Hey, everyone. Sorry about the long wait, but... our dog I mentioned passed away. I had to take some time to pull myself together, but I am doing much better. We've been coming to terms, and I've been able to get back to my writing. Although, the next update may also take a little longer, with finals rapidly approaching for school. In any case, though, I'm glad that everyone is still following me, in spite of my slow progress for this story.
Luna awoke the next morning, instinctively reaching over to where Aversion was to wrap her foreleg around him... however, all she felt were the bedsheets against the mattress. She opened her eyes to see that her coltfriend was indeed absent from the bed.
"Huh?" She uttered, sitting up. "Avey? Where are you?"
Luna stood from her bed, taking a look around to see if there was any sign of his whereabouts. She happened to notice the aura stone on her vanity had grown quite dim. Her eyes went wide, realizing it was the one she attuned to Aversion's life energy. Had it been for this alone, she would be quite concerned, but the fact that he was gone as well...
Scolus slept in his bed, occasionally nestling himself around to get more comfortable, well into the morning... that is, until Luna came bursting through the door.
"SCOLUS!" the princess shouted.
"GAH!" Scolus whooped upon awakening. "Wha...? Princess... what's wrong?"
"It's Avey!" Luna said. "He's missing!"
"So? Scolus said. "He's probably back in Ponyville or something."
"No," Luna said. "The instant I awoke, I forsook my breakfast and traveled to Ponyville to find him immediately, but none of the locals have seen him today!"
The changeling sat upright, now more alert than he had ever been shortly after awakening. "He's gone? Did he even leave a note? Did he tell you where he was going?!"
"N-no..." Luna said, tearing up, "...but Scolus... please... I need you to look for him... y-you must find my dear Avey...! H-he could be...!"
"Not to worry, Your Highness!" Scolus said. "I'll find him for you! My species are extremely skilled with tracking, and I've come to know Av's scent quite well. I'll track him down in no time!"
With that, the drone set off to find his best friend... his only friend. All the while, Luna was left, deep in worry, praying for his safe return.
"Please bring him back, Scolus..." she said to nopony in particular.
Scolus traced Aversion's trail through to the woods surrounding the castle. He followed along a wide trail for a while, hovering at a moderately-fast speed.
"AV!" He called out. "AVERSION!"
He came to a patch of some mud, and found some hoofprints... they had the distinct shape of Aversion's hooves, indicating that his friend veered off the main path right around here. He followed without hesitation, determined to ensure that Aversion was alright.
"AVERSION!" Scolus called again. "WHERE ARE YOU, BUDDY?!"
The trail led him through a thick patch of vegetation, down to a small creek. Wandering down the length of the creek, as Scolus had lost the scent, and could only rely on the faded hoofprints, he eventually came across something that came as quite a shock...
...Aversion was laying on his side next to the creek. However, it was not a pleasant sight, to say the least. The earth pony looked extremely ill, with his colors faded, his breathing hoarse and slow, and hardly moving.
"O-oh no... buddy!" Scolus said, galloping over to his friend's side.
He lifted Aversion's head up, and the earth pony, with a bit of difficulty, opened his eyes and looked at the changeling.
"...Sc... Scolus..." he uttered.
"Av!" Scolus said. "What the buck are you doing out here?!"
Aversion glanced around the area. "...Can't... r-remem... ber..."
Scolus tried to think quickly about what to do. He readied himself to carry Aversion back to the castle, but a deep whirring noise sound from somewhere above. The changeling looked up and saw, through the opening in the trees of the bald spot they were in, that a zeppelin was passing overhead.
"Oh, buck!" Scolus said, quickly taking the form of a random pony.
Then he levitated some loose foliage to place over Aversion, so that nopony who looked at them from the aircraft would suspect the worst. He waited until it passed before continuing with his effort to ensure Aversion would be taken back to the castle. Taking his default form once more, he levitated the barely-conscious earth pony, and both flew all the way back.
Princess Celestia had decided to take a bit of time off to enjoy herself.
"Hopefully, Lulu won't be absent for the majority of today," she said to herself. "I really wish she could learn to socialize a little better."
At that moment, a letter materialized in front of the Princess, on the table she sat at for her morning tea and cake.
"Hm?" She hummed. "What's this?"
She opened the letter, skimming over it. After a moment of doing this, her eyes widened and her jaw fell agape.
"Oh, dear... Lulu!" Celestia said.
Without any delay, she abandoned her post-breakfast snack and ordered her guards to prep her carriage. Once it was hauled to the departure platform, she got in right away.
"Take me to the Castle of the Two Sisters, posthaste!" Celestia said.
"Yes, Your Highness!" The pegasus guards drawing the carriage said in unison.
After a short while, Celestia arrived at the Castle of the Two Sisters, where she had her carriage hover at the balcony to Luna's room. Scolus was waiting at the door.
"Wait..." Celestia said, glaring as her horn began to glow. "...what is your business here, changeling?!"
"No, please! Your Highness!" Scolus pleaded. "I mean no harm! I'm a friend of Aversion!"
Celestia's expression lightened up a bit, but she was still a bit suspicious. "Is that so?"
"Yes!" Scolus said. "And we need your help! My buddy's not doing so hot!"
"Alright then..." Celestia said, following the drone inside the castle.
Inside, she saw Aversion, pale and motionless, aside from breathing, under the covers of Luna's bed, and Luna herself sitting at his side, her eyes watery and lip slightly quivering.
"Lulu?" Celestia asked. "What's going on? What's happened here?"
Her younger sister slowly looked up, the tears beginning to spill from her eyelids.
"Th-the shadow pony..." Luna stammered, "...it's... stealing his life force...!"
Her eyes then shifted to the aura stone sitting on her vanity, where the blue glow was frighteningly dim. Celestia walked over and examined it.
"So... you planned ahead for this, I see," Celestia said.
"Please, Your Highness!" Scolus said. "We gotta save my buddy!"
"Yes!" Luna said. "We need to get this thing out of Avey!"
With that, the younger sister touched her horn to Aversion's forehead as he lay near-unconscious. His mind's landscapes were no longer the bright and beautiful places they once were after he met her; rather, they were replaced by dark, barren badlands against a blood-red sky, darkness slowly creeping across from one horizon. Luna was frantic to try and find any signs of life, in the hope that she could protect it from the shadow pony.
However, the entity in question, after a little bit of searching, manifested itself in front of her. The low roar of the wind was the only thing she could hear once it appeared. But that changed when it lowered its head toward her, staring her down with its piercing, cold, red eyes, and without the need for a mouth, let out two, raspy, shrill words over the sound of the wind:
"...He's... mine..."
Luna flinched and opened her eyes, seeing Celestia and Scolus staring at her in extreme concern.
"...This thing is utterly devouring his psyche!" Luna said. "We don't have any time to waste!"
She then returned her attention to her dying coltfriend.
"Avey, listen to me..." Luna said, "...just hold on! For me! Please! Fight this thing with everything you have in you! My love with strengthen your defense!"
The earth pony's eyelids flickered as he opened them, turning his gaze to the Princess of the Night.
"L-Lulu..." Aversion said, weakly. "...before we m-met... I-I wanted to die... I wanted to... l-leave this world behind..."
Luna listened with tears filling her eyes.
"...but... you've helped me... a lot... and now... I... I wanna live...! Please, Lulu... please let me... l-live...! Don't... let me d-die...! If I die..." Aversion trailed off. "...I won't... get to be with you... a-anymore...!"
He was too weak to keep talking and slumped back into unconsciousness. Luna began to let off a few sobs. Scolus himself also started crying, too. Even Celestia herself watched with a sad look in her eyes. After sitting for a few moments, Luna stood and walked over to meet her sister and the changeling.
"So..." Scolus began, "...what are we gonna do about this?"
Celestia sighed. "At this point... our options are extremely limited. And even then, it's very unlikely to actually work.
Luna thought heavily about what she learned regarding the creature's origin. She figured that there may be a surefire way to prevent Aversion's soul from being consumed.
"W-well..." Luna began, "...I think that... i-if we can lure the creature into Tartarus... with Avey as bait... we could imprison it in a vacant prison...!"
"But," Celestia said, "isn't going into to Tartarus of your own accord... risky?"
Luna nodded. "But I would go to the ends of the world and beyond for Avey!"
Scolus sat up straighter. "So... you'll do it, Luna?"
"Most certainly!" Luna said, her eyes rich with determination despite the tears still present.
Celestia smiled weakly. "...He really does mean a lot to you, Lulu. More than I originally thought. You truly love him, don't you?"
"With all of my heart!" Luna said. "And I always go out to save the ponies I love and care for!"
With that, arrangements were made hastily, with Aversion being hooked up to a vital signs monitor that was brought over, and a series of astral projection wards set up around the bed Aversion was in, and the spot where Luna would be to cast herself into the higher planes of reality.
This was it. She was going to go to Tartarus. And she was going to bring an earth pony with her. There were so many thing that could go wrong. But... at this point, it was now or never.
Like I said, Avey, though not to you in particular... Luna thought, ...I WOULD go to Tartarus and back for you!
Again, sorry about the long wait, but finals really have been a pain in the ass. However, I've gotten through most of them and have only one to go (and don't worry, I did pretty good). Hope everything went well for those of you still in school as well! But regardless, I hope things are going well for everyone! So, hope the holiday season it treating you all fairly, and I'll be back again real soon! Keep holding on...