//------------------------------// // Chapter 21: Historical Significance // Story: Harmony and Courage: Running Parallel // by SSJRandomMaster //------------------------------// Chapter 21: Historical Significance ---------------------------- It seemed to take Virid a long time to get his armor properly polished. Both of the unicorns had gotten themselves cleaned off after their underground skirmish against the strange magical creatures. The princess had been somewhat prompt in getting the "okay" back to them, but said that the two would have to catch the next train back to Canterlot. Apparently the object had some level of magic to it, and it was a precaution that needed to be taken. Now, the two unicorns were heading to the Fillydelphia train station with the Princess's item in tow, waiting for the train to arrive. As the Royal Guards waited, thoughts of the preceding battle began to resurface in one of their minds... "What were those things...?" Crimson mused quietly to himself. "Who cares?" Virid responded, back to his normal personality after his armor had been cleaned from all the mud that had coated it as a result of the subterranean fight. "They're gone now..." "Yeah, but I've never heard of anything like that before..." Crimson took a look to the item, which was in a small sack attached to his armor. "Both of them looked like...mashups of creatures we've already seen. Well, I've never seen a one-eared rabbit before..." The green unicorn put his hoof to his thought, appearing to at least give the situation some consideration. He raised his foreleg, eyes half-closed and mouth somewhat open. "I don't know, Crimson," Virid finally said. "The fact those freaks appeared shortly after that jewel was unearthed had to have been a coincidence, though I'm not that convinced of that. But it really doesn't matter. If it happens again, we'll hear about it." Crimson shrugged, and turned back to the tracks. "Maybe, but it's bugging me...how long were they there?" "Who knows? Who cares?" Virid asked. "The job's basically over. I'm sure Princess Celestia will explain everything when we return the item to her." The train whistle blew, and both of the unicorns looked down the track. A train was chugging along. If Crimson remembered right, the trains heading into the city were dual-engine: one end pulled the train toward Fillydelphia, the other to Canterlot or other cities. Fillydelphia was on the eastern coast of Equestria, after all. "Good, the train's here..." Virid said. "Pretty open and shut, just like I said. Though the item itself still bugs me." "Yeah, but like you said, the princess should explain why this item was so...important." The two ponies, along with a few others at the station, boarded the train. Virid and Blitz went to the guards' station near the front, and sat down across from each other. The train wasn't overall too special, but most passenger trains, especially those bound for Canterlot, seemed to have the special section for Royal Guards set aside for them. The train gave a loud, sharp whistle again, and the train jerked in the opposite direction as it went back down the tracks, heading for Canterlot. "Should be home in about two hours," Virid casually observed, leaning back in his seat. "Pretty easy case." "Yeah..." Blitz non-chalantly replied, sinking down in his own seat as his own thoughts began to churn. Virid, I know you're not taking all this in stride. Stop acting so cocky... ---------------------------------------------- The train ride seemed to drag on as the train went down the tracks. Neither of the unicorns really talked about anything as they rode home. They'd already covered most of what they wanted to talk about, and both of them were imagining precisely how their reports would go. Of course, they would make mention of the mud creatures, as they had been made from some very strange magic, a kind that neither Virid nor Crimson could say they'd heard of. "Oh, and Virid?" Crimson said, trying to break the silence. "I will mention your rather unprofessional breakdown about your armor getting dirty..." "What?" Virid snapped to attention, just as the red unicorn had planned. "Oh, you wouldn't dare..." "Why not? You should know it's sort of against our code to randomly snap at anything, let alone ponies thanking us for our efforts." Actually, the code pretty much forbade the guards from showing any reaction whatsoever in public, even if the pony in front of them happened to be making funny faces or trying to get a rise out of them, but punishments came only in cases where the guards showed unforgiving anger to the offending equine. Still, Crimson felt himself slowly starting to get bored, and even though he didn't want to pick a fight with Virid, he couldn't think of much else to break the boredom. Which in itself was a violation of the rules, come to think of it-- "Hey, I got my armor dirty on their behalf!" Virid countered, completely disregarding the fact he was charged to protect the ponies in question, probably because the majority of them weren't unicorns. "And you don't hear me complaining about the fact I got a little dirty too..." Crimson responded. "Your behavior was unprofessional, Virid, that's a fact..." "You know what's even more unprofessional?" Virid asked. "Having dirty armor!" "Besides, you know, I don't even think the captain would care," Crimson responded, standing up. "He's not the kind of colt to take anything other that one's duty seriously." "Mares'll do it to a colt..." Virid maintained. "I'm sure he's just going through a phase...you know, like Azure..." "C'mon, Virid," Crimson said, "I know you know there's more to it than tha--" There was a sudden thud, one that sounded unnatural. Both of the unicorns instinctively looked up, as the sound seemed to come from outside the train. There was the sound of rapid clangs on the roof of the train car the two unicorns were in. "Hold that thought, Crimson," Virid said, following the sounds as he surveyed the car. There wasn't anypony else but them in the car, and the clangs weren't exactly coming closer to them. As a matter of fact, they seemed to be-- Crash! The window of the car shattered inwards as a pony appeared to swing his way from the roof hoof-first, smashing the window in with his hind legs. The pony was wrapped in a cloak, though his fur color was definitely strange: an ashy gray. The unwelcome guest quickly rolled to a halt on the other side of the room. Crimson and Virid immediately got to their feet and stood, ready to act. "I'm only going to ask this once," said Virid, taking a few steps ahead of Crimson. "Who are you?!" "Who I am," the pony answered, casually getting back to his hooves and standing across from them placidly as he spoke, "isn't all that important. What I'm here for, however..." The two unicorns blinked, and Virid looked back to Crimson, "You don't suppose...?" "No doubt about it..." Crimson took up the conversation from here, speaking up to the cloaked pony as he continued, "Sorry, I don't think we can allow that." "I had a feeling you'd say that, being Royal Guards..." The pony said, reaching up to his hood to cast it backward. "Guess I'll just use force then..." The figure of the pony's head came into view. There were no bulges at his sides to indicate wings, and he certainly did not have a horn. It was an earth pony... "What can you hope to do against us?" Virid asked, clearly unconcerned with this information. "You don't even have pegasus magic, let alone unicorn magic..." "Hey, don't judge a book by its cover..." said the unknown pony, closing his eyes. "You might just live to regret it." "Really, now?" Virid asked, turning to Crimson. "Say, do you mind if I knock him out now? Clearly threatening Royal Guards is against the law..." "It is," responded Crimson. "But just because he's an earth pony doesn't give you grounds to underestimate him..." The unicorn took a couple of steps forward. "I think it's a fair estimate," continued the green unicorn, taking a few steps forward. "Bring it, then," said the unknown pony, not even bothering to open his eyes. Crimson didn't get why the earth pony was so calm. Even if he were physically adept, he was outnumbered two-to-one, and to top it off, he wasn't just facing off with two unicorns, but two Royal Guards that happened to be unicorns. The red unicorn could see why Virid was so cocky, but at the same time-- Virid rushed forth. "Virid, remember, we're in a train!" "Relax, Blitz, I know what I'm doing!" The earth pony continued to close his eyes, utterly complacent with the fight he'd gotten himself into. He raised up on his hind legs just as Virid got in range, and the two exchanged regular attacks. A left jab from the intruder was deflected by Virid, who managed to land a right jab into the pony's chest. His horn lit up, and a few moments later, his forehooves thrust forward. And as Virid tried to complete his signature spell, the earth pony opened his eyes, appearing to squint for a moment. Though there was nothing wrong with Virid's execution, the amber light surrounding Virid's hooves suddenly appeared to come apart in what appeared to be petals of white light, which vanished. "W-what--" Virid started, completely caught off-guard by the magic failure. He didn't have time to complete his sentiment, though, for the unicorn found his chest being smashed by a double hoof-jab from the earth pony. If Virid hadn't been wearing his armor, it might have broke something, but as it stood, he got knocked back quite a bit, his off-balance posture not helping. "V-Virid?!" Crimson called out in confusion. "What in Tartarus..." Virid groaned, rising to his feet. "He's an earth pony...why is he able to...?" "I told you, not everything is as it seems..." the earth pony continued, taking a few steps. Crimson surveyed the surroundings, and decided that in the enclosed space, even while the train was in motion, he could do some wall running. His horn lit up in its purple glow and immediately Crimson employed his speed spell, moving fast enough to defy physics. The earth pony, strangely, did not move at all after taking a few more steps. He once again stopped, seeming to be trying to track Crimson. However, after two seconds, the glow surrounding Crimson's horn and his body faded away in the same effect that Virid's had. The momentum keeping Crimson on the ceiling at that time failed him, and he fell straight onto his back with a loud "clang". "Do all the spells you want, you two..." the earth pony continued. "It won't have any effect on me." "Why not?!" Virid yelled, getting to his feet as Crimson began to recover from the slip. "I can instantly nullify any spell you throw at me..." "Absolute manure!" Virid yelled, his horn lighting up in a bright amber light as his anger raged out of control. "You're an earth pony! Earth ponies don't even have a means of channeling magic, let alone a horn! How can you possibly say you can use magic like that?!" "I could explain, but that'd just be wasting time," said the unwelcome guest, trotting his way toward Virid. "I have more important things I need to take care of." "You...!" Virid growled, beginning to shoot off orange lasers aimed at the enemy. Crimson bolted to his feet and yelled out to him. "Virid!" "No need to worry..." the cloaked pony said, stepping forward, paying absolutely no mind to the lasers. The lasers came within centimeters of his body, and faded away into white petals of light and nothingness, leaving the train car and its contents unharmed. Virid stopped his attack, and adopted a look of total shock. "All of that...?" Virid asked. "He...negated...all of that...?" Crimson narrowed his eyes. What are we dealing with? He's an earth pony, but he's able to use magic that makes our magic useless... "I told you, you can fire spells all you want, but the end result is the same: you can't win." "Darn it all!" Virid began to charge, paying absolutely no mind to anything else. "Virid, wait!" Crimson yelled. Too late. The earth pony shifted to the left of Virid, the unicorn too blinded by his rage to notice. The earth pony sent his back legs up, catching Virid in the head and left shoulder, knocking him into the wall, where, with a pained, soft groan, he landed on the ground below it, lying still. "Virid!" "Don't worry..." the earth pony said. "I didn't do much more than knock him out. At least, I think that's all I did." Crimson grit his teeth. While his magic was useless, he still had some physical attributes to him...and even if it was now one-on-one, he could still fight back. "Careful," Crimson warned. "Not all unicorns solely rely on magic to do what they need to do in times like this..." "Oh?" The earth pony asked, turning to Crimson. "Is that so? Do you think you can beat me without your magic?" "I'm not sure, but I've got to try it!" Crimson called out, running forward as his opponent once more took on a bipedal fighting pose. "I can't let you take the jewel!" The instant Crimson reached his opponent, he mimicked this stance. The two formed a circle as forehooves jabbed out, either parrying their opponent's blows or being hit by them. To the untrained pony, such a battle would seem unconceivable, but the ponies knew their stuff: neither one seemed to be giving an inch. "At least you weren't bluffing that you didn't rely on magic in this situation..." observed the earth pony non-chalantly, parrying another one of Crimson's blows, but this time holding the forehoof, and violently shifting his weight, sending Crimson off balance. "However..." A crushing blow to the side lifted Crimson off his back hooves completely, sending him at least a third of the way down the train car. The unicorn instinctively clutched at the bag attached to his armor, and discovered that somewhere in the fight, it had started to come loose, probably from the trauma of being forced to let physics assert itself. That, and the heavy attack to the side might have helped it along. The earth pony was rushing him, and just as Crimson managed to get to his feet, he had been nudged backwards, with a resounding clang accompanying the impact. Though most ponies would at least show some fatigue after ramming into metal like that, the enemy didn't even seem winded by the attack. The train continued on, but by now, Crimson could make out terrified faces at the start of the next car behind the enemy. The unicorn rose to his hooves again. "I must commend you, really," said the gray pony again. "To think you'd be able to withstand so many of my attacks without magic at your disposal, unicorn." Crimson remained silent, already starting to breathe hard from the skirmish. The whole situation just seemed incredibly bad. Virid was unconscious, and none of his spells would work thanks to his enemy's skill... "What do you want with the jewel?" asked Crimson, tensing up to prepare for the next attack. "It's not important," said the earth pony. "All you need to know is that I want it." "At least tell me that much," the red unicorn continued, rushing forward again to try to meet his opponent's move. The earth pony took the hit, seeming definitely phased by the impact, considering the soft cough he gave. "Don't think for a minute you're in a position to be making demands because you're wearing that armor!" The earth pony recovered faster than expected, thrusting his head into Blitz's chest and throwing his head upward, catching the unicorn on the chin and once more lifting him off his feet. "Right now, I have all the cards." The earth pony moved to Blitz's left side, the side where the bag was located. Crimson barely had time to recover before he received a powerful back kick straight to the side, strong enough to cause another loud clang to resound through the train car. This time, the force of the impact dislodged the sack completely from the armor. Crimson tracked it with his one open eye, gritting his teeth in a mix of pain and frustration. No...! The bag sailed through the air. Crimson tried his hardest to get back on the ground and attack again, knowing his opponent was likely to make off with the item, especially now that it was in unsafe territory. His hooves slid on the carpeted floor of the train car, and he rushed the earth pony again, landing another nudge that caused the earth pony to slide back. Knowing trying to levitate it was useless, Blitz caught the sack tenatively in his mouth. The cloaked stranger was right in Blitz's face, pushing as he took the other end of the bag and began tugging, while the ponies pushed their heads against once another in an act of aggression. Neither side wanted to give an inch in this tug-of-war, neither side wanting to relinquish the strange jewel. All at once, the earth pony with the strange skill leaned downward, bag still clenched in his teeth. Crimson held on, not knowing what his opponent planned. His opponent abruptly let go, leaving Crimson to stumble backwards off-balance as the extra force suddenly had nowhere to go except back where it came. The unicorn uncontrollably fell back on his hind legs, trying to restore his balance... An incredibly hard head smashed straight into his chest, with yet another loud clang. However, this time, Crimson felt most of the impact, and he coughed harshly as the wind left him, relinquishing the bag in the process.. He fell on his back, crossing his forelegs over his chest as he tried to force air back into his lungs. The unicorn rolled on his side, still conscious. He forced himself back to his feet. In this case, I have to ask myself...what would Azure do...? "I...won't let you...have it..." The red pony declared. "I've...no idea what it is...but...my orders didn't involve anypony taking...that jewel..." His air eventually stabilized. "Is that so? Then..." The earth pony asked through clenched teeth, the sack containing the item between his jaws. "Why do I have it right here..." "You won't have it for long!" Crimson declared, throwing all caution to the wind, determined to fill his duty as a Royal Guard-the duty he was assigned to do since arriving in Fillydelphia. Virid's summary of the job could not have been more wrong. Conversely, Crimson Blitz could not have been more right. Crimson rushed his opponent, trying to do something, anything, to make him leave the item in the train with him and the unconscious Virid. He had no idea what to do: the attack had been so sudden and so unexpected - in every sense of the word - that Crimson didn't even know what to do other than mimic his younger cousin. It wasn't his forte to go in without Virid as backup for a plan in this case. The enemy waited until the unicorn was in range, then reared his head back and chucked the sack up into the air. He quickly circled to the unicorn's side, and a bright shaft of light and stars exploded into Crimson's vision as he felt a dull ache spread through his shoulder and chest. A few moments later, his vision faded to black, and Crimson Blitz lost consciousness... ----------------- "...any sign of the attackers...?" "No leads...witnesses said there was only one attacker..." "Was there anything else found in the train?" Train...train... Crimson thought to himself, his memory slowly starting to return, along with his consciousness. The first thing he saw: bright light. After blinking a few times, his vision slowly became less and less blurry. That's right, Virid and me were on a train...heading home, after a trip to Fillydelphia... "No, nothing, sir," said a nearby voice. Crimson's ears flicked. That wasn't Virid's voice. "Okay then, you are excused..." That voice...! The unicorn's vision finally cleared. Crimson Blitz immediately realized he was in a hospital. Why am I...? The memory of what had happened immediately before he had been knocked out resurfaced, and his jaw clenched, "The jewel...!" "Easy there, soldier," The familiar, male voice said, the sound of a door closing immediately preceding its statement. Crimson soon realized why: the instant he jerked up in response to his sudden realization, his chest flared in pain, and he brought a forehoof to it instinctively. After taking a moment to catch his breath, Crimson looked to his right, towards the door, and saw another pony in the room. The pony was a male unicorn, probably a few years older than him, and white in color. His mane was a mess of blue streaks, ranging from dark blue to light blue, and was slicked down as well. His tail matched the color and to some extent the style. His hooves had dark blue patches on the ends. He also wore a suit of armor just like Crimson's, but the main color was purple instead of white. And his cutie mark was a shield. Crimson knew this pony very well... "C-Captain Shining Armor?" Crimson tried to salute as per his instincts, but lying down in bed with a soreness in his chest made the salute just a little difficult to pull off, never mind the fact he was still wearing his own armor. "At ease," Shining said. "Can't expect you to salute like that anyway...Don't worry, nothing's broken. You'll be feeling sore for a while, though." "How'd I get here...?" "Everypony on the train saw what had happened," said Shining, "but we couldn't do much until the train arrived. An earth pony attacked the two of you, huh?" He put a hoof to his chin, then lowered it, sighing, appearing troubled. "It doesn't make sense to me. Even with an earth pony's stamina, he shouldn't have been able to do so much on his own. I want to hear it from you, since Virid wasn't very responsive...odd coming from him..." "Yes, sir?" "Was it an earth pony that attacked the two of you on his own?" "Yes, sir, it was," Crimson responded with a small nod as he began to get out of his hospital bed. "But the earth pony...he had an unusual ability." "Unusual, how?" "He...he was able to completely nullify all our spells. I couldn't even augment my speed, and Virid's spells proved absolutely useless against him. All that happened was that our magic vanished into air..." Crimson found himself reminded of Virid's...bias, at this moment, and found his teeth were clenched a little tighter than usual when he relayed this information. "Apparently, he was well trained, considering I could barely touch him in physical combat." "I've...never heard of an earth pony that could do that..." Shining replied, looking just as troubled as Crimson felt. "That could be a thorn in our side later. I'm going to have the two of you report this to Princess Celestia as soon as you're up for it." Crimson looked around. He was aware that the hospital rooms weren't very roomy; only one patient at a time. Meaning Virid had to have been in a seperate room, nursing a very bruised ego in addition to the ten other bruises on his body. "Where's Virid?" "He...woke up before you did." Shining said. "But he wasn't acting like himself. I didn't need too much time to figure it all out..." Ah...please tell me he doesn't know about Virid's unicorn bias... Crimson thought, trying to keep a straight face as he considered that possibility. If he did, he'd be off the squad faster than Rainbow could fly... "Well, anypony with a job like yours would take it hard if this happened... especially if that job came from the Princess herself..." The captain continued. "...I know that feeling quite a bit myself..." That second part was more to himself, but Crimson set it aside. Shining did have a princess of his own to worry about... "Anyway," he continued, "I think that broke him. He may not have broken a bone in his body, but I can tell this loss damaged his ego more than anything else. Don't know if he'll ever come out of this..." "I'd better go talk to him, get him in a reporting mood," Crimson responded. "Where'd he go?" "He went up on the roof," Shining said. "He told me he needed some air as soon as he was able to get it. I let him go." ---------------------------------------------- Virid couldn't process it. Nothing about the situation made any sense at all. He'd fought an earth pony. Earth ponies weren't supposed to be able to use any magic, let alone specialized magic that rendered his own useless. Yet here he was, battered and bruised, and having failed in his mission, nursing his wounds on the hospital roof. He looked out over Canterlot. He could see the castle close by, maybe about a ten-minute walk away. He knew he could probably see Ponyville from where he was, but he did not dare look. The cold didn't bother him at all, the emptiness in his own mind overwhelming him. Why is it that a mere earth pony was able to make our spells useless? It doesn't make any sense! Virid thought to himself. He rendered us almost unable to fight just by existing! I've never heard of an earth pony that had such an ability! Virid ran a forehoof over his face, utterly disgusted at the turn of events. Have I been wrong this whole time? No...I couldn't have been...! The sound of a door opening and closing didn't even register in the unicorn's mind as he continued to stare emptily into space, his brain simply unable to make the leap of logic he needed to come to terms with the defeat he'd suffered. "Virid..." This voice was unmistakably that of Crimson. "What do you want, Crimson Blitz?" Virid spat, his anger at his defeat all but evident in his tone. "Calm...down..." Crimson said. "Once we're both feeling up for it, Captain's orders say we need to report what happened to Princess Celestia ourselves. She's likely already been informed of the situation." "Oh, good..." Virid acidly retorted, "More reminders of my failure..." "It's my failure, too, Virid, don't put it all on yourself." "How can I not?" The green unicorn turned around, clearly shaken by what had happened. "He's an earth pony..." His voice got quieter. "He shouldn't have been able to...!" "Virid, whether you want to admit it or not, he did, in fact, use magic..." Crimson responded, almost hesitant to admit it. "As unbelievable as it is, he still used magic." Virid halted. No, there was no way that Earth pony--yet...if he was able to physically nullify their spells... Wait...that's it...he did use magic! Even though his mission had been a failure, an affirmation that his beliefs still had some merit was enough to get Virid's attitude to shift back towards its normal mode. Earth ponies aren't born with an innate ability to cancel out unicorn magic. Still...does this mean I've just relied far too much on my own magic? As soon as he considered that, his attitude shifted from mildly content, back to concerned. "But then..." Virid said, keeping his internal thoughts to himself. "When, why, and how is he able to cast such magic? What's going on?" "Like I know..." responded Crimson. "Captain Armor didn't seem to know either, and seemed just as troubled as we were to realize it." After a few more moments, Virid cast aside his troubles. "...Well, our mission was a failure. No way we could have seen something like that coming. Chances are, if our captain doesn't know, no chance anypony else'll know. All we can do now is report what happened and see if the princess knows anything. After having the jewel taken from us, I really want to know if there's more to it than being an artifact." "Sounds alright to me..." Crimson sighed. ---------------------------------------------- "...and that's what happened after the mission," Virid finished his report to the princess. Crimson was no expert at being a ruler of land, but he had a nagging feeling in the back of his head that physically looking worried in front of one's subjects wasn't exactly standard code for being delivered bad news. "I see," Princess Celestia responded after some silence. "Well, it is a shame that catastrophe struck at the last second, but that's the way the world works. It wasn't a total failure, though." Virid appeared to be on the verge of questioning how, but Crimson watched as Virid literally bit his own tongue to prevent himself from doing so. "You two did manage to save innocent lives from those...mud monsters, you described." She continued to look towards them, but she didn't seem to be commanding them to leave with her eyes. In fact, she actually appeared to be considering something. "I take it you two have some questions on your minds regarding this whole affair?" Virid and Crimson both stood straight up, only half-expecting her to hear the answers they'd wanted to know from the start. "Princess Celestia," Virid started, clearly hesitating to speak a little. Crimson guessed he was trying to word his statement so as not to offend her. "how is it that an earth pony could use such magic, like we described?" "Truthfully, I don't know," Celestia answered flatly, "But it's strange. The only earth ponies that could use magic existed only in legend, and didn't have Null spells..." The way she answered left Crimson wondering if she actually knew an earth pony that was able to use magic. However, he put that question to the back of his mind. "Null spells?" Crimson asked. "That's what they're called?" "Yes, spells that, as you experienced, render most spells completely useless," the princess continued. "It's known formally as 'nullification magic'. Anything else?" "Yes," The red unicorn continued. "That item did bear your cutie mark and your sister's cutie mark on it, but only under the right light. What was it?" The princess remained silent for a few heavy seconds. Eventually, though, she released a small sigh. "Come with me," she said, rising from her throne. "There is something I must show you if the story behind that item is to make any sense." Crimson looked to Virid, who merely shrugged. "It was buried for who knows how many years..." Virid responded. "One thousand and five." Crimson and Virid paused, both blinking. "Huh?" Virid asked, clearly confused. "It was left at that place one thousand and five years ago..." Celestia said. "...Well, give or take a year." The two unicorns looked at each other again. Apparently, Celestia did know that particular fact. ------ It had been a minute or two of walking, Crimson hadn't really paid attention to the time. The Princess had lead them out of the castle and towards...the sculpture garden? The Canterlot sculpture garden was "world-famous", or so he had been told all his life. He'd only ever been there once, but as a foal, he'd never really paid attention. So why was it that Princess Celestia was leading them here? "Not too much farther now..." Left turn, right turn, right turn, left turn, straight ahead... "What...?" Virid asked, the sounds of his hoofsteps slowing a bit. Crimson could now see something that he hadn't noticed on prior trips to the statue garden. It was a statue of...a creature that he couldn't describe in just a few words. It was something that he couldn't wrap his head around. It looked like a dragon at the very first glance, but it had so many other parts...griffon's paw, goat's beard, two different wings... Yet, even though this creature wasn't anything Crimson could have even dreamed of or thought of, there was something about its overall...lack of sense in its features that seemed oddly familiar. Like that deer antler, for instance. "We're here," said the princess, stepping off to one side to allow the guards a full look at the statue. The creature appeared to be frozen in a dramatic pose, almost as if he were...singing? "Do either of you know what this statue is?" "It's...a chimera...?" Virid asked, clearly at a loss. "Well, you would be right, but the actual name of this creature is 'dragonequus'," She cast a glance to the statue. "And...over one thousand years ago..." She paused. "He ruled over this land before my sister and I did." Virid and Crimson looked up. "Well...isn't it normal for...rulers to have statues made after them, in their honor?" Virid asked. "I wish it was that simple," replied Celestia. "This statue isn't exactly a statue...it's Discord himself." Now both unicorns barely restrained themselves from gasping. "How?" Crimson asked. "Why?" Virid questioned. "He had kept Equestria in a state of constant unrest and unhappiness while he was ruler. That item you two found had actually been created by the two of us, Princess Luna and myself, to try and drain his influence..." "So...then...those monsters we fought..." Virid slowly began to understand what had happened. Crimson felt himself come to the same realization a few moments later. "That jewel wasn't a total failure," Celestia said, "It did drain some of his magic away, but not nearly enough to make a huge difference. We'd discarded it there after we'd used the Elements of Harmony to seal him in this state." She seemed hesitant to look upon the statue again now that she'd said it. "Of course, I didn't expect his influence to infect the ground in that manner...those mud monsters you fought..." The alicorn continued, looking back to her subjects. "They were a result of his magic leaking out of the object..." Celestia said. "Of course, they're not likely to come back again." "So...you threw him out of power all those years ago, and that jewel was merely an attempt to dethrone him?" Crimson asked. "Yes..." Celestia responded. She appeared to be considering something else. "I should have mentioned earlier, back in the throne room, but it's still important enough that you should know." Virid and Crimson shifted a little in place, but said nothing. "You mentioned a cloaked pony attacked you, right?" she asked, but neither of the ponies felt the need to answer-it was a rhetorical question. "Well...you see, in Ponyville, a couple of months ago, another cloaked pony had attacked." Now neither of the ponies could withhold themselves from gasping. Azure...! Crimson mentally said. "He was able to do things that not even my student could do. He used summoning magic to attack a few of her friends..." Celestia said. Though it was clear in her tone that this was troubling, she didn't seem...overly worried. "I do not know for sure if this incident and that attack are related, but...I feel that something will turn up, sooner or later..." "But..." Virid started, apparently unsure of how to word his concern for his cousin's safety. "He's doing fine," Celestia responded, perhaps a little too quickly. "They're all safe...and if he keeps up the work he's been doing...well, they'll continue to live in safety..." The princess quickly circled back around to leave them again. "Now...any more questions?" asked the princess. Crimson looked to Virid, who merely shook his head. "No, Princess Celestia, I think...all of our questions have been answered now." "Well, you two have earned your rest," she observed. "Let's head back to the castle..." With that, the visit to the statue garden was over. However, as they left the statue of the oppressive ruler behind, Celestia looked over her shoulder towards the statue for a few seconds longer, but Crimson couldn't name the emotion behind her eyes.