Welcome Bake


                                            >"He'll be home soon," the bug queen thought to herself as she looked up at the clock. "I should do something nice for him."

                                            >Chrysalis's wings whirred to life, lifting her off the couch and into the kitchen.

                                            >"Now what?" She said aloud to no-pony in particular.

                                            >Being in a kitchen, let alone preparing food was new to Chrysalis. It was new to Changelings in general. Before now, the only thing Changelings did that resembled food preperation was cocooning prey so they would go into suspend animation with pleasant dreams, forever producing love for when it was needed. But she couldn't just throw some ingredients in a cocoon and call it day, right?

                                            >With an annoyed sigh, Chrysalis shouted. "CAPTAIN, GET IN HERE!"

                                            >There was no response. Only a series of bumps, a loud crash, and soft buzzing that quickly filled the silent kitchen.

                                            >"I'm here, you Majesty!" called out a smaller than usual drone with a soft, feminine voice and goofy smile on her face.

                                            >Chrysalis looked the drone up and down. Spotting a line of drool coming from her mouth. Wordlessly, the queen pointed at it and the drone's goofy smile turned into a nervous one.

                                            >"S-sorry, you majesty. I-I fell asleep on the job again." She admitted freely.

                                            >"It's fine." The queen responded. "You can make it up to me by helping me with my current predicament. I wish to bake cupcakes but don't know where to start. Do you know?"

                                            >"Yes your majesty, right away!" she bellowed before flying up to the top row of cabinets.

                                            >Chrysalis silently watched as the drone messily searched them; shoving some objects aside and placing others on the counter.

                                            >To say the least, this drone was strange. Most drones had one job they were really good at, some were good at two, this one was good at none of them; she was the queen's captain of the guard, head scout, quartermaster, personal servant, and many more now recently emptied positions. Chrsyalis, judging by the drone's age and size, suspected it was because she was born a little before the mutiny that reduced the once numerous Changeling species to just two. She saw on TV that some that human children born in war-torn countries, broken homes, or had an otherwise chaotic upbringing would develop a few quirks as a result; perhaps this was the same.

                                            >"I FOUND IT!" she called out. The drone flew down to the ground clutching a large white book to her chest.

                                            >It read: "Joy Of Cooking" and was written by various authors.

                                            >Chrysalis flipped through the large book. All she wanted was a simple recipe; nothing more, nothing less.

                                            >American sponge cake. Passover sponge cake. Passover Nut sponge cake. Chocolate sponge cake. European sponge cake. So many variations of the same food but with minor adjustments.

                                            >Then she found it."Blitztorte", better known as lightning cake in English. It was apparently famous for being quick and easy to prepare, hence the name.

                                            >"Captain." Chrysalis said. "I am about to list off the ingredients for our cupcakes. Are you ready?"

                                            >"Yes, your majesty!" she blurted eagerly.

                                            >With that, Chrysalis began listing off everything that was needed. Up and down, left and right, to and fro, the little drone was practically bouncing all around the kitchen; retrieving ingredients, placing them on the counter, and going for the next one.

                                            >When all was said and done everything they would need was placed on the counter. Not in any particular order or arrangement like the queen was used to and preferred, but it would do.

                                            >First, the elder bug dumped flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and started whisking them. Chrysalis made sure to do the measurements to avoid any major mistakes.

                                            >Trying to multitask, she held the mixing bowl in the air while watching the drone haphazardly cut the stick of butter into pieces so it can be slowly added. Both being so focused that neither noticed some of the contents escape the bowl and land on the floor.

                                            >The next step called for the speed of the mixing to increase and slowly add sugar for about five minutes until the texture and color changed.

                                            >The queen dumped the measuring cup into the bag of sugar and came up empty.

                                            >"Check to see if there is any more sugar, Captain." Chrysalis ordered.

                                            >The little drone beat her wings preparing to fly, causing the dusting of powder to become airborne again.

                                            >"AAAAAAAAA", Chrysalis cried before she went into a coughing fit.

                                            >The captain soon joined her. The two Changelings coughed non-stop as they struggled to continue with their work. Chrysalis making sure she didn't lose concentration and drop the mixing bowl. After the smoke cleared, she was able to survey the mini-disaster. A thin layer of the sugary dust coated her body and mane. It was also on the counter, stove, cabinets, and floor. The drone lay flat on her side, having seemingly fallen out of the air during the dusting.

                                            >Audible wheezes emanating from her quaking form.

                                            >"You can take a break. I'll finish making it on my ow-"

                                            >"I-I'm sorry, my queen." She rasped while struggling to get on all four hooves. "I-I made a mess of things again." Her breathing became erratic and she started to mumble incoherently to herself.

                                            >This was new; in all her years of life and leading the hive. She had never seen a drone act like this before. Completely at a loss of what to do, the queen searched her mind.

                                            >She thought back to all the books she had read, all the TV she watched, how pony and human cultures would mitigate in this situation.

                                            >As gently as possible, she placed a hoof on the little drone's withers and began patting it. The drone's small body was far more fragile and lightweight than it should be; practically knocking her back to the ground with the first pat.

                                            >"It..." the queen spoke. "It was an accident. We'll deal with it later, let's just finish making the cupcakes."

                                            >"You're not going to get rid of me?" The drone squeaked."

                                            >"No." Chrysalis simply stated.

                                            >She decided to doublecheck the cabinets herself. Nothing, they were truly out of sugar.

                                            >There was tap on one of her hind legs and she turned to see the miniature captain apprehensively looking up at her.

                                            >"Sorry for touching you without permission, your majesty.” She spoke nervously. “But, if could I make a suggestion?" she inquired.

                                            >"Go ahead." Chrysalis replied.

                                            >"We could use that weird stuff that comes out of our mouths sometimes." She suggested.

                                            >The queen’s only response was a confused blink.

                                            >"A-Anon told me it was really sweet that time I coughed and got some on him.” She stammered out.

                                            >Chrysalis tapped her chin. Ignoring that both Anon had tasted it and the little drone didn't know anything about disease control, she pondered. It was crazy, but the only other option was to surrender and waste time. Two things the Changeling Queen loathed. Besides, he probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

                                            >Chrysalis levitated the measuring cup under the captain's face. No verbal confirmation required, the captain closed her mouth and let the stuff pool in cheeks. When her mouth opened what came out was a slowly dripping, viscous, pink fluid. When the cup was full the drone closed her mouth and looked up with the same smile from earlier.

                                            >Chrysalis resumed stirring, slowly adding the fluid in place of the sugar. As she increased the speed the magic turned the spoon it splattered here and there, adding to the mess.

                                            >From there completing the mixture was easy; adding in the remaining elements and then ending off with putting it in the ove-

                                            >"Your majesty," the captain interjected. "We forgot to preheat the oven; it's been off the entire time."

                                            >Chrysalis let out a groan and hoof-palmed her eye, leaving a splotch of flour. Before she could say anything the drone was ready with a towel; using one foreleg to hold it as close to the queen's face as possible while standing on the tips of her other hooves.

                                            >Chrysalis took it in her magic and spoke. "It doesn't matter, we'll compensate by increasing the temperature so it cooks faster. As long as I check frequently it should be fine. In the meantime, clean the kitchen and-" she stopped mid-thought when she saw hoofsteps made of flour leaving the kitchen and going to the bathroom where the drone got the towel.

                                            >"Let's get cleaned up first, then you can clean." She finished.

                                            >The smaller changeling gave a salute and went to open the oven.

                                            >Anon was assaulted by the smell of something burning as he opened the door. He stepped inside to silence; no panicked screaming, no blaring smoke alarms. That was a good sign. The smell had changed. Through the smell of something burning, citrus and something sickenly sweet could be detected.

                                            >Taking off his shoes and dropping the bag of groceries he was carrying, he moved towards the kitchen only to see Chrysalis and the other Changeling sitting at the table, both staring at him.

                                            >"Uh, hey you two, what's up with the smell?" He forced out an awkward chuckle.

                                            >"I simply wanted to do something nice for you, as a token of thanks for taking us in. I found out through research that you humans liked sweets, so I figured I would try my hand at it." The queen stated while motioning towards a pan of dozen cupcakes at the center of the table. Anon studied the cupcakes. All of the outeredge cakes had slightly turned black while the center ones looked browner than they should be. Anon also took note of the slight burn marks on the wooden table left by the hot pan and made a mental note to get a tablecloth.

                                            >"We're out of sugar." The Queen added.

                                            >"Well that explains the smells." He thought to himself.


                                            >He took a seat at the center of the table and looked at the cupcakes. Should he reach for a slightly burned one and get the bad out of the way first? Eat the normal ones first and throw away the burned ones when the two Changelings weren't paying attention? Would lying about how they tasted even work because of how sensitive these love-eating insects were to emotions?

                                            >Anon opted to just throw caution to the wayside and grabbed the nearest cupcake, one of the partially burned ones, and took a bite. The first thing he noticed was how sweet it was. No wonder they were out of sugar, it tasted like they dumped the entire bag in. Next was the texture, it was surprisingly moist given the outside was partially burned.

                                            >"Pretty good for a first try from a couple ponies that never ate real food before." He complimented before taking another bite. "It's a little too sweet though."

                                            >The queen and the drone looked at each other as he ate. He was telling the truth; relief, satisfaction, gratitude, happiness, and a hint of love wafted towards the pair.

                                            >This is why she had gone through all the trouble. Though she would never admit it to another soul, alive or dead, the traitor had been right about one thing--love willingly given and directed towards you was the tastiest.

                                            >Chrysalis opened her mouth to feed, eating her fill and then some. She waited but the tiny captain did not partake in the love. What was she waiting for? Surely she noticed some of it was directed towards her. The queen raised her hoof and tapped the little drone on the shoulder, motioning towards the human. It's only then, after receiving permission, did she start to eat.

                                            >The queen worried about her sole remaining Changeling subject. Would she really not have eaten if never given permission? What a strange little drone.