//------------------------------// // Part 5: All The Fillies Say... // Story: They Grow Up... // by overlord-flinx //------------------------------// Not a sole could deny it. All it took was a little look around. Young mares whispering with friends, charming colts strutting like peacocks. No one could say it wasn't true. Young love was in the air. The smell of freshly burnt cookies made by frantic mares that were using the oven for the first time; movie theaters selling out on mushy romance movies to stallions hoping it will get them somewhere. It was just that season perhaps. The wind was getting colder, and the fireplaces in everypony's house was starting to look more and more inviting. Such a loving time of the year. As much as it was a busy time of the year. "OoooOoOOooOOOoorder up!" An ecstatic pink mare slammed her hoof down against the counter bell in her shop. The ring sounded effortlessly all over Sugarcube Corner's interior. But right after the first ring, a second followed. Then a third. Fourth. Fifth. Sixth-- Before Pinkie Pie knew it, the bell was gone and she was just tapping her hoof against the wooden counter. Even when she started hitting the wood, she continued on; perhaps even with more force. Opposite of the counter was a yellow filly holding the bell over her head with a grayish-blue aura of magic holding it. Her orange mane was fairly knotted, except for the teal bow at the end of it. Her youthful, sweet face would look very cute if she had been smiling instead of glaring furiously at Pinkie Pie. "Stop ringing the bell!" she screeched at her, though her voice still had a air of adolescence tugged against it. Pinkie Pie looked down at the filly, still clacking her hoof against the counter with an energetic smile. "Hey Pumpcake. Where's Poundake?" The filly, Pumpkin Cake, looked about for a moment before scratching the bell against her head in thought. "Pound...?" Pinkie Pie finally stopped her clacking against the wood and snapped both her front hooves against her mouth as she gasped. "Poundake is missing!?" The bell Pumpkin was holding flew across the room as her front hooves too pressed against her mouth when she gasped. "My brother's missing!?" "WHAT DO WE DO!?" Pumpkin jumped the counter and went into Pinkie Pie's arms as they screamed the words together. The two continued to frantically breathe in and out, holding the other one as tight as possible. Ideas flashed between their collective minds: timberwolves cleaning their fangs after eating Pound Cake, Pound Cake getting abducted by Changelings, some pony forgetting to turn the oven off and Pound Cake falling into it and becoming a pound cake! The horror! Poor Pound Cake! He was so-- The door to the shop opened and brought both Pinkie and Pumpkin to look as a ray of light filled the room. Tears of joy went down their faces together as they saw a gold-gray pony walked into to store with wings tightly pressed against his sides. They hesitated for not even a moment as they broke towards the colt and seized him up into a hug; Pinkie picking him up and Pumpkin clinging to his hanging limp legs. "Pound Cake! You're not on the menu!" Pinkie cried as waterfalls of tears came down her face. Young Pound Cake looked from sister to 'sister' before giving a very concerned look to a mare that opened the front door of the store for him and was still standing there. "I don't even understand!" He whimpered to the mare. Standing in the doorway to Sugarcube Corner was mare with purple rim glasses that hung low on the bridge of her nose. Compared to the round, thick rimmed glasses she used to wear, these sharper and wire framed glasses suited her more mature form a greater deal. What used to be a frizzy, knotted mane had been tamed into just a curly, springy mane with a blue scrunchy keeping the end of her mane in check. Her face formed a rather cute smile as she watched Pound be assaulted by the girls. However, she quickly found that when the two saw her, their attentions were greatly fixed. Pinkie dropped Pound Cake down into his sister's arms right before darting towards the mare. "Twist! Thank Celestia you found him before he was served with milk!" Twist only gave a shy shrug and smiled more-so to Pinkie. Before she knew it, she was brought into a tight hug; the same sort Pound was facing with his sister at the same moment. "Now that we're all here...!" Pinkie snapped away from Twist, leaving her to stagger a bit and readjust her glasses. The three watched Pinkie spur around the counter after scooping up the bell Pumpkin had thrown a moment ago, putting it back where it belonged. "Now the four of us can get working on those orders!" All at once, Pound Cake saluted with a stern look; Pumpkin Cake let go of her brother and joined in a salute; and finally, Twist saluted as well, looking just as determined as the twins. Sugarcube Corner ran a tight ship whether or not the Cakes were there. When Pinkie Pie was in charge, Pound and Pumpkin were put to tireless work. That went double for Twist, intern and apprentice to the Cakes. When it was just the four of them, Pinkie was declared the undisputed leader... Or Twist if Pinkie was unable to act. "Alrighty-tighty! We have a dozen orders coming in from all over Ponyville and Canterlot today." "What for?" Pound asked, still not dropping his salute, though switching his front leg with a wing to salute with. "Duh! Pumpkin, tell your brother!" Pinkie ordered with her shop-owner tone of voice. "It's the time of the year stallions go gaa-gaa for mares and mares go woo-woo for stallions," Twist tripped a bit in her stance, though fixed herself before the twins or Pinkie could notice, "But since nopony can bake like a Cake or honorary Cake, we have to do the heavy work for them." That's right... Not many mares could cook cookies or cakes or pies or... twists... A sounding gulp came from Twist as she nodded to no one in particular. "Exactly-ractly! So let's get to it!" the twins threw their front hooves into the air with a little 'yeah!' before running into the kitchen behind Pinkie. "Twist, how're you feeling about cooking for everypony's special somepony?" "...Thwell." Her heart fluttered a bit when she spoke to Pinkie. This would be the year... To ask a young mare or even a young stallion who caught their eye would be like walking into a Changeling hive wearing perfume... Instant ignoring and attempts to stay away. No young pony wants to talk about their crush or anything like that. In some cases, they don't even know themselves. Asking who they like gets nothing... But asking what they think of someone can get you something. Snails? Nice colt, kind of slow but he has some whits about him. If he was simply an imbecile he would never have taken control of the local crafts store only a few weeks into his apprenticeship. He possessed some natural talent of listening to everypony that walked into the store and never missing a detail. For better or for worse, his head was a steel traps that caught everything it heard and took it to heart. Anypony could ask him what he had for breakfast and he would have no idea; but if asked what supply was where and how effective was it, he would know in a heart beat. Slow as he is, he never loses track. Snips? What a card he is. Though never far from Snails, Snips easily stands out against his partner-in-shop. He shows a level of smarts that vastly outweighs his friend's outer whit. Perhaps that's why he manages the stocking, money, and organization of the craft store the two of them work at. But, to ask about Snips is to ask about Snails. Never apart, never far. Friends forever, and friends to the end. Rumble? That dashing stallion with the thundercloud cutie mark? He's something. As much as he is a fine look to the eyes, he's also a sweet tug to the heart. So considerate and bashful; it makes a mare swoon. It is no wonder that fillies and mares gather by the fences to watch him coach the elementary ponies after school hours. A great, nice stallion... Though claims that he has a thing for older mares keeps some girls at bay. The list of young stallions could drag for some time, but there is one more that all of the fillies know. A young, cockney tongued stallion that doesn't just make mare's swoon, but has been known to catch the swooning and help them back up. It's hardly a secret, it's far from a surprise. You can ask around the town, but the answer will be the same, Pipsqueak? He's a charmer. And he would be perfect... If only he could pick up a single sign. "--An' that 'bout rounds up me group of friends," while a goat nodded with a pleased expression, the black mare beside him seemed to be having trouble with stopping her eye from twitching. "Wow, now those sound like some ba-a-a-a-ang up friends. Right, Crystal?" Disarm Honey nudged the side of his partner. Her eye stopped twitching and she looked almost surprised, as if coming from another world into this one. "Wha--Oh... Of course. Friendship is wonderful." "It sure is. But when ya' really care for someone? Thinkin' that's somethin' real special..." Pipsqueak noted while still walking ahead of them. With Pip's back to the two of them, 'Crystal' quickly slammed a hoof against Disarm's mouth before she started to speak. You are not impeding me this time you troglodyte! "Yes yes. Loved ones. Care to tell us about this loved one?" The nectar of victory was so close... Just as close as Discord's tongue lapping against Chrysalis' hoof in an attempt to annoy her while she plugged his mouth. Step by step, Pip came to a halt and looked down at the ground. "Loved 'one'? Sorry... I dare not say it's jus' one..." My boy is a player... If I could weep with joy I would, "It's two. Two ponies -heh- who gave me a lot. Lotta raisin', lotta lovin', and a lotta care. They aren't me--Sorry, they are me parents. No blood we share, nothin' like that. But I love 'em as good as gold. Me beautiful and brilliant mum, and me prankster of a wonderful dad. They want what's best fa' me, when they're alrea'y the best fa' me..." Pip seemed to chuckled a bit before giving a charming smile back to the two he was guiding, "Sorry, life story draggin' on a bit. Let's keep movin'." While Pip moved off ahead, Crystal gave a disappointed scowl. "I have wasted twenty minutes to find that out..." When she took her hoof away and put it down against the dirt, she felt something warm and wet hit against her fur. Her eyes darted to look at the goat beside her and saw that he was wiping his eyes with a handkerchief floating in the air while he sniffled. "Makers... Are you crying?" "N-No!" He cracked his voice before blowing into the cloth, "I'm just allergic... to... to..." he continued to stammer before blowing into the cloth once again, crying with a great joy. "This is going to be a long day..." She grumbled before returning to her track behind Pipsqueak.