//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Princess Luna // Story: Option Three // by Mirta //------------------------------// Princess Luna's hoofsteps were dampened into dull thuds by a plush red carpet. Her eyes wandered around the deserted throne room, from the floral-patterned pillars to the blue and yellow stained glass windows to her right, as she trotted towards the gilded seat. The lingering remnants of sleep still addled her mind, but not so much she couldn't think of her sister. Perhaps she had left a note on the throne, like she sometimes did when she was busy. She looked upon the noteless throne when she heard the rapid clop of hooves from the corridor behind her. “Princess Luna, you've got to come quick! Something's happened to Princess Celestia!” She turned around to see a gray unicorn in gilded armor galloping towards her. “What is it?” ”I don't know, Princess Luna, it was over in an instant.” Princess Luna was woken up by somepony knocking on her door. “Princess Luna?” A male voice called for her from behind the door. She tore the covers off of herself with her magic and rolled off the bed, landing on her side before managing to get on her hooves. “Come in.” She sounded like she felt, groggy from being woken up early. As the door opened, she attempted to smile at the pegasus guardspony but only managed to grin creepily. “Princess Luna, your presence is requested in the throne room. Princesses Twilight and Celestia are there waiting for you. I was told it is important.” The guard saluted her as he spoke, his professionalism drawing a sharp contrast to the sleep-addled princess. Luna let out a sigh, hoping it would not be about parade preparations again. “Tell them I will be there shortly.” The guard nodded and departed, leaving Luna alone to do her 'morning' routine. When she left her room few minutes later, her mane was neat and tidy, she was wearing her regalia and her mind was no longer a mess of half-remembered dreams. She quickly navigated the castle's corridors and soon found herself at the doors to the throne room, facing the same guard who had woken her up. He saluted her again and pushed the doors open. Princess Luna entered the throne room with her head held high, her eyes demanding answers from the other princesses. Her sister was at the base of her throne, standing next to Twilight Sparkle. A scroll, wrapped in Twilight's magic, was levitating between the two. Twilight was explaining something about clothes to Celestia. They were both focused on the scroll and had not noticed her enter the room. “What is this 'important issue' that requires my attention this early in the day?” She made no effort to hide the annoyance in her voice, glaring at the other alicorns as they finally acknowledged her presence. “Ah, Princess Luna, it's uh...” Twilight looked up from the scroll, an ephemeral smile flashing on her face before giving way to a look of concern just before she glanced at Celestia for support. “What Twilight is trying to say is that an unknown creature appeared in Canterlot while you were asleep, sister.” “And what about this is important enough for you to wake me up early, sister?” Luna lifted one forehoof off the floor and made a jabbing motion towards her sister to further emphasize the last word. “Well, I wouldn't exactly call him a creature since he was wearing clothes and had items made of refined metals with him. In fact, there's plenty of reason to believe that he is not only intelligent, but also sapient.” Twilight's voice was buzzing with excitement as she fixed her eyes on the scroll. “You really should see the device that brought him here, the detail on that thing is incredible – I've never seen anything like it before. It's a bit like the electronic devices we have here but everything's so minuscule that it makes what we have look primitive in comparison. Even the steel used in its frame is of an incredibly high quality and...” A sense of dread stirred in the Princess of Night as some memory surfaced at the edge of her awareness. Twilight's words faded out of her awareness as she looked over the rooftops of Canterlot through the stained glass window to her right. There was something familiar about the situation, she knew that. But what that something was evaded her. A stranger had arrived into Equestria from the Outside before, but when? Who was it? Why was it important? She closed her eyes and wracked her brain to remember. Her stomach wrenched all of a sudden. She looked at the window. Yellow and blue. Her gaze shot from the window to one of the pillars adorning the room. It had flowers engraved into it. The mat she was standing on was red and muffled her hoofsteps. The throne behind her sister was golden. ”Princess Luna? Is something wrong?” Twilight's voice called her name, severing the chain of thought and bringing her back to the present. “I... This room?” She looked around, feeling a cold sweat tingle on her skin. Twilight and Celestia looked at each other, concern showing on their faces. “Sister, are you certain that this creature is something truly unknown?” Her voice was high-pitched and she could not keep her eyes fixed on one spot. Luna regretted voicing her concerns as the two other princesses stared at her, confused. “What do you mean, sister?” Celestia was the first one to break the short silence. “I went through as many books as I could and found nothing like him. He's from an unknown family, maybe even genus.” Twilight made the scroll she and her sister had been reading float over to her. “Here, I wrote a description of him. It's in chapter two.” Luna took the scroll into her magic and read. '...it is a mammalian biped.' 'It resembles the various monkeys found...' '...completely lacks a tail and is nearly hairless.' The more she read, the less she liked what she discovered. Her thoughts converged on a single, unfamiliar word: human.