All's Fair in Love and War

Two Weeks Later

Celestia squirmed ever so slightly in her throne as she presided over the dozens of mares in her court, all angrily shouting and cursing at the guards that wouldn't let them any closer to the sun princess.

"Why are all of our stallions in jail!?" One mare cried.

"They're good boys! They didn't do it!" Another shouted.

"Princess, are you just keeping them all for yourself!?"

Celestia continued to squirm ever so slightly in her chair, the burning heat in her loins making it difficult for her to focus on the scene in front of her. Were any of the mares closer, they might have even noticed their princess essentially rubbing herself off against her throne.

Celestia bit her lip and closed her eyes as another wave of heat washed over her, making her wings tremble lightly. Slowly, the tremor calmed, allowing her to reopen her eyes and focus more on the shouting mares in front of her. Even though the microrelease sent a small wave of pleasure coursing through her body, she still felt completely hollow inside. Her gaze empty and faded as if to highlight that fact.

"All this right at the start of heat season! Princess, we want answers!" Yet another mare exclaimed.

Raven looked over to Celestia with a frown, "Princess, are you alright? You haven't allowed any of them onto the podium to speak their case since nine... and it's been over an hour... we'll have to leave soon for the opening at this rate."

Celestia absently shook her head with a noticeable jitter, "I am... fine, Raven... just dealing with my own heat at the moment. Waiting for a lull in tremors so I can pay attention at all." She whispered.

Raven nodded sympathetically, "I understand. If it weren't for my cooler, I'd be in the same situation. If you want, I can cancel for the day and we can get you one too, Princess." She offered.

"N-no, no. These ponies are angry enough, and if we delay any longer, they'll be even angrier. I need to c-calm them down now." Celestia replied.

Now turning her attention to Lieutenant Valorant, Celestia cleared her throat and beckoned the unicorn closer.

"Lieutenant, we can continue Day Court. Please send forward the first petitioner." She ordered.

"Of course, Princess." Lieutenant Valorant replied, before turning to the crowd, "The first petitioner may now step forward! Upper Crust, approach the podium!" She bellowed, her voice carrying all the way across the hall.

A tan unicorn mare with a two toned mane of white and violet quickly trotted up to the podium.

"Welcome, Upper Crust. What troubles you, my little pony?" Celestia asked, eyeing the mare curiously.

Upper Crust cleared her throat before looking at Celestia with a glare, "My husband, your highness," She began, her words already laced with venom, "He was unjustly arrested two weeks ago, and I want his release."

A chorus of agreement and similar demands rang out through the crowd. The voices quickly rose in volume until there was nothing but incoherent shouting echoing from the group of angry ponies.

"SILENCE!" Lieutenant Valorant screamed, her voice surpassing even the shouts of the entire crowd.

A few hushed whispers left the crowd, but otherwise not a peep. Even Celestia rubbed her ear after the lieutenant's outburst.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Celestia said, after a moment, before returning her attention to the pony on the podium, "Upper Crust, do you know what your husband is charged with? What, I assume all of your husbands are charged with?" She asked, looking at the rest of the crowd with a barely restrained sigh.

Upper Crust nodded, "I do, Princess. I also know that there is no way in Tartarus that my sweet Jet went down to a bar in the lower district, to attack your consort." She asserted, turning her nose up.

Celestia winced slightly at the mention of Anon, before letting out a quiet sigh, "I'm afraid that your husband, along with the other two dozen or so stallions arrested last week are all facing that charge, regardless of how 'likely' you may believe it to be. The ponice are conducting a thorough investigation into what happened, and once they're done, there will be a hearing to determine whether or not the ponies currently in jail were responsible or not. Due to my own relations with the victim, I will be recusing myself from the judgement." She explained, calmly.

"That's a load of horseapples!" One of the mares shouted.

"We want our stallions back!"

"It's Estrus season! My heat came in a week and a half ago and my hubby is in jail! This is wrong!"

"How can you keep stallions in jail?! They're so defenseless without a mare to take care of them!"

Celestia discreetly rolled her eyes at the shouting before plugging her ears with her wingtips. Just a moment later, Lieutenant Valorant screamed over the crowd once more.

"ENOUGH! SILENCE! IF YOU WISH TO ADDRESS THE CROWN, YOU WILL WAIT FOR YOUR TURN! WE WILL NOT TOLERATE AN ANGRY MOB IN THE CASTLE!" She shouted, her voice once again silencing the crowd.

Several ponies rubbed their ears once the lieutenant was finished, prompting a slight smirk to form on the unicorn's face as she returned to the position of attention, in front of Celestia.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Celestia gratefully spoke up, after a few seconds of silence.

Once Lieutenant Valorant gave a nod of acknowledgement, Celestia addressed the crowd once more, "Now, I'm sure you're all concerned about your stallions. Rest assured that they are being treated fairly, are being fed, and are being guarded to insure they aren't harmed. The details of the situation last week will be revealed once the investigation is complete. Until then, please return to your homes. I promise that the ponice are conducting their work as quickly as they can." She explained.

Upper Crust frowned as she turned back toward the rest of the crowd, her lips pursed as she accepted the news. With a heavy sigh, the mare made her way back to the group and promptly exited the building. The rest of the mares soon followed, leaving the hall completely empty within a matter of minutes. Raven and Celestia shared a look, before Celestia slumped in her throne and sighed heavily.

"Those stallions just had to attack Anon and Javelin the day before estrus, didn't they?" Celestia groaned.

"It seems that they may have planned it for just this possibility. Maybe they hoped you would cave and release them if enough mares came storming into the castle, demanding to know why all of their stallions were in jail." Raven offered.

"He's a crafty one, that Comet Star. I'll give him that. Raven, do we have any more petitioners today?" Celestia replied.

"I don't believe so, Princess." Raven answered.

Celestia sluggishly sat up and got to her hooves, "Then I believe I will be adjourning day court early today. If any other ponies show up later in the day, please have them return tomorrow." She announced.

"Of course, Princess." Raven replied, getting up to follow the solar princess.

The pair was quickly joined by Lieutenant Valorant as they exited the throne room and headed toward Celestia's private office. They passed through several corridors in silence until reaching their destination. Raven watched as Celestia trudged into her office and sat down at her desk, burying herself in paperwork for the second day in a row. The secretary looked over to the Lieutenant with a frown, finding the mare already standing guard, her eyes forward.

"Lieutenant?" Raven asked.

"Yes, Miss Inkwell?" Lieutenant Valorant replied, her eyes darting over to the white unicorn for just a millisecond.

"Would you mind if I spoke with Princess Celestia in private for a few moments?" Raven inquired.

"Of course." Lieutenant Valorant replied, stepping away from the door and allowing Raven access to the room.

Raven nodded in thanks before heading inside and closing the door behind her. She turned to Celestia, finding her muzzle buried deep in paperwork that seemed to be draining her already exhausted energy even further. Raven took a moment to organize her thoughts, before politely clearing her throat to get Celestia's attention. The discreet gesture didn't so much as elicit a glance from the solar diarch, making Raven frown.

"Princess?" She asked.

"Hmm?" Celestia responded, finally looking up from her work.

"Princess, I wanted to go over the appearance you scheduled today at the aquarium opening down in the middle district. We're supposed to head out in half an hour, but since day court is already over, I think it would be in your best interest to go now." Raven suggested, carefully watching Celestia's expression.

Celestia looked back down at her work, "I'm not sure if I can spare the time right now, Raven. I have a lot of work I need to catch up on." She replied.

"Princess, with all due respect... you're more than caught up with your work for the next week. You spent eight straight hours yesterday doing paperwork... everything you have to finish is already done. At this point you're doing next week's work." Raven explained, approaching the desk.

Celestia looked at the dates on the paperwork in front of her and frowned, "I suppose I am... I must've got a little carried away with busying myself in work."

Raven nodded, "All the more reason for us to get to that aquarium opening, right?" She pressed.

Celestia slowly shook her head, "If I'm being honest, Raven... I don't know if I'm even going to go anymore. I'm just not really feeling up to it at the moment."

Raven quickly darted to the desk, "B-but, you have to!" She exclaimed, earning a puzzled look from the solar princess.

"Why? What's so important about this aquarium opening?" Celestia inquired, her brow furrowed in confusion.

Raven froze for a moment, "W-well, it's a massive tax investment for the middle district, and they've been petitioning for you and your sister to come down and visit for months now, and... and well, they deserve an appearance. It'll only be for an hour or so." She quickly explained.

Celestia's frown deepened as her gaze fell down to her paperwork once more. Raven watched the sun princess purse her lips in thought, before eventually letting out a defeated sigh.

"I suppose that's a good enough reason. I can't promise that I'll spend more than an hour down there though. If I'm being honest, I'd much rather just do some more paperwork right now. It's a bit more soothing than putting on my fake smile and dealing with overly excited ponies cheering my name." Celestia said.

Raven breathed a small breath of relief, "Don't worry, Princess. It'll only take an hour. I'll go send out a letter to inform them of our arrival. Just a moment." She replied, her horn sparking to life as she took a piece of paper and and pencil from Celestia's desk.

Raven stepped over the desk and set the paper down on the corner of the desk. She rested her foreleg in front of the paper to block Celestia's view of what she was writing, before scribbling down a note.

~ Javelin, this is Raven. Celestia and I are going to be at the Aquarium in a few minutes. Get Anon over there ASAP. ~

Celestia arched an eyebrow as she looked over to her secretary, but couldn't see exactly what she was writing.

"Is your foreleg alright, Raven?" Celestia inquired.

Raven looked up as she finished writing, "What? Of course, I'm fine." Raven replied, folding the paper in her magic as she got back to her hooves.

"I've just never seen you write with your foreleg up on the desk like that before. It didn't look comfortable." Celestia shrugged, noncommittedly.

Raven quickly teleported the letter away, "Oh... um, I'm not sure. Just stretching a bit I suppose. Going back to day court these last couple days after a week off has me feeling a bit tired." She half-heartedly assured.

Celestia nodded as she got out of her chair and to her hooves, "I can understand that sentiment. I'm sure it's been obvious to you, but I haven't exactly had much energy these last few days either." She admitted, as if there weren't obvious bags under her eyes.

Raven bit her lip, "W-well, have you been sleeping well, Princess?" She asked, already well aware of the answer.

Celestia chuckled mirthlessly, "I think you already know the answer to that."

"Right, sorry." Raven replied.

"Think nothing of it, Raven. Let's just go get this over with so we can both get a little rest once we're back at the castle." Celestia responded, turning for the door.

"Right... we need to get your sister too." Raven added, following after Celestia.

"Right you are. Come along then, let's go wake her." Celestia acknowledged, turning for Luna's chambers.

The unicorn and alicorn quickly made their way through the castle halls and arrived at the lunar princesses chambers. Celestia politely knocked on the door a few times, earning a muffled groan and sigh through the door in response. A few moments passed as hoofsteps barely echoed past the doorway, before Luna pulled her door open and looked at Celestia and Raven with bloodshot eyes.

"What?" Luna mumbled.

Her mane and tail were a mess, and her coat looked grimy, as if she hadn't bathed in days. The smell of unquenched estrus quickly permeated through the air to Raven's nose, making her muzzle wrinkle as she tried not to think about how both sisters were now bathing her in their pheromones'. She felt a wave of concern quickly wash over her at the dark alicorns appearance, but Celestia simply took her sister's visage in as if she was used to seeing her like this.

"We need to go to the Aquarium opening, sister. Could you please get ready and meet us at the chariot?" Celestia asked.

Luna let out a small whinny of dissatisfaction, "Must we go to that opening now? I thought it was scheduled for later in the morning. I only just went to sleep a few hours ago."

"It'll only be for an hour, Lulu. Trust me... I'm not exactly thrilled to be going, myself, but we did agree to make an appearance." Celestia replied.

Luna rolled her eyes, "Fine... just give me a few minutes to shower and prepare." She relented.

Celestia nodded, before turning and heading toward the castle courtyard as Luna closed her door. Raven quickly trotted after her, a nervous expression crossing her face as they both made their way toward the front gate of the castle. They made their way through the grandiose hallways of the castle at a much slower pace than usual, mostly due to Celestia taking slower and smaller steps than usual. A few bows and salutes were cast her way, but the solar princess hardly even acknowledged the gestures of respect, instead opting to simply trudge ahead with a melancholy look on her face.

"Princess, I know you're still feeling down over Anon, but I still think there's a good chance he'll come around. You just need to tell him the truth about how you feel and what went wrong." Raven suddenly spoke up, earning a raised eyebrow from Celestia.

The alicorn let out a small huff, "Raven, I appreciate your advice, but even if I could somehow make Anon stay near me long enough to explain myself, all it would do is anger him further. I want nothing more than to make this right... even if that means that I lose him as a potential lover... I still want him in my life, but I don't think anything I say or do would make him want to come back within earshot of me." She replied, as the pair exited the castle and entered the front courtyard.

"But if you could get Anon in a room with you for just five minutes, would you tell him that? Would you tell him how you really feel?" Raven pressed.

Celestia paused mid-step and fixed Raven with a worried look, "Raven... why are these questions getting so specific?" She asked.

Raven blanched, "N-no reason. I just... there's a chance Anon might be there at the event and I wanted to make sure that if I was able to get you two a few minutes alone, that you'd be able to speak to him face to face." She explained.

Celestia scrutinized her secretary for almost a full minute before letting out a long sigh and turning toward the chariot already sitting at the front gate entrance, "Raven, please just don't try to force Anon to do anything. If he wants to leave the second he sees me or Luna, just let him. I don't want to hurt him anymore than I already have."

Raven felt her blood run cold, "W-what do you mean, Princess?" She sputtered.

"Raven, you're not quite as subtle as you think you are. I'll go to this aquarium opening, and I assume you have Javelin bringing Anon as a way to cheer him up or something. I'm sure you both arranged this in such a way to stick Anon and I into a room together to 'hash it out', as ponies say these days. Am I correct in making these assumptions?" Celestia asked, giving her a look of resignation.

"N-no?" Raven forced a smile.

Celestia sighed, "Come along. Let's just get this event over with."

With that, Celestia headed toward the chariot, Raven quickly breaking into a trot to catch up with her. The duo boarded the vehicle and prepared for takeoff. Within thirty seconds of boarding, a bright flash of light appeared next to Celestia, and Luna was suddenly sitting in her seat beside her sister, looking much more like herself, although she held a noticeable sadness in her eyes. A few moments later, the pegasai in front broke into a trot, and then a gallop, their wings flapping to life as they moved. The inertia pushed Raven into her seat, and she held on just a bit tighter as the first of the pegasai took flight, dragging the chariot up along with them.

The secretary forced herself not to look down as the vehicle ungulated slightly with each pegasus pulling from the front. As they continued to gain altitude, she felt a feathered wing wrap around her wither. She looked down to see the snow white appendage and the princess it belonged to.

"Still not a fan of flying, I see." Celestia let out slightly forced chuckle.

"I think I'd rather have my hooves on something solid." Raven replied, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Worry not, we'll be there in just a few minutes." Celestia responded.

True to her word, the flight only lasted about five minutes before the chariot landed outside of the aquarium opening in the middle district. The pegasai quickly disconnected themselves from the vehicle and formed a perimeter around Celestia, Luna, and Raven as they all stepped down to the street below, the secretary noticeably more green than the princesses.

Celestia quickly made her way over to the front podium as ponies cheered and stomped their hooves in approval. She smiled brightly to the crowd, even going so far as to wave to some of the ponies nearby and stop for pictures with some of the closest guests, while Luna simply forced a small smile as she stayed near her sister. Their guards kept most ponies from getting within a hoof's length, but a few mares with foals were permitted to pass through and receive a moment of Celestia's time before the solar princess arrived at the podium in front of the entrance of the aquarium. Luna stayed noticeably away from the microphone and spotlight.

"Ah and there's our princesses now! Let's give another round of applause for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!" The speaker announced, smiling broadly at the approaching princess.

Cheers and stomping hooves echoed out across the gathered ponies, sweeping them into a small frenzy as the white alicorn reached her position on the podium, next to the speaker. She quickly ushered Celestia over to the microphone while motioning for the crowd to quiet down for her speech.

Celestia approached the microphone and cleared her throat, "Good morning, my little ponies," She began, pausing for an uproar of cheers and excited shouting, "It's both an honor and a pleasure to be here today to help open this fine new addition to Canterlot, and what a fine addition it is! Canterlot's first aquarium will serve as a great place for foals to learn, and for all ponies to enjoy. I must say that I truly appreciate you all coming out here today, especially during heat. I know it's tough on all of us to not bend to our hormones, but from what I've seen, you've all been nothing but fantastic. So it is with great pleasure, that I officially open the Canterlot Sealife Aquarium." She announced, using her magic to cut the red tape in front of the doorway.

With that, the crowd erupted into a fit of cheers and stomping hooves. Celestia allowed a very small smile to grace her features as the ponies all made their way into the aquarium to explore the new exhibits and see the unique architecture of the aquatic themed building. As they all rushed past her with happy smiles on there faces, Celestia turned and made her way back over to Luna, Raven, the speaker, and the rest of her guard detail.

"Well, certainly not my finest speech, but I think it had the desired effect." Celestia nodded, speaking more to herself than anyone else.

"Oh, it was a fantastic speech, your highness!" The speaker exclaimed, "The crowd loved it! Thank you so much for coming down, it's truly an honor to have you here, both of you." She said, remembering to turn to Luna as well.

Luna simply rolled her eyes as Celestia dipped her head, "The pleasure is all mine. I suppose I needed to get out and do something with myself for a little while anyway. Now that I think on it... I don't believe I even looked at the aquarium during construction. I think I should like to peruse a little, if that's alright." She replied.

"Of course! By all means, Princess, go right ahead. I'll inform the staff to let you and your guards through."

"I appreciate it, although I think I'll just be taking my sister and secretary through. I wouldn't want to cause a disruption with our protection detail." Celestia responded.

"Of course, your highness. I'll go inform them now." The speaker replied, before rushing off toward the front door.

Luna raised an eyebrow, "Sister, I don't wish to go perusing the aquarium at the moment. I would much rather get to bed."

"Just join me for a little while, Lulu. Apparently... Anon will be arriving soon." Celestia requested, giving Luna a slightly pleading look.

Luna recoiled back as if she'd been struck, "Are you mad!? He wants to be left alone! He made it perfectly clear in his dream that he wants nothing to do with us!" She exclaimed.

"I know. You explained it clearly enough... and if he wants to leave, then he's free to do so... I just want an opportunity to apologize in person. I never got the chance..." Celestia trailed off.

Luna frowned, "B-but... why do you need me here?" She asked.

Celestia looked into her eyes, "Because you're my sister and I love you... and I want your support for when Anon inevitably says the most hurtful things he can think of."

Luna held her sister's gaze for a few moments before sighing quietly, "Fine. Let's just go get this over with."

"If it's any consolation, I brought help." Raven added.

Luna raised an eyebrow but before she could ask anything, Raven turned to Celestia.

"Are you ready, Princess?" She asked, looking up to her with worry in her eyes.

"I... no, I don't think I am... I don't think I'll ever be ready, to be honest... are you certain Anon is even going to be here?" Celestia inquired, longingly looking toward the entrance to the aquarium.

"Just waiting on Javelin to bring him in. We should go inside so that we don't spook him before he's even in the building." Raven replied.

"That's a good idea," Celestia solemnly nodded, before turning to the guards, "Sergeant, please return the chariot to the castle. I don't think we'll be needing it for the return journey."

"Yes, Princess!" The guard replied, snapping a salute before leading the squad of pegasai back to the chariot to leave.

"Well... let's get this over with." Celestia let out a sigh of resignation.

"I promise that we'll make things right, Princess. Just trust me." Raven offered, a sincere smile on her face.

Celestia held her gaze for a few precious moments before nodding once more and heading for the entrance, Raven close on her heels.