Sweetie Belle stepped through the doorway into the cake vault. She felt a sudden chill as she passed the entrance into the refrigerated chamber and Sweetie Belle’s breath created a small puff of mist in front of her. “I- I can’t believe Star Swirl ate all of this.”
The inside seemed much larger than it was from the outside, almost impossibly so. There were hundreds, possibly even thousands of cakes suspended in midair, floating peacefully in little silvery bubbles around the room. The room was brightly illuminated from above by several lanterns placed at intervals along the walls and in their light sat yet more cakes, neatly packed along shelves against the walls. But that was not all. Hundreds of cupcakes and other small delicacies lay scattered haphazardly across the floor leaving just a small path around the chamber.
But none of that could compare to what sat in the centre of the chamber, a three story tall wedding cake with alternating layers white with miniature bananas and the dark blue with little moons. At the top of it sat two little figures. One was an Alicorn, although Sweetie Belle didn’t recognise it as any of the princesses, the other looked like a regular earth pony. They were both standing in front of what looked like a box of some kind. It looked to Sweetie Belle like that outhouse she saw at Apple Bloom’s farm. Well, it would, if they decided to paint it blue.
“Bells, are you there?” Celestia’s voice crackled over the communicator giving Sweetie Belle a jump. She wobbled on her hooves for a moment trying not to fall in the cupcakes before righting herself and responding.
“Yeah, I’m here.” She paused for a moment before adding “And I’m in the vault.”
“Great. Now get a move on with step two. We have to get this done before I wake up.”
“Okay.” Sweetie Belle dashed back to her hiding place around the corner and picked up her saddlebags. She flipped open the top pocket and reached a hoof inside, feeling around inside. One, two, three… Yup, they’re all here. She pulled out a crystal ball, roughly the size of a large apple and slung her saddlebags, with the rest inside, over her back then headed back into the vault. Just inside the entrance she let the first ball drop among the cakes before moving on.
Sweetie Belle trotted quickly around the chamber, careful not to step on any cakes, dropping another ball every couple steps. Upon reaching the entrance again she pulled out the last ball and tossed it as hard as she could into the wedding cake. It landed with a plop about half way up and sunk deep into the thick icing.
Sweetie Belle stepped back out of the vault and called up Celestia. “Ok, they’re in place.”
“Great then come up here and rendezvous with Luna. You won’t want to miss this.” Celesia turned her attention to the task at hoof. With the crystal balls in place and a simple spell she can port as many cakes as she likes from the vault directly here. Fumbling with the cables and bungee cords, Celestia managed to turn herself around to look for her starting point. She eventually decided the perfect place would be the dresser.
Focusing her energy, Celestia began to cast the spell. For a short while there was nothing more than the faint glow of Celestia’s horn. Then, Celestia felt it, the faint tingling at the base of her horn. Shortly after that a multicoloured beam shot forth from her horn and bathed the dresser in front of her in light. With a faint pop, cupcakes and other confectionaries began to appear all over the dresser’s surface. Struggling to keep on target and manage her harness cords, Celestia slowly rotated around, painting a path of cake across the floor.
She was careful to avoid the bed and had almost half the room covered when she was interrupted by a loud chewing sound over the communicator. “Uh, Luna, what is that?”
“Fmom’f mhind me shisher, is noffin.”
Celestia’s expression grew more concerned. “Are you in your room!?”
Luna swallowed hard and answered. “No, maybe, yes. It was just a quick detour; I just had to pick something up.”
“Luna, you’re supposed to be the lookout. You have to get back to position!”
“Don’t’ worry, we’re good. I’m not scheduled to come back from my nightly rounds until 4 AM anyway.”
“Luna, that’s now!”
“Wha-“
“WHO DAREST INTRUDE INTO MINE ROYAL BED CHAM-” Princess Luna stopped mid sentence as she caught a glimpse of the pony she had caught crouching behind her bed with several Moon cakes floating in her aura. She stood stock still, her jaw hanging low and her face expressionless as she failed to comprehend what she was witnessing.
The two sat in silence for a time just looking at each other. Princess Luna glanced over to the discarded, empty box of moon cakes then back up at the familiar Alicorn that was the obvious culprit.
“Luna! What was tha...” Celestia’s voice fell on deaf ears as Luna removed her communicator and looked up at herself.
With as warm a smile as she could muster she started. “H- hi, I can expl-”
“CHANGELING!” Luna interrupted herself and pointed an accusing hoof at her. She stomped backwards and flared her wings as she continued. “GUARDS! SOUND THE ALARM! WE HAVE BEEN INFULTRATED BY DEVIOUS CHANGELINGS!”
Celestia facehoofed when she heard the alarm bells begin to ring and the clatter of hooves as the usual contingent of guards rushed to her bedroom. Five, four, three, two- Princess Celestia sat bolt upright and began her morning ritual of screaming at the top of her lungs.