CSR Philadelphi

by shysage

Ch2, Fall Star

Well, I mentioned before that I heard no sinister music blaring in the background when we arrived here. But as we walked up to Fall Star, I realized... There was a nice, soothing tune weaving quietly through the background(2). It seemed fitting, and I liked it. And it certainly wasn't ominous by any means.

"That will be all, e3736, Thank you" Fall Star said with a slight bow. Terrabelle had been kneeling this whole time, and only then did she get up and walk quickly off. She probably had other things to do. And as she left, I un-spun my mark, and my horn and wings disappeared, as did that low rumble. But Shysage and I were both still people, and looked just like we did yesterday at the Diner...

Still, I felt bad... "Fall Star, I apologize, I wasn't trying to..." Well, I ran out of words at that point. We had so quickly come to appreciate Terrabelle.

Fall Star probably used her magic to pull her own larger panel thing from somewhere on her back, around in front before her; she looked, worked briefly I guess, then she sighed. "e3736, Terrabelle..." Looking at her panel thing still, Fall Star smiled and said "Exuberance... That is her amazing gift." Yes... Shysage and I both smiled. "Still, she needs to continue to work on staying on track..." Fall Star read a little more I guess, then added "Well, it does look like she generally fulfills her tasks, even if her approach can be somewhat un-orthodox at times." Fall Star used her magic to tuck her panel thing on her back again, then she looked at us. "e3736 made you feel welcome?" Fall Star asked. Shysage and I both laughed, then sighed. "I'll take that as a yes" Fall Star said with contentment.

Shysage and I bowed again. Then Shysage said quietly "This is Summer Rain and I guess you know who she is. And--"

Shysage got this far... I know that this was supposed to be sort of an official introduction. But I interrupted Shysage, turned and hugged him tightly, and said "Yes, I am Shysage's Mare." We were still people; Shysage kissed his woman briefly, and we hugged some more. Shysage sighed, and I had to work on not crying. After all we had been though...

Shysage looked at me though, and we both turned, faced forward, threw ourselves forward, and changed back into our pony form on the way down. Then as ponies, we both bowed again to Fall Star.

"Aww, stop... You will make me want to bow to you... You are a Princess too!" Fall Star said genuinely.

I sighed, then shrugged. "Well, I don't know about that... I know I am the Phantom Alicorn, but I don't know how that would fit me for..." I didn't know what else to say.

Fall Star said quietly "Let's walk to central. We can still talk." She turned, and began walking towards this huge tower before us called central. It was quiet briefly, then Fall Star continued. "And I have seen your ERP plots; you could easily be a Princess, here anyway." Fall Star thought a minute, then added. "In Philadelphi, such an office is not taken. ERP and other measures clearly indicate when somepony is gifted to lead, to care for those around her, for Philadelphi. The Leading Star composite stats are well known."

Still, I knew where she was heading with this, and I wanted to quietly protest. "But... I already have a Princess, Fall Star..."

Fall Star smiled as she walked, and pulled her panel thing out again, worked briefly, then sighed. "Princess Twilight(1)... Yes, she is also clearly gifted for her role. We have been able to watch her amazing growth with great interest."

I stopped walking at that point, so Shysage did too, and Fall Star realized, and turned to face us. "Fall Star, you really remind me a lot of my Princess..." I had to avoid crying, or hugging Fall Star. I really love my Princess, and was only now realizing the separation the last few years had forced between Princess Twilight(1) and I.

Well, holding her panel thing away with her magic, Fall Star did hug me; we hugged tightly for a minute maybe. Fall Star pulled away, looked at me then sighed, then said quietly "Well, we are aware of a lot of what has transpired." She and I hugged again, and were brushing away some tears. "And, I'll take that as an amazing compliment" Fall Star added quietly. Then she turned, and we resumed our walk towards central. As close as it was, it really looked like a huge Unicorn horn! Still, Fall Star smiled, and mentioned "Well, I could show you both she and my ERP plots; we are very close..." Fall Star's words trailed off; she was clearly in thought. Then she said softly "It would be amazing to meet your Princess Twilight(1), at some point..."

Shysage spoke up right away. "The transjector?" This was clearly a question. Shysage was asking why their ability to move ponies between here and Equestria(1) below, like they whisked us up here, why that couldn't be used to facilitate such a meeting.

I guess Fall Star understood, and answered right away. "Well, we can't do that. We try to track what is going on down below, but that is more out of necessity. Equestria(1) is a huge place, and we just have this tiny meadow in space. If magical threats from below have a chance of effecting us here, we need to know about that ahead of time. We have a number of gifted Unicorn's here, but... Well, knowing ahead of time is just as important." In thought briefly, Fall Star added this. "But we are not supposed to use the transjector to indescriminately transport ponies back and forth." Fall Star was still in thought as she said this, and even afterwards.

Shysage smiled, I saw that. "And us?" he asked, almost with a chuckle. This was also a question, and a very good one. But, I think Shysage and I had already guessed... Or else we weren't too concerned!

Fall Star stopped walking, so we stopped too. She ever so slightly shook her head back and forth. Then she answered quietly but firmly. "That... was strategic. You are the Phantom Alicorn and your magic is so vast... And, watching what Equestria(1) has been facing of late..." Fall Star's voice trailed off again, and she turned to face us, then put her head down, bowing deeply. Still bowing like that, she said quietly "The official reason we brought you up here, and without even asking your permission... We would like to be able to call on your amazing abilities should that need arise."

Fall Star stayed bowing, and I think she tensed up as she said this, was asking us this. She really was at our mercy, and, well, transjecting us up from a calm afternoon in the warm grass... But I just knew... Well, I smiled, but Shysage spoke up first. "Fall Star, do you know what true friendship is?"

Fall Star answered Shysage by bursting into tears as she was bowing. And I quickly placed that cry... She felt powerless, helpless... probably dwarfed by the task of protecting all these ponies up here on this small, spinning meadow of oats in space... I gently nudged her back up and quickly hugged her tightly, then said softly "Princess, I, we will help you, help Philadelphi and her ponies any way we can." She and I cried together for a few minutes, then she tried to calm down.

Shaking away some tears, she smiled, then apologized. "I'm sorry... That was not how or when I wanted that question to get answered. But I guess... Everything we have learned about you both, watching... It is not just talk with you; it is the way you both try to live. That... is an amazing treasure..." I hugged Fall Star again, and we cried together again, too. Still, I thought to myself that true friendship didn't seem very popular, either in Equestria(1) or in the Equestria Girls(1) world where the Diner was. After a little while, Fall Star backed away, shook more tears off, then said quietly "Well, we really need true friends like you right now, I think."

I just had to say it again. "Princess, we will help you, help Philadelphi and her ponies any way we can." Then I stopped and thought briefly, then added, almost pleading "But you need to realize that my Shysage needs to come too; I just can't live without..." I cried, and Shysage hugged me right away. I worked at calming down quickly.

Fall Star sighed again. "That... is also an amazing treasure. And yes, we realize that you both need to stay together, and that will be taken into account. Our first use of the transjector to bring you here attuned the transport properties for both of you." Fall Star pulled her panel thing back out, looked briefly, then sighed. "We need to get going though." She turned, put her panel thing away on her back, and we resumed our walk down sector road R. Well, we were very close to that huge Unicorn horn like building called central. And there were also now a lot of other smaller buildings along the road, and we were passing a lot more ponies. Those that were close bowed out of respect until we were past them. I guess everypony knew Fall Star was their Princess!

We walked in silence for minutes maybe. Thinking slowly out loud, I said quietly "Fall Star, Princess Twilight(1) isn't aging now, so you may yet get to meet..." As I got this much out, I was talking slower towards the end. And I looked over at Shysage because I wasn't sure if I should have even said anything about that. He just smiled at me. But I slowly put my head down. He understood; I would let him explain. He would better understand the potential hazards...

When Fall Star heard my words, she stopped in her tracks, and looked down, quickly deep in thought. "How can this be" she asked quietly.

Shysage explained, slowly and carefully. "Equestria(1), where Summer is from contains a magical bridge between itself and a different world, where I am from. This magical bridge allows traversal between the worlds, but only if the traversal is done by somepony who has a mirror entity at the other end of the magical bridge. These details are secondary however. The use of that magical bridge halts the aging process. It doesn't prevent death, it just stops the normal aging process." Shysage stopped in thought here briefly, then added "I don't know how or how long you have been watching Equestria(1), but Equestria's(1) Princess Celestia(1) has ruled Equestria(1) for over 1,300 years. Traversing that magical bridge is the reason Princess Celestia(1) hasn't aged during that time(3)."

Fall Star was clearly deep in thought a minute maybe, then correctly understood... "Well... Unless there is a Philadelphi on the other side of that bridge, with a mirror entity just like me there, this bridge won't work for me, correct?"

Shysage said calmly "Your understanding is correct."

It was quiet briefly, but I felt I should hold out this ray of hope. I said softly "Fall Star, Shysage and I have both traversed that bridge. So, as long as we don't get killed..." I looked over at Shysage and smiled. Forever together... He and I, we will relish that!

Fall Star was quickly crying again. I hugged her, and she said quietly, just once "I think we need... that..." But after a few minutes, she tried to calm down, and we resumed our walk. Fall Star also explained her thoughts. "This is all clearly new information, and I will need to make a careful record of it. As difficult as being a Leading Star is to me, there is always a period of transition as one Leading Star dies, and another is selected, put in place... Stopping the aging process is very attractive for that reason alone, and would bring amazing continuity to our management of Philadelphi. Still..." Fall Star sighed deeply, then finished that thought. "...Knowing that we may have access to your amazing power for many years, that is a real comfort to me." Fall Star thought some more, then added "Our magic pool just seems so small to me. Looking out across the night sky... I fear at times that our first magical encounter would be our last, and Equestria's(1) atmosphere would devour us if we lasted that long. I think you could..." Fall Star stopped there, probably trying to avoid crying again. I didn't think she felt used to crying as much as she had since we met earlier. But maybe there was just a lot at stake, and Fall Star, Philadelphi really needed us. I don't think Shysage and I minded that at all. We were happy to help.

Fall Star started using her magic to reach for her panel, I just knew that. But she stopped, then smiled. "I like to carefully plan my days ahead of time, and try to keep that schedule, for efficiencies' sake. But honestly... I think I just need to relax and enjoy our time together. This is really very important to me, to us, and to Philadelphi."

I smiled, looked at Shysage, and he smiled too. "Fall Star, we are really not in a hurry" I said quietly. I think we both honestly felt that way. Earlier today, we were resting in the grass, trying to recover from our past. But there were clearly needs up here, and Shysage and I were together. Helping others together... Shysage and I live for that!

Fall Star said "Well, I have been a Leading Star for over 7 years. I still feel there is so much I need to learn--"

I interrupted her right then long enough to hug her. "I think you are doing fine, Princess!"

Fall Star blushed, shook away a tear or two, then she said quietly "Thank you, thank you both. It really does seem so lonely here up at the top, and few can approach me as friend. But, I don't think either of you are capable of lying. Your words mean a lot to me."

I hugged her again. Then Fall Star turned, and we followed her towards Central. It wasn't very far away any more.

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Author's Note:

(1) c/tm Hasbro inc.

(2) The tune is titled "Tu'Lia", and is the background music for the "Ru'Aun Gardens" zone of Final Fantasy XI, and is copyright by Square Enix.

(3) The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Ch. 10, Edge of Forever

(4) CSR Philadelphi is Vol. ?? of the Chronicles of Summer Rain, and is c2017 by Shysage.