Back at Canterlot, the sun had pretty much fully risen as Twilight flew up to and landed on Celestia's balcony.
As Twilight walked into the Princess of the Sun's room, she looked around and saw that it was full of all kind of things. In one corner was a fireplace with a little burning fire. A couple of hoof steps away were two very comfortable-looking chairs in which Celestia and one guest could sit and have a discussion by the warm fire. On the right side of the room, there was a desk on which sat several letters that were addressed to the Sun Princess. Twilight figured that most of them were her lessons about friendship of one variety or another. Close to the desk stood a bookshelf that was filled with the Princess’s favorite books. Now, normally, Twilight would be excited to read more books, especially ones that Celesia enjoyed reading, but the Alicorn didn't want to invade her friend’s personal space, so she left the shelf alone. In the center of the room was the Sun Princess’s bed, its sheets white and gold silk. It was unmade from when Celestia got out of bed that morning, and some of the silk sheets were touching the floor. When Twilight got out of bed each morning, she would almost always remake it right away. Again, she resisted the urge to remake Celestia's bed. It was Celestia's mess and Twilight had no right to clean her mess.
Realizing that Celestia wasn't there, Twilight began making her way to the door that led to the hallways.
As Twilight open the door, she thought to herself, 'Hm, she must be at day court.' She opened and closed the door behind her and walked to the throne room.
On her way to the throne room, Twilight bumped into Blue Blood. He stumbled around left and right. From one look at him, Twilight instantly knew that he was drunk. Unfortunately, he spotted her and stupidly said, "Oh, hey, Twilight Twinkle, what brings you here?"
Twilight politely responded, "Good morning, Blue Blood. I was just looking for your mother and I had deduced that she's probably in the throne room listening to others’ complaints. Am I right?"
Blue Blood replied, "You got that right. But just between you and me, don't accept any kind of drink that she may offer."
"Oh? What do you mean by that?"
"Well, last week, I had one cup of an alcoholic beverage known as Sunny Sun Crasher. One swig of that stuff and would you believe it? I’ve been drunk for five days straight, and I haven’t had any other kind of drink for six days and counting. Things are probably going to happen. When I'm like this, I sometimes make bad decisions."
"Oh, well, I hope you get over it soon." Twilight tried to start making her way to the throne room again.
But Blue Blood stopped her and asked, "Wait, do you want to, like, go to my personal room to keep me company?"
Twilight answered firmly, "No."
"Oh, come on, we can invite a friend or two and make it, um, what's the word?"
"I said no. Like you said, you're going to make bad decisions, and I’d rather not be involved in them." Twilight quickly walked away before Blue Blood could say anything more inappropriate.
Twilight approached the doors to the throne room. Two guards let her in, and as she walked forward, she didn't say anything. She only listened as multiple ponies bickered back and forth. Twilight leaned against a wall.
An Earth pony general said, "Look, all I'm saying is that we need more EUP military presence in the towns so we don't have another situation like the one that arose in Ponyville."
A Unicorn, who was a town mayor, replied, "And I'm saying that with increased military numbers, those towns will welcome the possibility of unnecessarily aggressive intentions towards them from the outside. So, no, General Iron, we do not need those peaceful towns preparing to fight something that may never come, quite possibly ruining the peaceful way that those ponies have been living."
A yellow Pegasus named Spitfire said, "You're getting too attached to the peaceful ways. You're forgetting that time and history can change just like that, and I think that it's time for some big changes to happen."
General Iron Hoof spoke to the Unicorn who disagreed with him, "Miss Warm Heart, you’re saying that you would rather stay in the peaceful blessed calm and never see your killer coming? The danger is real, and when you need EUP support, I will only be able to come after the attack, at which time I will tell you ‘I told you so!’"
Miss Warm Heart walked right up to the General and spoke directly to his face. "We shall see."
The mayor of Cloudsdale, a Pegasus stallion, stepped between them and used his wings to separate them further, saying, "General Iron, you cannot expect every Mayor in this room to agree with your proposal to bring more EUP troops into our towns. That would just ruin the peaceful ways that we have become accustomed to. The ponies in those towns have known nothing but peace for as long as they can remember. But, fortunately, this is not your decision to make. It is the Princess’s."
General Iron directed his next question to Celestia. "So, your majesty, what is your decision?"
Celestia glanced quickly at Twilight before returning her attention to General Iron and the other Town Leaders.
"I do wish for a more secure Equestria, but assigning more military units to the peaceful regions? Even if that was the right decision to make, what little peace is left in those regions would instantly disappear."
Celestia paused and thought for a moment. This decision could spell ruin for all of Equestria. That's it, my decision is made. She glared daggers at the General, clad in his silver armor. "No, General Iron, I will not give you permission to build military bases in peaceful villages like Ponyville."
The General adopted a look of anger and disappointment, but he knew his Princess wasn't done talking.
Princess Celestia continued, "You can, however, have some military camps on the borders of each town, and you can even build a couple of towers here and there. But the one thing you cannot do, , unless it is absolutely needed, is disturb the peaceful lives of the ponies who live those towns." She came uncomfortably close to the General’s face. "Is. That. Understood?"
General Iron backed up a little, sweat beading a bit on his forehead. "Yes ma'am." The Sun Princess backed away.
She walked toward her golden throne and sat on it, stomping her right front hoof on one of the arms of the throne before announcing, "Day court is over now. Have a nice day." Everypony except Twilight made their way out of the throne room.
Twilight began walking toward her teacher. She saw that Celestia was exhausted and had been mumbling. The purple Ailcorn came nearer and heard, "First it was an attack in Ponyville, then my faithful student moved to Canterlot. I had thought she and I would be able to enjoy each other’s company and possibly have a nice cup of tea now and then. But instead, she is practically sleeping in the library. And now, a month after the unfortunate incident in Ponyville, all kinds of generals and town leaders come to Day Court. The Military ponies keep throwing out ideas to militarize every single town that doesn't have much military presence and very little, if any, law enforcement. The town leaders come and plead with me, protesting that once a military presence comes into their town, the peaceful world that my sister and I have fought long and hard for will be destroyed. Even before the attack took place, that peace was slowly disappearing. Hopefully there isn’t another attack. Hopefully, I can secure this peace long enough for Twilight to take the crown."
Celestia used her golden magic to levitate and bring a fancy goblet filled with Sunny Sun Crasher to her. She drank it all in one swing and tossed it blindly behind her. The goblet landed with a loud Clank! With the boost of a small buzz, she continued, "Oh, I can't wait for when she takes over. I just hope she's up to the task."
Twilight was inches from the throne and started thinking that maybe Celestia hadn't noticed her coming. "Penny for your thoughts," she said.
Celestia shook her head and muttered, "Oh, Twilight. Sorry, things have been rather complicated after, you know..." Suddenly, she realized that she had been rambling a minute earlier. Her eyes widened as she asked, "What did you hear?"
"Well, on my way here, I bumped into your son, who was pretty much drunk off his flank. He told me that you offered him some of your, um, special drink. As to your question, I may have heard you rambling on a bit. You said something about the attack on ponyville and ended with something about how you hoped I would be ready to take over the throne when the time comes."
Celestial was a little embarrassed upon hearing that, but she quickly changed the conversation, deciding to tell Twilight about her special alcoholic drink.
"The Sunny Sun Crasher is a very powerful beverage of alcohol that I invented myself, but do not fear my drink. If you drink it now, it would barely affect you. It would just give you a little buzz, that’s all. The reason I created this was to help me get through tough times, like today's Day Court. I usually drink it to feel anything. However, if a normal pony, like my son Blue Blood, were to drink it. Well, you saw his current state. But if you’re worried about him, rest assured I usually have one guard watching his every move so he doesn't do anything too foolish. If he does something stupid, then it will be in the newspaper. My son will be drunk for seven days. After that comes his angry drunk days which will last two days. If you're wondering why I gave him a cup of my alcoholic drink, it's because he keeps on doing stuff without my permission. And he pretty much doesn't listen. So, yeah, this is basically his punishment."
Twilight blinked several times and decided to change the subject again. "So, anyway, what was all that about at Day Court?"
"Ah, well, there have been arguments going on in Day Court for several sessions now, with several different sides. General Iron is the eighth general to come in and try to disrupt the peaceful land in an effort to prevent a possible attack. He suggested that we basically put up fortresses in every town like Ponyville. He is probably fully aware of the consequences that would come of doing something like that."
“But wouldn't militarizing everything with fortresses everywhere ruin the peaceful way of living that several generations of ponies have gotten used to?"
"I know, my faithful student. He's only thinking logically, not realizing what that kind of change would do to our way of life."
Celestia came down off of her throne and cautiously asked, "Did you find anything in the library that could possibly explain your friend’s change?"
Twilight pondered for a moment before saying, "Well, no, but your sister did, and she was able to tell me exactly what Rarity changed into. Luna is now working on a way to undo it. She kind of mentioned that you've been worried for me, so I decided to stop working for a bit, because who knows how long I could continue going with my head burried in those books. So, here I am to do something more enjoyable, and by the looks of it, you could use a little enjoyment as well."
Celestia thought for a moment before brightening. "You know, you and my sister are right. I do need a break. Come. Let's find a balcony. I'll ask a service to set up some tea with cake. I need a cake fix."
As they walked toward the doors, Twilight replied, "That sounds very enjoyable. And hey, I recently picked up a new kind of board game that has been all the rage in Equestria. I’ll bring that too. It’s called Canterlot Panic."
The two Alicorns exited the throne room and came out into the hallway. Celestia said, "I have played all kinds of games, panicky or not." Suddenly, she used her magic to create a sword of golden light. Several Solar guards who were guarding the hallways cowered in fear when they saw the fire in her eyes. "And if Canterlot is in danger, I will rise above every challenge to defend it, and I will defend it to the end!"
Twilight cut Celestia off, calmly saying, "It's just a silly game. There's no need to get worked up by it. Apparently, Pinkie Pie says it's a great game to play."
"Is that so? Have any professional game players played it?" The Alicorn of the Sun led Twilight through her room and onto the balcony. As Twilight sat down at one of the balcony tables, she saw Celestia raise an eyebrow as if to say, I know you’ve been in my room. But the look quickly disappeared as she sat down and wrote down a message to the kitchens. She used her magic to blast the message to them and it immediately disappeared in a white flash. Then she said, "It'll be a while before the tea is ready to be served. So you say this game is all the rage? Well, we will see about that. No one can destroy Canterlot, not if I have anything to say about it." The two mares became lost in conversation as they waited for their tea and cake.