I acknowledge that sitting around as I have been is unlikely to be productive, it's not getting me any more food, nor is it keeping me hydrated or my territory protected from the common manticore intrusions, yet still as stone I sit on my perch and watch the world go by. I could give Discord a run for his money if he looked more like a chicken, but then again he did create my kind in his image.

***

I eventually resumed a mostly-normal life - nocockatrice can survive forever on morsels and stockpiled food scraps - and began hunting with gusto once more, but one thing changed about my routine. I began visiting the pony-statue, not on any schedule, but I would find myself sitting in front of it after a meal, at times until the sun set.

I always felt as if petrified beings were in some way conscious, despite not having any way to gain sustenance, and that they are stone, not a living being. It may just be that their eyes still hold their last felt emotion, frozen in whatever position it was as the stone overtook their face, but regardless, their faces would still hold at least some remnant of life. Due to this, I felt in a way obliged to accompany this pony, if the tables were turned and I were in her place and conscious, I imagine I would enjoy the company.

***

Days passed following my new routine until I spied the signs of another pony entering my territory. A white one with a branch stuck into her head, followed by an orange pony. While musing that these ponies must be terribly accident-prone to have so many of them manage to lodge branches into their skulls deep enough that they cannot be removed and are instead painted to match their fur, I also hoped they would not make the same mistake my pink guest would, as I had even developed an aversion to petrifying manticores, due to their signs of low-level intelligence. Petrifying more high-intelligence beings may have worse side-effects than loss of appetite, and I was unwilling to test my theory.

Thankfully, the pair only skirted the tamer parts of my territory, where I would neither have to take action nor have to worry about them disturbing the prey - the area had little in the way of plant life, and so my prey were uninterested in the area. After a time of looking around in the brush, they left, one appearing distraught, the other seemingly annoyed.

***

I awoke suddenly in the night, something crashing about in the underbrush some distance away. Skirting through the shadows to find the source, I noticed the orange pony was back, and much closer than last time. Much closer than I was comfortable with. I quickly resigned myself to repeating my task, setting up a similar ambush as previously, this time hiding in a ditch by the road, waiting for the critter I spooked to run and break some twigs in it's path. As expected, everything went swimmingly, and I was soon in the path of the orange pony, her shocked and wary eyes looking me over before crouching low. I had begun to think myself lucky that the pony would this time have the sense to flee, when she jumped towards me.

Taking a few steps back, I fixed the pony with my most withering and petrifying gaze as I help my ground. The pony tried to turn, presumably to lash out with her back feet, but as they were now attached to the floor and made of granite, the manouvre failed and she sprawled to the ground. Looking up, anger flared in her eyes as she defiantly stared back at me, daring me to continue as she struggled to free herself from her own hooves. Tears of stone began to cloud my eyes towards the end of the process, to the point where I could barely see as her face stopped moving, slowly due to the reduction in the force of my gaze and inability to see as clearly.

After all movement ceased, I wiped the pebbles from my eyes and settled down in the ditch I had hidden in previously to go back to sleep.

Author's Note

This was originally going to be a conclusion, but I have a little idea for that and needed this chapter to be able to make it work. I was originally going to have no more petrification, but this, while repetitive, better fit the narrative I have planned. I apologise if this is unsatisfying due to it's similarity, but I hope to make it up to you with the conclusion of this tale.