Aversion and Luna had been secretly visiting for a full week, and both had come to really enjoy each other's company. They were both finding things to do in the castle when no guards were patrolling certain areas.

For instance, they decided to "explore the galaxy" with a special three-dimensional starchart room. They spent many hours messing with the dimensional imager, moving around the galaxy charted within, looking at stars, planets, and nebulae that were near and far. They liked to query each other on whether they believed certain planets contained life, but more or less liked to look at the wonders of the universe.

Other times, they liked to use Luna's special Viewing Sphere to see how things were playing out at other regions of Equestria. Mainly, their searches centered around Ponyville. They looked at the Ponyville cafe to see that it was busy as ever, with Star Buck going around praising the employees whom she favored, and scolding the ones she had distaste for. Aversion even remarked that she must be in a bad mood toward some because she worked over sixty hours per week. They also checked up on Brutus and his gang to see that they were terrorizing anypony smaller than them who "trespassed" on the part of the town they claimed to belong to them.

But overall, they were having themselves a bit of fun with the limited resources they had. And whenever they felt it was getting stale, they traveled to the Castle of the Two Sisters to see what it still had to offer. They enjoyed exploring all of the hidden corridors and nooks that Luna herself remembered quite fondly.

In any case, it was yet another night when Aversion and Luna promised to meet up with each other. Aversion was brought to Canterlot Castle by Luna once again.

"Hey, Luna." Aversion said upon his usual arrival. "Good to be back again."

"Good to have you back, Aversion." Luna said.

Aversion sighed, stretching his forelegs out to the side. "Ah, nothing beats getting to meet up with a Princess after a long day."

"I agree." Luna said. "I always work diligently in the hope of seeing you at the end of a day's work. I just can't get enough of your company, Avey."

Aversion's ears perked up upon hearing what she called him. He tilted his head. "What?"

Luna smiled at Aversion with her eyebrows angled upward.

"Is it alright if I call you Avey?" she asked.

Aversion hung his head down.

"What's the matter?" Luna asked.

"...My mother used to call me that." Aversion said.

Luna's eyes lit up. "Oh... I wasn't aware. I mean... i-if it's too personal, then I wont--"

"No, no!" Aversion said. "It's okay! You can call me that if you want!"

The Princess smiled warmly at his approval.

"Anyway," Luna began. "I decided that we're gonna go someplace special tonight! I don't have any royal duties to take care of early in the morning tomorrow, so we can do it!"

"Great! What is it?" Aversion asked.

Luna chuckled. "I don't wanna ruin the surprise!"

"Alright." Aversion said. "Well, lead the way!"

With that, Aversion and Luna were off, the former riding on the latter's back once again. They were flying away from Canterlot Castle in a different direction this time. Little were they aware, however... Blueblood happened to be following in their wake, using a carpet that he bribed some unicorn sorcerers to enchant so it could fly Aladdin-style. He was flying quite a bit higher than them to avoid detection. He was going to do what he could to sabotage that worthless commoner who had the nerve to ride upon Princess Luna's back. And given where he knew they were going, it would hopefully be able to work out well for Blueblood.

"Just you wait, Aversion the Lowly Peasant..." Blueblood said to himself. "...I'll show you what happens when you try to affiliate yourself with royalty when you are unworthy!"

After flying for a good length of time, Luna and Aversion eventually set down next to a darkened structure of some sort. It was a bit cloudy out (the pegasi were getting pretty lazy, they both assumed), so the moonlight was obscured and Aversion could not make out what it was.

"Is this the 'special place' you were talking about?" Aversion asked.

"Yes, we're here!" Luna said.

Luna landed right in what appeared to be the middle of the place. Tall, dark, bizarre shapes surrounded them.

"So... what is this place?" Aversion asked.

Luna focused magic into her horn, and the same glow appeared around a heavy-duty power lever on the wall.

"I shall let it speak for itself!" she said, just before flipping the lever to the "on" position.

One by one, each part of the place lit up with multiple colors. Several things began to move, and background music started up. Aversion became more and more awestruck with each portion of the location that received power, and he realized almost immediately where they were. It was an amusement park.

The young stallion's eyes lit up and a massive grin appeared on his face as he looked around at the roundabout, ferris wheel, rollercoaster, and other rides that were making a single test cycle upon activation.

"WOW!" Aversion said. "This is so cool! How have I never known about this place!?"

"This amusement park went out of business several years ago, but nopony has really bothered wanting to take it down. It's out in the middle of nowhere, and it doesn't really get in the way. I decided to take the time to fix the wiring with my magic, and get some power through... some secret means." Luna said.

"Really? You did all this yourself?" Aversion asked.

Luna shrugged. "Hey, I'd hate to let all this fun go to waste! This place needs to retain some purpose!"

Luna showed Aversion the arcade, which was inside the closest building nearby. All of the video games and prize machines were bright with neon lights that contrasted the ambient blacklight.

"Yeah, you're right! It's pretty neat!" Aversion said, just before his smile faded. "But it's a shame we can't play any games, 'cause I've got no Bits with me."

"I've rigged them all with my magic! They require no Bits!" Luna said.

Aversion's mood picked right back up again. "Well, in that case, let's have us some fun, shall we?"

Luna nodded. "Of course! So, where would you like to start?"

Aversion was a bit overwhelmed by the number of choices they had. He was looking around the cabinets, the dance game, the shoot-'em-ups... but he saw something right by the wide entrance door.

"A photo booth!" he said. "Wanna start there?"

"Sure!" Luna said.

"Yeah, just figured we could get ourselves a little souvenir for our fun together. Just to remember it." Aversion said.

So, they both entered the booth, and pressed the button that Luna had conjured in place of the coin slot, and the machine registered it as a token. They both decided that they would make silly pictures instead of standard ones. They did not want their memento to be so bland and uninspired. They took one with derp-eyes and tongues out, one with Aversion wearing Luna's crown, chestpiece, and shoes, one with a close-up of both the earth pony and alicorn cheesing, and one with both giving a firm glare, with Aversion holding up a sign, which Luna conjured, telling the viewer that his and Luna's friendship was no concern of theirs.

The pictures printed upon their exiting of the booth. The two friends were quite satisfied with how they were.

"Wow, these came out quite well!" Luna said.

"I agree!" Aversion said.

"Now, to make a copy..." Luna said, powering her horn.

With a flash of blue light, the photo strip in Aversion's hand had duplicated. Luna took one, leaving the other with Aversion.

"Well, that's quite a way to start!" Luna said. "Now, let us check out everything else this park has to offer! After all, we have special, nonphysical VIP passes to be first in line for everything!"

The two spent quite a lot of time playing the arcade games, riding several rides, and competing in the rigged games that were literally impossible to win... except for Luna using her magic to aid both of them. Aversion was, needless to say, having the time of his life. The same could be said for Luna as well.

"Man, this is awesome!" Aversion said as they were riding the ferris wheel. "I bet you always get to have such a great time, getting to come here so often!"

"I really wish I could come here more often..." Luna said. "...but sadly, I can't do so. My royal duties, more often than not, force me to remain at the castle, or go out on diplomatic matters... and I am often preferred to remain at the castle during my free time in the event something unexpected happens that requires my attention."

"Hm... never thought of it like that before." Aversion said.

"Yes," Luna said. "It is rather tiresome, and I wish I could have more time to myself. However, this is what I was born to do, and it is what I chose to set my life upon. I do, after all, want to look out for the wellbeing of the kingdom."

"Well, until then..." Aversion said. "...let's just enjoy ourselves while we can, shall we?"

"Oh, absolutely!" Luna said.

However, as their misfortune would have it... Blueblood happened to be in the amusement park, hidden and stalking them.

"Soon, you will come to your senses, Auntie Luna..." the prince said under his breath. "...and you will see the pathetic commoner for the worthless scum that he is!"

Both Aversion and Luna decided to go for a ride on the rollercoaster, both of them were yelling wildly as it dropped rapidly, twisted and turned, and so forth.

"Wooooooooooooh!" Aversion shouted. "Luna! Put your hooves in the air!"

Blueblood was concealed by a piece of panel on the side of the coaster's support scaffolding. Snickering wickedly, he focused magic into his horn, and with a subtle flash, caused the car Aversion was attached to, directly behind Luna, to break loose from the other cars and derail.

Aversion began to let off authentic screams the moment he realized he was plummeting. Luna, hearing his voice get farther away, looked back and saw, to her horror, that he had flown off the track. With split-second reaction time, Luna used her magic to levitate Aversion's car, and she carefully brought it forward, managing despite the high speed and rapid turns of the rollercoaster. Eventually, though, she reattached the car to hers, and both of them continued to enjoy the ride until the end. Blueblood was left irritated that it did not work.

Later, the two decided to go through the haunted maze. At one point, they both agreed to split up and seek separate ways out to make it more interesting. That was when Blueblood, who was watching from above, had an excellent idea. He conjured walls that would lead to the way out in order to block Aversion off. He continued this so that Aversion was trapped in a confined space.

This greatly confused the earth pony, and made him quite worried.

"Luna!" Aversion called. "Where are you? I'm trapped! There are walls appearing and blocking me!"

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared right next to him. From it, Luna materialized.

"No worries." Luna said. "I already found the way out. Who knows, perhaps this is a feature I was unaware of?"

With that, Luna took Aversion, on her back, flying out from the maze. This left the male unicorn monarch, who was stalking them, brimming with rage yet again. He stomped his forelegs angrily, like a colt throwing a tantrum.

Later on, Luna and Aversion decided to check out the observation tower, where there were high-powered binoculars on the four sides. Due to Luna's modifications via magic, they simply pressed the buttons to act as a "token," and her magic also allowed them to zoom much further than what they would normally be capable of. They used them to view the far-off, moonlit landscapes, in all directions.

Blueblood, hiding on the stairwell, started to use a bit of arcane magic on Aversion. As the latter was looking through the binoculars... he felt himself really starting to lose himself in the landscapes he was seeing... he felt almost like he was being drawn in... it felt so real, like he was being pulled toward it...

...and then Aversion felt like he was standing on nothing. Looking down for a moment, he saw the amusement park, and the tower behind him. He had passed through the binoculars somehow! He could only think for a split-second, though, since with no platform below him...

"...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH...!!!" Aversion shouted as he fell.

"AVEY!" Luna shouted, leaping over the guardrail and spreading her wings.

She dove quickly and caught the falling earth pony just in the nick of time, a few meters from the ground. She curved upward in a large arc, narrowly missing some structures of the park.

"Woah... that was way too close!" Aversion said.

"I agree." Luna said, helping Aversion climb onto her back with her magic. "Anyway, what's say we head back to the castle?"

"Yeah, that would be good. It's getting a little nuts at this point, and I'm getting tired." Aversion said.

Both of them ended up staying at the park a couple hours longer than they should have. Both of them had no idea how late it was. Regardless, they had no regrets, having ridden nearly every ride and played every game at the park. Luna used her magic to cut the park's power from a long distance as they flew off.

Blueblood, meanwhile, struggled in the dark to get around. He ended up tripping and falling a few times, and hitting his head painfully on a beam.

"Ngh... why!?" Blueblood vented. "Why must my efforts prove fruitless!? Well, either way... that lowly peasant will learn that he cannot have the privilege of interacting with royalty!"

Soon enough, he found his magic carpet outside of the park where he rolled it up and hid it. Just barely able to make out Luna flying in the distance, he followed as quickly as stealthily as he could.

(XXXX)

Once they made it back to the castle, Luna left Aversion alone for a minute, looking through her picture album, while she went to go and do something he was not aware of.

While he was examining the magically-captured photos... he happened to notice how happy Luna seemed back in the Medieval period of Equestria. He was wondering what exactly could've happened that resulted into her descent into darkness, and her becoming Nightmare Moon.

"I don't understand." Aversion said. "She seems so happy. And she was telling me how she was always upset around this time."

However, when he carefully squinted at the picture... he happened to notice the distinct expose of her upper teeth in contrast to her lower teeth; a clear indicator of a forced smile. It was in that moment when he realized the act she was putting up one thousand years ago.

"Of course... she put up an act, because she felt nopony wanted to help her... and because she thought they would think she was weak..." Aversion reasoned.

He understood completely... because he did it himself. He put on a false persona to maintain an image and reputation. He was really surprised to find more and more about Luna that he could relate with.

At that moment, Luna returned, levitating something with her horn.

"Hey, Avey! I'm back!" she said.

Aversion turned around and saw both Luna and the round thing she was levitating. "Oh, hey Luna! What's that?"

"I managed to snag one of my sister's cakes without anypony noticing." Luna said.

"From Celestia?" Aversion asked.

Luna nodded. "I know where she keeps her stash. I just thought we could share it."

"Great!" Aversion said.

With that, Luna gave him one of the two forks, and they both began chowing down. At one point, Luna glanced at Aversion with frosting covering her lips.

"How is it?" she asked.

"Excellent!" Aversion said. "Your sister has great taste in baked goods!"

"Hey, it's the least I could do for a friend." Luna said.

Aversion smiled gratefully... but only for one second. His eyes fell to the floor as he wiped the icing from his face. Luna took note of his sudden sulking behavior.

"...I..." Aversion began, hesitantly. "...I can't..."

Luna raised a brow. "You can't what...?"

"...I can't be your friend, Luna..." Aversion said.

Luna felt her chest jolt upon hearing what he said. She could hardly believe her ears.

"What!? Why would you say that, Avey?" she asked.

"...B-because... because I'm... unworthy..." Aversion said.

"Unworthy?" Luna asked. "Whatever do you mean by that?"

"Luna... you're an alicorn, the highest of all ponies... and me... I'm just a lowly, worthless earth pony... the lowest form of life in Equestria... I don't deserve your kindness..." Aversion said.

"Avey!" Luna said, shocked at his self-insults. "Earth ponies are NOT worthless! Every single pony in Equestria is special! In fact, without earth ponies... Unicorns would never have learned how to make due without magic when the situation calls for it. They would never have learned how to build things from scratch! Alicorns are, inherently, neither better nor worse than earth ponies. No variation of ponies are more or less valuable than others. Plus, only earth ponies are able to plant and grow food for everypony in a special way that even unicorn magic cannot replicate.

"What I'm saying, Avey, is this: without earth ponies, Equestria would never have thrived as it has. We would not be here had it not been for earth ponies. Not only that, but if either unicorns or pegasi were gone, the very same could be said! All of us play a vital role in Equestria!"

"Apparently, not me." Aversion said. "How would you even know that I have some role to play in the grand scheme of the universe?"

"I know because... I've watched you from afar, Avey." Luna said. "You've persevered through everything that has been thrown at you. And yet you continue instead of giving up! You are not weak for disliking all of it; you are strong for continuing on! And crying yourself to sleep is not a sign of weakness either; it shows that you still have your [insert pony-equivalent word for "humanity" here]! It shows that you care enough about yourself instead of being completely self-sacrificing, which is bad!"

Aversion never thought of it like that before. This was exactly the reason he needed somepony to be there for him; to give him some uplifting words of advice.

"Avey..." Luna spoke. "...your heart may be broken... but it is not gone. Otherwise, you would not be the kind, caring stallion that you are."

Aversion broke eye contact and lowered his head to the floor once again.

"I suppose you're right..." he said, trailing off.

"Hey..." Luna said, tipping Aversion's head with her hoof up to face her. "...can I see a smile?"

Aversion, reluctantly, curled his lips slightly upward. Luna smirked in amusement at this feeble attempt.

"C'mon, Avey. You can do better than that. I wanna see you smile." she said.

Aversion sighed... and was able to bring his head back up on his own with a good, photogenic smile on his face.

"There you go!" Luna said.

With that, Luna pulled the young stallion into a deep hug. He was a bit surprised by this move at first, but relented to it and returned the embrace.

"I promise you that things will be better, no matter what happens. Always know that you have me to confide in." Luna said.

...She really cares about me! Aversion thought.

The two held onto each other for a long time. Something was preventing them both from wanting to separate. There was something about this particular hug that just felt so... welcoming... enticing... heartwarming...

...eventually, though, Luna was able to summon the will to let Aversion out of her forelegs.

"Now... time for you to return home for the night." she said.

"Sounds great." Aversion said. "I'm on the brink of collapsing right now..."

"Then I shall send you on back." Luna said.

Without saying too much more, Luna assumed her meditative state, and achieved long-range magic projection, allowing her to, once again, levitate Aversion back down to Ponyville with ease. All the while, he was becoming drowsy as he continued to glide back to Ponyville... and unbeknownst to him, Luna was using her magic to mildly sedate him and help him relax so he would be ready for sleep before arriving back in his home town.

As he got closer to Ponyville, Aversion got sleepier and sleepier. It was becoming very hard to keep his eyes open, and his limbs felt very heavy. Even his head felt like a bowling ball being supported by a single strand of dry angel-hair pasta.

The young stallion was deeply asleep before his flight had concluded, his body fully limp as he glided... and Luna decided to be extra kind by placing a protective magic seal on his psyche, which would ward off any nightmares and give him only good, blissful dreams.

Once he was within range of his home, the window into Aversion's bedroom opened, and he was levitated inside. Luna, still deep in meditation, levitated Aversion carefully under the covers of his bed, and resting his head on the pillow. Once he was in a comfortable position, Luna released him from her magic... but she lingered in a spectral form for a moment.

She watched as Aversion curled up once he was subconsciously aware that he was in a bed... and found it oh, so adorable. It was one of the few things in the world to bring a genuine smile upon her face.

"Rest well, Avey... my sweet little prince..." Luna said to her sleeping friend. "...may the light of the moon protect you and stave off your nightmares, and may the light of the sun illuminate your path and guide your soul."

Aversion, still sleeping, slightly smiled and hummed a bit as his mind was filled with nothing but a happy dream. There were only beautiful sights... pleasant sounds and music... soft, comforting feelings... sweet flavors and aromas...

Luna was happy that her new friend could have yet another a peaceful sleep, after enduring a long run of nightmares.

Author's Note

Credit for vectors used in images goes to the following:
DashieSparkle
Mittenpatty
SigHoovestrong
Rya-Konsata
DragonChaser123
devilraker
Deja-Lu