Sibling Revelry

“AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!”

Twinken held the sides of the wagon with life-cherishing strength, sitting behind Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom as Scootaloo, on her scooter and propelling them all with her wings, as she towed them along for a wild ride.

“Watch out for that rock! Eeh! Slow down! Augh! Stop the ride  - I wanna get off!!!”

Sighing, Scootaloo put on the brakes, which, unfortunately for Twinken, he wasn’t prepared for, as he was sent hurtling into a nearby flower bush.

“OW!”

“Twinken, y’alright?!” Apple Bloom yelled as the three fillies hurried over.

Twinken scrambled out of the bush, spitting out a few leaves, giving them all a look. The three fillies struggled to suppress their giggles, but stopped when Twinken’s eyes furrowed with irritation.

“Uh… Hey, Twinken!” Scootaloo said as she went over and twirled him around to see…

“Check it out – That’s Sugarcube Corner, one of our favorite places to hang!”

To Twinken, the building looked like a giant cake, with an upper floor shaped like a giant cupcake on top.

“Ooh! That place looks kinda cool!”

“Come on, our treat,” Sweetie Belle offered as she led them all in.

A bell rang as they stepped through the door, and at once Twinken heard somepony say, “Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, where life is always sweet!”

Twinken looked to the store counter and saw a tall and gangly earth pony with a yellow coat and red mane and tail. He had an unusually large lower jaw, he wore a deli hat and apron, an orange bowtie, and his cutie mark was three pieces of carrot cake.

“Hi, Mr. Cake,” Scootaloo said with a wave of her hoof.

“Well, howdy there, Cutie Mark Crusaders,” welcomed Mr. Cake, and he noticed Twinken. “You feisty fillies wrangle a new member?”

“Oh, this is Twinken,” Sweetie Belle explained, “he just transferred to our school and he’s gonna be living with his big brother, Midnight!”

“Well, nice ta’ meet’cha, Twinken,” Mr. Cake said. “Your brother’s quite a popular character around here!”

Smiling, Twinken said, “Yeah, my big brother is awesome! And one day, I’m gonna be a great magician, like him!”

“Good ta’ have goals, Twink!” Mr. Cake said, but then he noticed a look of irritation spread across Twinken’s face.

“My name is Twinken, not Twink!”

“No need ta’ get yer lemons in a twist, son,” Mr. Cake laughed while holding up his hooves in surrender. “Tell ya what, how `bout ya order something and I’ll make it on the house so there’s no hard feelings?”

“Deal,” Twinken replied apologetically, “didn’t mean to sound rude. I just… don’t like it when someone says my name wrong.”

“Well then, kids, what’ll ya have?”

After making their orders, the foals all sat down and Apple Bloom asked Twinken, “So Twinken, what’s it like in Canterlot?”

“Well… it’s real different from here in Ponyville,” Twinken admitted. “Buildings are taller, lot more architecture, and stuff like that, and there’s more unicorns there.”

“And what’s it like in your old school?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Twinken reflected on his past school years, recalling the ups and downs, as well as a few… incidents that were accidents on his part, really. Unfortunately, not everypony had believed him when he’d said they weren’t (mostly) his fault.

“Um… eventful, let’s leave it at that.”

“Hi there!”

Twinken was surprised when a pink earth pony mare popped out of nowhere (actually from under their table but that’s not the point), yelling, “Whoo-hoo! Midnight’s little brother is in town!”

Twinken saw this mare had a pink coat and a poofy-looking mane and tail of darker pink, her eyes a bright blue, her cutie mark a trio of balloons, like one might see at a party. Then she started to talk. And talk, and talk, and talk.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! I work and live here at Sugarcube Corner, see Mr. & Mrs. Cake let me live upstairs, they’re such sweethearts! I also came up with the catchphrase “Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, where life is always sweet!” Pretty good, huh? I help out a lot and love to make all kinds of super-yummy and tasty treats of all kinds! Now that you’re here, I can get started on a “Welcome to Ponyville” party, just for you! What’s your favorite kind of cake? Any favorite kind of cupcakes? Soda pop? Candy?!”

“Pinkie Pie!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo yelled, when they noticed Twinken was starting to look disturbed, Scootaloo saying, “Slow down, already! You’re weirding out the newcomer… Did I seriously just say ‘slow down’?”

That one got Twinken, who laughed, and then they were all laughing. Besides wanting to say hello, Pinkie had also brought the foals their orders.

A vanilla shake for Sweetie Belle, a rocky road icecream cone for Scootaloo, a slice of apple pie a la mode for Apple Bloom, and a strawberry sundae for Twinken.

After eating, the Crusaders took Twinken to their treehouse.

“Not bad,” Twinken commented as they led him in. “Could do with a bit of a guy’s touch…”

“Twinken!”

He straightened up and faced forward (a reaction drilled into him from his time at the School for Gifted Unicorns), seeing the fillies all wearing a red cape with a blue shield symbol, centered by a golden rearing pony. Sweetie Bell stood in front of a podium, as she opened a book and said, “We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect Twinken to join us as a new si- Oops! Uh, I mean, as our first ever brother, friend, confi… confi…”

“Confidante?” Twinken offered helpfully.

“Scootaloo, I thought you said you were gonna revise this!” Sweetie Belle gave her an irritated look.

“That’s what that mark on my calendar was for!” Scootaloo remembered. “My bad.”

“Ugh, I’ll wing it,” Sweetie Belle carried on.

“As I was saying, Twinken, we, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect you to be our first ever brother, our friend, confidante, ally, bossom buddy, guy pal-”

“I get it – Move on!” Twinken rolled his eyes.

“Congrats, Twinken!” Apple Bloom declared as she pulled out another cape from a toy chest. “Yer th’ first ever colt ta’ join th’ Cutie Mark Crusaders! Here’s your Crusader Cape.”

Twinken smiled nicely as he let Apple Bloom tie it on. Sweetie Belle brought over a mirror so he could behold himself.

“Y’know, this is actually kinda cool!”

“Glad ta’ have ya, Twinken,” Apple Bloom said, “and tomorrow, after school, we’re gonna try our next crusade to get our Cutie Marks – We’re gonna try to be Cutie Mark Shark Baiters!”

“Yay!” cheered Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

“Yay- W-wait, what?!” Twinken suddenly felt the urge to run for his life.