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// 137. Living Stone 
// Story: Short Shorts 
// by Coranth 
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She had cried, she had screamed, she had begged and pleaded... but it was for naught; poor Fluttershy could only look on as Princess Celestia's Royal Guardsponies forced the human to kneel on the platform in the garden, the place where his sentence would be carried out.

Where the human - where her David - would be turned to Living Stone, simply because he possessed no magic; because Luna couldn't see into his dreams; because her sister Celestia was paranoid and thought him evil. 

David was not evil. Fluttershy knew this. Her friends refused to know this. Celestia didn't want to know this. Fear led to anger, anger to hate.

David had helped the Ponies of Equestria in small ways. He'd helped the foals and the elderly. He'd worked odd jobs. He'd put ponies up for the night in the extension of the cottage when they'd had no place to stay.

In the cottage. The place where Fluttershy had lived alone save for her animals had become a home; she and he had made it so when they'd adopted Scootaloo, when they'd helped and semi-sort of-unoficially-maybe-kind of adopted Trixie, when that sick Breezy had crashed through a window, when the Ursa Minor had come back, and so on, and so on, and so on...

It was empty and ruined now. The former occupants were here, David kneeling, facing his beloved Fluttershy, Trixie and Scootaloo - facing everypony as Celestia looked on, her face solemn as she at last cast the spell of Living Stone. But then - "FLUTTERSHY!" - it all went wrong as the butter-yellow pink-maned pegasus who loved him so much followed him. Rainbow Dash was fast, and might have saved her if Trixie hadn't blasted her from the sky as she made her way onto the platform to join them. No sooner had this happened then two voices cried out - "SCOOTALOO, NO!" - as the little orange-furred purple-maned pegasus filly leaped into her papa's arms, David moving to stand and cradle her as the Living Stone raced up his back.

The spell was ancient, and Celestia couldn't stop it mid-cast. It was far, far too late...


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"Of all the statues in the Royal Garden, perhaps the most amazing statue therein is The Family. On the right, a unicorn mare wearing flamboyant hat and cape stares ahead with a defiant sneer. She leans gently against the figure of a human man, cradling a pegasus filly in his arms. At his left side, a long-maned pegasus mare stands, a wing wrapped about his body. Her expression is one of happiness yet one can see the deepest sadness in her eyes. Princess Celestia has remained tight-lipped about this statue, and not even Princess Twilight Sparkle will speak of it. Broaching 'The Family' in conversation brings about a haunted expression upon the young alicorn's face. What we do know is that - since the statue appeared - the young Princess and her Mentor have had a serious falling out and refuse to speak to one another."

--excerpt from "Canterlot Times", Issue 47.