Chapter 56

Dave managed to force his eyes open and observed his surroundings. He was resting against a tree at the edge of the runway and a pain burned his side

Dave looked down at his bandaged side “Wow I take it that I don’t want to see underneath that?” he chuckled to himself

“No you don’t” Luna sighed as she appeared from behind the tree “Don’t try to move”

Dave attempted to move anyway but the pain forced him to go limp again “Why am I bandaged anyway?”

“The wound looked bad” Luna sat next to Dave “So I thought it would help”

“I can heal” Dave reminded the alicorn as he began to shuffle

Luna frowned at Dave’s groaning as he moved an inch off the ground before falling down again “I recommend you stay put until your wound has healed”

“Is Adamas ok?” Dave asked as he scratched around the bandage

Luna rolled her eyes at the human “Wow you are unbelievable”

“Who told you?” Dave chuckled and earned a grin from Luna

“It’s just that you are suffering from such a bad injury and you care more about some dragon you hardly know” Luna looked down at her hooves “And I was foolish to think that you were in trouble”

“Well it was just training for me” Dave turned his head to look at Luna “But I appreciate the thought”

Luna smiled at Dave but her gaze dropped to the bandage “that was my fault that you got hurt”

“Hey I’m ok” Dave managed to lower his head to regain eye contact “listen if you don’t want me to train by fighting a large dragon then I won’t”

“R-really?” Luna smiled “You would do that for me?”

Dave hugged the happy princess “yeah, you’re Celestia’s sister”

Dave felt the hug loosen “Celestia’s sister” Luna whispered sadly as she pushed Dave away

Dave fell onto his wounded side and groaned in pain as he watched Luna run away and back into the castle “What the fuck?”

“Wow she has some serious issues… again” Odio sighed

Dave attempted to push himself up but the pain pinned him to the ground “Are you healing me?” he asked irritably

“Yes slowly” Odio mumbled, “You did some damage to your spine which is like rewiring a house during an earthquake”

Dave looked around the abandoned runway “So I take it I am going to be lying down in the mud for a few moments”

“Yeah” Odio chuckled “It would be really bad if it started raining wouldn’t it?”

Dave managed to turn his head to look at the clear sky “Well at least the hard ground isn’t so bad”

“How so?” Odio asked as he continued with his task

“Well I can listen to the sounds of the earth,” Dave said in a spiritual tone

Odio hummed “I can fix you in like… five seconds but it will hurt”

“Do it” Dave commanded

Odio chuckled before speeding up his healing efforts, causing Dave to yell in pain and the bandages restricted his breathing

Dave pulled the bandages from his stomach and took in a deep breath “Thank you Odio” he groaned as he pushed himself to all fours

“You are very welcome Dave and I SHIT” Odio went silent as the castle doors swung open and Celestia rushed out. Dave quickly grabbed the bandages and hid them in his pocket

“DAVE!” Celestia called as she looked around the runway, she spotted Dave’s head from behind a tree and ran over “Dave are you ok?”

Dave coughed as Celestia helped him to his feet “yeah I’m fine”

“What happened?” Celestia nuzzled against Dave’s cheek as she looked at his healed belly

Dave scratched his chin as he looked up at the castle “Just a small incident during training and I decided to wait here while I healed”

“Are you sure you are ok?” Celestia brought Dave’s eyes back to her own

Dave smiled at the princess’ concerned attitude “Listen I am perfectly fine” Dave placed a hand on Celestia’s neck to reassure her

“Well if you’re sure” Celestia’s frown turned to a smile “Oh I remembered that I need to talk with you about something… involving us”

It was Dave’s turn to frown “What is it?”

“Don’t worry it isn’t bad” Celestia smiled at the thought of Dave’s face when she reviled her intentions

“Alright what is it?” Dave asked as his face calmed

Celestia opened her mouth but idea flashed her head before any words left her mouth “Actually can you come up to my quarters and we can discuss in private”

“Yeah sure” Dave shrugged “I have something to take care of anyway”

Celestia opened her wings to prepare for flight “Will it take long?”

“No” Dave put his hand in his pocket and felt the bandages “It shouldn’t”

Celestia nodded before flapping her wings and rose into the air, heading towards her quarters high in the castle. Dave watched her soar before heading into the castle and ascending the tall steps, running past the guards and servants

Dave continued up the steps towards his destination, slowing only to catch his breath as he reached the door being guarded by two unicorns. He nodded to them as he knocked heavily

“I am not seeing anypony at the moment” Luna called through the door

Dave rolled his eyes as he knocked again, “It’s me”

There was a small shuffle heard from the other side of the door followed by Luna walking closer to the door “Why are you here?”

“I need to talk with you” Dave pulled the bandages from his pocket and held it in his hands

Slowly the door opened and Luna peeked through the crack at Dave “What do you want to talk about?”

Dave looked at the guards beside him “Can we talk in your room? In private?”

“Ok just wait a moment” The door closed, more shuffling noises were heard, and the door opened again “You can come in now”

Dave walked in and closed the door behind him, Luna was nowhere in sight “Umm where are you?”

“In the bathroom” Luna called “What was it you wanted to talk about?”

Dave stood by the bathroom door “Listen I just wanted to thank you for putting the bandage on me”

“It’s ok” Luna replied softly “Is that all?”

“No I was thinking about something” Dave placed the bandages on the desk before returning to the door “Down in the courtyard you left me stuck on the floor”

“Sorry” Luna sighed, “I didn’t mean to leave you like that”

“Yes you did” Dave frowned at the door “You said something after I mentioned you’re Celestia’s sister and then pushed me away”

Luna sat silent on the other side of the door before finally responding, “You are so stupid”

“Excuse me?” Dave rose an eyebrow

Luna moved around on the other side of the door “You are free to leave whenever you please”

“I’m not done” Dave turned to the door “I want to know what your problem is with me”

Luna gasped, “I don’t have a problem with you”

“Then what is it?” Dave held his arms out “Is it that I wanted to train or some other stupid reason”

The bathroom door swung open and revealed Luna, her eyes obviously showing the strain of heavy crying “It isn’t you”

Dave noticed the tear covered face and the wobbly voice “Luna?” He dropped his arms at the sight

“I have a problem with you forgetting me” Luna turned her back and began to close the door again but Dave managed to grab it before it blocked his view of her

“Forgetting you?” Dave let out a small chuckle “What do you mean by that?”

Luna turned and trotted close to Dave “You love my sister”

“Yes” Dave frowned down at the dark alicorn

Luna took a deep breath “You used to love me didn’t you?”

“I suppose at one point but you stopped that” Dave did not move as Luna looked over Dave’s features before returning to his eyes

“I know that somewhere under all that emotion you have for Celestia, that you still love me” Luna moved her head towards Dave’s lips but stopped an inch short “But the fact you love Celestia is pushing you away from me”

Dave shook his head “What I feel for Celestia has no impact on what I think about you”

“It does” Luna turned away again “If Tia didn’t have you then I would”

“Are you suggesting that Celestia is keeping me away from you?” Dave looked for answers around the room before looking back at Luna

“That is exactly what I am saying,” Luna held back a sob as she continued “You do things for her that nopony would ever think of doing under any circumstances”

“And you think that it should have been you I do those things for” Dave sighed

“Yes” Luna looked at herself in the bathroom mirror “You and I shared something unique on my balcony many nights ago”

“You stopped that not me” Dave folded his arms in agitation

“But I fought to get it back and instead you lift my hopes before smashing them again” Luna pushed the crown from her head at let it fall to the floor “I am sick of Tia getting what she wants again”

Dave shook his head in disgust “Now you are just being selfish”

“Selfish? Selfish!” Luna laughed weakly “I changed myself for you and you thought nothing of it”

“So what?” Dave snorted

“TIA KILLED YOU!” Luna yelled angrily “And you forgave her and it made your love for each other almost unbreakable”

“That is what this is all about?” Dave gawped “You want proof that I care about you more than a relative to my lover”

“Yes. No” Luna shook her head as she allowed the tears to flow freely “I want you to love me like I love you”

Dave sighed angrily “You want proof that I care about you? How?”

“I don’t know” Luna wept

“That isn’t helpful” Dave looked around the room “Do you want jewellery? Flowers?”

“Gifts mean nothing to me” Luna stared at Dave “I want Tia happy but that means me being unhappy”

“So you are telling me to make a choice?” Dave rubbed his eyes “Between you and Celestia?”

Luna’s mouth hung open “I want you to be honest that you love me”

“I can’t be with you” Dave growled “And if I admit feelings I don’t have then I ruin everything I fought to gain with Celestia”

“You still love me” Luna sneered, “You just can’t be honest because of what Celestia might do”

Dave stormed into the bathroom, it was similar to Celestia’s except everything was in a shade of light blue. The bath did not have a small waterfall but instead had a deep section in the middle, easily deep enough to submerge a full-grown alicorn with outstretched wings multiple times

“I am not afraid of Celestia!” Dave yelled, “I am afraid I might lose her if I admit anything!”

Luna yelled back “So you do love me?”

“Of course I fucking do but I love Celestia way more!” Dave growled “And I want you to know that I would do anything you wanted me to but I am not putting mine and Celestia’s happiness at risk”

“How do I know Dave?” Luna glared up at him “How do I know that you care about me in the slightest way?”

“You want proof?” Dave snarled, “You want proof that I care about you beyond a simple extra package that came with Celestia?”

“YES!” Luna yelled back “I want to know that I was truly loved at one point. I want to know that somepony cared about my happiness. I want to know that YOU LOVE ME!”

“FINE!” Dave yelled angrily “I will give you what you want”

Luna took a few breaths as Dave walked past her and into the bath “What are you doing?”

Dave looked back over his shoulder “This is what you truly want. You want to know somepony would die for you”

Luna’s eyes shot open and she dove in front of Dave, her futile attempts at stopping his advance only made her reduce to tears again “No Dave please don’t!”

The water began to rise up to Dave’s chest and then his shoulders as he neared the deepest part. Luna began to swim to try and stop him

“You can’t stop me” Dave looked at the crying alicorn “I am stronger physically and your magic won’t work against me”

“Dave stop!” Luna begged, “I’m sorry, you don’t have to do this”

“Apparently I do” Dave spat “And if it makes you happy then I am going to do it… just like I would for Celestia!”

Dave took a deep breath before diving under the water and swimming down to the deepest part. He removed his shoes and kicked his toes under the stone bottom so he was anchored down. Luna followed after him and put her hooves on his face

Luna shook her head as Dave’s angry features disappeared and was replaced with a kind smile. Luna released a sob as Dave opened his mouth and allowed the air to rush out of his lungs. The princess held onto Dave’s head until his smile began to waver and his body began to twitch due to lack of air

Luna shook her head and swam to the surface, she broke the surface of the water and inhaled deeply. The tears running down her face was masked by the water that soaked her coat. As she took in as much air as she could she dove again and returned to Dave. She gazed into his eyes as they began to slowly close

Luna’s sad expression and shaking head screamed, “Don’t do this”

Dave’s calm face and relaxed eyes signalled, “I have to”

Luna shook her head one last time before forcing her mouth to Dave’s