Morning at Sweet Apple Acres
Another day had arrived in Ponyville and like they had been more often on days when they had nothing to do, Starlight and Spike were helping Applejack and Lemon Hearts at Sweet Apple Acres. One thing that really surprised Starlight is that Lemon Hearts, who at one time was no fan of getting dirty, was apple bucking just like her siblings did.
On the days they were there and helped out, the two usually held the baskets to catch the apples as they fell. Given that she had magic, Starlight had no problems catching them but given his size and not having magic, it was not so easy for Spike. When Lemon Hearts kicked one of the trees and Spike missed half of them, she was not thrilled. She gave Spike a slight look of disapproval and sighed, "Spike, you have to catch all of them! You're increasing our workload."
Starlight was not thrilled that she would show disapproval towards her assistant. She glared at her and asked, "Lemon Hearts, why don't you just use your magic to catch them or at least pick up the ones he doesn't catch." Her glare intensified as she continued, "After all, you are a unicorn and Spike isn't all that big so you don't need to be upset with him."
Lemon Hearts was not thrilled by Starlight's comment. She glared back at her and replied, "I know I'm a unicorn but I'm sticking to Apple Family traditions...."
Applejack overheard her and suggested, "Lemon Hearts, you know Starlight uses her magic to catch the apples so Ah don't see anything wrong with a bit of magic being used. As long as magic isn't used to remove the apples from the trees, it's perfectly fine." She then took a look at Spike and continued, "No offense sugar cube but Ah don't think you should be trying to catch apples, just let Lemon Hearts catch them."
Spike looked a bit sad and sighed, "Alright, I just wanted to he..." *BELCH*
Spike coughed up a scroll and Starlight levitated it to herself. She opened it and said, "Spike, it looks like we're needed up in Canterlot."
Lemon Hearts cast her gaze at Starlight and asked, "All six, I mean all seven of us?"
Starlight replied, "No, just Spike and I."
Lemon Hearts was shocked that Celestia would only want her and Spike to go. She asked, "So did she tell you why she wants you up there?"
Starlight replied, "No, she just told me that she wants us to go up there." She cast her gaze down at Spike and continued, "Well shall we?"
Spike nodded and as they headed out Lemon Hearts said, "Well I guess we'll see you later."
Starlight replied, "Yeah, we'll see you later."
Celestia's Request
When they arrived in Canterlot, Starlight and Spike immediately headed towards the palace. When they arrived Starlight was surprised that despite knowing who she was, the guards did not question her. One of the guards said, "Starlight, we're glad you're here. The princess needs you right now."
Starlight's eyes grew wide wondering what was going on. She asked, "What's wrong? Is something not going well?"
The guard did not answer her question and said, "Follow me."
The guard took the two to the throne room where it was not Princess Celestia but a very tired Princess Luna. Starlight knew that unlike it was with Celestia, that she would need to be formal with her sister. She approached Luna, bowed and asked, "Princess Luna your Majesty, what is wrong with your sister?"
Luna yawned, "Follow me Starlight. My sister is not feeling well and needs to talk to you."
Starlight and Spike nodded and followed Luna to Celestia's sleeping chambers. Luna led the two in where they would find Celestia laying in bed, looking downright miserable. Normally she would simply call her by name but with Luna being around, she knew that she couldn't be so informal. She approached her and asked, "Princess Celestia, you needed to talk to me?"
Despite feeling terrible, Celestia still chuckled, "Starlight Glimmer, how many times do I have to tell you that you do not need to be formal with me?" Celestia began to cough and continued, "Now for why I have summoned you."
Starlight asked, "Do you need me to be up here to take care of you?"
Celestia replied, "No, I can take care of myself but I do need you to do some of my royal duties for me."
Not only did Starlight's jaw drop open, but so did Luna's. Before Starlight could say anything Luna yawned, "Sister, are you sure you wish for Starlight to do your duties?"
Celestia raised up a bit and replied, "Luna, look at yourself. You are dead tired and given how much time she has spent around me over the past decade, I think she would understand my thought process enough to handle my duties just fine."
Starlight got a nervous look on her face and asked, "So what all do you want me to do?"
Celestia replied, "There are multiple exams in magic courses this week that I will be unable to make and Luna will not be well rested enough to oversee them." A slight smile on her face developed as she continued, "Given your advanced knowledge of magic and incredible abilities, I think you should be able to oversee them just fine."
Starlight asked, "Besides those, what other duties will you need me to do?"
Celestia replied, "I will also need you to oversee court and handle my meetings for a few days until I have been cleared by the doctors to be around the popu...."
Luna interrupted, "Sister, you can't be serious! You honestly want Starlight to do this when I'm....."
Celestia rose up further and interrupted, "Luna, you will be tired and like I said, she understands my thought process well enough that she would rule in the same way I would."
Luna could hardly believe what she was hearing. She simply couldn't fathom that her sister was putting all her trust in her protege. She protested, "But sister,"
Celestia became more frustrated, "Look Luna, if I didn't think she was capable of this, I wouldn't ask her." She then turned to Starlight and continued, "I trust in you entirely, I know you'll do well."
Starlight replied, "I promise I won't let you down but I do have one question, where is your schedule so that I will know when I need to do everything."
Celestia opened the drawer to her nightstand and pulled out a rather large scroll. Starlight levitated it to herself. When she opened it and saw how long it was, she got a nervous feeling in her stomach. She stood there with her eyes wide open reading it but knew that she couldn't show any anxiety, especially around Luna. She rolled the scroll up and continued, "Don't worry Princess, I'll do just as good of a job as you."
Celestia laid back down and laughed, "Tsk Tsk Stralight, what am I going to do with you?" She calmed down and continued, "You have a couple of hours before you have to go and oversee the remedial magic exam. Why don't you go up to your old study tower and relax?"
Starlight replied, "That sounds like a plan to me." She leaned down, embraced Celestia and continued, "You get better soon!"
Celestia gave her a smile before laying down to try and get some sleep. Luna gave her an intense look and said, "Starlight, I know my sister thinks you are perfectly capable...."
Celestia had yet to fall asleep so she yelled, "Luna, just leave it. She'll do fine."
Luna sighed, "Very well sister." She looked down at Starlight and continued, "Since my sister trusts you to take care of her duties, I suppose I will as well. Now go and make her proud."
Starlight nodded and she and Spike headed off towards her study tower. She knew that she would wind up being in Canterlot for perhaps a week given that is how many days the scroll she was given contained. She did already miss her friends a bit but did miss her study tower some and wanted to prove to Luna that Celestia's trust in her was warranted. She said to herself, "Don't worry Princess Luna, I'll make Celestia proud, I'll handle all this to the best of my ability."
Author's Note
needed in Canterlot because Celestia is ill. Will stay the night in her tower.
Return to Her Tower
When Starlight and Spike returned to the study tower they used to call home, so many memories came rushing back to Starlight. She couldn't help but remember all the productive hours of studying she had in there, she remembered the party she had with her friends the night she moved in and she couldn't help but remember all the hearty meals she was able to fix for her and Spike.
She continued to walk around, headed into her old bedroom and plopped down on her bed. She sprawled out and sighed, "You know Spike, I really miss this place. I really miss all of us studying in here, the fun sleep overs we would have with my friends and I miss being able to go out with all my friends to the various shops up here."
Spike jumped up on the bed with her and replied, "I know but Celestia gave you six an assignment that you simply couldn't say no."
Starlight sighed, "I know, I know." She sprawled out further and continued, "For now though, even if we only have fifteen minutes or so, let's just relax."
Spike replied, "Sounds good to me."
Exam Time
Thirty minutes had passed and Starlight figured that she had better get ready to go oversee the exams that Celestia normally would. She unrolled the scroll and noticed that the first exam was for remedial magic. She got a smile on her face and chuckled, "Huh, the first one is remedial magic."
Spike couldn't help but laugh, "Hey, isn't that the one that Trixie failed?"
Starlight got a huge smile on her face, "Yep." She became more serious as she continued, "Enough about that, I need to get going so I'll see you when I get back."
Spike asked, "Don't I get to come?"
Starlight replied, "For this, no. I'm thinking this would be best done on my own."
Spike sighed as Starlight headed off to oversee the exam which would wind up being in the same classroom that Starlight remembered from so long ago. When she arrived, she couldn't help but notice it was the same professor from so long ago. The professor greeted her and asked, "Starlight Glimmer, is that you?"
Starlight replied, "Yes, it is me." Given that she had only met her once, back when she was a filly, she did not know her name. She continued, "And your name?"
The teacher replied, "Malinda Moonheart, Professor Moonheart but you can call me Malinda." She wanted to get the formalities so she continued, "How are you Starlight? It has been so long."
Starlight replied, "Well a while back Princess Celestia sent my friends and I down to Ponyville, we defeated Nightmare Moon, I became the Element of Magic and now the seven of us live down there."
Malinda's eyes grew wide as she asked, "The Element of Magic?" She then began to look around and continued, "Speaking of Princess Celestia, where is she? She was supposed to be here to oversee this exam."
Starlight replied, "The princess has fallen ill and has sent me here to oversee it for her."
Malinda gasped, "Seriously? She has sent you here to grade it in her stead?"
Starlight's pupils shrank, "She wants me to grade it, not just oversee it?"
Malinda replied, "Yes, anymore it is more of a matter of me overseeing it and her grading it."
This really unnerved Starlight but she remembered that Celestia said she trusted her judgement so she knew that grading this exam was up to her.
Professor Moonheart stood there with a neutral expression on her face while Starlight couldn't help but be nervous. Once every seat was filled Professor Moonheart began, "Students, today is a very important day. It is a day that will determine whether you will continue your studies here at the school or if your time here will end."
This caused numerous students to become very nervous, enough that one asked, "Professor, if we don't do well will we have to go home?"
Moonheart shrugged her shoulders and sighed, "Yes, you will." Her voice became more irritated as she continued, "This is remedial magic and if you can't pass it, then you obviously don't have the ability to be here." She then pointed her hoof to her left and continued, "Class, Princess Celestia is ill today and was unable to make it so her protege, Starlight Glimmer, will be taking her place."
The students in class began to talk among one another wondering how a pony such as Starlight was so easily able to become Celestia's protege and why it was her that was being allowed to grade their exams. Starlight nodded at Moonheart and asked, "Well shall we?"
Moonheart nodded causing Starlight to grab a sheet of paper and begin, "Sunny Meadows, you are currently in this remedial magic course because you are struggling with your magic. Why do you feel like you are here and is there anything you believe you could do better?"
Sunny Meadows gave Starlight a nervous look and replied, "Well um, I think I'm here because I have a lot of trouble with teleportation and some problems with levitation and transfiguration as well."
Starlight figured that perhaps this was just a matter of a nervous student. She said, "Sunny, just remain calm, focus and you will be able to do this."
She nodded at Sunny and she began to teleport around the room. Starlight was happy to see this but it was Professor Moonheart who was happy for her. She sat there with her mouth hanging open in a state of shock. She whispered to Starlight, "Wow, I can't believe she did it, I can't believe she teleported like that."
Sunny gave her a smile and continued with levitation and transfiguration. Moonheart was beyond shocked with this while Starlight was standing there with a huge smile on her face. While she didn't say anything, she whispered, "Good job Sunny" to her.
Once they were finished, Starlight held a paper up to herself and began to check off various items on a list. She zeroed in on it until she eventually cast her gaze on Moonheart and nodded in approval. Once she finished grading the exam she asked, "Alright, who's next?"
The next pony on the list raised her hoof and Starlight motioned for her to begin her exam. Like the student before her, she was easily able to teleport, levitate things and do transfiguration spells. She couldn't help but have a huge smile on her face but Starlight wasn't quite as certain. While she was happy that the students were happy, she just couldn't help but wonder what would happen if the students were to fail.
As the day progressed, more and more students were acing their exams and finally it was a colt named Cloverleaf's turn. He noticed that Starlight was watching him closely, waiting. Finally Starlight asked, "Cloverleaf, I know you have been having trouble in this class. Why is it that you are having these problems?"
Cloverleaf replied, "Well I just don't know what it is, I just don't feel like things are going right for me. I just don't feel like I can do anything right."
Starlight could understand where he was coming from but at the same time the fact that he just couldn't get things down that he should, that began to frustrate Starlight. She grabbed a pen and began, "Well let's see how you do, maybe you'll do better than you have been."
Cloverleaf gave her a nervous look and attempted to teleport around the room but for him this was not as easy as it looked. He stood there gritting his teeth trying his hardest to get some energy flowing but all he got was a few sparks of energy coming out of his horn and that was it. Finally he threw his hooves up in the air and sighed, "I'm sorry Starlight, I'm sorry I did so bad."
Starlight wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation. She knew that if Cloverleaf would apply himself that he could become great with magic but with the situation he was in, he would just have to deal with where he was now. Cloverleaf just didn't get it, earlier it seemed like he was destined for greatness and had the whole world in his hooves but suddenly it seemed like the only thing that awaited him was failure.
Cloverleaf's Second Chance
After Cloverleaf's failure in his exam, Professor Moonheart dismissed most of the class, except for him. She motioned for him to come up to the front of the classroom and said, "Well Cloverleaf, I guess this is it. You failed your remedial magic exam and it looks like you simply don't have what it takes to be in this school." She turned to Starlight and asked, "Since you are filling in for the princess, you are in charge of his fate. Are you going to send him home or what?"
Starlight couldn't help but remember how Professor Moonheart had a stern look on her face during the exam she oversaw with Celestia so long ago, she couldn't help but remember how Professor Flintheart's attitude caused Lyra to do poorly and believed that this may be a similar scenario. She approached the young colt and asked, "Cloverleaf, I do have a question. Do you get nervous around a lot of other ponies?"
Cloverleaf nervously replied, "Yes, I do. I can do magic fine when I'm alone or around ponies that I don't think will judge me but around the whole class, I'm terrible!"
Starlight turned to Moonheart and ordered, "Professor, we are going to give Cloverleaf a second chance right here in front of the two of us."
Moonheart gasped, "Seriously Starlight? I know you're filling in for Princess Celestia and she likely trusts your judgement but she has never given students who fail this a second chance." She became more intense as she continued, "Don't you remember Trixie and Sunburst? She didn't give them a second chance!"
Starlight turned to see Cloverleaf looking devastated and continued, "Professor Moonheart, I want you to leave the classroom and I shall oversee a second exam for him ON MY OWN! I had a friend in the past who was intimidated by her teacher and did fine once she was in a different situation." She pointed her hoof towards the exit and ordered, "Now go so I can do this."
Professor Moonheart was not overly thrilled with the order but knew that with Starlight being Celestia's protege, that she likely had a lot of pull. She gulped, "Very well Starlight."
Moonheart left the classroom and Starlight gave Cloverleaf a warm smile. She said, "Alright Cloverleaf, show me what you were supposed to do during the exam."
Cloverleaf nodded and began his exam. Starlight watched proudly as he began to teleport across the room and even outside. He then began levitating the desks and hoping he could do so, he grabbed Starlight in his aura and began to levitate her. After he put her down, he used transfiguration spells to turn the desks into everything from tea cups to recliners before returning them to their original form. This not only shocked Starlight, but it made her very happy. She gave him a smile and gasped, "Wow Cloverleaf, that was amazing!"
For the first time in his life, somepony other than his parents complemented his magical abilities. Starlight gave him a smile and continued, "You know, you did excellent and I'm going to give you a huge opportunity." She put up a shield and continued, "If you can break this shield, I will talk to Princess Celestia about an independent study because you shouldn't be in remedial magic."
Again Cloverleaf nodded and fired energy at Starlight's shield. He continued to put more power into it but just couldn't put a dent on it. He began to feel like he would fail but knew that unlike the professors at the school, Starlight would not give up on him. He continued to put more power into his energy beam until he finally broke the shield, causing Starlight to quickly teleport out of the way. She gave him a smile and said, "Wow Cloverleaf, I know you're a lot better than anypony gives you credit for but I'm going to be honest, I never expected you to shatter my shield." She began to head towards the exit and continued, "Follow me to the palace and we'll see if Celestia will take you in as an independent study student."
Cloverleaf beamed, "Really, we're going to talk to her about this?"
Starlight replied, "Well it will likely just be me because Celestia is ill, you'll likely have to wait in the throne room but let's get going."
He followed Starlight out of the classroom where Professor Moonheart gave Starlight a slight glare, which was reciprocated with a deep scowl from Starlight. She wanted very badly to go to Celestia over what she thought of as preferential treatment but knew that given how close Starlight is with Celestia, that it would likely be all for naught.
A Discussion With Celestia
As Starlight and Cloverleaf headed towards the palace, he couldn't help but feel a sense of happiness but a sense of nervousness at the same time. He kept on wondering what would happen if Celestia said no, he wondered how he would wind up doing in the beginning magic class that he would be returning to. He knew that he would either likely fail being around so many other students or was worried that he may have an overbearing professor.
When they arrived at the palace, they did not even need to answer to the guards since they knew who Starlight was. When they arrived in the throne room they were greeted by two guards. Starlight approached them and said, "I need to speak to Princess Celestia, this is important."
One of the guards, one who did not know her asked, "Who are you and why do you need to speak to her?"
Starlight replied, "I am Starlight Glimmer, her protege and I need to speak to her over the future of the student who accompanied me here."
The guard sighed, "Very well, I shall lead you to her chambers."
Starlight nodded and they headed back to Celestia's chambers. Once they arrived the guard knocked on her door and said, "Your Majesty, this pony named Starlight Glimmer wishes to see you."
Celestia replied, "Send her in."
Starlight headed into her room to find her laying down, looking just as miserable as she did when she last saw her. Celestia gave her a concerned look and asked, "Starlight, is something wrong? Did something go wrong with one of the exams?"
Starlight replied, "Well sort of but something good happened as well." She saw a curious look on Celestia's face and continued, "Ok, in the remedial magic exam everypony but one passed and I am here to talk to you about the one who did not pass."
Celestia asked, "I take it you want me to give him a second chance?"
Starlight replied, "Actually yes, I do. I found out he gets nervous around a lot of other ponies so after the exam was over, the other students left and after ordering that Professor Moonheart out, I gave him an exam of my own and he passed it with flying colors."
Celestia sat up a bit and asked, "Really, did you make it easy on him or something?"
Starlight replied, "No, it was just as difficult as the one he was going to have but get this, he teleported outside, he levitated ME and he used a transfiguration spell to turn several of the desks into everything from tea cups to recliners." She saw a smile developing on Celestia's face and continued, "And then I gave him a challenge, I told him that if he could break my protection shield, that I would talk to you about other options for him because like I said, he gets nervous around other ponies."
Celestia's eyes grew wide as she asked, "Was he able to break it?"
Starlight replied, "Yes, he did and that is why I came to talk to you. I am thinking that he may do better if he was to do an independent study with you."
Celestia sighed, "I don't know....."
Starlight interrupted, "Celestia, remember how it helped Lyra?" She stood taller and continued, "Look, I've seen this colt's magic with my own eyes and he is the first pony who has ever broke my shield so I think he deserves this opportunity."
Celestia realized that Starlight was right about the independent study helping Lyra become what she eventually did and agreed, "Very well. I should be feeling better by next Tuesday so have him meet me in the throne room on Tuesday morning at nine, alone" Celestia laid back down and yawned, "and he can show me his abilities."
Starlight knew that Celestia laying back down was her way of saying she needed more rest. She replied, "Very well, I hope you get to feeling better."
Starlight left her chambers and returned to the throne room where she was met by a nervous Cloverleaf. She gave him a smile and said, "Princess Celestia said for you to come here to the throne room next Tuesday morning at nine."
His eyes became full of excitement as he asked, "Really? Will you get to join me?"
Starlight replied, "Unfortunately no, I will not but don't worry, Celestia is a very caring and laid back pony so you don't need to be nervous around her."
Cloverleaf said, "Alright I'll do my best to calm down."
Starlight herself was getting tired so she yawned, "Well I'm very proud of you for doing as well as you did but I must get going, I have other things over the next several days that I need to prepare for."
Cloverleaf was a bit disappointed that she had to go but was very happy that she aided him in the way she did. He embraced her and replied, "Alright but I just want to thank you for everything you have done for me."
Starlight returned the embrace and said, "You're welcome but I really must get going." She broke the embrace, started back towards her tower and continued, "Good luck Cloverleaf and remember, there is no need to be nervous around Princess Celestia."
He yelled, "Alright, bye Starlight."
By the time he yelled this Starlight was already out of earshot. As she headed away, she felt good, very good. She felt good that she had saved a very talented unicorn from having to go home where his true abilities could never flourish. Once she reached the base of her tower, she levitated herself up and thought to herself, "Well one day down, probably six more to go."
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.
