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.”