Cannerlands

It was definitely a first. It wasn't that she didn't respect the new Princess, it was more that she was too used to HER sending the letters for Twilight to come visit her. Maybe it was a rare moment where it showed how inexperienced in friendship she was compared to Princess Twilight Sparkle. Maybe old habits die hard? Princess Celestia chuckled in spite of herself.

The sky was as clear as the sea and even more so than that. The sun was shining bright and happy, the exact perpendicular to Celestia's own mood. She could feel her own namesake trying to convince her to make jolly and be happy, but her intuition knew better than to trust it. Although it was one of those days where when you stepped outside, there was just a breath of smiles and joy.

Luna kept on telling her she should stop being such a pessimist so hopefully all of this was a preface to this meeting with Princess Twilight Sparkle. Celestia then remembered it was Twilight who sent in the request for an audience with her... it's not that Twilight Sparkle never writes in to say hello, it's just that when she does write in, it's usually a friendship report or a distress beacon of peril and turmoil. The latter is the more common result.

She sat patiently outside of Twilight's new throne room. She was told to wait which struck Celestia as odd. Wait? Twilight, I am the 1000 year old being of benevolence. Shouldn't I be...

There goes that ego again. Celestia sighed to herself. Twilight was growing up faster than Celestia was comfortable with. It was only after prodding from her sister that Twilight was elevated to becoming a Princess. Celestia was unsure of the change at first, but clearly saw it as the right choice seeing Twilight learn and evolve faster than they could ever anticipate. It honestly frightened Celestia. She felt like she was going to lose her little student to experience and it would ultimately be the right to do.

"Princess Celestia? Are ya'll ready?" A familiar, homey country accent rang into the room. Princess Celestia left her thoughts and looked up from her fiddling of hooves. Celestia gulped and took a deep breath. It was one thing to have one on one with Twilight, it was a completely different thing when she invited the other elements- er her friends to join her. What was going on?

"Thank you Miss Applejack," Celestia responded with a wink. Applejack blushed. You never could tell what dem thousand year old alicorns were thinking. Applejack led Celestia into the throne room slash map room. Map room? Celestia looked upon the giant table and it was one incredible detailed map of Equestria. It was all laid out, as if a giant hoof from the sky was able to sculpt it's direct experience onto a miniature table. As she looked upon each familiar land mark and even noticed there were some new additions that she was unaware of, there was one specific spot that struck her with concern. It was a spot at an edge of the map, beyond the Everfree Forest and the Zebra Highlands. The spot itself was a jet black transparent sphere as if someone inserted a true form of pure darkness matter and placed it in a single spot where not even color existed. The area around the spot was covered in dark purple miasma.

But beyond the Zebra Highlands? Where is that exactly? She gambled a quick glance outside, hoping that the other ponies didn't catch her immediate concern of the situation. Celestia began to work out where the miasma was located in her mental map of Equestria; the sun was landing in that direction... the Everfree is in that direction... the Zebra Highlands is over there... no, that's preposterous. The only thing there was... the Cannerlands...

"Princess Celestia?" A cute little purple alicorn with a star on her butt waved her hoof in front of the white alicorn's face who also, coincidentally had a bigger star on her butt. "Are you okay your highness?"

Princess Celestia shook herself from her stupor. "My apologies to you and your friends Princess Twilight. I was lost in my own thoughts for a brevity of time. You were saying?" It was then she noticed she must have spaced out for a longer length of time than she anticipated, everypony plus a baby dragon was all looking in her direction.

"Are ya'll sure ya'll are alright, Princess Celestia?" Applejack piped up.

"We only ask Princess because we are concerned for your health," Rarity added.

"You were kinda... uh... um... girls help me out..." Rainbow Dash could barely stutter out, trying hard to not offend Celestia.

Pinkie Pie burst in her usual fashion with confetti exploding everywhere, "Muttering to yourself in a prophetic manner that could only foresee the destruction of our Equestrian Society that may or may not have relevant importance!" Everypony looked at Pinkie PIe in shock and horror. Only Celestia kept a straight face. One, from years of practice, Pinkie Pie may sound crazy but she made much more sense than other royal officials who want a statue of themselves made because they offered to get you coffee. Two, because she was right.

Celestia shook her head though in denial. "I do apologize. I simply did not get enough sleep last night. Please continue Twilight," She made a dismissive motion with her hoof.

Twilight made a slight cough, as if that would speed along the awkward moment. "Anyways, Princess, we were talking about this dark patch of fog that appeared on our table..."

"Yes, the table..." Princess Celestia took a brief look at it and then back at Princess Twilight, "It is made with brillant craftsmanship, as if the land itself helped carve it for you," Twilight rubbed the back of her head and explained how the table came to being. Princess Celestia rubbed her chin, trying to fake the most genuine of interest. Hopefully Twilight could keep this tangent long enough for Princess Celestia to think of a way to get out of this conversation. Unfortunately, that reprieve only lasted so long. "But it's not the table that we're worried about, it's this dark fog that appeared so suddenly,"

"Well... um... Twilight... it didn't...." Fluttershy, resident yellow shy pegasus pony raised her hoof. Everypony looked in her direction. Rainbow Dash was the first to make comment.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Are you telling me that you saw this way before any of us?!"

"Not the giant patch of dark fog... I-I m-mean not at first..." Fluttershy stood up in her seat and pointed at the dark fog, "I noticed it when I was cleaning the room with Angel, but it was so very very small that I didn't think it was important to bring up. But now it got bigger," when she said the word bigger, her eyes widened. She was adorable, "And I think it's still getting bigger as we speak." Everypony consumed this piece of information and sat on it. This piece of information was of particular use to Princess Celestia. But she needed a time frame for specificity.

"I'm sure it is nothing you and your friends cannot handle Twilight," Princess Celestia was on the verge of breaking down right then and there. A bigger threat than Tirek and Discord. A bigger threat than the anti dimensional mirror. A bigger threat than cake going extinct. But maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought? She could only hope.

Celestia turned her attentions back to Twilight, who still looked unsure of herself, which caused a reaction from the other ponies who immediately turned their attention to her. "May I remind you whose friendship not only made a much more permanent friend of one that believed in tyranny through disharmony, but also vanquished a might foe, saving Equestria from what would have been absolute destruction?"

"But... the splotch?"

"I am sure your friendship will be able to withstand any challenge that blocks your path," Princess Celestia cut off the thought and added one of her trademarked smiles to put the icing on the cake. It seemed like the tension in the room has lessened. Mission accomplished. Now time to go home, grab an army, cry into Luna's embrace, and prepare for war. The good news was that they had some time. But to confirm her suspicions, "Fluttershy, how long has it been since you noticed the dark fog? A month maybe? A few weeks?"

"Um... yesterday?"

Celestia's heart dropped. Her stomach twisted in fear. Celestia looked down for a brief moment before responding with a simple, "Oh. V-Very good to hear Fluttershy. A little bit sooner than I thought, but I am p-positive we are still fine," She sounded if she was trying to convince herself more than the others, the stammer in her voice being a dead giveaway. The other ponies looked between each other in worry. Twilight immediately flew to Celestia's side.

"Princess? What's wrong?" She whispered. She knew her mentor better than anypony else. Celestia was more distraught than she let on, than her friends could probably see, she knew that much.

"Everything is fine Twilight. Please excuse me everypony. I have grown rather weary. We shall discuss this more tomorrow," Celestia swiftly stood up and trotted out of the room without another word to any pony. Twilight looked to her friends and they all nodded at her, giving her the go ahead to give chase.

A day? A single day? Something was on the horizon and it wasn't her sister's wonderful moon. She needed to scramble the Wonderbolts, get precautions in place. A war was coming. Celestia needed to alert Luna, warn her of the coming danger. It was a long time ago while Luna was imprisoned that the Cannerlands became an issue once, and Celestia was afraid she was not strong enough to handle it again. So many soldiers died that day when she could have easily ended such conflict by joining the fray sooner. Regret tugged at her heart strings as she trotted out of the castle, ready to take immediate lift off for Canterlot when a voice called out for her.

"Princess Celestia!" Celestia gritted her teeth, wishing Twilight didn't have wings to chase her further. Knowing she would at least have to tell her most faithful student, she reluctantly turned her head, Twilight immediately jumping into the question, "What's going on? What's with the purple fog on the table?"

Celestia took a deep breath, focusing on her voice, trying to prevent it from coming out as stressed as Mayor Mare when re-elections came around, "A long time ago, there was a dragon named Maekrix. He invented a kind of magic that was able to create and destroy at will. Luckily, Maekrix was a benevolent being and spread happiness and joy throughout the land for many centuries. Unfortunately, dragons may age thousands of years, but the magic warped his body and mind into a state where he only lived until a young age of one thousand for a dragon. He knew his power would be used for greed, sooner than later bringing forth an apocalypse into the land. He could not destroy his new kind of magic, it would spread out into the land once his soul was no longer bound to this plane. He closed off his power into four tombs across his kingdom. He sealed the tombs with powerful magic and buried them under as best as he could. It was agreed upon an ancient council a long time ago that such power should never be brought to light ever again, lest we risk a new apocalypse being unleashed on the world. Luna and I was but fillies at the time, but I remember the fights that broke out among the races as we all strove towards harmony." Celestia took a moment to close her eyes and reflected on her past. Twilight was unsure if to comfort Celestia or to let her grieve her past. Celestia made short work of her reflection and then continued, her eyes still closed, "It was said that a darkness would envelop the land if a Trove would open. That a new era of destruction would spread across the world if somepony with enough drive was to open a tomb,"

"Princess, are you saying someone opened a..."

"Yes. Although we are not in any immediate danger, we must prepare for what comes next which could be anything." Celestia opened her eyes and nodded at Twilight, "I must go and warn my sister and spread word to the other kingdoms. We will discuss this tomorrow when the other leaders and I have solidified a plan." Without further word, Celestia ascended into the sky towards Canterlot. Twilight could only watch her as she felt helpless, awaiting the next day that would bring news of what to do next.