//------------------------------// // Cupcake Disaster // Story: MLD: Through Time // by Nerdz //------------------------------// Hoofsteps echoed down the hallway. The filly, coat as dark as the shadow she cast, moved quickly despite being laden with bulging saddlebags. She turned down a corridor, passing door after identical door before stopping in front of one near the end of the hall. She pushed open the door, stepping into the room and flicking on a light. She moved to a corner of the room, near a window, and deposited her bags on the floor, a muffled thunk sounding as it hit the ground. Her horn sparked before erupting into a blue aura. She sent part of her magic to a closet set in the wall. She opened the door and removed a blank canvas from the dark interior, which she levitated onto the wooden stand before her. While she did that, another portion of her magic went to a cupboard where it arranged a large selection of materials into a bucket, which was levitated to her side. Finished with the setup, the filly directed her attention to her bags. Using her still-lit magic, she unbuckled the clasp holding the right side closed. She reached her magic inside the now-opened bag and removed a long coat that once had been a dull, sickly yellow color, but had since been stained with an array of selections from the color spectrum. Donning the coat to protect her purple tank top, she then opened the other side of the bag. She removed a silver thermos and twisted off the lid, lifting the canister to her lips and taking a slow sip. She set the thermos at her feet after screwing the lid back on and returned her attention to the left side of the bag. She peered over its contents, a small array of unhealthy treats, eventually selecting a serving-size bag of chips. She tore open the bag and popped a few of the salted potato slices into her mouth before setting the bag so that it leaned against her thermos. She turned again to the right side of her bag. She pulled out a small black cellphone and a tangled pair of white earbuds. She grumbled her frustration as she twisted the wires in her magic to undo the knots. Once that mundane task had been completed, she put a bud in her right ear and plugged the headphones into the audio jack. She opened her music app, selected a playlist titled “Creativity”, and put it on shuffle before dropping the phone into a pocket on the front of her coat to protect it. She reached her magic into her bag a final time and pulled out a thick notebook. She flipped a few pages in and lifted her thermos to take another drink while she read over the notes she’d made. She set the thermos back on the floor and propped the notebook where she could easily refer to it as she worked. Finally satisfied with her workspace, the filly turned to her supplies and used part of her magic to levitate a large acrylic palette at her side, while a smaller portion of her aura pulled a black band from her hoof and used it to tie her long lilac mane into a messy ponytail. She glanced at her notes again and levitated a tube of purple paint over the palette before squeezing out a sizable amount onto the smooth surface. Deciding the color was too dark, she repeated the procedure with a tube of white paint. Next, she lifted a paintbrush in her aura and used it to mix the colors until she had a pleasant shade of pale purple. She took the end of the brush between her teeth, old habits die hard, after all, and proceeded to coat the canvas with the color. She pulled away after a few minutes and ran her gaze over the canvas, checking for areas she’d missed. The filly gave a satisfied nod once she was certain the entire surface had been changed from white to purple and glanced around her workspace. Her eyes landed on the empty cup in her supply bucket, causing her to groan and mentally chastise herself. Her magic split, taking the brush from her mouth and lifting the cup. While her mouth moved along to the lyrics of the song playing through her earbuds as she silently sang, she levitated the cup over to a sink near the door, filling it up, and bringing it back towards herself. She dropped the brush into the water and set the cup on the floor, taking care to place it far enough away that she wouldn’t accidentally tip it over. She turned back to the canvas, and after giving it a bit of thought, she used her magic to dry the paint so she could continue, rather than wait the hours it would’ve taken to dry naturally. “Nyx! There you are!” The dark filly turned to the door to find a dark-maned filly standing in the doorway. She wore a batter-stained apron that tied around her neck and waist. Her pale blue face was speckled in white; flour maybe? The Alicorn used her magic to take her phone from her pocket pause her music and take the buds out of her ears. “Where else would I be?” she answered, wrapping her earbuds around the phone and slipping the whole thing back into her pocket. She glanced back at her notes, a pencil levitated before the canvas. She began to sketch on the dried paint, careful to make the lines dark enough for her to see, but not pressing down hard enough to scratch off the background paint. “I need your help!” The newcomer groaned. “What’s up?” Nyx turned away from the canvas, giving her full attention to the other girl. “I messed up. I messed up so, so bad!” The filly felt her heart drop. “What happened?” she asked, her voice wavering slightly. “This!” the blue filly stepped fully into the room to reveal a silver tray balanced on her back. Five tiny cakes were arranged neatly on the tray. Nyx let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding. She cocked her head in confusion. “You made...cupcakes?” The filly sighed. “Miss Cake, the Home Ec. teacher, you know her right? Short, yellow coat, orange mane, smells like a pumpkin spice latte?” the girl waited for a nod of confirmation before continuing, “She assigned for us to bake something tonight for homework, and I tried to make cupcakes, but I accidentally used salt instead of sugar and-” “Woah, salt?” the darker filly struggled to suppress her laughter. “Gosh, Lady, how did you manage that?” The Changeling blushed. “My mind was...elsewhere.” Nyx smirked. “‘Elsewhere’ wouldn’t happen to be located with, I don’t know, a blonde colt who wears a cowpony hat, would it?” she teased. “Anyway,” Lady Bug ignored her roommate’s jabs, “I didn’t realize what I had done until after I had finished decorating them and tried one, and I don’t have time to make more today because I happen to have a date tonight.” The Alicorn sighed laughingly and shook her head, turning back to her sketching. “Lady, only you could manage this.” The blue filly gave a dejected sigh and poked at one of the cakes with her hoof. “I’m usually good at baking too. I had the best teacher on the Isle. Scarab made the best cakes.” she let her mind wander to childhood days spent baking with one of the few Changelings who had stayed loyal to her mother after the disaster that was the Canterlot Siege. “You remember him, don’t you? He made the cakes for my birthday every year.” Nyx’s smirk faded to a sad smile. “I wouldn’t know; I was never invited.” she turned to her friend, pencil frozen in place barely touching the surface of the canvas. “We weren’t exactly friends back then, remember?” “That wasn’t my fault!” the Changeling defended, “I wanted to invite you, but you know how my mother was.” The Alicorn raised a hoof to shush the filly. “I know, but that’s a story for another time.” she lowered her hoof, moving to put away the pencil. She lifted her supply bucket and set it on the edge of the counter at her side. She then turned her attention fully on her roommate. “So what exactly do you need me for?” “Well like I said, I’m going on a date tonight, and I doubt I’ll have time when I get back to bake, so I was wondering if you could help me out with a spell?” the blue filly used her magic to hold the tray up to her friend’s face. Nyx used her hoof to push the floating tray away. She raised her eyebrow. “You want me to help you cheat,” she stated bluntly. “Nope, nuh uh, we’re trying to be good, remember?” The tray inched closer. “Yeah...but, helping out a friend with her homework is being good…” A deep sigh escaped the dark Alicorn. She leaned her head back away from the salty cakes. “If I help you, will you A, cut the melodramatics. B, get this tray out of my face,” she pushed the tray again, earning a sheepish smile from the blue filly, “And C, let me get back to work?” she waved her hoof towards her unfinished painting, wincing slightly when the tip of her hoof smacked against her supply bucket, knocking it closer to the edge. The Changeling nodded quickly. “Yes! Yes, totally, definitely. Thank you,” she gushed. Nyx squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. It wouldn’t be too difficult, a simple transformation spell. She couldn’t actually turn the salt into sugar, but what she could do was rearrange the flavor compound and make it sweet. It’s not perfect, and it wouldn’t taste quite the same, but it wouldn’t be noticeable enough for anypony to suspect something. She took the tray in her magic. She closed her eyes, beginning her spell. Lady grinned as she watched. A loud thump broke through the quiet, causing both mares to jump. Startled, Nyx’s magic cut off at her horn, causing the tray to crash to the floor with a metallic clang. The girls looked to the side where Nyx’s supply bucket had toppled over the edge of the counter, its contents now scattered across the floor. Lady sighed, turning to pick up the tray. She froze, a gasp caught in her throat. The cakes swelled until they looked as if they were about to burst. Panicking, the Changeling flared her horn, gripped the tray in her magic, levitated it rapidly towards the door, and chucked the whole thing into the hallway. They heard the metal scraping as the tray slid along the floor. Lady turned to see her friend giving her a confused look. “They were getting bigger! I thought they were going to-” a muted, gooey-sounding blast sounded from the hallway. Nyx pressed a hoof to the base of her horn. “I didn’t finish the spell.” she groaned, “Know what happens when a spell isn’t completed? Not what you wanted to happen, and it usually results in-” A very angry looking filly in a pastel red blouse and cream-colored skirt stepped into the room. Her face and mane were coated in frosting, sprinkles, and crumbs. Her yellow hoof tapped angrily at the floor. Nyx sighed. “Explosions.”