Dear Journal,
Today was Tree Hugger's day off, and as luck would have it, today was a day where I needed her badly.
I should have known how the day was going to go when raising the sun took more effort than it should have. It's something I do every day, so I should have a good handle on it. And yet every here and there, my magic just seems to not want to cooperate. It took nearly ten minutes to raise it up, and that's just far too long. This often happens right in the middle of a very busy series of days, so I'm inclined to think the two are connected. I knew the stress was starting to get to me, but I didn't think it was that bad yet.
And then the brunch...goodness, the brunch. The mayors of Manehattan and Baltimare are twins. One would think that two twins would get along well together. One would think a lot of things, really. The two were arguing from practically the moment they arrived. Durock thinks the buildings in Baltimare need a complete overhaul and believes Golden Gate is unconcerned with that aspect of her city. And of course, Golden Gate vehemently disagrees with her brother and thinks he needs to work on his city's infrastructure. I truly wish I could say that this was the only thing they disagreed on, but that is so far from the truth that to get from one to the other would require an entire day's worth of train travel, with a layover in Duluth.
Note to self: work on better analogies. Maybe workshop with Applejack.
Second note to self: Consider paperwork to change the name of Duluth. It doesn't really match our usual city-naming conventions.
I worked so hard to get those two to calm down and stop arguing. I tried my usual methods of calming down arguments, attempting to point out the merits and flaws of both sides and the like, but they simply would not let up. By the time I finally got fed up, they had stopped arguing about the issues at hand and had switched over to what had to be decades-old childhood conflicts. Until today, it had been quite a long while since I had employed the use of the Royal Canterlot Voice. Hopefully it will be at least as long until I need to again. But at least it quieted things down.
Royal court was in session after brunch, and I was still wound up from the earlier incidents. Thankfully, I was able to calm myself down beforehand. The ten or so minutes I had before I was needed were just enough to find a nice, quiet place to sit down and meditate. I swear I could hear Tree Hugger's voice in my head as I relaxed and let my troubles flow away. It was so gloriously relaxing that I was nearly late for court! I was tempted to even try a stretch or two, but time simply wouldn't allow for it. The meditation did the trick, though, and lasted me a good amount of time. Not enough time to cover the entirety of court, though, and the last few hearings truly were a doozy. I cannot talk about exactly what happened inside those walls, of course, but it took a lot out of me.
I returned to the palace and waited eagerly for a few moments, only to remember just then that today was Tree Hugger's day off. I was surprised with how much that disappointed me, especially given how uncertain I was about the whole idea before I hired her. I do enjoy my position, but with how busy and stressful my days have been, coming home to have a session with her has already become a highlight of my day. Perhaps I should treat her to something special for that. I'm already paying her, but a little bonus couldn't hurt.
And then I got to have my day end in further irritation as Luna woke up. She seemed in a better mood than usual, which shouldn't have bothered me at all. I like seeing my sister happy, which is why it frustrated me that much more to realize how jealous it made me when she told me that she would be bringing the Prime Minister of Trottingham to the party I was throwing for the yaks and griffons. As her date, she said. I really, truly am happy for her...but why can't that be me? Why can't I have a date to the party? How will it look that one of us has a date and the other does not? And why do I have to be this jealous of somepony I love so much? Why does this jealousy have to interfere with the joy I should be feeling at seeing her so happy? It doesn't make sense...I've been around for so long, and yet this kind of feeling still doesn't make sense to me.
Perhaps a good night's sleep will help get my mind off of this. I truly hope this is the case.
-Celestia