CH 2: A mystery in blue.

“WHAT?!”

-Twilight Sparkle

I awoke this morning expecting to have a nice day reading in the park. Said nice day was promptly interrupted by my discovery of a prophecy that predicted the return of Nightmare Moon, a figure of ancient history that sought to usher an eternal night across the land.

Upon sending a letter to my teacher, Princess Celestia, to inform her of this possible danger to Equestria, she simply wrote back to me to “Stop reading those dusty old books!” Unbelievable!

For the princess to so brazenly brush off what could very likely be the biggest threat to Equestria in a thousand years is absurd!

What’s worse is that she has also arranged for me to go to the small town of Ponyville to oversee the preparations of this year's summer sun celebration and “go make some friends”.

I know I have to convince her to change her mind, so I prepare my things, and along with my trusty assistant Spike, I take off to Canterlot castle.

Which brings me to the present moment, where the royal guards are leading me to Princess Celestia to speak about the dire situation.

“Twilight, are you sure this is really worth the trouble? The Princess seems pretty busy today, and she already has things all set up for us to go.” Spike’s voice spurs a moment of doubt about my actions, but after a bit of mental reaffirmation, I am more sure than ever of our purpose here.

“Yes Spike, this is worth the ‘trouble’. Nightmare Moon's return may be inevitable if I can’t find a way to stop her, which I can’t do if I’m off in Ponyville ‘making friends’.” I snip maybe a bit harsher than I intend.

It’s then that we finally reach the grand doors to the throne room, which open as we step forward allowing us entry to the magnificent ornate chamber in which The Princess awaits.

My eyes first trail along the spotless marble floor, no doubt polished to a shine by the castle staff.

As I trot through the throne room I am bathed in the light pouring through the towering stained glass windows, drawing my gaze to their artistic renditions of scenic beauty, meadows, flowers and the glorious sun, intermittently interrupted by large stone pillars that reach to the ceiling.

I’ve seen it countless times, yet it never fails to instill a sense of awe and wonder, a feeling which pales in comparison to the centerpiece of the room itself.

Princess Celestia sits atop her golden throne, her warm smile beaming down in tandem with her glittering ethereal mane as my draconic assistant and I lower ourselves in a bow.

“My my, I wasn’t expecting to see you again for a fair few days, to what do I owe the pleasure my faithful student?” Her voice calm, smooth and soft like fresh honey, carries a hint of mirth that implies she knows more than she’s letting on.

I take a moment to raise myself, clear my throat, and organize my thoughts. Finally I speak.

“Princess, I have come here today to humbly request you rethink your decision to send me to Ponyville”

The Princess’s eyes look me over for a long moment, before her lips pull down into a mocking, over exaggerated frown.

“Is that why you’re here today? And here I hoped you had come to give me a goodbye hug!” Her voice takes on a comically over the top sadness, as if I just told her she wouldn’t get a puppy for her birthday.

“Princess, please! This is serious!” I object, feeling my cheeks flush in embarrassment at her teasing.

“Twilight, I understand that you're concerned, but I assure you, that the tale of Nightmare Moon is nothing but an old mare's tale. Now, perhaps you would like some tea?” She drops her act of sadness, her face morphing into a more natural pleasant smile as she summons a tea set with her magic.

I can’t believe what I’m hearing, how can The Princess be SO quick to brush off my concerns like that!

I have to change her mind, the fate of Equestria’s at stake here!

“Princess Celestia please—”

I am interrupted by the sound of the throne room doors swinging open. I throw my head over my shoulder in irritation, to glare daggers at whoever has intruded on what may be THE most important discussion in history!

The source of the disruption is a singular unicorn gaurdsmare standing alone in the entrance way, who swiftly approaches the base of the Princess’s throne and bows.

“Your Highness, I have urgent news!” The mare’s voice is gruff and gravely, nearly as grating as her presence, although matching quite well thematically with the long healed scars that are poorly hidden underneath her grayish, off-white fur.

“Please make it quick Sergeant, I am currently entertaining company.” Princess Celestia requests, banishing the tea from whence it came with a quick flash from her horn.

The newcomer looks to me with wary eyes, before turning back to Princess Celestia.

“The creature is awake…”

Wait, what? Creature? What creature?! I turn to the princess, hoping for an answer. I am instead met with silence.

“Bring me to him immediately” she commands, her jovial tone has disappeared entirely, along with her signature soft smile. In its place is the steadfast mask of Princess Celestia; sole ruler of Equestria, and monarch of the sun.

There goes my chance to change her mind.

With only a nod of affirmation from the guard, she stands from her seat and makes for the grand throne room doors.

With the only other option being to sit and mope, I quickly fall in behind her.

***

I find myself in a part of the castle that I barely recognize.

The soft lavender walls have been traded for cold sharp gray, and in place of natural light let in through the large stained glass windows, the narrow hallway is instead lit by the dim, licking flames of sparsely placed torches.

I can feel the icy stares of the guards as we pass, each and every one stands with purpose, waiting for any call to action.

The lack of conversation should have festered into awkward silence, but instead the air is filled with the constant shuffling and whispered voices of ponies held securely behind solid steel bars.

We are in the Canterlot dungeon.

“This one here.” the guard grunts, stopping and opening a thick metal door, allowing The Princess to enter first.

Finally, I only hope that whatever interrupted my conversation with Princess Celestia doesn’t take too long.

Spike and I enter into the large cell next, followed by the guard, who, after nodding for the guard inside to leave, closes the heavy slab of metal behind us with an eardrum blowing -BLAM- before taking a post just beside it.

I quickly find my place next to The Princess standing at a large oak table, across from us sits…

What in Tartarus is that thing?! It looks reminiscent of a Minotaur, or maybe a Diamond Dog, with its lack of hooves and all, but its body is completely differently proportioned, and it’s tall, even sitting it’s a rough hoofstep and a half taller than me!

Its electric blue eyes look between The Princess and myself as it takes a long moment to study us. I can see the curiosity behind them, an intelligent, calculating gaze. There is no doubt in my mind that this creature is sentient.

The sound of rattling echoes throughout the spacious room as the creature leans back in its seat, disturbing the chains binding it to the table by a pair of heavy metal shackles around its forearms.

One cuff was placed much higher than the other, nearly reaching its elbow, to account for a strange grayish- brown device it wore just below the wrist, maybe a watch of some kind? It seems so needlessly bulky though.

“Greetings, I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. Can you understand me?”

The only response Princess Celestia gets is a small nod from the creature.

So, this creature understands Common! With every new piece of data my mind runs wild with new questions. If it can understand our spoken language, it must be aware of Pony kind, right? So how have I never heard of something like it before?

“Can you speak?” The Princess prods, leaving a still silence in the air as I stare intently at the creature across from me, waiting with baited breath for an answer I hope is in the affirmative.

“I can.” The voice is undoubtedly male, slightly groggy, as if he just awoke from a nap. Didn’t the guardsmare mention something about that? That’s not important right now, what's important is the fact this creature not only understands, but speaks Common, which means he’ll be able to answer questions!

“I see, then I must ask if there’s anything you would like to know before we continue.” The Princess uses her telekinesis to grab a clipboard from the table, flipping it to a new page before grabbing a nearby quill and dipping it in a pot of fresh ink.

“Yeah, what's with the gecko?” he asks, pointing with one of his strange blunt claws to Spike, who shuffles behind me, eyes wide with fear.

“That is Spike, he is a dragon. He is also the assistant to my faithful student Twilight Sparkle.”

“Alright one more question, where exactly was I when you found me?” He inquires, his eyes shifting to the quill scribbling away in The Princess’s magical grip.

“The staff found you unconscious in the palace garden. You were then moved to the castle’s medical wing and looked over for injuries.” Princess Celestia explains.

“That's all I needed to know.” His face contorts into a look of frustration, I can’t fathom why though, The Princess gave a pretty clear answer and then some.

“Then perhaps a question of my own then? Can you tell me your name?” The Princess inquirer, her voice soft and motherly as she patiently awaits his answer.

“Oh, yeah probably shoulda started with that. You can call me Cade.” His introduction is concise, and leaves the only noise in the room to be the scratching of The Princess’s quill on paper.

“It is lovely to make your acquaintance Cade, now can you tell me what species you hail from? In all my years I have never seen a creature of your likeness before.” The Princess continues, taking a moment to stop writing to give Cade her full attention.

“I’m a human, Homo-sapien if you want to get scientific.” Cade punctuates his statement with a casual wave of his hand, before cringing and putting it back down at the loud rattling of his restraints.

So, his species have given themselves a scientific name? Was there a reason for this, perhaps these ‘humans’ have subspecies, incentivizing a need for specification to tell them apart?

“What is the last thing you remember before waking up in the clinic?” And yet, The Princess ignores any and all possible implications of his words. I can’t help but think back to my reason for being here in the first place as she once again skips past something so vital for an idle chat. I don’t doubt my teacher, but I can’t help wondering why her priorities have become so skewed.

“Someone… had something that belonged to me, when I confronted them about it, they attacked me. I guess I passed out from blood loss because the next thing I knew I was tied to that bed listening to the beep of a heart monitor.” Cade’s expression falls as he recounts the events that led him to the medical wing.

“You were in a fight?” Princess Celestia inquiries, leaning in curiously.

“Yeah, I woulda won too. But, I guess some people just can’t fight fair.”

“Do you get into fights often?” The Princess probes farther, putting the clipboard and quill down entirely and leaning in slightly closer.

“That I do.” Cade’s face splits into a large, proud grin, prominently showing off a pair of canines at the front of his mouth. I can’t help the lump that forms in my throat as I stare at his display.

“I see. Sergeant, could you please escort my student and her assistant out of the room? I would like to speak to our guest in private for a moment.” The Princess’s tone leaves no room for argument as Spike and myself wordlessly follow the unicorn mare out into the hallway.