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

by shysage

Ch.47, Kicked by an angry pony

Sleeping next to our amazing Princess Twilight is always a treat. We are glad for any way we can make her heavy burden even a little lighter. She needed us nearby.

When my Stallion and I woke up the next morning, Princess Twilight was already awake, just laying there on her belly next to us. And Filia and Fiona had joined us on that thick carpet, and they were still asleep on Princess' other side.

Once my Stallion and I were awake, Princess Twilight said quietly "Thank you both for just being here for me last night. Summer, I think I really needed you near me. Hearing that you had di--"

I quickly hugged our Princess, and we wept softly together for a few minutes.

Still brushing tears away, Princess Twilight said quietly "I think it will be some time before such memories recede further into the past. Until then, I am glad you are both nearby."

Princess Twilight then gently woke Filia and Fiona up, and the five of us just laid on our bellies and enjoyed some peace and quiet together.

A little while later, Fluttershy and Shyna walked into the Library, and carefully took their coats off.

My Stallion moved, and Fluttershy laid on her belly on my other side, and Shyna flopped down next to Fiona, and the three of them were soon talking quietly together.

We were all on that thick rug in front of the Portal, it is pretty big. There was plenty of room, and laying on our bellies there was very comfortable.

At one point, Fluttershy said very quietly "Princess Twilight, are you doing ok?"

I couldn't help but wonder if Fluttershy had felt what we did last night.

Princess worked on answering. "Fluttershy, thank you for asking. I think, like the rest of us, I have difficult times. Summer and her Stallion helped me out last night, and that was a big relief. I think us girls just need to not be bashful about speaking up when we are hurting. The looming cloud has been taken care of, but we will all probably hurt at times for a while."

"Well, let me know whenever I can help" Fluttershy said quietly.

It was quiet for a few minutes, then Fluttershy added "Sis, I noticed two Air Coaches outside when we came in."

Princess Twilight said quickly "Please let me feed you all before you leave."

Then she called the three girls, and we all headed off to the dining area, and had a nice breakfast together.

After eating, we hugged tightly in a circle together.

Princess Twilight used her magic to help us get our coats on. Well, Filia helped Shyna, and Fiona helped my Stallion get his on, and Princess Twilight helped my sister and I. Magic makes some tasks so much easier.

Fluttershy, Shyna, my Stallion and I were soon in two Air Coaches flying to Canterlot.

---

The trip to Canterlot was ok; it was pretty cold, even with our coats on. At least we didn't have what my Stallion called 'engine trouble', like we did the last time. But if we didn't have that problem, we may not have ever found Mildred. Everything worked out fine anyway.

Once the Air Coaches landed, we walked pretty quickly to the Audience Hall, and were inside. It was a lot warmer in there. I guess that was why they had a stallion in charge of keeping the large Audience Hall doors closed completely.

Mildred came over to us right away, and hugged Shyna briefly. Then she said that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would be with us in a little while. Mildred then walked off, and was talking to another mare, then she headed somewhere else, out of sight.

And we really didn't mind waiting. My Stallion said it felt good to 'thaw out'; it sounded like that phrase fit.

Maybe half an hour later, we were finally warmed up. Soon after, Cel and Lu (Princess Celestia and Princess Luna) were done with their Princess schedule for the day.

Mildred came and got us, and led us up the stairs to Cel and Lu, then Mildred was off again.

Fluttershy and Shyna bowed to their two Princesses, and were quickly back up. Cel and Lu then hugged them both.

Well, this was basically a family visit, I think, and Cel and Lu led us into Princess quarters. I don't know what that area is really called.

My Stallion asked quietly how Mildred was working out, and both Cel and Lu started crying softly...

Lu spoke first "Dad, she takes care of so many little details, and Cel and I are freed up to take care of the important stuff, just like she did long ago... Something as simple as organizing the ponies in preparation for our appointments, and a thousand other little tasks like that. And she truly enjoys doing that... She is just amazing..."

Cel added "We are so very glad to have her back... You will just never know... And the rest of the staff already loves her; she even helps them..."

Well, this was a family visit, and we all hugged and cried together for a while.

My Stallion mentioned later that our girls, as Princesses probably couldn't let their pain bleed out whenever it wanted to. They had to carefully control what they felt inside in order to be able fulfill their responsibilities.

So now, with family, they were crying and hugging. Whether past or future bleeding, it didn't matter. We loved our Princess girls that morning. It was clear they both needed that. They both needed family.

And we even spent some time on that long, low bench. My Stallion and I were both people and we hugged our pony girls. Our girls still treasure mom and dad loving them like we did those two years in our tree. And really, since that was over 1,300 years ago, it is absolutely amazing that we can still do that... Honestly, we all cried together.

It didn't matter, there were no other ponies coming through. Fluttershy and Shyna sat quietly, weeping softly. I was pretty sure both felt a little of what was going on. It was fine, they were both my sisters, and so were part of our family too.

Mildred came in briefly to talk to Lu, and was not bothered by what she saw at all. She simply excused herself and mentioned she would try to return later. My Stallion was pretty sure she spent the rest of the afternoon keeping anypony else from coming in, until Cel and Lu came back out.

...

Maybe by the middle of the afternoon, we were all sitting together, as ponies, talking quietly.

Cel reminded dad (my Stallion) that she would like a record of our most recent trips to the past, and everything that happened around that, culminating in the destruction of Dark Melvain. He said quietly this record was already in the works, and Cel and Lu both smiled approvingly.

My Stallion mentioned that he needed to run an errand quickly, and I will let him take over on this chapter as he discusses that himself. The rest of us girls just visited together for a while. It was very nice.

---

After Summer remembered, and on the trip to go rescue Cel (Princess Celestia) from Dark Melvain in the Past (the second time, I think), Summer, Fluttershy and I flew the long trip along that dark ridge, out to Dark Melvain's Bastion. It was mostly quiet. I think we were all really concerned about Cel. We didn't really know if she was even alive...

During that trip, I promised myself that, when we got back home to the Present, I would go to the Canterlot Library and dust off Summer's books. I know this seems like such a minor detail... But honestly, after all Summer had done for Equestria, it seemed so unfair to me, for her to see her books like that.

Well, I had the opportunity to do that now, so I walked over to the Library to take care of this. I didn't think it would take very long.

On the way there, still a pony, I realized that I would need to turn into a people to do this. Oh well, I could wait until there was nopony in the Lobby, then I would change into a 'people' briefly. I didn't think it would take very long to dust off her books, but I would probably need to wash my sweatshirt in Fluttershy's washing machine in the Equestria Girls world at some point after I was done. Summer's books were pretty dusty.

Once to the Library, I walked inside, into the Lobby.

I noticed right away, there was another pony at the New Arrivals table where Summer's books were. I was in no hurry, I could wait.

This other pony was a Unicorn stallion, and after a few minutes, I couldn't help but notice what he was doing. He was using his magic to put an 'x' in every square on the back page of one of Summer's books...

The back page of all the books in the Canterlot Library are filled with small boxes, and the directions say to place a check mark in one of the boxes if you liked the book. But this...

I honestly wasn't angry. I asked politely "Excuse me sir, have you read that book, by any chance?"

He didn't even look up, but kept working on his task. He said simply "I have read very little, but enough to agree with my friends... This book is poison. Ponies shouldn't read it."

He said nothing more, and kept adding 'x' marks.

Still, I asked, also quietly "Sir, don't you think the ponies in Equestria are smart enough to be able to discern whether it is poison or not?"

Again, he didn't even look up, or stop his task. "Sadly, no, most ponies around here don't understand the danger this book poses."

This surprised me. Summer's Chronicles were dangerous? It was quiet a minute, then I ventured further "Sir, doesn't it seem unfair for you to deprive other ponies of the freedom to read whatever they want, and make their own choices?"

He only now looked up at me, then said "Well usually, but not this."

I continued "Well, sir, you probably know; that is censorship, and only tyrannical governments practice this; they use it to control ponies' thoughts, their perspectives, their very worldview..."

He seemed stunned, then tried to respond "Well, I..."

At that point, he must have noticed my Cutie Mark, and his eyes got very large. I also think he quickly became very angry. He shouted "YOU!!!!!" He shouted this again "YOU..."

He was glaring at me, and said loudly "You are Shysage, aren't you..."

"That depends how you spell it, I guess..." I replied quietly, almost to myself...

"Your writing is garbage, I tell you, GARBAGE!" he said loudly.

I was honestly surprised again, and didn't answer immediately.

"Well, you could be right... Is it poorly written?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know, that's not it -- there's poison in here!" he responded.

"Hmm... Can you tell me what specifically?" I asked quietly again, seriously interested.

It was quiet for a minute.

Then, groping for possibilities, I asked if the physical stuff was the problem.

He shouted "NO... Yes... It's EVERYTHING!!!"

I calmly replied "Sir, I would be very interested if you could give me some specifics. I do care what other people think after all, and I think a careful discussion might help--"

This Unicorn began shouting at this point "NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! This book is GARBAGE! NOPONY SHOULD READ IT!!!"

I tried quietly again "Please sir, if you could give me some examples... I want to know what you are thinking. Can't we just talk about this?"

It was quiet for a minute, but this Unicorn was clearly livid...

I sighed then said quietly "Sir, I can't help but observe that history is full of examples... That society, that culture, that kingdom -- that makes feeling more important than thinking and reasoning -- quickly dies... Do you really want that for Equestria?"

He didn't answer for a minute, and just glared at me. Then he 'answered'...

He jumped up with his front legs, spun around, pulled his hind legs in as he landed on his front legs, and proceeded to back-heel kick me.

I managed to get my head out of the way of his hind hooves, but still his hooves caught my right shoulder, and knocked me across the Lobby into another display table, and everything crashed to the floor on top of me.

It did hurt. I was laying on my side, and couldn't get up. I was under a (broken) heavy wood table and a pile of books. And the spots on my shoulder where his hooves had caught me were torn open deeply and bleeding a lot.

He stood there with a look of disdain on his face.

"Do you feel any better?" I asked quietly between moans...

"Not as much as I would have hoped for..." he said calmly.

He turned and headed out the door.

"Sir, if you fight the solution, then you're part of the problem" I said as he walked out.

Out the door, he yelled "Fine, by me" and he was gone...

...

Well, it hurt a lot to even try to move, and I couldn't get up. I could only wait until somepony else came in, to see if they would help me.

After almost an hour, 'somepony else' did come in. Cel, Lu, and Summer came through the front door of the Library, looking for me. The three of them noticed me immediately.

There were tears in Summer's eyes, but she wasn't crying loudly. Cel and Lu were crying though, as the three of them pulled books from around me.

The table was pretty heavy, and Cel insisted on getting the guards involved anyway.

By the time three guards were able to get the table off me, and I was sitting up in the Lobby there, the deep gouges in my shoulder had mostly scabbed over, and stopped bleeding. A lot hurt, but I didn't think anything was broken.

Lu asked me at this point what had happened. Well, the book that the Unicorn was adding a lot of 'x' marks too was still laying open to the last page, on the other table. I just said quietly "Either I have the wrong name, or else the wrong Cutie Mark."

The rest of my family just sighed; they knew exactly what I meant.

Summer was soon gently hugging me. "I love you Stallion" she said softly. "I'm sorry my life caused you this..."

I had to correct Summer right away. "Summer, it's not you. It's not your life. It's the truth... Together we have not avoided the hard questions you and I encountered; showing evil leaders for the bullies they are, showing that true friendship needs to extend into the most intimate areas of life, things like that. I remember reading in a book somewhere that the truth sets us free. Only bad leaders and bad governments control ideas; they are the ones that fear the truth, that fear open and honest inquiry."

It was quiet for a minute, then I added quietly "Summer we need to get used to this. As writers, we take a lot of risks, placing our works out in everypony else's sight, like they are our children. We love our children, but not everypony else will.

"Summer, besides... Better me than you..."

...

My mare and I hugged a while, and that felt very nice. I love Summer a lot...

After the guards and some Library staff were done cleaning up the mess, Cel walked over and said "Dad, should we try to find the stallion that did this to you?"

I am not a vengeful pony by nature... "Cel, I don't know, maybe he should have to erase all the x's he added to Summer's book... Oh nevermind. The only thing that really hurt was that he was enraged at me and either couldn't or refused to calmly explain why..."

It was quiet for a minute, then I said softly "Cel, you are the Princess of Equestria, I'll let you decide."

The Princess of Equestria turned to one of the guards and said calmly "Get a full description, and get Shining Armor involved. I want the stallion who did this in my jail by tomorrow night.

"This is Equestria, and nopony in our kingdom should have to fear this kind of treatment for voicing or writing an unpopular opinion."

Cel looked over at Lu, and Lu said quietly "Sounds good."

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