Chapter 1.5: While Stone becomes Sand...

It was quite a day for all ponies. A master of chaos magic was released and terrorized Ponyville, threatening to turn it into the „chaos capital of the world“. But now, since Discord was turned to stone again by the heroic deeds of six mares (and one baby dragon), Ponyville and the rest of Equestria is safe and sound. So why not making a ceremony for them to reward those ponies.

Soon after the ceremony and the celebration afterwards, all other ponies went back on their way home, leaving the Six and Princess Celestia in the throne room of Canterlot Castle.

„Once again thank you very much, my ponies, for without your help, Ponyville would have been lost.“

Those were the words of said princess, addressing the Six in front of her.

„Aw, shucks. ‘Twas nuthin‘. We only did what we had to.“

„Yes princess, we would do that again if we really had to.“

Well…soon they would regret those words as somepony knocked on the great golden door leading to the throne room. Soon after Celestia opened it with her magic, one of her royal guards stormed inside, only coming to a halt in front of the princess.

„Your majesty…we could…have a major…problem right now. Another one…of the statues…is missing from its pedestal…“

What no pony (except Celestia and Luna) knew was the fact that most of the statues in the Canterlot garden aren't simply made out of stone but rather are living beings turned to stone to preserve their lives in a torment of everlasting imprisonment, something even worse than death for most of them.

„Tell me, which statue is missing. One of them was probably just stolen. If we catch up with the culprit quick, we could find and retrieve the missing statue.“

„I don’t know anything about the statue itself, Your Highness. The pedestal simply said ‚knowledge‘.“

If it was any other statue, she wouldn't be troubled in the slightest. Even if Discord somehow managed to escape his prison due to some weird tricks he prepared beforehand with his chaotic magic, it wouldn't be a problem. But this one in particular was major.

Neither the guards nor the Six, except for Twilight, noticed the slight change of the princess. Being her personal student, Twilight was always around the princess for most of the time. So she could see Celestia’s face getting pale, even beneath the snow-white coat of hers.

„Quick, gather three troops, one of Earth Ponies, the other two of Pegasi and look around all of Canterlot and the surrounding area. Also I need some unicorns to investigate the pedestal to see if they can find some residual magic leading to the one who helped him escape.“

As soon as she barked out those commands, all the guards in the throne room left to find the being that was once the statue of ‚knowledge‘. But Twilight, out of the Six, was the most worried. She had never seen Celestia so troubled. She had to know what was so horrible in the garden that even Princess Celestia herself would command such a huge search just for one pony(?).

„What’s the matter, princess, surely we can defeat another one of those. I mean, we just beat Discord’s butt. Surely, that guy can’t be worse than him.“

„But I fear that he is. I myself do not know much about him. But for all I know he is an enemy far more worse than Discord would ever be. Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony, looks at this world as if it was his playground. This one however, I don’t even know his real name, went so far as ending one pony’s life completely as well as crippling another's.“

After hearing that, the whole group just gasped, Fluttershy and Rarity were about to faint while even Rainbow Dash was shocked by that last statement. True, Discord was evil. But he never went as far as killing another being. He always toyed with those around him but that’s it, he never did anymore. But to now hear that this being technically killed two ponies, she wasn't sure anymore if she should take him on.

„Tell me, my ponies, how much do you actually know about the history before me and Luna ruling Equestria together?“

Instantly, the group fell into silence and just looked at Celestia.

„I thought this much. Well, I shall tell you what my mother told me before. The first time the being arrived was by the time I was just a filly and Luna was merely a foal. Our parents, Queen Aurora and King Starlight were ruling Equestria, at least the pony part, together and it was a time of prosperity and peace, much like nowadays.

However, it was one day, after I fell asleep during nighttime, that he appeared in Equestria. He stormed into the throne room, no guard was able to stop him. She told me how menacing he looked like. He was a bipedal beast, much like a diamond dog, but taller than my parents. His coat was a deep red and he wore two shoulder plates looking like two additional dog heads, bound together by a chain with runes. The giant was wielding a staff, almost as tall as he was, with a blade at the top glowing red.“

The group tried to imagine such a beast and all shuddered as they saw a mental image shown by Celestia.

„He came in with the words ‚I am the final arbiter, all will be judged‘, his voice deep enough to shake the throne room itself. Aurora and Starlight threw themselves against that beast and ultimately they won. But the prices each one had to pay were cruel. Within the fight, my father died. That thing was able to cast magic they had never seen before as he used a spell to age him, making him unable to flee.“

While she was retelling the story as much as she could from the memories her mother had told her before, tears began streaming down her face, dropping to the ground.

„As he slammed his staff down, my father died in front of my mother. She could only feel sadness and rage towards that thing and as such, she performed an act that would finish him off forever while torturing him at the same time. She took three gems out of father’s armor as well as three of her regalia and used those as catalysts to channel her magic, casting a spell that would freeze that beast in position, slowly turning him to stone.“

With that, all of them looked down (up in Twilight’s case) and understood. Those gems were the elements of harmony they are wearing at the moment.

„But he wasn't finished yet. In a final act, he stole the ‚alicorn essence‘ from my mother. His final words were ‚Mortals are not meant to rule‘ before he finally became a stone statue. Queen Aurora, my mother, finally defeated the beast that has slain my father. But in the end, she was no longer an alicorn. Her wings and horn as well as her magic remained. However, her body started to age from that point on. Since alicorn are ageless and she already lived for a great amount of time, the effects were horrible. One year for normal ponies were like five for her…and within 15 years, she was too old to move, her body crippled. I just stood by her bed as she closed her eyes…“

At that point Celestia broke down. She fell to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Those mares could only feel sadness, moreover however pure rage, as they faced a beast that could do something this terrible to her. They stormed out of the castle, searching for him. They want revenge for Celestia, for the deaths of her parents. And they wanted to make sure that he wouldn't do anything like that to any pony anymore… Next Chapter: From Forest to Desert Estimated time remaining: 24 Minutes