Chapter 25

Strong Shield opened the door to his office and allowed Shining Armour to step through

“So that thing… Dave is from another world?” Shining Armour looked around the old office

The walls were covered with wooden shelves, various books from different periods of time sat upon the dusty shelves. A large desk sat in the middle of the room, it was heavily varnished, a small inkwell and quill sat next to a small pile of paper

Strong Shield offered a wooden chair to Shining Armour before sitting in his own one behind the desk, the soft padding was worn and the legs sat over dull patches in the clean floor

“Yes Dave was brought from another world, nopony knows how or even why” Strong Shield opened a draw in his desk and pulled out a stack of papers “This is the report”

Shining Armour levitated the report over and began to read “He attacked some guards?”

Strong Shield began to finish writing some letters “He was provoked by some of the slackers but it proved to be a valuable test”

Shining Armour looked over from behind the sheets of paper that floated around his head “None of our guards slack” the captain set the papers down “What did you do?” he asked suspiciously

Strong Shield didn’t look up “If you read the next page you will see I was wise to ask my guards to test Dave’s physical prowess”

“By getting them hospitalized?” Shining Armour floated over another page “Appleoosa… Dragon?”

“Dave convinced him to move” Strong Shield looked up at Shining Armour “He went in clothed and came out naked”

“And?” Shining Armour failed to see the connection

“Either he decided he hated clothes or he was burned alive” Shining Armour rested back in his chair “He has remarkable healing”

Shining Armour continued to read through the report “Princess Celestia stayed at my sisters without royal guards on standby?”

Strong Shield sighed “Orders, but I know she stayed at Dave’s home” he raised a hoof when he saw Shining Armour’s shocked expression “Don’t worry even I trust him”

“Who are you and what have you done with that grumpy old sergeant?” Shining Armour joked

“He is honourable and I respect that, he did nothing violent until one of the guards made an… insinuation towards the element of loyalty” Strong Shield levitated over two glasses and a bottle of brandy “Would you like some of the rare stuff?”

“Brandy? How long has it been since they stopped making that?” Shining Armour didn’t say no as Strong Shield poured a small amount into the wide glass and passed it over

“I bought five bottles when you were still a filly” He sipped his drink “Shame they went broke after the cider business boomed”

“Is that what you are going to do when you retire? Make your own cider, brandy and wines?”

Strong Shield shook his head “I could have retired years ago and I am never going to” He drank the rest of his precious drink “I am a guard until I die or until Equestria no longer needs us”

“Good thing Equestria will always need guards” Shining Armour took a swig of the drink and his face tightened in disgust “Sweet Celestia that’s strong”

The grizzled soldier replaced the glasses and brandy in his desk “it takes a few years to get used to it, I’ll leave you a bottle in my will”

“Don’t you have much family?” the captain asked still rolling the taste of brandy across his tongue

“None” Strong Shield rubbed his antique desk with a dark hoof “I had nothing but the desire to serve my Princess, so I joined the guards the moment I could”

“Why are you only a sergeant then?” Shining Armour looked over the guard “You could have easily had my position years ago”

“If I had your job the princess could easily force me to retire” Strong Shield almost let a smile crack across his face “If I stick with training the guards and keeping them at the top of their game I am much harder to get rid of as the years go on”

Shining Armour laughed “Well you keep the guards fit and I’ll make sure they have jobs to do” he stood and headed for the door “Resume normal duties tomorrow, except…”

“Sir?” Strong Shield stood to attention and saluted

“If I ever have business concerning Dave I may ask you to come along, I feel my um… interruption my not have gone down well with Dave or Princess Celestia” Shining Armour saluted Strong Shield as he left the room

Meanwhile…

Celestia trotted into her room, Dave closed the doors behind him as he followed her inside “So that was the captain of the guard”

“Yes he has been on his honeymoon and he wasn’t supposed to be back until tomorrow” Celestia stood in the middle of her room and turned back to Dave “Are you sure you are ok?”

“I’m fine” Dave sighed happily as he hugged the worried alicorn “One hell of a first day together”

Celestia looked into Dave’s eyes “I promise I will make it up to you”

Dave shook his head “You don’t have to make it up to me at all” he began to sway slightly left and right as Celestia’s hooves rested on his shoulders

Celestia tapped her horn gently on Dave’s forehead “Everypony will have to know about us”

Dave held Celestia’s head close to his chest “What about your reputation? I think everypony would find it weird that you have taken to a strange creature from another world”

“They can think what they like” Celestia rose her head “But they need to know that I love you”

“Still I don’t want to make you look bad in the public’s eyes” Dave stroked his hand through her mane as she stepped away “But I will support you with any decision you make”

Celestia pulled a brown book from her desk of work, she removed a scroll from the middle of the old book “Will you please get me a cloth from the bathroom?”

“Sure no problem” Dave smiled as he stepped into the bath room, he looked around and found a pure white cloth resting beside the large sink

Dave grabbed the cloth but a familiar voice screamed into his head “ARGH don’t go back” Odio groaned

Dave smiled at the weak reflection “You don’t look so well”

“She has a presence which… forces me to stay silent” The reflection coughed black smoke “I have just enough time to warn you. Don’t. Go. Back”

Dave held the cloth tightly in his hands “Listen Odio I can take care of myself”

Odio’s eyes glowed red “It will drive you mad and I hope it does” he faded back to the depths of Dave’s mind

Dave walked back into the bedroom and Celestia was sat on the balcony, the scroll floated in front of her

“I got you a cloth” Dave stepped out onto the balcony “It’s a nice day”

Celestia floated over a small silver pin “The cloth is for you, I need a drop of blood”

Dave gripped the cloth as he took the pin out of the air “Any particular reason?”

Celestia looked between the scroll and Dave “It’s a… surprise”

“Alright” Dave stabbed his thumb and Celestia floated the droplets of red blood onto the bottom of the scroll, it glowed a faint blue as it soaked up the red ooze

“You may want to put the cloth in your mouth” Celestia’s horn glowed, the sun let out a small pulse of light as Dave placed the rolled up cloth between his teeth

Celestia was surrounded by a yellow glow as she floated from the ground, her wings spread aside and eyes glowing brightly

The words written on the scroll peeled away and flew around the balcony, the paper turned to ash, a fierce wind tore around Dave

Dave used a hand to shield himself from the lights and wind as he was picked into the air, he was levitated higher than Celestia was and her head watched him rise

Dave felt his skin crawl as the words began to close around him, the words soaked under his skin like the blood soaked into the paper

Dave’s jaws snapped together tightly, the cloth stopping them grinding heavily against each other as a sudden jolt made Dave snap backwards and his arms spread out as far as they could go

The sun and Celestia both pulsed in unison as a flash of light exploded from Dave, his scream could be heard from behind the cloth as it rolled throughout the castle

Guards looked around nervously at their posts, servants stopped cleaning and cooking to stop and listen, birds resting in the gardens huddled on their nests

…

Dave felt a dull pain through his body, a voice sounded like he was being held underwater, his clothes felt tight around his body

“Dave?”

Dave’s tongue rolled around the cloth in his mouth and he struggled to spit it out

“Dave?”

His eyes felt heavy as he managed to pull them open, his vision was blurry and he could just make out the shape of Celestia laying by his head

“Mmm” Dave’s throat felt stone dry as he failed to speak “Celestia?”

Celestia nuzzled his neck “I’m here” she said reassuringly

“What the hell happened?” Dave stood but barely managed to hold himself steady as he collapsed to the floor

“I know how much you have been worried about your difference from us” Celestia’s head stroked across Dave’s again “I’ll make you more comfortable”

Celesta’s horn glowed and Dave’s clothes were removed while he lay across the marble floor

“Hey are those my pants?” Dave asked as he rolled onto his front

“You wont need them any more” She smiled happily to herself

“Wha-What do you mean?” Dave pushed a hand to the ground in an attempt to push himself up, a faint sound of hoof hitting stone met his ears

Dave brought his hand to his eyes and his vision slowly focused on a brown hoof “WHAT THE FUCK?” Dave bolted alert and jumped to his hooves “oh my god what the hell?”

Celestia stood back as Dave explored his new body he was taller than most ponies and his body had taken a lighter shade of brown than his mane’s colour

Dave began to laugh loudly “Ha ha EARTH pony” he pulled some of his mane into his view, it was the same brown it was before

Celestia sat next to him “You like your new body?”

Dave rubbed his eyes “No I don’t” he raised his head to look at her “I don’t like the fact that you assumed I wanted to become a pony”

Celestia was slightly taken aback by the change in mood “You kept mentioning that you were human and we were ponies”

“I kept mentioning that because nopony seemed to care that I am apparently a repulsive creature” Dave pushed his mane out of his sight “were you not happy with me before?”

Celestia threw her hooves around Dave “Of course I was happy!”

“Then I would have appreciated it if you talked to me before turning me into… this” Dave rubbed a hoof into Celestia’s mane “I am really grateful that you would do something like this for me”

Dave could hear Celestia crying over his shoulder and the tears fell into his new mane “I’m sorry Dave, I’m so, so sorry”

“It’s ok we can turn me back when ever you are ready and… who knows I might decide to stay like this sometime in the future”

“The spell I performed required blood because…” she pulled her head back and her teary eyes begged forgiveness “it is permanent”

Dave’s face fell “What?” he said in a plain tone

“I’m sorry I-I thought” Celestia buried her head into Dave again “Please don’t go”

“I’m not going anywhere” Dave struggled to wrap Celestia in a hug “I just need to go to the toilet”

Celestia took a few deep breaths and watched as Dave struggled to trot to the bathroom, he closed the door gently behind him

Dave stood on his back legs to look in the mirror “Odio?” he whispered

Dave cringed as a loud screech tore through his mind, his stomach flipped as he rushed to the toilet and released the contents into the bowl

As he wiped his mouth on the back of his hoof Dave looked into the toilet, it was stained red and the stench almost made Dave heave over again but he flushed it quickly away

Dave’s mind screeched again as Odio’s voice growled “I… warned you” the screeching forced Dave to the ground “Nothing is permanent…” Dave clutched his head in a feeble attempt to block out the noise

“And you will learn that I. PLAN. FOR. EVERYTHING!” Odio’s voice scream was deafening as Dave passed out across the floor