"And just who do you think you are, making demands of my subordinates without first consulting me?" came the clearly annoyed voice of Princess Celestia. The brilliant white alicorn stood before a mirror, surrounded by Royal Guards in a stone chamber. The mirror was a big oval, ornately decorated with golden leaves and branches, giving the feel of natural origins. Her face was fixed into a scowl as she started into the mirror, eyeing what resided on the other side.
Through the mirror, she saw a giant stone room decorated with many tapestries. Each one was a different color, ordained with an individual symbol ranging from a sword being wrapped by a wyvern to a picture of a large black claw. Underneath all of them sat a simple gold throne, upright and lined with the same red velvet Celestia's own throne bore. Seated upon it was a gryphon, a large and richly clothed one. His piercing gold eyes glared at the mirror, staring deep into Celestia's own magenta ones. The rich brown feathers that covered his upper body were mottled black, save for his beak as golden as his eyes. A rich red robe clothed him, covering his body, save for his dark brown furry legs. A tail containing a tuft of long brown fur slowly waved behind him like a snake, as if warning Celestia of his mood.
"I am the king. I can make demands whenever I please," he spat at the pony in a scratchy, yet deep voice.
"You can make them to me and I will consider them, not my Captain," Celestia accentuated, her voice taking a dangerous edge.
"And what does it matter to you?" the gryphon king snarled to her, "It's not like the whelp would actually listen like a good soldier."
Celestia started to grind her teeth at that statement.
"Are you so thick-headed you forget how to be diplomatic?" she hissed back.
The king's eyes flashed dangerously at that comment.
"I was not the one who started this, lest your memory be fading with your age," he growled back, "You demanded to see me during my meal, so be thankful I answered."
Celestia planted a hoof to her forehead and rubbed it slowly, still grinding her teeth. Why she put up with this, she would never understand.
"Listen, you," she began dangerously, "I don't care what your demands are, you will not coerce my subjects to your will."
"Subjects are supposed to listen to rulers, not the other way around," the gryphon king growled back, "Or have you forgotten that?"
"I have little time for these insults, dear king," Celestia angrily shot at him, "Mark my words, this is the last time you will make demands of my subjects without my involvement, the last officer you will have removed and you will treat us with the respect and dignity we treat you with! Do I make myself clear?"
The king leaned forward a bit, his gaze hard at the white alicorn.
"Do you wish to tell me how to run my country?" he dangerously insinuated.
Celestia held her ground, refusing to look or back away.
"Yes, as I did your father and his father before him. I am the reason you sit on that throne and the reason your army does not cross our borders. Remember that, dear king. Remember that before you start something you cannot hope to stop."
The gryphon king spat at the ground in front of the mirror, clearly insulted.
"And mark my words, dear princess. I am not your vassal as were the weak kings before me. I keep our ancient pact out of honor, not because I feel I owe some debt to you. What you did was over eight centuries ago, in an age long forgotten. Remember your place, since your precious ponies have softened with age while my gryphons have advanced."
"Then we are at an agreement?" Celestia asked impatiently.
The king grunted to her before walking out of the frame, letting the mirror fade to show Celestia's angry reflection. Irritated, the princess left the mirror as her guards covered it with a long red drape. When she had left the cramped stone chamber, her Captain, Shining Armor, stood before her, saluting in his gold and purple armor.
"My Princess," he spoke in his official tone, "You wished to see me?"
"This is not the place, Captain," she spoke quickly, "Meet me in my chambers."
After finishing her statement, the Princess disappeared in a quick burst of white magic, followed by Shining Armor. The two materialized seconds later within the Princess's private quarters, each staring at the other.
"Captain, can you please tell me why you removed my sister's lead guardian on the whim of the gryphon king?" she asked pointedly, "Luna was most displeased when she heard the news."
Shining gulped a bit at that, but kept his composure. Princess Celestia was quite scary when she was serious.
"Ma'am, I did what was required of me," he spoke with shaky confidence, "She neglected to follow our protocols and as such, had mobilized an armed force without authorization. That was what got her removed."
"And why was that a problem?" Celestia asked with a little force, "The whole Lunar Guard is in an uproar, as is my sister. I cannot afford my guards bickering at a time like this."
"Because it has been a rule since before I was made Captain," Shining stated, "You set the rule in place to avoid any chance of a corrupt pony gaining an armed force after your sister turned half of the Royal Guard on you."
Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but closed it after not uttering any noise. Her mind searched for any record of her decree, and sure enough remembered the proclamation. She had established the rule a thousand years ago after Luna had allowed the Nightmare to corrupt her, allowing her to influence the then leaders of the Lunar Guard to start a coup on her sister and the newly founded Royal Guard. They had nearly succeeded, causing the then young and inexperienced Celestia to make some drastic changes in protocols of her guardians.
The alicorn lowered her head a bit, a defeated look on her face. Shining kept his salute, waiting for the call to be at ease. The growing silence between them soon became tense as Celestia thought for a few moments before sighing heavily.
"I did make that rule," she murmured, "And it cannot be helped. Rules are there for a reason, even if they are from a millennium ago."
She lifted her head to look at Shining Armor, her sparkling rainbow mane waving gently.
"Gather the guards. I will speak to them personally on the matter and calm them."
Shining nodded before disappearing in his own blue magic.
"Angel, wait dammit!"
The gray bat pony barely registered the words being shouted at her as her belongings were placed into her saddlebags. Her normally sparkling eyes were instead watery, dripping tears onto her valuables. It was when she had started packing did she realize how little she truly owned. Aside from her stuffed Princess Luna, fake Element of Magic tiara and some beads, the poor bat pony had hardly anything. As she dejectedly dropped her items into the brown bags bearing a white heartbeat line, a hoof shot out and grabbed her Luna.
"Angel, for Celestia's sake, look at me!" came the irritated voice of a stallion.
Turning her head, the mare regarded the white stallion, still dressed in his armor, as he looked down at her. His eyes flickered between his natural red color and a vibrant blue, a phenomenon she thought was rather interesting. A look of anger and concern was etched on his face as he stared into her eyes.
"Don't do this, please," he pleaded, "I will not allow you to leave under these circumstances."
"It's alright, Comet," she murmured back, "I messed up. I should have kn--"
"NO!" he shouted back, "I don't care what they say! You did your job and they should not cut you off because of one jerk!"
"Comet..." Angel whined back.
"Don't leave," he stated, his voice gaining an unusual whine, "Angel, please don't leave. I.. I can't..."
Comet stopped speaking there, his own eyes becoming glassy. He regarded the mare, the one who had put him through Tartarus and had come out his marefriend, as she looked back at him, ready to burst into tears. Inside his chest, he felt the familiar feeling of emptiness crawl up and strangle his lungs, the same feeling he got when he thought about his sister. He didn't want to lose another special pony. Pressing his forehead to hers, his hooves automatically wrapped around the mare and pulled her close. He wasn't acting like a concerned friend anymore, but that of a caring coltfriend.
"Angel," he choked out, "I don't want to lose you too."
The bat pony couldn't hold out any longer. Burying her snout into his shoulder, her tears burned steaks down her face.
"I don't wanna leave either," she whimpered, "B-But, I w-want you to b-be happy t-too."
"Angel, I'm happiest when I'm with you," he groaned out, wrapping her more tightly into his hug, "I haven't been this happy since Nova was alive."
The two ponies sat in silence for a few second, each holding onto one another tightly. Comet struggled not to shed a tear because, if he did, he would be an emotional wreck for the remainder of his Royal Guard days. This was the ultimate test of his stoic-ness, to remain strong when the most important pony to him was taken away yet again. Angel, on the other hoof, thought about how much she was going to miss him and what life would be like for her.
"Where are you going to go?" Comet asked hoarsely.
Angel whimpered a few times before answering.
"M-My colony. I... I need to see my d-dad again."
Comet tensed at that, but kept her in his grip.
"Where is your colony?" he queried.
"F-Far to the north, near the Crystal Empire. A city called Transyl-mania," she sniffled back.
Comet thought about that, wondering if he knew of such a place. He couldn't recall anything about that place other than some stories about the mythical vamponies that lived there. He knew they were false, but never thought such a place really existed.
"Do you need to go?" he replied.
Angel nodded her head, smearing her tears and snot on his shoulder. Comet would normally be grossed out by that, but didn't care at this point. Instead, he was slowly hatching an idea. The normal Royal Guard salary wasn't much, but being the leader of Princess Celestia's personal guard had some perks. His salary had gone up considerably, but he had hardly used it other than to spoil Angel, as well as slip Midnight some bits for his dates with Valyrie. That meant he had quite a bit left over, sitting in his bit bag.
"Angel," he started, "Why don't you stay here with me?"
"I can't, C-Comet," she whined, ready to start crying again.
"No, I mean permanently," he deadpanned, causing Angel to look up at him, "I want you to stay with me, either here in Canterlot or in San Pransisco."
"What?" she asked, her glossy eyes widening.
Comet gulped, his thoughts finally realizing what he was building up to. She was annoying, loudmouthed and just too silly for her own good. She was bent on making him miserable, going as far as to tricking him a fortnight ago into doing something incredibly intimate with her. She was a pony he despised, but it went farther than that. He couldn't stop looking at those big gold eyes, nor could he keep a straight face around her. He didn't laugh, grin or feel good unless she was there. All in all, he was annoyed when she was there, but he was utterly miserable when she wasn't. It was then his mind was made up on what he thought of her.
"Angel," he stated slow and deliberately, his mind completely blank, "I love you. I don't ever want you to cry when I can do something about it. I don't want you to be alone when I should be there."
He pressed his forehead to her again, just staring at her eyes. His hooves squeezed a little more tightly on her while his wings unfurled and wrapped around her like a second pair of hooves. Inside his mind, three words bounced around that terrified him. Before he knew it, his mouth started moving, unable to stop when his mind shouted for them to.
"Angel," he whispered, "Marry me."
It was the three dumbest words he could have spoken right then, but her reaction told him that he had said the right thing. Her eyes widened even more as she froze, tear lines still on her face. She was so utterly cute right then, Comet couldn't help but let a small smile crack his face.
"B-But," she stammered, unable to think of what to say, "W-We can't..."
"Yes, we can," Comet stated in a voice slightly above a whisper, "When you were a guard, we couldn't. You're not a guard anymore."
"B-But how? We don't have anything saved up," Angel pointed out.
"I do," Comet said confidently, "I will get us a home and I will make sure you never have nowhere to go. When you get back, all you will have to do is just fill our home with fruit."
Comet wasn't really sure what happened next. One moment, Angel's eyes twitched as she registered his words, then the next she was on top of him, pinning him to the floor with her hooves crushing the air out of his neck.
"Yes, Comet!" she shouted, tears running down her face again, this time for joy, "Yes, Oh Celestia yes!"
Comet couldn't tell her how happy he was she had said yes for two reasons. The first was that he couldn't breathe, the second was that shortly after, he heard somepony clearing his throat. Looking up, a steel gray unicorn guard looked down at him, a scornful look on his face. Both Angel and Comet froze, looking up at the guard who started to blush.
"I'm sorry, Commander," he stated, the look on his face accented by the blush, "I didn't mean to interrupt you during your 'personal' time..."
Comet flipped out at that. He nearly threw Angel off of him, allowing himself to breathe and stand up, before literally yelling at the guard he had the wrong idea and that he was not engaging in any inappropriate conduct. After two minutes, Comet finally calmed down enough to let the guard speak, though his face was more red than the guards.
"Sir, I did not think... Well, I mean... Uh..." The guard stammered. He shook his head and regained his normal, stoic face before continuing, the blush still apparent. "Shining Armor has requested that all members of the Solar and Lunar Guard meet at once to have an audience with Princess Celestia."
He saluted after that and disappeared in a whirl of green magic, leaving the two ponies to sit in silence. Dejectedly, Comet turned to Angel and looked at her, realizing why he was originally here. Instad of crying, the mare smiled at him, her face still wet but her eyes now happy.
"Go ahead," she said as she waved her hoof to him, "I don't want you to be late."
"But-" Comet murmured to her.
"I already have my stuff packed. I want to see my father at least one more time before I get married," she said with a small coo at the end of her statement. Comet blushed a little at that, smiling to himself.
"I mean it," he stated, confidence regaining control of his voice, "I will have a home for us."
"And I will fill it with so many oranges, you will think we owned a grove," she finished with a mischievous smile.
Comet grinned at her as he turned around. Without realizing it, his armor slipped off of him, landing with a loud clang on the floor. Comet sucked his teeth, realizing how dumb he must look and bent over to put it back on.
"Comet," Angel started, her voice hinting at concern "Why are you still white?"
Looking down, the stallion gave a curious look to the mare before lifting his hoof to his face, expecting it to be his usual orange. After all, the armor only force changed his coat when he was wearing the main pieces. Instead, a sparkling white hoof glimmered back at him in place of his usual ochre. His eyes widened a bit at that as he looked to the armor laying on the floor.
"I, uh," he stammered, hurrying to put it back on. As he did, the white coat he wore began to fade back to his normal ochre before zapping back to the brilliant white. He looked at Angel, confused, when she spoke up.
"Must be some kind of glitch with the spell?" she offered as an explanation.
Grimacing, Comet made a note to himself to speak with Shining Armor about this as he darted off. Before he turned down the hall, he looked back at Angel, still sitting on the floor of her former room and smiled as she waved weakly.
"I love you," she called to him.
"I love you too," he replied.