Chapter 69

Dave sat at the end of his bed, his fingers played with the bandage that covered his arm. Luna had recently left the medical wing but had also left Dave with a slight sense of confusion and wonder

“Why do they insist on keeping me here? Is it to ascertain my condition or… merely rehabilitate me?” Dave tapped his scar as he hummed. “Something is definitely missing, but what? Certainly not my memories”

The human’s eyes widened in realization as he sucked air through his teeth, “Now it makes sense… time for me to clear Dave’s schedule and start making informed decisions”

Dave stood up and walked out of the medical wing, the guards exchanged confused glances before following the human. “Excuse me your majesty but aren’t you supposed to be waiting for Nurse Redheart before you can leave?”

“Then tell her to find me in the castle library,” Dave pointed at the guard before moving his hand to look at the other one. “Can you retrieve me some trousers?”

“Yes sir!” Both guards saluted before marching away to attend their given tasks

Dave continued to stride down the corridors as he made his way into the large library, the large hourglass continued to flow as Dave walked around it and over to the large window. He took a deep breath before walking over to one of the shelves and selecting the first book

The pages quickly flew by before Dave closed the book, his eyes still moving as if he was scanning the paragraphs within the book. “Interesting…” he muttered as he moved onto the next book and began making his way across the shelf, soaking in the information stored in the books

As Dave finished reading the entire wall of books he turned to look at the rest of the library. “Very interesting indeed…” he rubbed his chin but was interrupted as the library door opened and a frowning Nurse Redheart stepped in with a large bag

“You were supposed to be resting in bed until I was sure you were ok,” the white earth pony groaned as she put down her medical bag. “What would have happened if you had collapsed?”

“I would have fallen over for a start,” Dave rolled his head to look at the nurse. “I am in perfect health and I don’t require any treatment or observation”

Nurse Redheart scoffed, “That is for me to decide, now would you please let me give you a check-up now and then come back to the medical wing so I can analyse your condition further?”

“I have a dull feeling in my head, nothing more, nothing less,” Dave looked past the nurse as the door opened and a guard levitated a clean set of jeans over to Dave. “Thank you, you may return to your duties,” he called as he quickly dressed himself

“I am afraid that if you don’t do as I ask then I will have to inform Princess Celestia or Princess Luna,” Nurse Redheart sighed as she used her guilt card. “They have been worried enough without having to chase after you”

Dave shrugged, “If they wish to busy themselves then so be it, Luna is asleep and Celestia is working so go ahead and disturb them”

Nurse Redheart looked at the human before her eyes darted to her bag. “You want me to go and find them?”

“I don’t care what you do at the moment,” Dave walked over to one of the bookshelves before taking one from the shelves. “If my health becomes an issue then I will come find you,” Dave emphasised by tapping a medical book he had just finished reading. “I know the symptoms”

“I can hold you against your will due to the fact that you appear to be suffering mentally,” Nurse Redheart rose an eyebrow as Dave paused to look at her. “I have never seen you read a book before, let alone read an encyclopaedia in ten seconds”

Dave tapped the spine of the next book as he looked down at himself, “Well I need to know a few things so there is no point hanging around when something needs to be done”

Meanwhile…

Nox groaned as a plate of broccoli was placed in front of him, “Aww these taste bad, can I have something else?”

“I’m afraid not,” Celestia sighed as she poked at her spinach, he face covered with a frown. “We had a large meal at the Apple’s home, we need to eat these to get other minerals and vitamins in our diet”

The grey alicorn pushed the plate away as he folded his hooves, “we don’t need to eat anyway. Can I have ice-cream instead?”

“No Nox we can’t!” Celestia snapped, moving her gaze up to look at the startled colt. The white princess dripped her head in guilt before looking back at her son. “I’m sorry for shouting but you need to learn that… I just like feeling normal”

Nox tapped his hooves nervously before pulling his plate closer and began to nervously chew his green broccoli. “I’m sorry mummy, if I had known then I would have told the truth… I like broccoli”

“Then why did you lie?” Celestia frowned as Nox’s wings twitched nervously

“Applebloom said she didn’t like them so I thought that I could convince myself I didn’t like them too,” The grey colt used his magic to levitate another piece of broccoli into his mouth

Celestia pushed her plate away as she rested her head on her hooves. “We do silly things for those we love”

Nox hummed happily as he finished his broccoli, “Didn’t dad meet you by doing something silly?”

“It was a house warming party and Dave got the wrong barrel of cider,” Celestia smiled as she thought back. “He was having fun, so was everypony, even Luna… except me”

“Why?” Nox tilted his head as he looked at his mother in confusion. “Didn’t you like the music?”

“It was more the fact that no matter how hard I try, I will always be slightly more isolated than anypony else,” Celestia sat up as she felt a chill wash over her. “Luna is always willing to try new things and I took it upon myself to make sure that I remain responsible”

The young alicorn looked at the princess of the sun with a smile, “But dad is different!”

“He talked to everypony that night, said hello, shared stories… but when he found me sat on the stairs and sat down beside me,” Celestia smiled as she reminisced. “He said ‘Why do you look so upset Celestia?’ with the most casual tone that anypony could say”

“And you fell in love because of that?” Nox shrugged. “I suppose that he sounded better back then”

Celestia shook her head gently, “Dave talked to me, shared secrets and listened to a few of my own.” The white alicorn smiled as she lifted a hoof to her engagement ring that still sat on her horn. “And I remember thinking ‘Equestria owes me’ and planting a kiss on his lips, I don’t know if anypony saw but I didn’t care”

“But didn’t you worry that dad was drunk and wasn’t thinking properly?” Nox took a sip of his juice before looking back to his mother

“The next morning I did but he stopped that train of thought before it left the platform,” Celestia giggled softly behind a hoof. “He was so strange, we talked long after everypony else had left and he even cried at one point… right before we became an item”

Nox smiled as he finished his drink, “That sounds way better than how me and Applebloom got together.” The colt looked at the empty glass before a maid came and cleared the plates away. “So what exactly is it about dad that makes him important? You always look sad when he isn’t around”

“Your father is special, he always was reckless but I suppose he never cared about his own safety because he was protecting us,” Celestia’s smile vanished as Battering Ram’s words flashed through her mind

Hypocrite

The princess looked down at her hooves as she shuddered, “I forget that it isn’t just me and him.” The alicorns sat in silence before Celestia shook her head and stood up, “I have somepony I need to see”

“Ok mum, is it ok if I can go to Ponyville for a little while?” Nox smiled sweetly. “I promise I will let you know if anything happens”

Celestia sighed, “Ok just be back by tonight, I want us to spend a day with dad soon”

“Thanks mum!” Nox quickly leapt over to his mother’s side as he wrapped his arms around her neck before running out the room

The remaining alicorn thanked the maid that took her plate away before standing up and leaving the dining table, leaving the room in the direction of the guard barracks. Celestia walked calmly as she entered the room full of guards

The guards all instantly got to their hooves and saluted their princess but were left without a response as she walked straight for the dungeon door, levitating the prison keys away from the nearby jailor before disappearing out of sight. Celestia walked down the dirty steps before arriving in the dimly lit corridor

Strong Shield was still sat at the far end of his cell, his food was being picked at by a rat while he continued to stare at the floor. Flux sat by her cell door, watching Strong Shield as she longed to comfort him. Battering Ram was breathing gently as he rested on his stone bed, one of his massive hooves over his eyes

“You, come with me,” Celestia frowned as she unlocked the jail cell and allowed the heavy door to swing open. She glared at the earth pony as he slowly rolled onto his front and stood up, staring blankly at the princess as he followed her out of the dungeon

Celestia walked determinedly as the earth pony received glares from all the guards, his eyes scanning the groups until he spotted a particular Pegasus. The huge earth pony changed course and walked over to the table that Matrix and Night Stalker were using

“You a hybrid?” Battering Ram narrowed his eyes at the striped Pegasus

“Yeah, what about it?” Matrix glared, going in the defensive as he looked up at the navy earth pony. “You one too?”

“Yeah, it means you will go far in the guards,” Battering Ram chuckled. “Take it from me, don’t let anypony give you any hassle for it”

Night Stalker noticed Celestia was glaring impatiently at the prisoner. “Princess, would you like me to detain the prisoner?”

“If you try then I will break you in half,” Battering Ram snorted. “That sad excuse of a princess doesn’t deserve royal guards, let alone Dave”

The charcoal Pegasus stood up, along with half the guards that heard the comment. Battering Ram focused his gaze on Night Stalker, “Wait until she lets you down, then you will understand”

Celestia gave Battering Ram a cold stare as he resumed following her, the white alicorn led Battering Ram to an old office room and waited for him to take a seat before sitting opposite him. “Tell me about Strong Shield”

“You are desperate to find something bad aren’t you?” Battering Ram folded his hooves. “Strong Shield once crippled somepony that he cared deeply about”

“Who?” Celestia leaned forwards as Battering Ram stood up and showed his back to the princess, a deep, round scar was carved into a spot in the centre of his spine. “Why did he do this to you?”

Battering Ram smirked as he sat down, “For the guards, he was ordered to kill me and Flux because we were assisting Puppetmaster… he broke my spine, left Flux under a chandelier and left the building to burn”

Celestia looked down at the table before looking back up at the earth pony, “Strong Shield has to be punished for what he did, it was treason and it demands justice”

“You really don’t know what to do, do you?” Battering Ram shook his head. “Strong Shield has suffered his entire life in silence, devoted everything to the guards and he finally lets somepony help him… well one human help him and suddenly everypony ends up hating him”

“What he did to Dave is unforgiveable, Strong Shield made Dave do it because Dave would do anything to protect his family,” Celestia shuddered as the memory of Dave throwing himself in front of a spear suddenly surface. “Strong Shield is an emotionless user”

Battering Ram shook his head, “Strong Shield doesn’t want to burden others.” The earth pony sighed as he looked at Celestia, “Do you want to hear a story about something Strong Shield did once? It was a little over thirty years ago…”