Author's first note: You may want to read the chapters "Luna the Eavesdropper" and even "A Hint at the Past" again, because they were published months and months ago and this chapter was supposed to have been published around May... Things happened though.

All things considered, Luna was glad to be home. The weather was fairer, the sky brighter, and the land more tamed. Her small fleet had fled back across the sea before any truly ocean-going human ships caught wind of their activities; she and Lady Silver had left them at Reedsport. The two, plus Silver's retinue, had gone to Lithton themselves. It had not been a pleasant experience for Luna. Spending a day, a night, and a morning that close to Lady Silver had been off-putting, to say the least.

“Look at all those rustics,” Silver commented as they took breakfast the day before, “milling about like they own the land, and not a single authority around.” Luna looked out at the earth ponies that had already started the day's work in the fields. There's probably a unicorn lady or lord around here somewhere, she had thought.

“We don't see the problem.” said she. “In Everfree, we have earth ponies that hold lands in fealty to us.”

“Not the wisest decision, Princess.” Silver replied. “The earth pony is inherently inferior to an alicorn, or a pegasus, or even a unicorn. Creatures with such short-sightedness and small minds should not be trusted with power over anything greater than a plow.”

That got a distasteful frown out of Luna. It was blindingly clear why so many earth ponies did not cooperate with the system, when ponies like Silver were at the top of it. But that wasn't one of the things Silver had said to earn even more ire from her. That came yesterday afternoon. The group had flown over what seemed to be a big wedding on one of the farms; there must have been dozens of families present. Earth ponies did like their weddings festive...

“In my lands, nopony marries without permission.” Silver remarked as they flew.

“Really.” Luna wasn't surprised.

“Yes, indeed, Princess. How does marriage work in Everfree?”

“Well... Ponies will do as ponies are wont to do, Our father said that once. If rustics want to marry, so be it. If nobles want to marry, so be it. If Celestia wanted to marry, Our mother would have forbidden it until she was of proper age. But Celestia is a special case.” said Luna, smirking as she recalled some of the passing fancies her sister had had over the years. For a moment, Lady Silver had given her a reason to feel good, and she almost believed it could have lasted.

“Fair enough.” Silver conceded. “Our contract with the House of Everfree allows for all realms to govern themselves as they see fit. Coincidentally, my house's charter with the Queen of Highcrest allows the same autonomy to us. The Whitewinds were a soft bunch by the end, they ruled lightly and ineffectively enough to allow that upstart Maelstrom to launch her rebellion when the last of them died. Weak and foolish.” The pegasus sneered disdainfully at the thought. “But when the Whitewinds learned the law of the Farpeak lands, there was some discontent over it. They wanted to revoke our charter!”

“We can't imagine why.” commented Luna, wondering where this ramble was going.

“Ironically, Maelstrom rallied houses to support her by promising to safeguard the ancient rights of our nobility.” Silver snorted. “I would have joined her, you know, if it wasn't for one thing: that bastard daughter of hers. Tempest, wasn't it?”

“Yes, that's her name.”

“Tempest Blackwind? Hah! They ought to call her Tempest Whoresdaughter. Marriage is a cornerstone of Equestrian society, Princess. It's why I make all ponies come to me before marrying, so I can make sure that everything is done properly. Maelstrom did not marry, and she had a child anyway!” Her sneer deepened. “Disgusting, isn't it? Such disregard for our culture from one so mighty?”

Luna said nothing.

“I'll tell you what, Princess: there are many things I hate in this world, but I hate dishonesty above all.” She waved a hoof at Luna, and gave her a stern look. “A few years ago, I approved the marriage of a couple. They were two rustics who lived below Greatfall in the farms; they had rustic children and their rustic life was in order. Earth ponies they may have been, but at least they were behaving. But one day, the wife runs off with another mare's husband! Can you believe that?”

If that other mare was anything like you, I could, Luna thought.

“Anyways, earth ponies aren't hard to catch when you can fly. I had them arrested and brought before me. The usual punishment was too good for them though, after they disrupted the order of the land. For their mutual infidelity, I had the stallion gelded and sent to Sadel Aravia. He was sold to some degenerate prince, I was told.”

All Luna could do was look at her in shock, for a moment. Gelding was the most severe punishment there was for a stallion, the price of high treason or regicide, technically legal but unused by Everfree for all its history. But Silver had managed to make a crime of the punishment nevertheless. “You sold a pony into slavery?”

“Yes, I had an example to set. Do not cross Silver Farpeak.”

“That's against the contract! It was clearly written that no pony shall sell another pony-”

Silver closed her eyes and exhaled, as if she were having to explain something yet again to a foal. “The contract of fealty was signed between Hurricane Whitewind and your mother, Princess Luna. The only agreement I have with a monarch is the charter between my house and the Queen of Highcrest. Now, where was I? Ah yes, the mare. Hemlock came to me and said I should reduce her sentence, so I had her watch me take the mare's head off. I asked Hemlock why I did it, but what do you think, Princess?”

Again, Luna was taken aback. “What?” It was almost too much for her to realize. The casual tone Lady Silver used to describe everything was almost enough to make it sound like some abstract lesson in morality instead of anything real.

“You, Princess Luna. I'm sure your sister would understand why I had to kill the mare who betrayed her family, and me. I know my slightly less worthless daughter did. But what do you think?”

“I- We think you're-” Decades of watching her parents at court kicked in before Luna could say something too offensive. They had dealt with many unsavory characters, far worse than Lady Silver, and all the while remained proper and righteous. She would hold herself to that standard too. “We think you killed her to show your power.”

“Wrong, Princess.” Silver sighed. “I said I gelded the faithless stallion to show my power. Why did I behead the mare?”

Because you're pure evil, Luna wished she could say. “Because... Because... We are afraid We cannot answer that, Lady Silver. Cruelty is not among the methods the alicorns of Everfree use to rule.”

“Princess Celestia might disagree. But this is the answer: I killed the mare because the Lady of Greatfall must be consistent.” Silver stated, as if she were proclaiming some noble truth of the world.

“We do not understand.” Of course, Luna didn't want to understand. This was a heartless, wicked creature in a pony's body, she would never understand it.

“Think about it: Maelstrom Blackwind was a degenerate whore who managed to land herself with a fatherless child. I swore my banner to Clearspring Swiftrain rather than follow that vile mare. And I swore that I would kill Maelstrom; and failing that, kill her wretched daughter, and end the Blackwind line. No disgrace to Highcrest that great could be allowed to survive!” The irony of Silver calling another pony vile was lost on her. “That is why I had to kill the faithless mare. One must be consistent in one's treatment of enemies, at all times.”

...It actually made a degree of sense. That scared Luna.

Once they arrived in Lithton, she was very happy to leave Lady Silver behind in favor her her sister and granduncle. Luna had a glad reunion with Celestia, though marred by her admission of loosing a ship and their foothold in Old Alicornia.

“I'm glad you made it out unharmed, at least.” Celestia said, hugging her.

“I'm sorry I lost one of your ships, Celly,” said Luna, “we really did try to fight them, but...”

“But?”

“We were outnumbered on land, outfought at sea. I- I just don't know how you expect to fight them over there. We were completely outclassed!”

“I feared as much.” sighed Celestia. “But now we know.”

“If you feared so, why did you send so many into danger?” asked Luna.

“It's what mother would have done, Luna. Sent an advance force to test the strength of the enemy. And strong they are...” Celestia looked out the narrow, tall window, out over Lithton. That fire in her eyes hadn't dimmed a bit in the time that had passed since they last met. “Does our fleet have a chance?”

“No.”

“There's nothing to stop them from coming to us?”

“Nothing.”

Only silence came from her sister. Her plans to invade Old Alicornia had probably just been dashed to bits... What would she do now? Negotiate a formal peace with the humans. That was too much to hope for, Luna quickly found out.

“Then we will fight them here.” declared Celestia. “Bleed them of pawns and wealth until they're weak enough to finish off at home.”

Luna had her doubts over the feasibility of this new plan. Sure, they'd be putting the burden of supply on the humans, but... Equestria may have been slightly more centralized than Sarathûl, but the humans were far more willing to stand together than the ponies.

Aegis Vigil listened more closely to what she had to say, when she found him in the study he'd made for himself in one of the castle towers. “Folly,” Aegis spoke, “total folly.”

“She won't heed any warning.” Luna pouted. “And she said she was doing what mother would have done.”

“Yes, my niece was a headstrong one. But even she knew restraint when it was time to show it. My brother and sister taught them well.” Aegis frowned deeply, batting his ears. “And I'm sure your parents would have taught both of you well, had they lived. But they made one choice that has turned out to be a very bad mistake: they taught your sister to harden herself first, by sending her to lead wars and fight our enemies. And that's all they had time to teach her before they passed.”

“They didn't even start preparing me to rule...” said Luna.

“That burden is mine now. You've been receptive, Luna, but Celestia, not so much. Have you seen the anger in her?” asked Aegis.

“How could I not?”

“It's her shield. It surrounds her, even in the dreamworld. I can't get through to her.” The old alicorn paused for a moment, before scowling. “Speaking of the dreamworld, you've been avoiding me for some few weeks now! I was content to let you be, a growing girl needs her space after all, but now that we're face to face...”

Luna cringed. She hoped he wouldn't have brought that up. Ever since she overheard his discussion with Corthunien, she'd been trying to stay out of his way. Aegis had a habit of knowing things she didn't expect him to know. “I... I haven't been neglecting your teachings, granduncle, I have been practicing my control over the dreamworld. Just... alone. I've been learning to give ponies dreams, you know! And I met one in-”

“Why have you been avoiding me?” The look on his face said he wasn't going to take her excuses. There was no way out of this.

“I heard you talking to someone a few weeks ago.” Luna said, glancing away. “About something I don't think I was supposed to hear.”

“Did it involve a certain dragon?”

He really does know! thought Luna, flattening her ears. “Yes...” she said. “I was going to meet you as normal, but I heard you before you knew I was there.”

“At least you're becoming skilled in going undetected.” Aegis sighed. “How much do you know?” he asked.

“Nothing! I tried to go to the library in Everfree castle, but it was warded, and the human library was-”

“You went to their Emperor's library?” Aegis interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

“We are at war, granduncle. It’s not exactly off-limits.” stated Luna, looking away nonetheless. “But I didn't have time to search it before the we had to leave, and I've been too busy and tired ever since. I don't know what an aloothreel is.”

For a moment, Aegis didn't say anything. He just frowned at her, narrowing his eyes. Not in malice or weariness, but... something else. There were many thoughts running through his mind, Luna was sure of it. Finally, he spoke. “Would you like to know what the Alûthrîl were?”

“Yes-” Luna said with a nod, before catching herself. “As long as it's safe for me to know, rather.”

“Then meet me here tonight.” ordered Aegis. “I will show you the answers you seek. But first I need time to gather those memories.”

“Of course.” she agreed, leaving the room. Luna eagerly counted the hours before the night, and quickly became bored. Her sister had nothing for her to do besides attend court, and Luna didn't want to do that. Unicorns could be a pretentious lot, sometimes... And that only served to remind her that her two courtiers were absent, stuck in Sarathûl thanks to Silver Farpeak.

But at last, night did come. Luna raised the moon as Celestia set it, before quickly running back up to Aegis's tower. He'd extinguished all the candles, and sat with his back to the door, staring out at the night. “Are you ready?” asked he.

“I am... though I am not sure what for.” said Luna. “You said you had to gather your memories?”

“Yes, we will be using them. Why tell you what you want to know when I can show you?”

“You can show me these Alûthrîl? How?”

“I will invoke my memories of them in the dreamworld, Luna, and you will watch. Now, I will see you in there.” Aegis entered his trance, and Luna willed herself into her own. She slipped quickly into his mind; it wasn't quite the irresistible pull it had been months ago, but she couldn't completely escape it either. Not that she wanted to, this time. Powerful minds had that effect in the dreamworld...

Oddly enough, Luna had lost control of her body. She was standing on a grassy hill, staring up at star-filled sky. They were brighter than they were in the waking world, and there was an unearthly light to the whole scene. But try as she might, Luna could neither move nor talk; she just looked at the sky.

What is this? she wondered.

This is a memory of mine, came the voice of Aegis. You are seeing through my eyes, and that is all you are doing.

I don't know why I thought we could be outside observers, Luna commented. She really had expected to be watching Aegis, but this made far more sense. She was in his memory, after all, he would remember it from his own perspective and not an outside one. Everything he did, she felt as if it were her own actions. Where are we? she asked.

We are on Earth, but as it was when I was your age.

Where is the moon?

There was no moon in these days. Hush now, Luna, here they come.

Luna felt her- or Aegis's- gaze turn down, out over a half-illuminated land. Three figures approached... humans? She squinted at them, and walked forward. It was strange to be doing these things with no control over her- Aegis's! she reminded herself- body.

“Who goes there?” she felt herself speak in a voice not her own. That voice was her granduncle's, there was no doubt, but it was so much younger. Luna could hardly believe it.

The three humans threw themselves down before her. “Noble one, please forgive the trespass of this wretched people!” the apparent leader begged. He did not speak their tongue as Luna knew it, but she understood him nonetheless. “But we can go no further!”

“What are you?” asked Aegis's voice.

“We were the slaves of Thîandûtar, noble one.” answered the human. “Our race is called man, and we have fled for centuries from the Great Enemy... But we can go no further!”

“I do not understand.” Aegis's voice said. “Where is your Thîandûtar? Who is your foe? Why can you go no further?”

The speaking human raised his head. His skin was so pale it could have been translucent, he looked starved and exhausted, filthy and ragged. “It was a long distance from here, it is lost to us now. We do not know the way back, and we do not have a way forward. We could see the torches of the Great Enemy behind us... they will not be long in arriving. Doom is upon us, noble one! Grant this wretched people mercy, let us at least rest before our end.”

The scene suddenly changed, and Luna found herself looking at five other alicorns. Each one was radiant and immaculate, two of them moreso than the others. They were familiar, those two... Mother? Father? Luna wondered, knowing it wasn't really them.

Close, came the voice of old Aegis.

Are they... my grandparents?

Yes, that is they. Aethera and Solanum, the greatest of all alicorns, and the first of all alicorns. My elder brother and sister, and your predecessors, Luna. Aethera, her grandmother, shined like a lesser sun, as if she were shaped of flame and light instead of flesh and bone. Solanum, her grandfather, was a dark mirror of her. Their faces were so similar to her parents... A twinge of sadness struck her heart, but there was a joy as well, that she had seen the faces of the ancestors of her entire race.

“They call themselves the race of man,” reported young Aegis, “and they say they are fleeing a mighty foe, who will be upon them soon. Their wish is to be left in peace for what little time they have left.”

“They expect to die?” Aethera asked, in a voice that made Celestia sound like an unrefined child.

“Yes, sister.” Aegis said. “They did not ask for our help.”

“But they will have it anyway. No innocents will suffer in our lands. If they wanted to be left to die, then they should have gone to Corthunien's realm. No alicorn has ever turned away a creature in need. We must help them, it is our way.”

Again, the scene changed. I wish Celestia had seen that, Luna thought.

I do too, Aegis replied, but I fear she would not react well to it. We brought the humans under our protection, long ago, by your grandmother’s order. But all Celestia can see is what they've done to us. How do you think she would react to this revelation?

Not well... Not well at all. Perhaps this would only harden her resolve.

Now Luna was flying, above a white circle... No, that was no circle! The walls of Ar-Athazîon! Luna exclaimed in her mind. Below her were white towers, green fields and shimmering lakes.

Behold, Alicornia in its prime, Aegis said. You didn't think the humans built those walls, did you?

It's so much more open than the city that's there now... Luna landed, and felt herself again speak in Aegis's voice.

“I bring... strange tidings from Lord Verax.” he said to Aethera, before looking at the sky. Three fiery orange comets blazed above, so big that Luna could have held her hoof up to the sky and they would not have been blotted out. “He says he will not do anything about the comets. They are not a problem, in his own words.”

“They are the herald of the Great Enemy!” said another voice; a human voice. “With him come the Alûthrîl, the accursed traitors.”

“It is time you told us who this Great Enemy is.” Aethera said to the man.

He was not the same one as earlier, this was a new human entirely. He was healthier, taller, and dressed in far finer clothes. “His name...” the regal man said, looking at the three comets, “is Vahâdrîn. And you do not know what he can do.”

A great wall of rock was being lifted out of the ground, as far as Luna could see to either side. Its jagged top rose over the starry horizon. Her head turned, looking back at a lonely peak behind them. “Will this work?” asked the young Aegis.

“They cannot be stopped, they can only be contained.” the same man from the previous memory said. He was older now, in a coat of mail with a sword on his belt. “It is just as we told you. There are but forty thousand of my people who can fight, and less than a few hundred of yours, Lord Aegis. How can we hold this storm back? Monsters, wraiths, changelings, Alûthrîl- even the spirits are against us!”

Alûthrîl, Luna noted. That was what she had come to learn of.

“Damn the spirits!” cursed Aethera, appearing in Luna's vision. “Verax has betrayed us, and so have almost all the others of his kind! They have been in league with your foe before he even arrived! It has fallen to us to preserve this world now, Aikâlon.”

Chaos erupted around her now. “Find him! Find him!” bellowed a tall man, dark cloak swooping around him as he made his way through the burning ruins of some city. No, thought Luna, that is no man! He was far too tall, far too big. His brimless helmet enclosed his head completely, with only two eye-holes to show where a face was; Luna had never seen a design such as that before. Not a hint of skin showed on this strange warrior. “Find their king!” he continued to roar to pawns unseen. “The Great Lord demands his death!”

Luna rose to her hooves, power coursing through her horn. “You will not find him here, Alûthrîl!” Aegis declared.

The Alûthrîl whirled to face him, drawing a blade as long as a foal's body, that was but a dagger in his hands. “Kill it!” screamed he. The blurring of the air was all Luna had time to see before she found herself leaping away and lancing something with a beam of light. Whatever horror this young Aegis had just killed began to melt even as it became visible. It hurt her eyes to look upon it, and Luna closed her mind to the memory for a few brief seconds. “Kill it, kill it, kill it!” shrieked the Alûthrîl, jabbing his dagger into the air around him. “KILL IT!”

Luna felt her horn charge again, sending a wave of light slicing through another one of those blurs. She was grateful Aegis had not spared a glance to its body. The Alûthrîl jumped at her, howling wordlessly. He was far bigger than Aegis; and knocked him flatly over. “Animal! Beast!” roared the Alûthrîl, clamping a massive hand around her throat. “I did not come through centuries of oblivion to die to you! I am the controller! I am the-” Luna's magic grabbed hold of a burning timber, and swung it at the raving attacker. The Alûthrîl stumbled away, but there was no escape for him. Luna's horn was engulfed in light, and she sent the lance straight through his chest.

The Alûthrîl collapsed, his shadowy garb returning to simple ragged cloth. She removed his helmet, and saw a face that was definitely human... But far too old, far too twisted, to be anything natural. Luna could not imagine what had happened to this creature. What are you? she asked herself.

The vision changed once more, Luna was in some place tropical. Despite the persisting night, the air was warm and pleasant here. “If Corthunien does not return soon, we are lost.” someone sighed. A human? A dragon? Something else? Luna couldn’t see who spoke.

“Nothing is lost yet.” Aegis said sternly.

Nothing is lost yet, repeated an unspoken but soothing voice. For a moment, Luna wondered if the sun had come down to join in whatever battle was happening here, floating in the air and gently glowing with a soft light. It was a fire spirit, it had to be!

“Evil has taken root in our world, it is our duty to resist it. Spirit, dragon, alicorn, man- all of us!” Aethera spoke, standing at the side of the fire spirit. They were so similar... “And so long as one spark of light resists the darkness, we have not failed!”

An array of images flashed in front of Luna, too fast to see, that finally settled with her standing before another of the Alûthrîl on a plain of ice. Above him hung that horrible black star, with its halo of sickly light dancing about.

“My master told you we did not come alone.” said the Alûthrîl. “You have won a battle, but you will not win the war.”

“Your false confidence fools none of us, Âûm,” young Aegis spoke, “you have been driven all the way back here, the very spot where you arrived all those years ago. On behalf of my race and all other races who stand against you here, I offer you the same terms I offered you then: leave this world now, and never return.”

Âûm looked back at the dark orb hanging in the sky, before facing his confronter again. “Even if we could leave, we would not.” Âûm said quietly, clenching a fist. “Even if you kill us, we have won. Even with your new host, it will not matter. Verax is destroyed. This world is dying, and it is not possible to save it, Aegis Vigil.”

“All things are possible.” Aegis said. The world was flooded with golden light, and Luna was no longer just a passenger in another body. She was free, the memories were over, though they were still in the dreamworld.

“Far more effective than any book reading, yes?” asked Aegis, his voice returned to its ancient tone.

“Yes...” breathed Luna, her mind still reeling from the experience. “I... I'm not quite sure what I saw, granduncle.”

“It will make sense in time.” he said. “But you know what the Alûthrîl are, now. And why Corthunien should be so concerned that there might be one still left on Earth.”

“You killed that one easily, though.” Luna protested.

“I am an alicorn of the highest order. I have... vivid memories of what they could do against mortal men, and even lesser alicorns.” Aegis grimaced. “We cannot be everywhere at once, Luna. And you saw what was in that final memory.”

Luna nodded. “That is one more being in the world who carries its image.” she said.

“And that being was its servant, wittingly or not.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was something their Captain- the one named Âûm- said. Or rather, the way he said it. Even if we could leave...” The old alicorn trailed off. “Regardless, these Alûthrîl were dangerous. Not as dangerous as the fire demons, or shadow spirits, or their master Vahâdrîn, but still a grave threat. Now, thousands of years later, who is left to face something that wicked? Me? Corthunien? Half a dozen elder dragons? Two alicorn fillies, one of them barely over a century old?”

“I see your point, granduncle.” Luna nodded. “But if one is out there, why hasn't he done anything?”

“Who says he hasn't tried?” asked Aegis, raising an eyebrow. The tower room dissolved away, and they hovered above jumbled, crowded mess of a city that was modern Ar-Athazîon. It was a far cry from the Old Alicornia they'd seen earlier. “This city has been attacked by a sorcerer three times. A very powerful sorcerer. Who, each time, has called himself Âûm.”

The implications made Luna's stomach sink. She looked down over the city; Aegis had summoned the sun to fully illuminate it. “Was it really Âûm?” she asked.

“If it was, do you think this city would still be here?” Aegis countered. “He was the greatest of them all. If there is an Alûthrîl at work in the world, it is one of the lesser ones.”

“That's a relief.” Luna sighed. “However, I’m still left with one question: I know what they are now, but… who were they? Men? Demons?”

“I’ve never really decided, Luna.” Aegis said. “But like the one I killed said, they passed through oblivion. And whatever oblivion that was, it changed them. All we really know is that they hated the humans, more than anything else. They hated them so much that they turned to the evil you saw, and brought it to our world. We did not understand hate then… Now I fear I understand it better than any other creature alive today.”

Luna looked away. “Can I tell any of this to Celestia?”

“No, not until this affair with the humans is over and her vision is clearer.” commanded Aegis.

“Celly and I once agreed we'd have no secrets between us. And now here I am, gathering them up faster than I can count...” said Luna, frowning. “But I won't tell her, not yet.” She paused for a moment. “Do you think she'll get better?”

“I hope so, Luna.”

The following months passed by uneventfully. Aegis trained the unicorns, Celestia gathered the pegasi and heard the reports of the earth pony pacification in the south. Luna often found herself exploring the dreamworld, going to places she'd only seen on the edges of maps. Sometimes she wondered about those terrible Alûthrîl, and she tried to find information about them in both the Ar-Athazîon library and the Everfree library, but to little avail. She learned a few more names, and the story of Vahâdrîn from the human's perspective. For a few days she considered asking Aegis to show her a memory of this Vahâdrîn, but she didn't want to press any issues with him. Most often of all, Luna found herself missing Goldleaf and Hemlock.

One evening, while having a silent but pleasant dinner with her sister, the incredibly obvious occurred to her. If she could talk to Aegis in the dreamworld, why couldn't she talk with her courtiers? Luna set out that night to find them, wherever they were in the world.

Author's Notes:

The ride resumes! With plenty of incessant vagueness and hints! But don't worry readers, we're close to the happening.