The Guardian's Angel

Upon her arrival in Canterlot, princess Twilight was greeted by the royal guards who bowed to her and immediately opened the throne room door on her request. Shutting the door behind her, they resumed their guard duties.

"Princess Twilight?" Celestia addressed her, slightly surprised by the unexpected visit. "What brings you here?"

"My apologies for intruding, Your Highness." Twilight took a graceful bow before the princess. "But I have an urgent matter to discuss."

Celestia giggled. "Oh, Twilight." She got up from her throne and approached her most prized ex-student. "You're not intruding on anything, nor would you have to apologize even if you were." She walked closer to the smaller alicorn to greet her with a warm hug. "Now, what's this about an urgent matter?"

Turning her warm smile into a stern expression devoid of joy, Twilight gave a straight and clear answer, "It's Archangel." Celestia widened her eyes a bit upon hearing those words, but that was only a minor surprise for her. Especially compared to the one she was about to have. "And... Well, Fluttershy," Twilight added while rubbing the back of her neck.

"Fluttershy?" Celestia repeated. "What do you mean, Twilight? Has something bad happened to her?"

"No. Actually, it's..."

"Archangel hasn't been cruel to her, has he?" Celestia asked with her eyebrows furrowed.

"No, Your Highness. It's actually the exact opposite," Twilight replied sheepishly, still trying to muster the courage to give Celestia the full report.

"I beg your pardon?" Celestia noticed the uncertainty in Twilight's face. She placed her hoof over her shoulder to try and comfort her. "Whatever it is, Twilight, you don't have to hide it from me," she said with a sincere smile on her face while looking into Twilight's eyes.

Having received the emotional boost she needed, Twilight took a loud gulp and pushed out the words weighing her down so heavily, "Archangel is in love with Fluttershy!"

Despite being very composed and having readied herself for a real surprise, princess Celestia still couldn't help but cover her mouth and gasp at the sudden revelation. "Are you certain of this?"

Twilight nodded firmly. "He said it himself, right after scaring half the town with a demonic scream, punching a massive hole in a tree and collapsing to his knees and starting to cry," Twilight quickly explained and proceeded to catch her breath.

"This..." Celestia paused. "Well, I am certainly glad that you have chosen to personally inform me about this so soon... but which part of this exactly was so urgent that you simply had to travel all this way by yourself to inform me about it?"

"Well, princess... It's--"

"They're not getting married, are they?"

"What? No!" Twilight started shaking her head vigorously from the thought. "I... I still haven't told you everything," Twilight quietly added.

"Oh?" Celestia raised her eyebrows. "This is certainly turning out to be one of the most surprise-filled conversations I've had in some time," she said in an uplifting tone.

"I-I know it's a lot to ask, Your highness, and I wouldn't be asking this if there was any other way..." Twilight paused for a moment and shrank from uncertainty while looking up towards her beloved mentor.

"Twilight..." Celestia whispered her name and lowered herself to help Twilight stand up again. "Whatever it is, it's--"

"Could you please turn Fluttershy into an alicorn?" Twilight blurted out without waiting for the princess to finish, leaving her with her mouth still wide open. "Sorry..." She turned her face away from the ruler of Equestria and blushed.

A brief moment of silence claimed the room. Celestia's expression suddenly lost any sign of joy. "I see," she answered and closed her eyes. "Archangel is afraid of losing her, so he wants me to make her immortal so that they could be together forever."

"Actually, Archangel doesn't even know that alicorns are immortal. He simply suggested that we should reconsider our decision about destroying should Fluttershy leave his side one day... Making her an alicorn was actually Rainbow's idea."

"Destroying him?" Celestia's expression lit up with minor shock again. "Is he afraid that losing his love might turn him evil?"

Twilight nodded. "He told us about how Fluttershy reminded him of someone he used to know back in his own world, and how losing her almost made him turn evil... he also mentioned that he never made a single friend after the day she passed away," Twilight explained with much sorrow in her eyes. "He already lost the love of his life once... If he loses her again, he--"

"I understand, Twilight," Celestia quietly interrupted, her expression still devoid of happiness.

"So you'll make her an alicorn then?" Twilight asked with newfound confidence that was immediately washed away after seeing Celestia shaking her head.

"I'm afraid that such a feat is simply not within my power," Celestia sadly admitted.

"But... why?"

"Upon being granted the alicorn's blessing, every pony also receives the power to turn another, single pony into an alicorn," Celestia explained while keeping her eyes closed. She couldn't bear to see the sadness in Twilight's eyes after this revelation. "This restraint was designed for two major reasons. So that every alicorn would have the chance to also grant immortality to someone very dear to them, and also to make sure that someone doesn't go making everypony in Equestria into alicorns... This may come as a surprise to you, but your former foal sitter, princess Cadence was chosen by my sister, Luna." Celestia opened her eyes, lowered herself and placed her hoof under Twilight's chin, raising her head up to meet her eye level. "And you already know who my chosen pony was." Both alicorns shared a heartfelt smile between themselves.

"Wait a minute..." Twilight paused for a moment, her face suddenly getting lit up with excessive joy. Celestia nodded at her as she picked up on what Twilight was about to say. "I can make Fluttershy an alicorn myself!" She jumped up into the air from excitement. After a short moment, her cheeks lit up with an adorable shade of pink before she descended to the ground. "Sorry."

"However," Celestia interrupted her moment of joy. "There is another restraint to this power... In order to make sure that every newly appointed alicorn doesn't instantly make their choice and later come to regret that decision, every alicorn must wait at least twenty years before being able to choose a pony to be by their side until the end of their days."

"Twenty years..." Twilight repeated in a slightly nervous tone. "But... that's so long! I... Fluttershy will already be starting to get old by then, and..." Twilight collapsed after realizing a very dreadful fact. "My other friends... they..." She lacked the strength to finish her sentence. Her expression became painful to look at as tears started sliding down her cheeks.

"I know this isn't easy for you, Twilight..." Celestia walked closer to her, sat down and embraced Twilight with her wing. "I've lost ponies dear to me as well..." she whispered. Twilight turned her face towards her just in time to see a single teardrop leaving her chin and reaching the floor. "Everyone has to deal with hardship sooner or later, Twilight... immortals, more than anyone." She hugged the lesser princess one last time before saying her goodbyes. "When the time comes, I trust that you will have the strength to make the right decision. As for now... enjoy the time you have with your friends."

No longer heartbroken, Twilight stood up and wiped away what was left of her tears. "Thank you, princess Celestia." She bowed before her mentor and started backing away from her, waving just before turning around to make her leave. Naturally, Celestia waved back.

***

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville...

"Soo..." Rainbow Dash tried to start a conversation with the Archangel. "You like... racing?" she asked while staring at him with a wide grin. "Betcha can't beat me to that cloud!" She pointed her hoof towards the sky and suddenly just dashed away. "I win!" she shouted from a distance. Realizing that she was the only one playing, she descended back down. "You weren't even trying, were you?" she asked in a grumpy tone. "That's it. I'm outta here." Just as she was about to take off, she saw her purple friend returning from her ordeal. "Twilight!" she called out her name.

"Hey!" Twilight greeted her as she landed near her. "I'm guessing you didn't have much luck cheering him up..." she said after noticing Archangel still sitting on his knees.

"No..." Rainbow Dash gave a sulky reply and crossed her forelegs. "This guy is unbreakable! I've tried every trick in the book to cheer him up! I've been working my flank off here while you were gone, but it just feels as though I'm talking to a brick wall!" she exaggerated. "Any luck with Celestia?"

"You could say that..." Twilight replied slowly while avoiding eye contact.

"She isn't going to turn her into an alicorn, is she?"

"She won't have to," Twilight said while shaking her head. "I can do it myself!" she happily declared.

"You can!?" Rainbow's face lit up with mass excitement. "That. Is. So. Awesome!" She grabbed her own cheeks and jumped up in the air through a joyful squee.

"But I can't do it right away," Twilight quietly added, wiping most of Rainbow's excitement away.

"Why not?"

"Every alicorn has to wait at least twenty years before being ready to elect another alicorn, and she can only ever choose one other pony. That's why Celestia wasn't able to do it."

"Oh..." Rainbow Dash descended. "Well... that's kinda lame."

"What are you two talking about?" the archangel interjected. "What's this about something called an alicorn I keep hearing?" he asked in a rather demanding tone.

Twilight cleared her throat before explaining. "An alicorn is a pony that can both fly and use magic. The alicorns are essentially princesses in charge of maintaining a certain subject for the good of Equestria, such as love, friendship, the sun, the moon--"

"And you want to make Fluttershy into one of these... alicorns... Why?"

"So she could be by your side, forever -- duh! It's what you wanted," Rainbow Dash pointed out in a not-so-polite manner.

"What!?" Archangel exclaimed.

Twilight nodded in approval. "Turns out, I can--"

Without waiting for her to finish, Archangel jumped forward, grabbed Twilight by her neck and held her up to his hooded face. "And you went and tried to find out a way to make her immortal, without even seeing what she has to say about all this!?" he screamed at her with unbridled fury and stared her down. Twilight could almost swear she could see his eyes behind all the layers of darkness under his hood.

Barely able to draw breath, Twilight pointlessly struggled to free herself and tried her best to say something. "I... was... going... to..."

"Let her go!" Rainbow Dash shouted at the out-of-control guardian. Miraculously, he obeyed her and actually released his hold on Twilight, letting her fall to the ground. Rainbow Dash immediately flew over to her downed friend to help her get back up on her hooves. "What is wrong with you!? She was trying to help you!"

"By inflicting an eternity of suffering upon another innocent creature!? Even worse -- one of her own friends!?" Refusing to calm his tone, Archangel drew his sword and pointed it towards the two ponies. "A single lifetime is often all it takes to realize that immortality is nothing but a wicked curse, so who are you to be going around handing down such verdicts!? Do you have any idea how painful can an eternity be!?"

"No..." Twilight coughed a few times before she could breathe another word. "But I guess I'll have to find that out the hard way," she insinuated.

"Forgive me..." Only just now realizing that the pony before him was one of the mentioned alicorns, he finally calmed his tone and apologized. "All these years have rendered me a bit... insensitive."

"It's fine..." Twilight replied and coughed a few more times.

"Yeah, right..." Rainbow Dash added in an unforgiving tone.

"It's okay, Rainbow... I'm fine." Balancing herself on her friend's back, Twilight got back up on her hooves. "You have to understand, all we wanted was to help! By making Fluttershy an alicorn, we thought that--"

"If I wanted her to become an immortal, I would have already done it myself!" Archangel interrupted in an unfriendly manner.

"Wha..." Twilight uttered. Both she and Rainbow Dash widened their eyes.

"The breath of immortality," Archangel replied. "A final parting gift to me from the god of my world... He trusted me to not misuse it..." He hung his head before adding, "And so I kept it a secret for all of those three thousand years..." After having said that, he went back to his favorite tree and simply lost hold of his body, letting it just slump to the ground in a sitting position. The pegasus and alicorn in front of him couldn't breathe a word for quite some time. Their mouths were agape and their eyes couldn't be any more open.

"You... chose to be alone?" Twilight asked, still maintaining her bewildered expression. "But... you could have made the love of your life immortal, too! You could have had someone to spend those years with!"

"And what then!?" Archangel retorted. "I wouldn't be able to take her with me when the time came! She would have stayed there without me and would have eventually died along with the rest of the filth poisoning my planet!" he shouted at the ponies, forcing them back into their state of stupor.

"You... you... I..." Twilight grabbed her head, unable to process Arch's words. "I can't believe this... You knew you'd have to spend the rest of your days alone, and you still cared for her so much that you decided to not make her suffer the same fate you did?"

"A wise man once said..." Archangel hung his head as he began to recite, "If you truly love someone, set them free..."

"If they come back they're yours," Twilight finished the quote for him. Archangel instantly shot his head up and looked at the alicorn who was now looking at him with the warmest of smiles on her face. "I don't know about you, but to me this seems a bit too uncanny to be just a coincidence... you two must be meant for one another."

"But... she would live forever... she would have to endure the same pain I did... I can't possibly make her go through that!"

"It won't be the same!" Twilight replied in a tone overflowing with confidence. "She'll have you by her side the whole time... It was only ever painful for you because you were alone all those years."

"But... what if she doesn't want to live forever?"

"Uugh!" Rainbow Dash facehoofed herself. "Would you just go there and tell her how you feel about her already? All this love talk is making my head hurt." She began rubbing her head from both sides.

Deciding that he had been stalling for long enough already, Archangel stood up and walked up to the two ponies. He knelt on one knee before them and whispered something, right before taking off, "Thank you."