Chapter 40

Dave scratched at his throat as he left the small operating room, Strong Shield following close behind. The unicorn walked over to his desk and began to shuffle some items around, mainly sheets of paper or small scraps of metal

“Alright what are you doing tonight?” Strong Shield picked up something that looked like a napkin covered in scribbles. He turned the pad until he spotted an address and a time

“Unless Celestia decides I should be spending the night giving her a massage to make up for everything wrong I’ve done… I should be free,” Dave coughed and winced in quick succession, “Ok the key is firmly lodged in my stomach

Strong Shield gently tapped his temporary eye patch before turning to face Dave. “If you come to the barracks after sundown then I will take you to a show”

“I don’t have to ask a dumb question to know that we aren’t going to watch a musical,” Dave groaned as he clutched his stomach. “I’ll see you later if I can”

Strong Shield grunted in response as Dave left the secret room and into the recruit quarters. Odio was still waiting as Dave stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him

“So what did pops want?” Odio asked impatiently as he followed Dave back through the castle corridors. The human coughed and burped occasionally as the key continued to roll and poke at the lining in his gut

“Just… leave it,” Dave let out a long breath before smiling again. “Do you know what the time is?”

Odio smirked, “time you got a watch, BOOM!” the fog swirled happily as Dave gave a sarcastic laugh

“Alright I guess I walked into that one,” Dave rubbed the back of his neck as he looked out one of the windows. “But seriously, what is the time?”

“Time watches could get pregnant so we could all have one,” Odio smirked as Dave gave up and walked away, heading towards the kitchens, Odio hurrying to follow him

Dave gasped as Odio flowed up his trenchcoat and hid behind his back. “I guess you are a shy one around ponies”

“Not shy! The puny ponies can’t understand me, so they dislike me” Odio groaned, “It is a miracle that Celestia and Luna are putting up with me so far”

“Just thank me for being your little miracle, seeing as I am the one that stopped you from being disintegrated,” Dave rolled his eyes as he stepped into the kitchen and was instantly greeted by the head chef

“What may I get you your majesty?” the chef bowed so quickly that his hat was thrown into Dave’s chest, causing the chef to bow again as he picked it up from the ground. “I do apologize for my rudeness your majesty”

Dave sighed, “listen, I don’t like all this ‘your majesty’ stuff and I would be much happier with being called by my proper name”

The chef paused, obviously wondering if this was some kind of test or an actual request. “Ok, Dave, what can I get you?”

“I’ll have a carrot without the skin, I just want something light I can eat while I try and find Celestia,” Dave didn’t have time to wait for a response as the head chef personally set about getting a large carrot and cutting the skin away. After a blur of knife cuts, the carrot was smooth and was shining as a bright orange

“Thanks,” Dave smiled as he bit the end of the carrot, allowing the juice to hang around on his tongue before chewing the vegetable itself and giving a casual salute. “Keep up the good work!”

“Of course your… I mean Dave!” the head chef beamed happily as he returned to whatever task he was performing before the human arrived

Dave left the kitchen and Odio removed himself from his hiding place. “So Mr Rabbit, are we going to the throne room or to some other random place?”

“I was thinking we could hang around the palace gardens or the dining room until dinner,” Dave frowned as Odio groaned in protest

“Aww, can’t you skip dinner? You don’t need to eat and you have already missed every other dinner you said you would attend,” Odio made a pout with his fog but Dave wafted it aside with his hand

Dave bit his carrot again and pointed the end at Odio, “That is why I need to go to this one, I need to catch up with Celestia and start being a good husba…” Dave slapped his hand over his mouth as Odio glared at him

“Were you going to say HUSBAND?!” Odio growled as small sparks of red bounced around the fog, “You are planning on marriage NOW!”

“Well duh!” Dave held up his hands, “When else?”

Odio stammered before taking a second to collect his thoughts, “Honestly? In a century or two”

“Haha, no,” Dave bit another piece of carrot off, “I love Celestia and I want to marry her before Nox gets any older!” He finished his sentence by throwing the rest of his carrot in his mouth, “and I don’t care who knows it!”

A female voice from behind Dave made him freeze, “So… when did you propose?”

Dave slowly turned and Odio slowly floated away, making sure he wasn’t around when the awkward atmosphere made time slow down. “H-hey Luna, how are you?”

“I’m well,” the princess of the night looked up at Dave, “I am surprised that you and Celestia have engaged without me being informed, I suppose my sister has had a few busy days so she couldn’t talk”

Dave shuffled his feet as he looked at Luna’s curious face, “Well I haven’t proposed yet but I was planning to soon”

“Oh,” Luna had a mixed tone of pleasure and disappointment, “Well I hope that you will let me know when you do, I want to be the first to congratulate you both”

The uncomfortable human was not sure if she was trying to get some sympathy or if she was genuinely happy. Instead, Dave decided it was for the best that he did not investigate and end up in trouble

“I have to hope Celestia says ‘yes’ first though,” Dave joked, his uneasy laughter was met with a polite smile and nod. “Listen um… are you alright with this?”

Luna dropped her head and shook it gently, “Am I alright with seeing my sister happy? Of course I am you silly beast,” Luna moved forwards and wrapped her hooves around Dave’s neck, pulling him in for a hug. “You don’t need my permission”

“I’m sorry, I just thought that our past might have made things difficult with me and Celestia,” Dave flinched as he realized what he said, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean…”

Luna released Dave and placed a hoof on his lips, “I know you made a mistake, you make plenty,” the alicorn joked. “But I love my sister even more than I love you, and you making her happy means that I will be happy too”

“Luna…” Dave sighed as he rubbed his eyes, “you know that you will always have a place in my heart, and it makes me happy to know that you are supporting this”

The princess of the night closed the gap between Dave and moved her mouth to his ear. “Take her to the top of the mountain tomorrow at midday and get ready to propose, she won‘t be able to say no”

“Thanks Luna, I don’t know how I could ever repay you,” Dave sighed as his vague plans for tomorrow were quickly replaced

Luna moved her mouth away from Dave’s ear and planted it against his lips, savouring the moment before gently pulling away. “Repaid,” she whispered before walking down the corridor and leaving Dave alone, confused and his stomach doing flips whilst the key inside began cutting again

Later…

Dave wiped his mouth as he finished eating his large lunch, smiling at Applebloom from across the table. “So how long have you and Nox been going out?”

“Well we have been together for a few days,” Applebloom nervously shuffled in her seat as Celestia gave her a motherly smile

“Well it is nice to have you over for dinner,” Celestia’s reassuring smile was met by a bow of the earth ponies head. “Oh, please don’t use formalities now, you are special to my son so you are special to me”

Nox blushed as he looked over at Applebloom, “Sorry about my parents, I hope they aren’t being weird,” he whispered

“Well Dave has always been different,” Applebloom joked as Nox hid his giggle. The human could not help but smirk as he saw Nox nuzzle the pony beside him

Celestia yawned as she stood up, “Now make sure you both get to bed on time, daddy has been a bit naughty recently and needs to get some rest”

“Yeah I have been busy with… work,” Dave lied as he reassured the young ponies as he followed Celestia out of the dining hall and left the couple to eat their meal together. “They are certainly happy”

“So long as Nox is happy then I am happy,” Celestia stated as she walked close to Dave’s side, smiling as he rested his hand on her back. “So are you tired or will I have to make sure you are?”

Dave hummed, “Well I suppose a bit of mild exercise would help me get ready for bed” he teased as he winked at the alicorn beside him

“Trust me, there will be nothing mild about it,” Celestia smiled proudly as Dave blushed. “You are too easy sometimes”

“And you are too good all the time,” Dave chuckled as he rubbed his red-hot cheeks. “But we do need some sleep so will you make sure you don’t get overexcited?”

Celestia pouted, “Alright, I love you enough to know that we can make up the time later”

The couple nodded to the guards that stood outside Celestia’s quarters but Dave gave a small indication of pointing to Celestia, then himself, followed by a wink. The guards playfully rolled their eyes as they pulled out earplugs and some newspapers

Meanwhile…

Nox used his magic to hold Applebloom’s ice cream as they walked down the white corridors, the couple playfully made faces at a guard and he resisted smiling or making any facial emotion

Finally, the pair made it to one of the guest rooms and stepped in, a guard positioned himself outside, probably due to orders that the young prince had some protection. Nox placed the two large bowls of ice cream down and joined Applebloom on the bed

“So what do you want to do?” the grey alicorn smiled, still recovering from his laughing session. His special somepony hummed as she tapped her chin

“I know, we can see if ya can make something else disappear!” Applebloom squeaked as she moved to look at Nox’s flank. “Maybe that is what your cutie mark is!”

Nox gave an unconvinced groan, “I don’t know… maybe”

“Well it is worth a shot!” Applebloom pointed at one of the pillows and hid behind Nox’s wings. “Make that disappear”

Nox rolled his eyes before furrowing his brow at the pillow, trying to match the spell he cast earlier. After a few minutes of silence and concentration, the only thing that changed was that the ice cream was now melted

Applebloom continued to stare excitedly, waiting for something to happen. “Are ya doing it yet?”

“I can’t do it!” Nox yelled before dropping his head. “Last time I was just making sure you didn’t get hurt because you forgot about the timber wolves!”

Nox turned his head and saw that Applebloom was frozen on the spot, frightened that Nox’s voice had risen in volume dramatically an his anger was dripping from his voice. Even the guard poked his head in to make sure everything was ok before returning to his position outside the bedroom

“I-I’m sorry Applebloom, I didn’t mean to…” Nox was cut short as Applebloom began crying and ran for the balcony, dropping to her flank and covering her eyes with her hooves

Nox’s ears drooped as he heard a few sniffles coming from the earth pony. Eventually he plucked up the courage to follow her outside and sit beside her, still remaining silent as she cried softly

“Applebloom…” Nox closed his mouth as no words came to mind. He stared at his hooves, angry that he made the filly beside him cry. He looked up at the starry sky before standing up again and turning to Applebloom. “Would you like a star?”

Applebloom stopped crying as she looked up at Nox with tears still in the corners of her eyes, “B-but why?”

“Because I want to show you how precious you are… by giving you something nopony else has,” Nox turned to look up at the sky before his gaze fell on one of the brighter stars. He pointed his horn before he focused on pulling the star towards him

Applebloom watched as Nox’s horn suddenly burst into light and a long beam raced out into space, the alicorn beginning to sweat as he clenched his eyes. The beam stopped before slowly reeling back in and disappearing

“I… whew… managed to make it come this way,” Nox said proudly as he looked up at the star. But his face turned into a frown as a second light began to flicker in the sky. Nox narrowed his gaze before his eyes popped open in shock, “Oh no,” he gasped as the large lump of rock became visible very quickly

Nox threw his wings around Applebloom, attempting to protect her from the incoming meteor as he held her close in a tight embrace. Applebloom held Nox back as she closed her eyes, waiting for the sudden force to hit them. But as the collision never occurred, Nox slowly turned his head to look back

“AUNTIE LUNA!” Nox cheered as he saw the princess of the night effortlessly hold the large rock using her magic. The princess turned her attention to Nox with a disappointed frown

“What do you thing you were doing?” The taller alicorn spoke in an angry tone, “You could have harmed everypony in Canterlot!”

“I-I’m sorry, I just wanted to do something special for Applebloom after I made her cry,” Nox looked back at Applebloom with apologetic eyes, “but I almost made everything worse”

Luna sighed as she saw Nox’s bottom lip began to quiver and Applebloom gave him a reassuring hug. “Uh, you are too much like your father, doing something exceptional and only realizing how big a deal he caused when it is too late”

Nox looked up at the meteor before flying up to it and bucking it with all his strength, causing a small piece to break off and fall to the balcony. The colt then rummaged through the rubble with his hooves until he found a lump that had strange crystals growing on one side

The princess smiled, “not to mention you care about your love first before yourself”

“I said I would get you a star,” Nox said to Applebloom as he extended his hooves to the pony. “But will this do for now?”

Applebloom took the colourful rock and wrapped her hooves around Nox’s neck, “Thank you Nox… ah… I love you”

Nox smiled as he hugged Applebloom back, “I… love you too”

Luna gently shook her head as she sent the meteor back into space, she smiled at the young couple as she flew back into the air and towards her tower. As she was out of range of anypony that could hear her, she began to sigh and allow her ears to droop

“Too much like your father”