Although it was evening and technically still her sisters jurisdiction, Luna was wide awake.
The Princess of the Night had been dealing with a violent disruption to her schedule over the last few hours, and this was not for no reason. Ponies had been coming from near and far, all across Equestria, drawn by the permanent darkness that blanketed the vicinity. Most of them demanded answers. She was in charge of the night, surely something wrong with the night must be her fault. Many more accused her of being Nightmare Moon again, which Luna took like a slap to the face.
None of the ponies suspected Celestia. Good, perfect, beautiful Celestia. But perhaps that was a good thing. If they had, they would have wanted to see her. And that would have posed an entirely new set of problems. Usually the six would handle something like this, but they were already down one Element. The remaining five had hours before been sent off to collect Stitch from his realm, and Luna had not heard back from them. She could only assume their mission had been successful, for they had returned successful from far harder ventures in the past.
But for now, Luna needed alone time. She stood in a sealed off room of the Canterlot Castle, where she had carefully stationed what remained of her sister. Celestia stood in her frozen stance on a marble pedestal, just another statue to anypony who didn't know better. Luna didn't know if Celestia could hear her, but judging from experience, she could only hope the answer was yes.
"I'm back again, Celly." Luna said quietly. She didn't cry, she didn't know if she could, having long since trained herself not to. "I came back as soon as I could, things are getting fairly out of control outside. I don't know how you managed by yourself for so long." She was remorseful of this, knowing that her own ignorance and anger had caused the rift that had almost driven them apart.
"I've sent the girls out to help fix this, I know you'd do the same." Luna said. The sun was beginning to go down, at least it would have been if everything hadn't been so messed up. The two sisters didn't get to see each other all that much, except for an hour at sunrise and an hour at sunset when their roles collided. This was their favorite time, the time they got to spend with each other.
Celestia, of course, was silent, but Luna pressed onward. "I remember you singing to me, when I was in the moon all those years ago. I knew you wouldn't give up on me, and I'll never give up on you. I'll find a way to get you back, and when I do, I shall send all the power I have to punish whoever did this to you." Her hooves wrapped around Celestia's frozen neck, and her eyes glowed with a fiery blaze. It was not a glow of evil, but of determination.
"I love you, Celestia. Hang on. Just hang on."