Princess Celesta trotted briskly towards the palace gates, talking animatedly with a Royal Guard who was strolling alongside her.
She was chuckling at a joke he had made when they reached a Chariot awaiting their arrival.
"Now, I shouldn't be away too-"She was interrupted by a flash of smoke, and a rolled parchment appeared before her. She magically levitated it in front of her, unrolling it carefully.
"I apologize," She began, "This will take but a moment."
Her eyes quickly scanned over the word, immediately recognizing the name carefully signed at the bottom of the script.
He was a highly claimed pony psychologist who resided somewhere in…Ponyville?
Yes, she remembered now; he worked at a hospital of sorts. She thought fondly of him. She had visited a friend there not too long ago and had the pleasure of meeting him.
Luckily the letter she held before her did not contain news of her sickly friend, but it did not contain pleasant requests either.
had required an immediate visit to his hospital. He wanted Celestia to meet with a filly that was being held under maximum security.
The filly's name she acknowledged instantly. It made had made her blood run cold the first time she had heard it.
The name she had grown to pity; it had appeared in every newspaper across Equestria. The story (greatly exaggerated, as the original details had been lost in haste to record such a story,) always involved some psychopath-killer filly murdering somepony.
All she could do was sigh and shake her head; she believed it was wrong to antagonize a helpless filly in such a way, even if they were a psychopath.
She wanted to think no more of it, so she hastily rolled up the parchment and turned to the stallion beside her.
"I'm afraid that we will have to postpone my visit to Cloudsdale," She sighed, "I have just received an urgent message from ."
He nodded and turned to signal the chariot away.
"But I will still need that chariot," She added quickly.
"Yes my Princess."
Celestia leaned back, allowing the wind to blow soothingly through her mane. She sighed pleasurably, momentarily letting all of her worries drift away along with the warm winds.
"We will be arriving in Ponyville soon, My Princess," One of the pegasi pulling the carriage announced.
Celestia tried to mask the worry in her voice, "Wonderful. You will be able to land right next to the Hospital."
"Yes, My Princess."
She glanced over the side of the chariot. Miles of green, rolling hills and lush green fields stretched on as far as the eye could see. Above, millions of golden stars twinkled brilliantly against the midnight blue sky. It was pleasantly warm for early spring, and the many farming communities were expected to bring in good crop for the winter.
On the horizon, a small town appeared. It seemed to be glowing softly, illuminated by street lamps and lights from the many houses that lined the streets.
Ponyville.
It was a well rounded little place, and warmly welcomed Unicorns, Pegasi and Earth pony alike. Celestia was glad that there were places like this. Too many cities had succumbed to racism, their citizens growing snooty and disrespectful to others of different race.
But that was not why she was here. She was not here to congratulate the citizens of Ponyville on their value of equality, to visit the mayor, not to check in with the farmers.
She should have dealt with this when it had first arisen. She had to face the truth.
She was here to deal with a psychopath.