The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 12 -- Sweep of Time

by shysage

Chapter 12, Cleaning Day

Well, I woke up crying. I had a bad dream, really a nightmare about whatever it was that was going on in our present. But we were buried back here in the past with Cel (Princess Celestia). And Lu (Princess Luna) had only been banished 20 years... And I didn't say anything, but... Lu and I were always close as we raised these two girls. Cel and Shysage got along so well; both were, are very calculating, thinking so many things through in a heart-beat... Lu was, is like me; sensitive, we usually feel our way through things. But, in my nightmare... Well, I missed Lu a lot. I felt bad for crying, and couldn't say anything because Lu had only been banished to Nightmare Moon twenty years ago, and I knew that Cel missed her own sister deeply already... We all hugged tightly and cried together. What a way to start our day...

Still, I worked hard to calm down. We all did. But it was only then that I heard it... softly in the background...[1] That tune... From the very first time I heard it... This was not a good sign...

Cel suggested a nice walk in the meadow out in front of the Audience Hall, and we were soon on our way. Out of her bedroom, through the Princess' Annex, down the hall, out onto the Princess platform, down the stairs, across the Audience Hall, out the huge double doors into the meadow... It looked like it had rained the night before. The morning air smelled amazing, and the grass in the meadow was trying to recover from the sea of ponies that filled this meadow only days ago. In our present, this large expanse would become the large Commons Lawn... "So much had happened... er, will happen here..." I thought to myself. Well, I couldn't think about that for very long...

Mildred found us out in that meadow. She talked to Cel briefly, then Mildred walked off, back to the Audience Hall. Cel sighed, then said quietly "Today will be cleaning day." She paused briefly as if fighting back tears. "I'm glad mom and dad are here. We will clean Lu's room today, together. Maybe it will be easier..." Cel did begin to cry at this point. Shysage and I, we gathered around her and hugged and cried with her. Banishing her own sister, that must have been one of the most difficult things Cel had done... It was clearly the right thing to do, and we knew Princess Twilight in the future would rescue... That thought just made me cry harder... I thought today would be a difficult day. And I also guessed correctly that this evening would find us in front of the Portal anyway...

After we all calmed down, Cel laid on her belly in the grass. "Mom, dad, I am glad you are both here. Cleaning Lu's room is usually hard for me, but we can face it together. I just hope..." Cel didn't need to finish. We all cried together some more... Cel still had to wait 980 more years... If only she knew... We did manage to finally get back up (we hugged a while more), then get some breakfast in the Audience Hall eating area (I don't know if that area has an official name).

We hugged briefly outside the door to Princess Luna's bedroom. Trying not to cry, Cel used her magic to carefully open the large double doors. The faint swirl of dust confirmed that this door had been closed a long time. Well, it was cleaning day. We walked in, and were quickly hugging again next to Lu's beautiful bed. We cried a few minutes, then Cel said quietly. "We need to do this for my sister..."

Mildred had been waiting at the door all this time, herself sniffling quietly. Cel said quietly "Mildred, send the cleaning staff in." Maybe ten Unicorn mares came in at this point. Under Cel's direction, just about every piece of cloth was pulled down, taken out, washed carefully, then brought back. Bed covers, blankets, rug, curtains, decorative hangings, everything. Everything else was carefully dusted and cleaned with damp rags, including the smooth wood floor. Lu's room had three huge windows, and they were opened wide during this whole process. The sun blazed brightly, and lit up the entire room. And the morning breeze... It smelled amazing. Lu's room looked amazing... If only...

The cleaning process took until about lunch time. And only then did we find out... Cel had some new inner curtains made, and a new set of Uunicorns came in to oversee the hanging and placement... The curtains on the three big windows -- the curtains closest to the window were thick, and dark regal blue to match Lu's pony coat. These thick curtains, when closed, cut down on most of the light through the windows. But the inner curtains... They were on the inside of the thicker, dark blue curtains. Cel explained this would protect them from the sun. I honestly don't remember what the old inner curtains were; they were one of the first things that got taken down. But the new ones... They did one window first, and when it was up where we could see it... They were the finest white linen... In the center, sort of from the side, a very dark blue Princess Luna was standing, reared up on her hind legs, head up, eyes closed, shimmering mane and tail flowing, wings out, laughing... We all hugged together and cried as the Unicorns hung the other two... I think we all missed Lu... The new curtains were beautiful... because our Lu was beautiful...

Crying and hugging with Cel and Shysage, a new pain bit sharply into my soul... Like I said before, Cel and Shysage had a lot in common, as did Lu and I. But, during the harsh days of a long, cold and hungry winter, this growing pain... I missed Lu... We had not even seen her since even before the day we were thrown into the dungeon. Oh, Lu... It hurt so much. What had happened that she... I cried pretty hard for a while, but couldn't really say anything... After crying a while like that, I vaguely remember all the Unicorns leaving. Mildred left last, after she made sure that the dark blu curtains were fully pulled to the sides. The breeze blew through Lu's room nicely, and the new inner curtains with Lu's picture... they danced playfully... When we thought we were done crying, we would look up, see Lu on the curtains, and then cry together some more...

Late in the afternoon, Cel pulled herself away. "Mom, dad, its time to go. I am sure I will be back..." Cel choked more tears off, and led us over to the door.

"Oh Cel..." I thought to myself. "To torture yourself coming in here, just in the hope of finding a little solace..." The world seems like such a harsh place to me, especially if you are trying to do the right thing...

In the Audience Hall, Cel found Mildred (still sniffling a little), and asked her to make sure the windows and curtains in Lu's room got closed at sundown. Then we walked back out into the meadow. "Can we spend the rest of the afternoon down at our tree?" Cel asked haltingly. Of course, that's what we did. The glide down was easy enough. I could have marvelled at the amazing view, but I think we all hurt... We spent the afternoon hugging and crying together some more. And my new pain... I couldn't say anything though. Later than the guards liked, we made our way back up to the top deck of Canterlot, landed in the meadow, and again watched the sun set together. Cel was on her belly facing the edge, and Shysage and I were on either side. We wept softly together. There was really not much to say. We hurt for Lu... We hurt for Cel and the centuries yet she would need to wait for her sister... And then, whatever nightmare awaited us in our present...

As the last trace of sunlight vanished, Cel said quietly "Thank you both for sharing my pain. It makes it a lot easier..." Ok, so we cried together some more after that.

Under a canopy of twinkling stars, we got up, and Cel led us, slowly, to the Portal room. Cel knew we couldn't stay long, and Shysage and I knew this needed to happen sooner than later. We recognized the earlier room and location of this 'tactical asset', and were amazed to find no guards or even Unicorns here. Well, it was the middle of the night...

Once inside the small Portal room, Cel gasped, then said "I will be right back." After she left, Shysage and I turned into people, since we would need to be people to use the Portal like this anyway. Standing together in the middle of that room, as people, we hugged tightly and cried together quietly until Cel came back. Nothing was said. There was nothing to say. We both just hurt a lot... And we had no idea what awaited us, maybe only minutes from now...

Cel came quickly back, but she was using her magic to hold a small statue. (Shysage said later it was about a foot high.) I gasped right away, it was a statue of Lu... A very dark blue Princess Luna was standing, reared up on her hind legs, head up, eyes closed, shimmering mane and tail flowing, wings out, laughing... This statue was obviously the picture for the new curtains... Princess Celestia was quickly clutching, using her magic to hug the statue of her sister tightly to her chest... The only sign of her sister that Cel had... This statue... Shysage realized quickly... "Cel, we can't..."

Cel, crying, said haltingly "This means so much to me... But if it will help you both... with me... ...in your... place..." Cel hugged the statue tightly again, then used her magic to give it to Shysage. We were all crying hard now... Well, maybe it would help... We didn't know what else to do... We didn't even know what was going on... Cel was giving us such a treasure... Her treasure... Maybe her only tangible... And maybe Shysage... He was quickly holding that statue up against his chest... crying... Maybe he missed Lu too... Well, I am sure he did...

Somehow, Shysage and I managed to make it up to the raised platform where the Portal was. Cel, Shysage, myself, we were all crying pretty hard... And Shysage was a mess... Maybe we shared this new pain... Facing the Portal, I took Shysage's hand, then I grabbed the smooth, wood Portal frame with my other hand. As usual, I could see Cel in the dull reflection of the smooth, deep surface of the Portal. She was crying... Through my tears, I said "Cel, remember that Shysage and I will always love you." Cel burst into tears when I said that. I squeezed the Portal frame... before I couldn't... There was a bright flash... As Cel gasped, our precious daughter faded...

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Author's Note:

1. 'The Serpentine Labyrinth', from the Forever Today add-on to the OST for the Seekers of Adoulin expansion for FFXI, everything copyright by Square Enix. You should really preview this haunting tune...