Chapter 27

Luna stepped off her carriage and looked around the town. She seemed to be taking it all in as she strode past the shocked people, trying to avoid her gaze.

“She sure knows how to make an entrance,” I said to Orion.

“I think that’s something that most royals need to do,” Orion chuckled.

“Greetings Axel, Orion,” Luna said once she spotted us and approached us.

“Sup Luna, how’s it going?” I said nonchalantly with a wave, and Orion bowed to Luna.

“It is a pleasure and honor, your majesty. For what reason have you graced us this fine evening?” Orion said formally.

“My sister informed me that this night is celebrated as some sort of holiday,” Luna said, looking around. “But I am a tad confused. Why are they cowering in fear?”

“Probably because it’s called Nightmare Night and you rode in on a black chariot like that,” I said, pointing at her carriage.

“Nightmare…Night?” Luna repeated.

“I’m still new to this concept myself, but according to those who celebrate, it’s when people wear costumes and offer candy offerings to a statue of Nightmare Moon, so she doesn’t come and devour them all.” Orion smirked but pointed to me. “All though knowing Axel that's more of a turn on for him.”

“Ha ha,” I laughed sarcastically and pointed my finger at him.

Zap!

However, he didn’t react, instead he scratched the spot where I zapped him. “Hmm, I think I got bit by a bug?”

“Tch! Whatever,” I rolled my eyes. I noticed the people were still nervous of Luna, which made me groan out loud. “Hey! Did you lot forget that Luna and Nightmare Moon are two separate people now?! Luna here is not someone you gotta fear!”

“But we want to be scared!” Someone said. “It’s Nightmare Night!”

“Wha?! What?! What kind of logic is that?!” I deadpanned.

“Well didn’t everyone seem kinda happy when I scared them with my story?” Orion pointed out. “When it’s in the name of fun and harmless, getting scared is kinda thrilling.”

“Seems logical,” Luna shrugged. “By the way, Axel, where is Nightmare Moon?”

I flinched when she asked about Moon and frowned while scratching the back of my head.

“Moon’s…absent tonight,” I said.

“Absent? Why?” Luna wondered.

“Long story short, we had an argument and now we’re on a bit of a break,” I explained.

“Forgive me, but I’m unfamiliar with certain terminology,” Luna said. I looked at Orion so he could elaborate for her.

“He and Nightmare were partaking in a type of courtship. However due to unfortunate circumstances they wish to put their courting of one another on hold,” Orion said.

“Oh, I understand,” Luna said with a nod, but then frowned a little. “I’m sorry to hear that, Axel.”

“Don’t be, it’s my fault this happened anyway,” I said. “She’s back at the library where she’s safe.”

“Perhaps then we should check on her?” Luna suggested. “This is a night of celebration, yes? It’s not right for her to miss such a holiday.”

“I’m not sure,” I said, feeling precautious. “There’s some sensitive stuff going on with Moon, and I’m not sure involving her in Nightmare Night would help.”

“The main issue is the townsfolk tend to harass her, and Axel is too chicken shit to really confess his feelings to her.” Orion shrugged his shoulders while shaking his head.

“Hey! I did confess to her!” I argued.

“You say that, but did you really make her feel loved?” Orion pointed out as he turned to look at me. “How often did you kiss her, hold her hand or even tell her how beautiful she was?”

“I- well- lots of times!” I said.

Orion raised his eyebrow, something he picked up from Applejack no doubt. “Care to tell the truth?”

Knowing that I wouldn’t get anywhere by arguing and making excuses, I relented and gestured for Orion to lean his head in so I could whisper what happened.

Orion leaned back and slapped his hand to his face and dragged it down. “Oh yeah, you done fucked up.”

“That bad?” I cringed a little.

“Judging by Orion’s crude language and facial expression, it seems you’ve made a grave mistake, Mr. Rickert,” Luna said, putting her hands on her hips.

“My dear, Luna, you have no idea.” Orion gestured to me before continuing. “My friend suffers from a bad case of erectile dysfunction, for he didn’t have the testicles to lay with Moon when she desired his seed.”

“DUDE!” I barked as Luna’s face blushed heavily.

“I-I see…” Luna stammered.

“The hell’s wrong with you?!” I hissed, making a digital dagger and pointed it at his neck while I gripped his shirt. “I oughta skin you and make you into a burlap sack!”

Orion chuckled as if he wasn’t in danger at all. “Some viagra pills that Applejack gives me when she’s feeling like a long night of passion, maybe you should take some.” He grinned.

I leaned in and glared in his smug eyes.

“I will end you one day, remember that,” I said with a manic smile.

“The day you do is the day you grow a pair and give that lady a proper lovin’.” Orion laughed harder.

“Ugh!” I let go of Orion while making the dagger disappear. “You’re lucky I love ya, bro. You’re very lucky.” I shook my head with a defeated smile.

Orion patted my back before leaning in and holding out the pill. “I wasn’t joking about the viagra though, hang on to it just in case.” He grinned, placing the pill in my shirt pocket.

“Back to the matter at hand,” Luna said. “I do believe it would be best to check in on Nightmare Moon.”

“Might as well,” I shrugged. “I doubt things could get any more awkward between us.”

Orion quickly slapped me at the back of my head, making me lurch forward.

“The hell was that for?!” I snapped.

“For tempting the universe and screwing us all now,” Orion stated angrily.

I shook my head and chuckled as we made our way back to the library while everyone else was enjoying the festivities.

“How exactly am I supposed to approach Moon with this?” I wondered. “Something tells me she wouldn’t be too keen on being part of a holiday that she might interpret as being afraid of her.”

“It also has me concerned, especially since Nightmare Moon has a physical form now. Perhaps we can explain to her what Nightmare Night is truly about?” Luna said.

“And what would that be besides candy?” I asked.

Orion hummed and scratched his chin as he thought long and hard. “Well…” Both Luna and myself looked at him with curiosity. “Perhaps it would be better if I tried to talk to her. I have no connection to her, so she may not see me as someone who is patronizing her.”

“I guess that would be for the best,” I said.

“Shouldn’t I speak with her instead?” Luna said.

“No offense Luna, but I think you’d probably make things worse,” I said.

“And how would I?” Luna questioned.

“In a way, you are her sister,” Orion chimed in. “And when you saw her now flesh and blood the first time, you didn’t bother to keep her close and treat as such.” Orion pointed out as we walked. “Yes, she wanted to come out here, but did you make an effort to have her stay to try and bond with her?”

“Sister? She’s no sister of mine. If anything, she’s a liability,” Luna said.

That comment made me stop dead in my tracks. I slowly turned to with a cold gaze.

“The fuck you say…?” I sneered.

“So that’s how it is then?” Orion asked, turning to face Luna while holding up a hand to me, to let me know to stay calm. “You think you are free of your sins now that she is no longer a part of you?”

“I know what I did,” Luna said, crossing her arms. “It still weighs on me to this day, but those days are done. However, it doesn’t help that Nightmare Moon walks around on her own.”

I clenched my fist and unintentionally let small sparks crackle along my shoulders.

“…Be very careful with the next thing you say,” I warned.

“Why? Should I just accept the fact that the very reason why I fought my sister and ended up banished is just living as she should like any other citizen?!” Luna shot back. “If anything, she shouldn’t be as free as she is now.”

The electric bolts crackled a bit more as my gaze became colder.

“That’s not very careful…” I said, gritting my teeth.

Before I could lose control, Orion stepped forward in front of Luna. “Clearly you are as ignorant as I imagined.”

“Ignorant?!” Luna snapped, causing some people to turn to us. “You try spending a thousand years on the moon! Then could you still call me ignorant?!”

“Yes, I do.” Orion said sternly, standing up straight, his eyes locked with Luna’s. “You say she is the reason you and your sister fought, then banished because of her. When in reality it was because of you, and you alone.”

“Spare me the lecture!” Luna said. “You as well as everyone else knows the story, how I foolishly believed the people in days gone by favored the sun over the moon. I let my dark thoughts influence me, which only manifested into the subconscious known as Nightmare Moon!”

Orion pointed a finger in her face and smiled. “Right there! You just admitted it. You say Moon is the reason for everything going wrong, but you just admitted that because of your own dark thoughts that she was made. She was created because of your jealousy and gave her the reins.”

“So, it’s my fault?!” Luna said.

“Sure as shit sounds like it,” I said.

Orion looked at me and shook his head, before turning to Luna again. “Yes Luna, what happened in the past was your fault, I’m not gonna sugar coat it and say otherwise.” He took a step forward causing her to take two back. “She was made by you, by your emotions, to act on the thing you wanted to do. Her wants, her desires all came from you.”

“But I…she…! Am I just supposed to accept her after what’s been done?” Luna said.

Orion stood there staring, his expression neutral before speaking calmly. “No one is telling you to flat out accept her right off the bat. But does she deserve to be treated this way after suffering loneliness? She is not who you created her to be a thousand years ago. Does she not deserve a chance like you were given?”

“A chance…” Luna said, thinking on Orion’s words. “Like how my sister gave me a chance.”

Orion nodded. “However, unlike your sister you shunned her, whereas your sister welcomed you immediately. Let that settle in your mind,” Orion stated before moving past Luna, and continued to walk to the library.

I glanced back at Luna, who decided not to follow us, and followed after Orion and walked beside him.

“This close,” I said, holding my thumb and finger an inch apart. “I was this close.”

“And then what?” Orion looked at me with his own glare. “Do you honestly believe you would have gotten away with attacking her? Or not suffer some kind of retribution?” He said in a stern tone like a parent scolding their child.

“Dude, we may be on break, but I still lo…uh, care a lot about Moon,” I said.

“Good for you. Now how do you plan to do that if your ass were to be tossed in jail?” He asked, now sounding angrier.

“Um…” I looked away, knowing nothing I would say would justify the means.

He grabbed my arm and squeezed hard, making me wince. “Try thinking with this for once,” he said, tapping his finger hard against my forehead, before tugging at my arm. “And less with these. Otherwise, you’re no better than your darker half.”

We finally made it to the library and noticed that all the lights were off.

“Think she’s asleep already?” I wondered.

“I doubt it.” Orion moved to the door and looked at me. “Let me talk to her first, and please behave yourself.”

“Hey, I’m cool,” I said, holding up my hands.

Orion nodded and opened the door. The whole room was completely dark, and we saw a pretty depressing sight. Moon was sitting on the sofa and eating a big bag of candy she must’ve stashed when Twilight wasn’t looking. She was using her magic to conjure what looked like a magical physical projection of my smartphone. I once showed her how to play some of my application games. She was swiping her finger up and down and left and right, which meant she was probably playing Subway Surfer with her own magic. The poor woman’s hair was a mess, her eyes were baggy, and she wore baggy clothing like she had never left the bed.

Orion cleared his throat to make his presence known. “Good evening, Moon. If I’m not interrupting you, might I have a word?”

“Speak…” Was all Moon said, after swiping some more times and used her magic to unwrap a piece of chocolate and plop it in her mouth.

“I’m aware you are under much stress, and while I don’t know if you value my company, I’d like to offer my ear to listen to whatever troubles you,” Orion said, moving slowly towards Moon.

“What can you possibly say?” Moon said, still swiping the magic screen. “Everyone hates me, my own boyfriend neglects me, and the only comfort in this world are candy and this game I conjured up thanks to the memories I have of using Axel’s phone.”

“Tell me, Moon, how much would you say that you know of how a modern man would think?” Orion moved around so that he was in the woman’s line of sight.

“I’m a thousand years out of the loop,” Moon said, dispelling the phone projection and glancing up at Orion. She looked at me, but not with a smile. “What do you two think?”

“I wouldn’t know, I’m not from this world, remember?” I said.

“I think regardless of when or where one comes from, neither genders will ever understand one another,” Orion chuckled as he paced around. “Take us guys, do you know why we have a Y chromosome instead of two X’s?”

“Wasn’t much of a biology whiz in college, dude,” I shrugged.

“The Y chromosome contains a male-determining gene, the SRY gene, that causes testes to form in the embryo and results in development of external and internal male genitalia,” Moon said, shocking the hell out of me. “All I do is read in this library, Axel, you should try it sometime.”

“Actually, the real reason is because we make so many mistakes. Why keep asking ours, WHY!?” Orion joked as he shook his hands in the air to exaggerate.

“Eh?” We both said, tilting our heads.

“It’s true.” Orion smiled as he kept pacing around. “Why did I eat that 3-week-old rice ball? Why can’t I ever find my left boot? Why can’t I tell the girl whom I love how I feel? Why can’t I get over my past and build a better future?”

We both looked at each other as we began to understand and comprehend his words.

“The thing about most men is that we are prone to make mistakes. But we often have no idea of the mistakes we made.” He smiled as he began to turn on lights around the room. “The worst is we rarely handle fast and sudden changes well and tend to either backtrack or try and pull away when we are unsure.”

“Then why can’t these people understand that Moon isn’t evil?!” I snapped.

“You say it like it’s so simple to live and forget,” Moon said.

“Simple?” Orion asked, not at all phased. “My dear, nothing in life is simple. We may think certain things are simple, but to someone else it's the opposite.”

As Orion paced the room, he found a brush and picked it up. “For example, picking up this brush, it was simple for me to do so. However, to an ant that would be far from simple.” He walked over behind Moon and gently took some of her hair in his hands and gently brushed the parts that looked messy. “Forgiving and forgetting is simple for some, and others not so much.”

“Then what should I do?” Moon asked. I boldly walked up and sat next to her.

“Moon…I know I’m not the guy you want giving advice from, since Orion’s pretty much sounds like a therapist at this point,” I said, glancing at Orion who continued to brush Moon’s hair and nodded. “But you gotta believe me when I say that I still do care about you.”

“Then why wouldn’t you…” She glanced back at Orion before looking back at me. “Lay with me?”

“It’s just…well…” I tried putting it into words. “Back where I’m from, things work differently when it comes to people and relationships. There are specific steps we take in order to make sure we don’t make things too complicated. Steps that I obviously failed to follow.”

“I don’t know much about Axel’s world, but from what I gather there is meant to be a long courtship period. To rush to bed may be considered less an action of love, and more of a desire of lust,” Orion spoke as he gently brushed all the knots and messy strands of hair. “Is that about right, Axel?” He asked.

“Pretty much,” I nodded.

Orion had finished brushing her hair and moved to the kitchen and returned with a wet cloth. “Moon, I understand your intentions were to show the love you feel for Axel.” He began to help clean her face of any candy and dirt with the wet cloth. “But sometimes love needs time to settle, to rush it may yield the opposite results.”

“But he’s the one who neglected to show me as much affection as I attempted to,” Moon argued.

“I was pacing us,” I tried to say.

Orion looked at me and shook his head. “You are not wrong, Moon, Axel has made mistakes.” Orion had finished cleaning Moon’s face and walked back to the kitchen to place the cloth away. “He should have picked up the signs that you were clearly making visible, but due to his thick head and troubled past he doubted himself, something all men do repeatedly when suffering pain from the past.”

“I can admit that,” I said, holding my hand up.

“So where do we go from here?” Moon asked.

“That is for you two to decide. It is both of you who need to amend the bond. If you want, I can leave to give you both privacy, or have me stay to give whatever wisdom I can offer,” Orion said, moving closer to the door and waiting for our response.

“Wait,” I said, holding out my hand. “You should hear this, Orion.”

Orion turned and looked at us both. “Moon, is it okay if I stay? Axel isn’t the only one who makes the decision.”

“Of course,” Moon said.

“Moon,” I began. “I know that we didn’t get much time to fully process our relationship, and it’s obvious we rushed things.” Moon nodded, understanding my reasoning. “You’re right, I neglected you. Your feelings were hurt because of me, and I didn’t take them into consideration.” I reached out and slowly took her hand with mine. “I can’t promise you I’ll be perfect, but I can definitely try from now on.”

“I appreciate that,” Moon smiled. “I also must also offer my apologies. I acted brashly towards you and let my emotions get the better of me. I propose that we both make a promise to always hear each other out, no matter what it may be. That way, we won’t have to keep our hurt feelings inside any longer.”

“Very good.” Orion clapped his hands proudly as he moved closer. “The key to any good relationship is communication. When you take the time to talk things out you may come to realize that some things are just misunderstandings.”

Nodding his head, Orion began to pace again. “Now then, with this issue resolved we have but one other to deal with.”

“And that is?” Moon asked.

“Getting everyone off your back,” Orion said, looking at Moon. “We can’t allow them to continue bothering you.”

“I agree.” I grinned widely as I smacked my fist in my palm. “Whose ass should I kick first? Or maybe I should let Dante cook them alive?!”

Orion slowly walked up to me with a smile. He placed one hand on my shoulder and patted it.

“What?” I said.

He raised his other hand high up. “Oooooorrrrriiiiioooon…Chop!” Without any further warning he slammed it down on my head in a single chop.

“YYYEEOOOCCCHH!!” I yelled, grabbing my head and falling backwards. “Ow! Ow! Ow! Fucking ouch! That hurt like hell!”

“Do you ever try using that thing between your ears at all?!” Orion shouted louder than me, making the room shake. “If that was a joke then I should give you a double chop to try and jump start that thing you call a brain!”

“I was kidding!” I tried to say, still holding my head. “I wouldn’t actually do that! Come on! Even I have standards!”

“Well, the next time you make a joke like that again, I’ll be giving you a double chop.” Orion glared down at me clearly not amused in the slightest.

“Okay…okay, I get it,” I said, holding my head.

Meanwhile, Moon was laughing quite a lot to herself at our little display.

“You wanna join us for Nightmare Night, Moon?” I offered, standing back up.

“I appreciate the offer, but I am content with remaining here,” Moon said. “The night is still young; you should both return to the festivities.”

“Well, if that’s what you wish we will respect your decision, but please know we are here to help you whenever you need it,” Orion added while walking to the door.

“We’ll see you later, Moon,” I said, following Orion.

“Axel!” Moon walked after me and grabbed my arm. She leaned in and kissed my cheek and smiled at me. “Thank you.”

I smiled back and gave her a hug before walking out the door and shut it. Orion was waiting for me with a smug grin.

“What’re you looking at?” I asked.

"Oh nothing, just wondering if I should tell moon about the viagra pill I gave you." He smirked as he walked on.

“SHUT IT!” I barked.

As we made our way back to town, everyone was still enjoying the festivities of Nightmare Night. Something we both noticed was that Luna was nowhere to be seen, which probably meant she was somewhere else in town also enjoying Nightmare Night.

“That was probably the most emotionally exhausting experience I’ve ever had,” I said.

“Well, you didn't have to play the couple’s counselor,” Orion rolled his eyes, sounding annoyed.

“Dude, come on, I’m not good at this shit,” I said. “My parents weren’t exactly the best source of advice, or anything, when it came to this kinda stuff.”

Orion said nothing as we walked for a good while, before taking my shoulder. “You know the next time you need advice; you should call me. Because maybe you need me to be the angel on your shoulder.”

“I’ll take you up on that,” I nodded.

“Boys! Boys quick!” Applejack came running towards us and looked frantic. “Ya gotta stop Rainbow! She’s on a pranking spree!”

“So? Ain’t this one of those nights where pranks get a free pass?” I shrugged.

“Given that it’s Rainbow Dash, I think that’s the problem,” Orion said, sounding nervous.

“Aw, come on, how bad can it-?”

KA-BOOM!

The sounds of a thunderclap echoed in the air and the townsfolk were seen running away. We both spotted Rainbow in what looked like a makeshift Wonderbolts costume. She was sitting on a cloud and laughing her ass off.

“-be…” I finished my sentence.

I already knew what was coming, and I slumped my shoulders.

“Ugh…left,” I said.

I felt a slap to the back of my head and watched as Orion chased after Rainbow Dash.

I chased after Orion, and we watched Rainbow zap more poor civilians before zipping off.

“Damn, she’s zapping more people than I do!” I said as we ran.

“I get she’s having fun, but one wrong move could hurt someone,” Orion was running at max speed doing his best to keep up with the speed devil.

“Any plans on how to stop her?” I asked. “I can fly up there and try to knock her off.”

“I’m not sure, that might be a good plan and all!” Orion called back before stopping abruptly, his head looking around. “Where did she go?”

My shouting seemed to make Rainbow glance at me for a split second, making her hit the cloud at a weird angel. The cloud rang out a thunderclap, which startled the kids, but a random lightning bolt came flying out and hurdled right towards Vinyl and Octavia.

“Shit! LADIES! HIT THE DECK!” I screamed.

The bolt was too fast, at any second it was gonna hit them and I couldn’t activate Neon fast enough.

Then suddenly a body had jumped over them and took the bolt into the back. I watched in horror and surprise as the body soon fell to the ground, and I saw who it was. Orion.

“HOLY SHIT!” I screamed as I dashed over to Orion. The guy twitched every so often as I knelt down beside him. Poor guy had a massive black burn mark on his back. “Orion! Shit, shit! Hang on, bud! I’ll extract the electricity!”

I felt Orion grab my hand gently, his eyes looking glossy. “B-bring D-dash…I c-can’t…n-not much…t-time,” he said weakly.

“RAINBOW! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!” I shouted.

Rainbow gulped and flew down beside us and looked down at Orion with regret.

“O…Orion?” She said quietly.

Orion raised his hand slowly and shakily as he reached out to Dash. “D-dash…y-you…”

“I’m sorry!” Rainbow cried, falling to her knees. “I’m so sorry! It was an accident! It was just a prank!”

Orion’s breathing came in ragged breaths, as his other hand clutched his chest, his face showing a pained look. “I-I always…loovv.” Suddenly Orion’s head fell back, his eyes rolling into his skull, with his outstretched hand going limp and falling to the ground.

“NOOOOO!” Rainbow wailed.

“He’s dead, Dash…” I said grimly.

Everyone gathered around as they all saw the body of Orion lying motionless on the ground.

“You killed him, Dash,” I said glaring at the rainbow-haired girl.

“I-I didn’t! He was just-! I thought-!” Rainbow said, hyperventilating and tears streaming down her cheeks.

Suddenly almost too fast for anyone to comprehend, Orion sat up and pointed both fingers at Dash. “Gotcha bitch!”

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Rainbow snapped.

At this, Orion burst out laughing like an idiot as he rolled around on the ground.

“You’re not fuckn’ dead?!” I said, flabbergasted.

Orion was still laughing like a hyena on weed, as he clutched his sides. “Do I look dead?” He said between laughs.

“You took a goddamn lightning bolt to the back!” I said.

“Your eyes rolled in the back of your head!” Rainbow said.

“I concur!” Octavia said, finally chiming in.

“You nearly gave everyone a heart attack!” I added.

Orion shrugged his shoulders. “Must have been a dud, because I mean I did feel a sudden shock, but even when I hit the ground, I was fine. I saw this as an opportunity to teach Dash a lesson.”

I grabbed Orion by the shoulders. “How the hell did you take a lightning bolt and live?! You have a nasty-ass burn on your back to prove it!”

Orion turned to look at his back and barely saw the burn mark and touched it. “Doesn’t feel bad, heck it doesn't even hurt.” He smiled before standing up.

Suddenly, Rainbow began crying out loud like a child. Her tears were flowing from her eyes as she tried wiping them away, but to no avail.

“You jerk! You fucking jerk!” Rainbow cried. “You had me believe I killed you! I was almost scarred for life! How could you do this to me?!”

Orion moved to walk over to Dash, he moved his hands out and gently pulled her into his chest as he hugged her. “Sorry Dash, but could you have imagined had that been real? Anyone who was struck by that bolt could have died.” His hand ran through her hair as he tried to calm her down. “It’s all fun and games ‘till someone gets hurt or even worse.”

“You scared me…!” Dash whimpered, starting to calm down.

Orion hugged her and tried to calm her down. “I’m sorry, Dash, but I had to. Otherwise, you never would have seen what could have happened, had your joke gotten out of hand.”

I was glad that things were calming down and people started to disperse.

“You two okay?” I asked Octavia and Vinyl.

“We’re a tad shaken, but fine nonetheless,” Octavia said. “It’s a wonder how Orion was able to withstand such a blast.”

“Yeah…” I said, glancing at Orion. “Sure is crazy that he did.”

Orion released Rainbow and she was sniffling a little bit.

Orion pulled a handkerchief from a pocket, and gently wiped Dash's tears away. “It’s okay, look no one is hurt and now you know better.”

“Yeah…” Rainbow said, blowing her nose.

“What’s all this then?” Luna, Twilight, and Spike soon approached us, and Luna had a big bag of candy in her arm.

“Oh, hey you three, Orion just pulled a prank on Dash and now they’re reconciling.

“What was the prank?” Spike asked. “Did you get her good, Orion?”

Orion shook his head as though it was nothing. “Nah, just hit by some random bolt of lightning is all.”

“A bolt of lightning?” Twilight said. “How are you alive?!”

“That’s what we wanna know,” I said, crossing my arms.

Orion shrugged. “Like I said, it could have been a dud, making it look strong but was really weak.”

“You’re just lucky Applejack wasn’t here, otherwise she’d have your ass on a silver platter,” Rainbow quipped.

“If that’s so, what do you think she would have done to you?” Orion said with a smirk.

“Touché…” Rainbow huffed. “Still, I’m very sorry, Orion, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Orion leaned in and gave Rainbow Dash a boop on the nose. “All is forgiven,” he said with a wink.

At this, the girl blushed profusely. “W-Well I better get going! Nightmare Night’s still young!” She said before bolting off into the air.

“Smooth,” I said, elbowing Orion.

“Huh?” Orion said, looking at me with a confused look. “What do you mean smooth?”

“I saw what you did there,” I said with a smirk. “First Applejack, now Dash? Quite the swinger, aren’t ya?”

Now it was Orion’s turn to look flabbergasted. “W-what are you talking about!? I’m no such thing!" His face was bright red.

“Uh huh, sure bro,” I laughed.

“Axel, I’m serious, that wasn’t what I was doing!” He called out as I walked away still laughing.

“Help!”

Once again, a distressed voice caught out attention and we saw a couple kids running through town.

“Heh, wonder what scary prank got them?” I wondered.

“Run for your lives! Nightmare Moon attacked our daddy!” One of the kids said.

“Wait, what?!” I gasped.

“Son of a…” Orion started before both of us, began to run back to the library, Orion was zooming faster than I had seen.

I didn’t bother waiting for Twilight and the others and used Neon to sprint alongside Orion. We sped back to the library where a large crowd gathered around the entrance. Laying on his back was a fat man rubbing his jaw.

“I told you! She’s evil! She’s just waiting to pick us off one by one!” The man shouted.

“Out of the way!” I yelled, shoving past everyone. Orion and I burst into the library and looked around. “Moon?! Moon! Moon, where are you?!” We looked in all the rooms but found no trace of Moon. “Moon! Please say something!”

“WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!” Orion’s voice boomed so loud, that it even made my ears ring.

I matched Orion’s voice with anger of my own. I marched outside, with Orion following, and grabbed the far bastard’s collar.

“You fat fuck! Tell me what happened! What the fuck did you do?!” I demanded.

“What’s it look like?!” The guy said, pointing at the large bruise on his cheek and jawbone. “That evil witch attacked me and my kids! I barely managed to survive! I always knew she was evil! Since the day she came to our town!”

“You fucking prick!” I growled, then it hit me like a freight train. “It was you…” I grit my teeth as electric bolts crackled violently along my shoulders. “YOU’RE THE ASSHOLE WHO’S BEEN HARASSING MY GIRLFRIEND!”

I was about to turn this man into a roasted pig, when Orion grabbed my shoulder. I turned to him to tell him to let me have this, when I saw the look in his own eyes.

He had the same look of hate and disgust, and if looks could kill. “Let me handle this, I’m about to end this man’s career.”

“This piece of shit is the one who’s instigated the rest of the harassment Moon’s gotten from the rest of this goddamn town!” I turned back to the guy and raised my electrified hand, ready to fry him to a crisp.

“D-Demon!” He cried out, making the other gasp and cower.

“That’s all you pricks can call me these days, huh?!” I said, sounding disgusted. “Give me a reason, you son of a bitch! Why should you get to walk?!”

“Because, if you kill him, you’ll be the real villain.” Orion grabbed my hand and gently lowered it. “Besides, I have a better fate in store for him, that will make death seem like a mercy.”

…

As much as I wanted to fry this piece of shit to a charred crisp, I knew he had a point. He had me let go of my grip on the man before turning to the crowd. “Everyone, may I have your attention please!" Orion called out and the crowd began to grow quiet. “Tell me something, what makes Moon such a threat to you all?”

“She attempted to usurp the throne!”

“She threatened eternal night!”

“She’s plotting to do it again!”

“Fucking xenophobic hypocrites!” I snarled, charging up again.

Orion held up a hand to keep me from talking. “I hear you all, but there is something you’ve all glossed over.”

The crowd seemed puzzled by this and murmured amongst each other. “The thing you glossed over is that she did no such thing,” he said with confidence.

“You lie!” The fatass barked. “The witch was just pretending to be nice to us while she planned another coup! And this demon would’ve helped her bring eternal night!”

Orion turned to the pig and smiled. “Are you calling Celestia a liar now?” He asked with a smile as he pulled out a letter from his pocket. It bore the seal that belonged to Celestia herself making everyone fall silent.

“That’s Celestia’s seal,” I said, recognizing the sigil.

“That it is.” Orion smiled as he held it up for all to see. “In this letter, Celestia states the battle that took place a thousand years ago, lasted no longer than 15 minutes at best, before Nightmare Moon was sent to the moon. No one died during the whole battle. And according to Twilight and the other elements, no one died when she came back."

Orion walked along the edge of the crowd. “Moon is a separate being from Luna, who might I remind you was the real perpetrator who started this all. But she was purified by the Elements of Harmony. And Nightmare Moon is also no longer evil.” He quickly turned and pointed to the asshole. “If you want evil, turn your hate to this man here!”

All eyes turned to the man who looked around frantically. “Are you all blind?! I did you all a favor! I saved this town by driving the witch out! You should be thanking me! And you should all drive the Demon out before he unleashes his wrath on all of us!”

Orion shook his head. “How arrogant you are. Tell me everyone, if Moon is as dangerous as this man makes out to be, then why is he still alive?” He turned to the crowd still smiling. “If all that he said was true, would this man still be drawing breath before us?”

“Orion’s right,” one man said. “Axel’s no killer! You just wanted the attention!”

“If Moon wanted to kill us all she would have done so,” Orion said. “And she hasn’t, she’s suffered the abuse of this man and all like him, but hasn’t retaliated up ‘till now, and a slap is nothing when she could have killed the man.”

The entire mood of the crowd changed almost immediately, and I could see several looks of guilt and shame wash over the lot of them.

“Now they get it,” I scoffed. “Too little, too fucking late.”

“All of you should be ashamed of yourself, for you are all as guilty as this man by acting like sheep and following his lead,” Orion said before heading off to try and find Moon.

I clicked my tongue at them before following Orion. Once we were far enough away and stood on the small bridge over the river, we stopped and started contemplating what our next move would be.

“We have to think,” I said, pacing back and forth along the bridge. “We have no leads, no clues, and no way of knowing if she physically ran out of town or teleported somewhere.”

Orion paced around and tried to think, and I could see the gears turning in his head. “Let’s check the old castle.”

“Old castle?” I said, turning to him. “No, I don’t think she'd be there.”

“And you know this, how?” Orion asked.

“She once said it was a reminder of her sin against Luna and Celestia when we dreamed together,” I said. “If only there was a way to track her…”

“I believe I may be able to help.” We both turned to see Luna walk up to us with a look of concern. “Nightmare Moon has fled?”

“You gonna send a search party to hunt her down?” I accused her.

“On the contrary,” Luna said. “I have contemplated Orion’s words this night, and he is right. I have been avoiding this for too long, and it is time I confront my past and alter ego.”

“And do you plan to make peace, or seek war?” Orion asked, sounding rather concerned.

“Hopefully peace,” Luna said.

“That right?” I said, crossing my arms.

“Well then, I would imagine you have a way to find her then?” Orion asked.

“In a manner of speaking,” Luna said. “Her magic residue was all over the library, which meant she used a teleportation spell. Normally, it is next to impossible for the average unicorn-human to pinpoint the exact trajectory where the teleporter went. However, for someone such as I, an alicorn-human, I was able to gather something.”

“So where is she?” I asked.

“That is the concerning part of this situation,” Luna frowned. “She seems to have teleported to the far east, where the land of thick jungles and vast deserts reside.”

“That sounds like a great distance away. Any chance you can teleport us there?” Orion asked.

“I could, but I fear for Axel’s health,” Luna said. “We once teleported from our old castle to Canterlot with Axel, and it rendered him unconscious. You may come out fine, considering your earth pony-human heritage, but Axel is not of this world.”

“Yeah, I’d rather not risk getting torn apart or something,” I said.

“Then what are we to do? I doubt we can make it there in a day,” Orion said.

“Not tonight,” I said. “First thing tomorrow. We’ll get on the train and head to wherever this place is.”

“You should also take this,” Luna said, reaching behind her neck and took off her royal black necklace. She walked over to me and placed it in my hands. “This necklace is imbued with my magic and can act as a sort of tracking device. When the moon is high, the crescent moon you see will shine bright if ever I am near. Since Nightmare Moon and I have similar magical signatures, it should shine just the same.”

“Let’s just hope Moon is okay, we were making such good progress before.” Orion lowered his head and walked back to the barn.

“Thanks, Luna, we’ll talk more tomorrow,” I said as I put the necklace in my pocket and walked after Orion. “Orion, before we go anywhere, are you sure you wanna come with me? What about AJ? And the farm?”

Orion nodded. “I’m sure they’ll understand, plus we harvested ahead of schedule so I can afford to take some time off.”

“Damnit, why didn’t I just call it a night and stay with her?” I said, cursing myself. “If I was there, she’d still be around!”

“Well, there’s no point in crying about it now.” Orion patted my shoulder. “Just go get some sleep now, so you are rested to find her.” Orion walked away to the farm and waved goodnight.

I waved back to him and walked back to the library. I sighed and looked up at the moon with a frown.

“Moon…why?” I said to myself.

Author's Note

Sometimes when you take a step forward in the right direction, you end up taking two steps back.

Side Note:
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~WurkyWilk has left the building…