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

by shysage

Chapter 3, Remembering the Future

I have been moved around by the Portal on a number of occasions, and so the slow fading of Equestria Present was not a tremendous surprise. Such trips were often difficult, but we could usually depend on the Portal, or true friend, or maybe both... Things had worked out ok up to this point, so I wasn't too alarmed.

Well, I did have to come back from the Past without Summer recently, and that was a nightmare. As it turns out, she was just Blue, and somewhere else near Canterlot, and had forgotten a lot. I just sighed. I didn't want to endure that again. I didn't know if I could.

But the Portal didn't usually take me, us, unless there was a need. Being committed to true friendship, the needs of others often had to become a priority, and that was fine. And if more was at stake, like Equestria... We wouldn't argue about that. Still, a small break in the action would have been nice...

I also remembered Fluttershy's question over lunch. I guess we would find out. Well, I didn't even know whether Fluttershy would come or not.

And a calm but endearing tune lept to life immediately in the background(1). I had no idea if it was the same tune Summer had been hearing all day...

Ok, I was concerned, of course, to know where my Mare would be, whenever and wherever we arrived. I... Summer being near was an important part of the stability I more and more depended on. I quickly became a different pers... er, pony without her near. I guess I can't describe how desperately we have grown to need each other.

...

After maybe ten seconds, my destination began to come slowly into view.

Well, I recognized where the Portal planted me right away. I was in town square in Ponyville, not far from where I was before. And it was not Winter I guess. It was a warm day, with birds singing, and flowers blooming.

But Ponyville was a wreck, and clearly vacant, more like a ghost town, and had been for years. Looking the town over, Summer's Dream was the first thing I thought of. That was only a dream. It was vivid, but still... This was real. And seeing an abandoned Ponyville, real, before my very eyes, slowly collapsing in on itself... That hurt, a lot... I just stared for a while.

Then I took to the air and flew slowly, long enough to confirm that there was nopony else here. Well, I checked the homes of the most important ponies (that sounds bad, I meant Princess Twilight's girls) and found no trace of even footprints near where they lived.

I landed in front of the Canterlot Recorder's home. The roof was on the floor in the living room, and the amazing rug with Summer's Cutie Mark on it was scattered pieces on the ground. My scope thing looked terrible, but in the weather like that...

But I did find my clip thing and some quills, ink and paper under the cover for the scope. My old and tattered shoulder bag was there too. I quickly shoved everything into the shoulder bag, and pulled it on. I wanted to record this. I wanted to record everything. That is my job. I'm a Canterlot Recorder.

...

I walked from there quickly to Princess Twilight's Castle. I could see the spire above Ponyville from a good distance away, it was still there, and looked, well, untouched. When I got close, I realized why.

Those few times Equestria had sensed the need for this Castle, a faint Purple magical shield completely enveloped the Castle, from the top of the Spire, probably to below the amazing Council Room on the lowest floor.

That faint Purple magic shield had turned into a faint white shield. I ran into this shield and could go no further. Equestria was clearly messed up, but Princess Twilight's Castle was magically taking care of itself, and probably had been for years. I guessed we may need to try to find a way to reverse that at some point.

Well honestly, I had no idea why and when I was here.

This had happened to me once before (the sixth Chronicles, I think). That time, the Portal had time-warped me right as I walked towards Princess Twilight's Castle, and the Castle just disappeared. I had to carefully figure out what to do, and hope I did it right, which I guess I did. That amazing trip was a few years into the Past from where I was taken from however. But this...

I suspected though, that Summer's Dream was somehow related to this trip to the Future. Well, I was pretty sure it was in the future. It wasn't Summer's Dream; this was all painfully real. But I think my Mare's dream could hold some direction. Well, I hoped this was true.

What I did know was that the Portal had a reason for putting me here. But I didn't know if this involved my Mare or not. For all I knew, she and her sister might still be sitting on that little hill talking, or maybe they were freaked out that I suddenly disappeared. I just didn't know.

Still, I thought it was too early for tears just yet...

The only place I had not checked was Sweet Apple Acres, so I walked there, slowly. I guess I could have flown, but I needed more time to think. I really knew very little. And I wasn't in a hurry. I worked on pulling pieces of Summer's Dream back from distant memory. Wow, reaching backwards to remember the future... That was just wierd.

Summer's dream was recorded in the second Chronicles I think, the first fifteen or so chapters. That dream had forced Summer and I to bond so quickly. While traumatic, I don't think either of us really minded. But on top of that, there were so many details to include; it really was a very vivid dream. And by the third day, Summer was just remembering pieces, and we had to arrange them as best as we could. At the time, we weren't too concerned, we took it as a warning anyway. But even so, it was just a dream.

Still, that was a long time ago, and a lot had happened since then. My brain hurt as I walked up the slight hill to the farm.

The barn looked ok, but the farmhouse was a collapsed shell. And there was nopony there; it looked like it had been abandoned for years. I did find Applejack's amazing Rarity coat in the barn though. It looked like it had weathered the years fairly well. I guessed I might need that at some point, I don't know.

Well the Sun was going down; it would be dark soon. I curled up on a mound of hay inside the barn and fell asleep.

---

While sleeping though, I did have a dream. Well, it was close to a nightmare, and it woke me up in the middle of the night. After listening for five minutes and only hearing crickets, I decided everything was probably ok.

The dream I had, well the part that woke me, the part I remembered, wasn't long, but it brought back some scary portions of Summer's Dream. It was that big Black bear, Eschate Zumulus. That is who I dreamed about. I was sure this was a mistake. Princess Twilight had actually called this demon forth, and she and her girls had destroyed him. I doubted he could regenerate.

But I just didn't know, and decided that some caution was probably advisable. I had to be careful what I said out loud, and I had to keep an eye on things that flew over me. Especially big things. Eschate Zumulus ate ponies for dinner. And lunch. Well, in Summer's Dream he did.

It took a while, then I fell back asleep. This time, I had a long dream about Summer. I woke up so thoroughly lonely for her... I cried a while.

Still, I had work to do, and I found a flat piece of wood, and worked on a detailed record of yesterday. I tried to keep everything as short and succinct as possible. I didn't know how much time I would need to record on the few pieces of paper I had.

It took maybe an hour, then I was caught up. Still, I did splash a few teardrops on the paper.

I guess I wanted my Mare pretty badly...

---

I remembered the layout of the field near Applejack's house, and was soon eating Oats down in the valley near the lake.

Well, something big did fly over me at that point, twice, and so I ran for the cover of the nearest tree, hoping to get out of sight. Trying to relax, I just waited.

Two big things quickly landed near me. It was the Shyna Twins. We were quickly hugging and crying together. I think we cried together for a while. We were family.

Of course, the Shynas looked the same as they did when I left (this makes no sense, I know); off White coat peppered with tiny Red specks, blazing Bronze mane and tail, raised wing Cutie Mark. Well, I think the Bronze tipping on their wings was more pronounced now.

Still, I asked quietly "Girls, where is everypony?"

Equestria pony Shyna sighed and said simply "Gone..."

I think we all wanted to talk more, but I suggested that we head back up into the barn, and find somewhere out of sight. The Shyna Twins agreed, and we were soon laying on our bellies in one of the stalls inside the barn.

Without being asked, the girls talked very quietly, almost whispering.

...

Equestria Girls Shyna shared her story first. She had stayed in the Equestria Girls world for only maybe ten years after Fluttershy adopted her. At that point, she could stand it there no longer, and came to Equestria for good, she said.

At the mention of Fluttershy, both Shynas broke down and cried a little while. Such bonds are not easily broken...

Shyna explained her desire to leave, to her Fluttershy (Equestria Girls Fluttershy), and she understood. They cried a lot, then Equestria Girls Fluttershy walked her Shyna to the Portal, and she was gone. Shyna never returned to the Equestria Girls world, and doesn't want too either.

...

Equestria pony Shyna's story was heartbreaking, too. Her story actually covered two phases, the breakdown of Princess Twilight's inner circle -- her amazing girls, as well as the fall of Equestria into the decay seen all around us.

Shyna was not real sure why, but after maybe eight years of amazing friendships, it seemed like everypony just scattered; most going their own way. From what Shyna could tell, friendship stopped being magic; Princess' girls could not even get along. And even being together became painful.

Shyna said that it seemed like this happened over a fairly short period of time. And it seemed like Princess Twilight was deeply grieved by all of this, but she couldn't find anything she could do to stop it.

Shyna thought too, that there were no monsters to fight for a while, maybe that was a part of it. Still, she admitted this was all many years ago.

After thinking a minute, Shyna said Fluttershy mentioned once that friendship's magic was gone. Fluttershy didn't like talking about it because it hurt her so much, so Shyna never asked more about this.

Regardless of the specific reason, Princess Twilight's girls were quickly scattered all over Equestria. Shyna said the understanding was that, if she needed them, Princess Twilight could call the girls from anywhere in Equestria, to the Council Room when Equestria required their assistance. All Princess had to do was sit in her chair, and this was supposed to pull everypony there, right away. But the first time Princess tried that, it didn't work. And by then it was too late.

And it seemed like something similar happened with the Equestria Girls. Nopony could get along. Nopony could get along with anypony. The Portal was moved into storage back in the Crystal Palace.

Shyna was crying. Well, we all were. This was just a terrible tragedy.

Shyna stayed crying as she described her Fluttershy walking out of Ponyville one night, and leaving everything behind, including her. That was just heartbreaking...

Shyna stayed at the Cottage, hoping Fluttershy would return. Her Twin joined her when she came to Ponyville, and they lived in the Cottage together until Equestria fell apart.

Shyna's Twin was hugging her tightly and crying with her, and that is probably the only reason either of these girls, these mares had survived. Twin found Twin, and stayed together. That was enough.

...

The decay of Equestria was a more serious concern to me. When Summer had her dream, we had not been to the Past at all. But now, Cel and Lu (Equestria's Princesses) are very dear to us. They were our girls. 'Follow the Equestrium' explains why.

Equestria pony Shyna did not have a lot of information about what happened to Equestria, but she mentioned what she knew. She also mentioned that, after Princess' Girls scattered themselves, both Shynas spent most of their time together at the Cottage, and were not real connected with what was going on in the rest of Equestria.

From what both Shynas could tell, Equestria was brought to chaos by some sort of uprising from within the ponies in Equestria. Shyna didn't think it was a huge army or anything. But it was clear that something broke down in the kingdom. It was almost like the Guards fell asleep, and all sorts of terrible crimes spread like wildfire.

Shyna said Ponyville became a very dangerous place, and at this point the Shyna Twins flew away, far beyond Dodge City, and tried to survive. Well, they had each other.

Both Twins only knew beyond this, that some terrible monster took over Equestria soon after that. He didn't like anypony who said... Equestria pony Shyna looked around carefully, then finished; good words. Shyna said this monster would eat anypony who did this.

Still, every Spring or Summer, these Twins flew back to Ponyville for a day, just to see if anything was going on. Until today, when they recognized me, they had seen less than a handful of ponies in Ponyville ever, and nopony they even recognized.

I asked if they knew who the monster was or what happened to any of Equestria's Princesses. Equestria Girls Shyna said quietly that they were in hiding when Equestria fell, and they didn't know much more.

We all cried together for a while...

---

Still, while we cried, I made a few decisions.

I, myself was from the Past now, and so nothing I could do now could ruin the present (here), or the past for that matter. Still, I decided to avoid entirely both how or why I was here, and any discussion about what I had been doing up until now. According to Summer's Dream it was 37 years into the future, but this was not a dream and very real, and I had no idea.

I also decided to avoid talking or asking about Summer. I suspected anyway that the Portal had brought her here too, or would. I guess I decided the less I talk about that the better. Well, maybe I just didn't want to know. A life without my Mare would be the closest to tragedy I could possibly endure. I had already tried that...

It was getting dark, and I suggested we go get some more food, then try and sleep. The Shyna Twins already said they were heading home tomorrow anyway.

Trying to remain vigilant, we headed back to the valley, ate and drank, then went back to the barn to hide.

While crying softly, the girls told me about their new home, then were soon asleep. Evidently it was a long trip, even for these gifted Pegasi mares.

...

Our morning was mostly the reverse of our evening. We hugged and cried together in the barn a while. Then the three of us headed out into the valley to eat.

We hugged some more, and the Shyna Twins took off and headed back home.

I was sad to see them go...

Still, I headed back up to the barn, got out that piece of wood, and recorded what I had heard yesterday. Then I tucked everything away.

THEN I cried for a while...

I think I needed my Mare...

---

---

Author's Note:

1. The tune is the BGM for the 'Kamihr Drifts' zone in Final Fantasy XI, and the music, the zone and the game are c2014 by Square Enix. The tune is called 'The Divine' and it is available on the 'Forever Today' add-on for the OST for the 'Seekers of Adoulin' expansion for FFXI and is c2014 by Square Enix.

Comments

[SiIver Spoon]

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