Equestria
It was no secret: Celestia was a glutton for cake. Sure, pie was good too but cake…who didn’t like cake? She loved cake. Cake was definitely on the brain as she followed the heavenly scent towards where she guessed was the kitchen.
She had to go down a set of stairs before she found herself in front of two large glass doors. Inside, she could see a female unicorn with a chef’s hat on, tending to a bundt cake that had just come out of the oven. “Oh my gosh…she’s putting lemon icing on it…” She had to stop herself from drooling. “Get a hold of yourself Celestia…you’re supposed to act the role of a princess…not some little girl in front of a chocolate factory.” But the smell was too enticing. It couldn’t hurt to go in and take a peek right? She was the princess after all.
Celestia opened the door and cleared her throat. The poor mare almost jumped with all four feet off the ground as she turned around. “Oh Princess, I didn’t realize you were standing there!”
“My apologies,” Celestia said. “I could smell the rich aroma all the way from the throne room.”
“Oh uh…” the mare blushed slightly. “You’ve definitely got a good nose princess! I mean, of course I knew that but…”
“That bundt cake looks delicious,” Celestia commented.
“Oh yes, it was going to be a surprise for tonight but…”
Celestia frowned slightly. “I guess I let my cravings get the better of me.” “My apologies...again.”
“Oh not at all!” the mare smiled. “If my baking is getting the princess’ attention, that just means I’m doing my job well.” She then went back to finishing putting on the lemon glaze on the cake.
“Um…if you don’t mind,” Celestia asked. “You wouldn’t mind…parting with that cake when you’re done right?”
“Oh um…” Apparently the poor chef wasn’t expecting that question. “Well I know it looks really good Your Majesty but I think it needs to cool a bit…”
“…Do I really have to wait?” The edge in her voice was probably unnecessary but the hunger pangs were getting the best of her.
“N-No of course not!” the mare grinned sheepishly as she lifted the cake up along with the dish it was sitting on. “Guests I assume?”
“Yes. Me, myself, and I.” “Y-Yes and they really love sweets. So I’ll just take this and…” Celestia grabbed the cake and she was out of the kitchen within seconds.
The chef sighed. “Well, so much for saving that as a surprise…well onto the next one then. If I recall, Princess Luna really likes Black Forest cake…”
Celestia managed to summon a fork and she was eating the cake shamelessly as she made her way back to the throne room. Thankfully no one saw her, but then again she wasn’t aware that these kinds of things were normal to the common folk these days.
Meanwhile, Celestia was in heaven. Maybe it was because the cake was still a bit warm but it had to be the best cake she’d ever have and she’s had a lot of cake in her lifetime. The intensity of the lemon flavor, the moistness of the cake, there was probably nothing that could make this feeling any better.
Once she finally made her way back to her throne, she leaned back with a pleasant smile on her face. Who cared if she spent the entire day doing nothing? Today seemed like the best day of her life. Nothing could bring her down now.
“Princess!” Somehow she knew that was going to happen. Her and her big mouth…
Two ponies burst into the room, one a white unicorn with a brunette mane worked into a bun and the other a member of the Royal Guard. By the looks on their faces, this had to be a serious matter. “What is wrong?” she said through a mouthful of cake. She swallowed quickly and cleared her throat. “Excuse me. What is the matter?”
“Well you see your highness,” the unicorn fidgeted with her hooves slightly. “I know originally the Yaks said they wouldn’t be able to come to the meeting you scheduled but…”
“But…?” Celestia prompted her.
“Prince Rutherford is on his way here, right now,” the Guardspony said. “Not just them, but the Dragon Lord as well!”
Dragons. It always had to be dragons. “I…don’t recall getting a message about the dragons.”
“There must’ve been miscommunication,” the unicorn said, bowing her head sadly. “We’re terribly sorry about this Princess.”
Yaks and a dragon. “Figures Luna picks the worst time to disappear. She knows dragons better than anyone I know…” “Do not worry, we will figure this out. I’ll be happy to meet with them once they arrive.” There was a slight pause. “They’re going to get here at the same time aren’t they?”
“That’s…a possibility,” the unicorn said. “Relations between the Yaks and Dragons aren’t…great right now…”
“I see…” “This just gets better and better…how am I going to…wait a minute…of course!” “In that case, perhaps I should summon Princess Twilight to help with the meeting. If they do not wish to talk to one another, we’ll just keep them separate.”
“Of course Princess,” the unicorn bowed. “I’ll have a letter sent to her straight away.”
“And I’ll make sure to have extra security in case things…go south,” the Guardspony said.
“Very good,” Celestia nodded as the two left the room. Celestia sighed as she sagged in her seat, taking another bite of cake. “I’m going to need a drink for this…”
What is this and why is it in the middle of the story.
I might have to reread everything to fix my current timeline for this story.
That Poor Poor cake, it didn't stand a chance.
Oooh, I little risky putting chapter between already publish chapters. Even when the story is supposed complete.
8234960
I'm the one who puts chapters in between chapters!
Hopefully 'Princess' Celestia did a decent job at royal diplomacy, despite never having being taught what to do (and, more importantly, what NOT to do), and what dragons and yaks are like.
To be fair, as a principal Celestia has no doubt had to deal with some difficult parents. It's not exactly international diplomacy, but its something.
If I didn't know any better I'd say that was a reference to the upcoming comic issue.
So much for an uneventful day
New content smack in the middle of the story?
All in favor of blaming Starlight, say "aye."
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Diplomacy is easy: you just give them what they want and everyone's happy.
8238075
But what if what they want is to not get what they want so they can storm out in a theatric huff, but you give them what they want, so they can't storm out in a theatric huff like they wanted, so they storm out in a real huff and declare war, all because you gave them what they wanted?
Diplomacy is so easy it's hard.
8238075
What if they want your entire population dead?
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"Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions."--Winston Churchill
Ohhhhh... And I thought that this story was finished...
Well, it's more reading material!
Meanwhile Luna is swimming in cake on a gummy moon in the depths of the orange sea.
8259424
Churchill was a god damn legend.