The Most Daring Act Ever Committed
It is the day of the Grand Galloping Gala. You have attended these things before including last years. It certainly stands out in your memory as the most interesting Gala you've attended. Well, to me more accurate it's the only interesting Gala you've been to. All the others have been so dull you once watched paint dry to see if it would be more interesting.
It was.
But last year you remember a group of mares, from Ponyville you believe, who certainly made themselves the centre of attention. Not that you minded, the Gala was in desperate need of lively activity.
You went to the Galas solely for one reason.
Princess Celestia.
Or to be more precise, it was the cakes of Princess Celestia. They were the most delicious cakes ever made.
Or so you believed. They must be, they're made for the Princess after all. Anything less than perfection is an insult to the Princess. She is so lovely and kind to everypony, is it really too much to ask to make her the most perfect of cakes.
Anyway, you went to the Gala because each year, her Royal Chef would bake her a cake specifically for the Gala that could only be eaten by the Princess. No-pony else was permitted to even touch it, let alone eat it. Even Princess Luna. That is a rule that came from Princess Celestia herself. No-pony is sure how or why the 'Gala Cake' came to be, but the Princess put it in very high regard. So much so that ponies wouldn't dare even touch it. They wouldn't even look at it up close. In the early days of the Gala, the ponies of the time put guards around the cake to deter would be cake-thieves.
You can't be certain but you think Princess Celestia herself allowed that to happen. Probably to liven things up a little or to amuse herself. You think she was probably joking when she said no-pony was allowed to eat any or touch it and that the ponies of the time didn't realise it.
In regards to eating or even touching the 'Gala Cake', there are rumours that the punishment for transgressing this rule results in the most harshest of penalties. No-pony knows exactly what that punishment is, except for Princess Celestia. Some say the law breaker will be sent to Tartarus for eternity. Others say you will spend the rest of your days in the Canterlot dungeons. There are even some who say that you will be petrified and your statue placed in the gardens opposite the cake kitchen.
Yeah, Princess Celestia built a kitchen specifically to have cakes baked.
Well she built two actually. The other was for back up, 'just in case'.
You desperately wanted to try the 'Gala Cake'. You had been to several Galas and each time you had to sit and watch the Princess eat it. You have been tempted to try some, but the risk of punishment put you off. The rumours of what the punishment could be scared you.
There was even the myth of a 'Cake Deprivation Room' where the culprit would be locked in a cage in a room surrounded by cakes, and be forced to watch as the Princess eats each and every cake in the room without giving any to you. So much cake within hooves reach, yet completely out of reach at the same time.
This was one myth that you hoped remain that way.
It wouldn't surprise you if the Princess herself started that one.
It was so unfair. One mouthful. That is all you want. Just one mouthful to say that you have tried the 'Gala Cake'. Why did the Princess have to be so mean and selfish?
NO! The Princess isn't mean and selfish. You love Princess Celestia. She is the most kind and generous pony there is. Surely if you asked her she would give you some?
You contemplated the question.
You decided to Tartarus with it. You were going to ask her. In the ball room tonight when it is revealed to everypony, you would ask the Princess herself for a piece of the 'Gala Cake'.
You smiled and started clapping your hooves in excitement.
An hour before the Gala, you got out a suit for tonight and then got a hot shower making sure to style your mane as well. The suit you had looked like that, when worn, fire itself was flickering from your body. It suited your mane and tail perfectly. If you were going to this you were going to do it in style.
You went over to a mirror and admired yourself.
You would certainly stand out tonight.
Looking at the clock you see it's time to go. You left your small Canterlot bedsit and headed for the Castle.
May the odds be ever in my favour
You arrive at the castle and there are already a lot of ponies there. You decide to join the queue that is waiting the meet the Princess. You admit you do have a soft spot for the Princess. After all she is the most beautiful and kind pony there is.
The queue moves along quicker than you thought it would. In very little time, you find yourself at the hooves of the Princess you admire so much.
"Welcome to the Grand Galloping Gala," said the Princess as she extended her hoof.
"Thank you for letting me come Princess," you reply as you shake her hoof.
"You're welcome my little pony."
You smile at her kind words and move into the castle to the Gala itself. You saw many ponies you recognised. There were some new faces as well. Not that you were bothered. Tonight, you were a pony on a mission. You just had to wait for a couple of hours until the reveal.
It would be a very long two hours.
Tick
Tock
Tick
Tock
Tick
Tock
Those two hours weren't as event free as you thought they would be.
Discord turned up.
Discord things happened.
Then things went back to normal like nothing occurred.
But now it was time.
Everypony made the way to the 'Gala Cake' table. The cake hidden from view by a magical shield.
Princess Celestia made her way to the table and addressed the ponies. You don't know what she was saying as you tuned her out, solely focussed on the mission at hand.
Then the moment of the reveal.
There was a gasp of breathes as the cake was revealed.
And it was the most beautiful cake you had ever seen. It was taller than Princess Celestia and just as beautiful. It was like the Princess in cake form. As per tradition, she cuts a piece of cake and starts to eat it eliciting a round of stomping hooves and jubilant cheers.
You notice she has stopped eating.
This is it.
You star walking slowly forward. Ponies saw you walking forward and move out of the way. The Princess notices you and you are certain you see a very small smile. Does she know what you are planning?
You keep walking until you are just a few hooves away from the Princess, who starts to speak to you.
"Is there something you require my little pony?"
Feeling nervous, you slowly open your mouth.
But no sound comes out.
"There's no need to be nervous my little pony."
Her voice relaxes you a bit. It is so warm and caring.
Steeling yourself, you try again.
"I was just wondering if I could try a piece?"
The Princess looks at you wide eyed.
"You mean you want to try a piece of the Gala Cake?"
"Yes," you reply.
You could hear a load chorus of gasps. The Princess, her guards, Princess Luna, even Discord......just stood there with mouths open.
The Princess composes herself and calmly speaks, "I'm sorry my little pony, but the Gala Cake can only be consumed by myself."
You try not to look disappointed but there were tears forming in your eyes and you looked to the floor. The Princess notices this and gently lifts your head up with a hoof, "Do not despair my little pony, it was very brave of you to ask."
She then gives you a kiss on the forehead and slowly walks away. The assembled ponies all start to wonder back to what they were doing before.
But you stood where you where.
Crying a little bit.
NO!
You would not be denied now, not after having come so far.
You turned towards the cake and made a defiant march towards it. This actin attracted the attention of the guards who took up a defensive stance.
"HALT! MOVE AWAY FROM THE CAKE IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING!"
This got the attention of everypony.
Princess Luna, Discord, the Elements of Harmony, the Nobles.....EVERYPONY!
You ignored the guards and continued towards the cake.
Levitating the knife with your magic you cut yourself a slice of the Gala Cake.
You then take the slice of cake in your magic and proceed to levitate it to your mouth.
"DO NOT DARE TO EAT THAT MY LITTLE PONY!" shouted an angry Princess Celestia.
You slowly continue to move the cake towards your open mouth with your magic.
"I ORDER YOU TO STOP AT ONCE!" shouted the Princess again.
You take a glance over to the Princess and see her with a fierce expression. You also see Princess Luna and Discord both trying to the best of their abilities not burst out into laughter.
You move the cake a bit more closer to your mouth.
"IF YOU EAT THAT YOU WILL BE IN BIG TROUBLE!"
You decide it's now or never and promptly eat the slice.
The chorus of gasps nearly sucked the oxygen out of the room. Princess Luna and Discord both had tears in their eyes from holding in their laughter.
Twilight Sparkle looked as furious as her Mentor.
Princess Celestia's mane and tail then ignite into a blazing inferno. The intense heat could be felt by everypony.
"YOU ARE IN VERY BIG TROUBLE MY LITTLE PONY! GUARDS, SIEZE HIM!"
Before the guards could get hold of you, you launched yourself at the cake and devoured it like there was no tomorrow. Which may be the case.
You could hear the belly laughs of Princess Luna and Discord from miles away.
You are suddenly enveloped in a gold aura and levitated away from the cake by the Princess.
She turns you around so she can look you in the face.
You have never seen her look so cross. You are actually a little scared but you hope it doesn't show.
The Princess speaks to you again "I am very disappointed in you. You are a BAD pony."
Being told that you were a bad pony caused you to cry.
You weren't a bad pony, OK you've done silly things before but you nothing that would warrant being called anything as nasty as a 'bad pony'. That was probably the nastiest thing anypony could say to anypony.
"Guards, take this pony away."
"Where to your highness?"
Princess Celestia narrowed her eyes, "THE CAKE DEPRIVATION ROOM!"
There was another intake of breath, Discord and Princess Luna stopped laughing.
Everypony (and Draconequus) looked very fearful.
It was true.
The Cake Deprivation Room was real.
And you were the pony who would experience first hoof the horrors of it.
You felt a horn blocker being attached to your horn and the Royal Guars levitated you away to your doom. You were facing away from the direction you were being taken, leaving you to see the very worried faces of ponies who feared the worst.
You start to thrash around in the magic grip which only results in another guard placing a sleeping spell on you. The last thing you see is a blurry white blob following behind.
You wake up groggily and after a few seconds your vision slowly comes back to you. You find yourself locked in a gold cage. You naturally try to open it but the horn blocker is still in place, not to mention the padlock on the cage door and the cage bars don't look like they will give way anytime soon.
You start to panic. You won't be getting out if here any time soon. You'll more than likely be spending the rest of your life in this cage.
That very thought caused you to cry again. You didn't want this. You lay on the floor in exhaustion and sob into your forelegs.
You don't know how long you were sobbing but it was a good long while.
"I'm s-s-s-sorry P-p-p-r-inc-c-c-ess. I-I-I didididn't want this. I-I-I only w-w-w-wanted t-t-to try your c-c-cake"
"I know that my little pony," said a familiar voice in a calm and soothing tone.
You look up and see the Princess.
But she doesn't look mad. Instead she smiling.
"P-p-p-princess."
"Do not be afraid. You are not in trouble. I do apologise for my actions though, but it was necessary."
You calm down a lot. You weren't in trouble. Princess Celestia doesn't lie.
You stop sobbing and manage to compose yourself, "Can you let me out?"
"Do you promise to behave and be a good pony?"
You nod you head.
"Then I see no reason to keep you in there."
She lights up her horn and unlocks the cage, and removes the horn blocker.
"I am sorry for putting you in the cage and the horn blocker but you started to thrash around. I couldn't risk you hurting yourself or getting away before I could explain."
You look up to her in confusion, "Explain what?"
She smiled, "Congratulations my little pony. You passed."
You get even more confused, "Passed what?"
"The Gala Cake was something that I helped set up. But the rules regarding it where set up by the ponies of the time including the rumours and myths in regards to defying those rules. Overtime, I grew tired of the Gala Cake being restricted to only myself. I created its concept so everypony could enjoy it, but the ponies of the time insisted I be the only one to eat it. It was not long after I banished my sister to the moon and I did not want appear to be another tyrant that Nightmare Moon was, so I let them put their rules in place."
"I don't understand Princess."
"You are the first pony to dare break the rules surrounding the Gala Cake. I decided many centuries ago that the first pony to break those silly rules would be rewarded greatly."
"You mean I've won something?"
The Princess smile grew bigger, "Indeed you have my little pony."
You felt like you would burst with excitement, but one thing lingered on your mind, "Princess, why is there a gold cage on this room?"
The Princess looked at you, "To give the myth credibility."
"That doesn't make any sense!"
"To quote Discord, 'What fun is there in making sense?'"
"Ok. But the myth also said there'd be cake in this room. I can't see any."
The Princess lit up her horn and the room was full of cakes of all different shapes and sizes.
"Invisibility spell. I use this room to store my cakes. The cage is enchanted so that any unauthorised pony who touches any cake in this room is put inside where they will remain until I can punish them. So far Luna and yourself are the only ones to occupy this cage."
"So the myth is true then?" you ask.
"Yes."
"So it's not really myth then if it's true?"
"Just because it's true doesn't mean it stops being a myth."
"Yes it does."
"No it doesn't."
"Yes it does."
Celestia sighed, "Why don't we agree to disagree and eat cake instead?"
"I agree."
One month has passed since the Gala. And things have changed since then. You have moved out of your bedsit and now reside in the castle. You have your own contingent of guards and a new job. Princess Celestia tasked you with travelling around Equestria and making a journal on all the different types of cakes Equestria had to offer. You got paid a fair amount as well. And Princess Celestia made you Minister of Pastries and Cakes in your own government department and overnight you became one of the most powerful ponies in the world.
Things couldn't be better. You became friends with Princess Luna as well. You would sometimes prank Blueblood with her. You became friends with the Elements of Harmony as well and got on particularly well with Pinkie.
You're happier than you ever have been.
And all it took was eating some cake.