Chapter 25

Luna continued to dwell on the things she had seen for most of the night and into the early morning. She rested on her bed as she stared at her hooves, gently tapping them together as she thought. She stopped tapping as Nox began to stir in his sleep and cracked his eyes open

“Auntie Luna?” Nox groaned as he wiped his eyes and sat up in bed, Luna smiled at him as she picked him up and began stroking his mane

“Sorry I woke you little one” Luna managed a small smile as Nox yawned “It is morning anyway, you mother would want to see you soon”

Nox nodded “Yeah, but is it ok if I stay here for a little while?” Nox hugged Luna as the colt snuggled against her dark fur “I don’t get to see you that often”

“BREACHING!” a loud roar yelled out as the door cracked open and a small ball rolled in. The ball exploded in a flash of light that was accompanied by a loud bang. Two humans ran in, they both looked tougher and older than Dave and were wearing camouflaged clothing

“Get the package!” one pointed at Nox, his hand returned to the grip on his assault rifle as his team-mate grabbed Nox and slung him over his shoulder. Luna snarled and fired a blast at the human that grabbed Nox

The soldier dropped Nox and fell onto his back, his assault rifle disappeared and turned into a pistol as he froze, pointing his gun at the wall. Luna was about to fire another blast as the other human ran forwards and pulled out a sniper rifle

“360 NO-SCOPE!” The soldier yelled as he jumped in the air and spun around, firing the gun blindly as he completely missed Luna and shot the wall his team-mate was still aiming at “Ah fucking lag”

Luna snarled and stepped forwards as her horn glowed “Who are you and why did you try to foalnap Nox?” She swiped the human with her hoof in rage “I command thou to speak!”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait” Odio chanted as he ran into the room, two white controllers in his fog “My first controller disconnected and the other wasn’t on a high enough sensitivity” he sighed as he absorbed the false humans back into his fog “Do you mind if I restart?”

“Odio?” Luna snarled even louder as she levitated a confused Nox behind her “Why were YOU trying to foalnap Nox?” she growled as Odio rolled his eyes in wide circles

“Celestia, your sister, wanted Nox, her son” Odio smiled as he reached over with a black tentacle “So if you could pass him here then that would be great,” Odio sighed as Luna placed a magical shield around herself and Nox

Nox nervously watched as Luna stepped closer to the fog “Why would she send you to collect him?” Luna rose an eyebrow as Odio floated backwards slightly “Well?”

“Alright, she doesn’t know that I am here to get him” Odio reluctantly confessed “I came up here to get him to show Celestia that I can be trusted and she doesn’t have to keep threatening me with destruction”

Luna slowly dropped the magical barrier as she stared at Odio “So where are you staying?” she sat down and placed Nox between her hooves as she continued to stare at the black fog filling the doorway

“In a spare room, small but it will do” Odio floated back out the door to release Luna’s guards from their temporary bindings that Odio had placed them in “If I wanted to do something evil, don’t you think I would have done something better than send in Woods and Mason?”

Luna shook her head “I don’t understand that reference” she held Nox tighter as Odio chuckled in his low voice. His flame eyes glanced at the two alicorns before he bowed to Luna

“If there is anything I can do that will prove I have changed then I will fulfil that task to the best of my ability… as soon as I complete Assassin’s creed” Odio smiled before Luna’s sly smile made him retreat slightly “Why do I get the feeling I am going to regret this?”

Luna placed her hooves over Nox’s ears “I will let you take Nox to Celestia, so long as you go inside Dave’s mind and…” Luna was cut off as Odio shook his eyes

“Uh uh, no can do princess” Odio held up a single tentacle of fog “Rule number one, no invading Dave… I just realized how gay that sounded” Odio muttered to himself until Luna coughed loudly “What am I looking for?”

Luna pressed her hooves over Nox’s ears even tighter as she lowered her voice to a whisper “I need you to find out if Dave is cheating on Celestia” she frowned as Odio gasped and flew around the room

“I don’t have to read Dave’s mind to know that he hasn’t cheated” Odio swirled beside Luna “Remember when me and him managed to capture you, Celestia and every other pony in this city?”

The princess of the night turned her head to glare at Odio “That was one of the most horrible events in my life, coincidentally the worst was also your fault”

“Pfft, we can sit here all day and point fingers… hooves… fog… penis…” Odio hummed before shaking his eyes again “ANYWAY, the point I am saying is that Dave threw himself in front of Celestia when I attempted to attack her, even though he wasn’t going to be with her”

“Yes but what if…” Luna was cut off as Odio raced forwards and stopped by her face

“No what if’s?” Odio growled, “Dave would kill me to protect Celestia, he died to forgive her” Odio glared as Luna stared at the floor “You were hoping this would break Dave and Celestia up weren’t you?”

Luna shook her head “N-no!” she looked up at Odio’s unconvinced stare as her eyes began to water “I just didn’t want Celestia hurt again, she suffered so much when Dave was dead and I didn’t want her to…”

Odio managed to stop Luna from talking by simply looking away “You were hoping that you could either convince Dave to spend time with you in exchange for silence or… Celestia dumped Dave and you could snatch him up on the rebound”

Luna sighed as she removed her hooves from Nox’s ears and gave the grey colt a tight hug “Nox, go with Odio and he will take you to your mother” Luna kissed the top of his head before finally placing the prince down

“B-but auntie Luna, I though that you wanted to spend some time with me” Nox’s ears dropped in disappointment as he let his wings dropped to his side “W-well I suppose I will speak to you soon”

“I promise” Luna smiled as Nox waved and slowly walked out of the bedroom, Odio floating behind him as they left Luna’s quarters . As the guards closed the door, Luna dragged herself into her bed and curled into a ball as she allowed her built-up emotion to escape

Meanwhile…

Dave’s eyes finally opened to greet the morning sun, its rays of bright light managed to directly hit his face, forcing him to sit up and rub his pained eyes. He stretched his back until he heard a loud crack and then he finally relaxed

The groggy human sat up and scanned the room, making sure he avoided making any noise loud enough to add injury to his already painful hangover. He saw his trench coat was folded neatly beside the new bed that he was resting in, the other pieces of furniture that were burnt had been removed

Dave reached down at picked up his trench coat, the sound of dragonscales scratching the stone floor made him cringe. His ears also picked up the sound of paper landing on the floor, he looked back over the bed and saw three letters had fallen out of his coat

He picked up the three small letters as he spread them out on the bed, all were addressed to him and they all had separate handwriting. Dave picked up one at random and opened the small seal, carefully removing the small piece of paper within. The first letter was written neatly and had a small kiss left at the bottom in light pink lipstick

Dave

I left you sleeping when I got up, I should be with Nox by the time you awaken

Love Celestia

Dave smiled as he held the letter for a few more moments, his day had started perfectly and he was sure nothing could ruin it as he picked up the letter with simple yet clear handwriting

To Dave

Keep your mouth shut about what happened last night

From Strong Shield

Dave chuckled as he screwed up the message up and dropped it back on the bed and picked up another letter. The next one had a similar handwriting but had slightly more flair and smelt faintly of perfume, Dave opened it before the flowery fragrance

Dear Dave

If you think we are going to fall for your fathers excuse then you are poorly mistaken. The vault does not contain Project Harvest as it was abandoned thirty years ago. Do not play with us again or we will play with your family

Sincerely Flux and Battering Ram

Dave groaned as his perfect day had been instantly overshadowed by threats and warnings. He climbed out of bed as he got dressed and hurried tearing up the letters, except for Celestia’s which he placed back in his coat pocket

He left the room as he made his way down the steps that took him back into the bowels of the castle, his slow pace allowed his to say a few words to passing guards and servants as he enjoyed his stroll.

Eventually Dave walked into the large dining hall but it was empty and held no trace that it had even been used. Dave stepped back into the corridor as he looked around, finally spotting a passing servant

“Excuse me!” Dave jogged over to the servant that was carrying a saddlebag full of cleaning equipment “I don’t suppose you know where Celestia is do you?”

The maid turned to Dave and quickly bowed “She is in the throne room your majesty”

Dave shook his hands as he laughed, “There is no need to bow to me, I’m not a king or prince” he was cut off as a large, very light grey stallion stepped beside him, his large horn was neatly kept and slightly reflected the sun

“Well I hope that you don’t drag every member of the royal family through the mud” The unicorn glared at the maid until she bowed again “These servants need to know their place” he muttered in disgust

Dave rose his eyebrow at the stallion “I’m sorry, who are you?” he crossed his arms as the stallion ran a hoof gently over his light amber mane

“I am Prince Blueblood” the high-class unicorn attempted to look down his nose at Dave, even though the human was an inch taller “I wouldn’t go into the throne room, the room is filled with commoners that are dying to see what luxury looks like”

“Nice to meet you… I suppose” Dave held out his hand to the prince “So how are you a prince? Are you from another country?” Dave rolled his eyes as Blueblood covered his hand in a handkerchief before shaking it gently

“Princess Celestia is my aunt” Blueblood smiled proudly “I would have met you before to deter my aunts from taking you in as we have no idea what kind of background you grew up in” He didn’t notice Dave’s hand had clenched into a fist “We wouldn’t want to spoil the bloodline would we?”

Dave grounded his teeth together as the pompous prince began to let out a hearty laugh. Dave was about to raise his arm as a black fog swept around his eyes

“Guess who!” Odio smiled as Dave wafted the fog from his face and gave him an unamused smile “Come on, you couldn’t be bothered? I know it could have been a bit difficult but at least try”

Dave’s smile faded as Prince Blueblood groaned in disgust “What kind of cruel apparition is this?” the prince held his handkerchief over his mouth so he did not inhale any of the fog

Odio glanced at Dave but only gave a sly smile as he slowly looked back at Blueblood “Well if it isn’t another descendant of Nobility” Odio’s smile grew as Prince Blueblood’s eyes widened “Yes I was around a thousand years ago, your ancestor was very nice and kind”

“So his family has always been free-loading off Celestia and Luna?” Dave smiled as Blueblood glared between the human and the fog of hate

“No, his family became nobility many generations ago” Odio looked out of the window as he sighed “When the princesses were very young and inexperienced, they took in a poor homeless couple and accepted them as their own”

Dave, Blueblood and the servant mare looked at Odio as the room took on a pink hue. Odio sighed as he ran a small tendril of fog along the window

“They respected the princesses and did their best to repay them” Odio looked back at Blueblood “As they died, their children were kept and stayed as royalty, to carry on their parent’s good name”

Dave stepped forwards as the servant began to smile “So what happened to the children?”

“They forgot their roots and became pompous pricks like this one,” The room returned to normal as Odio sighed, “Celestia couldn’t bring herself to do kick them out and dishonour the memories of the original couple”

“How dare you!” Blueblood glared “I am of noble decent and you have no right to make up ridiculous claims like that” he flared his nostrils

“Yeah, yeah whatever” Odio turned back to Dave “Really important, do you know the best weapon to kill Bloodwing with in Borderlands 2?”

Dave’s face dropped as his face went pale and his eyes began to water “You kill Bloodwing?”

“Ohh” Odio chuckled “Sorry I forgot you have been dead”