“Hello?” Logan shouted only to be greeted by his own echo. “Is anybody here?” Wherever ‘here’ was, though, did not necessarily concern him.
He sat in the middle of a circular room; its columns stretched tens of feet from the floor to the ceiling, each one more white than the last. Otherwise, though, the room was empty, which was especially odd for its considerable size. Sighing, the lone human finally stood, and his eyes met the marvelous stained glass window depicting different types of pastel-colored, magical-looking horses. Slowly turning around, he saw the exit: a maroon door decorated with golden trim. Ambling up to it, he placed his hands on both sides and began to push.
“What is this made from?” he grunted. It didn’t budge. He sighed as he stepped a few paces back. “Screw this door.” Logan dropped his shoulder down before charging, and with a loud CRASH! he tumbled through it, onto his face. “Well, this hurt too much for this to be a dream.”
Rubbing his head and wincing, Logan got back to his feet and introduced himself to a long and, once again, very empty hallway. He sighed, but moved onward. “Helllooooo! Is there anybody here?”
Only the plush, red carpet lining the floor and the tapestries hanging from the columns high above could respond.
“Where even am I?” he wondered aloud. Logan moved down the hallway, his eyes desperately searching for any form of life or at least a nice, familiar white and red sign that boldly told him where the ‘EXIT’ was.
Coming to a crossroads, his pace slowed to a halt. A total of three doors, two on the left and one on the right, stood before him, and in front of him was an even longer trek. These doors, however, were much smaller than the first one he’d encountered, which let him breathe a sigh of relief. Walking up to one on his left, he grabbed the looped handle and pulled it open.
The room was, much like what seemed to be this entire building, devoid of any life. However, beds lined the walls, each with a small nightstand and trunk nearby. “Are these living quarters?” Logan scrunched his eyebrows. Lemme think… He walked up to one of the trunks, crouched down to it, and slowly opened it to peep inside. Its only contents were a small burlap sack filled with some type of gold coins, a hilted dagger, and some type of bottled liquid. Moving to another trunk, he opened it too, but this one had a scarf, an upside down picture frame, and more of the liquid.
Logan picked up the frame, slowly turning it. It was more horses. This time one of them was a gray unicorn wearing golden armor and grinning ear to ear with a different, yellow horse that looked to be a little bit smaller with longer hair that was giving him a kiss on the cheek. (...on the armor?) He squinted, trying to see if the second horse had anything special about it too, though it didn’t appear to be anything other than a tattoo near her rear of a bouquet of wildflowers. “This is a little too odd.” He gently set the photo back in its trunk.
He nodded in confirmation. “This is definitely some sort of living quarters.” With that mystery solved, he turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him. Moving to the second door, he slowly cracked it open to peek inside.
Same as the last one. Logan sighed. “This sucks.” Closing it, he moved on to the final door across the hall before pushing it open.
Sitting around a table were two unicorns and two regular horses, cards floating in front of the unicorn’s faces while the other ones…somehow held them in their hooves.
“Got any sixes?”
“Go Fish.”
A yellow glow embodied the deck of cards before another floated in front of one of the unicorns’ faces. “You suck.”
The horse snickered. “You’re only mad ‘cause you’re bad.”
“How can someone be bad at Go-Fish?” piped in the other horse.
“You don’t get it, Shieldbreaker. He just is.”
“Uh, excuse me…”
Shieldbreaker threw down his cards. “You are a known cheater at Go Fish, so I don’t wanna hear it, Hasty!”
Hasty stood up, also (somehow) throwing his cards onto the table. “That was one time when I was a foal!”
“Oh, please, you’re both foals,” the unicorn who had chosen to remain silent up until this point finally interjected.
“Just because we haven’t served the Princesses for fifteen years like you have doesn’t mean we’re kids, Iron Shot,” Shieldbreaker sulked.
“Come back to me when ya’ve had to fight a—”
“Hello!”
The four horses froze, their heads turning toward the door. Hasty, a yellow horse with a burgundy mane, was the first to move, diving straight under the table with a loud squeal before Iron Shot, a bigger (and armored) unicorn with a goatee, shot to his hooves, facing the doorway.
“Freeze!” Iron Shot’s horn lit in a teal hue as a spear was levitated in front of him at the ready. “What is your purpose here, beast?”
The other unicorn and Shieldbreaker stood to Iron Shot’s sides. The nameless unicorn held another levitating spear at the ready while Shieldbreaker remained unarmed, but kept his barrel low to the ground and arched his rear, ready to charge at a moment's notice.
“Uhh,” he managed to stammer out. “Where exactly is here?”
Shieldbreaker scoffed. “As if you do not already know, beast. Are you here to harm the Princesses? Or perhaps you–”
“Hey, man! I’m just as confused as you—”
“Silence!” The spear was thrust at Logan, stopping mere inches away from his chest. “You are to answer our questions!” Iron Shot took a few steps forward, his golden armor making his snow-white coat gleam in the natural lighting.
“I-I seriously don’t know what you’re talking about, horse-dude.” Logan stumbled back into the hallway, his eyes darting side-to-side.
If Iron Shot’s spear wasn’t enough, the daggers he was staring into Logan kept him frozen for another moment. His horn lit brighter as another glow surrounded his mouth. “Captain Iron Shot reporting: We have an unidentified creature in the East Wing of Canterlot Castle. It does not appear to be hostile, but that could change. I have it cornered, and am requesting backup. Quarter Master Hasty Hooves, Lieutenant Shieldbreaker, and Private Starsizzle are already assisting me on the scene. Over.”
Logan blinked. “Am I…getting arrested?”
“Yes.”
“C’mon, I didn’t even do anything!”
Shieldbreaker snarled. “You are trespassing in the Princesses’ private grounds, beast. And we’re gonna stop any nefarious plans you’ve been cooking up too.”
Logan collapsed to the ground as the sound of hooves galloping closer filled the hall. Raising his hands, he sighed. “You guys are ass.”
><><><><><
Princess Luna yawned, munching on a celery stick from the spread of various foods in front of her. The sun peeked into the dining room through a large window directly above the table. A small smile pursed her lips as the doors were enveloped in a golden hue, followed by their opening.
Princess Celestia entered the dining room; her alabaster coat paler than usual while large bags hung under her eyes. She let out a large yawn of her own and plopped down next to her sister.
“Good morning, Tia,” Luna chimed, looking at Celestia. “It seems that you did not sleep well last night. Is something the matter?”
“No, no, Lulu. I was just up late studying. Twilight Sparkle has been showing great interest in time spells, so I have been perusing the Forbidden Section for her.” Celestia chuckled. “While not normally permitted, I am considering letting her borrow some of the books.”
Luna’s hoof covered her mouth as she chuckled into it. “Oh, Tia. You were always so lenient with your students. I will say, though, you are a little too lenient with this one.”
Celestia smiled. “I am. However, I must ask, have you been in the Forbidden Section as of late? Some of the more advanced books on time theory are missing.”
Her chuckle turned into a small gasp. “N-no, sister! I have no—”
Celestia let out a small laugh. “Oh, I am only teasing you, dear Lulu. In your current state, I cannot see you casting any advanced spells soon.”
Luna moved her muzzle behind her sky-blue mane, her eyes casted downward. “Speaking of my magic, did I do well raising the moon last night?”
Celestia grinned, reaching a wing out to wrap around her sister, which was welcomed graciously. “You did your best. While I did have to help a little in the end, you nearly had it in the sky by yourself.”
Luna shifted under Celestia’s wing. “T-Tia, do you think I will look…normal again?”
“You mean like me?”
Luna nodded.
“Of course you will.” Celestia ruffled Luna’s mane. “Though I will have to admit that this filly look is growing on me.”
Luna stepped out from under Celestia’s wing, her cheeks red. “Oh, be quiet!” She looked back down at the floor. “I need to get my magic back.”
“I know, Lulu, and you will. As everypony says, all good things will come in—”
The doors burst open. “Princesses!” a gruff voice shouted as a guard rushed inside. “There is a strange creature in the Castle! Captain Iron Shot along with three others have captured it in the East Wing and are transferring it to the dungeons with the assistance of a platoon led by Captain Shining Armor.”
Celestia’s ears perked up. “Did this creature say where it was from? Or its name?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The creature said its name was Logan Carabel, though it did not claim to be from anywhere. We believe that it came from the Everfree Forest.”
Celstia nodded. “Thank you for your report, Tower.”
“This…creature.” Luna’s hoof moved under her chin. “What did it look like?”
“I only got a glimpse of it, Your Majesty, but it was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. It stood up on two legs–like a minotaur. However, unlike a minotaur, it was nearly hairless save for a little patch of red hair atop its head. It also wore clothing, which is rather odd for a creature of the Everfree.”
Luna nodded before standing. “Sister,” she addressed, “I am going back to my quarters for the day. Please call for me if I am needed in this matter. If not, then I am going to get some rest.”
“Yes, Luna, that would be best for your. Goodnight, dear sister.”
Without another word, Luna walked out of the room and past the guard, paying him no attention.
The guard opened his mouth, but his speech was cut off when his horn lit up. He looked away from the princess, and started nodding and talking back to someone. Turning his head back to Celestia, he motioned for her to follow him. “The creature has officially been detained in one of the cells. Captain Shining Armor is currently in interrogation with it. Would you like to be brought to it, Princess Celestia?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, please take me to this creature. I may have an idea of what it is.”
The guard bowed before opening the doors for his princess. “Follow me, please.” The two exited the room and continued through the hallway before finding a spiral staircase that led down deeper into the castle.
The staircase grew darker as the two moved further into the mountain that Canterlot resided upon. It grew quiet as the two entered the nearly-empty dungeon.
“Its cell is just around the corner, Princess. I will remain here. Once again, you will find Captain Shining Armor inside.”
“Thank you, Tower Shield. I will return shortly.” Celestia turned away from him and around the corner, soon finding herself in front of a stone door that held no feature other than a small, iron handle. A golden glow entrapped the handle as the door opened. She walked into the room.
Shining Armor sat on one side of a stone table, while the human sat on the other. There were no visible constraints, but the human ddi not seem to be resisting. Instead, he just sat there with a lowered head.
Shining stood up from the table and saluted Celestia. “Shall I put a shield spell over him, so he won’t try anything?”
“No, it is all right, Shining Armor. I am only here to talk to him, and I do no believe he will try to harm me.” Celestia took a few steps forward. Sitting down on a small pillow that had been left there from a previous interrogation, she smiled.
Logan lifted his gaze, his eyes widening as he gasped. “You’re that horse on all of the tapestries…and the windows.”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, that is me. I would like to introduce myself. I am Princess Celestia of Equestria. I am currently one-half of the ruling power of this nation, and I raise the sun every morning.” She bowed her head. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, human.”
