Chapter 20

Spike sat opposite an impatient Twilight “Are you alright?” he asked nervously as he licked some icing off the top of his cupcake

“I’m fine Spike I am just waiting for Dave to turn up” Twilight reassured Spike with a smile but quickly returned to frowning at the door “I hope he shows up soon”

The dragon swallowed a large bite of cupcake before waving his claw in front of her eyes “Twilight” the unicorn turned to look at him “When is Dave going back to his own world?”

Twilight simply giggled, “He can leave anytime after I find out how to send him back”

Spike placed his cupcake down “And what have you done to find out how?”

Twilight nervously took a sip from her drink “Well I haven’t really done any… because I have had such a hard time with my other studies”

Spike was about to interrogate further but the door loudly swung open and three screaming fillies charged in carrying a small saddlebag each “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER CAMPERS!” they all cheered

Applebloom ran over to Spike “Y’all ready yet?” she bounced excitedly with her friends “We are all ready ta go!”

Spike shook his head “Dave is on his way then we can go” the children all groaned sadly as they sat down at the table

Twilight put a hoof on Scootaloo “Hey how about we buy you some cupcakes?” they all regained their large smiles as Twilight levitated Dave’s bag of cash and removed some bits “Dave’s buying”

Meanwhile…

Celestia crept quietly into Luna’s quarters “Luna, are you awake?” she called softly as she walked over to the large, dark bed that housed a large bulge

Tapping the covers gently they sank inwards “Oh no, why does she act this way”

Celestia stormed away from Luna’s bedroom “Where has she gone? She is so silly when it comes to things like this”

She trotted past the guards that stood either side of the door to her own quarters, as she shut the door behind her she sat down behind her desk “If she wants to hide away and cry so be it” she had more important things to do than to chase her sister around the castle

She levitated over the finance report showing the costs the guards would need for the next month she smiled at the report

“Found another way to save four hundred bits a month Strong Shield” She muttered to herself as she levitated her calendar over and wrote ‘Strong Shield - time off’ in one of the coming weeks “I don’t care if he doesn‘t want to go he has to otherwise he will work himself to death”

Celestia found that curious that Strong Shield never seemed like much more than a typical drill sergeant but ever since the changeling attack he changed somewhat, maybe I was he felt responsible for the guards being under prepared or he almost lost more than his eye

Celestia placed the report aside as the next report had a familiar sentence scrawled at the bottom

Report 39756

Location: Antlerlartica

There have been reports of snow wyverns endangering the local research camps, action required must be to either relocate the research teams or convince the snow wyverns to nest inside a different glacier

Recommendations:

Captain of the guard Shining Armour- [Honeymoon]

Sergeant Lone Night- Send a squad of night guards to perform either task required, night guards recommended due to increased ability to see it the dark as Antlerlartica is in the night period for the next thirty days

Sergeant Strong Shield- Just send Dave

Celestia placed the report onto a pile that was labelled ‘further consideration required’ both sergeants had valid points but Celestia didn’t fancy sending Dave into another confrontation so soon

A light flickered on in Celestia’s head, she felt any strong emotions that Luna felt and visa versa, the one Celestia could feel was happiness, for what Celestia had no idea but she felt it coming from Ponyville “Oh no please don’t tell me she got her hopes up again” the princess sighed

The light suddenly became a roaring inferno of rage, Celestia’s head shot up from her paperwork and she quickly teleported her telescope and herself onto her balcony

“Please Luna don’t do something you will regret” She begged as she aimed the telescope in her sisters direction

She focused in and saw the tackle from Rainbow Dash strike Luna away from Dave but the princess of the night quickly recovered and her horn glow brightly as the foolish Pegasus was lifted into the air, mouth open, screaming

Meanwhile…

Dave ran over to Luna and looked over at Rainbow Dash, her wings were slowly being compacted into her back, inch by inch

“Luna stop!” Dave yelled at the snarling alicorn

“NO SHE TOOK YOU AWAY FROM ME!” She bellowed loudly not taking her gaze from the screaming Pegasus

“No Luna she didn’t” Dave took a step closer “Please stop this now”

“NO SHE WANTS YOU AND SHE CAN’T HAVE YOU!” her voice made all the flowers in the area lose their petals from the force

‘she won’t listen to you, she wont rest until she thinks you are hers and hers alone’ the voice whispered ‘she will make sure Rainbow Dash is incapable of touching another thing if you don’t stop her’

Dave glanced at the helpless Rainbow Dash whose wings were now half their original length “Forgive me Celestia” He muttered sadly, as he grabbed Luna’s furiously glowing horn

The resistance from Dave sent a shockwave at Dash and her wings snapped back to normal, causing her to scream loudly before dropping to the ground and passing out

Luna’s head was forced towards Dave’s “What are you doinmfmf?” she tried to yell but was cut off by Dave forcing his lips to hers, her eyes widened in surprise but quickly fell shut as she eagerly threw her hoofs around him

Dave allowed his mouth to open and allow entry for Luna ‘I’m sorry Celestia I really am, this is the only way’ he thought sadly in a vain hope that Celestia could hear his thoughts as his stomach tightened in guilt

Celesta who was watching from afar cringed in pain as she watched her sister indulge herself in Dave’s mouth “So this is what it feels like to be betrayed by your sister” she said sadly as a tear formed in her eye “No Dave made the move, it isn’t Luna’s fault”

She pulled her head away from the telescope and levitated the bracelet Dave gave her onto her hoof “I’m sorry I tried to take him from you Luna” she smiled when she felt the wave of happiness crash through her sister but it also sparked a tidal wave of sadness through Celestia

She held the bracelet tight to her chest as tears streamed down her face “I promised I would look after you little sister, obviously he means more to you than he does to me”

Dave pulled his head away from Luna’s “Does that prove that I am not with Rainbow Dash or anypony else?”

Luna smiled cheekily “Almost” she giggled as she leaned forwards again

Dave couldn’t take the guilt anymore as it turned to self hatred “NO!” he yelled as he pushed Luna off himself “Listen things are very complicated for me right now so I would appreciate it if you could leave me alone alright?”

Luna smiled awkwardly at him “Umm ok so when should I come over to your place?” she wished she still had her fake eyelashes on so her eyes looked more enticing

“Hmm let me think, did I say come over to my place so we can bang like rabbits or did I say LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE?”

‘Oh yes’ the voice sighed happily to itself but Dave ignored it

Luna took a few frightened paces back from Dave who clenched his fists “Ok I’m sorry” Luna levitated the unconscious Rainbow Dash onto her back “I will take care of the element of loyalty as means of an apology” she smiled nervously

Dave turned and began to storm towards Ponyville “If she is ok by the time I come back I will listen to whatever you have to say” he hid his face behind the rim of his hat as guilt grabbed him again “I’m sorry I yelled at you”

Luna smiled after the human “Good to know he still thinks about me” she whispered to the unconscious Pegasus sprawled across her back as she began to fly into the air carefully

Dave hurried to sugarcube corner, weaving between the ponies that crowded the streets “What did I just do?” he whispered angrily as he rubbed his eyes

‘Well I would say that Celestia would never want to see you again after what you just did’ the voice laughed ‘I mean you kissed her sister first! How unfaithful can you get?’

“Shut up! I can solve all my problems, I just need to make a plan whilst out camping and I can sort everything out when I get back” Dave kept his own voice quiet as not to draw attention to himself

‘Oh a plan? Let me guess… tell Twilight, Luna and Fluttershy where to stick their relationships, forbid Rarity and Applejack from making anymore sexual advances, make sure Rainbow Dash isn’t a cripple before telling her what to violently do to herself oh and make sure everything is dandy with that bitch Celestia’

“Pretty much except Celestia isn’t a bitch” Dave walked onto the road leading to his destination

‘You didn’t know her a few thousand years ago’

“No I didn’t… wait what?” Dave almost tripped as he tried to make sense of what was just said to him

Dave got no response so he pressed on towards sugarcube corner and walked in slowly though the door “Hey everypony” he smiled happily as all the fillies ran up to him

“DAVE!” they all cheered as they tackled him to the ground “thank you for letting us come with you camping”

“Heh not a problem” Dave stood and brushed himself off “So is everypony ready to go?”

The crusaders, Spike and Dave all picked up their individual bags and said farewell to Twilight “Goodbye have a good time” she called “I will see you when you get back” Dave waved over his shoulder as the group pushed forth to his house

As they walked Dave ended up carrying all the bags as the children danced around his feet “Where are we gonna go?” Scootaloo asked as she dived over Applebloom

Dave playfully picked the orange Pegasus up “I have a map so we can choose where to go”

“Does that mean we can go camping in the Everfree forest?” Sweetie Belle grinned excitedly along with her two friends

“NO!” Dave and Spike said in unison as the memories of the timber wolves was brought back to light

They were replied by a collective “AWW” as they reached Dave’s front door and he opened it for them

“Alright upstairs now” Dave took the group upstairs and they all gazed at the map that coated one of the walls

“We should go like this!” Scootaloo traced a hoof along the map “That way we can camp on the mountain and get a great view”

“That will take ages to get up there,” Sweetie Belle groaned “We should go along here,” she pointed to a large cliff face that rested a few miles west of Ponyville

“That’s boring we should go here” Applebloom tapped her hoof on a location labelled ‘Ghastly Gorge’

Dave shrugged “how about we go through here?” he ran his finger along a stretch of woods and hills that spread in a wide loop before coming back into Ponyville

The fillies all nodded as they ran to go explore Dave’s home as he picked up a map showing the route they were going to take in detail

“Dave can I ask you something?” Spike asked playing with his claws

“Yeah ask away,” Dave continued to check the bags for anything he might have forgotten

“Well I’m sure you have been asked before but…” Spike looked around nervously “when are you going back to your world?”

Dave shrugged “Like I have said before, whenever Twilight finds a way”

“Yeah if she ever gets around to it” he grumbled quietly “but do you want to go?”

Dave stopped his rummaging, he wanted to stay with Celestia more than anything but the others were making it too complicated and the fact he wasn’t a pony still remained, he sighed as he finished checking the contents of his bag

“I don’t know” he sighed sadly as he began to walk downstairs, bags hung onto his back and a purple dragon jumped on his shoulder

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Spike leaned forwards too get a better look at Dave’s saddened face

“Well there is somepony I’m interested in” Dave shooed the fillies out of his house and locked the door behind him “but it won’t work no matter how hard I try”

Spike patted him reassuringly on his shoulder “Hey I can help, what’s wrong?”

Dave chuckled weakly “Do you know how to turn me into a pony?”

Spike scratched his head as the children danced around Dave’s long legs “Well I am sure Twilight would be able to figure something out”

“Well tell her if she does to keep it to herself” Dave sighed

“But if trying to turn you into a pony is a problem we can find a solution”

Sweetie Belle stopped chasing Applebloom to look up at Dave “Are you trying to be turned into a pony?”

“No” Dave growled, “That is the problem, I don’t want to be changed but it seems to be the only way my life here can be relatively normal” He opened the map as he lead the group away from Ponyville and towards an entrance of some woodland

Spike took the map from Dave as they walked along the tall green leaved trees, the sunlight sinking in from between the branches

Applebloom trotted alongside the tall human “So what was ya life like back on your world?”

Dave smiled “Well it was pretty boring, woke up, went to school, came home and played video games or watched a movie” Dave looked down at his hands “I remember wishing my life was a bit more exciting before I came here”

“Ya got your wish then” Applebloom smiled “Ya have been on all sorts of adventures since ya arrived”

“One dragon, wood wolves, talking ponies, unicorns, pegasi and a couple of princesses that control the sun and the moon” Dave counted the points on his fingers “Yeah just a few” he laughed

“I found a good spot to camp” Spike said triumphantly showing the map to Dave “It is a few miles north, near a lake”

“Good work Spike” Dave congratulated the smug dragon as they all changed direction towards their sleeping grounds “Judging by the terrain we should get there in an hour or two” Dave folded the map away

The group pressed on as a faint gust of wind made the branches sway in its path and a squirrel hopped down to collect any freshly fallen acorns

Meanwhile…

Luna flew away from Ponyville hospital, she had lied by saying Rainbow Dash had an accident during one of her tricks, they bought it thankfully

She flapped harder to increase her speed towards Canterlot, she was overjoyed that Dave was almost hers again but she could not sake the feeling of sadness

“Luna?” she heard Celestia’s voice resonated softly in her mind

“Yes Tia?” Luna responded applying a light amount of magic to her voice so Celestia could hear

“Do you mind if I teleport you here? There is a package for you” Celestia’s voice had the hint of sadness that Luna could feel

“Of course sister” Luna braced as she was engulfed by a white light and appeared in Celestia’s quarters “What is this package?”

Celestia held up a large silver bracelet that had a sapphire resting proudly in the centre “This arrived for you… from Dave”

Luna’s heart melted as she took the jewellery “Oh… it’s beautiful”

Celestia smiled as happily as she could as the last thing that connected her and Dave was passed to her little sister “It is isn’t it”

Celestia loved Dave but she could not ignore what he had done or the feelings Luna obviously felt for him, Luna and Dave were right for each other and Celestia knew it

Luna beamed happily as she slipped the bracelet on her hoof “I told you Dave felt the same way about me” she tapped the sapphire “the pattern engraved around the edges are a sign of commitment”

Celestia’s sad eyes turned to ones marking concern “Commitment? Where?” she walked over to her sister and looked deeply at the sapphire, indeed there were tiny markings which circled around the gemstone

“I can only think of marriage as being a larger commitment of love” Luna smiled happily “I’m glad I had time to reflect on ancient text whilst I was stuck on the moon otherwise I might have missed this altogether”

Celestia pulled her head back and slowly trotted over to her bed “only thing larger is marriage?” she muttered to herself “Dave must not have known what those markings mean, they come from the time of the great blaze so how could he know”

Luna hopped happily on the spot “Is it ok for me to depart back to my quarters until dinner?”

Celestia turned her head to smile “Of course, I will see you then” as Luna bounced out almost as happy as the element of laughter

Celestia waited until the door clicked shut before slashing her pillow with her horn out of frustration “Why would Dave get that bracelet for me if her felt for Luna?” she glared angrily at the pillow as she repaired it with magic “I want to know… no, I NEED to know”

She levitated over a parchment and quill and she wrote out a short letter before sealing it and sending it away with her magic “If Dave finishes his camping tomorrow evening it will give him plenty of time to get here and talk before spending the night with Luna”

Meanwhile…

Dave dropped the heavy bags as the fillies and dragon reached into their own bags and removed a variety of lunches

Spike had a few gems, Applebloom some apples, Scootaloo a couple of cupcakes and Sweetie Belle had a sandwich

Dave on the other hand had nothing and decided to build the tents for them all to sleep in, he originally got one for Spike and one for himself but the girls could all use the other the guys were not using

After he finished putting both the tents up he stood back happily looking at his work “See I can still do things that doesn’t include punching or getting brutally assaulted” he said triumphantly

Spike burped out a letter “We can’t get away can we?” he sighed, “Are we going back then?”

Dave picked up the letter “Is this for me?” he asked and received a nod from Spike “Then it can wait until tomorrow”

Dave threw the letter into his tent, pulled out a ball and passed it to Scootaloo “What’s this for?” she asked curiously “Are we gonna practice bouncing?”

Dave chuckled “I thought I could teach you how to play a sport from my world” he shook his legs to the side “Football… the English version not the American one because you don’t have hands”

Sweetie Belle finished her sandwich before picking the ball up “Why would you use your hands in a game called football?”

Dave shrugged “I have absolutely no idea”