//------------------------------// // Chapter 15, Another Week in Paradise, Part 3 // Story: The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 7 -- monsters in the Grass // by shysage //------------------------------// Wednesday morning, Equestria Girls Fluttershy and I woke up early to her alarm. She shut it off, but it was too late, we were both awake. (She laughed when she watched me type this.) My precious 'other' sister... She knew I was bummed that this week was half over, and she was quickly sitting next to the cot hugging me as I cried a little. "Sis, I don't know where I want to stay, here or Equestria..." I said while crying. I realized I had been saying something like this a lot. I think this was the wrong thing to say, because Fluttershy started crying too. I think her vote was Equestria. We cried together for a few minutes, then we both calmed down. Fluttershy sat on the couch and brushed her hair, and then threw the brush to me, and she went into the bathroom and got dressed. It was my turn next. It was a little early still, so we did some tidying up in the apartment, and put the sleeping bags and pillows away. Then we worked on splitting the piles of laundry up; a bunch of the clothes needed to go to my Stallion's cubical. And some of the clothes would go to a few of the Equestria Girls; we would take them with us when we went to the bleachers. Then we locked up the apartment, and took our time walking to my Stallion's cubical. It was another nice day in paradise outside. I let myself into his cubical, and gently kissed his cheek again. He woke up, and said right away "Hi, beautiful." Then he stretched, then reached out both arms and we hugged tightly. I don't know, I just started crying. I love my Stallion a lot. After a few minutes, I calmed down again, and walked back outside. I really wanted to cry on Fluttershy's shoulder, but I didn't. She knew though, and hugged me close. In a few minutes, my Stallion was dressed and outside. He was soon hugging me, and life seemed calmer to me, I don't know. We walked slowly back to the apartment, and enjoyed the day. As we walked, I tried to hug both Fluttershy and my Stallion. We had to all walk together, but it was worth it. Part of me never wanted to leave here... Part of me wanted to be in Equestria so bad... I thought I would be a mess today. I would have told my Stallion about this, but then I realized that Fluttershy would end up feeling the same way, and she would cry too. No sooner had I finished thinking this, when Fluttershy started weeping softly. She had felt it anyway. We just cried softly together. I guess my Stallion sensed this too. "Oh, girls... Well, I'll help you both any way I can..." he said softly. We ate Granola for breakfast, and sat outside too. It was very nice. We cleaned up breakfast stuff when we were done. Fluttershy found two large 'bags', and we packed my Stallion's new clothes in the bags, then we locked the apartment again, and carried my Stallion's clothes to his cubical. Walking outside in the morning felt so nice. It reminded me of my Stallion and I walking and eating in the meadow near our house in Equestria. Hmm... Maybe I shouldn't think about that. It just made me want to cry again. After leaving the two bags in his cubical, we walked back to Fluttershy's apartment, picked up the matching jogging clothes for Twilight, Rarity and Applejack, and headed off to the bleachers. On the way, my Stallion mentioned that he had pulled together fifteen solid systems for the Computer Lab, and he still had more computers he could work on. Principal and Vice-Principal were so pleased about this. They only needed ten systems, and spares would be very helpful, especially since they couldn't afford a Tech during the school year. Most of the Equestria Girls were already in the bleachers when we arrived, and we all worked our way through the group, hugging amazing ponies, well people, and passing out matching jogging clothes. Twilight and Rarity looked a LOT better, and the rest of us let them know. We were so relieved. Sometimes sleep does wonders. Soccer practice was already under way, but Rainbow ran up and quickly hugged everyone, then she ran back out onto the field. Amazing friends began to arrive, and my Stallion hugged me tightly, then walked off towards the Shop. Fifteen minutes later, Filia, Fiona and Shyna walked up, and each sat with their 'favorite pony', which was Twilight for Filia, Rarity for Fiona, and Fluttershy for Shyna. These amazing Equestria Girls were just scooping each of these younger girls up and involving them in the friendships they were building, and the needs they were helping address. Well, honestly, everypony loved everypony in this group, and everypony knew this. It is just hard to put this into words, but I will try. True Friendship means putting others first. The Equestria Girls, well Princess Twilight's girls too, they all had this 'down'. As a result, they were and are all just a pleasure to be around. We knew that some of the girls around us during the day had embraced true friendship, but others had not yet. Still, they all knew the Equestria Girls were a loving, caring group, and so were really drawn to them as a result. Everyone knew these girls would do anything they could to help. I am positive the Equestria ponies are just the same. But proximity to the High School here, and all the students that attend, just increased the, well, 'exposure' -- so many more girls could be around these amazing ladies, and were increasingly drawn to the true friendship that made them 'tick' as a result. I mean, the first day I spent in this High School, I got to talk to the entire student body about true friendship, and how it changed my life... I still cry... I just don't know how to transfer that to Equestria. I try while I am there, just walking around town meeting ponies. It's just not the same as sitting here, and joining the Equestria Girls in loving the many hurting girls here... Maybe we should build some bleachers outside the Cake's in Town Square in Ponyville... The Magic of Friendship is just so clearly at work in the steady stream of amazing friends who wandered over to us during the maybe five hours we all sit here together... I feel so honored to be a part of this, and never want it to stop... Anyway, all throughout the day, girls kept asking about the jogging clothes. After hearing this getting explained for maybe the third time, I realized we may have company when we jogged this afternoon. This would be amazing too. Exercise is good. Or, as my Stallion sometimes says, 'move it, or lose it'. Oh, and Fluttershy asked Twilight again about taking Shyna to the Animal Shelter from eleven to twelve, and they spent some quiet time there together hugging fluffies. This was probably amazing for both of them. And around two, my Stallion came out and had some quality time with maybe seven guys. We could only hope that Friendship was Magic there too. Listening to the girls here, the boys at this School had great needs as well. Three o'clock came too soon, and it was sad to see these girls wander off. The guys were leaving too. Like he did before, my Stallion headed to the Shop to shut stuff down, and lock the Shop. Then he headed back out to us girls in the bleachers. Soon after he had come back, we were all just sitting and relaxing in the bleachers, talking about jogging. Evidently everypony was coming today, and this would be fun to do together. But I still thought we would have a lot more with us. Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna walked quickly up, crying. My Stallion was sitting on the bottom row, and he got up right away when they came over (manners, he explained to me). Well, he is the one they were 'after' anyway, and my Stallion quickly got a huge hug from both Principal and Vice-Principal. They both finally realized what they were seeing with the group of guys at the other end of the bleachers in the afternoons, and were thankful beyond words for my Stallion spending time with them. The impact of the Equestria Girls on the girls in their student body 'after school' was simply amazing, and Principal and Vice-Principal had been concerned for the boys in the School for a while. They were overjoyed that someone was finally trying to help the guys too. My Stallion said quietly "I'm just trying to be their friend..." This was exactly what Principal and Vice-Principal were hoping for, and they just cried more, and both hugged him again. Vice-Principal Luna said, still crying "I really hope your Twin keeps this going..." My Stallion said, still quietly "Well, he is my Twin..." I think that meant that he probably would, and probably would value that just like my Stallion does. Principal and Vice-Principal then worked around the rest of the group hugging everyone, then walked back off towards the School. We all walked back to Fluttershy's apartment and took turns getting our matching jogging clothes on. It was an amazing sight, we all matched! And I still really 'appreciated' the way my Stallion looked in those clothes. We walked over to the Track, all still talking together. Well, there were maybe twenty or more girls already waiting for us. We all jogged together, it was amazing fun. Well, Rainbow and Applejack took a quicker pace, and a few other girls, mostly from the Soccer team, joined them. I'm sure they had an amazing time together too. And one of the girls explained that if we had difficulty talking while we jog, then we are probably getting good exercise from it. Well, we were all getting that, then. And Twilight said that jogging always helped her feel better, and need less sleep. Twilight used to jog, but hadn't recently. Twilight said what we had included before; it was just so easy to NOT exercise here. She said she was really looking forward to everyone doing this together. And Rainbow quickly told everyone that if they got too tired, to just stop jogging and walk. This would still be good for them. Well, Rainbow has a good voice for that; everyone on the Track heard her. She could easily be our 'team captain' too. The rest of us got eight laps in, then we were all walking. Some of the girls that were already walking, just stopped, wherever they were around the track, and waited for the group, so we could all walk and talk together. It was just amazing... It was just AMAZING... We all said goodbye again to amazing friends, then us Equestria Girls walked back over to Fluttershy's apartment. Most of the girls just grabbed their clothing and stuff, and headed off together. Big Mac picked Applejack up, and Pinkie, Rarity, Twilight and Rainbow headed off together towards the Cake's. Fluttershy headed into the shower, and my Stallion and I just sat on the couch and talked, and kissed some too. But I asked him "Stallion do I look hot to you in these clothes? I think you look amazing in them; is that just me? I'm trying to understand this world better." He just sighed, then said "Oh, Summer..." He thought some more then continued quietly. "Your people body is amazing to me, and the more I see of it, the more amazing it is. Even though these clothes are probably ok, I think you look very nice in them, and I gather you like how they look on me too. This is probably because we both usually wear jeans. "Still, what other people should see is vastly different, and you need to dress based on that, if you will be out around other people." We kissed some more, then Fluttershy came out, and I took a shower and got cleaned up and dressed. When I came out, my Stallion was hugging Fluttershy, who was crying. I sat on Fluttershy's other side, and hugged her too. Fluttershy was clearly trying not to cry, and failing, and she said "I really want to take care of Shyna... She has been through so much, and noone seems to want her right now..." Fluttershy just cried quietly for a little while. Then my Stallion said quietly "Fluttershy, just adopt her..." At this, Fluttershy's crying dropped down quickly, and she thought a minute, still sniffling "That's not a bad idea, I will need to reseach that." We all just hugged a little while longer, then my Stallion grabbed his clothes, and took a quick shower. Fluttershy made the three of us a nice 'salad' for dinner. It was very good. My amazing Stallion... After eating and cleaning the dishes up, we walked quickly over to his cubical, and he drove us to the same beach in 'big Blue'. The trip there and back took a while, but it was easily worth it. It was just us three. I missed the other Equestria Girls, but wandering along the beach with two people I love so much... Listening to the waves, birds, and well, everything... Fluttershy and I cried a lot. I think Fluttershy missed her sister, who was in Equestria. But the two of them did this quite a bit, so this was probably very good for her. I was just so thankful for the two people around me right now. Besides, I don't think I could stay in this world if my Stallion wasn't here with me, not any more. But I think all three of us both liked and disliked the Portal. Fluttershy and I both sighed at the same time as I thought this. The ride back was long, but Fluttershy and I just hugged all the way back. My Stallion parked the car at his cubical, and the three of us walked back to Fluttershy's apartment. Well, Fluttershy is amazing too. When we got back to the apartment, she mentioned she was going to take a 'bath', and this might take a while. My Stallion moved some pillows, and was quickly on his back on the couch, and I ended up laying next to him with my back against the back of the couch. We kissed some, but he put his arm around me and just hugged me, and that was really enough. I felt I was where I belonged, at peace here like this. For a little while I cried softly, but we said nothing, and just enjoyed being together. This was probably the first extended time alone we found, and it felt so nice. This wasn't time at the lake, but spending time with him like this made it easier to wait for that. Fluttershy came out, said softly "Stay put, you two", then she went into the kitchen and took a few minutes making three small bowls of Ice Cream, and put them on the Coffee Table. We took our time, but by then, we were sitting up on the couch, and she squeezed onto the couch next to me. I immediately gave her a hug, and thanked her for letting my Stallion and I enjoy some 'peace and quiet' together. Fluttershy just smiled, and said quietly "Well, I think it's the least I can do, since he lets you spend so much time with me. Thank you both for that, it really means a lot to me." Well, it was late, and I was soon standing on the porch hugging my Stallion. Fluttershy turned the porch light off, and closed the door some, and told me not to 'rush him off', and we hugged and kissed together for a little while. He makes me feel very nice inside, but the main thing is that I love him so much. Sending him off is just hard. Sis and I were quickly in bed. "Fluttershy, I love him so much... I just can't seem to get enough of him..." I said, clearly near tears. Fluttershy just answered softly "I think it's supposed to be that way. Alarm again 'early' next morning, Thursday I think. We brushed our hair then got dressed, and put our bed stuff away, and did some more tidying up. While lying in bed, I was thinking about the amazing 'stylish' clothes Rarity picked out for me. Before I got dressed, I asked Fluttershy if that top (blouse? I don't know) would be ok with jeans. She pulled it out, and looked at it. She just said softly "It's a little short, I think you should save it for evenings." I think that was her way of saying now was a bad time for it, and I trusted her on this. We were both soon on the way to my Stallion's cubical. Most of the way there, Fluttershy began to cry softly. "I think he had a nightmare." I soon felt it too. I quickly let myself in, leaving the door open. I didn't want Fluttershy to be alone outside, and I thought I might need to be in here a while. My Stallion slept in his old jogging clothes anyway. He was crying, well trying unsuccessfully not to, and I quickly hugged him tight, and he hugged me back just as tight. I ended up just crying with him. It must have been terrible. After maybe five minutes, he said through his tears that I died in his dream. He said it was horrible... It just shattered him... He just wanted to forget it... Well, fifteen minutes later, his crying stopped, and he just hugged me tightly for a few minutes. Then we kissed once, and he asked me to go out while he dressed. I think he realized Fluttershy had been waiting all this time. We walked back to the apartment with my Stallion in the middle this time, and we both were hugging him. We just took our time. Halfway to the apartment, he thanked us both, then said "Wow, I hope that never happens..." He almost started crying again, but managed to stop. We were all soon sitting on the grass eating Granola together. At one point, Fluttershy got up, headed inside, and asked if I could help her a minute. I had to give her a big hug... She suggested I get that blouse on for my Stallion. I quickly did, and added the jogging shorts too. My Stallion blushed brightly when I came back out, and quickly hugged me tightly. At least he was smiling though. And we hugged a little more after we were both done eating. He said quietly to me "You are so beautiful... Thank you, amazing mare." Still, I told him I should probably change before we headed to the School, and he said that was probably a good idea. But Fluttershy was right, those clothes were a good idea, at the right time, and helped cheer my Stallion up. When we came back inside with the breakfast stuff, my Stallion helped Fluttershy with the dishes while I changed back into jeans and a t-shirt. I heard him thank Fluttershy too. Well, it was her idea. At ten, we were over at the bleachers, hugging amazing friends. My Stallion seemed mostly back to normal, and headed to the Shop. Shyna showed up very soon after we did, and she and Fluttershy both hugged immediately. I watched Fluttershy give Shyna her own 'cell-phone', and Shyna was quickly crying, and hugged Fluttershy again for a little while. I thought this was amazing, they could keep in closer contact now. Filia and Fiona walked over maybe ten minutes later, and they and Shyna quickly and excitedly exchanged cell numbers. Now they could keep in contact too. It seemed like such a simple gift would have profound results. Anyway, the next five hours were just an amazing time of sharing friendship. Well, Twilight Sparkle mentioned to the rest, a few times, that we wouldn't be here past noon tomorrow. Someone who knew, said softly "Some lucky ponies are going to Equestria", and the rest of us tried hard not to cry. Some of this was common knowledge, but the girls quickly learned that it should be 'kept under wraps', and that wasn't a problem. Some of these girls had seen both the Equestria Girls and their Twins, and had enjoyed double friendship with them both, and this was just amazing. Noone wanted to jeopardize that! At around three, those amazing friends that were still here, headed off, after making sure we were jogging again this afternoon. So, yeah, I guess we were. And it looked like seven guys headed off from the other end of the bleachers at around the same time. My Stallion told me later that a few other guys wandered over, talked for a while, then had to leave. He also mentioned to them that they would not be meeting tomorrow. He asked them to check back after School on Monday. Getting ready to jog was next, and I guess I looked forward to that. My Stallion looks so nice, I don't know. Well, I knew we both needed the exercise too. And exercising with such amazing friends... Well both Rainbow Dash and Applejack actually came this morning with their jogging clothes on. I think Rainbow lives in clothes like that, during the Summer anyway. The rest of us went to Fluttershy's apartment and changed. Jogging was amazing, and also challenging, but this was good. And visiting with awesome friends again... We all hugged when we were done, and everyone headed off to the rest of their day. It seemed like the Equestria Girls, Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity and Applejack, were free tonight, so we decided to head to the Cake's for dinner. Noone wanted to change, and we were close already, so we dragged our sweaty bodies there for an early meal. All we could talk about was Equestria, our Princess Twilight, and our Twins, and tomorrow was the big day. Fluttershy had already told Shyna, and Twilight Sparkle mentioned she already told Filia and Fiona about our 'field trip'. All we had to do was make it less than 24 hours, and we would be 'home' in Equestria... Rainbow said that, and we all cried just a little. Equestria was in our hearts for good. Fluttershy suggested sending some 'Air Mail' again. But Rainbow said what most felt. "No, let's just get through tomorrow at noon, then we'll just go there..." It was quiet for a minute, then Rainbow added "I want to go flying..." Fluttershy said quietly "I want my sister, and my Twin..." Well, EVERYONE wanted to be with their Twin, and so we all cried together for a little while. During dinner, Pinkie surfaced the idea of everypony staying together up in her room tonight. We had all done this before, and it was amazing fun, just being together like that. And Pinkie mentioned that she still had a mound of sleeping bags we could all use. Everyone liked this idea, but my Stallion was clearly the only real 'issue'. He is so amazing, I love him so much... He sighed first, then began to speak quietly. "Amazing ladies, you all need to know that my Mare loves you all very much, and we both have appreciated you bringing her into your lives since we came here. "She will tell you that doing what she has been doing with all of you is like heaven to her. "But even more than that, each of you have become such a crucial part of both our lives, just like Princess Twilight and her girls have. I really know of no way we can thank you all enough. "I will not for a minute, stand in the way of Summer enjoying her amazing friends tonight. She deserves that. You all deserve that. "I can sleep in my cubical one more night." Well, I was weeping softly by the time he was done, he knows me so well. Twilight Sparkle spoke up immediately after he stopped, while looking at her 'cell'. "Ok, so this is the plan. It is five now. Everypony go home and shower, get clothes, etc, then come back here at seven o'clock. Bring back pajamas, and clothes for tomorrow. The pajamas will stay here, and we will leave from Fluttershy's apartment tomorrow at around noon. "And Summer, you two need to go somewhere and relax together until seven." Fluttershy added quickly "Summer, I will stay here with Pinkie, and we will come back to the apartment at around 6:30 to get you." And that was that. Well, sort of. It was a warm night, maybe the last one for a while, so my Stallion decided we were going back to the beach together, just he and I. We stopped by Fluttershy's apartment to get our White sweatshirts, and didn't even shower or change. My Stallion sent Fluttershy a text of our plan, and said we would try to be back by seven. 30 minutes later, we were sitting together at the beach, watching something far bigger than us do what it had been doing for centuries... I was quickly an emotional mess, and just wept softly on my Stallion's shoulder. I was trying to take in the waves, and everything else... Inside, I really felt like those waves, coming and going... I was doing the same thing, coming here, going back to Equestria, coming here, etc... That was just the cost of all these amazing friends; it was just hard. We kissed some, and hugged some too. But we mostly just held each other and tried to enjoy doing nothing together. Well, at one point, while I was crying, and my Stallion knew why, he just said softly "Summer, honey, I think true friend will work everything out." He was right of course. And at least once, I kissed both his knees, and he kissed mine too. This is just a part of us that we don't usually see because we are wearing jeans. It was just nice. Still, for over an hour, we mostly sat there in silence, and just enjoyed hugging and being at the beach with each other. We probably stayed longer than we should have, but not near as long as we both wanted. Still, and around seven, we walked slowly back to the car. We climbed inside, and I sat in the middle of the front seat next to him again. Well, it was dark now, and my Stallion and I kissed, well, for a few minutes anyway. I really love him. My Stallion texted Fluttershy that we were just now heading back, then he started 'big Blue', and we headed back onto the Freeway. We got a text back, and I checked it. It was from Fluttershy, she is so sweet. She just said "Take your time..." I texted back "I love you, Sis" A little while later, I got a text from Pinkie saying "She loves you too, Summer :) ." I must have made her cry, and I felt bad. Once back to the cubical, my Stallion parked the car, and we walked over to Fluttershy's apartment, and I showered quickly, put on tomorrow's clothing, then brushed my teeth and hair. My Stallion helped me pick out some pajamas that covered 'a little more'. He laughed, then blushed as he said this. Then he told me again that my Equestria Girls body is very beautiful. We were back at the Cake's at around eight. Pinkie met us downstairs, and mentioned most were in pj's already, so I hugged my Stallion, and Pinkie and I headed up the stairs. Well, I blew him a kiss right before I couldn't see him any more. I had heard one of the girls talk about that, and Fluttershy explained it to me. Walking away from him was just hard. I hugged all the girls, and thanked them for some amazing time with my Stallion. I apologized to Fluttershy for making her cry too, and she started crying again. I was crying again, too. I loved all these girls... We stayed up until pretty late. I think we were all excited about going 'home' to Equestria tomorrow. We could hardly wait.