Upon entering her private chambers, Luna positioned the guards outside her quarters while her and Moondancer went inside.
"Do you sense it, captain?"
Moondancer reached for the deposited bag in the open space it had been left, her magic touching the brown messenger bag. She felt around, spreading her corona all over it, from the sling to the contents that made the bag bulge and when she had fully encompassed it in her magic she squinted, tongue sticking out just barely as she closed her eyes, adjusted her square black goggles and focused.
"Hmmm" she hummed. "I feel...something, but...it's faint. Just barely noticeable. Almost like a Field Perspective Alteration Spell. The kind laced onto objects to mess with your senses. We've actually had some smuggling issues in the past because of it." Humming silently as she worked the captain of the Cosmic Storm frowned suddenly, eyes narrowing. "Strange."
"What?" Luna impatiently asked.
"It seems the signature is reacting to my probes. That-- oh!" she gasped.
"What is it?!" Luna jumped, moving quickly to her captain's side.
Moondancer's corona dulled, the aura wavering as a shiver passed through her body, like a sudden cold wind had swept by and surprised her the mare squeezed her eyes tight. "It--" pausing, her cheeks puffing out, the unicorn sucked in some wind then let it all out as her face relaxed. "It just surprised me is all."
"I see." Luna said with a wary eye at the bag, unconsciously unaware she had come to press herself against Moondancer's side in a instictive act of protection.
"It seems the signature here doesn't want to reveal itself. Gave me a bit of feedback again when I attempted to undo the spell hiding it. Which..." she frowned, trailing off in thought "...is...honestly a bit odd. Perspective alteration spell types only work around the individual's sense of awareness. Hiding an object, making it blend in with the surroundings so the eyes pass over it without the mind registering it, all different applications. Magic relating to manipulating the senses, much like illusions, was the closest form of mental magic Equestria touched on before Sombra's invasion and the reforms to mental magic practices." She lectured without realizing. "Even if somepony was hiding their signature or mimicking the sense of someone else's magic signature, it shouldn't be capable of-- ow!" Moondancer winced and her corona wavered as the brilliance of her aura around the bag dimmed. "It shouldn't be capable of, well, that" she frowned, flummoxed.
"Unless," Luna scowled and when she blinked she and Moondancer were not alone, "a piece of the soul has merged with one's magic into an item, creating a horcrux, a cursed item."
As if the bag had suddenly become worms covered in all manners of filth, Moondancer's corona popped out of existence, and she gasped, eyes wide with horror.
A pause filled the room as captain and princess weighed their options.
"I'll call the others," Moondancer rose immediately. "Princess Starlight can contain it so we can analyze it. If this was an attempt by Chrysalis--"
"We do not believe Chrysalis works to undo us, not in this circumstance at least captain."
Moondancer paused, glancing at the bag. "I don't understand Princess..."
"Animancy was never something she would dabble with, the dangers of such magic are far too many and far too great. One mistake leaves horrible consequences the likes of which are impossible to repair. Besides, it never suited her style of approach" the alicorn stated, circling the bag with a careful eye while her invisible doppleganger phased through a unsuspecting Moondancer and circled the bag counter-clockwise.
"Then who could have sent this? Why would they send this?"
The only way to know is to look.
"We shall just have to see." Luna answered and with a flick of her horn she turned to face the bag.
Horn glowing, aware of two pairs of eyes watching her, Princess Luna reached out with her magic and set the bag on fire. Purifying pale indigo flames burned the bag and all its letters, each one being enveloped in indigo flames, eaten away till nothing was left. She would not take a chance or let a risk like this remain. If the horcrux reacted to the spell she had cast, even if it was weak in her current state, they would know whether it was malevolent or not.
Suspened by the strap in the air, Luna and the others watched as purple light filled the room and tore a hole through the bag as the flames ate everything up, eventually leading to a single envelope gliding gracefully to the floor as the remains of the bag were eaten away and disappeared with a hiss.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. The envelope floated harmlessly to the ground. It landed on the princess of the night's stony floor and then sat there. Waiting to be opened.
"...I want to try something Princess." Moondancer whispered, eyes never leaving the cursed letter. "I'm going to try attacking it..."
Never saying a word, Luna merely nodded.
Horn glowing, magical energy amassed around the tip of Moondancer's horn. A pale pinkish-white glow as she cast a simple abjuration spell that worked to harm and weaken malignant entities or beings that utilized the negative forces of dark magic. Like a ward she casted it on the envelope, horn-eye coordination striking true as the pink light went sailing through the air and moved to hit its target.
All eyes watched the spell sail towards the cursed letter, Luna's horn glowing as she prepared for a strike. The phantom that stood beside her watching events unfold with disinterest, till-
A field of green static emerged around the envelope, arcs of energy attaching to the item. With a screech and the scent of ozone, the field lashed out at the pink light with a bolt of white, slamming into the spell and blinding everyone in the room for a brief second, like a flash of lightning or the flash of a camera.
I don't think it appreciates the idea of being destroyed Bliss stated as she watched the others rub their eyes.
"Princess?!"
"We're fine!" Moondancer called back. "Maintain your positions!" lifting her goggles, Moondancer rubbed at her eyes and blinked spots away.
"Enough of this nonsense." Luna growled. "Reveal yourself!" with a flare and a flick, she sent her attack flying.
The envelope countered it, the field casting a shield that took the brunt of the attack, cracks forming along its sides.
"Captain, together!"
Horns glowing the two lashed out. Spells were cast. One attempting to break down the shield by sending a loop that would upset the field matrix the envelope was casting. Another, sent striking at the shield, trying to break it open like an egg even as it somehow healed the cracks and holes that formed.
Whoever sent this is persistent
Scowling at her doppelganger's useless remark, Luna's corona flared with a brilliance and she slammed a powerful telekentic blast into the shield, hundreds of cracks forming before the shield finally flickered once, went out, flicked on twice, then died.
With a laugh of triumph Luna launched another attack.
Only for the envelope to raise a circular shield at the last second that deflected the blast at an angle.
To the Princess of the Night
Just as she was about to cast a defensive ward and call for back up, Moondancer froze, and Luna couldn't help but pause at the addressing.
If you are listening to this message, then this means that the caveats I set for Hunter 2-4-4-5-0-7, Skim, has been achieved. Princess Luna, welcome home.
In the corner of Luna's eye Moondancer mouth had formed a perfect 'o'.
"Such insolence these days" Luna said in a clear light voice, deciding her captain's sudden shift in attitude could be addressed later. Aristocratic indignance stoked at being addressed by some disembodied cur Luna rose to her full height, a inch or so shorter than Moondancer herself, flaring her wings out and addressed her guest with a scowl at the inconvience. "Has Equestria truly forsaken the manners in proper etiquette upon seeking audience with royalty?" Luna questioned coldly. "Thou seek audience with a fraction of the Crown, yet Our eyes see not a gift."
Oh but I have given you one already, princess.
The envelope pulsed brighter, its words said in what could only be a flat deadpan.
I wouldn't try destroying this letter. I cannot be destroyed. Not till my message has been delivered.
"And just who is it that we speak to?" Luna eyed the glowing item with displeasure. However her ears twitched when she heard a word. A name.
"...what did you say?" the dopppeganger and original said as one, their eyes swiveling in perfect unison, heads turning to stare at Moondancer.
"O- Overcast?" Moondancer repeated louder, eyes wide. "How?" She blinked, her words breathless. "We all saw the light. When the Elements were used, every Unicorn in Equestria felt the magic being used. We...I thought--"
Ah my little moon, I didn't see you there.
The pulsing light interrupted but the envelope neither moved to turn in the unicorn's direction or seemed to land it's badly timed joke as no one laughed or even cracked a smile, as all he was met with was silence. That silence hung in the air like a mist and refused to leave for some time.
Anyway, the original created these letters before the war. I know not of his fate, as I am certain, we, his memoirs, his gifts, will have no choice but to repeat time and time again. I am an echo of Overcast. Adding pieces of his memories and even giving us the means to survive should we be misinterpreted as something...spiteful should the original be defeated.
It seems it was smart of him to cast those defenses on all the letters. You were not the first to try and destroy me. I doubt you will be the last.
The explanation was met with not a word but a reaction of surprise, confusion, and uncertainty.
"'We'", Luna said with some meager understanding of the irony, "what do you mean by 'we'? There are more like you?"
Of course there are.
And said nothing more.
Snorting, Luna's doppleganger eyed the envelope warily. As the only being that could hear her being Luna, let alone could see her, it mattered not if she got a little closer. Well aren't you just utterly helpful her voice dripping with sarcasm.
To which everypony's surprise, including the guards that had decided to burst into the room upon hearing unfamiliar cackling echo in the princess' chambers, the glowing eldritch envelope chuckled.
"What exactly is so funny?" One of the Pegasus guards, Red Sign, asked nervously. Clearly unprepared for the first night of the Princess of the Night to be filled with such bizarreness.
Oh, nothing
The light strobed between brilliant and dull between fits of chuckles.
I simply found something the Princess' aide had said to be somewhat amusing is all.
Confusion circling between the guards and Moondancer misinterpreting that statement for her bringing a frown to her lips, all failed to notice the stunned surprise that flitted over Luna's face before it was erased with a calm, wary aristocratic eye.
Well, I believe it is time for us to move forward, yes. I have a message--
"And We have a question." Luna interrupted, aware that Bliss, her other, now stood at a distance from the soul tainted parchment, watching it with both interest and caution. "What is it you mean to say that you have already bestowed a gift to us?" She asked, eyes narrowed. "Captain?"
Moondancer shaken from her stupor, stiffened. "Majesty?"
"We desire insight. Was there ever a gift left behind for Us to Our name that We have not yet been given? Between Our coronation, the sessions with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Princess Twilight Sparkle, all of the lessons you and those professors came to give one such as I" and there was a hint of irritation here in her voice, "lessons on" Luna forced herself not to spit at the word and did a well enough job erasing most of the venom laced within "in the changes of statecraft and diplomacy since the eon during our Absence-- was there ever a gift the former Overlord left for Us that you or the others were not aware of?"
"No." Captain Moondancer said almost immediately. "We searched the room he had been staying in after the real Sunburst was purged of Overcast's presence in the battle at Canterlot Castle. Everything he ever had was taken into study by S.M.I.L.E except for the war-shoes he gifted Rainbow Dash."
Luna nodded silently once the captain had finished her detailed summary. She had no need to ask just why those war-shoes hadn't been forcibly taken from the Pegasus, as she would have probably suggested in the past or ordered had she not dealt with Rainbow Dash herself personally in those memories of being the haunting Nightmare as well as during the security organization of her coronation. For even if it had been a month since her cleansing she was clearly aware of how that Pegasus could be. Taking something she cared about was like trying to take a single gem from a dragon's hoard.
Things would and could get ugly, if one did not tread carefully,
"There you have it then." The Princess waved a wing towards her captain and the guards that arranged themselves around the envelope, though at a distance as though it might grow lips, teeth, and start chasing them around the room. "There is no such thing as a gift you have left behind."
En vérité, il ya Princess. The gift I have granted you is your crown. Ah, you don't believe me. I can see it, as hard as that may be for you all to believe when I have no eyes and am virtually processed tree bark.
I may not know of what Equestria thinks of the original, but I know that his thoughts were filled with understanding. Understanding that you would not understand. That your subjects to be precise would not understand many of his actions, as strange as they may be. Sunburst and the original often bickered back-and-forth terribly when it came to these types of matters and it was always with great reluctance that he allowed the original to do the things he did. I wonder how the citizens of today see him if I am awake and am present to be delivering this message. For it most certainly may not be good, and to that...well, Moondancer, Princess, Guards, if you see him. If he hasn't run away to some place in the Eastern Territories of this world or hunted down one of Star Swirl's spells in search of a gate to another reality, tell him I am sorry for the stress I have caused him, but I will never apologize for taking matters into my own...appendages.
"And why exactly wouldn't we understand?!" Moondancer snapped. Dropping all military decorum and allowing herself her anger. "What could you have possibility been trying to accomplish betraying us the way you did?! Overcast, I was with you when you waged against the Storm King's allies, it was noble of you. I respected and loved you even more for that." She said with a crack in her voice as it died away into silence. "...but you went too far when you started working to discredit the others just because they wouldn't agree with." She stomped, nostrils flaring, lenses slightly fogging behind that glare. "I mean what were you thinking? Making deals with the corrupted members of the Upper Crust was a terribly decision, you should have listened when we told you to stop instead of ig-"
If I had listened, things would only have turned out for the worse. You seem to think, from the tone I am sensing, that the outrage in Manehattan's mob lords or the tribal attacks done by the buffalos from the south that rejected Chief Thunderhooves ideas on unity, was a result of my actions alone, but it wasn't. Civil wars don't start by one alone. No war does my little moon. No war ever does no matter how history tries to shape it. There are always supporters because without support, even if there is one specific face of the opposing side, that one face cannot make it to even be recognized. One single being can do nothing without support much like a single drop of water on the arid southern sands of a hot dessert.
Unless of course, you are Discord, but that is not the point.
Princess Celestia's greatest weapon and greatest weakness, the double edged sword she wielded, was her social standing. She was the beacon of Equestrian society and knew how to use it; the one you all see to be your example of true equinity and thus what you feel you should strive to make proud. My short time in the castle let me learn this quickly and that is why I saw it necessary to dissuade the future enemies that had grown healthy and strong while she, and then all of you, drowned in your duties to the public and were overwhelmed with the various responsibilities forced upon you without the extended training or necessary time to adjust. She, much like you Lunar Princess, has limits however. Just like I, just as Discord, just as Sombra, just as Tirek, and just as Star Swirl. Even if beings like us aren't normal by standard comparison.
Compare the standard to those that don't fit with it and you get a recipe that strays from the final dish that is Harmony when an eye is not kept on it. I know for a fact, because I am but a piece of him, Overcast would never apologize for those betrayals. I saw the possibilities. Foresaw the harm and made steps to minimize the damage.
You think it would have been easy to beat the Storm King and capitalize on the embers of distaste among his ranks when he had seized Canterlot and by extension, locked away access to the Elements if I hadn't begged the changelings for their support? They were necessary and they still are, so hate me all you want but I will never apologize.
Then without stopping to breathe, the cursed piece of parchment continued:
Which is why I say to you estranged mistress of the night gloom, I have given you your gift already. It is that crown. I do not purport to claim that I am the reason you have that crown. My actions were nothing more than a piece of the equation that ensured the correct end for I saw your coming and knew if certain measures were not set, things would turn out messy. But, as a piece of the bigger scheme, I think it is fair to say I claim the right to say 'your welcome'. As such, I welcome you back Princess of the Night. It is disappointing we never will get to meet.
Your sister, when she was alive and when we did exchange letter through the aether, she spoke fondly of you. As I am sure you will soon become familiar, if you have not already, the world outside of Equestria knows Nightmare Moon as merely a specter that no doubt now, has been dealt with forever. She entertained my curiosity in the history of the relationship that specter and that warmistress of the night, and I find it disappointing that I shall never get that opportunity to converse with you in the face to face- let alone try at a poor attempt at becoming friends. As such all I say now is:
Welcome home Luna. I am sorry, but I had to kill her. You may hate, you may rue me, but the alternative would have been worse.. Don't hate Sunburst either, for there are things that I thought not even his mind could have possibly known.
And before anyone could say anything else, ask a question, shout a retort-- the light just vanished and the room was plunged into darkness. Only granted light from the open balcony that let moonlight flow in with a crisp, spring breeze.