>Celestia took a teacup in her golden aura, brought it up to her snout and took a delicate sip.
>She thoughtfully smacked her lips together, enjoying the taste, and looked at the table.
>There, on a huge plate, was lying a slice of cake -- delicious layers of dough, between the rich creamy goodness.
>A large round candied cherry glittered softly atop of the slice, basking in rays of the sun, shining through the arched window.
>Celestia examined it for a while, contemplating, then sighed.
>"Lulu, why won't you take it?"
>Princess Luna, sitting by the table opposite from Celestia, took a sip from her own cup.
>"No, sister dearest, I know how much thou enjoyest the confections, so I would rather like if you took it."
>Celestia bit her lip.
>"On the contrary, Lulu. Being the eldest sister, I am obligated to take care and nurture. I want you to have it."
>Luna cocked her head to the side and sighed. Constellations in her flowing dark mane rearranged themselves into a new pattern.
>"Tia, we came to be simultaneously. It is our physical avatars, which differ in age. And even then, time is relative."
>Celestia looked at Luna, at the cake and back at Luna.
>"Luna, I just want you to be happy. Please, take it."
>The Moon Princess half-opened her wings.
>"No, my pride demands that--"
>Luna paused, catching sad look in Celestia's eyes. Her expression marveled.
>"I too want you to be happy, Tia. You love cake, so take it, please."
>The Sun Princess shifted uneasely.
>"A dilemma of the last slice..."
>She murmured.
>"I really do not enjoy dilemmas," commented Luna, "I'm the Princess of War and Action, not Diplomacy, unlike you."
>Celestia took some more tea.
>"Perhaps I am the Princess of Diplomacy," she said, a faint tinge of mischief in her tone," but that one Dragon Lord, back in the ancient times, surely didn't want to take his chances with me."
>"Racket is a form of diplomacy too, albeit a brutish one--"
>"Lulu," Celestia interrupted her, "the cream will thaw."
>"--Exactly what I meant, calling it a form of diplomacy. That Dragon didn't want to thaw as well."
>Despite Luna's jokingly unapproving tone, there were evident undertones of respect and endearment in her words.
>Celestia smiled with a warm, genuine smile.
>"What if I offered you the cake and took the cherry?"
>"That would be unacceptable, sister."
>Luna set her jaw.
>Celestia sighed and took the teapot to fill her cup.
>"The tea is running out," she mentioned absentmindedly.
>Luna stroked her chin with her wingtip, then smiled deviously.
>"I think I know how to settle this dispute."
>Celestia looked at her, ears forward.
>Yes," Luna continued," a while ago I participated in village festivities and local foals taught me a marvelous game..."
>"What game, pray tell," Celestia asked with a bit of worry.
>"Hide and Seek!" Luna stomped her hoof and unfolded her wings, making an emphasis.
>Celestia looked at her, confused.
>"Hide and Seek, really now?"
>"Yes, Tia, yes. We will play it and we will play it hardcore! No dematerialization, no peeking through the walls, no teleportation, no tracing magical signatures, no telepathy, no asking servants or guards."
>"The quality of the cake will deteriorate, while we would indulge themselves in that silliness," noted Celestia.
>Luna lit up her horn and the area around the plate with cake quickly covered with frost.
>It will not. Besides, we will contain the area of competition to the Canterlot Castle only."
>"Alright, deal." Celestia nodded and grinned.
>"I will count to ten!" Luna proclaimed hastily, retreating into the corner of the huge dinner room, "One, two, three, four..."
>Without a word Celestia got airborne with one powerful flap of her wings and flew out of the window.
***
>You are Anon.
>You are currently strolling down the halls of the Canterlot Castle heading to the kitchen.
>After a long reading and writing session in the library you have fallen asleep there once again.
>Walking past the one of the dining rooms you see servants carrying out tableware.
>You decide to go in and see if one or both of your royal hostesses are in, finishing their breakfast.
>They will, most likely, order servants to bring something for you as well.
>You approach the doorway and look into the room.
>The Sisters aren't in the room, but on the table you see a plate with a huge, Princess-sized cake, with cherry on top.
'Maybe they weren't here at all.'
>You think to yourself.
>Still, that's a very good-looking cake.
>You look around, to ask servants if it's taken, but everypony have already vacated the room and are currently half a mile down the corridor.
>You shrug and go for the plate.
"Amazing cake ahead, try holding with both hands."
>You murmur, lifting the heavy plate.
>You wonder, where is Celestia at.
>You decide to go look for her. Maybe she isn't very busy and you can eat cake together.
>Speaking of cake, for some reason it's cold, very cold.
>Well, all the better! It wouldn't spoil while you traverse the enormous palace.
***
>Princess Celestia was sitting on the castle's roof, atop the one of the towers.
>She chose this location for a reason.
>Her pristine white coat was practically invisible against the dashingly white stone.
>And her regalia didn't stand out near the flaming gold of the roof's gilding.
>The Alicorn of the Sun looked down, at the boundless courtyard.
>'Luna is still so prideful', she thought, sighing.
>Her sister surely was taking any competition close to heart.
>From military prowess to pie eating championship, from the question of public reverence to the first place in the six-legged race.
>Perhaps, it is for the better to just yield, make herself found.
>But, if Luna would suspect a slack, she will feel offended.
>Celestia tried to think about something, about some means to make her hiding place known to Luna in a subtle way...
>...when suddenly she spied a familiar silhouette. At the open gallery between the 3rd and 5th tower. About eight hundred meters away.
>Anon. He was heading somewhere, out of the study wing, perhaps was sleeping in the library again.
>She seriously contemplated if she should make Twilight acquainted with him.
>Then Celestia noticed something he carried.
>She squinted her eyes, zooming in. And thought, absentmindedly, that it would be more fun if the world was flat, so the curvature of the earth sphere wouldn't get in the way when looking at the far away from the mountain.
>She probably could've created a flat world sometime, but it would've infringed on the natural order.
>And she wasn't just the Alicorn of the Sun, but also the Alicorn of Order...
>The Princess blinked.
>Anon was carrying the plate with a slice of cake. No, THE slice of cake. Celestia recognized it immediately.
>He probably found it in the dining room on his way from the library, she deduced.
>Oh, why didn't he just ate it! It would've greatly simplified things.
>Celestia stomped her hoof, and the stone arch she was sitting on cracked a bit.
>Quickly restoring stone's durability with a mere thought, Celestia looked back at Anon.
>'Oh, he stopped to ask a servant something!'
>She and Luna agreed not to ask servants or guards to assist in their little game, but Anon obviously was beyond the borders of this agreement.
>If someone from the castle staff saw her flying in the sky...
>Celestia smiled.
***
>Among the vastness of green hedges surrounded by entire orchards of trees, nopony would have noticed a blue lance sticking out of the huge bush.
>Princess Luna was hiding in the Royal garden, feeling severely disadvantaged.
>Self-imposed 'no magic!' rule prevented her from using active camouflage.
>Daytime made her dark color palette an actual liability.
>And she didn't even want that stupid piece of cake in the first place!
>She just let herself be slightly carried away. As usual.
>'Perhaps I should have just taken the slice and quietly teleport it to Tia's quarters, while pretending I'm chewing.'
>'Oh, why are good thoughts always coming after!'
>Luna remembered the joy Celestia radiated when treating herself with a good cake and the mental image warmed her heart.
>Still, even the faint thoughts of explicitly yielding appalled her.
>'I should make it appear as if Celestia legitimately found me. Then my pride and her pride wouldn't be hurt. Hmmm, the best way to hide something is usually to hide it in the most evident place...'
>Luna felt a little conflicted about herself. She loved straight, blunt action, but couldn't deny that being the Princess of the Night she has a talent for covert ops.
>She peeked from the bush at the tower where Celestia's chambers were situated.
>Obviously, Celestia is searching for her elsewhere, like dungeons or war room.
>But eventually she would get bored and will go to her chambers for a snack.
>At lest she often did so, when they were fillies, thousands of years ago...
>A distant rustling sound made her ears jump.
>She turned her head too look at the huge green canopy towering over all other trees a couple of miles away.
>She waited, metaphorically slapping herself on the horn to not change to a wider spectrum vision.
>Time passed, but the titanic baobab remained calm.
>'Probably just a large flock of birds.'
>Luna thought and looked up.
>The skies were clear, so she snuck out of the bush and took off, heading for the largest castle tower.
***
>Princess Celestia nested cozily inside the huge baobab tree.
>Millennia of diligent tending by earth ponies made it flourish in an uncharacteristic high mountain enviroment.
>She fondly remembered it being a mere sapling, when Canterlot was just built.
>Around her, among the branches and leaves, were hundreds of birds.
>They sang cheerfully, nesting or just being perched on a stick.
>The birds didn't fear her in the slightest and the Pricness smiled at them with her radiant smile.
>Some birds in the immediate vicinity became evidently much healthier right away.
>'Now, Luna is probably hiding in the dungeons, or in the war room. Soon enough she will become bored and will come out to actively search for me.'
>Celestia thought.
>'Then she will either spot Anon heading here with cake, guided by the information gathered from servants, or spot Anon already talking to a tree...'
>Celestia parted branches slightly and looked out.
>It was then, that she herself spotted Anon.
>He was climbing the stairs leading into her tower, standing out against the white stone.
>'What in the world is he doing?'
>'Curses, he must've been misled by unobservant maid or butler.'
>Celestia looked around carefully.
>The skies were clear.
>She flew out of the green canopy.
***
>Luna was almost at the sill of her sister's window when she noticed Anon, climbing stairs to the tower.
>'Aha! I was right!'
>Always a nice feeling.
>'Looks like Celestia relayed him here with a snack, intending to return to her chambers and have a break!'
>'Now, all I need to do is to hide beyond the dressing screen and when she returns, I will show a bit of my tail from under it...'
>Luna lit up her horn and grabbed the window frame.
***
>Celestia hovered in front of her own window, looking at Anon who was climbing the stairs.
>He was focused on the heavy plate and didn't pay attention to the skies.
>Now, because of 'no magic' rule she just need to quickly write 'I'm in garden' on a piece of paper and fly away before he enters.
>Celestia lit up her horn and grabbed the window frame.
***
>You are Anon.
>You are climbing up the marble stairs to Celestia's tower.
>The view from here is great!
>There is the Royal garden, most of the capital city and even some lands around the mountain.
>But you are mostly focused on your haul, because the silver plate is fucking heavy.
>The cream has also began to thaw a bit.
>Maids saw Celestia flying up, so she probably should be in her chambers, as the day court shouldn't be opened yet.
>Finally, you have climbed up.
"My Princess! It's me, Anon. I brought cake!"
>Silence was your answer.
"Are you there?"
>Silence.
>Hmm, strange.
>You tried to shrug but the plate in your hands prevented it.
'Oh, OK.'
>You pushed the door with a plate's edge. Good thing it was to be opened inside.
>Then you took a few steps in and froze.
>In front of you, Celestia and Luna were standing in the middle of the huge chamber, staring at each other with the great embarrassment.
"Uh, hello..."
>Royal Sisters looked at you.
>Celestia coughed.
>"Hello, my dear Anon!"
>Luna shifted her weight from leg to leg.
>"Greetings!" she said as well.
"I, um, brought a cake I found in the dining hall. I thought we can eat it together..."
>Celestia looked at flustered Luna.
>"Perhaps it's a sign, Lulu. A sign that we should stop this silly nonsense."
>"Yes, perhaps it is so, Tia." Luna agreed, a bit awkwardly.
>Celestia took a step towards you and wrapped you in her wing.
>You felt the weight lifted from your hands, as her golden aura caught the plate.
>Luna blinked and a whole tea set teleported itself into the room; cups, plates, and a steaming teapot.
>Slice of cake on the plate parted itself into three more pieces.
>Celestia lowered the plate to the floor and laid down, bringing you with her with an insistent wingpush.
>Luna laid nearby and hugged you with her wing as well.
>She filled the three cups with tea, took one herself and offered the other to you.
>Celestia has given everyone a piece of cake.
>"I think, Anon should take the cherry, sister."
>She said, addressing Luna.
>"Most Certainly!" the Night Alicorn nodded.
>You looked around, puzzled and took the piece of cake with the cherry on top.
>"Thank you, Anon." Celestia said in her the most warm and charming manner.
>And brought you and Luna together with her, for a tight threeway hug.