For several days, Luna had ruminated on something she had overheard. It had been innocent, she didn't actually meant to overhear anything. She'd only wanted to surprise her granduncle with her increasing control over this domain. But instead... As Luna had approached Aegis in that ethereal place between the waking world and dreamworld, she had found a second presence with him; something far more ancient and greater. Luna had paused just beyond their awareness, for despite their power, she was the mistress of that place.

“...Whatever broke open the seal, it wasn't human. It might have just been an accident.” That had been Aegis speaking, in his voice of soft steel. Luna had learned some time ago that she could listen in on the internal happenings of dreams, without actually entering them.

“I do not find that likely. If one of the Alûthrîl has actually escaped, then matters are far more serious than some human sorcerer-turned-warlord who claimed to be one. You should investigate this, Aegis.” This second voice, though, was as deep as the sea and rolled like a distant thunder. There was a tremendous weight to it, bearing the burdens of a life-age of the Earth.

“Were that I could. Celestia has gone and started a war, and family does come before those troublemakers, Corthunien. You know that.”

“Very well...”

Corthunien, the lord and father of all dragondom. The single oldest, most powerful being in the world. It was at that point Luna backed straight away from them and out of sleep too. She'd been avoiding meeting with Aegis since, and he did not press the issue, being unaware of what she had heard. Twice now, Luna had almost gone to her sister, but every time, she stopped before reaching her.

What was an aloothreel? What was sealed? What did it mean? She kept coming back to these questions. Luna had thought about entering the Everfree Royal Library, in the older alicorn castle, but somepony had put wards on it, even in the dreamworld. Her father, no doubt. She had thought about going to a human library, but the dreamworld was only the most accurate and stable in places one had actually seen in the waking life. As for asking Aegis... I don't like that idea, thought Luna. I know too much already, what if that's the final strike? It was a scary notion. He said he would choose the world over her if it came to that.

“Princess?” came the voice of Hemlock Farpeak. “Are you there?”

“Please respond.” added Goldleaf.

“Hmm?” Luna looked up from the ground, which she had been staring at for some time now.

“You've been really out of it for the last few days.” Goldleaf said. “We're starting to worry.”

“Yeah, Lady Silver has practically taken over the camp. Definitely something to worry about.” agreed Hemlock.

“I've... had things to think on. Big things.” explained Luna as best she could. “Important things.”

“Princess things?” suggested Hemlock hesitantly, as she raised a hoof.

“No, not Princess things. Very much not Princess things.” she sighed. “It wasn't meant for my ears, but I heard it anyway, and now I am troubled.”

“Well, she's not speaking in the royal plural, so we know something is wrong.” Goldleaf muttered to Hemlock.

“Oh, We apologize for that.” Luna immediately sat straight and looked up. “Duty comes first before Our own thoughts. Has anything of importance taken place lately?”

“Well, Lady Farpeak's patrols are reaching further and further inland. We tried to stop her, but we've only contained her thirst for a fight, so far...” Goldleaf said with a frown. “It's only a matter of time before something happens out there.”

“So it would seem.” agreed Luna. “What have you two been up to lately?”

“I'm learning history.” said Hemlock, with an air of self-satisfaction. “I never thought it'd be useful, but maybe I was wrong.”

“It's a small step in the right direction.” Goldleaf added, leaning towards Luna and lowering his voice. “Even if she is completely ignorant.”

“I heard that!” Hemlock remarked.

“It's something we're working on.” the unicorn stated, ignoring the pegasus.

“Carry on, then.” said Luna. “But summon Lady Silver to me. We wish to have a talk.”

“As you command.” bowed Goldleaf, as he walked off as best one of his health could. Hemlock followed him out, normally cheery demeanor darkening as it did whenever Silver Farpeak came up in conversation.

“After this, can we go to the top of the hill?” asked Hemlock, on her way out.

“Yes, fine... Don't expect it to be a fast trip though. I can't imagine what's up there that's got you so excited...”

It was only a few minutes before Hemlock's mother appeared in the place of the two, as beige-coated as her daughter, but as silver-maned as her namesake. She was wearing plain armor of hardened leather, like most pegasi tended to do when ready for battle.

“You wished to see me, my Princess?” asked Silver, inclining her head just enough to be respectful.

“We have heard you are growing bold in your forays into the countryside.” stated Luna.

“So I have.” Lady Silver acknowledged. “Is this a problem for you, your highness?”

“It worries Us that you may cause premature detection of this expedition.”

“And what if it does?” asked the noblemare. “We've been here for weeks and heard not a single word of Princess Celestia's main army arriving. As far as I'm concerned, we're stuck here with no reinforcements or reserves. It would be better to hit the humans hard, get them worried, and then conduct the main invasion somewhere else completely and catch them off guard! It might not even come to that! If we strike enough damage and fear into the, they might even sue for peace with Celestia and that'll be the end of this!”

“You are not in charge of this expedition.” Luna reminded her.

“With all due respect, I'm starting to think I should be.” Silver said sharply. “This is war, Princess. Equestrians and humans alike are going to die, whether you like it or not. There is no feasible action you can take which would prevent that. What I propose will ultimately save lives.”

“You are a cruel, cold, and violent creature, Silver Farpeak.” remarked the Princess of the Night, with unveiled disdain. “We cannot believe you are in any way interested in saving lives.” Silver snorted.

“So it all comes back to that, doesn't it?” laughed Silver. “Oh, you softhearted fools. You have your time and purpose, but so do the likes of I. Equestria was built on strength and force, something you're all too eager to sweep away. It was ponies like I who helped your kind remove the taint of Discord, it was ponies like I who drove back the griffon invasions, and it will be ponies like I who protect our realms from mankind. Do not forget that, Princess Luna. You need us more than we need you.”

Those final words stirred something in Luna; she didn't know if it was anger or pain. A small voice in her head wondered why she was letting this wicked pony talk to her like this.

“Now,” Silver said in a stern tone. “will you let me do my duty?”

“No.” stated Luna, narrowing her eyes. “Stand down and wait on my orders alone.” Lady Silver clenched her jaw, and flicked her tail.

“Very well.” she said after a moment of silence. “You will regret not listening to me, though.” With that, she spun around and stalked out, ears flat. There's going to be trouble from that one, Luna thought with resignation. No doubt about it, now. Perhaps Silver would go off on a renegade attack and get herself killed, though. It would be nicely convenient... if revealing their position as well.

Minutes came and went, while Luna sat in her tent and looked blankly at the map that had been out for weeks. There was nothing else to do now. Between her Night Court of two, and Lady Silver's officers, the camp ran itself. So long as all ponies played their parts, Luna didn't need to raise a hoof. She had studied the situation as much as possible, too. The humans had a decisive advantage in numbers, for the moment, and on the open field as well. Assuming they had the discipline and initiative to deal with flying enemies they way they dealt with mounted enemies of their own kind.

However, the Equestrians had an advantage of their own: magic. The average unicorn like Splendor Garnet even Queen Ember Platinum was only able to mildly shock a foe at worst with her inherent magic, or pick up a weapon with a levitation spell and use that instead. Goldleaf was an exception to the rule, even if he was no Starswirl. But, using old alicorn techniques, unicorns could pool their power together, with devastating results. Luna had vague memories of such cataclysm being unleashed on the spawn of Discord, and on a smaller scale against the griffon invasions at the turn of the prior century. She didn't like the idea of pitched battle against creatures that were not evil at heart, but if it did come to that, the Equestrians were far from helpless against the steel and fire of men.

The next night, Aegis and Corthunien's discussion was still on her mind to the point she could focus on nothing else. Luna decided it was time to investigate what information the humans had. There was only a small chance of finding anything, but it was worth a shot. She slipped in to her trance-like state in reality, and let her mind drift into the ethereal. Luna passed through the shadowy plane, lit by countless tiny lights. As she had come to know, each of these lights was a living, thinking creature; the entire vision was just a reflection of the waking world. She had to pass through here to get into the dreamworld.

The process of entering into the dreamworld proper was one Luna couldn't entirely describe, or even understand. It just... faded in, around her, and then she was there. Her tent, her camp, her ships anchored in the cove... Everything was as it was in reality. Luna stood, and flared her wings, galloping outside and leaping into the air. She wheeled about and set off in a northerly direction, in the direction of Ar-Athazîon. Travel was fast in this place, faster than it ought to have been, and what should have been at least four days of flying turned into forty minutes of flying.

The white walls, shimmering in the moonlight above, was the first of Ar-Athazîon she saw. Then the lights of the city itself came into view, flickering in the distance. She recognize some of it, from the view she had been given from the Emperor's dream when she visited him. There was the big domed building and its eight wings, the long arc of docks, and some other assorted structures she couldn't put a name to. But Luna was flying to the ring-like palace around the city's citadel. If there was a place for the humans to keep secret information, it was there. Aloothreel sounded like a human word, so surely, they'd have something about that?

Luna landed in one of the big gardens of the palace, and began to search for a way in. This wasn't the same one she had visited Emperor Katastanîôs in. He should be dead by now, Luna thought. A shame, she had liked him, from what little time she had talked with him. But the problem with the dreamworld was that it wasn't exactly stable in places one had not been to before. In this part of the palace, everything appeared to be as if it were seen through water; ever so slightly blurred and warped. The smaller the detail, the more distorted it was. Everything was a bit fuzzy and undefined in here, even Aegis was, but this was an entirely different level.

She pushed open a door, and strolled into the luxuriously-decorated hall. These humans certainly liked to spruce things up; though she didn't share their taste. Too many dull colors. Luna wandered about, looking into various rooms, hoping to find their library. They had to have one.

“It's got to be here somewhere...” she said to herself. Luna peeked into another room, which looked quite lived-in. “Not here, though.” she said after another revealed a bed with someone sleeping in it. For good measure, she entered another room, and searched for any books at all. “Aha!”

She bounced happily over to it, and read the cover. Friends of Mankind. A look inside revealed it was all about domesticated animals. Well, that wasn't useful at all! Something then caught her eye in the next room... a... hoof? Sure enough, Luna discovered, there was a sleeping pony, flickering in and out of the dreamworld as so many dreamers often did.

She was a pegasus, a blue-grey one, with a charcoal mane. It must have been hot in the waking world, she just laid on top of the covers on her back. I have an idea... Luna thought up an obscuring cloak, and willed the mare to “wake up” into the dreamworld.

“Huh?” groggily asked the pegasus, weary eyes blinking. Luna noted they were red.

“Greetings, subject.” Luna said in her best mysterious voice. “Can you direct me to the library?”

“The... library?” yawned the pegasus.

“Aye.” nodded Luna.

“Uh, about... forty yards down the hall, and up two flights.” said the mare. She seemed quite young, barely more than a girl, really...

“Thank you.” said Luna. “And sleep well.” she added, willing the pony back to bed, and weaving up something pleasant for her mind to do with as it pleased. That was something she'd been practicing, as part of her duty as warden of dreams. I wonder what a pegasus was doing in the Emperor's palace... Luna took a glance at the two swords resting on a table, but thought nothing more of them.

Forty yards down the hall, and up two flights of stairs. The forty yards part was easy enough, she followed the gentle curve of the wide hall for precisely that far. But there were no stairs, just big arched windows and heraldic tapestries. Luna wandered further on, until she found a straight staircase. That was very odd, most staircases were spiral-shaped. This one went straight up, and then doubled back the opposite way. Luna climbed up, passing one floor, and then coming to a third. There were no more stairs, so this had to be it. She traced her steps backwards the way she had come below... And came to two great doors.

“This has to be it.” Luna said, making the doors open as she walked towards them. Indeed, it was it! Great cases full of books stood before her. It was rather dark, even with the tall windows letting in the moonlight. “Aloothreel, aloothreel.” she repeated quietly, walking into the stacks, and searching for titles. Most of them were too distorted to read. Many were just simply squiggles instead of words. “I really need to visit this place for myself.” But some, those that looked positively ancient, had been in the here long enough to fully imprint into the dreamworld. None of them were what she was looking for, though. Luna found that there were three floors to this library in total, and on a hunch, decided to go straight to the top.

Hours passed by, and still, she found nothing usable. Even the middle floor had nothing. Luna sat down in the stair well, sighing. “I knew this was a bad idea.” She had only wasted him here, there was nothing stable enough to use. But an idea came to her... Luna glanced towards the tall windows which lined the southern wall of the library. She ran to one end of the great hall, and then ran back again, counting as she went. There were thirty-one.

With a thought and a push, Luna opened one of them, and flew out a ways to see the building from the outside. She counted the windows... Thirty-two. “Huh.” she said to herself. “Did they really think no one would notice that?” Luna approached the thirty-second window on the second floor of the library, and looked in. It looked like a private reading room, but there were no books. She hadn't seen a door on the inside, but there was one in here. She flew up to the next floor, and looked through there. “A curtain!” she said in disdain, forcing the window open and moving the curtain aside. And there it was: the secret room full of shelves she had known was somewhere. As it turned out, foalhood stories were a good source of knowledge after all.

These books were definitely old, and had been her a very long time, so most of them were stable enough for her to read. Three walls were lined with them in their shelves, except the one with the window, and a spot that she assumed was the hidden door. Someone had put a table with three chairs in here, at some point. Luna was about to start her search of the books.

But it was not to be... The sun was rising, and she needed to actually sleep. Luna would return tomorrow night.

Author's Notes:

You really need to stop exposing yourself to information you shouldn't have, Luna. It'd be a shame if you got... hurt. Hey, we finally get to hear Corthunien though, if not exactly meet him. Yet another off-screen character almost on-screen!