Archangel's New Assignment

by SabreXio

Another Hard Lesson

It had been a little under a week since Twilight had released my Titan on Ponyville, and I had had a busy week of repairs and explanations. The Mayor had visited wanting to know exactly what had happened and how I planned to keep it from happening again. I explained that due to a catastrophic failure on my part, an unstable A.I. had gained access to the robot and procceded to run rampant until I had destroyed it and recovered the chip it resided on. She then asked what happened to the chip and I told her I had personally disassembled it and had its parts vaporized. Oddly enough, she also said that so long as it never (and she stressed the 'never' quite a bit) happens again, and I help repair the damage the Titan had caused, she wouldn't say anything to the Princess. I agreed and spent most of my time patching up bullet and shrapnel holes in the town.

After finishing the repairs, I found myself with a little time left over.
Strange I thought I would have expected this to take at least a month. I guess Rarity and Twilight did a better job then I thought

"Twilight" I said out loud. I hadn't had any time to think about her. Now that I had time to think clearly, I remembered what I had said to her. Now I understood why only robots would put up with me: I could be an ass when I was mad. No...I hadn't been mad at her, I was scared of what could have happened.

"Captain, Spike would like to see you" Firestorm said over the ship systems "And he doesn't look happy

"Ok, NOW I'm dead" I said. I knew why he was here: to yell at me for yelling at Twilight.

I got up from my seat and made my way back to the main chamber, where I saw the dragon waiting.

"Look Spike, before you yell at me, just let me explain" I said

"The only thing I want to know is why you felt the need to yell at Twilight" he said seething

"Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that and..."

"Because of you, Twilight's been locked in her room for almost a week" he said "she won't even talk to me"

"What?"

"Yeah, she hasn't moved since you snapped at her"
I couldn't talk. I had caused this. To my friend of all people.

I had to make this right.

"Let me talk to her" I said "I owe her an apology"

"What makes you think she'll let you in to talk to her?"

"She doesn't have a choice" I said as I walked out, Spike on my tail

We were in front of Twilight's room before I knew it. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Twilight? It's me, Archangel. Can we talk?"

I heard a muffled "Go away" from in the room

"C'mon Twilight, I just want to talk"

"No"

"See?" Spike said

"Twilight, I'm coming in there whether you want me to or not"
The door began glowing with Twilight's magic.

"Aaaaand she blocked the door, how are you getting in now?"

"Spike, I'm Spec Ops, half my job is to get to places I'm not wanted" I said as I walked back down the stairs

I had a plan and as I rounded the outside of the tree, I saw what I was looking for: an open window. I positioned myself under a nearby branch and readied the grappling hook on my right arm. I took aim and fired the spike into the wood with a solid THUNK. The cable then retracted and brought me to the level of the window. As I climbed in the window, I saw Twilight, and it broke my heart. She was curled up in a purple ball on her bed, her head was pointed toward the foot of her bed, and if she had heard me come in, she wasn't showing it.

I sure know how to break someone's spirit I thought as I walked through the well kept room over to the bed.

"Twilight?"
The unicorn flinched and for a second I could see just how much damage I'd caused: she had been crying a lot and judging by how red her eyes were, she hadn't slept right for a while. Her mane and tail were in disarray and the fur under her eyes was discolored from tears.

No backing down now I thought as I sat down on the end of the bed.

"Twilight, I'm not here to yell at you again, I'm here to apologize"
The purple ball twitched a little. I just looked at the floor.
"I don't blame you for not wanting to see me" I said "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that"
She still wasn't saying anything.
"Look Twilight, I wasn't mad at you, I was scared, OK?"

"Scared?" she said weakly

Ok she's talking, we're getting somewhere

"Yes, I was scared, scared what might have happened to you" I said "even now thinking about what that abomination could have done sends shivers down my spine"

"How do you get scared?" she asked softly "you're the Element of Courage"

I looked over to see Twilight was actually looking at me.

"Twilight, courage isn't acting without fear; it's acting in spite of fear"

Twilight suddenly snapped up, her nose inches from mine and a look of anger and sadness in her eyes

"So when your scared, you just yell at anypony nearby?!" she snapped "How does that make sense!"
I just hung my head in guilt.
"It doesn't, and I'm sorry I took that out on you"
She seemed to relax slightly
"Look Twilight, danger is part of my job; from actually fighting Equestria's enemies to building and maintaining my weapons, everything I do is dangerous in some way or another"
The mare relaxed some more, still sitting next to me though
"And I would never be able to forgive myself if I hurt a friend again"
Fuck, shouldn't have said that I thought

"Again?" she said "you never hurt anypony I know of"

"She wasn't a pony" I replied soberly "but you do know of her"
She thought for a minute, then the realization visibly hit her.
"Your partner"

"Ever wonder how she ended up in the Aug Division?" I said, that painful memory flooding back "My fault"

"I'm sure you didn't mean it" she said trying to comfort me

"That doesn't matter. The fact is that she got hurt and it was my fault" I said "I was afraid that you might share the same fate...or worse"

We sat for a minute and let that sink in. This apology seemed to be turning into more of a therapy session for me, then me owning up to what I did, but I think Twilight at least understood why I reacted how I did.

"I think I need to apologize too Captain" Twilight suddenly said, breaking the silence "I never should have messed with your stuff"

"How did you even manage to turn that thing on?" I asked "you wouldn't have been able to access his systems"

"Well, after you and Guardian left, it started talking to me" Twilight began "Apologizing for how it acted, and saying he only acted like that because he was trapped"

"And he was trapped" I said "And now you see why"

"But then he started talking about how much he just wanted to make friends and have fun..."

"Let's skip the sob story part" I said "I think we've had enough of that for the time being"

"Right, well anyway, I offered to help him" she continued "He said that if I could somehow connect the two machines, he could jump to the robot; so, I made a magical bridge between them"

"Wait, you created a wireless link between two machines?" I asked amazed. I didn't know magic could interact with machines like that.

"I guess" she replied "but then he started laughing, like evil laughing, which scared me and I ran out of the room"

"And that's when I found you" I added

"Yes"

"So you really were just trying to help him"

"I really didn't mean to cause so much trouble" the unicorn said "I just thought it would make a good letter to the Princess, and I could help you all at once"

"Letter to the Princess?"

"Celestia wanted me continue my study of the Magic of Friendship" Twilight explained "so I send her weekly reports on what I've learned"

"That's...interesting" I said

"Oh wait!" Twilight said "I haven't written my letter yet"
I stood up from the bed, feeling ten tons lighter

"Then let's go" I said "I want to know what this letter says"
We both walked to the door which Twilight unlocked and made our way back to the library, where Spike was waiting.

"See Spike? I told you I had it covered"

"Twilight! I was so worried about you" Spike cried as he hugged his...I guess she's a mother figure for him

"Spike, I need you to take a letter" Twilight said after they finished their little reunion

"You got it" he replied as he (once again) magically produced paper and a quill from nowhere

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, I learned a lesson as unique as the one who taught it. Everypony has a different way of showing they care, from giving gifts and compliments to saving lives and protecting other. And even if their way of showing it doesn't make much sense, a true friend will always have your best interests at heart.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle
"Twilight, you're awesome"

Author's Note:

I don't have the slightest Idea how I was suppose to format a letter here, so there's that.

And the ending wasn't what I wanted but the lesson's there

Comments

[djponyfl]

very good story so far.

can't wait for the next chapter.

[SabreXio]

3151104

no it's a two-eyed, no horned, terrestrial, green gunpowder eater
Close though
3151397

Correct