//------------------------------// // Chapter 4, Out of Gas // Story: The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 11 -- A Wing and a Prayer // by shysage //------------------------------// That night, I slept terrible. I kept dreaming about many amazing times I had spent with my Mare, Summer, but the dreams always seemed to end up with her getting... hurt or worse... I would bolt quickly upright in bed at that point, breathing rapidly, usually crying... Trying to calm down, I would try to convince myself that we had to carefully plan our search here in the Equestria Girls world to try and find her. I would then lay back down, start drifting off to sleep, then remember the scope was broke, and so it would take practically stumbling over her... Then another bad dream... That night was just terrible. I wish I could say it was the worst one... the only one... It wasn't. And that foreboding tune in the background(1) didn't help any. In fact, it even wove through most of my dreams... I think I was finally able to get a few hours of solid sleep though. When I woke up, the clock showed 12:00 and was blinking. I guess the power had gone out at some point last night. I found the loaner cell phone, it was 10:38. It was still morning though, so I got dressed, walked past Canterlot High School and had breakfast at the Cake's Diner. While eating, I texted Pinkie Pie to ask about the road trip. She said tomorrow was Saturday, and that would work well for her. She asked that we leave early though. I thanked her, then let her know that was fine. I also thanked the smiling lady for another free breakfast. I knew I needed to find my Summer though. After walking through the door and out of the Cake's, I stopped. I had today free, and I needed to try and find Summer. I could not use the scope, or the Twin Link... I turned away from CHS and just started walking through town. Well, I pretty much wandered through town. I had no goal really, no destination. I was just hoping I would walk into my Mare, my Summer, as I walked. Or maybe I would get some idea at least. Early on, this was, well, heart-breaking. Every petite blond I saw would practically double my heart-rate. I didn't want to make a scene or anything, so I usually just froze, and waited... Of coure none of them were Summer. After maybe the fifth or sixth time, I realized that, if Summer were anywhere close, she would at least be looking for me. If she had use of her faculties (another shudder), she would probably try to make contact with anypony of the circle here at CHS. I also realized that, well, her hair... Even in a crowd it would stand out. Knock-out, bright golden blond, but with more yellow than I had ever seen here, and I adored it... After realizing all of this, I calmed down, and just walked. Well, like I said, I wandered around town, covering as much distance as I could that day. This whole search was not just like a needle in a haystack. It was like trying to find one particular bee in a busy bee-hive, maybe a hundred bee-hives, and with all the bees in constant motion. I guessed I was hoping that Summer would find me. I walked around town most of the day anyway. I kept my eyes out, and I guess blond is a pretty popular hair color here, but... nopony even close... I talked to true friend some, I knew he knew I needed help. I didn't think about much else past trying to find Summer. But I felt so helpless. With the scope out of action, there was really no planning I could do. Well, I guess there was absolutely nothing else I could do besides walk and look, and I really wanted to cry realizing that. All I could do right now was walk around, and hope. That was unsettling. But it was all I had. After walking a long time, I headed back to the Cake's and passed it, then walked to CHS. It was late in the day, and I wanted to at least check back with them to see how the Computer Lab was doing. I wasn't sure where to go with so many doors locked, so I sat on the steps at the front of CHS for a little while, then Vice-Principal Luna came and got me. The two spare computer systems were already moved into the Computer Lab, and were being used, which was fine. One of the keyboards had died though (a little too much soda), and I was able to pull one of the keyboards from the work-shop and get that system back on line. She didn't ask about finding Summer; Summer would be with me if I had found her. Well, Pinkie would probably know, and tell everypony, the very minute... Vice-Principal Luna thanked me again, and I headed off to the Cake's for dinner. Ok, so my first full day here in the Equestria Girls world, looking for my Mare, and I had, well, nothing. And any resources I thought I had, well... Wandering around a busy bee-hive... Dinner was good, but I just felt so alone. I thanked a different smiling lady for the free food, and headed out the door. I walked slowly to my cubical. I guess in my head, I was still trying to plan. I worked through mentally the cities nearby, and how to get to each one, well the downtown area. Then I realized... Most downtown areas only held a very small portion of the overall population... Realistically, I would have to walk miles of residential roads, and just hope... I had not even done that here... I cried softly at the bleachers at CHS for a little while, then wandered home. I set my alarm for early, and dove into another night of Summerless nightmares. My alarm woke me up the next morning right in the middle of an amazing memory of an afternoon I had spent with my Mare in Equestria. I didn't really want to wake up. The alarm didn't stop, and it seemed so out of place in a field in Equestria Past. When I woke fully up, and realized where I was, and why... I just cried. I wanted Summer desparately, and I really needed her. Dark Melvain was a vicious tyrant, and he had picked the best way in the universe to hurt me... Well, we really didn't know what he was up to, but still... Getting myself dressed and looking as presentable as I could, I got the keys and some cash, and walked out to Big Blue, a large but older sedan parked under the carport next to my cubical. This is the third car Summer has ever been in, and, at the time, the smooth ride, and the large dimensions of this car... Well, it was very good for Summer, and she told me a few times. I had to stop thinking about Summer just then. After checking all critical fluid levels, I climbed in, and turned the key. It complained starting up, but was soon behaving and running well. I texted Pinkie that I was getting breakfast at the Cake's, and could pick her up there. Breakfast was good and free. By the time I was done, Pinkie Pie and two of her sisters were sitting at the table with me. The Pie sisters were talking together, and laughing too. I didn't mind, I just wish I felt like laughing. Pinkie introduced me at first, then carefully explained what this Road Trip was for. It was quiet a minute maybe, then the Pie sisters went back to enjoying the day together. Honestly, I didn't mind. I just wish... Pinkie insisted on driving, and I really didn't put up much of a fight. I was sure she remembered the way. Even if she didn't, she could quickly sense... The three Pie girls were in the front seat which was easily large enough. I climbed into the back seat, which was fine. Pinkie remembered the audio tap I had added, and quickly had her phone plugged in and playing all sorts of different music. Overall, I think the Pie girls all took turns plugging their cell phones in and enjoying each other's music. Again, I didn't mind. Pinkie was doing me a huge favor, both by taking us back to the goon's house, as well as doing some of the driving. Well, by the end of the day, each of the Pie sisters took at least one turn driving this big car from the past. I don't think they minded the trip either. They had a lot of fun just being together. It was just that... Every car we passed... Every pedestrian I saw... Well, as far as Pinkie Sense could tell, Summer was out there, somewhere... And as the continual houses and buildings of the big city gave way to rolling hills, then arid desert, I had to keep fighting the memories that seemed to want to flood back. Well, I finally gave in, and just let them flow past in my mind. I had to work hard to not cry since I was not the only person in this car. But... maybe one of these memories could give me an idea. Well, that didn't happen. But I couldn't help but realize the many, many ways Summer's presence had literally transformed my life, mostly in Equestria, but here as well. Like I said, I didn't just want her back, I needed her back... I had to find her... Most of the way there, one of the Pie sisters eased Big Blue into a gas station out in the middle of nowhere. While the Pie girls flocked to the ladies' room, I filled up the gas tank, and looked quickly under the hood for any glaring problems. Still, looking around at the countryside, I could tell we were close. The Pie girls climbed back into the front seat, with Pinkie at the wheel again, and I took a turn in the restroom. Then I realized that Summer and I had stopped at this exact same gas station on a terrible but amazing day so long ago. But here and now... Well, I just had to find her... Maybe forty five minutes later, we headed slowly down the long road towards the driveway to the goon's house. I had to rescue my Summer from this very house, from the two vile monsters that lived here. Two of the most disgusting men on the planet had kidnapped Summer, done horrible things, took horrible pictures for sale on the internet, and then tried to kill her. As far as I knew, the monsters were in jail now, but I still felt the need to at least check here. My plan was to knock on the door. I had no better idea. I guess, if they had guns and recognized me, it would be a problem. But if they had her again, I wanted to know. Like I said, I had no better plan. Pinkie must have known this, too. She didn't stop out on the road next to the mail boxes like last time; she pulled the car down the driveway, and parked next to the house. Wow, the house looked a lot nicer; fresh paint, new gardens, flowers, bushes... I didn't think the goons lived here any more. It was maybe the middle of the afternoon, and the sun was high. I knocked gently on the door. I could hear the sound of a TV faintly inside somewhere. A pleasant looking older woman soon opened the door fully. "Can I help you?" she asked calmly. I started "I apologize for bothering you, but..." I realized at this point, I really wasn't sure how to even ask what I wanted to know. Well, this is what came out... "I... The two men who lived here have kidnapped my wife before, and she is missing again..." I didn't cry, but I think it was clear that I was about to. "Aww, well, its ok. She's not here, not now. Those evil men are in jail, hopefully for a long time. The stories I heard from neighbors when I moved in; they must have run a prostitution ring or something." She laughed, then said "I even found an old, rusted gun out back..." Switching quickly to a look of concern, she asked "Has she been gone long?" "Few days" was all I could get out. "Well, you are welcome to look around. I'm hiding nothing, let alone someone's wife" she said honestly. Maybe I had come to my senses by then. "Thank you ma'am, that won't be necessary, I believe you, and I apologize again for bothering you." "No bother at all" she said. "I don't get many visitors way out here anyway." she added with a chuckle. "Still, let the police know if you haven't. They can't always help right away, but usually... And good luck..." I thanked her again, then headed back to the car. Summer has no identity here. Getting the police involved would be... And trying to explain Dark Melvain... Once in the back seat, I closed the door, and it was silent briefly. Pinkie said quietly "Shysage, I could have told you she wasn't here, but I knew you needed to come see for yourself." Pinkie was right, and I thanked her. It must have been some other Pie's turn to drive, and they played musical chairs, and we were soon out the driveway, and on our way back to CHS. "Oooo, cruise control! Does it work?" The Pie sister in the driver's seat said this. I was about to say that I didn't know. Pinkie already knew, and explained "Yeah, just kick it off on long up-hill stretches. This motor is tired." Yeah, it was... While the Pie sisters chatted happily, I sat in the back seat and tried to relax. I think, in the hands of those two vile monsters again, that was one of my worst fears for my Summer. I sighed, realizing this wasn't the case. Still, my Summer, alone, somewhere out there... I don't remember much about the return trip. I think that whole trip left me just so spent. Well, everything did... Near sun-down, we stopped for dinner. I guess I was hungry, but I think the Pie sisters were too. It was a good break. And a different Pie sister was at the wheel as we left. It was dark, and so the headlights were required. But they didn't come on as the switch was pulled out... This was a serious problem. We couldn't drive at night without headlights... Pinkie was quickly out, after asking her sister to pop the hood. She did something, then asked for the headlights again. They came on. Pinkie closed the hood, and climbed back in, and we were on our way. "Shysage, it was just a loose connection on one of the fusible links at the starter relay. You will need to pull the lug off , clean it up, and tighten everything down. It should get us home though." Pinkie explained this, then she paused briefly. "At least the fusible link wasn't down on the starter underneath the motor like some other cars we know. The numb skull who came up with that should have to fix one while laying on his back in the mud!" All three Pie sisters laughed loudly at this. Evidently they had all experienced this terrible sounding task before... And, maybe an hour from home, the car sputtered, and the engine died. The Pie sister in the driver's seat skillfully eased the car over and onto the shoulder, safely away from the freeway. And this included applying the brakes on this big car without the power booster active. Then both Pie sisters looked at Pinkie. She looked off into the distance briefly, then said quietly "Out of gas..." This started something, I guess. This must have happened to the Pie family before, maybe numerous times. For the next few minutes, laughing, each reminded the other of a number of such occasions. Most began with the words "Or, like the time..." It was quiet again. "Shysage, you have a gas can in your trunk." Pinkie had not even finished saying this when she had opened the glove-box, pushed the trunk opener button, and was out the door. It didn't take long for Pinkie to find the gas can, which I had totally forgotten about. We were soon on our way again, and took the next exit for a gas station. I refilled the gas can too. While I was putting the gas can back in the trunk, Pinkie Pie walked around to the back of the car and said quietly "Shysage, your scope can run on the 12V electrical system in your car; you know that, right?" Pinkie didn't wait for an answer, and was quickly back in the car. I... Why didn't I think of that... Pinkie was right, of course. I wondered what else she knew about that secretive device. But that didn't even matter though. On the way back to town, I worked through what I needed to do to merge the scope power system with the approximately 12 volts supplied by Big Blue. It would take a little work, but I had to do it. Dinner was at the Cake's, and I thanked all three Pie sisters for their help. All agreed it was a fun road trip together. Pinkie's two sisters left in some other older car as Pinkie headed back up the stairs to her room. It wasn't late, so I texted Vice-Principal Luna about using the work-shop again tomorrow. She said that was fine, also asking that I check in with the Computer Lab, and I said that was the least I could do. She also reminded me it was the weekend. Like I said, I had lost track of days. Well, I didn't feel I could take a day off anyway. And I would need to lug the scope around a little more. I guess my arms would get another good work-out. I needed the scope up and running though. I needed to find Summer. I fell asleep thinking through the details of grafting a noisy and variable 12 volts from a car into the sensitive power conditioning circuitry for my scope thing... I spent most of the next day at the work-shop at CHS. I spent some time in the Computer Lab, and also fixed a printing issue for Princess, er, Principal Celestia. But I mainly worked on modifying my scope to work from a widely variable, roughly 12 Volt power supply. Staff parking was just outside the work-shop, which made this a lot easier. I had to add a special connector to the dash of Big Blue too. And I had to come up with a way so that the scope did not confuse Summer with her Equestria Girls Twin, who was changing a diaper on their Ariel Dawn when the scope found her. But at the end of the day, well late that night, the scope was sitting calmly in the front seat of Big Blue looking for my Summer. She was not in range. I must have been exhausted at the end of that day. Half a burger at the Cake's, back to my cubical, and I fell quickly asleep. The next day I started driving. Trying to remember from past usage, I conservatively estimated the range of the scope at maybe 20 miles. And this was a lot better than having to practically trip over her. I knew this city pretty well, and so, by maybe noon, I had covered it thoroughly, and was pretty sure Summer was not in this area. And I rotated the scope and leaned it up against the dash so it would be easier for me to tell if the video feed snapped to life, indicating that the scope had found her. And the scope seemed to be tolorating Big Blue's electrical system fairly well. I stopped at the Cake's for lunch. While I ate, I tried to come up with some sort of plan, selecting nearby cities, then seleting a path through the city that would give the scope the best chance. Well, there were so many... And I realized too that I had to account for the huge areas of suburbia, house after house, road after road, fanning out madly from the center of these cities... I remember thinking to myself "This could take years..." Even if it did, I had no choice. Backing the car out of the parking spot at the Cake's, I noticed a small puddle of fresh coolant. Well, to make a long story short, replacing the water pump was the rest of that day. I had the tools, and located a pump, but this... I wanted to be looking for my Summer, not wrestling with the nasty, dirty front drive components of this old car. And I needed to do the repair right, because I needed this car to take me many more thousands of miles... When I was done, and Big Blue was ready to drive again, it was too late, even for dinner. After I got cleaned up, I shaved, then was quickly asleep. The next morning, after breakfast at the Cake's and a quick check to make sure Big Blue had no other issues, I started driving. Using the compass directions, I broke my surroundings up into quadrants, and headed to the area between North and West, covering as much as I could that day. I drove all day, and didn't find my Summer. Almost at closing time, I had dinner at the Cake's. I ate everything. I was hungry... Back to my cubical, get cleaned up, fall into bed. I was soon asleep. But, I guess after driving around in cities and suburbs all day... In maybe the middle of the night, I dreamed about seeing Summer... She was sitting on the curb on a street in some city, as cars dashed past... Her head was in her hands, and she was crying... "Shysage, please come back..." In my dream, I yelled loudly "Summer!" only to wake up, and bolt upright in my bed at that point, gasping for air, crying... I needed her... She needed me... I talked to true friend a while, trying to calm down. I fell back asleep at some point, only to have the exact same dream again a few hours later... This did not make for a good night's sleep. But it just reinforced what I really needed to accomplish. And it really could take... weeks... months... Well, days passed... Weeks maybe, I lost track of time. My nights always held the same, dream about Summer crying on the curb, wake up gasping, crying, talk to true friend, fall back asleep, then a few hours later... My days seemed to drag painfully forward, always waiting for the next green light... or looking for the correct off-ramp, or panic braking to avoid the careless driver... And I was always scanning furiously for that petite blond sitting on the curb, crying... I did not like this place even before I came here. People drive their cars the same way they treat other people in the rest of their lives. Driving here was excruciating. But I had to keep going, keep looking... After completing the four quadrants around the city, I extended and subdivided the quadrants into larger chunks, further away, again using the compass divisions, NNW, WNW, etc. I kept looking, piecing together an ever expanding search area with my cubical at the center. Since Dark Melvain was behind all this, I was pretty sure he had picked out a fitting destiny for me. I was spending every waking moment, driving around in a world that I had run away from, looking for the most important pony in my universe... I wondered if this would go on until I died in some horrible traffic accident, and that was it... I drove and looked... I looked and drove... And a good night's sleep was just not possible. Early on, I got texts from our friends here, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Twilight mostly. As the days stretched on, our amazing friends just stopped asking how everything was going. If I had found Summer, she would be with me. In fact, we would leave this terrible place as soon as possible. Pinkie Pie felt increasingly bad too. Her Pinkie Sense was just silent about what I needed to know. Nopony could explain that. One morning... Driving through some look-alike residential area, trying to hold in my mind the boundries of the area I was checking today... I decided to turn on the radio to keep from falling asleep. Bad idea... I caught the tail end of an interview. This woman had been kidnapped, and quickly driven to the other end of the country. Months later she finally managed to escape, and get back home... I... Summer could be anywhere by now... A jet could have flown her around the world by now... And I had only covered... I turned the radio off, and just cried. Driving like that is hard. Maybe minutes later, I glanced over at the scope... The display shows whatever video feed it might be picking up, and it was blank at the moment, of course. But the name of the current target is posted along the bottom of the display. It read "Princess Twilight..." The scope panel holds buttons that I added for targets that the scope looks for, based on specific biometric information. I had set it for Summer, and it should have shown "Summer Rain"; she was the one I was looking for, after all. Somehow, at some point, the button for Princess Twilight had accidentally been pressed instead... How long ago... I had no clue when that had happened... All the searching I had done up to this point... Days... Weeks... Wasted... Something snapped inside... I knew I would, had to repeat the search. It was the middle of the morning, but still... I did an illegal U-Turn in the middle of a busy street and headed for my cubical... I was so spent... so out of gas... I cried in my bed for hours... Still crying, I got up and walked... I am not sure where I walked, or how, but I ended up at the church building where my Twin works. I guess I was oblivious to the fact that the Twin Link had come active. He was working, of course, it was late afternoon. I ended up sitting in the sanctuary, and I just cried out to true friend. Honestly, I was so far beyond my meager resources. My Twin was soon sitting next to me. He knew how I felt, of course. I appreciated his presence, but I also knew I was keeping him from his work. I just cried though. I think that was all I could do. At some point later, my Twin said softly "Shysage, they need this room soon, we have to leave..." Well, I knew I would ruin whatever service would happen in here, so I got up and walked outside. My Twin said he would be out in a few minutes. I found a quiet secluded spot and sat on the grass. My crying slowed to quiet sniffles. I was still such a mess inside. I knew I would start my search over... I had to... I just didn't know... My Twin came out a few minutes later and sat down next to me. "I can't stay long" he said quietly. That was ok. He had his job, his responsibilities, and I would be the last person to-- "Wait a minute..." my Twin said abruptly. He sounded confused, or... He got quickly up, so I followed him. This area seemed so peaceful, what could possibly... My Twin walked over to a low bush area, part of the shrubbery of the well cared for grounds of this church. He was just staring at something... It looked like a plaster cast of a piece of a wing... He climbed through the shrubbery, and pulled it up, then layed it carefully on top of the bushes... It was a complete statue... of my Summer... In her beautiful, flowing dress... The Phantom Alicorn, horn, wings and all... But it was a statue... Of all the... I just cried...