Asra flew through the air, his eyes glued to the surface. He was looking for someone and it didn’t take him long to spot her. She was, in fact, wearing dark clothes in the desert. He shot down, sliding to a stop beside the mare.
 
Asra: Hey there, Ms Gloomy. How’s your day going?
 
Luna: We do not wish to speak to-
 
Asra: [Forced smile] Cause my days been awesome. You know what I did today?!
 
Luna: …
 
Asra: I fought off a dozen bandits. By myself! With no help from you.
 
Luna: [huffs] We were under the impression that thou didn’t need any assistance from a ~~what was it that thou called us? ~~ ‘a helpless tourist?’
 
Asra: You walked into a dangerous place, proclaimed your helplessness to a nest of literal predators and you expect me to think you aren’t a tourist? Or stupid?
 
Luna: We art much stronger than thou can even imagine!
 
Asra: And yet you don’t bother to stick around when shit hits the fan? You’re lucky I was there or else you might have not made it out. I don’t know how you ponies do things but here, we aren’t nice and friendly. Asking for help can sometimes lead to trouble.
 
Luna: Is this suppose to endear me to your apparently kindness? We only wished for a chaperone but if such a request is too much, we will venture onwards by ourselves. We have no need of such drama.
 
Asra: [mutters] Say the mare who cause a riot at a bar. [Turns to her] More importantly, where are you going, Ms Gloomy? Cause it doesn’t look like you know where your’e going. You do know it’s dangerous to wander the desert, right? It ain’t like walking in green and lush forests.
 
Luna: We are quite aware of such things and have no need for assistance from you. But, if thou must know, we art traveling to the Saddle Arabian Peninsula to visit the Sphinx Capital.
 
Asra: Oh! So you’re going to the castle? Weird, so am I. If you want, we can go together.
 
Luna: No, we don’t need your-
 
Asra: Just so you know, you’re walking in the wrong direction. In fact, if you keep going the way you are, you’ll not only end up back in the town we met at, you’ll probably end up in Equestria again. And that’s only if you don’t find yourself wandering in circles. As I said, navigating the desert ain’t easy and having a guide is the best way not to get lost.
 
Luna: [Pout]
 
Asra: Come on, I’m trying to offer a helping paw and you pout? It’s adorable but I feel a bit hurt.
 
Luna: …Fine. We will allow you to accompany us.
 
Asra: How magnanimous of you, Ms Gloomy. [Extends paw to Luna] By the way, I’m Asra. You?
 
Luna: …Luna.
 
Asra: Nice to meet you, Luna. Now lets get back on track, k, babe?
 

 
So I felt like drawing more of Desert Moons daddy-o cause I like him. As stated before, he’s the captain of the royal guard for the Sphinx Kingdom and met Luna at a bar where she was trying to hire a bodyguard/guide to lead her to the castle. Sphinx’s are very dominant and predatory by nature, so a ‘helpless’ mare wandering in and commanding the males ended up causing a riot. Asra ended up defending Luna while she escaped. After an hour of searching the area (ad following the trail she left behind, he found her and offered his help.
 
Here, Luna is disguised as a unicorn, cause she figured going into a foreign nation that Equestria has little to no interaction with as an Alicorn might come off as rude so she kind of snuck in. She was invited but the King said she’d have to find her own way there, to prove she was worth talking to. Luna wanted to fly but apparently, that was cheating according to the agreement.
 
Note: Desert’s dad finally has a name. His full name is Asra Khouri though he prefers to call himself Asra since his family history is a bit complicated. Asra is apparently Arabic for ‘travels at night’ which fits with Luna and his tendency to move at night despite his natural disposition making him more suited for daytime activity.