Chapter 41

Dave stumbled across the grassy ground, the furious winds made each step a struggle to stay standing and the rain smashed into his healing back

“Eleven times” Odio chuckled “You got hit by lightning eleven times”

Dave’s hair was drenched and it laid across his eyes “Yeah thanks for reminding me” he groaned as he felt another rush of wind threaten to throw him to the ground

The Everfree forest had long since left Dave’s view and the heavy rain had reduced his vision even more, the tall mountains were just silhouettes, the tall peaks piercing the clouds

As Dave used his arms to shield his face from the wind and rain, his feet dragged across the increasingly muddy ground

“Is there anywhere to sit out of the rain for two minutes?” Dave had to yell over the roar of thunder

“I’m just inside your head, I’m not back in Canterlot!” Odio growled, “You don’t have to yell”

“Sorry” Dave said, lowering his voice “But is there a cave or anything?”

Odio hummed “no… just the mountains” Odio swirled gently even though Dave tripped and fell to his knees “I take it that you don’t fancy climbing them anytime soon”

Dave panted as he rested on one knee “No not soon…” he looked up at the towering pillars, his lips turned to a snarl “Now!” he growled as he stood again and slowly began to increase his pace

Dave’s short stumbles turned to a determined walk, his arms hung at his side, then it picked up to a jog and then finally into a quick run

“It’s funny how determined you have become since you left Celestia” Odio sighed “You made the right choice”

“Did I?” His running was lessening Dave’s irritation “I only left because the elements of harmony are needed… it’s what she wanted”

“Hey look on the bright side, at least you are getting out more” Odio joked which received a small snort from Dave

“I wonder what she is doing. Will she get over me?” Dave allowed his head to turn in the direction he felt was Canterlot

Odio groaned, “She will get over you soon, she is immortal and eternal, I think she has learnt how to get over things”

“Didn’t Luna say that they had relationships a while back?” Dave’s run decreased back to a jog as the ground turned rocky

Odio inhaled in thought “Yeah… I would guess about… one thousand six hundred and twelve years ago”

“That is a bit accurate” Dave raised his eyebrows out of astonishment

“Yeah well I could slightly delve into Luna’s mind when I was weaker” Odio finished healing Dave’s back and squirmed back into position “It didn’t turn out so well”

“What happened?” Dave began to see tall rocks appear along his path, he saw one about twice the size of him so he stopped behind it to shield himself from the rain

“As far as I could tell… what a surprise a princess lied”

Dave wiped his hair from his face “You sound like you knew all along and was just trying to figure how to make a rhyme”

“True” Odio chuckled quietly “But the stallions they were with were a bunch of power grabbing bastards”

Dave smiled as he dropped his bag and slid to the floor, back against the rock “you didn’t approve of the princesses being mistreated?”

“I just think they didn’t do a good enough job,” Odio murmured “But the princesses had to stick to the story of ‘they grew old and died’ rather than tell the truth and be laughed at in public”

“So what happened to the stallions?” Dave asked as he ran his fingers through his drenched hair

“Cartridge accident” Odio said slyly “Who knew the Pegasus attachment rail could break”

“They were assassinated?” Dave gasped

“No… they actually had an accident, really convenient actually” Odio yawned “So you gonna climb this mountain or what?”

“Umm…” Dave looked up through the heavy rain and up at the tall mountain “In a bit I’m going to wait and see if this rain dies down”

“Maybe in an hour or two but to be honest I think that OH YOU GREEN DILDO!” Odio roared angrily

Dave leapt to his feet and scanned the surrounding area “What is it?” he asked in a panic, the flash of lightning lit up the surrounding area, briefly revealing the stone ground

“I spent two hours making this house perfect and now this dick came along and blew a hole in it!” Odio panted after his sudden outburst

Dave groaned as he sat down again “For the last time. Stop. With. The games” he rested his head in his hands and he slowly managed to slip into a light sleep

Meanwhile…

Spike was replacing some books back on the shelf when the door knocked “I’ll get it!” he call to Twilight who was sat upstairs

Spike placed the final book on the shelf as he walked over and opened the door, he opened it to reveal a soaked orange mare

“Oh hey Applejack” Spike stood aside to allow the earth pony in

“Howdy Spike, is Twilight in?” She shook her damp mane as Spike shut the door to block the weather

Twilight came downstairs “I’m here Applejack, What’s up?”

Applejack shook her head “I’m just wondering if ya heard from Dave is all”

“No I haven’t” Twilight levitated a towel over and passed it to Applejack “How is the farm?”

“Fine, jus’ the weather makin it hard for us” Applejack began wiping herself with the towel “How have ya been?”

“Fine but I have been worried about Dave as well, when I went up before the storm hit the door was locked” Twilight bit her bottom lip “Is he still upset?”

“Nah he can’t be, I mean he still got us an’ the harem” Applejack began drying her tail “ya did say the princess wasn’t pregnant didn’t ya?”

“She isn’t pregnant but…” Twilight rubbed the front of her leg “I don’t know if she has been to see him afterwards or not”

“Why don’t you just write to her?” Spike suggested as he continued his chores

Twilight and Applejack nodded to each other as Twilight levitated a parchment and a quill over “Shall I just ask if she has seen him recently?” Twilight asked

Applejack nodded again “Just make it quick… I don’t want to waste time sittin’ if it ain’t helping nopony”

Twilight wrote out a short letter before rolling it up and passing it to Spike who blew it away in the signature green flame

“What should we do if Princess Celestia hasn’t seen him?” Twilight rubbed her hooves nervously

Applejack finished with the towel and replaced her hat on her head “I don’t know Twilight I just hope that…” Applejack was cut short by several white flashes around the room

Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie pie all looked around the library bewildered as to what happened until they saw Luna and Celestia

“I wish there was a warning we were gonna get teleported” Rainbow Dash groaned as she sat next to Applejack

Celestia sighed sadly as she looked at her still angry little sister, Luna rolled her eyes angrily as she stepped forwards

“All of you sit… this is going to be a shock” Luna looked at them all as they all sat together, Spike also joined the group “Dave has… left”

“L-left Why?” Rarity gasped as the others all exchanged shocked glances

Luna glared at Celestia before turning back “He believed that we would be happier without him, that we could have fuller lives”

“But we were happy with him!” Rarity looked between the princesses “Where has he gone?”

Celestia shook her head “We don’t know” her head drooped “And I don’t think he does either”

“Well we have to get out there and start looking!” Rainbow Dash took flight into the air of the library

It was Twilight’s turn to shake her head “In this storm we won’t be able to search any further than Sweet Apple Acres”

“How long has he been… gone?” Fluttershy whispered

“Anytime after Twilight saw him last” Luna sighed “which is almost two days at most”

“Wha? Well he could be anywhere by now!” Spike threw his hands into the air “And we can’t do anything?”

Celestia and Luna both shook their heads “Sergeant Strong Shield is working as hard as he can to find any trace of him” Luna assured the worried group

Pinkie walked over and tapped Celestia “Is Dave ok?” she asked quietly

“I hope so” Celestia smiled weakly “I hope so…”

Meanwhile…

Strong Shield sat at the large desk in the centre of the barracks, the map was laid out across the wooden surface and various figures of pegasi were being moved around by magic

“Corporal Ironwing you take a squad west and around towards Appleoosa” Strong Shield saluted the three golden clad pegasi as they flew into the air “Private Barrier!”

“Yes sir!” The nervous private marched over and saluted

Strong Shield never took his eye from the map “I want you to go and question everypony in the upper district about Dave and his whereabouts”

The unicorn saluted “Yes sir!” Before hurrying away

“Sergeant Strong Shield!” A white pegasi marched over

Strong Shield returned the salute “tell me you found him,” he ordered

“Err… no sir not exactly” The pegasi dropped his hoof “I have a sister that is… dating a gryphon”

“If you want a medal I’m afraid I don’t have one for tolerance,” Strong Shield returned to his map

The pegasi looked around at the busy barracks “The gryphon is on border patrol for sector eleven-foxtrot”

Strong Shield’s eye moved from the map and rolled over to look at the guard “And?”

“Apparently he saw a tall creature that healed from a Changeling maggot attack” The guard licked his lips nervously under the sergeant’s glare “The description matches that of Dave”

Strong Shield stared at the map “Sector eleven-foxtrot is in the heart of the storm… damn”

“Shall we all divert course east?” the guard looked at the map

“No…” Strong Shield slammed his hoof onto the desk, causing most of the models to fall over “Going into that storm would be suicide, he may survive but you won’t”

The guard saluted “Orders?”

“Get everypony back here and send a message to Cloudsdale” Strong Shield saluted the guard “If they don’t remove the storm soon then Princess Celestia will burn it away when she finds out”

“Yes sir!” The guard yelled as he quick marched away

Strong Shield removed the pieces from the table and glared at the location east of Ponyville “The Plains… Badlands… Dragon Mountains” he groaned as he stepped away “I hope the storm provides cover for him”

The leaving guard stopped and turned “Should I send a message to the Princess?”

“Ye… no wait until it is confirmed” Strong Shield rolled up the map

“But sir doesn’t the description alone fits Dave perfectly, and the estimate distance travelled only further proves that…” The guard was cut off by Strong Shield turning an angry eye to him

“I said no” Strong Shield placed the map beside some others on the table “that’s an order”

The guard looked around at the busy barracks “Excuse me sir but why not?”

Strong Shield turned towards the guard “It isn’t any of your business… dismissed guardsman” he snarled as he turned away and left the room

The guard walked away to a corner of the room “Stupid old git” he muttered as he pulled a blank piece of parchment and began writing

Meanwhile…

Spike paced around the library “But what if he is hurt?” he asked panicked

“Then he will just heal” Luna sighed, “I am afraid to say that he will be fine on his own”

Rarity stomped her hoof “But what if he can’t find any food?”

“Has he eaten much since he arrived?” Twilight shook her head “He has hardly eaten a thing… I doubt he needs to”

Celestia sat silently until a letter flashed into existence in a bright flash, she turned her head and floated it over, it was not sealed and it was hastily written

Strong Shield knows information on Dave’s location and has ordered me to silence

Celestia gave Luna a confused look as she passed it over “Why would he keep it secret?” She asked as Luna shook her head

“I don’t know” Luna passed the letter to the others and they all gasped, “When are we going back to Canterlot?”

The girls all looked at the white alicorn as Spike snatched the letter and read it himself “Well?” he asked angrily

Celestia picked her head up “We are getting answers now” she walked over to the group with a new sense of determination

Luna nodded slowly at her as their horns began to glow and the group disappeared in a flash of light, they all reappeared in the guard barracks, the guards all saluted, Strong Shield saw all the glares cast from the girls

“Your majesty” he saluted, his eye darting to a nervously sweating guard “How may we assist you?”

Spike pointed his claw at the unicorn “Spill the beans, where is Dave?” He growled

Strong Shield dropped his hoof “Remind me that I have to train these guards how to follow orders,” he mumbled angrily

Luna stepped forwards her head held high as she looked down slightly at the guard “Tell us what you know”

“No” Strong Shield frowned, his eye darted around the room at all the shocked glances at his refusal to follow orders “may we speak in private?”

The princesses lead the way into Strong Shield’s office, the girls and Spike waited outside as Strong Shield stepped in and the door was closed firmly behind him

“Which way did Dave go?” Luna growled

“I’m not telling” Strong Shield sat behind his desk

Celestia rested her hooves and stared at him “I am trying to make things better and you aren’t helping”

Strong Shield chuckled “Better? You ruined his life with the harem idea”

Luna joined her sister “We are getting rid of the harem” She glanced at Celestia “Once Dave is back we can tell the others”

“Leaving is the best thing he has done so far” Strong Shield sneered “he is better off this way”

“No” Celestia shook her head “I drove him away so I must get him back so we can be happy”

Strong Shield began laughing “Again it’s ‘we’ isn’t it?” his smile turned to a frown “Once again your needs come into the equation”

Celestia stared, lost for words as she backed away “I’ve been selfish haven’t I?”

“No!” Luna turned to her sister “Dave wants to be with you just as badly, he is just… confused”

Celestia turned to the door “The private must know something” as she opened the door, Strong Shield shot a spell out and it collided with the guard

Twilight rushed over to the unconscious guard “What happened?”

“A memory removal spell” Luna growled as she turned to Strong Shield “And knowing him I doubt it can be reversed easily”

“Three days if one of you fully dedicate yourselves to repairing his mind” Strong Shield didn’t flinch as Celestia stormed over to the desk “More than enough time for Dave to get as far away from you as possible”

“SERGEANT STRONG SHIELD!” She called in her royal Canterlot voice “I AM STRIPPING YOU OF YOUR POSITION AS SERGEANT AND BANISHING YOU FROM THE GUARD”