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// Chapter 3: Pumpkin Cake 
// Story: My Little Pony: Harmony & Entropy 
// by LightOfTriumph 
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The walk to the bakery was quite awkward for Flurry Heart.

Pound Cake was more than a little amused at her plan to enter Ponyville incognito. Not just at the ineptitude of the plan, but the pointlessness of it. Ponyville would only make a big deal out of visiting royalty, if said royalty made it a big deal. They were quite happy to ignore Flurry heart and make their own preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. The town was caught up in the frenzy. There was quite a lot of shopping and commotion on the streets. 

Everything looked normal, with the exception of two things. One was the Crystal Tree Palace, now known as the Crystal Tree Museum, at the end of the main road. Flurry was awestruck by it. She had heard Twilight describe the great crystalline oak before, but to see it in person was a little too much for Flurry to handle. She decided that she would make her stop there last.

The second thing that struck Flurry as odd was the bakery itself.

"Sugarcube Corner," Pound said proudly. "Home, sweet home."

Pinkie Pie did not make one thing up. Flurry Heart thought that Pinkie said all of these things to make her laugh, but there it was, large as life. A building that seemed to be made of wafer cookie, with a gingerbread roof and a spire made of cupcakes. Flurry was afraid to go in there. She might find a witch. Nevertheless, she had to press forward.

Pound walked up to the door and was about to open it, only to find that the sign on the door had been flipped to "Closed" "Huh," he said. "That's weird. Mom and dad must be out. Light's are still on, though..."

"A burglar?" asked Flurry, still terrified of the preposterous building.

"Worse," Pound said, grimly. "My sister."

Pound pulled out some keys from under his wing, and he and Flurry entered.

"Alright, you pathetic excuse for cookery!" came a commanding female voice from the back room.

"Oh, for the love of..." You didn't need to be an empath to feel the exasperation coming off of Pound Cake at this point.

"Should we go help?" Flurry asked. 

"No," Pound sighed. "It's too late for any of us now..."

"I may have you stacked in a way that defies all laws of physics!" the voice said loudly. "I may have used spells banned for eons getting you to stay still! I've made pacts with demons! I'm the most fearsome Unicorn you will ever meet! So that means, if you know whats good for you, when I drop my levitation, you'll stay put! Is that perfectly clear?! Okay? Okay... now."

Flurry heard the slight tinkle of a spell deactivating. Then nothing. "Five," Pound sighed. "Four, three, two..."

"There!" the voice said triumphantly. "At least you understand who's boss aroun-"

"One."

There was a thundering crash and then a cacophony of noise as pots and pans came flying out of the kitchen. Along with them was a mare, about the same age as Pound Cake. She had a yellow coat and an orange mane, which was rather curly, and tied into a ponytail by a blue polka-dotted bow. She slammed onto the floor, half buried under the tidal wave of cookware.

There was a moments pause as Flurry tried to grasp what just happened.

"Hey sis," Pound said brightly. "I brought company."

"Welcome," the mare said weakly. "My name is Cake Pumpkin. Here at Cornercube Sugar we always love to make new friends..."

Pound rolled his eyes. "Are you alright."

"Oh, I'm fine," Pumpkin grumbled. "It only hurts in my everything."

Pound Cake walked over and helped his sister up. "What the hoof were you even trying to do?"

"I told Mom I'd take care of the washing while she dropped off the food at the Crystal Tree," Pumpkin explained. "And I swear to all things good, the cupboards shrink when you try to put things back in there!"

"Either that or the Pony putting them back has no spacial awareness," Pound sighed. "Mom and Dad are at the Crystal Tree?"

"That's right," Pumpkin said manically. "We're all alone here. No one will notice if I shove you in the oven."

"The first thing you've ever successfully baked," Pound giggled. "I'll clean up. You get acquainted with my witness."

Pumpkin slumped over in a sort of defeated gratitude. "Thanks."

"Not a problem," Pound said happily as he got to cleaning.

Pumpkin turned to Flurry and smiled. "Hi," she smiled. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Pumpkin Cake. What you just saw isn't normal for me, I'm not usually that much of a klutz."

"That's a filthy lie," Pound called from the kitchen.

"Alright, yes," Pumpkin admitted. "I am usually that much of a Klutz. But hey, I find it charming."

"It's very nice to meet you," Flurry said doing her best to be kind to this rather odd pair of Ponies. "My name is Flurry."

"She's Princess Flurry Heart," Pound called from the kitchen again. "But, y'know, don't tell anypony."

"Oh," Pumpkin nodded, seemingly impressed. "You didn't kidnap her did you?" she called back to Pound.

"Yes," Pound called back.

"I'm just sayin'," Pumpkin answered. "I'm not going to jail for you!"

Once again, the reaction to her royal status was negligible. On the one hoof, this was a very, very good thing. Whatever Twilight was worried about was still out there. She still felt as if she was in the worst kind of danger. On the other hoof, however, she was a princess! Some fuss should have been made over that. A little bow? Attempted fanfare? Something!

"Uh," Pumpkin asked. "Not actually sure how I'm supposed to talk to you... Your Majesty?"

That was a little better. "Flurry will be fine," she reassured Pumpkin. "My role here is very low key. I just need to make sure the preparations are underway for the Summer Sun Celebration."

"Aha," Pumpkin smiled. "Well, like I said, Mom and Dad should be at the Crystal Tree dropping off the food. Pound could probably see you there right now."

"No that's fine," Flurry said quickly. "I'll just handle the other items on the list first. , Financing, Floral Arrangements, and... Music. I'm sorry, are you aware of a group called 'Primitive Hobbyhorse'?"

"Ha!" Pumpkin laughed. "That's my BF's and Brother's rock-"

In a split second Flurry felt a violent emotion come from the kitchen. A kind of all consuming rage that seemed to threaten to burn the building down. It was so sudden and violent that flurry jumped slightly before the loud crash that came from where Pound Cake was working. After the noise ended, the rage was replaced by regret and a deep shame.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten," they heard Pound quietly counting.

Pound walked out of the kitchen, calm as ever. "Where's the broom?" he sighed. "I broke a casserole dish."

"Why?" Pumpkin asked calmly. "Why did you break a casserole dish?"

"I just drop-" Pound stopped himself, more shame. "I... I haven't talked to Beat since he told me you guys were together."

"What?!" Pumpkin said. "He told me you took it great!"

"Yeah," Pound sighed. "Probably because he knew you would kill me if I told you my actual reaction."

"Pound," Pumpkin said worriedly. "You didn't..."

"Almost," Pound said, burying his face in his hooves. "I didn't actually do it, but I came closer than I have in a good nine years."

Pumpkin rolled her eyes and paced a quick circle around the room. "What the hoof happened to the Ten-Count?"

"Didn't occur to me to hit the Ten-Count at the time, Pumpkin," Pound said, getting irritated. "My best friend just told me that he'd been dating my sister for the past three months. I was a little in shock."

"Why does that bother you?!" Pumpkin shouted back.

"Because it's Down Beat!" Pound shouted. "He's like a brother to me, but honestly. What about that irresponsible, lazy, perpetually brash, loud, insane pony screams 'boyfriend material' to you?!"

"I love him," Pumpkin said immediately. "And he loves me. And you know that. You lso know that means head drop himself on a land mine for me, if I asked him. You know that he'd do that for his marefriend because he did it for his best friend, who, not one hour earlier, almost beat him to a bloody pulp."

Pound hesitated. His position was weakening. "W-Well, why did it take him three weeks to-"

"He had this insane idea that you were going to overreact," Pumpkin answered. "I told him that you were past that. Matter of fact, I told him that he helped move you past that. Was I wrong?"

Pound hesitated. Now more ashamed then ever. "No," Pound sighed as he buried his face into his hooves. "No you weren't. I honestly don't know where I'd be right now if it weren't for Beat. I'm sorry... Pumpkin I am so sorry."

Pumpkin was worried, and somewhat pitying. "No," she said as she went to go hug her brother. "I should have been the one to tell you. And I should have done it right away. It's my fault."

"No it isn't," Pound said firmly, looking at his sister. "It's my fault. My reactions are always my responsibility. Knowing that is how I learned to control them. I can't blame anyone else."

Flurry felt a bit awkward in the room. Whatever was going on was clearly none of her business.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Pound smiled at Flurry. 

"It's fine," Flurry Heart said, maybe a little too cheerfully. 

"You my have to see a little more of it," Pound said as he got up. "If you want music for the Celebration, I need to patch things up with Beat. I can drop you off at the Crystal Tree and we can meet up again..."

"If you don't mind, no," Flurry sighed. "I'd like to have everything set before I go to the Tree, if you don't mind..."

"Of course not," Pound smiled. "We should get going..."

"Oh, brother dearest?" Pumpkin said sweetly as they were leaving.

Looking at Pumpkin was a bit startling. She was looking lovingly at a steel Rolling Pin. She had a very pleasant smile on her face, but she was also very very angry.

"Please tell Beat to stop by and see me later?" she smiled. She then brought the rolling pin hard on the counter. "We need to have a serious talk about how honesty builds trust in a loving relationship."





Pinkie soon realized that there was nothing quite so unsettling as a balloon you could swear is there, but isn't

She had noticed the red balloon behind her some time ago. She caught it out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned to look it was gone. She disregarded it as her imagination, but it kept happening. Over and over again it would appear, and every time she tried to look at it it would be gone. This was happening the entire walk from the throne room to her quarters. Considering who she met back at the meeting, she felt it wise to find a guard. She went looking for one...

And she found the red balloon. She let out a scream.

On the balloon was printed an image. It was a pony in armor, screaming, surrounded by fire and evil looking creatures. Pinkie frantically looked up and down the hall. Tied to each column was another balloon, each with a similar grizzly image.

"They're not hurt," came a casual voice from behind her. "They're perfectly safe as long as you cooperate."

Pinkie whipped around to see him. There he was, standing there bold as brass. His suit was blue now, different from the more formal black one he had worn at the meeting. His hat matched, and it was now pulled low over his eyes. He was holding a red balloon.

"What did you do to them?!" Pinkie demanded.

"Like I said," Scratch answered. "Nothing yet. The deal is that either you can come with me, or they can. Entirely up to you. But I guarantee, as unpleasant as this trip will be for you, they will find it far far worse."

Pinkie considered it... "No," Pinkie said defiantly. "You told us that you were that little voice in our heads that told us to do mean things! So I shouldn't trust anything you say! You can only do what you do if I listen to you. So I won't! How do I know that these ponies will even get hurt! They could just be pictures on Balloons!"

Scratch smiled. "That could very well be true," he said. "It could very well be that I'm totally bluffing. I have nothing on you, and nothing I can do to you. The question is..." He handed Pinkie the balloon he was holding. "How badly do you want to risk that?"

The image on the balloon was of her friends, her husband and her sons. All burning. All menaced by monsters.

Tears began to stream down Pinkie's face. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She had to. She had no choice anymore, she had to go with him.

"I'm going to take that uncharacteristic silence as a hearty 'yes.'" Scratch let an evil grin split across his face.

Scratch tore open a fiery portal in front of her, and Pinkie calmly stepped through without protest into the frigid cold. 

As the portal closed behind her, she could very clearly hear scratch say. "The best part about all this? I was bluffing. Oh, come on Pinks, Don't be like that. You don't find that just a little funny?"