Chapter 55

Odio stood calmly in the middle of the room, the roof made from bamboo and the walls from plain wood, his long silver katana posed by his face

As he braced himself a ninja descended from the roof behind him while two more rushed from in front. With his blade he spun and slashed the head from the foe behind him before dancing with his blade and slicing his enemies that stood together

In his attack, Odio failed to notice the new enemies that joined the fight and they quickly proceeded to stab and slash at his back

“FUCKING NINJA GAIDEN!” Odio yelled, causing Dave to flinch

“Give it a rest will you?” Dave groaned “All I've been hearing is ‘fucking insane difficulty’ or ‘motherfucking piece of green shit on a stick will you stop blowing up my house’”

Odio sighed loudly “I keep telling you that my Minecraft creations are pieces of art and deserve respect!”

“Yeah I’ll bet” Dave chuckled “They aren't just you writing ‘I am great!’ onto the side of a wall are they?”

“Umm… no not at all, heh heh” Odio’s laugh was fake but Dave didn't catch on

Dave nodded along “Well I hope you save regularly”

“Of course! It is always good to be prepared” Odio swirled calmly before yelling loudly “THERE IS A REASON YOU DON’T SHOW UP WHEN IT IS DAYTIME!”

“Ok Odio calm down” Dave attempted to stop the loud voice in his head

“NO DAVE!” Odio yelled angrily “This fucktard only shows up at night because it is an ugly fucker that was rejected by his parents and he assumes blowing up some random guy and his house is a great way to make up being a fucking mistake!”

“Are you alright?”

“Yes I’m fine… why wouldn’t I be?” Odio responded in a much calmer tone “Anyway the lizard and the one eyed unicorn are almost at Canterlot”

Dave scanned the sky and saw Adamas as a faint blur in the distance “Strong Shield is riding him?”

“More like holding on for dear life but… yeah basically” Odio sniffed loudly “Rest in peace Mr Snuffles”

“Mr snuffles?” Dave chuckled “Please don’t tell me you are holding a funeral to your dead wolf”

“He was more than a wolf… he was a friend and faithful companion” Odio cried quietly “And he will never be replaced in my heart”

“You don’t have a heart,” Dave groaned

Odio laughed “Oh yeah!”

Dave rolled his eyes as he saw the train coming and waved to the driver as he jumped aboard “Hello again”

“We have to stop meeting like this,” The driver joked as Dave made his way into the cartridge

Meanwhile…

“Alright land on the eastern side of the castle runway,” Strong Shield yelled against the wind to Adamas

“Eastern side?” Adamas called “I’m a dragon not one of your fancy balloons”

“Just land on the long flat bit” Strong Shield groaned before clutching onto the dragon as he dived forwards

Adamas landed gently before being surrounded by guards “No offence but what do you think pointed sticks are going to do to me?”

“It’s ok everypony!” Strong Shield called as he jumped down “He is with me”

“We are going to need proof that you are allowed in unfortunately” one of the guards shrugged

Adamas roared loudly “Good enough?”

“Yep that will do” the guards slowly walked away until a flash of light revealed Princess Luna “Your highness!” he saluted along with the other guards

Luna shooed the guards away and turned back to Adamas and Strong Shield “Hello again both of you”

“Good morning your majesty” Strong Shield saluted out of habit “Adamas and I are to assist Dave with his training”

“Ah of course” Luna nodded and rose an eyebrow to Strong Shield’s salute “Does Dave know Celestia removed you?”

Strong Shield shook his head as he lowered his hoof “I said I retired”

“Why would you lie?” Luna frowned “Wouldn’t you like your son to know?”

“It is better this way” Strong Shield turned away slightly, “If Dave found out Celestia sacked me then he wouldn’t be too happy”

“I suppose not” Luna shook her head before holding her head high again “Will there be anything else you require?”

Strong Shield looked up at Adamas “I think we will be fine for now”

Luna nodded to the unicorn and dragon before returning to the castle, Adamas snorted at the leaving guards before turning to Strong Shield

“So what shall I assist with?” The dragon lied down to listen to Strong Shield

“Well I have an intense regime planned” Strong Shield tapped his chin “That is if Celestia allows him to train through the night”

“Why would she have a problem? I mean she only mates with him at night… oh” Adamas answered his own question and rolled his eyes “She has a serious problem”

“Alicorns are the most powerful things around, infinite energy” Strong Shield chuckled “So it is right to assume that the effort required with mating doesn’t apply to her”

Adamas rose his eyelids “So all pleasure?”

“Indeed” Strong Shield nodded

Meanwhile…

Dave shook his legs as he stepped off the train “Thanks again” He called to the driver as he walked into the streets

Dave walked along the white streets and past the posh and rich population of Canterlot city, they still shot glares at him as he stopped for a moment

“So what do you reckon Strong Shield and Adamas have in store for me?” Dave scratched the back of his head as he looked up at the castle

“I don’t know” Odio grumbled

Dave rolled his eyes as he continued walking “So you can predict the future but can’t tell what is happening the other side of a wall?”

“Nopony can predict the future” Odio sighed, “I only showed you what would happen if everything keeps going as they are”

“So if I didn’t get stronger then I would be dead soon” Dave frowned “And that grey alicorn would be around”

“Something like that” Odio hummed “Actually you might as well stick with the idea that I can predict the future”

“Who was that grey alicorn anyway?” Dave growled, “He seemed too close to Celestia for my comfort”

“So when you die you want Celestia to live alone?” Odio sounded happy “You want her to wallow in misery for the rest of eternity?”

“Well I… no I want her to be happy” Dave relaxed his clenched fists “I just wish she hadn’t moved on that quickly”

“Well after the experiences you have given her I imagine she has gained a taste for pleasures of the flesh” Odio chuckled “You should be thankful that you were the first to pleasure her”

“Woo hoo I was the first” Dave shook his head “I don’t intend to be a memory just yet”

Dave reached the castle gates and nodded to the guards “So what has been going on since I left?”

“Not much” A guard responded “But we wouldn’t like to be you”

“Why?” Dave noticed a reflection in the guard’s golden armour and turned to see a large green claw

Dave could not avoid it as he was plucked from the ground and thrown over the castle wall and onto the hard ground of the castle runway

Strong Shield sat at the side with a drink and a newspaper “Day one, survive getting attacked by a dragon” he called to Dave

Dave climbed to his feet and removed his trench coat “And you are happy with Adamas and me fighting?”

“Dragons can take a beating better than most” Strong Shield looked up “Besides it was my idea that he beats you around a bit”

Dave tossed his coat over to the unicorn “If you are looking for a good dad award then that isn’t how you go about it”

Adamas stretched his arms “We aren’t in a cave so I can be a much harder foe to defeat”

“Yeah well I have gotten stronger since then” Dave braced himself “So how should we do this?”

“No flames and no weapons” Strong Shield called “Just get on with it”

Dave looked over at the unicorn “I’m sorry do you want to fight the dragon?” he joked

Adamas took advantage of Dave’s distraction, wrapped his tail around his legs, and lifted him into the air “Never look away from your opponent”

Dave smiled “And make sure that you always cover everything” Dave responded as he reached up and wrapped his arms around the scaled tail and squeezed

“Argh” Adamas released Dave and shook his tail “That is beginning to hurt”

“What are you going to do?” Dave chuckled but stopped as the tail began to quickly descend towards the ground

Dave’s back smashed into the ground and released his grasp on Adamas’ tail, which was followed by the dragon clenching a claw and punching down onto the already broken human

“How many bones are broken?” Adamas looked over at Strong Shield, not noticing Dave had grabbed a rock from the cracked ground and held it above his head

As Adamas looked back down, Dave punched through the rock sending stones into the dragon’s large eyes “I would tell you to have a look but obviously you have a small problem there”

“Nice adaptation technique but I wouldn’t think that the tall terror is at a disadvantage” Odio sighed “His sense of smell is better”

Dave leapt backwards to avoid a claw crashing down where he once was “Ok I’m sorry about the stones but are you trying to kill me?”

“Yes he is” Strong Shield called before returning to his newspaper “seven letters, disloyal and acts against friends”

“Traitor?” Dave called as he continued to avoid swipes “Was I right?”

“Yes” Strong Shield’s horn glowed as he placed a rock behind Dave’s feet and caused him to trip and fall onto his back “Stab him!” he called to Adamas

Adamas managed to open an eye and instantly lunged for Dave with a large claw, it whistled through the air before Dave managed to stop it with his hands

“How long is this going on for?” Dave asked as his hands began to bleed clutching the sharp blade nearing his stomach “Seriously!”

Strong Shield finished his drink “Until you manage to hold Adamas down for three seconds”

“How the fuck am I supposed to do that?” Dave resisted harder as the claw began to scratch his skin

“Dave!” Luna called as she stepped outside and saw the struggle “What is going on?” she yelled at Strong Shield

“Training” the unicorn responded, “Dave is doing adequate”

Luna shook her head “Well I am stopping this right now!” her horn began to glow and a bolt fired at Adamas, who had no chance of avoiding

Dave saw the bolt and released the claw, allowing it to cut him deeply across his side as he lunged upwards and into the path of the blast

As the magic made contact it knocked Dave into Adamas and sent them both flying against the castle walls, Strong Shield shook his head as Luna gasped and ran over

“Dave I am so sorry are you ok?” Luna leaned closer to Dave’s limp body that was sprawled across Adamas’ leg

Adamas groaned, “His magical resistance didn’t help the blast” the dragon shook his leg and Dave rolled onto the floor “And it certainly didn’t help him”

Luna looked at the deep cut that removed most of Dave’s middle “Why would he do that?”

“Because you were going to hurt his friend” Strong Shield walked over and tapped Dave’s head with a hoof

Luna turned to the retired guard with fury in her eyes “this isn’t training! This is ridiculous!”

“If Dave didn’t think this would help then he could easily stop us,” Strong Shield sighed “that is what we want him to do, to stand up to everypony and take control of his life”

“What?” Luna shook her head “it sounds like you want him to fight everypony and take control of more than his own life”

Strong Shield returned a glare to Luna “What are you insinuating? That I am trying to get him to fight you?”

“No I just don’t want Dave to think that fighting solves everything” Luna laid down next to Dave’s body

Strong Shield began to trot away “Fight or sacrifice” he indicated to Adamas to follow “Only those two things solves anything”

Luna remained by Dave’s weakly breathing head as the wounds across his body slowly healed