"Thank you, everypony. I do hope you attend the raising of the moon tonight, you know, Luna is quite the entertainer as well." said Princess Celestia, looking down upon her adoring subjects. She had just finished raising the sun to begin the day, and as usual, a crowd watched in complete awe.

While returning to her usual morning duty of holding court, Princess Celestia was stopped by one of her guards, Epsilon. He had the usual stern look on his face. "Your highness, General Aquarius has asked for your immediate attention regarding Drasil."

Drasil.. What now.. Can't the griffins handle themselves for once? Princess Celestia stood up straight and walked toward her meeting room, attempting to look as calm and confident as possible. Her and Epsilon eventually made it to the other side of the castle. "Epsilon, I must ask you to leave as this discussion should be between Aquarius, his admirals, and I." ordered the princess before opening the door.

"Yes ma'am." he replied, galloping off to return to his normal post.

With a bit of magic, Princess Celestia opened the double doors and walked in, taking a seat at the head of the table. There were nine sitting at the table. Her, Aquarius, and seven admirals with green mohawks and tails. She shot a glare at Aquarius. "Well?" she asked.

The general cleared his throat and began to speak. He was holding a closed scroll. "Your highness, we have received information regarding Commander Veldhavin. His new proposed tax has only created further unrest, and the Drasilian government is crumbling from the bottom up. What action do you propose we take?"

"What can we do? Equestria has no right to intervene." lied the princess. In reality, she wanted nothing more than the dictator's head on a stake, but the thought of having the stress of yet another war sickened her.

"I fear that the time for keeping to our morals has long passed, your highness. Civil war is on the horizon, and Veldhavin is desperate. What if he asks for our aid in fighting off the rebellion militia? What will his response be when we say no?" argued Aquarius. He opened up his scroll and seemingly took notes of the conversation. He finished, rolled up the scroll and passed it to the guard to his left. The guard saluted Aquarius and galloped out of the room.

"What happens if we succeed? The griffins will live ungoverned until they can miraculously find some perfect system and leader?" argued Princess Celestia.

"I had considered that as well. Possibly we should give him about a months notice, so that his successors may have time to develop a new government for Drasil?" asked Aquarius.

Princess Celestia sighed. "Hmm. Not a bad idea, actually. Shall we send a diplomat to discuss compensation for the commander's compliance to resign?"

General Aquarius narrowed his eyes and stared at the princess. "So we can insult him? No. I believe the best course of action is for you to personally visit Veldhavin."

Great. That's EXACTLY what I wanted to hear... Wait. Celestia's train of thought was interrupted as she looked around the room. Something isn't right.

"Excuse me for going off topic, but where is Princess Luna?" she finally asked.

The question caught Aquarius off guard. "She's holding court for you, as you are preoccupied at the given moment."

"How nice of her. Would have been quite a struggle to keep up with this, and my regular duties." she admitted. "I guess if Luna is keeping everything in order, I will leave for Drasil in two weeks."

Aquarius looked at the admirals then returned his focus to the princess. "Indeed. Now, where were-"

He was interrupted by a steam of green fire lit the air above the table as a scroll magically appeared before the princess. It broke the tension, and startled everypony in the room. It was wrapped in a purple and red ribbon, and had a small six point star made of paper to hold the ribbons in place. Celestia levitated it to her face, confused as to why Twilight would be sending her a friendship report at six in the morning. She opened the letter, and began reading it to herself.

----------

Dear Princess Celestia,

    I am regretful to inform you of recent events in Ponyville. I have just been told by Rainbow Dash that her former griffin friend, Gilda, had contacted her and spoke of joining some "Resistance", which after explanation, turns out to be a second rate army of rebellious griffins. She sounded very worried, is there something important going on in the western lands that I don't know about?

    I apologize if I am overreacting to this incident, however, I fear that if a civil war breaks out in Drasil, Equestria will have to pick up the pieces again. The last thing we need is to spend more money aiding foreign lands. Please respond immediately, if you need the assistance of me and my friends, we will arrive in Canterlot as soon as possible.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle.

----------

Celestia put down the letter and returned her gaze to the officers, which were giving her confused looks for reading a letter during a meeting. What perfect timing, Twilight... Celestia sighed and looked at Aquarius. "Make that three days."

General Aquarius nodded. "Meeting adjourned then?"

"Yes." she replied.

"Good. I will send Gamma and Epsilon to escort you to Drasil and inform Commander Veldhavin of your visit. Good day, your highness." said the General. All eight ponies saluted Celestia, rose from their seats, and exited the meeting room in two rows of four.

Yeah. What a great day.

Princess Celestia grabbed a blank scroll and began forming a reply to her student.

----------

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

    I appreciate your concern, but the situation is well under control. I will be attending a meeting with Commander Veldhavin in three days, in an effort to stop all of this drama between the griffins.

    Thank you for making me aware of Gilda's situation, I did not know things had come that far just yet. You may go about your regular duties in Ponyville without worry, Twilight. You and your friends do not have to come to Canterlot.

With love,

Princess Celestia.

----------

Three days passed quickly. After raising the sun yet again, she made her way to her golden chariot and boarded it. Epsilon and Gamma had been waiting for her for quite some time now.

"Ready to depart, Princess?" asked Gamma.

"As ready as I'll ever be." she groaned.

In unison, the two pegasi spread their wings and took to the sky, the chariot behind them. Celestia's awareness grew as she felt the wind through her mane. She hadn't flown in months, always too busy with something or other. Her mind wandered off as she enjoyed the relaxing ride to more dreadfully boring meetings.

The three arrived at Veldhavin's castle a few hours later. They were greeted by two uniform griffins who had been expecting them.

"Commander Veldhavin will be pleased to learn that you have arrived, Miss Celestia. Might we be of assistance, and escort you and your entourage to his quarters?" asked one of the griffins.

Celestia faked a smile and lowered her head to the griffin, trying her hardest to be polite. "That would be very kind of you."

They walked through a few winding hallways before arriving in a massive throne room, at least twice the size of her and Luna's. At the center sat an old griffin, with a scepter in his claws. He glared angrily at the Princess and let out a grunt. "Good to see you again." he lied.

"Likewise, Commander. I've come here on important duty. As you very well know, the citizens of Drasil are a tad.. Uncomfortable.. In their current situation." said Celestia.

"Bah. That's one way to put it. Those disgusting infidels want nothing but to do whatever they want, whenever they want, without anyone telling them otherwise. If not for me, this pathetic country would be even worse of a hell hole than it already is." said Veldhavin.

Princess Celestia thought for a minute. She had to choose her words carefully in fear of offending the commander. "I know how you feel. It can be very stressful when there are ponies - or griffins in this case - who can never be pleased no matter what you do."

Veldhavin's scowl turned into an intrigued look. He walked a few steps closer, but didn't sit down again before he began talking. "Seems to sum up my situation, doesn't it?" he said, now pacing around the alicorn and her guards.

"What if I can remove all of your stress, and give you leisure in return?" she asked.

Veldhavin raised a brow. He hadn't considered retiring at all before. "Go on."

I win. "In exchange for your resignation, I offer you a home in Canterlot, immunity to all taxes, and ten billion bits." she said.

The commander was shocked. "That is.. Quite a considerable offer, Celestia.. But why?"

"I am sure you are aware of this, but if things continue in Drasil as they have been, the country will fall into civil war. Neither you, nor I, wants to see that happen. If you step down, and a republic is formed, it can solve the problems that the Drasilian people have, and give them no ability to complain about officials that they themselves elected." said Celestia.

"And who will lead them while they elect these.. Officials. Those maggots will never survive by themselves for even the shortest amount of time." argued Veldhavin.

Celestia smiled. "You will. I had already thought of that. While voting and planning takes place, you will remain in command of Drasil. So. Do we have a deal?"

Commander Veldhavin hesitated and thought for a moment, weighing the options inside his head. "I am an old man, and I grow older by the minute every damn time I have to deal with these.. Things.." he paused and looked out of a window before returning his attention to Princess Celestia. "Yes we do." he said.

A flood of relief washed over Celestia as she shook the commanders talons with her hoof. She was successful - and persuading the dictator to leave the country was a lot easier than she thought. Well, I didn't die to a wrathful griffin today. This requires a fucking celebration.

"I expect you to be finished within a month. I will return then to escort you to Equestria, and attend any ceremony you might have planned." said Celestia proudly, still surprised that she had convinced the commander to step down.

"Alright, Celestia. And by the way, I wanted to tell you something before you left." he said.

"What?" asked Celestia, slightly worried.

The elderly griffin smiled at the alicorn before him. "Thank you."

----------

Time went by. Princess Luna had taken hold of Equestria while Celestia journeyed once again to the capitol city of Drasil. This time, however, she was met with cheering crowds of griffins. Thousands of them awaited her arrival, she did save them from a tyrant after all. After wading through the crowds, Celestia made her way to the podium where Commander Veldhavin was standing.

"You made it." he said.

Celestia smiled. "How could I miss it?" she whispered to him as he turned to the crowd to begin his speech. She stood next to the commander and looked onto the crowd, which was chanting her name loudly. Some were holding up a few picket signs, one of which that she noticed read PRAISE THE GREAT PRINCESS CELESTIA, ALMIGHTY LORD AND SAVIOR OF ALL GRIFFIN KIND! The sign flattered her, and she winked at the griffin holding it.

The griffin cleared his throat and the crowd hushed. "Citizens of Drasil. As you know, I, Commander Veldhavin, have chosen to retire my reign to the fine members of the new republic. This was a difficult decision, and although you did not always agree with my policy, I hope we can set aside our differences. I bid you farewell, and wish the best to all citizens of Dra-"

He stopped dead as the sun shifted from its position in the sky, and was replaced by Luna's moon. Celestia's jaw dropped and she sank to her knees as the crowd broke out in screaming and panic.

"What the fuck are you doing, Princess?" snapped Veldhavin.

She was speechless. This was impossible. What in the world was Luna doing? "This.. This Isn't.. My sister must have moved the moon.. I don't even know what is going through her hea-"

Princess Celestia's excuse was interrupted as she heard a petrifying explosion to the far east. She rose to her feet and looked around, trying to find the source of the blast. She didn't see anyone hurt. She didn't see any fire. What just happened?

Everyone grew silent as the somehow night sky was broken in half by a massive column of brilliant white light. Celestia's heart sank as realization of what just happened came to her. One of her six students, one of the ponies who possessed an element of harmony, had just been killed. Then another thing came to her head. If she hadn't been focused on repressing the grief and guilt of one of her friends dying, it never would of dawned on her.

Celestia was no longer the leader of Equestria.