Forbidden Love
Chapter Twenty Two
As of late, the Lunar Princess had been searching the Crystal Library for a way to evade sleep, but her search was futile for she found nothing on the subject.
She tried constantly drinking coffee, but that made her long for sleep more, and once she had lowered the moon two more times, when she felt so tired that she knew she could not escape it any longer, sleep came to give her a rest, even though she desired it not.
Evading it was pointless, for she would always fall asleep...
She was there, staring at the Lunar Princess with a grin on her face as she twirled a knife around in her hands.
Gesturing to a tied up Shadowlance, her smile only grew bigger as Luna desperately began to try to free herself to help him.
But then the Solar Monarch stepped aside and revealed another whom she had captured and brought to the Forest of Everfree.
Standing between two trees, she folded her arms and gazed directly into the eyes of her sister.
"You can only save one of them...or none of them. Give yourself up, or foolishly remain out of my grasp. Make your choice…"
Luna sat up, gasping and covered in sweat from yet another nightmare. "Just a dream…" she muttered, placing a hand on her chest and breathing slowly.
Ever since the previous week, she hadn't had a single day of peaceful rest. Her dreams were continuously disturbed and she began to lose hope of being free.
She had found freedom in coming here, but would her dreams forever be haunted by the face of her sister?
Would she forcibly be taken back- forced to live a life she didn't want?
She did not know the answer to any of these questions, and it only increased her anxiety.
Breathe in...breathe out…
Slowly, her breathing returned to normal, and she closed her eyes.
But just as she was about to drift off to sleep, her eyes shot open, and she sat up again.
If We sleep again, We will have bad dreams. No, We no longer wish to have them. We shan't sleep, and instead find a cure. We art the guardian of dreams- the realm of dreams is under our power alone. We art highly skilled in dream magic, therefore there should be no problems if We encounter the being which disturbs our rest.
…
…
...No matter how much she tried to stay awake, her eyes begged for sleep, as did her body and mind.
She had managed to evade it for a few days, but she could do it no more.
Against her desires, her eyes fluttered closed and she went into the land of the sleeping...
"Hello again, dear sister of mine. Have you made a choice, or have you changed your mind? Sacrifice yourself - you shall still save one. Remain alive- you shall be able to save none."
" S-sacrifice? " The word barely left her lips; so low was the utterance that the other almost didn't hear it.
*Yes, sacrifice. I've always wanted to try occult things. It seems like fun. But seriously, make your choice quickly or I might get bored and decide to do three experiments. "
"I…" She still hesitated .
" Still unable to choose, are you? You already know that no one needs or wants you- you're too broken for anyone- so choose who you'll save. This one" she pointed the knife at Shadowlance, and then moved it to Sombra, "or this one ?"
"I cannot just choose one of them. Tell me what you want- I'll do anything to save both of them. "
"Anything...huh?"
"Yes, anything."
"Hmm… let me thin-"
At that moment ripples began to spread across the scene before her, and everything began to fade away and turn to black.
As her dream broke, the Lunar Princess swore she heard a voice say, "No! You shan't harm my sister!"
This time when she awoke, she found Sombra beside her, with a concerned expression on his face.
"S-sombra?"
"I heard you crying and came to comfort you," he said, sitting on her bed. "Another bad dream? "
She nodded. "The more time passes, the worse they become. Is there truly no way for Us to fully avoid sleeping?"
" Dark Magic is one method...but it can be very harmful…It corrupts and destroys what was formerly innocent and happy. "
She sighed. "We can't bear the dreams any more…We know of no solution to them, and they are all about her."
He wrapped her in his arms. "Remember that they're only dreams and can't harm you. And I don't think you have to give up sleeping… I mean, isn't there some sort of spell that can stop one from having dreams entirely? It could work…"
She shook her head. "Back in Canterlot We tried all the spells We knew to prevent Ourselves from having dreams, but none of them ever worked… Not a single potion, spell, incantation… nothing ever did."
"But your dreams back then were most likely influenced by her…"
"And I suspect that they are still influenced by her, even now. The distance might be huge, but Our sister was never lacking in magical power…"
The King frowned. "This...is a very tricky situation indeed. But let me try a spell of my own creation and we shall see if it works."
"Okay…"
" I'll be back- give me a second, " he said, after which he disappeared in a flash of crimson light.
Luna nodded and waited…
He was quick to return, having only taken a minute. In his hands was a dark blue crystal, but it was shinier than any other, and had a design of white roses carved into it.
He set it upon the bedside table and clicked his fingers, causing a few baskets of lavender to hang around the room.
Switching the lights off, he sat beside her once again, and the crystal began to glow.
"This used to help me when I had bad dreams. I hope it'll help you too."
She nodded appreciatively. "Thank you."
He nodded and was about to stand up, but her hand moved on its own and held his wrist.
"Is there something you want?" he asked.
Half trembling in fear at what she had done, and closing her eyes, hoping he would not say no, she stuttered, "I...We...if i-it's not too much t-trouble...Could y-you...stay with Us?"
He smiled and looked at her, admiring how beautiful she was, even when scared. "Sure."