Princess Luna stood at the center of the room located high in one of Canterlot Castle's many towers, surrounded by maps and shelves full of ancient tomes and scrolls. She had much to catch up on since her return, and even though some of the most important tasks were behind her, there seemed to be no end in sight for the research and documentation of the changes her sister had implemented in her one thousand year absence. In those matters she had barely scratched the surface, glancing at the desk in the corner overflowing with parchment and scrolls, she let out a tired sigh, and moved toward the balcony.

"Princess?" came a tired voice from deeper inside the room, "Is something the matter?" The owner of the voice belonged to one of the assistants provided by her dearest sister.

 "No, I'm fine." the princess replied as she walked out onto the balcony.

From high atop the spires of Canterlot Castle, Luna could see for miles and miles. She observed the city of Canterlot below; still  fairly active despite it being past midnight. Turning to the left and gazing out toward the horizon, the princess could see the dim lights of Ponyville; the village where she had spent a surprising amount of time since her return. A small village, Luna guessed that the majority of the ponies there were asleep. A yawn came from behind her inside the room; Princess Luna rolled her eyes and turned around, "Mountain Laurel, please organize the documents on my desk, then you may go home." The mare bowed and began sifting through the material.

Luna let out a heavy sigh and made her way across the room and into the hallway. It would be some time before those were sorted, so she decided to take a walk through the castle. She strolled down the tower and into one of the hallways that led to the central hall and throne room.

The castle was quiet, probably the most quiet it had been all day. Princess Luna was the only one in the halls, perhaps even the only one in this wing of the castle besides Mountain Laurel. Normally this place would be full of all sorts of nobleponies, some from Canterlot with others visiting from Fillydelphia or Manehattan. Dignitaries and ambassadors from the Zebra Nation and the Griffon Empire could be seen conducting their duties, all while servants rapidly moved about the castle keeping it in pristine order. All this was done during the day; everything important was always done in the day. That much hadn't changed in one thousand years.

All of that political business and constant socializing would have driven her insane eventually, even if it meant more people would probably appreciate her. Luna chuckled to herself, Celestia can keep those "important" jobs. To Luna, maintaining the rising of the moon and the night were fine jobs that she enjoyed doing, but they were nothing when compared to her sovereignty over the realm of dreams.

It was one of the many powers of the Princess of the Night: the ability to sense dreamers and feel their emotions while in the dream world. When she opened her mind and concentrated, she could observe the dreams of hundreds of ponies if she wanted. However, such things were not usually necessary for adolescent and adult ponies. Being older, their connection to the dream world is fragile and they are less susceptible to nightmares or night terrors, and even when they did occur, they were old enough to make sense out of them.

This was not the case for the foals, for them the connection to the realm of dreams was very strong and they were the most likely to have nightmares and night terrors. Since their connection was so strong it was almost as if they were actually present in the dream world when the nightmare was happening. Such an event was surely traumatic for a foal, especially since most of them are too young to make sense of what was happening. It was with great pride that Princess Luna took on the role of a guardian and mother figure to the little ponies under her influence while they slept. If there was any problem when a child was dreaming, the princess would do her best to help. Sometimes she would alter the dream to help the child figure out the problem themselves. Sometimes if the situation was serious she would enter disguised as somepony from the dream, or the rare occasion where she would enter as the Princess of Night herself.

Princess Luna eventually reached the throne room and observed its emptiness; it really was quite large when there was not a crowd filling it. She started to walk along the wall enjoying the moonlight passing through the many stained glass windows. As she did, Luna reached out with her mind and felt the presence of many child dreamers in Canterlot and Ponyville, most were having sweet peaceful dreams tonight. Excellent, she thought as she approached the end of the room and decided it was time to head back to her chambers in the tower.

Instead of going back the way she came, Luna went the long way around and observed the courtyard before ascending the tower. The courtyard was where she and members of her court would occasionally gather during the night to conduct meetings and socialize if there weren't any visitors... and there seldom were. Luna frowned as she reached the courtyard and sat down near one of the fountains; its water glistening in the moonlight. With many statues casting ominous shadows; she looked to the stone figure of Starswirl the Bearded and remembered the unicorn who used to stand by it and offer her council. For a moment when she blinked, Luna thought she saw him...

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A male Unicorn, below average height and weight, stood next to the statue and looked up at his princess. "WE ARE NOT APPRECIATED FOR ANYTHING WE DO, ALDUS!" the Princess of the Night shouted.

"WE ARE ROYALTY, IT IS BECAUSE OF US THAT THE EVERYPONY CAN SLEEP AT NIGHT!" The princess lifted slightly off the ground and spread her wings wide, with a slight white glow starting to form in her eyes.

"AND EVEN WHEN THEY SLEEP, THEY DO NOT KNOW WHO WATCHES OVER THEIR DREAMS. IT IS ONLY BECAUSE OF US THAT THEY CAN SLEEP AND GATHER ENERGY TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR ‘PRECIOUS’ TASKS DURING THE DAY!"

The Royal Canterlot voice was now in full effect, and the wind was beginning to rip through the trees and bushes in the courtyard, "ALL THE TIME SPENT WATCHING OVER THE CHILDREN, AND YET THEY DO NOT EVEN KNOW I EXIST! THEY ONLY COME TO SEE MY SISTER IN THE DAYTIME! THEY--"

"Pff, I'm not royalty." 

Luna whirled around to see Aldus looking up at her, smiling. His robes and mane ruffled by the gusts of wind.

Luna glided back to the ground, landing in front of him. Even though she was younger and smaller than her older sister, she was still larger than most ponies, and she towered over Aldus. "What did you say?" She asked with a glare.

"I said, 'I'm not royalty'," he remarked with a grin on his face. He slowly walked around the Princess of The Night to stand by her side, "You said, ‘WE ARE ROYALTY’, right?" He stood on his hind legs pressing a hoof to his chest, using his magic to partially mimic the Royal Canterlot Voice.

"My princess, I am many things, but I am not royalty," he said with a smirk. Standing on his hind legs and bowing deeply, "I am but a handsome, talented, powerful, and wise mage in service to the most beautiful princess in the land."

"And modest..." Luna said, as she conjured magic from her horn and pulled out the legs of her mage, causing him to face-plant.

With that, Princess Luna sat down and started laughing; a scene many would not think possible had they witnessed her frustration only moments before. Aldus raised a hoof to his head and pushed back the hood of his robes. He looked at his princess and smiled.

 Crisis averted, he thought. If she was happy, he was happy.

Aldus picked himself up off the ground and grunted, "ahem, yes... princess. That was a poorly executed bow; I am capable of far better, thank you for correcting me."

Luna looked down at him with her eyes watering she had been laughing so hard. Aldus was slightly shorter than the average male unicorn and earth stallion. A young adult, his coat was a deep ash grey color and the hair that constituted his mane and tail was almost silver. It was likely some type of genetic abnormality that his mane and tail looked as though they belonged on an aging pony. His eyes were a very dark shade of brown, almost black which was very rare for a unicorn.

Between his height and odd coloration, Aldus had a troubled childhood. He was bullied and picked on by almost all of his peers. This was made worse because his parents had passed away, making him an orphan. Very few ponies would have known that about him though, especially when meeting him and experiencing his comical and playful personality.

His hair style was unique in Canterlot; it was average length with most of it draped off to the right side of his head, except for 3 long braids which hung down the left side. The braids were held together with golden jewelry fitted with slots for different ornamental gems. Coming from poverty and being raised in an orphanage, Aldus did not enjoy or understand the activities and interests held in such high esteem by the nobleponies in Canterlot. However, there was one exception; fashion. For whatever reason Princess Luna could not comprehend, her court mage loved fashion. His collection of robes, cloaks, and jewelry was massive and he loved wearing all of it whenever he could.

One of the things that amused Luna was that some of the outfits Aldus would wear became trendy and inspired styles based off his own, a turn of events that he found hilarious. Aldus would remind many ponies of this with a playful smugness, especially other members of the Court of the Moon, and to some of Celestia's closest followers and Solar Court members. The latter he did only because it amused his princess.

Princess Luna stood up and lowered her head with a frown, "I apologize for subjecting you to these outbursts Aldus, you don't deserve it. I really need to control my temper better and I probably woke up half the castle with that last outburst." she said as she turned away from the mage and started to make her way to the bed chambers.

"No, I took care of that problem, princess.” Aldus had silently teleported from behind her to lean on one of the pillars in front of her leading out of the courtyard. He was a master of teleportation magic and enjoyed using it to traverse even the smallest of distances. "I put a noise dampening spell around the courtyard when I saw you coming from your chambers. Nopony heard a thing." He said with a warm smile.

Princess Luna was relieved after hearing that. She did not feel like dealing with a lecture from her sister the next night, though she surely had one coming anyway... for something.

"Thank you Aldus, you have been a tremendous help tonight as always... but... I really am sorry you keep hearing these outbursts... I- I don't know what's wrong with me.”

"My princess, nothing is wrong with you" the mage said as he walked alongside Luna. "Your frustration is natural, and I can say it is shared by other members of your court. They want to be recognized for their services as well, and as for the outbursts, you may be an all-powerful alicorn, but you still have feelings and emotions like the rest of us.”

Princess Luna nodded as they started up the stairs to her chambers.

"Princess, I-"

"Aldus, the night is almost over and I am growing tired, so please, like I keep telling you, just call me Luna." She said with a chuckle and looked down to see him wearing an almost shy smile looking at the ground as they approached her chambers.

"As you say, Luna."

"See that wasn't so hard was it?" she said, wearing a grin. "Now, what were you going to say?"

"It was what you said about the children, I know you spend a large amount of time in the dream world watching over them, and I know the task can be strenuous at times, but trust me when I say there is not a more noble task to be found anywhere, nor is there a being more suited to it than you, Luna." They approached the entry to Luna's chambers and she motioned for Aldus to come in, knowing he still had more to say.

"You are a kind and gentle soul, Luna. I know you care deeply for the little ones under your watch. You are their guardian, the matron of their dreams, and they are not as oblivious as you think."

The two sat down on a pillow set before a large hearth.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked, looking down at Aldus. He was staring into the fire with a faint emerald green glow in his eyes, and then it was gone...

"I have traveled through the city and among some of the surrounding villages and I have listened to what the children say. Sometimes when talking about their dreams they mention a presence they feel when they are frightened, it calms them and gives them strength."

The emerald glow in his eyes returned, stronger and brighter this time.

"Other children smile and agree, they too have felt the same thing. Some even say they have seen this presence, this guardian angel. A pegasus filly said she saw a dark blue mare in the forest of her dream, another said he caught a glimpse of beautiful blue unicorn in an alley. A unicorn filly said what he saw could only have been an alicorn, for it had wings and a horn."

Aldus looked up at Luna and grinned, imitating the young unicorn he observed, "It HAD to have been an alicorn, what else has wings and a horn? I saw it fly away toward the moon, but it wasn't Celestia!" This made Luna laugh.She leaned in closer, wanting to know more.

"Many children know that something is there, and they desperately want to figure out what it is. Some think that if they stay up through the night, they could see what it is before it enters their dreams. They want to run through the city streets, forests, fields, and meadows under the moonlight in search of whatever they think is out there." Aldus now turned to look at the fading night sky through a window at the back of the room. It was getting early.

"The children laugh with great excitement at the chance of playing through the night, they would love to do it. But wanting to do something is one thing, being able to do it is something else entirely." He said with a laugh.

"Luna, in a way the children are your most loyal subjects, they love you very much. I should know, I was one of them too! Remember?"

A white light cast from his horn enveloped Aldus as he shrank into the tiny form of a unicorn colt. His mane now a messy silver mohawk, he sat staring up at Luna with big brown eyes, grinned, and held out his hooves for a hug.

Princess Luna threw back her head in laughter while extending a wing pulling Aldus to her side. She then wrapped the wing around him as he hugged her midsection.

"Okay, okay!" she said with a chuckle, "I get it, and no, I haven't forgotten. How could I? You were a very special child when I met you, little Aldy." pulling him closer she bent down and nuzzled him.

“Yay!” He cheered while laughing. The feathers of Luna’s wing were tickling him.

Aldus wiggled his way out from under her wing and jumped off the pillow then spun around to face her.

With a wink, he jumped high into the air and performed a back flip, at the apex there was a flash of light and when he landed he was his normal self again.

"It is getting early Luna, you should get some rest, Rigel and I will finish the rest of the tasks ourselves. Once we are finished, I will schedule the next meeting of the court." he said, using his magic to draw the curtains over the windows so only the dim light of the fire remained.

"Aldus, what would I do without you?" Luna asked, laying down on the pillow her eyes feeling heavy.

"You don't need to think about that Luna," he said in warm tone. "We will always be here, myself and the court. We love you Luna, you will never be alone".

As her eyes slowly began to shut succumbing to sleep's warm embrace, she saw the emerald glow return to the eyes of her mage. Then a black shroud began to envelop him just as he disappeared from the room.

"Wha-? Aldus...?"

-------------

"Aldus?!"

Princess Luna awoke with a start in the courtyard; she had nodded off when she sat down next to the fountain. Quickly she stood up and looked around, there was nopony anywhere, it was just her.

How long had she been asleep? "Curses, this never happens to me, how embarrassing... Oh well, at least nopony saw me." It was still dark, but it wouldn't be for much longer. She made her way down the long hallway leading back to her chambers.

"What a strange dream" she thought. Aldus and the court...        

"You'll never be alone, princess"

Princess Luna hung her head low, tears forming in her eyes. How she missed him, missed them. She never truly realized how special they were. Even when the Nightmare took over, and the princess they knew and loved was all but gone, they stayed by her side and fought the civil war. They were there through it all, ‘til the conflict approached its end; so many were lost.

Tears were now streaming down Luna's face. "I- I can't even remember what happened to all of them.”

The last thing she remembered was considered to be the final battle of the Equestrian Civil War, the battle of Moonlock Observatory.

Moonlock Observatory was one of many installations where the Court of the Moon and its researchers would study the constellations and anomalies present in the night sky. The data was collected by high ranking members of the court such as Aldus, Rigel, and Capra then reviewed with the Princess. It was located high in the mountains to the east, and its isolation made for a great secret fortress. It was the last hiding spot for Nightmare Moon. However, it was not a secret for long. Celestia and the army of the sun soon found it and marched to the top of the peak to end the war once and for all.

Luna winced as she fought to remember Nightmare Moon's memories.

She was at the observatory along with Aldus. The building was shaking as Celestia's army fought what was left of her own. They were in the main chamber that housed the installation's large telescope. It was night and the moon hung high above the clouds while several comets raced through the sky.

"Go, princess! I'll hold them off long enough for you to get away!"

"Foolish child, you can't last against Celestia's chosen students! They will be here any minute, and Celestia herself has come! I can feel her presence! You must leave with me now!" said the bringer of eternal darkness, her war boot crashing into the ground.

"My princess, I would only slow you down, you cannot let your sister get to you! You must escape!" concern now growing in his eyes.

"I'm done running, and besides, I have nowhere else to go. As for Celestia's 6 pupils... should they engage me, they will know what true magic is, and it will serve as a final lesson to the sun princess... NOW GO!"

Princess Luna collapsed to the floor breathing heavily. "Stupid, stupid foal! Why did he do that?" She could not remember anything else. It was shortly after that battle that she met her sister for the last time, and the elements of harmony were used to banish her to the moon. It didn't matter; they were all gone now, and she was alone. Sobbing, she slowly started to ascend the staircase to her chambers when she heard crying... but not her own. It sounded as if it was from a very young filly.

Luna turned around and saw the shadow of a small pegasus filly on the wall facing the corridor she came from. She quickly turned the corner and saw the filly huddled in a corner at the far end of the hallway. Luna started to move toward the little pegasus, "Child, what is wrong? What are you doing here this late at night?"

The filly looked up and started to back away, but as the filly retreated out of the hallway, it moved through a small stretch of moonlight that shone through the window. What Luna saw shocked her; the filly was normal, except for its odd jet black coloring. It seemed almost darker than the night, and when it moved in the moonlight it didn't cast a shadow. Something was wrong.The filly began to weep again, and then it turned and bolted out of the corridor.

"Child, stop!" Luna commanded as she ran after the filly.

The little pegasus ran through the courtyard and into the hallway leading to the throne room. "Child, you have no reason to fear me!" Luna yelled as she rounded a corner into the throne room. This situation was reminiscent of the Nightmare Night festival Luna had attended last year. The children ran from her then as well, but she thought most of them knew that she wasn't evil anymore after the help from Twilight Sparkle.

The weeping filly now exited the throne room and ran up the stairs to the library wing of the castle.

The library? Luna did not know why the filly would run there, perhaps to hide among the various tables and bookshelves? It didn't matter because that was a dead end. Luna smirked, preparing a teleportation spell.

With a flash Luna appeared in the middle of the library and looked around. She used her magic to quickly shut the two double doors that were both the entrance and exit. It was then that she saw the filly peek around a desk and dart toward the back of the room.

Luna was about to grab the filly with a magical field but right as she began to cast the spell, the impossible happened; the filly ran straight through the back wall.

"What in Equestria?" Princess Luna couldn't believe what she just saw. How could a pegasus filly pass through a wall?

The Princess flew to wall and examined it more closely. It seemed normal enough, but when she approached one of the edges, she felt a slight coolness to the air. Luna moved back and ignited her horn, scanning the shelves, and then she found something; a book on the top shelf was connected to some sort of lever. She turned around and scanned the library to make sure nopony was around. She was alone for the moment, but the sun was coming up and some early riser students could come down to study. If she was going to do this, it had to be quick.

Luna pulled the book, and the entire shelf collapsed to the side revealing a large room. She quickly went inside and closed the hidden door behind her. The room was full of scrolls and ancient tomes, and they all had the royal sun seal upon them. This must be part of the royal archives, Luna thought as she trotted toward the back of the room. There was no sign of the filly anywhere. Why did she run in here?

When Luna finally reached the back of the room she observed a large glass cabinet filled with scrolls. The cabinet was under visible lock and key, and had a very powerful magical ward present as well. Luna sensed the origin of the magic used to create the ward; it was from her sister. There was something rather odd about it as well The ward was spread across the entire cabinet but it was strongest on a door that contained a locked safe, but the safe had no handle or lever to open it. It was as if it was never meant to be opened.

Luna's curiosity began to get the better of her, "What could be so important that my sister keeps it in this hidden room away from the rest of the archives?"

The princess conjured a spell that would allow her to see the contents of the safe. To her surprise there was only one small book inside the safe, and when she read the title, her jaw dropped.

"Prisoner Manifest of Equestrian Civil War"

Luna could not believe what she had found. Inside that book could be the answers to what happened to her followers after the war. With great haste she prepared a disarming spell for the ward present on the safe. Once the ward was dispelled she teleported the book out and replaced it with another book roughly the same size.

Sensing the sun rising, Luna teleported back to her chambers with the book and climbed into her bed. She did not want anypony to think anything was going on, especially her sister if she entered her chambers in the morning, which she often did.

Luna opened the book and began to read through it. Most of the prisoners were soldiers and field commanders that had been captured during the later battles, though there was nothing unusual about that. The book hardly seemed to contain any super sensitive information.

Luna was just about to hide it away when she flipped to the very back. "Oh you are very clever sister, but not clever enough". Celestia had put an invisibility spell on the last few pages of the book; an interesting way of hiding sensitive information. After removing the magic she began to read the first few pages and her eyes widened.

"The following Individuals have been deemed so dangerous, their crimes so heinous, they are to be kept locked away for all eternity. Their souls removed from their corporeal forms so that they may reflect upon what they have done until the end of time".

The soul separation prison. Luna had heard of this before. It was the highest form of punishment in Equestria. Rarely ever did anypony do anything to warrant such imprisonment.

She read further and dropped the book. She was shaking, she couldn't believe it. A wave of emotions crashed into her, both joy and sorrow.

He was alive, her faithful mage and closest adviser. Aldus was alive!

She did not have to be alone anymore! Whatever it takes, she would release him. Luna picked up the book and read frantically on where to locate her mage. She finally found it, but instead of elation and joy she instead felt uneasy. The name of where he had been resting for the past 1000 years, apparently whatever he did to earn the soul separation prison also earned him an infamous title.

Entombed far in the frozen valleys to the north was his eternal prison.

The Temple of Aldus the Moondeath.