Chapter 63

Dave leaned against the castle wall, staying far enough away from the guards so he could start a conversation with the being in his mind “Can you shed light on why the alicorns here have no neutral feelings?”

“Celestia loves you, Luna’s obsessed and Cadence is jealous” Odio chuckled “You know how to impress women don’t you?”

Dave rubbed his neck as he thought about Odio’s evaluations, “I agree on the first two but why would Cadence be jealous?” Dave hummed as he watched the birds fly in the sky “Could it be that Celestia and I are trying for a child?”

“BINGO!” Odio cheered, “Also the fact you resisted her love spell must have pissed her off” Odio chuckled as he swirled against Dave’s mind and seeped into his body “Her happiness carries a small amount of doubt”

“Her and Shining Armour look perfect together” Dave sighed, “Where is the doubt? I mean she could always find ways to make their love stronger”

Odio had to agree with Dave “Yeah but Shining Armour was brainwashed by the queen of the changelings for quite some time” Odio chuckled “I personally think that something happened”

Dave shook his head “I doubt that Shining would sleep with her with all the security they had on at the time” Dave paused as the gates opened but only a few guards marched out, calming his nerves “He is the captain of the guard, he wouldn’t do anything that risky”

“He lost his virginity to her on Twilight’s bed,” Odio said in a serious tone that did not carry any hint that he was joking

Dave laughed before stopping “Wait… are you serious?” he gasped but his shocked face disappeared as the gate opened again and Luna stepped out. The princess of the night did not see Dave from his position away from the gates and she sighed sadly

The human hesitated as he saw Luna step to the side of the road, avoiding the guards until she was away. She looked for Dave again but he had ducked behind a bush that allowed him a perfect view. When the princess of the night could not see her friend, she used magic to bring a small mirror into existence in front of her face.

Dave suddenly noticed the makeup that enhanced her features, the scent of her perfume just managing to drift into Dave’s nostrils. She removed her hoof from her regalia so she could check the makeup around her eyes

She sighed, “What was that you said Dave?” She whispered to herself “I always look my best” she smiled before wiping the makeup off and restoring her face to normal

Dave looked away while he composed himself. After a few breaths he jogged out and over to the dark alicorn “Hey Luna” he smiled weakly as she turned to look at him

“Hello Dave” Luna disposed of her small mirror “So where in Canterlot do you want to go?” she stood but didn’t get any closer to Dave

The clueless human shrugged “Well I am stuck on that one detail… actually I know where we can go” Dave began to walk past the princess and caught another whiff of her smell. “It isn’t Canterlot though”

“Where then?” Luna had to quickly trot after the quick human, nodding at the ponies that bowed. The excitement of adventure suddenly made Luna break out into a full run, Dave smirked before running and soon both were running quickly for the edge of the city

As the suddenly laughing couple reached the towering gates, Luna knew what Dave was thinking and quickly flapped her large wings to get into the air. Dave waited until he was almost touching the gate before jumping and quickly ascending the wooden barrier, using his fingers to pull himself over the edge

Before Dave began to jump down the other side, Luna quickly clasped him in her hooves and pulled him into the air. Dave gasped as the ground rapidly shot away and his falling was turned into a rapid ascension.

“So where to?” Luna asked as she easily held Dave in her hooves. She held Dave tighter, not out of fear of dropping him but because Dave was letting her

Dave smirked “High, really high up” He looked over his shoulder and saw Luna wink.

“You got it” She smiled as she flapped her wings and rose above the clouds, startling some pegasi along the way. As they punched through a layer of cloud Dave laughed at how high they were, Luna meanwhile began to slow her flapping until they were merely hovering.

Luna flipped Dave around so they were facing each other and because Luna was holding him, their mouths rested a few inches apart “Listen Luna I am gonna ask something that you might have a problem with” Dave smirked

“Don’t worry Dave, I would do anything you asked me to” Luna quickly glanced at Dave’s lips

Dave leaned close to Luna’s ears “Let me go” he whispered. Luna looked at Dave in shock “At this height? Please don‘t kill yourself for me again” she begged but Dave shook his head

“No I was going to see if I could glide to Ponyville using my trench coat” Dave indicated to the dragonscale clothing “Then we can grab cupcakes, see how much the girls have calmed down and then get the train back”

Luna groaned before nodding “But if I think you are in trouble then I am going to catch you” Luna slowly forced her hooves open, smiling at Dave before he slipped from her grasp and she quickly tucked her wings in so she could pursue him

Dave fumbled with his trench coat before opening it like a squirrel suit. The speed downwards suddenly became a small inconvenience compared to his speed forwards. Luna glided past him, wings spread aside as she glanced back with a smile

Grinning, Dave tucked his arms in and managed to do a small spin before righting himself. Luna laughed and did a small front flip in the air, her dark crown fell from her head and passed by Dave’s head. They both looked at each other with a grin before spiralling down to race for the crown

Dave and Luna quickly chased after the crown as they saw the town of Ponyville below. Luna flapped her wings so she got ahead of Dave, he responded by grabbing her flowing tail and pulling himself into the lead again. They both fought over the spot to capture the crown first but as they playfully struggled against each other, they forgot to consider the ground

Luna managed to scoop her crown back using her horn, cheering she opened her wings and levelled out again. She turned to see Dave still speeding to the ground, her eyes shot open as she noticed Dave flip in the air before landing feet first

A cloud of dirt concealed Dave as he touched the ground, a tinge of red crackling energy bounced between the small stones tossed in the air and Luna quickly used her magic to blow the dirt out of her vision

As the dust finally cleared, Luna gawped as she saw Dave smiling at her. “Well that test worked” he chuckled as he walked over, making sure his legs worked

“Test? What test?” Luna almost screamed in panic and anger. She would have slapped Dave if her hooves were not shaking from the shock

Dave shrugged “Strong Shield has been training me to control my anger, so I figure that if I got angry at the right time then I could survive falling from a height” he checked again and saw that his test was successful

Luna growled at Dave “Don’t you DARE think of doing that again!” she yelled. The sudden outburst of fury made Dave take a cautionary step back but Odio squirmed in pleasure at the new energy

“Hey I’m doing this to protect you and Celestia!” Dave responded, “Why aren’t you helping me out? Why do I have to trick you into helping me?” Dave openly pointed at the princess, his eyes easily made Luna shudder

“Because no matter how hard you fight, how hard you train or how hard you resist. He will get to you” Luna frowned as her tone dropped “He will get you in one way or another, today or next year”

Dave struggled to stop his fists from clenching “You seem to think that he is unstoppable” his eyes narrowed “What is he?”

Luna shuddered again as she sat down “He is pure, natural and patient” Luna sighed, “he got into my head and said things that made me do things my word nightmare couldn’t match” she held herself as if the evil was behind her

“L-Luna if you don’t want to talk it’s ok” Dave shook his head so he could focus again “I’m sorry I yelled” Dave looked towards Ponyville. His instincts told him to run as far away as he could, to run and hide. His attention was brought back to Luna as he heard her stand

The princess of the night checked her regalia “Celestia and I will tell you together when you return later” Luna avoided Dave’s eyes “I hope you have fun here” she held back her tears until she had teleported back into her bedroom

Dave meanwhile rubbed his eyes “That was incredibly stupid, risky and stupid” Odio spat “That outburst on landing was almost enough to reveal me!”

“Whatever” Dave groaned, as he walked towards Ponyville “Let’s just say hello to Spike so I can get the hell out of here” He stormed off in the direction of Sugarcube Corner in hopes he could find them there

Meanwhile…

Twilight finally released the magical bonds that were keeping three of her friends in place “Now I am going to say this one more time, we are going to talk!” she sat down with a frown

Rainbow Dash reluctantly sat down “Dave made his choice, he doesn’t want to be with any of us” The Pegasus crossed her hooves “Why aren’t you angry huh?”

“Because I… because” Twilight shook her head “That doesn’t matter, what matters is that we all find a way to get along” The purple unicorn frowned at the three more stubborn of her friends “Now I want us all to respect Dave’s choice and forgive him”

Applejack shook her head “Now ah can’t do that Twilight, Dave made a promise to always be with us” she avoided eye contact with the others as they all knew that it was a lie

“Look what he has done to us!” Rarity gasped, “We have all been at each others throats and made ourselves look like complete fools” the white unicorn waited for her friends to all nod “That is why we have to take drastic action to make sure this never happens again”

“D-drastic action?” Fluttershy whispered from behind her mane. Rainbow Dash and Applejack nodded in agreement whilst Pinkie and Twilight exchanged nervous glances

“I call a vote” Rarity held her head high “I vote we never speak to Dave again unless it is important” She held up her hoof and so did Applejack and Rainbow Dash

Twilight gasped, “That is completely ridiculous! We have to talk to sort this problem out, not push it out the way!” Twilight groaned as she held up her hoof, “I vote we sort this out properly”

Pinkie also held up her pink hoof “I agree with Twilight, we can’t just kick Dave out” all eyes fell to Fluttershy who squeaked as she became the centre of attention “What do you think Fluttershy?”

“I… don’t want to disappoint anypony” She nervously played with her hooves “If I vote to see Dave then I lose friends and if I vote to leave Dave then I lose my other friends” she closed her eyes in concentration “I don’t want to lose anypony. I’m not voting”

“Three beats two” Rainbow nodded “Dave doesn’t exist for all I care” she glared at Twilight “And if you think I will change my mind then you are in for a big surprise” The Pegasus got up and headed for the door “You coming girls?”

Applejack and Rarity eagerly followed the cyan Pegasus out of Sugarcube Corner leaving Twilight, Pinkie and Fluttershy to give each other nervous glances.

The three leaving ponies were too focused on glaring forwards to notice the disheartened human standing next to the door. He heard the entire conversation and stared blankly at the ground.

“I guess I’m pissing everypony off” Dave sighed as he walked away from the candy shop “So I am not welcome in Ponyville apparently and I can’t seem to do anything right by Luna” he dropped his head as he walked to the train station, taking the back streets so he reduced the chances of meeting anypony

“Listen to me Dave” Odio’s tone was more sympathetic “the ponies of this world will never understand you nor will they try to be your equal” the entity in Dave’s mind growled, “They fight what is better than them, evil or good”

Dave shook his head “But I am not better than them” he sighed “Me and Celestia get on perfectly well, granted we had a few mishaps but the relationship is getting better”

“You say relationship like it is going to last” Odio grumbled to himself “But the reason Celestia likes you is because of…” Dave cut him off be raising his hand

“Because of my powers I know… but they are your powers you are giving to me” Dave shook his head “All I can do is resist magic” He kicked a stone as he walked

Odio groaned in agreement “Not forgetting that energy sponge in your head” Odio rolled around Dave’s mind. Dave reached the train station and sat down on one of the benches

“So what about you? You give me these powers, keep me alive” Dave checked to make sure nopony was listening “I understand that you are hiding in me from forces more powerful than you but why stay?”

“I don’t need to stay anymore to be honest Dave” Odio sighed “but I have kinda grown attached to you, not in a spiritual or physical way but as in I like talking to you”

Dave chuckled “So I am your friend?”

“For the first time in my life I have a friend” Odio shook as his cloud of hate sparked a small beam of blue light “But that won’t change anything I’m afraid” he sighed “I had a plan when I arrived but you do what you do best and change everything”

Dave rubbed his nose “Well I try” he joked “But I want to get rid of this impending doom out of the way” Dave sighed as he shuffled his feet “Good thing we are alone so we can talk”

“Yeah but it also means that the evil can get close ooooOOOOoooo” Odio chuckled “Seriously though it is the princesses’ opinions that it is evil”

“Yeah the dragon elder said it made a mistake last time it was here but I wonder if…” Dave paused as the pieces in his mind clicked together

Odio’s chuckling stopped “Ah finally you catch on Dave” his normal joking tone replaced with a seriousness “Although I thought you would have caught on sooner, the facts have been in front of you for quite some time”

“The evil made a mistake and was banished” Dave held his head “You made a mistake and was banished” Dave shot to his feet “The coming storm wasn’t the return on the evil! It was you regaining your strength!”

Odio clapped slowly “Congratulations Dave you win top prize!” Odio resumed to his normal self “So do you want to play games next time you go to sleep?”

“You are going to kill Celestia! And Luna!” Dave growled “But I won’t let you”

Odio groaned, “If I wanted Celestia dead then she would already be worm food”

Dave paused “Explain before I yell your name out” he still tensed his body as he prepared to take any action he could

“You slept with Celestia many times, while you both slept I could have killed you both” Odio made a valid point “Last time I was here, granted I may have put some idea’s in Luna’s head that slowly made her a tad crazy”

Dave sat down again “So why did you possess me and bring me here?”

“Needed a vessel to return in and I need the special hatred and anger that the ponies here produce” Odio sighed “No offence but human anger is a bit… impure”

“Impure? Well if it gets me a free ride to another world then I can’t complain,” Dave chuckled “Ok, I’ll let you stay on one condition”

Odio swirled in curiosity “What is it?”

“Pinkie promise that you aren’t going to kill Celestia or Luna” Dave folded his arms “Or I’m telling”

Odio sighed “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye” the phrase but Dave’s mind at ease but the next part shocked him “that also includes mild physical harm and no permanent, magical imprisonment”

“Wow you really don’t want to kill Celestia” Dave was still expecting a pink blur to come crack his skull open and strangle Odio with a party streamer

“Heh what can I say?” Odio chuckled “I guess I have gotten a little soft, being friends with the princess’ coltfriend”