Filling In

by StormLuna

Starlight's Most Difficult Day

Prelude to a Stressful Day

Three days had passed and after overseeing and grading multiple magic exams, the most difficult day on Starlight's schedule had arrived, the day that she was to meet with multiple mayors from across Equestria and handle court disputes. When she woke up she grabbed the scroll with Celestia's schedule on it and groaned in disgust, "Ugh, the day I have been dreading, the day with all the meetings is here."

Starlight's groan woke Spike up, "Wh-what Starlight, are you ok? You sound upset."

Starlight had a bit of irritation in her voice. She grunted, "It's because I am. Today is the day that numerous mayors are coming to town to complain to Celestia about one thing or another." She got up and headed to the kitchen to fix some breakfast as she continued, "Well given that these meetings actually take place in the throne room, I should be able to have a quick talk with her before handling this."

Spike asked, "Can I come?"

Starlight replied, "I'm afraid not. With everything that will be going on today it would likely be best if you remain here."

Spike threw his hands up in disgust, "Starlight, ever since we've got up here, it seems like you have had activities that require me to stay here." He sighed in deeper frustration, "I don't know why you even bothered to bring me. I feel like I should have just seen if I could have stayed with Lemon Hearts and Applejack."

Starlight wasn't exactly thrilled with Spike's reaction. She snapped, "Look Spike, I didn't know that everything on the schedule would require me to be alone." She calmed down and continued, "Tell you what, we'll go out to the cafe for supper, alright?"

Spike always did enjoy eating at the cafe up there so he replied, "Alright, that sounds good."

Starlight smiled and then began to go through the cupboards trying to find something to eat. She had plenty of things in the freezer that she could have ate but did not have much time so she just grabbed some oats and fixed herself some oatmeal. Once she got sat down, she began to scarf her oats down at a much faster pace than normal and by the time she was finished, she looked at the clock and realized she had a problem, she only had five minutes to get to the throne room, only five minutes.

Once she was finished, she didn't even bother washing out her bowl because she couldn't be late. She knew that even flying was not an option so she decided to teleport. When she arrived in the throne room in a bright flash, everypony gasped in shock as most of them had never seen a pony simply materialize in front of them like that.

When she arrived she noticed that there was a round table sat up and around it sat mayors from all of Equestria's larger communities. While it was not a large crowd by any means, seeing that many ponies of importance in one spot did unnerve her a bit, especially given that she was going to be doing official business with them.

---

A Stressful Meeting

As Starlight approached the round table where the mayors were sitting, they all had curious looks on their faces. The mayor of Manehattan asked, "Who are you and where is Princess Celestia?"

Like she had been doing all week she replied, "My name is Starlight Glimmer and Princess Celestia is not feeling well. She has asked me to take over her duties for the week." She got sat down and asked, "And you all are?"

"Goodmare, mayor of Las Pegasus."

"Hinny, mayor of Fillydelphia."

"de Blazer, mayor of Manehattan"

"Swift Vision, mayor of Vanhoover."

"Plough, mayor of Baltimare."

Starlight replied, "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances. Now I must ask, what exactly is it that happens in these meetings?"

The five sighed in disgust over Starlight not even knowing what goes on in the mayoral meetings. de Blazer asked, "You seriously don't know what goes on here? Princess Celestia would just throw some random pony in here that has no knowledge of this?"

Most of the mayors gave her glares of disapproval but Swift Vision of Vanhoover wanted to get things moving along. He added, "Well, normally we voice our concerns over how federal business taxes are affecting our communities, the state of our infrastructure and then normally we just have a friendly chit-chat with her."

Starlight replied, "Very well. Let's get started on your concerns over issues that are affecting your communities."

Goodmare began, "Well as you know, Las Pegasus is a tourist town and right now Celestia has the tax rate for resorts and casinos set rather high. A regular business generally has a tax rate of 15% but for resorts it is 20% and for casinos it is 25% and I honestly don't think that is fair."

Starlight could see where Goodmare was coming from but also could understand why the taxes would be higher on such kinds of businesses. She replied, "Well I'm no business tax expert but you know those types of business are classified as luxury industries. I'm not exactly sure what she classifies them as but I don't see anything wrong with....."

Goodmare interrupted, "Look, I DEMAND to speak to Princess Celestia, not some common grub filling in for her."

The fact that somepony would call her such a name angered her greatly. She lit her horn up in anger and snapped, "Look, Princess Celestia is ill and that is why I am filling in for her." She cast her gaze in the direction of the royal bedrooms and continued, "Look, I'll go back and bother her despite her not feeling well. I'll tell her about your situation and see what she thinks would be best."

Goodmare sighed, "Very well."

The mayors watched Starlight head off in shock as Celestia never flared her horn up in anger. Swift Vision gave Goodmare a slight glare and suggested, "You know, you may not want to go calling her names like you did."

Pugh added, "Especially if Celestia was to simply trust her judgement enough that she let her make the decisions on her own."

Hinny continued, "If that is the case, she will likely not lower the business tax rates."

---

Seeking Celestia's Advice

As she headed back to Celestia's sleeping chambers, Starlight knew that she had to calm down. She knew that if she were to show up in the agitated state she was in, Celestia may think she wasn't fit to take care of things for her. Once she saw the door to Celestia's chambers she took a deep breath and said to herself, "Alright Starlight, just calm down and everything will be fine."

She approached Celestia's door, knocked and asked, "Celestia, can I ask you a question?"

She heard an irritated yawn and then, "Yes Starlight, you can ask me a question."

She headed in to see Celestia still not looking good. Celestia sat up and asked, "So what is it you wish to ask me?" She knew that the mayor with the meetings was going on at that time and continued, "Is something going wrong with the meeting? Do you need some advice on how to handle things?"

Starlight replied, "Yes. Mayor Goodmare of Las Pegasus is saying that the corporate tax rate for resorts and casinos is too high. She is saying that it should be at 15% like it is for other businesses."

Celestia couldn't help but giggle a bit, "She is always saying that and I always bring up how those are luxury businesses and that I'm not going to lower them."

Starlight couldn't help but laugh, "That's what I told her! I told her that they are luxury industries and that I don't see anything wrong with the higher tax rates."

Celestia sat up further and gave her a huge smile, "Starlight, it is obvious that you think a lot like me so everything should be fine. Just tell them that I have given you the authority to make these decisions and that they will have to deal with whatever you decide."

Starlight's jaw dropped open and her eyes grew wide. She gasped, "Really? You're really giving me full authority to make these decisions?"

Celestia replied, "Starlight, you've proven your intelligence over all they years I've known you so yes, I am." She plopped back down and continued, "Now you better get back to that meeting because you'll have court disputes to handle this afternoon."

Starlight asked, "And do I have the same authority there?"

Celestia yawned, "Yes, now go. Those mayors get rather grumpy if they're kept waiting."

Starlight replied, "Alright Celestia, thank you for having so much confidence in me."

Celestia said, "You're welcome Starlight."

---

Resuming the Meeting

When Starlight returned to the throne room the first mayor to say anything was Goodmare. She asked, "Well, what did she say? She said to lower the tax rates, didn't she?"

Starlight replied, "Actually no, she did not. She told me to use my best judgement and whatever I decide is final."

The five gasped in shock. They never imagined that Celestia would allow another pony's decisions to be final. One however gave Starlight a slight scowl, Goodmare. She sighed, "So I take it you won't be lowering the tax rates?"

Starlight replied, "No, I will not." She cast her gaze at the other mayors and asked, "Who's next?"

Mayor Plough of Baltimare raised her hoof. She said, "Well we're having a problem in our river with non-native fish that are destroying the ecosystem."

Starlight asked, "What kind of fish are these anyway?"

Plough replied, "They are known as snakeheads. These things grow pretty big, they are carnivorous, they have really sharp teeth, they attack ponies when they're swimming in the river and get this, they can even walk on land!"

Starlight had learned about snakeheads back when she was in school. Her ears perked up and asked, "Snakeheads that far up north? Aren't they a tropical species?"

Plough replied, "Normally yes but some irresponsible ponies introduced some into our ecosystem and they have adapted to our colder waters."

Starlight could tell that the mayor's concerns were legit and knew that they had made the waters there unsafe for ponies but wanted to know more about the situation. She asked, "Besides attacking ponies in the water, what is it that they are doing to destroy the ecosystem?"

Plough replied, "They are devouring all the local fish! The native species are quickly dying off."

Starlight sat here tapping her hoof on the table. She gave her a smile and said, "I know Princess Celestia doesn't want to upset the rare creatures groups but these snakeheads are an invasive species and thus, they are not Equestrian. As long as you don't poison your water, wipe them out."

Plough was shocked that Starlight sided with her given Celestia's constant opposition to eradicating them. She replied, "Thank you Starlight and don't worry, we won't poison the water."

Starlight said, "Good." She looked at the remaining three and asked, "Who's next?"

de Blazer of Manehattan and Hinny of Fillydelphia raised their hooves at the same time. de Blazer began, "I'm not sure if you know this but the same dam serves both Manehattan and Fillydelphia."

Hinny added, "And unfortunately that dam is out of date and needs to be replaced."

Starlight asked, "So do you have a hydroelectric dam out there or an old earthen dam?"

de Blazer replied, "It is an earthen dam but we were kind of hoping to get it replaced with a hydroelectric dam."

Hinny added, "And not only would we have a modern dam but it would generate most of our power, lower energy prices and help the environment."

Starlight replied, "Hmmm....I know those aren't cheap and your cities would likely have to join together and raise taxes to be able to pay for this dam." Given that de Blazer seemed to be a bit more in control of the conversation she asked, "Do you have any sort of plans on what this dam would be like, such as the amount of power it would generate and more importantly, construction costs?"

de Blazer dug the plans out of his saddlebags and handed them to Starlight. When she saw the projected cost she was in shock. She gasped, "1.1 billion bits? You seriously want the government to provide that much...."

Hinny interrupted, "Well if I remember correctly Princess Celestia GAVE Ponyville 1.1 billion bits for their dam and never demanded a cent in return."

Starlight put her hoof over her forehead and went into thought. She could see where Hinny was coming from but that was Celestia who gave it to them. Starlight had her concerns as to what Celestia would think about her making such a huge decision but then remembered how she had said that she trusted her judgements and knew that whatever she decided, that Celestia would likely approve of it.

After a couple more minutes of thinking she replied, "Well this project is going to be incredibly expensive, require a lot of work and acquiring the materials to build this will not be cheap but I do think that if your dam is outdated and you can generate power with a hydroelectric dam and lessen the negative impacts on the environment, that the funds shall be allocated." Her gaze became more intense as she continued, "What is the current cost of maintaining the current dam and how many times in the past decade has it broke?"

The two looked at one another nervously before Hinny replied, "Well the average cost of annual maintenance is roughly 20 million bits but a couple years ago the dam broke and reconstruction wound up costing 600 million bits."

Starlight acknowledged his comment with a nod before asking, "And how many times has it broke in the past decade?"

de Blazer replied, "Three times."

Starlight's ears shot up when she heard this. It was at that moment that she knew exactly why they were seeking a new dam to replace the old one. She gave them a smile and said, "It sounds like your current dam isn't in that good of shape so I will see to it that it is done."

Goodmare interrupted, "Wait a minute, YOU are authorized by Princess Celestia to go handing out over a billion bits for them a hydroelectric dam?" Her voice became more snide as he continued, "You know, I find that very hard to believe and I won't believe it until I hear it from Celestia herself!"

While Starlight was unsure if Celestia would feel like making a brief appearance at the meeting or not, she decided she would go and see. She glared at her and said, "You know what, I'll see if she feels well enough to come and tell you that I'm authorized to do this herself!"

---

Starlight again headed back to Celestia's chambers, hoping that another disturbance would not irritate her. She knocked on the door and asked, "Celestia, can we talk for a minute?"

She heard a mumble, "I said just follow your best judgement, I need some rest."

Starlight headed in and continued, "Celestia, Goodmare is claiming that she will not believe I have the authority you gave me unless she hears it directly from you."

Celestia knew how Goodmare could get so she crawled out of bed and was not one bit thrilled. She had a deep scowl on her face as she followed Starlight out to the throne room. When she arrived the mayors could tell that she was rather ill and judging by the scowl on her face, Goodmare knew that things may not turn out all that well.

When Celestia arrived at the table she cast a scowl at Goodmare and asked, "You wished to speak to me?"

Goodmare replied, "Yes. I want to know if you truly have given this pony the authority to allocate over a billion bits to the cities of Manehattan and Fillydelphia so they can construct a hydroelectric dam."

Celestia got up in her face and said, "Yes, I have. I gave her this responsibility because I know she will make good decisions." She stood back and coughed a few times before continuing, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to bed before I make somepony sick."

As Celestia stormed back to her sleeping chambers, all the mayors realized that Starlight truly did have the authority to handle these economic issues. She had heard from all mayors but one, Swift Vision of Vanhoover. She turned to him and asked, "And what has brought you to Canterlot? What concerns do you have regarding your community?"

Swift Vision replied, "Well as you know Vanhoover lies along the coast and is regularly exposed to nasty storms and high waves from the Pegasus Ocean."

Starlight sighed, "Yes, I know that."

Swift continued, "While the current sea wall we have had worked for decades, it is no longer doing so. I don't know if the storms are getting worse or the ocean levels are rising but the storm surges are causing flooding more often. Because of it not working as well, the coastal areas in the city are getting flooded and ponies that live right along the coast have had to move further inland and the only option would be to build a new sea wall."

Starlight saw that he was wearing saddlebags and asked, "Do you have any plans, such as blueprints, that would provide me with detail on what would need to be done to solve this problem and what the cost would be?"

Swift pulled out the plans and took a look over them. Starlight did not know much about sea walls and how tall of a one would be needed to keep the ocean from flooding ocean front properties, she did know that they are not cheap. She looked at the estimated cost and said, "Hmmm....1.5 billion bits."

Swift had a nervous look on his face and asked, "I take it that is too much?"

Starlight kept a neutral expression on her face as she continued, "Actually no, this looks like it would be about right." He got a bit of a relieved look on his face and continued, "I've decided to approve federal funding for this project. I certainly don't want to see fellow Equestrians' properties continue to be damaged by storm surges."

Every mayor was happy with Starlight's decisions, except one. Goodmare yelled, "So you decide to give all these other communities what they need but you spit on Las Pegasus? What is it, is it because we are a resort and gambling community? Is that it?"

Starlight lit up her horn in anger and snapped, "Look, unless you want me to raise those business tax rates to 25% and 30% respectively, you'll lose the attitude and not question me."

The whole room went silent as Starlight had again lit her horn up in anger. This was something that never happened with Celestia, even when they would yell at her. They knew however that Starlight, while she did think a lot like Celestia, did not share her personality. She gave Goodmare a glare and continued, "So I take it the 20% on resorts and 25% on casinos is acceptable now?"

Goodmare replied, "Yes, it is."

de Blazer looked at his watch and commented, "It's almost noon already, I guess so much for our usual chit-chat."

Starlight replied, "Yes, unfortunately we won't be able to do that. I have court to deal with this afternoon and I do want to get some lunch in my system."

As they headed out of the throne room, Starlight thought to herself, "How does Celestia handle this all the time and how does she keep her temper in check?" She took in a deep breath before saying to herself, "I just hope court doesn't go too bad this afternoon. Dealing with mayors is one thing, dealing with much more emotional ponies in a court setting will be something else."

---

Afternoon Court

After what seemed to be far too short of a lunch for Starlight, she returned to the throne room to prepare for court. It felt kind of odd to be sitting on Celestia's throne as she saw ponies filing in. Luckily for her there were not too many ponies showing up. Once the clock hit one, she motioned for everypony to go silent.

When the ponies there for court saw Starlight sitting on Celestia's throne, one of them asked, "Who are you and why are you sitting on Celestia's throne?"

Another asked, "Where is Princess Celestia anyway and why are you here?"

Starlight replied, "Princess Celestia has fallen ill. I am her protege, Starlight Glimmer, and she has asked me to fill in for her today." Everypony went silent and she asked, "Any other questions?"

The courtroom remained silent so she figured the time had come to get this started. She levitated a scroll to herself and said, "It looks like the first case is Roma v. Flim and Flam."

The two ponies approached the throne and Starlight continued, "Roma, could you tell me why you are bringing Flim and Flam before the court?"

Roma yelled, "They stole my tomato cart!"

Flim interrupted, "Hey now we won your cart!"

Flam added, "Fair and square!"

Starlight rolled her eyes and sighed, "Would one of you care to tell me how you allegedly won her tomato cart?"

Roma began, "Well, they showed up with a cart much larger than mine and made me an offer. They said that if I could call the flip of a coin right six times out of ten or more, they would give me their bigger cart but if I didn't, they could take mine."

It was all Starlight could do to not start laughing. She asked, "And let me guess, you accepted their challenge and you wound up falling short?'

Roma raised her voice, "Yes but on the final flip I saw one of them use their magic on that coin. I saw them change the result after the coin hit the ground!"

Starlight knew that they simply couldn't change it after it hit the ground without using a transfiguration spell. She asked, "Flim, Flam, do either of you know how to cast transfiguration spells?"

Flim asked, "Transfigurwhat?"

Flam added, "What in Equestria are you talking about?"

Starlight put her hoof over her forehead realizing that either they were simply playing stupid or Roma was trying to win back something she fairly lost. She levitated a scroll onto the floor and ordered, "Flim, Flam, I want one of you two to try to turn that into an orange." She saw them get smiles on their faces and she continued, "And don't even try to purposely fail or act like you don't know it if you actually do because if you do, I'll take those carts for myself."

Everypony in the throne room gasped as Celestia had never behaved like that before. She glared at the two and ordered, "Turn that scroll into an orange."

Flim was the first to attempt to cast the spell but failed as he had no clue how to do it. Flam then tried and he too failed. Starlight was watching them very closely and could tell that they did indeed not know how to do the spell. She cast her gaze at Roma and asked, "Are you sure you really saw them do that?"

Roma became flustered, "Look, I know I saw them! They are known conponies and they are always doing things like this. Throw them in jail!"

Starlight shook her head and replied, "Look, I think I know what happened here Roma. You are simply upset that you lost a ridiculous challenge and your tomato cart in the process." She turned to Flim and Flam and continued, "Judgement goes in favor of the defendants."

Starlight levitated the scroll to herself and said, "Alright, it looks like we have Jet Set v. Filthy Rich up next." The two headed to the front of the throne room and Starlight continued, "Jet Set, would you mind telling me why you brought Mr. Rich before the court today?"

In an arrogant voice Jet Set replied, "Well, I decided to invest some money in hay futures and even though he lives in the podunk town of Ponyville, I traveled down there for a meeting with him."

Starlight gave him a deep scowl when he insulted Ponyville but didn't say anything. She said, "Please continue."

Jet Set began to become more agitated, "I invested 25,000 bits in hay and I lost almost all of it! He stole my money, I demand that he be forced to give me my money back!"

Starlight cast her gaze at Filthy and asked, "Your response to these allegations Mr. Rich?"

Filthy replied, "He did indeed invest 25,000 bits in hay futures but it was not too long after he invested that money that the hay harvests greatly exceeded expectations along with a huge import of hay that caused the futures to plummet." He turned to Jet Set and continued, "Look, I didn't steal your money. I would think that a pony such as you would know that investments can and do lose value."

Jet Set snapped, "Well you could have done something to......."

Starlight was not thrilled that anypony would engage in this sort of behavior so she decided she was going to nip it in the bud right away. She interrupted, "Jet Set, you should know investing has its risks, judgement in favor of the defendant."

On most days court did not become this intense nor did Celestia ever behave the way Starlight did so everypony else began to head for the exit, hoping that next time they could take things before her. Starlight saw this and said, "Court is adjourned."

Once everypony left she sat there in the throne room looking fatigued and irritated. She knew that she had handled the meeting with the mayors quite well but court was a different story. She had this fear that when she told Celestia of everything that happened that she might be in serious trouble but knew that she had to go and tell Celestia how the day went.

---

Afternoon Meeting With Celestia

When Starlight arrived at the door to Celestia's sleeping chambers she was nervous to knock and tell her what happened but she knew that it had to be done. She knocked and asked, "Celestia, the events of the day are over and I wanted to tell you how they went."

Celestia replied, "Come in and you can tell me how things went."

Starlight entered, stood before Celestia and began, "Well as you know the mayor from Las Pegasus was rather upset over you giving me authority to make the huge financial decisions that you do."

Celestia gave her a smile, "Oh I know, she's always like that." The smile disappeared and she continued, "So how did things go in the end. What kind of funds did you allocate for projects and what permissions did you give?"

Starlight replied, "Well when it came to Las Pegasus, I left the business tax rates at 20% for resorts and 25% for casinos." She saw Celestia nod and smile which likely meant that she approved. She continued, "And Plough of Baltimare told me about the snakehead problems they are having and how they are destroying the ecosystem there. When I heard that I told her that as long as they don't poison the water, that they can eradicate them."

Celestia shot up and gasped, "You did what? You told them that they could kill off an entire species?" Her voice became more intense as she continued, "Do you know how mad all the animal preservation groups are going to be? Do you know how mad The Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures is going to be?"

Starlight could tell that Celestia was upset and knew that she had to tell her about how she saw it. She said, "Celestia, those snakeheads aren't even native to Equestria. They are a tropical invasive species that somehow has adapted to colder waters. Those things are devouring the native species and are attacking ponies when they go swimming in the river."

Celestia sat there quietly before replying, "Well I can see where you're coming from but still, don't be surprised if you have a lot of animal rights groups pounding on your door and yelling at you over this."

Starlight continued, "I know but back to business. The dam that serves both Manehattan and Fillydelphia has failed three times in the past decade and cost nearly 2 billion bits to repair." She stopped momentarily hoping that Celestia wouldn't react negatively to what she was about to tell her before continuing, "Because of that I decided to allocate 1.1 billion bits for a new hydroelectric dam that will serve both cities."

Despite not feeling well, Celestia jumped out of her bed and yelled, "You did what? You allocated that much money for a dam?"

Starlight shied back and replied, "Well yes, I did. The cost of repairing the current dam they have with the three failures in the last decade has been 2 billion bits. Also, with this hydroelectric dam, it will provide power for both cities, cut utility costs and it will help the environment. I'll admit, I was nervous to allocate those funds but in the end they gave me sufficient information that I saw this as the best option."

Celestia stood there in thought for a moment before giving Starlight a smile, "You know Starlight, you have a lot of guts to take charge like that but I think you made the right call. Yes we will have coal miners upset over this but hey, plenty of other communities still have coal fired power plants and it will take quite some time to build this dam anyway."

Starlight replied, "So they won't feel a negative impact right away." She paused for a moment before continuing, "And Swift Vision of Vanhoover, he requested funding for a new sea wall because ponies that live right along the coast have had their properties flooded on a regular basis because of the failure of their current one."

Celestia knew that this likely involved an even larger sum of money than the dam. She asked, "And how much did you allocate for this project?"

After Celestia did not get angry over the amount she allocated for the dam, she thought that perhaps she wouldn't get angry over the sea wall cost either. She replied, "From the information their mayor provided me, the cost will be 1.5 billion bits so that is how much I allocated."

Celestia stood there in shock for a moment. She never imagined that somepony filling in for her would make such important financial decisions, particularly ones involving large sums of money over infrastructure. She gave Starlight a smile and said, "You know Starlight, after what you did today, I think you would make great leadership material. You looked at the importance of projects and despite the cost, you put the lives of your fellow ponies first." She gave Starlight an embrace and continued, "I'm very proud of you Starlight Glimmer, you made me proud today."

Starlight couldn't help but give her a nervous laugh, "Well you may not think that way after I tell you about what happened in court."

Celestia asked, "Oh, what happened that would cause you to think I'd be upset?"

Starlight replied, "Well first there was this tomato salespony who made some ridiculous bet with these unicorns named Flim and Flam when they offered her a larger cart if she won. Thing is, if she lost, then they would get hers as well and she lost this challenge involving flipping a coin ten times."

Celestia knew of Flim and Flam and their cheating ways and also knew about how they use the coin flip challenge to cheat ponies out of their things. She asked, "And I take it she lost and they took her cart?"

Starlight replied, "Well she claimed they stole her cart while they claimed they won it fair and square."

Celestia asked, "Please tell me you ruled in favor of the tomato salespony."

Starlight replied, "No, I ruled in favor of Flim and Flam." Starlight saw a scowl form on Celestia's face and continued, "Here is the thing, she should have known that taking a risk like that has its costs. They said they'd give her their larger cart if she got six right or more but she only got five so they got her cart."

Celestia sighed, "Well I can see why you ruled that way then. That was a rather foolish decision on her part."

Starlight continued, "And then we had Jet Set dragging Filthy Rich into court claiming he stole his money after a collapse in hay futures wiped out most of his investment."

Celestia gasped, "Seriously? Does he not know that investments can and do lose value?"

Starlight replied, "Apparently not and after I ruled in favor of Filthy Rich, every other pony who had come to have something settled just up and left."

Celestia said, "Well perhaps that was all for the best." She saw that Starlight looked rather fatigued and stressed and likely needed some rest. She suggested, "How about you head back to your tower and get some rest, you look like you could use it."

Starlight replied, "I certainly could and you still don't look like you feel all that well either. Perhaps you should lay back down and get some much needed rest."

Celestia agreed, "Sounds good to me, you get some rest and relax Starlight."

Starlight replied, "You get some rest as well Celestia, see you later."

As Starlight headed back towards her tower, she couldn't help but wonder how Celestia can handle days like that and especially days that were much busier than that. One thing that did put her a bit at ease was that the rest of the schedule for the week was rather light and likely wouldn't involve any arguments.

Author's Note:

Portions of this chapter will be in a back and forth dialogue format.

Las Vegas/Goodman = Las Pegasus/Goodmare
Philadelphia/Kenney = Fillydelphia/Hinny
NYC/de Blasio = Manehattan/de Blazer
Swift Vision for Vanhoover's mayor.
Baltimore Pugh/ Plough for Baltimare.

Comments

[Dreadnought]

Curious as to how long you project this story to be (Chapters, words, etc)

Dreadnought

[StormLuna]

8556027

It won't be long until Starlight's time filling in will be over given that she just took care of the most stressful part of Celestia's schedule. It may just be one or two more chapters.