...
I need to settle some people's consciences here, so I'll say it...
Physics, I am very sorry for putting you through all this. Kay? Good. That should shut everyone up...
The corruption of Night is everywhere. It if changed me, it can change anyone. Nothing is safe...
-Luna
Chapter 6
Unexpected Appearances
Canterlot Gardens: 2 Months Later
Celestia sighed to herself on her morning walk through the gardens of the Palace. The early morning sunlight shimmering on her coat, mist sparkling in the air. The soft sound of the grass under-hoof easing her troubled mind. She walked in this manner for about 5 minutes before coming to a sudden stop. The reason for the stop became apparent as the growing sunlight burned the mist away.
The Statue of Discord stood in it's usual place, with it's usual expression of utter horror and surprise plain for all to see. Celestia sighed again. She had been to this place many times. Every morning, before her sun had truly risen, and before the madness of Equestrian Politics could take place, she would walk through the gardens, allowing herself to relax in the tranquility. This would always come to a stop when she saw her old friend.
The Statue was positioned in such a way, that almost no matter which route one took through the gardens, they would eventually come face to face with this monstrosity. It was for this reason that there were so few visitors, as most ponies found the Statue unnerving. It's eyes seemed to follow the visitors that wandered near. It was always dismissed as a trick played by the mind, but it wold still have the lasting impression on the visitors.
Celestia knew better.
She stood before the Statue, gazing up at it's frozen face, ever in the last expression that Discord had been in before his punishment. The only part of the face that didn't seem to be made of solid stone were the eyes. Most ponies couldn't see the truth due to the nature of the enchantment, stopping all interaction and causing almost all ponies to believe that he was just a statue, or if they did they would pass it off as something else. The eyes were alive.
The Princess of the Sun sat, bathing in the warmth that her sun brought to the land, and felt her spirits rise. They quickly fell again as she remembered who she was sitting in front of. Discord, one of her oldest and dearest friends, who had been there along with her Sister as they began their reign, who had kept her smiling through the toughest of times.
Who had been corrupted by the NightMare. Or rather, NightDraconequus. The most evil spirit and Embodiment of Evil. It took the form and inherent name from its victims. It had taken Discord, and changed him. By the time Celestia found out, it was already too late for the Spirit of Chaos, and she was forced to imprison him for all eternity. It had only been harder after she had to do it again recently. Celestia could feel the beginnings of tears in her eyes, and quickly blinked them away.
She stayed to watch the Statue for a few minutes. She walked away, but not before turning around and getting one last glance at the Statue of her once-friend.
Celestia continued her walk through the Gardens. By this point, the mist had vanished completely as her sun gently caressed the still waking Equestria. On the other edge of the horizon, Luna's moon could be seen dipping down for its rest.
As she walked, Celestia admired the Garden. The flowers were in full bloom, infusing the air with their soft scents. The wind whistled softly through the tree tops causing the leaves to rustle as their hosts swayed gently. The Princess noticed these briefly, before returning to her daily commute, greeting the rest of the Statues.
She passed the Griffin Warlord, one of the greatest enemies to even have risen against her land. She passed the Zebra Herbalist, prosecuted for poisoning and maiming countless victims. She passed the Pony, her straight mane and cold emotionless eyes gazing with barely contained hatred at the Gardens. From the texture of the stone it was obvious that the mare had been covered in blood before her punishment. Celestia shuddered as she remembered what this particular Statue had done. The Princess hurried along quickly, not wanting to be around the Statue any more.
She passed in a similar fashion all of the rest of the statues as they became more and more recent, until she came to the newest addition.
The Statue of Light.
The Statue had only been in the Gardens for a measly 2 months, barely a blink of the eye compared to some of the other statues. The newest addition before Light had been the Donkey, added to the Gardens about 460 years ago. But even after taking the age factor out of the equation, Light's Statue was strange, and not least because it was the one Statue where the exact species couldn't be identified.
When a Statue was first created to encase the being within, it would glow and adjust to fit whatever it housed. This process would usually last about a week. Now, 2 months in, Light's Statue was still in this process.
The Statue was constantly emitting a faint glow that barely radiated, giving it a ghostly look at night. If one looked closely enough enough, they would notice that the edges of the Statue wavered ever so slightly, while the extremities actually looked almost transparent. On top of this, the surface of Celestia leaned in closer to the Statue to look at it and, sure enough, it was still moving and shimmering. She tried to listen in, but all she heard was a slight undercurrent of thought and was unable to distinguish anything. She never could distinguish anything.
Celestia backed away from the Statue, worried. No Statue had ever stayed in the 'fitting' stage as long as this one had, and so far it had shown no sign of stopping.
The Princess shook her head and turned from the Statue. Will, I'll just wait for it to sort itself out. Nothing can get out of the Statue... apart from that time with Discord. She giggled slightly and kept walking.
Better go and get ready for the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow.
Light
Wow, this is really boring...
I mean, just wow. This had got to be the most mind-numbing thing that I have ever done.
I'm still a bit unsure of how this all happened. All I know is, I can't move, then I'm in some massive crater, and then I somehow appear in these massive Gardens. And the weirdest part is, I'm bloody stone. HOW CAN I BE STONE AND STILL BE ALIVE?!
Crap, I think the others might have heard me. The Donkey is a little bit too close to comfort, it creeps me out. She reall- OH CRAP SHE HEARD ME!
Don't make eye contact don't make eye contact...
Phew, she's looked away. I really have to keep my voice down... or what's left of it. That Donkey can be really scary at times. I can remember the first time that I heard her. Well, I say heard, but all that I can ever hear are whispers. Lots and lots of whispers.
What I found out is that all of the Statues in the Garden are sentient. And that they all have their own opinions. If you listen hard enough, and if they shout loud enough, you can sometimes just make out what they say. But then again, why would I want to talk to them if all they ever talk about is how pissed off they are. And they are just a little bit insane. And I'm really glad that I'm near the end... I'm not sure if I would be able to cope being near that blood covered pony, I can hear her slightly from where I am. At the other end of the Row of Statues!
I hoped I never have to find out what she did...
Oh hey! Sunrise! That means that the Princess will be comin' round soon! I'm still annoyed at that whole turned to stone and all thing, but she is nice enough to visit every morning.
Oooh, there she is! I practically squeed in joy, unable to contain my excitement for just this little bit of company. Well, when I say contain I really...
Anyway...
The Princess stopped in front of my Statue, a look of suspicion crossing her face as she leaned in closer. I watched, curious, as she started to analyse me, seemingly surprised as she took in my look, even though I was always like this. I think that the same effect that I have on my clothes transferred to my Statue, and I am barely solid anyway, so even as a freakin' Statue I still have a little bit of malleability. But only a bit.
That had to be the most frustrating part. Me, a being of Light, as a Statue. My whole life was based on me not being solid... So this really was the worst punishment that I could ever have dished out to me. I could only-
Awwww, she's leaving.
I watched as the Princess shook her head and walked away, leaving me all to my thoughts. I 'settled' back and prepared for the long slog, waiting for my next visit from the Princess. God I still don't know exactly when I moved into a nursing home.
I sighed inside my prison, softly enough so that I wouldn't alert the Donkey, and resigned myself for another boring day. Well, might as well count to 5 million again.
23 Hours later
10 million, 5 hundred thousand and 4. 10 million, 5 thousand and 5. 10 million, 5 thousand and 6. 10 million, 5 th-
HEY, WAIT! I already went past 5 million... Aw screw it, nothing better to do...
10 million, 5 thousand and 7. 10 million, 5 tho-
Ohhhhh! The Princess is back! YAAAAAAY! Wait a second, it isn't even sunset yet.
I watched as the Princess walked quickly down the row, only pausing slightly as she passed each Statue. She hesitated again at mine, a look of worry and surprise on her face as she noticed my darker night-time form, but she moved on within seconds. I became curious. She always payed attention to every Statue, and never went past mine so quickly.
Today's different.
My eyes followed her as she followed the path in darkness, the sound of her hoof-steps fading away gradually before she vanished in a small white flash. I still had no idea what was going on.
I sighed. Again. And got ready for another long count, literally. I had barely gotten to 5000 before I felt something change. The Sunrise had started. But something felt different.
The sun started its usual ascent as it poked its head out above the mountain tops, but for some reason or other, it just felt off. But at the same time it felt incredibly nice and warmed me. It looked the largest that I had ever seen it before, radiating energ-
Wait, warmed me?
My eyes flicked down to my left wrist, the point where the sensation was coming from. Due to the pose that I was trapped in with my left hand above my head in a Matrix look, the sun was only touching my hand. Only the radiated light touched the rest of my body, not direct contact. As I continued to watch, even though I didn't really have a choice, I noticed that my hand started to change. What had once been shimmering stone started to pale and return to a fleshy look.
The sun continued its ascent, and as more of the sun became exposed, more of my body became free. At this point I was able to actually move my left hand and was beginning to get more movement in my whole arm as my living tomb slowly dissolved in the sunlight. This process continued for about 2 minutes before the last parts of my body, my feet, became free.
And ten I fell over. I was unused to having to actually use my muscles after so long that the moment the resistance in my legs disappeared, I toppled to the ground with a thud. Luckily there wasn't a soul in sight, apart from the Statues. I listened carefully and could just make out them snickering at me. But I didn't care, I was free! I let out a small shout of joy and jumped in the air, kicking my heels together.
And that was precisely when the alarm went off...
Celestia
The Princess had just finished raising the sun for the longest and brightest day of the year. She looked out of the window of the Canterlot Ballroom, the place where the Grand Galloping Gala was held. It had a spectacular view of the Sunrise, and Celestia didn't want to miss it. The crowd of silent watchers started talking again as the Princess signalled for the celebration to start. Well, the kind of 'celebration' that Canterlot ponies had.
The Princess was on the verge of complete boredom when she noticed her prized student walking over towards her, crossing the large ballroom and braving the Sea o' Boring-Canterlotians. Celestia turned to face her. "Well, if it isn't my faithful student, how have you been?
"Oh Iv'e been great Princess, but the girls were wondering about something..."
Celestia smiled, a faint idea of what the question might be forming in her mind. "Oh? And what might that question be? Actually, where are the girls?"
"They weren't able to come. They had some prior engagements and couldn't make space or a trip to Canterlot." Twilight looked sad for a moment before perking up. "Any, we all wanted to know, what happened to Light?"
"He is currently in the Statue Section of the Garden under constant surveillance by my patrols. There is no need to worry Twilight, he won't be able to harm anypony. Now, let us cast such matters from our mind and enjoy this, the brightest and longest day of the year."
The Purple Library let out a small sigh of relief, before realising exactly what her Mentor had just said. Her expression turned to one of horror. Her head snapped up and the Princess saw that her irises had shrunk to pin-pricks. Celestia became worried. "What is wrong my student?"
"Ummm. P-p-princess?"
"Yes?"
"Remember how D-discord broke out of his Statue w-w-when there was Chaos around?"
"Yes?"
"And how if a Statue of a Spirit is around their particular element they can sometimes break out of their Statue?"
"Yes?"
"I just remembered how Fluttershy told us about what Light was..."
Celestia stood, confused, and cast her mind back to the particular event. She reached the right memory and gasped as she recalled what Fluttershy had said about Light and what he was. She turned back to her student, her gaze suddenly filled with worry.
"Twilight? We must leave now to check on the Statues. We must be ready for whatever happens."
It was at that moment that a siren could be heard.
Celestia and Twilight ran to the door and sprinted through the passageways to the outside. They emerged, Twilight panting heavily while the Princess looked out into the distance towards the Garden. There was the sound of the Royal Guards mobilising to neutralise the threat, the marching and stomping clearly audible. The Princess teleported herself and her Student there immediately without waiting for assistance.
They re-appeared in the centre of the Garden, near the Statue of Discord. He seemed to wink at them menacingly as they stormed by towards where Light's statue should have been. They broke into a gallop, Twilight barely matching the Princesses pace as they neared the Statue of Light.
Or at least, where it used to be.
Where the Statue had once been was now an empty pedestal with small darker patches where the Statue had been sitting for 2 months. The sounds of the Guards grew ever louder as they searched frantically for the escaped prisoner, the tranquility of the Garden shattered by the events taking place. The Princess and the Library searched in an ever increasing pattern, the Princess flying overhead while Twilight searched from the ground.
They regrouped after about a minute, at which point the guards arrived. There were about fifty of them, all fully armoured and ready for a fight. The Captain of the Guard approached Celestia in his shining golden armour and saluted. "Princess, any sign of the escapee?"
"No Captain Black Thorn. Split up and search the rest of the Garden, and make sure to sent some ponies to check on the Maze."
He saluted again. "Of course Princess." Black Thorn barked a few quick indistinguishable orders at his Guards and they quickly split up into three groups and took off, the Captain leading one group to the maze while the other two went in opposite directions to search the rest of the Gardens.
The Princess led her Student to the shade of a tree, next to a large group of bushes, obscuring them from the light almost completely. She sighed. "Twilight, I hope that you can forgive me for letting the beast that you and the Elements captured escape."
"Princess, of course I forgive you! This was never your fault!"
"I at least should have seen this coming!" She sighed again.
Unseen by the Princess and Twilight, a small patch of Darkness detached itself from the main clump of a particularly dark section of shade and drifted closer to the duo. Completely silent, the darkness dissolved and slid away.
Celestia stood and helped Twilight to rise. "Well, are you ready to search again for this Light creature?"
A small rustle cold be heard from behind them, but they ignored it. Right up until they heard the voice.
"Right behind you."
Ohhhh, snap! And yes, obvious quote is obvious... (*cough cough* Morfonious *Cough*)!
Anyway, I got really bored and some small sense of responsibility said, 'Hey, you should really make another chapter!' while the other part of me just said, 'Awwww fuck it, nobody cares anyway... and all you end up doing is pissing the characters off' So I went for the middle point.
I made a chapter, and left Physics out of it, so I think he's happy for the moment. (Don't tell him but i think he's a bit of a wuss...)
"HEY THERE! Long time no see! I haven't seen you in ages Auth' man! How you goin'?"
...Speak o' the Devil...
"What do you mean?"
Nothing Physics, nothing...
"Hey, I think that you were saying stuff about me again, weren't you?!"
Of course not... hehehe...
"Oh that's it, now I know you di-"
Anyway, you mind getting out of my comment, this is just meant for me...
"Hell no! Imma go piss you off as best I can now!"
Oh god, please no...
":3"
...
"..."
How did you even say that?
"..."
Fine I'll make this easy on you. If you don't leave in the next five seconds I'll get Pink-
"FINE I'M LEAVING NOW!"
...
Wow, that mare really knows how to cause permanent scarring on immortals...
Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!
PS. If you can guess who The Pony Statue's descendant is, you get a free internet point and a golden star to go on your head!
But that's not all! If you order now, within the next five mi-
Whoa, down Billy, down! Anyway, Arrivederci!