Fallen Angel

When I woke, on the comfortable old armchair, I had thought the past year of my life a mere dream. Perhaps I was still a free man, not an innocent one condemned to death. Had my meeting with the lord merely been a figment of my imagination? I cleared the last vestiges of sleep from my eyes and rose, drinking in my surroundings. No, I hadn't been dreaming, it had all really happened. I had been put to death, and taken in by the lord to live in heaven evermore. But this did not feel like heaven, it felt like a palace, one fit for a king, but not the lord's realm.

I looked around, searching for something I would never be able to see. The double doors at the end of the room opened, and the god I had met the day prior stepped through, horn glowing with a golden light, a similarly glowing tray of tea following her. I did not question it, she was god after all, and god is capable of anything, including levitating tea. She walked to me with grace, and brought her tray of tea to a halt on the small table between the two chairs, she smiled and gestured for me to sit. I relaxed immediately, the chair was exactly right, neither too soft nor too rigid, and the faint smell of the tea made it even better.

She levitated a cup to me, which I took thankfully, before taking a seat herself and setting the grate ablaze. I drank of it's contents greedily, I hadn't drunk anything beyond water in a year, and the tea was exquisite. I could say many things about the glory of god, but never had thought 'makes brilliant tea' would be amongst those things, in a way it helped relax me more, she was a normal person, or pony.

"How did you sleep?" She asked, sipping her own tea.

"Better than I have in years," I answered, "but how long was I asleep?"

Her face contorted in thought for a moment, before settling on an answer: "three days."

I almost spat out my tea.

"Three days," I said in disbelief, all that time on the hard prison bed had evidently ruined me, so that old chair was akin to the most luxurious bed when compared to it. But despite this, I could not believe I had been asleep for three whole days.

"Yes," she chuckled, "you had me a little worried at first, but you were just fine it seems."

I laughed back, finishing my tea with a triumphant swing, these past few days had done wonders it seemed, I had clearly recovered from all that had ailed me. My physical condition had also improved greatly, no longer was I pained and I could speak without a tearing feeling in my throat. My face had also healed, there was a raw feeling no longer. I had begun to fully return to how I was before my arrest.

I looked to her, still sipping her tea like a noble would, "what is your name?" I asked her, it seemed like such a simple question, but to ask the name of god is much more than just a simple question.

"Princess Celestia," she answered, to my confusion, "but you can just call me Celestia."

I frowned, she was a princess? Princess of what? Surely she was god, the lord of all, not a simple princess.

"Princess of where?" I asked, the foundations of my belief over the past year slowly crumbling before logic.

"Equestria, where you are now in fact," she spoke of such obviousness to her, "why?"

I took me a moment to gather my thoughts, was not she god? Was not she the very same being I had placed my faith in? Surely not by how she spoke, perhaps she was not god after all.

"I...I..." I stuttered, mouth refusing to speak what I thought, "I thought you were god."

She laughed.

"There are some of my ponies who do believe that, but I'm no god. I'm just a princess," She took another sip of her tea, chuckling as she did so.

"Then how did you bring me here?" I questioned, faith in a god shattering as I did so, assailed on all sides.

"With magic of course," she spoke as though I had just forgotten something obvious, but it was the killing blow that shattered all faith I had had. I had been lied to, perhaps with no malignant intentions, and perhaps only to spare my sanity from the approaching doom I had faced, but lied to nonetheless.

I sunk into the chair, remembering the times before, I had been faithless then and been just fine so there was no reason for any sadness. Correct, my brain asserted, although I still need to find out why I am here. It made a good point.

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked, looking to here with reserved eyes.

"Well I knew I had to save you, nothing is worse than an innocent being punished for something they didn't do. But I also brought you here to ask you something," I could see her tense, as though she was unwilling to go on.

"I would like to recruit you," she began, "to work for Equestria, to work as our bulwark against the darkness. You don't have the same ties as ponies have, so I believe that you're the ideal candidate."

I froze, bulwark against the darkness? She wanted me to be her country's protector? I was a fighter, perhaps, but I was no soldier, no superhero. I could fight, yes, but not against someone trained or actually armed. I was hesitant, of course I was, who wouldn't be, but I did feel I owed her, and her country seemed like it was worth protecting with my life if she was anything to go by.

"I can hardly fight," I admitted to her, "so I don't know how much use I could be. But I'll do it."

I had left a world not worth fighting for, mankind had so much good left in it, but Earth was ruled by tyrants and villains, not worth sacrificing anything to protect. Equestria, from what I could gather, was ruled by the most caring creature I had ever met which only boded well for the ordinary citizen.

"Thank you," she seemed genuinely gracious of my acceptance, "Tell me, what is your name?"

"Gideon, Gideon Law."

"Gideon Law, welcome to Equestria."

Princess Celestia spent months teaching me everything about Equestria, from it's ancient history to the intricacies of it's current governance. She told me of the Royal Guard and of the formation of Equestria millennia prior. However, it took her some time to explain the stories of her and her sister.

According to not only her, but also scientific textbooks on the matter, she had ruled Equestria for centuries, alongside her sister Princess Luna. What she explained next took some getting used to:

Firstly, there was Discord, the supposed embodiment of chaos who managed to wrest control of the nation from Celestia and Luna and bring about a reign of absolute chaos, and a literal rain of chocolate. Celestia and Luna had stood up to Discord, and, after a lengthy battle, cast him to stone and set his statue in the palace gardens. This was hard enough to believe, then she started speaking of her and her sister's jobs as rulers. She stated that it was her job as ruler to raise the sun and bring the day, then her sister's to raise the moon and bring the night. Of course, I questioned her on this, speaking of my understanding of heliocentric theory and gravity from physics classes, she responded by saying it was "just how things are". I decided to ignore all science for these lectures after that, besides, she was magical, right?

She then, painfully I may add, explained the story of her sister's betrayal. The ponies, who slept at night, "shunned" the night and it's ruler, Luna. Luna's resent transformed her physically and mentally to form "Nightmare Moon", a wicked villain who sought to shroud the world in eternal night, you didn't need science to understand why that was a bad idea. Celestia explained that, after fighting her for weeks, she eventually utilised the full power of magical artefacts known as the "Elements of Harmony", which she had previously used to turn Discord to stone, to banish her sister to the moon.

She banished her to the moon?

Her sister had been up on the moon for almost a millennia, alone, I could only begin to imagine what that would feel like, at least in prison I had some company, even if it was mostly bad. Celestia explained how sorrowful she felt, but also that she knew she had to do so, as a prophecy had foretold of a group of six friends who would use the magic of friendship to destroy the evil within her. That confused me, as it would anyone else. She then told me that on the thousand year anniversary of Nightmare Moon's banishment, the spell that bound her to the moon would finally break and she would return to Equestria to seek revenge, and that would be when the prophesied six would arise and claim the Elements of Harmony to banish Nightmare Moon and bring Luna back.

It seems I would have my work cut out for me.