Hey, everyone! What's this, another MLP fic during my writing of ASFF II? Yep! Given the lack of attention that fic has been receiving, I've felt more motivated to write this fic for you guys, especially since I've had ideas about it for a long time! Hope you all like the first bit of it!

Princess Luna, having woken up only a short time ago, was busy filling out her Dream Reports to submit to the Archives of Subconsciousness. She had been doing for several millennia, and even after her long "forced vacation" from work on the moon... it still took excitement from her life. Being a Princess was no easy task, let alone being the Princess of the Night. She has to keep up with all of the ponies in Equestria on a nightly basis in order to ensure their nightmares do not manifest into malevolent entities.

"It's a shame nothing truly eventful happened tonight... which means more tiresome, useless reports that Celestia wants me to take anyway... even though they will probably never even be read by anypony other than me..." Luna said to herself.

Given how she was semi-nocturnal, and everypony was asleep during the night, she only usually had herself to speak to. Being of royal status, all she had for company were her family, the guards, and the general staff of Canterlot Castle. However... this was not enough to quell what she had been longing for over a long period of time.

"How I wish I could have some real friends..." Luna said. "...I could only imagine how convenient it must be to simply walk out your front door, meet some ponies when you're out and about, and agree to meet up with them later..."

Being a princess, it worked nothing like this for her. Whenever she left the castle, she had to go with a Royal Guard escort, and a major problem was the civilian ponies were very intimidated by the guards, going out of their way to avoid Luna, and even Celestia, whenever they went for a casual stroll through Canterlot. Ambassadors and diplomats were generally very formal and professional, never offering to go beyond mere acquaintance, which left them out of the question.

Luna wanted a friend. Sure, she started off fairly introverted in her early life and preferred to be alone... but now, after many, many years of isolation, with only the same ponies who only act in accordance with royal protocol... she was lonely... she was brooding... she needed someone to have a friendly connection with... anyone at all.

The Princess of the Night sighed, setting down her quill and parchment to take a brief break, glancing out the window at the rising sun.

"One friend..." Luna spoke, hoping the very essence of the cosmos could hear her. "...that's all I ask... I just need one friend who I can really trust... and have a bit of fun with..."


"Mr. Aversion..." Star Buck said in a firm tone to the young stallion sitting across from her desk. "...I have told you time and time again... you need to wake up and realize you have a bucking community to serve!"

Aversion sighed. "My deepest apologies, Mrs. Buck... i-it's just... I-"

"I don't want to hear any explanations!" Star Buck angrily responded. "As the owner of the Ponyville cafe, I have a business to run, and as you are a barista, you have a contract with me to carry out that goal of mine! That means you must treat every customer like you would one of the Princesses!"

Aversion felt a hot feeling welling up in his throat.

"...U-understood." he uttered.

Star Buck narrowed her eyes. "Why are you acting like a hurt foal? Buck up and act like a grown, bucking stallion! I swear, even my slightly-feminine husband is more masculine than you are right now!"

Aversion visibly hardened his expression, hoping it would diffuse the situation.

"Now, get back out on the selling floor, smile, and give the customers what they want with a good, upbeat attitude!" Star Buck said.

"...Yes, Ma'am." Aversion responded, quickly taking himself out of the office.

For the rest of the day, the young earth pony tried his best to sober up. He carried out his duty like instructed... even though this type of persona directly conflicted with his true personality, and he hated being dishonest to others, and especially to himself, about how he felt. It simply was not pony nature to suppress true emotions.

The rest of the day went by fairly slowly, despite how busy it was, and honestly... Aversion did not remember most of it by the end of his shift. Finally, after eight long, tedious hours, he was able to clock out, take off the silly apron and hat he was required to wear, and head home... at least, the low-quality place he was forced to call "home."

Slowly, Aversion trudged back across the town of Ponyville, nopony looking twice at him on his way, until he reached a very isolated region of the community near its perimeter line. From there, he walked up to a small, slightly-disrepaired house that looked somewhat antiqued. He pulled out his keys, unlocked the door, and made his way to the small refrigerator, where he spent not more than ten seconds looking to see what he could choose from the small assortment of food, before pulling out a can of condensed soup.

After pouring it into a pan, diluting it with a canful of water, and letting it boil, Aversion ate his pitiful meal at the small table with one chair. Just one chair. That was all he needed. Because nopony else has wanted to visit him. He sighed sadly at how very "one-pony" style the house was organized, absently ladling some vegetables from the broth into his mouth.

Twenty-six years old... living alone in a cheap, mediocre, one-bedroom, one-bathroom house... working a very un-glamorous and minimum-wage job at the Ponyville cafe and never being able to find employment anywhere else... this was Aversion's life. And he hated every minute of it.

Nothing interesting or exciting happens. Nothing ever changes. He was barely managing to hold on with payments, earning only eight Bits per hour. He could not use any of that money to enjoy himself. He was nearly as poor as it was possible to be in modern Ponyville... without being homeless.

There were some points in time when Aversion wanted to save up to buy some special things for himself, such as replacing his dying CRT television with an LED flatscreen, as well as buying himself a better computer, or a new video game console as well as games to go with it, or a new mattress to replace the cot he started out with living alone... however, this came at a cost.

Aversion would need to sacrifice expenditure on other necessities in order to treat himself in the long run. Because of this, there have been times when, due to the lack of spending money he had for the week (he was not willing to touch his emergency funds... unless it was a financial emergency) where he went hungry by taking a meal or two out of the grand total of three from some consecutive days. He could not even afford to spend money on some nice, hard beverages to sedate himself after work.

It also forced him to be creative about how to make what little he had more green-friendly, such as using candlelight as his house's light source and gradually investing in brand-new LED lightbulbs, filling a two-liter bottle with water to put in the toilet tank so it would flush less water, and investing in mist-spray nozzles for the sinks in the kitchen and bathroom. He did not even believe he had the luxury of taking a nice, long shower, so he always took them as fast as he could to conserve water.

Aversion did not have any real friends, just acquaintances. So, there was nopony willing to be his housemate, even if temporarily. All of his old connections, or lack thereof, had been severed upon his moving out of his parents' house, to a new town. Given how timid he was, he had a hard time introducing himself to others, and was hardly willing to bring himself to meet his neighbors... as in the ponies who lived closest to where he lived.

To give himself some peace of mind, Aversion planted a garden in his backyard. He managed to, on certain hikes, carefully dig up any exotic flora he came across, and carry it back with him on his walk. From there, he would do a bit of research to know what exactly it was, and how to care for it. Overall, though, it was a very enjoyable hobby that helped to distract him from the pain and torment of his life.

Rather than using water from the outdoor tap to water his plants, Aversion used several buckets to hold river water that he would gather, on his days off, from a stream just on the outskirts of Ponyville, covering them to keep the water from evaporating. This was how he saved money on his water bill. The buckets themselves were good ones that he had scavenged from the Ponyville landfill (hey, when you're desperate, you try to get your hands on whatever you can that's free), as well as numerous other items that could be useful from said location.

At some points... Aversion even ended up resorting to thievery just to be able to retain his income without the risk of losing too much money. It started with small things, like a pack of gum, but then he worked it up to dressing in an all-black jumpsuit, going out in the dead of night, picking locks, and gathering as much food as he could, such as milk, eggs, bread, hay, etc., in such a way that it would not raise major suspicion. He had to do so sparingly, however, just to avoid trouble. He disliked being a thief, but it was all for his own good... especially with the way everypony treats him.

In any case, it was getting late, and Aversion simply wanted to get some rest for the night, especially after being on his feet for eight hours straight, his shift starting late in the day, making it late in the night now. He took one of his trademark rapid-showers, dried off, brushed his teeth, and climbed into bed. He blew out his bedside candle and curled up under the covers, hoping always giving the same prayers that he would have a good dream... something that seldom ever happened anymore for him...

So, now that we've got a bit of exposition out of the way, I hope to expand upon Aversion's character a little more and get to know what it is he hopes to do in life. Catch you all later, in the next chapter! Keep holding on...