//------------------------------// // Chapter 17, Eschate Zumulus, Part 3 // Story: The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 9 -- Future Perfect // by shysage //------------------------------// Well, we all slept terrible... We had to wake up two times during the course of the previous night... And the second time was maybe an hour before the Sun came up. And it took everypony a while to get back to sleep. And the Sun was up less than an hour later. This was not a good night's sleep... We started to wake up, and we all looked like we felt -- haggard, run down, hurting... Well, I sensed repeatedly last night that there was a lot of pain in this room... Not sleeping well, that just made everything worse. And just like the first time Fluttershy, Shysage and I visited Princess Twilight; that was today's priority, but we didn't want too, because we feared what we would find. That fear nagged at all of us, all morning... Both Fluttershys went out and fussed with the girls first thing for a little while. The rest of us just laid on the floor. Twin was with Twin, and most hugged and cried softly together. Equestria Girls Twilight was next to me. I was glad she knew what to do. There was so much pain wrapped up inside the ponies in this room... I would not be able to see past that... Well, I just hugged Twilight, and she and I wept softly together for a while. I knew she was hurting too. And I knew she was still worried how her first minutes wth her Twin, Princess Twilight, would go. I cried with her. I had my doubts about that part... Still, this was just not a good day for us to start out like this. Unfortunately, that just didn't matter... ... When the Fluttershys came back in, they mentioned it was just a little cool, but slowly warming up. They felt that we would probably not need coats today. We piled them all up next to the door. There would be no breakfast this morning, either. The task at hand had first priority. As everypony filed slowly out the door, I walked back and spent a few minutes hugging and crying with both Dawns and Camille. I didn't say anything, because I couldn't say anything. And anything I might say would probably sound stupid. I just cried as we hugged. We just didn't know. I think our amazing neighbor Dawn and her family understood. Well, we all knew where we needed to go, and when I came out, a long string of Twins was already heading off to Town Square, then Sweet Apple Acres. Shysage, both Fluttershys and I, along with four huge Panthers, walked at the end of that long line. As we walked, we slowly gathered together, I think. I really sensed a dawning realization that we were ALL in this together, and that everypony had a part in this. I also felt that this realization was hard... There still seemed to be animosity between friends within this group. And when we got to the barn, everypony decided that Fluttershy and her cats should go first for the rest of the way. Shysage and I helped the Fluttershys with the cats, so we were up front too. Then our group headed slowly across overgrown orchards to the edge of the Everfree Forest. Shysage occasionally touched my nose with his as we walked. I can't put in words how much that meant to me. What I really wanted to do was lay down in the grass with him and cry all day... My amazing Stallion knew that. He was comforting me... I love him so much... And today, I really needed him... ... And I think, the further we got, the more scared we all became. Many ponies were weeping softly, Twins together, and this only increased as we crossed the fields. And I think... I may have sensed a growing feeling among our precious friends... Maybe this group had let our Princess down. I don't know, that was just hard to really put a finger on. I think, when we started jumping over the low fence and heading into the Everfree Forest, by then we were all bleeding inside... And I was not sure how much a part of this I would be, even though I will freely admit I had made my mistakes with these amazing ponies. But I more and more just felt... Well, it was very hard... ... As we started down the path to Zecoras hut, I directed the Fluttershys to take the girls on ahead first, and asked Equestria Girls Twilight to join Shysage and I behind them. The rest of Twins then followed us, two or four across. I would have liked to talk with Twilight, and try to cheer her up. I knew this was tough for her. No words came. We ended up just crying together. And Shysage, Fluttershy and I had been this way recently. I had a pretty good idea when the Twin Link could go active for both our Princess and Twilight, her Equestria Girls Twin. That was just scary. That made me cry more... Other than a lot of soft crying, it was otherwise quiet for the 45 minutes or so it took to get close to Zecora's Hut, to our Princess... And, the closer we got, well, it got very foggy... ... When Twilight, walking next to me, stopped walking, I knew right away that the Twin Link with Princess Twilight was active... Equestria Girls Twilight fell to the ground crying immediately. ... Less that a minute later, Twilight pleaded "Princess, please..." ... Then "No... She's going... Girls hurry..." and Twilight got up quickly and started walking faster... ... Less than a minute later, both Pinkies said quietly "Summer, go!" I was quickly in the air, gaining altitude as I flew straight, to and past Zecora's hut. I also quickly changed into a people, and spun up my Cutie Mark. I remembered this part of my dream; then we were too late, and Princess died, and had to be brought back by the tears of devotion... I didn't really want to deal with that auguring pain again... Still, I could not see very far ahead because of the fog. I really hoped I wasn't too late... ... When I finally got to the clearing, I saw that huge Bear... ... The closer I got, I also saw Princess Twilight; she was WAY too close for my comfort. I think they were talking... ... I headed in to land just as I watched him lift his huge paw... ... I landed right next to Princess Twilight, extended my arm, put my hand up straight, and barely managed to get a shield in front of Princess, well in front of both of us now, just as his huge paw came crashing down. Eschate's paw hit the shield, bounced off, and he staggered backwards. ... He roared out in anger, and began to cast some spell. I pushed the shield forward quickly, and he tumbled madly backwards maybe fifty feet. Well, this stopped him casting his spell, anyway. I ran forward, up to him, and he worked on getting up. ... "SUMMER! STOP!!! I DESERVE TO DIE!" I... What? Princess Twilight was very angry at me? Princess Twilight ran up quickly behind me, and started kicking my legs, from behind, with one of her front hooves. I was a people... These fancy shoes, they barely covered my heel... And Princess' front hoof was huge... What Princess was doing, that REALY hurt... ... Princess said the same thing, over and over... "SUMMER, STOP IT... LET ME DIE!!!" She kept kicking me... I would not be able to walk soon... ... A bunch of ponies ran into the clearing, yelling "Princess Twilight..." Evidently, this just made Princess more angry, and she kicked me harder... What had I done? ... Eschate Zumulus was up, and again began to cast some magic spell. I didn't bother with the shield, and I just slapped him backwards, than ran up to him again. I was really trying to get away from Princess Twilight... ... Princess just followed me though, and started kicking me again. I was sure she would probably break one of my ankles soon... I guess she didn't realize that if she died now, I would die too, I don't know... The backs of my legs and ankles were throbbing... bleeding... ... Shysage landed quickly behind me, well he worked his way between me and Princess Twilight, so she couldn't kick me, at least. This just made Princess Twilight furious at him... I won't write what she said... ... I motioned a cup shaped shield down over the monster. ... Pony friends flooded around us, and Princess Twilight's girls, all the Twins, literally surrounded her, and worked her away from Shysage, away from that monster. ... My ankles and heels hurt so bad... ... Princess Twilight was outraged... "GIRLS, JUST LET ME DIE... I DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE..." She yelled that a bunch... ... Princess Twilight's girls held her inside their circle, and would not let her go. ... ... ... Shysage yelled... I have never heard him yell like this... I guess he realized what nopony else had... "SUMMER, HE'S CASTING..." ... ... ... I wasn't really sure what to do. I just froze... I didn't think I could stop him... I had been so distracted having to deal with Princess Twilight... I didn't notice... ... ... ... "Summer I love you..." Shysage said quickly, then sighed... I think we both thought that was the last words we would ever hear... ... ... ... A huge Red beam jumped quickly out from the Filia and Fiona Twins... ... ...and Eschate Zumulus was immediately frozen solid... ... I picked my hand up, formed a fist, and brought it down hard on that monster. His completely frozen body just shattered into a hundred pieces. ... Somehow, I was right next to that pit called Dethwell... And it was hard for me to even stand up any more... I punched my fist down hard into the pit, creating a much deeper hole. Then I waved with my right hand, and swept most of the chunks of Eschate Zumulus' body into that hole. It was a bloody mess, but I didn't care. I threw a few fireballs into the pit with my left hand, and it was soon burning. ... I flew off immediately, and Shysage quickly followed... I had almost died trying to rescue my Princess, and she had hurt me a lot. The monster was dead now... I just wanted away... I changed back into a pony as I flew. Still, the pain from my hind legs was excruciating, and I was sobbing... It hurt so bad... I flew to the far end of the clearing. I managed to land without crashing, but it hurt a LOT to even walk... I just laid down right where I had landed, and cried. Shysage was quickly on his side behind me, and he pulled me up to his neck and chest, and we just cried together... I needed that... I needed him... ... After maybe ten minutes, crying in my Stallion's embrace... Both our crying slowed. We both knew that there was really a lot else that needed to be done yet. We just weren't involved with that, not now at least... It was still pretty foggy in the clearing, and I could just barely see that Fluttershy's girls were enjoying lunch on some stray monster pieces... But we couldn't see Princess Twilight or the rest of her girls. Shysage and I didn't move. Laying together... this was really solace for both of us. Like I said, I really needed this right now. Maybe half an hour later, Fluttershy's girls (four huge Black Panthers) came over to us. They laid down around us, and were soon asleep. ... Well, Shysage and I agreed we had probably done our part for now, and the rest was up to Princess Twilight and her girls. We both asked true friend to help them. Well, maybe we were thankful we didn't die, either. Still, for now, all we could do was wait. That was ok. I doubted I could walk another step any time soon...