Aversion had spent a bit of time going through his old belongings in an empty bedroom that was full of boxes, and Luna even took a bit of her free time to help him out. He was trying to decide what he could move into the Castle of the Two Sisters.

There were quite a few possessions that brought some strong nostalgia on him, such as his old issues of the original Power Ponies comic book series, pottery and clay sculptures he made in his school art class, and some "screenplays" he wrote for movies he had ideas of.

"Well, Avey..." Luna said upon skimming over the papers. "...you seemed rather ambitious back in your childhood!"

"Really?" Aversion said. "These were just scraps that I didn't ever take seriously."

"Well, I see quite a sense of passion in these scripts!" Luna remarked.

Aversion blushed as he nervously shuffled his hooves.

The two continued looking through Aversion's belongings... and in the closet, stuffed hastily underneath a set of bedsheets was a small, faded, blue blanket. The stallion's eyes lit up upon pulling it out.

"Oh!" Aversion said upon seeing the piece of fabric. "I forgot I even had this!"

Luna walked up behind him as he let it unfurl. It was about four square feet. Too small for use on a bed.

"What is it?" Luna asked.

"It's..." Aversion trailed off, blushing a bit. "...it was my... s-special blanket..."

"Special blanket?" Luna asked.

Aversion nodded. "My mother gave it to me when I was little. I really loved it, and... it became something of great sentimental value to me, after... m-my mother..."

"Oh..." Luna said. "...I understand what you mean, Avey. I won't force you to say it."

"Y-yeah," Aversion said, "plus... I was only, like, four when I got it... even though I kept it... years afterward... please don't judge me, Lulu."

Luna placed a hoof on Aversion's hunch. "Avey... you know I would never judge you for something so minor and benign! I kept my first teddy bear for two-hundred years, if that makes you feel any better!"

Aversion smiled weakly, returning his gaze to his prized blanket.

"This piece of fabric holds so many memories..." he said.

(Flashback)

It was another day after Aversion had faced his typical bullying in school. It seemed that all the fillies and colts were only interested in making him miserable, never giving him a fair chance at friendship. However... because his mother spent several months wrapping him up in the blanket when sitting him on her lap, bundling himself in it had become decent therapy for him.

"What they say about me isn't true..." Aversion said to himself, quietly as he laid in bed at night, his special blanket wrapped around his upper half. "...I'm a good pony... I'm a good pony... I'm a good pony..."

Scolus had been visiting Aversion's place a few months after their first encounter in the woods, playing a game of backgammon. He definitely helped the times Aversion was being foalsat be not so boring (the old, sleeping mare was always his foalsitter). Scolus had been left alone in the living room for a few moments while Aversion "went to the bathroom," but suddenly...

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Aversion cried out.

Scolus' ears perked upon hearing the loud shriek. "Av! Where are you, buddy?!"

The changeling nymph peered into Aversion's bedroom... only to see that it was in complete disarray. Aversion himself was chucking things out of his closet.

"Aah! Where is it?!" Aversion said.

The colt darted past Scolus, not even acknowledging his presence, and starting pulling apart the den closet.

"It's gotta be somewhere in this stupid house!" Aversion said.

The earth pony darted into the kitchen, ripping out drawers, throwing pots and pans everywhere, and shuffling everything around in the refrigerator. Scolus entered the kitchen a single brow raised and lips puckered.

"Av...?" Scolus asked. "What's going on?"

Aversion laid himself facedown on the inside of the fridge, sobbing. Scolus entered the room at that moment.

"WHERE'S MY BLANKET?!" the colt cried.

"Your blanket?" Scolus asked.

"MY SPECIAL BLANKET MY MOM GAVE ME'S GONE!" Aversion said.

"Dude, c'mon!" Scolus said, pushing his friend out of the kitchen toward the front door. "Let's go out and do something to take your mind off it!"

Aversion, however, continued to bawl. "NOOOOOO! I NEED MY BLANKET!"

At that moment, the dryer buzzer went off. Both their ears perked up.

"Oh, was that the laundry?" Scolus asked.

"I-I think so..." Aversion said.

With that, the two went to check, and the first thing that met Aversion's eyes when the dryer was opened was...

"MY BLANKET!" Aversion said after a gasp.

With that, he whipped it out of the machine, hugging it with a big, cheesing smile and his eyes closed. Scolus hung his head down, closed his eyes, and sighed.

"Sometimes you embarrass me..." the nymph said.

A few years after the death of his mother, Aversion, now a preteen, had accidentally dropped a gallon jug of milk at dinner when he slipped on a wet spot of spilled salad dressing. Sledge Hammer was the one who spilled the small amount of dressing when he turned his head away for a brief moment, and did not realize it. However, he never wanted to take the blame for anything...

He shouted at Aversion to clean up the spilled gallon of milk, which the young, trembling colt dared not to disobey. It took about ten minutes, with Sledge Hammer repeatedly egging Aversion on to "DO IT FASTER!" or "DON'T BE SO SLOPPY!" Eventually, the colt, fighting to hold back his tears the entire time, managed to get the place clean... but the older stallion was still not pleased.

"GET YOUR ASS TO YOUR ROOM! NOW!" Sledge Hammer thundered.

Aversion began to slowly make his way to his room... but while his back was turned, Sledge Hammer turned his backside toward him, and kicked him in the plot. Fairly hard, too. The young colt took off to his room in absolute terror, leaving a faint trail of tears in his wake.

"AND YOU WILL NOT COME OUT UNTIL I SAY SO!" the angry stallion said.

Aversion retreated to his room, shutting the door, and seeking refuge under the sheets of his bed. Letting off his crying as silently as he could, he cuddled up in his special blanket, hoping it would make him feel more safe. After all... it was just about the closest thing he had to his mother's embrace.

(End Flashback)

Aversion sighed. "Geez, how things have changed..."

"Well, I think we've done enough scavenging for now," Luna said. "Would you like to head out and do something else? It's a rather nice day today."

"Sure!" Aversion said. "I'll just finish... some things up here, and meet up with you outside in two minutes."

"Of course, Avey!" Luna said, just before she left the room.

Once he was sure she was gone... he grabbed his blanket, briefly cuddling it like a pet.

"Don't worry, Blanket..." he said, "...I haven't forgotten about you."

He quickly threw it into his bedroom, and then went straight outside to meet up with Luna. With that, the two went on their way, more or less small-talking the entire time. Luna's batpony guards were escorting them, but they remained silent and followed her commands.

They continued to walk up until Aversion happened to catch sight of a particular pony making his way through the town streets. It was a red earth pony stallion he was all too familiar with. The stallion was kicking rocks and striking at broken fence boards, breaking them off completely.

"Oh..." Aversion uttered.

"What?" Luna asked. "Who is that?"

Aversion sighed. "...It's Brawn Brutus. My childhood bully that I told you about a little while ago."

Luna's eyes went wide. She returned her gaze to the muscular brute of a pony.

"So that's him?" she said. "Well, I believe there are things to be said by myself regarding his actions. But... unfortunately, he has not done anything in this particular instance to you, Avey."

Aversion rubbed his chin for a moment. "...Just wait here a moment, Lulu. Don't let him notice you just yet; I'm gonna set him up for something!"

With a smug grin, Aversion then made his way over to Brutus while Luna and her guards quickly hid behind a shop building. The larger earth pony caught sight of the smaller one approaching him.

"Well, just look at you, acting all tough and breaking things!" Aversion said.

Brutus narrowed his eyes. "Oh, you lookin' for an ass-bucking?!"

"Hey," Aversion said, "all I did was point out you vandalizing fences!"

"Y'know what...?!" Brutus said, immediately before he hoofed Aversion in the muzzle.

This took Aversion by surprise; it happened a lot sooner than he was expecting.

"...MMMMMRGH...!" Aversion groaned, clasping his hooves over his face.

"Yeah, how'd ya like that?" Brutus asked.

"HEY!" Luna called out as she emerged from her hiding spot. "What was that I just witnessed?!"

"Shut up, you...!" Brutus trailed off as he realized just who he was speaking to.

The Princess approached the rust-red earth pony, her eyes rich with fury. Brutus' pupils went small as his jaw fell agape.

"...P-Princess Luna...!" he uttered.

Immediately, Brutus bowed, small beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. Luna stood between him and Aversion, her piercing glare beaming down on the former all the while.

"HOW DARE YOU HARASS MY DEAR AVEY!" Luna thundered.

"Wh-what...?" Brutus said. "...'Avey'? Y-you don't mean..."

Aversion silently chuckled as he watched Brutus act all helpless before Luna.

"That is correct," Luna said. "Aversion, or Avey, as I like to call him, has become very close with me! And I believe you would do well not to bully my poor coltfriend!"

Brutus' jaw dropped. "Coltfriend?!"

"Yep!" Aversion chimed in. "Lulu has really been the kindest, sweetest pony to ever be part of my life! Never could I ask for a mare better than her!"

Brutus, dumbstruck, darted his eyes back and forth between the two.

"B-but... but..." he stammered.

"Stop your babbling, subject!" Luna said. "You will show your respect by speaking properly!"

"But..." Brutus said. "...he's not a prince! He shouldn't be allowed to be your coltfriend!"

"She can decide who she wants to be with!" Aversion said.

"That is correct!" Luna added.

Brutus glared at Aversion. "...You are a dead stallion walking! You hear me?! I'm not living in a world where Ass-version is a prince!"

"Mind your tone, subject!" Luna said, just before turning to her guards. "Take this one to the Ponyville jail. By my authority, he is under arrest for harassment, assault and battery, and threatening another pony with death."

"Yes, Your Highness!" the batponies said in unison.

Immediately, they pounced Brutus, who immediately struggled, shuffling to get away. But it was no use.

"Hey! Get the buck off me!" Brutus said, wriggling to try and get loose.

"Stop resisting! STOP RESISTING!" one batpony said.

Luna stepped forward, powered up her horn, and aimed it straight at Brutus, who froze in fear, his eyes wide. There was a bright flash of blue light, and Brutus slumped over, unconscious.

"There," Luna said, "he should be knocked out for the next few hours. That will give more than enough time to arrest, book, process, and jail him. And I shall see to it that he is put on trial."

"Sounds like a good plan for him," Aversion said.

He rubbed his muzzle, as it still hurt from when Brutus struck him. Luna noticed this.

"Here, Avey..." Luna said, her horn beginning to glow, "...I'll relieve you of your pain."

The same blue light surrounded Aversion's face, and as it happened, he felt the pain subside, and the shifted tissue settle back to its normal position. He gently touched his maw with his hoof in different spots, and found it to be fully healed.

"Thanks, Lulu," Aversion said.

Luna pulled her coltfriend into a hug, gently nuzzling his head. "I'll always do anything you need of me, Avey."

"Yeah," Aversion said, "and I'm glad you finally managed to have something done about my childhood bully. Nopony ever believed my stories about him."

"And I shall see to it that a restraining order is established to keep him from harassing you," Luna said.

"Oh yeah! That's even better!" Aversion said.

This really got him thinking about how everything would turn out. Ever since Luna came into his life, things have only gotten better and better. There have been some stumbles along the way, but everything has turned out alright so far. It seemed so far fetched that after twenty-six years, his mundane life turned topsy-turvy.

I could only imagine... Aversion thought, ...a world where nopony is mean to me!

He imagined himself happily cantering through a brightly-lit version of Ponyville, all the civilians happily waving to him as he passed by. He had this image in his head on repeat as he continued to walk with Luna, his eyes half-closed and a big smile on his face. Luna was unsure what he was thinking, but found his facial expression amusing, nonetheless.

Little did they know... Blueblood happened to listen in on the whole thing. He was bound to a lamppost by a chain leash, like a dog. Discord had put him there as he stopped to run some errands for Fluttershy, as they were on their way to Blueblood's next day of charity work.

"So... the peasant has a bully?" Blueblood said to nopony in particular.

This got him thinking about how this situation could be favorable. Given that he himself despised Aversion...

"Hmmm..." Blueblood hummed, "...perhaps I could enlist the assistance of this Brawn Brutus character... it would teach that pathetic Aversion a lesson about dabbling royal matters!"

Though he was distasteful of commoners, he decided to make an exception just this once.

"I just need to wait for the right moment in which to be able to visit the Ponyville jail, and meet up with him prior to his trial! Then, I shall make the proposition to him... heheh, not only am I the most good-looking stallion on Equus; I am also the smartest!" Blueblood said.

He chuckled to himself, but only briefly, as Discord came out with some groceries.

"Alright, Blue-Blue!" the draconequus said. "Time for you to help carry the load back to Fluttershy's residence, and then we shall make our way over to Sweet Apple Acres, where you will help the Apple family gather their namesake fruit! And don't forget, tomorrow you will have Rarity give you some tailoring lessons to aid in her garment production!"

Blueblood let out an annoyed sigh, which Discord took as insubordination.

"And you best behave yourself, Blue-Blue!" he said.

"Grrr..." Blueblood growled, "...how many times must I repeat myself?! It's BLUEBLOOD! Would you like it if I misaddress you?!"

"Ah, but you are the one being punished, Blue-Blue. And me calling you that is part of your punishment!" Discord said.

Blueblood was begrudgingly escorted by Discord back to Fluttershy's house, hauling the groceries on a borrowed wagon, which he would have to return to the store when they were done using it. However, the entire time, his mind was fixated on a truce with Brutus, all for the purpose of getting back at the earth pony who had his younger aunt wrapped around his hoof.

Just you wait, peasant... your time shall soon be spent! The former prince thought.

Author's Note

Credit for Luna vector goes to "DashieSparkle."
Credit for background goes to "Dipi11."