"Have a nice nap there sleeping beauty?" Scratch's voice came, startling me out of my mental stupor.

"Huh? What? I spaced out?" I thought, mentally shaking myself as I tried to look around me, briefly forgetting I was still a statue. "Oh right, still solid iron. Man, it's been what, little over fifteen hundred years? You'd think I'd remember I'm still a statue whenever I come out of those little trances."

Scratch's laughter echoed in our shared mindspace. "You'd think, but then again, it's really only been what, a little over three hundred years since the seal weakened enough that our minds were awake?"

I sighed "Yeah, but I wish this spell would wear off and I could get free. Since we woke there was that period of two hundred something years where there was neither hide nor hair of Luna, then one day she just showed up looking almost like a teen again. Then there was that nutter Discord getting loose."

"Oh what, didn't enjoy our chats over the years? I'm hurt Iron." A rather snide voice said, cutting into our thoughts.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear" Scratch said with a groan.

"While our chats were sometimes fun Discord, I could have done without having to listen to your plots for plunging Terra into eternal chaos. Though I will admit, your taste in music is quite good. Even a few I remember from back home. Said God of chaos was currently back out in the statue garden of the castle. Somehow, figuring it was chaos magic or something, the draconequis had managed to hack into mine and Scratch's mental connection. Every now and then they guy was fun to talk to, reminded me of Q, but looking up bipolar in the dictionary would reward you with an image of his mug. Half the time he was fun to chat with, the other half he'd be either spouting of murderous fantasies, or plotting to simply turn all dirt roads into soap and make clouds rain chocolate milk. "I'm just glad whoever it was that locked you back up did what they did."

I focused and managed to block the nosy chaos lord out, giving a sigh. "So Scratch, what's on the agenda today? Think Philomena will use you as a perch again?" I said with a chuckle, watching a few guards go by.

"Ha ha." He said with heavy sarcasm. "Shouldn't you be worried about that dragon trying to sneak a nibble at your leg again?"

"Touché." I said softly. "Granted him and Twilight are all the way in...where did they say again? Ponyville? Ugh, why in the world did they end up using pun names for their cities." I sighed, watching another platoon of guards go by. "Hey, Scratch."

"Hmm?"

"That's like what, the third platoon of guards to go by in less than an hour?" I said, about to ask a question before seeing a wall of magenta magic pushing through the hallway, over us, then further along the hall. "Uhh....what?"

"Looks like it's not just here, but covering all of Canterlot." Scratch said, able to see out the nearest window. Fun fact about being a mental aspect inside a statue. You can actually view a full three hundred and sixty degrees on all three dimensions. Guess the body acts as one big eye.

I looked out the window, seeing a large bubble surrounding the city. ”Hey,that's the captain’s magic color isn't it? What could warrant a shield that big?”

Scratch mentally shrugged. ”Honestly I can't think of a reason. Last we could tell, the only issue was Discord and that was like what? Half a year ago?”

I sighed. ”Wish the seal would just give out already so I could find out what's going on." I then chuckled softly. ”Hey, when we get out, how mad do you think Ken will be that we did that to him?”

Scratch laughed softly. ”Fifty bits says he whacks you over the head or punches you in the gut."

I laughed. ”I say he uses that dragon arm to pull me into a bro hug, then punches me across the face.” I laugh softly. ”Though that will have to wait until I can find his token again. From what I've been able to sense, it must have fallen out of my pocket or gotten absorbed into the magic of heaven's wrought iron because it's not on me anymore." I said watching more guards and maids go around the entry hall.

A few moments later however I saw a semi familiar face enter the main hall. ”Hey is that Twilight? Seems she brought some friends with her.” I said to Scratch, watching the purple unicorn and her five friends enter the castle.

“I'm telling you girls, something seemed really off about Cadence. It was like she didn't even remember me.” Twilight said with a hint of worry.

“Don't y’all worry none Twilight, ah bet she's just got a lot on her mind what with the weddin comin up in a few days.” The orange earth pony mare said next to her. I think I remember her name was Apple….Apple something. Eh, I'll go with Applejack. Loved that cereal back home.

“Indeed Darling, why she must be stressed out of her mind. It is a mares greatest day after all.” Said a marble white unicorn on Twilight's other side. This one I remember, with that voice and flare for drama, Rarity was kinda hard to forget.

“Besides Twilight, I'm sure you're still just upset your brother was busy with that threat to tell you in person he was getting married.” The rainbow maned pegasus above the group said. Rainbow dash. An ego like hers, I doubt even heaven's wrought iron would be enough to contain it.

Someone else seemed to speak up since Twilight turned. “Thanks Fluttershy, though Rainbow Dash is a little right, I'm still a bit upset Shining Armor didn't say anything until a few days before the wedding. He could have at least told me when he proposed.” Seems that someone in the group was named Fluttershy. I tried to see and spotted an almost creamy yellow colored pegasus mare with a soft pink mane.

“It's obvious he wanted to keep it a super special surprise Twilight!” And speaking of pink, the hyperactive earth mare next to her was bouncing around like a kid on a sugar rush. I couldn't help but laugh at Pinkie Pie’s antics. Said mare looked around suddenly, her ear twitching, tail swishing twice and left leg doing what almost looked like a quick tap dance. “hmm twitchy ear, two tail swishes, and left solo tap dance….” She locked eyes with my statue giving a wave at me. I blinked and gave a wave back. Well I didn't really, more like a phantom wave, I felt myself going through the motions but knew my arms were still locked in position.

The pink savant turned back to her friends, talking about how she'd plan an awesome reception. “Who did you wave at just now Pinkie? And what Pinkie sense did that combo mean?” Twilight asked, curious of her friend’s antics.

“Oh nobody, and it just means that someone who is gonna be a great friend will show up in the future.” She said with a smile, skipping off down the hall. I blinked at that and gave a smile.

”Gotta love that mare sometimes.” I said to Scratch with a laugh.

Another day had gone by, and more and more ponies were showing up for the wedding. Turns out it was Twilight's brother Shining Armor and some other princess named MI Amore Cadenza getting married. Though something seemed off about the whole thing.

Every now and then I'd see a few ponies come, and as they were heading back out into the city they would almost seem like a mix between zombies and robots. Sluggish and a bit slow to react, but holding an almost neutral glare more often than not. ”Something’s not right Scratch. I'm getting a bad feeling."

”You're not the only one. I feel it too. Something big is coming.” He said, turning to look out the window. ”Uhhh….Connor…. "

I followed his gaze, soon looking out the window. ”Oh….”

From what we could see outside the window, there was a massive amount of pitch black colored somethings trying to bash against the barrier surrounding Canterlot. If my face were free my jaw would surely have been on the floor. ”Oh….Shit…” I turned back, my eyes widening as I saw a slightly roughed up Twilight and an almost ragged looking Cadenza running through the main hall. ”What in Kur’s name is going on?!”

”From what I can tell, it’s looking like whatever those are out there, they are trying to invade Canterlot" Scratch said with a hint of worry.

I gave a groan. ”Just our luck. The one time something tries to invade and we could be of help, we are still stuck in irons.” I growled and practically shouted inside our mind. ”Wear off damn magic!” I said, trying to somehow force the iron around us to break, but to no avail.

I watched the two ponies run off down a hall. Several minutes later a loud explosion echoed throughout the hallway, shaking the castle’s foundation. I looked outside in shock as I watched the barrier shatter like a window, the invading creatures cloaking themselves in green fire before plummeting down upon the city. I could only watch in horror as more and more flooded the city, capturing ponies and practically stampeding over the royal guards. ”No...no no no NO!" I said, trying to struggle against the bonds of the magic more.

A few moments later I could see Twilight and her friends all running through the hall out into the courtyard to try and get to another part of the castle. I watched them become surrounded by the invaders, the girls putting up an incredibly good fight against the shapeshifting beings. Though when they went into the next hall, I could see them stop, becoming overwhelmed by a swarm of the beings.

I gave a growl, feeling my magic well up inside me. ”Scratch?"

The feline blinked and looked over at me. "Hmm?" He said in a strained tone. I could tell this was eating at him too, not being able to do anything.

”Back when I was first learning my magic, you told me that a lot of it depended on my will and focus right?" I said, my voice going strangely calm for a moment.

”Yes that’s true. Why bring that up now though?" He asked.

I tensed up, my magical energy slowly swirling from a ripple on a pond, to the waves of a lake crashing against the shore, to a roaring ocean wave during a storm. ”Because I don’t care if this magic is the so called cage of the gods anymore. I’m not going to stand by and let myself stay sealed away while those things hurt my friends and the ponies they care for!" I practically shouted, my magic flaring.

The magic of the iron around me slowly began to materialize, the runes and symbols of magical energy forming along our shell. I gave a growl, forcing more and more of our magic against the shell, small cracks appearing along the runes. "Break already damn you. BREAK!!" I shouted, the small cracks fracturing rapidly along the shell, the iron soon warping as the statue itself seemed to burst, iron shards littering the entrance hall. For the first time in just over fifteen hundred years, I let fresh air fill my lungs, cracking my neck. A few of the insectoid beings had entered the hall, looking at me with a strange look before transforming into copies of me. Scratch hopped down from my shoulder, shifting into his humanoid form, pulling his blade from it's sheath as it grew to the size of a large great sword. I gave a growl and cracked my knuckles, iron scales coating my skin. "Let's go Scratch. We've got some bugs to stomp."

Author's Notes:

Bit on the shorter side, but honestly I feel it's a good spot to leave off the chapter. Thanks for tuning in, and let's get this show on the road.