Sweet as Cakes

by SweetieTheBot

Rating: everyone
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Cake Twins, Slice of Life
Length: 4449

Pound Cake loves to fly, and couldn't really care less about baking. But Autumn Spice, his newest love interest, does.

Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake are not little babies anymore. Now that they are older, they help there mother and father run Sugarcube corner. Fluttershy and Big Mac have a daughter, too. Autumn Spice. When Scootaloo invites Pound Cake to compete in a flying competition, Pound Cake finds out that communication can prevent the worst of problems.

Cover art by JBRID on Deviantart

Published 2013-08-22 22:00:03 UTC
Last updated 2013-08-22 22:00:03 UTC

1 - Muffins

“Pound, Pumpkin!  Time to open up shop!”  Shouted Mrs. Cake, Pound and Pumpkin’s mother.

It was a beautiful Tuesday morning, Pound cake stuffed his face into his pillow. “Furve murf murnites.”  He said, his voice muffled by the pillow.

Pumpkin was already up, and was brushing her mane.  “Come on, Pound.  Fluttershy told me she’d be swinging by today with Autumn.”  Pumpkin said, and tied her blue bow into her orange mane.

Pound’s head shot up from the pillow.  “Autumn’s coming?!” He said excitedly.

Pumpkin shot him a mocking glance.

“I, I mean, um, cool, Autumn’s coming.”  Pound corrected himself awkwardly.

Pumpkin smiled, and trotted out of the room.

Pound flew up from his bed, and glanced at the mirror.  His mane was a mess, and however much he’d like to leave it that way, he knew he had to brush it or his mother would do it for him.  He picked up a brush, and ran it through his mane until it was acceptable, and flew down the stairs to the shop.

***

“Two blueberry muffins for number 7!”  Shouted Mr. Cake, and pointed his hoof to Derpy, who was holding an upside-down piece of paper with the number ‘7’ printed on it.

“Extra blueberries, please!” She shouted back, and Mrs. Cake reached under the counted and grabbed two perfect blueberry muffins.  She gave them to Derpy, and Derpy gave put the bits on the counter.  She rushed out of the store, muffins in hoof.

“Who’s next?” Shouted Mr. Cake, and an orange pegasus stepped up to the counter.

“Good morning, Scootaloo.  What can I get for you?”  Mrs. Cake asked.

“Could I have a zap-apple scone, please?”  Scootaloo asked, and put the bits on the counter.  “Oh and, could I also please speak to Pound Cake?  I have some news he might want to hear.” Scootaloo asked, and Mrs. Cake got her the scone.

“Pound Cake is right in the kitchen, dear.”  Mrs. Cake said, and stepped aside so Scootaloo could get in the kitchen.

The kitchen was hectic, compared to relaxed morning outside.  Pumpkin was hovering a spoon and a whisk, mixing two different batters at the same time, and Pound had his hooves deep in a bowl of cookie batter, pounding it to perfection.

“Pound?”  Said Scootaloo as she entered the kitchen.

Pound took his hooves out of the batter.  Pumpkin then rolled her eyes, and levitated yet another utensil to continue working the batter.

“Yes?”  Pound said, and turned to see Scootaloo.

“Oh, um, hey Scootaloo.  How are you?”  Pound said awkwardly.

“I’m fine, but I want to ask you something.  Could you come out for a minute?”  She asked, and Pound looked to Pumpkin.

“Fine, leave everything to the magical unicorn.  She doesn’t need any help, she has magic.”  Pumpkin said, annoyed.  Pumpkin levitated the kitchen door open, and slammed it behind Scootaloo and Pound.

“So, what do you need to tell me?”  Pound asked, and Scootaloo looked at him excitedly.

“Have you heard of the Prized Ponyville Pegasus competition?  It’s this Friday.”  She asked, and Pound nodded.  He watched it every year on television, he loved it.  It was a competition for young pegasi around Ponyville, there were races, obstacle courses, loops, and pretty much anything involving flying.  But what did this have to do with Pound?

“Yes, I’ve seen it before.”  Pound answered.

“Well, I think you should enter.”  Scootaloo said excitedly, and Pound’s eyes widened.

“Me?  Why can’t you enter?”  He asked.

“I’m too old.  You’re a little underage, but you’re an amazing flyer.  They’d let you compete for sure.”  Scoot said, and Pound shrugged.

“Okay, I guess so.  What do I do?”  Pound asked.

“Well, I’ll need to give you some training, can you meet me at the gazebo on Thursday?  Rainbow Dash will be there to help.”  Scootaloo said.

Training with Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash for the Ponyville Prized Pegasus competition?!  This was a dream come true!

“Awesome!  I’ll see you there.” Pound said, and returned to the kitchen.

2 - Cookies

The day was fairly slow, Derpy kept coming back for more muffins, but nothing more than that.  Pound was getting ready to go up to his room when Fluttershy entered the shop with her daughter, Autumn Spice.

“Hello Fluttershy, and hello there Autumn.  How are you today?”  Mrs. Cake said, and Pound flew straight toward them.

“I’m good, how are you?”  Fluttershy replied.

“I’m good as well.  Can I get you something?”  Mrs. Cake offered, and Fluttershy shook her head.

“Autumn would like to help bake, if that’s okay.”  Fluttershy said, and Autumn popped up behind her.

“H-hey Pound Cake.  How are y-you?” Autumn said, and Pound smiled.  Autumn’s stutter made her even more beautiful.

“I’m good.”  Pound said.

“Shall we begin baking?”  Pumpkin stuck her head out from the kitchen door, and Autumn rushed after her, her orange and pink mane flowing behind her.  Pound had been baking all day, and had been growing tired of dusting flour off his wings, but he’d do anything to spend some time with Autumn.

***

“Could you hoof me the brown sugar?” Pumpkin asked, and Autumn grabbed the brown sugar from the top cabinet, and gave it to Pumpkin.

“Keep stirring this while I ready the oven.”  Pumpkin said, and Autumn took the spoon from Pumpkin’s magic.

“The recipe says 350 degrees!” Autumn said.

Pound stared in awe. They’re just like one pony! He thought, as the two fillies worked together to ball up the cookie dough.  He had asked if there was anything he should do to help a few times, but was met by a distracted mumble, and he assumed his request was denied.  Soon, the dough was in the oven and all three of them were cleaning up.  Of course they accept when he asks to help clean up the mess.

“This was really fun.”  Autumn said, and dipped her mop in the bucket.

“I’m glad you enjoy baking so much.”  Pumpkin said, and they both nodded.

“I’m glad you come here so often.” Pound said, and then clamped his mouth shut.  I wasn’t supposed to say that out loud! He thought, angry at his loss of control.  He had said his thoughts out loud, but luckily they weren’t met with as much attention as he thought.

“I’m glad you come around often, too.”  Pumpkin said, and Pound was grateful for his sister covering for him.

After the kitchen was sparkling clean, the three young ponies went out into the main part of the shop.  Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie where chatting by a table, while Big Mac and Mr. Cake spoke by the bar, a mug of cider in their hooves.  The three rushed over to Fluttershy and Pinkie, and both Pound and Pumpkin were met with a surprise hug attack from Pinkie.

“Oh you guys!  You’re soooooo big!” Pinkie said excitedly, and squeezed them harder.  Pumpkin seemed to be enjoying the hug, but Pound was eager to escape.  Not that he didn’t like Pinkie’s hugs, he just didn't like them in front of Autumn, who was trying to hide her giggles at the hilarity of the situation.

“What did you bake today, guys?”  Pinkie asked.

“Chocolate chip cookies!”  Autumn said excitedly, and jumped in front of Pinkie.

“Aww, you guys, I love, love, LOVE baking cookies!  Let me know next time you bake, because I would love to help!”  Pinkie said, and Fluttershy giggled.  Pinkie Pie was always entertaining to the young ponies, even now that she was older.

“Well, we better get going.  Come on,  Autumn Spice.” Fluttershy said, and got up from the table.

“Hold on a moment, Mother.”  Autumn said, and pulled Pound Cake aside from the group.

“Hey, Autumn.   What’s up?”  Pound said shakily, and Autumn giggled.

“The sky.  But I wanted to ask you something.”  She said, and Pound leaned in a bit closer.

“Yes?” he said, and Autumn breathed deeply, as if preparing for something.  She squeezed her eyes tight.

“Do you think you’d like to go out sometime just you and me?  It’s okay if you don’t want to, I was just wondering.”  Autumn asked, and opened her eyes.  She had asked her question so quickly, that the words slurred together and sounded more like a single word than a sentence.

But Pound didn’t care.  He had to use all of his willpower to keep from yelling out ‘Yes! Yes of course!  I love you so much Autumn Spice!!’, so he managed with a simple “Sure.”

Autumn blushed, “So, um, tomorrow afternoon?  2:30?  At the park?”  Autumn asked, and Pound nodded.

“Great, I’ll see you there, I promise.”  Pound said.

“See you there!”  Autumn said, and then walked away with her mother, pink and orange mane flowing behind her.

3 - Clouds

Pound Cake was awoken by a knock on his door.  It was 11:45 the next day, and he was surprised his mother let him sleep in so late.

“Come in.”  He said, still hazey from his deep sleep.  When Scootaloo entered the room, he was instantly awake.  He quickly smoothed back his sleep-ruffled mane in a desperate attempt to look less messy.

“Hiya sport.  So do you still want to train with Rainbow and me?”  Scootaloo asked, and Pound nodded frantically.  “Good.  Because we can’t do Thursday anymore.” Scootaloo said, and pointed to Pound’s calendar.

“Why can’t we do Thursday?”  Pound asked, and Scootaloo gestured toward the calendar again.  When Pound failed to understand, Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

“Thursday is the fourteenth.  Rainbow told me she couldn’t train on that day because it’s Tank’s birthday.”  Scootaloo said, and Pound nodded.  Rainbow Dash’s pet turtle was well known through the group of friends, it was the oldest of all the pets, and frankly, the last one alive.  Opalescence, Winona, Angel, all the pets except Tank lived long good lives, but nothing lives as long as a turtle.  Pound guessed that as why Rainbow wouldn’t train on his birthday.

“Okay, when do we train then?” Pound asked.

“Today.” Scootaloo said, and lifted Pound out of his bed.  “Up and at’em, Pound Cake!  We’ll be training all day to make up for not training tomorrow.”  Scootaloo said.  She opened Pound’s window and flew out.  “Come on, sport!  We’ve got to get to the park if we’re going to get you ready for the Ponyville Prized Pegasus competition on time!”

***

It was late afternoon, and Pound felt as if his wings would fall off any second.  They had met Rainbow Dash at the park, and ever since then it had been hour after hour of stretching, hovering, flipping, cloudbusting, wing-ups, and laps around Ponyville.  He kept asking for a break, and until now the two older pegasi had denied his request.  But now they had finally broke, and they were all sitting on a cloud enjoying some lemonade.  He was happy to be sharing this moment with his two idols, blissful, actually.  He was blissful until he looked down to see none other than Autumn Spice, sitting in the gazebo, with a picnic spread out before her.  Pound pulled a tuft of cloud over him, in an attempt to hide.

“What’s the matter, sport?”  Rainbow asked, and Pound cringed.

“Nothing.  I was just, ahm, cold.  Yep, it’s really chilly up here.” Pound said, and faked shivering.  Scootaloo looked at the lemonade pitcher, which was now watered down due to the ice-cubes melting so quickly.

“Chilly?  Whatever you say.” Scootaloo said, and Rainbow looked at Pound.

“You know, even if it was chilly, pulling cloud over you wouldn’t help, you see, clouds are actually water, that has been-” Rainbow said, but Pound wasn’t listening.  He was staring through a hole in the cloud at Autumn, who looked miserable all alone under the gazebo.

Maybe it’s not too late, maybe I could go down there. Pound thought, and then put his head back up.

“-and that’s how clouds form.  But I still don’t understand how we pegasi can walk on them if they’re just-” Rainbow said, but was then interrupted by Pound.

“What time is it?” He said, and Rainbow squinted her eyes and looked at the sun.

“Judging by the sun’s position, it looks about, uh, four-thirty-ish?  Maybe five.” Rainbow said.  “But anyway, about the clouds-” but Pound didn’t stay to hear what Rainbow had to say.

How could I have forgotten? I’m so inconsiderate. Pound thought, and flew off the cloud in a dive down to the gazebo.

He landed by the gazebo, and as soon as he landed, Autumn got up and walked to him.

“Pound Cake!  Where were you?  I was so worried you wouldn’t come.” Autumn said, and hugged him.

“Well, uh, you see I was.” Pound began, but then stopped when he heard Scootaloo’s voice.

“That was one wicked dive, sport!” She yelled from the cloud.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Rainbow yelled, and Pound cringed.

Autumn let go of Pound.  “Y-you were with Scootaloo?” Autumn asked shakily.

“Well, I was preparing for-” Pound began, but was cut off again.

“No.  You b-blew me off to hang out with somepony t-twice your age!” Autumn yelled.

“I’m so sorry, Autumn.  I needed to train for the Ponyville Prized Pegasus competition.” Pound said, but that seemed not to comfort Autumn.

Autumn looked up at Pound, teary eyed.  “Y-you’d rather fly with Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash than spend time with me?” She said sadly.

Pound sighed.  “It’s only for now.  We can see each other at the competition, and I promise I’ll make it up to you.” Pound said.

“Yeah, sure.  You broke a promise, Pound Cake.” Autumn said, and flew away, before she began to cry even more.  Now Pound felt like crying.

My only chance with the pony I love.  I blew it.  I’m so stupid.

4 - Whipped Cream

The rest of Wednesday went by quickly.  Not that Pound cake cared.  Thursday was Tank’s birthday, so Rainbow Dash, and the rest of the six friends had a party at Sugarcube corner.

“Come on downstairs, Pound Cake.  Pinkie Pie made punch, and Applejack brought fritters.”  Pumpkin said as she entered Pound’s dark room.

As much as Pound would like to dig into the fritters like he always did when Applejack made them, he wasn’t going downstairs to the festivities.  Autumn Spice was down there, along with her whole family.  Pound didn’t want to make a scene.

“No thanks.” Pound said, and rolled over in his bed.

Pumpkin frowned.  “Well, I was going to try to get you down there nicely, but obviously that isn’t working.  Mom said you need to help me and Autumn bake chocolate cream pudding pie.  It’s Rainbow and Tank’s favorite.” Pumpkin said, and pulled the blanket from over Pound.

“I said no!” Pound yelled, and kicked at Pumpkin.  Pumpkin tried to dodge, but still got a kick in the muzzle.  Pumpkin was silent for a moment, so Pound lifted his head.  Pumpkin was holding her hoof over her muzzle, as blood gushed from her nostrils.

“Real smart, doofis.  Now go downstairs before I kill you.”  Pumpkin said, and that scared Pound enough.  He flew up from his bed, and fled downstairs.  He dodged the laughing ponies, and took refuge in the kitchen, where he began to take out some graham crackers for pie crust.  He was just getting chocolate pudding mix out of the fridge when Autumn and Pumpkin entered the kitchen.

Pumpkin was levitating a paper towel to her muzzle, which was getting redder with blood by the second.  Autumn had a smile on her face, until she spotted Pound.  Autumn rolled her eyes and went back to Pumpkin.  Pound put the pudding mix into a bowl, and began to boil some water.  Pumpkin, while still levitating the paper towel to her muzzle, got out a pie tin and began to crush the graham crackers.  Autumn got the whipped cream out of the fridge.

Pound reached for the whipped cream to spray a bit in his mouth, like he always did when whipped cream was taken out, but had his hoof slapped by a grumpy-looking Autumn.

“Hey, what was that for?” Pound said, perhaps a bit more snappily than he meant to.

“I can’t trust you,” Autumn said, “With dates, or whipped cream.”  Pumpkin looked over to Pound.

“Huh?  Dates?”  What’s going on?” Pumpkin said, apparently ignorant to the situation that took place the day before.

“Pound, here, decided some silly competition was more important than our first date.” Autumn said, and held the whipped cream farther away from Pound.

Why is she being such a jerk? Pound thought.  He wasn’t anticipating this.

“I was going to apologize, but it seems as if you don’t want me to.” Pound snapped.

“Oh, I would h-hate it if you apologized.  You d-don’t deserve the chance to apologize.  Go apologize to S-Scootaloo for not being with her every single m-minute of the d-d-day!  Oh wait, you don’t have to apologize for that, you made sure to k-keep her happy.  Obviously I don’t m-m-matter to you.” Autumn shouted.

That made Pound angry.  “Maybe you’re not!  Maybe I’d rather be with Scootaloo!  At least Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash are cool!  You and your baking, you drive me insane!  I hate baking, and you come here everyday, day in, day out, and bake.  It’s sickening!”  Pound yelled, and Autumn looked at him with a glare that could’ve melted ice.

“If you hate baking so much, why do you do it with me then?!” Autumn snapped.

“Because, I, um, I, well, uh,” Pound was at a loss.

“That’s what I thought.” Autumn said softly, and trotted out of the room.

5 - Ponyville Prized Pegasus

Pound didn’t speak to Autumn for the rest of the day, and when he was awoken by Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo tapping at his window, he was excited.  Today was the Ponyville Prized Pegasus competition.  He opened the window and flew to the stadium with Rainbow and Scootaloo.

“Are you excited?  I’ve never been so excited, I can’t wait to see you compete!” Rainbow said, and Scootaloo nodded.

“If you win this, you may go onto the Equestria Awesome Pegasus competition!” Scootaloo said excitedly, and Pound agreed.

“I’m happy just to be flying.” He said, and he was.  The wind in his mane, the air whipping back his ears, it was exhilarating, and this was just the trip to the stadium!  Soon, the stadium came into view and the three landed inside.

“Okay, we have a half an hour to do some last-minute warm-ups.  Pound, I want ten laps around the stadium, and when you get back, fifty wing-ups.” Rainbow said, and then sat down on the coach’s bench next to Scootaloo.

Pound began his laps, and took the chance to look around the stadium.  It was carved out of dark brown wood, and oval-shaped.  In the stadium, there were about fifty young pegasi doing laps and wing-ups, and other exercises.  He spotted Rumble’s son, Lightning Strike, flying in a tight circle.  After his laps, he got in the wing-up position, and began pushing.  Scootaloo was looking at him encouragingly, and Rainbow Dash was writing their names in the sign in sheet.

When he was done with the wing-ups, he heard a whistle and stood up.  A red pony with an orange and green mane walked in, next to a white unicorn with a blue mane.

“Alright, everypony.  My name is Red Lightning, and this is Snowflake.  We will be seeing over everypony, and making sure the contest goes smoothly.  You’ll sit in the dugout, and we’ll call a few names at a time to compete against each other.  The winners of each race will race against each other in a final race, which will decide the winner.  Understand?” Red Lightning said loudly, and the group of pegasi nodded unanimously.

Snowflake stepped up.  “Remember, everypony try their best, ad don’t be discouraged if you don’t win.  We do this every year.  Have fun!” Snowflake said, and the pegasi filed into the dugouts.

Pound watched as the crowd filed into the bleachers, and spotted ponies he knew.  He saw his parents, his sister, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Spike, but he didn’t see Autumn Spice.

Fine, if she wants to be a jerk and not come, let her.  Not like I care. He thought.

His sister did seem worried though, like she was scanning the stadium, trying to locate Pound.  The pegasi inside the dugout were hidden from the audience, so Pound knew that until he came out to race, Pumpkin wouldn’t see him.

The announcer was riling up the crowd with music, and Pound was getting impatient.

When can I go out there? Pound thought, and began tapping his hoof.  Finally, the announcer said that the competition would start.  Red Lightning and Snowflake walked out into the center of the stadium holding a clipboard.

“Hello everypony.  I hope you all are ready, I have a feeling this will be one of our best Ponyville Prized Pegasus competitions ever!”  Red said, and the crowd cheered.  “Let’s start with a simple two lap race.” Red said.

Snowflake stepped up to the dugout.  “Can I have, Wind Fire, Summerblaze, High Note, Scarlet Stripe, and Pound Cake out here please?” Snowflake said, and the ponies that were called trotted out to the stadium.

Next to him was the pony he guessed was Scarlet Stripe.  She was an orange pegasus, with a lighter orange mane.

Scarlet looked at him and smiled.  “Are you excited?  I’m going to win this.” Scarlet said, and smiled.

Maybe if Autumn is out of the question, Scarlet could be my girlfriend. Pound thought.

“I am super excited, but I bet I’ll beat you.” Pound said, and Scarlet batted her eyelashes.

“We’ll see about that, Cake.” She said coyly, and trotted ahead.

The pegasi took their positions on the stadium, and Red Lightning was counting down.  Suddenly, Pumpkin Cake came running down the bleachers, knocking into many other ponies.

“Pound Cake!  Pound Cake!!” She yelled, and Pound looked to her and cringed.

She’s going to try to keep me from racing. Pound thought, and rolled his eyes.  When Pumpkin reached the stadium, she ran on the neat, green, trimmed grass to Pound Cake.

“Pumpkin Cake!  What are you doing?!”  I’m just about to race!” Pound said, annoyed.

Pumpkin was panting.  “It’s about Autumn.” she said, between pants.

Oh, what does she want. Pound thought angrily.

“She’s in the hospital, she was in an accident.”

***

Pound Cake’s anger melted.

“What?!” He said.

“Autumn was in a flying accident, she’s in the hospital!” Pumpkin said.

“On your marks.” Red Lightning said, but Pound didn’t stay for ‘Go’.  He flew up and out of the stadium, as fast as he could.

Ponyville hospital, where’ s Ponyville Hospital?!  Pound thought.  He flew down a little bit, and spotted the red cross of the hospital.  He flew toward the hospital as fast as he could.   Once he was at the hospital doors, he busted open the doors, and saw Fluttershy and Big Macintosh sitting in the waiting room.

“Where’s Autumn?” He asked, and Fluttershy pointed to the door labeled ‘17’.  Pound flew into the room, to see Autumn Spice lying on the hospital bed, her wings, and her left hind leg, in casts.  Pound ran over to her.

“Autumn, oh my Celestia.  Autumn are you okay?” Pound asked, and Autumn looked up at him.  Her face was scratched, and there were stitches running from the bottom of her chin to the bottom of her left eye.

“Oh Autumn…I’m so sorry.” Pound said, and hugged her as softly as he could, as not to disturb her injuries.

“Y-You’re missing your competition.” Autumn said, shakily.

“I had too.  I needed to know you were okay.” Pound said gently.  “I, I care about you, Autumn.  I’d be crushed if something bad happened.” Pound said, and Autumn smiled.  “How did this happen?” Pound asked, and looked at her broken body parts, encased in casts.

“You said you hated baking.  I thought since you liked Rainbow Dash better than me, I’d do something like Rainbow Dash.” Autumn said.  Pound sighed.

“Autumn, I don’t care about baking.  I love you, Autumn.  Not Rainbow Dash, not Scootaloo, you.  And if you love baking, then I’ll stand by you and bake.” Pound said, and nuzzled Autumn’s cheek gently.

“Pound Cake…I’m sorry.” Autumn said.

“Don’t be sorry, Autumn.  It’s my fault.  I apologize.” Pound said, and lifted his head.  Autumn’s green eyes sparkled lively, despite her crippled state.

“I love you, Pound Cake.” She whispered.  Pound cake leaned closer to her face.  “I love you too.” He said, and then brought his lips to hers.  The kiss lasted for only a few moments, but it might as well lasted a few years.  Pound lifted his muzzle.  Autumn was looking at him lovingly.

“Pound?” Autumn said.

“Yes?” Pound replied.

“Can I come over to bake when I get better?”

Prolgue

Pound Cake loved to fly.  Ever since he was a little baby, he had been flying everywhere.  Well, at least that was what Pinkie Pie told him.

His sister, Pumpkin, loved reading.  She followed in Twilight’s footsteps.  Pound was happy for his sister’s magical advancement, but he’d much rather be flying with Scootaloo, his idol.  Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash had fallen in love with Pound the moment they saw him, and now that Pound was bigger, he loved to race Scootaloo.

When he wasn’t flying, he was talking to Autumn Spice, Fluttershy and Big Mac’s daughter, and the most beautiful pegasus filly in the world.  Autumn loved to bake, so she hung out a lot at Sugarcube Corner.

Everything was peachy, and life was good.  That was, until one day when Scootaloo told him about the Prized Ponyville Pegasus competition.  Oh, how happy Pound was, but not for long.

Epilogue

Pound Cake opened the refrigerator.  Inside was a batch of chocolate-chip cookies.  He had spent the whole night last night baking them for Autumn’s welcome-home party, she would be checking out of the hospital in less than an hour.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake were in the main part of the shop, decorating.

Pumpkin was levitating a tube of icing over a cake, writing the words ‘Welcome Home Autumn.’ Although, with Pumpkin’s hoofwriting, it looked more like ‘Wobome Humy Outunn’.  Pound Cake brought out the tray of cookies, to see Pinkie telling Mr. Cake how to move the balloons around.

“A smidgameter to the rightish, while still staying leftly.” Pinkie said, and Mr. Cake rolled his eyes.

Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle were guarding the door.  “She’s coming!” Sweetie yelled.  “Everypony hide!” Applebloom yelled, and everypony dove to their hiding spots.

Everypony, but Pound.  Pound grabbed his bouquet of roses, which he had been storing under the first table near the door, and went into the kitchen.  After he heard everypony yell ‘Surprise!’, he came out, holding the roses.  Autumn still had her wings wrapped up, but her hind leg was healed.  Pound stepped up to Autumn, holding the roses.

“Oh, Pound!  You got me roses!” Autumn said happily.  Pound hoofed them to her.

“Just glad to have my girlfriend back from the hospital.” Pound said, and hugged Autumn.

“I’m glad to be back, too.” Autumn said.  They both sat down at the table with the chocolate-chip cookies, and they both shared them.

“Mmmm, these are good.” Autumn said, and Pound blushed.

“I made them myself.” Pound said, and Autumn stuffed another cookie in her mouth.  Scootaloo stepped up to the table.

“Hello Scootaloo.” Autumn said, and Pound nodded to greet her.

“I just found out who won the Ponyville Prized Pegasus competition.” Scootaloo said.

“It’s been like a month, you didn’t know already?” Pound asked.  Scootaloo cringed.  “Well, we all sort of ran out of the stadium when you flew out, Pound.” Scootaloo said.  “Anyway, it was that orange pony.” Scootaloo said.

“Scarlet Stripe?  She won?  Wow, I guess she was right.” Pound said.  Autumn put her hoof on Pound’s mouth.

“Let’s not talk about that right now.  Let’s enjoy right now.” Autumn said, and she was right.  Pound was happy, he had a girlfriend, and life was good.

Some might even say, as sweet as cakes.

THE END