“Let me cut through the chaff,” she said as the servingpony lifted the lid off the appetizer dish. Blueblood’s stomach rolled; it was a pile of apple fritters. Celestia grabbed one in her aura and began nibbling it daintily. “This afternoon, I intend to address the Council to ask for a vote on a new ambassadorship. Recently, we have made contact with a previously-unknown species in a previously-unknown country.”