Shysage and I woke up at about the same time. Cel (Princess Celestia), Lu (Princess Luna) and Princess Twilight were already talking together, quietly. I think Shysage and I both realized right away... Volume 5 of Princess Celestia's Commentaries. I just smiled. That meant Friendship was still Magic among Princess Twilight and her girls. Well, of course it was! Still, I don't know how that works; I mean when things start...
Cel noticed we were awake right away. "Oh good, you are both awake. I hope the Canterlot Recorders will be ready for new material in a month or so!"
Well, it was the middle of Winter, but it didn't matter how we felt; that was our job. We would be ready. Still, I think this would be the first time Shysage and I would be able to do that together. We were very excited about that!
"Princesses, Shysage and I will be honored to help with that." I said this quietly. I knew Shysage felt the same way.
Still, Shysage was deep in thought. Then he spoke his mind.
"Cel, there is something... I... Summer and I worked a lot on the record for our time in the future. We had a lot of it done before we came back, but we didn't finish. And all that has happened since our return... This all really needs to be recorded, and one day, the two combined..."
Shysage paused here, then continued.
"But... What we write now... This shouldn't be read... by... well, by anypony. It really should be kept locked up for 37 years maybe. I don't know how to do that. If it can't be kept buried, Summer and I really shouldn't write it..."
Cel didn't even blink...
"Dad, finish the record... We have a magically time-locked vault in the restricted wing of the Canterlot Library. Even Lu and I, we can't get anything out early, once the lock has been set. It will be safe there. And I don't think anypony here in this circle wants to see the future ruined."
Cel sighed, and maybe even chuckled. "Every so often, something I put in there years ago, centuries ago, it will pop out. I usually cannot even remember why I put it in there to begin with. But your record will be very different!"
Cel stopped in thought a minute, then said quietly "Once you finish it, bring it to Canterlot, and the four of us will lock it up. There is no reason to leave this with a courier."
Official business done, we enjoyed a nice breakfast together. Princess Twilight apologized that she had Princess stuff to do herself, but that really worked out fine.
Shysage and I, we spent the morning in the Library with our girls. We talked a lot, we laughed and cried a lot, we hugged a lot, too. That time was amazing, and felt way overdue.
A little before noon, an Air Coach lead stallion walked into the Library. It was time for Cel and Lu to go.
It was cold, but we walked Cel and Lu to the waiting Air Coaches. They were soon gone. Shysage and I cried...
...
The next three days, we spent most of our waking time working on the final chapters for our trip to the Future. We had a lot more to do than we first thought, but we worked almost non-stop on getting it done. Shysage and I both knew we really needed to clear our decks so we could be ready for Volume 5. It sounded like weeks away yet, but still... Everything worked out fine; it was Winter, and usually too cold to do much else. We sat in the Canterlot Recorder's house, in front of a nice warm fire, and wrote together. Shysage did most of the typing.
A bunch of the chapters we had to do involved our time in the future. Thinking about our time in the future, that was really hard. Shysage and I cried a lot working through some of the chapters covering time when we were still there. And towards the end, we felt so out of place...
Our amazing neighbor Dawn came in at one point, she had heard us crying, and wanted to make sure everything was ok. We did a poor job of explaining what we were doing, recording our last trip, but absolutely nopony could read it; this clearly made no sense. I hugged Dawn tightly and cried pretty hard. I guess that was enough for her.
And the recording that we had to do also included another By the Moonlight chapter. That evening, buried in the future this time, it was amazing... I love my Stallion so much... That brief time couldn't remove the fear of the unknown... But Shysage and I, we forgot it for a few hours that night as we played together. We both cried and hugged after that chapter... And it was too cold here and now...
...
And Shysage wanted me to add this. On one of the rare afternoons when we could, we took a short break, and snacked some in the East meadow, and ended up on that little hill. The warming of the sunlight just barely took the edge off the cold breeze. We didn't stay there long, and were soon back to work in our home (next to the fireplace!).
Still, while sitting on that hill, we were talking about the Bully Culture chapter we had already written in the future (that sounds strange, I know). Shysage sighed and said that was a growing problem in the Equestria Girls world, and we guessed it was here in Equestria too. Well, it would be soon if not...
It was quiet for a little while, then I said the word that came to me: friend-space. I explained that we couldn't stop bullies from being bullies, not all by ourselves anyway. But what we could do: we could be friends, and act friendly, and pursue true friendship in that little space our lives occupied.
We both quickly realized this. The space our lives occupy isn't much, but still, we should try to make it a friend-space, even if it wasn't very big. But... Just think what would happen if more and more ponies did that! That prospect is amazing!
...
Anyway, after those three days, the final chapters of our record were done. Shysage and I decided to call the whole record "Future Perfect", because we went to the future, and just helped... And, as far as we could tell, everything came out perfect! I guess... When both pieces of this record finally get joined together, it will be Volume 9 of the chronicles.
Well, it was done...
And we were both exhausted...
It was the middle of the afternoon. Shysage saved our last chapter, and moved everything into what he called a 'hidden folder' on his compy. I asked him if all our hard work just disappeared. How does that even work? Shysage tried to explain it. There are parts of the Equestria Girls world I just can't comprehend...
Shysage checked the fire once more, then asked me to turn into a pony, and he helped me get my coat on. He was quickly a pony too, and got his coat on. We headed out the door. I wasn't sure where we were going, but Shysage led us to Princess Twilight's Castle.
Up the steps, down the hall, into the Library. We were soon on our bellies on the rug in front of the Portal. That rug is so comfortable... And, as I think I've mentioned before, Princess Twilight's Castle must be magically heated or something. It doesn't matter what the weather is like outside. Inside the Castle, it is never too cold, or too hot. Shysage and I, we were both comfortable without our coats on.
There was nopony in the Library, and Shysage and I, I think we were both so drained. We were side by side on our bellies, as close to each other as possible. We said little, and pretty much just stared off across the Library. It was very relaxing. We both fell asleep.
A few hours later, we heard softly "Sleepyheads, wake up!" It was Princess Twilight. She was on her belly facing us. Still waking up, I told her that we got the rest of our record of the future done, but we hadn't printed it yet. She smiled.
Shysage waited for the first lull in the conversation. "Princess, can I take Summer to the Equestria Girls world for the afternoon? We would leave tonight at midnight, then come back before noon tomorrow. Do you think that would work?"
Princess Twilight sighed, then said right away "Aww, Bleacher Girl time... Well, ok. The only problem is that the rest of us can't come. I think we all miss our Twins alrea--"
I felt bad, Princess was trying not to cry. Finally, she managed to say "Tell everypony we miss them, and you both please hurry back."
Then Princess excused herself.
Shysage and I agreed... That was probably her way of dealing with not being able to come... We felt bad, but there was nothing we could do about it... We soon fell back asleep.
...
Hours later, we heard softly "Sleepyheads, wake up!" It was Princess Twilight again. She was on her belly facing us, and she was smiling now. I quickly saw why; everypony else was in the Library now too... Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash... And my sister Fluttershy was right next to me! Filia, Fiona and Shyna... So, everypony else was coming with us for Bleacher Girls time! Hugging my sister, I just cried. I think we all treasure that...
Before we got up, Princess smiled and said "Princess Celestia said we needed to hug their Twins for them." That would not be hard at all.
A little after midnight, we started going through the Portal. It didn't take long for all of us to get to the Equestria Girls world, and nopony fell coming out. But most of us did start crying right away; the Twin Link went active the minute we stepped into the grass in front of the Portal wall. Shysage said his Twin was asleep. That was expected, he generally worked nights.
In the Equestria Girls world, it was cold and raining softly, and we moved quickly up the stairs and into the Canterlot High School lobby. The clock said 12:45, so we had a little over 2 hours to wait until classes were out, Shysage said. We just knew our Twins would have a tough 2 hours...
Maybe ten minutes later, Vice-Principal Luna walked into the lobby, trying to not cry herself. She led us to the Gym, to the bleachers in there, and then we took turns hugging her. She cried then. Principal Celestia joined us a little later, and we all hugged her too.
Shysage headed off for about an hour with Principal Celestia; they went to the Computer Lab and Shysage performed a little computer first-aid, he said when he came back. The rest of us just sat on the bleachers and talked, as much as we could while brushing away tears. Twins... Bleacher girls... The Magic of Friendship flowing... The next few hours would be absolutely amazing...
...
The last bell couldn't ring soon enough, but it finally did, at 3:00. It didn't take long for girls to start streaming into the Gym. We could easily spot our Twins; they were the ones running to us... Twins hugged and cried loudly, and bleacher girls quickly filled the bleachers and cried with us. After maybe ten minutes, we calmed down, and the Magic of Friendship took over.
Like I said, all these bleacher girls, we filled the bleachers on this whole side of the Gym. That was ok, both Shysages were on the bleachers across the Gym, surrounded by a bunch of guys. They needed the Magic of Friendship too!
Principal and Vice-Principal were standing at the door wiping away tears. These were their students. The Principal sisters cared about their students. This was amazing for their students, and both were just overjoyed...
A lot of the afternoon was a blur. I cried a lot. I hugged a lot. I met a lot of new friends. My Twin and I, we talked together to some very needy girls. (The other Twins were doing the same thing.) Being able to cheer up and encourage... maybe even to help girls just decide to face another day... This was true friendship. Being a part of this... Like I said, I cried a lot... I hugged a lot... and I usually cried and hugged at the same time...
Who in Equestria would not treasure the healing, loving and care, the Magic of Friendship happening here in this Gym?
My Twin introduced me to Ann, another Red-head. Such a sweet girl, even if her skin looked a little pale. I also met Claire who was making an amazing come-back after a brutal date-rape experience. Helping Melissa survive a difficult home life... There were other girls, other stories, other needs...
The most amazing thing... We would cry and hug and encourage some of these girls, then watch in amazement as they were soon giving, loving, caring and encouraging some other girls, also going through a hard time... That is true friendship... Twin said she sees that a lot. Twin said that is what makes bleacher time so special... Helping others learn to help others... Like I said, I cried a lot... Most everypony else was crying too...
And Princess Twilight and her girls... With their Twins, our precious pony friends were all right in the middle of all this, sharing, loving, giving, caring, crying... I could only hope this made it into Volume 5... Friendship truly was Magic that afternoon, and in the Equestria Girls world, no less...
In the middle of the afternoon, somepony shouted loudly "Summer!" Well, I didn't recognize the voice...
...but my Twin did right away. "Julia!" she said with a smile.
Wow, ok, Julia and Rick, I think...
Julia said quickly, from right where she was sitting... "Rick just texted me and said we need to have your Twin tell us all about friend-space! What is that?" Julia really sounded enthusiastic about this, even though she probably didn't know what it meant. Well, I had only told Shysage...
My Twin, Equestria Girls Summer Rain, she got me up and guided me down to the Gym floor, and over towards the center of the bleachers, so everypony could hear. Standing next to me, she didn't yell loud, because she can't. But she said loud enough for all to hear "Everypony listen up!"
Wow, this was scary. It was quiet right away, and everypony was looking at me! And I could tell there were people walking up behind me now too...
...Two hands on my shoulders briefly... That was Shysage... He had walked up behind me, and he whispered quietly to me "Tell them, amazing Mare!" I heard him back away, and melt into the crowd of guys. But I knew he wasn't far. Well, I guess I could do this.
It was quiet briefly, as I tried to decide what to say. Then, I started slowly putting some sentences together. I knew it didn't come out great, but that didn't matter so much...
"I... Well... ...It just seems like we have been running into a lot of bullies lately. I guess it is the same here."
A few sniffles confirmed this right away. I kept going.
"I came up with the word friend-space because I realized that, by ourselves, we usually couldn't, can't do anything about the bullies around us...
"Well, as we live our lives, we walk about, and in the space that we walk, and move, and live, we need to be friendly there, wherever we go. We need to be caring, loving, helpful; we need to be true friends to the ponies and people around us as much as we can, in our space. And when we do that, we are making the space we live in, well, friend-space. And like you, I don't think the space I live in is very big, but that's not the point. We need to work on being true friends wherever we are, wherever we go. That's friend-space"
The quiet weeping I was hearing... I finished with this, though.
"Listen, this is the really neat part. I don't think my space is very big. But, as more and more of us make our space into friend-space... I mean, when a lot of people and ponies do this..."
Well, I couldn't go on. I just cried; this whole concept so amazed me... I could make the space where I live, into friend-space. And a lot of us doing this together...
All I could do was cry. I guess I wasn't the only one; everypony moved down to the floor in the Gym, and we all hugged and cried together for a while.
And, I don't know... Maybe I gave it a name, but I was pretty sure most of these girls hugging and crying with me... They were already doing this...
And, Pinkie Sense... Equestria Girls Pinkie Pie told me later that she got video of my whole talk on her cell. It was already on her Facebook page, and Vice-Principal Luna would add it to the High School web site later tonight. I'm not sure how all that works. But if a lot of people made their space into friend-space, just think...
...
At 6:00 on the big clock, most of the bleacher girls had to go. In groups, they headed out the big Gym doors, and off into the cold, wet night to finish their days, and probably their homework. And Shysage's Twin hugged his Mare (my Twin) tightly, then left to go to work.
There was a lot of hugging and crying still, but soon enough it was the Principal sisters, Shysage and ten sets of us Twins. Still hugging, we worked our way around the amazing ponies left.
We made sure Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna got plenty of hugs too. Princess Celestia had asked us to do this for she and her sister (Princess Luna). When we mentioned this to the Principal sisters, they just cried. We did too.
A little later, Principal Celestia told the Equestria Girls to keep this quiet; Equestria Girls Fluttershy had ordered Pizza for the group, and we ate in the Gym, sitting on the bleachers. I guess the PE department frowns on that. We cleaned up after ourselves, of course! The Pizza was good. I wonder if the Cakes could make it too?
9:00 came too soon, and it was time to go. We thanked the Principal sisters for giving us a comfortable place to visit. There were 23 of us, and we could not all fit in Fluttershy's apartment. And it was really too cold to walk very far anyway.
We were soon standing in the Canterlot High School lobby, hugging and crying with our Twins. It was still raining lightly, and now very cold. One at a time, somepony would go out the doors, down the steps, and through the Portal. And their Equestria Girls Twin, still in the lobby, would start weeping softly. Soon enough, most of our precious Equestria Girls friends were crying...
When just Shysage and I were left, I hugged my Twin tightly. "Twin, I don't know when we will be able to Twin-Link again..." I said this much, then just cried.
My amazing Twin... "Aww, Summer, it's ok." She eased me back a little, looked at me with her big blue eyes... "We really don't need it..." We hugged tightly and cried softly together... in the same way... at the same time... She was right.
After we both hugged Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna, Shysage and I headed for the Portal wall together. Before we went through, I asked him if he was ready. I guess I really wondered if we might end up somewhere or sometime else. I guess I was asking about that.
Shysage must have understood this. He stopped in his tracks, turned to face me, pulled me close, and hugged me tightly. In his embrace... Even in the freezing rain, I just melted... "Summer, as long as I am with you..."
We held hands and went through the Portal together.