Celestia nodded as she listened to the chairman of the Whinnyapolis branch of the Equestrian Farm Bureau make his case against the representative of the West Equestria Shipping Company. Apparently, a very large shipment of edible goods had been lost somewhere on the road, and it had cost an exorbitant amount of money to the farmer who had grown and sold it. They were unable to ethically collect the money from the buyer because the buyer had received none of the goods they'd paid for. The Equestrian Farm Bureau had kept the farmer afloat through this, but they were seeking damages from the source. The West Equestria Shipping Company, on the other hoof, claimed that they had contracted the work to a subsidiary of theirs, and that the damages were due to a faulty train car that had been certified for use by the Equestrian Farm Bureau. It was a complicated case, if a bit boring, and since the outcome would decide whether or not her citizens would be able to feed themselves, Celestia needed to be at least partially involved in it.
"The specifications set by the Farm Bureau are to ensure that the walls are insulated properly and that there are plenty of securing rails to ensure that our cargo stays cool and fresh, doesn't bounce out of their shipping crates, and stays inside the train car until it is ready to be unloaded at its destination," said the representative of the Equestrian Farm Bureau. "It is no more our responsibility to ensure that the latching mechanism is properly attached to the next car than it is to ensure that the rails are free of weeds and debris. We cannot be held responsible if the pony who bolted the cars together noticed that the bolt was bent and decided to use it anyway. When they noticed a problem, they should have fixed it right away by replacing the bolt with an undamaged one."
"The young stallion who saw the damaged bolt reported it to the client," responded the representative of the West Equestria Shipping Company, pushing forward a collated stack of papers. "We have the records here, indicating that the mare who brought the goods to our shipping office said she was made aware of the problem, and that she opted to send the car out anyway, rather than wait an undisclosed amount of time for our employees to find a functioning bolt."
"How long do you think it might have taken to find a new bolt?" asked Celestia.
"An hour at most," responded the representative. "There were several cars waiting at the station that could have donated their bolt while we requisitioned a new one."
"Did you requisition a new one?"
Before the representative could respond, the door flew open and a very panicked guard rushed to the throne, looking ragged and gasping for breath. He held out a sealed scroll, which Celestia promptly opened and read.
"I'm sorry, gentlecolts, but I'm afraid we must reschedule this hearing for another day. Something very urgent has just come up that needs my immediate attention."
While both parties were rather upset that they'd have to report back that nothing had been settled today, there was nothing they could do. They would have to petition for a new time to have their case heard, because the matter was so urgent that Celestia hadn't set a date for their reconvening before stepping out of the room with the interrupting guard in tow.
Celestia didn't say a word until she and the guard were in her chariot. After directing her escorts to fly her to the Everfree forest's northeast edge, she turned to the guard, who had just caught his breath. "What does this mean, 'gone?' how can a large swath of forest just disappear?"
"I don't know, Princess," replied the guard. "I was out on patrol, with my partner beside me. The forest was just fine, then in the middle of his sentence, he just stopped talking. I turned to look, and he was gone, and the forest along with him. I'd never run so fast in my entire life. As I was coming back with my commanding officer, we saw that the trees had been replaced by other trees. There's a very clear delineation between which trees belong there and which ones don't."
Celestia sighed. "I suppose I'll see when we arrive."
It wasn't too far from Canterlot to the effected area. A few minutes after they left, she saw exactly what the guard had meant. The line was very clear, with several trees having been bisected along the line. The new trees were taller, with a deep red colour running up their core. These were cedar trees, and they weren't common in this area. Further south, they were all over the place, but they looked rather strange against the birch that surrounded them. What's worse, these cedars were infected. A cursory glance revealed large orange polyps all over some of them.
As they landed, she immediately found the stallion in charge. "How far has it spread?"
"We haven't seen any movement since it showed up," he answered. "Some of the boys think it may be an isolated incident, but I'm not comfortable making that call yet."
"Are there any orchards within the next five kilometres?"
"One. It's just over four that way," he said, pointing northwest. "Do you think they might have something to do with this?"
Celestia shook her head. "That orange fungus on the tree will destroy any apple or hawthorn trees in that area. I want you to send somepony to warn them against cedar apple rust."
"Right away, ma'am," he said, scrawling a quick note and giving it to a soldier. "We must do everything we can to keep the citizens safe. However, I lost four soldiers when the land disappeared. I'm afraid they may be lost to us forever."
Celestia looked at the ground. Even the grass was a different colour, and for fear of disappearing themselves or causing the rift to spread, none of the soldiers went anywhere near it. "Let us hope that you're wrong, and that we find a solution soon. If your men are still alive, what procedure would they be following?"
"Standard procedure when lost is to stay close to where you were separated from your group, and if you cannot rejoin your group, you are to set up a temporary shelter and take good stock of your surroundings, until such time that the area is unsafe. Then you do what you must to survive, all the while trying to return."
Celestia took a deep breath. "Keep everypony away from this as best you can, and keep me informed if anything changes. I want to know the very minute you discover anything." She stepped back onto her chariot and took off back to Canterlot with her escorts. She was planning to do some discovery of her own.