Chapter 26

Dave opened his eyes and pushed his new face up off the cold ground, he caught sight of the red line that stretched down the back of his neck in the mirror

Dave touched the redness using one of his hooves but recoiled quickly when it spat pain at him

He turned his head away from the mirror and towards the door, he pulled it gently and peeked out into the bedroom

Celestia was laying on the bed, sleeping quietly with a tissue resting between her front hooves, Dave silently crept out into the bedroom and over to the sleeping Princess

She did not stir when Dave stroked her mane “I will be back soon” he whispered as he kissed her lightly on her head

Dave left Celestia sleeping as he crept out of her quarters, he closed the door quietly behind him and the guards gave him a confused glare

Dave decided to quickly walk away, he walked down through the corridors, and he nervously avoided looking at patrolling guards as he hurried for the gardens

He hurried to the tree he had sat at with Celestia earlier and hid beneath its long branches, he looked at the sky, and the sun that hung in the sky was replaced with Luna’s moon

Dave clumped a few dead leaves together as he relaxed against the tree as well as he could in his new body “So what now?”

The leaves shook violently as they formed a wide mouth “Nothing” Odio whispered from the leaves

“What do you mean nothing? I am staying with Celestia, I am a… pony now” Dave lowered his head as he managed to say those last words

“This changes nothing,” Odio repeated

“What about you? Did this change affect you in anyway?” Dave rubbed his hoof across the ground

“No, I am only held to you through a small link” the leaves resisted a small breeze “It wasn’t affected”

“What about the strength and healing you gave me?” Dave tapped his hooves together

“Those are a bit more… temperamental” Odio’s mouth made of leaves curled into a small smile “Your resistance to magic remains”

“Yeah look how much good that did me” Dave chuckled “This is permanent, no way back so I had just better make the most of it”

“The spell is permanent based on your life span” Odio’s mouth lost a few leaves as another gust passed by “If used on something with a longer lifespan it would only last a century or two, this type of spell just lasts a long time”

“I won’t live that long” Dave reached to break the leaves apart

“I will tell you now before this conversation ends” Dave paused as the leaves began to disperse “you should have listened to every word I have said more carefully”

Dave rested back as the leaves floated away, he looked back up at the moon “If I listened to you I probably wouldn’t be with Celestia,” he whispered to himself

Dave rested for a few minutes as he watched the moon travel slowly across the sky, he heard a few noise come from behind his tree and he tensed

“Who are you?” A familiar voice asked

Dave turned his head to look at Luna staring puzzled at him, he sighed irritably as he replaced his head

“I am speaking to you” Luna stepped around and got a better look at the brown stallion “I have never seen you before”

Dave chuckled as he rubbed his eyes, he stood and began to pace away

“DON’T TURN YOUR BACK TO ME!” Luna growled as she magically grabbed the tall stallion, suspending him in the air by his hooves

Dave groaned as Luna paced around to his face, he was hung upside down he didn’t bother making eye contact with her as he looked at the sky

“Now who are you?” Luna used a small amount of magic to force his gaze at hers “you seem familiar”

Dave attempted to squirm free from his magical bonds

“Why do you resist? Don’t you know who I am?” Luna rose her head at the stranger “You don’t fear me?”

Dave shook his head but as he opened his mouth, Luna gently placed a hoof over his mouth

“Many ponies still fear me after the nightmare moon incident” Luna placed the stallion back on his feet “I will allow you to leave without the use of force, I am busy at the moment as I am on my way to find somepony”

Dave sat back at the tree and shut his eyes

“Let me know if you see a large creature called Dave” Luna looked over the stallion once more before turning to leave

“Good luck” Dave chuckled with Luna still in earshot, they both paused as they realised what they both heard

Luna slowly turned to look at the surprised pony “Dave?”

Dave shot to his feet and bolted for the castle, he gained a few seconds of distance before Luna recovered from the shock and chased after him

Dave ran down the long corridor, taking sharp turns in order to lose Luna until he found an empty spare room, he dived in and held the door shut behind him

Luna pushed the door with both her front hooves “Dave what happened to you?”

Dave looked around the room in a panic, there were no windows, only shelves with various cleaning products and a small light in the roof

“Dave!” Luna called as she lowered her horn to the door “I’m coming in!”

The door shot open and Dave was knocked across the room, Luna stepped in and shut the door behind her

Dave climbed back to his hooves as Luna inspected his body more carefully “Well I see you have acquired a nice posture”

Dave groaned, “Can you leave me alone?” the princess blocked his path

“Stop messing me around” Luna glared at Dave “You say nice things to me on my balcony, then you say we can’t be together, you send me a bracelet with those words before taking it from me and now…” Luna pointed at his body “This”

Dave let out a small chuckle “You think I did this for you?”

Luna stepped closer, backing Dave into a corner “Why else? You proved you aren’t in love with the element of loyalty”

“I don’t love you either!” Dave stated clearly, “You keep thinking I am doing everything for you”

“Then who do you love?” Luna stood close to Dave “I can be better”

Dave sighed, “You are going to find out eventually” he inched around to the door “Celestia”

Luna smiled “Ha now tell me the truth, there is nopony else is there?”

Dave shrugged “Who else could do this to me?”

Luna’s smile faded as her eyes flared with rage “MY SISTER!” she yelled, the shelves shook as Dave attempted to open the door

The door’s lock clicked shut, Dave was surrounded by a dark glow as Luna dragged him over to her, her gaze lowered as her horn glowed brighter

Dave sighed, “You won’t do anything against your sister, and I know how hard it was for you to attack Rainbow Dash”

Luna flipped Dave onto his back and stood over him “What about you? We are alone and I am in control here” She lent down and breathed across Dave’s neck “I love the look of your new body”

Dave raised an eyebrow “Are you completely mental?” Dave shuddered as Luna licked his neck “Celestia would kill you if you do what I think you are going to do”

Luna ignored him “I deserve you, Celestia gets everything” the alicorn switched places with Dave, her magic holding him above her “I love your personality”

Dave was lowered slowly, he resisted as his hooves touched the ground around Luna

“I love your new body”

Dave was lowered almost completely on top of Luna and she wrapped her hooves around him

“And I quite like these red streaks you have”

“Streaks? More than one?” Dave bolted upwards, the magical bonds breaking, Luna’s horn sparked as the recoil from having her magic resisted again, she passed out as her head hit the floor

Dave tackled the door, breaking it from its hinges as he ran down the corridor, he found the stairs leading to Celestia’s quarters and he charged up the stairs as fast as he could

The guards outside the door blocked his path “It’s me Dave the human” Dave panted

The guards looked at each other before one turned to the other “We don’t believe you”

“Fine” Dave raised a hoof and hit the guard in the chest, the guard hardly flinched as the hoof bounced from his armour “oh…”

Dave barely had time to yell for Celestia before he was knocked unconscious, the guards dragged him down into the depths of the castle

Later…

Celestia awoke, her natural instincts on raising the sun forced her wide-awake as she raised the sun from her resting place, the moon suddenly lowered as she did so

She turned, looking at the closed bathroom door “Dave?” she called, her voice was greeted with silence

She stepped over to the bathroom door and knocked gently, the door swung open and she peaked in, it was empty

Celestia trotted over to her bedroom door and opened it to reveal two guards standing guard

“Has Dave left recently?” Celestia asked quietly

The guards turned and saluted “Your majesty we have only just taken over guard duty but we have not seen Dave”

Celestia nodded as she levitated her royal attire over and slipped gracefully into the golden clothes before leaving her room

As the white alicorn headed down to the dining hall, she stopped a few guards along the way to see if they had seen Dave but none of them had even known Dave had been changed

Celestia stepped into the dining hall and was greeted by her student

“Princess Celestia we were wondering when you were going to show up” Twilight smiled as Celestia sat down

“I’m sorry I’m late everypony I had some… business that needed attending to” Celestia smiled as she attempted to ignore the empty chair where Dave should be sitting

Spike also sat irritably in his chair “Does anypony know where Dave is?”

Everypony looked at each other and they all gave confused looks “I haven’t seen him since he used the launcher” Twilight gave Spike a reassuring look “I’m sure he is on his way”

Rarity turned to the vacant princess “What did Dave do when he landed in your quarters?”

Celestia snapped back to reality as she looked at the white unicorn “He was simply assisting the guards with a drill” she applied a fake laugh “Somepony obviously forgot to mention my bedroom was off limits”

The ponies all giggled except Spike who stood up from his chair “Where is Strong Shield?”

Celestia looked down the table at the dragon “Shining Armour is back if you want to find him”

Spike headed for the door “Either is fine”

Celestia paused to think, “Shining Armour should be in the barracks and Strong Shield should be in his office or accompanying Shining Armour”

Spike thanked Celestia before departing for the barracks, Twilight leaned closer to the princess

“My brother is back?” She smiled eagerly

Celestia turned back to her student “Yes he arrived yesterday, I kept it quiet so he could surprise you”

Twilight leapt from her chair and over to the door “I’m going to help Spike find him” She called as she quickly hurried after Spike

Celestia looked over the remaining ponies “You can all go as well, I have business to attend to”

The remaining girls all left the table and joined Twilight and Spike, Celestia stepped out of the dining hall ignoring her breakfast

“Where are you Dave?” She asked quietly as she looked down the corridors

Meanwhile…

Dave struggled against the guard pinning him to the ground “Let me go!” he yelled as the guards attached chains to his hooves

The guards finished attaching the chains and they threw Dave into a dirty cell, the silver bars stood between him and the path to Celestia

Dave staggered over to the cell door and attempted to push his head through the gap “I need to see Celestia, it is me Dave the human”

The jailor smirked “Yeah and I’m a millionaire” he laughed as he walked back along the rows of empty cells and left Dave alone, screaming in his cell

“YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME HERE!” Dave roared as he stumbled back into the dirty cell his eyes were brought to a sheet of metal bolted to the wall so it made a makeshift mirror

Dave trotted painfully as the chains bit into his hooves “Red streaks?” Dave wiped the dirt and dust from the mirror and inspected his body

The red line from the morning had spread down his neck and began to branch across his back as Dave inspected one of the lines reaching around his shoulder and down towards his chest

“ARGH what the hell?” Dave writhed in pain as the red streak squirmed and settled itself running down his front leg

Dave limped over to the concrete bed and attempted to make himself more comfortable as he laid his head down “Celestia has to find me soon” Dave grumbled as the lines continued to grow and squirm under his skin

Meanwhile…

Spike rode on Twilight’s back as they headed into the barracks, as they stepped in a familiar Purple armoured unicorn turned around smiling

“Twiley!” Shining Amour cheered as he trotted over to greet his little sister

Spike was thrown from Twilight’s back as she charged forwards to her big brother, the other ponies hurried over to meet the captain

“You should have seen me yesterday” Twilight smiled “We were only in Canterlot”

“Yeah I had an interesting chat with Sergeant Strong Shield yesterday and I fear the brandy made me a little forgetful” Shining chuckled at the confused glances “I’ll tell you some other time”

Spike stood up and brushed himself off “I’ll be looking around, if anypony cares” he grumbled as he walked down the stairs a chuckling guard was just leaving

Spike came down to a poorly lid corridor, cells ran along each side each of them empty except the first one on his left, a brown pony groaned in pain in the corner

Spike walked back up stairs and explored the rest of the barracks by himself, as he walked around the corner a plain golden door caught his eye

“What’s this?” Spike whispered as he walked over to the golden door, it sat ajar and Spike used a claw to gently open it enough for him to step through

Rows of stone heads lined the walls, they piled to the roof and stretched down the bright corridor, Strong Shield sat at the end gazing at a statue

“Strong Shield!” Spike called as he ran down the corridor

Strong Shield slowly turned “Spike the dragon, what are you doing here?”

Spike looked up at the tower of stone busts “Where is here exactly?”

The guard looked around the corridor “The room of remembrance, the hall of fame…” he sighed “call it what you will it is a room dedicated to those who have had major impacts on our lives”

Spike looked around the shelves and saw a familiar bearded unicorn “Starswirl the bearded?”

“Made lots of spells, one helped cure a particularly nasty disease of the time” Strong Shield sighed, “I come here to think”

“Well I need to find Dave, have you seen him?” Spike felt as if the eyes of the statues watched his every move

“No I have not” Strong Shield “I have gained some free time due to Captain Shining Armour’s return, I will look for him”

“Thanks Strong Shield” Spike headed back for the door “I think Princess Celestia was looking for him as well”

Strong Shield’s ears pricked up as he heard the princess’s name “She is not with him?”

Spike shook his head “No, nopony has seen him all night”

Strong Shield barged past the dragon “PRIVATE BARRIER!” he yelled

A private cleaning his armour shot to attention in the armoury, he saluted as the sergeant charged at him “The intruder you threw into the cells last night, what did he say was his name was?”

The private stammered as the sergeant glared at him “D-Dave sir, Dave the human”

Strong shield tapped the private with a hoof “If the jailor has gone drinking again you drag him and those keys back here!” Strong Shield charged out of the armoury again, the private threw on his armour and headed for Canterlot’s busy streets

Spike stood in his way “What is going on?”

Strong Shield lifted him onto his back “The princess has made a mistake that needs to be solved” he ran through the corridors ignoring any saluting guards “and quickly”

“What has Princess Celestia done?” Spike called as he held onto the guard’s neck

“She made Dave a pony, he is in the dungeon, she must not realize he is resistant to magic” Strong Shield climbed the stairs as fast as his hooves would allow, “He is in danger”

“Dave’s a pony? In the dungeon? THE BROWN ONE?” Spike panicked as he remembered the pony moaning in pain “What danger?”

“I saw him when he was unconscious, the red marks are making their way across his veins” Strong Shield saw Celestia’s bedroom door approaching “He is changing back”

“And he will become human again” Spike felt a veil of dread wash over him “What is the danger in that?”

“His body wants to change back,” Strong Shield panted as he reached the door “By force”