickly gathered around, and they all cried together, well, for a long time.

I had seen this pain first hand. They all needed this...

And Summer didn't hug just Princess Twilight the whole time, she managed to hug and cry with everypony. I knew for a fact that Summer love all of them. We both do.

...

Cel and Fluttershy were sobbing buckets together...

Summer, Princess Twilight and all her girls were sobbing buckets together...

Well, Lu and I were too...

This was healing...

We all needed this.

Equestria needed this.

---

Everypony in this group could have easily stayed where we were, and cried out pain the rest of the afternoon if we could...

The arrival of two Air Coaches changed all that... Well, maybe it just briefly interrupted it, I don't know...

One of the Air Coaches carried the Principal sisters, and as quickly as possible, they were hugging and crying with their Twins. Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna had carried a heavy load on their side of the Portal too. And the Principal sisters found out only now that my Mare was still alive...

I think the Fluttershys were back with the Shynas and Princess Twilight and her girls. There would be plenty of time...

...

But that other Air Coach...

The one pony who had suffered the most from Summer's death was her Twin, Equestria Girls Summer Rain. Losing a Twin is almost unbearable... The mourning curve for this is so much longer, and for Summer's Twin, it was like she had only heard about her Twin's death yesterday, it still hurt that much...

And, evidently, the Air Coach stallions didn't know why our Twins were being brought to Canterlot either...

...

The minute that Equestria Girls Summer Rain felt my Summer through the Twin Link...

...

The Twin Link with my Twin went active, and I heard Equestria Girls Summer burst into tears; she was quickly sobbing uncontrollably.

And my Twin said she was laying on her belly in the Air Coach and wouldn't get up. Probably she couldn't...

...

Both Air Coaches soon landed. Summer and I changed back into people right away, and converged together on the Air Coach holding our Twins.

Summer's Twin was almost hystrical, laying on her belly on the floor of the Air Coach.

Once their Air Coach landed, Summer just touched her Twin, changing her into a people, then I carefully lifted her out of the Air Coach, and layed her down in the warm grass. Neither Summer Rain is very heavy.

Summer and I both let go, and she turned back into a pony, then Summer and I changed back to ponies too. Equestria Girls Summer Rain was immediately hugging her Twin's neck tightly, and crying loudly. Equestria Girls Summer Rain absolutely refused to let go of my Mare's neck, for now anyway. And it was clear she would move no further.

Shining Armor called some Unicorn guards over, and they used their magic to move the Air Coach clear, then they pulled it away. Then everypony else just crowded around the two Summers, and we all cried together some more...

My Summer spent the rest of that afternoon sobbing with her deeply hurting Twin... I think, more than anything else she had seen, my Mare fully understood the pain our friends had felt, from her Twin...

Well, my Twin cried on my shoulders for a long time too. I think he saw, first hand, more than anypony else, how much pain this bully... Nevermind...

---

By late afternoon, I think everypony felt a lot better. And Equestria Girls Summer Rain was sitting, hugging her sister (Equestria Girls Fluttershy) weeping softly, and that really was progress.

Still, I knew tears would probably be very close to the surface for a lot of us, for weeks maybe.

Shining Armor wanted everypony to move into the Audience hall though, since it was starting to cool off.

...

I couldn't find my mare though...

Well, I was looking for a Tan pony, and she was Blue now. Lu pointed her out, and said quietly "Dad, I think she needs you."

I hugged Lu tightly... I love my family...

Well, I was a pony, and I ran quickly over to my Blue Mare...

She was sitting at the right-hand corner of the Audience Hall, facing away from it...

As I got close, I saw why...

I just sat next to her, and hugged her tightly. I was soon weeping softly with her...

My Mare and I ended up on our bellies, laying next to each other, crying loudly together, right there...

This whole thing had hurt us both a lot...

We just cried...

I guess we needed this too...

...

Evidently, the explosion that resulted from Dark Melvain's death, shook the ground pretty hard...

A White marble cover panel had fallen away from the Audience Hall wall, and now lay shattered on the ground...

The cover-panel had covered up the front-facing side of the very cornerstone of the Audience Hall...

This huge, perfectly cut stone, pure White marble, was maybe four feet high and six feet by six feet in ground area. It was likely the first stone placed in the construction process...

Engraved very large, on the side now showing...

...was Summer's Cutie Mark, three simple water drops, arranged in a perfect triangle...

There were some words on this cornerstone next to the engraving of the Cutie Mark. It translates to just five words...

...

...

...

Phantom Alicorn

...

...

...

...

Magical Power Unknown

...

...

...

I had found a crude copy of a copy of this very inscription, in an ancient book on Pony Magic, in the Canterlot Library, maybe a year and a half ago now. Well, a year and a half ago, Equestria Present time.

One day, using my 'scope' thing, I watched a very dejected Equestria pony Summer Rain explain her own Cutie Mark to Equestria Girls Fluttershy in her apartment in the Equestria Girls world...

The next day I was in the Canterlot Library, in the Archives section, and I found this clearly very old book; the historian in me was immediately intrigued, so I started reading.

Well, the magical details meant nothing to me, and were putting me to sleep. As I closed the book, the last page... Summer's Cutie Mark was showing... I quickly did the translation...

I marked that page in that book, the day I found it... I hoped that 'someone important' would find it. Princess Twilight (well, actually Equestria Girls Twilight Sparkle) eventually did(2).

The inscription was rightly attributed to 'Shila the Beautiful'... But it was not a tombstone... Few knew that it was inscribed on the cornerstone of the Audience Hall in Canterlot, Equestria's capitol, over a thousand years ago, and had been there ever since...

...

'Shila the Beautiful...'

The Phantom Alicorn...

This is my Mare...

...

Helping and Hurting...

This is our life...

Well, this had really hurt us both, a lot...

We cried loudly together there for a while...

---

I think both Summer and I realized from our Twins, that everypony else was laying on their bellies behind us, also crying with us.

At the same time, we both sat up, but kept our heads down, and we were still weeping softly. We didn't turn around...

And I guess that, when we sat up, everypony else did too.

From very close behind us, we heard Princess Celestia of Equestria (Cel) say quietly "Shila..."

There was a brief pause, then Cel continued.

"The minute I saw both Shynas run out, I knew the Shila had arrived...

"You turned six hours of terrifying hopelessnes into a resounding victory... You gave each of us hope... And you made it possible for Equestria to defeat this terrible monster...

"Equestria will live on, because you have again intervened... Again, the Shila has delivered us and our ponies..."

Cel paused here briefly, then sighed. She kept speaking.

"That day, buried deep in the past, when we walked over to this exact spot, and I told you about this inscription, I honestly thought we would not need the 'Shila' again..."

Cel paused again, and was clearly trying to not cry, as she said

"But I don't think we will ever not need the 'Shila', our own mo--"

It was quiet again, as Cel tried to calm down. Cel continued, but it was clear this was more personal information.

"As you know, Dark Melvain has been killing Equestria's ponies, and terrorizing Equestria's leadership for over thirteen hundred years now..."

Cel and Lu both broke down and cried together a few minutes, and nopony moved. Cel tried to continue, still crying...

"Equestria's leadership will never have to face him again...

"Thank you..."

...

Cel and Lu were sitting, crying, and I had to resist the urge to go join them.

But Summer didn't move, so I stayed at her side.

Soon, it was quiet except for the early evening breeze dancing slowly but cool around us...

Summer quietly said a few things. Her voice was higher than normal; she was still hurting. She raised her head, her eyes still closed, and she was weeping softly. And there were pauses in between each sentence...

...

"Cel, this needs to be covered up again...

...

"I... I know who I am, but I can only help Equestria if nopony else knows that.

...

"I have no desire for acclaim or commendation... It is enough for me that my Stallion, my family and you, my precious friends are all by my side...

...

"And I just need to say again what everypony already knows; Shysage is just as much a part of what I have been able to accomplish... I need him... I couldn't...

...

"Well, I need to add this too; I want everypony to understand...

"I remember pulling up dead trees at Sweet Apple Acres one day for Applejack. I was delighted to be able to help a friend with my abilities.

"But those times that I have been able to intervene for Equestria, it is usually the Portal that has placed us where we are needed. And it is usually Equestria that orchestrated the entire chain of events anyway. In a lot of ways, that makes me, well us, little more than grateful servants, and I am content with that.

...

"Helping Equestria usually means more pain for me, for my Stallion and I, but if that is how true friendship needs to play out in our lives, than I accept that, and I am sure my Stallion does too.

...

"But I guess I don't need the reminder..."

...

Summer then turned and hugged me tightly for a minute. Well, we hugged tightly. Well, maybe we cried some more too.

Only then did Summer and I get up and cry with Cel and Lu again...

We cried for maybe ten minutes; it was pretty cool now.

Shining Armor sent everypony else inside the Audience Hall at that point, while Cel and Lu, Summer and I cried together.

It was too cold pretty soon, so the four of us joined everypony else in the Audience Hall.

And that's where we all spent that night, together.

---

---

Author's Note:

1. The only fitting background music for this chapter is the slow, understated elegance of 'The Celestial Capital - Al'Taieu'* from the 'Chains of Promethia'* expansion for Final Fantasy XI* (*c2014 by Square Enix).

2. The first chronicles, chapter 43