Under most circumstances, Celestia's throne room would have had a great many ponies in it, from guards to aides and officials. But today, a more solemn air hung about the place, to the point where even the great curtains of the hall were closed off, darkening the chamber considerably. Celestia herself stood in the middle, at an ornate-looking table that bore an unmistakeable map of Equestria. The alicorn stared at it for a long time, letting out a deep sigh as she did so. However, her solitude here was not to last, for the massive doors of the throne room soon opened, and through it came a number of stallions. Three, to be precise. First was the head of her personal guard, Night Light, who gave an instinctive salute as he approached her. The latter two were both unicorns, with one being of an older generation, elegantly dressed with a monocle. The younger was clad in the garb of a new recruit to the guard, and smiled to the Princess, and she to him.
"So...I see your training is finished, Blueblood?"
The younger stallion chuckled, nodding to his elder.
"Indeed, Aunt Celestia. It took a while, but I hope to do what I can."
The elder unicorn smiled to this, then looked to Celestia as well.
"Whatever you need, we're here for you, Princess."
She nodded to him, then looked to the others.
"Thank you, Fancy, and all the rest of you, for coming on such short notice. We only need to wait for one more person and..."
However, she soon stopped, for the last of their number had indeed arrived, causing all of them to turn in his direction. It was none other than Mr Morgan, who entered rather slowly, resting on his cane frequently as he made his way to the table. Once there, he took a moment to catch his breath before offering a smile to his monarch.
"Sorry for taking so long. Not as young as I used to be."
But Celestia merely smiled to him.
"It is no bother, Morgan.”
Fancy Pants turned to the old earth pony himself, smirking slightly.
"Life as the Finance Minister getting you down, old chum?"
But Morgan just laughed.
"Hardly! You know me, Fancy. I'm never happier than when I'm with a lot of numbers."
But, the friendly moment was ended when Celestia politely cleared her throat, gaining the attention of all of them.
"I have gathered you all here today...to address a very serious issue. One that has been causing me concern for some time now."
The stallions all looked to her, never once saying anything or speaking up to interrupt her.
"The Lunar Kingdom is powerful, that we all know. And its leader is a mare whom I wish I could trust..."
She narrowed her eyes.
"...but if I cannot...then I wish to ensure that our domains are safe from her."
Night stepped forward, frowning.
"Princess...do you beleive...it could be war?"
Many of the others looked to her, aghast at the suggestion, to which Celestia could only nod.
"It...is a distinct possibility."
Fancy was the first to speak up after that.
"I say, Princess! You really believe it could come to that?"
Celestia looked to him, clearly unhappy.
"I wish it would not...but I would be remiss if I did not consider the chance."
She turned her attention to the map before her, placing a single hoof upon it.
"As you're probably aware by now, the Lunars control much of the lands to the west...and possibly beyond. And in the east...they have considerable influence in the Griffon territories."
Looking back up, she continued.
"If war begins...it will begin with us having to fight on two fronts."
Night sighed after hearing that.
"That makes things difficult. From what we've been able to gather, their military exceeds ours, both in terms of sheer numbers as well as their training. We'd be at a disadvantage pretty much from the start."
Fancy nodded.
"Supplies will be an issue that has to be considered. There's never been a time in Equestria's history where there hasn't been plenty of food for everypony. But if outright fighting starts, that will change."
Celestia looked to him.
"What do you recommend?"
Fancy considered that.
"I would suggest...that for the time being, we ensure that a portion of each harvest is kept back, stored somewhere for safety so that it can be rationed out as needed."
He looked to her.
"I may only be Mayor in this city, but my family own a number of buildings here that aren't being used for anything. If pressed, they could easily be converted into storage houses for the food. As for the other cities, we'll need to make arrangements."
Celestia gave him a small smile.
"Thank you, old friend. I knew you would be of help here."
She then looked over to Morgan.
"Minister? Money is your area of expertise. Can Equestria support a long-term conflict?"
The oldest stallion here thought on that, rubbing his chin slightly as he looked to the map.
"It'll be hard. Trade between the Griffons and us pretty much ground to a halt after the Lunars became involved with them. Manehattan and other big cities are still going strong...but whether we have enough money to outfit entire armies or keep supplies coming...it's a difficult question."
But, after thinking about it some more, he furrowed his brow.
"Push comes to shove...I might be able to help in the finances personally."
Night looked to him with a raised eyebrow.
"What, you’d help fund this yourself?"
Morgan nodded to him.
"Over the years, my forebears and I have amassed more wealth than anypony else in the history of this country. This is my home, and I have no intention of seeing it fall to an invader."
He looked to Celestia.
"Ask it of me...and I will do my part."
Celestia, taken aback by this statement, nevertheless offered him an appreciative smile.
"Thank you, Morgan."
Then, a grim look crossed her face as she turned at last to Night.
"And you, Night? Where do we stand on the military side of this?"
The blue stallion once more turned his gaze to the map.
"It'll be difficult. There are many places in Equestria that are simply unprepared to have armies crashing against them. Of particular note is Ponyville..."
He pointed to that spot on the map.
"...which from all accounts is the closest Equestrian settlement to Lunar territory. If war begins, that town will be the first to fall."
Fancy turned to him.
"A bit pessimistic, don't you think, Night? You think your forces would just roll over and give up?"
Night slowly closed his eyes.
"They wouldn't...because they're not going to defend Ponyville."
Naturally, a remark like that earned him the undivided attention of everypony in the room, and before long, he began to explain himself.
"Look...I swore to defend this country when I first put on this armour...but I am no use to you as an advisor if I don't give you the truth."
He opened his eyes again, his gaze a serious one.
"And the truth...is that Ponyville is, quite simply, indefensible. Any fight there will be a losing one."
Celestia's expression was hard to read.
"In that case...what is your recommendation?"
Night sighed.
"If war begins...I would suggest that all forces be pulled back from Ponyville, as well as other places like it, to focus on more defendable locations. It’ll help shorten potential supply lines, as well as ensuring our smaller forces aren’t spread thin trying to protect everything at once. If we don't..."
He turned away.
"...then the alternative would be to have that town become a battleground. Fighting between our forces and theirs, house-to-house, putting every mare, stallion and foal at risk. Best case scenario, we'd evacuate the whole place before it started, uprooting dozens of families."
Celestia herself grimaced at that.
"A thought I do not relish, Captain."
The stallion looked back to her.
"Nor I, Princess."
He paused, looking, for some reason, uncomfortable all of a sudden. After a few moments, he reached into his armour, pulling out a scroll of some sort, which he stared at intently.
"I had thought never to bring this issue up...but as I said, our own forces may well be outnumbered in such a fight. So...perhaps other possibilities should be considered."
Using his magic, he levitated the paper over to Celestia, who took it and unrolled it. After reading the words, however, she looked back to her Captain with utter seriousness.
"...Conscription?"
Night looked to her, almost ashamed.
"Tia...you know I wouldn't suggest something like this unless we had no other choice."
Celestia was silent for a time before replying.
"In the entire history of Equestria...there has never been a moment where military life was anything other than one's own choice. I have no intention of changing that, Night."
Her Captain nodded, accepting her word on the matter. As for Celestia, she looked back to the paper for a time, not quite sure of what to say or even how to say it, and as a result, the whole room became deathly quiet. Naturally, none of this was pleasant to think about, as the looks on the stallions made clear, but, amongst it all, there was one face that nervously looked from one to the other. Blueblood, who had been silent for a great deal of this, hesitantly raised a hoof to his mouth, clearing his throat and gaining the attention of everypony else there.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but...there might not actually be anything to worry about."
All eyes were on him, silently enquiring what he meant by that, which prompted him to continue.
"I know I have no experience in this...and I know that the prospect of war with the Lunars is a grim one...but we have no guarantee that they want war with us."
He looked around, thinking on what to say next, only to be halted when, all of a sudden, the doors of the room swung open. It was one of Celestia's aides, who rushed in bearing an important-looking parchment, bowing to her before offering it. Celestia took the paper and gave a respectful bow of her head, allowing the aide to retreat once more. As the Princess looked to that paper, Blueblood finally carried on.
"Preparations are all well and good...but we have no evidence that conquest or territorial expansion is any kind of goal on their part."
"We do now."
The heads of all the stallions turned to Celestia, who set that aforementioned parchment to one side, hanging her head slightly.
"Word from the east. Queen Gabby of the Griffons has officially informed her people that, for all the Lunar Kingdom has done for them...she has declared her allegiance to Queen Moon."
Raising her head, she stared at the eastern part of the map.
"The Kingdom of Griffonstone...is now the province of Griffonstone. Easternmost territory of the Lunar Kingdom, with Queen Gabby now serving as Governess Gabby, loyal to my sister."
Her horn glowed, and before long, the colours of the Griffonstone territories were now the same dark blue as the western part of the map where the Lunar Kingdom was. Looking to it, Fancy's expression was one of horror.
"We're...we really are surrounded."
Celestia sighed, and soon, her eyes slowly drifted to the paper that Night had given her before, after which she placed a hoof upon it and glanced up to her Captain.
"...Perhaps...we should discuss things further."
