He was devoted to her.
This devotion was unquestionable, unshakeable.
He walked into her personal chambers and kneeled, placing his horn on the ground.
"You requested my presence, your highness?"
Celestia nodded. She looked troubled. "Yes, General Fiery Heart. It seems there's some sort of gang war brewing in your native Detrot. The mayor has requested millitary aid. I want you to take some troops there. Understand this is a peace keeping mission. Put any and all gang members under millitary detention. If I can avoid it I don't want to put the whole city under martial law, but we've had fifty casualties already this week. I will not allow the ponies of Detrot to suffer needlessly at the hands of criminals."
Fiery Heart almost chocked. He had never disobeyed an order, wouldn't even consider it, but...
"Your highness is there no one else for this task?"
"You know the situation. You were born there." Celestia said.
"I haven't set hoof there in twenty years."
"Really? Don't you miss your family?"
"Not really."
"Twenty years? Has it really been that long? You must be thirty by now at least."
"Thirty-six."
"How time flies." Celestia marvelled. "You remind me of the sire of your lineage, Akhel."
"You knew Akhel?" Fiery Heart asked. Akhel had sired his lineage two-thousand years ago.
"Oh, yes. Fairly well." Celesta smiled and Fiery Heart could have sworn she'd blushed. "A-anyway, I really feel that you are the best stallion for the job."
"Your highness...I..."
Celestia smiled. "You can't keep running from your past. You've changed. You've grown. You're not him anymore."
Fiery Heart couldn't help but momentarily allow himself to get lost in her eyes. They were ancient eyes, pools of wisdom. She carried with her the memories of a world that no longer was. She had watched nations rise and fall and she had watched the descendants of her first advisors age and die till their lines were long forgotten. What was it like, he wondered, to live as long as she had? He eventually decided that it would be a painful, lonely life. He was glad she now had her sister to keep her company.
"Fiery Heart?" Her voice, ever gentle, cut him from his musings. "Do you accept this mission?"
"I..."
Fiery Heart had last set foot in Detrot when he'd been sixteen. He was on trial for beating to death the member of a rival gang. The penalty for the crime was banishment, Equestria's severest punishment. He'd be lucky if he wasn't devoured by the creatures of the Everfree Forest or enslaved by Diamond Dogs.
"I find the defendant guilty." The judge rapped the gavel.
"Wait." A gentle voice shook the court room. Princess Celestia walked into the courtroom. Everyone knelt.
"Your highness? What are you doing here?" The judge asked.
"I have heard of this young colt's crime, but also believe he has potential. I want him in the guard."
Fiery Heart thought for a moment he was dreaming. Of course he knew violent offenders were sometimes allowed a chance in the guard, but he'd never beleved he'd be offered that chance.
He'd left the courtroom, trailing behind her and flanked by two royal guards. A chariot was waiting.
"Why me?" He asked her.
"You are strong and intelligent. Your skill with magic is well-known. And some just deserve a second chance. But if you violate the law again I will not shield you from the consequences."
He saluted her. "I'll do whatever you want."
Twenty years passed and his training in the guard had tempered him. He had helped keep peace in the provinces for most of his adult life. He could do this.
"Fiery Heart? Are you alright?" The concern in her voice was genuine.
He kneeled again. "Your highness I accept this mission." He said to the mare that had offered him a new life all those years before.