The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 10 -- Ariel Dawn

by shysage

Chapter 4, Rage's Wounds

...Even inside the Castle, I could now hear the angry crowd. They were very close...

I followed Princess Twilight outside...

The angry, yelling crowd was at the bottom of the stairs in front of the Castle... ...still yelling "No more!" over and over again...

And I quickly realized Shysage was curled up on that bottom step... He was covered with blood, as they continued to hit him with their signs...

Princess Twilight was furious...

"STOP THAT THIS INSTANT!" she yelled...

Well, they stopped hitting Shysage, anyway.

Princess wasn't done, and yelled again

"IS THIS THE KIND OF EQUESTRIA YOU REALLY WANT?"

...

It was instantly quiet.

I don't know what anypony in that angry crowd said...

...because at that exact moment, Equestria... Our present faded from view...

True friend, the Portal, and now maybe the Keeper... I have learned to trust that, when the Portal moved us, everything would work out fine. But, as I noticed our present fading away... I knew right away what was happening. And honestly, my first thought was that I would be outraged if Shysage was left there... ...If I had to leave Shysage... ...now of all times...

---

As somewhere and sometime slowly came into view... I think I may have dropped some, but I ended up standing in the grass, facing Shysage... He was still curled up in a ball, bleeding all over, now in the grass, crying quietly. I... I will never leave my Stallion... "Shysage, I'm right here..." I said this quietly, a few times. I think, more than any time in his life, he needed me right now, and I knew it. I ran quickly to his side, and began to lick the blood from his body. I remembered my Twin having to do this to her Shysage recently... And the blood made my stomach sick, but I didn't care. And every so often, I would stop, and kiss my amazing Stallion. "Shysage, I love you so much" I said this a lot too. I felt it. I meant it. I was crying with him... For a while, he cried more, harder, then his crying began to slow. I didn't expect his crying to stop completely; he probably hurt all over. I didn't think anything was broken, or any permament damage was done, but he was clearly in a lot of pain. And this wasn't like the time the Portal guards, then Dark Melvain beat him up; Shysage was mostly unconscious, or just barely conscious most of that time. But now... I knew my Shysage keenly felt every wound...

...

...

...

Sometime later, a gentle rain pulled my attention away some from Shysage. The rain was WARM... And it quickly had most of the blood washed from Shysage's body as he lay there. I could now see that he had some pretty big bruises, and a lot of smaller ones... Lots of cuts too, some were still bleeding... But neither of us moved; we didn't even try to, we didn't even have to... Well, I snuggled up as close to Shysage as I could, and put my head right next to his. We just enjoyed the warm rain together. We heard some thunder off in the distance, but nothing close, nothing menacing. And there was no wind either. And it was a warm day, too. Compared to where we had just been; freezing cold, snow... This... here... It all felt absolutely amazing. I was quickly crying... My Shysage needed this... After an hour maybe, both our crying tapered off. It kept raining.

...

...

...

What appeared to be late afternoon, the clouds drifted slowly off, and the warm Sun... Warm... The Sun felt so amazing both Shysage and I sighed at the same time. And for the first time, I looked around and began to take stock of our surroundings. Well, it was very warm here. This alone made me suspect we were not in our present any longer.

...

And I noticed only now that a very calming tune(1) continued to waft slowly through the background. It was a welcomed replacement for the monster music that accompanied that angry crowd... It didn't matter, they weren't here now.

...

Shysage and I were in the middle of a large meadow. Well, the meadow was very large. A weather-worn, wind blown, scraggly but good-sized tree was near us. And I saw one or two other trees way off in the distance, dotting the horizon. Otherwise it was meadow as far as I could see.

...

I asked Shysage if he could walk, and he tried, and only slowly got up. I led him to the nearby tree, which was really a few trees blown together, and he flopped down beneath it's shade, and winced as he did. I laid on my belly right next to him. Together, we stared off into the distance, across the warm meadow, as a gentle, warm breeze blew past us, occasionally rustling the leaves in our tree. I made sure my head was right next to his. I love him so much...

...

After a dazzling sunset, the Blue sky was replaced by a brilliant canopy of millions of glittering stars. It really was beautiful, even if I gazed upwards only occasionally. I did everything I could to keep my head right next to Shysage's. He moved around quite a bit, and I knew he was trying to find a position for his body that hurt the least. I don't think he found that. Last time he hurt this bad, he gave up, rolled on his side, and just had me crawl up under his front legs, and he hugged me all night as I slept. I wasn't going to do that. "Shysage, I know you are in a lot of pain. I am going to stay awake all night with you if I need to." This brought tears to his eyes. Shysage ended up laying on his belly. I guessed it hurt as bad as anything else. I moved right next to him, and put my head down on one of his front legs. He put his head right next to mine. I knew that was comforting to him. Early in the morning, we both fell asleep, there under that tree. It stayed warm all night.

---

I guess we slept in; the Sun was pretty high in the sky when we finally woke up. Well, Shysage was already awake, but was still keeping his head next to mine. He put his head up as soon as I did. I really wanted to knock him over, and hug him tightly for hours. I also knew that would hurt him. "Shysage, I really love you" I said quietly as we looked off across the meadow together. He smiled a little, and touched my nose with his. I sighed, and he did too, much more quietly.

I asked him if he was hungry, and he didn't answer right away. I quickly asked if he felt he could get up. He put his head down, and slowly moved his head, side to side. I guess he wanted to stay right here. I asked if I could look around, close, for some food. I think he nodded. I was starved. The last thing in my stomach was blood. I didn't mind doing that, but I was pretty sure I needed to eat. I had not wandered far, when I realized most of the plants in this meadow were Oats. I turned into a people, and pulled a bunch of Oats up, and gathered them in my arms, stems and all. I carried them back to Shysage, of course, and that made him cry. I put them down in front of him, and he kept crying. I sat next to him, as a people, and wrapped both arms around his pony neck, and hugged him tightly. I was crying too. After a few minutes maybe, Shysage tried to stop crying, and I did too. He started eating, so I changed back into a pony, and wandered over to some Oats nearby, and I ate too.

...

It was while I was eating, that I began to sense the clouds of a gathering storm. It wasn't the weather here; it was warm and sunny outside today, just like yesterday, maybe around noon now. A nice breeze kept it from getting hot. It was a nice day. I had no idea where and when we were, but it was amazing here. We left the dead of Winter with an inch of snow on the ground. It felt glorious here.

Shysage had not spoken a single word since we came here yesterday... That was the gathering storm. I was right about what I thought yesterday. More than any other time in Shysage's life, he needed me. Inside, he was hurt, and hurt bad. I ate quickly, and just about ran back to my Stallion.

He was still eating the Oats I had brought him. I was a pony, and I laid on my belly right next to him. He briefly rubbed my nose with his, and he continued eating. I guessed he was hungry too. He ate everything. He ate until it was all gone, even the stems.

I honestly didn't know what to do, what to say. For years, it was Shysage who was the towering strength in my life. I was the Phantom Alicorn, and powerful, I guess. But Shysage and his strength is what kept me going, what guided me, what cared so amazingly for me. I was pretty sure that was broken now. He was broken. I don't know... I remember Shysage saying once that what we say comes from our heart; our words reveal what is in our heart. Shysage wasn't talking. That was a bad sign. Well, one thing was for sure. Looking around at our surroundings, I was pretty sure we were in no hurry. And I had no intention of leaving his side. If he was weak for some reason, then I would be his strength, just like he had done for me for years. Beyond that, I had no agenda, no carefully thought out plan. I really had no clue, even. I was in no hurry though. We spent the afternoon right next to each other like that. We sighed together a few times, too.

Later that night, those millions of twinkling stars overhead found Shysage and I in the same place under our tree. He was laying on his belly, and I was right next to him. Heads together, we gazed out across the meadow. I don't know where this came from, but I said it anyway. His head was up against mine, and I didn't even move. I just said this. "Shysage, I know you are hurting deeply inside. I... I don't know the cause of your pain, but I do know that I love you more than life itself even. I will help you any way I can. And I won't leave your side, except to gather food for you." By the time I was done saying this, Shysage was sobbing on my front legs. I just cried with him. The Fluttershy in my Stallion; he probably cries more than most stallions, because he feels so much. Still, for a stallion to cry like this... We cried together for hours. Later in the evening, Shysage's crying abruptly tapered off. He had fallen asleep. This meant the pain in his body was fading away. But inside... Crying for hours... He was hurt bad...

For the next hour or so, I talked to our true friend in the sky a lot. I knew I needed his help. Wounds on the outside are one thing, but this... Like I said, I had no clue even, and I told him so. I cried too, but tried to keep it quiet. Shysage needed his sleep. After I ran out of words, I fell asleep too.

---

I woke up the next morning. Something was itching my nose. I looked up quickly, then calmed down as I realized Shysage was right next to me. Then I started to cry... Shysage had collected a bunch of Oats and brought them to me; they were piled up in front of me, just like I had done for him yesterday. We cried together a little while. "Shysage, can we share these?" I asked quietly. We did. I guess we were both hungry. Whatever had happened inside my Stallion... I didn't think for a second it affected his love for me, and such a tender, caring gesture; this just confirmed he still loved me deeply. I wept on and off as we ate together. Shysage did too.

Still, this also meant Shysage could at least walk some distance. I didn't ask him, I just told him I was going to circle the tree in the air briefly to see if there was a lake nearby. He just nodded. Flying felt absolutely amazing, but I didn't stay up long. The meadow around our tree drifted lazily, but only slightly downhill to a lake, then drifted just as lazily up beyond the lake. The lake was pretty long, but not very wide. It didn't matter, we had water now, and that was important. I landed facing Shysage, and did my Pegasus mare curtsy, and he smiled. He really likes that. Shysage and I were soon walking slowly towards that lake. Shysage winced a few times at first, but was soon doing ok. And I told him that walking slow with him like that felt amazing. He stopped, and we cried together a few minutes, then we resumed our walk. And the water in the lake tasted amazing. Well, and Shysage was soon in the water up to his neck, laying on his belly. I guess the water felt very good on all his bruises and cuts. I sat on the edge of the lake and adored my Stallion, then realized I should be next to him. We spent the afternoon right next to each other in the water like that. I don't think anything else was on either of our minds. I was pretty sure Shysage was too busted up emotionally for that to work right now. I could wait for my Stallion. In the dim and distant past, he waited years for me. But I won't lie, my head right next to his, that felt wonderful. I love him so much...

I saw something else I decided I would need while we were at the lake, a few of those plants with very wide leaves. In the Past, we had used the leaves for paper, so we could teach Cel and Lu how to write. Having them here; that would come in handy. All we needed were berries... We snacked on Oats next to the lake, took another drink or two, then we walked slowly back up the slight hill to our tree. It was easy to see, even from the lake; it was the closest tree by far, for miles around. Even in a blizzard, we could probably... Bah, nevermind. I don't like Winter... It didn't really matter; another warm day, another warm evening, another warm night. Watching the occasional meteor race through the stars with my Stallion... And tonight, he hurt little enough that he hugged me with one of his front legs, most of the evening. That felt amazing! We cried together quite a bit too. The love, the devotion we shared... There was nothing for us right now except together and alone. Shysage listened as I talked to true friend some, then we both snuggled together and fell asleep.

---

When I woke up the next morning, I was instantly alarmed. I did not see or feel Shysage anywhere near. I looked around briefly, then quickly called out his name. "Shysage!" I was clearly alarmed, and started crying right away. Well, he was close, and quickly jumped onto his belly right next to me. He hugged me while I cried. I doubted I needed to tell him what had just happened. And, after a while, I was crying just from feeling him close. Maybe I would be a mess today. After I calmed down, Shysage got slowly up, and began walking slowly away, looking back at me. He wanted me to follow him, and of course I did. We didn't walk far, then he laid on his belly, and I was quickly down right next to him. Between two of the main trunks that was our tree, Shysage had built a wind screen of sorts. It was made mostly of stuff he found under these few trees; branches, sticks and bark. It looked fairly sturdy, and it blocked the wind nicely. And it was only then that I noticed it was a little cooler today. I started crying again, and Shysage was quickly hugging me... Shysage still had not said a word. But if, whatever was going on inside my Stallion had affected his amazing mind, his almost natural ability to think things through, and carefully plan accordingly... This absolutely necessary part of my Stallion was still very much alive... I cried for a while, realizing this... I said what I felt. "Shysage, I honestly think I would die without you..." I meant it.

After I calmed down again, Shysage and I walked slowly to the lake, ate breakfast and drank some. We both ended up in the water again, but we didn't stay long. I think Shysage just wanted to rinse off. And I think he was feeling a lot better. He had little fresh bleeding left. The bruises along his back looked terrible, but I think they hurt less. The first time an angry stallion kicked Shysage across the lobby at the Canterlot Library, Shysage said it was better him than me. Well, maybe, but I would feel so much at a loss if Shysage had gotten really hurt. I was pretty sure I would be useless. I was glad Shysage was not hurt worse this time, on the outside anyway.

It was warming up nicely, and maybe halfway back to our tree, Shysage flopped down on his belly in the grass, and I joined him of course. We rubbed noses a while too. Shysage was soon asleep, his pony head down on my front legs. For a while, I kept my head right next to his. And I also think, for the first time, since we came to this here and now, I relaxed. Shysage would be so much better at this, but I doubted he would help me understand what was going on inside him. But I knew my Stallion far better than most. I worked some on figuring it out. And I told true friend that I did not have my Stallion's brain; I would need true friend's help.

In case it mattered, Shysage's family in the Equestria Girls world was not very nice to him. He tried to do what was good, say what was good and best. And I am sure he understood the crucial aspects of raising foals, well kids. He found out only years later that so much stuff was going on behind his back. He got yelled at a lot. And, in general, he was basically treated with disdain no matter what he said. I doubted he was perfect, and he made mistakes too. But nothing... It seemed to me he was submarined, then shoved away. And if there was any yelling... He told me one he had to shut up in order to protect his kids from it... Yelling, anger... He would just stop saying anything. Hmm... I was pretty sure he had kept his mouth shut and swallowed everything down for years... I think he was so relieved when he left the Equestria Girls world, for good he thought, and came here to Equestria. But ponies here in Equestria evidently found reason to yell at him too. Maybe his talents put him in their sights, I don't know. He's a Fluttershy, but a stallion too, and he refused to back down from what is right and best as we wrote. I think that made some ponies mad... well, maybe enraged...

Hmm... Maybe... I doubt most other ponies understand this, but sensitive souls like my sister Fluttershy, we all process anger far differently... ...and rage especially. Those sign-wielding stallions that beat up Shysage... They could just as easily have ended up yelling at each other. It would not have made any difference to them; just another reason to yell, I guess. Us Fluttershys, we absolutely cannot do that. Anger, rage... We feel that intensely. We are so sensitive, we can't not feel what many other ponies can simply ignore. Well, it devastates us. Anger and rage just blast across us so painfully, we can't ignore it... and we usually can't escape it either. My stallion was getting beat up by maybe 20 furious stallions... His tender soul felt the rage from each one... He... He was just devastated inside... And he did... what he had done in the Equestria Girls world... He shut up... He knew no other way he could...

I was crying pretty hard by now. Those angry stallions... Their rage had hurt my sensitive Stallion far more than their signs ever could. They had silenced him with their rage, they had beat his tender, sensative soul into submission with their fury. That was so hideously, completely wrong...

Bullys and the bullied...

Rage's wounds on sensitive souls...

Shysage woke up... concerned...

I just pleaded...

"Shysage, the Fluttershys in Equestria need your voice... These thousands of sensitive souls scattered all around the realm, trampled more often than not; Shysage, you are their champion. They all need you to fight for them, to stand up and speak for them, to say what most of us are too timid to say. Shysage, they need, we need your voice... You can't let these angry stallions win... Shysage we all need you... Please..."

I don't know where these words came from, or if they were even right. I just voiced how I felt right then... I was crying when I started, and I burst into tears after I was done. Shysage did too. We hugged and cried together for a long time...

Hours later, I think we both were cried out. It was getting late in the day, and we walked back to the lake for dinner, then slowly back to our tree. A cool breeze, cool not cold; the wind picked up some as the Sun headed for the horizon. Behind Shysage's wind screen, we were very comfortable.

After a little while, Shysage sighed heavily.

"Summer, you are right. I won't give up..."

We cried ourselves to sleep that night.

---

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Author's Note:

1. The tune is track 5 of the Original Soundtrack of the Final Fantasy XI 'Seekers of Adoulin' expansion.