"Voices, voices, so many voices..." Says smooth, youthful, female voice.
"Because silence is an ending..." Says deep, gravelly, male voice.
"And this is a beginning..." Says nondescript, unintelligible thought.
------
Statues stand across the land, each a vigil of an Angel who is no longer, but forever is. Fact became legend. Legend became myth. Myth became forgotten. However, there are some who remember. They are the ones who existed when it occurred, and still exist. Be it princess or embodiment of chaos, they never let it leave their minds.
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Princess Twilight sits on her throne as the main hall remains silent. No visits from friends, no politicians complaining about some pointless thing, not even a letter from her student in Canterlot. Her castle, sitting in the now tamed Everfree forest, sits quietly as no event occurs to grasp her attention. 'Looks like it's going to be another do nothing type of day.' She thinks to herself. 'In all of Equestria, there has to be something worthwhile happening.' And almost like an answer from a higher being, a unicorn mare guard rushes into the court room.
"Your highness! There's three strange beings outside the main doors!" Says the guard, panting to regain her composure.
"Finally! Err, I mean, who are they?" Says Twilight.
"I don't know, but they look like the statues." The guard pants.
"What? Which statues?" Asks the Princess. "The ones in the garden? Those are all ponies..." She says as she ponders on what the mare might mean.
The guards breathing evens out as she speaks. "No, THE statues. The Angel statues."
This caught Princess Twilight by surprise. She didn't know what to think. 'More Angels, here?' She thinks to herself, her mind rushing in a thousand directions, all of them dead ends. "W-well, take me to them." She finally says, still wary of what could happen.
------
Standing in front of the doors, she could already hear the three 'Angels' speaking amongst themselves. "What do you mean 'Might be a castle'? How is it not a castle?!" says a somewhat mature, male voice, with a slight lisp on some 'L's.
"Well, it could be a military installment, or maybe even a museum." Says another, this one with an accent she could only attribute to someone hailing from Stalliongrad.
"Whatever it is, it better be warm inside, it feels like I'm trying to take a nap in a fridge." The last voice said with a thick southern accent and somewhat young pitch.
"These are Angels? They sound more like arguing siblings. If this is just some prank, someone is washing the entire castle with a small sponge." As the princess spoke to herself, the southern voice spoke up.
"Hey, Y'all hear that? There's someone on the other side. Hey! Can ya let us in?! It's freezing out here and Axle here only got shorts and a T-shirt!" He says as pounding on the door accompanies his words.
"Hey, don't tell them that! Just let us in." Says the voice with the lisp.
'They really don't seem like they could be anything other than some ponies wandering the forest' Twilight thinks before responding. "Are you Angels?" Twilight finally says, confused by their constant bickering.
"'Angels'? Oh great, religious nuts." Says the Stalliongrad voice.
"Don't matter much to me." Says the southern one. "Uhh, no, we ain't Angels, just some lost people. Can you please let us in? You've gotta know how cold it is out here."
'So this probably isn't a prank.' Twilight thinks to herself. "Alright, we'll let you in, just stand back." She says as she opens the doors with her magic.
"Holy crap, y'all see that?! The handles are glowing all purple-like!" The southern voice shouts. As the doors fully open, The three voices are finally revealed to be a group of bipedal beings, all wearing strange clothing, each different from the last. The one on the far left wore a single piece of clothing covering their entire body, save their forearms and face. Atop it's head sat what looked to be a simple cap worn backwards with bits of blonde poking out from underneath. The one in the middle appeared to be wearing two pieces of clothing, a piece of long cloth that covered both legs, and another that hid it's midsection and arms. It's black mane covered what she assumed were it's ears. Finally, the one on the far right wore similar garments to the one in the middle, except they were short and ended before covering even half their limbs. This one had no mane whatsoever.
After a long silence of both groups staring at one another, the one with the cap finally spoke up. "S-so, may we c-come in?" He says, his hands shaking at his side. Twilight couldn't comprehend what stood before her. Three beings that appeared to be more angels of the same kind that came before, yet they claimed otherwise.
"Y-yes, please come in." She finally utters, her head still trying to find an answer to a near impossible equation.
"Whoa, wait a moment." Says the bald one. "I need a minute to wrap my head around this." He says as he looks between the purple mare and the forest that laid behind him, considering just running away.
"C'mon Axle, they're getting us out of this cold. Be a little grateful." Says the black maned one, now walking inside the building with little to no apprehension.
"Please, come in, make yourselves comfortable." Says the guard, a semi-forced smile on her face.
"Thanks. Say, just a question; Are you horses?" Asks the one with black hair, now inside the castle, idly looking at the stained glass windows and paintings.
"We, uh, we're ponies. My name's Hidden Gem." Says the guard, slightly unnerved by how calm he was acting. "And she's Princess Twilight, Element of Magic." She continues, as she points toward Twilight.
"Cool. I am Abram. Nice place you have here, Princess." He says, still admiring the interior.
"Guess I should get this out of the way. The names Jason, but most people just call me 'J'." Says the one with the cap as he finally walks in, joining Abram.
"Axle, what is wrong? Come in, it's nice." Abram says, now sitting in a rather lavish chair.
"Seriously? You guys just immediately trust them because they let us in?" He says, his lisp more apparent.
"Pretty much. Hey, Gem, do you know where I can get new glasses? Mine were wrecked when we got here."
Jason says, simply sitting on the floor next to Abram.
"Alright fine, but if everything goes crazy, I'm bailing." Axle says as he finally enters the castle, doors closing behind him, this time the handles glowing green.
"Hey, they glowed different this time. Can ya explain what that's about for me, Princess?" J says, still on the ground with his hat in his lap.
"I opened them with my magic, Hidden Gem shut them. The color of a unicorn's magic depends on their eye color." Twilight says, a bit lost on how they don't know how such a simple thing worked.
"Magic? Like in spells n' stuff?" He asks, now thoroughly confused.
"Wait, you don't have magic? How did you get here then?" Gem asks.
"That's what we'd like to know." Says Axle, now walking about the room.
"So, you don't know how you got here, don't know where you are, and have no clue of what magic is? What ARE you?" Gem says before she realizes how rude it sounded.
"We are Humans. I am from Omsk, in Russia." Abram says, looking intently at a stained glass window.
"Born and raised in Dallas, Texas of the U.S." says J, trying to figure out what has caught Abrams attention.
"Guess it's my turn." Axle says. "Colorado, U.S. I'm sorry, but can someone explain to me what's going on?" He asks, standing next to Twilight, hands folded behind his back.
"It looks to me," Abram begins. "That we aren't the first people here." He finishes as he points to the stained glass window he was staring at. It depicts a pinkish bipedal figure standing between a small yellow equine and a large orange creature, ready to strike.
"Well I'll be..." Jason says, standing up.
The three humans stare at the depiction in silence unsure of what to do next. Finally, Abram speaks up. "Alright, well, I'm starving. Anything to eat around here?"