“So many contracts.” Sighed Goldleaf, levitating the next paper to Luna. She signed her name on it, and passed it to Hemlock, who stamped it with the seal of the Night Court.

“Someone has to sign off on all these ships Princess Celestia is buying up.” Replied Lady Hemlock. “How goes progress of the invasion plan, anyway?” The pegasus asked.

“We ought not to speak of such things.” Stated Luna apologetically. “Our sister would not approve. But... the time draws near.”

“Wonderful.” Muttered Goldleaf. “How near, if you do not mind my asking, Princess?”

“Not long.” The midnight alicorn said wearily. “Not long at all.”

“It's about time.” Hemlock voiced her opinion. “I just want whatever is going to happen, to happen. I can't stand waiting around.”

“I sympathize. Though I'd prefer nothing to happen...” The mahogany unicorn commented. Princess Luna tuned them out, as she returned back to her inner thoughts. She was preoccupied with the talk she had with her granduncle the previous week. Even now, it was still heavy on her mind.

“Aegis, what exactly did I see?”

“It was of another time. They were dark days, Luna.” Aegis said quietly. “Literally, dark days. Before the sun and moon.”

“Is such a thing even possible?” Asked the midnight alicorn. “The sun and moon have surely always been there!”

“That is another story.” Her granduncle stated. “I once told you Discord was the first who threatened the entire world; that was a lie. Thousands of years before him, our good Earth was torn asunder by the forces of evil. My siblings, your grandparents, and I all battled them. There were others alongside us too, like the dragons. These evils took them all, in the end, except me, and Corthunien.”

“Corthunien... The father of dragons. It is true that he still lives, then?” Luna had heard tales of the greatest of dragonkind, but had always wondered about them. It was said he was as old as the world itself. Aegis nodded.

“He does. Those of us who lived in the elder days had a heavy burden, one that has passed to you and your sister now. We must defend this world, no matter the cost. And it has cost us dearly. So very dearly.” The golden alicorn stated, more serious than Luna had ever heard him before. “Of all the evils we faced, there was none greater than the image you saw in the dreamworld. I dare not speak the name we gave it, even names may have some lingering power.” The Regent of the Moon shivered as she thought about that horrible black orb hanging in the sky, calling to her.

“What was it?” She questioned, barely aware she whispered the question. Aegis frowned, and his ears laid back.

“We didn't know. And that's what terrified us.” Her granduncle whispered back. It was a chilling notion, Aegis and her grandparents being afraid of something. “It came from beyond the veil, out of the night. This force was powerful beyond measure, its corruption spread into every soul. I will not tell you what it did, that is something you are not ready to learn. But we did wage war against it, for many, many years. We lost every battle but the last. And it's the last battle that counts, do not forget that.”

“Can I fight it too, then?”

“Of course. I will teach you how to fight it, how to seal it away where you will hardly be aware of it. And I will teach you how to fight those who will be drawn to it. Evil summons evil, Luna. They will hear its call far better than you, and they will come looking for it. But we are not without hope. For many centuries, this image has been waning in power. It is not the threat it once was... But it is a threat. Do not underestimate it.”

Try as she might, the subject had been in her head every day since. Particularly evil summons evil. She didn't like the way that sounded at all.

“...And that's when I said: 'If your application of entry has the Northbrim school of economics listed as an interest, it's going straight to the trash.' Nopony that crazy is getting into our university.” Apparently, Goldleaf had just come out of a story.

“Hah! Griffons don't understand a thing about how economy works.” Hemlock giggled. “What say you, Princess?”

“Mmh?” The alicorn looked up from her repetitive task of signing. “Oh, We do not pay much attention to such matters. To quote the griffons themselves, We have bigger fish to fry.” When they had finished with the contracts, Luna sent off Hemlock to deliver them to Celestia's office, where she would see them in the morning.

“You seem distracted tonight, my Princess.” Goldleaf commented.

“We have much to think about.” Replied Luna, looking down at the table. “Very much indeed.”

“Would it be improper to ask what you have to think about?” Pressed the crippled unicorn, ears pricking up.

“How much do know of history, Goldleaf?” The midnight alicorn asked.

“What kind of history?”

“Any kind.”

“Oh, quite a bit.” Goldleaf said proudly. “Is there something you want to know?”

“Yes, actually.” Luna furrowed her brow. “Our granduncle made a very interesting claim last week. He claimed that the sun and moon have not always been here. We have never heard this before... Is it true?”

“Ah, I've heard about this legend.” The mahogany unicorn nodded to himself. “The griffons like to say they're older than the bodies of the sky. In the Scourge of the South, Redfang the Wrathful boasts to the High Chief of Zebradom that he walked the world when only stars shined on it. And from the Akravid Realm, we get the myth that a spirit of shadow will return to the world and extinguish the sun and moon and restore the world to its 'natural' darkness!” Luna could hear the derisiveness in his voice towards that notion. “It's a common concept, but completely absurd... And yet, it abides.”

“Interesting.” Noted Luna. Redfang the Wrathful's tale was mostly legend itself, though it was probable that such a dragon once existed. But the griffons were known for fanciful stories, and Luna had never heard of the final myth Goldleaf mentioned. “Where is the Akravid Realm? We have never heard of this place before.”

“Well, that might be legend too, my Princess. Our earliest histories all mention a nation called Akravid, or some variation along those lines. But we have never found archeological evidence that it ever existed.” Explained Goldleaf. “Not in Equestria, at least. It's a very obscure topic, Princess, I only know about it because of too many late nights deep in the library. Most of my professors had never heard of it for that matter.”

“Then how do you know they had this myth?” Asked the Regent of the Moon.

“Interesting story, that. You see, that I'm the one who discovered it.” Said Goldleaf, somewhere between smug and embarrassed. “I was doing an interview with a caravan donkey, who would cross from Lithton through the Badlands to lands further south. I was after information about earth pony tribal systems, but he was getting more and more drunk as the interview went on. He starts rambling about his trips to the Zebra countries, but then, out of nowhere, he mentions Akravid!”

“Fascinating.” Commented Luna.

“You have no idea, Princess. Until this point, I was convinced I was the only pony in the world who had ever heard of this legendary nation. Then some illiterate donkey comes along and he's heard of it too! Unfortunately, he didn't know much more, he was going on fourth-hand information, if I understood him right. All he said of definite interest was that whoever lived in Akravid believes a spirit of shadow will be born among them, and take down the sun and moon, to plunge the world into starlit night. As insane as it sounds, I can't help but be wonderfully intrigued by it. The entire notion of throwing the world into eternal darkness is so alien to us ponies... I just have to think about it!”

“So it is.” Agreed the Princess. “We do not think We would take kindly to a spirit of shadow destroying Our moon, though.”

“I doubt many of us would, my Princess.” The unicorn agreed. He's certainly enthusiastic about history, Luna thought.

“Do the humans have anything like this myth?” She asked.

“Not that I know of. They've got a far more full history than us ponies. We didn't become relevant until the alicorns showed up to free us from Discord. It's possible they had a version once, and it got pushed out of common memory by more recent events like the migration south. That's just baseless speculation though.” Goldleaf mused. Luna said nothing, and instead was about to think deeper on the matter. It was then that Hemlock returned.

“Did I miss anything?” She asked.

“Just a history lesson for the Princess.” The unicorn answered.

“That's a shame, I've come to enjoy those.” Admitted the pegasus.

“Would you like me to repeat myself?”

“If it's not too much trouble...”

And so Goldleaf said what he had just said to Luna, almost verbatim and matching in spirit. The Princess had to admit, it was slightly impressive. But unlike Luna, Hemlock seemed to take it far more seriously.

“That part about the shadow spirit... It doesn't sound too far-fetched.” She said.

“Really?” Replied Goldleaf, raising an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”

“The stories Lady Silver used to tell me.” Hemlock stated, quite seriously. “In the beginning, Snowy- er, not my lost sister, the founder of our house, ruled a holding called Farpeak. She was Snowy of Farpeak. In those days, we lived north of the Crystal Mountains, long before the petty kingdoms of the griffon invaders arose. But we were driven out by the windigoes.” A slight shiver came over Luna, as she recalled the one time she ever was in those frozen lands. She had heard a howl in the distance... “Lady Silver said that the windigoes were the shards of an ice spirit that turned to evil, and was destroyed by its own madness. The shards still wander the land, feeding on conflict and malice, spreading their cold winds... Snowy of Farpeak became Snowy Farpeak, the first of our house, and bid us to never go north again.”

“So you're saying you could actually believe this myth about a shadow spirit?” Goldleaf raised an eyebrow.

“It's far from impossible, that's what I'm saying.” Hemlock defended. “But I have never once heard of a land called Akravid.”

“I guess no one but me has.” Sighed the unicorn. The night went on, and soon enough it was time for the three to sleep for the day.

Luna took her final meal of the night as Celestia took her first meal of the day. They ate in after setting the moon and raising the sun, respectively.

“It's time, Luna.” She said calmly.

“Mmh?” Questioned the younger sister, looking up from her porridge.

“The scouting fleet leaves for the Hatharô coast in four days. Once they secure a landing, the rest of us will follow.” Stated Celestia, with a small smile. “It's finally time.”

“Well, at least we're getting this disaster moving.” Remarked Luna, slumping her shoulders.

“Have faith, sister.” The white alicorn said, levitating a paper to her. “I'm sending somepony very capable.” Luna read it, and her heart sank.

That evening, the Night Court met again. She read them the orders.

“I knew this day would come.” Hemlock said grimly when Luna finished. Goldleaf looked horrified.

“It seems we'll be in Sarathûl within a week and a half.” Luna's stomach fluttered in nervousness.

“B-but I'm no use in a fight!” Stammered Goldleaf. “What use am I to Princess Celestia?”

“We don't need you to fight, we need you to help man the ships. A unicorn of your power could do the work of ten lesser ones.” Explained the midnight alicorn. “Our sister has chosen us for a reason. We will follow her orders, as disagreeable as they may be.”

“Why?” Asked the unicorn, in a rare moment of outright defiance.

“Because she is Our sister.” Luna stated. “As much as We do not like this, We will maintain loyalty to what is left of Our family.”

“Yeah... Family. I'm not too enthusiastic about Lady Silver coming with us.” Said the pegasus. “I joined this Night Court to get away from her, not to join her in some war!”

“We have no choice in this.” Simply spoke Luna. “Despite Our most vehement objections, and Our firm belief that this will end horribly, we all will do our duty to Celestia and Equestria. Sarathûl awaits us.” On the bright side, perhaps I can negotiate for peace in person? Assuming we don't die on the way there, of course.

Author's Notes:

Haha! Action inbound! Snowy Farpeak is the name of the founder of that house, our Snowy Farpeak is just named for her. Even more same names to keep track of!

And don't forget to read the Bonus Chapter for the one year anniversary!