We Stopped Checking for Monsters in the Everfree...

This was not only shocking to the average citizen. This was shocking to the Mane Six as well. Princess Celestia had declined to give Twilight a heads up, and now Twilight understood why.

"Why didn't she tell us. She's told us everything up till now. Why'd she stop here?" Applejack asked. Applejack was always first to think of this kinda thing. It was up to Twilight to answer, of course, as she was Celestia's protege. It unsettled Twilight when she couldn't answer immediately.

"Well," Twilight started slowly, trying to ignore her friends' eyes staring into her. "I think she is nervous. What if we told her she was wrong? She's probably affected by all this more than even we are." Her friends nodded sympathetically.

Rarity talked next. "She maybe shaken, but... I do think she made a mistake. She's illegally searching many innocent ponies to find maybe three criminals. It just... It seems like an overreaction. I understand she is hurt, but---" Twilight interrupted.

"There's not much else to do... We may not be used to this kind of thing, but... I think it's necessary... And... I don't know if I should say this, but... Princess Celestia told me that she's getting uncertain. She says that it's getting harder to plan. She said something like, 'When ever I move against this monster... I see all the bodies I failed.' She... she needs friends."

Rainbow Dash, however, stopped, and looked at Twilight in confusion. "Is that possible? Can Princess Celestia be shaken? I mean... she's like a god! Her father was a god!"

It was Applejack who answered, almost crying. "She saw the bodies first hoof, Dash... She probably dug out half of 'em."

This wasn't right for Dash. Dash wasn't yelling, but there was clear desperation in her voice. "But she's a god! You're telling me that she's just a normal pony?!"

"I know, Dash. It hit me hard, too. Like a hoof to the gut... But I understand now that she's not some... god... to tremble in front of. She's... she's" Twilight gulped in preparation of saying the phrase that felt so blasphemous. "Dash, she's just a pony... Like us... And she needs... she needs us..."

"No. This isn't right..." Rainbow was mumbling now. She always knew that Princess Celestia was a pony like them. But there's no way that Princess Celestia was a pony like them. She was so much more! So much better! She made the sun rise, the crops grow, the floods subside... She was older than anypony, and she was above death. It didn't effect her. At least, not in the way Twilight was describing. Princess Celestia had the nerves of Daring Do. The bravery of a Wonderbolt. Princess Celestia couldn't be a pony like every other pony. The only similarity between any given pony and Princess Celestia was that they shared a species. That's it. Princess Celestia didn't make mistakes like searching random citizens. Wait, what?

"Dash? Dash?!" Pinkie was yelling, and this shook Rainbow Dash out of whatever thought she was having.

"Wha?" she mumbled looking around the empty room. Any normal pony wouldn't have heard Dash's mumble, but Pinkie responded immediately.

"You stared off for a reeeally long time! Its been like two hours and you've barely even blinked once!" Pinkie was being Pinkie, waving a hoof, speaking loudly, standing on her hind hooves, appearing out of nowhere, moving faster than most ponies could see, and generally doing Pinkie things. But her friends could tell the truth. It was an act. Pinkie might have been doing Pinkie things, but she didn't have Pinkie in her voice. It was devoid of its normal joy. "I say we should throw the Princess a biiig party, an---" She was interrupted by Fluttershy.

"Umm... Pinkie... I think that maybe we should wait till this whole thing blow over to party. I mean, she's busy, and we have work..."

"Okey dokey lokey smokey pokey!" Pinkie was overplaying it now. Her smile was in-equine. Any moment now she would be rambling on about cupcakes. And that was just okay with the rest of the Mane Six. If that was what Pinkie needed to cope, who were they to stop her.

Dash browsed books in the suite library. Why the a suite had a library, Dash didn't know, but it was very possible that Celestia had added them explicitly for Twilight's stay.