Chapter 67

Shining Armour sat outside his bedroom door, listening to the soft crying of his wife “Are you alright?” He called softly “I will have a word with Dave in the morning”

“Don’t bother!” Cadence yelled before returning to her pillow “if he wasn’t around then there would be no threat!”

Shining opened his mouth to say more reassuring words but a knock from his front door stopped him. He stood, wobbling slightly from being on his flank so long and made his way to the door

He opened it to reveal Dave with his head hung low “Hey Shining… is Cadence in?” He sighed

“She doesn’t want anything else to do with you” Shining glared “And frankly I am not happy with the way you talked to my wife” His eyes attempted to warn Dave off

Dave nodded “I came to apologise to you both” He let out a long sigh before continuing “I had some bad stuff going on and I wasn’t thinking strait”

Shining looked into Dave’s deeply apologetic face and groaned, “If I even think you are going to do anything, I will throw you out” he warned

Dave followed the white unicorn upstairs and over to the bedroom door, Dave nodded and stepped in. “I said I didn’t want to be…” He gaze rose from the bed and she looked at Dave “What do you want?”

“I came to apologize” Dave sighed “For what I said and for anything else I have done” He looked at his feet “I won’t bother with excuses because it was all my fault anyway”

Cadence opened her mouth but she slowly closed it again. She looked at the sad human and slowly allowed a smile to creep across her face. “That is it”

“Huh?” Dave asked as he looked up at a surprisingly happy Cadence “What’s up?”

Cadence trotted over to Dave and tapped his chest “That is why she loves you” Cadence shook her head “I couldn’t see why but now… I get it”

Dave rose an eyebrow and Shining stepped into the room, being cautious that nothing bad was going to happen. Dave looked down at Cadence’s hoof “Yeah but I don’t” he shrugged

“Princess Celestia has always held herself together for the good of Equestria, she always had Luna to share her problems with” Cadence’s smile grew “But she never had anypony to share herself with and for them to do the same”

“So I broke down her emotional barriers?” Dave shrugged again, “That makes it seem like I tricked her”

Cadence shook her head “You don’t understand, you would do anything for Celestia. Correct?” her smile grew as Dave nodded “And why is that?”

“Because it is Celestia,” Dave said as if it was the most obvious question in the world

Cadence moved towards Shining but still addressed Dave “And what do you want in return for your affections?” She gazed into the ponies eyes as they both smiled

“Well I suppose I just want Celestia to be as happy as she makes me” Dave looked away from the married couple “I want to make her smile, to have her know that she was truly loved and… to know that she will never be alone so long as I’m around” Dave chuckled as he looked back “I’m sure you can probably figure it out but… I AM STILL HERE!” Dave gasped

Cadence had Shining Armour’s horn buried in her mouth, a thin line of saliva running along its length. Shining panted heavily as he spoke “Sorry Dave… Cadence gets a little…whew…. Excited when somepony talks about love”

Cadence pulled Shining out of her mouth and massaged her jaw “Sorry, true love is a wondrous thing and what you just said made me want to ride Shining like a chariot!” she blushed heavily as she realized Dave was gawping and Shining was staring at the ground “I apologize for the way I have treated you too Dave” Cadence held out a hoof “Friends?”

Dave reached for the hoof but paused “Has that been washed recently?” He asked as Cadence shot him a glare “Ok friends” The group smiled as Dave rubbed his hand in Shining’s mane and headed for the door “I will see you both some other time”

“So…” Shining shuffled his hooves “are we getting the equipment out this time or what?”

Meanwhile…

Nurse Redheart placed her final piece of paperwork aside as a flash of light blew the stack over “Good afternoon your majesty” The mare bowed, ignoring the sudden chaos in the room

“Good afternoon Nurse Redheart” Celestia nodded so the earth pony could rise “Are you still willing to do the scan?” Her nervousness made her voice shake slightly

The smaller mare smiled “Of course Princess Celestia” Nurse Redheart took the princess through the empty hospital corridors and into the scanning room “Just lay back like last time”

The princess climbed onto the table before lying as straight as she could, her wings tucked in and head tipped back slightly so her horn did not catch on anything. “How accurate is this scan?” Celestia called to distract herself from the large machine opening near her head

“Depending on how far along you are with your pregnancy I would say it is very accurate” Nurse Redheart smiled warmly butting the princess’ mind at ease “Alright here we go,” She said enthusiastically as she pushed the start button

The princess held her breath as she was slowly slid into the large round machine and the noise began to echo in her ears. A few lights flickered on and off as Nurse Redheart adjusted a few dials. “You are doing great princess” She called again

Celestia stayed motionless until her table was smoothly slid out from the machine and the noise stopped. He face blushed red “So what happened?”

“Well…” Nurse Redheart removed a scan sheet full of colours that made Celestia stare “It appears that alicorn and human children may spend a little more time in the womb than normal ponies”

Celestia sighed before her head shot up “Wait how would you know if alicorn’s take longer to have a child?” Her curious frown quickly changed into a large grin “Am I?”

Nurse Redheart nodded “From what I can see, I know some congratulations are in order” She passed the princess the sheet “And I am sure that you and Dave will make great parents” She gasped as Celestia picked her up in a tight hug

“Thank you so much for your cooperation” Celestia smiled happily as her eyes began to water again “If there is anything you need then I shall help you to the best pf my abilities” She held the smaller pony in her hooves and Nurse Redheart merely tapped her softly

“Well I see that you must have somepony to inform” Nurse Redheart was released and she made sure her cap was still attached to her pink mane “But with a this child being born with an alicorn mother I would suggest that you come in again in a week so I can be sure and we can take precautions”

“Is there something wrong?” Celestia suddenly stared at the white nurse “If there is anything you need to help me then I can…” Nurse Redheart cut off the princess raising her hoof

“Everything is fine but…” She rolled her eyes nervously “There has never been a reported case of an alicorn giving birth or even going through pregnancy so there is a chance I could be wrong” She sighed at Celestia’s drooped ears “But I know what to look for and if I scan you next week then I can be exact”

The princess of the day nodded “Thank you so much for everything Nurse Redheart” The alicorn smiled as she stood “I will see you next week then” she vanished in a flash of white light and left Nurse Redheart alone in the hospital

The nurse looked around the room before rubbing her eyes “I’ll just write it in the appointment book shall I?”

Meanwhile…

Dave walked back into the castle with a smile on his face, he hummed quietly to himself but stopped as he turned a corner and stood in front of Strong Shield “Hello Dave” He said in a plain tone

“Hey dad how’s it going?” Dave smiled but his face dropped as Strong Shield let out an angry sigh “What have I done now?”

“You yelled at a princess, abandoned your training and now letting all of Equestria get in harm’s way” Strong Shield glared “There is another boulder outside and I want it broken by the end of tomorrow night” He barged past Dave as he went down the corridor and down some stairs

Dave took a breath to calm himself before continuing his walk “You know I am getting really sick of everypony demanding things all the time,” Dave said quietly

“Well I keep telling you that as long as you do what they say they will use you” Odio swirled around Dave’s mind “they either control or remove anything stronger than themselves”

“Where did you fit in?” Dave asked as he began climbing more stairs “Because all you did was say some words”

“Words have power” Odio chuckled “Just look at Skyrim haha… no laughter? Fine” Odio murmured to himself before continuing “but I couldn’t control myself back then so I accidentally said some words which made Luna go Nightmare”

Dave ran his fingers through his hair “So what was Equestria like back then?” Dave reached Celestia’s door and went in, making sure that the alicorn was not around

“They had the whole ‘we are happy with this gift our princess has bestowed us’ thing going on” Odio sighed “It was really, really annoying” A silence lasted between the pair until Dave removed his clothes and walked into the large bathroom “No drowning this time” Odio joked

Dave chuckled as he swam over to the waterfall and pushed his head through, allowing the water to massage his back “If you talked with Luna then you must have been friends… right?”

Odio groaned in various pitches before actually talking “Well I was more of a responsibility than a friend” The fog in Dave’s mind moved slowly as he thought back “My creation was their fault so they had to look after me”

“How were you created anyway? I guess it has to do with hatred” Dave swam to the edge of the pool so he could relax

“When they first used the elements of harmony against Discord they did it out of hatred for what he was doing to Equestria” Odio chuckled “As a by-product of their power I was formed as no more than a wisp of smoke”

Dave nodded gently “So I am guessing as you gained some power they became aware of your existence” Dave shrugged “So I guess I would be right in assuming you had no choice but to do as they said?”

“Yes they could have destroyed me and we wouldn’t be here now but it was Luna that convinced Celestia to give me a chance in life” Odio’s sounded vaguely disappointed “But she still helped her big sister send me away”

“So that is why you hate Celestia and dislike Luna” Dave realized “They both sent you away but Luna gave you the benefit of the doubt” Dave chuckled “Look how much good that did her”

“They both hate me now regardless of what happens” Odio sighed before flowing slightly more aggressively “I am a very strong believer in beings getting what they deserve”

Dave nodded gently “I bet you are” His conversation was cut short as he heard somepony enter into the bedroom “Celestia?” He called out as Odio faded into the darkness of his mind

The white alicorn stepped into the bathroom “Hello Dave” she smiled happily as she removed her regalia and joined Dave “I went for a scan today”

“Did you?” Dave stared at the princess “Was everything ok?” His voice grew with concern but it left as Celestia nodded

“The nurse doesn’t want to get out hopes up so I have to go again next week” Celestia nuzzled Dave’s shoulder “But she said that she might have seen something”

Dave’s jaw fell open but soon his lips curled into a smile “That’s wonderful” He wrapped his arms around Celestia “That is absolutely amazing”

“I know Dave but we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves” Celestia hated breaking the contact “I will go for this scan next week and we will find out then” She smiled at Dave as her eyes began to water “I love you,” she whispered

“I love you too,” Dave whispered back as his arms wrapped around Celestia again and held her close. She wrapped her hooves around Dave’s neck allowing the water to support them both as they held each other

Odio cheekily sent a tiny surge of energy through Dave’s body. A few bubbles left the human and his eyes shot open in shock. Celestia’s head rose and looked at the water in curiosity “What was that?”

“Umm… happy gas” Dave smiled as he made a mental note to kill Odio “We might want to go back into the bedroom” Dave suggested as he hoped to get out before the smell hit them. Celestia agreed and they both stepped out of the water

Celestia licked Dave’s cheek “Actually how about we make it more accurate and go straight for the bed?” Dave grinned as Celestia brushed gently against him “I’ll be waiting” She kissed Dave with a burning passion before leaving the bathroom

Dave smiled after the alicorn and whilst her back was turned rose a middle finger to the mirror “That plan backfired didn’t it?” he chuckled quietly as his reflection rolled his eyes angrily. Dave then returned to the task at hand and eagerly followed Celestia to the comfy bed