The sun was setting, but there wasn't a hint of land in sight. Ten ships sailed from Unicornia's coast three days ago, and it would be another six days before they hit Sarathûl. Their mission was simple, secure a place for Celestia to land the main army. At least, it sounded simple. Goldleaf's part in the plan was to simply keep the ships running; he handled an entire one all by himself on the night shift, as the pegasi kept up a stiff wind to pull the sails. It was dreadfully boring work so far, all he had to do was make adjustments to the rigging wherever the pegasi spotted one to be made. For three nights, Goldleaf sat in the middle of the deck, waiting to be called upon every dozen minutes. Sometimes, Hemlock came to talk to him, but a sharp glance from Lady Silver would send her slinking away. It was a shame, he had come to appreciate the company of the pegasus. Luckily, there was always Princess Luna... Or there should have been.

“Where's she gotten off to?” Muttered Goldleaf, slightly annoyed.

“We are right next you.” Came the alicorn's voice.

“Gah!” Goldleaf nearly jumped, and spun in a circle trying to find the voice. When he had come back to his starting point, Princess Luna rippled out of thin air, her horn aglow.

“A new spell, taught to Us by Aegis.” She explained quickly, prancing around in delight at its success.

“An invisibility spell?” The unicorn asked. “I've never seen one before, your highness. This must be old magic.”

“It's a highly complex spell, not many can cast it.” Said Luna excitedly.

“You must have great talent, then, Princess.” Deduced Goldleaf. I wish I had the skill required for that...

“It comes with being an alicorn, perhaps!” Laughed Luna, still delighting in her success.

“Sometimes I do forget you were sealing chaos spirits in stone at half my age.” Luna had been what, barely over ten when she defeated Discord? For an alicorn, that was incredibly young. It was said that their minds developed even slower than their bodies; Celestia might be over two hundred years old, but her mind was still where a sixteen year old filly's was. Goldleaf estimated that Luna was somewhere around thirteen. It certainly did explain a lot about their actions, or at least for Celestia's.

“Between invisiblity and the dreamworld, We do believe We can infiltrate anything We please.” Declared the Princess of the Night, smiling boldly. “Even the humans aren't safe now!”

“Can you go into their dreams?” Asked the unicorn curiously. “The advantage of doing so could be enormous...”

“We have not yet tried.” Admitted Luna. “But We intend to.” I wonder who the lucky subject will be... If the human was lucky, it wouldn't even notice Luna's presence. If not... It might be awkward.

Later that evening, the Night Court met again at the prow of the ship, even if it was just an informal gathering. All three had separate duties to attend to, so the start of their day, or rather night, was one of the few times they could meet.

“Well, so far, so good.” Hemlock reported brightly. “Despite our inexperience in maritime affairs, we haven't had any major incidents yet.”

“There'll be a major incident if I have to keep tying all these knots over and over.” Goldleaf grumbled, staring at the water crashing against the bow.

“We must admit, it is nice to be out of a castle.” Commented Princess Luna.

“The only problem is, we're on a ship. Ponies and ships just don't mix well.” Pointed out the unicorn.

“The real problem is my mother-” Spoke Hemlock, before cutting off and looking behind her. “Speak of a windigo..!” She hissed under her breath. And it appears... Goldleaf finished the old pegasus saying.

“What are you three conspiring about?” Asked Lady Silver, trotting up to where the Night Court held their gathering. She barely gave an incline of her head in respect to the alicorn princess.

“Nothing that concerns you, Lady Silver.” Luna stated coolly.

“Very little does not concern me.” Said the pegasus noble.

“Then this falls under very little's jurisdiction.” The midnight alicorn retorted. It was evident to all on board that the two had very different ideas on how their mission should operate. “Do you have anything to report?”

“Nothing yet, your highness.” Silver sounded disappointed at that. “Nothing but water and fish out here. Sometimes an albatross. However, this is the issue on what we'll do when we actually get to Old Alicornia, which will be in just a few more days...”

“We will do exactly what Our sister commended Us to do.” Firmly said the Princess of the Night. “No more, no less.”

“About that... What exactly are we supposed to do. I know Princess Celestia commanded us to seize a landing ground and hold it, while scouting out the forces of the humans... But surely, we can do more!”

“Mother, what can we do, other than that?” Cautiously asked Hemlock.

“We could strike directly at the heart of their Empire.” Lady Silver got a wicked smile on her face. “A lightning attack, set their crown city aflame, plant the seeds of fear in their souls!”

“That sounds-” Goldleaf began to say, but found himself cut off by Luna.

“-like a horrendous plan.” Sharply said the Princess. “It would only serve to enrage an already threatened people. We want this to end quickly, not turn into a culture and race war.”

“You all sound like my eldest daughter.” Lady Silver took on a look of distaste. “She never was ready to do anything drastic.”

“Would this be the ever-elusive Snowy?” Asked Princess Luna.

“None other.” The pegasus wrinkled her nose. “It's a good thing she's gone, even Hemlock is better than her. Though that's not saying much.” Hemlock's ears drooped down, but she said nothing, only taking up a dark expression.

“We must wonder what a little filly could do that made you so vigorously hateful of her.” The alicorn had a carefully neutral look about her, almost as good as the one her older sister could do.

“Well, it wasn't anything she did, your highness. It was what she didn't do.” Silver rolled her eyes, and flicked her tail. “She was a complete failure. No aptitude for war, no will to make decisions, no strength or stamina. And far too much empathy.”

“Too much empathy?” Echoed Goldleaf. Did he hear that right?

“Yes, too much empathy. Keep your ears open, commoner.” Scolded Lady Silver, before launching into her explanation. “That Snowy was always worried about what was good, or nice, or fair. Hah! That's a one way path to death in our position. I didn't make our house the second most powerful in the kingdom by being nice! Sometimes I'm not sure if Hemlock realizes that either.” She batted her daughter with a wing; Hemlock didn't try and get out of the way, only giving her mother an annoyed look. “I have never seen a pony so spineless as she. Absolutely disgusting. A storm came to Greatfall once, blowing down out of the Frozen North. She hid under her bed and cried! So I dragged her out into the courtyard, with Hemlock for good measure, and made them stay there until it was over. One of them got sick after, I can't remember which...

“Oh, Snowy, you cowardly wretch.” Sighed pegasus, without a hint of pity. “She refused to fly until she was six, and only then because I threw her off the castle walls! Yes, she broke a leg or two on landing, but she still flew. At least that got this one motivated.” The mare dropped her hoof on the head of Hemlock, who winced, but again did nothing else. “What a useless filly. She had the courage of a rat and the backbone of a jellyfish. If by some stroke of fate we find her in Old Alicornia, I will... No, actually: Hemlock, if it turns out Snowy is alive, and we meet her again, bring me her head. Maybe you'll be less of a disappointment then. Hopefully, a cripple and a lesser Princess haven't turned you soft...” With those words, Silver strode off. Goldleaf stood silently, not daring to say a thing.

Princess Luna was not even bothering to hide the look of sheer contempt on her face; he had never seen her so visibly emotional before. Had he not known better, Goldleaf could swear that the alicorn was seriously contemplating lancing Lady Silver through with a beam of magic. But Hemlock just had a dark expression about her.

“I have to live with that, you know.” She said quietly. “I can't tell you how many times I've heard her rant about Snowy. Though she doesn't bring it up with others often.”

“Stars above...” Muttered Goldleaf to himself. Suddenly, everything about Hemlock made sense. The casual dismissiveness of her sister, the apparent joy she took when somepony listened to her, the refusal to talk about her family or even be near them... “They tried to make me turn out the same.” She had told him once, on the first day they met.

“I'm seriously considering to have you bring me her head, Hemlock.” Luna growled, forgetting about the royal plural. “How any one pony could be so callously cruel... It's vile!”

“Kinslaying isn't my idea of a solution.” The pegasus replied. “Maybe that Blackwind girl will take care of her.” I wouldn't count on it, Goldleaf thought doubtingly. “Let's just forget this happened, it's really not a good way to start the night.”

“As you wish.” Acknowledged the alicorn, though he was sure Luna had no intentions of forgetting. The cat was out of the bag, as earth ponies liked to say. Goldleaf wished there was something he could do to help, but he could imagine nothing. A second-rate unicorn against one of the best fighters in Equestria? Goldleaf was well-aware of his own tendency to shy away from conflict as well. I guess all we can do is keep Hemlock with us, she seems to be handling it well enough on her own already. And there isn't anything we could do anyway, she's an adult now, Lady Silver can't treat her like a child anymore. Still, the knowledge of how cruel a mistress Silver could be was unsettling. Truly, she knew no guilt or remorse for her actions. What manner of pony was she that she could be so sadistic to her own children? It made Goldleaf's stomach twist. Evil has as face, they say... Perhaps one of Hemlock's ice spirits got to Lady Silver in the past.

“Lord Goldleaf-” One of the pegasi who directed this ship's wind had flown down from the masts.

“I'm no lord, soldier, just a commoner.” The unicorn replied.

“Uh, Master Goldleaf, one of the ties in the rigging is coming loose up top.” The pegasus mare reported. Master? I'm not some merchant's son; I grew up in a three-room house that exited onto an alley! If mother could see these pegasi bowing to me now...

“Very well, I'll take care of it.” So began another long night of keeping the rigging and sails in check. Maritime art was not a natural art of Equestrians, he was surprised that no disasters had occurred so far, besides an overboard unicorn a few nights ago, who was quickly recovered. As he paced the deck, Luna and Hemlock went below. The alicorn had to review Lady Silver's various versions of their plan, while Hemlock provided assistance. What exactly that assistance was, Goldleaf wasn't sure. But after tonight's revelation, he was glad that the young mare was with Luna. Just in case.

Five more nights passed uneventfully, with Lady Silver making only token appearances. As far as he had gathered, the plan so far was to secure a landing site for the main fleet, which was still under construction. Their ten ships were just a fraction of the numbers they'd have within a few weeks. What Goldleaf didn't know was how they were supposed to hold a section of coast. Ten ships against a continent? They'd need to stay stealthy, that was for sure.

Sarathûl was spotted the next evening, just an hour after sunset; a dark mass against a slightly lighter sky. It was a cloudy night over on this side of the ocean, but the distant firelight was unmistakably a town of some sorts. Princess Luna had them turn south and sail in that direction for several hours, dousing every light on their ships. When she glanced at the sky, a sliver opened in the clouds to reveal a portion of the moon. Slowly, they inched towards the cliffs and beaches awaiting them. Lady Silver dispatched some of her pegasi to scout the area, and they returned not fifteen minutes later.

“There's a large cove not far from here.” One reported. “Just like Lord Aegis's map said.”

“Set course for it, then.” Ordered Luna. I didn't know Aegis gave us a map... Perhaps Luna had kept that a secret, in case of any spies? Wait a second, spies- Goldleaf immediately recalled something he had seen some many weeks ago, and set off to find Hemlock. The beige pegasus was lurking near the bow as usual.

“Lady Hemlock-”

“I think you can just call me Hemlock by now, Goldleaf.” She said.

“Yes, well, I've just remembered something rather worrisome.” He spoke in a low voice. “Remember when we saw Lord Aegis and the human envoy from Ar-Athazîon? He gave the envoy a package.”

“Yeah...” Hemlock nodded in recollection. “So what?”

“Lord Aegis apparently gave Princess Luna and your mother a map of the coast, but I didn't even hear about it until now!” Quickly whispered Goldleaf, pointing his bad foreleg in the direction of the stern.

“So what?” The pegasus asked again.

“What if Lord Aegis is up to something?” Hemlock gave him a funny look, before laughing.

“Alright, I know you unicorns are paranoid, but really? How in the world did you come up with that conclusion?” She turned away, and looked at the oncoming coast. “Sometimes you just have to stop those wheels in your head, Goldleaf. They don't always bring you to the right place.”

“So maybe it's a bit silly of a notion.” He admitted. “But I can't help but think... If he doesn't trust us, there has to be a reason, right?”

“You're a unicorn, what other reason is needed?” Giggled Hemlock.

“And you're a pegasus, so that explains that.” He answered.

“We're equally lesser in the eyes of alicorns, Luna said it herself.” Stated the pegasus.

“So we are.” Goldleaf agreed. There was a moment of silence before Hemlock spoke again.

“I hope you know that I actually don't think that.” She stated, now quite serious in tone. “The whole lesser thing, you know?”

“That's quite a change of heart.” Remarked the unicorn, smirking.

“I mean it!” Hemlock scowled at him.

“No doubt. And for what it's worth, I've come to doubt what my kind have always told me about you pegasi too.” He acknowledged, raising his head high. “Perhaps there are reconsiderations to be had.”

“I don't think that's a word, Goldleaf.”

“It is now.” Declared the unicorn. “But I'm being serious too, except for your mother, your tribe isn't as bad as they say.”

“Yeah, well, Lady Silver is...” Hemlock took on a look of distaste. “I don't even know if there's a pony in there anymore. We shouldn't count her as a pegasus.”

“It works for me.” Agreed Goldleaf.

As they had talked, the ships had sailed along the rock cliffs of Sarathûl, and turned into a hidden cove. They dropped anchor in the middle of it, and prepared to disembark. Luna flew directly off the ship, and landed on the sand beach a few dozen yards away.

“The first alicorn on these shores in thirteen hundred years.” Goldleaf stated, watching Luna wander around idly as a group of pegasi joined her. “You'd have thought it'd be a little more exciting than that.”

“You'd think.” Agreed Hemlock. “Well, here we are in Sarathûl.”

“This could be another part of Equestria for all I've seen. I was expecting a little more exoticness to this place.” He didn't bother to hide the disappointment in his voice.

“Regardless, we're finally here.” The pegasus looked at the beach, and then at the wooded hills beyond. Goldleaf nodded, getting an uneasy feeling about him.

“Welcome to the realms of men, Hemlock; and that's likely to be the best greeting you get. They won't be so friendly about it.”

Author's Notes:

Only one chapter and an epilogue of part one left! As promised, the title of the story is changing to reflect that. Otherwise, you guys know the drill. Spot an error, report it. Got a question, ask it (comment or PM works). I don't think I have to say this anymore.