The Evolution of Harmony

by Thornwing

Chapter Seven - The Royal Guard

Rainbow Dash slowly floated down and away from the statue. She landed back over by her friends and the Rainbow Power bubble around her dissipated as her mane, tail, coat, wings and hooves all returned to their regular color pattern.

A small fissure appeared in the stone wing of the Pegasus statue. It continued to grow until it became a visible crack. The crack continued down the wing and onto its back where it spread to both tail and mane. The entire statue crumbled as the fractures spiderwebbed to every part of the stone pony. Chunks of it began to give way and fall to the ground.

“Rainbow!” Twilight shouted. “Didn’t we just get done telling everypony not to touch anything?”

“Sorry,” Rainbow Dash replied. “I didn’t mean to break it.”

“That’s odd,” Rarity remarked. “It looks like there’s something there!” Large chunks of stone peeled away with entire blocks liberally falling to the ground. Rarity’s keen eye sorted through the rain of debris. “It looks like…”

“A pony!” they all shouted.

Rainbow Dash took off from her spot and darted over to the crumbling statue. A regular-sized stallion poked his head out of the stone sarcophagus. The body leaned to one side and started to fall as the rock surrounding it gave way. Rainbow swooped in and snatched him up before he managed to crash into the pile of rock accumulating on the ground below.

Struggling mightily, she managed to fly over and deposit the stallion on the ground next to the group. The whole team gathered around the Pegasus lying on the ground near the base of the great black tree.

The pony was draped in armor from crest to flank. The insignia on the chest plate and crest was unlike anything Twilight had studied in all her Equestrian military history research. A large emblem of a standing black tree graced his flank plate. On the opposite side, a white tree cast the negative.

Rarity reached over and unfastened the helmet straps, releasing the plumed headgear that covered the stallion’s muzzle and mane. “Let’s give the poor thing have some air. He looks like he could use it after being stuffed up in that big statue for who knows how long.”

Applejack shrugged. “Good luck with that, Rarity. Do ya think he’s even still alive?”

“Of course he is, silly,” Pinkie Pie giggled. “You can see him taking breaths when his chest goes up, then down, then up, then down, then…” Pinkie Pie demonstrated with her hoof, indicating the slow rise and fall of the ponies’ ribcage while inadvertently giving him CPR compressions in the process.

“That’s good enough fer me, then,” Applejack said. “Let’s hope he can talk as well. We need to find out why he was inside that statue in the first place.”

Fluttershy reached into her pack and pulled out her water canteen. “Let’s give him something to drink. He’ll probably be a little hoarse.”

Pinkie replied with a near deadpan response. “Of course he’s a little horse—we’re all little horses.”

“Pinkie,” Rarity corrected, “that’s not what Fluttershy said. What she meant to say is that this poor, handsome, young stallion might need some refreshment before he is able to speak.”

The muscular pony, having just been freed from his stone confines, listed side to side, an exhausted moan escaped his mouth.

Twilight backed away to inspect the other statues in the circle, counting off each one in turn. Earth pony, Unicorn, Pegasus, Earth, Unicorn… and then him… That’s six… two of each race! She cantered back to the rest of the group, still trying to revive the Pegasus stallion. “Girls, I think I’ve got it. These must be the lost members of the Royal Guard that set out on that quest with King Brightwing. That’s the symbol of the King and Queen on his flank plate!”

“Whatever do you mean, Twilight?” Rarity asked. “There’s only one pony here and he’s not even awake to answer any of our questions. Even so, if he was a member of the King’s Royal Guard, that would make him nearly two thousand years old. No pony can live that long—only Alicorns.”

“No, Rarity. Take a look at the statues. All six guards are here. There are two of each race of pony—two Earth ponies, two Pegasi, and two Unicorns. They must have been trapped and preserved in stone all these years.” Twilight spun around indicating all the statues in the surrounding alcoves.

Fluttershy wiped away the water that spilled down the stallion’s cheek. “Are you absolutely sure? It sounds pretty awful to me to be stuck inside a stone statue for that long.”

The ponies took another look around them. Their gazes floated from one pony statue to the next. The concept of some creature being trapped in stone for a long span of time wasn’t foreign, it just didn’t seem right for a pony. The Royal Pony Guard of King Brightwing certainly could have experienced a similar fate to that of Discord. The question was, why?

Rarity gazed up at the statues. “You’re right, Twilight. I see it now. They are all here.”

“Now we just need to bust ‘em out.” Rainbow Dash looked ready to attack.

“Sounds like a plan, Rainbow,” Applejack nodded. “Let’s get to it.”

“I’m already on it.” Rainbow Dash shot over to the next closest statue. She flew up next to it and gave it a kick in the side. The thud from her golden horseshoe meeting the solid stone surface reverberated through the shrine. She waited a moment. Nothing happened. She tried again, this time kicking the stone statue twice as hard. Still, nothing.

“Hold on there, Rainbow,” Applejack chided. “Don’t dent yer hooves or nothin’. Let me show you how a real apple buckin’ champ gives it a go.” She sauntered over to the next statue in line to their right, which happened to be an Earth pony. She hopped up, spun around and gave it a flying roundhouse kick to the foreleg.

Another spark—another crack.

Applejack burst into a sparkle-confetti-like blast of color—her Rainbow Power highlights exploded from her body in every direction. The kick sent a splintering crack straight up the leg of the tall pony statue. It passed through the body and went all the way down the long tail behind.

She stepped away from the crumbling statute as Twilight flew up to help extricate the large pony who was quickly becoming exposed from the rocky prison. Twilight barely managed to hold the stallion as the last bits of stone broke away beneath his hooves. Rainbow Dash flew over to assist. Between the two of them, they managed to bring him safely down to the ground. Applejack helped Rainbow Dash and Twilight drag him over next to the first one as her rainbow markings shimmered and disappeared.

Rarity and Fluttershy tried their best to make the first guard pony comfortable. He had not opened his eyes or said a word at all. He did, however, take a strained sip of the water that Fluttershy poured from her canteen. Given the doting care of the two nurse-ponies, he seemed to be making some progress in coming around.

Applejack pulled the second pony guard up alongside the flank of the first and Rainbow Dash quickly unfastened the strap holding the plumed helmet on his head before carefully sliding it off. Fluttershy sat back and put her hoof to her mouth, trying not to breathe in too much of the dust that had been generated in the process of the two statue collapses.

Rainbow Dash flew back toward the second statue and scratched her head. “This one here doesn’t seem like it’s ready to fall apart just yet. Maybe I need to let my Rainbow Power kick recharge a bit. I’ll try another one.” She flew off toward the next statue in line.

“While you do that, I’ll take a whack at this one here that you say is uncrackable.” Applejack motioned over to Rainbow Dash, taunting her. “We can have a little contest to see who can bust open the most statues—I’m a-bettin’ it’s gonna be me.”

“No way, Applejack. That last one was just a fluke.” Rainbow Dash flew up next to another statue and pounded her hooves into it.

Applejack trotted up next to the statue that Rainbow Dash had tried just moments before. She gave her back leg a big apple-bucking windup before delivering her signature buck. This time, it didn’t quite work out as she planned. Thud “Owwww!” Applejack bellowed.

Twilight engaged, “What’s wrong, Applejack?”

“Well… I may have underestimated the buckin’ necessary to bust up this here statue. I’m thinking I’m gonna’ take a little sit down over yonder and rest my hoof a bit.” Twilight watched as Applejack, limping slightly, made her way over to a small patch of grass and laid down, gingerly tucking her back hoof up under her left flank. Rainbow Dash was still attacking the Earth pony statue on the other side of the shrine.

Twilight cupped her hoof to her mouth and shouted over in the direction of Rainbow. “Have you made a dent yet, Rainbow?”

“Not… Just… Yet… Yaaaahhhh!” Rainbow let out a wail as she kicked with everything she had. She still had not made so much as a scratch in the diamond hard surface of the statue. Twilight trotted over to see if she could help.

“There has got to be an easier way to break these statues,” panted Rainbow Dash. “I mean, that first one just fell apart when I barely brushed it with my wing.”

“Hmmm….” Twilight pondered for a moment. “The one over there fell apart when Applejack bucked the leg….” A few more seconds passed, then—a sudden realization. Her ‘ah ha’ expression was short-lived as she unfolded her wings and leaped into the air. She swung around to the front of the shrine close to where Rarity and Fluttershy continued to administer to the two rescued stallions. She hovered in front of the face of the statue that Applejack and Rainbow Dash had both just tried to crack. The image of a tall, dashing Unicorn mage stared back at her. “Let’s see if this works.”

Twilight floated closer until she was mere inches from its head. She tipped forward and tapped the horn on the statue with her own. The same audible crack reverberated around the structure as Twilight burst into her Rainbow Power mode. Once again, the statue began crumbling and another pony stallion began to sift its way out of the rubble. She grabbed the third pony and gently lowered him to the ground as her rainbow markings faded and disappeared. Eagle eyed as ever, Rainbow Dash recognized the need and hurried over to help. Together they hauled the young pony mage over by the others.

Twilight took stock of the situation and addressed the group. “Okay, we’ve got one Earth pony, one Pegasus, and one Unicorn. So that means, we have one of each race left. Rainbow Dash… Applejack… I think you both know what to do. We each need to match up with a pony of our own race and make contact with the part of us that makes that particular race special. Pegasi with their wings; Earth ponies with their legs; and Unicorns with their horn. You two take care of those statues over there and I’ll take care of the Unicorn on the other side.” She gestured to her friends and then over at the remaining statues.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack both scooted over to their nearby statues while Twilight flew around to the second Unicorn on the other side of the shrine. Once Twilight arrived at the second Unicorn statue, she flew straight up and leaned over just like before, touching horns with her target. She waited. Nothing happened. She tried again. Still nothing. She dropped back down and eventually returned to the group on the other side of the ringed shrine enclosure, unsure of what was wrong with her purely rational deductions.

Nurse Rarity and Fluttershy continued to tend to the stallions in their care. The three stallions were laid out side by side like a battlefield triage camp. Twilight glanced around wondering where Pinkie Pie had wandered off to.

Rainbow Dash came flying up, a little out of breath. “No luck. The thing won’t break. I dusted off the entire wingspan on that statue and I still got nothin’.”

“Mine too,” Applejack added as she trotted up beside Rainbow. “I gave ‘em a small buck and a big buck or two, but it ain’t budgin’.”

Twilight stared back at them both. “I guess I don’t feel so bad now. I wasn’t able to break my statue either.”

Just then, they all heard a loud pop and crack from across the way. Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash turned toward the noise and were greeted with a rainbow-fied Pinkie Pie sparkling in a disco-party-like ball of light floating toward them doing somersaults as she came. The Earth pony statue above her started to crumble into dust.

Rainbow Dash flashed ahead and pulled up just in time to catch the pony inside. With Twilight on her heels they carried the hefty pony back to terra firma. Applejack joined in and between the three of them, they were able to drag the fourth body over with the rest. Pinkie’s rainbowfied glitter ball diminished and soon faded back to normal. A few pieces of rainbow glitter flecks continued to float away, but eventually, they too, burnt out.

“Pinkie, what were you doing over there?” Twilight questioned her directly.

“Oh… just playing a game of patty-cake with my new statue friend.” Pinkie pantomimed the actions.

Twilight stuck a hoof to her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why were you playing with that statue?”

“Well, you were all having fun with your own statue friends and I didn’t want to be left out. So I went over and found my new statue buddy here and we played a game. I think he liked it.”

“Pinkie, do you know what this means?” Twilight looked over at Pinkie who just turned her head to the side. “This statue breaking isn’t just tied to our pony race. We can only do a single statue—maybe it’s linked to our elements as well!”

“Wow!” Applejack exclaimed. “That seems kinda complicated. Are you sure this is makin’ some sort ‘a sense?”

Twilight responded, fully reassured of her position. “Of course, Applejack. It all makes perfect sense. All these ponies were King Brightwing’s friends—maybe they bore the Elements of Harmony for the ponies of their generation.”

Applejack scratched her head under the brim of her hat. “If you say so, darlin’.”

Twilight turned to the others. “Rarity. Fluttershy. We need the two of you to help break the last two statues.”

“Alright, Twilight.” Fluttershy looked up from the guard she was giving a sip of water to and laid the canteen by his head.

“Just tell us what we need to do.” Rarity broke away from running her hoof through the mane of the Unicorn next to her.

Applejack shooed them off. “You gals go and take care of those statues with Twilight. Pinkie and I‘ll stay here and keep watch on these fellers.”

Rarity and Fluttershy worked their way over to the last two pony statues with Rainbow Dash and Twilight showing them what needed to happen. First, Fluttershy flew up and brushed the wing of the second Pegasus statue. A spark, a crack, and one rainbow-fied Fluttershy later, guard pony number five joined the growing group of stallions laid out on the near side of the big black tree. Fluttershy’s Rainbow Power highlights slowly faded back to normal as well.

Rarity stared up at the Unicorn statue towering above her. “Twilight, how am I going to be able to climb all the way up there? There’s no way we can touch horns with me all the way down here and it all the way up there.”

Twilight brushed aside her concerns. “Don’t worry Rarity. I’ve got it covered.” Twilight’s horn began to glow. Rarity gave a little yelp as she was encased in Twilight’s magic glow. Soon she was floating up near the tip of the horn on the statue above. The uncomfortable little pony looked like a helpless kitten being carried off by its mother—precariously held up by the scruff of her neck.

Rarity leaned over and made contact with the horn. The sparks flew as Rarity’s Rainbow Power shone forth. Her own magic now holding her aloft, she was able to slowly glide back down to the ground before it all faded back to normal.

“Twilight!” Rarity scolded. “You really need to warn a pony before you try anything like that again. I certainly wasn’t prepared to take an unscheduled flight.”

“I’m sorry, Rarity. I thought you knew that was the only way to get you up there.” Twilight gave a little chuckle aside. “I didn’t think you would have liked it if Rainbow had carried you up top instead.”

“No, you are correct. That would not have worked for me. I much prefer the levitation spell.” Rarity’s stern expression faded into a softer smile. “Just warn me next time before you try it.”

Twilight flew up and helped Rainbow Dash carry the sixth pony down. Together they hauled him over to the group with the others.

Applejack called out to them as they rounded the bend. “I think the first one’s waking up!” The ponies hurried over to the rest of the group and set the sixth stallion down next to the others.

The first pony they had rescued blinked his eyes. He looked up at the mares and began to speak in a rough and scratchy voice, “What have you done?” His head wobbled and he slumped over, obviously still exhausted following his confinement.

Author's Note:

Equal opportunity stoning exists in Equestria. Somepony should tell Discord.

Six new male friends - maybe they can all go on a big group date together. The girls can spend the next few chapters talking about dresses.

Silly me, this is an adventure story after all.

Comments

[Sunlight Blaze]

Okay, after Rainbow Dash suddenly triggers her Rainbow Mega Evolution, the statue she brushed against cracks and breaks, to reveal a Pegasus guard..wearing outdated Royal Guard armor...

Without indicating to the rest of the ponies, Twilight went over to inspect the other statues in the circle. She counted off each one. Earth pony, Unicorn, Pegasus, Earth, Unicorn… and then him…that’s six… two of each race! She cantered back to the rest of the group, still trying to revive the Pegasus stallion. “Girls, I think I’ve got it. These must be the lost members of the Royal Guard that set out on that mystery quest with King Brightwing.”

.........I'm honestly not sure what to say here; either I should say "good job for making something like this happen" or to try and make a joke here......... The first would be too bland, and I can't think of a funny joke for this part...... uuuummmmmmmmmm......moving on.

So the rest of the Mane Six release the remaining guards one by one while going through some shenanigans in figuring out exactly how to do it.

Applejack trotted up next to the statue that Rainbow Dash had tried just moments before. She gave her back leg a big apple bucking wind up before delivering her signature buck. This time, it didn’t quite work out as she planned. Thud “Owwww!” Applejack bellowed.

Hahaha! *silly voice* Pony get hurt is funny!

Pinkie’s rainbowfied glitter ball diminished and soon faded back to normal. A few pieces of rainbow glitter flecks continued to float away, but eventually, they too, burnt out.
“Pinkie, what were you doing over there.” Twilight questioned her directly.
Pinkie responded, “Oh… just playing a game of patti-cake with my new statue friend.”

It's Pinkie Pie; don't question it.

So, once all six guards are released, the first one wakes up enough to speak. And what he says is...rather foreboding...

"What have you done?"

The plot thickens; the suspense builds; the audience wants more; this is a great story so far! I can't find a single thing wrong with it. (besides the rare spelling and punctuation errors...very rare)

[MustacheMerlin]

Wow, what kinda drugs were those guys on that the were stoned for a thousand years?

[Cerulean Voice]

Oh, the hoarse joke. It never gets old.

And again, as to be expected in the show, they went through a logical process of elimination even though I'd already guessed what needed to happen. Done in such a way that they wouldn't appear too clever, but also not too stupid either. I have similar puzzles in one of my stories that require specific ponies and races as well. It's fun!