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

by shysage

Chapter 2, Soul Searching

As soon as the sound of the guards died away, the music in the background changed distinctly(1). Well, this wasn't reassuring music anyway; it was ominous... After that, we were alone in that jail cell for hours. We heard nopony, we saw nopony. We talked some, and I calmed down as we warmed back up. Well, we were in a jail cell, so it wasn't warm, but out of the icy wind...

Shysage pointed out what I had already guessed. "Summer, this is our jail cell..." We had been in this very jail cell, this very room, on numerous occasions, both in the Past, and recently. Some of these times were absolutely horrible, but others were definitely not. We had no idea why we were in here now, but at this point we weren't too concerned. Especially after Shysage said softly "Hmm... We are together and alone. Is that safe?" I just smiled. Shysage laid on his belly on the smooth cobblestone floor in roughly the center of the room, with his hind legs out to the side, and I laid down the same way, and snuggled up to him as close as I could. It was cold, but since there was no wind, and my Stallion was behind me, I was fine. I think he was too. He tried to explain that the ground would keep these small basement rooms from getting too cold, but I didn't really understand. I just leaned back on him when he was done, and pressed my nose up against his. Being in jail like this wasn't so bad I guess, with Shysage next to me. Still, we had no clue...

For hours, we said little, and just enjoyed being together and alone. We tried to ignore that tune in the background. Ariel was with Shyna and my sister Fluttershy, so we didn't worry about her. I think neither Shysage nor I had any idea what was going on. Again, all we could do was wait. I don't think either of us minded, not yet. We didn't own anything, and, whether in the Canterlot Recorder's house, or in this jail cell... Being together, we were fine. We both sighed a lot, and spent most of the time rubbing noses. Then it got dark... And it got cold...

The rest of that day, and all of the next... Nopony... Nopony came... Nopony even came down the stairs to the hall outside our jail cell... Maybe we were the only 'prisoners'... Shysage told me once about places far underground that French kings (whoever they were) had in their castles. They would put their enemies down there, then pretty much just forget about them. That's what it felt like for us. It never got painfully cold, but the shivering... Shysage would quickly take care of my shivering by wrapping himself around me in the corner. But then, he just shivered.

And they only occasionally remembered to bring us food and water... Well, that second day we got our first meagre rations. But, I wanted to ask... well... Princess Celestia, if we could at least talk to our daughter Ariel. So, the second day we were there in that jail, as the guard brought us our food (about tossed it at us), I said quietly "Sir, can you ask Princess Cel--"

Interrupting me, he shouted back loudly and quickly "I HAVE MY ORDERS. THERE IS TO BE ABSOLUTELY NO COMMUNICATION BETWEEN YOU TWO PONIES AND ANYPONY ELSE IN ALL EQUESTRIA." That was all he said, then he slammed the door shut and walked quickly off.

That sent me into a tail-spin I think. I couldn't even see my own daughter? ...or Shyna or Fluttershy? Our amazing Princess? Maybe somepony was keeping Cel and Lu away too, we didn't know... What kind of Equestria? Just last week, Shysage and I had read through Dark Melvain together, and cried a lot... After all that, now this?

Shysage held me for a few days straight, as I cried in his embrace. Well, we cried together. And, just once, Shysage said softly "Summer, even Ariel belongs to Equestria. We need to be patient. Everything will work out." That was all he said, although he didn't sound real convinced himself. We cried together the rest of that day, but the next day I think I felt a little better. And Shysage took care of his Princess under a mostly full moon that night. Well, we were locked in our jail cell, but still. That had not stopped us in the past either. I love my Stallion.

Still, those next few days in that jail cell were the hardest, I think. From helping Camille with her Snow Pony, to... here... Like I said, most nights we cried a lot, and Shysage just hugged me tightly. From there, the week just seemed to drag painfully on. And that tune in the background, we just couldn't get away from it...

But this was all my idea. On day 6 in jail I think, I started thinking through reasons why somepony might want us in here. I didn't tell Shysage about this, I just started asking him some questions. I think he quickly understood what I was doing.

...

"Shysage, are we in here because of all the physical stuff we included in the Chronicles?" I asked this out of nowhere. Shysage wasn't angry at all, and spent a few minutes deep in thought.

Then he asked me a question. "Summer, should the putting others first of true friendship extend to physical intimacy as well?"

I didn't answer; I just hugged him tightly. He knew what I was saying, of course it should. Talking slowly, he said this.

"On both sides of the Portal, physical intimacy is far more often a matter of somepony taking from another. I think most of the physical stuff we included tries to show both that true friendship focuses on giving, not taking, and also that when both focus on giving, the results are amazing--"

Shysage had to stop right there, he was starting to cry. We both knew this was true. Even in the area of physical intimacy, the more you give, far more will you receive. We both knew and felt that.

Shysage tried to calm down, then he continued.

"There is a lot of damage being done in this area; the number of helpless victims is not so slowly growing, on both sides of the Portal I think. And it seems like nopony is... Who will try to protect the victims? Who will stand up and speak for them; they surely can't say anything or do anything themselves.

"I remember translating a text from old pony once. It basically read that the kingdom that doesn't take care of its mares destroys itself. I didn't think much of it at the time. But that is a pretty sobering warning. And this one area might just be a pretty good indication of how a pony approaches all of their life, I don't know.

"Well, we have taken the opportunity as we could, to at least highlight the problem, to call attention to the victims, but still. I doubt those who have benefitted from the current state of affairs will appreciate us surfacing that. And, I remember reading somewhere else; the pairing of anger and 'sexual liberty' seemed to be a rather ominous thing.

"I can see even thinking like this getting us in trouble..."

...

"What about true friend?" I think Shysage was already thinking ahead about some of these reasons. Again, he was deep in thought for a little while, then he talked slowly.

"For young ponies especially... It is easy to think that a pony has Equestria by the tail, that nothing can ever go wrong, that everything is firmly under control. It doesn't take many years, or some random tragedy, or a big bully to disprove that myth. Nopony is big enough to body-tackle Equestria, and the thousands of other ponies in it.

"Well, I'm pretty sure we need help, help far beyond ourselves. The more years we live, the more we realize how true that is. That's where true friend comes in, I don't know. It is not like we just made him up, he is very real, and we have relied on him for years, and have seen him step in as the need arose.

"I think there may be some who would say that we didn't take true friend far enough, that he is somehow defective as we have described him. Well, he can do anything, and he expects us to give him everything. He wants us to live towards the ponies around us like the same true friend he is to us. I don't know of any man-made deity who can do that. Dropping a name would not...

"Others would probably resent the notion that we need help beyond ourselves to even cope with a difficult life. Perhaps some ponies in this group have sworn off the need for help entirely, and so simply wage a valiant effort to prop up the myth of self-sufficiency, even as life blasts away at that myth. Still, they won't like the Chronicles either.

"I guess we can't keep everypony happy..."

...

Shysage thought a bit more, then anticipated this one.

"Well, some ponies are simply bullies, and they cope with life by trampling over, and taking from other ponies -- emotionally, physically... even sexually... Bullying is surely wrong, but it is unfortunately how some ponies choose to live. These ponies probably loath the chronicles for painting them as they really are.

"But the usually helpless ponies being bullied need to understand what is going on. Some other pony trampling and taking, that is simply not right. Even if you can't stop it, at least understanding what is going on is crucial. Ponies being bullied really are mostly helpless victims, and need to realize that. And sometimes just getting away can help...

"I don't know..."

...

"Maybe I just spelled my name wrong..." I looked lovingly at my Stallion. This was just a bad joke... That other ponies would resent a name...

Still, inside, I just shrugged. Maybe our writing was just bad. Maybe there was some other issue... We just didn't know...

...

As our jail cell began to darken quickly that night, I asked Shysage this. "What about Orbsah Tnuoc?" I didn't need to add anything to it. We both were pretty sure we saw him in the middle of the commons lawn, the afternoon we were wrenched from Camille and her Snow Pony, and whisked to Canterlot on a feezing day, and thrown into this jail cell. And this question really had nothing to do with why we were in here. It was more the cry of my heart, I don't know...

Shysage frowned, then sighed. "Well, I have no idea..." He was quiet for a few minutes, and we both teared up together. Then he said, slowly "Well, I am pretty sure we helped him... But now..." Shysage said nothing more. Well, here we were. What could we do... He was the Keeper of Equestria... We were... here...

...

And I wanted to ask about the magic of friendship. I thought Equestria valued, even treasured that. Shysage and I, we certainly do. But I guess I was realizing... maybe in this Equestria...

We both sighed together...

Hurting and waiting...

---

---

Author's Note:

(1) "Forbidden Seal" from the "Treasures of Aht Urgan" expansion OST for FFXI, copyright by Square Enix.