Well, the last thing Orbsah Tnuoc said to us made no sense...
...until Equestria Present, well our present, came slowly into view.
We felt right away, it was freezing cold...
We saw right away, the gound was covered in snow...
And that quiet, snow drift tune(1) was playing softly in the background again...
Coming back from maybe the middle of a nice, warm Summer, this felt very harsh...
We arrived back in our present on that little hill in the East meadow, just where each of us were when we had left here over four weeks ago, four weeks ago for me anyway. It was obviously Winter still, and sometime in the middle of the night. A full Moon lit the meadow up nicely, and the snowcover made it very hushed, very quiet.
There was no breeze, but we were freezing cold; we had no coats on, and absolutely could not stay here. And the three of us were quickly crying again.
Shysage said "Our home" and started walking.
Fluttershy said "My Cottage will be warmer", and so we walked there; well, we ran there instead. Fluttershy's Cottage made sense; since she lived in a tree, even with no fire, it would be warmer.
The three of us could barely even move when we started up the small hill to Fluttershy's Cottage. Fluttershy led the way, and we were quickly inside.
Wow, it was nice and warm in here...
...
Two ponies had been asleep facing a very low fire in the fireplace in Fluttershy's Cottage. When Fluttershy, Shysage and I burst through the door before we became frozen solid, we woke them up, and they were crying too.
It was Princess Twilight and (Equestria pony) Shyna.
Shysage and I, I think we both felt this... We stood back a little. For both our Princess and Shyna, it was Fluttershy's absense that had been the most deeply felt. Fluttershy was quickly on her belly between them, and the three of them cried loudly together for a while. Fluttershy, no doubt, felt their anguish too.
Shysage and I were very cold. Shysage turned into a people, and fed the fire some fresh wood. Then he was a pony again, and we were on our bellies next to each other facing the fire. The fire felt amazing, but we were crying softly too.
Princess and Shyna fell back asleep. We guessed that both may have spent a lot of sleepless nights... here... together... waiting... crying...
When it was clear both were asleep, Fluttershy said quietly to me, to us "Shysage, we will let you do any explaining necessary about our trip. I don't think we should all try..." Fluttershy was crying too...
With sleeping ponies on either side, I could not hug my Sis like I wanted to. "I love you, Sis" I said quietly instead.
"Oh Sis, I love you both too... Let's get some sleep, though" Fluttershy replied quietly.
The fire was back to life, and was warming the room nicely. Shysage hugged me a little while, and I tried not to cry.
Still, this wouldn't be easy... It wouldn't be easy at all...
Fluttershy woke me up early the next morning. Well, it felt like early, but it probably wasn't. We had gone from noon to midnight in the blink of an eye. We would be tired for a few days no matter what. Well, we went from the warmth of Summer to this freezing cold, too. It couldn't be helped.
I woke Shysage up, and, after waiting only briefly, Fluttershy said quietly "Shysage, Princess wants to know about our trip." Princess Twilight and Shyna were on their bellies facing us, some distance behind Fluttershy, waiting expectantly for some news. Fluttershy was fighting back tears.
I think my Stallion... I love the way he thinks stuff through, and figures things out like this. And Fluttershy knowing that Shysage should shoulder this, that was probably right too.
Shysage got up, walked over to Princess Twilight, then bowed. Still bowing, he said this.
"Princess, I think it would be wise if you could summon Cel and Lu. We have been given specific orders about what we can and cannot say. It would probably be better to tell everypony about our trip at the same time."
Princess Twilight looked momentarily disappointed, then looked off into the distance. We hoped she was getting input from Equestria. After a minute maybe, she looked at the three of us and said quietly
"Ok, this seems very important, so we will try to wait patiently. It may be a few days though. This Winter storm needs to finish blowing through Equestria, so the Air Coaches can fly again."
It was quiet another minute, then Princess said "You three stay here. I'll have Filia and Fiona bring your coats, and we will move to the Castle."
Maybe half an hour later, we were in the Library in Princess Twilight's warm Castle. Shysage, Fluttershy and I were on that amazing rug, and the Portal was behind us. Other than the Portal, the Library looked just like... It was just uncanny.
Shyna and Fluttershy cried together a lot. Princess said we had only been gone less than two weeks, but that probably seemed like forever to Fluttershy's new sister. And maybe, Shyna was starting to feel what we couldn't say, I don't know. Well, for our whole family... We couldn't stop that... I didn't know how that would work out...
Shysage, Fluttershy and I were starved. Well, we came from a different time zone, Shysage said. And it was winter; we couldn't just go out and snack in the meadow... or the lake... The seasons were all messed up... Well, maybe we were.
Princess had her cooking staff make us some food, and it was very good. Eating there in the dining area, it just seemed strange to us to not see... nevermind... So much was the same, so much was different... The next few days would just be hard like that...
Still, we ended up back on the rug in front of the Portal. Princess Twilight cautioned us though. Evidently, the Equestria Girls were coming to Equestria this evening. It would be Saturday morning for them, and they would stay for a day or two.
My Twin... She wasn't even here yet, and I started crying... I cried for a while...
The day was a mess. Well, maybe I was a mess all day. Over the course of that day, everypony else ended up in the Library with us. Every time another pony would come in, I would hug them tightly, and cry. I guess, I had too. I think they were all very patient with me. Well, for the record, Fluttershy did the same thing I did...
Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Filia and Fiona, Shyna, well, and Princess Twilight... I just couldn't...
Pinkie Pie was the last one to arrive, and after hugging her for a little while, crying, I hoped I was done with that. Late afternoon, Twins started coming through the Portal. I wasn't done... Well, Fluttershy wasn't done either.
Still, while we hugged, Equestria pony Pinkie quietly said the most amazing thing to me... "Aww, Summer, leave the future alone 'till you get there!" I would not forget that for a while. I felt like we were there, but not now, not any more. Like everypony else, now we needed to wait out the present until we got there. But that was a scary prospect, based on what little Shysage and I had heard. Pinkie was right, though.
I tried to not cry, but it didn't work very good. I deeply loved every pony around me here in the Library, but we had just left them... And... But... I was such a mess... I was glad Shysage would say what little we could. I would surely mess up...
While crying buckets hugging both Fluttershys, my sister's Twin, Equestria Girls Fluttershy said quietly that my Twin (Equestria Girls Summer) was helping her Shysage at the church he worked at, and she would come, probably tomorrow morning (end of Saturday). This weekend, her Shysage would be busy the whole time, and probably couldn't come at all. Still, seeing my Twin again...
Once everypony (Fluttershy and I mostly) had managed to calm down, Princess Twilight told everypony basically what Shysage had told her; Shysage would discuss their trip once Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had arrived, probably tomorrow. Then she invited us all to have some dinner together.
I ate some, but wept softly on Shysage most of the time. Sis did basically the same thing and cried quietly with her Twin.
Later in the evening found us all back in the Library. Everypony else was quickly Twin-Linking, with their Twins, of course.
This included the Fluttershy Twins... Then I realized... In the future, my Sis... In the future, both Fluttershys Soul-Linked a lot, just as much as everypony else. And now, both Fluttershy's would again know everything about... My brain hurt even trying to figure that out...
Until...
At one point, Equestria pony Rainbow Dash was being herself, not in an obnoxious way though. "Aw, come on Fluttershy. You would rather fly that walk any day, right?"
My sister Fluttershy answered slowly and softly "Gosh, I love all of you amazing ponies."
Both Fluttershys must have known... all along... How does that even work...
Most everypony else was soon asleep. Well, I didn't even know what time it was for Shysage and I, but we weren't tired. And I was still trying not to cry.
Shysage had us move some away from everypony else, and we laid back down on our bellies next to each other. I leaned up against him and worked on calming down. At least we were warm. And being next to my Stallion...
It wasn't long before Princess Twilight and her Twin got up, came over to us and laid on their bellies facing us. I think they wanted to talk to us or something. Still, from where we came... Both Twilights were separated from each other, then amazingly re-united... I just couldn't... I moved forward some and hugged each of them a few minutes... I cried pretty hard... I wanted to say... so... much...
After a while, I apologized, then tried to calm down, and moved back next to Shysage.
Princess Twilight mentioned quietly "Well, whatever you both have been doing, I am sensing from Equestria that it was, is pretty important. I don't want you to tell me anything you should not, but still..."
I don't think Princess Twilight knew how exactly to put what she wanted to say, to ask into words. I also think Shysage realized what she needed to know. Like I said, between the three of us, Shysage was definitely the one who should speak for us.
And he did then, and said quietly to our Princess "Princess Twilight, for the last month, we essentially lived through Summer's Dream." That was all Shysage said. He couldn't say much more anyway, but this was probably what Equestria wanted Princess to hear.
Princess Twilight's eyes got very big, then she calmed down quickly, and was staring across the Library off into the distance, probably listening to Equestria. Then Princess sighed. Well, both Twilights sighed at the same time, in exactly the same way. Then they looked at each other.
Tears came to both Twilight's eyes, and they moved forward some, and hugged me for a little while, and cried softly. I cried with them, and tried to not cry too loud.
After we calmed down, Princess and her Twin got up. Princess said quietly "Well, I can guess why... But I just have no idea what... And thank you both..." Princess and her Twin walked back over to the rest, and they were soon asleep.
I said quietly to Shysage "...I feel like, if we say anything, we will ruin everything..."
Shysage guided my head and nose down on his front legs, then put his head down right next to mine. "I think the Keeper will take care of that..." Shysage was clearly in thought a minute, then added quietly "otherwise, you are right... Saying anything will ruin everything..."
I don't know how, but we were both soon asleep.
I woke up the next morning to my Twin's amazing smile... Equestria Girls Summer Rain... She and I were quickly crying together, hugging tightly... We cried together for a while, at the same time, in the same way...
After a few minutes, I think I read my Twin's mind. Still crying profusely, I said quietly "Twin, we shouldn't, can't Soul-Link. I'll explain later..."
I don't think she thought much of it. That was fine, I was just... Hugging my Twin... We both cried together a while longer...
And everypony else was hugging their Twin now too, also crying... Well, I guess we started something. If only they knew... But I just couldn't... How could I...
Princess Twilight, brushing away tears herself, asked us to all welcome the Principal sisters, I hadn't noticed them before. Still, I had to fight really hard to not start crying again... Then Princess invited everypony that was hungry, to come enjoy some breakfast.
Shysage suggested we eat a little, even if we weren't hungry, and so he followed my Twin and I... The food was good again, of course. I just felt so torn up inside... Then... Now... I hurt so bad for my amazing friends... I guessed I would be a mess today, too...
We were soon back out in the Library, just visiting. Twin with Twin mostly, with a few groups talking together quietly. Some Twins were Soul Linking. I just hugged my Twin and sniffled as quietly as I could.
Before long, the two Fluttershys and the two Shynas joined us, and us six girls, we hugged tightly and cried softly together. The Soul Link wasn't active, or we could have probably all group linked. I wondered if that would ever, could ever happen again... But nopony could stop the deep sensitivity as it reached out between us...
At one point, my Twin asked quietly "Summer, what..." and I, well all of us knew exactly what she was asking. Shysage knew it too, and, from the outside of our tight circle, he said quietly "Summer, we will tell everypony at the same time, if that's ok..." Us girls just went back to crying quietly together.
Maybe an hour later, Princess Celestia (Cel) and Princess Luna (Lu) walked quickly into the Library. Both were shivering. Evidently they use their magic to insulate themselves from the cold, but it was too cold for even that to work today.
And I was going to wait, and see what Cel and Lu wanted to do, they are Equestria's Princesses after all. But both our girls headed straight for us, and Shysage and I, we were quickly hugging them tightly. They both were very cold, and so the Principal sisters, the Fluttershys and Shynas crowded around us, and we worked on warming Equestria's Princesses up. It was a group effort.
Still, both our girls knew I was crying, and they ended up crying too, and the rest of us, well... Maybe we would all be a mess today... I hoped Shysage knew what to say...
It wasn't a problem, until...
Cel said quietly "Dad, what..."
...
We guessed it was time. Shysage walked over to the rug in front of the Portal and sat down. He asked everypony to calm down and gather around. Tears were quickly streaming down my Stallion's face, but he was fighting hard to not cry. I walked quickly up and sat right next to him. I would have hugged him; I knew he was really hurting, but... My Sis (Equestria pony Fluttershy) walked up and sat right next to me.
Well, I was asking true friend to help my Stallion. We did NOT want to change the amazing future we had just left. A lot was at stake in the next few minutes, and what Shysage would say...
It was dead quiet. Well, Fluttershy and I were quickly weeping softly with our heads down.
Shysage explained very slowly, and paused a lot as he talked. Clearly he wanted to say more. We all did... But, as we agreed, yet quietly... haltingly... trying hard to not cry... Shysage spoke for us...
"Fluttershy, Summer and I went into... the... future...
"We basically lived through... Summer's... Dream...
"So many amaz..."
Shysage forced himself to stop mid-sentence...
And everypony gasped at this point. A dream that was real... And not the most pleasant dream... Most were quickly crying quietly... Shysage continued... slowly...
"We met the... Keeper of Equestria... a huge White Alicorn..."
Cel gasped at this, we found out why, later...
Shysage kept going.
"And it was he who forbade us from talking about the events of those four weeks... at... all... We just can't say anyth--"
Shysage couldn't keep going, stopped and cried briefly, then tried to continue.
"The Keeper said that we could tell you, on his authority...
"We only require just one... one... ... One war--"
Shysage could say no more. He couldn't finish, and just cried. Actually, he cried pretty hard, and for a stallion to do that... My Stallion couldn't finish...
...But Princess Twilight did. She said quietly, what Equestria had probably told her...
"...Just one warning..."
...
And, as soon as our Princess completed Shysage's thought, the music that flowed through the background, it immediately and abruptly stopped...
...
After that, it was completely silent, well, besides our crying. Then Cel added quietly
"I have seen the Keeper... We had best heed his words..."
I don't think anypony knew quite what to do next, what we should do next. Those of us who had come back from that future certainly didn't... So we all cried softly together for a long time...