A Forgotten Child
I see it happening. I watch in horror as my body is turned to granite. My hooves reach for my face as a scream builds in my throat, but in a blinding flash, I am rendered immobile. I quickly find my eyes set in one direction and my limbs locked in place; every muscle in my body is rendered obsolete. I am trapped here.
I watch as the other ponies celebrate their victory. I watch as that monster gloats over our fate. He knew this would happen. He knew we would see and hear everything. I catch his gaze. Monster. I try to scream out, but I can't.
They all leave soon and we are left here. I stare out into the distance, unable to blink. My hooves grasp at my face, but I cannot feel anything. Surely, they won't just leave us here. What about the Power of Friendship? What about forgiveness? What about mercy? Even if they don't give it to Chrysalis or Tirek, they'll give it to me, right? I mean, I'm just a kid; I deserve another chance, right? Though they did send me to Tartarus before. Were they going to leave me there? What did Luna see in my mind? I don't really know, myself. Was it too dark? No, they can't just leave me here. They will come.
They have to come.
They left me here. For so long, they have left me here. As days turn to weeks and weeks turn to months and months turn to years, I stay here. I stand here, watching as the seasons change, unable to feel it. Unable to feel the bite of the cold air of winter nor the burn of the summer sun. I watch as rain runs down my face while I am unable to feel or taste it. I watch birds fly in the distance and I yearn to be able to stretch my wings once more.
Is this to be my eternal punishment? To stand here, forced to watch the world as it passes by; to listen as it moves around us, while I am unable to feel a thing? Unable to move even an inch of my excruciatingly stagnate muscles? Is this what I deserve? I would've done anything to avoid this. I would've been the good little filly they wanted me to be. I would've behaved. I would've taken a thousand beatings to spare myself this unending agony.
But then, I have to wonder, would I? The truth is, I don't know. I never understood friendship beyond a way to use others; to gain power through trust. I never understood things like love and empathy; no one ever taught me. No one ever showed me. And now, it is too late. I am stuck here; abandoned to my fate. I wonder if they even remember us. I wonder what Chrysalis and Tirek are thinking; surely, they are as awake as me. Of course, I can't exactly ask them. In any case, we're stuck together; a living monument to our greatest blunder.
I keep trying to scream out. That last sound from my throat that never came. I don't even know what I would be screaming for; pain, fear, anger, relief? I just want something. I just want the air to pass through my lungs once again. Something. Anything. I would do anything.
So much time has passed. I dare not even guess how long we've been here. The entire world seems to have changed. The once flat, grassy field has fallen and formed into a desolate cave. Walled up in the rocky growth on the Earth as it shifts around us; a house for the damned. Now, I have not even the luxury of light for so little of it comes down this way. Hidden from the sun; I feel this is somehow fitting, though I can't quite remember how.
I have not seen a living thing for so long. There may be some rodents or other small things below us, but I cannot see nor hear them. I do not know how deep we are hidden within the Earth, but I fail to see how that matters. No one is coming; pony or not. They never did. They never will.
...
Wait. What's that noise?
There is something coming near us. I can't see them. Two voices.
I see them now. An Earth Pony and a Unicorn. Great Creator above, it's an Earth Pony and a Unicorn!
They're talking to each other. They seem to be on some sort of expedition. Will they see us? They do!
The unicorn, an excitable, mangy-maned filly, trots up to us and out of my view. "Woah, who are these guys?"
The Earth Pony, a much calmer mare, followed. "I... I have no idea." She passes from sight under me. "It seems to be some kind of statue. It's very... lifelike."
"Ooh, is that a centaur? I've only heard a couple of stories about centaurs! And that is the creepiest looking Alicorn I have ever seen. Then again, I've never seen another Alicorn. Well, aside from you. Kinda. Sorta."
"I'm not so sure that's an Alicorn."
"Oh? And what's with the little Pegasus filly? She seems kinda outta place here."
"I don't know, Izzy."
I feel a sense of urgency. I have no idea who these ponies are, but I feel something inside me. Something that tells me that these two could be my chance. I try so hard to say something. Nothing. I have to keep trying. I have to. I have to escape.
"There's something really strange about this statue. It feels... alive."
"Looks pretty stoney to me."
"I... I'm getting a weird feeling."
Does she sense my pleas? Can she somehow understand? Please understand! Please do something!
"...I'm gonna try something. Izzy, stand back."
A great, golden light appears in front of me. The Earth Pony floats up within my sight; an ethereal horn and set of wings is upon her giving her the appearance of an Alicorn. A magic that I have not felt since long before in a time long forgotten envelops me and with a startling realization, I realize that I feel it! A warmth flows over my body and there is a tremendous crack as a blinding light flashes within us.
I fall onto the ground. I don't even realize this until the Earth Pony, now without her ethereal Alicorn attributes, comes up to me.
"Uh, are-are you okay?"
I look up in a daze; every muscle in my body cracking as I find myself moving for the first time in ages. Dumbfounded, I look to my sides and find Tirek and Chrysalis also free and in a similar daze. I look back to the Earth Pony as she repeats her question.
"Um, sweetie, are you okay?"
I have no answer, but I open my mouth regardless.
I open my mouth and I finally scream.
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Here comes Discord again, I don't know what I hate more, Discord and his jokes or his mare friend and those stupid messy pigeons . . .
11329905
how about 'all the above'.
Well, someone's feeling existential. Gotta say though, that was pretty good.
11329921
I wish there was more of this
Meh.
This needs a sequel.
They did not deserve that, especially Cozy, the poor filly.
Needs some grammatical corrections
..........but otherwise a great work
Also, glad you are back!
Wow
I'm really sad for Cozy Glow. I feel she should have been given a different punishment
This needs a sequel!
And now we have to wonder:
Will they also free the other two? And if so, would they regret it, or did those villains learned their lesson?
Edit:
Yes, they were. It seems I had somehow managed to overlooked that detail...
11330280
they WERE freed
the actual question is: what happens next?
11330019
ratioed
11329923
Well, the idea came from listening to I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream (hence the title and references) and the fact that Discord mentioned he could see and hear all around him when he was turned to stone, thus the Fridge Horror of whether or not that applied to the three here. Can't say I was feeling existential myself, but I see how it can across like so.
11330210
11330070
Yeah, a tad excessive, wasn't it?
11330100
And that's not surprising; considering I haven't actually written anything in like two years, I'm kinda surprised there wasn't more errors. 
Thank you for the praise, the criticism, and the follow.
Great story on its own, but I do wonder if it will get a sequel?
You mean the very things Cozy Glow mocked and/or never showed herself?
I'm really not a fan of these post-finale stories that depict the villainous trio as victims and Discord as a monster. Discord may have deceived them, but ultimately, their choices were their own.
11330449
Well, do bear in mind, the story is told entirely from their perspective, and they're not exactly unbiased narrators.
You're right, in fact, they are by no means innocent victims and their choices are their own. Though that doesn't mean they're wrong about Discord either.
11330480
the Comic have the scene where the G5 cast meets Discord. Now I wonder what happened when they meet each other
You know, I used to feel bad for Discord when he was turned to stone. Not because he was a particularly sympathetic character, but because it seemed like such a horrific fate to me. A million times more so when he revealed he was actually aware in that statue. Regardless of how evil he was and how unaffected he seemed, I still found it hard to not feel at least a little bad.
But seeing him deliver that same fate to the trio, after everything he'd already done to them prior? When he was the one who set it all in motion in the first place? Really killed any sympathy I had towards him for his own stoning. Really just drove home how hypocritical and vengeful he is, even after all this time. I like to think the trio aren't conscious in canon but I wouldn't put it past him to make sure they were.
Good story.
11330561
I feel you, friend.
And yeah, the show never made it clear if they'd be aware or not like Discord was; this whole story was built around the worst case scenerio.
11330561
There's really nothing to suggest they'd still be conscious. Discord was conscious because he is an exceptionally powerful being. Those three didn't have anywhere near that level of power.
Besides, there's also the fact that Twilight reluctantly went along with Rockhoof's desire to be turned to stone. If the experience would have involved being conscious the whole time, then surely she would have pointed that out to him, never mind been totally against it?
11330588
I'm aware of all this, which is why I think they probably aren't conscious. Still, it's a possibility, especially if Discord was feeling especially angry, so it does somewhat concern me.
I laughed,
I...I have no words for this. There are no words. But I will try.
Wow. Just wow. Everything in here...it's just so emotional. And as I was reading, I could almost feel (or not feel...get it?) their pain. Unable to move. Speak. Scream. Forced to watch the cruel world go by. And I feel so bad for Tirek. I think he has it even worse than the others...or not??
And it's all so in-character!
This is awesome. This is more than awesome.
Thank you so much for writing this. I love it.
11330561
When Discord is released he is unfazed about the whole thing. Turning him into stone does not seem to be a big deal to him
11330743
I know, which is why I did mention he seemed unaffected. Still, the idea is one still awful enough that I felt a bit bad even though he seemed fine. Hard to feel sorry when he's so gleeful about inflicting the same thing on others though.
Sense, I think is the word.
I know It's complete, but is the only grammar error I've found and had.
11330680
I couldn't ask for a greater compliment. Thank you, Princess.
11330784
Ah, thank you for spotting that.
11330588
Except as far as we know the only example ponies had was Discord. None of them would have thought of the possibility. As far as I'm concerned Discord deserved that punishment more than those three did, especially in the case of Cozy Glow.
11330785
No problem! It's the least I can do to thank you for making this beautiful, sad story. And I love the spark of hope at the end.
11330887
Discord had good intentions, despite his poorly thought out plan. They didn't. So I'll have to disagree with you on that one.
11330280
I look at my sides and find Tirek and Chrysalis also free and in a similar daze
11330887
Twilight herself was turned to stone via cockatrice, and she didn't remember anything.
11330939
"bUt hE hAd gOoD iNtEnTiOnS"
Bad decisions made with good intentions, are still bad decisions and in this case horrifying.
11330939
Discord's good intentions fall in the line of "This amuses me, d*** the consequences". Everything they did was majorly his responsibility including Sombra's attempt and partial success at killing the Tree of Harmony. If he stopped at that point I'd be more inclined to accept your view but he didn't and is not only an accessory to everything they did but intentionally enabled it by choosing to continue. Cozy Glow is a child that instead of trying to figure out or even consider mental/emotional guidance they sent straight to Tartarus to cohab with one of their worst villains while Chrysalis was shown to either be insane or becoming so (though given her initial plans one could think she was so straight from the get go). Tirek well... yeah no even his backstory from the comics makes him irredeemably evil. I like Q and John Delancie but Discord was a poorly written knockoff and unfortunately this is one of the main reasons so many people forgive him. Discord literally repeats the same actions under the assumption "I'm their friend so I can get away with it" and he does. Sorry but most of the good writing in the later seasons was used for the fanservice episodes while the actual storyline felt like it was going braindead especially in this case.
11330944
Admittedly however that was a cockatrice, a different source for the change and not enough to go on and let's not forget the Princesses let Discord handle a part of the petrification that was entirely his suggestion as their punishment. Something he shouldn't of even had a say in.
11330973
Incorrect. He put all that into motion because he wanted to help Twilight. To ensure she had the confidence to rule.
Cozy being a child does not negate her own crimes. Nor does Chrysalis' insanity (which she'd brought upon herself by refusing change).
And you seem to be forgetting that they came up with their plan to turn the pony races against each other entirely on their own. Discord had nothing to do with that decision.
👍👍👍
11331038
I have to disagree with you on this one. These guys would have never been able to accomplish what they did without discord. Chrysalis would have never teamed up with cozy glow or tyrek cozy glow and tyrant probably would have never worked together and they would have never been able to take over Equestria as they were. Discord use their defeats and low points to play a game even if it was done for a good reason that does not change how messed up it was. He caught them all at their lowest point and then decided to use them from his own mischievous plans. And don't let me get started on the ponies part of it. Chrysalis tyrick and cozy glow do not preach friendship forgiveness or Mercy the ponies do but they were not able to show it to three of their enemies that is not even in the same league of discord's crimes. Let's not forget discord succeeded taking over the world in being an evil chaos master. All their crimes is because of this court if they were going to be punished for what they did they already got punished Chrysalis was pretty much kicked out of her own high again and left to be in isolation cozy glow and tyrek were in prison in King Sombra was killed again. They all suffered their punishment discord decided he was going to entertain himself with their misery. And if you think a thousand years or more imprisoned in stone is a fair punishment for what they did you said also agreed that discord should never be freed even for the chance of him going rogue.
Discord knew all their problems and use it against them. Queen Chrysalis was going crazy cozy glow is this the child and obviously Have daddy issues. If ponies claims to believe in the power of magic and friendship these problems could have easily been solved with them.
11330973
I agree it felt like the real villain of the last season was discord again. He quite literally was the cause of everything that happened. And on top of that he was irresponsible or plan the losing of his powers so he could go back to the ponies and say yeah I made the mistake but they took my Powers again so you can't blame me for anything else that happened.
11331038
He freed two of them, revived another, and grabbed the fourth during her random wandering and put them together to enable an evil dream team. It being a way to test/empower Twilight's confidence was just a side bonus/excuse to his own entertainment. One supposedly good reason does not justify the bad ones nor the actions he took for it. As for Cozy Glow my point about her is that they tried to reform almost every villain but a child who needs to be taught how to be good instead gets put in effectively in a supermax prison right next to the worst possible influence. And I don't know where you're coming from that being a child isn't taken into consideration nor the fact that a child's actions are the responsibilities of their parents/caretakers who we never see in this case. The fact that no one noticed the disappearance from Tartarus makes it worse for several reasons I don't want to get into. Chrysalis's insanity is worth noting because it's possible she was partially insane from the get go; 'let's conquer and seal away the ponies who control the heavens to feed on as the world dies' is sortof insane to begin with. I'm not saying they were justified but at least two of the villains needed mental help when Discord gathered them then set them off with no care beyond his little project. If he did care about helping Twilight he would've paid more attention to make certain they weren't doing other horrible things on top of what he planned. In other words he intended to allow them to cause as much chaos as he could enjoy by waiting for the surprise. His only regret was getting caught and outmaneuvered when they got the bell forcing him to reveal what he did. Given what we've seen of him in the show if he had his powers he wouldn't have felt ashamed or guilty about what he did when it was revealed except to Fluttershy and if that's the only reason he feels bad about it how is he redeemed if he's always allowed to get away it? Your view boils down to "He's their friend, he was trying to help so he gets a get out of jail free card" while ignoring everything else including things that blatantly contradict it.
...So Nepotism is Magic, gotcha.
11331078
The worst part for me is how everything would've been so much better if they just changed Discord's reasoning. All they had to do was make his reason wanting to teach them friendship and it would have made it a much better excuse. Literally nothing else would've needed to be changed in the season except for a single line of dialogue.
11331101
Not always. Over the years, several children have been sentenced to prison for committing crimes. Their age didn't negate their actions in the eyes of the law, and the same can be said of Cozy.
What contradicts it, exactly?
11330561
His line about them being trapped together for all eternity and it being the exact opposite of what they'd ever want kinda implies he made them conscious, aware and able to communicate somehow.
I found their punishment excessive (well, Cozy and Tirek. Chryssi had proven multiple times she had no desire to reform and hated everyone for hate's own sake. Tirek and Cozy seemed to have some legitimate care for each other and at least some moral standards), but what I really hate is how they wrote Luna and Tia as being on board with it.
Celestia has always said she regretted sealing Discord in stone and banishing Luna, and that she considered Luna's fall her own failure to find a better way. She was the one who proposed reforming Discord despite everyone telling her it was a bad idea, not because she felt any personal bias to him but because in early seasons she sincerely believed everyone should be given a chance and some sympathy. But in Season Nine they just threw all that away to make her spiteful and cruel to a child for no reason.
Luna has always been very careful with herself, trying to avoid slipping into the kind of blind rage and tyrannical whimsy of Nightmare Moon ever again. Sometimes she even comes across as stoic and full of self-denial out of fear of what she might become if she loses herself again. But she's willing to turn her enemies to stone without trial on the suggestion of another former tyrant the second that she feels a little bit mad at the end of Season Nine.
And now fans demonize them as having always been hypocritical, nepotistic, uppity and cruel, when that's really just a trait they developed over the last two seasons due to poor writing.
11331394
To be frank Celestia and Luna repeatedly take more risks and endanger entire cities for the furthering of Twilight and the Elements, with multiple cannon instances of them stating they have no plan B.
If they aren't nepotistic, selfish and arrogant, they're extremely incompetent and ill fit for being excused because "everything turned out fine" like a drunk driver making it home without killing anything.
Chrysalis also only got 1, maybe 2 chances at redemption, which is hardly a sign of being a lost cause compared to Starlight and Discords bakers dozen of second chances.
The show allowed Celestia and Luna to commit and act in way's that weren't any better then the villains for a long time, and turn blind eyes or hand out favors to further the bearers or prevent them from being held accountable.
The last two seasons just dropped the pretext of "good person can do no wrong".
11331468
I really disagree with this take quite strongly. In the Crystal Empire Tia expressly states plan B is her and Luna (she also sends Cadance to help Twilight in advance), twice, and we see her have a plan B in the Season Four finale in the form of Twilight and the Elements after Discord fails them. The only time we really see her fail to have a backup plan when she decides to give someone else a chance to shine as a leader is in Season Two's premiere, where she sincerely did not expect Discord to return and had no backup because of his incredible power. Playing loose and fast with Tirek by placing her faith in Discord to be sincere in his reformation was undoubtedly a mistake, but I think it's a reasonable character flaw for a person who is supposed to be optimistic and compassionate to have.
The only other instance I can think of where they were in some way negligent is Season Six's finale, where literally everyone was kidnapped or worfed so Suelight Glimmer could get her spotlight, so it's not like there was a better alternative authority figure.
11331479
Meanwhile we have her risking the entire nation on Gaslighting Twilight in the first two episodes, we've been shown she's basically useless in combat so her beating Sombra indicates she either withheld pertinent information from Twilight-which basically means risking the empire purely to further a single persons life-or her incompetence made her think not providing all useful and required information was needed.
Her archives are canonically in shambles and under such disrepair that she couldn't pull anything remotely useful out of them.
Discord is himself completely untrustworthy and him being Plan A is so laughable I'd be on the ground laughing at her face-this is even before his constant betrayal's manipulation and generally treating people as below him through out later episodes.
You do not put every person in your nation at risk for one person then cry foul when someone else does the same.
Storing a contained threat in a public garden with no back up or redundancy is shortsighted and foolish.
If Luna, infinitely weaker then Discord even with the Nightmare can come back what imbecile would think any other entity wouldn't?
The fact Tartarus is so unguarded is again incompetence-a perfect track record means nothing if you choose to not cover faults in the system.
The guard being utterly useless is a sign of her poor planning and operation.
Just cannon sources alone dictate she's either incompetent and resting on laurels or people are giving the princess a free pass to basically use any persons life as fodder for Twilight's destiny.