The Elements of Stone

by Slender Dash

Came Crashing Down

"No!" Twilight wept, the tears blurring her vision and wetting her cheeks. She rocked back and forth on the ground, not even starting to comprehend what was going on. All her friends...Princess Luna...and countless others. How? Why? She kept crying, and suddenly, she felt something come into her mind. It was not her conscience, it felt like it was coming from the outside. The mind seemed vast and wide, and almost alien. Twilight recoiled from its touch, until she heard a familiar voice call to her in her mind.

"Do not be afraid," it spoke, " 'tis I, Princess Luna." Twilight gasped from both the shock of it and her sobbing. She could almost feel Luna wrap her in a stiff hug, but deep in her mind. She felt a tense feeling from Luna's thoughts, thinly covering a boiling anger. And deep, far beyond that was the darkest sadness that any pony could feel. Twilight looked up to see if Luna's expression had changed, only to be disappointed when she was met with the cold face of a statue.

"Luna? How... how are you doing this? How did this happen?" Twilight spoke out loud, not knowing how to reply in her thoughts. Luna's mind was quiet for a moment, then spoke to her.

"Celestia happened. She had spoken to me about how she was not the most powerful being in Equestria anymore. Now I was home from my banishment, and the Elements of Harmony are no longer was obtainable to her. She was worried that ponies might lose faith in her, or accuse her of being weak. She was a little more grief-stricken than I thought, and she went insane. She has been trapping anyone she thinks has any power at all through any means necessary."

"Oh my gosh.." Twilight whispered, and she realized that no one stood a chance against Celestia. They could try to fight back, but Celestia would beat them every time. It was like a slaughter house without the blood.

"Much like I manipulated your dreams to get you to come here, I can speak to you directly through your mind." Twilight would have been amazed by this, and should have already been pouring out questions, but given the current situation, that wasn't the case. She just nodded numbly. But she did ask one question.

"If Celestia encased you in stone, how can you even talk to me, or use magic?"

"Celestia can try and block my magic, but we are equals. She can only block the most important things, like the magic powerful enough to break my stone prison. And though we may be trapped, our minds are still very much active." Twilight thought about her friends, trapped, being unable to move, but still be able to think about everything that happened. She thought about how Rainbow Dash, and how she couldn't stand being still for too long. And Applejack, always fit and active. And Pinkie, always bouncing.

"Would you like to speak with them?" Luna asked. Twilight instantly brightened at the idea and nodded vigorously. Realizing Luna couldn't see her, Twilight said a polite "Yes, please," to Luna, and she felt five minds rush into hers with Luna's lingering in the background.

"Twilight! It is so great great GREAT to see you!" said a bubbly voice.

"Pinkie, hi," Twilight smiled, and she started to wipe the tears from her eyes. Just hearing that happy voice still have joy after all of this was a great feeling to have. "I'm so sorry I didn't come sooner," Twilight sniffed, and almost sent herself into another bout of tears.

"There was nothin' you could've done, sugar cube," said a more serious, but warm voice. "Don't beat yourself up about it. Ya didn't know." Twilight was also comforted by the smooth, friendly voice that was always touched by a southern drawl. Twilight smiled again at Applejack's reassuring words.

"You still could've been here faster though. Jeez, I'm gonna go insane if I can't get these wings pumping' soon!" said a harsher voice, still slightly cracking from the changing pitches of her voice. Rainbow Dash's gruff and tough attitude made Twilight laugh, and she she apologized sarcastically to Rainbow Dash in return.

"Oh, Darling, your mane is a mess! Did you not brush it when you awoke?" said a crisp, curly voice.Rarity's Canterlot accent was always sounding so proper, and Twilight also giggled about how Rarity's main priority at the moment was worrying about Twilight's hair.

"Fluttershy? Are you there?" Twilight called out, and she felt another mind become stronger in presence. She could here the four of her friends she had spoken to start mumbling, talking about anger and craziness.

"I HATE Celestia! Pushing me around, pushing my friends around. WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS? DISCORD?!"Twilight could feel the hatred rolling off of Fluttershy's conscience, and Twilight took a mental step back. Yes, Fluttershy had let her anger loose, and she was going into psycho-mean mode.

"That's...that's great, Fluttershy..." Twilight said, and she started talking with her other friends before Luna rudely interrupted them. Her friends were suddenly cut off from her, and Twilight could not feel their presences.

"Hey, what the he-" Twilight cut herself short as she felt Luna's emotions. A sense of urgency permeated her being, and it radiated out to Twilight as well. Twilight shut up pretty quickly and tensed her body.

"Twilight, you must leave, said Luna in a commanding voice. Twilight began to object before Luna stopped her with a growl. Twilight once again sat still as Luna continued speaking.

"Twilight, I know you may wish to stay with your friends, but I can feel her coming. If you are caught, there is nothing we can do. You are our only hope." Twilight gulped as those fateful words smacked her in the face. She didn't like being the pony everyone counted on, but she often ended up as one in most situations. This was not a time to groan about it though.

"Twilight, she is very powerful, and disturbed. You cannot take her on as is. Run. Run like the river, Twilight." Twilight stood and gave a firm nod, then got up and sprinted out a different spiral she had come. She kept running through the little bushes, but stopped and let her tears resurface as she saw Shining Armor encased in stone as well. She soon swallowed it down, picked herself up, and ran.

She was on the last ring of the spiral. She came to the edge of the hedge and burst outwards with a small leap, then turned right to keep running. And then she slammed directly into Celestia.

Twilight backed up quickly and crouched down, shivering and cowering with fear. Celestia's once beautiful and magical mane was now only one shade of pink, but with the other two colors flashing through occasionally. Her hair was dirty and frazzled, and some of it appeared to be chopped off. Her eyes shone of a fiery insanity and an undying hunger. Her usually pristine coat was smudged with dirt, and there was a scar surrounding her cutie mark, supposedly from where she drew a knife across her skin. She smiled wickedly and flew into laughter, rearing up an d punching her hooves in the air.

"I do see that you've...found my... little..." Celestia chuckled insanely before finishing her statement. "My little..collection. II...nndoo hoppee you found themmm...ennnjoyabllee..."Celestia finished. She had begun slurring her words, talking as if extremely intoxicated. Then she made some incoherent ramblings, that Twilight didn't think to decipher. Then Celestia stared at the sky before actually recognizing Twilight.

"Oh! My dear...Twilight, yes...you are quite...quite the powerful little unicorn, ain't ya?" Celestia sent herself into a bout of a coughing mixed with laughter, and she turned to Twilight. Then she said in an all too clear voice, "I can fix that."

Twilight leapt up right before Celestia's magic hit the spot where Twilight had been sitting. She dashed away from Celestia, and she soon reached the garden gate. She ran past the soldiers that looked at her, obviously confused. And Twilight remembered screaming "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" as the ground began shaking and light started pouring from the garden.

Twilight couldn't distinguish her life at the moment from the nightmares she had been having. She ran without ceasing, hardly noticing her surroundings as she ran. She could feel her, never getting closer but never going away. Her anger burned hotter than the sun, fed by her mental instability. Twilight can faintly remember A scream of a pony, quickly silenced by the deathblow from Celestia. She knew a building fell somewhere in there, but she couldn't be sure. All she knew was escape.

Twilight ran through streets, through yards, through some surrounding countryside until she finally burst through the doors of the Canterlot Palace. She collapsed once inside, and she thought her heart would burst. Her chest heaving and her temples throbbing, she dragged herself to the wall of the Grand Hallway, and, using the wall's support, lifted herself to her feet. She stood there on wobbly knees for what seemed like hours. Finally, Celestia slammed the doors open.

She looked like she came from the Gates of Tartarus. Her hair had burst into flames that sustained themselves, and her fur had changed to a dark, intense orange. Her eyes burned a furious red, and her wings were burning as well. She tucked her wings in a dropped like a stone, cracking the tiles on the polished floors and she slammed into them. She walked slowly forward, leaving black scorching burn marks in her wake.

"You see this?! This is ME! I'm the most powerful! I'm the ruler! NO ONE ELSE! JUST! ME!" Celestia screamed at Twilight in a screechy Royal voice, and burst into tears. The drops fell to her coat, where they evaporated instantaneously. The tips of Twilight's hair had been singed from being so close to Celestia, and she was pushing herself up against the wall. Celestia stood up, still weeping, but had began laughing in between. Her eyes were wide open, and her red pupils were pinprick points, and they locked onto Twilight, unblinking.

"You! You couldn't beat ME! But the stupid Elements could! So you...You need to STAND STILL!" Celestia screamed, and she shot a beam of immobilizing magic at Twilight. Twilight teleported out of instinct, and missed the magic sent to turn her to stone. Celestia howled with rage and charged Twilight, and Twilight had to teleport way before Celestia reached her in order to avoid being burned to a crisp.

Celestia pawed at the ground not unlike an angry bull would do, and she snorted fire from her nostrils. Twilight planted both her feet firmly on the ground, staring at Celestia in defiance. Celestia snarled like a wild animal and charged once more. Twilight teleported behind her, and materialized a bucket of water out of thin air. She dumped it on Celestia's head. Celestia seemed to pause for a moment, and her flames dimmed to just tiny flickers. Celestia gave a deep breath, momentarily giving her flames life. Then she exhaled, and her body morphed back into its normal, white and multi-colored hair state.

She turned stiffly to face Twilight, and a growl rose from her throat. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, tears beginning to leak from them. Twilight knew it wouldn't be enough. But why did it have to end this way?

"That was a great little trick, Twilight, really," Celestia purred, "but all you really did was make my anger burned brighter." With that, Celestia scowled as flames began to engulf her body again, and she began roaring as the fire licked her body and became her body. She was grinning madly, and she started to give a war cry as she lifted into the air and flew at Twilight.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" She screeched, and she touched down on the ground just long enough for her to push off again and lunge at Twilight. Twilight once again teleported behind Celestia, and sent a beam of magic her way. Celestia just had time to turn around before the beam hit her, and she squeaked with terror. Her head whipped around to stare at her hind hooves. Just beginning to climb up her legs was a wave of rock, slowly but surely consuming her body and quenching her flames. She was just about to curse when Twilight sent another beam of magic, blocking off Celestia's magic so that she could not escape.

"No! This is not how it works! No! No! I'm the most powerful! I am..." Celestia wailed and screamed as the rock crept up her legs, keeping her trapped in place. Twilight began to sob too, crying loudly to Celestia's doomed mind and form.

"I'm sorry!! I didn't want it to end this way!" Twilight gasped in-between her words, and her cries became those of pure guilt and despair. Celestia's had still kept their traces of anger, but now it sounded like a dying animal, weeping for its life and its inability to escape no matter how much it tried. Twilight watched through blurry eyes as the the stone encased Celestia's flailing legs, and then trapped her face. Her mouth had been open, and it was now trapped in a silent scream accompanied by tears spilling down Celestia's face. It was the most sad statue anyone has every seen, and looking at it made you want to cry.

Twilight did just that, crying and weeping and rocking back and forth until she felt a wing wrap around her shoulder and pull her tight. She didn't struggle against Luna's warm grasp, and she buried her head in Luna's shoulder. Luna tilted her head down and pushed her forehead's against Twilight's, and soon they both cried together.

Author's Note:

I made this story for ChewyJiggles, but I do like it a lot. :) I tried to put more detail in it than I usually do.

Comments

[Diamond Sparkle]

Luna will have to be unfrozen to take over the Sun and Moon duties. What made Celestia crazy, I wonder?

[neon171717]

That moment when a story makes you literally say "ffffuuuuuuuuucccccccckkkkkk" almost inaudibly