"What are you doing awake, little one?" Said the wizened old stallion.
Little Luna looked up at Starswirl, "Woona couldn't sweep. She finished waising the moon and couldn't go back to sweep."
"I keep telling you, old timer," said the golden pony cloaked in green as he stood next to Starswirl. "She's gonna be nocturnal if she keeps raising the moon by herself."
"Who are you calling old timer?" Said Starswirl as he stroked his beard.
"The one who decided to grow a beard," he snapped back, a smile on his face.
Little Luna skipped up to the cloaked pony, "your pwincess wequires assistance." She fluttered her tiny wings. "My wings need a pwoper pweening and the castle sewvants don't do a vewy good job.
The cloaked pony looked over to Starswirl, "there's at least a few pegasi on staff, isn't there?"
Starswirl gave a hearty chuckle, "there is, but I think she's made it clear she wants you to do it."
Little Luna looked up at her favorite pony and puffed her cheeks out in a pout as she batted at his foreleg, "Pwincess Woona wants you to do it."
The stallion gave a light sigh as his horn flashed and little Luna felt herself be picked up in his magic and deposited on his back. Once there, she hugged and nestled the nape of neck. She was always happy to have him so close.
"I guess I'll see you in the morning, you old fogey," he told Starswirl as he turned to leave.
"What's a fogey?" Little Luna asked as she looked up from his back.
The pony smiled back at her, his kind eyes shining like emeralds, "a fogey is what we call a pony whose beard gets too fluffy."
"I heard that!" Starswirl shouted after them. "And nothing good will come from you spoiling her like that."
"Somepony has to do it! Everypony else is too busy spoiling the older sister!" He shouted back as he opened the door to the room.
"Big sister Cewestia ate all the cake again. Woona didn't even get a swice this time," little Luna pouted.
"Then I guess we don't have to share any chocolate with her," he said as he closed the door behind them.
"Yay! Chocowate!" Cheered little Luna.
She was carried back to her room and deposited on a pile of pillows as the pony sat down on the floor beside her. As he made himself comfortable, little Luna resettled herself in front of him and spread her tiny wings out for him to see. She gave them a few flutters to make sure he was paying attention.
"Oh come here you little scamp," he said as he pulled her closer, a delighted squeal escaping her.
She squirmed a bit as he pushed his nose into her plumage, small giggles escaping her as his breath tickled her sensitive feathers. He meticulously made his way down each wing and every feather he deemed out of place was caressed and smoothed until her wings once again rested against her back like a warm blanket as opposed to a scratchy one.
Little Luna yawned as he finished up, "you don't have wings, how awe you so good at this?"
"That's a secret," he nuzzled the top of her head. "If I tell you, how else can I be dark and mysterious?"
"You silwy," she moved to his side and curled up next to him. "I wike it when your silwy though."
Luna was startled awake as she felt something in the world change. She wasn't sure what it was, but she hoped her older sister would have some answers.
She quickly climbed out of bed and donned her royal attire. A hasty brush of her mane and tail later and she was out the door.
The clattering of armor could be heard as she stepped out into the hallway. She couldn't blame the guard for being surprised, she didn't usually rise this early and she hadn't been in bed for all that long. She acknowledged their quick salute and took off down the hallway at a gallop.
She found Celesita on the castle balcony, she was looking over in the direction of Ponyville. Luna followed her gaze and her jaw dropped as she saw the light gathering over the Everfree forest.
"Luna," her sister acknowledged her presence. "You're awake. I guess you felt that?"
"Indeed we did sister," said Luna as she stood beside her. "What do you suppose it is?"
"I don't know," came the words that Celestia rarely spoke. "Whatever it is though, it has a lot of power and it wouldn't surprise me if Twilight has something to do with this."
They continued to watch as the light died down. They felt something unusual in the world but they couldn't quite figure out what it was. After a few more moments of nothing else happening, they went back inside.
"So do you plan to ask your student about it?" Luna asked.
"No," Celestia shook her head. "Twilight will send me a letter if it's something I should know about and I don't currently see any Tartarus-spawn rampaging through the countryside." She said as she found a place to sit.
"I worry sometimes with your whole 'hooves off' approach to things," said Luna as she sat beside her.
"My student will never grow if I'm always holding her hoof," said Celestia. "Besides, she's a princess in her own right, now. She should be capable of handling one or two anomalies on her own."
Luna was about to say more when both she and her sister felt something in the world move again. This time it was much deeper. They both jumped up from their sitting position, a tingle running down both their spines.
"I know I didn't imagine that just now," said Luna. "That felt very similar to Twilight's recent ascension."
"It kind of felt like that," said Celestia as she looked confused. "Something felt off about it though. I should probably check just to make sure."
"While you're off gallivanting in the plane of ascension," said Luna. "We shall make a quick search of the rest of the astral plane. May haps the dreamer we've been searching for is connected somehow. There certainly has been a lot happening recently."
"Indeed there has. I'll see you soon, Luna." Celestia said as a golden glow lit around her horn.
Luna glided down the stellar winds of the astral plane. There was not much to see this time of day except for a few resting souls that she could see here and there. But again, most of Equestria was awake this time of day.
Luna could tell the further she traveled that something was definitely not quite right here today. Something in here felt highly charged and it wasn't caused by her.
After traveling for some time without finding anything amiss, she eventually saw a light in the distance. She chased after it without hesitation, sure that whatever it was would provide some answers to what she and her sister had just felt.
She found the source of the light, but what it was coming from stopped her in her tracks.
Luna once again found herself standing in front of the oaken door. Unlike before when she found it either closed or reinforced, this time she found it wide open. Fearing that the monstrous form of Sombra had escaped his prison, she was just about to run and inform her sister before she found herself in a dire situation again. However, when she saw the actual source of the light, in the form of an glowing emerald chain that extended out from the open door, she paused for a moment.
Confusion had been her constant companion in recent days as she tried and failed to puzzle out exactly what was happening. Luna began to follow the chain while keeping a watchful eye on the open doorway. The last thing she needed was another violent encounter from Sombra or whatever that thing was. She didn't have to follow it for very long through this empty space before she found it entering a different doorway. As she got closer, she could see that the chain entering this new place was vibrating violently, as if someone or something was struggling with them on the other end.
She was about to step inside this other dream when the chain suddenly fell slack. Luna jumped back, on guard for whatever was going to happen next.
Slowly the chain began to rise and once again became taut. The sound of grinding metal began to permeate the empty space of the astral plane as it began to slowly retract from the passageway.
Luna began to prepare a spell, determined that if whatever came out of there was dangerous, that it wouldn't get very far. Whatever spell she had been preparing faltered when she saw what, or more importantly, who stepped out of the doorway.
A stallion stepped out from within the dream garbed in green while a bright gold shone out from beneath his cloak.
"It can't be," Luna said, her heart catching in her throat.
He must have heard her because he paused for a moment and looked up at her. Bright green eyes looked back at her from the darkness and time seemed to stop for a moment as they stared deeply into each other's eyes.
A feeling came over Luna in that moment. She wanted to run to him, embrace him and find out where he had been all this time. However, reality has a nasty habit of rearing its head at the worst times. "No, you can't be him," she said somberly to herself. "How could you still be alive?"
Her companion reached up and pulled his hood further over his face as he turned away, his focus returning to the passageway he just walked through.
Luna's reverie was further broken as something else came through the doorway. It didn't walk through like the impossible pony had. Instead, it was being roughly dragged.
At the end of the length of chain, a dark form began to emerge. It appeared to be bestial in nature as it thrashed around. Sharp teeth could be seen in its powerful jaws, even though it could only open them a few inches at a time due to being heavily bound in emerald chains.
The chain continued to withdraw, dragging its raging inhabitant with it while Luna followed very carefully at a safe distance. She didn't want to get too close, but she still wanted to know more about the pony that joined her in traversing the astral plane.
He didn't once look back at her as he escorted his captive back towards the oaken door. When they arrived back where this whole mess had started for Luna, additional chains poured out from the open doorway and fastened around the monster, further binding it. The creature was then forcefully dragged through, only stopping for a moment when it had temporarily managed to latch its claws onto the door frame.
As it finished crossing the threshold, Luna made to follow them, only to be stopped by a sudden wave of force. Luna pressed hard against the wave of power preventing her advancement, determined to get some answers after all these days of searching.
She looked up to see the pony staring back her and shaking his head. It may have just been her imagination, but Luna could've sworn she saw a single tear drop from its eye. He raised a hoof in her direction, the force that pressed against increased until she was thrown clear of the passage. Once she was clear, the door slammed shut with a resounded thud.
Luna awoke in the castle, her sister sitting in front of her, a look of concern on her face.
"Are you ok?" Celestia asked her in a soft voice. "You were crying a moment ago."
Luna wiped her face with a foreleg, not completely surprised to see it come away damp. "We... We are whole," she answered, getting choked up for a moment.
"What did you see?" Celestia asked her.
"I... I don't know," Luna said as she stood up and made her way to the balcony. "Forgive me dear sister, but I need some time alone to process what it is I just saw." With that said, she leapt off the balcony and flew in the direction of Ponyville.
Celestia grew concerned as she watched Luna fly away. "Luna, what did you see?" She asked the now empty air.