Chapter 0: Recap

Recap: The story so far…

Spoilers if you haven’t read previous two stories but this will be a short version of what has happened.

Trips Into The Unexplored.

Dave was a normal human teenager, as far as video games, school and social skills were concerned. But while finishing a sandwich from a shop, Dave fell through a portal into Equestria, landing into a tree with enough force to injure himself.

Upon awakening, Dave discovers his wounds are already beginning to heal and is put asleep by a spell cast by Twilight Sparkle. Dave quickly becomes introduced to the town of Ponyville but is shocked when a few of the more important residents begin throwing themselves at his feet.

The appearance of the human also catches the attention of the princesses of Equestria, the royals invited Dave and his new friends to stay at the castle for a few days. It is here he meets a Sergeant in the Royal Guard called Strong Shield.

Along with his healing powers, Dave begins to feel stronger, faster and generally bad tempered. But when one fatal injury is healed his willingness to experiment with his new abilities brings him face to face with Princess Luna.

Dave and the princess share a few nights talking before sharing a kiss. The princess ends the relationship before it begins and the human returns to Ponyville slightly more confused.

It isn’t long before Dave is recommended for a task to investigate a series of earthquakes at a town called Appaloosa. The earthquakes were actually being caused by a dragon tunnelling underground, and Dave’s interruption allows the dragon to leave happy and the town to survive unharmed.

On the train journey home, Dave is surprised that Princess Celestia commissioned a house to be built on the outskirts of Ponyville for the human. Dave is surprised again with a housewarming party and is surprised once more when he awakes to find Celestia in his bed.

Relived that he didn’t become intimate with the princess, Dave and the alicorn settle into a relationship relatively easy considering their multiple meetings prior and his encounters with Luna.

As Dave’s life begins to become simpler, he is thrown astray again as he discovers that his body is being shared with a spirit of hatred called Odio. Odio being the culprit for Dave’s healing, strength and bad temper.

Odio also reveals that he was banished from Equestria and had used Dave to return by using the human as a vessel. The spirit of hatred is confused when the human reveals that he doesn’t hate Odio for taking from Earth and they eventually become good yet reluctant friends.

Dave is soon in trouble when Rainbow Dash and Luna fight over him, both ponies still wanting to have him as their own. Rainbow Dash ends up badly hurt and Dave’s only way to distract the princess of the night was to kiss her.

Celestia finds out Dave’s kiss with Luna and finds out how deep her sister’s feelings are for the human. Celestia decides that she doesn’t want to see her sister become violent and ends up making the guards prevent Dave from going to see anypony but Luna.

When the human resists and fights his way to Celestia, the princess is assured that he truly loves her and so uses a spell to remove the human/pony barrier between them. Dave isn’t pleased with the transformation and soon begins to feel unwell and have painful side effects.

The pony Dave ends up in a cell, his imprisonment disturbed by the deep pain in his body. Sergeant Strong Shield soon discovers that Dave is actually resistant to magic, and the ponies all find Dave, transforming painfully back into a human.

Celestia only just reaches her lover’s side as he passes away. Odio revives Dave later on and the human is secretly whisked away from the castle by Strong Shield. Meanwhile the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and the princesses all discover their feelings for the human and end up hating each other.

Once Dave is found to be alive again he becomes adopted by Strong Shield, the normally emotionless pony caring for the human’s wellbeing. Celestia takes Dave into her quarters for a day of ‘quality time’ where the lovers are reunited again until Dave meets the others.

Eventually Luna’s feelings get the better of her and the princess requests a harem with her sister and Dave. But Celestia requests that Dave enters a harem with Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity instead. Pinkie Pie being the only one excluded as all the others all hate each other over having feelings for the same human. The resulting lack of friendship means that the Elements of Harmony are useless unless Dave makes them all friends again.

Dave refuses the idea and ends up alone, fearful that he has lost Celestia and all his friends. The ponies all find Dave back at his home and talk him into forming a harem. But the peace is short lived when Dave realized that he may have gotten Celestia pregnant, his magic-resisting body reacting with an alicorn body that can be impregnated by almost any race.

Celestia is relieved to find out she isn’t pregnant but causes an argument with Dave when she denies herself being with him. The human takes the stressful opportunity to run away and disappears, the ponies panicked as they can’t find a trace of him.

Strong Shield soon finds a lead but destroys evidence of Dave’s whereabouts and only tells Princess Celestia on the condition she doesn’t force his adopted son into doing anything he doesn’t want to. The veteran guard loses his job as a result of his actions regardless.

Dave meanwhile arrives at a dragon territory, a large mountain being home to many dragons including the one he encountered in Appaloosa. The dragon becomes known as Adamas and shows Dave that the mountain itself is a large, ancient dragon.

The elder dragon uses magic to learn about Dave’s being, also stumbling across Odio but keeps that information secret. The dragons then reveal that their physical growth comes from greed whilst magical growth comes from generosity.

The elder makes Dave a coat from a few of his scales and warns him that something evil intends to use Dave’s magic-resisting powers to oppose Celestia and Luna. The solution was for Dave to stay with the princesses and remain in their protection.

Dave is launched back to Ponyville, finding Celestia wants to have a serious, monogamous relationship but Dave doesn’t want to deal with potentially being rejected again.

This doesn’t last long as Dave and Celestia soon become a couple again and the princess even goes to prove her commitment by being seen in public, kissing the human.

The reveal of the evil being’s coming forces Dave to train so he can defend himself. Odio provides Dave with a means of tapping into his energy to shoot bolts of hate energy in an emergency.

Meanwhile Princess Luna can’t keep herself from loving Dave and tries to get him to feel the same as the human begins to feel even grumpier from Odio’s growing power. The fog having to physically manifest inside the human just to overcome the magical resistance.

Dave eventually finds out that Odio was the evil spirit and he could easily use Dave after having such a long time in his body. But the being of hate says that Dave has nothing to fear because all Odio wanted was to come home and live peacefully even though he harbours sour feelings towards the princesses.

With this new information, Dave struggles to find a way out of training and keep the presence of Odio a secret. But unfortunately uses some of Odio’s power in a rage and is mistaken for Odio himself.

Dave is captured and the Elements of Harmony are used against him, locking him away in stone. Meanwhile Celestia discovers she is pregnant with Dave’s child but still believes that the human is Odio.

Odio manages to break Dave out of the stone prison and the human finds himself in the Changeling hive, exchanging some of his love for directions through the wasteland he is in. The Changeling Queen Chrysalis uses her love to rejuvenate her sister Princess Larva and the queen soon gains an abnormal obsession with the human.

Celestia and Luna try to reconcile each other after thinking they have been tricked by Odio. Celestia wanting to have her new child removed from her but is discouraged by her sister.

Meanwhile Strong Shield grows suspicious of Adamas’ frequent visits to Canterlot and demands to know why. As Dave passes through Ponyville, his presence is discovered and soon the princesses are aware that Dave is on his way to them.

Dave’s magical resistance helps Odio to assault Canterlot, the fog and human taking the castle quickly and capturing the Elements of Harmony and the princesses as a result. Everypony finds out that Dave and Odio are two different beings and Dave merely wanted to return to tell Celestia that he truly loved her before leaving.

Odio reveals that he used Dave this entire time, to make the Elements of Harmony hate each other so they would prove ineffective. Dave is released into the city as Odio begins the second stage of his plan.

Dave makes it back into the castle with the help of Strong Shield and Adamas, the Unicorn and Dave both making it into the throne room with ease as Odio awaited their return.

Strong Shield takes an attack for Dave and is blasted out of a window. Dave uses his blood to sever the magical bonds around the princesses before helping the ponies to recover the Elements of Harmony and use them against Odio.

The fog reveals that was another one of his plans and the energy he has amassed will cause an explosion. Dave can carry Odio due to his magical resistance and carries him to a series of catapults that fail until he makes a revelation.

Odio won’t go without him.

Dave sits on the final catapult with Odio, the ponies refusing to use the lever and send Dave to his death. The injured Strong Shield pulls the lever before falling unconscious, life fading from him.

Luna keeps Celestia back as Dave rises into the sky before exploding. Odio reveals that he wanted the princesses to know the suffering he went through but ultimately he hadn’t expected Dave to become such a close friend and mentions that Dave won’t be hurt.

Dave and Odio both disappear in the explosion that sends a shockwave towards the city. Adamas takes the force which awakens his dragon magic and makes his scales pure diamond. The dragon returns to watch his elder die and the responsibility of reforming dragons is passed to him.

Strong Shield is taken to hospital where he is placed into a coma to keep him alive, his wound not able to be fully cured in his condition.

Celestia and Luna both decide to remember Dave and to take care of his child once it is born.

A few months later a therapist on Earth is visited by an odd boy who retells the story and reveals that Dave spent so long with Odio that they melded slightly, Dave’s normally resistant body actually changed to absorb any magic Odio released.

The boy reveals that he is Odio and Dave’s death was a short plan he created so Dave could live forever with his family and Odio. The fog ends by leaving through a portal he made connecting Earth to Equestria, stating that Dave will return when the time was right.

Unexplored Paths.

Four months later…

Dave returns as Celestia goes into labour, the human only able to return as a skeleton. Dave makes his way to Celestia’s side in time for their son to be born, the new colt’s contact with Dave restores the rest of his body by causing the rest of his dormant magic to surge.

The foal is named Noxporta but is called Nox for short as life seems to return to a confusing yet normal state. Luna reveals her feelings are still there for Dave and Celestia reveals she is fine with Dave being with her sister as well.

More confusion is thrown into the relationship as Nox suddenly ages to that of an older child and is almost instantly showing an interest in Sweetie Belle and then Applebloom. Applebloom being the one who returns the feelings and begins to hang around with the colt.

Odio returns to Equestria as a changeling, the spirit of hate attending a peace conference between the gryphons and changelings as an opportunity to sneak into Dave’s body. The human attending as a guest of Adamas who became an ambassador to try and bring peace to Equestria.

Dave refuses, claiming he can’t allow other feelings to come between him and his family. The human is re-joined to Odio but the fog of hate is only allowed to be around on the condition he stays out of Dave’s mind and body.

Strong Shield’s wounded state is soon discovered by a pair of ex-guards that used to be very important to the unicorn. Flux, a Pegasus, who used to be a lover to Strong Shield and Battering Ram, an earth pony, who used to be his best friend.

The ponies that haven’t been together for thirty years fight, Strong Shield’s wounded body is supported by Dave who wasn’t much help against the trained and powerful Battering Ram.

Strong Shield reveals that Flux and Battering Ram turned bad when convinced by a pony called Puppetmaster that martial law could easily remove crime if implemented correctly.

Strong Shield thought he had killed Flux and Battering Ram but they took advantage of Strong Shield’s new injuries to try and recover one final project that Puppetmaster had hidden away.

Project Unity. The project would create a monster that would ingest and kill all life to create one perfect being combined from all races. The only missing piece being an alicorn. Unfortunately Battering Ram and Flux both were unaware that this was the true purpose of Project Unity.

Strong Shield reveals that he has the key to the project and knows where the vault is that the project is stored in. Dave takes the key from Strong Shield, the pony had the key hidden in his eye that had been cut out many years ago.

Flux and Battering Ram both have the same skill set as Strong Shield and the unicorn is in no position to fight both of them. And they refuse to believe his warnings about Project Unity.

As the two ponies focused on revenge begin to have close encounters with Dave and Strong Shield, they begin to wonder what they are truly doing. Flux begins to reconcile with her only love as Battering Ram discovers more about his own morals and what Strong Shield sacrificed to keep their original betrayal a secret.

Strong Shield worries about the closing danger, unaware of the outcome and decides to find the vault with Dave, intending to throw the key into the vault and lock it forever.

Meanwhile Dave proposes to Celestia with Luna making an eclipse to make the moment special. Luna meets with Dave and collapses after raising the moon, the repeated movements of the moon causing her to grow tired.

Dave stays by Luna’s side and his own concerns causes his old love to rekindle and he takes up the offer of being with both Celestia and Luna. The human saying he has to put Nox first and marry Celestia before marrying Luna.

Strong Shield informs Dave that the vault to Project Unity is locked away in a prison called Tartarus, the only accessible way in being a train called the Daedalus.

Flux and Battering Ram both discuss and realize they have wasted their lives following their dead leader and try to talk with Strong Shield, begging forgiveness. The unicorn is about to agree when the location of the key is leaked and the unicorn is forced to flee with Dave.

Flux and Battering Ram both realize that Strong Shield and Dave were right about Project Unity and pursue them, knowing Project Unity needs a brain from any creature that isn’t already assimilated. The creatures include alicorns and humans.

Dave, Odio and Strong Shield make it to the Daedalus and begin their journey. Crashing into the Changeling Hive and Dave agrees to stay in Chrysalis’ company as long as nothing is attempted on Dave's person or Strong Shield's life.

During the night, Dave has a vision and his arm is branded with the symbol ‘1EC’. The mark is a sign that the bearer is a prisoner of Tartarus. The small group arrive at a large black dome but the train takes them inside to where a large black cube rests inside the dome.

Dave enters the prison and discovers why Tartarus is the worst prison. Hungers can’t be sated, thirsts can’t be quenched and death isn’t the end. One day outside the prison results in a year inside, Dave’s one year stay is full of pain, anguish and despair.

The warden of Tartarus finds out that Dave admitted himself into Tartarus willingly and reveals that the marks on every prisoner is actually a rating system. 1EC being the most dangerous.

Dave and Warden make a bet. If Dave returns to Tartarus for any reason then he must stay for eternity. If Dave finds one good thing about Tartarus then he can become the warden.

When leaving, Dave discovers that the pain he received inside the prison never fades and is cursed with eternal agony, the Tartarus curse meaning he will only find relief if he returns. Then they discover the vault was only in the dome rather than in the prison itself, nopony having ever entered the actual prison.

Celestia receives a letter from Tartarus and takes Luna, Nox and Adamas to Tartarus to find Dave. Flux and Battering Ram also arrive as the princesses, prince and dragon arrive and they all break the dome.

Nox uses a portal to hurry to Dave’s side, the vault activating upon the alicorn’s arrival causes it to activate. Dave manages to get Nox out but is dragged in himself. The ponies all break the vault open and Odio manages to pull Dave to safety as Adamas burns the vault and believes everything to be destroyed.

Strong Shield, Flux and Battering Ram are placed into prison cells as Dave lays in a coma. Dave awakes soon after, a bandage over his mark and a slightly disconnected personality is all that he shows upon regaining consciousness.

Celestia is oblivious to Dave’s changed, ruthless personality until he reveals that Project Unity removed part of his brain responsible for love and compassion. His survival instincts that had become dormant since gaining his healing powers had awoken and had taken control over his entire body.

Project Unity is driven to be complete and travels to Canterlot in search of Dave. The human creates a set of armour and a crystal sword that resists not only magic but physical things as well. Dave and Unity fight before Dave removes his missing part of brain from Unity and completely destroying the body.

Dave returns to normal, marries Celestia and is visited by Warden again. The prison warden informing Dave that Tartarus never truly leaves him. Flux and Battering Ram both try to make up for past mistakes and Strong Shield convinces everypony else to give them a chance.

Flux tries to reignite the love between her and Strong Shield but she has to adopt Dave as her son as well. The Pegasus agrees and is reassured when she hears Dave call her mum.

With the small family created, Dave goes on a honeymoon with Celestia. Everything is now resolved and a lasting peace finally being formed.

Except that during the fight with Unity, a decent amount of Dave’s magic-resistant blood landed on an imprisoned being called Discord. The portal to Earth only accessible by powerful magicians being a tempting target for any mischievous villains.

Unexplored Worlds takes place one year after the events in Unexplored Paths

Author's Notes:

Hopefully this attempt at this fic works out better this time. Updates should eventually return to a daily basis so long as studies go well until January. Thanks for any criticism as my writing should be rusty after all the time off I had.

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

Unexplored Worlds

Chapter 1: New Beginnings.

Large hooves pressed against the walls of the dark basement as long, intersecting chains groaned at the stress of holding the strong pony. The chains shook and began to stretch under the strain of holding the unstoppable pony.

“I can play this game all day,” A female sighed as she flicked her fingers and another set of chains slammed the pony against the wall and began to form new links to hold him in place. The human snapped her fingers and an orb of light hovered between her and the pony.

The pony raised his bald head, his navy body covered in lines of dried blood, a pair of tired eyes looked at the human before a low growl slipped past his gritted teeth. “What do you think you are going to accomplish?”

“Why do you insist on asking questions? It isn’t like you can pass on any information to anyone but me,” The human leaned forward and petted the pony’s nose. “You ponies are almost too cute sometimes.”

“If I don’t kill you then he will,” The pony snarled. “Now what do you want with my nephew?”

The female stood up again, “You are talking about your best friend’s adopted son right?”

The pony froze before growling even louder, “What. Do. You. Want?”

“Well I am here for fun, and maybe a few slaves when I have a big house,” The human laughed sweetly as she tapped her finger against her chin. “Now I want you to tell me a little about your nephew.”

“I’ll tell you to shove that information up your flank,” The pony spat on the floor. “But someone like you would get turned on by that thought.”

The girl laughed as she rubbed her hands across each other and golden claws appeared on her fingers. “Aren’t you funny?”

“You are nothing but a child,” The pony clenched his teeth as the claws were dragged painfully across his bald head and down his cheeks. “I have had worse interrogations from a bug.”

The human stopped smiling as she sighed and her golden claws pulled out of the pony’s face and crimson drops of blood landed quietly on the floor. The door at the other end of the room opened and another human stepped in, a frustrated expression carved into his face.

“Found anything out?” He grumbled in an annoyed tone, his rough features appearing as he stepped into the light. His short blond hair was a vast contrast from the girl’s long ginger hair, her pale and sweet face looked childish compared to the gaunt face of the man beside her.

But something that the humans and the pony shared in common were eyes that had seen pain. The pony’s eyes looked tired of having to struggle. The man’s looked sturdy and unwavering. The girls looked almost happy at the sight before her.

The girl smiled as she looked at the older man beside her, “Nope, he is still being a stubborn idiot.”

“Listen pony,” The man snapped his attention at the chained captive. “Either you tell us about Prince Dave or we will be forced to take action against closer relatives, such as his son.”

The pony froze, “Alright I will tell you two things.”

“Go on,” The man narrowed his eyes as the pony sneered.

“Touch his son and you will be suffering more than anypony has ever had in a long time,” His sneer faded slightly. “And he doesn’t like being called a prince.”

The girl gave a loud whine, “Why is it that grown-ups always do silly things like not accept power?”

“Go and tell the others that we are done here,” The man ordered. “Oh and Sasha? Make sure they all know what they are doing this for, I’m sure Discord won’t like having his time wasted.”

“Discord?” The pony gasped as he noticed the girl smile.

“Well I hear that he had Mike disciplined for stepping out of line,” Sasha giggled as she glanced at the pony. “What about you Hank? You gonna make a mess?”

The man called Hank looked at the young girl. “I said leave!”

Sasha jumped at the sharp tone before pouting and storming out of the dark room, the orb of light following her. Hank sighed as the room was plunged into darkness and only the open door gave enough light for both pony and human to see each other.

“If you really think that you can hold out in hopes that you are rescued then you are going to be disappointed.” Hank stepped forward so he could stare into the pony’s eyes, “We are Discord’s disciples, and he has given us gifts when no-one else would.”

“And has Discord informed you that he is using you?” The chained pony snarled. “He will take everything from you when he is done with you.”

Hank shook his head, “He gave us the opportunity to gain power, starting by making this world fear and worship humans like it should.”

“So why do you need to get to Dave?” The pony asked as the human took a few steps back.

“Dave would be a sign that humans can be weak and they shall resist us,” Hank lowered his gaze. “Weak fall under the boots of the strong.”

The earth pony resisted against his chains again, “I take it that you will kill me soon.”

“When I leave this room,” Hank looked at the bloody and beaten pony. “Or would you like to be spared?”

“Either way I know you will lose,” The pony sighed. “Besides, I have lived a long enough life, seen many things and I have been waiting for death for a while now.”

“Well wait no longer,” Hank’s eyes turned white as the chains restraining the pony sprung to life and coiled around the pony’s head. “You have managed to delay nothing, Battering Ram.”

Hank left the room, waiting until he heard the inevitable crack before closing the door and walking away from the room. He entered a large circular room where a group of humans were waiting, all their heads turned to look at him before returning to their previous tasks.

Sasha ran over to Hank with a big grin, “So? How did you kill him? Disembowelment? Burning?”

“Just broke his neck, there is no need to waste time on a pony,” Hank pushed Sasha aside as he walked over to another male. “Mike, I hope you have found out some more information.”

“Yeah I found the school that his son goes to if having a trip to a museum in Manehatten,” The young man turned to look at Hank, his short brown hair leaving his annoyed face apparent for Hank to see.

The rougher looking man narrowed his eyes, “You need to understand that these ponies mean nothing to us, they can’t even understand how futile their own lives are.”

Mike looked away, “I just don’t like the way you all mess with them first.”

Sasha hopped over, “Come on Mike, don’t you like the way they struggle? You get the fun of using your bare hands too!”

“I am only helping you because I owe Discord my life,” Mike sneered at the girl. “I don’t get why he would want the help of an immature little girl like you.”

“Little girl?” Sasha snarled as her golden claws returned and they pressed against Mike’s stomach. “I could take you down in a second you pussy!”

“SILENCE,” Hank bellowed at the two rivals. “Sasha, if you pull your claws out on another one of us again I shall take your gift from you.”

The girl flinched as her claws faded and she bowed, “I’m sorry but Mike really gets on my nerves.”

“And his previous punishment has placed him back into our care, he knows what happens if he steps out of line so don’t make the same mistake.” Hank leaned down as he tapped the girl’s head. “You are pathetic, that is why you need to listen to us and learn how to rule properly.”

Mike looked down at the scolded child beside him, “So who is going to head to Manehatten?”

“You need to redeem yourself, so you can go with one of our fellow brothers and take the hybrid child,” Hank looked at Sasha. “You little one can start thinking of a new name to use in a few days.”

“Goody!” The girl bounced around happily as Hank turned back to Mike.

“Now if you let us down again then I will take away more than just your powers this time,” Hank tapped Mike’s chest. “You must live with your choices.”

Meanwhile…

“That sounds like a wonderful idea and I look forward to seeing you once the winter has passed,” Celestia hummed as she tapped her chin. The elegant alicorn’s horn glowed a gentle gold as she levitated a quill and scroll beside herself.

The princess of the sun sat in her bed as she pondered over her letter, the gentle tapping of rain made the crackling sound of the warm fire sound much more comforting. The marble fireplace had a few logs piled beside it and a couple feeding the fire as it kept the room heated.

“I am not sure if this letter sounds right just yet,” The princess of the sun sighed as she rested her head back, her flowing mane brushing her cheek as she allowed the pillows behind her to support and comfort her. “Are you listening to me Dave?”

“Yep,” Came a voice from the joining bathroom, the door open enough for the couple to hear each other. “Have you tried saying something complementary about Saddle Arabia yet? Like how it looks like a beach without water?”

Celestia rolled her eyes, “You know they don’t like that, and the last dinner we had with the delegates was very awkward when they tried to arrange a marriage between their daughter and our son.”

Dave chuckled, “Their daughter looked cute enough.”

“She is twice the age of Nox and she was dressed so… inappropriately,” Celestia shivered at the thought of her son marrying at such a young age.

“You mean she was dressed?” Dave stepped out of the bathroom in a long white dressing gown. His shaggy brown hair starting to disappear under the collar of his dressing gown. “You forget basically everypony is naked most of the time.”

Celestia lowered her letter to glare at her husband as the human removed his dressing gown and climbed into the bed beside her. His right arm showing a large black brand that was quickly hidden under the covers.

“You have been acting so agitated the past few nights,” Celestia sighed. “If you keep this up me and Luna will have to take shifts making sure nopony talks to you.”

“You know the rumours have me nervous,” Dave pulled the covers up to his chin. “Mysterious results everywhere, extraordinary sights and prodigies around every corner.”

Celestia rubbed her head, “Listen, we both know that Nox has done fine in his exams and we can pick up his results in a couple of days.”

Dave narrowed his eyes at Celestia, “Our son’s first year at school and you seem awfully calm. Have you fixed his results?”

“No,” The white alicorn rolled her eyes. “I just have faith in our son that he will pass, you should believe in him some more.”

“I do believe,” Dave sighed happily. “I just want him to be the best in the class.”

Celestia placed her letter down as she looked at the devious grin on Dave’s face, “You really need to get a new hobby.”

“I tried remember? Helping dad out with his guard ideas?” Dave shook his head as he looked up at Celestia. “Are you saying you don’t want me to stay beside you?”

The mare rose an eyebrow as she looked down at Dave, “Don’t play that trick, I know you will just ask Luna to stay with her in privacy together until I wonder where you are.”

“Admittedly your face the first time was priceless,” Dave chuckled as he looked at the letter Celestia was frowning at. “Have you tried saying that you have a busy schedule over the winter season and that meeting would not only be a short and rushed occasion but will also hinder your ability to perform your royal duties?”

“That is…” Celestia paused before her pen worked furiously and she sent the letter away in a flash of light. “How come you manage to come up with such good ideas so fast.”

“Simple, I wasn’t having your undivided attention,” Dave smiled as he hooked an arm around Celestia and shuffled closer against her soft fur. “You know I like our private moments.”

“So do I,” Celestia kissed Dave’s head as she wrapped a hoof around his neck. “But unfortunately I have to be up early to meet with Ambassador Adamas so we have to sleep now.”

The alicorn turned away and shuffled into Dave’s hug, sighing happily. The human gave a small groan as he dropped his head into the pillow. “I guess I am getting a bit overexcited about Nox’s results.”

“Yes you are,” Celestia sighed. “Now get some sleep.”

“Yeah what’s the worst that could happen?” Dave said happily.

Celestia gave a small disapproving hum, “Now you have said that something bad will happen.”

“Yeah sure,” Dave rolled his eyes. “It happens every time I tempt fate.”

“It does,” Celestia stated plainly.

Dave closed his eyes before attempting to sleep, “Well how much worse can it get than last time?”

“You are on a roll tonight,” Celestia sighed. “Stop tempting fate and go to sleep.”

“Why? It isn’t like anything bad is going to happen,” Dave nuzzled Celestia’s fur as he slowed his breathing and relaxed.

The princess gave a sigh of defeat, “If you go to sleep now then tomorrow night we can do whatever you want, deal?”

When no response came, Celestia lifted her head to glance at Dave and saw him sleeping quietly behind her. The white alicorn shook her head as she smiled and attempted to join him in a quiet slumber.

“At least you don’t have to worry about the public’s opinion about you,” Celestia gave another sigh. “Great, now I’m doing it.”

Chapter 2: Usual Morning

Chapter 2: Usual morning

Dave awoke to the sound of hooves moving around the room. His eyes adjusted to the bright sun as he looked over and saw Celestia putting on her royal attire, the golden horseshoes, necklace and crown shone in the sun.

“You leaving early?” Dave sighed as he sat up and rubbed his head, his fingers running through his shaggy brown hair.

“No you just had a long sleep,” Celestia walked over to the tired human and gave him a quick kiss. “Get some breakfast today please?”

Dave waved the princess away, “Yeah sure… in a minute.”

The human remained on the bed after the princess had left before slowly pushing himself up and climbing off the bed. The fire had died out and left Dave with no source of warmth until he went into a large wardrobe and pulled out some clothes.

A knock at the door made Dave quickly dress before opening the door to peek out. An old, black unicorn stood outside patiently, a grey mane sat on top of a serious face, a large scar covering the pony’s left eye was the first thing Dave ever noticed.

“Hey dad,” Dave opened the door as he finished buttoning up his white shirt. “Is mum with you?”

The pony stepped in before looking up at Dave, “I’m afraid your mother is currently out shopping.”

“Oh fair enough,” Dave smiled as he knelt down to tie his shoe laces. “So why have you come to see me this early?”

The unicorn hummed, “Can’t a father see his son more than just the occasional weekend?”

“Of course you can,” Dave narrowed his eyes. “But normally you wouldn’t come all this way to explain that point.”

“I need you to meet me back at my house whenever you can,” The unicorn looked around the room before leaving. “Make sure you aren’t followed.”

The pony left the room before Dave had a chance to stand up, the human rolled his eyes as he pulled a brown jacket out of the wardrobe and began to leave as well. “Still the same old Strong Shield.”

Dave left the room and descended the steps outside to reach the main body of the castle. A few servants passed Dave as he made his way down the marble hallways and out onto the castle courtyard.

The city of Canterlot was shining brightly in the morning sun, the golden orb was only going to around a few more moments as pegasi in the sky moved a large blanket of clouds across the city.

Dave shivered as he zipped his jacket up to his chin and gave a visible breath to confirm that the air was truly cold enough for the winter they had now entered. The castle gates at the end of the courtyard opened out onto a wide street that was full of ponies ranging from posh ladies to laughing children.

The human walked amongst the ponies, only a few curious children and sensitive posh ponies acknowledged his presence with stares or small bows. The rich and famous were always trying to get in Dave’s good books due to his marriage to Princess Celestia.

A few jewellery shops caught Dave’s eyes as he searched for a suitable present to give to anypony he knew. The search for a present failed as Dave saw nothing particularly remarkable before he turned to see a pair of guards walking past.

Dave smiled to them all as he walked away from the castle, the further he walked the less posh the shops became until they settled into shops that would appear in any city, full of cafés, clothes shops, bookstores and any other kind imaginable.

A loud trumpet made everypony on the street look up as the weather teams began to disappear into the clouds and the entire sky shook briefly before coming to a halt. The weather teams departed as Dave continued to watch the clouds.

Children began to cheer around Dave and upper class ponies began to walk faster to their destinations. The human smiled along with the children as he saw a small snowflake float in front of his face and land gently into his palm, melting instantly.

Dave began to walk again as the snow increased and even the children began to head inside by busy parents. The human left the main shopping streets as he walked down residential areas, finally arriving outside a wooden home.

Dave knocked on the door before looking around the empty street, his bored expression changed as he turned to see the door open and Strong Shield look at him. “So why am I down here rather than in my warm bed?”

Strong Shield allowed Dave into the house before closing the door behind him. “Flux? Dave’s here!” The unicorn called upstairs.

“Oh I’ll be down in a second,” A soft mare’s voice called in response before Dave and Strong Shield sat down on a pair of sofas that were either side of a round wooden table.

Dave unzipped his jacket as he looked around the room, his eyes falling on a few family photos that were hung up on the wall. In one of the photos was of Dave wearing a suit and standing beside Celestia who was wearing a long white wedding dress.

The sounds of footsteps made Dave look back at the stairs to see a lavender Pegasus walk into the room, her purple mane was tied into a small knot on the back of her head. “Hey mum, how have you been?”

“I’ve been fine honey,” Flux smiled as she nuzzled Dave’s cheek before looking to Strong Shield. “Would you colts like something to drink?”

“Just a tea please darling,” Strong Shield answered with a smile.

“Uh have any cola?” Dave asked.

Flux frowned, “You know that stuff rots your teeth right?”

“Yes mum,” Dave groaned before the mare walked away. “So did you just want to have a family meal or what?”

Strong Shield’s horn glowed a faint white before a small envelope levitated from under the table and dropped into Dave’s hands. “Read the paper quickly and then place the envelope into your jacket pocket so you can read the rest when you get somewhere private.”

Dave rolled his eyes as he stood, “Just need to use the toilet.”

The human walked up the stairs and into a small bathroom, only a tiny window, a bath, sink, mirror and a toilet were in the room. Dave sat on the edge of the bath as he opened the envelope and pulled out a letter that looked split into three separate records.

*****************************************************************************************

Report H6-104

From the Manehatten Police Department

A body of a large pony has been recovered from an alley. The male pony was found decapitated and with numerous cuts along the body, including severed arteries. It is unclear whether death was caused by loss of head or loss of blood.

The injuries appear to have been caused by blades or claws. The body appears to have been in the alley for a few hours before discovery.

Photograph of crime scene has been attached.

Further investigation has revealed the pony to be Battering Ram and next of kin have received notification. Next of kin was labelled as Strong Shield.

*****************************************************************************************

Dave gasped as he forced himself to reread the first couple of paragraphs. He looked into the envelope to see three photographs, he plucked the out and looked at them.

The first was of a pony’s corpse, proving that the statement was correct and Dave recognised the cutie mark that belonged to his deceased uncle. The human placed the photo away for fear of being sick or getting enraged at the sight.

The second photo was of a few journalists standing around a politician unicorn. Dave noticed a slightly unnerving pony standing in the background and looked to the second report for clues.

*****************************************************************************************

Report D3-084

From the Manehatten Police Department

The mayor of Manehatten has been subject to attack only two days after meeting with Princess Celestia and Dave Shield. The photo attached shows the mayor only moments before his attack, the Pegasus in the top left corner is the main suspect.

The pony shown is reportedly a pony extremist named Nitro, his severe racial views have caused him to attack gryphons, zebra and hybrids alike. This attack is most likely due to Nitro’s dislike that the mayor has had a chance to meet with Dave Shield the only confirmed human [See report Z1-001 for further reference].

*****************************************************************************************

“Did this punk kill Battering Ram?” Dave looked at the black and white photo at the suspicious Pegasus. “No way would he have lost to this guy.”

Dave looked at the report before noticing the last sentence again. “Only confirmed human?”

*****************************************************************************************

Report Z1-001
Not for public release.
From the Manehatten Police Department

Reported thefts have increased in some of the wealthier districts, followed by sightings of tall bipedal creatures. Some witnesses have said that the suspects are humans.

This requires further investigation and measures for Dave Shield (The only known human) to undergo supervision until the suspects are caught. Until further leads are followed, the crimes will have to be pressed against Dave Shield as he is the only being that fits the descriptions.

If more humans are confirmed then Dave shall be acquitted of the crimes committed. Also his presence would be helpful for any discussions with these new humans that may just be lost visitors to this world.

The photo attached is believed to be the last and so far best evidence of the suspect’s location. If humans become violent then extreme measures are to be taken as the only reference of strength and skill is Dave Shield.

If the criminal is found to be Dave Shield (Highly unlikely), then Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will be forced to step down from their royal placements and a council will take over. This is to ensure that Dave Shield has not been influencing what the Princesses actions will be during the time of his arrest.

*****************************************************************************************

Dave slowly picked up the final photo and stared at the blurry figure that was running across the train tracks. The shape was on two legs, long hair on top and was wearing a dress that seemed to be quite large compared to the upper half.

“Why does nopony have a decent camera to capture these sightings with?” Dave squinted at the photo. “Wait… one, two, three, four legs…”

The blurry figure had two smaller legs behind the larger two, another small hand was a sign that it wasn’t just one being running. Dave placed the letter and photo back into their envelope and quickly tucked it into his pocket.

Battering Ram dead. Terrorists. Humans.

“Well my Christmas has just gotten weird.” Dave was about to leave before he noticed his face in the mirror, his red eyes hiding the suppressed emotions he was trying to hold back since finding out his uncle had died.

“Christmas? I meant Hearth's Warming Eve…” Dave tried to joke to himself before gripping the sides of the sink and taking a few deep breaths. He wasn’t sure if Flux knew of Battering Ram’s fate, so he had to appear as everything was fine.

Dave finished by washing his face and hands before leaving to return downstairs to see Strong Shield and Flux sat beside each other in the living room. The Pegasus smiled sympathetically to Dave, “I know about Battering Ram before you ask.”

“Y-you do?” Dave froze as he stared at the mare’s calm expression. “How long?”

“Your father told me the other day,” Flux tapped Strong Shield’s hoof as she lost her smile. “Trust that big oaf to do something stupid like enter a collapsing building to help ponies out.”

Dave sat down, confused at this second story he was hearing. “What happened?”

Strong Shield saw Flux’s quivering lip and cleared his throat. “Battering Ram was crushed by a collapsing building in Manehatten, his death was supposed to have been painless.”

The human knew the lie the moment it came from Strong Shield’s emotionless face. “Well at least he did something noble before dying.”

“True,” Strong Shield looked at Flux before turning his attention back to Dave. “Anyway I was hoping you could look after your mother at the castle while I go to Manehatten for… obvious reasons.”

Dave looked at Flux before looking at Strong Shield, “Listen, you and mum should stay together right now.”

“I don’t think I can really handle going,” Flux sighed. “I just can’t bear the thought of having Battering Ram gone, let alone seeing him lying there… motionless.”

“I was thinking you both stay here or at the castle,” Dave smiled sympathetically. “And I’ll go to Manehatten to sort everything out.”

Strong Shield looked at Dave, “That is something we can’t ask our son to do for us.”

Dave knew Strong Shield was probably going to investigate everything that was in those reports. Dave also knew that if Battering Ram had been beaten in an attack then Strong Shield most likely would meet the same fate.

“I insist,” Dave walked over to give his mother a hug. “At a time like this you need each other, I can handle everything.”

“Ok then,” Strong Shield sighed in defeat. “I was going to leave on tomorrow’s train but you can use the ticket I bought earlier, it is on the table next to your drink.”

Flux hummed, “You do like to leave things on our table don’t you?”

“It is so I don’t forget them,” Strong Shield replied as Dave looked back at the table where his drink now sat. Another brown envelope was sat parallel to the edge of the table.

Dave picked up the letter and instantly knew he had been played. Strong Shield must have placed the letter after Dave had left to read the other letter and knew that the temptation of other humans would be enough to convince him to try and go with Strong Shield.

But the threat of an enemy dangerous enough to kill a skilled ex-guard such as Battering Ram would cause Dave to protect his family and insist on going alone.

The situation must have originally been Strong Shield going in search of danger and possibly finding death which would result in Flux following after losing contact with her husband and her finding yet another similar fate.

But it had just switched from that to Dave going. If Dave goes missing then Strong Shield’s suspicions would be confirmed and the unicorn wouldn’t have to leave his home. And in the unlikely situation anything happens to Dave then Celestia would surely send a group of skilled guards to investigate at a minimum.

And all it took was one sheet of paper and three photos.

Dave opened the new envelope to find a train ticket and a small message under the flap.

-Don’t think I haven’t thought every situation through.-

“Um dad,” Dave looked at Strong Shield. “Where in Manehatten should I go?”

Strong Shield looked at the envelope in Dave’s hand. “Addresses should be on a slip of paper.”

Dave was getting annoyed at being outsmarted. “I don’t suppose I could have a few bits for a snack on the way back? I left my wallet at the castle.”

As Dave moved his hands he felt something move in the envelope and peeked in to see a pair of gold coins looking back. Another message was written at the bottom of the envelope.

-2 bits for a snack and I do think of everything-

“Never mind,” Dave sighed in defeat.

Chapter 3: Family Man

Chapter 3: Family man.

Dave sat outside a posh café, a small cup of tea next to him as he sat under an umbrella that protected him from the gentle snowing weather. His eyes switched from his envelopes to a large building that was a little further down the streets.

A few carriages were already pulling up outside the older looking building before the sound of a bell was heard and the doors opened to reveal a small crowd of fillies and colts that poured out of the building.

Every carriage was soon full and any of the upper-class children that weren’t met by parents made their own way home in small groups. Many had happy faces and only a few looked rather neutral.

Dave continued to watch the door until a grey colt stepped out and began to walk towards the café Dave was sat at. The grey colt had a light, fluffy mane and both a horn and wings, even though the wings were kept so tightly closed that they almost seemed to blend in with his fur.

The colt looked up at the human before a large smile broke out onto his face. “Dad!”

“Did you have a good day at school?” Dave smiled as the colt ran over and leapt up to give him a hug. “Alright Nox you can let me go now.”

The young alicorn released the human before sitting down in a separate chair. The colt looked around in confusion before his ears lowered, “Is mum not here?”

“No she is busy,” Dave noticed the colt’s nervous shift in personality. “What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing,” Nox avoided looking at his father as he stared at his hooves.

Dave sighed as he leaned on his shoulders and stared at Nox until he got eye-contact. “Listen, I have never gotten mad at you so tell me what is up with you.”

“I… got the result for my test today,” Nox’s ears almost fell completely down to his head as he tried to look away from Dave. “I… didn’t do very well.”

“Oh well did you pass?” Dave asked as he felt his heart sink looking at the sniffing alicorn. When Nox nodded slowly Dave gave a smile, “Well that is good enough for me.”

Nox looked up at the human opposite as he gave a confused stare, “B-but you wanted me to do really well and be the best in the class!”

“Did you try your hardest? Honestly?” Dave looked at Nox with an emotionless stare.

“Yeah!” Nox said loudly. “I really wanted to make you proud of me!”

Dave shrugged, “Well if you did your best then as a father I can’t be more proud.”

“Huh?” Nox rose a confused eyebrow.

“Well if you had passed but not put any effort in then I would have thought you had wasted your time,” Dave smiled as he reached over and ruffled his son’s mane. “So which bit did you find hardest? The theory?”

Nox froze as he looked down at his hooves again, “I did well in the theory but my practical magic test went badly.”

“How badly could it have gone?” Dave asked as he gave his son a reassuring smile.

“I was worst in the class,” Nox mumbled sadly as he looked down at himself in disappointment. “I just couldn’t do it as well as I thought I could.”

The human and colt sat in silence as Dave hummed gently. Nox looked away from his father in shame as he looked at the falling snowflakes.

Dave burst the silence with a small cough to clear his throat, “So what? You passed didn’t you?”

“W-well yeah but I am the worst compared to the others in my class,” Nox shuddered as he watched one of the carriages roll past with the sound of proud parents congratulating their filly. “I’m an embarrassment to you and mum.”

“Don’t ever say that again,” Dave said sternly as he pushed his drink aside and stared into Nox’s eyes. “You are mum’s proudest achievement and I could never ask for a better son.”

“B-b-but I…” Nox didn’t have time to stutter a response as a bowl of ice-cream was placed in front of him by a waitress. “Huh?”

“You passed,” Dave smiled. “Just think about that. You passed in one of the hardest schools in the country and nopony can take that away from you.”

Now looked at the ice-cream and then at Dave. “Y-you aren’t mad?”

“No,” Dave said with a small laugh. “I failed half my exams back on Earth and I think I turned out alright.”

“Was your dad proud of you?” Nox asked with a curious stare.

Dave lost his smile briefly before laughing, “I hadn’t met Strong Shield then so I wouldn’t know.” Dave allowed his smile to reassure Nox before looking into his warm tea. “Let’s relax for now then head home.”

Nox began to eat his ice cream as Dave placed the envelopes back into his jacket and looked up over at the castle that stood down the road. The tall towers watched over the entire city and pegasi guards could be seen flying around the castle as they attended their duties.

“Oh by the way I have to go to Manehatten tomorrow so make sure you are a good boy for mum ok?” Dave smiled as Nox looked away from his bowl of ice-cream, the colt having devoured most of it already.

“Why do you have to go?” Nox asked curiously before returning to his colt treat.

“Just have to follow up on a few things,” Dave kept the truth quiet from Nox and would probably have to keep it quiet from everypony else unless he found something.

The father and son both finished up at the café and made the short walk home together, Nox charging off to his room while Dave went down the numerous corridors and up the many stairs towards the princess’ towers.

Dave reached a corridor, stairs at one end took him towards Celestia’s chambers and the other end took him towards Luna’s. But a door in the centre of the corridor was the one Dave was heading towards.

The human unlocked the small room with a key and stepped into his own personal study. A small bookshelf was lined with maps, historical texts and books on law. Dave removed his envelopes from his jacket and placed them on a large wooden desk and dropped his jacket on a comfy sofa that was placed against the wall.

As Dave sat down he placed the reports and photos about Battering Ram and the humans in a small compartment hidden under one of the drawers. The train tickets and addresses were placed to one side as Dave leaned back to pull a map of Manehatten off one of the shelves and opened it out on the desk.

Using the address of the police station and of where Battering Ram’s body was found he planned an easy route to the police station whilst going past the crime scene. Dave looked at the layout of the city before pulling a little cord beside the desk.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door and a maid stepped in. “You rang?”

“Yes, I was wondering if I could get a cup of tea and a newspaper please,” Dave asked politely.

The maid bowed, “Certainly sir.”

As the maid left, Dave began to look at his map again. A few moments later the door opened and a cup of tea was levitated onto Dave’s desk and a newspaper landed beside it. The human didn’t look away from the map as he sipped his tea.

“Thank you,” Dave called as he heard the door closing but froze as he heard hoovesteps approaching him. The human gave a sigh as he placed his tea down and turned to see a tall dark alicorn smiling at him.

The princess’ dark blue fur was matched with a flowing mane that looked like a clear night’s sky. A few dark pieces of regalia sat around the alicorn’s neck hooves and a crown sat on her head. “So you have been hiding here have you?”

“I only just got in Luna, I swear,” Dave rolled his eyes as he picked up the newspaper and began to read it. “Now why would I want to avoid one of my favourite mares?”

“I don’t know,” Luna walked around Dave’s chair and looked at the map Dave had laid out. “You are going away again?”

Dave flicked through the newspaper until he saw a story involving Manehatten. “Yeah just for something minor, I should be back soon enough.”

Luna nodded as she walked over to the sofa and laid across it and watched Dave work. The human reading a story about a new building being built that would tower above the rest and would set a new record for the city.

The building was only being constructed a few streets away from the place Battering Ram was found. If he was beheaded then maybe a tool was taken from there and used. Dave marked the location of the construction site and thought that he would have to investigate it when nopony would be around.

Dave paused as he looked over and saw Luna staring at him. “Uh… you bored or something?”

“Not exactly,” Luna hummed as Dave narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “It is just that you seem so focused when you work.”

The alicorn gave a bored sigh as Dave began to look back at his work. “This wouldn’t happen to be involved with a certain holiday you want us to go on would it?”

“Maaaayyyybe,” Luna said innocently as she levitated an atlas over to her and began to flick through the pages. “I mean you did promise that we could do something together and romantic once you knew Nox was doing well at school.”

Dave paused, “Yeah about that….”

“What’s wrong?” Luna turned serious as she heard the tone change in Dave’s voice.

“Nox only just passed his exams and is kinda nervous about failing,” Dave moved to sit on the sofa beside Luna. “He said it was the practical magic test he did badly in.”

Luna hummed, “I think I may know why he is… doing badly.”

Dave rose an eyebrow as he saw a small look of confidence in Luna’s eyes. “Care to tell me?”

“He is the only alicorn in his school and the son of Princess Celestia,” Luna smiled. “He is just scared of what he could do.”

“That doesn’t sound like an easy matter to solve,” Dave noticed Luna’s smile lower. “What do you mean ‘scared’ anyway?”

Luna tapped her chin, “Well if you had the potential to move buildings and throw them about, wouldn’t you be afraid of accidentally doing it to your entire school?”

“So he is afraid that he might hurt somepony so he doesn’t allow himself to do as well as he could do,” Dave slumped into the sofa as he rubbed his face. “Well that is a relief, for a moment there I thought he was being bullied.”

Luna smiled as she rested her head on Dave’s chest, “So now you have one less problem on your mind, how about you tell me your little trip to Manehatten?”

“Meh, just a bit of non-sense that dad wants me to do for him,” Dave felt a pair of hooves land either side of his head. He opened his eyes to see Luna had placed herself above him with a shocked expression.

“Your father?” Luna shook her head. “Every single time you do something for him you end up getting into some form of trouble. You know what he is like with scheming things.”

Dave wrapped his arms around Luna and allowed her to sit on his lap. “Hey he always has good intentions, he is getting old and this is… different.”

“How so?” Luna stared at Dave.

“He has been completely truthful,” Dave sighed as he sat up and kissed Luna’s cheek. “Trust me, nothing bad is going to happen.”

Luna sighed, “I wish I could believe that.”

“Hey,” Dave said sternly as he pulled Luna against his chest. “I promise that I will go on our own private vacation.”

“Do you really mean that?” Luna looked down at Dave’s serious eyes. “How do you know that nothing bad will happen and you will run off again to stop it?”

Dave rested his head under Luna’s chin, “Because even if I do run off I will run back twice as fast to be beside you again.”

Luna blushed as Dave looked up and planted a kiss on her cheek. The alicorn’s face turned red as her horn glowed gently and a loud click rang out.

“What was that?” Dave asked.

“I locked the door,” Luna smiled as she reached down to give another kiss, this time on Dave’s lips. “We don’t want to be disturbed now do we?”

Meanwhile…

Hank stood amongst a small group of humans, the rest that were in the room had long since left for their next destination. The only remaining ones were Sasha, Mike and two others.

“Alright, by now rumours should have spread back to Dave Shield,” Hank looked at the humans. “Now all of you are to do exactly as you are told otherwise you shall be punished more than you can imagine.”

The final words were followed by a short stare at Mike, who nodded in response. “What are we to do?”

“Mike, you are to head to Canterlot immediately and wait for Sasha to contact you with further orders,” Hank commanded as he looked across at Sasha and teenage girl. “Sasha you and Sarah are to wait in this city for Dave to find you and then proceed with the plan, make sure you are careful.”

Sasha looked up at the older girl, the one called Sarah. She had a long auburn pony tail and an attractive face that would have caught the attention of most men. Sasha nodded but pointed at Sarah, “Why does she have to come along?”

“Because we are supposed to pretend we are sisters lost in the city,” Sarah spat at Sasha. “One of us is to stay at Dave Shield’s side while the other operates and I doubt Dave will be interested in you.”

Hank held up his hand and the girls quickly fell silent as his attention shifted to the other man beside Mike. “And you Steven, you are to wait for the perfect moment to attack Dave, the more time you buy for Sasha and Sarah the better so kill him quickly.”

“If I had more information about him it would be easier,” Steven smirked as he bowed his head to Hank, his long black hair swung in front of his eyes and he brushed it aside with one of his long fingers. “But this task shouldn’t be a problem for someone like me.”

Hank nodded before looking back at Mike a small growl began to linger beneath the tone of his voice, “Mike, you aren’t allowed your powers back until you prove your worth so do not fail us again.”

Mike nodded as he glanced across and saw collective sneers aimed at him. “I shall try my best to please you and Discord.”

“Good,” Hank nodded. “The next time we meet brothers and sisters we shall be one step closer to gaining the glory we were denied on Earth.”

Chapter 4: The Big Bad City

Chapter 4: The Big Bad City

Dave yawned as he looked out of the train window, the trees with zero leaves providing little interest as the landscape went by and a city in the distance was rapidly approaching. Many skyscrapers standing above the rest of the modern city.

The human never understood how a few areas were as advanced as cities on Earth yet most preferred the old fashioned homes like in Ponyville and Canterlot. Maybe he was putting too much thought into it.

Celestia had been confused when Dave had told her that he had to go but reluctantly she had to let him go. But thinking back Dave could have grabbed something to entertain himself before his long train ride that had drained three hours of his time away.

The train eventually slowed as it passed through a train yard. Dave looked amongst the abandoned train carriages that had built up to the side of a few warehouses. As the train slowed even further it passed through a short tunnel before emerging inside a huge building with numerous train platforms along one side then various shops and café’s along the other.

Dave stepped off the train and looked around the grand train station as he heard the ponies behind him waiting to get off the train but none had the courage to get Dave to move. The human rolled his eyes as he walked out of the way and headed over to a small coffee shop.

“Small coffee to go please,” Dave asked as he pulled a few golden coins out of his pocket and placed them in front of the mare serving coffee. The brown mare had a swirled cream mane and a pair of hazel eyes.

She basically looked like the coffee she was serving and probably as full of caffeine as she smiled at Dave. “Oh you are that human that married Princess Celestia aren’t you?” The mare said excitedly as she made Dave’s coffee.

“Uh yeah I am,” Dave smiled politely but groaned as she turned away. “About as energetic as Pinkie aren’t you?”

“Did you say something?” The barista looked over her shoulder at Dave with a confused look.

“Uh just wondered if you had heard about anything going on in Manehatten,” Dave smiled as he was given a coffee in a polystyrene cup.

The mare leaned forward with an enthusiastic grin. “Well I have been hearing that somepony has been breaking into some of the shops in the station during the night when most are closed.”

Dave thanked the mare before leaving with his coffee, his eyes darting to the tunnel that led to the train yard. If a human was hiding then an abandoned train would be reasonable shelter with decent food supplies nearby.

Regardless if his hunch was right, Dave had to be somewhere else and would have to come back later. The busy streets of Manehatten awaited Dave as he looked from his position at the entrance to the station.

Large stallions pulled large carriages that could carry at least twelve ponies around the city. Small children ran around in small groups and large advertisements were resting at the top of nearly every building.

Dave shivered as the winter winds nipped at his skin and he began to follow the route that he had planned out. His direction of travel taking him away from the busy shopping areas and towards the quieter residential areas.

The adverts eventually disappeared from the buildings as the streets became quieter, a huge skyscraper was standing above the other buildings and Dave looked up to see the various construction happening.

“The alley must be near here then,” Dave walked around the tall buildings until he found a short dark alley and he slowly walked down to where Battering Ram’s body was found. A few lines of chalk were still present on the ground from where the crime scene had been documented.

As Dave searched he found a small spec of blood on the side of a dumpster, but the blood was on the side facing the alley opening and not where Battering Ram’s corpse was found. He must have been injured before coming down this alley.

Dave stood as he backed out of the alley, knowing that this crime scene had been planted and the decapitation could have just been for the killer’s own amusement. The human growled quietly as he headed down the streets and towards the police station.

His walk took him to a wide and busy road. Ponies of every type weaved and hurried past each other, even a few zebras and gryphons could be seen around the main road that went all the way down the middle of the city and ending at a wide opening to the sea.

A pony version of the statue of liberty was standing proud at the end of Dave’s vision. “I still can’t believe some similarities this place has to Earth.” Dave sighed before finishing his coffee and throwing the cup in the trash before heading towards an older fashioned building that stood amongst the modern towers around it.

The atmosphere inside the police department was not much different from outside, with ponies hurrying everywhere and a few odd customers that were cuffed between one of their front hooves and one of their rear hooves.

Needless to say it made running away from the escorting police seem like a bad decision. Dave looked away from some of the criminals as he walked over to a receptionist that seemed oblivious to the chaos around her.

“Excuse me, has anypony sent out a letter from this station to Canterlot?” Dave asked the receptionist that slowly peered over her thin glasses to look at him.

“I am afraid questions like that can’t be answered without proper access,” The receptionist narrowed her eyes at Dave. “Even if we know you are royalty.”

Dave rolled his eyes as he pulled out the envelope containing the information and passed it to the receptionist. “Well somepony sent this letter to a pony called Strong Shield so if I don’t get answers then I am gonna be a little pissed.”

The receptionist glanced at the letters, “So he sent you instead of coming himself… I should have known he wouldn’t want to bring up any old ties, even if his friend had died.”

“Uh you know my dad?” Dave asked as he leaned on the desk. “And you were the informant?”

“My name is Quarry, I worked with your father once,” The mare looked down as she swept a grey hair from her face. “When he knew Battering Ram had died he called in a favour to pass on confidential files.”

Dave hummed, “Well is there any other information you can give me?”

“Battering Ram had been dead long before his body was placed in the alley,” Quarry looked around at the officers that stood around the busy police station. “We found that his ribs had been fractured as if something was crushing him and we found traces of salt in his fur.”

“Salt?” Dave tapped his chin. “Maybe he was near the harbour when he was attacked? Maybe splashed with water or fell in?”

Quarry shrugged, “I wouldn’t know, but that is all the information I can share right now.”

“Well why was I informed on this ‘Nitro’ dude?” Dave asked as he pulled a photo out of the envelope. “Was he connected to the murder?”

“No,” Quarry shook her head. “He is just… somepony to look out for, seeing as he is capable of dangerous things.”

The human finally sighed as he returned the envelopes to his pocket, “Well thanks anyway, I am gonna look around the city so if anything big happens be sure to get in touch with me if I am not already involved.”

“I will try, Dave Shield,” Quarry stared into Dave’s eyes. “I can see why he adopted you… you have a pain hidden behind those eyes just like he did.”

“Pain is something that I forget about,” Dave turned away as he stepped back out of the police station and headed back to the train yard. The construction site of the massive skyscraper was still buzzing with activity as construction ponies continued to work on the massive building.

The train yard was easy for Dave to access as he climbed over a few metal fences and began to walk amongst the abandoned or broken train carriages, the lights around the yard slowly powering up to illuminate the dark area.

The carriages all ranged in size and use, some large enough and with enough protection to provide reasonable shelter. If any human was hiding it would have to be in one of these types of carriages.

Dave tapped on the wall of one before pulling open the large door and peering around the empty box on wheels. Hmm, maybe they moved on. Dave pondered as he began to check another carriage and found nothing.

His thoughts were cut short as he heard a quiet sound of metal slapping against wood. Dave’s feet swiftly carrying him along the rows of carriages and spotted a door that was slightly open and the latch was swinging freely.

Dave walked over to the carriage and slowly pushed the door aside as he looked into the carriage and heard shuffling and whimpering down the other end. Dave stood in shock as he saw a frightened little girl looking at him in fear as she clutched a blanket in front of her face.

“Looks like the reports were right,” Dave muttered under his breath as he waved gently to the girl. “Hey, I am not going to hurt you.”

As Dave tried to be reassuring he heard the creaking of wood above him, his hands pushed him back in time for a crowbar to rush to where his head was. His hands immediately caught the wrists that swung the weapon at him before pulling the assailant down from the roof of the train.

The shadowy figure yelped as she fell towards the ground but Dave caught her before pinning her against the floor. The little girl jumped onto Dave’s back before weakly trying to pull him away, her futile efforts made Dave sigh as he kept a foot pinned on the older human and used his long arms to wrestle the girl off his back.

“I’m not here to hurt either of you,” Dave sighed as he held the little girl under his arm and glared down at the taller one that was face down in the dirt. “My name is Dave.”

The girl that was face down gasped, “Another human? We never thought we would see one again!”

“Huh?” Dave placed the child down as he helped to pick up the older girl. The taller girl’s auburn hair was swept aside by one of her slender fingers and she stopped as she looked at Dave. “Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah, I’m sorry I tried to attack you,” The older girl blushed as she looked down to see her hand sat in Dave’s palm. She quickly pulled it away as she hurried to the little girl’s side, “This is my little sister Sasha, and my name is Sarah.”

Dave smiled warmly to the girls, “Well I am sure you have a ton of questions but unfortunately you won’t get any just yet.” The male hummed as he scratched his head, “Truth be told I can’t be sure until you let me know what you have been doing so far.”

The younger sister stepped behind Sarah’s legs as she hid from Dave, her eyes watching him carefully until her stomach gave a loud growl.

Sarah looked down at her before smiling, “Sorry Sasha but I couldn’t find any food today, you will have to wait until later.”

Dave hummed, “How long have you both been in this world? I mean you must have noticed the talking ponies.”

“Oh them,” Sarah looked around as she took Sasha’s hand and began to hold it for reassurance that her little sister was around. “We have been here for a little over a week, we didn’t know what to do and I had to steal food wherever I could.”

“Can you help us get home?” Sasha asked Dave with tears in her eyes.

Dave knelt down to smile at Sasha, “I will do my best, but before I can take either of you anywhere I have to do one thing.”

“What’s that?” Sarah froze as Dave rested a hand on her head and another hand on Sasha’s head. “W-what are you doing?”

“Hmm I was hoping either of you were magical,” Dave tapped his chin. “That would have explained your arrival.”

“Magic?” Sasha’s eyes seemed to open in joy, her legs shaking as she beamed up at Sarah. “I told you that the unicorns used magic!”

Sarah rubbed her eyes as she gave a weak smile, “Good work Sasha.”

Dave watched Sasha celebrate her victory by jumping on the spot in joy. “Anyway Manehatten is a bit of an intimidating city to arrive in, the similarities to Earth’s cities is weird.”

“How long have you been in this world?” Sarah asked as she picked up an excited Sasha and carried her on her back as she followed Dave towards the train station.

“Almost two years now,” Dave hummed. “Yeah and I haven’t seen another human since then.”

Sarah hummed, “Really? I saw another human almost immediately after I arrived here with my sister.”

Dave froze his two followers stopping to look back at him. A third? And a week ago would make it long enough for them to kill Battering Ram. And if there is a third then there might be more. Dave thought to himself before he felt something poke him.

“Hey you kinda zoned out for a minute there,” Sarah froze as Dave clutched her hand tightly. “Hey are you alright?”

“Listen, where did this human go to?” Dave asked as he stared down at Sarah’s face. “I need to know.”

Sarah hummed as a look of concentration crossed her face. “I would have to say… towards a tall building that looked like it was under construction.”

My hunch was right then, Dave thought angrily to himself as he kept delaying his visit to the tower. “Listen, I have to go but I want you to take these tickets and get a train to a city called Canterlot, and from there you should see ponies in gold armour… you can trust them.”

“Woah you are not leaving us after just finding us,” Sarah gasped as Dave thrust an envelope into her hand. “We have no idea what this world is like!”

Dave rolled his eyes, “Listen, I will be back soon but this world is safer than Earth and Canterlot is one of the safest places ever.”

“W-where are you going?” Sasha asked as her fear-stricken eyes looked at Dave, pleading him to stay.

“Listen I will see you tomorrow at the latest,” Dave smiled reassuringly. “You are gonna meet a real princess and stay in a real castle.”

“Castle?!” Sarah and Sasha both gasped. The young girl jumped down from her sister’s back and began to cheer as Sarah rubbed her head in disbelief.

Dave smiled at the pair, “Listen, I promise I will see you both very soon.”

Sarah smiled at Dave as she stepped forward and gave him a hug. “Alright, see you soon.”

And this just got weird, Dave gulped as he slowly felt Sarah pressing against him more and more. “Alright see you soon!”

The male pushed Sarah away as he darted back towards the city and the tower that held possibly his biggest clue. As Dave disappeared from their view and the girls were sure he wasn’t coming back before their disguises fell.

“Urgh men are either disgusting pigs or nervous around women,” Sarah sighed as she rubbed her eyes. “At least you managed to keep up appearances while he was around.”

“We should have just killed him there and then,” Sasha sneered at the older girl. “You could have held onto a dagger and stabbed him while you pressed your boobies against him!”

Sarah glared down at Sasha, “Now if I did that then we would never get into Canterlot as easily and it would make out objectives a bit harder.”

“But still, isn’t Dave supposed to be our only problem right now?” Sasha pouted as she turned away in disgust. “I just can’t believe that I have to pretend to be your sister.”

“And being yours is sooooo much better,” Sarah said sarcastically and turned away with a snarl. “And I can’t believe that Steven gets the satisfaction of erasing that pathetic excuse of a human, how the heck did Dave get to where he was?”

Sasha looked up at Sarah, “Well he noticed your attack with the crowbar, maybe he knows how to fight a bit.”

“Well whatever it was I think his little tricks aren’t going to be a problem for us,” Sarah smiled as she saw Sasha’s confused looks. “Think about it, he rested his hands on our heads and then left.”

“Do you think he detected the gifts Discord gave us?” Sasha gasped until she noticed the sly grin of Sarah’s face. “Oh… the opposite… that makes it better.”

Meanwhile…

Dave quietly climbed over the fence surrounding the tall construction site. The huge building only having walls for the first few floors before the rest was just a cold grey skeleton of what supported the building.

The lobby was protected behind a thick plastic sheet that Dave pushed aside as he walked into the wide lobby, the metal stairs covered mess that came with large construction. Large planks of wood were piled against the walls and large power tools sat at one end of the room.

Dave walked over to look at the tools, not seeing any that could do enough damage to decapitate a pony. As he continued to search Dave heard a small laugh come from above, he looked over at the silver stairs to see a human sat at the top of the stairs, something resting in his lap.

“So you are the other human,” Dave sighed as he stood up. “Did you come here with Sarah and Sasha?”

“Oh the two girls?” The stranger hummed. “Nah I don’t know them, just a coincidental passing.”

Dave narrowed his eyes at the young man, his arrogance and appearance made him seem to be in his late teens. “My name is Dave, I can help you if you aren’t too sure what is going on.”

“My name is Steven,” The human stood as he flicked his long black hair out of his eyes. “I don’t believe we are going to be friends.”

“Well why not?” Dave’s eyes opened in surprise and his body froze as he saw Steven pick up the axe that was resting in his lap and the sight of dried blood confirmed Dave’s suspicions. “That blood… where did it come from?”

Steven smirked as he began to walk backwards into an elevator, “Well you can find out on the… sixtieth floor!” Steven tapped a button with the end of his axe and the doors slid shut before Dave had a chance to even climb the stairs to the elevator.

Crap, Dave thought angrily to himself as he looked around and saw a stairwell, his anger made him charge up the stairs in pursuit of the strange Steven.

Steven whistled in the elevator as it opened up and the cold winter wind rushed to greet him. His gaze overlooked the city before him, the construction hadn’t reached this point so al that surrounded Steven was metal support beams, the central shaft that housed elevators and the emergency fire escape stairs.

The grey stone floor and ceiling gave a cold and trapped feeling, even though the roof was high enough for Steven to raise his axe above his head and still have enough space to jump in an attempt to reach the ceiling.

“This should do nicely,” Steven sighed happily to himself as he began to look at the city of Manehatten from his new vantage point.

The city was bathed in artificial lights, all the office buildings slowly turning dark as workers headed home. Advertisements on buildings flashed and sparkled to attract the attention of everypony near and far.

The large harbour that led out onto the sea was reflecting a large and bright moon, the skyline a light blue line as the sea stretched well past the horizon. A small clanking noise made Steven turn to see Dave running up the stairs and stop to catch his breath.

Steven laughed as Dave fell to his knees and began to pant, his agitation clear in his angry expression. “Well Dave you certainly are a mystery.”

“How so?” Dave growled as he stood up and walked towards Steven.

“You have managed to reach the top, marry Princess Celestia and have a child!” Steven laughed as he pointed his axe at Dave. “Yet you deny yourself a position of power and it disgusts me.”

How the heck does he know all this? How long has he been in Equestria? Dave thought in a panic as he kept glancing at the sharp axe that was pointed at him. “Well to be honest that is my life so I would prefer it if you didn’t insult me.”

Steven sneered, “Humans are the apex of all creation, we are supposed to be at the top of the food chain, and we have earned the right to be gods!”

“You are actually nuts,” Dave rolled his eyes. “If you are such a god then why are you here?”

“There are too many humans on Earth so nobody is special,” Steven lowered his gaze to Dave. “But here we have been given gifts by our saviour that is allowing those dedicated to him the chance at power.”

Dave took a few nervous steps back as Steven clutched the axe tighter and began to slide into a fighting stance. “Listen Steven, I am not here to hurt you.”

“We all find your attitude towards power disgusting, you must embrace everything you have and grab the reins of fate!” Steven dashed forwards and swung his axe down, Dave evaded to the side and watched as Steven’s arrogant expression was switched with one of pure rage.

“Woah! Stop!” Dave avoided another slash as he stepped away from Steven. “I don’t wanna fight you!”

Steven closed the gap between himself and Dave, raising his axe high. As Dave’s eyes looked up to follow the blade, Steven kicked his knee to knock him off balance before bringing the handle to Dave’s face.

Steven pushed Dave to the floor as he snarled, “How the hell did you ever get to where you are now?”

Dave rolled away as he rubbed his face, “Well if I said funny personality then you might not believe me.”

“You truly are disgusting, a slave dressed as a king,” Steven shook his head. “I was told to offer you a chance to join us, take your rightful position and rule your own empire.”

This guy is crazy as hell, but who is helping him? Dave thought as he stood up. “Well I don’t think that forcing others to do as I say is a good way to live.”

“A good way?” Steven snarled as he bared his teeth at Dave. “It should be the only way you insect! If you have power then you should use it!”

Dave and Steven stood glaring at each other before Steven’s arrogant smile returned and he began to laugh. Dave continued to watch the sharp axe nervously as Steven began to laugh even more.

“What is so funny?” Dave growled as his patience was stretched.

“Do you want to see what true power is? To see how much better I am than you? All because I have no quarrel making others my slaves,” Steven began walking backwards until his feet almost reached the edge of the building, his back to the sea.

Steven’s mouth opened wide as his throat seemed to expand, his lungs filling with air before releasing it in a deafening cry. Dave slammed his hands over his hears as the roar echoed around the city.

“What the heck was that?” Dave snarled as he stood up to glare at Steven.

“The one who gave us gifts took them from his own body, giving us some of his traits or skills,” Steven chuckled as he glanced back to the sea. “Mine was his ability to control the minds of others, and that coupled with his many language capabilities gave me the unique skill in controlling the minds of dragons.”

Dave’s jaw dropped as the water in the harbour exploded as a long grey dragon broke out of the water. Its lack of wings and its long slender body made it seem perfect for its water environment, the leviathan roaring as it looked up to Steven and Dave’s position and began to crawl over to the tall building.

The salt on Battering Ram's fur could have been from the dragon if it grabbed him... actually this all fits! Dave realized Steven's past actions before taking a few deep breaths and giving out a low growl. This is the guy that killed Battering Ram.

“Power,” Dave sneered as he looked at the approaching dragon. “You think that by controlling others that you are better than them?”

“Exactly,” Steven smirked as he began to walk towards Dave. The long leviathan reached the building and began to climb the side of the building, the support beams groaning under the extra weight as it ascended towards the one who called it.

Dave hopped to the side as Steven swung with his axe again, smirking as the building shook and Dave lost his balance and fell to the floor. Steven saw his chance and rushed to strike down at Dave’s head.

The axe barely missed Dave’s face as he rolled to the side and scrambled to his feet. “Seriously Steven you don’t want to fight me!”

“And why not?” Steven ran at Dave, swinging his axe frantically as Dave avoided each swipe. “If you managed to get to the position where you are now you must have some power to help you!”

Dave froze as a large shadow filled the floor and he turned to see the leviathan looking at him. “Steven stop this.”

“Nah,” Steven said with a coy smirk. “I think I will let the dragon dine on your flesh or my axe spill your blood!”

Steven and the dragon both rushed at Dave, the dragon’s horns scraping the roof as its large jaws opened in preparation to attack. Dave gritted his teeth as he glanced over his shoulder, “You asked for this.”

Dave turned to catch the axe with his hand before his foot swept around to collide with Steven’s side, the human feeling a few ribs crack before flying across to slam into one of the metal beams dotted around the floor.

As the leviathan closed in, Dave turned and threw the axe into the dragon’s mouth. The leviathan’s roar stopped as it coughed on the axe, giving Dave a chance to get his hands under the dragon’s chin and slam its head against the roof.

As the dragon’s head fell from being slammed upwards, Dave brought his fist into the dragon’s fangs. The force sent the leviathan’s head back out the floor and the rest of the body lost its grip and the large dragon tumbled to the ground below.

Steven coughed as he looked over at Dave, “W-what the hell was that!?”

“I was given healing when I arrived to this world,” Dave sighed as he looked at his fist. “As a result my survival instincts was no longer needed and became dormant, my self-preservation slowly becoming and unused part of my brain.”

“B-b-but that strength!” Steven growled as he painfully stood up to glare at Dave. “How could you have that much power?”

“Well you know those stories you hear where men have pushed boulders off themselves to survive falling off a cliff?” Dave smirked as he looked at Steven’s fearful expression. “Well I could do that at will, and my body caught on to that fact.”

Steven growled as he limped away from Dave as he saw the human begin to laugh. “So this is the strength you have?”

“More or less,” Dave chuckled. “But let’s say I have had lots of chances to reach my limits and surpass them over my time in Equestria…. And the results…”

Steven turned around to see Dave had disappeared and was nowhere to be seen. “What the heck?”

“And the results are quite something,” Dave whispered into Steven’s ear.

“H-how did you? That speed was…” Steven smirked. “Shame you didn’t get smarter,” The human stepped forward as the leviathan’s tail wrapped around Dave and yanked him off the side of the building.

“Shame you weren’t smart to begin with!” Dave called back as Steven looked to see the support beams supporting the sections of damaged ceiling were now broken.

Steven looked up to see cracks rapidly forming above him, “Oh you want a fight do you?” Steven took the only choice he had and leapt from the building, the cold winter air rushed past his ears as he fell past Dave and into one of the leviathan’s waiting claws.

Dave smirked, “You started it!”

Chapter 5: Steven The Arrogant

Chapter 5: Steven The Arrogant

Dave managed to squirm free from the leviathan’s tail as the dragon’s concentration was stuck on the injured Steven, the wounded human still clutching his ribs. As Steven was gently laid on the ground his glare focused on Dave.

The broken pieces of rubble from the destroyed construction above began to fall around Dave, a few large pieces of concrete slamming into the ground with enough force to crack and break into smaller pieces.

“If you can heal then maybe I will have to test to see how fast you can recover,” Steven smirked as he pointed at Dave. “Rip him apart!” He commanded and the dragon lunged at Dave, the sharp fangs just falling short as Dave stepped backwards, his eyes looking around to find an advantage.

I need to find some way to trap the dragon while I deal with Steven, Dave thought as he looked at all his possibilities. He settled with diving back through the plastic sheets and back into the lobby, the enclosed space restricting the dragon’s movements as it pursued him.

The dragon’s claws scraped against the smooth floor as it chased Dave. The human rushing up the stairs in time to avoid another attack from the dragon’s jaws, the leviathan roaring as it saw Dave back further away.

Steven smirked as he saw Dave get pushed towards a dead end, his smirk disappeared as something hard collided with the back of his head and made him fall to his knees. He felt a small amount of blood run down his neck and soak into his clothes.

Dave’s attention shifted briefly from the dragon as he spotted an orange Pegasus fly through the air and drop a large slab of concrete onto the reptile’s head. The Pegasus landed next to Dave and they both turned their attention to the dazed dragon.

This is the pony from the photograph, Dave glanced at the pony, the orange body seemed to seamlessly change into a flame red mane that was swept back but a few loose strands still sat on his forehead. So this is Nitro? Dave hummed as he saw that the pony’s cutie mark was of a flame.

The leviathan roared at the Pegasus for attacking it and lashed out with a claw. Dave rushed forward to grab the claw, slowly bringing it to a gentle stop. Nitro flew over Dave to buck the dragon in the eye and caused the leviathan to recoil and back away slightly.

Dave saw Steven stumble into the lobby and the humans exchanged glares before Dave was pulled aside by Nitro. “Hey what the hell do you think you are doing in a place like this?” The human said angrily to the Pegasus.

“Listen! I can stop the dragon from hurting anypony if you do as I say,” Nitro flared his wings as he looked at the recovering leviathan. “Now I need you to get its head in the elevator shaft, there won’t be much space so you will have to avoid at the last second.”

Nitro flapped his wings as he flew up the elevator shaft and Dave gave a small grumble in annoyance. What the heck is he thinking? Still I need to get to Steven as soon as I can and stop him.

The dragon roared loud enough to shake the floor as Dave made his way to the open elevator shaft. Steven stared at Dave as he clutched his broken ribs, “You can’t win Dave! One of us will get you eventually!”

Dave watched as the dragon began to advance again, the dull grey scales on the dragon’s head were covered in small cracks from the damage it sustained. Dave took a few slow breaths as he backed up against the wall in the elevator shaft.

Come on Nitro, whatever you have planned do it soon, Dave thought angrily. His thoughts seemed to be answered as a loud explosion rocked the building and Dave looked up to see the elevator that was on the sixtieth floor was now suddenly rushing towards him.

The dragon roared as it lunged at the distracted Dave, the human realizing that he had to avoid as the dragon’s head smashed through the tight doors. Dave threw himself forwards and slid over the dragon’s scales as he pulled himself through a small gap between the dragon’s neck and the wall.

As the leviathan tried to pull its head back, its horns got caught on the top of the door frame and prevented it from escaping. The dragon peered up in time to see the base of the elevator smash into its head.

Dave stood up as he felt the dust cloud rush past and the sound of squelching stop. He looked back to see the elevator was full of bricks and the top was covered in a small fire, the dragon’s grey scales slowly fading into a light blue.

“H-how?” Dave looked over to see a petrified Steven staring at the deceased dragon. The arrogance gone from his face and an expression of rage consumed him, “HOW COULD I LOSE TO A WEAKLING LIKE YOU!”

As Steven opened his mouth to roar, Dave ran over to grab his throat. The roar still erupted from Steven as he attempted to call for another dragon to assist him. Dave growled as he tightened his grip and began to choke Steven.

“Just give up!” Dave growled as he forced Steven to his knees and increased the force around his neck until Steven’s voice failed and his eyes began to slowly close.

Before Steven had the chance to pass out he saw a large pipe swing across Dave’s head and sent him flying away from him. Steven gasped for air before seeing Nitro float over to Dave, wings flapping gently as the pipe rested in his front hooves.

Dave glared at Nitro and snarled as he saw Steven get to his feet and run away. “You idiot! What did you do that for?” He yelled at Nitro.

“You are a disgusting freak!” Nitro spat at Dave as hatred boiled in his eyes. “You dirtied the princesses and just because other ponies can’t see through your lies means that you deserve the position you are given!”

“I forgot you are supposed to hate anything that isn’t a pony,” Dave stood as he sighed. “I don’t have time to listen to your racist rants so step aside.”

“I will find a way to destroy you Dave Shield!” Nitro barely had time to finish his sentence as Dave grabbed his shoulders and head-butted him unconscious in one attack. Dave dropped the Pegasus aside as he hurried in the direction Steven ran.

Meanwhile…

Steven turned a corner and stopped to catch his breath, his heart racing as he struggled against the pain that attempted to drag his body down. He froze as felt a pair of hands rest on his shoulders, he turned slowly before sighing in relief.

“Oh Hank it is you,” Steven sighed thankfully. “I found out Dave’s powers and what he is capable of!”

Hank nodded to the younger man, “I saw, I made sure to keep an eye on your fight in case you were killed.”

Steven looked hurt by the comment, “B-but you should have faith in my abilities!”

“I have faith in the abilities, but not you,” Hank stared at Steven as he placed his fingers on Steven’s throat. “You failed your task and due to this you are no longer worthy to be one of us.”

A flash of light accompanied a loud ripping noise as Steven’s cry of pain was cut short by his throat being removed and the removed body part was absorbed into Hank’s own. Steven clutched at the long black cloak Hank was wearing as he slowly fell to the ground.

Hank snapped his fingers and disappeared as the sounds of footsteps approached him. A few moments later and Dave rushed past, skidding to a halt as he looked back to see Steven, face down on the floor.

“Oh crap, hold on!” Dave dropped to Steven’s side as he rolled him over to look at his injury. Dave froze when he realized that there was nothing he could do for such a large wound that was oozing blood.

Steven reached up to grab Dave’s shirt and left a bloody hand print before his body became void of life and his arm fell to the floor. Dave looked over the dead human before taking a deep breath and standing up.

Meanwhile…

Celestia and Luna were both having a meal as they prepared to switch duties. Celestia was having a proper dinner while a tired Luna was only just eating breakfast. The princess of the night yawned loudly as she slowly ate her warm porridge.

“You know sister you did bring this upon yourself,” Celestia giggled behind a white hoof as Luna gave her an unimpressed stare. “Well at least you got to see Dave before he headed to Manehatten.”

Luna groaned quietly as she yawned again, “I am just unsure as to why Dave had to go under such short notice.”

The two royal sisters were interrupted as a royal guard burst into the dining room and bowed to each of the princesses. “I apologize for the intrusion your majesties!”

Celestia gave Luna a nervous glance before looking back at the guard, “Yes, what is it?”

“Word has reported that some humans are on their way from Manehatten,” The guard kept his head low as the princesses looked at each other in shock. Luna quickly darted from her seat as she charged out into the corridor.

The princess of the night quickly ran for the castle gardens and took to the air, her ascent taking her over the castle before she flew towards the city. Luna increased her speed as she saw her destination and only started to slow when she was about to crash into the ground.

As Luna’s hooves made contact with the stone street she hurried up to a house and began bashing on the door with her hooves. As she banged on the door the sound of rushing hooves was quickly followed by Flux opening the door with a small gasp.

“Princess Luna,” Flux stepped aside to let the alicorn in before wrapping a wing around her. “You must be freezing, it is like a blizzard out there!”

Luna glanced back to see a heavy snowstorm outside, in her haste to get information she hadn’t even registered what the weather was like. The princess shook her body as any loose snow fell from her fur.

“I must see Strong Shield!” Luna called into the house, “I know you are here!”

Strong Shield stepped out of the kitchen, his eye slowly moving over to look at the cold princess. “Is something the matter?”

“Why are there humans on their way to Canterlot?” Luna walked over to the unicorn and glared down at him. “When are you going to stop using Dave for your own selfish needs?”

“Humans?” Flux looked at Strong Shield before looking back at Luna. “I thought Dave went to Manehatten to find out about Battering Ram.”

Strong Shield hummed, “His death must have been part of a plot.”

“Death?” Luna looked at the two ponies standing either side of her. “Battering Ram is… dead?”

“He was…” Strong Shield looked at Flux sympathetically. “He was murdered and Dave offered to go instead of us.”

Luna froze on the spot, conflicted between distrusting Strong Shield and her shock in knowing that a friend had been murdered. “Did Dave know about this?”

“He knew Battering Ram was dead but nothing more,” Strong Shield looked at Flux. “I am sorry I didn’t tell you earlier but I didn’t want to upset you.”

Luna looked back at Flux to see the purple mare had tears streaming down her face, the princess turned to look at Strong Shield, a sad expression across his face. Luna knew how well Strong Shield could hide his true emotions yet he had lost somepony he had called his brother.

“I am sorry for what has happened,” Luna sighed. “I shall have some guards take the humans to the castle and if anything is discovered about Battering Ram’s murder then I shall inform you both immediately.”

Flux tried to give a weak smile but even that was difficult. “T-thank you Princess Luna, we appreciate it.”

Luna wrapped a wing around the Pegasus and nuzzled her cheek softly. “I am sorry for your loss, I will make sure Battering Ram is properly avenged.”

“J-just make sure my son gets home safe,” Flux asked as she looked up at Luna. “I couldn’t forgive myself if something bad happened to him too.”

Strong Shield walked over to nuzzle Flux, “Don’t worry, I’m sure Dave is fine.”

Meanwhile…

Nitro awoke to see a pair of feet standing beside his head, he looked up to see the silhouette of a human standing above him. “Wha…. What the…. Where am I?”

“You are currently in a jail cell located in the Manehatten Police Station,” Dave knelt down as he grabbed the pony’s mane. “And they have given me ten minutes alone so I can get some information out of you.”

“What makes you think I know anything?” Nitro snapped at Dave.

“You were nearby when the fight between me and Steven happened, and had enough time to set up a trap before making your presence clear,” Dave picked up the pony and lifted him above his head. “Now what do you know about the human we fought?”

Nitro snarled as he looked at Dave, “And why would I tell you anything you disgusting freak?”

“Wrong answer,” Dave muttered as he slammed Nitro onto the floor.

Chapter 6: Tested Loyalties

Chapter 6: Tested Loyalties

Dave stepped out of the police station as he scratched his head, his angered breaths turning to a faint cloud in the cold air. He turned to see Quarry was standing behind him with an emotionless stare.

“So did you find out anything during your time with Nitro?” Quarry asked as Dave rubbed his eyes.

“No, nothing,” Dave sat down on the cold steps as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I even heard that he won’t even stay in a cell that long, one of the officers was muttering something about public petitions.”

Quarry sighed, “Ponies were alarmed to see humans fighting, causing so much damage and Nitro appeared to stop the rampaging dragon.”

“So he attacks me yet gets to go free?” Dave shook his head as he looked around the quieter streets. “Do you know when the next train to Canterlot leaves?”

“Not until tomorrow morning,” Quarry walked down the steps to sit beside Dave. “Magical trackers have been placed on Nitro so we won’t lose him again, you can rest in my apartment until tomorrow.”

Dave stood up and looked back at Quarry with a soft smile, “Thanks but I would prefer to walk around for now.”

“Really? After all you have been through today I think that rest is the only thing you should do,” Quarry’s protests fell on deaf ears as Dave was already walking away.

“Thanks for the help today,” Dave called over his shoulder with a small wave. “See you around…”

Meanwhile…

Sarah and Sasha had both settled back into their fake personalities as they arrived in Canterlot train station, as the hissing of the brakes came to a quiet halt, the girls stepped out of the train and looked around to see a pair of royal guards walking over to them.

“Excuse me but were both of you contacted by another human called Dave Shield?” One of the guards asked while looking at Sarah.

“You mean the tall guy?” Sasha asked with a childish gasp when she saw the castle. “Wow! It’s huge!”

The guard smiled at Sasha, “Yes Princess Celestia and Luna are both waiting for you, they even have a few private rooms waiting for you.”

“Well my sister and I are both very nervous about what is going on, the only reason we came here is because Dave assured us that you are trustworthy.” Sarah smiled sweetly, “I don’t suppose we could share one room? It would put my mind at ease for the first few nights.”

The guards looked at each other before nodding, “We will see what we can do but until then Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would like to speak to you both, just to have a friendly conversation and explain any questions you have.”

Sarah and Sasha both began to follow the guards towards the castle, ignoring the glances they received from anypony that happened to be out that late. The cold wind stung the human’s faces as they increased their pace to reach the castle.

The humans were shivering by the time they stepped through the castle doors and were sheltered from the freezing cold outside. The guards looked at the shivering girls and one went off to go find the princesses.

“Sorry, we didn’t know you would be so cold,” The guard’s guilt only grew as Sasha sneezed loudly and clutched to Sarah’s side. “I will see if there are any warm clothes available, Dave should have some spares in his room.”

The girls thanked the guard as he left and the first guard returned to lead them to the dining room. Sarah and Sasha were allowed to go in first and bowed to the alicorns that were sat at the end of the long table.

Celestia and Luna both smiled as Sarah took a seat and Sasha gasped at the princesses. “Wow! Real princesses!”

“Sasha, don’t gawp,” Sarah nervously pulled Sasha into a seat beside her before looking across at Celestia and Luna. “I apologise, my sister is still very young and this is a lot for her.”

“You don’t need to apologise,” Celestia smiled. “So you met my husband Dave?”

Sasha nodded as she smiled at the princesses, “He was super nice to us!”

“Well he always was the caring type,” Luna smiled warmly to the girls. “Did he not come to Canterlot with you?”

“N-no he said he had to check something out,” Sarah hummed. “He seemed in a hurry but that is all I know.”

Luna briefly looked at her sister before looking at Sarah, “I don’t wish to be a nuisance but I was wondering how old you both were.”

“Oh not at all,” Sarah nodded with a smile. “I am nineteen while Sasha is eleven.”

“Eleven and a half!” Sasha pouted at Sarah before turning away in an angry mood. Sarah gave her an annoyed glare before shaking her head.

The older sister smiled politely to the princesses, “Sorry, younger sisters can be annoying and are usually spoilt more than older siblings.” She said sweetly but with a slight venom in her voice aimed at Sasha.

“That is very true,” Celestia laughed before noticing Luna’s shocked stare. “S-s-so I have heard from the maids and guards.”

Luna gave Celestia a suspicious stare as the humans exchanged confused looks. A few moments later the door opened and a yawning Nox was stepping into the dining room before freezing and looking at Sarah and Sasha.

“Mum… who are they?” Nox asked nervously as he took a seat near to Celestia.

“Well these are…” Celestia paused. “Well I am afraid we haven’t exchanged names so far.”

Sarah smiled warmly to Nox, “Hello, my name is Sarah and this is my younger sister Sasha.”

“Well it is a pleasure to meet you,” Celestia bowed her head. “I am Princess Celestia, this is my younger sister Princess Luna and my son Prince Nox.”

“Son? So are you married Princess Celestia?” Sarah asked politely as Sasha gave Nox a small wave, causing the grey alicorn to nervously wave back.

“Yes to Dave,” Celestia had to hide her small giggle as she noticed the human’s jaw drop. “I know it may seem odd but Dave and I were just as shocked when we found out I could conceive.”

Sarah gulped nervously as she looked at Nox and then Celestia, “Y-you would have to forgive me for being slightly… shocked by that news.”

“Well I would imagine that the ponies on your world that can’t talk have never had a child with a human,” Celestia smiled as she nodded. “I understand it is odd but Dave and I are both very proud of our son.”

“Did he mention it is illegal to… have… sex with a pony on Earth?” Sarah asked. As the question was raised both Celestia and Luna exchanged glances before shaking their heads.

“Dave is no longer on Earth and we are not exactly the same ponies as the ones from your world,” Celestia narrowed her eyes. “I can see why you might be confused but please don’t question anything he has done since his arrival, he has been on this world much longer than you.”

Sarah nodded quickly as she apologized, “O-of course! I’m sorry for bringing it up!”

“There is no need for an apology,” Celestia gave a sweet response that hid her annoyance. “If you wish to retire to your rooms I believe they are ready now.”

“Oh… thank you princess,” Sarah bowed her head. “But I do have one more question… concerning Dave.”

Luna’s ears stood up at the mention of Dave’s name, “What is it?”

“In all the time he has been here… has he never tried to go back to Earth?” Sarah asked, her question gaining almost pleased smiles from Celestia and Luna.

“No, he is more than happy here,” Luna said with a proud smile.

Sasha’s face gained a confused and childish gawp, “But what about his parents?”

“He was adopted by a nice couple not too long after he arrived,” Celestia answered.

“So Shield isn’t his real last name?” Sarah frowned when she saw the princesses shake their heads. “So what is it?”

Celestia and Luna were both left silent as they looked at each other, neither knowing the answer to the question. “I am afraid Dave has never liked talking about his life on Earth so we respected his privacy and left the subject alone.”

As Sasha threw her arm up to ask another question the door to the dining room opened and a waiter stepped in, giving a bow to the royalty in the room. “Are you ready to order your breakfasts Princess Celestia and Prince Nox? And are you ready to order your dinner Princess Luna?”

Sarah and Sasha both looked at Celestia as she stood up. “Gosh is it that time already? Well I think I will order in a moment but could you show our guests to their rooms and make sure they are comfortable? I am sure they would like to rest.”

“Of course your highness,” The butler waited for Sarah and Sasha to bow to the princesses before following him to their rooms.

Luna looked across at Celestia as they were left alone, Nox groaned as his stomach rumbled. “Well they seemed alright, but I do wonder what happened to Dave.”

Celestia nodded in agreement before nuzzling Nox’s cheek, “Could you be a good colt and go fetch one of the guards for us?”

“Sure thing mum!” Nox said with a small salute as he jumped from his chair and dashed out into the corridor.

The sisters waited until Nox had ran down the corridor before turning to each other. Luna with a slightly annoyed expression. “So I am spoilt?”

“I meant nothing by it Luna,” Celestia gave a heavy sigh as she looked across at her sister’s stare. “But you have to admit that Dave will normally choose to spend free time with you more than me.”

Luna frowned, “Dave is allowed to spend time with whoever he wants to, besides every time he is asked about his relationship he only talks about you.” Luna turned her back to Celestia as she stared out one of the tall windows. “I feel like a dirty secret.”

“You know he loves you just as much as me,” Celestia placed a hoof on her sister. “No matter what happens that won’t change.”

“We just have to trust him?” Luna sighed as she looked back at her sister, but this time her face was full of concern. “We know nothing of his previous life on Earth, if it was better than his life here and he misses it so much that he would rather forget than know he can’t go back.”

Celestia shook her head, “You are worried that these new humans will make Dave want to leave us?”

“Yes I am sister,” Luna looked at the seats that Sarah and Sasha were sat in. “Dave has done silly things in the past that could have resulted in him never coming back and I get the feeling he will do it again.”

“But he does come back,” Celestia reminded the princess of the night. “He may do things in his own… odd way but in the end it always works out.”

“Like the last times?” Luna sighed. “Every single time he does something he is hurt in another way, being stuck on a different planet, that black fog, that scar on his arm that makes him scared to be around us sometimes.”

Celestia’s ears drooped slightly as she lost her reassuring smile. “Dave… whatever he might do… he won’t leave us… I’m sure.”

“I’m not worried about Dave leaving… I am just worried that in the end… he won’t have a choice.”

Meanwhile…

Hank hummed as he looked at the castle from the secluded window that the humans had taken refuge in. Mike was moving some furniture aside as another human dropped to her knees and began to draw on the floor.

“So what now?” Mike asked as he finished pushing a table aside. “We haven’t heard from the others in a while.”

“Sarah and Sasha have both made it into the castle, their individual tasks are proceeding perfectly,” Hank hummed as he turned to see the blond girl was still scribbling on the floor, her chalk leaving thick white symbols on the floor.

Mike stood up straight as he looked at Hank, “What about Steven? Did he beat Dave?”

“No, Discord knew Steven would fail with his petty ability to speak to dragons,” Hank looked at Mike with cold, piercing eyes. “But I managed to analyse Dave’s abilities and Steven’s sacrifice won’t be in vein.”

“Steven is… dead?” Mike gasped, the only human to show shock at a comrade’s death. “Did Dave kill him?” He asked angrily.

Hank narrowed his eyes as he saw Mike’s fury, “Yes, now do you see how much of a threat Dave is to us and this world?” The older human lied.

Mike nodded slowly, “So how can we beat him?”

“Unfortunately his healing means attacking him head on would be suicide for anyone with weaker powers like Sarah so you will be there to support her as she completes her objective.” Hank raised his hand as he talked and rested it on Mike’s shoulder. “Can I count on you?”

Mike gasped, “You mean… my ability will be returned?”

“Yes, you should be able to hold Dave off with ease with your strong power,” Hank’s hand glowed as Mike’s chest glowed a bright white and his eyes opened wide with the mixture of twisting and tingling sensations roaming throughout his body and mind. “Now go to another room to get reacquainted with your skill as Laura here completes the portal.”

The girl on the floor looked up, her short blond hair was in a scruffy mess, and her eyes had dark bags beneath them that made her look ready to pass out. The only thing suggesting otherwise was her scribbling that was progressing with speed and precision.

“The portal? Back to Earth? To Discord?” Mike smiled as he saw Hank nod. “Well I guess I had better make sure I can still use my power properly.”

Mike hurried out of the dusty room as he hurried downstairs and into the empty dining room. The boarded up and abandoned house had been a good place to hide as the number of humans requiring a hideout had been reduced in the past few days. And the castle being in view only made their morale increase.

“Alright… let’s start with something simple,” Mike held out his palms as he crossed his arms and touched his thumbs with his fingers. He narrowed his eyes at one of the broken cupboard doors, the flimsy wood holding on by one rusty hinge.

Mike swung his arm forward, clicking his fingers causing a small flash of light to appear and release a long knife that cut through the hinge with ease, causing the door to fall. His other arm swing wide and another click fired another dagger to appear and split the wood clean in half.

As the broken wood began to fall to the ground, Mike spun and clicked his fingers to summon a long curved blade to his hands. He swung with one smooth movement that cut both halves of the door into smaller pieces.

Mike gave a sigh of relief as he allowed the blades to flash out of existence and he felt his head begin to ache. “Ah crap I forgot about this… stupid drawback.”

A knock on the wall behind Mike made him spin around only for him to see the tired looking Laura smiling at him. “I can’t believe Discord gave you the gift of creation.”

“It is just lucky I also got the part that gives me knowledge on how to use them,” Mike snapped his fingers to bring a small banjo into existence and began to gently strum the strings. “Your power is quite convenient though, the power of replication.”

Laura laughed as she looked across the room at a clone of herself. “I will admit it is odd to be conscious of myself in many places at once.”

“Sasha got the gift of life,” Mike began to slowly play the banjo as he leaned against the wall. “I still don’t get why Discord gave her a pair of claws as well as her ability to make objects move to her will.”

Laura shrugged, “Sarah has the gift of levitation right? Any old Pegasus can fly too so I don’t see how she gets so proud of herself.”

“Well the only powers that we have lost now are Steven’s his ability to control minds did work well with his ability to speak to dragons,” Mike scratched his head. “I wonder why Discord gave his powers to us. I mean… does he intend for us to keep them forever?”

Laura narrowed her eyes at Mike, “Asking questions got your power taken away before, and Hank was generous enough not to take the other gift Discord gave you.”

“Without that act of generosity I wouldn’t be here to talk to you,” Mike sighed. “It’s just that I wonder if we can truly belong anywhere.”

Chapter 7: Tired and Confused

Chapter 7: Tired and Confused.

The sun had long since set and Canterlot was covered in darkness as well as a thick blanket of snow that had built up over the past few days. A train rolled into the quiet station as it stopped at the final destination on its route.

A door opened and Dave stepped out of the train and shivered at the sudden cold outside. His hands went immediately into his pockets to try and keep what little warmth they had. His breath became a thick mist in the air in front of his face.

Dave pulled the zip up on his coat and began to walk towards the castle, the snow beneath his feet crunching softly. The lightly falling snow was slowly coating Dave’s head and shoulders as he walked, as well as a few stray snowflakes finding their way to his face and the freezing cold attacked his skin.

The walk was cold and the dark skies were not a welcome return for Dave as he made the lonely journey up the empty street. He stopped occasionally to glance around at the pitch-black alleys, his recent discoveries causing him to feel uneasy.

He quickly made his way back to the castle, the cold and empty courtyard was uninviting as he jogged into the castle and into the warmer sanctuary. Dave shook the snow from his body and stopped as he noticed Strong Shield was standing at the end of the corridor.

“Hey dad,” Dave walked over but noticed an agitated look. “What’s wrong?”

“Luna came to see me, she would have told Celestia about Battering Ram’s death by now,” The dark unicorn sighed. “Anyway tell me what you discovered.”

“There were three humans, two of which are now in the castle I hope,” Dave scratched his head as he noticed Strong Shield’s raised eyebrow. “The third is dead, he had his throat ripped out by the time I found him.”

Strong Shield narrowed his eye at Dave, “You didn’t do it did you?”

“What? No!” Dave shook his head as he rubbed his eyes. “I was finishing off a dragon that was attacking me and when I caught up to the human he was already dying.”

“Maybe he realized he was cornered and committed suicide rather than get caught,” Strong Shield’s humming was cut short as Dave shook his head.

The human yawned, Strong Shield waiting patiently for Dave to share more information. “Nah the wound was too messy… and I am shattered so I am going to bed.”

“Fine but I will speak to you again soon about this,” Strong Shield marched away and left the tired Dave to walk aimlessly around the castle before he appeared outside of Luna’s chambers.

The tired human knocked on the door and waited patiently for the sound of hoovesteps to come to a stop, followed shortly by a distracted, “Enter!”

Dave followed Luna’s command and opened the door, stepping in with a bow to the princess. “Would a kind hearted soul such as yourself allow a weary traveller to rest his tired eyes a little while in your company?”

“Dave? You don’t have to knock to enter here you realize?” Luna cocked her head in confusion and concern as she saw the dirt marks on Dave’s clothes. “So you did find something out.”

“What do you mean?” Dave asked in confusion as he closed the heavy door and made his way to sit on the bed. “I have just got back from Manehatten and I am already getting questioned?”

Luna sat next to Dave on the bed and placed a hoof reassuringly on Dave’s hand, “Listen, I know this news must be hard for you to take but you will always have me to support you as well.”

“W-what news is hard to take?” Dave’s mind suddenly racing at the serious tone in Luna’s voice. “Does it have to do with us?”

“Yes in a sense but more importantly it is about family,” Luna placed a hoof on Dave’s chest. “Things change over time, and we will always have each other for any hardships we may encounter.”

Dave gently grabbed Luna’s hooves, “You aren’t pregnant are you?”

“What?” Luna gasped before shaking her head. “No I’m not pregnant! I was going to reassure you about Battering Ram’s death.”

“Ohh,” Dave gave a sigh of relief. “You had me worried for a minute there.”

Luna suddenly lost her sympathy for Dave as a frown crossed her face. “Are you saying that if I had been pregnant you would have been disappointed?”

“Huh?” Dave regretted looking at Luna’s annoyed stare. “No not at all! If we had a child I would be ecstatic but…”

“But what?” Luna stood and glared at Dave.

The human nervously scratched the back of his head as he tried to think of a good answer. “But… maybe we should… plan things out before we think about having a child.”

“And what would you do if I was pregnant right now?” Luna’s line of questioning continuing its onslaught against Dave.

“But you aren’t,” Dave stated plainly. “Why are we having this conversation?”

Luna rolled her eyes and turned away, “Fine, ignore the fact that I try to care for you but you won’t even think about how our child is going to be raised.”

Dave rubbed his eyes before standing up, “Sorry I disturbed you, I am just gonna go for a little while.”

Luna turned her head away with a small huff as Dave walked out of the royal chambers and closed the door behind him. The human walked back downstairs before yawning and considering his options.

“Celestia is most likely asleep and I don’t want to disturb her, Luna is being… weird,” Dave tapped his chin. “The barracks will be busy all night so… I could stay at mom and dad’s if I have to…”

Dave turned to look out of the window and saw the light snowfall had turned into a thick blizzard, shattering his plan. “Alright who will let me sleep, who won’t ask questions and who won’t try to reassure me and end up being weird?”

After a few moments of thinking, Dave came to a horrible conclusion and began walking through the castle, his footsteps becoming slower as he neared his destination. Dave’s hesitation became apparent as he entered a dark corridor that ran along the side of the mountain the castle was attached to.

A wide door was located in the middle of the corridor, the dusty handle had been untouched for some time and even the floor around the door had a slightly dirty look compared to the rest of the corridor.

The dark wooden door had a slightly unnerving aspect about it, Dave noticed how maids would walk as far as they could from the door when walking down the corridor, and even Dave felt uneasy walking near it.

The closer Dave got the room he began to hear odd and random noises, the feeling of small vibrations gradually filled his body as he neared the foreboding room. Dave reached the door, his tiredness affecting his judgement as he raised his hand and knocked politely on the door.

Once he had knocked the vibrations stopped, the corridor became eerily silent and Dave took a deep breath before the doors burst open and a pair of flaming red eyes burst forth from a dense black smoke that clouded Dave’s vision and the smell of ash and coal filled his nose.

“WHO DARES DISTURB ME?” A booming voice resonated from the fog and caused the entire corridor to shake. “OH IF IT ISN’T THE LITTLE TRATOR HUMAN, HAVE YOU COME TO BEG FORGIVENESS?”

“No Odio,” Dave sighed. “I just wanna sleep for a little bit.”

“WELL I REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT YOU ARE NO LONGER WELCOME IN MY FORTRESS OF… what are you doing?” The fog was cut short as Dave’s eyes closed and let out a large sneeze that caused the fog to split apart. “Eww, dude, you may have a cold but I don’t want one.”

Dave glared at the fog, “I have only recently come out of a mystical place called the outside world.” Dave opened his arms as he smiled happily, “I have such a normal life consisting of random evil humans, angry dragons and brooding princesses.”

“This is why I never leave my room, I survive, stay safe, never have any problems,” The large red eyes disappeared into the black fog as it settled lower to the ground, forming a thick mist along the floor with one large bulge protruding from the ground that Odio’s eyes clung to.

Dave stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, he looked around the room as he made his way over to the bed. The walls were completely covered in posters of various origins, the main theme was video games, an unhealthy obsession that Odio had gained.

The human threw himself onto the unused bed and let out a loud yawn as he kicked his shoes off and they fell into the fog that covered the floor. As Dave opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling he was greeted to another poster of a famous pony singer.

“I don’t know which is weirder, the fact you still have a Sapphire Shores poster or the fact you placed it above the bed,” Dave sat up to see the fog of hatred humming.

“Her songs are good and she deserved to be somewhere special,” Odio scowled at Dave. “Don’t tell me you think her songs are terrible!”

Dave shook his head, “No I don’t, but can I ask one favour?”

“Yyyyyyyeeeeeaaahhhhhhh…. Maybe,” Odio stared at Dave as he waited for the question.

“I am really tired so could you be quiet while I try to get some sleep?” Dave gave a polite smile but was met by two flaming yet unimpressed eyes. “What?”

Odio turned away with a sigh, “You know how you are my bestest buddy in the entire universe?”

“Yeah,” Dave cocked his head at the random question.

“Well you haven’t exactly been spending time with me recently,” Odio said sadly. “I was worried that Celestia and Luna had convinced you to get rid of me forever.”

Dave rubbed his fingers through his hair as he laid back on the bed, “Dude we have been over this, I am busy being a dad, husband and royal representative.”

“And I am busy being a pirate,” Odio said plainly. “I managed to effectively recreate the new video game consoles from earth and I am making the newest games as they come out.”

“New consoles? How the heck did you make them?” Dave asked before immediately regretting it.

“Well Dave!” Odio’s red eyes flew across the fog to press against Dave’s cheeks. “Due to the portal I kept when I teleported you from Earth to Equestria I left enough space to catch signals that were sent around the earth and from nearby satellites! So I basically torrented a console.”

Dave sighed, “Sorry I asked… but you do realize that makes no sense?”

“Absolutely!” Odio cheered as he turned away and began look around the fog that coated the floor. “I don’t suppose you can see a controller anywhere do you?”

“No,” Dave sighed before he sat up. “Hang on, the portal you have that joins Equestria to Earth… I don’t suppose you know if anypony has tampered with it?”

Odio paused for a second, “The portals are both way above the ground, the Equestria portal would need immense magic to use so that only narrows our list down to our friendly princesses and the Earth portal is inaccessible by humans.”

“So nopony could have accessed the portal above Equestria?” Dave asked as he turned over on the bed to look at the fog. “I fought a human in Manehatten recently, and another two humans which I found are now in the castle.”

“And? I don’t have anything to do with the ‘real world’ as you guys call it,” Odio sneered. “Did you win the fight?”

Dave chuckled, “I beat his dragon but when he ran off he had his throat ripped out by something.”

“Congrats, you made someone kill themselves out of fear,” Odio made a small clapping noise. “Hang on did you say you fought a human and found two others?”

“Yeah…” Dave stared up at the ceiling as he rested his hands behind his head. “He also said strange things like a ‘saviour’ had given a group some ‘gifts’ so I am worried that there are more humans that have strange powers.”

Odio floated slowly back over to Dave, “And what about those two girls you found? The ones you let stay in the castle?”

“I placed my hands on them and nothing happened,” Dave sighed.

“You groped them and nothing happened, I don’t think that story is going to fly dude,” Odio shook his eyes as he looked away from Dave.

“I mean that I used my magical resistance to see if there was anything different about them,” Dave sat up as he glared at the fog in annoyance. “Why the heck would I grope them?”

“I don’t know, maybe they are the first females of your species you have seen in years and you wanted to get the taste of ponies out of your mouth,” Odio suggested.

Dave’s jaw dropped, “Dude what the heck are you on about?”

“I’m not really sure, I haven’t seen you in a while so I thought I would try to be a little mean about your relationships,” Odio confessed with a hum.

“I thought you were trying to be less mean,” Dave frowned in disappointment.

“I am literally a fog of pure hatred, anger and rage, also I play video games,” Odio leaned closer to Dave. “Have you met an angry gamer?”

Dave rolled his eyes, “Alright, point taken.”

Chapter 8: Plans in Motion

Chapter 8: Plans in Motion.

The cold night air gently brushed aside the long silk curtains as Sarah leaned out of the bedroom window and gazed at the quiet city below. She used one of her pale fingers to brush a strand of hair behind her ear before giving a long sigh.

Behind her, Sasha was laying on the large bed that had been provided for them. The young girl was lazily swinging her feet off the edge of the bed, her fingers tapping her belly in an impatient manner.

“When are you going to get on with it?” Sasha complained as she rolled onto her front to look at Sarah. The young girl’s impatience was getting on Sarah’s nerves but she knew she only had to endure the numerous complaints a few moments longer.

“I am just making sure it is clear,” Sarah called back into the room before she noticed a Pegasus guard fly around one of the castle towers. She waited a few minutes before another Pegasus flew past, she kept check of any movements she saw in the air before she spotted her window approaching.

Sasha groaned as she grabbed one on the pillows beside her and began to hug it tightly, “Come on Sarah, I am starting to get cold.”

Sarah took a deep breath before leaning forwards and tumbling out of the window, her ears were filled with the sound of wind as she fell towards the castle gardens below, she had timed it perfectly so no guards would be able to see her until the flew back around.

The ground was nearing Sarah, the soft grass coming into focus as she gently turned in the air. Sarah slowed in the air and landed softly on her feet. She walked beneath a tree and spied on a guard that flew overhead.

The moment the unaware guard flew back out of view Sarah made her next move. She hopped into the air and began to float, her smile grew as she began to pick up speed and she began to fly along the castle walls, swerving and spinning to avoid any windows.

Guards that patrolled the castle’s skies were unaware of the silent prowler that exploited every blind spot there was. Sarah eventually reached her destination on the far side of the castle, a large pair of wooden doors stood unguarded in the winter night.

“Easy enough,” Sarah sighed as she glided to the doors and quietly slipped inside, taking the time to look about to make sure nopony saw her as she closed the door. She turned to see the long corridor before her, the walls lined with gorgeous stained glass that depicted key moments in Equestria’s history.

As Sarah walked down the hall she gazed at the stained glass that shone in the moonlight, the vivid colours were cast around the room until they disappeared into the shadows. At the end of the hall was a large decorated door.

Sarah looked at the door with a smile before jogging out of the hall and flying carefully away. She retraced her path through the skies until she was safely back inside her room, Sasha was still lying on the bed as she stared at the ceiling.

“The door is there, just like he said it would be,” Sarah sighed as she dropped onto the bed. “Hopefully we won’t have to stick around much longer.”

“Good,” Sasha sighed as she rolled onto her side. “I hate having to sit around, pretending to be some scared little girl.”

Sarah sat up to look across at the child, her concerns for the girl’s wellbeing were quickly brushed aside as Sasha’s arms turned the dull gold that made her and most of her other acquaintances uneasy.

“Put those claws away,” Sarah glanced at the door. “What if a guard were to walk in?”

“Then I could make him stay quiet forever!” Sasha growled. “Hank said that I don’t have to be ordered about once we found the door.” The girl clambered off the bed as her hands finished transforming into the golden claws.

Sarah sighed as she rubbed her temples; her patience for the uncontrollable brat was wearing thin. “No he said you can do what you please once we end him the signal. Then you can make this castle your own, tear it down or even paint it pink for all I care.”

Sasha snarled at Sarah before turning her head away and pouting, “Hank says that you are only useful for finding the door and that’s it.”

“You have no idea what game you think you are playing but I can tell you that I am a lot more important than you,” Sarah said with a proud smile. “See Hank has no time for a child, that’s why I will be around long after you are gone.”

“Y-yeah?” Sasha glared evilly. “W-well you smell!”

The next morning…

Celestia, Dave and the two human girls were sat outside a café on the busy street that led to Canterlot castle, ponies walking by could only glimpse at the group before noticing a guard staring at them, encouraging them to move along.

Dave looked between the two glaring sisters; the only thing that broke the awkward silence was him giving a long yawn. Celestia looked at her husband before rolling her eyes, “Where did you end up sleeping?”

“I tried to sleep in Odio’s room,” Dave dropped his head to the table as Sarah and Sasha stopped their glaring. “He woke me up every hour to tell me something cool he had found on his new games or how his new consoles were better and in one case he woke me up to tell me that I had been asleep for exactly one hour.”

“Who is this Odio guy?” Sarah asked as she was handed a tea by one of the café waitresses.

Dave sat up as he was passed a large coffee, “Someone you really don’t want to meet.” Dave sighed before drinking the coffee in one gulp and passed the empty mug back to the stunned waitress, “One more please.”

“I told you countless times he is a bad influence,” Celestia shook her head, her attention shifting as a large slice of cake was placed in front of her. “I know enough about bad influences.”

Sasha beamed when an equally large chocolate bun was placed in front of her. “Wow it’s bigger than my head!”

“Yeah sweets are a bit oversized in Equestria,” Dave shrugged. “I don’t think I have managed to finish a cake to myself yet.”

There was a moment of calm before Sasha began to tear into her treat; bits of chocolate chip fell from the bun as she quickly devoured it. Sarah figured it was probably down to the gifts they had received that had increased Sasha’s appetite but was shocked when she saw Celestia had already eaten most of her own cake.

“Finished!” Celestia and Sasha both said in unison. Sarah and Dave looked in bewilderment at the princess and girl. The waitress looked at the group in bewilderment before slowly retreating back into the café to serve other customers.

“Well I suppose some people and ponies have larger appetites than I do,” Dave gave Celestia a reassuring smile as he wiped a bit of frosting from the corner of her mouth. “At least you enjoyed it I suppose.”

Celestia smiled, “Well cake is my favourite.”

“Mine too!” Sasha cheered.

“Well we will have to have cake when we get back to the castle,” Celestia winked, bringing a large grin to Sasha’s face. “Sarah, did you want anything to eat? The strawberry sponge is delicious today.”

“No thanks,” Sarah shook her head. She stood up as the waitress returned with another coffee for Dave. “Excuse me, is there a toilet inside?” She asked politely.

The waitress placed the coffee down before responding, “Yes there is one at the back of the seating area.”

“Thank you,” Sarah left the group to walk inside the café. She ignored the curious stares that she received from the customers. She was getting sick of waiting around, being stared at like a freak, and treated like a helpless animal.

Sarah reached the small bathroom, locking the door behind her before giving a sigh of relief that she had some privacy. No longer worried about accidentally spilling any information or letting her disguise slip, Sarah looked around the small space she had available.

There was a small white toilet, a small sink and a frosted window. Sarah had to open the window to peek out into the quiet alley. Luckily for her there was a wooden fence separating the alley from the busy main street.

The girl had to hover off the ground to slip out the small gap in the window; her flight helped her lower herself silently onto the ground. Sarah looked around the dirty alley she was in; a few bins that belonged to the café were lined up near a rear entrance.

Sarah reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small mirror, using the café as cover from the streets she flew into the air until she was level with the rooftops. Making sure no pegasi were about before laying down on the tiled rooftop.

The mountain that Canterlot was built around was standing proud beside the equally impressive castle. Sarah’s eyes darted around the mountainside before she held the mirror beside her head, rotating it gently as she tried to reflect the sunlight at the mountain.

After a short time of waiting, Sarah saw a brief flash of light, showing that her signal had been received by a companion on the mountain. Sarah returned the mirror to her pocket and froze as she heard the café door below her open.

She peeked down to see one of the staff throwing a bag of rubbish into one of the bins before returning indoors. Sarah floated back down to the ground and gave a sigh of relief that the pony hadn’t noticed the open window.

“So you have completed your assignment?” A deep voice asked from behind the surprised girl. Sarah spun around and was relieved to see Hank staring at her.

“Yes,” Sarah bowed to the taller man. “The door was there just like you said, I made sure I wasn’t seen and the princesses don’t suspect a thing.”

Hank nodded before resting one of his large hands on Sarah’s shoulder. The girl appreciated the small sign of praise but couldn’t help feel intimidated; scared that Hank would do something to hurt her now she was no longer required.

“Now you can let Sasha know that she can fulfil her task,” Hank removed his hand from Sarah’s shoulder. “Mike is getting ready to enter the castle; he will provide a distraction while you escape.”

“What about Sasha?” Sarah couldn’t help but wonder whenever Hank began to tell her what to do. The man standing opposite her was always leaving details out that made no sense, her questions were always half-answered and the details were usually something she would rather not know.

Hank hummed before responding to Sarah’s question. “Mike is going to give her another gift, something that will help her create a distraction.”

“Another gift? She already has those claws and she can manipulate objects,” Sarah growled. “Why are you spoiling her?”

“Because that is the plan!” Hank snapped, his glaring eyes instantly crushing any argument that Sarah had. “Sasha will receive this gift, Mike will help create a distraction and you are to leave the castle when he arrives.”

Sarah lowered her gaze to the floor, her anger hidden behind her silence. She clenched her fists to stop herself from yelling, to stop herself protesting until she was given more power. “Are you sure Mike won’t chicken out like last time.”

“Mike knows what will happen if he doesn’t do as he is told.” Hank responded plainly, “Now go back into the princesses and make sure you know how to escape.”

The two humans stood in silence before Sarah finally nodded, “Whatever you say.”

“Good,” Hank began to walk away. “With Steven’s death we know that Dave’s fighting abilities isn’t an issue.”

“It isn’t Dave’s fighting skills I’m worried about,” Sarah turned to glare at Hank. “I’m worried that there is more going on than we realize.”

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the wait :P

Chapter 9: Hand in Hand

Chapter 9: Hand in hand.

Nox yawned as he gazed out the castle window and looked at the streets below, the recent snowfall leaving the castle gardens covered in a small blanket of snow. He turned around to see Strong Shield walk into the quiet library with a tray of drinks floating behind him in a magical bubble.

“So Nox, have you thought about anything else you want to study?” Strong Shield placed the tray down on a table as Flux appeared from behind one of the bookshelves. Strong Shield and Flux had been encouraging the young alicorn to try and find an area of study, or to at least let Twilight Sparkle teach him a broad variety of subjects.

The young prince hummed before shaking his head, “Nah.”

“Try not to pressure him,” Flux sighed as she sat down and poured herself a cup of tea and poured another for her frowning husband. “He has more than enough time to learn all he needs to know.”

Strong Shield looked at the lavender Pegasus opposite him, his annoyed side showing again as he turned to glance at Nox. “Well I am just saying that having a plan for the future is a good way to train your mind.”

“He has all of eternity to decide what to do,” Flux took a sip of her tea before using a dextrous wing to pick up a sugar cube and drop it into her tea. “Remember when Princess Celestia challenged you to a quiz about battle formations?”

Strong Shield’s frown disappeared as Nox’s ears stood on end; the tired unicorn looked at his wife with a desperate look. “Please don’t remind me.”

“You could recall fifty formations whereas Celestia managed to describe sixty five in perfect detail,” Flux gave a smile as she heard Nox give a long gasp. “Yes Nox, your mother is a lot more knowledgeable than anypony in this castle.”

“Pish posh,” Strong Shield’s eye turned to Nox. “Now how many do you reckon Princess Celestia can actually use in official combat?”

Flux smiled again, showing she was two steps ahead of Strong Shield the whole time. “Well she doesn’t need to; she is just that much wiser than us.”

Nox looked at his grandparents in confusion, wondering what was going on in their heads. The pair was always a mystery, both of them seemed to know what was going on but both used the information in different ways.

Strong Shield could always look at somepony and know exactly what they had done in their lives and where they would go to from there. Whereas Flux could see how the pony’s future can be changed or avoided.

But one thing they both shared was that they were usually both thinking the exact same thing: How to deal with the situation. Sometimes Nox would wonder if his grandfather Strong Shield’s missing eye was actually a magical spell that allowed him to see into the future.

At the end of the day he never remembered what his straight faced grandfather would say.

“Nox, at least consider enrolling in the military to gain valuable experience,” Strong Shield tapped his chin. “Maybe make the rank of major before leaving so you have experience commanding troops.”

Flux rolled her eyes, “Or let the poor colt choose his own hobbies, even if it as plain as stargazing.”

“Stargazing?” Strong Shield and Nox both raised an eyebrow in confusion.

The young colt hummed before smiling, “Nah stargazing is to simple.”

“See?” Strong Shield pointed proudly at Nox. “He desires a more engaging and challenging experience such as being a soldier and a commander.”

“N-no,” Nox shook his head before smirking. “I wanna fly to other stars and find new worlds!”

Flux placed down her tea, glancing at Strong Shield before smiling at Nox, “Honey that isn’t possible. Your auntie Luna controls the night so trying to explore may be an inconvenience.”

“Why should it?” Strong Shield hummed. “Odio found Dave on a distant solar system so we know there are other worlds with life... maybe this is a good idea.”

“No it is not!” Flux protested, her eyes showing a glimmer of anger that made Nox step back out of shock. He had never seen his grandmother show even annoyance to a bee stinging her, so this was a huge jump. “His mother and father would never agree to this!”

Strong Shield looked at Nox with his evaluating eye, “He could magic then go use his powers on empty worlds, train his skills freely without worrying about hurting others.”

“So you are encouraging him to use his magic to do damage?” Flux shook her head, folding her hooves and muttering. “No that won’t happen to him.”

Strong Shield rolled his eye, “He needs to learn to control some of his alicorn heritage, and even if Dave’s genes suppress the alicorn part of him the little colt will be immensely powerful.”

“You think because he is young he needs to grow to be strong,” Flux glared at Strong Shield with an anger she hadn’t felt in a long time. “He needs to learn to be wise, to fight with words and not violence.”

The unicorn and Pegasus stared at each other with an intense silence that made Nox take in breaths as quietly as he could for fear of being involved even more. Flux and Strong Shield’s differences in view becoming more apparent as the silence dragged on.

Flux could think of a thousand arguments to why Nox shouldn’t go but as she stared into Strong Shield’s unwavering eye, she knew he was quietly answering them all in his own head. The old Pegasus gave a sigh before looking across at Nox.

“If it is ok with your mother and father then we shall see about you getting some training in,” Flux looked back at Strong Shield, who was actually smirking. The mare gave a smile in return as she heard Nox’s excited cheer.

“YES!” Nox leapt into the air before flying over to hug both his grandparents. “I love you both! I’m gonna ask my mum right away!”

Meanwhile…

Mike paused to take a breath as he hid behind some bushes, the tall castle wall was standing proud behind him and the castle stood defenceless in front of him. His eyes danced over the outstanding architecture, exploring every window and curve.

“Such a shame,” The human sighed as he removed his backpack and opened it up. He gazed in at the light brown bear paw that rested at the bottom, another powerful gift that had been chosen to be given to Sasha.

Mike never liked Sasha when she was around him; he felt the menacing eyes that she gave him. The way she stared at everyone for being inferior compared to her. The only time she behaved was when Hank told her too, his word being law amongst the human group.

Then again there wasn’t a single human in the group Mike actually liked, his only reason for being around was his debt to Hank for saving his life when it had hit rock bottom. Although the man who gave him a second chance at life was asking him to take others in return.

These ponies never bothered Mike much. He didn’t know a thing about them after all, except that the rulers were meant to be extremely cunning and that a human named Dave was basically a living weapon for their purposes.

Even if Mike decided to back out on all this work that made his stomach churn he wouldn’t be around for long. Especially seeing as he was the one human in the group that argued with Hank’s intentions at the worst time.

He had been punished for his outburst and all the humans had suddenly shown their dislike of him and his behaviour. But after all he had done to hinder the group he was kept alive with offers of redemption. Offers that only made him feel worse.

The paw that rested in the bag suddenly twitched, as if something nearby had frightened it. Mike couldn’t blame the lifeless limb as he spotted Sasha walk in through the courtyard gates, followed by Sarah, Dave and Princess Celestia.

The kid that looked so sweet, so innocent, was the key to everything in Hank’s plan. Once Mike looked at Sasha’s smiling grin he could almost feel her anger and fury. To Mike she was basically how cruel a child could truly become.

Sarah was another matter. Mike could see she was always thinking about herself in the long run, planning a way to get more than she was going to get. If he could see it then Hank must have clearly planned a lesson for her in some shape or form.

Mike zipped up his backpack and prepared to stand before looking at Dave and took a moment to examine the human that was chosen by Hank and fate to be his enemy. The relaxed looking man was playfully rubbing his palm onto Sasha’s head, laughing as she told him jokes.

Was Dave so powerful he had nothing to fear? Or was he just plain dumb? Mike didn’t care as he watched, noticing Sarah’s stiff body language. She had obviously had an interesting conversation with Hank when she signalled the group telling them to advance.

The thing Mike thought was curious was how Dave didn’t know of Sarah and Sasha’s abilities. He must have assumed because of their alibi and the rampage by Steven that they were merely victims in all of this. Regardless of the excuse, the silence wouldn’t last much longer.

Mike gave a sigh as he stood, waiting for the castle doors to shut behind the group that had come home from a day in town. The soft snow ahead of him was almost too pure for him to walk over as he forged ahead, desiring to get his role over and done with.

Meanwhile…

Dave was released from Celestia’s hug as he left the group. “I’ll see you later guys!” He called over his shoulder as he walked towards a set of stairs that would take him higher into the castle.

“I have a few things later in the throne room so find me there once you are done!” Celestia called as she left Sarah and Sasha in the care of a guard that began to escort them to the dining room.

Dave took his time climbing the various castle stairs, his hands in his pockets as he hummed a small tune to himself. Seeing how big the castle was it was pointless trying to rush anywhere as you would probably be late regardless.

“Man I wish I could teleport,” Dave sighed before feeling a certain chill go down his back. “Wow I got a major bad feeling.”

“Yeah I can see how that might happen,” Odio whispered into his ear.

Dave flinched before turning around to the fog behind him, “How are you out of your room?”

“You mean how come I am actually degrading myself to talk to you… you… peasant!” Odio sneered.

“Spill it,” Dave stared plainly at the fog.

Odio glared away, “Servers are down.”

Dave chuckled, “So you braved the outside world, how thrilling.”

“Can’t be any worse than whatever dilemma you are having this week,” Odio smirked as Dave gave out a low groan. “Oh brilliant I tempted fate into you telling me your problems.”

“Well you see I can’t figure out why nothing spectacularly bad has happened,” Dave scratched his head. “Normally I deal with a problem only for worse ones to appear, and this time it looks like… what are you doing?”

Odio paused dragging a bed into the corridor to stare at Dave, “I was planning on having a nap while you complained… truth hurts eh?”

“Shut up and help me you doofus!” Dave pointed at the fog angrily. “You are meant to help me aren’t you?”

“I only talk to you so I can tell you references that you should understand! These pony folk don’t have a clue what I mean,” Odio drifted closer to Dave as his voice turned to a whisper. “If you don’t believe me then I will go all The Mountain on your ass.”

Dave shrugged, “I have no idea who that is.”

“WHAT!” Odio gasped loud enough to make the walls vibrate. “Have you not watched Game of Thrones?”

“I don’t even have a TV anymore you dumbass!” Dave threw his arms up in protest. “You won’t even let me watch yours when we play Mario Cart!”

Odio hummed, “Alright… I guess I can make an exception… I’ll listen to your problems this once and make them all better!”

“Probably worse,” Dave sighed under his breath before taking a risk. “Alright I am worried that something is going on that I am not seeing.”

The fog of hatred hummed before nearing Dave again, “Give me a hint?”

“Urgh,” Dave rubbed his eyes before shrugging. “I don’t know! That’s the problem! Like I don’t understand how Sarah and Sasha got here without any magic on them and that Steven guy has a major magic power that I had to strangle before it stopped working.”

“Oh this is easy!” Odio laughed. “Wow you have to be such an idiot not to see this one!” Dave groaned at Odio before the fog rolled its eyes and thought out his sentence. “I mean oh my gosh this is so hard to figure out.” The fog said sarcastically before meeting Dave’s glare with one of his own. “What now?”

The human shook his fist at the fog, “You are zero help you know!”

“Well did you ever think that you only resist magic automatically?” Odio made an eye extend closer to Dave. “Did you ever think to resist other things?”

“Well no because I wasn’t expecting him to have those powers…” Dave suddenly froze as his eyes opened in shock. “Just like how I didn’t expect the girls to have powers either…”

Odio began flying around the air in circles while laughing, “Well aren’t you feeling dumb ha ha!”

Meanwhile…

Mike stood over the unconscious body of the guard that had taken Sarah and Sasha to the private dining room. The sword in his hand remained as still as his eyes, his concentration aimed at the door and the guard, preparing for anything.

Sarah stood quietly in the corner of the room, a dark stare and low growl aimed at the final member in the room. Her eyes never leaving the young girls back as she looked at her new right arm.

Sasha laughed with a maniacal hysteria as her right hand turned to a large and powerful paw. Her eyes alight with a ravenous fury that made Sarah even more jealous yet afraid. Sasha raised her paw into the air before clicking her fingers and vanishing in a blinding white light.

Sarah and Mike were left alone, standing in the empty silence where a lunatic’s laughter once reigned. Sarah’s eyes opened in a stunned fear as she looked over at Mike.

“Did you know that it was…?” Sarah shuddered as Mike nodded. “Hank gave her teleportation?”

Chapter 10: Sasha The Lonely

Chapter 10: Sasha The Lonely.

“You know I never had any friends except for one,” Sasha said quietly to herself as she rubbed the soft fur of her new paw against her face. Her sad smile grew as she reminisced, “My mother always made me happy to see her, even when I was crying.”

Strong Shield and Flux both opened their eyes in shock as they turned to see Sasha standing beside them. Her arms transformed into a claw and paw, both shaking as the young girl began to cry. Strong Shield could feel the waves of magic flowing from the small human.

“How can she teleport?” Strong Shield’s horn glowed as he grasped Flux in a magical bubble and created a magical dome over the two. Flux couldn’t move as she saw the emptiness in Sasha’s eyes.

“Mother made all the bad things go away,” Sasha began to sob as the golden claw began to reach up her face and she stared at the floor through the sharp claws. “The one thing she couldn’t make disappear was father and the way he treated me.”

Sasha snarled as she yanked both her arms down and snapped her fingers in unison. The resulting flash forced Strong Shield and Flux to close their eyes, and when they reopened they say an empty space where Sasha once stood.

There was a magic in the air that made Strong Shield drop his barrier and begin to drag Flux to the door. “This magic feels wrong, we need to move.”

The pair reached the door, the books on the shelves began to shake and fly off the shelves, pages flapping like birds as they began to fly around the room, building into a swarm. The books then began to tear themselves apart and the shreds made the individual books form into one wave of paper.

“Ah damn,” Strong Shield forced Flux out of the library before slamming the door behind them. They ran down the corridor before turning to see the door crumbling. A paper tornado shredded a hole in the door before it slammed into the ground and began to advance on the ponies.

Flux took a few steps back before growling, “What do we do?”

“Find Nox and look after him,” Strong Shield rolled his neck before taking a deep breath. “I’ll deal with this thing.”

“Are you sure?” Flux asked before she noticed the storm of paper had suddenly rushed towards them. Strong Shield gave a roar before a wall of flame burst from the ground, incinerating the attack before it had even reached the pair.

“I have this covered,” Strong Shield turned his head to stare at Flux, making sure she understood before she began to gallop away. “Urgh, there were three books in there that are irreplaceable… still at least they burn the same.”

Meanwhile…

“One day, father had decided to take my mother from me too,” Sasha clenched her fists as she looked around the guard barracks she had arrived in. “He lost his temper like always and pushed mother down the stairs.”

The off-duty royal guards remained fixed to their spots as Sasha’s golden claws clicked and the various suits of armour and spears began to roll towards the middle of the room. The armour bent and the spears smashed together as a giant golden bull was made of the armour and two large, spiked horns were formed from the mess of metal spears.

Sasha snarled as the bull suddenly jerked into life and gave the sound of scraping metal as it began to shake its head around in a blind fury. “He made me so angry I pushed him down too!”

Sasha snapped her fingers again and once again teleported. Her blind fury brought on by her sudden rise in power bringing forth her long forgotten memories. Once her eyes opened from the blinding light she was standing in a wide hall, stone pillars kept the ceiling up and the far wall was just a large window that led onto a balcony overlooking the courtyard and the city.

“That was when Hank found me,” Sasha’s insane smile grew again. “He helped me realise how good that vengeance felt and how taking the lives of others make me feel better than ever!”

The young girl looked at her claw and paw before her smile turned to a snarl, “Why should they be happy when I never was?” The girl began to clench her fists tighter and tighter.

“Why should I be hated for what makes me happy?”

Meanwhile…

Odio suddenly fell silent as him and Dave argued. His normally bright red, flaming eyes turned dark and settled into two thin crimson lines. Dave stopped his yelling as he noticed the shift, “Hey are you alright dude?”

Another flame appeared below the dormant eyes, growing like a screaming mouth before the sound quickly followed along with a torrent of black sludge. Dave barely had time to roll to the side as a river of black liquid poured out of Odio’s fog and the stench made Dave almost heave his own stomach onto the floor.

“What the hell was that?” Dave gagged before holding his nose. He looked up to see the mouth had gone and two drooping flames appeared instead of Odio’s usually empowering eyes. “Dude speak to me!”

“I’ve never been sick before,” Odio burped before looking at the mess he had caused. “I feel sorry for whoever has to clean this up.”

Dave ran down the corridor with Odio in pursuit to get away from the overpowering smell. “Jeez what caused you to do that?”

“Don’t you remember?” Odio coughed as a few more drips fell from the fog. “This is just like the time you allowed me to use your hatred directly to help us attack Canterlot all that time ago and drown the streets in my fog.”

“But that was when you had energy from the element’s hatred,” Dave looked at the sludge. “What did this?”

Odio began to drift upwards and away from the black substance he was leaking. “A greater hatred… a magically empowered one.”

Dave heard a smashing of glass and hurried to one of the nearby windows to look out and see that Strong Shield was shooting flames at a giant paper scorpion. Odio chuckled before noticing the drips of blood falling from Strong Shield’s hoof.

“Wow your dad is getting his ass kicked,” Odio hummed as Dave took a step back kicked open the windows. “Hi Strong Shield!” He called out to the tired unicorn.

“Odio? Dave?” Strong Shield glanced over his shoulder before rolling to the side to avoid being crushed by one of the giant paper pincers. “The girl Sasha has gone insane and her arms have changed!”

Dave looked at the gap between the corridor he was in and the roof Strong Shield was standing upon. “Dad what are you on about?” He called to the battling unicorn.

“She snapped her fingers to create this thing and teleport away,” Strong Shield fired a ball of flame at the beast’s stinger and the pages that made the pointed barb caught ablaze and began to crumble away. “Dave you have to go protect the princesses and Nox! Odio can assist me here!”

“I can?” Odio hummed before turning away. “Nah I don’t feel like it.”

Strong Shield stopped to growl, “You are seriously doing this now?”

“Damn straight I am!” Odio cheered. “Nah I’m only messing with you, I’ll be right BLURGH!” Another stream of hate sick fell out of Odio and he began to groan in pain. “Oh this shit is nasty.”

Dave rolled his eyes, “You could handle this alone right dad?”

“Looks like I’ll have to hold out,” Strong Shield’s horn glowed red and a wall of fire surrounded him, protecting him from the scorpion. “Go I’ll find some way to put this beast down for good!”

The human felt so guilty leaving his father and friend alone when they both clearly needed his help. He was about to turn away when he began to feel sick himself, he looked at Odio to see the fog had noticed the human’s turn for the worse.

“Damn looks like the magic the girl is letting off is actually affecting you too,” Odio shrugged. “I can supress the effects but make sure you don’t allow yourself to get too angry.”

A small clump of fog separated from Odio and seeped into Dave’s skin, giving the human a second wind. “What did you do?”

“My fog is supressing the magic and your body is supressing the hate,” Odio winked. “Scratching each other’s back but I can’t send all of my being without you being flooded with pure rage.”

“So if I get angry then Sasha’s enhanced anger will spread into me through you,” Dave rolled his eyes. “Never simple is it?”

“I feel Sasha is in the hall overlooking the courtyard,” Odio roared with laughter, his fog settling along the floor as he slowly groaned. “Please go stop that little brat!”

Dave nodded to his friend before taking off down the hall; his determination to help his friend and save his family drove him on. “I’m so stupid! I should have made sure the girls weren’t a risk!”

Pieces began to fall into place as Dave ran down the marble halls of the castle; he remembered how he had found Steven’s body missing its throat. The dragon call he had given must have had some connection to his missing throat and maybe Sasha’s power was residing in the arms and the clicking of her fingers.

Dave didn’t have much to go on as he continued to run, his attention diverted as he saw a large group of guards running from a giant metal bull that was heading in Dave’s direction.

“I don’t have time for this shit!” Dave roared as the guards moved aside for him and he ran headfirst into the bull. The golden armour that had been moulded by magic was swiftly crumpled by the sheer force of Dave’s punch.

The bull roared as the entire left side of the best was torn from its body and it collapsed to the floor, the guards saw their chance and began to attack the wounded abomination and they began to rip their gear back using magic and hoof alike.

Dave left the guards to their work as he continued with his own mission, and ran at full speed to arrive at the large doors that led into the hall. He pushed the doors open and walked in to see a sight that made the anger inside him almost boil over if he hadn’t managed to restrain it due to Odio’s warning.

Sasha was sitting on the balcony, her back to Dave as Sarah stood beside her, Nox held tightly in her arms and a bruised Flux lying unconscious at her feet. Dave gritted his teeth as he charged forwards, his hand reaching for his crying son.

But before Dave could make it across the large hall he was stopped be a dagger through his hand and a rapier through his shoulder. He winced in pain as he felt his arm go limp and a kick make contact with his stomach.

“Ow… you actually think you can try that crap with me?” Dave looked up to see another human, his emotionless eyes focused on him. Dave smirked as he used his working arm to extract the rapier from his body. “But you did manage to sever the nerves connected to my arm so you get a gold star for being original.”

Mike sighed as he snapped his fingers, the blades in Dave’s hands disappeared and a spear appeared in Mike’s hands. “I can’t let you advance any further, I’m sorry.”

“You are sorry?” Dave smirked. “Well that isn’t going to cut it I’m afraid.”

Sarah squeezed an arm around Nox’s neck, “Mike just try to make this quick, I want to get out of here but this squirt is just gonna wriggle free if I tried to fly away.”

Mike glanced at Sarah before looking back at Dave, “Sorry but we need you to move.”

“Need me to move?” Dave grew a smile that made Mike uneasy. “The only thing that is going to happen is me and my son are going home.”

“Fine,” Mike dropped low as he pointed his spear up at Dave. “I’ll just have to make you submit.”

Dave laughed, “Don’t underestimate me.”

“And don’t underestimate me.” Mike sighed in response.

Chapter 11: Rage Vs Control

Chapter 11: Rage Vs Control.

Dave lunged at Mike, his fist brushing his face as Mike pressed the spear upwards and into Dave’s stomach. The impaled human gave a small cough of blood before receiving another blow from the side.

Mike snapped his fingers to summon two spiked knuckle dusters onto his fingers and began to apply precise blows to Dave’s head and side. When Dave attempted to lunge at him again he deftly swerved to the right and struck the base of Dave’s skull with one powerful blow.

Dave groaned as he fell over and pulled the spear from his body, “You are nimble I will give you that.”

“I don’t want to fight you,” Mike snapped his fingers again and a pair of yo-yos appeared in his hands and he began to play with them. “There are forces stronger than you.”

The calm human caught the yo-yos in his hands as he saw Dave pounce forwards. Mike threw the toys forwards and snapped his fingers, the toys turning into large steel anchors that crashed into Dave and damaged the perfect marble floor.

The metal grinded to a halt before a hand burst forth to push one of the anchors aside, Dave sat up and groaned as he looked at his hand that was crushed beneath the heavy anchor. “You know that I regenerate right?”

“I’m counting on that fact,” Mike summoned a crossbow, his left wrist kept the front of the wooden weapon as he crossed his fingers. As he released the arrow at Dave he snapped his fingers and the crossbow flashed with light as was magically reloaded. Mike began to get into the cycle of firing and reloading, making the crossbow deadly due to the limiting factor of reloading being vacant.

Dave sacrificed his free arm to protect his face from the sudden volley of arrows that would have struck his head. An arrow made it past Dave’s arm and lodged itself into his shoulder before his defending arm went limp.

“So do all humans have a magical power now or just the crazy ones?” Dave grunted as he felt his arms begin to push the arrows out of his body. “And how are you so accurate you are severing the nerves and tendons in my arm?”

Mike sighed as he clicked his fingers and replaced the arrows in Dave’s body with one long piece of solid rope that Mike held the end of. Dave didn’t want to give Mike the chance to use his new grip and pushed his feet into the ground, lifting the anchor off the ground long enough for the bones in his hand to slide into their original places.

Dave pushed his strength into his healed arm and launched the anchor at Mike, his roar fell short as Mike yanked the rope and pulled Dave off balance and his fingers clicked again. The anchor shifted into an axe that Mike caught and threw at Dave.

While he stumbled forwards, Dave had no choice but to turn and let the axe hit his back. The pain caused Dave to fall to the floor and he slowly reached over to pry the weapon from his back. “So you can make stuff appear and disappear?”

“I also gain the knowledge to go along with my summons,” Mike made the rope and axe disappear before bringing a silver broadsword into existence. “This means if I summon any weapon I know how to fight in the most efficient manner.”

Dave forced himself to his feet as the wounds over his body healed, “Well that is a shame you had to get these uh… gifts you have.”

“Why is it a shame?” Mike noticed Dave had a smile on his face, and his eyes were locked onto Mike. “You should be more concerned for your child’s life.”

It was as Mike stepped back from Dave that she noticed Nox had been quiet and still for a few minutes now. Sarah looked down to see Nox was staring at his father, an uneasy face hiding his relief that his dad had come to save him.

“What is your father up to?” Sarah whispered angrily to the colt. “Why is he so happy?”

Sasha giggled as she raised her claw and snapped her fingers, the flash of light made the blade in Mike’s hands come to life and begin to float out of his grip. The blade spun in the air before flying at Dave at speed.

Dave dodged the blade but instead of retreating he grabbed the blade and forced his knee through the middle, snapping the weapon in half. It was as the broken pieces of metal bounced off the floor that Sarah noticed Dave’s hungry eyes.

Sasha had similar eyes as the man that lunged at Mike. The same fire burned deep that forced them to fight for what they want or risk being swallowed by the same fire that drove them on. In Sasha’s case she fought for her own selfishness and greed.

But Dave had an anger that Sarah couldn’t figure out. Like his rage was a chained beast waiting to be released at the perfect moment. Even as Mike summoned a pair of swords and danced around Dave, slashing and stabbing his body and leaving him as a mess on the floor.

Nox closed his eyes as his father stood up, Dave’s wounds healing as he turned and smiled at Mike. “You shouldn’t be with these people.”

Mike flinched at Dave’s comment, “Why shouldn’t I be?”

“Because you aren’t a killer,” Dave’s shoulders slumped as he rubbed his neck. “You fight better than anyone I have met but you haven’t tried to actually kill me once during our fight.”

Mike tightened the grip on his swords as he noticed Dave give him a sympathetic look. “I wasn’t asked to kill you but only to delay you.”

Dave looked at Sarah and even Sasha had stood up and turned around to face them, her eyes filled with anger. Sarah looked amongst her allies before deciding to take matters into her own hands and threw Nox to the floor.

“Mike keep him busy! Sasha you can hold onto the brat,” She ordered before leaping off the balcony and flying away. Sasha looked down at Nox and a snarl grew across her face, her lust for power being hindered by some a small being.

“If you weren’t around then I could do whatever I wanted,” Sasha looked at Nox before growling at Mike. “Summon an axe!”

Mike hesitantly spawned a large battle-axe which Sasha then took control of, levitating the axe over to her. Mike pointed one of his swords at Dave as the father grew more concerned for his son’s safety.

“What are you doing Sasha?” Mike called over to the insane girl. “Hank wants us to take the colt.”

Sasha raised her arms up and the axe turned in the air so the blade was pointed down. “I hate you! I hate Hank! I hate Sarah and all of you who keep telling me what to do!”

Mike opened his eyes in fear as he saw the girl totally snap and all her self-control went out of the window. “SASHA STOP!”

In the blink of an eye Dave rushed to Mike, kneeing his chest and snatching the blades from his hands. He spun in the air and threw the blades at Sasha, the long swords meeting their targets.

Mike heard the hammer hit the ground and looked up to see Sasha’s eyes full of horror, the axe a few inches from Nox. Dave moved at a speed that Mike hadn’t seen as Dave grabbed the swords that were imbedded in Sasha’s shoulders and kicked her and ripped the blades away.

Sasha’s pained scream lasted as her claw and paw landed at Dave’s feet and her body splattered over the courtyard below. Dave spun, dropping the swords and picking up the axe as he launched it at Mike.

Mike snapped his fingers and readied a shield to block the axe, but the force of the throw dented the shield and Mike felt his arm break. He rolled across the floor as the shield flew off his broken arm, the axe bouncing aside.

“Nothing is allowed to harm my family,” Dave growled. “If anyone thinks that they have the right to hurt my son then they have the right to nothing but my fury.”

Mike sat up, shivering as Dave began to walk towards him, “Y-you killed Sasha? W-why would you do that?”

“She was going to hurt my son,” Dave looked down at Mike. “I told you that you didn’t belong in their group, you have nothing to kill for and that makes you ineffective.”

The humans stared at each other before Dave heard a pair of footsteps behind him. He turned to see Sarah stood behind a tall man, his stern face made him instantly feel disgust. The man looked at Mike before shaking his head.

“You have failed me again Mike,” Hank growled as he looked down at the broken arm Mike was cradling. “I assumed you had learnt your lesson… it appears I was wrong.”

Hank pointed his arm at Mike and a beam of light raced from Mike’s chest and was absorbed into Hank’s hand. “Now do something worthwhile for once and just die.”

Dave looked at Mike’s horrified face, his mouth opening and closing silently as he slowly fell over and began to clutch his chest. “What did you do?”

“Sarah, grab the brat,” Hank turned away as Sarah flew over to Nox and snatched him up.

“DAD!” Nox screamed as Sarah wrestled him under control and flew away into the city. Hank floated into the air but was stopped as Dave grabbed his ankle.

Hank snapped his fingers at Dave and the human began to scream in pain but continued to pull Hank down to the floor. “You must have some resistance to pain if you can even stand after what I have done for you.”

“Give me back my son,” Dave snarled as his grip weakened. His hand slipped from Hank’s ankle and the human began to float away. Hank turned and flew out of the hall as Odio’s black fog burst through the door and began to fire red lightning bolts at the escaping human.

Dave rolled onto his back as he groaned, “Odio! See what has happened to the other guy Mike.”

Odio floated over to Mike and his fog slipped into his body, “Uh I don’t know how to say this but our little guest has a problem.”

“What is it,” Dave groaned as he sat up. “And can you fix it?”

“Fix it?” Odio glared at Dave. “This guy was responsible for Nox being taken and you wanna help this scum?”

Dave glared at Odio, “He is the only one with information on where they might have taken Nox so I am ordering you to save him.”

“Fine,” Odio said with his voice dripping in hate and disgust. “Well this… Mike guy has only one lung at it isn’t in good shape.”

“That explains the way it looked like he was choking,” Dave sighed as he looked down at his body. “If you can keep him stable and give me a hand I would appreciate it.”

Odio looked over at Dave, “Oh master are you in pain?” He said sarcastically before turning away. “Bugger off, nobody speaks to me that way.”

Dave rolled his eyes, “Fine I’m sorry for yelling at you so at least compromise by sliding one of those swords over.”

A few minutes later…

Celestia burst into the large hall and noticed the damage that had been caused. Blood was scattered about the cracked floor and red stained the walls. Odio’s black fog was circling an unconscious human that Celestia had never seen.

Dave stood with his back to them, a claw and paw was resting on the floor beside him and a pile of barbed wire sat his other side. Celestia walked over but Odio quickly placed a line of fog in her way and shook his eyes at her.

“W-what happened here?” Celestia shivered as Dave clenched his fists. “The guards and Strong Shield reported that they had been attacked by Sasha and her magic… what happened to you.”

“A guy came along… replaced my bone marrow with barbed wire,” Dave growled as he stared at the floor. “But the worst of it is… they took him.”

“Him?” Celestia looked at Odio who looked away. “Don’t tell me they got…”

As the realization that her son had been stolen from right under her nose Celestia had to sit for fear of falling onto the damaged floor, her eyes focused on Dave. The princess growled as she noticed the other human that Odio was covering.

“I want him interrogated for information immediately,” Celestia snarled to cover her sadness. “I want guards to go and search immediately! Close off the city if you have to!”

Dave turned around to face Celestia, his eyes red from tears that had dried before Celestia arrived. Odio could see Dave was heartbroken, the human blaming himself for not being able to protect his son.

“I swear I am going to get our son back,” Dave walked over to Celestia and wrapped his arms around her as he buried his face into her flowing mane. “I promise you that I will make them pay for what they did and I won’t let anything stop me.”

Chapter 12: Mike the Lost

Chapter 12: Mike the Lost

Mike awoke to see the white ear of a nurse pony just a few inches from his face, his breaths slow and heavy. The nurse moved her head away as she dotted a few notes down on a clipboard and left Mike by himself and left the medical wing altogether.

The human groaned as he sat up, his arm still sore from being broken but at least he felt he could use it if he ever needed to. Mike rubbed his head as he looked around; the white curtains surrounding him meant he couldn’t see the rest of the hall.

“Hello?” He called out. If he was going to be punished then he might as well get on with it rather than waiting for them to decide what to do with their new prisoner. His call went unanswered until he heard a pair approach him.

A hand slipped through the curtains and Dave stepped in, followed by a dark unicorn with a large scar running over his left eye. Dave took a seat next to Mike while the pony stayed at the end of the bed. Dave’s damaged clothes were gone; a set of black trousers and a grey top replaced them, his arms exposed except for a bandage wrapped around his left forearm.

“My name is Strong Shield,” The unicorn narrowed his eye at Mike, his emotionless face only made Mike wonder what kind of punishment awaited him. “You have been arrested by the Canterlot royal guards and they have asked that I interrogate you… Thoroughly.”

Mike gulped before nodding, “Ask anything you want and I’ll answer.”

Strong Shield glanced at Dave before clearing his throat, “How did you infiltrate the castle?”

“I used my ability to assist me,” Mike noticed the small frown on Dave’s face. “Don’t worry we don’t know of any tunnels or secret ways in.”

“Alright,” Strong Shield studied the new human before him. Mike was different from Dave in various ways, even down to how they spoke. Mike knew he was beaten so he had no reason to hide his information. It was the best excuse Strong Shield saw other than Mike genuinely felt guilty for his actions.

Dave sat silently, trying to read Mike as a person. But as Mike answered the questions Strong Shield brought up the only thing Dave could think about was how well Mike had fought to stop him but not once did he try to slash his throat. Towards the end of the fight Dave had even left his throat exposed on purpose to try and get a reaction.

As the questioning went on, Dave became more relaxed, even offering a glass of water to him as his throat began to hurt from explaining so much. Eventually Strong Shield gave a sigh and looked at Dave, “I have all I want… go ahead.”

And with that small indication, Dave nodded to the unicorn and the two humans were left alone. “We have secured the arms Sasha had and Odio found that your powers and lungs were removed by this Hank guy that was bossing you about.”

“Yeah, back home I picked up an illness that meant one of my lungs had to be removed,” Mike felt his chest rise and fall. “Unfortunately the other got infected and I had to stay in the hospital.”

“So how did Hank recruit you?” Dave asked as Mike adjusted his pillows. “He didn’t seem to care about any of you.”

Mike stared down at the white hospital bed he was in and gave a sigh. “When I was in the hospital my family visited me less and less… it turns out they had moved away and didn’t tell me because a doctor let slip my condition wasn’t getting any better.”

“I’m sorry,” Dave rubbed his face before giving a sigh. “So am I right in guessing he recruited you all while you wouldn’t be missed or while you were desperate for a way out?”

“I was so grateful that he saved my life but I am not prepared to kill to pay him back,” Mike shook his head. “That’s why the rest of the group hated me because I was given a powerful gift but wouldn’t use it to kill.”

Dave relaxed into his seat as he hummed, “About those gifts, did someone by the name of Discord give them to you?”

“N-no,” Mike looked at Dave. “Hank gave them to us and said that a saviour was giving them to us.”

“Well the princesses recognised the arms Sasha had and they belonged to a chaotic being known as Discord,” Dave leaned forward and stared at Mike. “The arms are in the most secure place in Equestria but the other humans have the other powers and Discord isn’t a good guy.”

The two humans sat in silence as Dave allowed Mike to take in the information. “So I was played for someone else’s schemes?”

“Yeah seems that way,” Dave shrugged as he leaned back in his chair and placed his feet up on the bed. “So what are you gonna do now?”

“Well what can I do?” Mike sighed as he dropped his head into his hands. “I leant about you, this world and how I would settle my debt.”

Mike looked down at the white shirt and trousers he was wearing. “Well at least the hospital clothes are a lot better on this world.”

“They were made for me but regeneration is a lovely thing… Sorta,” Dave stood up and walked over to one of the curtains. “So you wanna walk or you gonna sit there by yourself all day?”

“Uh sure,” Mike stood up and found a pair of slippers under the bed. He quickly slid his feet into them before following Dave out of the medical wing. “Is it alright for me to be walking about?”

Dave hummed, “If you leave my side then yes.”

“I suppose running away is pointless,” Mike looked at Dave’s bandaged arm. “I thought you could regenerate, so why the bandage?”

The human beside Mike stopped walking for a moment before continuing, “Not all wounds heal Mike.”

Mike realized that he had encountered a touchy subject and decided to steer clear. Instead he thought back to when Dave was fighting him and the smile he had seen on his face. “Why didn’t you just kill me when we fought? I saw what you did to Sasha and I know you could have easily killed me.”

“That’s the funny thing,” Dave looked at Mike. “I was trying to kill you but you were a damned good fight.”

Dave and Mike both reached a large wooden door as they walked; Dave pushed open the door to reveal the guard barracks. All the guards stopped and turned to glare at Mike, the damage they were repairing was nothing compared to the way Mike helped the theft of Nox.

“What is that monster doing here?” A guard yelled from the back of the barracks. A few cheers rose up from amongst the guards.

Dave walked past the guards silently as Mike followed, the guards glaring the entire time. For the first time since showing up in Equestria, Mike was scared that this was his final moment. If he deviated from Dave’s side then the guards would claim his life.

The human that Mike followed was silent to the comments that the guards threw at him. Once Mike and Dave had descended down the steps into the prison the guards fell silent and carried on doing their individual tasks.

Mike felt a chill in the air as he walked into the dungeon, the empty cells should be reassuring that there were no criminals to arrest but it also made him uneasy to see such horrible prisons. But the cell at the end was nothing more than a plain wooden door.

“I just need to grab a few things,” Dave pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. “In the meantime, why don’t you tell me about what Hank has planned.”

“Well to be honest I don’t know,” Mike sighed as he watched Dave open the door to a small room with only one shelf. Dave pulled out a long coat that almost touched the floor; the scales that made up the coat were a dull emerald colour that made Mike think that they could very well be indestructible.

Next Dave strapped a belt around his waist with a long piece of leather that stretched over his shoulder and a scabbard that rested at his side. Finally pulling out a long, purple crystal sword that slid perfectly into the scabbard.

“Might wanna stand back,” Dave suggested as he moved his right arm around his head and waist. As his hand moved, the scabbard spun so the handle of the sword landed in the palm of Dave’s hand, even sliding up his back to rest behind his neck.

“What are those things?” Mike asked in wonder as Dave drew the blade and left a clean slash in one of the stone walls.

“Coat made from the scales of an elder dragon, a crystal sword filled with magic that resists physical and magical objects.” Dave smirked as he put his sword in its scabbard. “And this thing is a sheath that uses tiny amounts of magic to adjust the weight of the scabbard depending on where my arm is placed, allowing me to reach the blade at any point.”

Mike opened his eyes in amazement, “Wow those things are incredible.”

“If I had these during our fight then we wouldn’t be talking,” Dave teased as he closed the door and locked it. “Now we are going to go have a talk with my wife about our missing son, and you are going to be polite and answer any questions we have.”

The only thing Mike could do was nod, his guilt growing as he realized he had to face Princess Celestia, the mother of the colt he helped kidnap. In his distracted state he didn’t even register the silent walk he shared with Dave out of the barracks and through the castle.

“Hey snap out of it,” Dave muttered to Mike as they arrived outside the largest set of doors Mike had seen. A silver and gold border made him gulp as he realised they were going to enter the throne room.

The doors opened, the red carpet at the human’s feet ran all the way along the floor and crawled up the marble steps before stopping at the base of the gold and white throne. A giant gold sun stood proud above the throne but a furious white alicorn sat upon it.

Another alicorn sat beside her, a dark one with stars in her flowing mane. Princess Luna.

“They look mad,” Mike muttered. “They wish I was dead and I can’t blame them.”

Dave slapped the back of Mike’s head, “You listen to me right now.” Dave grabbed Mike’s collar and forced him in a face to face situation. “You are the best shot for me getting my son back so you can deal with you guilt once this is over.”

Mike looked into Dave’s furious eyes, nodding when he realised that Dave was probably the angriest out of anyone in the castle. “Ok, I’ll help as much as I can.”

“Good,” Dave sighed as he suppressed his anger again and his eyes returned to the same cold state that they had been in since Mike awoke. The humans walked over to the princesses and Mike stopped at the stairs as Dave walked up to stand beside the alicorns.

“You are known as Mike correct?” Celestia asked in such a way that made Mike almost wish he could say no.

“Yes I am Princess Celestia,” Mike looked down at his feet. He wished he had said no to Hank all those days ago, so he wouldn’t be where he was now. “I am so sorry for what I have done to your family.”

Luna couldn’t hold back her anger, “Don’t you dare talk about family!”

“Luna,” Dave whispered angrily as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Be calm, you promised you would give him a chance.”

Celestia looked at her husband, knowing the pain he felt, “We have all… reluctantly agreed to allow you to assist us.”

“Thank you Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,” Mike continued to gaze down at the floor before he had the courage to look up. “I shall assist in any way possible.”

The alicorns shared a glance before Celestia looked back at Mike, “Do you know where they have taken my son?”

“No I’m afraid I don’t know where he is,” Mike shook his head and gave Dave an uneasy glance.

Luna shook her head, “You are lucky to be alive, so repay us with information.”

Dave glared at Luna for stepping out of line again but it was just the push Mike needed to get past the fear he had. “I do know where they are taking him to.”

“Where?” Celestia asked. “The sooner you tell us then the sooner we can chase them down.”

“T-they have built a scientific facility on…” Mike glanced at Dave with a face full of regret. “They are going home.”

Dave’s eyes opened in shock, “Earth?”

Chapter 13: Desperate Measures

Chapter 13: Desperate Measures.

“I’m going alone,” Dave stated clearly as he looked at Luna and Celestia. “See if the portal back can be altered so only Nox and I can get back.”

Celestia and Luna looked at each other before staring at Dave, “You are not going alone.”

“W-why not?” Dave pointed at Celestia’s horn. “You are gonna be seen really easily with those things and neither of you know how Earth works.”

Mike cleared his throat and raised his hand. “I could go with you.”

Dave frowned as he looked at Mike, “We don’t know if you will trick us, you are still wounded and you don’t have any special powers like my regeneration.”

“OBJECTION!” Odio yelled as he burst open the throne room doors and floated in followed by Strong Shield and Flux. “When healing Mike I poked into his brain and saw that he still had the knowledge on how to use swords and battle-axes due to the fact he had them summoned when his power was taken.”

“Are you trying to annoy me?” Dave yelled at the fog.

“I don’t try,” Odio smirked. “You are already annoyed.”

Dave rubbed his eyes as everyone looked at him. “Alright listen; I don’t want anypony or anything coming with me on this trip.”

“Psst, I think he was talking about you,” Odio whispered into Mike’s ear before floating to Dave’s side. “So me and Dave will only be a few hours at most, see you in time for dinner.”

“You aren’t coming,” Dave said plainly to Odio’s happy face. The fog’s eyes visibly saddened as he floated away. “You are needed here to keep the portal open and to make sure Mike doesn’t do anything while I’m gone.”

“You still don’t trust me?” Mike and Odio asked in unison before glaring at each other.

Strong Shield rubbed his eye before stomping his hoof, “Now let me be clear, I am assisting you as I have vast experience in espionage and infiltration.”

“Dad I can’t have a talking unicorn following me around,” Dave looked across and saw Flux was raising her hoof. “And mum you have wings which aren’t normal for ponies of Earth.”

“Oh for Celestia’s sake Dave!” Strong Shield rolled his eye before bowing to Princess Celestia. “No offence.”

“None taken,” Celestia bowed in response.

Strong Shield glared up at Dave, “You are too emotionally involved to think about this clearly so I vote Dave sits outside while we discuss who shall come along and who shall stay.”

All the ponies raised their hooves; Mike placed a hand in the air and Odio’s fog made a twisted tendril that rose up. Dave looked amongst his family and friends and gave a low groan, “Fine, I get the message.”

Dave left the throne room, shoving his hands in his pockets as he heard the door slam shut behind him. He looked around the abandoned corridor before removing his sword and sitting on the floor beside the great wooden door.

The human sat in silence for a few minutes before the doors opened long enough for a pair of annoyed guys to leave the throne room. Mike and Odio glared at the floor as the doors slammed shut again.

“So why are you both out here?” Dave asked as Mike sat beside him and Odio floated above their heads.

“Well they said that due to my previous history regarding Hank and the others I was under suspicion and so they want me to stay here in the castle so they can keep an eye on me,” Mike shrugged. “I guess they have every right to be concerned.”

Dave looked up at Odio, “What about you?”

“They said I was annoying and they would rather not spend any time around me,” Odio growled before looking down at Dave. “You guys don’t think I am annoying do you?”

Dave and Mike looked at each other before nodding at Odio. The fog pouted and turned away in a foul mood. The two humans sat in silence as the fog continued to stare at the wall in anger.

Mike glanced at Dave and noticed that he had his eyes shut; probably resting after the stress the past few days have had on him. However Mike couldn’t figure out why Dave was so relaxed around him. After all Mike did help the other humans steal his son, but maybe Dave believed him when Mike admitted he would help.

The guilt Mike felt was real and he was more than appreciative that Dave helped save him. And unlike Hank making demands, Dave merely asked a few questions before allowing him to make his own decisions.

The throne room doors opened once again and Strong Shield stepped into the corridor, “Dave, come in.” The unicorn ordered and Dave quickly got to his feet and followed him into the throne room, leaving Mike and Odio behind as the doors closed again.

Dave followed Strong Shield back over to the throne where Flux, Celestia and Luna were sitting. “So what have you all got planned?”

“We have agreed that all of us gathered here are the best choices for the trip,” Celestia nodded as Dave looked at the ponies around him. “Luna and I are the most powerful magic users, Strong Shield and Flux have outstanding infiltration skills and you have knowledge of Earth and combat skills.”

“What about your duties in ruling Equestria?” Dave protested. “Mum and Dad are getting older now so they might get injured easier.”

“We are only going to be on Earth for a short amount of time,” Luna sighed. “Your parents are going to be fine and we have considered our duties.”

Everypony could see the agitation on Dave’s face, his constant silence about his life back home was something they all respected but now Dave had to choose between protecting his own family or his silence.

Luna walked over to Dave and gently nuzzled his cheek, “We know this is going to be strange but Odio is confident that he can operate the portal in such a way that Celestia and I can still control the sun and moon while teleporting us close where Nox is being held.”

Dave wrapped an arm around Luna’s neck and gave her a hug, “I guess I can’t so no to you can I?”

“And as for public appearance we have already considered that possibility,” Celestia smiled deviously. “We shall use all of our resources regardless of cost.”

“We need you to convince Mike to appear to be Princess Celestia’s personal guard,” Strong Shield looked at Dave with his emotionless eye. “He will slowly gain a reputation and this will be a test to see if we can trust him.”

Dave was confused by the request, “Why is he going to be her guard if she is coming with us to Earth?”

“Oh I have sent a letter requesting somepony to impersonate me during the days we are away,” Celestia smiled sweetly. “We just need you to convince her to do this favour.”

“Her?” Dave asked.

A few hours later…

Dave and Mike sat side by side as they looked at the member of royalty opposite them. Her black body was accented by a long, sleek, dark cerulean mane. Her long jagged horn made Mike wary of her intent but the most concerning point was her pair of sharp fangs she had on display.

“Well Dave is certainly has been a while since we last met,” The queen smiled before glancing at Mike, sending a chill down his spine with her serpentine eyes. “And I see you have a new friend.”

“Mike this is Chrysalis, she is the Queen of the Changelings,” Dave introduced the pair to each other before leaning forwards. “Now listen, we need a favour.”

Chrysalis hummed as she rubbed her chin, “Well this is interesting, you coming to me for help.”

“We need your… abilities to impersonate Princess Celestia for a few days; in exchange we shall provide assistance with the Gryphons that are building more outposts on the edge of your territory.” Dave stared at Chrysalis as she hummed; her devious actions in the past were keeping Dave on edge.

“Well the Gryphons have always been rebellious and they constantly put strain on our agreement,” Chrysalis stared at Dave before smiling. “But what is stopping me from simply taking over while you are gone? You are basically giving me Equestria on a silver plate.”

Dave glanced at Mike, “Mike here will be publically appointed as your bodyguard, he will be at your side at all times and all the guards shall be informed of your true identity.”

“You mean to say that I am to be stalked by this human?” Chrysalis glared at Mike. “Sorry but he doesn’t look that impressive.”

“He managed to hold his own in a fight against me,” Dave frowned as Chrysalis turned her head away. “Please, we need your help.”

Chrysalis began to laugh, her evil voice echoing off the white walls of the dining room. “HAHAHAHA you are begging for my help now? This is priceless!”

“THEY TOOK MY SON!” Dave bellowed as he slammed his fists into the table, the stone cracking where his fists impacted. “Some evil humans have taken Nox to Earth and I can’t save him unless you help.”

Chrysalis’ smile faded as she saw Dave’s anger, “Well now you are forcing my hoof in all this.”

“So will you help us?” Mike asked as Dave took a moment to calm down.

“Dave once helped me and my sister during a tough time,” Chrysalis sighed before rolling her eyes. “Fine I’ll help but I demand you get Ambassador Adamas to intervene as soon as possible.”

Dave gave a sigh of relief, “Phew, thanks for all this.”

“Please Dave, you have done plenty for me in the past,” Chrysalis’ smile turned into a frown. “But don’t think that you can pull this trick again.”

“We won’t,” Dave sighed as he pulled an envelope from his pocket. “This letter shows all the arrangements and preparations for your stay and Mike has been informed of everything so you may ask him any questions.”

Chrysalis hummed as she looked at Mike, “I hope his attitude is better than yours has been these past few months.”

“Mike will assist you with anything you need while we are away,” Dave slid the envelope across the table to the queen. “We shouldn’t be more than two days according to Odio’s predictions.”

Chrysalis hummed as she looked at the letter, her eyes scanning each piece of information. “Well I can see you have been thorough with this considering the time you are leaving for.”

“We need to make sure other problems don’t arise in our absence,” Dave smiled as he stood. “Now excuse me as I have some final preparations to see to, Mike here is now at your disposal.”

Dave left Chrysalis and Mike alone as he made his way out of the dining room and out of sight. Mike gave a small smile to Chrysalis and the queen responded with a sneer, “I hope not all humans are like Dave.”

“I don’t think any human is like Dave,” Mike sighed. “Do you and Dave have a history?”

Chrysalis scoffed at the comment, “Well I guess you could say that he was once a lost soul in this world, he made friends and enemies and eventually found love with the Princesses of Equestria.”

“And how did you know him?” Mike asked out of curiosity.

“Well Dave was lost one day and he allowed me to extract some love from his body and feed it to my sister,” Chrysalis sighed.

“Uh is that a metaphor?” Mike rubbed his head. “So was he romantically involved with you before Celestia and Luna?”

Chrysalis looked at Mike before realising he was not used to Changeling customs, “Oh you are thinking about some bodily function aren’t you?”

Mike blushed slightly as he cleared his throat, “Ahem, I apologise for being dirty minded.”

“Apology accepted,” Chrysalis sighed before dropping her head on her hoof in boredom. “If you are going to be this useless then I may have to reconsider this agreement.”

“I am curious about one thing,” Mike turned back to being serious. “You said that Dave’s attitude has been different these past few months, what did you mean by that?”

Chrysalis sat in silence as she narrowed her eyes at Mike, making the young human nervous. This Changeling Queen was meant to be a criminal and yet Mike felt like the bad guy between the two of them.

“I suppose if Dave is leaving you in my care then he must have prepared for me to share some secrets,” Chrysalis hummed before placing the letter down and turning to face Mike properly. “Well a long time ago Dave was abandoned by the Princesses of Equestria and he fell into the Changeling Hive.”

“He was abandoned?” Mike was already confused. Ever since coming to Equestria Mike had seen no problems in Dave’s relationships to the princesses. But the way the Changeling Queen smiled made Mike believe her, the sharp fangs a visible sign of her vicious side.

“Dave willingly gave us some love to feed on but the amount he had was quite something,” Chrysalis looked at the holes in her hoof. “While he was around good things happened to the hive.”

Mike scratched his head as Chrysalis continued to browse over the letter. “So why did it sound like Dave doesn’t appreciate having you around?”

“Well it could be the invasion of Canterlot I orchestrated,” Chrysalis hummed before laughing. “No it was probably the playful flirting that he didn’t like.”

“You flirted with him?” Mike gawped. “Why would you do that when he is married to a rival nation?”

Chrysalis sighed, “Being a creature that feeds on love you end up flirting a lot.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Mike looked down as Chrysalis passed the letter back to him. “Uh what am I meant to do with this?”

Chrysalis sighed as she looked at the human, “Well you are meant to be my personal servant.”

“Bodyguard,” Mike corrected.

“Whatever,” Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “Anyway, it was just before Dave’s wedding that he went through a very tough ordeal.”

“What happened?” Mike asked as he placed the letter in his pocket, realizing he was probably going to be more like a slave than a bodyguard.

Chrysalis smiled, “Well he was a guest in my hive, we had something to eat, retired for the evening and then he got this odd burn on his arm, the one he keeps bandaged.”

“I saw that,” Mike recalled seeing the bandage on Dave’s arm only a few hours ago. “So what was done to him?”

“I assume you know of Dave’s strength,” Chrysalis waited until Mike nodded before continuing. “Well originally it was Odio helping provide strength but when Dave and Odio separated Dave’s strength should have returned to normal.”

Mike remembered how hard Dave’s attacks were during their fight and he heard how Dave managed to fight Steven’s dragon. “So is something else inside Dave?”

“The opposite,” Chrysalis smiled. “We found out that Dave’s regeneration caused his survival instinct to go dormant but when his brain was damaged it became its own sentient being separate from Dave.”

“So his strength comes from having all his suppressed strength being released,” Mike realised as Chrysalis’ horn began to glow and her thin black body turned white as she shifted into the perfect appearance of Celestia.

Chrysalis stood up and walked around in her disguise, “So, how do I look?”

“Like Princess Celestia,” Mike shrugged. “To be honest I prefer how you look normally.”

Chapter 14: Falling Down to Earth

Chapter 14: Falling Down to Earth

“Shall I bring any specific items?” Celestia asked as she watched Dave rummage through the wardrobe. The alicorn sat patiently as Dave pulled out a pair of large boots and slipped them on, making sure the laces were tight.

“No we are not going to be around long,” Dave replied as he walked over to where he had left his sword and coat. “Odio said he would be able to drop us when it is night-time on Earth, less chance of being spotted that way.”

Celestia nodded before looking at her golden regalia, “I suppose I should leave these here for now.”

Dave stepped aside as floating pieces of jewellery made their way to the wardrobe, the golden crown being last in the group. Celestia looked at herself in the mirror and smiled when she saw the golden ring that rested at the bottom of her horn.

“It is a shame my crown hides my wedding ring,” Celestia sighed as she looked at Dave and saw his was still around his finger. “I am surprised that you haven’t damaged yours or lost it.”

“What?” Dave gasped as he sat next to Celestia and looked at his ring. “This is a symbol of us, so I protect it with my life… literally in some cases.”

Celestia nuzzled Dave’s cheek, “We will get our son back unharmed, I have faith in you.”

“Thanks,” Dave smiled as he gently kissed Celestia’s head. “Sorry that the only time we are going to Earth is for something so horrid.”

“We will rescue Nox,” Celestia sighed as she rested her head in Dave’s lap and the human began to stroke her mane. “But there is one thing that has been bothering me.”

Dave could guess what Celestia was going to ask, his agitated frown he wore returned slowly. “What is it?”

“Are you embarrassed or ashamed of your old world?” Celestia rolled to look up at Dave and saw he was staring at the floor. “Why didn’t you want us to come along with you?”

“I just didn’t want you to get caught up in anything that could happen,” Dave smiled as he looked down at Celestia, gently running his fingers through her multi-coloured mane. The alicorn accepted the answer and returned to her comfortable position.

After a few minutes of silence there was a gentle knock at the door, Celestia sat up and called for the visitor to enter. The door swung open and Luna popped her head in and smiled when she saw Dave. “Phew I was looking for both of you.”

“What’s going on?” Dave asked as Luna trotted over to them. “Is Odio ready to open the portal?”

“No but he has found a way to set it up and he is just waiting for the right time,” Luna smiled as Dave nodded. “Are you both ready?”

Dave and Celestia nodded, the sisters stepped to one side as Dave put on his coat and equipped his sword. The human turned to see Luna placing her regalia into the wardrobe alongside Celestia’s and the princesses both turned to smile at Dave.

“You go on ahead darling,” Celestia smiled sweetly. “Luna and I just have a final few things to sort out.”

“Sure, I’ll see you in the garden,” Dave waved as he left the room, making sure he had everything before leaving the princesses alone. The walk to the castle gardens wasn’t too long and as Dave stepped out into the chilly night air he could only see the path a few feet ahead of him and a red glow amongst the trees.

A pair of red eyes floated in front of Dave and followed him as he approached the source of the light. Odio’s black fog was forming a circle in the ground; the red sparks of electricity had caused the nearby grass to burn and wither away.

“Thanks to a few artefacts that you recovered in the past we managed to build a small portal booster,” Odio said proudly as the fog spun around three bronze pylons and the red glow seemed to gather around the metal poles. “I can see where the portal is before I even create it so I know if you are all ready to leave.”

“If it means getting back sooner I am all for it,” Dave watched the fog spin around as he waited for his traveling companions. After a few minutes Celestia, Luna, Strong Shield and Flux appeared out of the darkness and stood beside Dave.

Odio coughed as he gained the group’s attention, “Alright if everyone could please make sure that all phones and electronic devices are turned off before we depart then it will be appreciated.”

The ponies exchanged confused expressions whereas Dave merely glared at Odio. “Listen, just drop us off and when you see us all gathered then open the portal again.”

“It takes a bit of time to move the portal but I’ll keep an eye on you guys,” Odio hummed. “If you actually designate a point for me to properly fix the portal then it means I can open it faster.”

“Alright, we will spend the first few minutes finding a good hiding place then we shall focus on where they are holding Nox,” Dave looked to his family as they nodded. “We will have to stay hidden during the day and only make any moves during the night.”

Once everyone had understood the plan they all turned to Odio, the fog of hatred smirked as his eyes fell into the portal and the fog began to thicken and float upwards, the red and black spun faster until it looked like a contained tornado, spinning winds kept inside a small circle.

“Well this is going to be weird,” Dave muttered under his breath. “You all ready Odio? We will try to be back as soon as we can.”

“Yeah yeah,” Odio groaned as he stared at Dave. “Go on you are seriously cutting into my own personal time.”

Dave rolled his eyes as he neared the portal, the spinning blackness appeared bottomless as he looked into the black depths; the only light was the occasional red crackle of energy. Dave took a deep breath as he stepped into the wind and felt himself get thrown sideways.

He looked back and saw nothing but the black wind that surrounded him; he tumbled endlessly through the harsh wind as he felt his body spin wildly in the abyss he had found himself in. Dave opened his mouth to call out but as soon as he spoke the words were instantly silenced by the wind.

As the seconds went by Dave managed to stop the spinning feeling, allowing himself to fall backwards to whatever awaited him.

Suddenly the rushing stopped and Dave was thrown forwards and onto his face, his body rolled as he ended up on his back. He sat up with a growl as he removed the sword from his back and stretched his arms.

“It is almost like you never teleported before,” Strong Shield hummed as he looked down at Dave. “I suppose we can always train you properly at some other point.”

Dave looked up to see his family were all looking at him, all of them unscathed and unfazed by the teleport. “Urgh it is nice to see you to dad.”

As the human stood up he looked around the dark road they had landed on, he turned to see a large fence was placed around a huge field, in the centre was a large hanger with a few buildings surrounding it, spotlights on the runway and on each building.

“Looks well protected,” Strong Shield hummed. “You could get close using the cover of night but once next to the buildings it is very bright and I assume inside will have plenty of light as well.”

Flux looked at the large hanger that a few people were gathered outside, “Looks like human guards, judging from the matching uniform.”

“Your Pegasus eyes might be useful for an aerial view, maybe draw a map of the buildings,” Strong Shield suggested. “Maybe get the number of guards as well.”

“Well first we need to find a safe place to stay and then locate Nox,” Luna reminded the group. “What do you think Dave?”

The Princess of the Night turned to see Dave was looking in the opposite direction to the group, a stern look painted across his face as he stared at the building they were standing in front of. Dave walked over to the front door and peered into the letter box.

“Surely you aren’t thinking about breaking in are you?” Celestia asked as she looked at the second floor of the house, expecting to see lights on. “What are you thinking?”

Dave stepped back; he looked at the white garage door to his left and looked at the small wooden door to his right that was another entrance to the back garden. Beside the front door was a small flowerpot with a single, small sunflower looking back at him.

The ponies approached Dave as he crouched next to the pot and lifted it, sighing as he picked something up from underneath. “Alright we can hide in here for now.”

“This is someone’s house isn’t it?” Flux asked as Dave unlocked the front door and entered, taking off his shoes and placing his sword aside. The ponies glanced at each other before following him inside and locking the door behind them.

They stood in a long corridor, stairs leading up were right in front of them, a living room to their right and a kitchen with large glass doors was at the end of the corridor. Dave appeared from upstairs, his face covered in agitation.

“Nobody is home,” Dave called to the group as he began closing curtains all around the house and turned on the kitchen light. The ponies entered to see Dave had sat down at a counter that was in the centre of the kitchen his back to the front door.

“So what is the plan from here?” Strong Shield asked. “Shall we incapacitate the owners of the home and release them when we leave?”

Dave rubbed his eyes as he shrugged, “If you go upstairs there is a guest bedroom that overlooks the base, you can use that to get a good view and recon from here.”

Strong Shield and Flux nodded as they headed upstairs, Celestia and Luna looked around the kitchen before pouring a glass of water for Dave using an empty glass they found on the side. “Are you feeling unwell after the teleportation?”

Dave smiled at Celestia as he took the water and took a sip, “No it just feels weird being back on Earth, the air tastes different and I kinda need a moment to think.”

“Sure,” Luna smiled as she took Celestia’s hoof and dragged her away into the living room, closing the door behind them. “Sister, you do realise that Dave is feeling sentimental right?”

Celestia nodded as she sat down on one of the sofas, the room she was in had surprisingly little decoration. The sofas were large and soft, a large TV sat in the corner on top of a wooden stand, and an empty fireplace had a few photographs in frames around the exposed bricks.

“Urgh, remember when Odio kept showing us TVs for an entire week?” Luna chuckled. “Who knew that remembering all the things Odio talked about would be helpful?”

The siblings smiled as they relaxed, the sound of silence was interrupted as they heard a strange humming noise followed by a strange growl. The growling stopped about the same time as the humming.

The princesses poked their head out of the door to see Flux and Strong Shield were waiting at the top of the stairs. Dave was stood outside a door that the princesses hadn’t noticed. It was strangely placed behind the stairs and was painted the same colour as the walls.

“What is going on?” Luna whispered to Dave.

“This door leads to the garage and someone has just pulled up,” Dave sighed as he leaned against the wall opposite the door, prepared to meet the homeowner. “I want you all to hide and don’t come out unless I say so.”

Strong Shield and Flux climbed slightly further up the stairs, Celestia and Luna closed the door so there was just a small gap for them to peek through. As Dave rubbed his face one final time he ran his fingers through his shaggy hair and gave a long sigh.

The door opened and the ponies all waited to hear some form of commotion, like a fight or shouting. They all expected the homeowner to be furious someone had broken into their home, attempting to throw Dave out.

Instead all they heard was Dave say two words.

“Hi mum.”

Chapter 15: Family Misfortunes

Chapter 15: Family Misfortunes

Dave stared down at the slightly shorter woman, the slight greying of her short brown hair and shocked green eyes were the only things Dave needed to see to recognise his mother. Her pale hand reached up and stroked the side of Dave’s face; the only noise was a relieved sigh as the woman rushed forwards and wrapped her arms around Dave’s neck.

“You’re home!” The woman cheered happily as she squeezed Dave as tightly as she could. “They said you would never come back! That there was no trace of where you went!”

“Mum,” Dave sighed as he returned the hug, a sadness covering his face. “Sorry I took so long.”

Celestia and Luna watched as Dave’s mum reluctantly pulled away from the hug and smiled at her son. “You’ve gotten taller… and still wearing that ridiculous hair.”

“I like my hair this way,” Dave complained out of reflex. “You are as bad as dad.”

Celestia and Luna looked up at the stairs to see Flux and Strong Shield exchanging worried glances. Dave’s mum narrowed her eyes as Dave covered his mouth with his hand. “What did you say?”

“Ok, I know I have been gone a long time but I have a very good explanation,” Dave held up his hands as his human mother glared at him. “Can you sit down in the kitchen while I just get a few things ready?”

Dave’s mum reluctantly entered the kitchen and Dave closed the door before giving a massive sigh of relief. “Phew I can’t believe I survived that.”

All the ponies left their hiding spots to huddle around Dave. Flux gently rested a hoof on Dave’s back. “It’s alright; you can keep your hair like that if you want.”

“Can you not try to score points?” Dave mumbled in annoyance as he turned to face his family. “Alright, I’m gonna try and explain but first I might as well introduce all of you individually.”

“Are you sure she won’t freak out or faint?” Luna asked for fear of spooking Dave’s mother.

Dave shook his head, “Unfortunately no, my mum is not the type to get scared.”

“Well we will wait here, call us when you need us,” Celestia leaned forward and planted a kiss on Dave’s cheek. “Don’t tell her anything unnecessary.”

Dave already knew that Celestia was telling him not to mention the fact he has died several times, the fact he was in a hellish prison for a year and that he is immortal. The human sighed as he opened the door and walked into the kitchen.

Dave’s mum was thankfully sat at the end of the kitchen, meaning she couldn’t see the other guests before Dave was ready. “Alright I will explain everything but first I do need to introduce a few… members of my family.”

“Family?” Dave’s mum’s head sunk into her hands. “Oh god you were kidnapped then forced into having a family with some random foreigners weren’t you?”

“No!” Dave protested. “Well… not exactly.”

“I hear on the news how criminals are getting more bizarre,” Dave’s mum looked up at Dave. “Alright I am ready for this.”

Dave looked at the ponies to his left and his human mother, trying to think of a way out of explaining. “Urgh this is going to be weird, alright this is my wife Princess Celestia.”

The ponies all looked at Celestia as she took a deep breath and stepped into the kitchen, she looked straight at Dave’s mum and smiled as she stood beside Dave. She lifted her hoof to raise Dave’s hand and show of the golden wedding ring on his finger.

“Alright I am waiting for the punchline,” Dave’s mum glanced between her son and the tall white pony that had wings and a horn. “Oh I see I am starting to hallucinate after not seeing my son for so long.”

Dave didn’t know whether to yell at his mum for being rude or to applaud the fact she could come up with an excuse that quickly. But before Dave could think, Celestia was already growling.

“With all due respect I believe that your son is a fine man and I am proud to have him as my husband,” Celestia stared at Dave’s mum as the woman looked at the princess in disbelief.

“So…” Dave rubbed his hands together. “Honey, when you are done yelling at a woman that doesn’t believe that aliens exist I’ll continue.”

“Sorry,” Celestia apologised before looking at Dave’s mum with a smile. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Dave’s mum nodded, “Likewise… I guess.”

“Anyway I would like to explain that I was teleported to another world and that the inhabitants of this world are ponies, gryphons, dragons and stuff like that and they can all talk and do magic,” Dave hummed. “Anyway the proof of this is my wife Princess Celestia and the other members of my family.”

“Whoa, wait up!” Dave’s mum stood up and stared at Celestia. “If you are a princess then does that mean Dave hasn’t been pulling his weight and has been freeloading?”

Celestia shook her head, “N-no he has been more than helpful on more than one occasion.”

“Good!” Dave’s mum smiled before beckoning to Celestia to come over to her. The alicorn glanced at Dave before nervously walking over to the human woman. “My name is Hannah; feel free to anything in the house.”

Celestia smiled awkwardly as Hannah gave her a hug, the human was shorter than Dave so the two females were eye-level with each other. “Thank you very much Hannah, I have always wondered what you were like.”

“Well it is nice to know my boy settled down with a polite young girl… er… mare… thing,” Hannah smiled before turning serious. “But if you break my boy’s heart I’ll break off your horn and jam it somewhere the sun doesn’t shine.”

“My mum is very protective as you can see,” Dave rubbed his eyes before looking at Hannah. “And Celestia here literally controls a sun and is technically an immortal god.”

Hannah gasped, “You mean you are some tomboy for this cougar?”

Dave threw his arms in the air in defeat, “Mum! Seriously! You wonder why I never had a girlfriend before!”

“It was your own damned fault and you know it!” Hannah rolled her eyes as she placed her hands on her hips. “You can’t pretend you have any other girls now you are married.”

“Actually!” Luna stepped out, causing Dave to groan and cover his face with his hands. “In Equestria there are rare cases of more than one mare sharing a single stallion and vice versa.”

Hannah pointed at Luna and gawped at Dave, “W-who is this one?”

“That’s Luna, Celestia’s younger sister,” Dave sighed as the situation proceeded to collapse around him. “She controls the moon.”

“And his fiancée!” Luna said proudly, attracting shocked stares from everyone.

“WHAT!?” Dave and Hannah both gasped. Dave managed to pull Luna to one side as he whispered in her ear. “Are you mad?”

“Well we are going to be engaged sooner or later right?” Luna asked with sad eyes.

Dave groaned at the impossible situation he was placed in, “Well yes but not right now!”

“Are you saying you don’t want to marry her?” Hannah yelled at Dave. “Why would you break a young girl’s heart like that?”

“I don’t!” Dave groaned as the chaos piled up around him. “Alright enough! Final introductions are these two.”

Hannah looked over to see a unicorn and Pegasus trot into her kitchen, both smaller than Celestia and Luna. “So who are these two?”

“Strong Shield, the unicorn is my adoptive father in Equestria,” Dave sighed. “And Flux is my adoptive mother.”

“MOTHER?!” Hannah slowly glared at Flux. “Well at least I know I am the better one.”

Dave shook his head as he chanted, “Don’t make this a competition, don’t make this a competition, don’t make this a competition.”

“Well technically for the time I have cared for Dave as a mother we have never argued and within five minutes of him coming home you are yelling,” Flux proudly smirked as she looked at Dave. “Isn’t that right son?”

“Y-you had to say that didn’t you?” Dave looked up at his fuming human mother. “Now everyone calm down and we can talk about all this!”

Hannah snorted and caused Flux to glare, “Yeah I’m not worried over some little pony that probably can’t even cook Dave his favourite meal.”

“Oh shots fired,” Odio gasped as he appeared beside Dave’s head.

“AND WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!” Hannah pointed at Odio’s fog.

“Oh I’m the guy who kidnapped your son, made him immortal and made him explode once,” Odio nodded before looking at the stunned group. “What? You guys need to tell me where to set up this return portal so I can go do better things.”

“Screw it, I’m done,” Dave sat on the kitchen counter as he sighed. “I bet Mike isn’t having these problems.”

Meanwhile…

Mike frowned as he read the newspaper he had bought from the shop opposite the café. The front page had a photo of Dave facing off against Sasha and Sarah on the balcony, Mike was visible in the background of the photo but luckily his face was not in focus.

“Having flying photographers must be a hassle,” Mike groaned as he flicked through the newspaper, spotting an article about a pony that had been released from jail and was now forging a surprisingly strong political case.

Chrysalis sat next to him, still hidden in her magical disguise of Princess Celestia. The Changeling Queen didn’t pay any attention to him until he placed the newspaper down. “Anything interesting?”

“No there isn’t,” Mike shivered as he zipped up his coat. “You told me you hated the cold, so why are we sat outside?”

Chrysalis looked around at the snowy street and finally gave a smile to Mike, “I like how everypony here looks at me with respect so I would like to be respected for my status while I am here.”

“You really chose this spot to satisfy your own ego?” Mike stared at Chrysalis with disbelief. “You are supposed to try and be believable.”

The pair glared at each other before Chrysalis turned her head away, “Fine, go sit where you want to! But don’t expect me to…” Chrysalis turned back to see Mike was gone, she looked around before seeing him sat inside the café, a fresh coffee on his table and a smiling waitress was chatting with him.

Chrysalis growled as she walked into the café and sat down angrily at the table opposite Mike, she glared at the waitress and caused the frightened mare to bow. “Can I get you anything Princess Celestia?”

“Get me a pot of tea,” Chrysalis commanded, taking full advantage of her disguise. “Make sure a different waiter brings it over as I find you annoying.”

Mike stared at Chrysalis in disbelief as the shocked waitress went over to the counter where one of her colleagues was working. Mike could see confusion on the barista’s face as the waitress trotted into the staff area crying.

“How could you do that?” Mike growled at Chrysalis, the disguised changeling raised an eyebrow at the human. “Did you not see what you did to her?”

“Hmmm? You mean the mare that was here?” Chrysalis shrugged. “She was being loud and obnoxious.”

Mike shook his head in disgust, “Wow I thought you had some dignity when I first met you but now I see you are a jealous snob.”

“Excuse me?” Chrysalis whispered angrily. “Don’t forget that I am the one disguised as the Princess of the Sun, not you!”

Mike and Chrysalis glared at each other before turning away from each other. Mike quietly drank his coffee as a pot of tea was brought over for Chrysalis. The barista hastily retreated the moment he placed down the pot.

“See? Now they know not to ask questions that might make us look suspicious,” Chrysalis smiled happily at Mike.

“You are unbelievable,” Mike muttered. “You said you were happy outside so why did you come inside to harass the staff?”

Chrysalis gasped, “I am trying to keep up appearances! What bodyguard sits away from the one he is meant to protect?”

The pair stared at each other before Mike stood up, “I am going to see if that poor mare is alright and I might see if I can undo the damage you have done.”

Chrysalis opened her mouth to respond but no argument came out as Mike went into the staff room. The annoyed queen drank her tea alone as she looked around at the café, noticing the scared and confused stares out of the corner of her eye.

“Pssh, I don’t deserve this treatment,” Chrysalis stood up and left the café in anger, her departure caused mumbling to spread throughout the café. The disguised changeling marched back towards the castle angrily as she attracted stares from ponies around her.

After a few minutes of walking she heard heavy steps coming towards her, she turned to see Mike running to catch up. “Why are you here?”

Mike stopped as he attempted to catch his breath, “Y-you left without me.”

“Because it is clear that you don’t like being in my company so how about we stay separate from each other until our duties have been completed?” Chrysalis frowned as she turned away and carried on marching towards the castle.

Mike jogged alongside the fake Celestia as they reached the castle gates and waited for them to open. “I promised Dave I would stick beside you, and I never go back on my word.”

Chrysalis sighed as they began to walk across the courtyard towards the castle steps, the heavy door behind them closing gently as the guards pushed it closed. “It is very clear that our difference in lifestyles will cause issues so how about I remain in the castle under guard supervision?”

“No that won’t do,” Mike shook his head as he followed Chrysalis. “Personally I am just trying to understand why you had to snap at that waitress.”

“Leave it alone Mike,” Chrysalis sighed as she began to climb the stairs.

“Do you have a fear of waitresses?” Mike suggested. “Or maybe the magical disguise is taking a larger drain than you thought.”

“I said leave it alone!” Chrysalis turned to snap at Mike but slipped on a small patch of ice. The Changeling Queen saw Mike rush forwards before everything went black.

Chapter 16: Headaches

Chapter 16: Headaches.

Hannah sat on the sofa, massaging her temples as she took the final piece of information in. She had done well processing everything Dave and the rest told her about Equestria and the adventures he had been on. She was genuinely happy that her son was happy, even if it meant him being on another world.

But the final piece that they had left out was the one piece she couldn’t take in. Dave almost looked concerned as Hannah took a deep breath and stared directly at her son. “I’m a GRANDMA?!”

“Y-yeah,” Dave smiled as he shrugged. “I guess you could say Nox is my own little bundle of fun.”

“I’m a grandma?” Hannah repeated to herself, almost forgetting that the living room was full of magical ponies. “My son has a son?”

Strong Shield glanced at Hannah before staring at Dave, “This would have been so much easier if you had let me knock her out.”

“Shut up dad,” Dave warned as he noticed his mother look at him again. “You alright?”

“Who is the mother?” Hannah pointed at the two alicorns that were sat either side of Dave. “Was it sparkle mane or rainbow effect?”

Celestia and Luna exchanged confused looks before Celestia raised her hoof, “I am Nox’s mother.”

“So Dave… you slept with her?” Hannah asked as her eyes narrowed at Dave, almost like she was judging him.

“And me!” Luna raised her hoof as well before Dave’s glare made it slowly drop back to her side.

Hannah hummed as she looked at Luna, “And I suppose you would want kids with him too?”

“Yes!” Luna said beaming, her happy voice echoed off the living room walls.

“Ok shhh,” Dave gently placed his finger on Luna’s lips. “I understand the way this may look, the whole… interspecies thing and I see why you may be… disgusted but it is my choice.” Dave explained nervously to his human mother.

“Oh I’m not disgusted,” Hannah sighed. “To be honest you were such an average child I should have seen this coming.”

“Eh?” Dave gawped at his mother in confusion. “You mean this doesn’t freak you out?”

Hannah shrugged in a way that almost mimicked Dave when he shrugs. “Well you know the family curse.”

“Curse?” Dave’s eyes roamed the floor in hopes for an answer, almost hoping he could get some form of clue. “What?”

“Well it only affects male members of your bloodline I suppose,” Hannah tapped her chin in thought before sighing. “Well it is getting late, I’m going to bed.”

“Do you have any bed sheets so we may sleep down here?” Luna asked but was surprised as Hannah laughed. “Um… what is so funny?”

Hannah walked over to Luna and gave her a hug, “You are so innocent sometimes.”

“I have a double bed,” Dave explained. “It’ll be a squeeze but you and Celestia can sleep there, where can Strong Shield and Flux sleep?”

“The guest room has a sofa bed they can use,” Hannah glared at Flux. “As soon as your… fake mum can figure out how to open it.”

Flux and Hannah began to stare each other down, Strong Shield rolled his eye as his horn glowed and he dragged Flux behind him using magic. Hannah and Flux continued to growl until their eye contact was broken.

“Well sleep tight,” Hannah smiled sweetly. “I’ll explain what that base is over there tomorrow morning over breakfast.”

Dave sighed, “Thanks mum, and I really appreciate all of this.”

“Just don’t forget to use a condom later,” Hannah smiled as she left the living room. Dave gawped after hearing her speak while Luna and Celestia exchanged glances.

“Well she didn’t say we couldn’t make use of the cramp conditions,” Luna shared a nod with her sister. Dave glared at the sisters before sighing in defeat, the human stood up as he let out a yawn.

“I’m gonna make sure mum and dad know how to open the sofa bed, I’ll see you both in a sec,” Dave hurried upstairs and saw his two mums glaring at each other, like two cobras ready to strike. “Hey mum.”

Both Pegasus and human turned to smile at Dave, “What is it sweetie?” They said in unison.

Dave heard a noise and saw both Celestia and Luna rush into Dave’s room, slamming the door behind them. He shrugged it off due to his tired state and looked back to see both his mothers were glaring again.

“Can… one of you make sure I don’t oversleep? I get the feeling I’m not gonna get that much sleep,” Dave didn’t bother to argue when both females nodded. Dave went into the spare bedroom to help open the sofa bed and got a blanket for his pony parents.

As Dave said goodnight to all three of his parents he finally made his way into his room, yawned as he closed the door behind him. He smiled to the two human girls that were sat in his bed as he made his way over to his drawers to pull out a pair of pyjama shorts.

“Wait a sec…” Dave turned around to see two (presumably naked) women sat under the bed sheets, smiling at him. As he was about to question the two strangers he noticed the fact that they had flowing hair, the same colours and style as Luna and Celestia.

“So what do you think?” The younger, cuter sister asked. Her voice was definitely Luna’s but the fact she had fingers threw off Dave’s mind. “It is a perfected version of the spell I tried when… I was trying to… steal you off of everypony.”

The older, more mature sister sighed as she looked at the human Luna, “Don’t bring that up, you promised not to make this weird.”

Dave recognised Celestia’s voice coming from the other extremely attractive woman in his bed. His mind was spinning as he rubbed his eyes. “Please tell me that you are transformed versions of Celestia and Luna.”

“We are transformed versions of Celestia and Luna,” Human Celestia said plainly as she threw her arms in the air, allowing the bed sheets covering her dignity to drop. “Honestly Dave I thought you would at least be a happier version of surprised.”

“Why are you both transformed?” Dave asked as he stared at the pair.

He also stared at Luna too.

Luna stood up and caused Dave’s eyes to wander freely, “Well we thought this spell could be useful in disguising ourselves if we needed to while on Earth but seeing as we have this home to hide in we thought we could surprise you with it.”

“I don’t think he is listening,” Celestia hummed as she stood up and walked over to her sister. “Hmm, he seems to be frozen.”

“I wonder why?” Luna looked around before gasping and jumped to turn and face her sister. “Oh I get it! Humans normally wear clothes don’t they?”

Celestia nodded as she saw Dave’s eyes work overdrive to see everything, “That makes sense, along with the loss of fur I do feel quite cold.”

“Yes it is chilly,” Luna hopped on the spot to try and help warm herself up.

Dave couldn’t handle anymore; he rushed forwards and grabbed the women’s soft hands as he headed directly for the bed.

The next morning…

Chrysalis groaned as she awoke, her head spun as she first opened her eyes and then suddenly a massive pain grew in the back of her skull. The queen tried to sit up but was instantly pushed back down into a soft pillow.

“W-wha?” Chrysalis opened her eyes to see Mike standing over her, the white ceiling above him was only thing the changeling could focus on. The pain worsened as Chrysalis coughed, “What happened?”

“You slipped on the ice and kinda… knocked yourself out,” Mike sighed with relief as he returned to his seat. “I was worried because you were so quiet.”

The nurse pony arrived and gave a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness you are awake.”

Chrysalis looked at her hooves and realised her disguise as Princess Celestia was gone, only her black hooves remained. “Did you explain?”

“Yeah I did,” Mike smiled to the nurse. “Even though she doesn’t know how to care for changelings I saw the nurse has done a terrific job.”

“Thank you very much Mike,” The nurse smiled as she walked to Mike’s side. “Say I don’t suppose I could ask you to be a darling and get me a drink?”

Mike smiled to the nurse, “Certainly, would you like anything Chrysalis?”

“A bag to be sick into,” The Changeling Queen grumbled as she turned to look away from the nurse and Mike. She waited until she heard Mike groan at her and leave before turning to glare at the nurse. “What is your game? Do you flirt with every stallion that passes through here?”

The nurse gasped as she looked at the enraged patient, “What is that meant to mean?”

“You were spouting that ‘darling’ manure,” Chrysalis sneered as turned her head away. “And that Mike is dumb enough to fall for it.”

“If it wasn’t for him then you wouldn’t be here,” The nurse retaliated.

Chrysalis scoffed at the comment, “Yeah if he wasn’t pestering me then I wouldn’t have slipped.”

“No as in literally,” The nurse stared at Chrysalis. “He carried you up thirty flights of stairs and didn’t leave your side until right now.”

“W-what?” The nurse and queen stared at each other, neither showing any sign of backing down. Chrysalis broke the silence with a snort, “Well if he wants to be that way then let him, he doesn’t like talking to me like you saw.”

“Because you were being rude,” The nurse smiled as she saw Chrysalis gasped. “To be honest I kinda wanted to slap you.”

Chrysalis frowned as she turned away from the nurse again, frowning as the doors opened and Mike returned. The human gave a bottle of water to the nurse and she thanked him before leaving, Mike sat back in his seat before shaking his head at Chrysalis.

“I seriously hope that you are a better queen than you are conversationalist,” Mike waited for Chrysalis to shout some sort of retort but the changeling just continued to stare into the distance.

Mike slumped into his chair and began to rest his eyes, giving a loud yawn that caught Chrysalis’ attention and looked over at him. The Changeling Queen sneered at Mike before crossing her hooves, “Thank you for carrying me.”

“Nice to see you learned some manners,” Mike looked up at the frowning changeling. “It was no problem… just doing my job.”

Chrysalis started to growl before snapping her head back to Mike, “But don’t think that… Mike?”

As the nurse returned she sighed at the sight of Mike sleeping. “When I said he didn’t leave your side I also meant he didn’t sleep either.”

“He must be exhausted,” Chrysalis sighed before rubbing the dull pain at the back of her head. “The pain is fading… I think I will be fine in a few hours.”

The nurse looked at Mike and then at Chrysalis, “If you want to I can send off for some food for you both.”

“Yes please,” Chrysalis sighed as she watched Mike sleep. “And a blanket for Mike please.”

“Looks like he might make a decent mare of you yet,” The nurse teased as she left the medical ward, leaving a blushing Chrysalis to pout because she couldn’t argue back.

Chapter 17: Family Matters

Chapter 17: Family Matters.

The morning sun struck Dave’s face as a breeze moved his curtains, the human groaned as he sat up and yawned, resulting in a noise that caused his two lovers to move restlessly in their sleep. Last night had been more exhausting than he had thought but Dave wasn’t really going to complain about it.

Dave rubbed his face before stretching his arms up and rolling his neck. The human carefully climbed out of bed before walking over to the window and peeked out of the gap in the curtains. The same quiet village was still the same even after all the time that had passed.

The only change was a large rune that had been carved into the back garden, Dave knew Odio wouldn’t stop pestering him until he had made it but the neighbours would surely notice. Dave was relieved that they probably wouldn’t report some strange marks in the grass.

A small mumble behind Dave made him turn to see Celestia had awoken; the princess was still in her human form as she crawled out of the bed on all fours. “Morning Dave,” She murmured sleepily.

“Can I give you a hand up?” Dave smiled as Celestia realised that she still hadn’t deactivated the spell. As Dave took Celestia’s soft hand he gently pulled her to her new found feet and pulled her into a passionate kiss.

“Woah, if I knew that you were this eager in the mornings I would have woken you up more often,” Celestia teased as she wrapped her arms around Dave and held him against her. “So what are you going to do today?”

Dave gently stroked Celestia’s hair as he looked back out of the window, “I’m gonna watch the base with dad and then move in at nightfall.”

“I know I don’t have to say this but I want you to be careful,” Celestia whispered as she rested her head on Dave’s shoulder. “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t have to except save our son.”

“I’ll save Nox, don’t worry about that,” Dave smiled as he kissed Celestia’s head and released her from the hug. “What about you?”

Celestia’s forehead glowed as her body turned into light and shifted back into its normal alicorn shape. The light faded as Luna sat up, “W-what’s going on?”

Celestia looked at her hooves before smiling at her sister, “Would you like me to revert you back sister?”

“No I am fine for now,” Luna grumbled as she fell back onto the bed and looked up at Dave and Celestia. “We aren’t going to tell anypony about what we did last night are we?”

“Ye…” Dave looked at Celestia’s frown. “No.”

Luna smiled, “Well it is good to know you enjoyed yourself Dave.”

“Breakfast is ready!” Hannah and Flux called in union from downstairs. Dave quickly put on his clothes as he followed Celestia downstairs and left Luna to enjoy her time resting.

Dave sat down in the kitchen and frowned when two plates with breakfast were placed in front of him. “Uhh… what is this?”

“Hannah thinks she knows what you enjoy but I know better,” Flux said proudly. “So I made you your favourite breakfast… Eggs Royal.”

Hannah snorted, “Two words… Bacon. Sandwich.”

“That looks like meat,” Flux shook her head as she laughed. “Dave has decided that he doesn’t need meat and he is very happy that way.”

“Is he?” Hannah pointed to Dave and Flux gasped when she saw the bacon sandwich was already in Dave’s hands, his brow covered in sweat.

“It looks so tasty,” Dave gulped as he looked at the meat in his clutches. “Surely you won’t mind if I have one bite.”

Celestia looked at Hannah and Flux, the two contending mothers were glaring again as Dave tried to cope with his moral dilemma. “Are you both really this bothered about being the best?”

“Yes!” They said in unison once again. “We need to know which woman or mare knows Dave best.”

The princess rolled her eyes, her horn glowed and an apple popped into existence. Celestia then leaned next to Dave’s ear and whispered something the opposing mothers couldn’t hear. Dave dropped the sandwich as he looked at Celestia with disbelief.

“Y-you seriously mean that?” Dave smiled as Celestia winked seductively at him. The human then grabbed the apple and wolfed down the entire fruit, taking a breath before turning back to Celestia. “So uhh… I guess it will have to wait until we get back to Equestria huh?”

“Mmm I’m afraid so stud,” Celestia shot an evil glare at Hannah and Flux. Both mothers stared in disbelief as they were easily defeated knowing that nothing they offered could beat whatever Celestia had offered.

Dave sighed before looking around the kitchen, “Hey where is dad?”

“He is still sleeping, he spent most of the night watching guards move around the base and figured out which building Nox is most likely in,” Flux paused as she saw a human Luna wander into the kitchen wearing one of Dave’s shirts, pulling the bottom down to keep her dignity.

“Um Dave, I don’t suppose you have anything slightly larger do you?” Luna asked nervously before smiling at Dave’s gawping mothers. “Heh good morning.”

Hannah rolled her eyes, “I’ll see if I can find something for you to wear.”

Luna followed Hannah upstairs again, the pair entered Hannah’s bedroom which had all the typical furniture such as a large bed, wooden wardrobe and a large vanity mirror. Hannah opened her wardrobe and looked amongst her clothes.

“Hmm I don’t think I actually have anything that will fit you comfortably,” Hannah scratched her head before clicking her fingers. “Actually I do have one thing that I can give you.”

Hannah knelt down as she reached for a box that was hidden underneath a large pile of shoes. “Dave’s father bought me this but the idiot got the size wrong, but I think it would fit you.”

Luna opened the box to see a silk blue dress, the simple design wasn’t exactly inspiring but Luna slipped it on as Hannah turned around. The alicorn turned human struggled for a bit trying to close the zip on the back before finally getting it zipped to the top.

“It fits very well,” Luna said happily as she spun around. “Are you sure you don’t mind me wearing this?”

“I want you to keep it and find a pair of shoes you like,” Hannah smiled as she looked at the dress and the way the girl’s flowing hair accented the colour. “It would all just go to waste otherwise.”

Luna looked down at herself, twirling again as she admired her own figure, “Dave’s father sounds like a generous man… I would have liked to have met him.”

“He cared deeply for Dave and I,” Hannah sighed as she watched Luna begin to try on shoes from the cupboard. “All I can say is that he was one heck of a man considering all the crap he got when his family moved over here.”

“Moved?” Luna looked at Hannah with curiosity. “Do you mean he came from a different country?”

“I forgot you weren’t from here,” Hannah hummed. “Well his family moved over when he was around the age of ten, and that was about forty-something years ago.”

Luna found a pair of small black shoes and slipped her feet into them, smiling at the comfortable fit as she stood up. “Dave never spoke of his father so we never talk about it because it always made him quiet.”

“Dave’s dad grew up being bullied by his classmates and even some of the parents spoke about him,” Hannah smiled as she walked over to her bed and picked up a photograph from the side. “But even through all that he kept smiling until he died.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Luna stared at the floor before noticing Hannah was offering her the photo. Luna gently took the picture and gasped when she saw a young woman with long brown hair holding a smiling toddler. “That’s you and Dave?”

Hannah nodded as she stood up, “We took that photo a few weeks before Dave’s fifth birthday.”

Luna looked back at the photo and saw a burly man that stood beside Hannah, his large hand on her shoulder. His smile was larger than Dave’s and his imposing stature had gentleness to it that Luna couldn’t understand.

“It wasn’t soon after that Alexander found out he was sick,” Hannah sighed as she took the photo back and stroked the glass with one of her fingers. “He spent his final few months doing everything he could to make sure me and Dave never had to worry about anything financial once he left.”

“His name was Alexander?” Luna looked at Hannah’s confused reaction to her question. “It’s just that Dave never even told us his last name.”

Hannah sighed, “So what is his last name from his adoptive parents?”

“Shield,” Luna smiled. “What was his human one?”

“Well Alexander tried to convince me to keep my English maiden name Rogers but I said no,” Hannah smiled as she opened the photo frame and removed the photograph from the inside. “I decided to take Alexander’s German surname… Schulz.”

“Dave Schulz?” Luna froze as Hannah took her hand and placed the photo in her palm. “What are you doing?”

Hannah smiled, “I want you to tell that miserable old son of mine that it is ok to show your emotions sometimes.”

Luna shook her head as she tried to pull away but found that Hannah had a vice-like grip, “I can’t take that photo from you.”

“I just found out my son is alive that is worth more than anything I will ever own,” Hannah said sternly as she stared Luna down. “I have spent the last couple of years thinking that I had lost the other important person in my life and it crushed me.”

Luna watched in silence as a tear rolled down Hannah’s cheek, the princess didn’t know what to do as Hannah continued to stare at her. The mother took a deep breath before releasing Luna’s hand, “I spent every night praying for a sign that he was alright… that photo was the only one I have of us as a family.”

The princess looked at the crying Hannah before shaking her head, “Then why are you giving it to me?”

“I want you to take this photo because I don’t need it anymore, I know my son will be happy when someone as amazing as you is loves him” Hannah smiled as Luna took he photo and looked at the happy family once again. “I know you cherish Dave as much as I do, and I know if Alexander was around today he would have loved to meet you.”

“Hannah I…” Luna felt a lump grow in her throat as her eyes began to water. “I wish I could have met him.”

“I’m sure he would have loved you, think of the photo as a piece of us when you go back home,” Hannah laughed as she wiped the tear from her face and looked over Luna’s body. “You look beautiful in that dress… think of it as a gift from Alexander to welcome you to our family.”

“I-I will,” Luna sniffed as she wiped her teary eyes. “Thank you Ha… mum.”

Chapter 18: Hostage

Chapter 18: Hostage.

Nox awoke in the same white room he had been stuck in for the past few days, the large room had only a bed and a toilet, the one large wall opposite him was glass that he couldn’t shatter. The walls had burns and scars from where he had tried to use magic to help him escape but unfortunately it hadn’t worked.

Looking out past the glass Nox could see a long corridor with an elevator at the end. But from his cell Nox could see that the corridor widened as it reached his cell and as the colt pressed his face against the glass he saw the lights of a neighbouring cell.

The lights in the corridor flickered into life as the elevator doors opened and four people stepped out. The one leading the group was a human that had repeatedly visited Nox, wearing a long white coat, a pair of thin glasses and holding a clipboard, obviously a scientist of some sort.

The other three were people Nox hadn’t seen before; one was a tired looking girl with scruffy blond hair and dark bags under her eyes. The one beside her was wearing sunglasses, his dark hair was swept back and he held something wrapped in cloth under his arm.

The person at the back was the tallest of the group, his brown coat and white hair made him easily noticeable. But the thing that unnerved Nox the most was the way the strange man smiled at him, a single fang poking out of his mouth.

“Hello Nox, did we sleep well last night?” The scientist smiled as he walked over to a small screen beside Nox’s cell and began to write on his clipboard. “Still not that talkative eh?”

“LET ME GO!” Nox yelled at the humans, his eyes full of rage as he growled.

The scientist looked over at the tallest man, “I’m sorry Mr Discord but it appears as if the uh… alicorn hasn’t been that helpful.”

“Oh it is no problem,” The tall man smiled as Nox stared at him. “After all he is only bait for the main course.”

Nox remembered his mother telling him stories of a chaotic being called Discord. The stories had always made him curious but now he was face to face with the myth he only felt fear as the magical being tapped the glass.

“Y-you’re Discord?” Nox shuddered as he stepped back from the glass. The human followers smiled as they looked at Discord and the scientist looked between the alicorn and humans before making more notes.

“Hello Noxporta Shield,” Discord snickered as he scratched the small goatee on his chin. “I see your sweet sweet mother has told you all about me. Good things I hope?”

Nox stared at Discord in silence as the human wearing sunglasses looked up at the ceiling. “The sun is beginning to set, should we start leaving?”

“Don’t be rude Jack,” Discord smirked when he saw Nox’s confused face. “Oh I haven’t explained that I have given some small portions of my power to a few… dedicated followers.”

“So that’s why Sarah could fly?” Nox shuddered as he stepped back again. “My dad is going to stop you and save me!”

A silence fell before Discord burst into laughter; his hands gripped his knees as he struggled to breathe. “HAHAHAHA Oh wow you are certainly full of hope little pony.”

“Laura, let’s go make sure all the preparations are made,” Jack ordered before handing the package under his arms to Discord and leaving with the exhausted looking girl. Discord held the wrapped up cloth up before smiling at Nox.

“You know it never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to get things,” Discord smiled. “I mean you always leave the Elements of Harmony in the same spot so it isn’t hard to get to them.”

“Mum said that the Elements of Harmony are in an impenetrable vault,” Nox glared angrily. “Dummies like you can’t break in!”

“True the magical defences have been stepped up so breaking in is virtually impossible,” Discord kept a straight face for a few seconds before laughing again. “HAHAHA you ponies are so much fun when you are clueless.”

Discord began to slowly unwrap the cloth in his hands as he spoke, “Well when I gave Sasha my arms she was naturally going to lose them and they would be confiscated, so all I had to do was wait until they were put somewhere safe… like the impenetrable vault you were on about.”

“T-that’s not real,” Nox froze as the cloth fell to the floor and Discord pressed the Element of Generosity against the glass.

“Breaking out wasn’t as hard,” Discord smiled as he watched Nox’s legs shake. “Now… I want you to tell me about all of Celestia and Luna’s friends or I’ll tell you all the nasty ideas I have for these elements and you.”

An hour later…

Dave looked out the window as the dark sky; his hands slowly tied his shoelaces as he prepared to leave. “How does it feel watching a sunset that you aren’t in control of?”

“Strangely relaxing,” Celestia sighed as she placed a hoof on Dave’s shoulder. “Now be careful, don’t do anything unnecessary.”

“Don’t worry this is a very simple plan,” Dave smiled as he reassuringly hugged the concerned alicorn. “Save Nox and get out.”

Celestia rolled her eyes as Dave kissed her cheek and picked up his coat. “Well would you like me to hold onto your ring so it won’t get damaged?” The princess took Dave’s hand in her hoof as her horn glowed; the golden ring was surrounded in the same yellow light.

“Woah hold up,” Dave pulled his hand away before gently grabbing Celestia’s hoof. “I said I will protect it didn’t I? You seem awfully protective of it recently.”

“I know, I know… I just worry about you losing it,” Celestia smiled as she wrapped her hooves around Dave’s neck. “I like thinking that these rings connect us in some strange way.”

“You know I am always thinking of you,” Dave ran his fingers through Celestia’s mane as he looked at his ring again. “If I ever take it off I know you would teleport me into the sun or something like that.”

Celestia giggled as Dave began to kiss her neck, “No Dave, stop messing around.”

“Promise me that when I get Nox back and we are all safe in Equestria that you will try that spell out again?” Dave teased as Celestia pushed him away and gave him a frown. “Alright I’ll make sure I am quick about this.”

Strong Shield appeared by the front door, his watchful eye stared at Dave, “Make sure you stay quiet, the darkness will help Nox hide due to the colour of his fur.”

“I know you have mentioned this all day,” Dave rolled his eyes as he picked up his sword from the hallway. “Listen I’ll be back soon, just make sure Odio is ready to teleport us all out and make sure the mums don’t kill each other while I’m gone.”

Dave stepped out the front door and threw his sword across the road and over the fence before closing the door behind him. He adjusted his coat as he looked around at the dark field. He rolled his neck before running towards the fence and leapt over, the barbed wire only a few inches below his feet.

As he landed Dave pulled the sword out of the ground and began to run towards the base in the distance as the lights turned on. The dark field hid Dave’s approach as he ran, his sword trailing in the ground behind him.

As the base neared, Dave stopped and narrowed his eyes at the open space in front of the large hanger. A similar rock poked out of the ground, tire marks had left marks in the mud around the large stone.

“Huh… back where it all started,” Dave looked at the rock that he tripped over all those years ago. After taking a moment Dave began to run towards the nearest building, heading for a window with the lights off before peeking inside.

The room was empty except for a few large steel cylinders; the door had a large lock and a camera in the corner. Dave ducked down as the camera began to turn towards him, he sighed as he crawled towards the edge of the building.

Dave peeked around the corner and saw a few guards with guns standing beside the large hanger, the doors open enough for Dave to see that vehicles were parked on the other side. A man in a white coat left one of the neighbouring buildings holding a food tray and began walking towards the hanger.

“I’m guessing you are important,” Dave muttered before glaring at the two guards. “Do I kill two innocent guards that just happen to work for the bad guys? I guess I shouldn’t”

One of the guards yawned before looking around and nudging his friend, “Hey have you heard about that thing they have caged up downstairs?” He smiled when he saw his friend shrug. “Well apparently it has horns, wings and a really nasty attitude.”

Dave groaned as he overheard the conversation, he looked over at the side of the hanger and crept over when the guards had engrossed themselves in their discussion about the ‘magic-alien’. The guards remained unaware as Dave pointed his sword at the first guards back and dashed forwards.

The guards were quickly silenced as Dave stabbed through the pair and hoisted them off the ground. He poked his head into the hanger before carrying the soldiers on the sword over to one of the trucks and dumped the bodies into the back seats.

The hanger had a few of the black trucks, a few large storage containers were stacked at one side and at the end of the hanger were a large elevator with all the gears and cables open beside the steel shaft that housed the elevator. With nowhere else for the scientist from earlier to go Dave headed over to the elevator.

As Dave neared the elevator he could hear the gears moving and the sound of the elevator rising to his floor. Not wanting to be seen Dave ran to hide behind one of the storage containers and peeked out as the doors slid open and the scientist from earlier stepped out.

Once the scientist had walked past Dave’s hiding spot he hurried into the elevator before the doors slid shut. Dave placed his sword into his sheath before looking at the available floors, “Hanger, Research and Development, Containment Level, Command Level…”

Dave hummed before selecting Containment Level and the elevator slowly began to drop, he needed to get Nox out before finding out who was behind all this. As the elevator continued in its decent, Dave wondered how deep this complex went as he waited.

After a couple of minutes the elevator came to a gentle stop, the doors slid open and Dave was left staring down a large corridor, two white rooms waited at the end, sealed behind glass that Dave assumed must be designed to be unbreakable.

Dave stepped out of the elevator and hurried to the end of the corridor, glancing into the cell on the left he saw what looked like chains hanging from the ceiling and walls. In the other it was a white padded cell that looked much cleaner.

But what caught Dave’s eye was something wrapped in a white blanket, a grey tail poking out from the bottom. Dave gave a sigh of relief as he pulled his sword out and slowly stabbed it into the glass, moving it gently as the magical blade sliced a hole.

As the glass Dave had cut out began to fall out of its place he caught it in his hand and dropped it to the side, the loud bang made Nox jump out of his blanket and turn to face the sudden noise. He froze when he saw Dave leaning through the gap he had made.

“Hey Nox,” Dave waved casually. “You didn’t doubt me did you?”

Nox sat staring in silence before throwing the blanket off and leapt at Dave, diving through the hole in the glass and into his father’s arms. “DAD YOU CAME FOR ME!”

“Well duh,” Dave laughed as he held Nox tight. “I would never let the bad guys get away with my brave boy.”

“T-there were some freaky humans and one said he was called Discord,” Nox hugged his father tight before Dave finally managed to pull him off. “We have to go!”

Dave rolled his arms, “Hey stay calm, I knew I could find you and I know I can get you out so be good for daddy and stay quiet.”

“But dad,” Nox sighed before kicking the floor with his hoof. “Is mum here too?”

“She is safe, when we get outside I want you to fly up high and look for a house with a magic symbol in the garden, look at houses nearest the base,” Dave knelt down as he rubbed Nox’s fluffy mane. “Can you do that for dad?”

Nox nodded as he followed Dave back to the elevator, as Dave pressed the button to take them to the surface Nox could briefly see the cell that neighboured his before the elevator doors closed. “Was anypony in the other cell?”

“No just chains,” Dave rubbed his neck as he leaned against the wall. “I’m guessing it was in case they caught anything big.”

As the elevator reached the top floor Dave readied his sword and stepped in front of Nox so his coat hid the young colt. “Alright run straight ahead and the moment we get outside I want you to fly away.”

Nox nodded and prepared to charge, his eyes burning with anger at being kidnapped. The steel doors slid opened, the father and son emerged from the elevator running, Dave spotted a pair of guards investigating the bodies in the truck that he had killed and changed direction to deal with the threat.

Nox flapped his wings and flew out of the hanger doors; his face was hit with cold air as he reached the open skies and began to fly in search of the house Dave described.

Dave watched as Nox faded into the black sky before turning his attention to the guards that noticed his approach. As they aimed their guns at Dave he raised his sword to protect from the bullets, the impacts didn’t slow Dave as he reached the pair.

The first guard ran out of ammo as Dave reached out and grabbed his neck. The second guard watched as Dave sliced the first guard in half and at the end of his swinging arc, released the sword and it impaled him to the truck he was just investigating.

Dave dropped the guard’s torso before retrieving his sword from the chest of the other. Dave wiped the blood off the blade before hurrying outside. He took a few steps before bright lights were suddenly directed at him and he could see the silhouettes of dozens of soldiers.

“Well Mr Discord did say that you would show eventually,” A voice chuckled over a loudspeaker. “And you didn’t even stop to think that it was all a bit too easy.”

“My son is gone and you won’t be able to go after him again,” Dave growled as he gripped his sword tighter.

“We no longer need the bait, what do we need with magic when we have a perfectly good regenerating, super strong human?” The voice laughed as Dave tried to look for a way to escape the large amount of guns pointed at him. “Well we also heard you good at reacting to attacks.”

The moment Dave opened his mouth to retort his breath was taken as a bullet hit his chest and knocked him off his feet and into the mud. A moment later the sound of the gunshot echoed across the field.

Dave curled into a ball as he clutched his broken body; the sounds of his bones beginning repair made some of the guards exchanged disgusted expressions. “What the… hell?” He wheezed as his lungs pulled themselves back together.

“We have a very good sniper called Jack that can see through walls… Mr Discord provided him for us,” The voice hummed as Dave pushed himself to his feet. “When he has one of the world’s most powerful sniper rifles he gets quite deadly.”

Another bullet hit Dave’s back, the dragon scales held and were undamaged but the force was directed to Dave’s spine and the crack was drowned out by the noise of the gunshot. As Dave fell face first into the mud he felt hands hold his weakened body down before the scientist he saw earlier hurried over and stuck a needle into his neck.

Dave tried to struggle but his fight was futile as the drugs took effect and he passed out.

A few hours later…

“Alright Dave, rise and shine,” The scientist slapped Dave awake with a smile. “Good morning, we have a busy day of testing ahead.”

Dave coughed as he opened his eyes and saw all his limbs were restrained by large metal braces and were chained to the wall. “This is the cell that was empty.”

“We have already performed various scans of your brain, body and taken samples,” The scientist hummed as he wrote a few notes onto a clipboard. “But we did have one anomaly that you could help us with.”

The scientist reached out with his pen and tapped the black mark on Dave’s left arm. “Don’t touch that!” Dave snapped at the scientist who didn’t even flinch at the angry yell.

“This doesn’t show on any scans and we can’t even take a sample without the scalpels and syringes turning to ash.” The scientist stared at Dave with curiosity before sneering and turning away. “Anyway if you don’t cooperate we can torture you for information, you clearly aren’t human anymore so normal rules and rights are void.”

“Don’t do anything you would regret,” Dave growled as he tried to pull on his restraints, his strained groans grew louder before the chained human gave up. “Let me go!”

The scientist gave a sigh of relief, “I am so glad we double checked the maths on those restraints otherwise you might have stretched them a little.”

“I swear if you don’t let me go right now I will rip off your head!” Dave yelled as he tried to break free again. His struggles were futile as the scientist pulled out a small device from his pocket.

“Administering shock to… calm subject,” The scientist said before pressing a button and caused electricity from the base to be diverted through Dave’s body. The lights flickered before going out completely, after a few seconds emergency red lights clicked on and the scientist sighed. “Damn I knew it wouldn’t hold on but I still had to try.”

Dave’s eyes flickered open as the pain stopped, his eyes stared at the floor before he felt his body slowly repair the damage. He heard the scientist talking with an engineer over a radio about how to fix the power to the complex.

“Such weak minded individuals,” A voice muttered in disgust behind Dave. The familiar voice made Dave freeze, suddenly his concerns about his capture was far from his main concern. “Did you think by coming to a different world you would escape me?”

“No I had to save my son,” Dave said quickly, his loud voice caught the attention of the scientist.

The scientist looked at Dave with a curious glare, “Who are you talking to Dave?”

“Doesn’t it make you mad when scum like these roam free while you had to suffer in my prison?” The warden of Tartarus grumbled as he looked down at Dave. “You want to get truly angry don’t you?”

“No I don’t need this right now!” Dave yelled angrily back at Warden. “GO AWAY!”

The scientist couldn’t see Warden as a long grey hand reached over and wrapped itself around Dave’s mark. “Well Prisoner 1EC, I am not giving you a choice.”

Chapter 19: Fury of a Father

Chapter 19: Fury of a Father.

While Dave was being captured…

Strong Shield gritted his teeth as he saw the base light up and he could see the silhouettes of humans lining the rooftops. The unicorn hurried downstairs and found Celestia sat alone in the kitchen, the alicorn was reading a book that Hannah had given her.

“Princess Celestia, we have an issue that…” Strong Shield froze as he saw Nox land in the back garden and the young colt collapsed onto the grass. “Nox made it back.”

Celestia glanced at Strong Shield before following his gaze to see Nox motionless in the garden. “NOX!” The princess called before using her magic to slam open the back door and rush over to Nox’s side.

Strong Shield waited until Celestia had carried her son into the house and gently placed him down on one of the sofas in the living room before trying to start analysing the situation. “Is he alright?”

“He is asleep, must have been flying so hard that he wore himself out,” Celestia nuzzled Nox’s cheek before looking back at Strong Shield. “Is there any sign of Dave?”

“No,” Strong Shield peek out of the curtains and looked back at the base. “I’m sorry to say this but I believe this has all been a trap to capture Dave.”

Celestia looked at Strong Shield’s glare before standing beside him and looking across at the busy base. She could see various humans roaming around and lights began to activate and began searching the surrounding fields.

“What do you think happened?” Celestia asked as she returned to sit at Nox’s side.

“Obviously we were tricked into believing that the base wasn’t well fortified,” Strong Shield sighed as he sat down. “Nox can give us details on their internal security but as for numbers of guards that may be unknown.”

Nox shivered as he opened his eyes and looked up at Celestia, “Is dad ok?”

“Nox, go to sleep, you have been brave and I am so proud of you,” Celestia nuzzled Nox gently until he fell asleep. Strong Shield placed a hoof on the princess and took her into the corridor, closing the door quietly to make sure he didn’t wake the sleeping prince.

“Celestia, Nox was never in any harm but Dave is in serious trouble,” The unicorn stared at Celestia as he lowered his voice. “What humans lack in magic they make up for in technology, so I have a bad feeling they may try to reverse engineer Dave’s body.”

“Reverse engineer? Like the gryphon’s crossbow a few years ago?” Celestia paused as she heard footsteps behind her and Luna walked over to the ponies.

Luna smiled as she hugged her sister, “Hannah has made us some food if we are staying up to wait for Dave and Nox.”

“Actually I think it would be best if we went to sleep, the journey back may be quite tiring,” Strong Shield suggested. “I’ll stay up but the rest of you should go to bed.”

“Oh I suppose that does make sense,” Luna sighed. “Well I will say goodnight to Hannah and Flux.”

Once Celestia and Strong Shield were alone again, the unicorn gave a snort. “Nopony is going to get near that base without being captured or worse.”

“So how exactly are we meant to save Dave?” Celestia growled as she stepped back into the living room. “Now I’m guessing that I can’t start burning the place to the ground can I?”

“No but Luna has given me an idea,” Strong Shield hummed as he looked out at the base once more. “There is a brief opening in their search patterns, I can infiltrate but searching for Dave would require time we don’t have.”

Celestia covered Nox with one of her wings as she watched the unicorn calculate, “So how will you find where they are keeping Dave?”

“I’ll ask one of the humans where they are keeping him,” Strong Shield looked over at Celestia’s confused stare. “But I’ll need your help.”

A couple of hours later…

A security guard yawned as he watched the security cameras, his fingers clutching an empty coffee mug. “Urgh, thank god they pay me well,” He grumbled as he picked up a radio. “Command Echo, this is Overwatch, can you dispatch my food early?”

After a few seconds the radio crackled before a response came through, “This is Command Echo, if you need to we can get someone to cover your shift for the next hour.”

“Sounds great,” The guard responded with a smile on his face. He sat back in his chair and saw on one of his various monitors that another guard in a hat was walking towards the security room door, two mugs in his hands.

The guard stopped before knocking on the door, “I was asked to come take over.”

“That was quick,” The security officer stood up and opened the door and allowed the other guard in. The new guard stepped quickly in and placed the mugs down. “Wow and you brought me a coffee? These science guys must be happy we caught that uh… superguy.”

“Where are they keeping him again?” The new guard asked as he sat down and removed his hat, revealing his long grey hair that was tied into a ponytail, “Can you see him on these cameras?”

“Are you a rookie or senile?” The security guard joked as he walked over. “These cameras see everything…”

As the guard picked up a mug he saw that they were both empty. “Hey what is this?”

The new guard stood and turned around, revealing the large scar over his left eye. “My name is Strong Shield, and I am here for my son.”

“Oh alright,” The guard pulled out a handgun and aimed at Strong Shield’s head. “Now you have been captured and I have the power to shoot you dead right now.”

“I have researched your weapons and I can see that they do have some flaws,” Strong Shield sighed as he looked down at his hands. “But these hands have some very promising uses.”

Before the guard could react, Strong Shield slapped the gun away from his face and grabbed the guard’s hair, bringing his head down into Strong Shield’s rising knee. The guard collapsed to the ground and Strong Shield sighed.

“You guards could really do with a decent training regime,” The pony turned human grumbled as he sat down at the control station for the cameras and began to search through all the cameras in hopes of finding Dave.

Eventually one of the screens flicked over to a cell that had chains hanging from the ceiling and wires scattered across the floor, all leading up to an unconscious Dave that hung like a puppet. Strong Shield kept his growl quiet at the sight of Dave strung up.

“Containment level eh?” Strong Shield hummed as he scavenged through all the desk draws until he found a basic layout of the base attached to a clipboard. After taking mental note of all the different corridors and defences Strong Shield walked over to the unconscious guard and took his handgun.

“Trust me when I say that getting used to this body took hours I didn’t have,” Strong Shield grunted as he picked up the unconscious guard and placed him back in his chair. “Now by the time you wake up you will have probably lost your job… but I’m not sorry.”

Strong Shield left the room and placed his newly acquired handgun into his holster before walking down the empty corridor. He continued to stretch his arms as he walked, feeling awkward that his arms had nothing to do as he walked out of the building, covering his face with his hand as he passed a few unsuspecting guards.

“Steal one uniform and you get a free pass in this base?” Strong Shield grumbled to himself as he made his way to the hanger. “It is too easy to infiltrate this place…”

Strong Shield stopped as he looked around the hanger, tables had been placed around the open space and entire squads turned as they heard him mutter. Strong Shield quickly concluded that the ones keeping Dave prisoner wanted to keep as many guards near the exit as possible.

“Hey you don’t have any ID,” One guard snapped as he stood up and pointed at Strong Shield. “What is the six-digit passcode?”

“Umm…” Strong Shield looked at all the angry guards as he turned and saw a few more had entered behind him. “Well… it is… one… two… three, four, five… six…”

Strong Shield stood quietly as all the guards exchanged looks before shrugging. “Alright, make sure you get your ID replaced soon ok?”

“You mean I was right?” Strong Shield stared in disbelief as all the guards carried on eating their lunches or chatting in their groups. “This is a shameful military.”

The disgruntled intruder looked around the room, taking in all the information about all the guards, their equipment, food and all the exits before smirking to himself. Strong Shield made his way to the elevator at the back of the hanger and pressed the small silver button before taking a step back.

“Just for having such a dumb code and for locking up my son I am going to make all of you suffer before this elevator gets here,” Strong Shield called as he turned to face the guards that were now staring at him. “Nopony makes a mockery of my family and gets away with it.”

Before any of the guards could question Strong Shield’s actions he had drawn his handgun and planted the muzzle into the closest guard’s ear and pulled the trigger. The gunshot was quickly followed by yells as all the security guards got to their feet and stepped away from him.

“Duck,” Strong Shield commanded as he used the rest of the ammo to shoot out all the alarms and intercoms around the hanger. “Now one of you please close that door and then let’s start shall we?”

A pair of guards hurried to close the hanger doors as the rest of the mob drew knives from belts or picked up knives from the tables. Those that didn’t have any blades to use began to crack their knuckles and headed towards the intruder.

Strong Shield took a deep breath as the bravest guard charged forward, knife raised high and letting out a yell as he rushed to stab his foe. Strong Shield threw his empty gun into the charging guard’s mouth, grabbed the raised arm and uppercutted the guard’s chin resulting in an unconscious guard and giving Strong Shield a knife to use.

“Going well so far,” Strong Shield glared at the rest of the group as he saw a tooth fall to the floor. “Well I may have hit the first guy a bit hard.” He admitted.

A pair of guards went for Strong Shield as he readied himself, his head barely dodging the first high slash as the second guard reached forwards for a stab. Strong Shield pushed the approaching blade away with his own before slashing across the first guard’s stomach. As the first of the pair dropped another two began to advance on Strong Shield from behind.

The veteran noticed their discreet approach and stepped towards one of the tables and grabbed the closest dinner tray that was clear of food. As the guard that attempted to stab him got near, Strong Shield dropped his own knife to grab the guard’s wrist and twisted his arm to slam his back onto the table.

One of the sneaking guards charged forward as Strong Shield placed the dinner tray into the mouth of the guard who was still in his grasp. As the new guard attacked, Strong Shield swiftly released his first prey and grabbed the hair of his new victim and slammed his face onto the dinner tray, pushing down so he was also biting down on the silver tray.

The two guards looked at each other until Strong Shield lifted a leg high into the air and slammed it down onto the top guard’s head. The resulting cracks made all the guards flinch as Strong Shield stepped back and looked around before picking his knife back up off the floor.

Another guard leapt onto the table but didn’t go any further as Strong Shield spun and threw his knife directly into the guard’s throat. As the guard dropped to the floor even more guards rushed forwards, throwing caution to the wind as they attempted to swarm Strong Shield.

With no weapon to use Strong Shield resorted to climbing onto the table and took a running leap across the wave of guards, clearing the first few before crashing down on the one at the back of the mob.

As the human’s head cracked against the stone floor it removed another threat for Strong Shield to worry about. One guard was pushed ahead of his comrades as he slowly advanced towards Strong Shield.

“Administering shock to… calm subject,” A voice said over the damaged intercom. A few guards stopped before one began to look through his pockets.

“What are you doing?” A guard yelled in annoyance.

“The engineers said electricity to lower levels hasn’t been upgraded for the new prisoner yet!” The guard finally pulled out a small flashlight from one of his pockets. “If he activates it then…”

The lights went out before the guard could even finish his sentence, the darkness made all the guards stagger about in confusion before the sounds of grunting, coughing and fighting began to fill the empty void.

The guard with the flashlight was pushed over before he could flick the switch. The small torch fell from his grip and rolled a few feet away. The sounds kept getting nearer to the desperate guard as he dropped to his knees and began to crawl in search of the flashlight.

The grunting began to be replaced with gurgling and cries of pain, like an invisible demon was thinking of crueller ways to hurt the simple guard as he crawled for freedom. Eventually the guard’s finger grazed the cold surface of the flashlight and he immediately brought it close to his chest.

As the guard began to search for the switch he noticed the sounds had stopped, and maybe the intruder was just as blind as the group. But as the light flicked on and illuminated the floor in front of the terrified guard he froze when he saw a blood soaked blade standing and the point staring up at him.

“I would end a thousand of you to save my son,” Strong Shield muttered as he placed his boot on the back of the guard’s head and pushed down with enough strength to sheath the knife into its resting place.

Strong Shield took a moment to recover his breath as he picked up the flashlight and turned it off, not wanting to see the mess he had made. But as the last remaining human stood he heard the alarm ring outside, the shrieking noise was soon followed by the noise of guards approaching the hanger.

“Damn, can’t get a break around here,” Strong Shield groaned as he walked back to the centre of the hanger and sat at one of the benches. The hanger door was pulled open and the moonlight revealed to the reinforcements that they were to slow to save their friends.

A younger man walked in wearing sunglasses, making Strong Shield smirk as he glanced over the large rifle in his hands. A few guards saw inside the hanger and all they saw was blood and bodies that were littered around a single old man sat by himself.

“What the hell happened?” A guard yelled out but was immediately silenced as the young man turned and punched him.

“I’m guessing you are another intruder?” The young man spat on the floor. “Damn Discord didn’t mention this would be such a major hassle.”

As the lights flickered on the guards all saw the actual extent to which Strong shield went to kill all the guards, some with limbs in ungodly directions. Jack was smirking until something caught his attention and he began to stare at the floor.

“Hmmm,” Jack readied his rifle as his gaze slowly travelled upwards. As he looked past Strong Shield he began to hear the sound of grinding metal and the elevator burst outwards as shrapnel and sparks were sent into the air, the metal box landed on the floor, followed by the torso and coat of the scientist.

Strong Shield turned to see Dave crawl out of the elevator shaft; dirt covered his body as the grazes on his hands healed slowly. “Dave? What have they done to you?” The shocked father asked before noticing the bloodlust in Dave’s eyes.

“So the chains didn’t work huh?” Jack smirked as he fired a round at Dave. The bullet passed through Dave’s body and caused a considerable mess on the way out. But to the shock of all the guards and even Jack: Dave didn’t even stagger.

Dave growled as he stared at Jack, his body leaned forwards before rushing forwards before even Strong Shield could react. By the time Jack had begun to squeeze on the trigger again, his all-seeing eyes were an inch from Dave’s bloodied hands.

Strong Shield froze as he glanced over his shoulder, seeing the tall shadow that watched Dave’s rage, making the connections instantly. “The warden of Tartarus? Why now?”

“I want you to know that this is what Dave’s potential is like,” Warden seemed to hum in pleasure. “I know how far I can push him but I want to see you fail trying to save him.”

Strong Shield heard the pained yells as he looked over at Jack and Dave, his teeth grinded against each other as he saw Dave throw Jack aside and advance on the retreating guards. Jack’s hands covering his face, his power to see through objects was now clearly ripped from his head.

“Hmm,” Warden hummed. “I guess he didn’t see that one coming.”

“Wait, you made a joke?” Strong Shield glanced up again. “Are there any evil beings that don’t make jokes?”

Chapter 20: Reconnect

Chapter 20: Reconnect.

Strong Shield stood at the entrance of the hanger, looking around at the damage and chaos that Dave was causing, the enraged human charging between groups of retreating guards. The guards that were caught by Dave were quickly dispatched.

“Why are you doing this to him?” Strong Shield glared as he looked back up at the hooded figure beside him. “He wasn’t meant to go into Tartarus, he isn’t a criminal and he doesn’t deserve this!”

Warden looked down at Strong Shield, the empty space under the dark hood sent chills down Strong Shield’s spine. “He entered my domain and began causing problems so I decided that he will suffer until he returns to Tartarus and stops resisting against my control.”

The pair of spectators looked back at Dave to see him throw a guard through a window and leap in after him. Warden stood silently as machines and people were thrown from the building and they began to litter the ground.

A large silver container bounced across the damaged runway and popped open, revealing Dave’s crystal sword. Strong Shield saw his chance and charged for the blade, it was too valuable a tool to simply leave on the ground.

As he neared the blade the wall of the building burst open and Dave rushed out, heading for Strong Shield. He managed to close the gap between them with ease and he tackled Strong Shield to the floor.

“Dave stop!” Strong Shield groaned as he felt Dave’s hand wrap around his throat and saw his son’s fist rise into the air. “Dave you have to resist his control over you!”

Warden appeared behind Dave and rested a grey hand on his shoulder. “See Strong Shield? I can even make him murder his own father in cold blood if I chose to.”

“If you can control him then why can’t you make him walk back into Tartarus?” Strong Shield spat at the smug warden. “Why do you make him go out of control? WHY?”

“I don’t need to explain anything to a pathetic pony!” Warden shoved Dave aside before slamming his grey palm onto Strong Shield’s chest, the resulting blast of magic sent Dave rolling down the runway and his sword landed beside him.

Warden looked down at Strong Shield; his body was turned back into his pony form, his human clothes burnt away from where Warden had struck him. Strong Shield coughed as he looked up at the black cloak that glared down at him.

“So you know a few magic tricks,” Strong Shield growled as he rolled onto his front, grunting as he pushed himself to his hooves and faced the warden. “You may act like you control Dave but you won’t be able to use him forever.”

“You truly are worthless,” Warden growled as he raised his arms into the air. “I conquered Tartarus and you are nothing compared to that.”

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Dave roared as he dashed forwards and stabbed with his sword, the point of the blade sliding into the dark hood before coming to a stop and the Warden tumbled backwards.

When Dave’s feet hit the ground he began to charge and pushed the blade further in, his roar growing louder as the glowing mark on his arm faded and was replaced with the dull black letters.

Eventually both Warden and Dave collapsed to the floor, the large blade still stuck in Warden’s head. Dave groaned as he rolled away and clutched his arm, the mark still causing him pain, even as Strong Shield limped over and placed a hoof on Dave.

“I am proud you didn’t kill me,” Strong Shield sighed as he looked at the black mark. “How are you doing?”

“Glad I finally got a hit on that… bastard,” Dave’s groans turned into laughter before he sat up. “W-were you a human?”

Strong Shield rolled his eye, “Yeah I came to get you out of this place so we could go home.”

“Are the other’s worried?” Dave rubbed the back of his neck. “Is Nox ok?”

“Nox is fine and the only one who knows you were captured is Celestia,” Strong Shield sighed as he helped Dave to his feet. “Now we can go home at least.”

Dave nodded before turning to retrieve his sword from its resting place, his hand grabbed the handle but before he could lift the blade free, a grey hand grabbed his head and pulled him down to Warden’s hidden face.

The sword fell free on its own as Warden’s hood turned to face Dave. “You show promise Dave, but your soul will always be tethered to Tartarus for as long as I wish.”

Dave yanked himself free from Warden’s grip and looked back to see the cloaked figure had disappeared. Strong Shield was already looking around for the warden but stopped when Dave tapped his shoulder.

“Leave it, he is not gonna come back,” Dave grunted as he picked up his sword and looked around the wreckages. “I’m just gonna find my stuff before we go.”

Strong Shield helped Dave rummage through some of the rubble before noticing all the healing wounds on his body. “Did Warden do anything to you?”

“Dad I don’t want to talk about it,” Dave took a few steps further away as he lifted some broken rocks out of the way and found his coat caked in mud. “Warden is my problem.”

Meanwhile…

Mike yawned as he sat up in his comfortable bed, the soft covers slowly encouraged the tired human to lay back down as he enjoyed a few moments of relaxation. But unfortunately his rest was cut short as loud knocking forced him awake again.

“Who is it?” Mike called as he hurried to find his clothes and pulled them on.

“It’s Ch… Celestia,” The disguised changeling called. Mike sighed as he walked over and unlocked the door, allowing the queen inside and locked it again before she dropped her magical disguise.

“We have a problem,” Chrysalis whispered. “A very bad problem.”

Mike groaned as he sat back down on his bed and stretched his arms. “What is it this time? The maids said hello too nicely?”

“No Princess Cadence and Shining Armour have arrived for a royal visit,” Chrysalis explained, hoping to get some form of reaction from Mike. “Now do you see the problem?”

The human shrugged as he looked at the panicked changeling, “Just say hello as Celestia and make some excuse for you to leave.”

“No these ponies are special, Cadence is an alicorn and Shining Armour is head of the royal guard,” Chrysalis shook her head as she went to the window and peeked out the curtains. “They will ask questions and they will discover our secret, and because Celestia herself isn’t here to explain they won’t trust anypony else.”

“Not even all the guards?” Mike sighed as Chrysalis shook her head frantically. “Alright so what do you want me to do?”

Chrysalis froze as she stared at Mike, her eyes locked onto his as her brain struggled to work out a solution. “I don’t know.”

“Great so you mean we are screwed?” Mike stood up before heading to the door. “Well can you at least tell me why these two are going to cause a problem?”

“Well I…” Chrysalis paused as she activated her disguise again. “I don’t want to tell you.”

Mike rolled his eyes as he opened the door for the princess. “Fine but this will only make it that bit harder to deal with.”

“I’m sure we can come to a solution,” Chrysalis whispered as she left the room and walked with Mike to the throne room. The small group of ponies standing outside were moved aside by the guards as the royal leader entered the throne room and took her place on the golden throne.

Mike sat on a wooden chair beside Chrysalis as she made herself comfortable, “Alright you remember the excuses?”

“Yes you are learning politics and as a favour I am allowing you to be present during the hearings,” The disguised queen sighed before nodding towards one of the guards. As the guard walked in he was followed by the entire group of ponies that were waiting outside.

“Your highness, these ponies represent a growing political party that have been growing and they wish to explain why they should have a seat in the Canterlot Council.” The guard bowed before stepping to one side and the leader of the pony group stepped forwards.

The Pegasus bowed before standing, sending a glare at Mike. “Your majesty, I represent the Protection Party, my name is Nitro and I would politely request that the human present leaves the hearings.

Mike and Chrysalis froze before exchanging glances, the changeling gulped before giving a smile. “I’m afraid that request is something I won’t permit because Mike here is a friend and is here for learning purposes.”

“Fine,” Nitro sent Mike another dirty look before clearing his throat. “I was falsely imprisoned by a human that took the law into his own hands and the city of Manehatten was damaged by a human.”

“What is the point of all this?” Chrysalis asked as she stared down at Nitro, recreating the disapproving stare Celestia would use.

“Your majesty I am here to push for a seat on the council to help solve our… human crisis,” Nitro declared, staring at Mike. “More humans are appearing and chaos follows in their wake, obviously due to their actions.”

Chrysalis stood up and slammed her hoof into the floor, “I will have you know that humans have contributed more to the protection of Equestria than most ponies I have known.”

“Calm,” Mike whispered, hiding his mouth with his hand. “If your disguise is dropped now then we will be in trouble.”

As the changeling settled back into her seat she stared down at Nitro, “I apologise for this Nitro but I will have to refuse your request, seeing as it is a personal vendetta that is the reason behind the request.”

“Your highness I have multiple signed petitions that agree that humans are causing destruction and it is only a matter of time before they cause something horrific,” Nitro protested and was backed up by cheers from his group. “Even your husband Dave Shield attacked Canterlot before becoming your husband.”

Chrysalis held back a snarl before taking a deep breath. “Well I would also like to remind you that Dave was being controlled by an evil spirit named Odio, and Dave gave his life to save the city.”

Mike smiled at Chrysalis’ self-control, knowing that if she kept calm then this problem would be solved. But unfortunately for the group they didn’t count on the throne room doors bursting open and a pink alicorn came skipping in followed by a smiling white unicorn.

“Uh oh,” Mike and Chrysalis whispered in unison as Cadence trotted over. The unicorn behind her saluted to the guards, signalling to Mike that this was Shining Armour the Captain of the Royal Guards.

“Auntie Celestia!” Cadence sang as she walked around the group of disgruntled ponies and walked up to the throne. “Oh, who is this?” The princess of love smiled as she looked at Mike, extending a hoof.

“My name is Mike,” The human bowed before gently shaking the pink hoof. “You must be Princess Cadence and Shining Armour.”

Shining Armour shook Mike’s hand as he stepped up beside his wife, “We thought we would come visit seeing as the Crystal Empire is quiet for a couple of weeks.”

“Oh how nice,” Chrysalis said as sweetly as she could to mask her nervousness. “Well unfortunately I am in the middle of a hearing so…”

Cadence stepped closer to Celestia and raised a hoof to her face, “You look a bit flustered, are you feeling alright?”

“What?” Chrysalis glanced to Mike for help before putting on a brave smile. “Oh I’m fine, just a rough night’s sleep.”

“Oh I see... Dave kept you up again didn’t he?” Cadence laughed before staring back at Chrysalis, narrowing her eyes. “Speaking of Dave, you aren’t wearing your wedding ring.”

Mike froze when he saw Cadence was right, the white horn that magically hid Chrysalis’ jagged horn had no golden ring. Chrysalis stammered before sighing and shaking her head, “Oh I must have taken it off before going to bed and forgot to put it back on, silly me.”

“But you told me you would rather let Equestria fall before losing that ring,” Cadence frowned as she continued to hover nearer to Chrysalis. “And that is a strange perfume you are wearing.”

“I uh… It’s just that…” Chrysalis turned to stare at Mike for help but was only given a shrug in return. As her head was turned, Cadence’s horn glowed and she gently tapped it against the illusion and quickly dispelled Chrysalis’ disguise, resulting in a yelp from the Changeling Queen.

“OW!” Chrysalis growled as she stood, freezing as she looked down and saw her regular black hooves. “Oh no…”

Cadence’s eyes flared in anger as she saw Chrysalis, Shining Armour quickly placed himself between the queen and princess before flaring his nostrils and lowering his horn. “Don’t worry, I’ll get her!”

In a flash Mike was on his feet and tackled Shining Armour, sending them both tumbling down the marble stairs before crashing into the floor. Mike didn’t give Shining Armour a chance to recover before climbing on top of the pony and tried to restrain him.

Mike paused as he saw a flash of a camera; he looked up to see the group of ponies that had come in to complain about humans had a camera and were taking pictures of the brawl. Shining Armour saw his opportunity and broke free from Mike’s grasp.

Shining Armour grunted as he managed to hit Mike across the face with his hoof and rolled to safety. “GUARDS ATTACK!”

The royal guards exchanged glances before stepping between Mike and Shining Armour as they attempted to calm the situation. Cadence teleported to her husband’s side and lowered her horn as Chrysalis rushed to Mike’s side and helped him to his knees.

“Mike are you alright?” Chrysalis asked in a panic as she saw a trail of blood running from Mike’s nose. “You’re bleeding.”

“Stay back Chrysalis, these two weren’t told about the rescue mission so it is understandable they are upset,” Mike stood; his balance was slowly returning as he shook of the dizziness that Shining Armour’s attack inflicted.

Nitro and his gang watched as the two opposing pairs glared at each other, the guard’s barely managing to maintain any order. Eventually more showed up to escort the group of ponies out and left the two pairs of confused rivals alone.

“What are you doing here Chrysalis?” Cadence growled. “What have you done with Princess Celestia?”

“She asked us to pretend she was still here while she went away,” Chrysalis explained as quickly as she could. “It was going fine until you both ruined it!”

Shining Armour smirked, “Like we would believe that excuse! You just recruited your own human and found a way to take over like last time.”

“Shut up!” Chrysalis growled as her horn glowed. “Not another word!”

Mike turned to the changeling, holding his hand out in front of her, “Don’t attack idiot, then they will never listen.”

“Listen… Mike,” Cadence glared at Chrysalis before turning her attention to the human. “Chrysalis is only evil; she tried to take over Canterlot before by keeping me prisoner, pretending to be me and feeding off the love of my husband and this was all on the day of my wedding.”

“Is that true?” Mike glanced back at the Changeling Queen before moving his focus back to the angry unicorn opposite him. “You know what… I don’t care, I was tasked with protection Chrysalis by Dave himself and I don’t intend to let him down.”

“Where are Dave and Celestia?” Shining Armour growled as he began to edge closer.

Chrysalis sighed as she sat down, “They have gone to Earth, the human home world because some humans took Nox and all the ponies you trust have gone to save him.”

“That’s convenient,” Cadence stepped closer to her husband as she whispered into his ear. “The guard’s must have been under her control, which would explain why they didn’t help us.”

“We are not your enemy,” Mike dropped his aggressive stance as he stood up straight. “We aren’t going to fight you because it won’t solve anything, you may ask all the guards, use spells to check them and us, we are telling the truth.”

Shining Armour growled, “Knowing that changeling behind you… I am still hesitant.”

“Princess Celestia said she would only be a day or two, so she will be back any time now,” Mike crossed his arms before turning to Chrysalis. “We will stay in our rooms but we will come outside if necessary, you can investigate all you like until Celestia arrives and verifies our story.”

Shining Armour and Cadence exchanged a few quiet words before nodding, “Fine but we want to talk to Mike in private.”

“What for?” Chrysalis sneered as she stepped beside the human, her horn lowered slightly.

“We want to make sure he knows what trouble he is in for helping you,” Cadence glared. “We are going to let him know what crimes you have caused in the past.”

Mike looked at Chrysalis, seeing the panic in her eyes, the changeling’s fear apparent. He didn’t really know a thing about the Changeling Queen or her past, but seeing the way Chrysalis was so protective over it swayed his decision.

“I will have to deny that request,” Mike stared at the confused stares, smiling at Chrysalis’ sigh of relief. “It is her past to share, so it is her choice if I find out what she has done.”

“Do you really know who she is?” Shining Armour protested, stamping his hoof on the ground. “You are underestimating her evil.”

“Well…” Mike scratched his chin. “I definitely know she is rude.”

Chrysalis covered her face in her hooves, “Oh not this conversation again!”

“All I am saying is that you could thank ponies sometimes!” Mike complained. Cadence and Shining Armour exchanged confused looks before slowly leaving the pair to quarrel.

Chapter 21: Home

Chapter 21: Home

“CELESTIA NEEDS TO GET HER ROYAL FLANK BACK HERE!” Chrysalis yelled as she kicked a wooden chair to the floor. Mike sat on the edge of the bed, facing the door that was blocked by the royal guards that were under strict orders not to let anypony out.

“We aren’t guilty of anything so they won’t keep us locked up much longer,” Mike reassured the panicking changeling. “The guards are even trying to convince Shining Armour that you didn’t use magic on them.”

Chrysalis growled as she stomped to Mike’s side, her serpentine eyes were now narrowed slits that glared into Mike’s face. “I should have told you all to stuff your favours up a mule but I had to actually return a favour for once.”

“Everypony who doesn’t think you are guilty really appreciates what you are doing,” Mike replied by petting Chrysalis’ head softly. “But seriously, personal space is something you really should remember.”

“Don’t lecture me on manners now!” Chrysalis stormed around the bedroom, kicking furniture before having to pause to recover her breath. “Why did they lock you in here with me anyway? To torture me into confessing?”

Mike fell back onto the bed before giving a small hum. “Believe it or not but I volunteered to come in here to make sure you didn’t try anything and to make sure Shining Armour and Cadence don’t do anything either.”

Chrysalis paused in her destructive warpath, turning to look at Mike as she frowned to herself. “I can protect myself you know, I am a queen after all.”

“But alas you are trapped in here with me,” Mike smirked as Chrysalis glared at him and reluctantly stepped to the bed before sitting down next to the human. “Now if we just sit still for a bit then we can come up with a solution.”

As Mike finished his sentence, the door opened and Shining Armour stepped in, armoured in purple guard armour that signified his authority. He stared at Mike and Chrysalis before entering the room, “Well we have heard statements from all the guards and we have found the symbol in the palace gardens that has remnants of Odio’s magic.”

“So that shows our innocence!” Chrysalis cheered as she stood up. “Now we are free to go.”

“Actually we can allow Mike to leave but you can use magic to manipulate somepony’s mind so you will have to stay here,” Shining Armour said sternly, casting a glare at his old foe. “Come along Mike.”

The human paused as he saw the angry look Chrysalis gave Shining Armour, her annoyance extremely apparent. Mike sighed as he sat back down attracting stares from all the agitated ponies, “Sorry but I’ll have to stay here.”

“You are getting a free pass out of this mess and you want to stay here?” Chrysalis stared at Mike as if he had gone insane. “Anypony would just take the offer unless they had a death wish.”

“I’m not ditching you,” Mike stated clearly enough for even the guards outside the room to hear. “I know you are innocent so I won’t allow them to make you a prisoner.”

Shining Armour flared his nostrils before turning away. “Fine, you can both stay here until Princess Celestia and Princess Luna return.”

As the door slammed Mike and Chrysalis heard Shining Armour give the guards a few harsh words before locking the door and marching away. The pair of prisoners sat in silence before Mike stood up and made his way to the bathroom.

Chrysalis stared at the door for a few moments before turning to face the bathroom, “Why did you stay? You could have gone outside and at least lived with some dignity before Princess Celestia returns and punishes us for failing to keep the secret.”

“I’m sure she won’t punish us for her guards doing their jobs,” Mike returned with two glasses of water and passed one to Chrysalis. “Just relax, they won’t do anything because there is nothing to be punished for.”

“That’s easy for you to say, you haven’t got the reputation I have,” Chrysalis sneered as she turned away. “If you had known what they could tie to my name then you wouldn’t want to be associated with me.”

Mike took a sip of his drink before placing on the nightstand beside the bed. “Well I know that you are meant to have an evil reputation but I saw how you helped a couple of grieving parents get their son back and that has shown me what you truly are.”

Chrysalis was lost for words as she kept switching her view from Mike to her hooves, “W-wow umm… nopony has ever said anything like that before.”

“If everypony was only given one chance then nopony would get along,” Mike smiled to the changeling. “The only reason I am here is because I was given the second chance I needed and I won’t let anypony down.”

Meanwhile…

Dave awoke in his living room; he looked around to see Nox sleeping peacefully on the other sofa, his grey wings twitching slightly. Dave sat up and rubbed his head as he looked down and found a clean set of clothes waiting for him.

As he finished getting dressed the door opened and Flux stepped in, smiling happily. “So everypony is back safely now, Odio has already started on getting the return portal working.”

“That’s great,” Dave stretched before heading into the kitchen, poking his head into the fridge. “Butter, Milk, eggs…”

“There are plenty of things in the cupboard you know,” Hannah rolled her eyes as Dave closed the fridge and turned to see his mum sat next to Celestia. “Your wife here has been talking with me since you got back, and I must say I have the most adorable grandson.”

Dave smiled as he sat on a stool opposite the alicorn and human. “Well he has grown up fast… he is a good little colt though.”

“Dave I want you to know that I offered your mother a chance to come and live in Equestria with us,” Celestia sighed before looking towards Hannah.

Dave froze as he turned to face his mum, his hands nervously grasping each other, “So… what did you say?”

“It sounds amazing, going to a world full of magic and dragons but…” Hannah paused before laughing. “I don’t want to cramp your style.”

“Huh?” Dave was thrown off-guard as he stood up and stared down at his mum. “But you seemed so sad about me being gone I don’t want you to be sad again.”

Hannah reached across the counter and held Dave’s hand, “All I wanted to know is that you are happy and safe, that makes me happier than anything in the world.”

“So… you aren’t coming along?” Dave sat down again with a hint of sadness in his voice. “I’m sorry I never tried to get in contact… I was always dealing with my own problems I never put any thought into it.”

“Oh pish posh,” Hannah smiled again. “I have to keep working here and I need to save up for a holiday for the next time you visit.”

Dave glanced at Celestia before looking back at his mum, “You know I might never come back? There is always that chance and…”

Hannah cut Dave off by squeezing his hand. “You have an amazing wife and Luna seems like such a sweet girl… you go be happy.”

“Thanks mum,” Dave smiled before walking around to his mum’s side and giving her a hug, Celestia smiled at the pair before quietly leaving to get everypony ready to leave.

After a few minutes of packing items into a bag, Luna reverted back to her pony form making sure to pack her new dress carefully away. Nox was woken from his sleep by his pony grandparents and everypony regrouped in the garden as Odio charged the portal and opened it awaiting somepony to enter.

“Alright, if everypony is ready for the Odio Express then get your sick-bags ready and hold complaints until you can’t sue me for it,” Odio announced before the dark swirling portal was rushed into existence.

Hannah gasped as she saw the magic flow out of her garden; she walked around it before taking a deep breath and walked to Celestia, Luna and Nox. “Well it was lovely meeting the girls that are making my son happy.”

“Thank you for letting us stay and it was an honour meeting you,” Celestia smiled before stepping into the portal and disappearing.

Luna stood on her rear legs before giving Hannah a hug, “I will miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too so make sure you have fun for me,” Hannah released the princess before kneeling to smile at Nox. “And make sure you grow up to be a big strong stallion.”

“I will!” Nox beamed as he jumped into Hannah’s arms and gave her a hug that she wouldn’t forget. “I’m gonna become a powerful prince and I’ll search the galaxy!”

Hannah laughed as she stroked Nox’s mane, “Well feel free to come stay when you can.”

“I will, I swear!” Nox promised before following his aunt into the portal. Hannah sighed before Flux and Strong Shield stepped in front of her.

Strong Shield extended a hoof and shook Hannah’s hand, “It was extraordinary being on a different world and I thank you for your hospitality.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Hannah smiled until she turned to Flux and the two mothers glared before bursting into laughter. “I never thought Dave could get a better mother than me but he somehow managed to find you.”

“I will make sure he sticks to how you raised him,” Flux hugged Hannah as they laughed. “You have an amazing son.”

“We sure do,” Hannah smiled as she kissed Flux on the cheek and even gave Strong Shield a kiss on his cheek as well.

Eventually all the ponies had disappeared, leaving Dave and Hannah alone. Dave hugged his mum before stepping closer to the portal. “I’ll miss you… I’m sorry I never thought about how me leaving affected you.”

“Don’t worry your little head about it,” Hannah smiled before raising her hand to stroke Dave’s long shaggy hair. “You could do with getting it cut once in a while, just because you live with ponies doesn’t mean you have to have a mane too.”

“I know mum,” Dave smiled before stepping back into the portal, his vision turning black as his home faded away once again. “I’ll miss you.”

“Goodbye Dave,” Hannah smiled as the portal died down and she was left alone in her garden. As she looked up at the sky she gave a sigh and slowly wiped the tears away that began to roll down her face.

A small wisp of fog remained and Odio’s burning eyes looked up at the drained human. “Excuse me… Mrs Shultz?”

“Huh?” Hannah knelt down to speak to the little fog. “Who are you?”

“My name is Odio and I was the one who took your son,” The fog of hatred spoke in a guilty tone. “I’m sorry for what I did.”

Hannah smiled even as she cried, “Don’t be sorry, you helped make my son happier than he has ever been… thank you.”

Odio was stunned as Hannah blew a kiss into his fog and for a brief second Odio’s fog flashed white; he glanced down before he began to fade into the wind. “Thank you for letting me be with my best friend.”

Hannah stood up as the fog faded and she was left alone once more, she wiped her tears away before walking back into her home and sat down in her living room, the silence in her home that had accompanied her didn’t seem that bad now and she looked around the room.

The baby photos of Dave still hung on the wall but she noticed another frame had been added, as she stood up to get a better look she smiled, seeing the new photo was of Dave in a suit and Celestia in her wedding dress, a few smaller photos were surrounding the pair and they showed Luna holding Nox for the first time and a rare photo of Strong Shield and Flux when they were in their guard armour. Even Odio was included, his fog wrapped around Dave as he held his sword aloft, ready to battle evil.

A note poked out from behind the frame and Hannah carefully pulled it free.

“Love the Shield family,” Hannah read it quietly to herself before smiling and looking back at the photographs. “That silly little boy.”

Chapter 22: Rightful Place

Chapter 22: Rightful Place

Celestia and Luna were both smiling as Nox cheered at seeing the familiar castle again while Strong Shield and Flux were both picking up bags and carried them inside. A moment later the whooshing sounds of Odio’s portal faded away followed by a loud thud.

Dave coughed as he picked himself off the ground and glared at Odio’s innocent whistling. “If you ever drop me onto my face again then I am gonna take away your video games.”

“Oh come on, it was hardly like I was doing it on purpose,” Odio scoffed as he floated to Dave’s side. “Only joking, I was super bored while you were away.”

“Well next time read a book or something,” Dave groaned as he brushed himself off, looking up to see a group of guards approaching. “I’m guessing that there is trouble.”

Celestia and Luna both turned to face the approaching guards, the leader quickly saluted as he caught his breath. “P-princess Celestia, I’m afraid I have to report that Queen Chrysalis and Mike have both been arrested.”

“What do you mean arrested?” Celestia frowned. “Chrysalis was meant to act as me while we were gone, did she betray us?”

“Uh… no,” The guards all glanced away as the leader tapped his chin. “Well… Princess Cadence and Captain Shining Armour returned to Canterlot and they discovered Chrysalis’ identity.”

Luna rubbed her forehead with one of her hooves, “I guess we should have seen that coming.”

“And what exactly have they done?” Celestia asked as her frown grew.

“Well they kinda… imprisoned Mike and Chrysalis before setting the guards on high alert and forcing us to triple patrols around the city and rounding up anypony suspicious,” The leader saluted as Celestia stepped closer and stared down at him.

“So the entire city is panicking?” Celestia asked quietly as she saw a bead of sweat fall from the guard’s face. “I hope you all managed to contain the situation.”

The guards exchanged glances before the leader cleared his throat, “W-well instead of patrolling we just go to one of the bars and wait until we are supposed to head back to the castle to report.”

“So wait, you guys got paid to go have drinks?” Dave asked as he walked over to join the conversation.

“Well… yeah I suppose so,” The guards nodded and smiled.

Dave nodded and gave the guard a pat on the back, “Nice.”

“Well everything is secure and we shall prepare for you to return to the throne,” The guards saluted before leaving the family behind, Dave rubbed his neck as he smiled to Celestia and Luna.

“See? Everything turned out fine,” Dave smiled at the unimpressed stares. “Well apart from a couple of mishaps.”

Nox froze as everypony began to walk away, heading back to their respective positions, Celestia stopped as she noticed her son wasn’t following. “Is everything alright Nox?”

“Mum… Is Discord real?” Nox asked nervously as he looked up at the white alicorn. “Are the stories you told me true?”

“Discord was real a very long time ago,” Celestia said reassuringly as she stepped back to her son’s side and nuzzled him gently, attempting to calm the colt. “Why do you ask?”

Nox shuffled his wings as he stared at the floor, “There was a man that said he was Discord and he had the Element of Generosity with him.”

“Discord was imprisoned and no magic could break him free,” Celestia said softly as she gently placed one of her long wings over Nox and began to guide him inside. “I’ll even check on the elements later to show that everything is alright.”

“He knew a lot about our friends,” Nox stayed as close as he could to Celestia as he stared at the ground. “He made me talk about Adamas.”

“Adamas?” Celestia paused before giving Nox a reassuring smile. “Adamas is too kind hearted to be involved with anything mean so don’t worry.”

Nox was silent the rest of the walk as he followed his mother into the castle, the corridors were oddly busy as maids and guards prepared for the royal return. A few maids bowed to Nox and even the guards gave a sigh of relief when they saw that the colt was home safe.

As the mother and son passed the kitchen they saw Dave attempting to coordinate a busy kitchen. His other troubles didn’t seem to be weighing on his mind as he tried to answer a barrage of questions.

“No I don’t eat hay, I don’t like daffodils and that includes the soup!” Dave said hastily as he was swarmed by chefs and maids. “All I wanted was an apple! And stop calling me Prince Dave! It’s just Dave!”

Celestia rolled her eyes as she guided Nox down the corridor, “Listen Nox, I’m going to be busy with this Cadence and Chrysalis situation so I want you to stay in the castle for today.”

“Ok I’m gonna go to my room,” Nox said happily as he flapped his wings and flew above the heads of all the ponies. Celestia watched him fly away before making her way to the throne room, guards saluted as she approached and opened the doors for her to enter.

As the doors closed gently behind her, Celestia gave an exhausted sigh and walked over to the throne, relaxing as she sat down. Her rest was short lived as the doors opened again and the sounds of bickering instantly met her ears.

Celestia looked up to see Shining Armour and Mike standing between Chrysalis and Cadence. The two mares were both spitting snide comments to each other, trying to get the other angry. The two males on the other hand glared at each other silently, waiting for the other to make an attack.

“All of you be quiet!” Celestia commanded and silence immediately took over. Cadence was still red with anger as she reluctantly stood aside with her husband. Mike looked relieved that the dilemma was going to be solved whilst Chrysalis sat down impatiently.

Cadence glared at Chrysalis before looking up at the princess of the sun. “Is it true you asked for her help?”

“Yes it is,” Celestia responded bluntly. “And I would ask for it again because she had done a marvellous job even when you came along and almost ruined it.”

“B-but you didn’t tell me that she was going to pretend to be you,” Cadence protested as she glared at the smug changeling. “If you had told me that she was going to be here then I could have helped.”

Celestia rubbed her temples with her hooves, a small headache beginning to form in the front of her mind. Mike saw the stressed princess and cleared his throat, “Princess Celestia did what she did for very personal reasons, I was here not only to guard Chrysalis but also keep her in line, all the guards were informed and all precautions were taken.”

“And what is all that meant to mean?” Shining Armour grumbled.

“We didn’t involve you because we had it under control, this was a family matter that concerned my kingdom,” Celestia said clearly as she looked down at the princess of love. “You have you own kingdom yes? So you should understand my actions were perfectly valid.”

Cadence was stunned by what she heard, she wasn’t staring up at her Auntie Celestia but instead she was being looked down upon by Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. Her protests would fall on deaf ears so she restrained herself to a mild nod. “I am sorry for my actions.”

“I will accept your apology seeing as no true harm came from your actions,” Celestia rolled her eyes. “We were lucky that the guards had faith and took some matters into their own hooves.”

Shining Armour gritted his teeth before saluting, “Your highness, I request that you allow us to assist in any way possible for the duration of our stay so you may recover from your journey and spend time with your family.”

Celestia paused at the thought, “I’ll accept on a few conditions, Princess Cadence, you must report on every single ruling you make at the end of each day.”

“Thank you Princess Celestia,” Cadence bowed before nuzzling her husband.

“Shining Armour, you will resume your old position as Captain of the Guard but you will have Strong Shield work alongside you,” Celestia turned her attention to Mike and Chrysalis. “Queen Chrysalis, I thank you for your actions so I will allow you to stay in the castle for the next few days before your journey home.”

Chrysalis paused, thinking of some reason as to why she should leave. She glanced up at Mike and saw the small smirk on his face and growled quietly to herself. “I would be honoured Princess Celestia.”

“And finally Mike,” Princess Celestia turned to the human. “You will write down everything you know about these rouge humans and hand in that information to Dave or I.”

“I will get started right away,” Mike bowed before the group was dismissed and Celestia slumped against the back of her throne and allowed her eyes to fall shut, her exhaustion kept her stuck firmly to her seat.

Outside the throne room the two pairs of rivals had paused to speak with each other before going their separate ways, Mike and Shining Armour made amends and complimented each other’s fighting skill whilst Cadence and Chrysalis muttered apologies and walked away.

Mike and Chrysalis walked back through the castle, avoiding the crowds if possible before bumping into Dave, his hands full of apples and other random fruits. “Uh hey guys, either of you want a snack?”

Mike took a banana from Dave as they stepped to one side, “So how was Earth?”

“Well beyond some more whacky humans and getting shot… it was alright,” Dave sighed as he took a bite out of an apple. “I heard you both had problems of your own.”

“Well it is harder to gain somepony’s trust when they think you are a villain,” Chrysalis snorted as she glared at the floor. “Stupid Princess of Love.”

Mike and Dave exchanged glances before having a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Dave quietly celebrated his victory as Mike sighed and turned to Chrysalis.

“Listen, you did a good thing these past few days,” Mike placed his hand on Chrysalis’ back, her black body tensed at the touch but slowly relaxed. “You deserve a break and now ponies will begin to see that changelings aren’t as bad as they seem.”

The Changeling Queen grumbled before turning to face Mike, “Fine, I’ll… rest for a while before returning to my hive, my sister isn’t that used to commanding the swarm even if they are mindless slaves sometimes.”

“Well don’t worry so much,” Dave groaned as he picked up all his fruit and stood up. “Everything has worked out so far, there can’t be that many humans left to deal with so everything is almost over.”

As Dave turned to leave the castle shook and caused the group to fall over, Dave landed on all his fruit and he looked down to see the stains on his shirt. “Aww come on really? I just got changed as well.”

“What was that?” Mike asked as he helped Chrysalis to her hooves. “Was it an earthquake?”

“No but something magical has shown up,” Dave growled as he rubbed his bandaged arm. “But the question is what.”

Dave hurried to a window and began to search the surrounding land, his gaze eventually shifting to the castle runway. “Oh Adamas is here… do you know him Mike?”

“No who is he?” Mike hurried over and peeked out to see a massive diamond dragon stood on the runway, his massive tail was draped over the castle wall and his closing wings were enough to cover the area in a dark shadow.

“Adamas and I have a small history but for the past few years he has been teaching dragons to be generous which is harder than it sounds.” Dave narrowed his eyes and saw Celestia hurrying out to meet the dragon.

Mike turned to see the guards were casually continuing their duty, “So is this normal?”

“Kinda,” Dave leaned against the window as he saw Adamas crouch down to speak to Celestia. “When Adamas started becoming generous he began to use magic, his diamond scales are proof enough about how far he has come.”

“So who called him?” Chrysalis asked as she joined the two humans. “I heard that he is usually busy with being an Ambassador.”

Dave hummed, “So neither of you contacted him? Well there is no way he heard about Nox’s disappearance so he can’t be here to try and help.”

Meanwhile…

Celestia stared up at the dragon, his large eyes focused on the princess, “Ambassador Adamas, you wouldn’t have come along unannounced unless it was an emergency.”

“Princess Celestia, I have… alarming news,” Adamas reached over and opened his claw, showing the princess what he had in his grasp. Celestia froze when she saw the purple gem staring back at her, the golden necklace glistening like the last time she had seen it.

“The Element of Generosity?” Celestia stared in confusion before turning to face her guards that stood by the doors to the castle. “Send troops to where the elements are being held, send word to Ponyville to see if Twilight and her friends are safe and somepony find my sister!”

The guards bumped into each other as they rushed to follower her panicked orders. Celestia gave a sigh as she looked back at the dragon, “Nox was right, Discord did talk to him… how did he escape?”

“I wish I could do more but I can’t,” Adamas apologised. “I must leave as soon as possible.”

“I understand,” Celestia’s horn glowed as she levitated the element from Adamas’ palm. “Thank you for… Adamas?”

The cracks amongst the scales in Adamas’ claw were glowing soft silver as the Element of Generosity refused to move. Celestia gently applied more magic only to feel the resistance grow, Adamas slowly closed his claw and cut Celestia’s magic ties.

Celestia slowly looked up and saw Adamas’ pupils had resorted to small slits, his fangs bared. “I understand why Discord gave this to you, I know how hard it is to resist your primal greed but the Adamas I know would do the right thing.”

“I told you about your own security failure,” Adamas growled. “But I… can’t give you what you want.”

“Adamas I want nothing more than to help you and all of Equestria but I can’t do it without that Element of Harmony,” Celestia spoke softly and calmly, attempting to keep the situation from escalating.

Adamas seemed to shake, as if fighting himself from giving up his prize, “I have done so much for others and have got nothing in return… I’ve given so much and now I’m left with so little…”

“That is not true, you are one of the purest creatures I know,” Celestia said sweetly. “Discord knows exactly how to root out the worst in us but you have to fight him.”

“Every single race looks down on us dragons as beasts but I’m different I… I’m…” Adamas reared on his hind legs as he opened his wings, the gust sent Celestia flying back and she barely managed to recover before slamming into the castle.

Celestia looked up to see the diamond dragon open his large jaws and a roar was unleashed that shattered any nearby windows. “Adamas don’t!”

“I’M THE ONE WHO DESERVES TO HAVE IT ALL!” Adamas roared before he unleashed his flame into the sky, the blazing inferno rocketed into the sky. Celestia slowly backed away as she made her way to the castle.

Everypony in the castle gasped as they saw the flames rise into the sky, Adamas continued to push the flames up like an erupting volcano before slamming his jaws shut and thick smoke began to pour from his nostrils. “Dragons were here long before any other and it is time everypony recognised that fact.”