June 28, 1000 ANM
Today I indulged in a most amusing gambit. Sister Dearest left a half-finished letter on her desk, and I, who just happened to be in the area at the time, stumbled across it. It was addressed to her most faithful student, that Twilight Sparkle, and with it lay a septet of tickets for next year's Grand Galloping Gala.
Let me pause to elaborate on this event. The Grand Galloping Gala is a most ancient tradition, dating back to the Time of Three Tribes as a ritual demonstrating the unity and cooperation between the pony races. Over time the common pony found less and less interest in attending the event, and only the most powerful and ambitious of ponies still found reason to partake in the festivities. As such it has become a symbolic venture of the elite, representing the steadfastness of the noble pony in adherence to past traditions.
Oh, how I adore the constant political games! The floundering of one aspiring merchant in futile attempts to slip into a potential sponsor's good graces; the light laughter masking a horrendous downfall of one unfortunate's reputation; the occasional ambassador with an amusing accent and acceptable ambivalence ... all of these are grand occurrences indeed. The excitement and droll wit takes a keen eye to discern, for the less intelligent pony might mistake such behavior for a dull montage of nothingness.
At least, so it was a millennium ago. It would not surprise me in the slightest if Sister Dearest has changed the manner of the Grand Galloping Gala since that time, exchanging its light banter for heavy modernism. Transforming the ballroom into a foul circus is the sort of atrocity she would gladly commit, and I do mean a circus. A past incident involving mimes, lions, and crème-filled toiletries springs to mind.
At any rate, allowing the Bearers of Harmony access to the Grand Galloping Gala indicates a level of trust hitherto unseen so quickly in a group of common ponies. How there are seven tickets when there are six Bearers is a puzzle, but I suppose that one of them might have a fiancé interested in attending. I really must investigate further into the personal lives of the mares who freed me from the Nightmare, as the sheer magnitude of their just-formed friendship was enough to topple me at my most powerful.
It was at that point that I received an idea. If the number of tickets were cut down significantly, arguments as to who should receive the tickets would inevitably spring forth. With discord spread through their ranks, I would have one less possible threat to my takeover of Canterlot! The situation was so simple that I could only laugh. Merrily I executed this plan, finishing up Sister Dearest's letter in a sufficient manner and sending it off to Twilight Sparkle's servant dragon with a puff of magic.
With that plan taken care of, I confiscated the remaining five tickets within my room, in a marvelous contraption known to the world as a safe. What purpose they would eventually serve I did not know, but as the Grand Galloping Gala shall not take place for many months I would certainly have enough time to ascertain an answer to that issue.
I then proceeded to while away the day in the library, which is considerably larger than that of Everfree Castle could ever dream to be. I was quite confused at first regarding the library's system of organization, uncertain as to where one might find a text on how the world had changed over a thousand years' time. Fortunately a librarian was present to assuage my doubts, informing me of another invention known as the Dewey Decimal System that had been created specifically to create a unity of library organization, permitting complete strangers to a building the opportunity to discover the same information in the same way every time. I noted wryly to myself that such a system would have certainly have been of benefit to me in my early tyrannical quest, only to promptly grow embarrassed as the librarian cautiously asked me why I was speaking to myself.
Sadly, despite the sheer size of the building, there was no literature regarding the history in dictatorship within Equestrian boundaries. What Sister Dearest calls Discord's reign then, I cannot guess at. Magical theory was my next best opportunity, so I proceeded to indulge myself in a lengthy study session at an oddly comfortable table. It seems that spells are primarily designed through matrices nowadays instead of the simple bursts of power I am used to. What is the reasoning for this? Surely this was a marvelous breakthrough in magical studies, but why it was necessary in the first place puzzles me. Simple visualization of the intended result of a spell is crucial, if not foolproof.
I had studied into the late hours of the evening, pausing only to watch my lovely moon rise through a stained-glass window, when Sister Dearest trotted into the library with a sternly amused expression. I sighed and closed my current book. "What brings you here, Celestia?"
She said nothing, instead raising seven gleaming tickets for the Grand Galloping Gala.
"What? But I locked that safe ... I mean to say, what are you showing me, dear sister?"
"Twilight Sparkle informed me of the situation, at least as far as she was aware. Really, Luna, if you wanted to go to the Gala you only need to ask! I am eternally its hostess, after all."
I slumped in defeat, though pleased that I had weaseled out of revealing my true intentions. "My apologies, Celestia. I meant no harm in it."
"I know. Next time, please talk to me first."
My concern over this incident is palpable. Even upon learning that Twilight Sparkle only received a pair of tickets, how could Sister Dearest possibly discern what had happened to the other five? I am quite troubled. Clearly she is aware of more than I imagined. I fear love that my schemes may be discovered in some minor way. Not that this is grounds for abandoning my aim of tyranny, of course! I must simply exercise a tad more caution.