> The Road Less Traveled
>  by erlenmeyer
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> Chapter One: Statues
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                    A small white rabbit stood at the mouth of a particularly foreboding cave. Yet the ominous air of the cavern didn’t seem to deter the rabbit. He stood there, goggles atop his head and a white scarf about his neck, as in pure defiance of the fear the cave radiated. Strapped around his body was a piece of golden jewelry. The rabbit adjusted the goggles on his head and hopped into the cave.
                    Long and winding were the tunnels of the cave. The rabbit could barely see a thing in its inky blackness. Fortunately, a familiar smell guided him through the cave’s labyrinth. He finally came to a large echoing hall in the heart of the grotto. Its walls curved up to form the dome shaped ceiling, like a natural cathedral. However, on the ground were large pieces of rock and mounds of dirt and dust. These had fallen from the hole present in the crest of the dome. A ray of sunlight from a setting sun shone upon four statues farther back in the cave. Curious, the rabbit went closer to the statues. One was quite odd, its body was serpentine and its limbs were an amalgamation of reptilian, avian, and mammalian features. The statues arms were up in a defensive stance, trying to shield its face from something. Whatever the statue cringed from had destroyed it anyways; the chimerical statue’s head and hands were among the rubble of the ground. The rabbit did not seem perturbed by the fate of the statue. As a matter of fact, a small smirk appeared on his face.
 Two of the other statues were quite similar. Both were tall majestic alicorns. One was somewhat taller than the other. It was adorned in a golden crown, horseshoes, and collar-like necklace. Its mane was impossibly large and sparkled in the sunlight. It seemed to flow in the air, though there was no breeze and it was stone. On the flank of the statue was a sigil in the shape of a sun. Its counterpart had the same type of mane and jewelry. The jewelry was of a different color scheme, silver with small, star like sparkles. On the flank of this was as a crescent moon in a inky splotch pattern. They both had the same stance, shielding themselves from something with a wing and a raised hoof. The rabbit looked up in awe at the two alicorns, a deep respect gleaming in his black eyes. He tore his eyes off the statues and shook his head; the last statue was the one he sought.
This statue was quite different from the rest. It was not nearly as big and it was situated in a farther corner of the cave. It was a female Pegasus with a large, mane seemingly combed off the right side of her head and down her neck. It was curled at the tip as was her long flowing tail. The look on the statue’s face was what caught the rabbit’s attention. She stared in the direction of the more fantastical statues. Her expression on her face, eyes widened and mouth agape, was that of fear. There even seemed to be a glimmer at the corner of her awestruck eyes. The cottontail glanced at the mare’s flank to confirm her identity. Yes, as he expected, there were three butterflies inscribed on her flank.
The rabbit proceeded with his plan. He took off the piece of jewelry that hung around his body and hopped up close. He placed the pendant, a similarly shaped butterfly to the ones on the statue, to the statue’s chest. He held it near where her heart was, waiting for something to happen. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity. He glanced at the spotlight of sun that flowed through the hole of the cathedral cavern. It had moved a couple feet since he last glanced at it. He removed the necklace from the mare’s heart and tapped it. He put an ear to it to check if it was still functioning. He tapped it several times, impatiently with the charm. Finally, out of exasperation, he tossed the charm of at the statue. It bounced off the pegasus’ forehead and landed on the ground with a light tinkling. A small crack formed where the necklace ricocheted off the statue. Paws over his mouth, and a regretful look on his face, the rabbit watched the crack spread across the statue’s head and body.
Flakes of mineral began to fall off the pegasus’ stony body. The cottontail watched intently as the rocky shell that encased her fell apart. Cracks formed at her muzzle and haunches. A large piece of stone broke off and revealed an ear. The encased mare began to tremble, trying to escape her stony prison. The stone covering her muzzle crumbled off, causing her lungs to greedily gasp for the air it was long denied. With that gasp of air, the rest of her prison shattered. The rabbit shielded his face from the pebbles and dust that flew off of her. 
                    The mare coughed as she breathed quickly to reinstate her body with oxygen. Her body no longer encased in stone, she could feel a small breeze in the cavern flowing through her yellow coat and pink mane. She shivered at the sensation. Her blurry vision came upon a small white figure of the rabbit standing in front of her. She blinked several times to focus her vision.
“W-Where am I?” she groaned.
The rabbit hopped up to the pony quite happily. However, the yellow pegasus merely cocker her head at the sight of the rabbit. Her eyes glimmered with motherly love as lowered her head to the rabbit’s eye level.
“Hello,” she spoke in a soft soothing voice, “What’s your name?”
                    The rabbit seemed startled by the question. He briskly hopped to the necklace he had tossed earlier, grabbed it, and presented it to the previously petrified pony.
“Awww,” she cooed as she took the necklace with her hoof, “What an angel!”
The rabbit black eyes shimmered at the word “angel” and hopped up and down in agreement. He jumped on the mare’s back and quickly fastened the necklace around her neck.
“Oh? You like that name? Okay, I’ll name you Angel… that is if you don’t mind…”
The rabbit, now called Angel, nodded and hopped towards the other three statues. He gestured towards them, indicating that the mare should come for a closer look.
“You want me to look at the statues? Okay…”
The yellow pegasus cautiously made her way through the rubble and looked up at the regal alicorns statues. Her eyes narrowed as she examined the two closer.
“They seem very familiar,” she said, “But I can’t put my hoof on it…”
Angel tapped his foot impatiently. That wasn’t the reaction he was expecting. He gestured towards the broken statue, hoping to elicit something from her.
                    The pegasus stared at the strange sculpture for a moment, and started to back away.
“That one is… frightening…” she said sheepishly. She turned away from the statue, putting her hooves over her eyes. Angel tapped her hoof and pointed at the statue once more.The pegasus tried to take another glimpse of the statue but couldn’t bring herself to move an eye towards it. 
“I’m sorry, Angel bunny. Its too scary...” she apologized in mousey voice. Angel let out an audible sigh and shook his head. He grabbed the mare’s front leg and led her towards the exit.