//------------------------------// // Chapter 18, Remembering the Future // Story: The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 10 -- Ariel Dawn // by shysage //------------------------------// Leaving Annie and Ari crying, Shysage quietly got up, and walked out of the cave, and down the slight slope to ground level. I followed him, of course. The background music changed immediately. I cringed because I recognized the tune(1). It wasn't loud, but it was very disconcerting. Once I was at his side, Shysage talked quietly, and broke our rule and spoke in modern equestrian... "Summer, remember that we can't stop the chain of events --" Ari and Annie came out at that point, still crying, and Shysage stopped talking abruptly. Well, I wasn't sure what he was referring too, but any trip to Coptol seemed fraught with peril right now. It would be so easy to slip up, change the future, and we would just disappear. And it was clear now that Coptol, the main city of the pony tribes, that would be our next destination. Shysage and I were quickly weeping softly with our girls... Still, Shysage asked Annie quietly, back in old pony, of course... "Annie, how soon do you want to leave?" Annie didn't even stop to think. "As soon as possible" she said slowly through her tears, then she hugged Ari again and they both started crying some more. Ari, crying, managed to ask Shysage "Dad, we are going with her, right?" Shysage and I both joined their hug. I answered for Shysage. "Ari, of course we are." I thought a minute, then, through tears myself, quietly said this. "Annie, we said we would help you, whatever you needed. We will accompany you to Coptol, and stay as long as we can help." I was pretty sure Shysage agreed. He just couldn't talk right now. We cried together for a little while, then Shysage said we should go eat and drink before we left for Coptol. It was pretty cool in the woods, but the direct sunlight in the meadow felt very good. We didn't bother with Cougar patrol. We all stayed close together, ate and drank well, then we were up in the air heading for Coptol. I led our flight. The natural cloudbank that would become Cloudsdale was my first landmark in the sky, as we made our way to Coptol. This small city, which was the pony capitol right now, was in the valley in front of the strange stepped mountain that would one day become Canterlot. The meadows on that mountain were vacant, but we kept an eye out for that mountain as our next landmark. Shysage and I, we both knew this trip well... The trip would take an hour maybe, on a good day. The sunlight on our backs felt amazing, but up higher where we were flying, the air was pretty cool. It was early spring maybe, after all. There was little wind, but we were still cold. This trip was not fun. We stopped for a rest and a snack at the halfway point maybe, then we had to wait as something Shysage called a front blew through. Well, it was colder after that, and we would be flying into a gentle but cooler breeze. This trip was even more not fun. We had that stepped mountain easily in view, but we actually stopped again because we had too. We found a spot that was in the sun, but shielded from the breeze, and tried to warm back up. We were close, anyway. The last half hour in the air was agony as we slowly made our way to Coptol. It hurt to fly very fast. We knew we were near when we found that huge sequoia, the tree in whose base we actually raised Cel and Lu... Wait, well it was past for us, but future from this point yet. Remembering the future... It is confusing... We actually landed at the broad road leading to the main gate of Coptol, and found some direct sunlight and tried to warm up. Annie was pretty agitated, and constantly looking at ponies coming and going on that main road. I realized she was looking for her family. That made sense. This city was her home before Cougars ran her off, hoping for dinner maybe. And, I noted that most ponies passing on that road were wearing coats... We were barely warming up when Annie wanted to head into the city. We were helping her, so we let her call the shots. And Shysage and I gasped... There was no main gate. There was no wall even. There was just a typical low fence all the way around the outskirts of the city. The main gate was a gap in that fence... We could easily have jumped over the fence. I was sure that Cougars could as well... Still, Coptol looked less built up than I remember; there seemed to be fewer homes and more meadow, I don't know... As we walked through Coptol, I did see King Thars' hall at the far end of the broad road through the middle of the city. And we saw quite a few armed guards too, but they ignored, well, everypony. That was of no concern to us right now, as far as I could tell. The normal ponies we passed basically ignored us too, although many probably wondered why we had no coats. It was pretty cold right now. Still, it was clear Annie was looking for somepony, or maybe waiting for somepony. We probably wandered Coptol for maybe an hour, spending as much time in the sunlight as we could. Ponies ignored us, but Shysage and I both listened carefully to the bits of conversation as we passed. It seems Cougar attacks were a frequent theme. But so were hushed slander of other pony tribes. Then I realized... Only other Pegasi were smiling at us as we passed... It was maybe the middle of the afternoon, and cold. Annie was weeping softly. Out of nowhere, we heard... "Arkanna, where yo be--" The voice got this far, then we heard a number of ponies scream. We quickly saw why, as many Cougars streaked down the main road in Coptol. And they all had that grisly shoulder sack we had seen... The Cougars quickly scattered, and the screaming grew very loud, scattered all over town. As many ponies as could, ran quickly indoors. Just about all the guards quickly disappeared. Cougars... Bah... Well, I knew what to do... "Shysage, get the girls up in the air." I was sure the three of them were tired and cold, but that was quickly done. I reared back on my hind legs, turned into a people, then spun up my Cutie Mark. Changing the future or no, ponies were in danger. I just couldn't ignore that. I didn't know if that was right or not... But I was quickly in the air too. Almost as quickly, I found maybe five Cougars parked together in a field, talking maybe, although I don't know how that would sound. It didn't matter. And they were ignoring me. I dropped down, and waved my right hand, swatting them brutally into the ground, also sending up a cloud of dust. One or two of those Cougars were crying out in pain. Well, they probably had so many broken bones... It didn't matter, and I didn't have time. With my left hand, I poured enough fire on them so they were burning brightly, and flew off in search of more. None of the Cougars had attacked anypony yet. They were just running around, terrifying everypony. I thought maybe they were looking for somepony, I don't know. I found three more Cougars, then quickly killed them -- slap into the ground, then a huge rock to the skull. I had to kill the rest of the Cougars by stomping, bringing the element down from above. They were too close to other ponies, so I couldn't do anything from the air. I landed, and ran around to find them. After maybe fifteen minutes, I had killed four more Cougars, two of whom were clearly hungry, and had cornered some poor pony, and were closing in for the kill. The Cougars never knew what hit them. I also watched another Pegasus, who evidently had watched me. He flew to the river, grabbed as big a rock as he could carry, flew back over Coptol, and made that rock count. And a huge Earth pony actually kicked one of the Cougars. Aside from the Cougar's body doing a back flip from the impact, there wasn't much left of that Cougar's head. Fourteen Cougars... In maybe fifteen minutes, they were all dead... As I stood near to the last Cougar I had killed, the townsponies began to gather. And, now that the Cougars were dead, the guards magically reappeared, and checked to make sure that all the Cougars were dead. But before I even knew what was happening, a considerable crowd had gathered around me. Well, I was a people, and the Phantom Alicorn, no less. Realizing the attention I was getting, I unspun my Cutie Mark, and changed back into pony. I guess that was not quite the way to blend in, but I didn't know what else to do. I guess, if I was thinking, I would have changed into a blue pony at least, but I was white and gold... with my Cutie Mark... I don't know... I just put my head down, as the townsponies gathered around me, whispering. Shysage, Ari and Annie landed nearby, and quickly joined me. Ponies just kept their distance, and whispered... Annie's dad soon found us too, well he found Annie. He said again "Arkanna, where yo been?" They were quickly hugging and crying. And Arkanna must have been Annie's proper name, I don't know... Annie said quietly "Daddy, I need to talk to you. Annie's dad was more mesmerized by the feats of the Phantom Alicorn as his pony friends were describing it; he was soon called away, and into a hushed conversation. Annie tried again. "Daddy, please... I really need to talk to you..." Annie was crying now... "Arkanna, just a minute" came the reply. It looked like Annie's dad was slowly backing away from us. I am not sure why. Annie was crying pretty loud. "Daddy, I need to talk to you" she yelled. Annie's dad responded by waving Annie over to his side. But Annie could no longer control herself. Crying loudly, she yelled, also loudly... "DADDY, I'M THE MARE..." That short sentence echoed loudly throughout Coptol... Annie said this, then cried loudly, as Ari, Shysage and I moved in, and hugged her tightly. She would have otherwise been crying alone. The second that Annie finished yelling what she did, it became deathly quiet in the crowds of townsponies, in Coptol. Ponies began running to join the crowds from all over town. This was evidently an amazing admission. It seemed like everything in Coptol came to a screeching halt at the hearing of those four simple words. It was almost like everypony was expecting... The Cougars were forgotten... The Phantom Alicorn was forgotten, not that I minded... Annie ran to her dad and cried... Well, they cried together. Her dad, looking very uncomfortable, and maybe even embarassed, said, only once... "Are you sure Arkanna?" Annie just cried. Well, with half of Princess Celestia's Cutie Mark, something had to be up, not that I could say anything about that... The crowd quickly reformed -- around Annie and her dad. People were looking at her Cutie Mark, and whispering again. Some were weeping softly. For minutes, time just stood still... "What's this I hear..." The voice came out loudly from far behind the crowd. And the music in the background was no longer quiet... I cringed immediately. I recognized... I was sure Shysage did too... Well, the townsponies clearly recognized the voice too... Many gasped, as a path was quickly made, and just about everypony bowed... We sure didn't... One pony said out loud what Shysage and I already knew... "Lord Melvain!" He walked slowly and calmly down the path opened through the crowd for him. He seemed to enjoy the adoration... He walked slowly up to Annie and her dad; they stopped crying, bowed, and seemed to wilt under his glare. He examined Annie's Cutie Mark briefly. Then with as much of an air of superiority as he could muster, he looked at the sun, now heading towards the treeline in the west... "Young lady, I am sure you know the prophecy..." Then he repeated it, with the same arrogant air, along with almost a sense of mocking in his voice... And this was one of the leaders of the pony tribes? Brightly Sun to yield the day In all this you will see Moon aglow the soft of night with both marks you will be The he looked down at Annie with just a hint of disdain. Maybe a little more than just a hint... "Young lady, have you seen your Cutie Mark at night?" Quietly, at first, then with a growing hint of defiance, Annie replied... "Yes... After the sun goes down, my Cutie Mark is a dark color, and shows up in the other half of the circle..." This hot air bag pronounced after some thought... "Very well, it will be dark soon, and we will see. If it is as you say, then King Thars... But if you are lying young lady, you will probably spend the night in jail..." ... ... ... I had heard enough... Our whole family deeply loved Annie, and to watch her be treated like this, and by this horrible Unicorn... But that wasn't the real issue. I was absolutely livid... I was so angry... Enraged... This terrible excuse of a pony would end up as Dark Melvain. And beyond that pain and anquish he had personally caused Shysage and I... and Cel and Lu, Equestria's Princesses... This foul pony would end up killing probably hundreds of Equestria's own ponies... maybe thousands... Like I said, I was absolutely livid, and it didn't take long... If I stood there much longer, this Phantom Alicorn would turn his worthless corpse into a small pile of ashes... But that certainly would change everything... We would disappear... Everything we had worked for... gone... We couldn't meddle with the Past... Shysage had tried to warn me about that earlier this morning... Shysage also taught me that the best course of action when we are really, really angry... I had to leave... I absolutely had to get away from what was causing me so much anger... Nopony was paying attention to us anyway... Shysage turned to leave at the same time I did, and probably for the same reason. Ari saw this, and ran through the crowd right up to Annie, and the two cried together and hugged briefly. Annie said quietly "Ari, I know where to find you..." Well, whatever would happen with Annie, we would be back in our cave with our Ari. Annie was right, she would be able to visit. Ari was soon back by our side, and we found our way to the main road, away from that disgusting... We walked away from everything, away from everypony else... away from Annie... We headed towards the opening in the fence that marked the entrance to Coptol. The music in the background didn't calm down... It was dusk maybe. I don't think Shysage nor I had any idea where we were going. It was getting dark and colder... But we both knew, we just needed to get away... So we were walking... Evidently Ari knew something was up; rather she probably felt our rage. She said quietly "I hope someday you can explain this to me..." The three of us stopped immediately, and we hugged and cried for a few minutes together. I could only guess how unfair this all seemed to our dear Ari. Shysage said quietly "We will, Ari... That is only right..." Then the three of us walked out of Coptol, and down the main road leading away from town. We stopped on the main road next to that huge Sequoia. I was pretty sure Shysage was contemplating spending the night there, before we returned to our trees, our meadow, Ponyville before Ponyville. I began remembering some of the amazing times we had spent in that house in a tree down by the river, as we raised Cel and Lu for two years. It was past for us, but years future from where, rather when we stood. Then I realized that, for us to be in that very tree, when we would actually come here later with Cel and Lu, that would probably blow every fuse in Equestria (I've heard Shysage say that). But with that exact thought, Equestria deep in the Past, everything around us began to fade... I turned quickly around to see the look of horror on our Ariel's face as we began to disappear... Then our Ari... Everything faded away...