Across Equestria, there was one place, above all, that ponies of all walks of life would wish to go to if they had the chance. And that was their grand capital, Canterlot. But, even to those who lived within this pristine and glorious city, there were locales that even they would wish to be a part of. At the top of that list was the abode of Princess Celestia herself, and the royal throne room. When one entered this place, its sense of grandeur and elegance was there for all to see, with exquisite stained glass windows, enormous marble columns and rows of disciplined royal guards. The sun shone brightly through those many windows, creating a near glow about the place, with Celestia herself shining brightest of all. The Mother-figure of Equestria sat in her bright golden throne, looking as composed and calm as she always did, with a knowing smile upon her face, reading a parchment that now hovered before her.

"Hmmm...yes...very good..."

But, her musings were, for the time being, interrupted, for the great oak doors that led to her chamber now creaked open, gaining her attention immediately. Looking up, a wider smile crossed her face, as she now gazed upon the one who entered. It was another mare, a pegasus, bright pink in her fur, with a darker shade of pink in her mane, the latter of which was tied back into a ponytail. As this new arrival finally reached the stairs leading up to Celestia's throne, she gave a low and expertly-executed bow.

"Princess Celestia."

The white alicorn looked to her with fondness.

"Miss Cadence. Always a pleasure."

Standing tall once more, the mare, Cadence, returned the smile, before promptly clearing her throat and getting right down to business.

"You wished to be informed of when the delegation of Canterlot nobles was ready to speak with you?"

At that, Celestia's smile faded slightly, and she let out a long sigh.

"Yes...I did."

Composing herself yet again, Celestia spoke softly to Cadence.

"Inform them that I am ready to discuss the upcoming tax law reforms as soon as they arrive at the palace."

Cadence nodded, giving another bow to her monarch before then turning, no doubt ready to head off to perform her assigned task. However, before she got the chance to do so, Celestia, after glancing at the parchment by her side, regained her earlier smile, leading to her calling out to the younger mare before she left.

"Oh! Cadence?"

The pegasus halted, turning around with a look of curiosity.

"Yes, my Lady?"

With her horn lighting up, Celestia levitated the parchment to hover just beside her head, before then pointing to it.

"I have received word from your favourite charge, if you're interested."

Though it took a moment for her to understand what the Princess had meant by that, Cadence's face soon lit up with a happy-looking smile.

"Twilight? How is she doing?"

After letting out a brief laugh to herself, Celestia turned her attention to the parchment, waiting until Cadence had drawn closer to the throne before speaking up again.

"From the sound of things, she's doing quite well. The last of her things have been safely delivered to her new home in Ponyville, and her latest friends there are helping her unpack as we speak."

A look of nostalgia crossed Cadence's face.

"I'm glad to hear she's doing so well. She always was such a sweet filly to look after."

Turning, Cadence now focused her attention on one of the armoured stallions beside Celestia's throne.

"You must be so proud of what she's done, Sir Armour."

Said stallion's horn began to glow, and his helmet soon lifted off his face, revealing both his white fur and blue mane, as well as the smile he bore as he looked to the young mare before him.

"I'm always proud of Twily, Cadence."

Cadence giggled to this, as indeed did Celestia, who now looked to her guard with some amusement in her expression.

"It must be hard, knowing she's so far away now."

But the stallion merely shook his head to his leader.

"Not at all, Ma'am. Twilight is quite capable. I'm sure she can handle whatever Ponyville has to throw at her."

Celestia nodded.

"Your faith in her is reassuring."

She turned once more to the parchment.

"In any case, things appear to be going well for her. Things are calm for the time being, which is more than I would have expected...given recent events."

A slight grimace crossed her face, but she soon shook herself out of it, returning to her previous smile.

"Well, as pleasant as this has been, I really should be getting to those nobles now. Cadence, would you be so kind as to..."

But, she didn't say anything further, as her eyes were now focused instead upon something that was now occurring far above them. Both Cadence and Shining turned to see what she was looking at, only to find that some sort of magical flame was entering the chamber through one of the open windows high above. Seeing this, Cadence's face lit up with another smile.

"Oh? Twilight has another message for us?"

Shining too was looking to the flame with expectancy. But Celestia, by contrast, narrowed her eyes at what she saw.

"No...it isn't Twilight."

At first, both of the others were confused by this remark, but as they glanced up again, they found that the approaching flame was not green, as was usually the case with Spike's fire, but rather a dark blue. Standing up from her throne, Celestia frowned at the oncoming spell, and many of the guards soon stirred from their stationary positions, looking warily at the thing. Eventually, the flame did as expected, and transformed itself into a parchment. But this one was tied together with a black ribbon, which itself was sealed with a mark of a crescent moon. Using her magic, Celestia opened it up, her frown never once disappearing as she began to read the words. A great deal of silence filled the chamber, as all looked to her with concern, but it ended when Cadence finally spoke up.

"P...Princess? Is everything alright?"

After continuing to stare at the document for almost a further minute, Celestia looked up from it, letting out a deep sigh before speaking up to her aide with a more serious and formal tone.

"Miss Cadence...you will need to inform the delegates that I will not be able to see them today."

Cadence hesitated, looking to Shining for some clarification. But the stallion had none, looking just as confused as she was. However, the young mare nevertheless did as requested, now starting to run out of the chamber with all haste. As for Celestia, she now glanced to Shining, speaking in that same tone as before.

"Sir Armour, summon my ministers. Tell them to come here to speak with me as soon as possible."

She frowned.

"Once you have done that, bring my scribe. And tell her that I need a number of messages drawn up and sent off with all haste."

Briefly, Shining paused.

"Messages, your Majesty?"

Celestia nodded.

"Yes. In particular, one to Mayor Mare of Ponyville...and one to your sister."

At that, Shining took on a more concerned expression and posture.

"Twilight? My Lady...what's happened?"

The Princess shut her eyes tightly, letting out yet another deep exhale. Then, her horn lit up, and the parchment once more levitated before her face, wherein she looked to it with a look that was almost contemptuous.

"...What has happened, Sir Armour...is that we have just received...some grave news indeed."