Chapter 2

“So what was Dave like?”

Odio sighed as he twirled his thumbs “He was a gamer, played all sorts until I plucked him from this world” the spirit of hatred scratched his neck “not to mention a really understanding guy”

The therapist nodded “Just from what you told me, I can tell he must have made a huge influence on you” He smiled as he gained a grunt from the boy

“Yeah not to mention a few other beings” Odio sat up as he counted on his fingers “Me the spirit of hatred, he made me… welcome and accepted that I made mistakes”

“So who else did he influence?”

“Apart from Celestia?” Odio continued to count “A guard named Strong Shield, real tough nut” Odio rubbed a finger down over his left eye “Big scar across here and until recently was an emotionless drill sergeant”

The therapist quietly took notes as the boy talked

“There was a dragon called Adamas” Odio let out a small laugh, “Did you know that dragons become physically strong when they are greedy but magically adept when generous?” He looked over at the therapist before carrying on “Anyway… Dave showed him generosity and inspired the dragon to do the same, there is a group of dragons that do the same called the enlightened”

“Ghosts, ponies and dragons” The therapist raised an eyebrow in suspicion “Why do I get the feeling that something new is going to be brought up?”

“Ever heard of Changelings?” Odio waited for the therapist to respond with a shake of his head “Well they can take on the shape of anypony they like and they feed on… love” Odio gagged at the word “Such a useless emotion”

“How did Dave influence these… changelings?” The therapist made a quick note of the name before Odio could speak

Odio chuckled as he slouched back into the sofa and stared at the floor “He allowed their Queen… Chrysalis to harvest some love from him so she could feed her sister Princess Larva… needless to say some of that love would have gone into the egg sack which produces the changelings” Odio rubbed his hands together with a sly grin “Love is an emotion… just like hate”

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Celestia awoke with a tear already sat in her eye, she sighed as she wiped it away. She had shed enough tears already. The moon was nearing the horizon as Celestia climbed out of bed and walked over to her desk. She pushed her royal regalia aside as she pulled out a wooden jewellery box from the back of the desk.

The top of the box was covered in a thick layer of dust and a small lock held the lid shut. Celestia’s horn glowed and the lock clicked open. She put the lock aside as she lifted the lid, the stench of stale air attacked her nostrils. But the trinkets inside caused her to let out a sigh which cleared the dust from the air

She pushed aside the small watch with a silver and golden back, the hands inside ticked quietly as the princess removed the only other item. A silver bracelet that housed a deep blue sapphire, the bracelet rested perfectly on Celestia’s hoof as she slipped it on

“Funny how dreams make you become sentimental” Celestia smiled as she rubbed the silver with her other hoof “But why is Dave haunting my dreams now?” her humming didn’t last long as a knock came from her door

The door opened nervously as Nurse Redheart stepped in with a small bag “Hello Princess Celestia” she bowed deeply until Celestia indicated for her to rise. Simultaneously the princess received the urge to move the sun above the horizon before quickly fulfilling her duty

“Well I guess we could say good morning” Celestia smiled but her eyebrow rose in curiosity “But may I ask why you are here so early in the morning?”

The white mare shuffled her hooves as she set her bag down “Oh… well I was supposed to give you a check up and see how things are going” The nurse bowed in respect “But if you would prefer, I could come back at a later time”

Celestia shook her head “I’m sorry, I must have forgotten all about it” She trotted over to a white sofa and laid down on her back. The nurse brought her bag over as she sat down near the large bulge on Celestia’s belly

“Urgh I hate putting these on,” Nurse Redheart grumbled as she pulled out a stethoscope and struggled to use her hooves to put them in her ears. When she finally got the earplugs in she used her teeth to move the stethoscope over the white fur that covered the princess’ body

Celestia rested her head on the armrest of the sofa, her eyes fell shut as she kept her breathing as slow as possible to make the nurse’s job easier. Her curiosity made her eyes open to look at the nurse as she made a small murmur. The white earth pony indicated her eyes to the stethoscope and Celestia nervously understood

Her horn glowed as she used her magic to remove the earplugs from the nurse’s ears and over to her own. As the earplugs finally rested in her ears, she shuddered as she heard the soft beating of the baby’s heart. Her smile suddenly sprang to her face as she looked at Nurse Redheart

“You are very lucky” The nurse smiled but her face dropped as she looked away from the princess’ face and towards her flank “Oh my…” she gasped

Celestia’s face froze in horror “What is it?” Her heart began to beat out of her chest as she struggled to see past her pregnant belly. She didn’t have time to ask again as Nurse Redheart darted to the bedroom door and yanked it open

“Get Princess Luna and start taking Princess Celestia to the medical wing” The nurse frowned at the guards as they exchanged confused glances “NOW!” She yelled in irritation and the guards hurried away as the nurse rushed back to the princess

The princess’ face was now showing her irritation “Why did you yell at my guards?” She growled as she tried to look down again “And what is the matter?” She stared at the earth pony until she sighed

“Your water has broken” Nurse Redheart watched as Celestia’s face suddenly flipped from annoyance to horror “We have to get you into the medical wing” She allowed the princess a moment to absorb the information before forcibly dragging her to her feet “Come on, I’m not carrying you the entire way!”

Celestia’s mouth flapped around before finally screaming in the Royal Canterlot voice “I’M IN LABOUR?”

Meanwhile…

The skeleton managed to pick the final bits of dirt out from the back of his skull before looking up at the mountain before it. The castle clung proudly to the side of the mountain as the skeleton began his ascent. It started at a fast pace, the small finger holes were easier to grasp with the thin bones that made its hand

“I’M IN LABOUR?”

The sudden loud yell from the princess of the sun caused the very mountain itself to shake violently. The skeleton shook and the bones bounced against each other making a loud rattling noise. As the shaking stopped, the skeleton noticed it was travelling downwards at and alarming speed. Looking at it’s wrists it realized that its hands had broken off and were still clutching the mountain above it

A few minutes later…

The skeleton finally dragged itself onto a balcony, the mixture of dirt lodged in some joints and the large teeth marks that were the only evidence that a timber wolf had stolen the skeleton’s leg. The skeleton now brushed itself down before sneaking into the room behind the balcony doors

It stepped into the throne room, the guards were absent and the golden throne sat empty. The skeleton hurried over to the large doors before peaking out. The corridor was empty, the only thing that filled the white corridor was the sun streaming in through the windows.

The skeleton ran down the corridor, nervously stopping anytime it heard a noise or spotted a guard or servant going through a door. As the bones ran along it was forced to dart into a room in search of a hiding place. The room it had dived into happened to be a kitchen, the ponies on their way had to be the chefs. The skeleton quickly disassembled itself and threw its bones into different spots before the hands crawled away and hid amongst the pots and pans

As the door swung open a pair of chefs wandered in. One was a dark blue Pegasus mare, her mane was placed in a ponytail and her cutie mark was a spatula, the pony following her was an orange stallion unicorn, his mane was short and ruffled but his cutie mark of a chopping knife strangely suited him

“All I’m saying is that birth is a beautiful thing” The mare sighed happily at first as she sat down on an uncomfortable stool, before she could look down her attention shot to her laughing companion

“Beautiful?” The unicorn chuckled “There is screaming, tears, blood and sometimes the baby has one of those ugly faces that makes you want to slap the mother for creating something so disgusting” the stallion went over to a salad bowl and blindly threw some ingredients in “Why do you care anyway?”

The mare shrugged “I suppose that I was thinking about my love life” She sighed as she drew small circles on the work surface with a hoof. The stallion looked away from her and down at the salad bowl. Inside was a skull with olives for eyes and lettuce for hair. The stallion screamed as pair of hands reached out and joined it

The stallion’s scream was enough for the mare to snap out of her daydream. She saw the terrified unicorn and suddenly remembered how uncomfortable her stool was. Looking down her jaw dropped as she realized she was sat on a ribcage being held up by a pair of legs. She did not have time to shriek as her friend tackled her and rushed her into the store cupboard

“What the hay was that?” The pegasi panted as the unicorn shut the door and sat by her side. The pair flinched or let out a small squeak as they heard clanging of pots and pans. The mare suddenly wrapped her hooves around the stallion’s neck and pulled his in for a kiss

The unicorn’s eyes shot open once again as his hooves flapped uselessly above his head. As he pulled away, he took a few quick breaths before gasping “And what the hay was that?”

The mare cocked her head to the door “Do you want to die a virgin?” her raised eyebrow was suddenly dropped as the stallion closed the gap between their mouths again. Outside the store cupboard, the skeleton shook his skull to get all the fruit and veg out of the brain cavity before putting it back onto his shoulders. It nervously shuffled its feet as it heard low moaning from the storeroom and decided to make a timely retreat. As it stepped out of the kitchen, its head turned in all directions as a pain filled scream rushed down the hallways. It took off at full sprint towards the noise