Chapter 39

Dave yawned as his pancakes were placed in front of him along with a large mug of coffee. Celestia thanked the servants as she began to eat her breakfast

“Didn’t you get much sleep darling?” Celestia asked as Dave used his fork to poke his pancakes, not being able to find the energy to actually eat anything

“Nah, every time I managed to doze off I just woke up again,” Dave put down his fork as he rubbed his temples

Eventually Dave’s sleepy eyes opened and he forced himself to drink some of his coffee and start making his way through his pancakes. Celestia watched him until his discomfort seemed to fade

“Well tonight you can go to bed early,” the princess commanded as Dave began to smirk like usual. “You have been over doing it recently and you are going to do yourself an injury”

Dave shrugged, “And? It isn’t like I can die or anything”

“I mean mentally,” Celestia sighed as she looked down at the sliced banana on her plate. “Years ago, I was going through a depressed stage and it made me do some foolish things,” the alicorn looked up at Dave with a frown. “Just because you aren’t harmed, it doesn’t mean it won’t hurt others”

“Sorry, I know that I haven’t been consistent with spending time with you and Nox.” Dave sighed as he rubbed his eyes. “I promise that I will try to spend more time here rather than getting into trouble”

A servant mare stepped into the room, her yellow mane tied behind her ears. “Excuse me your majesty but the captain of the guard wishes to speak with you in the barracks”

Celestia thanked the servant before standing up, “I will be expecting to see you at dinner today, and if not then I will hunt for you personally”

“Love you too” Dave smiled as he received a kiss from Celestia on her way past. She gave him one final smile before disappearing from the room and heading towards the barracks

Dave finished off his breakfast before leaving the room and heading down the corridors. His head throbbed again, causing him to stagger against a wall until the pain subsided. He looked along the clean corridor before heading for the nearest set of steps and making his way to the guest bedrooms

He managed to make it outside one of the guest rooms as he walked in, not bothering to knock. “Hey Odio, I need you to…” Dave cocked his head as Odio was still frozen in midair. “Have you been like that all weekend?”

“Well after you did make me fairly happy,” Odio resumed flowing normally. “It isn’t everyday I can do something mean”

“You are always doing something mean,” Dave frowned before the sudden wave of pain made him sit on the bed

Odio’s smile disintegrated as Dave groaned, “What the hell is up with you?”

“I have been getting these headaches, not to mention seeing stuff,” Dave cracked open an eye to look at Odio. “You’re the closest to a brain surgeon I know so can you take a look?”

The black fog moved to support Dave in his seated position as Odio’s red eyes moved to the back of Dave’s head. A small tendril slipped into Dave’s ear as the human groaned uncomfortably, the uncomfortable silence was broken by Odio whistling

“Well this won’t do,” Odio glared as a bolt of red raced down the tendril and Dave squirmed from the feeling in his head. After a few seconds of writhing, Dave heaved forwards and gagged, covering his mouth with his hands as something spongy was forced out and into his waiting palms

Dave looked at the grey and black blob in his hands, its broad edges were slightly burn from the short operation Odio performed. They both sneered at the blob as Dave’s headache was replaced with a rush of energy

“What the hell is this?” Dave gasped as the blob wobbled in his shaking hands. The fog of hatred hummed as he began to float around the room

“Ok I’ll let you down gently… you know that tumour in your hands?” Odio recoiled as Dave dropped the blob with a splat. “Ok I guess that was a bit of a shock”

“A TUMOUR?” Dave gasped as he grabbed his head again. “I thought I was supposed to heal!”

Odio swept the blob of brain matter up and dropped it into the bin. “Tumours are growths so there was nothing to heal, your head just kept itself together during the build up of pressure”

“That explains the headaches and probably the delusions, but how the hell did I get a tumour anyway?” Dave panted as the shock was slowly being subdued by curiosity

“It is most likely due to emotional stress or repetitive injury to the head,” Odio smirked as Dave rubbed his sore ear. “But in your case, both are major suspects”

Dave gave a sarcastic smile, “Thanks mate, cheers for the reassurance”

“No problem,” Odio laughed. “But if you suspect you have another problem then come straight to me and I will sort you out”

Dave sighed before nodding, “Ok, thanks for helping me out, I think Celestia was starting to get really worried,” he stood and left the bedroom, waving over his shoulder

“Anytime!” Odio cheered before following Dave into the castle corridor. “What? You owe me some time with you after I saved your life”

“Fine,” Dave groaned, covering up the fact he was slightly excited to spend time with his friend again. “But no wacky adventure or street fight, got it?”

Odio formed two hands with his fog and held them up innocently, “Whoa, calm down there buddy, I was going to suggest donuts and going to see your dear old dad”

“Ah crap, I almost forgot that I needed to see him before we go to Tartarus,” Dave scratched the back of his head as Odio flew into his way

“Tartarus?” Odio groaned. “I should have known that I would have to come along for something like that”

Dave placed his hands in his pockets as he walked down the corridor. “Anyway my dad is supposed to give me something before we go into Tartarus”

“Wait one second,” Odio floated beside Dave’s head as they walked. “Go in Tartarus? I know you are mad but that is just insane! Only if you were super powerful should you even risk going in…” Odio narrowed his eyes at Dave’s cheeky grin. “That’s why I’m coming along isn’t it?”

“Basically,” Dave laughed as Odio grumbled quietly, the black fog moving to the ceiling so he did not get in the way any of the passing guards or servant’s way

The fog dropped a few feet to talk down at Dave’s head. “I don’t see how something could go inside Tartarus and expect to survive long enough to be retrieved later”

“Do you know what Tartarus is like? My dad said that it is supposed to be stretched across multiple dimensions or something” Dave arched his neck to look up at Odio

“I haven’t got a clue” Odio confessed, his burning red eyes almost fading as he slowly rolled around, causing Dave to cough as some of the putrid black mist floated up his nose

Dave waved his hand past his face so the thick fog was cleared from his vision. The essence of hatred continued unfazed as the pair strolled into the barracks, earning mixed glares. Welcoming nods to Dave and suspicious stares at Odio

Odio smiled as the glares were instantly ignored and his attention was turned to the human as he walked down the corridor that led to the sleeping quarters. Dave walked to the end of the corridor, where the light dimmed slightly and the smooth stone began to crack

Dave stopped at the entrance to the old recruit quarters and knocked loudly, leaning closer to the door as he heard the short sound of the stone entrance returning to normal. The door lock released as Strong Shield opened it enough to peek out

“Oh, hello Dave,” Strong Shield allowed Dave to enter but stood in Odio’s way. “Sorry but the less that know will be better for all of us”

“B-but I wanna be involved,” Odio pouted as Strong Shield slammed the door. “Yeah fine! I’ll be out here in the cold!”

Strong Shield snorted before locking to door, “Good!”

Dave stood aside as Strong Shield opened up the secret entrance to his base of operations. They both stepped down into the main room as the lava began to light the room with a warm glow. Strong Shield walked back over to his desk as he forced down a gulp of brandy

“Umm, why are you drinking?” Dave looked around the desk and saw an empty bottle of brandy sat beside the unicorn’s hoof

“Just come with me,” Strong Shield slightly staggered into one of the nearby rooms and was quickly joined by Dave. The human looked around the pure white room, the floor was only decorated by a long silver table and only a few bits of surgical equipment

Dave hummed as he was passed a scalpel, “What the hell am I going to do with this?”

“Incision from the top of the scar to the bottom, the key is somewhere inside,” Strong Shield grunted as he climbed onto the table and laid down so his scared eye was next to Dave

“WHOA! I am not going to cut your face up!” Dave dropped the scalpel, “I am not some hoodie from the east side”

“I trust you with my burden,” Strong Shield glared at Dave with his good eye. “Listen, it is like opening a bag and pulling out a coin”

Dave sighed as he picked up the scalpel and held it nervously, “I suppose that every time you said ‘I have my eye on it’ you were being serious”

“Yeah, it turns out that having my eye cut out gave me the perfect spot to hide the key to the vault,” Strong Shield groaned as Dave slowly began to cut along his scar

Dave had to stop for a minute as a drop of blood began to flow from the scar. “Argh this is really getting a bit strange”

“Listen Dave, I know I don’t say this enough but…” Strong Shield raised his hoof to tap Dave’s shoulder. “I am very proud of you for doing this”

Dave sighed as he began to continue his small operation. “I know you are… but you wouldn’t say it if you were sober”

“True, emotion is a weakness in battle,” Strong Shield groaned, stopping as Dave grabbed his head to stop him moving as Dave dropped the scalpel and picked up the tweezers. “It should be in the entrance to the eye socket”

Dave used his finger and thumb to open the wound slightly as he began to feel around the inside of Strong Shield’s head with the tweezers. “Is this the key?”

“No, that… is the back of my eye socket” Strong Shield’s other eye twitched as Dave began to move to the sides of the socket

Dave smiled as he tapped something hard with the end of the tweezers, “Alright I think I have it!” Dave grabbed the object and Strong Shield failed to respond with a twitch or a grumble

Dave slowly pulled the object out and saw the tip of a golden point. As Dave pulled the object out fully, he dropped the small medallion into his hand. Strong Shield sat up and used his magic to wrap a bandage around his head and cover his cut eye

“That is the key, time for you to swallow it” Strong Shield looked down at the object that had been lodged in his eye for thirty years

The vault key was hardly smooth in anyway, sharp points poked out from the circular body and made it look like a flat beetle. The circle contained a cube that was a web of gold wires and small gaps that was perfectly symmetrical on each quarter of the key

“I am not swallowing this!” Dave held it up with his fingers. “It is the size of a digestive biscuit and is like a fucking buzz saw!

Strong Shield sighed as he took the key from Dave and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Listen Dave, I love you more than any father could love a son”

Dave opened his mouth to respond but was cut off as Strong Shield forced the key into Dave’s mouth and kicked him in the stomach. As Dave gasped, the key was pulled into his throat and Strong Shield held his hoof behind Dave’s head as he massaged his throat

With a loud gulp, Dave pulled back and began coughing. “I… really dislike you right now”

“Well if you dislike me now you will hate me when we have to get the key out again”

“Oh ha ha… wait…” Dave’s eyes shot open as his hand covered his buttocks. “Please tell me you are joking”

Strong Shield simply shrugged as he left the room. “I can’t be sure until we get to the vault or you get severe constipation”

Dave shuddered as he followed Strong Shield, “Do ponies have lubricant on this world?”

“I heard Princess Cadence has something similar”

“I don’t want it chocolate flavoured” Dave groaned as he dreaded to think what items Cadence had in her possession