It's partially downhill from here.
...oh, come on. We had a moment of emotional connection and recovery, also known as 'most of the previous chapter'. Y'all have some idea of how I tend to occasionally work, this story isn't exactly over, and Nightwatch promised to tell Cerea what had happened on the next day. It's tomorrow. Commence new trauma!
Or, more realistically: this story is taking place in phases. One phase just wrapped: Cerea now has one pony whom she can count as a friend. As the sisters pointed out, there's still a nation to go. The ripples from her presence are still spreading. Of the 7900 words in this chapter, some of them were being used to set up the next phase. The one-sheet needs to be finalized and distributed. Celestia has her first 'yes' from a teacher, which means that initial Did We Just Have Tea With The Greatest Source Of Fear In The World? session has to be put together. It's not mentioned in the chapter, but Fancypants is still intending on a party. And as we all know, there is only one way in which any or all of that could go wrong, which is generally called Look Who's Writing It.
In emotional tone, stories can have peaks and valleys.
We just had a peak.
Buckle up.