Normally, Princess Celestia kept a calm and benevolent composure when she met with ponies who had come to see her. Today was proving to be an exception.

Discord's recent Day of Chaos, as it was now being called in Canterlot and across Equestria, on top of Twilight's meltdown the day before, already being called Lesson Zero by those who knew of it, her anxiety had pushed to its limits.

What she was hearing now was not helping in the slightest. More so in the fact that it didn't make any sense, and not even by Discord's standards either.

"You are sure of this?" She asked, the earth pony mare before her trying to keep a calm exterior, but it was a losing battle.

Hard Knock nodded. "Yes, princess. I wouldn't come here otherwise. Something is happening to Mount Platinum."

Celestia frowned. She knew the mountain, named in honor of Princess Platinum at the time of her death, was in fact a volcano. But there was a serious problem with that.

"The volcano has been extinct for as long as any race can remember. Not even I or Luna can remember a time when it was active," she replied.

Hard Knock shrugged. "Never the less, something is happening to it. Tremors have begun to shake the surrounding areas. Ponies swear they can hear something coming from the crater."

Celestia didn't like this. Not at all. "Are these tremors causing any danger?"

Hard shook her head. "None so far. But we can't know if they ever will or not. Some of the locals though have a theory."

Celestia's brows rose. "What kind of theory?"

"That the Fire Demon who lives in the mountain is awakening. They fear what will happen when he fully awakes from his slumber," Hard replied.

Celestia sighed. She knew this legend. For as long as ponies had lived around the mountain, they had believed in a legend surrounding it. That the mountain was the resting place of a mighty fire demon, whose wings would bring untold destruction when it awoke.

Neither Celestia or Luna put much stock in the legend. Nothing had ever convinced them that there was any merit to it.

And even if there were, any, all of the demons had been locked in Tartarus of over a thousand years now, and none had ever escaped. How could this be any different? She and Luna had been very diligent in hunting them all down.

More than likely, Mount Platinum wasn't as extinct as all of Equestria had first thought.

Celestia smiled as she came back to the present. "I thank you for bringing this to my attention. While I do not believe there is any fire demon we must worry about, I am concerned about the mountain."

Hard Knock let out a relieved sigh. She didn't believe the legend either. What she was worried about though was what would happen if the mountain awoke. Many lived in its shadow. "What do we do then Princess Celestia?" She asked.

Celestia stepped down from her throne. "If the tremors get worse, tell me. I will have the area evacuated if need be. For now, continue to monitor the mountain. We do not need any more surprises. Not after what happened with Discord."

Hard Knock nodded. She couldn't argue with that. She still hadn't fully recovered from that day. Not many she knew had either.

Her therapists were truly earning every bit she paid them. Why she had three she didn't know, but she was glad for what they helped with. For the moment, she was just happy to have been able to see Princess Celestia about what was going on at home.

She didn't like it. Not at all. There was more going on here that she or anypony else knew about. For now, she let it lay. No need to worry if the princess didn't say so.

As for Princess Celestia herself? Some might call how she viewed this as a flat-earth atheist. But she had lived too long to run after every little thing.

Yes, every legend had a grain of truth behind it. Luna and Nightmare Moon was a perfect example of this and there were many more as well.

If this, Fire Demon turned out to be real and was indeed waking up. Celestia would be the first to admit she had been wrong about. She was mare enough to admit when she was wrong.

The trouble with trying to prevent one awakening, or even just having ponies in place to warn of an impending release, was that they tended to be corrupted by the demon's power and influence.

Lavan had been released precisely because of that exact circumstance. To this day, small cults still existed in his name in the dark corners of Equestria, even though Lavan himself was chained in the deepest levels of Tartarus.

Until proven otherwise, Celestia would not take this as something that had been missed and would continue to take it as she saw it. Hard Knock herself did not bear any signs of corruption.

Though it was still early, Celestia had long ago learned to spot the signs of demonic influence on ponies and other creatures.

Author's Note

Unplanned as this chapter was, I felt it needed to be done to help set up certain things to come in the main story. And this will have an impact on it. A big one.

You don't get anything if you figure out who the Fire Demon really is. Celestia would be a lot more worried if she knew the truth. Way more worried.

Lavan is an old G1 villain. Just thought to have that as a bit of background history for Equestria.

One last thing. There is a hidden easter egg in Hard Knock's bit. I won't say what though.