Magenta's Origins

Part 1 -The Hatching

A quaint, cozy ice cream parlor was nearing its final hours of the night. The employees hustling and bustling as they worked hard to clear out the rest of the customers and get their final cleanings done before clocking out. The atmosphere within the parlor was tranquil, as the humble little shop often was, and many of its patrons found themselves in a more jovial mood. It was particularly hard to feel upset or dour when you're enjoying an ice cream treat after all! That at least seemed to be a universal thing shared between humans and midveilers.

Nestled within a partly open cupboard, hidden from sight behind bottles of sprinkles in all shapes, sizes and colors, rested two small Strudel eggs. Both having been abandoned by whomever were their parents, but not left in any sort of position or environment that would be considered dangerous to a newborn. They sat propped up together, side by side, the amount of time they had remained in that one spot was unknown, but the faint wiggling that one of the eggs started to display indicated their hatching would be imminent.

Cracks formed along the surface of the egg, and within a few moments a white, fluffy strudel found herself tumbling out, bumping lightly into one of the many jars of sprinkles which, to the newly hatched baby, seemed like a tower in comparison. Her blue eyes were wide with wonder as she, for the first time ever, opened them, gazing up the expanse of it. She was trying, in some way, to comprehend all the sudden sights and sensations that were taking a hold of her. 

Curious, she began to worm her way over to the slightly ajar cupboard door, peering out into the world beyond. The lights of the parlor were dim, indicating that is was now closed; empty. The vast darkness that presented itself before the Strudel made her feel quite nervous and she found herself ducking back into the safe confines of her little cupboard home. Exploration could be saved for later when there would hopefully be some more light. Instead, she focused her attention on the second egg in the cupboard, having just have noticed it for the first time.

Her teeny, heart-shaped nose twitched with curiosity as she slowly wiggled her way over to the small, pale blue colored egg. It was like stone; not budging even in the slightest. The baby strudel tilted her head ever so slightly, before gently placing her paw against the shell of the egg. She let out a squeak of delight once she felt the warmth that seemed to radiate from within. Somehow, the baby could sense that this egg held some sort of importance to her. Carefully she clambered on top of it, allowing herself to settle and enjoy the gentle warmth it provided. She hoped that she was able to provide the round object with some form of comfort, as it had been doing for her. This egg was her friend now, she decided, and she would watch over it and see what was to become of it! With that little goal in mind, the baby strudel shut her eyes. It had been an exciting few hours, and already she was beginning to feel exhaustion weigh her down. 

It only took a few moments before the baby strudel found herself zonked out, having nice and pleasant dreams.

-

A few days have passed since her hatching, and already the baby Strudel found herself walking around her temporary cupboard home. It appeared as though the lights would turn on within the building at certain times and that voices would flood the interior of what lay beyond; friendly and cheerful but the strudel was unable to comprehend them in any sense. She knew it would be a good idea to go out and explore, and she quite had a hankering to do so, yet the egg she had been looking after still hasn't moved in the slightest and she was beginning to grow worried about it. She just couldn't bear the thought of leaving it all by itself, even if it were only for a few minutes. After all, she didn't know what awaited her beyond the cupboard. It just felt too risky, besides, she felt complacent enough at the moment. 

Currently, she was seated against the egg, gently tapping at its exterior with her paws, as if by doing so she might be able to rouse some sort of response from it. But, the effort always proved to be fruitless, and it disheartened her to no end. She knew there was life within the egg, was able to sense it, yet it just wouldn't stir and the loneliness was beginning to get the better of her. Sure, she was content with the cupboard itself, but oftentimes it was quiet and there wasn't much for her to do other than to practice walking. She needed companionship, and the egg wasn't doing much for her in the long run.

Still though, she was determined not to give up on it.

-

After a few more days had passed, with the egg STILL not budging, the strudel was beginning to give up any hope of it hatching. And an even more pressing matter began to encroach upon her with each minute that ticked by.

She was getting hungry.

And the smells that emanated from beyond the cupboard didn't do much to quell this growing hunger. The scents were sweet; tantalizing her as they wafted through the lil crack through the door. She desperately longed to go seek it out and indulge upon whatever it might be but, alas, her dedication towards the egg still kept her firmly rooted in place. A part of her felt guilty for even entertaining the very notion of leaving, she had made a promise! Yet, still, if things kept persisting as they currently were she didn't think she'd be able to bear it for much longer. Surely.....there'd be no harm in just taking a teeny peek, right?

It was about time she did so.

Part 2 - The Search

It was now or never.

The baby strudel stood by the opening of the cupboard, hesitating. The drop-down seemed rather steep, she didn't want to end up as a teeny strudel pancake on the counter below. Yet she knew that she couldn't turn back otherwise, the ever-growing gnawing sensation of hunger that had begun to build up would only just keep getting worse. Tentatively, she tried her best to peer down without falling over the ledge. Fortunately, at the time, the lights were on within the building so she didn't have to fret over a loss of visibility. Still, the idea of traversing into the unknown was quite intimidating for the baby strudel, however, a faint growl from her empty stomach gave her the encouragement she needed to press forward.

Stealing a glance over her shoulder, she rested her gaze on her egg companion one last time. A twinge of guilt seized her for a few moments. What if they thought she was abandoning them? What if they would remain there the entire time, constantly wondering where she was off to? Frowning lightly, she quietly thought to herself, 'I'll be back soon, I promise', as if somehow the egg would be able to telepathically understand her. 

A soft sigh escaped her as she returned her attention to the world below. There had to be an easier way to get down other than free falling, but how? She scanned the area, looking for anything that might have been able to assist her and that's when her eyes landed upon something that seemed to be on the ground below the cupboard. It was a pile of some sort, white in color and soft looking. Perhaps if she jumped, and managed to land on that pile, she wouldn't be harmed in the slightest! Seemed like a full proof plan to her, and it wasn't as if she were being presented with many other suitable options anyways. So, gathering up every ounce of courage that she could muster, the baby strudel carefully aimed herself and took a leap of faith.

A teeny scream immediately left her mouth at the sensation of falling. Why did she think this was a good idea!? She was moving rapidly; her mind trying hard to process the gut-wrenching sensation and failing miserably in doing so. It felt as if she were falling for eternity but in reality, it only took a few seconds before she plopped on top of the pile of napkins she had spotted from within the cupboard. She panted as the exhilaration slowly faded away, but once the initial shock of the fall had cleared a sense of triumph flooded through her. Shakily, she stood to her feet, letting out a faint laugh of disbelief. She really did it! She looked up at the cupboard, her smirk widening as she saw how high up it was. She felt incredible as if she could do anything! She continued to stare up for a few moments before her eyes widened as a sudden feeling of dread seized her like a vice.

How would she get back up there?

She had been so caught up with reaching the bottom that she never even thought over how she'd get back up! And, from the looks of it, it seemed like such a feat would be next to impossible for the tiny strudel. A cry of disbelief escaped her as she fell to her knees, overcome with fear and dread. The egg!! Her friend was still up there, all alone! What was she going to do? What if they began moving while she was gone? This had been a terrible idea, she should have never-

GROWL.

The loud noise her stomach made caused her to flinch. That's right, there was indeed a reason she had to leave the cupboard in the first place. To appease the terrible emptiness within her stomach, perhaps once she did so she'd even be able to think clear enough to formulate a plan and return to her egg companion! Right, this was no time to let thoughts and feelings of fear overwhelm her. She had to act, take things one step at a time and the answers would surely supply themselves to her! After giving herself a mental pep talk, the strudel began her descent down the tiny mountain of napkins. The countertop felt cold and smooth against her feet, unlike that of the wooden cupboard she had been used to. It felt foreign, weird, yet that wouldn't deter the strudel as she began to trek onwards, following her nose and her stomach. 

As she walked she surveyed her surroundings, amazed by all the life around her. The cupboard she had lived in had been so empty and silent, any voices that could be heard were muffled. However, the outside world was incredible! So bright and vibrant! So much movement, action! It was like a feast for her eyes, and she was indeed rather famished. However, her literal hunger was much more powerful and kept urging her forward despite her wonderment. The smells that had drawn her out of the cupboard were much stronger now, and her stomach was practically howling with the desire to locate the source. The expanse of the counter seemed to stretch out for miles though, and it didn't appear as though there were anything within her general surroundings that might be the source to the mysteriously enticing smell. In fact, it seemed as though the scent were still coming from quite a distance away.

This may take a little while...

She decided to spare once last glance at the cupboard, which was pretty far back in the distance at this point. There truly was no turning back at this point, she was about to wander deeper into uncharted territories. However, she would return back for the egg no matter what she may encounter in the unknown. She was determined to keep that promise, she would not leave a friend behind. 

"I'll be back.....I'll be back...." She whispered to herself, her voice light and squeaky before she turned her back on the cupboard, running onwards until it disappeared behind her in the distance.

Part 3 - The Offering

Hours passed on by as the strudel continued to trudge along the expanse of the counter. At this point, exhaustion was quickly beginning to overwhelm her. She was still only just a baby, after all, and she certainly wasn't used to exerting herself in such a way for a long period of time. Perhaps it would be best for her to take a break, to reinvigorate herself for the long trek ahead. From the looks of it, she still had quite a while away to go. It was discouraging, to say the least. She was just so tiny, and her small, weak legs weren't yet capable of doing much for her. She entertained the notion of taking a break, but the growling in her stomach was getting to be quite an annoyance at this point and she just wished she could appease it. 

The baby attempted to take a few more steps but she quickly reached her limit, legs giving out from underneath her as she plopped into a sitting position. Her tummy gurgled in protest, but there wasn't much she could do about it at the time being. Instead, she opted to curl up on the countertop, a tiny yawn escaping her. Surely she would reach her goal eventually, rushing it wouldn't do her any sort of good. Closing her eyes, she tried to clear her mind in order to get some rest, but the delicious scent kept lingering about, tantalizing her. It felt as if it were surrounding her from all sides, so thick within the air that it almost felt tangible. Whenever she'd breath in she could have sworn she could get a taste of something. She tried oh so hard to just ignore it, alas the smells were making her mind rather befuddled. She whined, tossing and turning on the counter as her invisible assailant kept torturing her. 

There was just no escape from it.

-

Somehow or another, sleep eventually did manage to claim the baby strudel, although when she woke up she didn't feel refreshed in the slightest. The interior of the store was now dim, and with a growing sense of dread she realized it would soon turn pitch black altogether, and she would be all alone, stranded on the counter. What was she to do? Should she turn back to the direction of the cupboard? No, that would make all the hard effort of making it this far pointless! She was, at this point, disarrayed and rather frightened, but yet she still carried a sense of dignity and determination that forced her to get back on her feet. Perhaps it was a primal sort of instinct that kept her pushing onward, the carnal desire to fill an empty stomach. She ambled on forward, feeling a more desperate determination as she knew she hadn't much time left. The strudel knew that, once the darkness hit, she wouldn't be able to move any further until the light returned in risk of harming herself.

And who knew how long that would take?

Just then, a loud, yelling sound suddenly froze her within her tracks. She wasn't unused to loud sounds within the building, but this had felt uncomfortably close to her and awoken her flight or fight response. Immediately, she broke out into a run, scrambling to get as far away from the sound as possible. Something managed to be caught within her peripheral vision though, something that was coming after her from within the air at quite a rapid pace. A squeak left her as she skidded to a stop, just in time for some mysterious object to collide onto the countertop only a few mere inches in front of her. The sound it made upon impact was almost deafening to her, glass shattering, and it resulted in her curling up into a little ball, trembling in an act of cowardice. She remained there a few moments, dreading for this object to harm her in some way, but once a couple minutes have gone by and nothing happened she began to settle down, little by little. Curiosity quickly replaced the fear in her, and she dared to edge closer to the broken object, carefully avoiding the big shards of glass that now littered the countertop.

A pink sort of liquid was spilling out from the broken cup, slowly coating the surface of the countertop as if desperate to spread itself out. And as the strudel gazed at it, her feelings of consternation slowly ebbing away, she began to take notice of the smell emanating from it. Immediately, as her heart shape nosed twitched, she felt enamored at the sweet scent of strawberries and soda. Her stomach seemed to wholeheartedly agree with her, letting out a pitiful sound in response. 

This had been what she was looking for.

With all forms of hesitation thrown out the window, the strudel rushed closer to the broke cup, wasting no time with diving in and pillaging its splendors. She scooped a pawful up of strawberry ice cream and shoved it into her mouth, blue eyes widening as the taste shook her to her very core. It was surprisingly cold but contained a sweetness like none other that sent faint shudders down her small frame. Before she knew it she was shoving down more and more of it, savoring each and every decadent piece that entered her mouth. She would have done so for hours, however, she noticed something within the reflection of the glass cup that made her pause in surprise. It was her own reflection, yet it appeared different than it had when she earlier saw it within the glass. 

No longer was her fur a white color but instead it had seemed to transform into a gentle, light pink that was quite easy on the eyes. Her cheeks were darker shades of pink and made it appear as though she were blushing. But, what really caught her attention the most was the darker pink star-shaped patterns that adjourned her body. She wasn't quite sure what had happened to her but knew she had the tasty ice cream treat to thank for it. Finally satisfied, she decided to move away from the shattered cup, heading further along the counter until she spotted a small section where a few ice cream scoopers lie. Clambering into the closest one, the newly transformed baby softly yawned and curled up. She felt a million times better now that her stomach was filled, and thus she was able to think with a much clearer mind. 

She decided she'd wait through the night in the lil ice cream scooper and, come daybreak, she would begin her journey back to her egg friend and find a way to get back up into the cupboard.

And with such a goal in mind, and determination on her side, the young strudel slipped into a much more gentle sleep.

Her dreams were filled with stars.