The hall was quiet, her lone hoofsteps echoing about the stately room.

A brand new museum of art for Canterlot, Cadance mused to herself as she glanced about the fresh exhibits and recently finished masonry. She wondered if she might be able to find it within the Imperial budget to build one like this back home in her Empire; but would have to wait a while to be tactful if she did! The Princess admitted to herself as well that it would be tough to find architects who could match the splendour of this new building.

Cadance had been permitted early access to look around and take in the exhibits before she would help to dedicate it later that afternoon, as such she had the whole building to herself for a few hours—wonderful respite from the hubbub of Canterlot in the morning rush.

She rounded into the next hall, finished perusing the paintings and noticed that it was a statue gallery. Quite a few masterfully hewn statues of marble, alabaster, even jade stood in alcoves along the walls, glittering in a slight bit of light cast upon them. Historical figures, she saw Starswirl the Bearded and Commander Hurricane nearby, but it was a glimpse of familiar form that drew her attention.

A magnificent representation of Celestia stood beside an onyx Luna, and she smiled. Their likeness was well matched, even a statue of the newest princess, Twilight, stood nearby in an unusual purple stone. She pondered… was there one of her?

The alicorn mare giggled, she would love to see it if there was… but couldn’t seem to find such a statue. An empty alcove came into view with just a pedestal within, but possessing a polished brass name tag upon it. She leaned in to read- “CADANCE”. But… where was the statue?

She glanced around and then back to the pedestal. It was obviously meant to be there, perhaps it was being repaired or polished and would be brought in before the opening. Had to be one of those two, Cadance nods to herself.

Still, it was a shame to see it empty like that.

A quick thought crossed her mind, to have a little fun. The alicorn giggled, all alone, no guards to see her silliness as she steps across the red velvet rope that blocked off the alcove.

With a hop she steps up onto the plinth, looking out at the room with a grin. Not a bad view, she admits, striking a regal pose atop the marble beneath her. Surely she cut a comical sight, trying a different pose or two and imagining what her statue must look like.

After a few minutes she had her fun, and moved to hop down from the spot, but with a sudden shock and stumble she finds her hind hooves refusing to budge from the stone! The plinth wobbled as she regained her composer, looking down to see what was going on…

The Princess’ eyes widen as she sees the familiar sign of a faint blue magical hue, an enchantment, her hind hooves heavy and cold having lost all their colour. The seemed to flow right into the marble below… just like…

STONE!

“Aah!” She yelps, glancing around with speed to see if there was some devious unicorn casting this upon her, but caught so sight. The aura moved, enveloping more of her hind legs as she shivered. The edge of the stone crept upward with a slight crackling sound, squeezing her flesh into solid rock as it progressed.

“Somepony! Help!” She calls out, voicing echoing in the halls of the vacant museum.

The mare tries to flare her horn to cast a counter-spell but finds her magic fizzling into the air with an ineffectual hiss- a tap from her forehoof to her horn returns the sound of clinking stone instead of familiar ivory.

With a ragged breath of distress, she feels her tail grow heavy and with a crackle of stone it freezes in place. The magic forces itself over her, pulling her up off her forehooves and causing her to rear up. The pressure and weight of the stone surging over her waist and into her chest causes the mare to gasp, rapidly finding her breathing constricted within her rigid skin of stone.

Flailing her forehooves in desperate attempt to remove herself from the plinth, she merely causes herself to wobble precariously before settling back. Her breath was short, gasping to draw in air with the stone compressing around her chest and locking her bodily pose permanently. A hoof stretched out towards the room, almost pleading to be helped, to be seen, it goes rigid, stuck outstretched and losing hue to marble before her panicked eyes. The other hoof quickly follows suit, closer to her body, wings stretched out behind her.

“P- …” She gasps as the stone moves into her core. “P-Plea- ..” She cannot utter the words, breath stolen from her entirely. With a crack and a pop she feels her neck succumb, locking her gaze out towards the room and the other statues.

Her mind raced for a way to get out, some way, any way, there had to be a way!

Panic mounted as she feels the spell causing her to put a fake smile upon her face before casting her lips and muzzle into the stone that was consuming her being. The last vestiges of her former self vanished from view beneath the encroaching marble as her eyes froze into position, aimed out into the exhibit hall.
The mare’s vision was fuzzy, and her hearing muddled… but she was still conscious within the stone, mind rolling around in thought as she heard the crackles and pops of her new stone form settling into permanence atop the plinth.

To all the world outside she was a happy portrait of herself in stone, set within the alcove of the new museum for all the ponies to come and see. No evidence left about that would suggest that she had ever been anything more than a simple statue, expertly carved in marble.

The hall was silent once more, but in a few hours would be bustling with new patrons and visitors; as it would be for many years to come…