Luna had learned quite a bit about the dark entity that previously inhabited Aversion's unconscious mind. Based on what she gathered, it was a parasitic, metaphysical being that induces negative emotions in a host, which it would then feed upon to sustain itself. In all essence, the being was a manifestation of despair itself. There was some history with numerous occult practitioners forcing ponies to willingly undergo ritual to introduce these entities into their psyches, as a means of achieving full cooperation when the victim was unable to explain their nightmares and negative outcomes in life.

However, at the moment, that was about all she could dig up on the matter. There was not much in the Canterlot Archives concerning this type of being. Luna herself spent a great deal of time rifling through books, as she did not believe the bookkeepers would understand anything she was talking about, and have no idea where to look. She only trusted herself, having witnessed it firsthoof.

It was, however, getting late, and Luna knew she had to get her rest to carry out her dream duty, as well as rest up for her waking duty the following day. With that, Luna went to her quarters, and took her door-portal to the Castle of the Two Sisters, where she found that Aversion was already lying in her bed, having just readied himself for a night's rest when she arrived.

"Hey, Avey," she said with a warm smile.

"Ah," Aversion uttered after a yawn. "Hey, Lulu."

"Ready for bed, I take it?" Luna asked.

Aversion nodded. "Yeah. Strangely, it's been a bit boring, having nothing to do. I've more or less been spending my free time taking walks, as well as exploring the castle a bit... but hey, sure beats working at that run-down cafe!"

"Indeed," Luna remarked. "Hopefully, by the time it reopens, the new staff will be more vigilant of the needs of their employees. And in the meantime, there have been a number of job postings all over Canterlot, from what my servants have dug up... including some theater roles, for a start."

"Really?" Aversion asked. "That sounds great! It'll be nice to make a living doing something I want."

Luna closed her eyes while tipping her head off to one side and smiling briefly. "Well, in any case, let us get our rest for the day ahead, shall we?"

"Yeah," Aversion said, nestling himself into the sheets a little better. "I'm always down for a good sleep after a long day of being Aversion the earth pony."

They both laughed. Then, after dimming the magical lamps in the room, Luna climbed into her old bed, pulling herself under the covers, and wrapping her forelegs around her coltfriend in a deep, caring hug, which he, as always, returned to the Princess.

"I love you, Avey," she said.

"I love you more, Lulu," Aversion responded.

As the two held each other, they very gradually drifted off to a peaceful pre-sleep state of mind. The only thoughts running through their heads were of each other, never wanting to let go. Their breathing became silent and steady, their heart rates lowered, every muscle in their bodies went limp, and they both felt the lovely floating sensation of dozing off...

Luna was once again carrying out her dream duties like normal, and there was nothing that seemed out of the ordinary at first. However… at some point during the course of her duty, there were some bizarre apparitions that manifested both within ponies' dreams, and in the Dream Void.

They consisted of things like Nightmare Moon taunting her, the unending, stark landscape of the moon, the ponies of Equestria ridiculing Luna for various reasons, and even of Luna herself, telling the real Luna how absolutely worthless she was to ponykind, and a horrendous monster she was for her mistakes in the past.

These visions were something she believed she had moved past, as she was able to brush them off at first, but as time went on, they became more frequent and intense, and Luna began to feel extremely uneasy.

Given that most of her innate trauma stemmed from these events, it really struck her in the heart when she was forced into flashbacks of a much sadder time in her life. Her sister undermined her… everypony despised her… she never had the chance to show anypony that she truly wanted to do something good for them, all of it leading to her corruption.

Eventually, Luna could no longer take the subconscious abuse, and she broke down. She cried, not just out of sorrow, but fear. She worried that this could be a premonition to history repeating itself, that she would just be subject to the same treatment as before. To be hated by the world… it was a fate that she personally considered worse than being banished to Tartarus.

"N-no…!" Luna stammered, cowering on the ground of the Dream Void. "...I do not wish to be spited by my subjects yet again! I cannot let the kingdom I serve view me as… inferior to a great leader…!"

A dark-violet energy began to flow from the tip of her horn.

"Wh-what the…?!" she uttered.

Luna tried her hardest to block the flow with her hooves, but it seeped between them. She tried to use a random spell of her horn, but it appeared that her use of magic had been suspended. Whatever force was influencing this strange energy manifestation, it had overridden her magic entirely.

Eventually, the ethereal substance took on the form of an equine being… and it was a creature that Luna was all too familiar with…

"...T-Tantabus…!" Luna choked out, her eyes wide.

It was indeed the entity she had beckoned from the trauma within her very soul, for the very purpose of inflicting self-punishment, which she believed she was deserving of after her reign of terror as Nightmare Moon. However, once she had banished it… she never wanted for it to ever return.

Just as the Princess of the Night was about to retaliate against the shadowy entity, however, there was yet another complication. A dark portal opened some distance off to the side of both of her and the Tantabus, drawing both of their attention. Stepping through it was the shadow pony that haunted Aversion up until a short while ago.

"You again?!" Luna asked. "What do you want?! WHO ART THOU?!"

The shadow pony, as always, remained silent. However… it directed its attention to the Tantabus, and narrowed it eyes deviously. Then, it stood on its hind legs, hovered a few inches into the air, and a glowing red light orb hovered in front of its barrel. The orb emitted a conical, spotted beam of light straight at the Tantabus.

The Tantabus began writhing, as if in agony, and tried to escape. But it could not get through the outer perimeter of the light beam. And then, piece by piece, smokelike, glowing-violet shards of the nightmarish entity began to be drawn inward toward the shadow pony, being absorbed into the red light in front of its chest.

Oh no! Luna thought. It's… absorbing the Tantabus?! That cannot be good at all…

Once the Tantabus had been absorbed in its entirety, the shadow pony became encapsulated in a sphere of dark, crimson aura. The sphere dissipated, revealing that the shadow pony now had a sinister, red halo outlining its body, and its eye were now the same color, no longer the slightly-friendlier (but still evil) white.

It gave Luna a very menacing glare for a while, but made no attempt to physically engage her. It hovered in midair, before it turned in a different direction and darted away. It flew for a short distance before passing straight through the door to a pony's mind, like a ghost.

Luna, noting the design of the door from a distance, realized it was…

"...Avey's subconscious!" she said to herself.

She immediately rushed for Aversion's door, but the moment she opened it, the shadow pony, now in a much larger form, blocked her from entering. It lowered its head toward her and emanated an otherworldly, piercing shriek that threw her back with the force of tornado-strength wind.

"GAH!" Luna woke with a jolt.

It was still in the middle of the night. As she gathered her bearings and overcame her disorientation, she saw that she was back in her old bedroom, Aversion still asleep at her side.

She laid awake for a little while, staring up at the ceiling and pondering what had just happened.

So, that shadow pony, being loose in the Dream Void, must have manipulated my fears to feed on them… and it inadvertently made me conjure another Tantabus, which it absorbed! And now… its form has been enhanced to a significant degree, and on top of all of that, it was able to re-enter Avey's psyche…

Now she had absolutely no clue what exactly she was dealing with at this point, and what it could mean for Aversion. She knew she would need to do some more looking into both the entity, as well as her previous notes she made regarding the Tantabus.

Plus, she might also need to bring this up with Celestia, just in case there was any way she could aid in the matter.

Luna had not gotten much sleep for the remainder of the night, but her willingness to save her coltfriend from this new malevolent being kept her wide awake for the following day. She confronted her sister concerning the matter, and explained what happened last night in the dream world.

"So…" Celestia began, "...what do you make of all this?"

"Well, I know that this entity is responsible for a great deal of Avey's depression following his eventual moving out of his stepfather's home. It was the reason he was unable to achieve long-term happiness until I met him," Luna said.

"Oh?" Celestia acknowledged. "And what makes you think that?"

"These dreamscapes he encountered, that I have traveled to... they are childhood nightmares," Luna said. "Getting bullied in school... getting lost in a market... and getting locked in a closet... these are all things that happened to Avey as a young colt! Everything was so big and misshapen because that's how he saw the world when he was so young and small! And that shadow pony... that thing... it's been watching him... following him... haunting him! For years! It appeared in all of these dreamscapes."

Celestia's eyes fell to the floor as she listened to Luna explaining all of this. She did not expect this to be the case with a pony like Aversion at all.

"Whatever that dark entity is... it's a parasite. It is feeding on Avey's negative emotions! Something happened to Avey when he was very young, whether he knew it or not; he was exposed to a powerful curse to have this... demonic creature... tethered to his soul for so long. But he was freed of it briefly for a short while," Luna said.

"When was that, Lulu?" Celestia asked.

Luna knew, based on what happened with the one night she, Aversion, and Scolus had themselves a bit of "fun"… it was exactly what forced the shadow pony out of Aversion's subconscious.

"...Avey recently had quite a… joyful experience," Luna said, trying to suppress potential blushing. "The positive emotions he had were so intense, they drove the entity out of his psyche. It was not able to find a way back in on its own… but…"

The younger Princess took a breath before readying herself to explain.

"...it realized I was involved in sabotaging its goal, and began to torment me to the point where I manifested another Tantabus, which it promptly absorbed, resulting in its power being greatly amplified, as well as taking on new characteristics. From there… it forced its way back into Avey's mind."

"Hmmm…" Celestia hummed, thinking. "...I think you're right, Lulu. This definitely cannot be good. Given how much of a threat the Tantabus posed previously, how do you think this could affect Aversion?"

Luna thought about it for a moment. Given that she was an alicorn, she was immune to the full power that the Tantabus could use. It was a being that fed not only on the negative emotions generated by nightmares, but also the life force of its victim. Because she was immortal, this was not an issue for her, but Aversion…

"...'Tia…" Luna began, "...I fear that Avey's life could be in peril! He is mortal, and if the shadow pony took on characteristics of the Tantabus…"

Though they had no confirmation, it seemed reasonable to believe that the entity could start siphoning Aversion of, not just his positive emotions, but his life energy as well!

"Okay, we will think of a plan to exorcise the demonic entity from Aversion," Celestia said. "I can brief our arcane mage scholars and masters of the situation, and see if they cannot perform some special rituals or provide enchantments that could destroy, or otherwise halt, the shadow pony that has inhabited Aversion's spiritual body."

"And in the meantime, I will see if I can look into the matter myself a little more," Luna said.

"But first…" Celestia said, raising a hoof, "...we both have some royal duties to catch up on."

Luna sighed. "Alright…"

Hopefully, Aversion would be able to hold out for a few days while she investigated the matter, if this was indeed a lethal spirit they were dealing with. When it comes to a spirit draining a pony of their energy, it takes time. So there was nothing to worry about immediately. But still...

Knowing that it had become powerful enough to start siphoning Aversion's life energy for its own use, Luna feared strongly that his soul was in danger.

Aversion and Scolus both decided to spend a day together, since neither of them had any important duties to fulfill. Scolus had taken the form of another random pony, this time under the guise of a custodial cleaner going under the alias "Dust Devil."

They more or less spent their time window-shopping and eating out, as well as hitting up the Ponyville arcade after Scolus managed to snag some more loot from Chrysalis' stash.

"Y'know, 'Dust,' " Aversion began, "I'm actually quite surprised with myself that I never took up your advice sooner."

"I can understand," Scolus responded.

"Yep," Aversion said. "But, given the way things have been going, I feel they will only be getting better from here on out!

The two walked through the market district of Ponyville, when they heard a voice sound from behind them.

"Hey, Aversion!" Came a female's voice.

The two spun around… only to see a mare Aversion had not thought about for even a second after meeting Luna.

"S-Suncrest…?" Aversion trailed off.

"What?" Scolus asked. "Av, who is she?"

"Nopony…" Aversion said.

Suncrest's eyes went wide. "Aversion… why would you just brush me off like that?"

"...Because you did it to me," Aversion responded.

"Aversion," Suncrest began, "is this seriously about the last time we talked? Is that still hanging over you?"

"Partially," Aversion said. "Honestly, I'd forgotten all about it until you came up to us a few seconds ago."

Suncrest narrowed her eyes and darted her gaze about for a second. "…I don't know how to take that."

"Um, Av…" Scolus said, "...maybe we should just leave it here before you do something you might regret?"

"Just give me a moment, 'Dust.' I need to explain something to Suncrest, here," Aversion said.

With that, Scolus backed off after a second, and Aversion returned his attention to his former crush.

"Now," he began, "you do realize exactly why I invited you for a picnic on that one day, right?"

"Of course, but I was already dating somepony else," Suncrest said. "But why should that be a deterrent to maintaining our current friendship?"

You don't understand how the male mind works, do you, Suncrest? Aversion thought. It's all-or-nothing when it comes to the mare of your dreams.

"I mean… we can still just be good friends, right?" Suncrest asked.

Aversion pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. "...I'm sorry, Suncrest. But I'm afraid the friendzone is simply no-pony's land for a mare whom a stallion feels fondly for."

Suncrest frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Aversion said, "that you hurt me that day… badly. That's a pain I will never forget. I want nothing more to do with you."

This hit Suncrest hard. The stallion she was talking to right now… it was not the Aversion she knew from the cafe. He was always so kind and empathetic toward her. To have him behave so coldly toward her was very sobering and harrowing.

"Besides," Aversion continued, "I've met another mare, who has actually reciprocated my feeling for her. Not only that, but she is of great noble status."

Suncrest's eyes went wide. "Wh… WHAT?!"

"He is telling the truth," Scolus said. "I've met her myself! And she's quite a beautiful, kind mare!"

"S-so… just because I turned you down…" Suncrest spoke, timidly, "...th-that gives you the right… t-to just instantly go… for s-somepony else…?"

"Actually, yeah, it does," Aversion responded. "You don't get to decide who I want to be with!"

"B-but, Aversion…!" Suncrest pleaded. "I want to make it up to you… with my friendship! Can't we just do nice things for each other as a way to make up for it?"

Aversion remained firm: "No amount of good deeds can ever outweigh denying somepony, who has their heart set on you, a chance for love! Unless, of course, you were to accept them; quality over quantity, after all. Unfortunately, Suncrest, I'm afraid that ship has sailed. You had a perfectly good opportunity, and you just cast it aside like it was nothing."

"But…" Suncrest trailed off.

Aversion turned away from the earth pony mare. "C'mon, 'Dust.' Let's blow this joint and head home."

"Well, alright…" Scolus responded, nonchalant.

The two then went on their way, leaving nothing but a hurt and confused mare in the market… of course, not counting all the other merchants and shoppers present.

Author's Note

So, it seems at this point that everything is pointing to the shadow pony being the main antagonist of the story... but who, or better yet, what, is it...? And yes, I get that Aversion seems like a bit of an asshole in this chapter, but I feel that someone who is rejected will not be truly satisfied deep inside unless they call out their former crush, and reject them in return. Sort of an eye-for-an-eye mentality.