"The Wafflebots are marvels of Vanillian magichanical engineering!" Strawberry Crepe Cookie excitedly showed Espresso Cookie around the Hangar. Things just hadn't been the same as before three moons ago when (C/F) Cookie locked themself in a workroom, so having someone else around to talk about the wafflebots with was nice. "A pioneering, innovative, state-of-the-art fusion of enchanting and technology! And I am the only Cookie around capable of keeping everything in tip-top condition! That's right!" Even if they wish it wasn't that way sometimes...

Espresso Cookie nods, "Intriguing. What kind of force puts them in motion?"

Strawberry Crepe Cookie lights up at the question, "Oh, oh, you wanna see the schematics?!" The last time anyone had shown any interest was when (C/F) Cookie asked about them.

But Espresso Cookie seems unimpressed, "Let's see... Outdated formulas... Bah, suboptimal enchanting techniques... Pshh, they could have simply utilized cream as a cooking agent." He turns to them, "... Indeed, it's a marvel that these derelict machines are still functional!"

Strawberry Crepe Cookie wilts under such words as Espresso Cookie looks elsewhere. (C/F) Cookie often said that was part of the wafflebots' charm, and that it was impressive they kept such versatile machines operational all by themself.

"Strawberry Crepe Cookie, Espresso Cookie!
I have been searching for you!" The new voice reignites their vigor.

"Oh! 2% Connivingness! Come in!" Strawberry Crepe Cookie smiles as they greet the strange custard but contains no custard Cookie.

Clotted Cream Cookie's smile falters a bit, but he forcibly holds his composure. "... Yet again, you see right through me, young friend." He laughs lightly. Just as he opens his mouth to state his business, (C/F) Cookie's room door is pushed open.

They look worse than when Strawberry Crepe Cookie saw them a week ago, completely disheveled in comparison to the half managed way they held themself before. If they didn't know this was the same Cookie, they likely wouldn't have recognized them.

(C/F) Cookie pauses as they spot the two strangers. Taking a swig from the coffee cup in their hand, they mumble, "Crème Republican Cookies."

"Are you familiar with the Crème Republic?" Clotted Cream Cookie blinks in surprise.

"Oh yes!" The way they say this makes it clear that everyone is about to hear a lot more than they asked for. "I had to write a painful number of letters to that clam Cookie how it's not my fault if the equipment we tested in the factory is broken when it gets there because her shipping team wasn't as careful as I told them they needed to be! I mean, really. I'm not going to pay for some Cookies NOT listening to me after I spent an hour explaining how it should be packed and shipped to avoid damage! Really! I'm not going to..." Their rant continues.

Clotted Cream Cookie glances down at Strawberry Crepe Cookie and whispers, "How long have they been working in that room by themself?"

"Three moons." The child sighs. Nothing they could think of had gotten (C/F) Cookie to leave the room, or say much of anything for that matter. It was like they couldn't hear them.

Suddenly (C/F) Cookie cuts themself off and laughs, "I'm projecting." Then they leave the Hangar to get more coffee without saying another word.

The three Cookies left stare after them for some time before Clotted Cream Cookie clears his throat.

"Have you ever analyzed any of the Ancient Heroes' dough? An inquisitive mind such as yourself must have found them rather fascinating!"

Annoyance replaces the guilty feeling clawing at Strawberry Crepe Cookie's chest, "I tried, ALRIGHT! But even my superb equipment has its limits against them!"

Black Raisin Cookie smiles as she hears (C/F) Cookie's footsteps come closer and they push open the door to the Crow's Nest Inn, but it drops the second she sees them. They still have that somewhat dazed, broken look they had when they came in three moons ago asking for four coffees. They look worse every time she sees them.

She sighs as she watches them make their way up to the counter to the barkeeper Cookie. Her little winged crow friend hops on the table angrily, demanding she do something about them. "We already tried, remember? And nothing Strawberry Crepe Cookie has done has snapped them out of it either."

The raisin crow caws in annoyance. Three moons of this weighing on her, Strawberry Crepe Cookie's, and Pure Vanilla Cookie's minds. The Council has done nothing to stop it. If anything, it's become easier for (C/F) Cookie to get as much coffee as they can carry and go back to the Hangar without anyone batting an eye.

Hopefully they stop soon... It's rather painful to see them like this.

(C/F) Cookie pushes the door closed as they set their tray of five coffees on the table. That should last them the next eight hours.

They're almost done with their little stress project anyway. It took them a lot less time than they thought it would. Wafflebot parts are really good at adapting to make a variety of machines.

Staring up at the mess of wires and circuits they sigh. The first one of these they built for the Crème Republic had been so much more complicated due to how messy the original blueprint they were sent was. The gold plating had been a bold choice too, especially since it was so hard to attach and work with, they were honestly glad they could just use waffle cones.

The fact that they had replicated it from memory really said something about how long they worked on it originally. It should only take them a little while longer to finish this.

Grabbing their screwdriver, they get back to work.

Strawberry Crepe Cookie knocks on (C/F) Cookie's door like they do every night. They've given up on getting an answer, but at least they can pretend that they're listening. "Hey (C/F) Cookie?"

There's no response from the other side, but they know they're in there because they got coffee that afternoon and that's been the only reason they leave recently.

They sigh before they continue, "The wafflebots really miss you. The Goliath sometimes sits out here waiting for you to come out..." They drop their gaze to their feet as they kick at nothing, "We all miss you..."

The silence that follows feels like a crushing weight.

Strawberry Crepe Cookie dries their eyes before their gathering tears can slide down their face. "...Please come back."

Pure Vanilla Cookie sighs as he finishes his tea. Sitting on the steps of the gazebo in the white lily greenhouse feels lonelier than usual.

For a number of reasons, he can't shake the feeling that things are going to get worse before the Council ends. He has yet to tell Hollyberry Cookie and Dark Cacao Cookie that White Lily Cookie is Dark Enchantress Cookie, and Clotted Cream Cookie's ignorance as to the things they did before the Dark Flour War is doubtlessly going to get him into trouble with them.

Sitting here in the quiet garden among the flowers offered him a kind of solace he hadn't had since (C/F) Cookie retreated into the Hangar three moons ago. He had tried to go talk to them, but...

"NO! It's your fault!!! Stay out!"

...Strawberry Crepe Cookie had screamed and slammed the door of the Hangar in his face when he explained.

Sighing once again, he stares into his empty cup. The jumbled mess of things he had to do was only getting longer the more he did nothing. He had to start by doing something, but what?

The morning a few days later, Strawberry Crepe Cookie was just finishing up the daily morning maintenance when the door of the Hangar was pushed open. "UGH! Why so many visitors these days?!" Slamming a wrench onto the table in frustration, they turn to see who it is, "YOU! I thought I told you to stay out!" Their crepe arms appear, balled into fists and ready to spring into action.

"Greetings..." Pure Vanilla Cookie waves with a small, nervous smile, "I won't be long."

"What do you want?" Strawberry Crepe Cookie scoffs, "(C/F) Cookie still hasn't left."

Pure Vanilla Cookie approaches a flowerpot housing a familiar dead lily, "I imagine they haven't..." He brushes one of the withered leaves, staring at the petals under its dead head.

"If you want your stupid plant you can just take it. I don't want it." They snap, grabbing their wrench to get back to work.

"No," he turns back to them with a grave expression, "I simply wish to apologize."

Strawberry Crepe Cookie stops in their tracks and turns back to him, "What?"

"I cannot tell what happened when you awakened in this Kingdom..." he pauses to consider his words. "But I know for certain that before GingerBrave and his companions appeared, you must have been all alone. And I'm sorry, for this realization came to me too late." He glances back at the dead lily, "All of this is my fault. But I thank you for staying in the Vanilla Kingdom until the very end." Turning back to them he finishes, "And you've helped so much rebuilding it! I'm eternally grateful to you, Strawberry Crepe Cookie!"

Strawberry Crepe Cookie averts their gaze, fidgeting with the wrench in their hands as they try to hold back a smile, "I... I didn't do it for your praise or anyone else's! I ONLY do what I want!" Glancing at the door between the two of them and (C/F) Cookie they frown, "It's not like anything you say to me is going to get them back."

"Maybe not..." Pure Vanilla Cookie glances at the door as well, "But maybe we can finish that project the two of you needed that spell for before they come back."

"Like you know anything about wafflebots." Strawberry Crepe Cookie rolls their eyes.

He laughs, "Maybe not, but (C/F) Cookie figured out that spell, so I would be more than happy to assist you with that. I'm certain they'd find it a pleasant surprise to come back and find it finished and working."

"Really?!" That brings a spark of excitement back to Strawberry Crepe Cookie's eyes.

"Of course!"

As the vibrant blue glow of the machine signifies its working order, (C/F) Cookie drops into a chair by the table. Their legs feel as if they've been finely ground into flour. When was the last time they had sat down? Exhaustion hits them like a brick to the face as their terrible work habits catch up to them.

They didn't even realize they'd fallen asleep until they were snapping awake. Their hand smacks something on the table and the music box they don't remember fixing falls open, playing a soft, familiar melody. Pulling a blueprint off their face they stare at it incoherently. That is the worst handwriting they've ever seen. Did they write that? They've seen cats do better!

What in the world happened here? The entire lab is a disaster. It looks like a hurricane of empty coffee cups, wafflebot parts, and random tools just passed through. Normally they'd freak out and clean it up before it got THIS bad, but they probably weren't thinking about that until literally just then.

Picking up one of the cups, they sigh. It's going to take a few days to clean this up. They don't have the energy to do that. For the moment, all they wanted to do was collapse on the floor and sleep for the next week. What time is it? What DAY is it? When was the last time they cleaned themself up?!

Dropping the cup back on the floor, they sit down at the table again, resting their head on the surface covered in a mess of unintelligible blueprints and listening to the soft, fading melody coming from the music box. This is not as comfortable as it was a minute ago.

Lifting their gaze again, they spy a pile of perfectly neat envelopes stacked in the center of the table. Oh right. That's what happened. The acceptance letter with the scholarship. They likely missed the window to take that if they wanted it. When they got like this their boss had to force them home and make them take a three day vacation to recover. It's probably been like a week since they left here.

Sighing, they tip the music box back upright and snap the lid shut. The sound was starting to give them more of a headache than their lack of sleep was giving them, and they felt like they had dropped several tools on their head. Given the state of the lab, and their lack of memory of it becoming like this, it wouldn't shock them if they had.

Turning their gaze back to the light blue glow of the machine, (C/F) Cookie grimaces. There are definitely going to be a number of Cookies with a lot of choice words to say to them about this... Honestly, they deserve it. This is a bit much, even for them.

The bigger question is what they should do now. Judging by the silence, it's the middle of the night, reunions will have to wait until morning. They could get started on cleaning... but that sounds, and looks, like a nightmare incarnate and their body is already screaming its exhausted denial. Taking a nap sounded amazing, but they were starting to suspect they still had an unhealthy amount of caffeine in their dough because they're far too awake for that.

Every option has a million excuses not to. Groaning, (C/F) Cookie rests their elbows on the table and their face in their hands. Lifting their gaze, they stare at the pile of envelopes.

Annoyance sours their expression as they glare at them. Just seeing the letters left an unpleasant feeling in their chest. They should get rid of these. They should go through with that suggestion Roommate Cookie gave them. They needed to burn these.

Grabbing the stack of letters, they leave the lab with a new sense of purpose. Sure, they should take a nap before doing this, but they don't think they'd do it if they did. Spying their old, useless staff by the door of the Hangar, they grab that too. They were going to go through with this all the way.

Stabbing the stick into the ground, (C/F) Cookie piles the rejection letters around it, as well as the many unopened letters from their old coworkers. Setting aside the torn acceptance letter (carefully tucked in its envelope), they grit their teeth and magically set the whole pile ablaze. The staff stands like a torch staked into the ground, fueled by the letters of the dead hope they had before. They just sit there, watching it all burn. They have a deep nagging urge to make sure that even the ashes won't remain.

The grass behind them crunches under someone's footsteps. "(C/F) Cookie?"

They don't turn away from the flames when they hear Pure Vanilla Cookie's voice. They don't even react. They just watch the paper and wood crinkle in on itself as it turns to ash.

He sits down in the grass beside them, only wearing his white, chocolate topped robe. He seems smaller without his cape, and the lack of omniscient presence his staff had made him infinitely less intimidating. This is just the friendly Cookie who wanted to bring peace and joy to everyone he met.

"Would you mind listening to me for a moment?"