Celestia looked up as her sister emerged from her teleport. The younger Alicorn smiled in greeting as she joined her by the throne. Celestia’s magic held a note that had been delivered to her personally and she was going to go over it again with her sister now that she had joined her. Luna looked at her as she levitated the paper to hover in front of her. She watched for her sister’s reaction and she watched as the eyes of the other grew wide. She had much the same reaction when she had read through it. Luna's head slowly turned to look at her and she nodded.
“I know.” She said to her and her magic brought the note to hover in front of herself once more.
“Is this credible?” She asked as she shook her head in disbelief.
“It came through the channels that I had set up for my own spies. I trust their information as they have yet to fail me or feed me incorrect information.” Celestia assured her.
“Did we never look into this ourselves or did we simply miss the connection he had to King Sombra?” Luna questioned.
“I asked myself the same thing when I read over this but I must remind you that there is very little information about him to be found. In general, we have always flown blind about his lineage and all that comes with it.” She admitted with a frustrated sigh.
“That is true.” The younger Alicorn admitted. “We found precious little in the history of our own kingdom and even less when I asked about the history of his kingdom while I was there.”
“I don’t think he would have told you anything even if you were on good terms with him at the time,” Celestia said to her and the other nodded in agreement. “Twilight might know more but she seems rather tight-lipped about his past and the history of the Netherworld Empire in general.”
Luna snorted and nodded at her sister. “Do you think she is keeping things from us?”
“I am certain she is out of respect for his wishes.” Celestia snorted. “It’s not like I can command her to tell me. She is no longer my student and I do not rule over her.”
“That is true.” Luna agreed.
They lapsed into silence as the note hovered close by. She could see Luna thinking over what she knew and she found herself wishing she had asked more of her former student and laid out more of her expectations before she had been sent away to his kingdom. At the same time, she was certain that since Twilight had altered her initial request then she would have done the same thing no matter what she had asked of her. She bit back a deep sigh and closed her eyes for several seconds before she heard Luna breathe in to speak.
“Twilight had mentioned a rebellion in his lands, did she not?” Luna suddenly asked.
Celestia felt as though this question had come out of the left field but she trusted her sister to have a point to the question. “She did. I think she had mentioned two of them but only one was large enough to warrant a response from his forces. I believe so anyway. I would need to look over the letters once more to be certain.”
“I am speaking of the larger one that she was embroiled in.” Luna went on.
“Then yes, she did mention it.” Celestia quickly agreed, allowing her sister to continue. “Why?”
“I cannot help but wonder if the reason we have not heard about him from his ponies is if they are not permitted to leave his kingdom,” Luna said to her.
Celestia tilted her head slightly as she tried to understand why this had been brought up so suddenly. Her eyes widened as she suddenly caught on to her sister's line of thought.
“You make a good point little sister,” Celestia admitted and motioned for her to go on.
“His ponies have never ventured across our borders to ask of our aid. Could it be due to them being severely oppressed and mistreated?”
“We have never heard from them I admit. It would make sense that they have not dared venture our way if they fear the Overlord. His army must be large if he is able to avoid conscripting the general public should the need come. Perhaps they fear the army itself?”
“Or more likely they fear his dragons.” Luna snarled. “He seems to be able to command them as easily as if they were his hounds.”
“That would make even more since no pony wants to tangle with a dragon the size of that golden one.”
“If he can use one of them to act as a taxi what can he command the others to do?” Luna asked her, passion coming into her tone. “Twilight said he had over twenty that come to his command and stand at his side. If they are even close to that one’s size then even we could not stand against him.”
Celestia gave an involuntary shudder at the thought of that many dragons standing against her and her sister. She held the power of the sun but that did not mean she could use it in battle. Her magic was not endless and her sister she knew could not help but think the same thing. She looked away from her sister and her gaze fell on the doors at the end of the room. Her body shuddered again as she thought of the golden dragon. She had been overpowered before and she did not forget what that meant and what had happened as a result of it.
“Is it possible that Twilight was wrong about how that rebellion appeared?” Luna asked, her voice husky.
“What do you mean?”
“While I do greatly like Twilight and enjoy her company I have to admit one trait about her.” Celestia motioned for her to go on. “She is naïve to the world around her and the underside of the world that exists beneath the one she sees.”
“That might be true.” Celestia agreed after a pregnant pause as she looked at the note once more.
Luna leaned and her own gaze read over the words once more. Celestia hoped her silence told her sister that she did not wish to badmouth her former student and her traits. Her heartbeat a bit faster at the thought of what a battle with him might mean for her and her subjects. She closed her eyes as the thoughts washed over her and she heard her sister sigh and she opened her eyes to find Luna sitting in silence before she breathed in to speak once more.
“Do we know who exactly sent this to us?” She asked and pointed her hoof at the paper that was still hovering in the golden aura.
“I admit that I do not know the name of the contact that gave the information to my spy. But they claim the informant to be highly credible and has not led them astray before.” Celestia explained.
Luna nodded and fell silent for several seconds. “What do thee think we should do now?”
Celestia nearly chuckled at the slip from Luna but she drove the laugh from her and thought back to the question that had been said. Her brow furrowed as a question of her own came to mind.
“Are you able to see the dreams of his ponies?” She asked.
Luna tilted her head at the question but didn’t balk at it. “We… I tried while I was there and I was not able to see anything. I could not look into their dreams, I had thought to use that to see what his ponies thought of him but I was not able to.” She admitted.
Uncertainty fell over her like a shroud as she set the note aside and let it sit on a nearby stand. “Do you truly think Twilight was not able to see the oppression that was nearly right in front of her?”
“Twilight is very trusting and always sees the good in everypony. Her good nature is a wonder to behold but it can render her blind just as easily. The art of subterfuge is unknown to her and I do not think she would see it for what it was.”
“Could it have all been an act?” She asked her sister.
Luna looked uncertain as the idea washed over her. “I would like to think that he would not go to all the effort that would require just for her. But at the same time, he might have learned from me to give me a version of what I want to get rid of me.”
Celestia breathed in a deep breath and held it for several seconds. “We need to protect her as much as we can. He seems to have been able to pull the wool over her eyes if our suspicions about him are true. She has gotten to be very attached to him as her close friend and if we are not careful he might turn her against us. While I doubt that can happen we have to be ready for anything.”
“That is a good point. She was able to bring him to the Gala and that shows that he is either as close to her as she thinks he is or he is using her.” Luna agreed.
Celestia gave a deep sigh and she shook her head. “I am now wishing I had not sheltered her as much as I did.” She lamented and rubbed her hoof over her face.
“You did what you thought was best for her at the time. None can argue that.” Luna assured her.
“I was certain it was the right thing at the time but now I find myself regretting it.” She breathed out.
“I hate to ask this now. But what will we be doing now?”
She sighed at her sister’s question and her gaze fell on the slip of paper. “Do you think that Cadance and Shining Armor are aware of him?”
“I am curious if they are aware.”
“Perhaps we should ask them?”
Luna shook her head after a pregnant pause. “I think for now we should act on our own, for now.”
“What are you thinking that will accomplish?” Celestia asked her.
“We do not wish to cause them panic that might trickle down to the crystal ponies. You saw how they acted with Sombra himself. What would happen if they knew that one of his relatives was in their kingdom?”
Celestia grimaced and nodded. “That is a fair point.”
“The last thing we need is to cause harm to them. Our own subjects do not know who that is or even who the Overlord is for that matter. Why stir things when we do not need to?”
“Also a good point.”