//------------------------------//
// The Statue 
// Story: The Statue 
// by Raichu 
//------------------------------//

I wrapped my scarf around my neck. The old, torn, striped scarf was a fading blue and purple, but it was still cozy.
I trotted outside of the room. The two guards on both sides of the room that I came out of gave a silent bow. Most of the time, I would have been comforted by their lack of emotions; today I was not.

I trotted towards the doors. The guards made a silent attempt to follow me, but I stretched out one foreleg. They both stopped at my silent signal and left me alone. I walked to the gigantic oak doors that stood between me and the outside world, took a deep breath and marched outside. 

Fresh snow crunched under my hooves. It seemed to have stopped snowing. The cold, beautiful whiteness blanketed the ground. Everything was covered by snow. The trees and the pathway that led from the castle to gates were covered by thick, white snow. I walked slowly across the ground. I stopped to look back to see my prints in the snow because it had been such a long time since I had seen snow and it had been an even longer time since I had gone outside. 

I slipped off my scarf and hung it on a nearby tree. Off towards the gates that protected the castle from the outside world, stood a statue. It was particular statue. It seemed out of place for a garden and everypony who walked by it gave it a look of disgust; It was an ugly statue, but only in the eyes of the world. To me, it was a beautiful statue. It also happened to be covered by snow. I walked up to it and carefully wiped the snow off the statue with my hoof. 

“Hello.” I said to the statue.

The statue did not reply. 

I sat down in the cold snow and looked up at the statue. It stared at the tree. I sighed.

“I don’t suppose that you miss me, do you?” I asked the statue. Still nothing.

It was a statue after all. 

“I got married yesterday. Yes, finally.” I chuckled and covered my blush with my hoof. “I love him very much. His name is Evening Candle. He loves me too.”

I frowned and stared up at the statue. It stared at the tree. 

“Well, of course I would marry him! He may not be royalty, but at least I love him! I know the rules, if I die then he cannot rule,” I flicked my tail angrily, “But I love him! Love is all that matters! Besides, I believe I will outlive him given my current biology.”

The statue did not move.

“No, my younger sister has yet to find somepony she… has come to enjoy, but I am working on it. I can see that she has been spending quite a lot of time around one of older Captains.” I said and giggled. “I believe she fancies him.”

The statue remained still.

“What do you mean by this?” I asked the statue. 

It remained quiet.

“Of course, he’s not royalty, but does that matter?” I protested and stamped a hoof into the snow. “I love him and it should not matter what class he is.”

The statue did not move. A gust of wind blew through my mane and through my coat. I shivered but held my gaze on the statue.
“Oh you should see him! I would have brought him to you, but he’s away.” I said sadly. “He was called in to the Griffin Kingdom. I could not go.”

The statue did not move. Another breeze blew through my mane. 

“Did you go to a party?”

For a moment, I froze. Did the statue talk?

Then I relaxed. 

No, it did not. It was only a statue after all. 

“I had an extravagant party last night. It was wonderful and huge. You should have seen the cake! It was ginormous. I, of course, did not eat a single bite.”

The statue did not move.

“How rude! My weight is perfectly fine, thank you very much! The cake was eaten up by the party planner. She made the cake and then she ate it. Oh well, she made this the best party yet so I do forgive her.” I tapped my chin. “Perhaps I should have my husband’s party go the same way. Oh Evening would love it!”

The statue did not move. The tree beside it did move, in the sudden gust of wind, allowing the snow to fall onto the statue. I smiled.
“You look positively funny with that snow in your mane. Here.” I stood up and swept off the snow. For a moment, I stared at the statue. It stared back at the tree.

It did not move, however. I did not expect it to. It was a statue of course.

“I remember the good times.” I said as I stared at the statue. “I remember the bad times that we shared. We fought but we always pulled through. You and me against the world.”

I felt the tears once again flow down my cheek. They fell onto the ground and I could not bring myself to keep looking at the statue. I turned away and sat onto the snow with my back towards the statue. 

It did not make a move to comfort me.  

“Was I not good enough?” I asked myself in a whisper then I turned to the statue in rage. “Was I not good enough for you? I did everything for you!”

The statue made no movements. It made no sound.

“You turned on me. You told me you loved me then the next day attempted to hurt me! You changed. You let fear and anger control you. I did not care what the ponies thought of you. You let their words get to you and instead of letting me help you with this… you nearly destroyed my world. Our world.” I said angrily. “You become everything that you feared that you would be. A monster.”

The statue did not move. It did not speak. It made no moves to comfort me as I cried there and it began to snow. 

“Y-you should have let me try to help you. Yet you refused. I had to stop you. I had stop you.” I said sadly as tears streamed down my face. I looked at the statue. 

I gasped. 

A single tear fell from the statue. Time seemed to slow down as the sparkling fluid fell. It hit the ground with the tiniest ping and sunk into the ground. 

Perhaps I imagined it. 

Perhaps not.

I wiped my nose with my hoof, quite unlike my normal royal self and I dried my eyes. I trotted up to statue slowly.

Perhaps I did imagine it. The statue hadn’t moved. It hadn’t spoken. 

It did not cry. 

Did it?

I turned to the castle as the snow began to fall faster. I found my scarf and wrapped it around my neck. I looked back at the statue one last time.

“I loved you. No matter what we’ve gone through, no matter what you did, I will always love you.” I whispered and trotted back to the castle. In breeze, I thought I heard another voice. A faint, familiar voice that floated from the statue. 

“I love you too, Celestia.”

Perhaps I imagined it. It was only a statue, after all.