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

by shysage

Ch.51, Shysage's Blood

Fluttershy and I soon arrived 'sometime' in the Past. I was still facing the Portal, holding Fluttershy's hand. And that dreadful music lept to life right away(1).

I am not sure why, but I immediately pulled my Sister's hand forward, let go, and she turned back into a pony, and landed nicely on her front hooves.

Next, I quickly spun up my Cutie Mark, turned slowly around, took two steps away from Fluttershy, and flared my wings. I think that low rumble was a good thing right now. It was pretty loud. I really didn't want any arguments.

...

The first thing I saw...

Shysage's blood, small fresh looking drops of it on the floor...

It was clear he was here very recently...

...

The next thing I noticed...

Four terrified pony guards were cowering some distance away from us across the room...

This was a different room, but it didn't matter...

...

I looked right at them.

"Where is my Stallion?" I didn't yell, but I asked this like I wanted an answer.

None of the guards said anything right away.

Then one of the guards said to another "Sir, what about that st--"

The other guard interrupted and said "Hush..."

It was quiet for a minute.

"I suggest one of you guards go get Princess Celestia quickly" I said sternly.

Two guards headed out the door.

We waited, and I didn't move. Well, I moved to the side some, so Cel didn't have to step through dad's blood...

---

We didn't have to wait long.

And Cel would never forget her own mom as the Phantom Alicorn...

She ran right up to me, and I quickly kneeled down, and hugged her tightly.

After a minute maybe, I let go, and stood up.

I didn't wait. "Cel, dad is missing, and we are pretty sure he came here. Another pony attacked him yesterday, and he is beat up pretty bad; even standing up is painful for him..."

I pointed out the fresh drops of blood on the floor. Trying hard not to cry myself, I said "I think that is dad's blood..."

Princess Celestia of Equestria was immediately angry.

"STORMWALK" Cel shouted, still looking at the floor, and without even turning around.

One of the pony guards walked slowly over, head down.

"Where is he..." was all Cel said.

"Princess, we put him in the cave by the pool behind Canterlot. He should not have been in here without perm--" Stormwalk only got this far...

"Return to your post, we will discuss that later" Cel said sternly.

"But Princess, I need to expl--" Stormwalk tried again.

"RETURN TO YOUR POST" Cel yelled. I think she meant it. Still, this was not like her...

...

I kneeled down again, and hugged Cel; she was a mess... I understood why. I was a mess too. This deeply affected our family, and we all knew it. We cried together for a few minutes, then Cel tried to pull herself together.

Cel walked quickly over to Fluttershy and they hugged tightly a minute.

Then Cel said "Mom, lets go..."

---

It didn't take long to get out of the building housing the Portal. And Canterlot looked a lot more full; there were more buildings. But none of that even mattered...

I could follow the tell-tale drops of Shysage's blood to know we were heading in the right direction.

And I didn't even bother changing into a pony or unspinning my Cutie Mark. I wanted Shysage, and was not about to let anypony stand in my way. I think Cel felt the same way though.

We were soon standing in front of that cave... The small pool of water was still there to the left now. More unhappy memories in this place...

Well, a small pool of Shysage's blood was also inside the cave... But he wasn't here, not any more.

...

The three of us started looking around. We hadn't looked very long when Cel burst into tears.

She was standing next to another small pool of Shysage's blood, over against one of the walls of the cave.

In the middle of his blood...

...a dead Black bat...

We all knew where Shysage was...

Dark Melvain's Bastion...

---

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Author's Note:

1. The tune is the BGM for the 'Outer Ra'Kaznar' level in Final Fantasy XI, and the music, the zone and the game are c2014 by Square Enix. The tune is called 'The Serpentine Labyrinth' and it is available on the 'Forever Today' add-on for the OST for the 'Seekers of Adoulin' expansion for FFXI and is c2014 by Square Enix.