Chapter 78

“You want us to what?” Celestia frowned as Dave handed over a list. “You are going to fight and we are supposed to pick up some shopping?”

Dave glanced at the list before nodding, “Go to Ponyville, get the things on this list, when you return everything will be normal again.”

“You are asking too much,” Luna shook her head, “How are we supposed to act natural when we are worried about you fighting Harvest?”

Dave sighed, “Listen, this will all be over soon, I know how much you have put up with already but this is crucial, I can’t risk Harvest running rampant.”

Celestia muttered angrily under her breath as she snatched the list away and left the human with Luna. The princess of the night watched her sister turn a corner before looking at Dave, the human slumped against the wall as he rubbed his head.

“Are you alright?” Luna rushed to Dave’s side. Dave pulled his hand away from his head and turned to face Luna.

Dave placed a hand gently on Luna’s cheek as he leaned forward and kissed her, the alicorn’s eyes widened in surprise but she didn’t pull back as she slowly sank into the feeling. After a few moments, the pair separated and Dave removed his hand from Luna’s cheek.

“Sorry,” Dave turned away. “Impulse kinda had his moment, he always did get us into trouble.”

“Well technically you are Dave I fell in love with except a little broken,” Luna stepped forward and nuzzled Dave’s neck, “Thank you.”

Dave gasped slightly as Luna placed a hoof on his cheek and turned his face, pressing her lips against his. The surprised human’s eyes slowly closed as the second moment of intimacy finally ended.

“You are doing so much in return for nothing,” Luna placed a dark hoof over Dave’s mouth, interrupting him. “We may not realize it yet but you are giving us all a new beginning so… thank you.”

Luna hurried after her sister, leaving the human to watch the alicorn leave. Dave slowly stood up and placed his helmet back on his head, quickly greeted by Odio’s red eyes resting in the visor.

“You felt something else from Harvest?” Odio hummed as Dave picked up his sword from its resting place against the wall and attached it to his waist. “How far?”

Dave began marching down the corridor, “It is going to run straight past Celestia and Luna, should their carriage be travelling on time.”

“Wait… It is going through Ponyville?” Odio hummed. “I guess it has already avoided densely populated areas and so it will completely miss Celestia and Luna.”

“It will go into Canterlot to look for me but that is the only exception,” Dave walked down the corridor as his armour made small clinking noises. Odio flowed around the armour as he made sure everything was attached correctly.

Odio silently agreed as he floated back into Dave’s vision, “So what was on that shopping list?”

“Suit, some other things,” Dave tapped his head. “Just making some plans for Dave’s wedding.”

“Did Dave ever plan for me to have a role in the wedding?” Odio beamed happily as his smile almost blinded Dave

“Yeah, something to make you finally pay back for all the grief you caused,” Dave gave a smirk. “It is a secret though.”

“Spoil sport,” Odio groaned. “Well I know my place during this fight, are you ready?”

Dave looked at his armoured fist, “I always was.”

Odio and Dave fell into silence as they slowly made their way along the corridors, passing servants and guards glanced at Dave but returned to their duties as Dave walked past and made his way into Celestia’s quarters.

Odio became lost in his own thoughts as Dave walked over to Celestia’s desk and began rummaging through the papers. Finally finding a small wooden box that was sealed with a small silver padlock.

Dave held his fingers around the padlock as Odio’s fog seeped into the mechanism and gently opened the lock. With the padlock removed, Dave lifted the lid and saw a silver bracelet with a sapphire glistening in the light.

Dave took the bracelet and clipped it to his waist, he walked over to the sofa and sat down, resting his head back as he sighed. “Wake me before sunrise.”

Odio grunted in acknowledgement as he continued to mess around inside the suit of armour. Dave looked around the room before allowing sleep to quickly take him.

The next morning…

“Hey,” Odio called. “COCK A DOODLE DOO!”

Dave bolted awake, his hand grabbed his sword as he quickly scanned the room. He groaned as he stood up and rolled his head around to get the stiffness out of his neck. The moon was nearing the horizon and caused the human to start leaving the room.

There were no guards outside the royal bedroom, the only sound was Dave’s breathing or the sound he made as he walked. The corridors were dark and only a few lanterns lit the white walls at the top of stairs or outside doors.

Dave descended the steps as he left the castle doors and stepped onto the courtyard. The two night guards standing beside the large gates looked over at Dave, they silently opened the gates for him as he nodded to then and began walking down the empty streets of Canterlot.

A few shops along the main street were slowly opening, a sleepy waitress was placing tables and chairs outside a café. A small colt was running along with a sack full of newspapers, stopping at every door to deliver one as he continued his early deliveries.

Dave reached the main city gate and walked past the guards as he left the safety of the city walls and entered the darkness of the countryside. He followed the road that circled the capital city, the moon hitting the horizon as he walked past his first statue, a small sign hung beside it.

Canterlot Labyrinth

Dave walked to the entrance and unsheathed his sword, twirling it around his hands before stabbing it into the ground. He pulled the silver bracelet from the black tendril that held it to his waist and placed it over the handle, letting the sapphire face him as he rolled his neck and made final checks on his armour.

The moon finally disappeared and the blazing sun replaced it, causing the clear sky to slowly turn blue as pegasi placed a few clouds in the sky, preparing for rain in a few days. Dave glimpsed at the sunrise before looking around his surroundings.

Various statues stood along the path, some were simple whereas some were completely chaotic. Dave saw the high entrance to the huge labyrinth, the natural walls looked intimidating enough without thinking about how deep the maze went.

Dave sighed as he felt a small ache in his head. He turned to see Harvest staring at him, the creatures yellow eyes were scanning his armour whilst Dave looked over the creature’s body.

Harvest stood on two, rear jointed legs. The body was covered in scales that turned into a carapace that ran along the top of the monster’s head and along the long arms that ended in two thick paws.

“You know what to do Odio?” Dave sighed. Harvest flinched at the name, obviously having an emotional response but not having any reason why.

“I will go on your signal,” Odio hummed. “This looks like this might be tough… kick its ass,” The fog of hatred chuckled as Dave slowly slid into a fighting stance.

Harvest hissed as it sunk onto its front paws and opened a mouth full of jagged teeth, a pair of pincers appeared at the sides and twitched rapidly.

The creature was the first to attack, it lunged at Dave with its claws extended and aimed for the throat in an attempt to kill quickly. Dave hopped to the side and retaliated with a quick jab to Harvest’s side.

Harvest yelped in pain as Dave’s spiked gauntlets stabbed into its side, leaving four parallel slashes along in the flesh of the creature. Dave hummed as he backed away from the snarling creature.

“Something isn’t what I thought,” Dave muttered before rushing forwards, Harvest reacting by rearing onto its rear legs and lashing out with its long claws. Dave ducked under the first swipe but blocked the other by using a forearm to swat the claw away.

Using his small window of opportunity, Dave brought his hand to Harvest’s face, roaring as he forced his resistance through the creatures head, causing it to flash and burst into ashes. Dave kicked the body away as it fell to the ground.

“Well that was easy,” Odio moaned. “We are supposed to get the brain! Not bloody disintegrate its entire skull!”

Dave took a few steps from Harvest’s headless body as it twitched, “The brain is in the chest.” He narrowed his eyes as the body sat up and green flame erupted from the headless neck. “Don’t forget, Harvest is made from every creature in Equestria.”

Odio whistled as another head burst from Harvest’s neck and the green flame disappeared, leaving the monster in perfect condition. “Hydra DNA?”

“It uses Changeling DNA to shapeshift and use any ability it wishes,” Dave clenched his fists as Harvest’s hands burst into green flames and the paws were replaced with two large talons.

Harvest gave no warning as it lunged with its powerful legs, closing the gap between it and Dave with ease as reached out with its new weapons. Dave managed to grab one of the talons but the other managed to grasp around Dave’s head, one of the talons broke through the visor and almost stabbed into Dave’s face.

The human snarled as he used his grip on the creature to lift it into the air and slam it into the ground. Harvest placed its powerful legs on Dave’s chest and kicked him away, breaking a piece of helmet off as the talon managed to hold onto the crystal.

Dave could see the damage without moving his eyes from the creature, the left side had broken from the visor downwards, exposing his cheek and throat. Dave pulled off what was left of the helmet and threw it at Harvest, running after it as it served its purpose as a distraction.

Harvest slapped the helmet away and left itself undefended as Dave grabbed Harvest’s carapace and dragged its head towards his rising knee. Harvest howled as the spike on Dave’s knee pad stabbed it, it pulled back as Dave spun and brought his armoured heel against the creature’s ribs.

The loud crack signalled that Dave had managed to break at least three ribs and wounded the creature but he still backed off as the creature snarled. Once again the green flame engulfed Harvest and altered the body parts for the next attack.

Dave used a hand to protect his eyes as the green light peaked in intensity, the light lasting a moment before disappearing and replacing it with the new and healed monstrosity.

The scaled chest was gone and replaced with a large exoskeleton, the arms were completely covered in the carapace and the talons were replaced by thick claws that would easily stab through Dave’s armour. The legs were no longer rear-jointed but were now also covered in the dark carapace that ran along the spine of the creature. The feet were large paws, the head was now covered in eight black eyes, and the mouth was just a set of long fangs.

“Well, I think you pissed it off,” Odio hummed as he saw the long tail that ended in a large stinger. “A lot,” He added as Harvest flapped a pair of long wings that resembled a gryphon’s.

Dave scanned the sky before looking back at Harvest, he bounced on the spot before advancing, taking a wide path as he punched towards the creature’s face. Harvest ducked under the fist and tackled the human in retaliation as it pinned him to the ground.

“Left hook, right hook,” Odio chanted as Dave rolled over and sat on Harvest’s chest. The human followed Odio’s advice and began punching Harvest’s face. “Finishing combo!” Odio cheered as Dave held Harvest’s head still and gave a final punch across the large jaw.

Harvest hissed as it whipped its tail into Dave’s back. The scorpion stinger pierced Dave’s armour and stabbed through his shoulder, a spray of blood coated a nearby statue in the crimson liquid.

Dave stood, the tail still imbedded in his body as he reached back and pulled the tail from his body. He snarled as he pulled the tail around his head in a long arc, swinging Harvest in the air before throwing it into the air, the monster roared before opening its wings and regaining control.

“Thick armour isn’t too helpful,” Dave groaned as he placed his fingers under his pauldrons and ripped off the armour, only leaving the spiked knuckles on his gauntlets.

“And Skyrim made glass armour look so protective,” Odio sighed sadly as he forced a surge of power through the chest plate and legs of the armour as he caused the surface to crack and break away from the lighter and agile armour.

Dave looked at the shards of crystal that littered the floor, “Do you still have some power in those?”

Odio hummed, “Some, why?”

“Let’s bring this fucker back to Earth,” Dave’s mark glowed as he forced his resistance at the shards. The crystals exploded and caused a large smokescreen and the noise echoed through the morning air

“Nice to see which part got fighting spirit,” Odio chuckled as Dave was thrown into the air towards Harvest. The monster lashed out with its tail again, just slashing Dave’s arm as the human shot past the beast, grabbing one of the strong wings as he pulled it free from the joint.

Both man and beast roared as they turned to attack each other, they ignored their declining altitude as they fought in the air. Harvest managed to sink its large fangs into Dave’s arm as they crashed into the ground, deep within the labyrinth. The human managed to pull his arm free, a steady stream of blood running down to drip off his fingers as the large gash in his arm slowly pulled itself closed.

Harvest jumped and kicked Dave with all the force in its back legs and caused the human to get smashed through one of the hedges and into a different part of the endless maze. Dave shook most of the blood from his arm as he looked around at the high walls, the leaves blocked the sun well enough to make it almost look like night again.

A loud hiss made Dave drop straight into a fighting stance again, his eyes slowly scanned the surroundings as the hissing seemed to be circling. “This bastard is stalking,” Odio hummed.

“I noticed,” Dave slowly walked along the maze as he continued to observe his surroundings. He paused before rolling his eyes, “You are talking about your game aren’t you?”

“Monster Hunter,” Odio chuckled before sighing sadly. “I just realized that I might be wasting eternity just playing games… I should find something else to do.”

Dave paused as he saw a flash of green light from over one of the hedges. “Good to see you are open minded.”

“Can you quickly recommend a good anime?” Odio asked

“Seriously?” Dave groaned before hopping backwards, a large hook-shaped claw stabbed through the hedge and turned so the sharp edge was pointed at him.

“Ahem!” Odio coughed to gain attention, “Well?”

Dave groaned, “Cowboy Bebop, now shut up for a minute!” He leaned back as the claw raced towards him, the hedge began to fall as the claw sliced through the foliage. Dave managed to lean back far enough so the blade sliced the air an inch from his nose.

Harvest hissed as the hedge fell and revealed nothing was on the other side. The creature yelped as its rear legs were grabbed and it was dragged into the hedge, Dave punched through sticks and leaves as he punched Harvest in the chest.

The pair wrestled in the midst of twigs and other plant life before Dave managed to escape the fallen hedge, Harvest was close behind, the monster attempted another lunge but Dave moved forwards to strike first.

A few rapid strikes to Harvest’s chest followed by a knee to the stomach and a final elbow to the spine caused the beast to fall. Dave took a few breaths as his muscles screamed in agony, the fighting suddenly showing its strain on Dave’s body.

Harvest’s eyes burst into green flame before looking up at Dave, its new cockatrice eyes met Dave’s eyes and caused his face to turn stiff, his vision turned black as he felt his head become encased in stone.

Harvest stood and opened his jaws wide to devour the human. Dave’s hands swung wildly until they managed to grab Harvest’s neck. The human brought his stone head into Harvest’s teeth, smashing them in as the stone prison crumbled around his head.

“Where is it?” Dave groaned as he spat a few stones from his mouth. Harvest’s face burst into flames as its eyes returned to being that of a serpent’s and his teeth were full of new fangs. “Alright, time to see if my hunch is right.”

Dave’s mark glowed as he raised his arm to Harvest, the creature dodged just as the invisible wall of physical resistance swept past and blasted a hole through the labyrinth. Dave ran straight through his handmade exit as he escaped the maze and began running along the outside, Harvest in quick pursuit.

The human saw the sword and bracelet a little further ahead he growled as he closed the distance and snatched the bracelet. He spun on his heel and held the bracelet out, showing the sapphire to Harvest.

“Sssssllllessssta?” Harvest whispered before its claw reached for its chest, a pained groan escaped its mouth as Dave felt his own piece of his brain pulse in pain. Dave threw the bracelet aside as he stood straight.

“COME ON YOU UGLY MOTHER FUCKER!” Dave yelled as Harvest roared and stabbed forwards with its claw. The claw smashed through Dave’s armour and ripped through his chest as it burst out his back and picked him off the ground.

Odio chuckled, “My turn.” The black fog of hatred rushed through the opening in the armour and engulfed Harvest, the creature screamed as it inhaled and became surrounded by the burning fog.

Dave pulled the claw out of him as the fog finished leaving the armour. He charged forwards and rammed his hand under Harvest’s spine, feeling around the monster’s shifting organs before finding his target and ripping it out.

Odio glowed red as he sent electricity through Harvest, the monster screeched before the fog quickly pulled away and revealed Dave standing with the piece of brain in one hand and the other aimed at Harvest.

Dave’s mark glowed bright as he forced as much resistance as he could into the abomination, the creature flashed white before turning to ash and crumbling into nothingness. The human gasped for air as he fell to the floor, his eyes looking up at the sunrise.

Odio floated over, his burning red eyes scanned Dave as he slowly covered the human in a thick shroud. “Don’t worry, I played that surgery game on the Wii!”

“The fact you can’t remember the name isn’t very reassuring,” Dave coughed as he allowed Odio to work. “Send Dave my regards would ya?”

“Sure,” Odio smirked. “I’m strangely gonna miss you.”

Dave mustered some strength to tap his head. “I’ll be here.”

“Well… yeah, you are a part of Dave’s subconscious,” Odio shook the piece of brain.

“I know,” Dave frowned. “I’m just trying to make this seem more…”

“Cliché?” Odio huffed. “I don’t see why, nopony is around to see this and I will never bring this up.”

“Just ruin the moment for me,” Dave groaned. “I thought you would have appreciated some dramatics.”

Odio looked around, “What movie set are we on?”

“I don’t know why I bothered,” Dave sighed. “Just put Dave back in control and let him suffer.”

“Fine!” Odio exclaimed. “Jeez, if this was a movie then I would have shot myself.”

“Oh ha ha,” Dave laughed sarcastically.