Chapter 3: Sweet Temptation

Chapter 3:  Sweet Temptation

The two princesses searched the forest for hours, keeping close to the area where they knew the cave was since that was were their parents were being kept.  Celestia blasted at the ground over and over again with her unicorn horn, trying in vain to find any sign of an entrance.   Luna flew overhead looking for any sign of an entrance to the cave, but had no luck what so ever.  She landed next to her sister after several hours of flight, watching Celestia wince at the pains caused by her overheated horn.  “I can not find an entrance from the air,” she said, stretching her sore wings after so many hours of exhausting flight.  “Have you had any luck on the ground?  I saw your efforts from the air.”

Celestia sighed as she rubbed her pained temples.  “No luck yet my sister,” she groaned, squinting in pain at how much of a headache her efforts had caused her.  The pain was so great that a tear leaked out, a tear that just annoyed Celestia all the more.

Luna stopped fidgeting her wings when noticed her sister’s pain.  “Are you alright Tia?” she asked, allowing Celestia to lean heavily against her.

Celestia let out a frustrated sigh as she collapsed upon her sister’s back.  “Oh Lulu!  I am exhausted!” she sobbed.  “I am so sore that I can not think strait!  I am so worried about mother and father, and I want to go home!  I want my wings back!  What shall we do?”

Luna could feel her sister’s frustrated tears leaking onto her coat.  “Rest a while Tia,” she said as she lead Celestia to a comfortable spot under a leafless tree.  “It is going to be night soon, and I will need to figure out how I am going to raise the moon from this strange new place.  After that I will look for something we can eat, and then we shall talk about what to do next.”

Celestia was grateful for her sister’s desire to be helpful after such a stressful day.  Together they quickly found a soft spot for Celestia to lay in the snow.  Luna had even brought Celestia a bundle of sticks so that she could build a fire.  It took some effort on Celestia’s part, but she was able to get a few sparks out of her horn that ignited the wood scraps.

With the fire now blazing, Celestia laid back and watched as Luna’s eyes begin to glow.  Luna flew up in the air to perform the evening ritual that she had been trained to do since childhood.  She could tell that Luna was having some problems with her task since her horn was missing, watching as her sister’s body quivered with exertion as she tried to figure out what to do.  She could tell that Luna was doing her best to move the heavenly orb without her horn from the unfamiliar earth, having spent years perfecting the art from the astral plane.

At first, the moon wobbled on the horizon during the start of its trajectory path, but it soon straitened out as Luna figured out what to do.  The tips of Luna’s wings began to glow like a unicorn’s horn, allowing the moon to steadily rise.  Just watching Luna work exhausted Celestia, making her wonder if she would be able to perform her own duties in the morning.  She had never had a headache this bad in all her life, and wondered if a good night’s sleep would be the cure for it.

Celestia’s mind began to wander as Luna left to find some food.  She closed her eyes to help relieve some of the pressure that pulsed against her horn and forehead.  With her eyes closed, her other senses began to take over for her.  She could hear the hooting of distant owls, the gentle crispness of snow falling, the wind whistling through the naked branches, the clicks and pops of the burning firewood, and the gentle clacking of nocturnal rodents.  She could feel snowflakes landing on her pristine white coat, surprised by the sensation each one left as it melted against her skin.  She rolled on to her back to try to warm the sensations they left on her.  She took a deep breath as she scrunched up her back, breathing in the crispness of winter, the warm smells of the fire, and the sweet smells of cake.  Wait... cake?

Celestia’s eyes flew open at the out of place smell.  “Lulu?” she asked as she looked around, trying to see either her sister or this cake she was smelling.  The only thing she could see beyond the fire was darkness, the dim light of the fire casting shifting shadows as the flame danced around on the scraps of wood.  Still, the smell of cake was wafting strongly through the air, making her stomach rumble loudly.  The day’s effort had left her hungrier than she had realized.

Getting up from under the safety of the tree, Celestia began to investigate by following her nose.  She began to salivate at the smells of vanilla, almond, and apple mixed with the sugary sweetness of frosting.  What a cake could possibly be doing out in the middle of the woods at night was a mystery to her, but she was eager to find out the delicious answers to her questions.

She came upon a wide grove where she saw the cake sitting on a large stump, the grove itself untouched by snow or cold.  Her eyes widened as she licked her lips, taking in the sight of the sweet prey she had sniffed out.  She’d never seen a prettier cake in all her life, noticing how perfectly cylindrical it was, and all the fresh apple slices used to garnish the most perfect sparkling white icing she had ever seen.  It looked better than it smelled, and that was saying something because it smelled heavenly!  Celestia was about to take a bite when she heard her sister’s voice from further away.  “Over here Lulu!” she shouted blithely in the direction she heard her sister’s voice.  “You must come at once!  You will not believe what I have found!”

Luna flew in the direction she heard her sister’s cheery voice, happy to see her sister up and well.  “I have found you some food,” she said, setting a small pile of acorns at her sister’s feet before looking at what her sister had found.  “Where is this place, Tia?  Why is it not effected by the cold, and where did this cake come from?”

Celestia giggled at her sister’s serious apprehension, a gesture which Luna did not appreciate.  “What does it matter my sister?” she smiled, turning her attention once again to the treat that lay before her.  “The important thing is that it is here, and that we are here together.  Let us enjoy this treat before it freezes.”

Luna glanced untrustingly at the beautiful cake, feeling more apprehensive about where it came from than why it was there.  “I honestly think we should leave it alone,” she suggested, much to Celestia’s annoyance.  “We do not know from where it came, nor whose it is.  It would be very unkind for us to invade on something that is not ours.  Besides, I have brought us some food, so we will not starve if we do not eat it.”

Celestia looked distastefully down at the acorns Luna had wrapped in dead leaves.  “Do not think me ungrateful for your generous offering fair sister,” she said, careful not to hurt her sister’s feelings as her gaze fell back on the cake.  “You must understand, when your meal is set beside such a sight, one can not help but be tempted by it.  It is almost too much to refuse.”

Luna was hurt to see her efforts cast aside for something more appealing, but she knew how much of a sweet tooth her sister had.  “I must ask you to question this set up,” she said, standing calmly before Celestia so that she could make a space between her sister and the cake.  “I fear that this treat is little more than a trap, perhaps brought about by Discord to put us in a state of disagreement.  I do not want my sister’s loyalty tested by a sugary confection, and nor should you.  We have seen him use this kind of confectioner’s magic before.”

Celestia looked down at the ground in guilt as her sister spoke, her stomach voicing her disappointment.  “Forgive me my haste, dear Lulu,” she grumbled.  “If it is Discord’s magic, then surely I have been a fool.  But could this not be his magic?  What if it truly is a blessing bestowed upon our hunger?  Maybe if I perform a spell on it myself we can see if this is indeed a trick or a treat.”

Luna took a deep breath to try to calm her doubts, breathing in the inciting scent of the cake in question.  “I want to trust in your judgment my sister,” she said, a trusting smile coming to her lips as she stepped away from the cake to let her sister work.  “You have always been far more gifted in magic than I ever have.  Perhaps that is an advantage we have over Discord since you still have your horn.”

Celestia laughed as she thought about the advantage she had over her skills with magic.  “I had not thought about that,” she said as her horn lit in a dim glow that made her head hurt again.  “Perhaps Discord is not as clever as we give him credit for.”

Even after some rest, it was still difficult for Celestia to perform magic with her horn being so overused.  Still, she did not want to let her sister down, nor did she want to give up on the tempting cake.  She performed a half hearted protection spell on the cake, thinking more about her hunger than about the task at hand.  “It is good,” she said impatiently as she rushed up to the cake.  “Come, let us dine.”

Luna swallowed an apprehensive lump in her throat as she went to stand beside her sister.  She watched Celestia smile broadly as she took an enormous bite out of the cake.  “Oh Lulu!” Celestia exclaimed, her eyes beaming with joy as she talked with her mouth full.  “It is amazing!  You simply must have some!”

Luna bent down to take a small, ladylike bite, not taking her eyes off of Celestia.  She could feel a smile spreading across her own face as she sampled the questionable cake.  “You are correct,” she said in surprise.  “This treat is fit for a king, or a queen, or a princess!  It is wonderful!”

As the sisters eagerly took their second bites, they heard a darkly familiar laugh behind them.  Both of their heads shot up at the sound, their mouths both full of cake.  Discord appeared before the two sisters, pointing and laughing at the two of them.  “You should see your faces!” he giggled.  “And here I thought princesses were supposed to be dainty and well mannered, but you two!  Faces covered in cake, and cheeks stuffed like a pair of squirrels!”

Luna spat out her mouthful of cake before confronting her sister. “You said it was safe to eat!” she blamed, scolding Celestia for her poor judgment.  “The cake is a lie, and so are you!”

Celestia swallowed her mouthful before defending herself.  “You are to blame as well,” she retorted haughtily.  “For as much as you fretted, did you even think to look for Discord?  You were just as hungry as I was!”

Discord stood back and watched the princesses fighting with one another.  “How entertaining, just like the pegasi and unicorns of earth,” he smiled as he snapped his fingers, causing the colors of the two ponies coats to fade into shades of gray.  “Perhaps we should take this little tete-a-tete elsewhere?  Someplace more appropriate?”

With another snap of his fingers, Discord summoned a pack of windigos to form a second whirlwind around the sisters similar to the one that brought them there in the first place.  The princesses bickered and screamed as they were once again lifted into the air, this time not bothering to hold each other for protection.  Discord sat back and watched the princesses disappear in the blizzardy haze that the windigos brought on.  “Take them to the tribes,” he commanded the windigos.  “I want to watch them in their new roles.  That should be fun.”