//------------------------------// // Chapter 23, Rescuing // Story: The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 7 -- monsters in the Grass // by shysage //------------------------------// We woke up early, ate, and were soon flying around Ponyville together. When everypony else joined us, I suspected that we would have a lot of help on the 'last pass' through the account of PonyRos' takeover. Maybe half an hour later, the rest of Princess Twilight's girls were standing outside the Canterlot Recorder's house. My Stallion smiled, and said "I guess it's time to get to work." We all landed in the meadow East of town, then walked to our home. It wasn't far. Everypony hugged everypony (which took a little while), then we all went inside the Canterlot Recorder's house. Princess Twilight, 'her girls' and Filia and Fiona were soon sitting in sort of a circle around the 'scope' and compy. My Stallion and I changed to people, and we both still had our jogging clothes on. This was good for us, it was a warm day. I caught Rare's smile though. She knew about them, and also agreed they looked fabulous. My Stallion and I took a few minutes, and moved the table the 'scope' and compy were on, so our helpers were to our side, and not behind us. While we were moving stuff, Princess Twilight said this. "Girls, remember that our main concern here is to record what actually happened. This might be hard at times, but we are here to help. "And Shysage, some of the material may not be a good idea for some of us." My Stallion and I both understood her last comment. As a result we simply summarized the chapter that involved Star Dusk, well, eventually throwing me in jail. These details would not be helpful, given what Filia and Fiona had recently experienced. And my Stallion and I already had questions about including the chapter about my Stallion 'bringing me back' after a few weeks alone and in jail. Cel would tell us if it should stay. But we just summarized that chapter too. Even so, at some later time, anypony that wanted to, could read the final, published account once it was available. As we started, I read, and my Stallion entered any changes we discussed. My Stallion smiled and said he loves to hear my voice. Everyone was quiet for the first chapter, which talked about Star Dusk, her tragic life, and her encounter with PonyRos. A huge amount of detective work went into this, and there were no changes. My Stallion had agonized over the details. It was a sad chapter. And, as I said, I just summarized the next chapter, which was about what Star Dusk tried to do to me. The chapter about my Stallion 'waking up' was next, and amazing. Everypony now knew that being within Twin Link range of his Twin was what actually woke my Stallion up (it erased the memory spell so he remembered), but that information isn't discussed until much later in the account. Well, my Twin and I had absolutely no idea until his Twin walked up to us... My Stallion's trip to the past to get the Portal fixed, was also received with silence, especially the part about him crying with Lu (well, Princess Luna) for a long time. Filia and Fiona just didn't know, and I still don't think the rest of Princess Twilight's girls understand how close-knit our family really is. I had my Stallion change the chapter name to 'Daddy's Little Girl', and this made him cry. But I know this perfectly fits his love for 'our girls'. The next chapter (5) talked about the rest of my Stallion's first trip to the Equestria Girls world. He felt he needed my Twin to find me, using the Twin Link. He found that she was already in Equestria, with no memory. He needed to get her through the Portal, to rescue her, which he did. This was tough for him, but a later trip would be a lot worse... The chapter about Princess Twilight's Brother made Princess cry. Her brother really is amazing. And my Stallion could only do what he did, because Shining Armor was an amazing soldier, through and through, and had already made possible so much of what my Stallion needed to do. My Stallion had told me he was intent on honoring this amazing stallion, and this came across beautifully. Chapter 7 talked about my Stallion taking me, my Twin and Princess Celestia from Canterlot to the Portal, on the train, mostly. Using the Portal would erase the 'memory spell'. Still, this trip, especially towards the end, was terrible for my Stallion, and my Twin too, because of the 'wontonness spell'. Well, we decided to summarize this chapter too. The next chapter (8) dealt with the same day in the past, when my Stallion cried with Lu, but from Cel's (Princess Celestia's) perspective in the present. I asked that this chapter also be changed to 'Daddy's Little Girl', well part 2. My Stallion and I have talked about this, and we feel Cel doesn't usually remember stuff from the past until something in the present triggers that memory. On this particular day, my Stallion gave Cel a piece of paper with the spell details, that she herself had written maybe 1300 years ago for her. THEN she remembered the day, and all about Lu... Cel has a LOT of memories after over 1300 years. It is so clear that Shining Armor loves his Mare, Princess Cadance. The next chapter covered him actually rescuing 'Cady' from the memory spell, by luring her through the Portal. I was worried for a minute, but my Stallion mentioned Princess Cadance laughed, then told Shining Armor his special name for her could stay in the account. Nopony else in their right mind would dare address her that way. Their brief time in the Equestria Girls world was absolutely amazing, I'm sure. And when he was going to take Princess Cadance back to Canterlot, Princess Twilight was already in the Air Coach, and wanted a ride. She got it! We just summarized chapter 10 since it covered how my Stallion lovingly 'brought me back'. It is pretty personal, but was a part of the account. This had to be done... The next chapter was short, and covered my Stallion's 'best guess' about how to rescue Equestria. He clearly was doing the best he could figure, but Equestria stepped in through Twilight Sparkle. This whole realization made Princess Twilight cry a lot. She had no idea that her Twin, Equestria Girls Twilight Sparkle... that Equestria had reached across the Portal through Twilight Sparkle, to actually initiate the chain of events that brought Equestria to life. Princess loves her Twin, who would never have thought about pointing this out herself. Her girls all hugged her while she cried for a little while. Chapters 12 through 14 covered Equestria standing up to PonyRos. These chapters came out as amazing as the events they include. Starting with Princess Twilight's new Castle, Equestria was quickly 'calling the shots'. Many of these details would no doubt set the stage for future encounters deemed necessary by the Realm. There was no battle, but 'being prepared' was certainly the best deterrent. These chapters provoked the most interaction. This was all good, mostly everypony was involved with these events. There were a lot of good suggestions and some new information. Still, PonyRos killing Star Dusk as he fled like a coward, was both tragic and disgusting... The next two chapters (15 and 16) discussed the aftermath of the the confrontation, as everypony started to put Equestria back together. And the next two chapters included events within Princess' circle, as we all tried to put our lives back together, too. Chapter 19 was amazing, to me and my Twin. It talked about my Stallion quietly leading my hurting Twin to the very pony that could help her, my Stallion's Twin. Most didn't know the details about our meeting, but it was amazing... And the last chapter talked about his Twin meeting Cel and Lu along with the rest of Princess' Twilight's girls. My Stallion had not yet come up with a title for this account. I think he looks forward to times like this just so everyponies' input can help him come up with good suggestions. We all decided on 'Faded Memories', and that was that. My Stallion got his slow printer going, then he and I turned back into ponies. Then we all just hugged together and cried some. I think times like this just show us all how much we NEED each other. And the Equestria Girls AGAIN 'stood in the gap' for Equestria that day. We all need them too. A little after noon, we all headed off to the Castle. Princess carried this stack of pages for 'Faded Memories' to her Library. She set it on the correct spot on the correct table, so the Courier could come get it for Princess Celestia's review and printing. Princess Twilight said we should all come back for dinner at the castle. As we were sitting in a group just talking, Fiona asked about 'Cel' and 'Lu' and our trips to the past. Neither my Stallion nor I like to even come across as bragging, so we asked Princess Twilight to talk them through that account, well 'Follow the Equestrium'. Princess did a good job, and that made for an amazing afternoon for Princess' girls. It was good that Princess did that, my Stallion and I mostly cried the whole time. Who would have thought that our simple decision to risk our lives and rescue two doomed foals would end up one of the main reasons the Portal sent us back there... We were just being true friends to these two mares, and lovingly took them as our own. We had no idea until much later. This is still such a humbling realization... Well just thinking about my Stallion and I coming back through the Portal and helping Cel and Lu remember... I always cry... And dinner was good too, of course. This happened a few days later, I'm not sure how many. Our morning started like it 'normally' did. My Stallion and I both woke up, rubbed noses a while, then snacked in the meadow and were soon flying above Ponyville with amazing friends. We landed at Princess Twilight's Castle, and were all bowing to our precious Princess. She got us up, and we said together what we often say. I still cry every time. I could tell by watching Filia and Fiona, that 'something' was up. Princess didn't leave us guessing. We would all be heading through the Portal tonight a little after dinner, for a day with our Equestria Girls Twins. It was a Saturday there, and we would arrive at the start of their day. Princess said some sort of nap this afternoon might be a good idea. My Stallion likes to be 'punctual', well on time, for stuff, and he suggested that we all eat dinner together at Princess' Castle, and leave afterwards. That immediately became the plan. This would be nice. It had been a little less than two weeks since we were there last. My sister and I looked at each other and smiled broadly. This trip would mean we all got to see our Twins. A much more excited group of ponies wandered off to start their days. We were all anticipating our amazing visit. Again, you really need to have a Twin to fully understand this. First thing, my Stallion, Fluttershy and I headed to our home. We left Fluttershy outside briefly. My Stallion and I changed back into people, and put jeans on over our jogging shorts, and put our sweatshirts back on. We didn't know what the weather was like there, but jeans were just more 'appropriate', my Stallion said. Then we changed back to ponies. Then my Stallion, Fluttershy and I pretty much spent that whole day together. The three of us decided to fly some more, so we did. Rainbow Dash joined us at that point, and she stayed with us the rest of the day too. I later found out that Rarity took Filia and Fiona to the Boutique, and this allowed Princess Twilight to join us for some flying time, too. I am trying to help Fluttershy with her flying, so I took us on a larger circle, and we were flying higher. It was a little more demanding for both Fluttershy and Princess. It was a good workout, but still an amazing time. After an hour, Princess landed in front of Rarity's Boutique, and the rest of us landed in the East meadow and snacked some. Then we flew to my tree (near the Castle). My goal was for us to nap there for a while, so I walked over to the edge of Rainbow's memorial garden, like I normally do, and sat down. I'm not sure exactly why, but Rainbow was quickly crying. We just gathered around her and hugged her for a while. That terrible night had been an absolute nightmare for all of us. Well, after crying a little while, Rainbow explained. She had met her Twin, for the first time, right at this very spot. Rainbow loved her Twin. We were ALL crying after hearing that. We all loved our Twins. Still, we moved to the grass on the other side of Princess' Castle, and napped there. The sunlight felt very good, and we were all soon asleep. A few hours later, Princess sent Filia over to wake us all up. I think Filia was afraid we would be cross at having to wake up, but we all quickly group-hugged her. Rainbow took off to get Applejack, and my Stallion and I flew to the Cakes for Pinkie, then walked to Rarity's Boutique to get Rarity and Fiona. Sweetie Belle was bummed that she couldn't come. Dinner was very good, of course, and I don't think anypony even remembered what we ate. Princess started us through the Portal after dinner. My Stallion and I went through last, holding hands, like we usually do. The clock in the School lobby said 8:17, it was morning here. We all walked quickly to the bleachers. Those Twins that were in Twin Link range joined us soon after. My Twin and my Sister's Twin came quickly, along with Shyna. All six of us (Summers, Fluttershys, my Stallion and Shyna) hugged and cried together right way. Princess Twilight asked my Stallion and I to come with her to get the Filia and Fiona Twins (it wasn't far), and they were soon back as well. Evidently Equestria Girls Filia and Fiona's mom was eager to see her daughter's Twins again, too. Princess' Twin (Twilight Sparkle) walked over maybe five minutes later, and was also quickly hugging everypony. Rainbow and her Twin ran and tackled each other, and were quickly crying together on the ground. They had pretty much done the same thing when they first met, in Equestria. They both got up, Soccer practice would begin soon. They walked out onto the field and started kicking a Soccer ball back and forth while talking. Applejack and Pinkie both came in Big Mac's truck. We were all quickly sitting in the bleachers, talking excitedly together. My Twin (Equestria Girls Summer Rain) asked for everyponies' attention, and also asked for the Rainbow Twins to come over briefly. Then she told everypony that Fluttershy had been given legal custody of Shyna. Evidently, the 'social workers' were just amazed that anyone would want Shyna, and, realizing the quality of Shyna's new home, quickly approved this. My Twin laughed and said "Three sisters in Fluttershy's apartment. Everything is working amazingly well." Well, everypony had to hug a crying Fluttershy and Shyna. Still, I knew this would be hard for my sister. But I also knew that the group home Shyna was living in was a disaster. Some very nasty people lived there, and the head couple demanded that Shyna do a lot of their work. This move was certainly best for Shyna. The Rainbow Twins headed back to the field, and started Soccer practice, while the rest of us visited in the bleachers. Soon after, a seemingly endless stream of girl friends from the High School flowed over... This was... amazing... I would have come just for this... The Principal sisters wandered over at ten on someponies' cell, and hugged everyone... Still, they asked for my Stallion's help with another bad computer system. He walked to the Computer Lab with them, and quickly replaced the bad system with another he had fixed earlier. He also found a stray table, and set up an eleventh station in the Lab, so they could easily switch should one of the other systems go down. He was quickly back, and said the Principal sisters really appreciated his help. Well, at eleven, my Stallion's Twin showed up, followed soon after by a bunch of the guys from the School. My Stallion wandered over, and just blended in. My Twin told me that the church her stallion was working for, when they heard what he was doing with the guys here, told him to add the time he spent here, after school, and on Saturdays, to his time-card. On his last paycheck, they were paying him double for that time. Evidently, they saw the value of this, and wanted to help. Maybe ten minutes later, the Principal sisters walked back over with their Twins (Princess Celestia and Princess Luna). Well, we absolutely could NOT pass up such an opportunity. Without even discussing this or anything, ALL the Twins in the group, wherever we were in the bleachers, got up, ran down, and were quickly bowing before our two amazing Princesses. My Stallion and I didn't need to, but we did anyway with everypony else. Both Twilights did the same thing. It was like everything around us stopped immediately, and all of us gathered around our Princesses, bowing. Princess Celestia was clearly not expecting this. Still, she asked us to all arise, then she said quietly "Equestria knows no other, more dedicated ponies... Thank you all." We all returned back to what we were doing as our amazing Princesses worked their way around hugging and crying with us. I am sure that, seeing the 'magic of friendship' in action in hearts and lives here, was an amazing experience for both our Princesses. I made a mental note to ask them about some bleachers in town square near the Cakes... At around one o'clock, everypony wound everything down, and amazing friends walked off, the guys included. My Twin told me that they normally stay until three, but today was different, and the Equestria Girls and her stallion had warned everyone ahead of time about the change. Principal Celestia asked my Stallion and I to go get 'big Blue' and park in front of the Van already at Fluttershy's apartment. The rest of the group walked over to Fluttershy's apartment, and sat in the grass and talked. Still, with now 12 sets of Twins, or 24 people plus Shyna, we had a big group. The walk to my Stallion's cubical was pretty quick, although we did walk while hugging. And it wasn't warm here, and jeans and sweatshirt worked fine. In five minutes maybe, we backed 'big Blue' up carefully in front of one of the School's White '18 passenger' Vans. Well my Stallion said he could fit six in his car, and they had 25 people, but that this loving group would make it work. Well, it worked out like this. My Stallion and I along with both Pinkies and both Fluttershys and Shyna were soon packed in 'big Blue'. Equestria Girls Pinkie Pie sat up front next to the door with me in the middle. Both Fluttershys are very 'slight', as is Shyna, and there was plenty of room in the back seat for Equestria pony Pinkie Pie, both Fluttershys and Shyna. Shyna and her 'new sister' easily shared the center seat belt. Everyone else climbed into the Van, and we were ready to go. My Stallion said he didn't know where we were going, but Pinkie said she would tell him, and the Van would be following us. When Pinkie got a text the Van was ready, we were off together. My Stallion quickly figured out we were heading to the storage unit where the Pie family Mustang was. Pinkie confirmed this, and we were quickly there. There were already a bunch of the Pie siblings waiting at the storage unit when we pulled up. We all spilled out of the car and Van to see what was inside. We didn't go in, but we all looked at the car inside the unit. It looked beautiful to me. Equestria pony Applejack said immediately "Wow, what color is that? It looks amazing, just like some of our apples." Equestria Girls Pinkie Pie quickly hugged her and said quietly "Applejack, it is called 'Candy Apple Red'. We added a few extra 'clear coats' to give depth to the Red so that it looks like Apples sometimes look." Well, my Stallion went in and looked the car over pretty carefully. He knows these cars pretty well, and so I asked him to describe what we were looking at. Well, first, I need to say that the Pie family did not just 'put this car back together', they actually restored it. They went out of their way to make it look the way it did when it first left the dealership many years ago. They cleaned and repainted EVERYTHING, and fixed anything that was broken. A LOT of craftmanship went into this job. This Mustang looked amazing. Well, there were a few changes. The 'period correct' slotted mag wheels were buffed out and left in place. They looked very nice. The outside of the car, while done in Candy Apple Red, also included Boss 302 markings and trim. But since the motor was a 351, the Pies had the numbers changed to 351. But it all looked very 'factory'. They added a five speed, like I had done to the other one. The interior was done in bright White, and was a stunning contrast to the Red exterior. And the license plates... The letters said 'Circle' then a space, then the Math sympol 'pi'. Sorry I can't type that in, but the plates read 'Circle pi' sort of a play on words based on the math symbol 'Pi' which is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to it's diameter. The Circle Track the family used to own was called the 'Circle Pie'. The car was amazing... And it spoke volumes of the love the Pie family had for their parents. The Pie family had transformed this car into an amazing gift... Oh, and they had done all this in less that a month. That was REALLY amazing... Still, the picture of this amazing, beautiful car sitting in this storage unit, surrounded by rusty pieces of metal and assorted dirty parts, and oddly shaped pieces of cast-off metal, and a hundred nasty bolts and such... I don't think I'll forget that. And Pinkie did take a lot of pictures. I was positive that today's gift would end up on Facebook before the Sun went down. Well, ok, what my Stallion said. But he was right, the car was beautiful. There were some of the other Pie siblings around, and Pinkie quickly mentioned their names. I only remembered Inky and Maude, but it was clear the Pie's were all amazed that so many wanted to see what was going on. Anyway, Maude gave the keys to Pinkie, and Pinkie walked over to my Stallion, and handed them to him. "Shysage, your amazing gift made this possible, we want you to drive it to their home." Pinkie said quietly. My Stallion is so amazing... He said quietly back "Pinkie, you are surrounded by ponies that love you dearly. You can drive this tribute." Pinkie hugged my Stallion and I, then yelled "Whoo hooo" again, then climbed in the car and started it up. It was LOUD! The rest of the Pies' climbed into an older van, and the rest of us got back into our cars. It took fifteen minutes for our caravan to get to the Ma and Pa Pie's little house on a small hill lot in the foot-hills. At the bottom of the long driveway, Pinkie stopped far enough in so we could all get off the main road. Then she brought her MP2 player to me, plugged in the audio thing, cued up that same amazing song, and showed me how to start it up. That was my job when she gave me the nod. Pinkie knew my Stallion's car had a good enough sound system to do this. Pinkie started the Mustang up, headed up the hill, then turned the motor off, and coasted this beautiful car to a quiet stop in front of their small house. This part was amazing... We all parked our cars and got quietly out. The Pie family crowded around the door, and everypony else formed a semi-circle around behind the cars. We were just friends after all. Pinkie quieted everyone, then knocked. Ma and Pa Pie came out, and then the Pie kids all backed away to reveal this Red Classic Mustang, now blazing BRIGHTLY in the afternoon Sun. Ma and Pa gasped immediately. Then Pinkie handed them the keys and the title. Pinkie's parents started crying right away, and Pinkie nodded to me, and we started the 'party' music. Pinkie's parents were astonished... They kept looking at the car like they were dreaming or something. Pinkie stepped down, walked over, and opened the hood, the trunk and both doors, and her sisters pulled both her parents over to have a look. They worked Pa into the driver's seat, and Ma into the passenger seat, and put the keys in Pa's hand. He knew what to do, and started his new gem up. It was loud out here too. Pinkie's parents smiled HUGE -- Pinkie Pie was ecstatic; SMILES are what she lives for... She was quickly crying... Well, most of the Pie girls were crying too, and a bunch of the rest of us were crying as well. We all realized this was an amazing gift. My Stallion was standing behind me for most of this. He was just hugging me from behind with his hands over my hands in the two pockets on the front of my sweatshirt. I think he was hiding though. Or he was trying not to cry, or both. He said later he didn't want to get any credit; the Pie family had done an AMAZING job on the Mustang. It didn't matter though, both Ma and Pa came over, and had to hug my Stallion once they understood his role in all of this. Pinkie was standing next to us. Pa Pie asked quietly "Pinkie, who are all these other people?" Pinkie just laughed. "Pa, these are my amazing friends. We are all just ponies from a different land." Well, this was true. We all have Equestria in our hearts... I changed the title for this chapter after I had pulled most of it together. The new title is 'Rescuing' because that is the theme that surfaces a number of times. We all worked on the account of PonyRos' takeover. This was really about Shining Armor and my Stallion rescuing ponies they love, and ultimately rescuing Equestria by providing the means to allow Equestria to stand up and defend herself through Princess Twilight and her girls. My amazing 'second' sister, Equestria Girls Fluttershy... She rescued Shyna from an absolutely terrible 'home', and a completely barren 'cast off' existance. Shyna's amazing life can truly blossom now. And the time the Equestria Girls spend with so many of the hurting girls at the School... We are reaching out to them and trying to rescue them from the pain and hardship that just seems to be part of living there. And even the Mustang... The Pie kids did an amazing job rescuing that car. But that wasn't the real rescue... Ma and Pa Pie treasured a stable of cars like that. For some reason, selfish people literally 'scrapped' everything the Pie family treasured... But, with my Stallion's help, the Pie kids rescued a little piece of 'treasure', and were amazingly able to give that back to their parents. Well, a few chapter earlier, ponies on both sides of the Portal rescued Filia and Fiona, too... This made my Stallion and I cry... Rescuing is what true friends do. It is who we are, and how we live. ---------------------- Little did we know, that would one day cost us everything... The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 8 -- Dark Melvain