Celestia entered the dining room with a horrible headache. The patriarch of a large extremely wealth Earth Pony family had recently passed away and everything was going so wrong the Princess had been called in to sort things out. It had not helped. The old pony had been the only thing that was keeping the family from killing one another. Now that he was gone the old hurt feelings had come to the surface and everypony was trying to make everypony else miserable while scooping as much as they could from the family coffers for themselves. Not only that but a lot of the family was spoiled beyond belief and incompetent. One of the daughters had tried to force the palace guards to abandon her post and go for a tea run as the palace's "wasn't good enough" and the guard was "only a lowly servant." Celestia had given the guard the day off, against the guards will, to keep her from giving the daughter a good thumping. After that a grandson had almost managed to set the royal portrait gallery on fire while attempting to light a stolen cigarette. When a will was finally located it turned out the old pony had decided to donate a large part of his money to charity which all the ponies decided had to qualify as a sign of mental illness and thus the will should be invalidated. Celestia had eventually ruled the problem was too big for her to mediate and that they would have to come back with their lawyers if they wished to behave in this way. She was not looking forward to tomorrow when she would have to decide how the farm would have to be divided and what would be sold and what could stay.
A note from Luna was on the table. "Sis, left to go slay Gelatinous Cube. Be back tomorrow morning." It seemed Celestia was dining alone tonight.
A trio of servants entered the room. One was a Pegasus maid carrying a tray with dinner on it. The other two were unicorns with who were using telekinesis to carry large wooden crates.
"Dinner is served Princess. Also, we had a delivery that we are not sure what to do with." The Pegasus sat the tray in front of the Princess and pulled a letter with the seal of the nation of Prance on it from her apron pocket.
As a thank you for assisting us in our trade talks with the Griffons the ponies of Prance wanted to send a gift to thank you for your compassionate guidance in this matter. We have decided to send you several cases of a new herbal beverage that has become popular as a health preserver. I have never tried it myself but it was recommended to me by several of the distributors who are benefiting from the new trade agreements. I suggest that you drink generously to your health and long life if you are as long sighted in all matters as you have been in this one.- Minister of Trade Fair Hoof
When Celestia looked up from the letter the servants had already left. The wooden cases rested beside her. She sighed. She wished that they could have stayed. She would have invited them to dine with her. She was often lonely without her sister. So few ponies in the kingdom didn't fear her that the vast majority treated her as dangerous bomb. She had been the wise old queen for so long that many ponies had only seen that side of her. She wished that she could have a more open relationship with her subjects.
She magically pried off the top of one of the cases and plucked out one of the bottles. Absinthe the label read. She supposed that having a few bottles with dinner couldn't hurt before she sent the rest down to the wine cellar to be forgotten for the next century or two. It was another problem with living so long. You forgot things. She had once posed for a troubled young artist as a favor for his patron. Two centuries later she learned that the portrait hung in a national gallery as a masterpiece.
She raised a bottle to her lips and downed it all. It was rather bitter. She briefly hoped there wasn't any alcohol in this drink before shrugging and opening another. Her tolerance had been built up over thousands of years. What harm could it do if there was?