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

by shysage

Ch.8, (Back Home) Letter to Lu, Part 2

My Stallion and I arrived back in 'Equestria Present', in the Library in Princess Twilight's Castle. That's where the Portal was. And by the way, the background music faded immediately.

We were both still crying, too. What we just had to do hurt us a lot.

When my Stallion and I came back from our first time in the past, we were hurting a lot ourselves, because of the void we felt after abruptly giving Cel and Lu away, after we had invested over two years into their lives, loving them, teaching them... Cel and Lu amazingly remembered us, and this helped a lot.

This pain was vastly different. We were hurting for Cel... for the centuries our girl would have to rule Equestria... alone... We were hurting for her... with her... And we knew she hurt after we left...

We both changed quickly back to ponies.

There was noone in the Library, so we walked out the front door of the Castle. My Stallion suspected it was night here, and we didn't want to wake anypony up. He was right.

Well, I think we both read each other's mind, and we were quickly walking to my sister's Cottage, still crying.

I didn't even knock. We opened the door, and even from downstairs, I heard her weeping. But Fluttershy was on the way down the stairs before we both were completely through the door.

We all sat down and hugged and cried together for a while, right there where we met, at the bottom of her stairs.

Fluttershy was crying because she missed her sister (me), and was glad we were back. This lasted maybe ten minutes, then she stopped crying, but was still hugging my Stallion and I.

For the next five minutes, she didn't cry, even though we were. My Stallion and I were pretty sure she knew we were hurting a lot, and she was 'feeling' to find out why. After those five minutes, Fluttershy began to cry again. She had sensed our pain for Princess Celestia, and was sharing it with us.

We cried together until the Sun started to come up. It didn't seem like my Stallion and I felt much better though.

Fluttershy said quietly "We should really be in the Castle."

We didn't question my sister, and were quickly back in the Castle Library, again crying together in the approximate spot in front of the Portal where the 8 orbs had appeared less than a week ago. We still had no idea how long we had been gone.

It didn't take long for Princess Twilight to find us.

It was clear Princess wanted to join us. But before she could even get near, my amazing Sister pulled away and said what neither my Stallion nor I could say "Princess can you please let Cel and Lu know that mom and dad need them?"

What Fluttershy said was exactly right. Still, we had not said anything to her yet. She just felt her way through this...

Princess Twilight did two things before she joined us. She had Spike send the message to Cel (Princess Celestia), exactly as Fluttershy had requested, even though Spike detested being up so early. He quickly went back to sleep.

Princess then found Rainbow Dash, and asked her to round everypony else up.

Then Princess joined us, and just cried with us. I don't think Princess knew why we were crying, and it probably didnt matter anyway. Princess knew we were hurting, and that was enough.

Neither my Stallion nor I could stop crying anyway. Emotionally, we were both reeling.

Rainbow brought Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack in, and the four of them sat together near us. They didn't know what was going on, but were soon weeping softly. Well Pinkie probably knew.

Less than an hour later, Cel and Lu (well Princess Celestia and Princess Luna) walked quickly into the Library. Both had a pretty concerned look on their face.

...

As soon as my Stallion saw Cel and Lu, he backed away from Sis and I, changed into a people, got the letter out of his back pocket, and held it up.

He said "Lu, this is for you", then burst into tears himself. After this, he couldn't move or speak... He just stood there, holding the letter, crying...

...

As soon as Cel saw the letter, she sat down right where she was and burst into tears, too. She was quickly sobbing...

...

Lu was confused, but walked over, used her magic to take the letter from dad. Lu opened it, pulled the letter out, and immediately started to read it. Lu burst into tears herself quickly, but managed to read the whole letter.

Lu dropped the letter to the floor, ran to her sister, and was quickly sitting, hugging Cel, and crying, really sobbing herself.

Our girls were crying together, hugging each other tightly, really sobbing, deep heaving sobs...

...

Our most recent trip to the past had given us a taste of the price Cel paid to protect her sister, and to protect Equestria. I don't know that our girls had ever addressed that together.

I also seriously doubted our girls had cried together much after Lu was brought back from Nightmare Moon.

In all fairness, Cel clearly had so many other memories that covered a lot of the past up.

But that all changed today. Cel's letter from around 1000 years ago, set everything straight. Our girls cried together through centuries of separation... They needed this.

They cried together for over two hours, and even this was probably not enough.

...

But at that point, Cel and Lu, still crying, asked Princess Twilight to join them. Princess Twilight had 'brought her sister back' Cel said through her tears.

Princess Twilight was an important part of this. Cel banished Lu, but didn't have a clue how to undo what she had done. Princess Twilight and five other amazing ponies took care of this.

Princess Twilight cried with Cel and Lu a few minutes. But then Princess motioned 'her girls' over. After all, Princess Twilight had not rescued Lu on her own.

This was everypony, and they cried together for a while, almost two more hours.

Probably at Dark Melvain's instigation, Cel had to banish her own sister, away from her, away from Equestria. One thousand years later, the amazing ponies now crying with Cel and Lu, had unraveled what that vicious bully had done in Cel and Lu's life.

These were tears of healing. Cel and Lu needed this.

---

Maybe there is a limit to how much emotion you can wring out of ponies in one sitting. These were all good tears, but still.

After those few hours, most everypony calmed down, and we were just weeping softly.

Except for my Stallion...

After he gave the letter to Lu, he changed back into a pony.

But he was still sobbing deeply, and sounded 'inconsolable', almost hysterical.

When the rest of us were calming down, my Stallion's crying sounded really loud. And for a stallion to even cry...

I had tried to comfort him, to hug him, but nothing seemed to help. I was his Mare, and I just didn't know what to do.

...

Cel did...

"Dad..." she said softly...

My Stallion ran over, and was hugging Cel quickly, really sobbing on her shoulders, hugging her tightly...

Cel was quickly crying the same way.

"I wanted to stay... I wanted to help..." the Canterlot Recorder said this over and over through his tears... "I didn't want you to have to do all that alone..."

My amazing Stallion... Shysage was crying with his little girl... He was hurting with her for the centuries she had to reign alone... He was bleeding out his soul for her... He really was almost hysterical, he loved Cel so...

I was quickly crying too, and Lu came over and sat next to me, also crying, and we were quickly hugging too...

Some ponies don't like my Stallion, and cringe when they see his name. But you will be hard pressed to find a more deeply devoted dad. He would have stayed with Cel and offered whatever help he could, for those thousand years...

Lu and I soon joined Cel and my Stallion, and we cried together for a long time.

This was family time. Sensing this, everypony else walked outside.

It probably wasn't near long enough for my Stallion, but after an hour maybe, he tried hard to bring his crying under control. I think he was concerned about how busy his girls were.

And I knew there was more he wanted to say, but he just sat there, and tried to calm down.

---

It was mid-afternoon maybe, and Cel and Lu left my Stallion and I alone for a few minutes, while they walked outside.

I just hugged him. I love him deeply, and knew what was hurting him, because it was hurting me too.

"Stallion, we need to let this go, and move on" I said softly.

It was hard, but he answered slowly "I know, Summer..."

It was clear to me his tears were not far from the surface though, and he was trying hard to say nothng more about it.

It was tempting to ask him to roll over on his side, and let me crawl up under his front legs. I know this is comforting to him, just like it is for me. This would just not be a good place for that.

But I did back up a little, rubbed his nose briefly, then I slowly licked his nose.

He actually smiled, then licked my nose too.

Then he moved, and sat back next to me, and sighed. "I love you Summer... You read me so well..."

Everypony came back in at this point.

Cel and Lu sat facing us, then Cel said softly "When you both left after I gave you the letter for Lu, the next day or two was really difficult for me.

"But two days later, we had to deal with the last Cougar invasion, and that pretty much occupied my time for the next few weeks. We routed them, of course, but they did a lot of damage to some frontier towns.

"But at the time, dealing with that was probably a good thing.

"But I do remember dealing with Dark Melvain again. I can't remember details, but I don't think that was the last time we had to face him.

"But dad, all that is past now. When you left, you told me you and mom would always love me. I never forgot that..."

The four of us hugged for a little while after that.

---

Shining Armor walked in at that point.

Cel mentioned she had sent the Air Coach back with the request that one of the Guard 'Chain of Command' be sent here to Ponyville.

They didn't expect Shining Armor though.

Still, this amazing Stallion -- Shining Armor would oversee the safety of Equestria's Princesses personally.

It wasn't long before Shining Armor hugged his sister (Princess Twilight), then the three Princesses were talking together with Shining Armor.

Maybe fifteen minutes later, the details were evidently figured out. Cel and Lu came back over and sat facing my Stallion and I again.

Cel spoke first.

"Mom, dad, we are spending tonight together as a family, all four of us."

Cel and Lu both teared up at this. Well, maybe we all did.

Cel continued. "Shining Armor is moving a considerable ground force here to the Castle 'just in case' he said.

"Shining Armor also didn't think it wise for us to stay in the Canterlot Recorder's home; he wanted us in the Castle instead. He is responsible for our safety, so we will do as he says.

"Filia and FIona have offered their bedroom for our use, and they will sleep out here. Evidently they like the rug in front of the Portal. (Cel chuckled at this point.)

Lu added this.

"Shining Armor is also setting up a 'sentry' network around the realm, in order to keep watch over things tonight. He said this will be a good exercise, and he realized that there needs to be some sort of contingency plan in place for this anyway.

"But I will be able to be with our family tonight too."

Cel hugged Lu.

I think my Stallion and I were both wondering how we would be able to not cry all night.

Then Cel said "Mom, dad we will be working on making provisions here in this Castle so that we can do this more often. Such a move really is overdue."

Ok, so maybe we both would cry all night, I don't know.

---

On the way to dinner, Princess Twilight's girls all bowed to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Cel had them up pretty quickly, but these two Princess took their time and tightly hugged each one. So much had bound our group so tightly into one...

Shining Armor joined us all for dinner, and it was very nice. Watching Princess Twilight and her brother together was amazing.

Then Shining Armor headed up to the deck at the top of the Castle in order to supervise protection for three Princesses, as well as to help watch over Equestria during the night.

The rest of us were soon back in the Library.

For the next two hours, my Stallion and I told everypony present about our trip to the past. We both realized that from the vantage point this far in the future, holding any information back probably would make no difference.

Still, we only had time to hit the highpoints. We suspected that a record of the trip would be requested at some point, and we would include more details for that.

My Stallion and I cried a lot, and Cel and Lu cried some too.

It was clear to me that the historian in my Stallion was amazed and thrilled at being able to visit 'early Canterlot'.

He also did some quick math, and gave us all the following time-line.

-- Cel was probably 4 years old when she and Lu were made Princesses.

-- Cel said she was 350 years old when she had to banish Lu.

-- Lu was rescued from Nightmare Moon by Princess Twilight and her girls right at the 1000 year mark, maybe four years ago.

-- Cel had been ruling Equestria for 1,350 years.

A dismayed look swept briefly across Princess Celestia's face as she took all this in. I don't think she wanted the reminder about how old she was.

My amazing Stallion saw this, and quickly walked over and hugged Cel. He whispered in her ear "I think my girl is amazing!", and a broad smile was his reward, and she hugged him back.

"Thanks dad..." she said softly.

Well, it was getting late.

Princess Twilight and her girls decided to spend the night in the Library. Filia and Fiona seemed disappointed at this for some reason.

Still, we thanked Filia and Fiona for the use of their room.

Cel, Lu, my Stallion and I made our way into their bedroom, and were quickly on our bellies next to each other on their nice rug.

Cel and Lu were in the middle, with my Stallion next to Cel, and I was next to Lu. Crowns were on a table near the door.

Just our family... We talked for hours over memories from when we were raising our girls. Lu was here; we talked about everything and anything. We all laughed and cried together.

My Stallion and I both remembered the Pinecone fight, and we were able, now, to actually explain our thinking, and why we handled it like we did. We all cried together after this particular discussion. We had worked at putting the future ahead of the present, and, from our vantage point today, this was clearly the right thing to do. It was just hard for all of us.

Our two girls also talked a lot about the last six months we had them; they were both Alicorns for most of this time. Their world was literally bursting open before their very eyes! They really appreciated how we handled this part of their lives.

I honestly told our girls that I couldn't see how...

My Stallion and I increasingly saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and this was just... scary... In addition, mom and dad increasingly knew our time with our amazing girls... our days together were clearly numbered.

Even through all of this, we managed to help both girls be prepared for centuries of ruling Equestria. Well, that's what Cel and Lu said.

Very late, we all got up and hugged, and wept together softly for a while.

Then we were all back where we were on the rug, and fell asleep.

Being together as a family like this felt so good to all of us...

Cel was right, this was long overdue...

---

The next morning, we all woke up, maybe within fifteen minutes of each other. As each of us woke up, we were quickly weeping softly.

We got up and hugged for a little while.

Then we did a 'family tradition' of sorts; we all brushed each other's mane and tail.

Filia and Fiona each had their own brush, and so this worked well. My Stallion and I changed to people, and he brushed Cel's hair, and I brushed Lu's. Then we were ponies again, and places were switched, and our girls brushed ours. We all just wept softly the whole time.

Then we hugged some more.

Still, Cel sighed, and mentioned that they had put off a busy day yesterday, and today was pretty packed, too. She and Lu needed to leave soon.

My Stallion said softly "We will look forward to your next visit."

We were already hugging at this point.

Cel and Lu retrieved their crowns as my Stallion asked briefly about bringing Equestria Girls Shyna back to find her Twin.

He mentioned that there seemed to be evidence she was in Canterlot, so there would probably be an Air Coach ride around Canterlot to see if the Twin Link picked anything up. Still, nopony really knew for sure about any of this.

Cel said this was fine, and to just let her know ahead of time so she could arrange for the Air Coaches.

As the four of us walked out through the Library, Princess Twilight and her girls were all up, and bowed again to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Princess Celestia was working on choking back tears. The ponies in this group meant a lot to her.

"Amazing ponies, please arise" Princess Luna said quietly, as both Princesses again hugged everypony.

Half an hour later, Cel and Lu were headed back to Canterlot in an Air Coach. My Stallion and I still cried.