Chapter 42

“FOUND YOU!” a shrieking woman’s voice called waking Dave from his slumber

He looked to the sky to see Celestia flying down “Wha? What are you doing here?” Dave asked as he stood up

Celestia’s face turned to a wicked smile “Well I couldn’t have my slave running free can I?”

“Slave?” Dave barely had time to breathe as a large golden collar was forced around his neck “Argh… Odio what is going on?”

Dave was met by an eerie silence, Celestia continued to shriek and laugh madly “Ah I was so disappointed that you tried to escape me”

Dave attempted to fight as golden snakes wrapped themselves around his arms and legs, his attempts were futile as they tightened and held him before the twitching alicorn

“Let me go!” He yelled, his chest was pushed forwards towards the princess

“I believe this belongs to me” she stabbed her horn and cut a large hole in Dave’s chest “After all you didn’t really think that I cared, did you?” She snarled as her horn glowed

Dave screamed in pain as his heart was dragged from his body, Celestia laughed as tears began to roll down his face “Why are you doing this?” he managed to groan between gritted teeth

Celestia licked the still beating heart “I’m a princess” she smiled wickedly “I can do anything I like” she bit into the heart and Dave’s world turned to black

...

Dave awoke screaming, his body drenched from the rain and sweat “Holy shit that was a nightmare and a half” he rubbed his face

“Tell me about it, Celestia was smiling and shit” Odio panted “At least she isn’t here”

Dave stood and stretched his arms above his head, the rain had died down and the base of the mountains still rested nearby

Dave picked up his bag and made sure it was securely attached as he began to walk to the closest mountain

“So what kind of creatures live near here?” Dave scratched his head “Didn’t you say a migration or something came here?”

“Hmm?” Odio regained his attention “Oh yeah a migration stops here”

“Migration… probably some birds or something” Dave shrugged as the hard ground eventually became steeper

Odio chuckled “Heh… yeah birds” he sighed loudly “I’m telling you that this is quite nice, the whole ‘Fuck you pony world’ idea”

“It is what she would have wanted” Dave said sadly, he didn’t have to say her name for Odio to groan

“Listen can you stop bringing her up? It is really getting on my nerves” Odio gasped “DIAMONDS FUCK YES!”

Dave paused “Um… you may want to be a little careful because there is normally”

“LAVA? FFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUU!” Odio bellowed and the stones on the ground around Dave shook violently

Dave sniggered slightly “so… I take it that you don’t want to talk?”

“No” Odio spat “Just climb this fucking rock before I kill myself… and you”

Dave chuckled at the hollow threat as he jumped and grabbed a bit of rock that poked out from the mountain

Meanwhile…

The girls and Spike all sat together at the barrack windows, they looked down at the lightly populated streets of Canterlot, the rain came down heavily on the windows

Luna Sat next to Celestia, she leaned over and whispered “Are you going to tell the elements that you want Dave for yourself?”

“Not yet” Celestia sat fuming as she glared at the dungeon door “Captain Shining Armour” she said angrily

Shining Armour marched over and saluted nervously “Yes your majesty?” he looked at the other furious ponies around the barracks

“I want to know where Dave is” She snarled slightly “Get him to tell me”

“But princess Sergeant Strong Shield is…” Shining Armour was cut off by Celestia glaring at him

“He is no longer a member of the guard” Celestia’s eyes almost twitched with anger “So torture is allowed”

Shining Armour’s jaw dropped slightly “Torture? Princess but that is…” he was cut off again

“I am not losing Dave, not again” She snarled at the door “Either you or me”

Shining Armour stepped towards the door “A-as you wish” he stammered as he stepped into the dull room

Strong Shield was restrained to the wall by four chains that were held by thick locks around his hooves, a large ring was clasped around his horn that prevented him from using magic, a long wooden table was covered in rusty tools

“You’re not getting anything from me” Strong Shield smiled “but I want to know what you are going to try”

“well this is my first interrogation so…” Shining Armour shuffled nervously as he looked at the various tools

“we had a nickname when I was your age for the guard taught in interrogation” He smiled wickedly “He was called ‘The Farrier’”

Shining Armour chuckled nervously “Who was trained in interrogation?”

Strong Shield’s smile faded “I’ll give you a clue” he hummed slightly “If you take that sharp metal spike, rammed it under my hoof and used the large metal file as leverage to snap it off, I would be unconscious for five to twenty minutes”

Shining Armour looked at the sharp metal spike and levitated it using his magic, a bead of sweat ran down the side of his head as he nervously began floating it over to the black hoof

Strong Shield smirked as the metal made contact, as it touched him he whipped his hoof, catching the spike inside the lock of the restraint, Shining Armour instinctively tried to snatch the spike back but it resulted in breaking the lock from the captive guard

“Thank you captain” Strong Shield punched the shocked Shining Armour in the throat, he collapsed to the floor as the sudden lack of air caused him to pass out

The ex-guard removed the magical shackle from his horn so he could levitate the spike to break the other locks “Oh that felt so good” he sighed at he checked Shining Armour for a pulse “You will be fine”

Strong Shield looked around his small prison “time for testing” he sighed as he opened the door and concealed himself from the busy room, he levitated the unconscious captain and threw him into the barracks

The ponies all followed the path of the unconscious guard as he crashed over the table, the girls and guards all gasped as he didn’t get up, Celestia turned back to the small prison and found it empty "A distraction" she muttered angrily

“I never thought my career would spiral to this” Strong Shield sighed as he stood by an open window, everyponies gaze turned as he leapt out

“Get him!” Celestia ordered and four pegasi guards darted out of the window after the falling unicorn

Strong Shield aimed headfirst for the ground, he heard the telltale sound of wings flapping as he picked up speed “You forget Princess” Strong Shield smirked “I trained them all”

His horn glowed and he teleported between the pegasi, he kicked two with his back hooves into the castle and the other two in the throat causing them to spiral away “Classic pursuit formation” he chuckled as he teleported again

He appeared in the barracks, still flying at his falling speed, he tackled Celestia before vanishing again in a flash of light

“What the hay was that?” Applejack stood from Shining Armour’s side

Luna growled angrily “That was a professional at work”

“Well let’s go after them!” Rainbow Dash jumped into the air

“Where? Strong Shield has safe houses all over Equestria it would take longer to find him than it would to find Dave” Luna sat down irritably “We have to wait”

Twilight returned to holding Shining Armour’s head until he snapped awake, he coughed slightly as he rubbed his sore throat

“I don’t think he wanted to retire” He groaned as he sat up

Meanwhile…

Strong Shield released Celestia and rolled to the side as she fired a blast of magic where he was, “Where am I?” she growled

Strong Shield wiped some dirt from his chest “Your old home, Everfree forest”

“Why here?” Celestia rose an eyebrow

“Furthest I could teleport us both with out me passing out with effort” Strong Shield looked around the ruins “I need something from you”

“What’s that?” Celestia didn’t retreat as Strong Shield stepped over

“I need you to promise that you will put Dave first, and that if you wont make him do anything that he doesn’t want to” Strong Shield snarled slightly “like that ridiculous harem”

Celestia sighed as she nodded “I promise”

“Good because” Strong Shield brought his head close to Celestia’s “If he gets hurt again I will make sure you suffer”

Celestia frowned, she didn’t fear the old guard but she didn’t want to find out what he could do, after all he had just broken out of a secure prison, kidnapped her away from all her guards and her sister with out much trouble

Meanwhile…

Dave wiped the sweat from his forehead “So what are we gonna do when we get to the top?” he asked as he found another few gaps he could place his hands

“how should I know? You chose this path” Odio sighed happily “I am quite liking this whole arrangement of me sitting inside you, playing games”

“Woo hoo” Dave cheered sarcastically “I think I’m making good time”

“Yeah so long as Alduin doesn’t knock you down again” Odio chuckled as Dave heard a roar

Dave turned to see a blue dragon flying at him, he threw himself upwards and the dragon crashed into the rocks where he once was

“A DRAGON MIGRATION?” Dave gasped in horror “Fuck this”

“It’s a long way down, at least at the top you can fight back” Odio suggested as the dragon pulled it’s head from the rock and roared loudly at Dave

“Well shit” Dave sighed as he began to climb quickly, the dragon managed to close the gap between them easily

The dragon swiped at Dave, he let go of the mountain to avoid the claw and landed on it’s face, the dragon attempted to snap at Dave but he fell further and grabbed onto one of it’s spikes on its back

“Whoa… that is a long way down” Dave whistled as he saw the long drop

The dragon spread its wings and took to the air, Dave held on as it flew up the mountain and barrel rolled

Dave lost his grip and was thrown to the ground, he pushed himself up as the dragon landed, it wasn’t as large as the one Dave met near Appleoosa but it still towered over Dave

Dave looked around, the top of the mountain was wide and it dipped in places making this perfect for dragons to take shelter with their loot in the various caves

“So I take it that I’m not welcome” Dave sighed as the dragon paced towards him “Listen I’m gonna make this simple, you fuck off and I wont hurt you” he smiled sweetly

The dragon roared as it charged, Dave sighed and began running forwards as well, as the dragon lunged, jaws open, Dave jumped and stomped on it’s eye

The dragon groaned as it charged blindly into the rocky wall and Dave laughed as it slammed heavily against the rock

The dragon turned and snarled, it stood to it’s full height and opened it’s jaw, the back of it’s mouth began to glow as a fire began to emerge

Dave stopped laughing and looked around for cover, when he saw none he gulped, “This is gonna hurt” he braced his arms in front of his eyes

Dave heard a roar then a loud snap followed by a loud moaning of a dragon, Dave slowly opened his eye to see the blue dragon clutching its jaw and the large green dragon glaring down at it

“I would never had expected to see you again” a familiar green dragon looked down at Dave

Dave smiled “Hey how’s the diamond?”

“It… is a long story” The green dragon snarled before taking a few calming breaths “So what are you doing here?”

“Getting some fresh air” Dave shrugged “Actually I am just leaving the pony civilization behind and I was just walking in a random direction”

“Well the strings of fate seem to have become tangled in your claws” The dragon fell to his four claws so he could look at Dave better

Dave thought about what the dragon had said before going “What?”

The dragon rolled it’s eyes “You seem to have a lot happening to you at the moment”

“Heh no kidding” Dave chuckled as he scratched his head “so what have you been up to since I left you?”

“After I told the elder of what happened I was… encouraged to give the diamond away” The green dragon snarled

Dave looked around at the other dragons that slept around the mountain peak “I thought that dragons were greedy… no offence”

The green dragon shook his claw “None taken… some of the older dragons learned that those that can cast aside their greedy ways can serve a higher purpose”

“So have you been chosen to become generous?” Dave removed his bag from his back and used it as a seat

“Yes they are called the enlightened” The dragon rolled his eyes “I am only six thousand years old and apparently because I have witnessed true generosity I have potential”

“I just gave you the gem so you would leave” Dave chuckled “So if I offered you a biscuit would you become a religious icon?”

The dragon yawned, it’s hot breath rolled over Dave “It doesn’t work like that but the oldest one is about seventy thousand years old, his siblings have started to die so he is recruiting”

Dave shook his head “Sorry to interrupt but what is your name?”

“Name? I have had no need for a name” The dragon scratched his chin

“PAARTHURNAX!” Odio screamed “Please for me suggest that name”

Dave facepalmed as he regretted giving an immortal being video games “how about… Adamas?”

“FUCK YOU!” Odio yelled and he mumbled quietly in an angry mood

The dragon hummed “That will do… Adamas” he repeated it a few times before finally laying his head down again “You may roam around as you wish, I will find you when I need to go see the elder”

“Yeah it can’t be too hard finding a hairless ape amongst dragons” Dave groaned as he stood up “Can I leave my bag with you?”

“Hmm… yes” Adamas closed his eyes “actually I can smell you pretty easily… no offence”

“Yeah I’m gonna put that down to dragons have good senses” Dave waved over his shoulder as he walked away “See you in a bit then”

Some of the dragons looked between Dave and Adamas, they returned to their coiled slumbers as Dave walked towards one of the lower sections of the mountain top

As he walked Dave began to hear cheering, loud, aggressive cheering “Well it sounds like someone is having fun” he smiled as he turned a boulder and saw a group of dragons, the smallest being a little taller than him

“Hang on didn’t Spike mention something about teenage dragons?” Dave scratched his head as a tall red one began wrestling a skinny grey one

Odio grumbled “Yeah something like that… I am still annoyed about the dragon’s name”

“Well I thought it would be a bit lazy to just rip off a game” Dave chuckled “you know? Like what you are doing with every other word out your foggy mouth”

“At least when I talk it is funny!” Odio sighed “Besides you’re just mad that I can play them and you can’t”

“Whatever” Dave groaned, he rubbed his eyes

“Hey what’s that?” a fat dragon yelled as he pointed at Dave

Dave looked up, the dragons all gave quizzical looks, Dave rolled his eyes as he walked over “Hey I’m Dave, human, seventeen so odds are I’m your age and I have freaky ass super strength and healing”

The dragons laughed “Wow strength?” the red one wiped a tear from his eye “I want to see that”

He leaned forwards to poke Dave, he smiled as he grabbed the claw and twisted it violently around, the dragon yelped and Dave kicked his legs from beneath him

“Point proven?” Dave raised an eyebrow at the panting dragon “Or do I need to break it?” he twisted the claw slowly to exaggerate his point

“Ok, ok I get it!” The red dragon said quickly and Dave released him “I guess you are tough, where are you from?”

“Another world” Dave chuckled “needless to say I don’t think I’m going anywhere”

The lanky dragon stepped beside the red dragon “So what are you doing here? Amongst dragons I mean”

“Well I guess I’m visiting a friend” Dave scratched his chin as he looked back the way he came “besides that I am just looking for somewhere to stay”

“Well you seem cool enough” The red dragon crossed his arms “If you like you can crash with us”

Dave smiled “Sure thanks” he chuckled as the red dragon rubbed his knuckles heavily on Dave’s skull

“Up for a game of king of the hoard?” The fat dragon began running towards a big pile of gems

Dave gawped at the large tower of sparkling gems “well this looks good so far”

A few hours later…

“Fuck you, you son of a bitch!” Dave growled as he held the fat dragon’s head under the lava, the droplets splashed against Dave’s skin but was quickly healed

“Well at least this hate is giving my batteries a charge” Odio sighed as he continued to let Dave drown the dragon

“Dude he said he was sorry!” The red dragon held his hands up in innocence as Dave glared at him

Dave pulled the dragon’s scaled head from the lava and it took a deep breath of air, followed by Dave’s palm

“I passed this fucker a gem and he ate three of my fingers!” Dave reached up to his shoulder before three loud cracks ran out “Bingo!”

Dave removed his sticky arm and punched the fat dragon with his healing hand, the red dragon and the skinny one exchanged nervous glances as Dave’s fingers twisted back to normal

The fat one crawled away and Dave frowned at him “Next time look first before you eat you fat fuck!” Dave shook his head as he massaged his healed hand

“So… I take it you don’t want to spy on the girl dragons the next mountain over” The red one chuckled

Dave rolled his eyes “Nah you can… I’ve had enough of females”

“You’re going gay?” Odio gasped

“No it’s just… I kinda… you know what I mean” Dave facepalmed “I am just trying to get Celestia off my mind and all this talk of women isn’t helping”

“You know what you need?” Odio sighed “to respawn”

“Wow you really are obsessed” Dave paused “Well technically I already have but that doesn’t change anything”

“Last time you ahem… died” Odio cleared his imaginary throat “you had a serious revamp and now look! Nopony is telling you what to do!”

“Except you” Dave groaned

“Hey!” Odio yelled “I offer helpful suggestions”