Power lies deep within

They sat there in silence for more than ten minutes. Nobody dared to say a word. The expression on the human's face was dead serious. He had told them the truth, and they all knew it.

Equestria was in great danger.

"I must go", the human finally spoke, "it is clear that I am still not welcome here. I will find a way on my own"

He looked sad when he said those words.

"Wait", Luna spoke while she jumped up, "things have changed since you were last here. We were wrong"

"What do you mean?", the human asked, showing his surprise.

"Luna was corrupted one thousand years ago", Celestia spoke. "It seems that evil does exist inside of us, even though I thought we had banished it forever"

The human considered these words for a moment.

"Your kind shows great resistance", he then spoke, "but with time, even the strongest of us can fall, I told you this before"

"And you were right", Luna continued, "if you would have been around, maybe your experience could have guided us, but we were afraid that you would be the cause of evil in this land"

"What's done is done, and could not have happened otherwise", the human said, "the question is, what will you do now that you have learned the truth?"

Celestia and Luna didn't respond, they were considering their options.

"Give us a moment", Celestia finally spoke, "Luna, come with me please"

Luna didn't say a word, she went to the next room with Celestia. This left Shining Armour, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy together with the human. The expression on the human's face was more gentle now, he had done what he had set out to do, it was up to the princesses to make a decision.

"You asked me what kind of creature I am", the human spoke to Fluttershy, "The short answer is that I am human, but that is not entirely accurate. Before ponies came to this world, I was a human. The main difference between humans and me, is that humans do not have wings or magic. Humans are, however, very strong compared to the strength of ponies. I would classify myself at about ten times as strong as an average pony when I was still human. I travelled around the entire world and in time, I found myself absorbing various essences from this word. You know these essences as magic. Only a select few humans have been able to attain magic, since none of us are born with it. After I learned how to perform magic, it's effects slowly transformed me until I became a mythical creature of my time. "

"We were called Angels."

"What's your name?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Now that the tension of the first meeting had gone away, she was back to her cheerful self.

"The name I once had I have long forgotten", he said in a low voice, "the enemies of this land simply call me 'The Angel".

Before he could continue, a voice from behind them said: "We know him as Michael".

It was Luna, she had returned from her meeting with Celestia, but Celestia herself was still in the other room.

"He is the last of his kind, the legendary race of humans"

"That is correct", Michael responded.

"The ancient scriptures of my time spoke of legions of angels. It was said that their leaders were called ‘Archangels. The writings told us about six archangels. One of them was named Michael, that is the name I choose for myself."

"How old are you?" Rarity asked. "By what princess Luna said earlier, you must be more than two thousand years old"

"Yes", Michael responded, "The line of humans was ended a little over three thousand years ago, roughly five hundred years after ponies first came to existence.  I was sixty years old when I transcended to be an angel. That was about thirty eight hundred years ago"

"What happened to the others of your kind?", Applejack asked.

Michael's face expressed sadness and anger at the same time.

"It's a long and painful story", he responded, "I will tell you when and if the time is right."

Finally Shining Armour had a question.

"What is your relationship with the princesses?", he asked.

He tried to read the faces of both Luna and Michael, but was not able to determine what was going on in their thoughts.

"That too is a long story", Michael said. "Let's just say that we met after they had taken over the rule of Equestria. I stayed within it's borders for a while, before Luna and Celestia decided that my presence was a danger to your peace. They were right, at least, that is what I thought back then. We agreed that I would never return to Equestria, the rest has already been revealed by our conversation earlier"

"Michael".

Celestia had returned from the other room, and directed her speech towards the angel.

"We are greatly in your debt. Without you, Equestria would be in constant war with the forces of evil. You have given us the peace that we have lived in for over two thousand years. I know not why you did not give up after such a long time, but I am eternally grateful to you"

Michael did not respond, so Celestia continued her speech.

"The news you bring is terrible. We must prepare for a war that our kind has not seen for many generations. I'm afraid that we can never hope to defend ourselves during these times. Not even the Elements of Harmony could bring Atum Ra to his knees so long ago. Please, I beg of you, even though we do not deserve any of your kindness, help us defeat this evil. Help us prepare for the fight that is to come".

The tremor in Celestia's voice gave away that she did not want to ask this. She knew it wasn't in her right to ask such a thing from the angel.

"Dear Celestia", Michael responded, again with a kindness in his voice, "you know you can ask me anything any time. I owe so much to the short time I lived in these borders, and I swore to be there for Equestria, always. I'm glad that I get to live here once more.”

"Thank you", Celestia replied, faintly smiling.

"You all must still have so much to ask me", Michael said to everyone in the circle, "But I must ask you to keep those questions with you for a while. My wounds have only barely healed, and I must rest from the journey I made to get here. Please, come see me in the morning. We will talk then".

Michael rose up and walked out of the room. He seemed to know where he was going.

Shining Armour followed him from a distance. He wanted to know where this man was going and he had to make sure that no pony disturbed him. He still didn’t trust the angel.

Once outside, Michael spread his wings, and with a mighty swing, he soared up towards the mountain top, where he hid between the clouds.

"He will return in the morning Captain", Luna said from behind Shining Armour, "Trust him, he will never betray a promise he made".

"Can I ever fully trust someone that almost killed me without the slightest hesitation? He's dangerous!" Shining Armour said in a deep voice.

"Please forgive him” Luna responded, “He has come to know great pain in the past. Their kind never ceases to struggle with evil"