Stone Cold

When they arrived the police were already on the scene. Nurse RedHeart sat in a chair crying.

“Nurse RedHeart, what happened?” Twilight asked.

Nurse RedHeart looked up at Twilight. “It all happened so fast! I had just finished settling all of the foals down and getting to sleep. I then left the maternity ward to fill out some paperwork when suddenly there was this flash of bright light. When I went back in to check on the foals, they were all turned to stone!”

Pinkie Pie went into the maternity ward. Sure enough, every single foal was now a stone statue. They all had peaceful looks of sleep on their faces, just like Pumpkin and Pound Cake. Pinkie Pie burst out crying.

“Who keeps doing such a horrible thing?!” She shouted.

Sandbar returned to his home in Ponyville. He was on break from the school of friendship, and excited to be back with his family.

“Mom! Dad! I’m home!” Sandbar called out as he entered his house. His parents walked up to him and gave him a big hug.

“Welcome home Sandbar!” His mother said. “How is school going?”

“It’s going great!” Sandbar replied. “By the way, where’s Sanddollar? I really want to say hi to my baby sister.”

“She’s in the other room playing with a ball in her playpen.” Sandbar’s dad said.

Sandbar walked into the other room to see his foal sister sitting in her playpen playing with a ball. Sanddollar looked over and saw Sandbar. She smiled and crawled over to him.

Sandbar picked up Sanddollar and nuzzled her. “Hey there, rugrat! How have you been?” Sanddollar replied with a giggle. Sandbar cared very much about Sanddollar, and swore that he would be a great big brother by always being there for her.

Sandbar hugged Sanddollar and nuzzled her. He then set her back down in the playpen and went back to talk with his parents.

“So, are you making new friends at school?” His mom asked.

“Oh yeah! Tons of them! There are students from all over Equestria.”

“Are there any friends who have your SPECIAL attention?” Sandbar’s dad asked with a smile and a wink.

Sandbar blushed. “Well, there is this one girl from Yakyakistan named Yona.”

“Honey, don’t pry into Sandbar’s private life.” His mom said.

A flash of bright light then came from the other room. “What was that?” Sandbar’s dad asked. The entire family then rushed into the room where Sanddollar’s playpen was.

Sandbar was the first to look in the playpen. He could not believe what he saw.

Sanddollar had been turned to stone. She was still holding the ball that she had been playing with, and a smile was on her face.

Twilight, Rarity, AppleJack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and the police hurried over to Sandbar’s house as soon as they heard the news. The police interviewed Sandbar’s parents while Twilight went to speak with Sandbar. He was in the playpen, hugging his stone sister and crying hysterically.

“Sandbar, I am so sorry.” Twilight said as she placed her hoof on Sandbar’s back to comfort him.

Sandbar wiped away his tears. “Sniff*...I’m her big brother…I swore that I would always protect her…and I failed!” Sandbar then started crying again.

Pinkie Pie walked over and embraced Sandbar in a hug. She knew exactly how he felt. Pinkie Pie swore to protect Pumpkin and Pound Cake, to always be there for them, and they were also turned to stone under her watch.

Pinkie Pie looked over at Twilight. “Twilight, this is getting out of control! We have to find who or what is turning foals into stone and stop them immediately!”

Twilight began pacing back and forth with a worried look on her face. “If only there were some connection between these events.”

Fluttershy raised her wing. “I…I’ve noticed something.” She said sheepishly.

“Really? What is it?” Twilight asked.

“Well, so far the foals being turned to stone are one year old or younger.” Fluttershy explained. “Maybe their youth has something to do with it.”

“And it might not just be limited to Ponyville.” AppleJack said. “Other places in Equestria might be facing the same threat to their foals.”

“You’re right. We should spread out to see if this is happening anywhere else.” Twilight said. “Rainbow Dash and Rarity, you go and investigate Cloudsdale. AppleJack and Fluttershy, you go and investigate Appleoosa. Pinkie Pie, Spike, and myself will investigate the Crystal Empire.”

Everyone took off towards their respective destinations. Sandbar remained in the playpen, still holding Sanddollar.