The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 9 -- Future Perfect

by shysage

Chapter 12, a good man

Well, to be honest, our time with Princess Twilight, while difficult, didn't turn up tragedy. The transformation that I saw in my Princess through maybe 48 hours, was surely difficult for me, and for Fluttershy too, and we were crying together outside. And I think the word tragedy worked for whatever had splintered Princess and her girls apart.

But Princess Twilight was still alive. I thought there was still time, and more importantly, hope. I was pretty sure we would need Princess Twilight to help us do what we needed to do. I think that I just knew that.

Shysage hugged Fluttershy and I as we cried together for a few minutes in the clearing outside the hut.

"Let's head back to the barn" Shysage said quietly, and we were all quickly on our way.

While walking, the three of us talked.

Shysage wanted to go to the barn and get his shoulder sack and his Canterlot Recorder stuff. He sounded pretty adamant about writing this all down, and that's our job anyway.

And we decided to spend the night at Dawns.

Fluttershy said she would see if she could leave her cats at her tree as they passed. Sis explained that she had not tried this before, so she couldn't promise anything. But we all agreed that, if these four animal friends needed to come, we would make that work.

The next morning, we would need to start working on finding the rest of Princess Twilight's girls. Well, the Equestria Ponies.

Short of going through the Portal and finding Twilight Sparkle, who could be anywhere there, we just didn't have much hope of rounding up the Equestria Girls. We still didn't know how far in the future we were, but we doubted the Equestria Girls would even remember, if they were even alive.

But we had to start looking for four other specific ponies, at least. And since, in my dream, we found both Pinkie Pie and Applejack in Dodge City, Shysage suggested we head there tomorrow and see if we could find anypony. Noting how empty Ponyville was, Shysage said he still feared finding all the girls would take a while. We just didn't know. And each of them could really be anywhere in Equestria.

By then, we were at Fluttershy's home in a tree.

Fluttershy had us leave her there, and she said she would meet us in maybe an hour, at the barn or at Dawns. Fluttershy, right away, began fussing over her new animal friends.

Shysage and I headed down the path.

...

This next part was just wierd...

We had walked maybe ten minutes down the path, and were stopped abruptly by the sight of a much larger pony... Pure White everything, clearly an Alicorn.

We walked slowly towards him, and he watched us intently, and only addressed us as we were close. He spoke slowly, and it was clear he felt deeply about what he said. Still, he didn't say much.

"I am Orbsah Tnouc...

"I want to thank you both for coming...

"Please rescue Equestria... Please rescue Equestria's Princesses... Please rescue my little ponies now scattered all over the countryside..."

As he spoke, Shysage and I bowed our heads some. We had no idea who we were now facing, but I think we both felt this was the right thing to do...

"Sir, I think that is why we are here" Shysage offered this quietly.

"I know, please bow..."

Shysage and I bowed the rest of the way, and closed our eyes. We didn't feel threatened at all.

It was quiet for a minute, except that we felt his Unicorn horn touch our heads briefly. My Cutie Mark warmed some as he did that, and Shysage said later that his did too.

Before we even had a chance to look up, we heard a loud sound. Shysage said it sounded like an explosion combined with an orchestra, but that description didn't mean anything to me.

We looked up after the sound died away, and he was gone.

Shysage sat down, and I did too. For a few minutes, we just sat there, listening... wondering...

"Shysage, who was that?" I asked.

Shysage shook his head. "Aside from somepony important, I have no clue..."

It was quiet for a few more minutes.

"Shysage, should we record that?" I asked quietly.

Shysage smiled. "We are Canterlot Recorders. We record everything."

Well, I doubted either of us would ever forget those three minutes. Like I said, it was just weird.

...

We walked the rest of the way to the edge of the Everfree Forest in silence.

We jumped a low fence, then started across the overgrown orchards.

I love my Stallion... We had not walked far across the fields, and Shysage changed into a people. I did too, and we walked the rest of the way to the barn, as people, slowly, hugging tightly. Well, maybe we both wept softly at times.

Equestria Girls stylish clothes and White sweatshirts, we weren't cold at all.

Little was said. We weren't even in a hurry. I think we both needed this time together and alone.

I don't need much, but I need him.

We didn't make it to the barn, and headed for the lake and the Oats instead. We changed back into ponies once we got there. It was maybe mid-afternoon, and we found a nice patch of Sun right away. We laid on our bellies in the Sun and just hugged for a little while...

"Shysage, why did I have my dream?" I asked quietly.

Shysage thought for a few minutes, then answered. "I don't know. I think it was right for us to take it as a warning at the time. But since we are here, now, living this all out, it would seem that the warning may have gone unheeded."

It was quiet for a minute, then Shysage added this. "Holding on to something that is amazing... This has proved difficult all down through history, so I don't know."

The historian in my Stallion never ceases to amaze me.

I looked deeply into Shysage's eyes, and quietly said this. "Dawn said we left, and never came back, until now... And we came here from years, decades ago... That really scares me."

Shysage hugged me tightly. I am sure he knew how I felt. I also knew he understood my real question, without me even having to ask.

"Summer, like I said in your dream... It is true friendship, putting each other first, that is the core of our relationship, and I'm convinced true friend is the only thing that can make our true friendship last. As long as we hold on to that..."

Shysage hugged me tightly again. I knew he was right. Our devotion was based on giving, and as long as we stayed connected to the giver of all giving, Shysage and I would stay so hopelessly in love. I sighed. I wanted that. I needed that. I think we both did.

But sitting here in this shattered future... It helped me feel just how tenuous everything in life really is. Equestria was truly GREAT, and had been for centuries, but something happened, and ALL that was lost...

This just made me cry... Shysage hugged me tightly for a few minutes.

"Shysage, do you think Equestria can come back to life?" I asked.

Shysage sighed deeply, then answered. "If Cel and Lu are still alive, I think Equestria can be rebuilt." He said nothing more.

In our Present, a lot of ponies seemed to resent our role in their two Princess' lives. That just didn't matter. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were Equestria. These two Princesses were Equestria's appointed ones. That was Shysage's point.

...

Fluttershy soon came walking quickly across the fields to us, followed by four bounding, maybe frolicing Panthers. Big Black cats, they were running and jumping, all at the same time. Well, they looked happy. And seeing them jump like that; Fluttershy really was dwarfed by her four huge girlfriends.

Ok, so our extended family would come too.

When Fluttershy got to us, she was about to fall apart; I could tell she was near tears. Shysage quickly hugged her and said quietly "Hey, hey, Sis, it's ok. We will make this work."

What came out next, was so Fluttershy... "I... I just couldn't leave them there, all alone, like that..."

I love my sister...

She soon calmed down.

---

But Fluttershy surprised me. She walked up close to me and told me quietly "Sis, I'm taking the girls up to the barn for a while, so, you and Shysage..." I don't think my Sis knew quite how to finish the sentence, but she wanted to give Shysage and I some time together.

I hugged Sis tightly and said softly "We won't be long, and thank you."

Fluttershy sang to her cats, and they headed up the hill together.

It wasn't warm, but it wasn't cold either. Shysage and I were both ponies still.

We took our coats off, and wandered to the far side of the lake. Shysage took care of his Mare. It was wonderful. I love him so much... And the lake was freezing; we couldn't splash each other (laughing) for very long. We soon had our coats back on, and were on our bellies next to each other in the dry grass, trying to warm back up in a nice patch of sunlight in the valley.

As messed up as Equestria was right now... The fact that my Stallion could still give to me like that... Like I said, I don't need much, but I need him.

I felt bad though, there was nothing in this for him, not this time, anyway. I guess I have gotten used to him sacrificing for me like that.

"A good man is strong enough to put his woman first" I remember one of the bleacher girls saying that. How in the world I had found a Stallion like that... And even here, in this skeleton future... Right now, I felt so amazingly cherished...

But that bleacher girl's comment didn't leave, and I remembered more... When she said that, she was crying loudly on my Twin's shoulder. She had just found out that she was pregnant from date rape, from a guy she knew she would never see again. He took what he wanted and ran...

"This is so wrong... A good man is strong enough to put his woman first... Why can't they see that... Why doesn't anybody even care about that any more?" She said this over and over again, as she cried out in her pain. Fortunately, she was surrounded both by other bleacher girls and ponies from a different land; she was among loving, true friends, who hugged her tightly and cried with her, and no doubt helped her for months, maybe years to come...

But I felt her pain. And I realized that whole mess had probably gotten far worse by now... And remembering Camille's dashed hopes, I guess it was worse here too...

I had been deep in thought for a few minutes.

"Shysage, please don't ever leave me..." I got this out, then cried.

Shysage hugged me tightly, and answered immediately. "Summer, I can't... I can't even live away from you... I... I just can't..." Shysage cried after this.

We cried together, hugging each other tightly for a little while.

---

When we calmed down, we decided we had made Fluttershy wait long enough, and we headed back up the hill to the barn.

Once there, we found Fluttershy and her cats in the Sun outside. Shysage headed inside to collect his shoulder sack and Canterlot Recorder stuff. One of Fluttershy's girls (a huge Black Panther) followed him inside, and watched him. I heard her purr later, so I guess she got some attention from my Stallion.

While Shysage was in the barn, I asked Sis quietly, and I know I had this quizzical look on my face. "Sis, can you tell when I need that?" We both understood I meant time at the lake with Shysage.

Fluttershy blushed, and that was answer enough. She is my sister, and she can feel what most can't even see. Sis knew me better than anypony else in Equestria.

Fluttershy spoke softly though. "Watching you both has helped me realize what I really want, and that's a good thing."

I thought for a minute, then said quietly "Desert Spring?"

Fluttershy blushed again. I guess we both remembered that part of my dream. "Well, that remains to be seen. It was only a dream, but I guess I am hoping."

I hugged my sister tightly. "Sis, you won't be able to bring him back with you..."

This made Fluttershy cry... "I know..." she said quietly. Maybe a minute later, she tried to calm down. "We will need to see how all that works out, I guess. But, either way, I'm in no hurry..."

Shysage had come out of the barn, with one of Fluttershy's cats in tow. Shysage sat down, and the cat did too. It was cute. Well, if you want to call it that; the cat was much bigger than Shysage.

Before we headed off to Dawn's, Fluttershy stopped us. "I think you both need to officially meet my girls."

Fluttershy sat them all down, in a row, then had us each pet them as she told us their names (Alyssa, Filicia, Dawn and Rose). Shysage and I both did this, it was fun. Well, Alyssa was the cat that had followed Shysage into the barn. She slopped her big tongue all the way across Shysage's pony face; she got a hug for that. Well, Rose smiled at me and I hugged her, I don't know. Fluttershy's girls all purred loudly the whole time.

Then we all headed off to Dawns. Fluttershy said we should probably do that at Dawn's too, maybe. And Shysage added that doing this was very wise. Fluttershy's girls were powerful animals and could do a lot of damage should they become angry. Getting to know our scent as friends was a good idea.

Of course Fluttershy protested "Oh, no, my girls would never do anything like that..."

Still, walking the path from Sweet Apple Acres to Ponyville was almost surreal. It looked the same, like it always had. And we could still see the spire of Princess' Castle off in the distance. But once Ponyville came into view, the dream was shattered. Ponyville was shattered...

---

Shysage, Fluttershy and I were quickly hugging and crying with Camille and Dawn the younger. And it again occurred to me that Camille, especially, probably didn't think she would ever see us again.

Still, I left them crying out front, and I went in and hugged Dawn the elder, and we were quickly crying together again. Still, we both calmed down after a few minutes.

"You found your Shysage, didn't you?" Dawn asked with a smile.

I'm not quite sure how she could tell. Still, our neighbor Dawn knew Shysage and I fairly well.

"Yes, and my sister too" I replied quietly. I had to work hard to not start crying again. I needed both nearby, and was so glad I found them.

While I sat next to Dawn the elder, Fluttershy introduced each of her girls to Camille and her daughter. Camille's daughter was still pretty young, and clearly afraid. But the cats purred the whole time, and all went well.

After that, Fluttershy told her girls to go find some food, then come back. She told them pretty sternly to not eat anything big, like ponies. Then they ran off.

The Sun was going down, and it was getting cold. After an hour maybe, Fluttershy's girls came back and laid down near the door. Fluttershy went out and fussed over them a little while, then came back in. She said they would be fine outside tonight.

Camille fed us all some more yummy Oat Pies, and we talked quietly the rest of the evening. In order to avoid awkward questions, Shysage mentioned that we had actually come here from a different time, and so we had to be very careful what we said. This worked well, but was mainly for our protection, I think.

And we all agreed to avoid, well, good words, for now anyway.

But the stout anchor that had been added to the wall inside Dawn's shop when Shysage lost his memory... I just cried a little while when I saw it...

Well, Shysage also took maybe an hour trying to get caught up on Canterlot Recorder stuff. Dawn and Camille helped us with my first day here. It went pretty quickly because Shysage's notes were painfully brief. We really were running out of space to record stuff.

And I had to ask Camille; it seemed like Dawn was, well, reviving some, now that we were here.

Camille just sighed. "She is 53, and that's pretty old for a pony, so I don't know... But, I'm so glad you could..." Camille just cried as I hugged her...

That night, I slept with our neighbor Dawn (the elder) on one side, and Shysage on the other. I think Dawn very much appreciated me being close like that.

The fireplace kept it pretty warm inside. I think we all slept well.

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