Hello, everyone! After a long wait, I've returned. I hope you all like the new chapter. I've decided to introduce some new substance to it, and bring in some ever-so-familiar characters we've all become attached to. So, enjoy!
Once Luna had fallen asleep, she expected to find herself in the Dream Void, where she would be able to access the dreams of other ponies and take notes for the Archives of Subconsciousness... however, this did not happen. Instead, when she became aware of her surroundings, she realizes that she was in a very strange place.
It appeared to be a sort of market, but all of the buildings, market stalls, and general environment, were tall or large... misshapen... almost non-Euclidean. It seemed almost as if Luna was in a world where either everything was larger, or she had become smaller.
"What in the name of...?" Luna uttered. "...Where am I?"
She began to wander around, hearing very bizarre, ambient noise that sounded like apathetic moans in the distance. She glanced at everything she could while slowly trotting. While she had seen many strange things in the minds of many ponies... never had she encountered something like this. And the worst part... she did not have any way of leaving. She even tried her Dream Escape spell... it did absolutely nothing.
Hearing a bizarre clicking noise, Luna looked to see what appeared to be some crude, pony-like mannequin figures approaching her. They each had a single, brightly-lit red dot in-between where their eyes would be. They were rushing toward her, as if on rollerskates. Luna became panicked, and tried to fly away... but her wings could not catch the air for some reason.
Hyperventilating from her nerves, Luna ducked for cover behind an enlarged stall, moving around it when the sentient mannequins peered around it to try and find her. However, she was able to evade them. Taking shelter away from them, she sat down... but the instant her plot touched the ground, her eyesight became colorless, and it seemed like there was very heavy motion-blur whenever she diverted her gaze elsewhere.
"Huh?" Luna uttered, standing to see her vision return to normal.
She looked at the ground where she sat, seeing nothing special, but what she happened to see directly in front of herself upon looking back straight ahead... there was yet another peculiar thing. There was a sign that had materialized a meter away from her, and it had four symbols on it. Two eyes, one open and one closed, and two pony-figures, one standing and one sitting. In between the open eye and the pony standing, there was an "equals" sign, and it was the same with the closed eye and the sitting pony.
"What is this?" she asked nopony.
Once more, she heard the clicking noise of the mannequins approaching her. When she saw them, she immediately thought about what the sign was telling her, and sat back down, hoping it would do something. To her surprise... it actually seemed to work. Once she sat, the glowing red dots on the mannequins' faces went out, and they went off in different directions.
"Of course... if I'm sitting, they don't notice me!" Luna observed.
So, using this tactic, Luna made her roundabouts of the area, looking for a way out. Eventually, she happened to spot a brightly-lit door with an "EXIT" sign above it, sitting in the middle of an open area, not connected to any structure. However, there was an obstacle that stood in her way; a series of checkout stalls, with what looked like gates that would prevent passage.
"Ngh... how do I get through there?" the Princess asked herself.
Almost immediately, something drifted down in front of her from the top of her eyesight. It was a piece of paper, with the items "milk," "bread," "eggs," "carrots," "hay," "apples," and "lettuce" written on it. It was a shopping list. Looking back at the till booths... Luna put two and two together.
"To get out of here... I need to bring these items to the registers." she said.
So, she set herself to the task, browsing the market, pushing around a shopping cart she managed to find, and grabbing each item she needed. Whenever the menacing mannequin ponies approached her, she sat down to make herself invisible to them and waited until they were away from her before proceeding. It took a little while, but she managed to grab the items she needed, and from there, went straight to the checkout tents.
She saw that there was yet another mannequin pony in place of the clerk, who "rang up" her items. There were six red lights hanging above the tent's opening, and each one turned green with the sound of a scan tone. Once they were all green, the gate in front of her opened, allowing her passage to the exit door.
"Yes!" Luna said. "Hopefully, now I can get out of this... bizarre dreamscape... whoever's it is."
Right as she was about to leave, after taking a final look at the location... she happened to spot something in the distance off to the left of the door, outside of the market area. It was a bit faraway, but still recognizable. It was spectral entity that was jet-black and had glowing white eyes. Dark particles were coming off its body...
...It was the shadow pony from Aversion's nightmare!
"You again!" Luna said.
She rushed for the shadowy entity, keeping her eyes on it the whole time... only for it to disappear when she got too close, an ominous hum happening as it did so, which continued on for some time after. This was making Luna uncomfortable, so she rushed back for the "EXIT" door.
Once she passed through, Luna found herself in the Dream Void, where she usually ended up immediately after falling asleep. She looked at the door behind her as she went out, and saw that it was...
"...Aversion's?" she uttered.
Luna did not understand. She did not feel Aversion's presence in the dream! Plus, with the ward she placed on his psyche, it would prevent any nightmares, and last she checked from how he was subconsciously reacting after being tucked into his bed... he was having a very good dream.
Regardless of how she felt at the moment, Luna knew she had other duties to attend to, as her sister would become aware that she was lazy if she did not follow through with it. As she browsed through the dreams of other ponies and taking notes... the contorted market she encountered was haunting her thoughts, and the same questioned played on repeat in her mind: what was that all about?
Aversion woke up the following morning, still as happy as he could ever be. Since he had the day off from work, he decided to go out and figure out something fun to do until Luna was able to summon him again later that evening. Her uplifting words still had a heavy effect on him, even hours later.
He decided to go for another walk, this time deciding to go through a route he did not usually take, but he knew that there were some very scenic views from what other ponies were saying about it. Of course, he had his "confidant" walk cycle that he picked up on a little over a week ago, abandoning his "coward" walk cycle.
As he was walking, however... somepony happened to step in front of his path. That somepony was Brutus... but strangely, he was not with his gang today.
"Hey, plotface!" Brutus said. "Why are ya so happy?"
Aversion raised a brow smugly. " 'Cause I feel great! Is it a crime to be happy?"
Brutus narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, yeah? Last I saw you over the past many years, ya weren't feelin' great! So spill! What's the drug ya pumped into your blood?" he asked.
"What's the deal?" Aversion asked. "You been following me around all morning or something?"
"And if I have? You can't stop me!" Brutus said.
Aversion narrowed his own eyes while raising his eyebrows. "Well, there's always the Ponyville courthouse and restraining orders..."
"Well, just you wait!" Brutus said. "I'm gonna find what's making ya so fine-'n-dandy, and I'm gonna send it all the way to Tartarus! Oh, but don't worry, 'cause you'll have it again, someday!"
You bucking wish... Aversion thought.
"Whatever, ya big beefnugget..." Aversion said, walking away.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!?" Brutus said.
Aversion glanced back. "Y'know, the only reason you pick on me, is because you're insecure about yourself! Am I right, or am I right?"
Brutus, snorting in anger, rushed for Aversion. "YOU'RE A DEAD MULE!"
Aversion rushed as quickly as he could to get away, but was laughing all the while. Because he was smaller and more lightweight, Aversion was far faster on his hooves than Brutus, who was bulked up with heavy muscle tissue that slowed him down. Eventually, Brutus stopped, panting and drenched in sweat. Aversion kept going until he was out of sight.
It was then that the young earth pony found himself finally alone, walking along the hiking trail that stemmed from Ponyville into the woods. The only things on his mind right now, and that he really even wanted to think at the moment, were the interactions between him and Luna over the past week. They had gotten off to fairly good start with each other, which in and of itself was a surprise, but the fact that she also was giving him quite a few hints that she wanted it to be more than that...
"Could it be...?" Aversion uttered, ecstatic at what hit his mind. "...that Luna... sh-she... the way she... f-feels about me...?"
This led the earth pony to believe that what he has wanted, ever since the beginning of his adolescence, could very well come to pass. It was this feeling alone, coupled with the first real praise and appreciation he had received in a long time from a female, that really made him feel good about himself. He had a strong feeling of what Luna was implying throughout the time they've known each other... and just the thought alone washed away his sorrows.
Soon, Aversion found himself happily cantering through a flower field some ways outside of Ponyville. Everything around him seemed brighter, more lively, with more lighting bloom compared to how it usually looked whenever he visited the area. He could not help but laugh in joy as he leaped through the multicolored flora species.
Aversion felt alive. For the first time in years, he was no longer dead on his hooves.
"LUNA LOVES ME! LUNA LOVES ME!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, over and over.
Eventually, after running for quite a distance, Aversion stopped and simply laid upon his back on a bare patch of grass, propping his head on his forelegs, and crossing his hind legs. A pleasant grin filled his face as he stared up at the sunny skies. He finally did it. He had gotten the attention from a mare that he had been craving for Celestia knows how long.
"Haaaahhhh..." Aversion sighed in pleasure. "...and to think Oak thought this would never happen..."
(Flashback)
Aversion had been laying on his bed in his college dorm room, staring at his poster of Princess Luna raising the moon for nearly ten minutes now.
"Only day, Luna..." he said to himself. "...it'll be just you and me. Together. Forever."
His college dorm-mate, Scrub Oak, who just so happened to be standing outside the bedroom, laughed. This made Aversion jump and turn around with a red flush across his face.
"Yeah, right!" Oak said. "That'll happen... when Tartarus freezes over!"
"Hey! A stallion can dream, can't he?" Aversion asked.
"I mean, seriously... Princess Luna and you? Ha! That'll be the day..." Oak taunted.
Aversion sighed in disappointment, and sat still for a moment before returning a cold stare to Oak.
"Well, who knows what could happen!" he said. "You might be surprised, the things that might happen!"
Oak shrugged. "If you say so, dude..."
(End Flashback)
Aversion could not help but snicker as he thought of what would be the look on Scrub Oak's face if he could see the time he and Luna have spent together.
"One day... I'm sure he'll know. And then I can rub it in his thick face! Aha ha ha ha ha!" he said.
His eyes were fixed on the clouds, and the small specks that were pegasi flying around, pushing the clouds to and fro. A faint breeze ran among the flower field around him, and through the front part of his mane.
"What a nice day..." Aversion said out loud. "...and it'll be followed by an even more nice evening..."
Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Mane Six, as well as Starlight Glimmer, met up at the Castle of Friendship. They all had some down time, and decided to spend time together. For the most part, they were all just lounging.
"Well, after yet another week of hard work, it's good to finally kick back with each other, right?" Twilight asked, reclined in his chair with a book in her lap.
"Oh, what fun is 'kicking back' anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We need excitement to really make it all worth something!"
"Ooh! And I know just what to do for that!" Pinkie Pie said.
"Oh, come now, Pinkie," Rarity said. "you already threw an 'Another-Day-of-Work-Completed' party yesterday!"
"So?" Pinkie asked. "There's never a good reason not to party!"
"Well, all ah'm just gonna say... to each their own. Right, Twilight?" Applejack asked.
"So, um..." Starlight spoke up. "...Twilight, have you heard anything important from the Princess recently?"
"Well, she did send me one letter." Twilight said. "She said all's well... but apparently, Luna has been acting a bit... strange, lately."
"Isn't she always kinda strange?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Not that." Twilight said. "Celestia said that even by Luna's own standards, she's been acting a bit out of place. Celestia thinks she might be hiding something, but hasn't bothered asking her yet."
"Hm..." Fluttershy hummed. "...do you think we should visit Canterlot and check up on her to make sure everything's alright."
Twilight pondered for a moment. "...I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Besides, we all know what happened the last time everypony ignored Luna's problems..."
Silence hung in the air for a moment as the mares all exchanged glances to one another.
"Anyway, yeah. It's been a while since I've been to my home city. I wouldn't mind booking a train ride for us all!" Twilight said.
"Indeed." Rarity said. "I would like yet another taste of the city's high-class elegance."
Starlight's eyes fell to the floor. "I just hope everything's alright with Princess Luna..."
Sorry about the week; I've been pretty heavily invested in midterms! Plus, I recently got hold of Subnautica off of Steam on a sale, and it is an extremely addicting game! Anyway, hope you all liked the chapter, and I will bring you more in the future! Keep holding on...