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

by shysage

Chapter 9, Lasting Impression

With her pony head still resting in my people lap, Cel cried a little while longer, then she tried to explain. She cried even as she talked, slowly putting some thoughts together.

"I guess I should have expected this...

"And it really is my fault...

"There was a lot of appreciation for the two seemingly age-less Appointed Ones who founded Equestria to begin with... Over 300 years ago, I think...

"But after I had to banish Lu...

"That was maybe twenty years ago..."

"Maybe I could have... something else...

Princess Luna's sister stopped and cried... Having to banish Lu, that still hurt Cel so much... At least we were here; Cel's family was around her right now. We cried with her. A little while later, she tried to continue.

"Maybe ten years ago, I began to hear talk of, well, a change in the government, or something. Nothing direct, just occasionally hearing such murmerings...

Over time, they slowly grew. I didn't know what to do...

"I guess, down to just one Appointed One, they didn't think they needed...

"Then, last week, the Guard Captain evidently agreed. Without saying anything to me, they just stripped me of my position -- my role in the life of Equestria, all my leadership responsibilities...

"They didn't say anything... Ponies just stopped coming. And the guards sealed off all the tactical assets; all guard posts and the Portal Room...

"The Audience Hall was empty, as ponies were being sent elsewhere by the guards...

"They didn't seem to care what I did, or where I went... It was just that... tending to Equestria wasn't one of my tasks anymore..."

Cel was crying pretty hard at this point. But she added this...

"Mom, dad, I have no interest in the glory of leadership, or whatever... That's not why I do what I do at all... I just love Equestria and the ponies in it... I don't own anything, and can't really do anything else... I was born to shepherd Equestria... Now, I have... nothing... And will live forever with... nothing..."

Cel was crying hard again in my lap. But I had heard enough. And it was pretty clear to me that someponies up in early Canterlot, maybe they were after the 'glory of leadership', or whatever... I was disgusted. I was also the Phantom Alicorn, and could actually do something.

Right now, Cel really needed us. Well, she really needed me. And we all knew I need Shysage.

And, left like this, if Shysage and I just took Cel away to safety, or did absolutely nothing, the future definitely WOULD change. We absolutely HAD to step in and stop this madness. Regardless what was happening in our present, or why... the Portal had, again, put Shysage and I precisely where and when we needed to be. I think Shysage had already realized that.

Shysage also mentioned later that we all just assume... Seeing Equestria's Princesses in our present, with Princess Celestia ruling Equestria without her sister for 1000 years, we just assume there were no challenges to the rule of such an amazing Princess, well, by anyone from Equestria anyway, well besides Dark Melvain, and that nightmare was future yet. Still, such a challenge was happening right now. And Cel felt absolutely powerless to do anything... But the Phantom Alicorn could help. And if I handled this correctly, maybe it would never happen again...

I looked off towards the sun heading for the west. It would be dusk soon. And this part, I pretty much just did on the fly. I don't think I'm the most amazingly creative pony in Equestria. But I knew basically what I needed to do. And I had to do it without enjoying the ride. I had to keep myself out of this... I just wanted to make a lasting impression. As the Phantom Alicorn, I was pretty sure I could do that.

"Cel, you need to calm down, and put your crown back on. We need to fly up to Canterlot" I said softly. Cel worked on calming down again, and her crying tapered off. But I don't think Cel was in any shape to question, to comment, not at this point... Her entire life and being had been ripped away. I think I understood how she felt. Ten minutes later, we were on our way, flying up from the huge tree next to the large guard garrison still in Coptol, towards the meadows in front of the Audience Hall in Canterlot. We had to fly slow. This was a tough climb for my very out of shape, half starved Shysage, but we all made it.

On the way, flying up, I asked that Shysage turn into a people as soon as we landed. I would do the same thing. I wanted to draw a crowd, and I hoped two people in their fancy Equestria Girls clothes would do that. We landed near the edge of the meadow, near the edge of that top deck of this strange, stepped mountain. Then we walked slowly and together, Shysage and I on either side of Equestria's Princess. We walked to where approximately the center of the Commons Lawn would some day be, then we stopped. The large front facing wall of the Audience Hall was in front of us, a few hundred feet away. Shysage and I, we stood on either side of Princess Celestia of Equestria, as she sat down. I was on her right side, but I doubt that made any difference. It just worked out that way. And without even talking about this, Shysage and I both stepped slightly back, out of respect for Equestria's Appointed One. Then we waited.

Cel is really amazing. I honestly think that, while flying up, the closer she got to Canterlot... Princess Celestia sat down, gaze steeled, but she was smiling... with just a little hint of... maybe... defiance... Even in this, Equestria's Princess would fight for her precious ponies, the ponies of Equestria, no one any less of a treasure to her than another.

Of course, ponies ran up... A large crowd quickly gathered, and steadily grew. They stopped, forming a circle maybe thirty feet away from their Princess, and we were quickly surrounded... Nopony knew why we were here, or who these two strange beings were on either side of their Princess. Ponies whispered... some cried. And I don't think most ponies paid Shysage and I much attention, and that was fine. Their Princess was here... Before long every single pony around us, and those that continued to run up; everypony was quickly bowing to their Princess.

And we had not discussed this part at all. A fairly high ranking guard walked slowly over, looking away, sheepishly, very often. Cel evidently knew what to do. As soon as he was close enough, Princess Celestia of Equestria said calmly but maybe just a little forcefully to him "Please ask the Guard Captain to come talk to us." That guard almost bolted away.

Ok, so this Guard Captain was the one... Yeah, we wanted to talk to him all right...

With the last light of dusk, a large Unicorn stallion in full guard gear walked smartly over. Well, he slowed his steps when he saw Shysage and I. That is why Shysage and I were people; I doubt he had ever seen a people before.

At first, Princess Celestia said nothing. And evidently, she decided to leave the bowing ponies as they were. They had the sense to do what was right anyway. That's how I felt about it. After maybe a few minutes silence, as the Guard Captain stood there, and without even turning away, Cel said "Precious ponies, please arise", and they were quickly up.

Anyway, it was pretty dark now. Even though a half moon had crept over the top of this stepped mountain off to the east, and gave us a little light, I decided we needed more light. And I have to wonder if Cel knew what I had in mind. "Just a moment please, Captain." Cel said calmly. And again, we had arranged none of this beforehand.

But, I guess that was my cue. I was already a people, so I spun up my Cutie Mark, and the noise alone... Most of the ponies gasped loudly and backed away, clearing a wide path for me, especially as I flared my large, white wings. Shysage said later that my pearl white Alicorn horn actually glowed at night just enough to be visible. He had never noticed that. Of course, he said I looked beautiful.

I walked away from everypony, off into the meadow, and found a good sized tree towards the edge. Folding the shield from my right hand, I yanked that tree up, roots and all, and brought it over, maybe 50 feet from Cel and Shysage and threw it down on the ground. Ponies shrieked, and ran quickly out of my way as I did that. I moved slowly; I wasn't really trying to scare them... I walked off and got another one, and added it to the pile. Then I added a third. I had done this before. I next used my right fist, and motioned it repeatedly down over the trees, and the shield splintered the branches into much smaller pieces. I swept the tree pieces back together again, and broke them up some more. Few probably noticed this part, but I walked around the pile of wood, and held out my left hand, and flushed enough water around the circle to prevent a grass fire up here. That would not have been pretty. Next, I backed up and pointed my left hand towards the wood, and sprayed enough fire... The wood was quickly burning hotly and brightly. I walked the circle around the fire again, and carefully placed a ring of boulder after boulder. I walked the circle one more time, and again added enough water around the boulders to keep the fire contained. Then I walked back over and stood next to Princess Celestia, back where I was.

We had plenty of light now... And that Guard Captain, well he was scared to death. I'm no Unicorn (usually), but I understand that, when a Unicorn is around another being using magic, that Unicorn can often tell something about the magical depth, the magical power of the one casting. Well, I guess that Guard Captain had caught a glimpse of this Phantom Alicorn's magic...

For a few minutes, Cel didn't say anything. I guess it was up to me. And I was working hard to not sound as irritated as I really was... And I was still the rumbling Phantom Alicorn...

"Captain, please explain to me how and why you have decided to replace the two Appointed Ones?" I asked slowly, but rather loudly. I guess I expected this; a BUNCH of the ponies in the crowd gasped LOUDLY at this question. Bah, they were doing stuff behind everyponie's back... For leaders... that was just... so wrong...

The Guard Captain was clearly searching for words, on top of being very afraid... He got out "Princess Luna is gone, and... with..."

Maybe I should not have interrupted, but I jumped in... "Princess Luna's absence is not permanent..." I didn't want to explain any further. They didn't need to know exactly when Princess Luna would return. And we had already implied Lu's 'rescue' to Princess Celestia. I took a chance, this was privileged future information. I didn't disappear. But we certainly would disappear if we didn't stop this...

I couldn't think of anything better to say, so I calmly repeated "Captain, please explain to me why you have decided to replace the two Appointed Ones?"

For a few minutes, it was quiet. The Guard Captain was looking at the ground, and didn't, maybe couldn't say anything. Princess Celestia just sat there.

The ponies surrounding us, they knew what to say. It started quietly, among a few of the ponies gathered around, but was quickly deafening...

"Long live Princess Celestia of Equestria"

The crowd of adoring ponies shouted this over and over. It really was very, very loud. Princess Celestia just sat there, probably letting the sentiments of the crowd sink in to the Guard Captain. And she was trying not to cry herself. After maybe ten minutes, Princess Celestia stood up, and the crowd was immediately quiet. Princess Celestia again said nothing.

After a few minutes, I said, well as forcefully and as loudly as I could...

"Captain, I want your chain of command and everypony else that has a hoof in this, in the Audience Hall at sundown tomorrow evening."

The Guard Captain said quietly "I will see to that". Then he bowed ever so slightly, then walked quickly away, and was soon gone.

The crowd didn't wait; as soon as he turned to leave...

"Long live Princess Celestia of Equestria"
"Long live Princess Celestia of Equestria"
"Long live Princess Celestia of Equestria"

Princess Celestia of Equestria just cried loudly...

After a few minutes, Princess Celestia of Equestria, her crying slowed. Sensing this, the throng of ponies around her quieted down quickly.

Princess Celestia said as loudly as she could, since she was still crying softly "I... I don't know if I am the smartest pony in Equestria... I didn't ask to be made one of the Appointed Ones, but I have freely accepted that role for... centuries now... And, I think we all expect Princess Luna's return as soon as possible... But I do know that I deeply love each and every one of Equestria's ponies... That is the best I can do... That is all I have to offer..."

It is likely the sea of ponies around us, everypony expected, felt the truth behind this, Cel's simple confession. Almost as one, everypony bowed again. Their Princess was again quickly crying... "Ponies of Equestria, please arise" Cel said with great difficulty. Then she walked over to the closest edge of the crowd... and she began hugging Equestria's ponies. Mostly ignoring us, the crowd reformed, crowding tightly around their Princess. This lasted for a hours. And, from what I could hear, I quickly found out why. Princess Celestia personally knew most of these ponies, and was asking how they were doing, about this or that event or need in their lives. She didn't just hug a pony then move on, she took time with each one... hugging, talking... laughing, crying if need be... Well, she knew the parents, grandparents, etc., of most of the ponies gathered around her right now. She was definitely NOT some aloof chessplayer of a leader... Cel was shepherding Equestria, involving her own life so deeply in everypony elses'. Cel was born for this... And it would just be difficult to come up with an 'alternative form of government' (disgusted look on my face) that rivaled this amazing Princess. Yes, this was Princess Celestia of Equestria... The Realm's irreplacable leader... Well, she would stay that way if I had any say...

While Cel tended to her flock, Shysage and I (still people) backed carefully out of the sea of ponies, then walked slowly over to the fire, and I only then unspun my Cutie Mark. The fire was still burning hotly, and I didn't want anything bad to happen. I was standing there, just looking the fire over. With his fingers, Shysage gently moved my hair on the side closest to him, up over my ear. Then he kissed my cheek, and leaned next to me and put his arm around my waist and hugged me close. Wow, I think I melted. I hugged him back, as we watched the fire slowly burn down. Oh, how I love my Stallion... And this worked fine. Cel was busy with Equestria. Shysage and I hugged and sighed together for a while. I spun up my Cutie Mark long enough to make one more boulder, then unspun it again. Shysage knew what it was for, and sat down, and quickly pulled me into his lap, and we hugged, enjoying the warmth of the fire for a long time. I think we were both tempted to kiss some, but now was just not the time for that. After the fire had burned way down, we got up, walked the perimeter of boulders (slowly, hugging) one more time checking, then Shysage and I both walked to the far side of the fire, and changed back into ponies. I was markless and blue, just as a precaution. Shysage was a pony when he hugged me again and said he liked me in blue, whatever that meant. We watched the fire die down some more. Then we walked far around the huge crowd, and over to the big doors at the entrance of the Audience Hall. We sat down together and just waited. And I suspect that Shysage was doing what I was, asking true friend for the wisdom we needed to stop this, to protect the future from being changed, without actually changing it...

The moon was high in the night sky and surrounded by twinkling stars when a very tired Princess Celestia walked slowly over to us. The crowd had dispersed. She got out "What a difference..." then she collapsed into tears on my shoulder. The three of us cried together there for a while. Cel led us through the Audience Hall, up the stairs, across the Princess platform, through the Princess Annex, and into her room. With mom and dad on either side of her, there on her beautiful rug, Cel was quickly asleep.

Whether it was true friend, the Keeper, or just the Portal... Shysage and I had arrived at exactly the right place, and in the nick of time, it seemed. We still needed to decide how to handle tomorrow evening. But I was hoping Equestria's Princess would just know what to do from here.

Well, it was a warm night... That would need to wait. And, here with Cel, things seemed far better than... Shysage and I didn't talk. We just rubbed noses briefly, then we too were asleep.

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