Sugar Belle's Baking Course
The lights in the room flicked to light with a soft hiss, revealing a large and modern-looking kitchen: a wall of four big cupboards, a modern oven, and a six feet tall refrigerator which was hulled into a casing of shiny stainless steel were centered around a big countertop made of white wood; its shiny, immaculately clean surface showed the reflection of several bright ceiling lights.
“Hello everypony!” the friendly, cheerful voice filled the brightly enlightened kitchen, and a young unicorn mare walked into view with a happy smile on her face. “My name is Sugar Belle, and today…” she walked behind the countertop and placed her two front hooves on it, offering the camera a heart-warming smile, “I will show you how to bake muffins!”
“You see,” she explained with a light blush on her face, “A lot of people have complemented me on my baking recently, so I decided to record this video for all of you to enjoy and see how it’s done, so here we go!”
With that, she slid her hooves back from the counter and walked over to a cupboard behind herself. “You’ll see that making muffins really isn’t as hard as many ponies think it is.” She explained to her audience as her horn lit up and her magic pulled a big plastic mixing bowl from the lowest compartment. “In fact, once you know how it’s done, it’ll be as easy as one-two-three!”
She placed the bowl on the countertop, then turned around to face the armada of kitchen appliances that was stacked up behind her. “But first, we need to heat up the oven.” She said as she stopped in front of the shiny metal object, smiling into the camera, “Turn it to 375 degress, so it should be ready when we’re done preparing the dough.”
The light in the oven clicked to life, and Sugar Belle turned around again, stopping in front of the empty bowl. “So, before we begin with the actual muffins, we should prepare the frosting, since –like everypony knows- muffins aren’t muffins without the frosting!” she informed her audience cheerfully.
“For the frosting we’ll need half a cup of sugar,” her horn lit up, retrieving a cup that was indeed half-filled with sugar from underneath the countertop, “And three ounces of butter.” And as if by command, the door of the big fridge opened and a small cube of butter on a plate floated out, carried by a rose cloud of magic.
“Put both ingredients into the mixing bowl and you have a solid foundation for your frosting.” Sugar Belle explained and emptied the cup and plate into the bowl. “Now, in order to give your frosting a nice chocolate-y taste, you could use cocoa-powder, but…” she bit her tongue, giving the audience a cheeky wink, “in order to really spice up the taste…” she paused for a second, giggling, “I use a mixture of whipped cream and chocolate syrup. Many ponies may think that this would make the frosting a little too sweet, I think it’s just perfect.”
Once again, Sugar Belle walked over to the fridge, her look constantly focused on the camera. “Now,” She said anticipatively as she opened the door, “Once you have your whipped cream, you can-“
She cut herself off in the middle of the sentence, her baffled gaze blankly staring into the fridge. “Uhm…” she muttered to herself, then turned her head around to look at the camera again. With an apologizing smile, she said, “Hehe, um, excuse me for a second, will you?”
Furrowing her brow, Sugar Belle turned around again, her now slightly confused look going to the side as she shouted, “Night Glider, could you come here for a moment, please?”
Mere seconds after, a dark blue pegasus mare with a white mane came flying into the room from the side, stopping and hovering mid-air about two feet away from Sugar Belle. “Yea, Sugar? What’s up?” she asked with a casual grin.
Sugar Belle closed the fridge and turned to look at the pegasus, cocking an eyebrow as she asked, “You … remember me buying a can of whipped cream last weekend, right?”
Glider pressed her lips together, a look of discomfort appearing on her face as she replied, “Yes … w-why would you ask?”
“Because it’s gone now.” Sugar Belle explained, seeming slightly confused about the sudden disappearance of the cream, “Have you seen it?”
Night Glider’s eyes widened with growing discomfort. Slowly sinking and landing on the ground with a partly apologizing, partly embarrassed look on her face, she said, “Yeah, I … uh … used it up yesterday. I was … cooking.”
“When was that?” Sugar Belle inquired, visibly confused, “Because it was still there when I went to bed last night.”
“Yeah, I…” Night Glider rubbed a hoof against the back of her head, an awkward grin on her face, “used it up last night.”
“Mmhmm…” Sugar Belle muttered, putting a hoof to her chin. “Okay then.” She finally said after a short pause, “Just let me know next time so I can buy more.” She told her friend with a happy smile and was just about to turn away again as something seemed to cross her mind. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, “But … didn’t you say you had a friend over last night?”
Single beads of sweat were starting to form on Night Glider’s forehead as she stared at her friend with wide eyes. “Yes!” her reply was curt and sounded more like a confession, “We were … hungry, so we made us some …” she bit her lip, her eyes drifting off and scanning the kitchen around her, “Some pies!” she finally shouted, “Yes, hehe, pies! C-creampies to be exact!” she explained with wide eyes and an intense blush on her face.
“Hmm…” Sugar Belle muttered, cocking her head to the side as she mustered her friend, “Are you alright, Night Glider? You look a little … nervous.”
“I’m fine!” the pegasus assured her hastily, “Why are you looking at me like that, do I have anything on my face? … W-whipped cream or something?”
Sugar Belle slowly shook her head. “No. No, I was just … wondering…”
“Yes?” Night Glider asked, unable to hide her nervousness.
“I’m pretty sure I also bought some chocolate syrup last Saturday,” Sugar Belle explained reflectively, “But it seems to be gone too.”
“Y-yes, I … I used it up too!” Night Glider confessed with an awkward smile on her face, “You know, once the pies were all eaten out- I-I mean … me and my … friend were still hungry, so we made ourselves some…” Once again, her look wandered around the room, seeming to search for something Sugar Belle seemed to have missed, “Some … some … some banana split! Gotta go!” the pegasus spat out before spinning on her heel and taking off at the speed of a startled griffin, shooting out of the room like a jet fighter and leaving a moderately confused Sugar Belle behind.
She stood still for another moment, looking after her friend before shaking her head and muttering, “This pony sure has some strange eating habits.”
Suddenly, her head spun around again, her widened eyes focusing on the camera. “Oh, I … it’s still going … uhm…” she rubbed her hoof against the side of her face, “S-sorry for this interruption. We seem to be out of some ingredients, so … hehe, I guess we’ll have to skip the frosting for now.” She said with a forced giggle and walked back to the countertop.
Stopping in front of the half-filled bowl, Sugar Belle let out a short sigh, before looking back at the camera with a new smile on her face. “Buuut that shouldn’t be a problem! After all, muffins taste perfectly fine without the frosting, am I right?” She closed her eyes, tilting her head to the side as her horn lit up and her magic tossed the bowl’s contents over her shoulder.
“So…” she started over again, “For our muffin-dough, we need … uhm…” A look of insecurity flashed over her face as her look went down, looking at a small piece of paper that was laying on the countertop right next to the mixing bowl, before shooting back up again with newfound joy, “We need half a cup of sugar and … three ounces of … butter.” She said as the smile slowly slipped from her face.
Casting a guilty look to the ground next to her hooves where she had disposed of her prior ingredients, she muttered, “Oops.”
“Um, yes, we … we need half a cup of sugar and three ounces of butter.” Sugar Belle repeated herself as her look went back to the camera again. “I got the sugar right here, and…” once again, her horn lit up and her magic pulled a big pack of sugar from underneath her counter, and she bit her lip as she carefully poured the white powder into the bowl, “I guess that should be half a cup. Right.” She said with a relieved sigh as she put the sugar down again and swiftly walked over to the fridge, “So we’ll just need the butter…” Another block of butter was taken from the fridge and thrown into the mixing bowl, “And we’ll be good to go!”
“So now we’ll just have to beat this mixture up with a mixer,” Sugar Belle continued, her magic pulling a small box with a picture of a hand mixer on it from a cupboard on the wall, “And then we’ll be able to mix it and-“ she opened the package, revealing that it was empty inside. Not missing a beat, she swiped the box off the countertop with her hoof and swiftly proceeded, “not use a mixer because apparently one of my housemates is using it to style their mane again.”
She frowned before shaking her head and adding, “Besides, everypony knows that hoof-crafted pastries are the best pastries, right?” she said with a smile that looked just a little forced and arose to her hind legs, digging her hooves into the sticky mass inside the mixing bowl; the seemingly imperishable smile still hadn’t left her face as she muttered something about using other ponies’ property without permission.
After a few minutes, the dough seemed to be ready, as Sugar Belle stepped back from the bowl and dried her hooves on a towel that hung ready on the oven behind her. “Alright then,” she spoke up happily, “now that this part is done, we can add two cups of flour…” Hovering in her magic, two big cups filled to the brim with flour appeared from underneath the countertop and promptly were emptied into the mixing bowl, “And two regular-sized eggs.” Sugar Belle explained happily and once again walked over to the refrigerator with a light spring in her step.
“Though, I suppose any size of egg will do.” She added cheekily, looking over her shoulder as she opened the fridge , “The regular-sized ones will just give the best mix … ture.” Once again, the smile vanished from her face within mere seconds as she stared into dimly lit insides of her fridge. Her unbelieving eyes blinked a few times before her horn lit and pulled a single egg from the fridge – a rather extraordinary egg.
Sugar Belle closed the fridge behind herself as she walked back to the countertop, her unbelieving stare constantly focused on the massive ostrich egg that was floating in front of her.
Then, after a few moments, the once so happy and cheerful mare frowned, let out an irritated huff, clenched her teeth and shouted, “Party Favor, could you come in the kitchen for a second?” her voice revealing a certain edge that it hadn’t had before.
Moments later, a light blue unicorn came walking into the kitchen from the side, a cheerful smile on his face as he said, “Yes, Sugar Belle? What is it?”
Sugar Belle remained silent for a moment, her reproachful look leaving Party Favor and wandering over to the egg before returning to her friend. However, just as she was about to say something, Party Favor’s head turned to face the camera, and his eyes widened with glee.
“Oh wow, is that a camera over there?” He asked excitedly.
Looking slightly frustrated, Sugar Belle let out a short sigh and replied, “Yes. Yes, it is. You see, I’m trying to record-“
“Hey mom!” Party Favor shouted into the camera, waving his hoof at the audience, “Hey dad! Look, I’m on TV!”
“Actually we’re not-“ Sugar Belle wanted to protest, but Party Favor didn’t leave her a chance to do so in his excited spate of words.
“Hey grandma, hey cousin Scotch, hey uncle Rocky, hey auntie Violet, hey second cousin Butterflake, hey-“
“Party Favor!” Sugar Belle stomped her hoof, finally cutting off the excited buck, “We are not on TV! I’m recording this video for the internet! You know, to teach people, and to show them how to bake muffins!” And with that last part, a cheerful smile found its way back onto Sugar Belle’s face and her anger seemed forgotten.
“Oooh…” Party Favor replied, seeming to understand, and put a hoof to his chin.
“Yes.” Sugar Belle said with an understanding smile, “So I would really appreciate if you could tell me why-“
“Hey internet!” Party Favor shouted into the camera, once again waving his hoof with a gushing smile on his face, “Remember, Party Favor is best pony! Thumbs up if you like chocolate pie! Subscribe to my channel! And leave a comment if you're watching this in-“
He was cut off by Sugar Belle’s hoof placed firmly on his mouth. “Could you please cut this out and listen to me?” she asked her friend, having a hard time to not let her agitation show.
“Uh … yeah, of course, Sugar Belle.” Party Favor replied, seeming oblivious to his friend’s anger, “What would you like to say?”
“I … think I asked you to buy some eggs yesterday, right?” Sugar Belle asked carefully as she removed her hoof from Party Favor’s mouth.
“Yes, you did.” The blue unicorn affirmed with a happy nod of his head.
“And … what is … this?” Sugar Belle asked with a forced smile as her magic lifted the ostrich egg and levitated it in front of Party Favor’s face.
“That’s an egg.” He noted happily.
Sugar Belle took in a deep breath; the fake smile on her face began to falter, “But … I think I asked you to bring me some chicken eggs, right?”
Once again, Party Favor nodded. “Yes, you did.”
“Then … why am I holding one ostrich egg instead of a dozen chicken eggs right now?” Sugar Belle asked slowly; her voice began to quaver.
“Well, you see…” Party Favor explained himself, seeming to get a little uncomfortable, “I went to the marketplace yesterday…”
“Yes?” Sugar Belle asked tensely, putting the egg back onto the countertop.
“And I went to the ponies who were selling all kinds of eggs…” Party Favor continued, casting a bewildered look at his tensed friend.
“And?”
“And…” Party Favor bit his lips, his face assuming a light shade of red, “I remembered you asking for chicken eggs, but I-“
“Let me guess!” Sugar Belle cut him off, “But you didn’t listen!” she said, making a silly face.
Visibly confused, Party Favor took a step back and said, “N-no, I … I listened to you, and I knew that you wanted chicken eggs, but they were sold out.”
“So?” Sugar Belle asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“Well,” Party Favor defended himself, shrugging innocently, “I thought, instead of getting a dozen small eggs, why not just get one big one?”
The following seconds passed in silence as Sugar Belle blankly stared at her friend, seeming unsure whether to believe what he had just said or not.
“Right.” She finally said after a long pause, closing her eyes and drawing a long breath, “I suppose it’s better than having no eggs at all.”
“That’s what I was thinking too!” Party Favor agreed cheerfully, “So … is there anything more I can help you with?”
“Hmm…” Sugar Belle looked at him reflectively for a few moments, then said, “Actually, there is!”
“Alright, what is it? Should I prepare the dough? Grease the baking mold? Cheer you on?” Party Favor asked excitedly.
“Actually, you could go up to Double Diamond’s room and get something for me.” Sugar Belle explained, working on an encouraging smile.
“He’s taken my mixer again.”
“Ooh, that old story again?” Party Favor asked, seeming to understand in an instant, “No worries, I’ll get it for you right away!”
And with that, the blue unicorn buck span around on his heel and took off to the side, leaving Sugar Belle alone in the kitchen again.
She looked after her friend for a moment, then shook her head and looked back into the camera, putting on a weak smile again. “Well now, we’ll just have to add the…” her smile vanished for a second as her look shifted over to the massive egg on the countertop next to her, “egg. And we’ll be good to go.”
With that, her magic lifted the egg off the counter and levitated it over the mixing bowl, her face contorting with a certain strain as she worked her magic to crack open the egg’s thick shell.
After a few moments –and a few more strained grunts coming from the chef-mare- the egg finally opened with a satisfying crack, and an avalanche of egg white and a fist-sized yolk poured into the bowl onto the mixture of sugar, butter and flour.
“Alright.” Sugar Belle said with a satisfied huff as she placed the empty eggshell on the countertop and a thin smile found its way back onto her face, “Now…” Her look went back to the camera, “We’ll just have to beat the mixture up once again, then we’ll be able to put it into our forms!”
Her look went back to the side where her friend had vanished moments ago. “And since it seems we won’t have our mixer back anytime soon, I suppose it’s time for some hoof-work again.”
And once again, she arose to her hind legs and dug her hooves into the sticky mixture. Her face seemed tensed, but the persistent smile was still there.
