"Sister! I have mail for you!" Celestia called with a giggle as she carried a sack of letters in her magic's grasp.
"I'm certain you do," Luna replied dully, not even looking up from the mountain of paperwork she'd been sharing with Celestia and Sombra that evening. Celestia took her seat between them and placed the sack near Luna. Luna simply pushed it aside and continued reading.
"Sister, read at least one!" Celestia teased. Only an annoyed glare was Luna's response, which forced Sombra to futilely try to hide some snickers of his own. "Don't you enjoy our citizens' frequent letters? Isn't it kind of them to let you know of their affections?"
"Yes, the stares and occasional drooling of the nobility during my nighttime court had me baffled," Luna remarked dryly. Despite her lack of interest, she did open one of the letters... and burned it to ashes with her horn's magic immediately after reading it.
"Burn it?" Celestia asked.
"Burn all of it!"
"I'll take it to the fireplace," Sombra offered, letting out one last laugh. He took the sack in his mouth and walked away, leaving the sisters by themselves until he returned to help them finish the paperwork.
"For what it's worth, I did the same when I got more than my fair share of these," Celestia told Luna, no longer laughing. "I assumed when the letters stopped coming, those who wrote them recognized how inappropriate they were. I'm surprised to see them flood in again."
"Then, why do you encourage it?" Luna asked, her tone still one of annoyance.
"I don't," Celestia answered. "That's why I burned them too. But you certainly have grown, sister. I admit I am a little stunned by it. I still recall when you were small enough to fit on my back."
"Yes, you'd take me riding and flying," Luna remembered, now smiling too. "When I would cry, you'd cheer me up by bouncing me on your back."
Celestia sighed contently. "Sombra teases me about how I still call you my little sister. I can't say he's wrong."
"You're the only one I ever allowed to call me little," Luna said. "I will always call you my big sister."
Sombra returned and the three rulers continued to whittle down the load of paperwork they had before them. It took two hours more, but they finally finished it all. Celestia and Sombra opted to retire for the evening and they bid Luna good night before she made her way to the balcony to raise the moon. Many of the ponies in the castle had also gone to bed, leaving only the night guards awake. Luna appreciated the guards, if only for being able to look at her normally instead of stare at her with creepy fondness. Even if she were interested in pursuing some kind of romance, overly flirtatious letters were not her idea of a good start.
She put the annoyance out of her mind as she finally reached the balcony and began to raise the moon. She noticed there were many clouds in the sky, enough that the stars were barely visible. Though she liked her nights to be clear, Luna was grateful for nighttime rainstorms since it meant she wouldn't have to hold her nightly court. The stuffy nobles just couldn't bear having to travel in the rain, and she could be spared of hearing their petty complaints. Granted, not all of them had trivial concerns, but the loudest ones did. The only upside was she and Celestia could laugh over whose court exhibited the worst behavior. So far, Celestia's still reigned as winner.
Luna eased her mind as she teleported herself into the dream realm. She was unsurprised she didn't see a dream from Celestia or Sombra among the various ones that appeared around her, but grateful she'd talked Celestia into soundproofing their bedroom at night. For obvious reasons.
It seemed to be a good night for most of Equestria's residents. Luna came across few nightmares and those few were nothing major. She spoke with some of her friends in their good dreams, shared tea with Sweetie Belle as she'd done every night in Sweetie's dreams since the incident over Rarity's headdress (it was a nostalgic pasttime for both Luna and Sweetie), and was almost ready to call it a morning. She had only one more batch of dreams to inspect. Most of these also seemed to be good dreams, but one of them made her uncertain.
She entered the dream. Its setting seemed to be a chilly ghost town. The town seemed to be intact, only deserted. At first, it seemed there was truly nopony else there, but after she wandered around for a few minutes, she spotted what she thought was a shadow dart past her. She trotted after it. It got faster and so did she until the figure tripped. Luna stopped herself a few feet away from it. She used the moonlight from above to reveal the figure as a frightened filly who was now cowering before her.
"Pl-please... d-don't..."
Luna lowered herself as much as she could to be at the filly's eye level. "I will not hurt you, little one. It is okay."
However, the filly backed away and pointed ahead. It wasn't Luna she feared. A moment later, Luna heard loud footsteps coming up behind her. She turned to see a large pony furiously trotting in her direction. The pony didn't appear to be of abnormal size, but it was obvious this is who the filly was afraid of, and the pony himself soon made it clear why.
"You are coming with me, young lady!" he boomed in a voice that made even Luna's hair briefly stand on end. "I will teach you respect!"
The young filly tried to run again, but found herself stuck. Her hooves had sunk into the ground, firmly trapping her. Trembling heavily, she closed her eyes and waited for whatever would come. But she had no idea until it did.
"HOW DARE YOU!" The filly heard hooves land around her with a stomp. She opened her eyes just in time to see Luna vaporize her chaser in a brilliant flash. Stunned, she looked up to see Luna was standing over her. Luna gently held her with her hooves, which made the filly flinch, but she calmed down as she realized Luna was pulling her up to free her from the spot she'd sunk into. She shook her hooves. She could move freely again!
Luna stepped in front of her and lowered herself to her eye level again, but the filly was quiet out of curiosity now instead of fear.
"My name is Luna. It's my job to look after others as they slumber," Luna explained calmly. "Yours is the strongest nightmare I've seen tonight. What troubles you?"
The filly looked at the ground, too shy to reply. Though Luna had saved her and she calmed down considerably, she was still anxious. Luna quickly picked up on this, so she tried another tactic.
Calm now, relax now
The monster's gone from your head
Calm now, relax now
Rest easy in your bed
Drift off to sleep
Leave the day's sorrows behind you
Drift off to sleep
Let its serenity find you
Now looking up at Luna, the filly smiled a little and walked over to her. Luna sat up, though not at her full height in case she was still skittish. The dream's setting faded from the eerie town to a colorful child-like bedroom. The filly climbed into the bed and under its cover, making herself comfortable. Finally, she spoke to Luna.
"Can you sing one more time?"
Luna smiled and obliged. The filly rocked in tune to Luna singing until she fell asleep, her anxiety fully gone and looking peaceful. Luna left her be since her nightmare had ended, and exited the dream realm. She returned just as her sister finished raising the sun.
"Good morning, sister!" Celestia greeted her. "Long night as usual?"
"Indeed," Luna answered, letting out a yawn after. "Almost everypony slept well."
"Come join Sombra and me for breakfast. He's cooking this morning!"
"Sure, but Sister, may I ask your advice first?" Luna asked.
"Of course," Celestia replied. "Anything."
"What option do you take when you are concerned somepony is troubled, but uncertain of your suspicions?"
Celestia considered her answer for a few moments. "It would depend on what my concern is, how severe it may be. If it's a trivial problem, I'd simply ask. If I'm worried somepony could be in danger, I'd keep an eye on them if I couldn't pull them aside privately."
It was what Luna expected to hear, but hearing it was useful nonetheless. "Thank you, Sister. I will keep your words in mind. Let's go to breakfast."
"Is somepony in danger?" Celestia asked as they left the balcony.
"I am going to find out."
With the arrival of morning, the young filly slowly awoke. The morning was dry and bright. As she woke up, she caught herself with an odd feeling of peacefulness. Despite she'd slept in an alley for the night, she felt good. Not merely okay, but good. She moved from under her blanket, which had begun drying, and stretched herself.
Then, she remembered. That pony. A tall mare with a coat that matched the night sky had stood over her and protected her. The only other detail she could remember was a lullaby. She couldn't even recall the pony's name, if she'd been told it.
If she saw another shooting star that night, she'd wish to see that pony again. For now, she headed down the road, trying to hold the good feeling for as long as she could.