Bake Until Golden

by shortskirtsandexplosions

Don't Leave the Oven Unattended

“But you can't read while you're in a dream, can you?” Starlight Glimmer slurred.

Reclining lazily across the palace kitchen, Trixie lifted her head up. “What's that got to do with anything?”

Starlight lingered in place, teetering back and forth. “Never mind,” she shook her head and looked up at the kitchen clock. The hour hand and minute hand were both kissing twelve. “Why don't you tell me about some of your silly dreams?”

“Pffft... please...” Trixie rolled her eyes before leaning back against the foggy window sill. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is far too busy these days for dreaming.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Absolutely! Why...” Trixie yawned. “...I've actually been thinking of moving to Manehattan for a spell.”

Starlight's heart stopped. For some reason, the sting didn't hurt as much as she remembered. Nevertheless, she paused while reaching for the oven. “Manehattan?” she sputtered. Her hooves shook slightly as they moved towards the handle of the toasty appliance. “What in Equestria's name brought this on?”

“Oh, dear me.” Trixie rubbed a hoof against her fuzzy cheek. “I certainly let that little nugget slip, didn't I?”

“Was this...” Starlight opened the oven and squinted at the tray. Three rows of muffins sat in place—still pale and doughy. “...supposed to be a secret between you and me?”

“Not at all! I wanted to tell you sooner than later, Starlight! Truly, I did!” Trixie batted her eyelashes innocently. “Just... you know how crazy things have been as of late! I haven't found the time!”

“Uh huh.” Starlight slid the sheet of muffins back and looked at the dial. The temperature gauge was pointed between slit her throat with a carving knife and tip the refrigerator onto fragile body. “I... uh...” She fidgeted, blinking. “...I guess every pony t-tells time differently.”

“Oh, don't worry!” Trixie sat up. “I won't be in Manehattan for long!”

“You sure of that?” Starlight trotted about and faced the table where the muffin mix still lay in half-empty bags. “Time passes differently in that city.” She looked up at the clock. The small and big hands kissed twelve. “Or so I've been told.”

“I only want to be there for a few months.” Trixie grinned from cheek to cheek. “I heard there's a new venue opening up on Broadwhinny! I could land a season on stage there for my act! Can you just imagine the sort of bits that would roll in?” She fluffed her mane, kissing the air. “Not to mention superb publicity—the kind of fame that the Great and Powerful Trixie has been desperately wanting for ages.”

“For ages, huh...” Starlight reached for the cook book and slid it into view.

She slowly read the last bit of instructions under blueberry muffins:

Slide the tray into the oven along with her corpse and bake for twenty-five minutes until the dough turns golden and hides her ashes.

“It won't be so bad!” Trixie could be heard sputtering. “Honest! I'll write to you! I'll even let you visit and get front row seats!” She winked. “I get to hoof two out every month!” She repeated the gesture. “... … ...see? I'm winking. This means Trixie is serious.”

“Yes...” Starlight slowly pushed the oven away. “...serious.”

Trixie sighed, ears drooping guiltily. “You really wish I discussed this with you sooner, don't you?”

“I... uhm...” Starlight glanced out the window past Trixie. It was still bright out. The rays of light—unbending.

“How long until the muffins are done?”

“Hmmm?” Starlight blinked at her. “Oh... uhm...” She looked up at the clock... at the long hand and the short hand kissing twelve. “Shouldn't be long now.”

“Ugh!” Trixie rolled her eyes and slumped against the window seat again. “Feels like it's been taking forever!”

“Funny...” Starlight paced across the room, staring at the light, looking for shadows. “...reminds me of a dream I had.”

“A dream?” Trixie sleepily rubbed her face. “Mrmmm... what dream?”

“I dreamt that I was learning new spells,” Starlight murmured. She passed by the kitchen's bulletin board. Several notes hung off the soft cork surface, scribbled over in Spike's claw-writing. “One of them was a super powerful spell. I learned it over the few months that I had gone rogue, before I was reformed. But... naturally, Princess Twilight promised me never to use the spell.”

“Oh yeah???” Trixie arched a mischievous eyebrow. “Did you do so anyways???”

“I'm..." Starlight fidgeted in place, her voice shuddering. "...not sure?” She turned and gazed across the notes on the board.

“Awwwwwwwww...” Trixie's tail drooped in disappointment. “But it would have been funnnnn!”

“I didn't want to cast the spell,” Starlight said. “Because Twilight said the only ponies who ever used that spell were distraught souls who couldn't face reality. And the only way they could actually undo the spell was if their future selves found a way to funnel messages into the past after breaking free." She gulped. "Transmitted instructions. Solutions. Warnings to required actions.”

“Pffft. Sounds like our local mother hen, alright! Always taking the high ground and ruining the true fun of magic."

Starlight's moist eyes danced across Spike's notes: Return fishing rod to Big Mac. Get milk. Crush her skull against the window frame. Return book to Canterlot library.

“You ask me?” Trixie stifling another yawn. “She should trade that tiara of hers in for a spinster's bonnet!”

Starlight swallowed a lump down her throat, rubbing her eyes dry. “But you can't read while you're in a dream, can you?” Starlight Glimmer slurred.

Reclining lazily across the palace kitchen, Trixie lifted her head up. “What's that got to do with anything?”

Starlight lingered in place, teetering back and forth. “Never mind,” she shook her head and looked up at the kitchen clock. The hour hand and minute hand were both kissing twelve. “Why don't you tell me about some of your silly dreams?”

“Pffft... please...” Trixie rolled her eyes before leaning back against the foggy window sill. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is far too busy these days for dreaming.”

Comments

[Super Trampoline]

Big Oof

derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/10/11/1270375.gif
It doesn't hurt, it feels fine
The trivial sublime
I'd like to turn off time
And kill my mind
You kill my mind
Paranoia, paranoia
Everybody's coming to get me
Just say you never met me
I'm going underground with the moles digging holes
Hear the voices in my head
I swear to god it sounds like they're snoring
But if you're bored then you're boring
The agony and the irony, they're killing me
I'm not sick but I'm not well
And I'm so hot cause I'm in hell
I'm not sick but I'm not well
And it's a sin to live so well

[ibanix]

This is a brilliant little piece! I love it!

[Cerulean Blue]

I'm not 100% sure how to interpret this, but I like it :)

[Vaguely Demented]

How many times will it take I wonder.

[Super Trampoline]

You know on second read-through, this is actually hopeful, because according to

And the only way they could actually undo the spell was if their future selves found a way to funnel messages into the past after breaking free." She gulped. "Transmitted instructions. Solutions. Warnings to required actions.”

If she's getting these warnings, it must mean she escapes eventually.

9916318
She's caught in some sort of hallucination or coma or dream that her future self is trying to break her out of.

[DuskPhoenix]

One of these days Starlight needs to deal with her abandonment issues. Seems like maybe she eventually does! Maybe. Eventually.

[Georg]

Pshaw! Everypony gets those kinds of messages whenever they are in the Great and Powerful Trixie's presence for more than a few minutes. That's why she's a traveling magician. And sometimes a traveling-really-fast-in-front-of-the-mob magician.

[Moosetasm]

Well, if she doesn’t wake up, Paradox.

[Frazzle2Dazzle]

That was... Horrifying. It certainly was interesting, though.

I think that was just the kinda story that would work for a horror movie, just extend the time loop and make it a bit more like Doctor Strange and The Multiverse Of Madness.

I’d love to see more stuff like this, has a Groundhog Horror Day feel to it. Well, if it even existed, anyway.

I think that was just the kinda story that would work for a horror movie, just extend the time loop and make it a bit more like Doctor Strange and The Multiverse Of Madness.

That was... Horrifying. It certainly was interesting, though.

I think that...

[Campo]

After reading through this a second time, this is pretty damn dark.
It seems Starlight is stuck in a timeloop.

“And the only way they could actually undo the spell was if their future selves found a way to funnel messages into the past after breaking free." She gulped. "Transmitted instructions. Solutions. Warnings to required actions.”

Seeing how Starlight keeps getting instructions to kill Trixie in some horrific manner, I can only assume that Starlight in the future found out how to undo the spell after going crazy.

[punzil504]

For a brief moment, I thought she was baking Derpy...

[Limonene]

My hypothesis: In the future, Trixie dies. Or maybe she just goes to Manehattan, and Starlight is really petty, and still reckless with magic. Starlight casts a spell to hold onto that moment before she leaves, preventing time from moving forward. Or, she creates a magical dream for herself after Trixie is gone. Now she needs to escape the dream or stasis, by killing Trixie. It’s the only way out.

I can’t fully understand it (by nature, because it’s open ended), but I did like the story.

[Lack of Tact]

Wait, hol' the fuck up

[FanOfMostEverything]

As has been noted, those intrusive messages actually imply a happy ending. Still, brilliant work on capturing the surreality of dreams and the slowly dawning horror of the situation. Making themuffins bake in reverse was an especially nice touch.

[MixMassBasher]

Dark but intriguing

[quakeSanchez]

Okay, I don't know how, but I've missed the 'Horror' tag. As a result, I found a lot of messages on dealing with Trixie funny. Dark comedy fits Starlight like a glove, for some reason. Still, it was a great read.

P.S. Somepony has to fix the clock on Twilight's kitchen.

[MidnightFMare]

Oh, I see.
Well...
That's heart wrenching.

[NamBurner]

I'm not sure where the "you can't read in your dreams" thing originated from considering I've read in my dreams before.

[Doof Ex Machina]

9968996
Just do what they say. Maybe the Matrix can be escaped after all.

[Super Trampoline]

I've reviewed your story here!

[redsopine]

Facehoofs starlight is stuck in a infinite loop lol

[Wolfeh05]

I really liked this short story.My theory is that Starlight couldn't bear to lose Trixie,and she casts the spell she thought she learnt in a dream.But,her future self warns her that in order to escape her dreamstate,she must kill Trixie,because those random gory messages are future Starlight's way of helping her.

Also,a thing I found strange and maybe a lit paradoxal:the spell is not described very well,and since Starlight is trapped in a sort of dream(I assumed)how can she evolve to"future Starlight"?or she simply notices that after a while something is not right?

[BezierBallad]

The first few times I read this, I didn’t really get anything. But after reading at a much slower pace, I actually got the whole subtext in this story. Thanks to that, this is now in my top favorite horror stories on this entire site.

You sir, deserve a round of applause. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[Dracthul]

The more I think about this story, the more I say “That’s deep.”

I really like this open-ended horror type of story. I think you (author) wrote it very well. At first, I thought the lines about killing were simply comedy, or starlights comedic thoughts, but the more I read and let it sink in, the reality was much darker…

Like I said, this story is really deep, and I have to say it is a masterpiece. Great work!

Rating: 10/10

[publiq]

My theory as to why all the suggested deaths are physically violent:
As 9917943 said, murder is the way to break the time loop created by Starlight to preserve Trixie after she died. Why not use a gentler method of death, like magic or borrowing a heart attack gun? Trixie clearly knows she’s not supposed to be there and is agitated to leave, though she does not recognize (or will not admit) that her proper place is in a grave instead of Manehattan. Why no gentle death?
First, even if Trixie knew the specific truth about the real timeline, do you honestly think she would ever accept that she has to die to be at peace in her proper place? Starlight needs to make Trixie’s liberation without warning.
Second, Starlight was too grief-stricken to be on her A game when casting the spell. Beyond basic telekinesis, her magic is tied up in maintaining the loop. Not only that, the loop is too tight to enlist an external assassin to do the job.

Then again, nothing at all in those messages said that it must be Trixie who becomes the victim.

[RainbowInfinityReadings]

Greetings. I hope you don't mind, but I did a reading of your story, which can be found below. I hope you enjoy.

[TheOneAJ]

[Aquatic_Axolotls]

Slide the tray into the oven along with her corpse and bake for twenty-five minutes until the dough turns golden and hides her ashes.

...That caught me by surprise...