//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty Five // Story: Forbidden Love // by KingSombraTheTyrantRuler //------------------------------// Forbidden Love Chapter Twenty Five As Luna stepped into the water, she did her best to keep her smile on her face. "Luna, come on! Swim time!" But the deeper she got, the less she was able to. Her hands began to tremble; beads of sweat formed on her brow, and the breaths she took were shaky and drawn out. "Luna, don't be scared. Like I said before, if you forgot how to swim, then I'll help you and teach you again." She just nodded. Calm down…She's not here. Nothing bad will happen. Just relax… She thought that she could manage it. However, the instant she dived to swim… The Lunar Princess ' old memories all came rushing back to her. "Swim you pathetic coward. Swim!" Luna flailed around in the pool as her sister forcefully submerged her head under the water. "Oh come on. It's not that hard- anyone can swim. But I suppose you don't really count as anyone , do you?" A cruel chuckle rang out from her mouth as the Lunar Princess began to struggle harder, air bubbles flowing through the water as she accidentally opened her mouth. At last she was picked up and thrown onto the grass where she choked and spat out water. "I wanted to drown you, but if I did, I wouldn't be able to have any more fun, would I?" "Huh, looks like you've actually learnt how to swim...After years!" Luna did her best to ignore her sister. "Now, since you're so good at swimming, let's see how you'd do in here," she said, and levitated the girl into a bigger pool which contained...piranhas. "Even though piranhas are usually scavengers and not harmful to humans…" A grin spread across Celestia's face. "I've enchanted these ones so that they'd be especially aggressive towards humans." This caused her eyes to widen and she frantically squirmed, trying to get out of the Solar Monarch's grip, but as it was a magical one she was unable to. Her eyes were fixated on the medium sized fish swimming around in the pool, and she knew that her sister would not be joking. In desperation, her hands began to glow, casting what spell she knew not- all she knew was that she had to escape somehow. But the spell could not even be cast for as soon as the first spark of magic was detected, she was thrown upon the ground and when she looked up, grimacing in pain, it was to meet the hateful glare of her sister, who spat, "I was going to go a little easy on you- give you a chance of survival, but now that you've dared to use magic against me, I'll go even harder. " "Here, I'll help you," said Shadowlance, holding Luna's hand. For him, it was a harmless thing, but for the Princess… It awakened one of her worst memories... "Hmm… let's see what I have planned for today's water session. Oh!" Her tormentor's eyes lit up. " Electricity! I wonder how long you'll manage to stay conscious for, and if it'll have any lasting effects. It says here that more than a few seconds of being shocked will be fatal, but that's just fine. I'll give you a break after each one, and just so that all of it doesn't add up and stop your heart, I'll heal you after it. That way we'll be able to do this all day!" With that she jumped off the sun lounger and grasping Luna's wrist, began to drag the Lunar Princess to the pool. As it was physical this time, Luna tried to claw Celestia's hand off, but her efforts were in vain; she just held on tighter. The distance between them and the pool shortened; Luna could not help but fearfully beg, "Celestia, please! Let me go! Let me go!" She usually would just accept her torture since she had long learned that begging was futile, however, this time it was a different, new form of pain that would greet her. This time was no different from the others, Celestia merely smiled wickedly and increased her pace. "Mercy is for the weak, and is given by the weak. You might be weak, but I'm not. Haven't I told you before? No amount of begging, pleading, beseeching or crying shall change my mind. In fact, your fear strengthens me. " "Let me go!" shouted Luna, shaking her hands. "Let me go Celestia! Let go!" " Whoa, " said Shadowlance, shocked. "Calm down Luna- it's me. Celestia's not here." To aid in decreasing her fear, he let go of her hand and she fell backwards into the sea, gasping. "We're...sorry... Shadowlance, but We simply cannot swim! " Saying that, she retraced her steps and went back to the house. Shadowlance was unsure whether to chase after her immediately or let her go. If I chase after her she might panic...I guess leaving her for a while and then going and checking on her would be the right thing to do… Though, I wonder, what happened…? When Luna entered the beach house, even though she wasn't paying much attention, she felt some sort of magical energy in the air. It's probably just the magic for the lights… However, as she walked further into it, she knew that it was simply too much magic to power the lights. No, it was something else. She entered the bedroom and decided that it would be best for her to get some rest. Perhaps she was tired and that's why she detected too much magical energy. Upon pulling back the covers, she jumped back, screaming as the face of none other than Celestia greeted her. The Solar Princess sat up, smiling in such a way it sent shivers down Luna's spine. "Hello Luna," she said. "Did you miss me?" The strange mutation of her sister's voice made the Lunar Princess shudder as she began to gather magic in her hands as a form of defence. "What art thou doing hither? " she hissed hatefully. "Luna, you wound me with the harsh tone in which your words are spoken. Do you not recognise me as your sister? Why then do you treat me as though I were your mortal enemy?" " Because thou art, " snarled Luna, and raising her hands, opening her fists as she did so, fired bolts of magic at the one whom she hated the most. Powered by hatred, the magic was stronger- scorching Celestia's face and causing her to fall down in pain. But a second later she rose up and threw her head back, laughing. "Oh Luna, you never learn, do you? You won't be able to harm me. You will only s-" Luna fired another bolt aimed at Celestia's face and conjured a shield just as one was fired at her. It bounced off and hit the one who fired it. She fired a much bigger one at the Solar Princess and watched as it hit her...again. Why is Celestia dodging none of my attacks? Has she recently become a masochist? Out loud she said, "What's up, Celestia? Gotten a bit slow?" " Don't get too cocky, Luna. You should focus on...saving yourself...from your enemy's attacks instead of mocking them. " Just as she said that a fireball went flying towards Luna, but she deflected it with her shield, returning it, but Celestia merely deflected it with a hastily crafted shield at the door, which opened. Shadowlance strolled in. "Hey Luna, I heard you s-whoa!" He notices the fireball which is flying towards him and draws his sword, making it go back...and hit Luna who had gotten distracted by his arrival which caused her magical shield to dissipate. As the Vampire runs to Luna, kneeling beside her in shock, Celestia laughs and teleports away.