Chapter 1 - Awakening

The sound reached Luna’s ears long before the man burst into the throne room. She adjusted her dress and sat up a little straighter in her throne. The guards posted inside the throne room perked up slightly as they heard what their mistress had almost a full minute earlier.
The knocking at the door was frantic, almost panicked. And as the guards moved aside and pulled open the large golden doors. The man who rushed through was stout, with a thin film of dust covering the work clothes he wore.

The Princess of the night stood, and addressed the frantic worker, “Greetings, “she smiled warmly, “how goes the excavation?”

After catching his breath, the workman bowed his head in respect “Your Majesty, it is coming along well, but...”

“Yes?” Luna inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“Hahaha..” the workman laughed nervously and wrung his hands. “We have found something”

“Pray tell, what is it?” Luna quipped, clearly annoyed with how long this was taking.

“I-I can’t say”

“Then show me”

“What?” The look on his face was priceless in Luna’s opinion.

“Show. Me.”

10 minutes later, the lunar princess found herself in the deepest reaches of Canterlot castle. Construction had been in progress here for months, excavating the mountainside in order to expand the keep. The man in front of her, who had introduced himself as Deft Hand, held a small lantern ahead of himself, casting long, foreboding shadows on the surrounding walls. The tunnel was narrow and littered with power-tools and other equipment presumably left behind by the workmen.
Noticing the abandoned gear Luna spoke up, “Is it really so terrible so as to cause your comrades to abandon their posts?”

Deft Hand looked at her, “not so much an it, your majesty, as a he” he grinned nervously, like a child telling a bad joke.

“Oh...” Remarked Luna. Then her mind registered what he had said. He.

“You found a person down here?” She asked, shocked. “Alive?”

“Sort of”

Luna stopped dead. “Sort of, Sort of? What in –“
Deft Hand cut her off with a sheepish grin “We are here your majesty” he finished with a bow.
Luna looked past him and saw that they had indeed reached the end of the ramshackle passage. She stepped past him and out into the cavern hidden beneath the mountain.
Her jaw dropped.
The dome-shaped ceiling was a perfect replica of the night sky, every star represented by a large, glowing diamond, easily several feet across. But all of those were dwarfed by the huge spire in the centre. And more importantly the crystal protruding from it, a huge transparent gem, shining, and yet dull, the edges looked sharp enough to cut a man in half, and yet soft enough to run your hands over. But what took her breath away, what actually shocked the princess of the night, was the man encased within it.
He looked to be in his early twenties, with short black hair and handsome features. The large, midnight black wings extended behind his back identified him as an Avian, or at least he looked to be. Luna herself had wings but was not classified as such. The figure wore a black coat, matching his wings, and a grey, buttoned up shirt beneath it simple black pants made of an unknown material, and leather shoes, black like the rest of his clothing.

Luna turned to Deft Hand, “fetch our sister immediately”

He looked surprised “but she still slumbers”

Luna glared at the workman, “Then rouse her.”

“At once, your majesty”

And he was gone, running back up the passage they had entered though.
Now alone, Luna turned back to the imprisoned man, placing her hand on the crystal that held him.

“Who are you?.....”

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The air rippled and glowed a bright gold as the princess of the day teleported into the underground chamber. Luna looked up as her sister joined her. Celestia herself was a taller Luna, the only difference being her bright magenta eyes, where’s Luna’s were a deep blue, her alabaster white wings, a contrast to Luna’s cobalt ones, and her flowing, sparkling hair, striped with pinks and greens, while Luna’s own was a solid blue, and shimmered like the stars.

“I came as soon as I heard” The princess of the day said as she walked toward her sister.

“Thankyou” Luna smiled warmly. “What, however, should we do with this?” she asked, gesturing to the gem.

“We have to get him out of there, obviously” Celestia stated matter-of-factly.

“But how? We have already tried to, sister. The gem is impervious to our magic”

“Then we will try together” the solar monarch said with a smug grin.

“Very well”

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So, two hours and 4 releasing spell variants later, the two sisters stood, exhausted, over the fine dust which all that was left of the gems front face. As they watched, the previously trapped man groaned and let his arms drop to his sides. His eyes fluttered open, revealing deep, mesmerizing crimson irises. He looked at the women before him with a perplexed expression.
“Who....” he never finished the sentence, as his eyes rolled back and he promptly dropped to the cave floor, his wings draping over him and obscuring his form.

Later, in the infirmary...

Celestia watched as once again, the mans eyes slowly drew open. As he noticed her, his face became wary.
“Do not fear me” She said with a smile. “I only wish to know what happened to you”

“Who are you” He replied, “Where am I?”

“You didn’t answer the question”

“I know”

Seeing that he was adamant, the princess decided to tell him what he wanted to know.

“You are in the land of Equestria, as for me, I am Princess Celestia, this” she gestured to Luna, who until now had been standing behind the stranger, “is my sister, Princess Luna”
Luna smiled, and extended her hand.

The stranger ignored it, “Princess?”

“Yes” replied Celestia

“Where is your king?”

“We have none”

“Queen?”

“We have none of those either”

The newcomer looked confused.

“Then who leads this nation?”

“We do” Luna cut in, “Now answer our sisters question, who are you?”

“Relax your highness” The man replied, “My name is Rowan.”

Celestia looked at him, “Who put you in that cavern? How long were you there for?”

Rowan looked at the floor, “Someone who had no other choice.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

He stood up quickly, moving so fast he was barely seen. “I mean, that there was no other way to stop me”

Celestia was taken aback by his dark statement, not to mention his unnatural speed.

“Stop you?” she asked quietly

“If you don’t know, count yourself lucky” He said, his eyes still downcast.

The silence was palpable. Celestia stared at Rowan, and Rowan kept looking at the ground.
Luna broke the silence, “How long were you down there?”

Rowan looked up at her, “How do you measure time?”

“Days, months, years” Luna answered, looking quizzical.

“At least that hasn’t changed,” he muttered “I have been under ground for 16,472 years.” He said, casting his eyes downward again.

Both princesses were stunned into silenced, not only was he much older than he looked, by a long shot, but he was older than the both of them combined. Rowan moved back to the bed he had been lying on, and sat on the edge, his wings draping down his back and onto the silken sheets.

“How old am I?” he asked. Noticing their surprised faces.

They said nothing.

“Haha,” he chuckled, a haunting sound, “You should see the look on your face.”
He stood up from the bed and rose to his full height, an inch or two taller than Celestia.

“My name is Rowan, son of Kaine and Linden, I am 24,000 years old, and I am a Saint.” He finished with a bow.

Apparently something he had said sparked some old memory, because both princesses once again looked at him with disbelief.

“A Saint?” Luna asked her eyes wide.

“Yes, I am” Rowan replied, nodding his head.

Celestia turned to Rowan with an apologetic look, “Forgive us, it’s just that we were under the impression that the Saints were a myth, you were a bedtime story when we were children” she said.

Rowan raised an eyebrow, “And how long ago was that?”

“Almost 4,000 years.” Luna replied with a sly grin.

“Really?” Rowan asked, raising his hand. And he did, a dim glow slowly came into existence in his palm. He lifted his hand toward Celestia, then Luna, and dropped his hand back to his side, the light fading quickly.

“Amazing,” he said, a look of wonder upon his face, “You are human, and yet immortal.”

Luna giggled, “Yes I suppose we are.”

Rowan blinked several times, very slowly, and composed himself. Turning to Celestia, “You mentioned a land beyond the keep?”

Celestia was once again taken aback, “How did you know we were in a keep?”

Rowan simply smiled, “Magic” he said with a wink.

Author's Note

Horay! first actual chapter is up!
My first attempt at a fic so constructive criticism is more that welcome.
Ive had this idea bouncing around in my head for a while so I figured id upload it, see what you all think!