Scenes From A Hat

by The Hat Man

Statuesque [Adventure; Starswirl, the Pillars of Old Equestria]

The unicorn wizard strode up to the statue, its face locked in an expression of terror, and he - knowing it would stay upon that face for all time - bowed his head, the muffled jingle of the bells on his conical hat echoing in the still air.

“Too late,” Starswirl muttered. “Too late again.”

He and his comrades, the Pillars of Equestria, strode through the streets of the village. It was once home to dozens of ponies, merchants and tradesponies, and they’d crossed through it only a matter of weeks ago. Here was the pub where Rockhoof had done his tricks for the mares who’d swooned as he lifted them all as they sat atop a bench, and there was the stall where Somnambula bought a beautiful necklace from a young goldsmith, and over there was the bookshop where a bookseller had gifted Starswirl himself with a rare book he’d been seeking for ages.

Those flirtatious mares, that goldsmith, and that bookseller were all still here. Indeed, they all stood in place among their fellow villagers.

But now they were all still, their bodies turned to stone, and their village had become a silent, morbid museum, a monument to their last terrifying moments.

There were several other villages up the road from it that had been just the same. Stygian had discovered the first and sent word to his friends. At first, they had assumed it to be a cockatrice, or perhaps an entire flock of them. But when Meadowbrook procured and tamed a cockatrice to undo the effects and nothing happened, they knew this was no mere random attack.

“Oh, the poor dears,” Mistmane whispered behind him. “Starswirl, we must find the cause of this immediately!”

Starswirl heaved a sigh. “Of course,” he said. “But I know of no spell that could do this… at least, not one that is so potent that not even my sorcery could undo it!”

A growl built in his throat. “Curse the fiend that did this!” he shouted, stomping his hooves in fury.

The echo of his shout and the echo of his hooves as they hit the cobblestoned street echoed outward.

And then a new sound came to them… hoofsteps.

“A survivor!” Meadowbrook exclaimed, her voice muffled beneath her healer’s mask as she whirled around to see what was approaching. “Oh, praise the stars, we may finally have found somepony!”

She dashed off in the direction of the sound.

“Meadowbrook, wait!” Starswirl cried, galloping after her. The others did the same, but Meadowbrook, heedless of his call, turned to look down a nearby alley.

“Wh-what?!” Meadowbrook cried. “Why, you’re no pony! What manner of creature are you?”

She lifted her mask to get a better look at the approaching creature.

Instantly, her breath caught in her throat and she froze in place. Almost instantly, her whole body was engulfed from head to hoof in stone.

“Meadowbrook, no!” Rockhoof shouted, rushing toward her.

“Rockhoof, wait!” Starswirl yelled, using his magic to seize the towering stallion before he could arrive at their frozen friend’s side.

“Let me go!” Rockhoof shouted, reaching for his shovel. “I’ll not let the fiend get away after all that it has done!”

“It froze her when she lifted her mask, you fool!” Starswirl shouted. “It must have a petrifying gaze, like that of a cockatrice!”

The intruder’s hoofsteps grew louder as it came up the alley, closer to where Starswirl and the other Pillars all stood.

“Run! Now!” Starswirl bellowed.

Rockhoof gave a loud grunt of frustration and reluctantly turned and ran. With his impressive gait and strength, he was quickly ahead of them all.

But as they ran, Starswirl noticed that the others weren’t with them. In their sudden panic, they’d all run in different directions.

“Rockhoof, wait!” he cried.

“What is it?!” Rockhoof demanded, skidding to a halt. “Ye tell us to run, now ya tell us to stop? I wish ye’d make up yer mind, ye old goat!”

“We’ve lost the others!” Starswirl hissed, pressing his hoof to Rockhoof’s lips. “Listen, we’ll need to search for them, but under no circumstances can we look that creature in the eye!”

Rockhoof paused for a moment, but then nodded. “Aye,” he said, lowering his voice. “What sort o’ creature do ye think it could be?” he asked. “If it’s not a cockatrice…”

“I don’t know… but if we can regroup and find a way to stop it, then we may be able to undo all the harm that it has done. Or, if not…”

Rockhoof waited for him to continue. After a beat, he said, “If not?”

Starswirl narrowed his eyes. “Then we’ll make sure that no other pony comes to harm because of it.”

Rockhoof gave a solemn nod, clenching his trusty shovel tightly in his teeth.

The two of them slowly made their way back, trying their best to step quietly, though even the lightest step seemed like thunder in the sepulchral silence of the town.

They rounded a corner and Starswirl’s voice caught in his throat.

Rockhoof inhaled sharply through his nostrils as he stifled an anguished cry.

Mistmane, Somnambula, and Flash Magnus all stood before them. Mistmane was recoiling in horror as her stone face locked onto the sight of their assailant at the moment of her encounter. Flash had attempted to fly at their attacker, but he’d been frozen in stone just as he’d left the air, leaving his statue lying on the ground, wings spread and foreleg extended.

“You poor, brave fool,” Starswirl whispered. “You should have fled, but you tried to protect the others…”

It was then that they noticed that Somnambula was not actually standing among them, but rather than she was slightly behind the others. She was on her back, a look of surprise on her face…

...and her precious blindfold was gone.

“Starswirl,” Rockhoof whispered. “We cannot let this pass! That creature must be stopped!” he growled, turning to face him. “We must—”

He paused as he caught sight of something standing behind Starswirl. His eyes went wide and his jaw went slack. The shovel fell from his mouth and clattered on the ground as his entire body turned to stone almost instantaneously.

Starswirl felt his blood turn to ice. No… my comrades! I’m the last one left!

“Good, goooood,” said a quiet, raspy voice behind him. “Jussst one more…”

Starswirl felt the urge to turn around and cast his spell, but realized that without being able to see, he was more likely to end up just another victim.

Then he saw something flutter to the ground nearby. A scrap of cloth?

Then he recognized it. It was Somnambula’s blindfold.

“That mare with the blindfold was clever,” the voice hissed. “She sssought to essscape me, but I sssnatched her blindfold and, in her sssurprise, I did my duty.”

Shaking with fury as he stared at Somnambula’s blindfold, he looked further and saw Rockhoof’s shovel still lying where it had fallen from his grasp. That, at least, would serve as a weapon if all else failed.

Taking the shovel in his magic, he raised it up before him… and then caught sight of the creature’s reflection in the shiny metal of the shovel’s blade.

The creature resembled a pony, but her skin was green and scaly, her eyes had vertical, slitted pupils like a reptile, and her mane was a mass of purple snakes.

“You… what… what are you?” he whispered.

“Oh?” she asked, her expression one of wide-eyed surprise. “You can sssee Maredusssa? It’sss been sssuch a long time sssince anypony hasss looked upon me. I… am sssorry.”

Starswirl blinked. “Sorry?” he asked.

“Oh, yesss,” Maredusa said, casting her eyes downwards. “I know I am dreadfully ugly… to burden another with my hideousss visssage compounds my shame… but I was not always like thisss.

“Long ago, a witch cursssed me with thisss reptilian face and these sssnakes in my mane. She sssaid I overvalued my own beauty, that beauty isss but a temporary and meaningless thing, and thusss she cursssed me with this grotesssque body and face. Ssso horrible am I to look upon with the naked eye, my very gaze is enough to turn ponies to ssstone. And ssso, to repent for my sssins, I decided to do what I could for the ressst of ponykind.”

Starswirl swallowed. “And that is?”

“Well,” Maredusa said, “if beauty isss truly temporary, then by making everypony ssstatues, I can pressserve them forever! They’ll keep their beauty for all time and never grow old or passs away! Don’t you sssee? My life ssstill has meaning! I’m no monssster! I can ssstill help ponies!”

Starswirl swallowed. Still staring at the transformed mare’s reflection, he began to subtly cast a spell, his horn glowing ever brighter.

“Tell me, though, Maredusa,” he said. “Would you rather your beauty return, and have it fade… or stay beautiful forever, only to never hear a kind word about it again?”

Maredusa blinked. “Why… that isss… if my beauty could return… if only for a preciousss, fleeting moment…”

Starswirl smiled. “That’s what I thought.” He cast the spell, ricocheting it off the shovel blade.

---

“It was a kind thing you did,” Meadowbrook said, placing her hoof on Starswirl’s shoulder. “You saved the village and Maredusa.”

The Pillars looked down upon the village below. The instant Starswirl had undone Maredusa’s curse, the effects of her petrifying gaze dissipated. The village and all their friends were freed. Sounds of celebration and joy filled the air, audible even on the high hill they stood upon.

Starswirl smiled, turning to look at all his other friends, his fellow Pillars, as they gathered around him.

Another pony, a gorgeous mare with golden blonde locks, stood off to the side.

“I’m sssorry—”

She paused, shaking her head.

“I mean, I’m sorry,” she said, her characteristic hiss now absent, “but I… after years of being shunned and alone, I thought that… that…”

“It is all right now, Maredusa,” Starswirl said, not meeting her eyes. “Go home now. Go in peace and live your life.”

Maredusa smiled. In an instant, she planted a kiss on Starswirl’s cheek and galloped away giggling, her laughter echoing on the wind as she faded into the distance.

“As I said,” Meadowbrook said, laying a hoof on his shoulder, “it was a very kind thing you did.”

“It seems there is a soft spot underneath your stony looks, dear Starswirl,” Somnambula added, putting her hoof on his other shoulder.

Starswirl scoffed. “To tell the truth, I nearly used that shovel to decapitate her,” Starswirl said, shrugging them off.

Then he smiled. “But I’m glad I did not. We have not always been so lucky, my friends… but it seems that, just this once, nopony had to die.”

The six friends sat atop the hill, watching the sunset, and knowing it would rise again.

Author's Note:

Written for the Quills and Sofas Speedwriting Group's "Happy Stories" Contest on November 9, 2019.

Prompt was "Everybody lives!"

Comments

[Obsi]

10849656
did she "borrow" it from Rarity?

[Super Saiyan D]

I loved these parts of that show. 🤣

[FredMSloniker]

10850209 I meant that I expected her to clearly and unambiguously reject the potion in a way that could not possibly be misconstrued.

[The Hat Man]

10850281
Ahhh, I get you now.

[Tatsurou]

...given the cover art, I was expecting - okay, hoping beyond hope - that at least one of these would be set in The Iron Horse timeline.

...I miss Turing and her family...and her world...

[FredMSloniker]

10850398
Clearly I need some of my own medicine. 🙄

[Reese]

Well, these were fun! Unsurprisingly. :)
Thank you for writing!

[Ri2]

10850471
Give it time, the story's not complete.

[The Hat Man]

10850471
10851086
I should probably clarify this a bit...
See, the purpose of having Turing, Gadget, and 002 on the cover is mainly to imply that my characters and imagination are influencing me as I write, just as the other canonical characters are. It's also a nice bonus for longtime readers.

But to the issue, I'll start by saying that there are unpublished Iron Horse stories and they will be published. The only question is if they'll be part of this anthology or not.

The dilemma is that I want this collection to be open to anyone and everyone. The kind of thing anyone can pick up and read some enjoyable stories. I worry that having entries from the Turing-verse will be problematic for those readers who would be in unfamiliar territory. Of course, the flipside is that it might be an enjoyable and easy way to introduce new readers to The Iron Horse characters, and I of course also want to keep my longtime readers and fans of Turing Test happy. Hence the dilemma.

So, to reiterate: there will be more Turing Test stories. The only question is if they'll end up in this collection or elsewhere.

Hope that provides some helpful information. Thanks for commenting, and let me know if you have any opinion on the matter. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[Tatsurou]

10851334
Thank you for that information. I do enjoy the story snippets presented so far, and I'm definitely looking forward to what comes next in The Iron Horse-verse. Hearing there are stories of it already written but not yet published makes me very happy and eager to see what comes next.

...heh, had this silly idea a while back of 002 building 'children' of her own to duplicate the magic of the non-pony races, starting with one based on Changelings...only to get frustrated when said new bot promptly decides they want to go meet the rest of the family.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Lovely collection and a wonderfully heartwarming capstone. You don't see Starswirl solve a problem without banishing it very often. Thank you for it all.

[The Hat Man]

10860761
Glad you liked it! There should be a few more new entries soon!