//------------------------------// // Chapter 21, Ponies from a Different Land // Story: The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 7 -- monsters in the Grass // by shysage //------------------------------// Summer and I napped there on the couch until noon maybe. Then we hugged and kissed a bit. Well, I awoke to Summer gently kissing my cheek. I didn't mind. Ponyville was already bustling with activity, and Summer and I changed back into ponies, ate some Oats together in the East meadow, had some water at the lake, then we flew. It was just the two us for a while, and so I shadowed her. My Mare is absolutely beautiful in the air like that. Shadowing didn't last too long though, because Summer said she wanted me next to her. Well, she wanted me where she could see me too. While talking together, we flew large, lazy circles high over Ponyville, so we could 'keep an eye out' in case anything was going on below. It was quiet for almost an hour, so we just enjoyed flying together. As I said before, we both had missed this during our time in the Equestria Girls world. Rainbow Dash joined us after an hour maybe. Evidently Princess had mentioned tonight's trip through the Portal to her girls. Princess suggested to Rainbow that she nap some. Rainbow didn't mind napping. Maybe ten minutes later, Princess, Rarity, Fiona and Filia came out of the Castle. Summer, Rainbow and I just curved our path, headed to the grass in front of the Castle, and landed. It turns out Princess Twilight did want Summer's help. Princess wanted to see about helping Filia and Fiona get pretty good at walking before tonight. Both were pretty excited, so we all realized they knew what tonight held in store for them. Summer changed into a people right away, walked over to Fiona, and grabbed one of her front legs, then helped Fiona stand up as a people. Summer held Fiona's hand until she was pretty stable standing up. Then Summer began to slowly walk Fiona around. Fiona was unsteady walking at first, but caught on quickly. After maybe ten minutes of walking around, Summer asked me to change to a people too, and then I was walking around with Fiona as she 'practiced'. Huge grins like her's are priceless. Summer then did the same thing with Filia, and she too was soon walking around as a people. I think Summer is always looking out for things like this. What she did next was amazing. Summer called Princess over and had Filia grab Princess' front leg and help her up as a people. I brought Fiona over, and Summer had Fiona take her other hand, and had me let go. Rarity was clearly expecting this as Fiona took one of her front legs, and helped her up as a people. And off they went, walking hand in hand towards the meadow behind the Castle. Smiles and tears... It must have been an amazing time. Still a people, I grinned at Rainbow and said they might be a while. Rainbow didn't want to miss out, and quickly flew after them, and ended up walking as a people, next to Princess Twilight. I knew they really would be 'a while', so I walked into the Castle, into the Library, and got my 'scope', and carried it back to the Canterlot Recorder's house, and set it on it's table next to my compy. I left the jogging clothes in the cover, and set it aside. I realized that there was no sense starting in on anything this afternoon. In less than twelve hours, we would be back in the Equestria Girls world, anyway. But I did turn the 'scope' on, and checked in on my Mare. Well, the group was walking while hugging now, which I expected. Walking like that requires everyone walk 'in step' though, and that can be an interesting challenge, but this was probably good practice for Filia and Fiona. And Pinkie Pie and Applejack had joined them; they were walking back from Sweet Apple Acres. They were headed to Fluttershy's Cottage at the moment. The mutual devotion these girls shared together never ceased to amaze me... I turned my 'scope' off, changed back into a pony, and walked back to the Castle. Princess Twilight and her amazing 'treasures' were simply enjoying being together, and would return when they were ready, and that was fine by me. I was soon napping in the grass between the Castle and Summer's tree. I must have slept well in the warm sunlight, and woke up later to my Mare laying next to me, gently rubbing her head up against mine. I tried not to cry. It was dinner time, and I was invited. Dinner was good, and maybe an hour later, we were all in Princess Twilight's new Library, waiting. Princess suggested that we all take a nap, and that we would go through the Portal around midnight. Well, I knew that there were no 'alarm clocks' here in Equestria, but I was not about say anything to Princess. We all went to sleep. It was late when I woke up, and I suspected that it might have been later than Midnight. I woke Summer up, and let her wake Princess Twilight. Five minutes later, everypony else was waking up. This looked the hardest on Filia and Fiona, but maybe ten minutes later, Princess started sending ponies through the Portal. Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, Fiona, Princess Twilight, Filia, Fluttershy, then Summer and I went through the Portal. It didn't really matter how tired we all felt. That wouldn't last. We were all soon in the Equestria Girls world, and wide awake. The timing worked out pretty good. The clock in the School Lobby said 2:35; classes would be done at 3:00. I suggested we head to the bleachers. As we started across the grass, I noticed that everypony else was crying. Summer said it was because her Twin was very upset, but she didn't know why. This seemed all wrong to me; this was supposed to be a pleasant surprise. "Twin, do you know what is going on?" I said out loud, gently, when I realized Equestria pony Shysage was already at the bleachers. "Filia and Fiona's mom, well, 'freaked out' Summer said, when the girls told their mom about their weekend. Filia and Fiona are not allowed to see Rarity or Twilight any more..." My Twin said this slowly. He was pretty upset too. No wonder... Soon, we were sitting together in the bleachers on the left end like the girls usually do. My Twin joined us, and I told the rest what my Twin told me. Everypony was crying a LOT now, especially Equestria ponies Filia and Fiona, and Princess Twilight and Rarity too... This was just hard... My Mare was crying too, but she got up and moved next to Princess Twilight, hugged her, then asked Princess to ask her Twin to 'text' Filia and Fiona's mom, and tell her that one of Filia and Fiona's friends would like to talk to her. I just sighed. It sounded like their mom had already made up her mind. The next 20 minutes or so, seemed to take forever... Finally, the last bell rang, and the Equestria Girls pretty much ran out to the bleachers, and hugged and cried with their Twins. Shyna came with Equestria Girls Fluttershy, too. Basically Twin with Twin, everypony was crying... Equestria Girls Rainbow mentioned that she had tried to text everyone that Soccer practice was cancelled. She had no intention of trying to run that right now... Still crying, Equestria Girls Twilight Sparkle mentioned to my Mare that Filia and Fiona's mom would be here maybe 3:30, but that Summer shouldn't get her hopes up. Evidently she was pretty rough with Twilight. This was the first day of classes at the High School, and Summer and the Equestria Girls had been group hugging and loving girls from the student body all Summer. MANY came out to the bleachers today, soon after school was out. They saw their dear friends crying, but refused to walk away. These precious friends walked over to the group, hugged everypony they knew or could, and cried with them, then moved and sat as a group of girl friends in the middle of the bleachers. This process continued for the next hour, and the group of amazing friends in the center of the bleachers slowly grew. Evidently a bunch of the girls from the Soccer team ended up there as well. During this time, a few of the guys from the student body arrived, and sat on the far right end of the bleachers like we did last week. I sent my Twin over to introduce himself, and get to know them better. He was anxious to carry this forward. This group slowly grew as well. Evidently word traveled quickly, and maybe 3:15, Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna walked over together, and sat with the growing group of girls in the center of the bleachers. These girls were Principal and Vice-Principal's primary concern. At maybe 3:25, Filia and Fiona's mom walked slowly across in front of the bleachers with her two girls. It was clear she was stunned at all the students in the bleachers, but didn't connect anything, except to note that many were weeping quietly. But she DID stare briefly at two girls up on the left end of the bleachers that looked exactly like her daughters. And as she walked across, down in front, it grew instantly quiet in the bleachers. My Mare got up right away, and went down to talk to her. Filia and Fiona's mom immediately recognized that Summer had been a part of the group that reached out to her girls in the first place, and she actually hugged my Mare. Before Filia and Fiona's mom could say anything, Summer spoke to the rest of Princess Twilight's girls. "Twilights and Raritys and Filia and Fiona please stay put, but the rest of you girls, please come down here and gather around us" Filia and Fiona's mom gasped as she heard those two names. I suspected what my Mare had in mind as I joined the group around her. Still, I realized people higher in the bleachers may see this... And, by the way, both Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna came over and joined us too. Once the Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy Twins (Shyna come too) and Principal and Vice-Principal were all crowded around my Mare and Filia and Fiona and their mom, Summer threw herself forward, and turned into a pony, then she sat down. Filia and Fiona's mom gasped again, and her eyes got pretty big. Her daughter Fiona said quietly "Summer, you really are amazing..." Summer tried to talk. "I... I really wanted to--" A voice came up from somewhere between us and the bleachers. "Wait, wait a minute, let me through..." It was Equestria Girls Fluttershy's mom... She gently made her way through the girls in the circle, knelt down and hugged Summer tightly. "I still think you are an angel..." she said again, and began to cry. Summer just cried with her... It was clear that Filia and Fiona's mom was stunned, both by the fact that a people had turned into a pony, and that the pony talked, but also that another people was hugging and crying with that pony... This was certainly a lot for Filia and Fiona's mom to take in. But I think what she heard from Filia and Fiona about her weekend was sounding less and less strange. After a few minutes, Fluttershy's mom stood up, then held her hand out for Summer. Summer stood up as a pony, then threw herself back, changed to a people, and stood up, but took Fluttershy's mom's hand so she didn't fall over backwards. Fluttershy's mom moved to stand next to Summer, hugged her tightly, and faced Filia and Fiona's mom, and motioned towards her two girls. "Are these your two girls?" she asked. Filia and Fiona's mom answered softly "Yes..." "Did they spend the weekend with these amazing girls standing around you?" she asked again. After a brief delay, Filia and Flona's mom again answered quietly "Yes..." It was quiet for a minute... Fluttershy's mom wanted to speak, but had to fight back tears... "You will never find a more caring, loving group of girls, and here of all places..." she said as best as she could. It was quiet for another minute maybe. Fluttershy's mom was still trying not to cry... She called out "Summer", and her daughter (Equestria Girls Summer, my Mare's Twin) quickly ran up to her. Fluttershy's mom hugged the Summer on her right, then said softly "This is my daughter. We thought she had died in a terrible car accident, but these amazing friends gave her back to us..." Fluttershy's mom had to stop and cry a minute, but she wasn't done. Then she hugged my Mare, the Summer on her left, the one that was a pony. "This is my daughter's 'Twin', they call it. She is just like my daughter, but is from another place. And, yes, I know it's wierd that she is a Pony there, but... They treasure true friendship there, and they are bringing that here... They are carving out an oasis of love and compassion at this School... And we really need that..." Fluttershy's mom couldn't talk for a little while, and the two Summers cried with her. BOTH Fluttershys quickly ran up and cried with mom also... Shyna came too. It was quiet for a few minutes. Filia spoke up quietly, trying not to cry herself. "Mom, can we please go hug our Twins one last time, anyway?" Filia and Fiona's mom looked at the two crying red-heads up in the bleachers, sighed, and said simply "Yes"... Filia and Fiona quickly left the group, ran up to their Twins and were quickly hugging and crying together... ...and almost immediately, the now large group of girls in the center of the bleachers applauded... It was VERY loud... As the applause trailed off, Princess Twilight, still crying herself, got up, and slowly made her way down the bleachers, and walked over towards the Summers and Fluttershys. Princess didn't even make it up to the circle. Both Summers and both Futtershys saw her coming, and turned towards her and bowed to the ground to their Princess. Shyna did the same thing. The rest of the girls in the circle around them, Equestria Girls and Equestria ponies, moved out some, then also bowed, Twin with Twin. The Rarity Twins and the Filia and Fiona twins helped each other carefully down, and they all ran over and bowed to their Princess as well. Well, I bowed too. I love Princess Twilight. My Twin was with the guys, and just sat with them. This was probably best. Fluttershy's mom backed up, and bowed herself. This must have looked very 'different' to the girls in the bleachers. They were suddenly very quiet. A few put their hands to their mouth in wonder. I think some of them remembered this same Princess from a very different night not too long ago... Leaving the rest bowed, Princess Twilight spoke to Filia and Fiona's mom. "I am one of the leaders of the land we are from. And I do agree it is strange that we are ponies there. "Still, I have accepted primary responsibility for the two 'Twins' for your two girls, also called Filia and Fiona. Believe me, I truly understand your concern for the well-being of your girls; I am just as concerned for the two from our land. But I want you to know that we have all gone out of our way to take very good care of your two girls while they were with us." Without even turning away from Filia and Fiona's mom, Princess Twilight said softly "Amazing ladies, please arise", and we all got back up. Princess Twilight continued. "You will notice that it looks like there are two of all the amazing girls around us. One of each is from here, and one of each is from our land. And I can honestly say that I have never even heard of the love and devotion shared between these Twins, and this amazing group of po... people standing around you even now." Princess stopped here, and herself was fighting back tears. "I have a Twin too... And I love her dearly... And I know for a fact that she would do anything to protect your two girls while they are under her care..." Equestria Girls Twilight Sparkle got up from the top of the bleachers, and ran down to her Twin (Princess Twilight), and was quickly crying on her shoulder. Princess was crying too. EVERY girl in the large group in the center of the bleachers knew and loved Twilight Sparkle... They were all soon weeping softly together as well... It was quiet for maybe two minutes, except for a large number of girls crying quietly. Filia and Fiona's mom looked slowly around, then spoke quietly, evidently now fully accepting what she had heard from her girls... "Princess Twilight, I appreciate you accepting responsibility for my girls while they were in your land. I honestly don't understand how my girls can already love you so deeply, and it seems very, uhm 'different' that you are a pony in your land. I don't understand that either. "But twice now, I have felt a love, a committment... something so vastly different... a friendship that is so terribly rare here... "I think I want my girls to know that... Filia and Fiona's mom began to cry softly herself. "And Twilight Sparkle, I am sorry for all the hurtful things I said to you... What my girls were telling me sounded, well, impossible. But I think you and your friends are bringing the 'impossible' into our hurting world. "My daughters can spend as much time with you and Rarity as they want." Princess Twilight, still crying, hugged Filia and Fiona's mom, and the bleachers again erupted in thunderous applause. Both Twilights hugged Filia and Fiona's mom for a few minutes, and they cried together. Before too long, the Raritys and the Fionas were hugging and crying, and the Filias and Twilights were as well. After maybe ten minutes, and before anyone had a chance to leave, Principal Celestia called EVERYONE down onto the Soccer field, and had them gather closely around her. She asked a few times; she wanted to make sure everyone could hear this. Then she spoke. "Vice Principal Luna and myself have a very deep concern for the students at this High School. "It is clear to us both that the influence of this 'other land' called Equestria is having an amazing, overwhelmingly positive impact on the lives of our students, and we can't ignore that. For better or worse, there is more to High School than 'book learning'. And, thanks to some very special ponies, our students are finding healing compassion and love in the midst of this difficult life. Vice-Principal Luna and I don't ever want that to stop..." Principal Celestia began to cry, and couldn't finish. Her sister did for her. Vice-Principal Luna spoke up softly; it was very quiet now. "Anyone of you that wants, could head from here straight to the newspapers, or the radio station, or to any number of social networking websites, and tell everyone that you saw some strange things here, today. "But you would ruin what is happening here, if you did. As much as my sister and I truly value what is taking place at our school, and in the lives of our students, ANY sort of 'notoriety' will quickly kill this. "For the sake of these students, PLEASE keep what you have seen and heard today in the strictest confidence. "Principal Celestia and I are pleading for you all to respect this request. It was quiet for a minute maybe, as most in the group were nodding in agreement. Principal Celestia had recovered somewhat, and, still wiping tears from her eyes, concluded with this. "I think that tomorrow after school is out, some amazing friends will be available here in these bleachers. For now, I think some special ponies need some time together, and would appreciate your understanding." And with this, the entire group erupted in applause again. Students then began to wander off. Five minutes later, it was just Princess Twilight's girls, my Twin and I, Filia and Fiona's mom, Fluttershy's mom and Shyna. Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna talked with Filia and Fiona's mom briefly, and mentioned that she should not hesitate to call, as they were both fairly familar with these 'ponies from a different land' (surely an intentional understatement). My Twin hugged his Summer, then headed to the cubical for some sleep. He had to work in a few hours. Filia and Fiona's mom spent over half an hour with both her girls and their Twins. She tried hard not to cry the whole time. And she could not tell them apart either. She was also deeply amazed at their devotion to each other. She hugged both Twilights a little while longer, then both Raritys, then she left. The Summers, Fluttershys (and Shyna) hugged together with Fluttershy's mom for a few minutes, then she needed to leave. Then both Fluttershys talked with Shyna for a while. This was just a very special time for the Fluttershy twins. The three of them really didn't need to say much in order to communicate. They were Fluttershys. As the Sun went down, it was Twin with Twin. This was good. Even though everypony knew we had to leave soon, this trip had turned out very well. We had meant it as a pleasant surprise. It turns out our presence here was absolutely essential. Having the Portal close by, made this trip possible.