Chapter 60

Celestia yawned as she was given a plate of celery, tomatoes and various flowers. Luna had just woken up and was passed her usual bowl of porridge topped with jam and syrup. Both sisters smiled at each other as the servants left them to eat

“So has anything interesting occurred today?” Luna asked as she levitated a spoonful of porridge to her mouth and she began to blow on it

“I’m afraid nothing has happened except things to look forward to,” Celestia sighed. “Applejack has invited Nox and I to come and have dinner with her family”

Luna smiled, “Nox and Applebloom make a nice pair don’t they?”

“Yes,” Celestia was about to eat one of her flowers before she stopped herself. “I don’t suppose you have seen Dave today have you?”

“No actually,” Luna tapped her chin. “I haven’t seen Strong Shield or Odio for that matter”

The princess of the sun sighed as she shook her head, “If they have gone away for another few days drinking then I am going to lose it”

“I’m sure Dave would have let us known if he was going on a small trip with his friends,” Luna tilted her head. “We have all of eternity together, we can allow him to spend a night or two away”

“That’s not the problem,” Celestia placed her fork down. “I just hate the way he sneaks off or just simply disappears… do you think he fears us? That we might say no?”

Luna gasped, “Dave loves us and he has never been afraid of us… that is what made him so unique in the first place”

“I suppose you are right little sister,” Celestia smiled again. “Have you and him spent any time together yet?”

“If you mean a date then no, not really,” Luna sighed sadly. “It may be a bit difficult for Dave to stay up permanently if he wants to see both of us constantly”

Celestia nodded as she began to eat. “If we sort out a timetable then we could organise something like…” the white alicorn tapped her chin. “Dave sleeps around midday and midnight so he can spend time with us as we are settling into our latter roles and maybe join us when we go to… the bedroom”

“You like to bring up that subject don’t you?” Luna blushed slightly as she saw her sister smiling. “Does it really feel that good?”

Celestia’s smile grew, “The physical act itself is enjoyable but the feeling I get when I know I am making Dave feel as good as he makes me is… indescribable”

“But you have spent many nights with Dave,” Luna tapped her hooves together nervously. “What if my inexperience makes it bad?”

“Would you like to know a secret?” Celestia looked around the room before leaning closer to her sister. “The first time me and Dave made love we… accidentally head-butted each other”

Luna had to place a hoof over her mouth to stop herself from spitting out her porridge. “Tia, why would you both do that?”

“Me and Dave are separate species,” Celestia poked at her food. “The first time we made love it was a very clumsy and complicated activity”

“But what about now?” Luna asked with wonder in her eyes

“Well Dave definitely does more than his fair share to make sure I get my enjoyment,” Celestia paused for a moment. “Sometimes I think he is happy enough knowing I am happy,” the alicorn shook herself out of her thought bubble as she smiled at Luna. “But you will have to find out for yourself”

Luna blushed slightly, “Well I am happy enough knowing that Dave loves me enough to hold me, let alone… indulge himself with me”

“When you first experience it my little sister,” Celestia winked. “You won’t think twice if you get another chance”

The princess of the night almost turned completely red, “Well have you got any advice?”

“Oh yes,” Celestia’s eyes lit up. “For now, get him to use his… fingers”

Meanwhile…

Dave sighed as he repositioned himself, his back held up a piece of wood that separated his small space from the two changelings outside. His feet were perched up in another small gap as his hands began to poke at some of the clutter around him

He lifted up a small spearhead and moved it further away. He rolled his eyes as something tapped the wood behind him. Dave sat forwards and pulled the wood down enough to see Chrysalis’ eyes staring at him from her sleeping space, Larva was tucked into her own space on the other side

“Can I help you?” Dave sighed as Chrysalis peeked into Dave’s blocked off pod

“You never did tell us why you were in that large train,” the changeling queen hummed

Dave sighed as he looked back into his dark sleeping place, “let’s just say I am doing this to protect my family… as always”

“Why don’t you let everypony sort their own problems?” Chrysalis whispered, her eyes glanced to Larva who stirred in her sleep. “I mean… you could have anything, take everything… but you don’t”

“When Odio empowered me before I did think about it,” Dave sighed. “Not just a passing thought but… I began to make real plans before I decided to scrap it”

Chrysalis shuffled into a more relaxed position as she looked back at Dave, “So you are doing all this for others?”

“For my family,” Dave rose an eyebrow as he noticed a small red cushion in the shape of a heart. “You can understand that”

“I suppose I can,” Chrysalis sighed as she looked across at her sleeping sister. “She needed love and I promised that I would get it for her.” Chrysalis sat up as she turned to Dave, “But in the end it was you that restored her strength and it was you that saved her”

Dave held the red cushion as he gave a small chuckle, “I thought that if I saved your family then at least losing mine wouldn’t have hurt so much”

“Why do you refuse our offers of sharing love?” Chrysalis tilted her head. “We don’t just drain everything you know”

Dave rubbed his eyes as he placed the pillow aside, “I have had enough problems trying to be with Celestia, now I am with Luna too and I just don’t want to risk adding somepony else and losing everything”

“So you do have feelings for us?” Chrysalis’ ears pricked up as a small smile grew on her face

“No, well…” Dave groaned as he looked through the gap at the changeling queen. “I think you and your sister are nice, maybe you do make wrong decisions about things but you mean well”

Chrysalis smiled as she looked back at Dave, “Is it alright if we can move this wood aside? I promise not to try anything you aren’t comfortable with”

Dave sighed before sitting up and moving the wood out of the way, Chrysalis moved to one side and allowed Dave to lay down properly. She laid back down and rested her head on his chest and shuffled beside him

“If your hoof goes anywhere below my waist then I have a problem,” Dave sighed as he finally rested in a comfortable position

Chrysalis nuzzled Dave’s chest as his fingers stroked her silky mane. “Goodnight Dave”

“Goodnight Chrysalis,” Dave yawned as he closed his eyes and sleep began to take over

“GOODNIGHT EVERYPONY!” Odio yelled as he smiled at Dave. “Oh I didn’t realize you were dumping Celestia for these butterflies”

Dave growled as he looked at the fog, “It isn’t what you think Odio, go away”

“Fine,” Odio sighed as he floated back down the throne room and out the door. Dave replaced his head but noticed Larva was now smiling down at him. “No I am not having sex with you”

“Aww but,” Princess Larva pouted playfully but her sister’s glare made her stop

Chrysalis looked back at Dave with a small sigh, “he has allowed us to cuddle, nothing more”

Larva nodded before laying down on the other side of Dave and shuffling into his other arm. “Are you sure Dave doesn’t want us to make him feel…”

“Larva!” Chrysalis hissed. “Dave said he wants to get some rest, at least be kind enough to allow him that,” the changeling queen nuzzled back against Dave’s chest as she closed her eyes

Dave gave a half-hearted smile to Larva as she attempted to go to sleep as well, using Dave’s shoulder as a pillow. Dave’s gaze moved across to the other changeling as he lost his smile, his view and assumptions of the queen completely changed during their little conversation

“God dammit,” Dave whispered quietly to himself as he reached down and kissed Chrysalis’ head. He rested his own head back down as he felt the queen cuddle closer against him as he fell asleep

…

Dave groaned as he felt his arms being restrained above his head, his legs were being restrained down and the rest of his body felt tight and sore. He managed to open his eyes to see a desk, a logbook was laid open across the flat surface

Dave looked at his arms and he instantly began to panic, the restraints from the Daedalus covered his arms, dried blood covering most of the black metal. He looked down and saw his legs were being pulled down in a similar fashion and his body was also sharing the same fate. The connecting chains reached into the darkness and out of Dave’s view

“What the hell is going on?” Dave groaned as he struggled against the restraints, his body shook with pain from him trying to move his arm so he decided to wait

“You were restrained in the prison train Daedalus,” a voice echoed around Dave. “True or false?”

Dave looked around for the source of the voice but couldn’t see anything except the table and logbook, “uh… true”

The ledger made a scribbling noise as one of the pages began to fill with words that were illegible to Dave. “The driver’s mind believes you are to spend one of your days inside Tartarus.” The voice echoed as coldly as the last time. “True or false?”

“Driver?” Dave racked his brain before he made the connection. “Oh dad drove the train… yeah true!” He called to the void around him

“What crime did you commit?” the voice asked again, the logbook fell silent as Dave waited to respond

“Um… none,” Dave answered. His response was met with silence before a pair of metal hooks pierced Dave’s face and yanked his head back

The voice returned with a greater tone of curiosity. “So why are you entering Tartarus if you haven’t committed a crime?”

“I’m looking for something,” Dave managed to say through his stretched face. “I need to find it to protect somepony”

“Something is volunteering for a stay in Tartarus?” the voice hummed. “The warden will like to meet you at some point during your stay… now I will give you your mark”

“Mark?” Dave groaned as he felt all the restraints retract from his left arm. He managed to move his eye enough to see his arm get pulled in front of his body and towards the desk. “What the hell is going on?”

“All inmates are marked before entry to Tartarus,” The voice responded unemotionally in a way that made Dave almost wonder what made the creature behind it would find unnerving. “You are now Inmate 1EC”

The back of Dave’s forearm was turned upright and three metal bands flew from nowhere to snap around his arm and tighten painfully. His designated mark appeared on the bands before they slowly grew brighter

“What is going on?” Dave gritted his teeth as the bands began to burn and sizzling noises came from beneath the metal. “Argh, I think you have done enough!” Dave held back a scream of agony as the pain managed to become more intense. “AH! FUCKING STOP!”

“No,” the voice whispered into Dave’s ear. “We need to make sure we BURN the very mark onto your soul,” the voices breath rolled across Dave’s face as the lights became blinding to him. “If you have any children then they will be born burnt”

Dave finally let ought the scream of pain as the bands continued to get hotter and hotter. His hand began to spasm as he began to believe what the voice said

“This was only the preparation room, you will awaken soon and continue on your journey, when you arrive in Tartarus, present your mark to the reception desk and you will be entered into the prison,” the voice said calmly, his voice still loud enough for Dave to hear over his own screams.

“But I shall give you a warning Inmate 1EC… you may leave Tartarus but Tartarus will never leave you”