Your Loyal Subject

Many ponies across Equestria took note of the unusual red color of the moon, especially those in Ponyville, who had the clearest view of it with very little light pollution.

"Oh my...!"

"Wh-what's happening!?"

"Why's the moon all red!?"

"Oh no..." a mare said. "...do you recall... what the legends used to say...?"

"Wh-what do you mean...?" a stallion asked.

"I think... this is the fabled Blood Moon, depicted in the ancient stories!" another stallion said.

"...It is said that, when the Blood Moon rises..." another mare said, her face growing pale. "...Nightmare Moon shall return to..." she gulped. "...u-uncage... her wrath... upon E-Equestria...!"

And of course, right on cue... the Mare in the Moon happened to appear from the North sky, gliding down toward Ponyville. All of the ponies began to scream and run every which way to get away from Nightmare Moon. She landed right in the central square of the small town, right in front of the Town Hall building.

"DENIZENS OF PONYVILLE, GIVETH ME THINE EARS!" Nightmare Moon shouted in her Royal Canterlot voice. "THOU ALL HATH CAUSED THE UNJUST SUFFERING OF OUR FRIEND! AND WE PLANETH TO DELIVER RIGHTEOUS RETRIBUTION UPON ALL OF THOU WHO HATH MISTREATED HIM!"

The wicked alicorn mare charged her horn, and fired a beam of dark-blue light directly into the night sky. Lighting bolts began to rain down on Ponyville, directly out of the clear skies. This caused several ponies in different hiding spots to start running and screaming all over the place, not knowing where a safe spot was.

Aversion happened to be strolling through Ponyville to find something to do that evening when lightning started coming down from the sky.

"Woah!" the young stallion whooped. "What's going on!? Lightning from space, or something!?"

It was not until after a few minutes of rushing around to avoid the lightning when Aversion began to hear maniacal laughter. He rushed in the direction of it out of curiosity, but briskly due to panic. When he made it to the source of the sound... he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him.

"...N-Nightmare Moon!?" he uttered. "Oh no... Luna!"

Aversion rushed forward, and this was when Nightmare Moon took notice of him. A great smile spread over her face.

"Ah..." the evil mare uttered. "...yes! 'Tis our friend! Ar't thou pleased at what we hath done?"

"LUNA, STOP!" Aversion pleaded. "Stop doing this! It's just making everything worse!"

"Doth thou not see, Aversion? Justice is being served! We hath done all this for thou!" Nightmare Moon said.

"NO!" Aversion said. "This isn't what I wanted! Nopony needs to get hurt because of what's happened!"

"But it is justice! It is a means to rectify these problems!" Nightmare Moon lectured.

"Lulu..." Aversion spoke. "...did Celestia say something to you about not being allowed to see me?"

Nightmare Moon pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes.

"Thou hath reminded us... to punish thine sister for her atrocious misguidance!" she said.

"Lulu, don't! There's a chance this can still all work out! If you go through with this... you could be imprisoned!" Aversion said.

"Hmph!" Nightmare Moon grunted in frustration. "It seems thou ar't UNGRATEFUL for the great efforts we take for thou! And with that... shall come, from thou lack of consideration... PAIN!"

With that, she fired another beam of light into the sky, and the bombardment of lightning resumed. A stray bolt came straight down overhead... and Aversion looked up, only to have his pupils go small as the bolt struck him directly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGH...!" the stallion cried as the massive wave of electricity surged through his body.

After the brief, but jarring moment, Aversion fell to the ground, unconscious. This caused the corrupted Princess to laugh in amusement.

"You see?" Nightmare Moon said. "When one attempts to stop me, they end up facing the byproduct of my wrath! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!"

Just as the evil Mare of the Night made her way over to the unconscious stallion, dawning over him and preparing to charge her horn... she suddenly realized what had just happened. Her smile vanished and her eyes widened, which, after she blinked a single time, became her "Luna" eyes again. Seeing how helpless he was... the condition he was in... all of it suddenly came back to her. It was shortly before this that the lightning stopped completely, and the moon turned back to its white color.

"...Avey...!" Nightmare Moon uttered in Luna's voice.

She knelt down and carefully tilted his head upward. He was completely limp.

"N-no... my dear Avey..." Nightmare Moon lamented. "...wh... what have I done!?"

She laid him back on the ground, and stood up, staggering backwards in shock. It was after this that her eyes widened as she "clutched" the front of her barrel with a hoof... and jets of black light began to emanate from her body, dissipating into nothing. As this happened, she shrank in size, her color brightened, and after a few seconds, was in her original form... except that her mane and tail were composed of regular hair, lighter than her hide.

She sat her plot down, hanging her head as tears streamed down her face.

"...I..." Luna uttered to herself. "...I can't... believe what I've done...! I-I've... h-h-hurt my... best f-friend...!"

She began to let off full-on crying, her tears falling to the earth below her face.

"...I-I truly am a monster...!" Luna sobbed. "...A-and... I don't... d-deserve Avey's... l-l-love, after... what I d-did...!"

Immediately, she took of running, crying the entire way, out of Ponyville. She did not encounter a single pony who tried to stop her. Once she was gone, the citizens of Ponyville slowly began to come out of their hiding spots.

They all began to carefully and slowly take to the streets again, looking around to see if the lightning caused any major damage to anything. A few ponies happened to find Aversion unconscious on the ground. Parcel Post walked up to him and nudged his hoof on the side of his neck.

"Hey, buddy..." the mail stallion said. "...you alright?"

"...U... ugh..." Aversion groaned as his eyelids flickered.

He felt quite achy throughout his entire body.

"...Ah..." Aversion moaned, stretching as he slowly stood. "...wh-what happened...?"

"Nightmare Moon started terrorizing us!" Roseluck said.

"Are you alright, honey?" Nurse Redheart asked. "Did she injure you?"

"...I..." Aversion rubbed his head. "...I'm... not sure..."

And then, his eyes lit up. He managed to lift his head to try and look around.

"...Where..." he said as loudly as he could. "...where's Luna? Where did she go?"

"Last we saw..." Cloud Kicker said. "...she was running off toward Everfree Forest, crying."

"You think she may have immediately regretted trying to make us all suffer?" Shoeshine asked.

Aversion knew quite well why Luna responded the way she did... but figured it was best nopony else knew.

"Well... I'm gonna go and..." he said, stopping for a moment to think. "...see if my... family members... are alright."

"Hold on..." Doctor Whooves spoke. "...are you certain you are alright? I could swear I watched you get struck by a bolt of lightning!"

"Well... I got a little cooked, but other than that, I feel okay." Aversion said.

Doctor Whooves pressed his lips together as he darted his eyes around. "...If you insist."

Ignoring the pain in his muscles, and the frequent twitching happening all over his body, Aversion set off toward the woods to find Luna.

Luna sat at an isolated region of the empty land outside of Ponyville, bawling her eyes out. She could not get over the fact that she ended up hurting the closest friend she had in a long time... willingly, too.

"...H-how... could he... f-f-forgive me... after... th-this...!?" the Princess sobbed.

She continued this for quite a while, up until she heard hoofsteps approaching. She looked up with tear-saturated eyes to see...

"...A-Avey...!" Luna uttered.

"Luna..." Aversion said.

The Princess, however, turned away from him.

"No... stay away from me, Avey..." she whimpered. "...I... I might... h-hurt you, again..."

"Luna, I'm not badly hurt!" Aversion said. "The shock from the lightning just stunned me, that's all."

"But still... I did it w-willingly... and... as N-Nightmare... Moon..." Luna stammered.

She began crying again. Aversion walked around to her front side again.

"I know it's not directly your fault, Lulu..." Aversion said. "...you were just angry and weren't thinking clearly. I can relate because it's happened to me lots of times!"

"B-but... I didn't want to become... Nightmare M-Moon... ever again...!" Luna responded.

Aversion was not exactly sure how to reassure her at first. However, this got him thinking... with all the times she helped him with his internal battles...

"Lulu..." he said. "...remember how I told you I was struggling with depression before I met you? You've helped me to cope immensely! You sought me out of your own accord! And all you have to do it learn how to do so when seeking help, rather than offering it!"

"...But..." Luna uttered. "…nopony... wants to help me... n-nopony... c-c-cares...!"

Aversion tipped Luna's head up so they could be at eye-level.

"...I care." Aversion said. "I care about you, Lulu. I really do."

With that, Aversion pulled Luna into a deep, caring hug. Sniffling, she returned it to him.

"...I-I'm so sorry, Avey... so, soooo sorry...!" she cried.

"It's okay, Lulu." Aversion forgave her. "Like I said: it's not entirely your fault. Anger can make us do things that otherwise go against our character! It's okay to be angry or frustrated... but when it all becomes too much, all you need to do is get help."

Luna sniffled. "...You... you really think so...?"

Aversion nodded. "But, ponies can only help you if you ask for it, and especially... only if you let them."

The Princess of the Night let her gaze fall to the ground as she thought long and hard about what her male friend just said to her.

"...Stop worrying so much." Aversion said. "After all, that's what you taught me."

Luna let out a long sigh. "...You're right."

Aversion lifted her head up to look at him, and he had a gentle grin spread over his face.

"...Can I see a smile, Lulu?" he asked.

Immediately, she was reminded of their first little heart-to-heart back in her private quarters at Canterlot Castle... and it more than sufficed to help her gain a positive facial expression. That, coupled with Aversion's genuine concern for her... it made her terrible guilt and shame wash away rapidly.

After staring at each other, evoking hope in the other with their uplifting gaze... the Princess let herself take on a more stoic expression.

"Avey..." Luna spoke. "...I hereby make a vow to NEVER hurt you again. And to go to whatever length I need for your sake!"

Aversion's eyebrows raised. "Really? Whatever length? All for somepony like me?"

"A-and... it's b-b-because... I..." Luna said, taking a deep breath. "...I-I... I love you, Avey!"

Everything fell dead silent in that moment. Luna hung her head down for what felt like a life age before lifting it back up to look the stallion in the face.

"Lulu..." Aversion spoke, his eyes wide. "...you really... feel that way about me...?"

Luna nodded firmly. "...I love you, Aversion, more than anything else in the world of Equus! You've helped bring real joy into my life, and I feel like, for the first time in millennia... I finally have something to TRULY live for!"

The stallion's eyebrows pointed upward as a blush and smile appeared on his face. He then pulled Luna into another hug.

"Oh, Lulu..." he said. "...I can't tell you how grateful I am to hear that from you. And, as a matter of fact..."

Both his and Luna's hearts were pounding hard and fast.

"...I love you, too."

Tears filled Luna's eyes again, but they were not of despair or remorse... the happiness that overcame her was overwhelming. She brought Aversion into yet another deep, long hug, which he returned with equal love.

Little were the two aware, they were being watched...

...Celestia just observed what happened between the earth pony and alicorn. It genuinely surprised her.

"Well now..." the elder Princess said to herself. "...I assumed Luna was simply wanting to give a needy pony excessive support, or a title of nobility... but, never did I imagine this... how much he really means to her..."

The white alicorn hung her head down, biting her lip.

"...Perhaps it was a mistake to forbid her from seeing him. Hopefully, she will be willing to talk with me... and I'll be more than willing to let her be with her lover when she needs." Celestia said.

There was also another pony watching them, like Celestia, but unlike her... they did not agree with Aversion and Luna being together.

"Auntie Luna loves this pathetic lowlife!?" Blueblood muttered under his breath. "This is OUTRAGEOUS! This is NOT HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO WORK!"

The young, naive prince was utterly enraged by the spectacle before him.

"That's it... no more 'Mister-Nice-Prince,' because it's time to bring out the heavy artillery! I shall punish him myself, since apparently, NEITHER of my Aunties have any common sense! I'll make that peasant SUFFER!"

He then turned to head back to Canterlot... but given that he did not travel much, had no sense of direction.

"...After I find a way back home, of course..." he said to himself.