Chapter 66

Dave growled the entire time he marched away from the dinning room. He heard the door swing open and a crying Cadence run away with Shining Armour close behind her, trying his best to be reassuring

“Well Dave you performance was very well done” Odio chuckled “Well at least they know you aren’t happy, that you are going to stop training and move on with your life”

Dave rolled his eyes as his frown left and was replaced with a guilt-ridden sigh “I shouldn’t have yelled at Cadence like that” He rubbed his face “Celestia probably thinks I’m a dick right now”

Odio squirmed at the mentioning of the princess’ name “well it probably will last for as long as you keep this angry charade”

“I’ll go apologize later” Dave sighed as he dropped his head “Why does everypony hate me all of a sudden?”

“I don’t hate you” Odio said reassuringly “And I guess that the others are all angry that you don’t love them” The fog swirled in Dave’s mind “But the worst that can happen is that you go live in your house with me”

Dave shook his head “I won’t give up on Celestia, not now, not ever” He swore quietly as he reached Celestia’s bedroom and stepped in “I am going to apologize to everypony”

“Why? You have done nothing wrong, they are the ones with their panties in a twist” Odio protested, “Cadence provoked you, the girls all expected too much too fast and Strong Shield expects you to be a saviour”

Dave grumbled as he sat down on the edge of the bed. The sudden swirl in his head signalled Celestia was coming in. The human frowned the floor as helicon stepped in

Celestia glared at Dave “Explain what you just did” She commanded. Her voice was full of authority and anger. Dave didn’t need to look up to know she wasn’t smiling

“She provoked me” Dave growled, “You saw me contain myself but I wasn’t having that” his eyes rose to meet the princess “But what I want to know is why my father was sacked”

Celestia held her ground “I had every right to do it” She held her head high “He had reliable information on your whereabouts which he refused to give to me”

“So when I left he continued to protect me?” Dave gave a quick smirk “he did that so you sacked him?” he turned his back to the white princess

“I did that so I could find out where you were” Celestia didn’t allow her voice to shake “But right now I wish I hadn’t bothered trying to find you”

Dave snarled to himself “Why? Because you know that I would be foolish enough to come crawling back to you?” He kept his voice low as he awaited a response

Celestia shook her head “You know Dave I used to wonder why you played on my mind” She played with her hooves before looking up “But with the way you just acted I wonder why you even have the nerve to walk into my room without permission”

The human turned to look at the alicorn “Oh so when you need some pleasure the door is wide open but when I am being harassed I am not allowed near anypony?”

“Don’t you dare make yourself out to be the victim” Celestia frowned “If you want sympathy then go cry somewhere else” the princess held herself with respect and confidence as Dave’s face wavered

“I don’t want sympathy,” He mumbled, “I just wanted to be…” Dave did not finish as he walked over to the balcony doors “If I am such a pain in your side then why don’t you use the elements of harmony to get rid of me?”

Celestia kept staring at Dave “Because for some reason I don’t understand at the moment, I love you” Her eyes fell to the floor “and I never want to see you gone”

“Yeah well I’ll be dead in sixty years, that is probably a small time to you” Dave gritted his teeth “and for some reason you chose to try and have a child with me” Dave stared out the window at the blue sky

“I love you and I want to make your life as good as you make me feel” Celestia sighed as she sat down “But I have never been more sure of what we are doing” she looked back up at Dave’s back “Do you regret choosing me?”

“No” Dave said almost instantly “what would you do if somepony came along who you also loved? As much as you love me”

Celestia looked around the room a she spoke “Nothing because I would already be with you” she smiled slightly “Besides, I doubt I could love anypony more than a subject”

“Yeah… any pony” Dave growled as he felt Celestia’s eyes rest on him again “I just want everything to be ok” he tapped his head against the glass “I want to make everypony happy but that would make you unhappy”

“So you have to choose between me or everypony else?” Celestia smiled weakly “I doubt it is that straight forwards”

“The girls voted to never speak to me again, your sister is corrupted with jealousy and I just snapped at Cadence, bringing up the fact that her husband might have had an affair” Dave shook his head “In exchange I get you loving me for a short time before being mad at me”

Celestia shuffled uneasily as Dave looked at her with sad eyes “Everything will be sorted soon enough” the princess sighed

“Why do you want to have a child with me?” Dave stiffened his bottom lip “Why would you want a painful reminder of me for the rest of eternity?”

“Because I love you and want to cherish your memories” Celestia stood as she moved closer to Dave “I want to remember you and not let you fade into a memory or a photo in a book”

Dave chuckled “This supposed evil is coming to get me and use me to hurt you and Luna” He frowned “What is its name?”

“I don’t want to talk about that now” Celestia sighed as she moved closer again “I want to talk about how we can sort out this mess you have gotten yourself into”

Dave walked around her avoiding contact “Give me a name” He growled “What is it anyway? An evil monster, evil twin?”

“It was a side effect of defeating Discord” Celestia muttered before continuing the last subject “But I want to stop this arguing and sort this problem out”

The human rolled his eyes “I’m the problem maker not solver” Dave grumbled, “All I wanted was to make you happy but all I do is mess up” Celestia slapped the human across the face but his head didn’t move and his gaze didn’t waver “that isn’t going to work Princess”

Celestia moved closer to Dave “I told you to never call me that” she growled with a hint of sadness “I don’t want you to feel obliged to do anything”

Dave chuckled “Why do you think I have even been around this long?” Dave stared into Celestia’s hurt eyes “Everything I have done was to make you happy, I felt compelled because we loved each other”

“Dave I want you to either shut up or…” she paused as Dave tilted his head

“Or what? Leave? You know I will” Dave frowned “you lied about my dad, you allowed him to lie and now you say it was justified” He licked his dry lips as he talked “what would happen if I left again? You would burn my house down?”

Celestia walked over to the bed and sat on the edge “Do what you like Dave” She removed her crown and placed it next to her “I am not your princess, I have no control over you”

“No you don’t” Dave gazed at the floor “How you answer this next question means I will either leave or stay” his eyes met Celestia’s “would you love me if I was evil?”

Celestia shuddered as she looked at Dave’s vacant face. Eventually she shook her head “You would never be evil” Dave blinked before turning away and Celestia’s eyes fell shut

She heard the door open and slowly swing shut. She sobbed, quietly at first but eventually allowed all her built up sadness to turn into tears and noise. She crawled over to her pillow and wailed loudly into it, it soaked up her tears as they continued to flow

She sat up, looking down at her regalia. Snarling she pulled off her golden shoes and threw her necklace across the room. She dropped her head into her bare hooves and allowed herself to feel her sobbing face. Slowly she tipped backwards, meaning to collapse into her pillow again but instead was caught halfway and was cradled

She opened her eyes and saw she had landed in Dave’s arms as he sat on the bed. She closed her eyes again and sobbed into Dave’s chest as his fingers ran through her mane. She wrapped her hooves around him and held him tight, never wanting to let go

Dave held Celestia back, his own face remained dry as he sighed “I am so sorry Celestia” his voice trembled “I need you, please don’t hate me”

“I w-would never hate you” Celestia sobbed “P-please stay” she held Dave tighter as he gently stroked the side of her face

“I’m not going anywhere” He smiled happily “I will never leave you”

Celestia smiled “Pinkie promise?”

Dave chuckled weakly “Cross my heart and hope to fly… stick a cupcake in my eye” he kissed the top of Celestia’s head

“I want you to know that whatever happens… I love you” Celestia finally stopped crying and looked up at Dave’s eyes “Nothing, not even time itself will ever change that”

Dave smiled as Celestia reached up and planted a soft kiss on Dave’s lips. They both smiled at each other as they rested looking at each other. Celestia opened a wing and concealed the rest of the room form their vision. Dave could only see his Celestia and Celestia could only see her Dave

Meanwhile…

Adamas crawled into the elder’s cavern and stood upright “Elder I have returned” He announced unenthusiastically

“Ah Adamas” the large eye slowly opened, it gradually opened enough for the elder to see the young dragon “How is everything in Canterlot?”

“Dave has stopped training and he has become strangely… happy” Adamas shook his head “You told me that this evil was merging with Dave, slowly corrupting him”

The elder sighed “Dave can’t hold hatred off forever, but when he breaks you must keep them safe” His eye closed as he coughed

“Are you alright elder?” The young dragon looked with concern

The elder’s eye nodded “Just an old creature realizing how old he is” The elder said sadly “But you must return to Canterlot, make sure this plan goes ahead”

“But there has to be another way” Adamas pleaded “Being around the princesses only slows Dave’s transformation”

“I’m afraid not young one and you must not reveal that we know of Dave‘s burden” The elder sighed with regret before frowning at Adamas “Now are you going to make sure that the spirit of hate completes his plan? Stage one of three is almost done”

Adamas shuddered “If it is the only way” he slowly crawled back out of the cavern and took flight back towards Canterlot