Salutations to the Princess of the Equestrian Realm Celestia
I write to inform you that the plans for your tour are now set and are ready to be acted upon. However I must inform you that due to the ongoing war in Europe and the increasing tension with the British Empire, I would recommend either postponing or at the very least staying friendly with the Napoleonic Empire. Due to the United States' neutrality in the conflict, it is possible for you to visit Europe as a guest of the United States but I advice caution and that you have a way of protecting yourself.
- Sincerely, American Ambassador to the Griffon Realm Richard Gillmore
Celestia smiled when she read the letter. It was the latest in plenty of letters exchanged between the two, as Celestia grew quite fond of the human. Over the next week, she briefed Luna and Twilight on their responsibilities while she was gone (Twilight would take over Day Court and Luna would handle the raising of the Sun and Moon), the Royal Guards of who she picked to be her personal guard on the trip (she picked a stallion named Morning Light, rank of Sergeant), and the nobility of Canterlot of her immediate absence.
After enduring a barrage of questions from each session, Celestia finally packed up and boarded her sky carriage to Seaddle to say her thanks to Richard once more and then she was off east.
As the sky carriage neared Washington, Celestia looked across the cityscape. The city was small, about the size of Ponyville Proper and definitely not close to the size of Canterlot. Thankfully, she did have time to read on her trip about the American government and its capital so she wouldn't be going in blind.
Her first stop was to the residence of Princess-Ambassador Gilly, whose estate in the outskirts she would be staying in for the three weeks she'd spend in Washington. Gilly had been welcoming to Celestia and freely showed her excitement to seeing Celestia in her residence. Celestia had always liked her the most out of Griff's daughters and was glad that she'd be staying with someone she knew.
Later on, she got to meet Gilly's personal assistant, a human named John who apparently had been the namesake behind Fort Mayor and a part of the group of humans who had made first contact with the Griffons. John had the same reaction to Celestia as Richard had and Celestia answered the human's questions about herself and her nation.
Celestia's next order of business was to make her formal visit to the President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, who had the most muted reaction of any human with just a raised eyebrow. Celestia had an awkward state dinner with the President and the Secretary of State (who had been campaigning for the office of the President) as she fielded questions with the two. Celestia surprised the two with her limited knowledge of the American government and she felt that she made a good impression with them both.
It was on the fourth day that she met various members of the American congress, with the vast majority questioning her intelligence and comparing her to their horses. She wasn't a fan of the majority of them, but she figured she had to get used to humans not believing that an equine could be as intelligent as a human. This was the first instance where Celestia expressed doubts in her journal about peaceful coexistence between humans and ponies.
By the end of the first week, Celestia had met with the supreme court justices and visited the British, French, and Prussian ambassadors to the United States. She was able to ascertain the full extent of the war going on over in Europe and get a feel of the general mood and mannerisms of each nation's people from her conversations with the ambassadors.
In the second week, she met with the most learned scholars of the United States and spent more time learning in-depth enlightenment philosophies and the republican ideals of the American government. It was also during this time that she learned more of human history and quickly visited the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Savannah.
For the last five days of her visit, she visited the area of New England and visited President Jefferson yet again, this time asking questions about his experience during the revolution, and his own philosophies. When President Jefferson spoke of the agrarian ideal, Celestia directed conversation towards her hopes for the Appleloosian and Fort Night settlements. When Jefferson confessed his unorthodox theist views to her, Celestia compared his religion to that of the religion of her youth, that of the unorganized worship of Mother Faust, and shied away from mentioning the modern worship of herself that had grown in strength since even before Luna's banishment.
"I must say, I didn't expect a monarch such as yourself to be so... in tune with enlightenment ideals," Jefferson said after Celestia described the nature of the Equestrian governmental system with its focus on the freedom of each township to make their own laws and the heavy focus on individual liberties in what would be essentially a feudal system.
"I've seen many ideaologies pop up during my reign," Celestia responded, "Everything from Unicorn supremacy to Anti-Markism. From would-be tinpot dictators to hardcore decentralists. I've even seen Breezy supremacists rise up , and Breezies are literally the most frail and least rebellious race in Equestria. The majority of these movements had at least one good idea about how to reform the government and I'm not surprised that the sum of these movements is as harmonious as your enlightenment."
"I must ask, your highness, how do you protect your government from mob rule?" Jefferson asked as a servant brought the two some tea.
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand your question," Celestia replied after thanking the servant.
"I only mean that your townships seem to heavily lean on the votes of the common citizen. If a charismatic demagogue were to rise up, it seems like they'd have free reign to take over your townships and overthrow the established nobility," Jefferson clarified.
Celestia had never considered the possibility of a figure more popular than her rising against her. Her ponies had always been absolute darlings in her mind and even in the time following Luna's banishment she had never considered popular uprising to be too much of a threat. "I've never seen a pony become more popular than the monarchy," she said finally, "The thought has never crossed my mind."
"Then now is the perfect time to consider it. I'm sure you've thought about the ramifications of contact with humanity has on your society. Without proper planning, you might be caught unawares by enemy agents and may just see your nation revolt," Jefferson said.
"Those ramifications are the reasons for my current tour of the great nations of humanity," Celestia answered, "I see your buildings, your apparent control of the planet itself, and I hear of your weaponry and technologies. I see your advances towards Equestria and I worry for my little ponies. Despite harmony, we are vulnerable."
"Then, dear princess, I recommend finding a way to deter the mob rule in your system. Governance means nothing if the uninformed are allowed to exert influence on policy." Jefferson concluded.
At the conclusion of their dinner, Jefferson presented Celestia with a ivory chest, inside of which lay several pieces of parchment. Jefferson informed Celestia that written on the parchments were copies of the American Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution. He reasoned that the best advice that he could give her was to simply educate herself on the governance of humanity so that she could see learn of the solutions found by government that had to face civil strife and to see the human view of governing.
Just a few scant days later, Celestia packed her sky carriage, had the ivory chest magicked back to Canterlot, and entered an American-made ship charted to ferry her across the Ocean of Legends. She would be the first pony to cross that great ocean in many millennia and she felt the weight of history upon herself. She needed to make allies and had only managed to secure the most basic of recognition treaties. She only hoped that the British King and Parliament were more amenable.