//------------------------------// // 3 - Exposition Calls // Story: Justice // by TwoTailedFox //------------------------------// The other pony put up a little resistance to Vinyl letting a stranger into their house, but the promise of a meal put paid to any and all questions on the subject. Both of the ponies made short work of the two meal bars, Vinyl almost forgetting to remove the foil wrapper before tucking in. The room was oddly silent, save for two equines furiously masticating, “So, now that I have your attention… where exactly am I?” The brown mare to his left neatly finished her portion, “Given your appearance, I don’t doubt that you’re not from even from remotely near here. You’re in a town called ‘Ponyville’, part of the nation we call ‘Equestria’... or so we did. Who are you… and what are you, exactly, if you don’t mind me asking?” “Me? My name is Alex, Captain of the Aurora. My species is called “Vulperian”... or if you want simple, you can just call us Foxes. Our race is the result of virus-based genetic experimentation by another species that went out of control. We rebelled, and fled their space, afterwards establishing a new government and society on a planet far away from them.” His tail stilled behind him, as if to punctuate his next point, “Until they got wind that they’d located the edge of our space. That led to war. We soon realised that we were outgunned, only a handful of ships to their fleets of ships. We initiated a campaign of hijacking command of their ships. As their fleets dwindled, ours grew. We annexed their home world, and they sued for peace. The war was not without tragedy, of course; our government had been comprehensively destroyed. But enough of that for now... what were your names again.” The brown mare got up from the table, and slowly trotted over to him, “My name is Octavia Philharmonica, although my partner over here calls me ‘Octy’.” she said, barely hiding an eye roll, “To your right sits Vinyl Scratch. We’re both musicians in our own ways... or rather we were, until…” “Until that little brat got her hands on some unbelievably powerful magic. Magic strong enough to imprison ponies whom we thought were invincible.” said the white-coated pony. “Heck, a bunch of ‘em have saved Equestria multiple times in the last few years. Hard to believe that there exists something powerful enough to turn ‘em to stone… something more powerful than friendship.” The last part caused Alex’s ears to prick up in attention, “Friendship manifests as magic here?” “Yeah. Or something like that. I don’t really knows the ins and outs of it, just that it hadn’t failed us before.” The look of optimism he’d seen on Vinyl’s face when he opened the door had been replaced by one of defeatism. “You look different to the two ponies I saw earlier. You have a horn, what’s that all about?” Alex said, slightly intrigued. “Oh, that? I’m a Unicorn, we’re the magic-wielding type of pony. Octy here is an Earth Pony. They don’t really have magic you can see, but they tend to have natural skill with the arts and the world around us to make up for it; call it ‘hidden magic’, or something. There’s also Pegasi, who have wings, can fly, and can walk on clouds, you’ll see ‘em soon enough. Who did you meet earlier?” “Well, I didn’t exactly meet them, I just saw them as they went past me, looking for my ship that crash-” “Wait, wait, that was you!? I’d sort of hoped it was, but I never dared to… Octy, he might be able to help us!” “Whoa, slow down there… while I can wield magic, and have done so in situations I’d rather forget about, I don’t even know if I can make a stand against… who was this pony that’s taken over the place?” Vinyl signed, almost not even believing the answer she was about to give, “A little brat who used to live in this town. Went by the name ‘Diamond Tiara’. Her father was an industrialist, and pretty much had this town by the flank. She got free reign to be nasty to other ponies, who were too scared to do anything, lest her father make life hell for them. But it doesn’t make sense, Diamond Tiara is an Earth Pony, only Unicorns are supposed to be able to wield magic like that!” “Could it be there is a unicorn propping her up behind the scenes? If magic flows through Earth Ponies to grant them skills over the land and arts, could someone still channel magic power through them?” “Even if somepony did that, our rulers combined shouldn’t have gone down that…. effortlessly.” “So... what happened? If the rulers of this nation were as powerful as you suggest, how were they defeated? Were they killed?” Vinyl shot her partner a depressed look, “Should we show him?” “Yes, Vinyl. He must see the horror for himself.” Without further hesitation, the two ponies left the house, Alex following them in a brisk jog to the center of the town. Debris was strewn across the wide area that had presumably been the town square, replaced instead by a series of stone statues. Five of them were in the center, with three further ones outside it, two facing out, and one facing in. Alex noticed something immediately about the ones in the center. “Hey, you two… the ponies in the middle look odd, like they’re in pain.” Octavia trotted over to Alex, “Yes, that’s correct. She… deliberately injured them, and then turned them to stone, leaving them as immortal images of suffering to anyone who would happen to gaze at them. A warning to us, mayhap. The three ponies outside the middle are Alicorns, winged Unicorns, essentially. The two facing out were our rulers, Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun, and Princess Luna, Princess of the Night and Stars, both of them responsible for raising and lowering the sun and moon. As you can see, their imprisonment has left the sky in a state of ambivalence. The third statue is that of Princess Twilight Sparkle. She was Princess of Friendship, and her friends are the ponies in the middle,.” Alex caught was now looking intensively at the final statue. This one was also expressing a look of severe pain, but he could see no signs of physical injury. “This one puzzles me. If a stone statue is designed to serve as a warning, why would this one face away from a potential onlooker?” As his mind began to search for possible answers, his eyes did the work for him. There was a faint glowing light from atop the Alicorn’s horn. The horn. “While I remember, why do you all have pictures on your flanks?” “They’re called ‘cutie marks’, oft a representation of a ponies’ innate special ability, talent, or calling. Mine is a G-cleff, and Vinyl’s is two bridged eighth notes; each represents that we’re ponies of musical talent. Other ponies have marks similar to their vocations. Nobody really knows how they work, only that every pony gets one eventually.” Octavia said, reciting facts like she was a foal in front of a classroom. Alex quickly turned to the side of the statue. His eyes almost refused to believe what he saw. That mark! It’s the same one that was in the fissure! Alex stepped back, and made eye contact with Octavia “At least now I think I know who it was that caused me to crash land here. Somehow, this... Alicorn, you say? This Alicorn used her magic to interfere with space across dimensions. But, how…? Oh… I really hope I’m wrong about this next bit.” Alex slowly walked to the front of the statue. His eyes were on the same level as the Alicorn’s, owing to his superior height. Seeing nothing unusual given the circumstances, he placed a paw on her torso. It took a few seconds, but he seem to feel the outer periphery of consciousness. “My God… I’m sorry. I am so sorry…Vinyl, Octavia, this isn't an ordinary stone statue. This status is living stone.” Vinyl piped up, “Wait, Living stone? That spell’s been outlawed for over a thousand years. That means…” Alex picked up where Vinyl trailed off, “... that every day, she is forced to watch her friends in permanent states of agony, powerless to act. Although, judging by her little feat here, she’s not quite as powerless as they expected. The magic residue I detected in orbit is very strong here... when I felt my paw make contact with Twilight’s statue, I felt a sort of warmth inside me. Quite pleasant, really… but when I pulled my paw off, I felt the residue of the magic that defeated her. It felt like the precise opposite, making me feel deathly cold inside for an instant. If Twilight Sparkle fought with Friendship, Diamond Tiara must have fought with something diametrically opposed, like hatred, or any other number of negative emotions, if magic and emotion here are as intertwined as has been inferred so far. I don’t think we’re seeing the whole issue here.” Alex’s attention was momentarily caught off-guard by three empty statues caught by his peripheral vision, between Twilight and her stone-turned compatriots. “Were more ponies to be placed here? They look a little small to be statue placeholders.” Octavia looked over the small plinths, “I don’t know. They look like they were made for foals… but we sent all foals out of here by train before the town was completely seized and all trains halted.” “I think some research is needed. Is there a library in town?” Alex inquired.