Waking up the next morning...
The very first thing I heard...
"Hi beautiful!" It was Shysage, of course; he was right next to me. He said that slowly and quietly with his amazing low voice. I just melted. I was quickly crying. I needed him 'back'. I think he was. He rolled over onto his side, pulled me over, then up to his chest and neck. He hugged me tightly and this just made me cry more. I so needed this. I so need him... I cried as he hugged me. We didn't move for the longest time.
It was probably noon when we finally got up. Shysage said he was hungry. I was too! We walked slowly and together down to the lake. I had to work very hard to not keep crying. The last few days, with Shysage like he was; that was just scary. I think he understood. When I would cry pretty hard, he would stop, face me and hug me while I cried. I won't ever leave this stallion, but I just... Shysage almost effortlessly realizes what I need, and quickly and enthusiastically does just that. Maybe I take it for granted. The last few days showed me...
Shysage ate a lot, but I guess I did too. After we both drank our fill from the lake, we flopped down in the grass. We were near the edge of the lake, and we could see across and up the slight hill away from our tree. It was another amazing, warm day. Shysage and I were both on our bellies, right next to each other. For a while, nothing was said as we gazed out across endless meadow. Shysage would occasionally put his head up against mine and move his head up and down some. That was a Sue Hug; Shysage and Cel (Princess Celestia) came up with that on only our second day together, on our first road trip in the Past.
"Shysage, where do you think we are?" I asked this out of the blue, breaking the silence.
"Together and alone" he quickly answered, then he looked at me and smiled.
I smiled and blushed. We certainly were, and it was warm, and the lake was... Well, I had no intention of rushing my Stallion into that no matter how bad I wanted it. I would wait for him.
It was quiet a few minutes more. "Shysage, we haven't seen any other ponies..." My voice trialed off as I said this. It was neither a question nor a statement. We both knew this already.
It was quiet for a few more minutes. Shysage had been thinking, and that alone almost made me cry some more. "I think we are probably still somewhere in Equestria. I am just not sure when." He said this slowly. Well, neither of us knew much for sure, anyway.
A lone bird flew overhead, towards us, then past us, probably headed for our tree. Shysage and I both looked at each other and smiled. We were soon in the air. He agreed with me; flying felt absolutely wonderful. We were careful to keep tabs on our tree. This was pretty easy since it was the only tree nearby. Even flying large circles around our tree, the closest other tree was miles away. I asked Shysage to keep an eye out for berries. I wanted to use some of that broad-leafed plant to start doing some Canterlot Recording. He smiled and said "Of course." We did find a berry patch, it was at one end of the long, narrow lake. Shysage recognized the berries from the Equestria Girls world. We landed, turned into people, and Shysage picked some for me, and we ate them together. Well, he warned me about the thorns on the stems too. Anyway, they were very good. And Shysage said they would also make very good ink.
Then Shysage asked me when I wanted to start recording. I anwered quickly "Today? Before I start to forget!" We were still people. Shysage collected a bunch of berries and gave them to me, but mentioned they would easily stain our Equestria Girls clothes. Next, we walked around the lake to the broad-leaf plants, and Shysage found a few leaves that had fallen off, and were already dry. We carried our Canterlot Recording tools back to our tree. And mind, you, we were in no hurry, and easily took our time, and enjoyed just being together. Whether ponies or people, Shysage and I, we are just delighted to be able to be next to each other. I guess that has never worn off for us. I hope it never does.
Well, a bird headed for our tree earlier. Finding a cast off feather didn't take long. The feather was a beautiful blue, and worked perfectly as a pen, er quill. All I had to do was poke one of the little round things that made up the berries, then just write. This all worked out very well. And once I used up most of the ink in a berry, I just ate it. They tasted very good, and we had plenty. I jumped right in to writing, and Shysage sat next to me and watched, and helped when I asked. He laughed and said he missed his couch. Then he said more seriously that ponies seem to tolerate my writing better than his. I just sighed. Now was not the time...
Well, he was quickly crying. The first thing I did was write out my own recollections about some of the crucial times in Shysage and my relationship. I actually got this idea our second day here, wherever and whenever here was. I wanted Shysage to know how absolutely crucial he was, is to my life. Even after these last few days, I was intent on doing this anyway. And I cried too. It is just hard to fathom the twists and turns that wound our lives so closely, so tighly together. I couldn't leave him if I had to. That would just unravel the person that I have become. I'm pretty sure he feels the same way.
It took until almost sun-down to finish what I wanted to say, and we cried and hugged a lot as I wrote. I had to write small, but I got everything written down on two of the three leaves we had brought back. Still crying, we ate the rest of the berries, told true friend thank you, then cried in each other's arms until we were asleep. Still, compared to what things were like just a few days ago...
I don't often get the privilege of sleeping next to Shysage as a people. Even minor temperature changes; people have heaters and use blankets in the Equestria Girls world for that reason. Here in Equestria, being a pony is just a lot more convenient. But it was so warm all night, we both stayed comfortable. Fully clothed, we slept on our sides, as people, with Shysage's strong arms holding me close. We both sighed a lot. And, after all we had worked through the previous afternoon, staying close like that meant a lot to both of us. After I woke up, I rolled over to face Shysage and we kissed for a while. Staring into each others eyes... You would think we were newly-weds. Maybe we are! Maybe nopony told us we should get over that. I hope nopony ever does.
We were soon back to being ponies, walking slowly together down to the lake, and breakfast. Out of nowhere, I asked this. "Shysage, I wonder if we will miss Volume 5?"
Shysage thought a minute, then said quietly "I think the longest the Portal has ever kept us away is two weeks maybe. I doubt we will miss anything, including the rest of our winter..." That was an unhappy thought, and we both frowned. Oh well, we would deal with that as it came. I didn't say anything, but I already missed my sister Fluttershy. I was pretty sure Shysage suspected that. We both probably already missed, well, everypony. We had no control over that; we would return whenever we were done here. We just had no clue what we were here for...
After that leisurely walk down to the lake, we ate and drank. We both rinsed off again. It seemed like that was becoming a habit for us. The sores and bruises on Shysage's body looked a lot better. I think we both felt a lot better, too. We sat next to each other on the bank of the lake as we dried off, and gazed across the meadow. Except for the occasional bird, it was very quiet, with little to no breeze. We were soon up and walking slowly back to our tree.
I honestly don't know why; I... Something just hit me, I don't know. Without warning, I laid down in the grass, curled up into a little ball, and started crying softly. I had absolutely no clue what was going on... ...But I guess Shysage did. He was quickly down on his side facing me, and managed to curl himself around me, which just pulled us closer together. My head ended up on top of his as I cried, and our front legs were tangled around each other's necks. Of course, we both hugged each other, but I was still crying. After a few minutes, Shysage said quietly "I love my princess." I moved my head back some, looked into his eyes, and just melted. It was maybe mid-morning, but that didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Shysage took care of his Mare. He loved me, he cherished me. He made me feel like a princess. It was amazing. It was even more amazing to realize that my Stallion knew what I needed, even if I didn't. I guess that desire had slowly, or not so slowly built over the past few days. I needed my Stallion. He knew that, and took care of me. Shysage said quietly afterwards that he was recovering inside and still felt pretty beat up. But he so thorougly enjoyed giving me what I needed and wanted, and that was reward enough for him. I just don't understand that. We spent a bunch of the rest of that day laying on our sides, hugging, half in and half out of the lake. Our heads side by side, we just enjoyed being close together for a long time. We didn't talk; nothing really needed to be said. It was heavenly.
We might have dozed a while there, it was easily warm enough for that. And I think we were both so relaxed. Maybe late afternoon, we realized we should eat and drink, then head back to our tree. The moon was very small at night, and so it got very dark at night as a result. Finding our tree during daylight was wise.
We got back to our tree easily in time, but the Sun was already pretty low in the west. At one point, the wind picked up substantially. It was not a cold wind, but Shysage said he thought something called a front was blowing through. The wind wasn't in danger of knocking our trees or Shysage's wind break down, but it was pretty constant. And I am a Pegasus mare. And I guess I stand up on my hind legs a lot, far more than most other ponies. Well, I did that, then extended my wings. With a little experimentation, I found I could lean forward at about a 45 degree angle, and adjust my wings so that the lift from the wind counteracted the gravity trying to pull me down. For a long time, I was standing there mostly motionless, leaning on the constant flow of wind holding me up. Maybe this is another Pegasus thing, I don't know. I was leaning on the wind. And the main feeling I could sense was peace. I was soon weeping softly. As a Pegasus, we depend so much on the wind, the air. And I quickly made this connection, I don't know. The Portal had moved us around in Equestria quite a bit, and some trips were more difficult than others. But Shysage and I, we could always count on, well I don't know, true friend, the Portal, or the Keeper... Well, whatever, we could lean on them as we tried to do what we thought best. And between them, things always worked out fine. We could lean peacefully on them.
Trying to put these puzzle pieces together, I was startled by something touching my left wing. As a Pegasus, when you are flying, if anything touches your wing, that is very bad, and your wing getting injured, or worse, is usually the result. I looked immediately. It was Shysage. He was doing the same thing as I was, and had moved so he could touch my wing with his. This added such an amazing dimension to what we were doing; we were leaning on the wind together. Shysage said we were holding wings. I just laughed, but could have just as easily cried. My amazing Stallion... He had found another way we could share our lives. When the Sun was very low in the sky, it added a dazzling Orange hue to everything. Shysage said I looked amazing. Well, I looked over at him, and he looked amazing too. (opt:btm10a) We leaned on the wind together for over an hour, and watched the Sun set while holding wings. Once the Sun dipped below the horizon, the wind slowed, and my Stallion and I curled up together under our tree. We rubbed noses for a long time, watched the stars and meteors a while, then we fell asleep.
We had no clue where, when or why we were here. But every day seemed to be drawing Shysage and I ever closer together, if that is even possible. Neither of us were complaining. I love him so much...
The next day was another warm, summer day. Shysage smiled and said maybe this is our vacation. He explained it to me, then I laughed. I don't know, except that we have been through a lot, even recently. Still, I couldn't see Equestria moving the Phantom Alicorn here without some reason. I agreed with Shysage though, we would just need to wait and see. And we woke up the way we had fallen asleep. I was on my side, curled up, and Shysage had managed to curl himself around me. Well, I stayed comfortably warm all night. Sleeping with him like that seemed as much home for me as anything else.
After hugging, sighing and rubbing noses a while, we finally got up and made our way down to the lake. Well, it takes a little while to get there anyway, and we are usually in no hurry. We just enjoy the trip. We lean up next to each other, and walk in step, slowly. Whether people or ponies, we both really enjoy that. We ate some Oats together, and got a drink. We also rinsed off together again. Shysage made me blush when he told me I still look hot when I'm wet. The first time he told me that was one warm summer afternoon buried deep in the Past, while we were raising Cel and Lu. I blushed then, too. I asked Shysage about getting more berries and leaves. I said I still had plenty of Canterlot Recording to do, and he smiled. He loves my writing. He suggested a leisurely walk around the lake. We could have flown there much faster, but the walk sounded nice to both of us. We started off slowly around the lake, heading away from the end where we knew the berries were. We wanted to check out the other end. We had already seen the lake from the air, it wasn't huge. Our walk together was amazing...
...Until we heard a loud, angry growl behind is. Shysage and I, we both recognized the sound right away; it was a Cougar. They were natural predators of the Pony race. They were not nice. And we had run into Cougars both in the Past, and also in the future, so a Cougar here and now didn't tell us much. All we knew was that this Cougar thought one of us would be his lunch.
Almost instinctively, we both immediately took off at the same time. The Cougar ran and jumped, and almost got Shysage's leg, but he pulled it up just in time. I told Shysage to follow my lead, and I kept us on a low path, and flew directly away from our lake. We were low, so the Cougar followed us. That was my plan; I didn't want a smelly Cougar carcass anywhere near where we lived. When I thought the Cougar was tired of chasing us, I pulled straight up, changed into a people, and spun up my Cutie Mark, and hovered there directly above one confused Cougar. I quickly directed Shysage behind me. Motioning with my left hand, I coated him with electricity, and he couldn't move. Ten seconds later, I formed a large boulder with my left hand, then dropped it on his head, killing him instantly.
From behind me, I heard Shysage say softly "I love my Phantom Alicorn..." I unspun my Cutie Mark, but landed as a people. Shysage landed nearby, changed into a people himself, and we hugged and cried together. Our time here had turned amazing real fast. But this was a sobering wake-up call. We had to be careful. It didn't matter when or where we were right now. This endless meadow could hold danger, and we just had to be cautious and alert. And a Cougar could never win against me, but either Shysage or I could be seriously wounded in any such confrontation. Talking to true friend together, we cried there for a while. And I realized a Panther animal friend would be really helpful right about now. That thought just made me miss my sister Fluttershy even more...
A little more quickly, and a little more carefully, we got more paper leaves, and more berries, and headed back to our tree. Even though the wind break wasn't much, we somehow felt safer there. We actually flew from the dead Cougar to the paper plants, then walked to the berry bushes, then walked back to our tree. Maybe skitterish was a good word for us that afternoon. Still a people, I worked on Canterlot Recording some more. Here we were, probably somewhere in Equestria, but at an unknown time, and we were still working to get caught up on this. I guess we always would be...
Shysage didn't say much. He cried with me and hugged me when I cried, but he basically let me write. He was deep in thought; I could tell. When I put the quill down, I offered him some berries, and we shared what was left. I asked him what he had been thinking about. He sighed, and mentioned that he went through some options to add to our wind break. Some sort of enclosed area might be a little safer, he thought. He just wasn't sure how to do that. He also thought briefly about running some sort of fire all night, sort of a deterrent against night attacks. Shysage quickly ruled this idea out. Starting a fire would be easy enough, but the grass in the meadow would burn fiercely and quickly should our fire ever get away. And, somepony would need to stay up all night and tend to it anyway. Shysage was quiet briefly, then said that he felt the Cougar we had killed was some kind of scout. He pointed out what we both knew; we had seen no small animals besides birds in the days we had been here. There was clearly not enough around here to keep a Cougar fed. That was why Shysage felt the one we killed was a scout or something. Shysage felt it would be a while before we saw another one, but we still needed to be careful. And he actually suggested that we fly a generous perimeter each morning, and look for any animals here in this meadow. The nearest tree was probably miles away. There was simply no place for animals to hide in this endless field of Oats, and we would probably spot them easily; hopefully long before they walked up behind us.
It was quiet for a few minutes, then Shysage sighed. We were both people, and he moved and sat with his back up against one of the tree trunks, and I was quickly sitting in his lap. He wrapped both of his arms around me, and I rested my arms on top of his. Sitting like that, we both gazed quietly across the meadow, and enjoyed the warm breeze blowing through our tree. We could see for miles... The Sun was soon heading for the horizon, but we decided to stay put tonight. We didn't move, and just watched as shadows lengthened across our meadow as the Sun slowly set. Soon it was just stars and crickets; it was a beautiful, warm night. Shysage would occasionally hug me tightly and say "I love you, Summer". I would sigh, and pull his arms tighter with mine. Just as I was hoping to myself that our vacation never ended, Shysage said quietly "I hope our vacation isn't over yet..."