It did not take long for ponies to slowly filter into the royal quarters. One by one the chosen ministers and dignitaries entered the room and took their places on the carpet. Yet, despite the ten or so heads present, there was a heavy silence draped over all of them. Eyes glanced at each other. Some chewed on their lips or coughed awkwardly to feel the uncomfortable quiet. If one would have peeked behind them, they could have even spotted one or two twitching tails, not that anypony could have blamed them for it.
"Friends," Celestia finally began, breaking the silence. "Thank you for hurrying to my call. I'm sure it is no surprise to any of you that unlike my previous speech implied, things are far more dire in reality. As we are unable to give up the disputed territories, this is our one chance at establishing ourselves in the eyes of the griffons as a force they can not only not trifle with, but should consider their equals." Her voice dropped. "It was far before your times perhaps, but hubris and rivalry have once nearly brought Equestria to ruin. We cannot sacrifice our ponies in a pointless war fought only to legitimise a ruler who thinks the price of the crown is blood and conquest." Once again eyes met eyes, this time, however, the seeds of conviction could be seen glinting within them. "I made sure that your aides told you the basics of the plan so you could prepare accordingly, but I did not wish to go into details as I did not want any chance of it slipping out how deeply we are in trouble."
If there was any chance of melting the tension before, it all flew out of the window. "What do you mean, Princess?" asked Carrot Stick, minister of war. The caerulean mare timidly tapped her hooves against the floor. "Is there something we don't know?"
"I don't blame any of you for not realising this earlier, but it is obvious that this border dispute isn't about settling a score. Isn't it a little suspicious that the Griffon King would demand a few peaks lying far beyond the reach of Griffonstone, up until now accepted to be ours? Why such a place that holds little value to a griffon and not, say, a river city where they could tax our ships or an industrial city where they could cripple our production?"
"Evidently, it must hold some yet unknown significance to them," interjected Stalwart Shield, minister of defence. He shook his silver mane. "Who knows what's in the head of these birds? Maybe they have some hidden treasure buried there or maybe one of their old kings?"
"I believe I do have the experience to make an educated guess about 'what's in the head' of the griffons." Celestia turned to him with her eyebrows furrowed. "I have ruled Equestria for well over one thousand years now and I've always kept a close eye on their fledgling empire. Not a single griffon king so far had even a rhetorical, let alone a legitimate claim to this specific region," she paused for a second for emphasis. "I think the answer is much, much simpler."
"They are testing us," Carrot suddenly said, her lips quivering from the implications.
"I am glad that you are thinking the same, Carrot," Celestia replied. She stood up, towering above the rest of the delegates. "Think about it clearly; today, it's a few nameless peaks, important only to a couple of pegasi. They expect us to eventually cave in and give it up, since justifying a war for such lands would be extremely unpopular and worse, cost both sides far too many pointless deaths. If we do concede, they will be emboldened by this and will certainly ask for something bigger next time, assuming that we would avoid bloodshed at all costs." Her words rang clearly through the silence, not a single pony daring to interrupt or do as much as cough. "They are looking to slowly whittle down our borders until we eventually find their demands too outrageous to accept, at which point they can use this as a casus belli to launch an all out assault on us, which we wouldn't be able to stand in such a weakened state."
A rumble passed through the room as ponies gasped, groaned, and winced upon hearing the prospect of total war against an overwhelmingly powerful foe.
"You understand now that the situation you believed to be bad is even worse." Celestia sat down again. She remained silent for a second, flaring her wings, then tucking them back in to work out some tension. "However, not all is lost. If it were, we'd be at home planning our angle of attack. The Lux Aeterna gives us a shot at winning with spectacle instead. We must move as one and convince the griffons that Equestria is not up for grabs, and that the only road forward besides mutual destruction is the one of friendship and Harmony."
The meeting reached deep into the afternoon, and then the night, stopping only to allow Celestia to set the Moon on its course. After much arguing and debate, a plan seemed to finally crystallise in their minds. Using the ship as a striking visual metaphor, the delegates would make soft, but unmistakable hints towards the amount of gold and lives it would cost Griffonstone to contest even the most remote location in Equestria. Whilst they did, they would openly offer a chance to put aside their misgivings, and instead foster friendship and dual hegemony over the rest of the continent.
As the room slowly emptied to leave her alone with her thoughts, she briefly wondered if any of the guests were disappointed not to see her on deck, however she couldn't put their disappointment above the situation at hoof. With any luck she'd reappear the next day like nothing had happened and court etiquette would silence any gossip about where she had disappeared, if only for a little while.