The Party Must Go On

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter One: Close Call
Chapter Two: Looking Up
Chapter Three: Chocolate Rain and Skittles
Chapter Four
Chapter Five: Secrets Revealed: Part One
Chapter Six: Secrets Revealed: Part Two
Chapter Seven: Secrets Revealed: Part Three
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine: "Happy Birthday, Pound!"
Chapter Ten: The Love Between Pound and Gala
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve

Prologue

Gala paced through Fluttershy’s cottage, waiting for Discord to get back home from wherever he had gone off to. She heard Fluttershy coming down the stairs and she stood still, not wanting to make Fluttershy think she was anxious or anything. Fluttershy made her way into the living room where Gala was standing.

“Oh, hello, Gala. I was just leaving to check on Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.” Fluttershy said. Gala noticed that she had a saddlebag on her back.

“Alright, have fun. I hope they’re all doing well.” Gala said, nodding.

Fluttershy gave Gala a small smile and left the cottage, giving her a small wave as she left. Gala waved back and Fluttershy closed the door after her. Gala continued her pacing as she waited for Discord to get back.

A small, white bunny hopped through the room, practically right under Gala’s hooves. “Oh, hi Angel.” She said, picking him up. He had gotten older over the years and he was much slower and his fur was tinged gray.

Gala gently set the little guy down on the couch and continued pacing. A few minutes later she saw a bright flash of light out the window and the door started to open. She knew that Discord had just arrived.

“Discord?” She asked, just to make sure it was him and nopony else. Though, who else could it be?

“Yes. Gala, is that you?” Discord asked as he walked in. He lowered the grocery bags that he was holding so he could see. He hadn’t aged a day since Gala could remember, though Fluttershy had gotten much older.

Discord walked into the kitchen and set the groceries down on the table. He used his magic to put them in their places and Gala trotted into the kitchen after him so they could talk. Something glinted in the light and she noticed the small silver ring on Discord’s claw. She smiled slightly at the memory of Fluttershy and Discord’s wedding and then shook it off, remembering what her goal was.

“Discord, I have a question for you.” She said, staring him down.

Discord sighed. “I’m not telling you where babies come from.” He said, continuing to put up the groceries he had brought home.

Gala stared at him, her mouth open and her eyes slightly closed in confusion. “Wha-..... No.” Gala said, shaking her head. “That’s not what I was going to ask you. But….. Now that I’m thinking about it, where do babies come from?” She asked.

“Gala, I just said I’m not telling you.” Discord said.

“Oh, right.” She said, looking down at the ground.

“What was your question?” Discord asked as he finished putting the groceries away.

“My question?” Gala asked, mostly to herself. She was only 11 and had a hard time remembering things. “I don’t remember…” She replied honestly.

Discord sighed. “Why don’t you go play outside? You haven’t done that in a while.” Discord said.

“I haven’t done that since Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom lived with us.” She said matter-of-factly.

“I know, just….. Go outside and find somepony else to play with. There are plenty of nice ponies in Ponyville. Actually, you should go play with Pumpkin and Pound Cake. I’m sure they would love to play with you, and they’re only a year older than you.”

“But that’s so far….” Gala said sadly.

“I’ll take you, if you promise to stay there and play for most of the day.” Discord said, recycling the grocery bags.

“Fine.” Gala sighed.

“Great!” Discord wrapped her in a hug and snapped. They reappeared in front of Sugarcube Corner, which had been repaired after its destruction. Discord lifted his claw and prepared to snap, but Gala stopped him before he could.

“Don’t go yet, please!” She squealed, grabbing onto one of his legs and holding on.

Discord didn’t try to shake her off. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I want you to go in with me, and what if they don’t like me?” Gala whimpered. “What if they make fun of me for not having my cutie mark?”

Discord suppressed a chuckle. “Trust me, they won’t.”

“Promise?” She asked.

“I promise.” Discord said, stopping himself from doing the Pinkie Promise.

“Ok.” Gala said, letting go of his leg. She took a deep breath and looked back at Discord. “I still want you to go in with me.”

“Alright, let’s go.” Discord said, walking into Sugarcube Corner. Gala followed behind him shyly.

“Hello, Discord!” Mrs. Cake said cheerfully from behind the counter. She chuckled slightly, “And Gala. How are you two doing?” She asked.

“Good.” Discord said. “And you?”

“Oh, we’re doing just wonderfully.” She said with a smile. “Anyway, what can I help you with today?” She asked.

“Well, actually, Gala wanted to play with Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake if that’s alright.” Discord said.

Mrs. Cake’s face brightened significantly. “That would terrific. Pumpkin! Pound!” She called.

The twins came trotting down the stairs. “Yeah?” They asked in unison.

“Would you two like to play with Gala Amour?” Mrs. Cake asked, pointing her hoof towards Discord and Gala.

Gala was standing behind Discord so the twins couldn’t see her. “Mom…..” Pound Cake said awkwardly, glancing at his sister who had a similar expression. “That’s just Discord.”

Discord and Mrs. Cake laughed and Discord pushed Gala in front of him. Her mane had lost its poof and was sitting flat over her face. It was brown with a single pink stripe down the middle. Her tail was the same, straight and had a singly pink stripe down the middle like her mane. Her coat was a dark pink and she had blue-green eyes that were mostly hidden by her mane.

Pumpkin and Pound looked at her for a minute. Pumpkin sprang into action before her brother could stop staring. “Hi!” She said happily. “I’m Pumpkin Cake and that’s my brother, Pound Cake. What’s your name?”

“I’m ummm……” She started quietly. “Gala Amour….” She squeaked quietly.

“Do you want to play with us, Gala?” Pumpkin asked.

“Sure…” She said quietly and nodded slightly.

“Stop being so shy, we don’t bite.” She said, nudging Gala gently.

Gala flipped her mane out of her eyes and gave Pumpkin a small smile. Pumpkin smiled back at her. “Do you want to play inside or outside?” She asked. “Pound?” She asked, looking at him to see if he had any ideas for what to do.

“What?” Pound Cake asked, taking his eyes off Gala for the first time and looking at his sister. “Umm…. Outside is good.” He said awkwardly.

“Do you want to play outside, Gala?” Pumpkin asked.

“Sure.” She said. She was still somewhat shy, but she was starting to get used to talking to the other ponies. Her mane had gone from being completely straight to slightly wavy. Pumpkin walked outside, Gala followed her and Pound trotted after them. Discord waved goodbye to Mrs. Cake and left the shop, obviously going back to Fluttershy’s cottage.

“What do you want to play?” Pumpkin asked, looking at her brother and at Gala and then back at her brother.

“Tag?” Pound suggested.

“Gala?” Pumpkin asked.

A small smile had appeared on Gala’s face, “Sure. But who will be it first?”

Pumpkin smiled and practically tackled her brother, tapping him with her hoof. “Tag! You’re it!” Gala trotted away from Pound and Pumpkin galloped in the opposite direction.

“What? No fair!” Pound exclaimed. He sounded sad but the smile on his face said otherwise. He began running towards his sister.

“No backsies!” She called happily.

“Darn it.” Pound said to himself, stopping and turning. He began chasing after Gala and her mane popped into it’s normal curly state as she ran away. Gala tripped as she was running away and she fell on the ground. Pound tried to slow down so he wouldn’t trip on her, but he tripped on the same rock she tripped on and fell on top of her.

They both stared at each other for a moment, both their cheeks turning bright red. “Uhhh…….. You’re it….” He said softly looking down at Gala.

Gala looked back up at him and nodded. “Oh… No backsies.” Pound said as he pushed himself off of her. Gala giggled slightly and pushed herself up off the ground. Pumpkin had galloped over to her brother and her new friend, which gave Gala an advantage to tag her.

Gala galloped over to Pumpkin and tagged her. “Tag! You’re it! No backsies!” She called as she ran away from her. Pumpkin laughed knowing that she was ok and chased after her brother once more.

* * *

After about two hours of playing outside, Pumpkin, Pound and Gala went inside to help Mr. and Mrs. Cake with their baking the sweets they needed for the store that day. They went into the kitchen after cleaning themselves off and asked Mr. and Mrs. Cake what they could do to help.

“Why don’t you all try to bake some cupcakes for us?” Mrs. Cake suggested.

“Sure!” The foals all replied happily. The three of them each began to bake their own batch of cupcakes.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake were both busy putting icing on a cake while also watching over the little ones and making sure they didn’t hurt themselves or anything. Once the cupcakes were all done, they each iced their own batches and showed Mr. and Mrs. Cake. They all tried one of each batch of cupcakes. They were all very good, but Gala’s were the best.

“Gala, have you ever made cupcakes before?” Mrs. Cake asked.

“No, I haven’t. Are they good?” She asked.

“These are delicious!” Mr. Cake exclaimed, taking another cupcake from Gala’s batch of cupcakes. Gala’s mane and tail poofed up more, if that was even possible, and the smile on her face spread from ear to ear.

Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake both congratulated Gala on doing a good job at baking.Under normal circumstances Pound or Pumpkin would of been jealous, but each of them noticed something that made them incredibly happy for her.

“Hey Gala, you got some flour on you.” Pointed out Mrs. Cake.

“Oh really? Where?” She asked, looking at herself. She did not see any flour on herself, until she saw why Mrs. Cake made the white-lie. She noticed something new on her flank. It was a picture of a cupcake with a balloon string tied around it and the balloon floating over the cupcake. Gala gasped and dropped her tray of cupcakes. Her smile grew and she hopped around in circles, “I got my cutie mark! I got my cutie mark!”

Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake laughed and Mr. and Mrs. Cake smiled at each other. She baked two more batches of cupcakes and then Discord came back to take her home.

“Discord! Discord! Guess what!!” Gala called when Discord showed up.

“What?” Discord asked, a small smile growing on his face when he saw how happy Gala was.

“I got my cutie mark!” She squealed happily, turning her flank towards Discord and showing him her cutie mark.

Discord smile grew larger. “Congratulations! That’s wonderful!” Discord said, hugging Gala. Gala waved goodbye to the Cakes and Discord snapped, teleporting them back to Fluttershy’s cottage. Gala showed off her new cutie mark to Fluttershy and then she went to her room and went to bed.

Chapter One: Close Call

Discord was busy this morning, so he couldn’t take Gala to work. She worked at Sugarcube Corner now. Five years have passed since she first met the cakes, and now she was 16 and she worked with them. She was good friends with Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake both really liked her.

Even though Gala was mostly happy during the time she worked with the Cakes, her mane remained straight because she had a dark secret deep inside. When she was at home, she was almost always depressed. Her work was the only thing that kept her happy.

Gala left Fluttershy’s cottage earlier than she usually left with Discord. She would be in for a somewhat long walk. Discord had told her the night before that he wouldn’t be able to take her there this morning, so she had prepared to walk there by herself.

When she left, the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. Gala really wanted to get to work as soon as she could, so she broke into a slow trot. She turned her head to watch as the sun came up. She didn’t think she would need to watch where she was going because almost nopony was out at this time of day.

She bumped into something, or somepony, and fell backwards. “Oh! I’m sorry, I should have been watching where I was going.” She said nervously.

“Gala?” A familiar voice asked.

“Yeah?” Gala said, blowing her mane out of her face and seeing Pound Cake standing over her. She smiled slightly and he smiled back at her, reaching his hoof down to help her up off the ground.

“I remembered you saying something about Discord not being able to bring you to Sugarcube Corner this morning, so I thought I’d walk with you.” He said after he had helped Gala up off the ground.

“Oh, thank you.” She said. The two of them stood together in the early morning light, occasionally glancing at each other nervously. Gala mostly stared at the sun as it was coming up, and Pound mostly stared at Gala. Once the sun had come all the way up, Gala looked at Pound, “Should we go?” She asked.

“What? Oh… Yeah, I’m sorry.” He said.

Gala giggled slightly, “It’s fine.” They both started walking towards Sugarcube Corner which was about another seven minutes away. Gala’s mane and tail had gone from completely straight to slightly wavy, like it always did when she was around Pound Cake. When she was around him, all her worries disappeared and all that was left was happiness.

Even though Gala didn’t remember ever meeting her parents, she was positive that this is how her mom felt around her dad. She just knew deep down inside that her parents loved each other very much.

Gala and Pound Cake walked through the seemingly desolate Ponyville to Sugarcube Corner. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were still sleeping, and Pumpkin had spent the night at a friend’s house the night before, so Gala and Pound Cake were all alone until Mr. and Mrs. Cake woke up.

“Looks like it’s not quite time for opening yet.” Pound said.

Gala had walked into the kitchen and started a batch of cupcakes. Pound followed her into the kitchen and started his own batch of cupcakes. Both Pumpkin and Pound Cake weren’t jealous of Gala’s baking skill because their parents had told them that she was the daughter of the best baker in Ponyville.

Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Cake had made the twins Pinkie Promise not to tell Gala anything about her mother. Pound always felt bad about not telling her, and on multiple occasions, he almost let it slip. Pumpkin on the other hoof, had forgotten about it and never mentioned it again.

By the time Gala pulled her batch of cupcakes out of the oven, Mr. and Mrs. Cake had woken up and made their way down stairs. They walked into the kitchen, both of them were damp, probably from taking a shower, and they each released a small yawn.

“Oh! Gala, Pound Cake, good morning.” Mrs. Cake said when she saw them baking in the kitchen.

“Hello Mr. Cake. Good morning Mrs. Cake.” Gala said politely as she iced her batch of cupcakes.

“Morning mom and dad.” Pound said nonchalantly as he waited for his batch of cupcakes to be ready to pull out of the oven.

“We have to make a very important delivery to Canterlot today for a very important customer. Will you two be alright running the shop by yourselves today?” Mr. Cake asked.

“What about Pumpkin?” Gala asked, looking over at them.

“Today is her day off.” Mrs. Cake said as she prepared ingredients to make a cake.

“I’m sure we can run the shop by ourselves, mom.” Pound said, pulling his batch of cupcakes out of the oven and waiting for them to cool down before icing them.

“Golly, I miss Pinkie Pie.” Mrs. Cake said. The kitchen went silent and Mr. Cake and Pound stared at Mrs. Cake, shaking their heads slightly.

“Who’s Pinkie Pie?” Gala asked, continuing to ice the cupcakes.

“Umm… She’s uhh… She’s just somepony that used to work here.” Mr. Cake said, stuttering slightly.

“Oh, ok.” Gala said as she continued icing the cupcakes, completely oblivious to what had just happened.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake were very careful the rest of the time they were at Sugarcube Corner. They made the cake and then left the shop for the delivery. Pound and Gala had opened the shop and Gala stayed in the kitchen baking cupcakes and other treats while Pound tended to the customers.

This system worked very well because Gala was the better baker, and Pound was more of a social pony than Gala was. The day went on slowly and uneventful. When closing time came around, it was the same as it usually was, boring. Although, Mr. and Mrs. Cake still hadn’t come back from their delivery, and Pumpkin must still be at a friend’s house or something.

There were a few cupcakes left over from business that day. Gala thought she would ask Mr. and Mrs. Cake if it was alright if she took them home for Fluttershy and Discord, but she remembered that they weren’t back yet.

“Hey, Pound?” She called from the door of the kitchen.

“Yeah?” He asked. He was wiping off one of the tables.

“There’s a few cupcakes left, do you think it would be alright with Mr. and Mrs. Cake if I took them home for Fluttershy and Discord?” She asked.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Pound said as he continued cleaning of the table.

“Thanks!” Gala said happily, her mane puffing up slightly more. She went back into the kitchen and put the remaining cupcakes in a box and cleaned up the kitchen. Once Pound had finished cleaning off the tables he went into the kitchen to help Gala finish cleaning it. Once the kitchen was all clean, Gala left the kitchen and was about to leave.

“Gala! Wait!” Pound called. He brought her the box of the remaining cupcakes that she had left in the kitchen.

“Oh! Thank you, I’m sorry.” Gala said, taking them from him.

“It’s fine.” Pound said, a small blush creeping up on his face. Gala smiled at him once more before leaving. She walked out of Sugarcube Corner with her box of cupcakes and started walking home. She figured that since Discord couldn’t take her to work, he couldn’t pick her up either. Luckily, the walk wasn’t too long, so the cupcakes wouldn’t get messed up or anything.

Gala made it home with the cupcakes still intact, and she gave one of them to Fluttershy and the other to Discord.

“Wow! Gala, these are incredible. Almost as good as-” Fluttershy stopped herself from continuing.

“Almost as good as what, Fluttershy?” Gala asked.

“Almost as good as my friend, The Smooze’s sweets. Then again, he uses out of this world ingredients.” Discord said, finishing for Fluttershy. Fluttershy let out a small sigh of relief and took another bite out of the cupcake she was holding. Discord finished his off in one bite and licked his lips and patted his stomach. “That was very good, Gala. I’ll have to stop by and buy some more another time.”

Gala smiled and waited for Fluttershy to finish her cupcake before she went off to bed. Before Gala went to bed, she remembered something the Cakes had said back at the shop earlier that day. “Fluttershy, Discord.” She said.

“Yes?” They replied in unison.

“Who is Pinkie Pie?” She asked.

Fluttershy and Discord glanced at each other nervously. “Gala…. Sweetie….” Fluttershy started.

“The Cakes told me that she used to work at Sugarcube Corner.” Gala said.

Fluttershy look at Discord and he shook his head slightly. “That’s right. She did used to work there, and I was kind of friends with her too, but she’s nopony important.” Fluttershy said, doing her best to lie, which was something she wasn’t good at.

“Ok!” Gala chimed happily. She trotted up the stairs to her bedroom and crawled into her bed. “I still think that they’re hiding something from me. I get the feeling that this Pinkie Pie is somepony very important.” Gala thought to herself as she tried to get to sleep.

Chapter Two: Looking Up

Gala had asked Discord not to take her to work in the mornings. She said that she needed the exercise anyway and she would get used to the walk after taking it a few times. That morning, she left Fluttershy’s cottage a little later than she had the previous day and made her way to Sugarcube Corner.

She trotted most of the way, watching the sun come up as she did. She didn’t want to make the mistake of bumping into somepony again so she continued looking ahead of her so she didn’t bump into anypony. She made it to Sugarcube Corner a little earlier than she had yesterday, even though she had left later, and she saw Pound Cake cleaning off the tables inside.

She smiled and waved at him. He waved back and trotted over to the door and opened it for her. “Good morning.” Gala said sweetly to Pound Cake.

“Good morning, Gala.” Pound said back to her as she walked past him through the open door and into the shop. Pound closed the door behind her, making sure the sign stayed closed, and continued cleaning the shop.

Gala trotted into the kitchen where Pumpkin had already started baking a batch of cupcakes. They said their hello’s and Gala started her own batch of cupcakes. Mr. and Mrs. Cake had gone out to collect more ingredients that they would need and said they would be back before opening time.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake came back right before Pound switched the open/closed sign to open and Gala and Pumpkin had each baked two batches of cupcakes. Mrs. Cake went into the kitchen to help the girls bake and Mr. Cake helped Pound with the customers. Mr. and Mrs. Cake switched occasionally so when one of them was in the kitchen, the other was taking orders.

Gala took her break around noon and she sat at a table and ate a cupcake that she had made earlier and was taking small bites of it as she waited for her break to pass by. Pound took his break a little while after she did and sat down at the table with her. She finished of her cupcake and Pound ate a slice of cake that was left over from Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s delivery yesterday.

“How’s it going?” Pound asked, taking a medium sized bite of his piece of cake.

“Good.” Gala said, playing with the crumbs on the table that had fallen from her cupcake.

“Are you ok?” Pound asked, looking at Gala with a worried look on his face after he had swallowed his bite of cake.

Gala was caught off guard by his question and looked up at him. “What? Yeah, I’m fine.” She looked back down at the table and continued playing with the tiny crumbs of cupcake. Pound noticed that her mane was extremely straight and it even seemed darker than it normally was. Gala got up and went into the kitchen to continue baking. Pound watched her as she left the table and continued to eat his piece of cake.

When Gala got back to the kitchen, Pumpkin hopped out and sat down at the table Pound was sitting at and munched on a cupcake. “Do you know what’s wrong with Gala?” She asked him.

“I was going to ask you that.” Pound answered.

“Oh.” Pumpkin said, taking a small bite out of her cupcake. She looked at the kitchen and then leaned towards Pound and whispered, “I think she likes you.”

Pound’s face grew red with embarrassment and he buried his face in his slice of cake. Pumpkin giggled wildly and continued eating her cupcake. Pound finished of his cake slowly and when he finished he got up, “I’ve gotta get back to work…” He said in a grim voice.

Pumpkin watched him walk away, “I wonder if I made him mad…” She said to herself, taking another bite of her cupcake.

The work day went on by slowly like it always did, and when it was over, Mr. and Mrs. Cake left the cleaning to Pound and Gala. Pumpkin had gotten off a little while ago so she could go see a movie with her friend. Gala was cleaning up the kitchen and Pound was cleaning of tables as usual. He finished before Gala and went into the kitchen to help her.

He began wiping some flour of the counter and into a trash can. “Hey, are you alright? I noticed you were in a pretty bad mood this morning.”

“I’m fine.” Gala said as she wiped of baking trays. Pound was on the opposite side of the kitchen from Gala and he kept glancing over at her, seeing her face covered by her mane. As he cleaned he tried to get closer, and they eventually bumped into each other. Gala looked at him for a minute and Pound stared back at her.

Gala looked past him and saw two uneaten cupcakes sitting on the counter. “Ummm… Pound Cake?” She said, taking her eyes off the cupcakes and looking back into his eyes.

“Yeah?” He asked.

“There are two cupcakes left.” She said, lifting her hoof and pointing at them.

Pound turned around and saw the cupcakes sitting on the counter. “So there are.” He said.

Gala walked over to them and picked one of them up. “Do you ummm…. Do you want to share them?” She asked. She was blushing slightly, but Pound didn’t notice due to her mane covering half of her face, and the darkness in the kitchen. The only light was coming from the doorway.

“Gala….” Pound said, taking a few small steps towards her. “Put down that cupcake…. You’re sweet enough already.” He regretted saying it the second it left his mouth, and his face grew red.

Gala stared at him, her face getting red as well. She giggled softly and put the cupcake down on the counter. Her mane poofed up slightly, and made her blush more visible to Pound Cake, who was still staring at her.

“Gala….” Pound said.

“Yeah?” Gala replied, staring intently into his eyes. “Does he like me?” She thought excitedly.

“Gala… Would you ummm…..” Pound started.

“Yes??” Gala asked, taking a step closer to him, still staring into his big brown eyes.

Pound stared back into Gala’s bright green eyes. “Would you…” He paused and took a deep breath, he scrunched his eyes closed, “Would you like to go out with me?” He asked quickly.

He didn’t get an answer as quickly as he would have hoped, so he slowly opened one of his eyes and then the other and he looked down at Gala whose mane had popped up into a huge afro. She was wearing the biggest smile Pound had ever seen on her. Gala still didn’t answer him, instead she tackled him into a hug.

Pound wrapped his forelegs around her slowly. “Umm…... Is that a yes?” He asked her.

Gala still couldn’t answer, she just nodded her head, her puffed up mane rubbing against Pound’s chest as they hugged. Gala let go of him and wiped away of a few tears that had fallen down her face in joy. The two of them discussed what they would do as they finished cleaning the kitchen.

They shared the last two cupcakes and Gala then left the kitchen, Pound following after her. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow?” He asked.

“Of course.” Gala said with a smile. Pound walked over to her and kissed her cheek softly. Gala blushed again and left the shop without another word. Gala half skipped, half trotted the rest of the way home to Fluttershy’s cottage. She ran into her room and hugged her favorite pillow, whom she had named Mr. Snuggles, and squealed into him. Even though screaming into the pillow had muffled the scream, Fluttershy still heard it and ran into Gala’s room.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, peeking through the door to see Gala curled up in her bed with a pillow over her face.

Gala jumped out of her bed and ran over to Fluttershy, giving her a big hug. “Guess what, guess what, guess what!!!” She squealed.

Fluttershy noticed that her mane was the puffiest it had ever been and that Gala was finally in a good mood again. “What?” She asked.

“Pound Cake asked me out on a date!” She grabbed Mr. Snuggles and squealed into him again.

Fluttershy smiled. “Gala, that’s wonderful-”

“I know!” She squealed again. Fluttershy dropped her ears back.

“Gala, please calm down, Discord is asleep.” Fluttershy said.

“Oh, right, sorry.” Gala apologized. Gala suddenly remembered that he had kissed her and she brought her hoof up to her cheek. She squealed once more into her pillow, this one louder than the other two, and Fluttershy folded her ears back and left the room.

“Sorry, Fluttershy.” Gala said awkwardly.

Fluttershy opened the door and smiled at Gala, “It’s alright, just go to sleep now, will you?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, I’m sorry.” Gala said once more. She crawled into her bed was she was far too restless and excited to sleep. She ended up staying awake for most of the night.

Chapter Three: Chocolate Rain and Skittles

Rainbow Dash walked over to where Soarin was sitting, reading the newspaper. “Hey, Soarin?” She asked.

“Yeah? What’s up?” Soarin asked, turning the page of the newspaper.

“Would you mind watching the twins today?” Rainbow asked.

Soarin looked over the newspaper at Rainbow Dash, his wife, who was staring at him with her large, magenta eyes. “I could never say no to you.” Soarin said sweetly.

“Thanks, Soarin.” Rainbow Dash said. She leaned down and planted a small kiss on his cheek. Soarin stopped her from leaving and pulled her into a make out session. Rainbow Dash finally pulled away from him and waved goodbye as she left the house.

Rainbow Dash trotted from her little house to Fluttershy’s cottage which was across Ponyville. It was somewhat early in the morning, Gala would be leaving for work soon. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash would have the house to themselves for most of the day which was perfect for what they had planned to do.

* * *

Back at Rainbow’s house, Soarin had finished the newspaper and the twins had just woken up. The three of them were eating breakfast together. Chocolate Rain and Skittles were talking to each other about something that had happened when they were hanging out with their friends. Soarin only half listened while he munched on his breakfast.

“Hey, dad?” Chocolate Rain asked Soarin.

“Yeah?” Soarin replied.

“Can we go to Sugarcube Corner today? A few of our friends are going there to hang out and they invited us to go with them.”

“Please?” Skittles added.

Soarin’s eyes widened. “No.”

“But-” They whined in unison.

“No buts. No means no.” Soarin said. He finished his breakfast and got up from the table. “You can go anywhere you like as long as you don’t go to Sugarcube Corner.” He said. He strapped on his saddle bag and left the house.

Chocolate Rain and Skittles finished off their breakfast and then left the house together. “So where do you want to go?” Chocolate Rain asked his brother.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you choose something?” Skittles asked.

“Alright. Then let’s go to Sweet Apple Acres.” Chocolate Rain said. Chocolate Rain was the stronger of the twins, and he was slightly bigger than his brother. He was more rebellious than Skittles and he took more risks.

“But… Rainie, I don’t want to.” Skittles whined. Sweet Apple Acres had stopped functioning years ago, when the twins were little. The barn that had stood on the grounds was old and falling apart. The apple trees that used to grow there were mostly dead; only a few remained.

“I told you not to call me that, and we’re going.” Chocolate hissed at his brother. Skittles flinched and followed his brother as he took off towards Sweet Apple Acres.

“But, mom and dad told us we can’t go there.” Skittles protested as he followed his brother.

“Did you hear what dad said just now? He said we can go anywhere except Sugarcube Corner, and we’re not going there.” He chuckled rebelliously.

Skittles sighed and trotted behind his brother. Once Chocolate Rain and Skittles arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, they looked around at the trees and the barn. The trees were covered with old, rotten apples, some had fallen to the ground and splattered. The barn was in similar condition, nearly falling apart.

Chocolate Rain and Skittles heard voices coming from the barn and they trotted over to it. Skittles was reluctant to go inside, but he always followed his brother, so he went in the barn with his brother.

Inside the barn were a bunch of ponies that Chocolate Rain and Skittles knew from school. A few of them were drinking beer, and others were smoking. Chocolate Rain rejected the alcohol and smokes, but he sat next to his friends and talking with them.

Skittles stood in a corner where nopony else was so he wouldn’t be offered anything he didn’t want. He watched Chocolate from a distance, making sure that he didn’t do anything he shouldn’t do.

A young mare walked over to Skittles and sat down next to him on a bale of hay. She was a unicorn with a light blue coat and a bright green mane. Her eyes were a much darker blue than her coat and they seemed to have green mixed in with them. Her mane was long and braided, hanging down each side of her face. Her cutie mark was a white lily on a lilypad.

Skittles stared at her for a minute until she looked at him and he looked away quickly. “Hi, what’s your name?” She asked him.

“Me? Oh, I’m Skittles.” He said awkwardly.

She giggled slightly. “That’s a cute name. I’m called Water Lily.” She said.

Skittles smiled at her shyly. “So what are you doing here?” He asked.

“My older sister wanted to come and so I came with her.” She pointed at an older mare, also a unicorn who was taking a drink of beer. Her color scheme was the opposite of Water Lily’s, and her mane was curly and short. She had her ears pierced and she seemed much more rebellious than Chocolate Rain was. “Why are you here?”

“I came with my twin brother.” He said, pointing at Chocolate Rain. “He insisted we come here, so I came with him.” Water Lily looked over at Chocolate Rain and nodded. Skittles stared at Water Lily a bit longer. He noticed that she was about the same age as him and his brother, and she was really, really pretty.

“I was supposed to go out with my boyfriend tonight, but my sister dragged me here instead.” Water Lily said sadly.

“B-boyfriend?” Skittles asked.

“Yeah.” She said, turning to look at Skittles who was looking back at her. He quickly looked away to hide his sad expression.

“That’s nice.” Skittles said. He watched his brother for a moment before looking back at Water Lily. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

“Hey! Skittles! Get over here!” Chocolate Rain called from across the room. Skittles jumped on the bale of hay he had been sitting on and turned to Water Lily.

“I’ve gotta go.” He said before turning and trotting over to his brother.

“Hey, Skittles, we’re going now.” Chocolate said.

“But, Rainie….” Skittles started.

“Don’t call me that.” He hissed sternly. “Now let’s go.”

Skittles didn’t ask him why they were leaving, but as they walked out of the barn door, Skittles looked back at Water Lily and noticed that she had been staring at him.

“Rainie, where are we going?” Skittles asked.

“Damn it, I told you not to call me that.” Chocolate Rain yelled at his brother. He stomped his front hooves on the ground hard and Skittles flinched. “We’re going to the lake to wash up before we go back home.” He said calmly.

“Ok..…” Skittles said softly, making some distance before following after his brother. Chocolate Rain and Skittles hurried to the lake. They both hopped in and swam around for a little bit until they were sure that the smell of cigarettes and alcohol was off of them. They sat out in the sun for a few minutes to dry off before they started heading back home.

When they got back to their house, they realized that neither their mom or dad had come back yet. Chocolate Rain sighed and collapsed on the couch in the living room. Skittles went into their bedroom, they shared one, and he sat down at their desk. They mostly used it for homework, and other things when they needed to.

He pulled out his sketchbook and pulled a pencil out of the desk drawer. He opened the sketchbook to the first blank page and stared at it, holding the pencil in his mouth. As he was thinking, he unconsciously tapped the tip of the pencil against the paper. He jumped up when his brother walked into the room, startling him.

The pencil drew a dark line across the page, and Skittles erased it quickly. He tried his hardest to ignore his brother’s annoying fiddling as he started to draw. He carefully dragged the pencil across the page. The end result was a sketch of Water Lily smiling. He smiled at the drawing and touched it up a little by sharpening the lines and erasing the mistakes he had made.

Skittles closed his sketchbook and placed it it’s hiding place. He put the pencil back in the drawer after sharpening it and then left the desk to sit down on his bed. He couldn’t take his mind off Water Lily; she was so nice and so pretty. He sighed which caused his brother to look at him.

“Why did you sigh?” Chocolate Rain asked.

“What?” Skittles asked, having not heard what he said. “I was lost in thought and didn’t hear what you said.” He explained.

“Why did you sigh?” He asked again.

“No reason.” Skittles said, looking away from his brother.

“Hmmm….. Ok…” Chocolate Rain said, looking at the guilty look on Skittles face. “Have you ever wondered why mom and dad won’t let us go to Sugarcube Corner?” He asked.

Skittles was surprised by the question. “No, I haven’t. Why?”

“I don’t know. I’ve just heard that it’s such a nice place and the ponies who work there are nice, and the cupcakes are amazing, but mom and dad never let us go. Every time we bring it up, they get this look on their faces and just say no. It makes me wonder….” He said, mostly to himself than to his brother.

“I guess I never really thought of it like that.” Skittles said. “Have you thought of a reason?”

“I think maybe one or both of them had some kind of traumatic experience there.” Chocolate Rain said.

Skittles placed his hoof on his chin in thought and then nodded. “That seems legit.”

“I still don’t think it’s fair not to let us go just for a stupid reason like that.”

“That can’t be it, because they’ve brought us sweets from there on multiple occasions. There has to be another reason.” Skittles argued.

“Ugh.” Chocolate Rain growled. He rolled over in his bed and stuffed his face in his pillow and growled again. He turned on to his side to face Skittles and continued talking. “Thinking is hard, I give up.” He stuffed his face back into his pillow and soon fell asleep.

Skittles stared at him for a few minutes. He laughed as quietly as he could manage. He couldn’t believe that his brother had fallen asleep in the middle of the day. He heard a noise coming from the living room and he left their bedroom to check it out.

“Hello?” He called. He had remembered that he hadn’t locked the door when he and Chocolate had come back from Sweet Apple Acres and that the person in their house could be anyone, not just his mom or dad.

“Skittles? Is that you?” A voice called from the kitchen.

Skittles trotted into the kitchen to see his dad putting groceries away. “Yeah, hi dad.” He said happily.

“What did you two do this morning?” Soarin asked.

“We mostly stayed home. I’m not sure what Rainie did, but I drew some pictures in my sketchbook.” He explained. “We also went on a short walk around town.”

Soarin nodded happily. “Has your mother come back yet?” He asked.

“No, not yet.” Skittles said. “Do you know where she went?”

“She told me she was going to see a friend, I’m not sure who though. I’m guessing she went to see Fluttershy, they’ve been friends since they were fillies.” Soarin said. He had finished putting away all the groceries and was sitting down at the table.

Skittles nodded. “Well, I’m going to go back to my room now.” He said, turning to leave.

“Wait, where’s your brother?” Soarin asked.

“Oh, Rainie fell asleep.” Skittles said.

Soarin grunted and waved Skittles off. Skittles took one last look at his dad, his mane and tail had a bunch of gray streaks in them, and he had dark circles under his eyes. Skittles frowned and then trotted off to his bedroom.

* * *

Rainbow Dash had just gotten to Fluttershy’s cottage and she knocked on the door. Fluttershy opened it and Rainbow hurried inside. “Come on, let’s go to my bedroom.” Fluttershy said quietly. Rainbow Dash nodded and followed her into her bedroom.

Fluttershy sat down on her bed and Rainbow sat next to her. The two embraced in a tight hug. They let go of each other and looked into each other’s eyes. “So what’s our first order of business?” Fluttershy asked.

“I think the twins are old enough to know about Pinkie Pie and Gala.” Rainbow said.

“Oh, that’s wonderful.” Fluttershy said. “Gala’s been pestering Discord about it for almost a year. She wants to know who her real parents are.”

“The twins are the same way.” Rainbow said.

“So when are we going to tell them?” Fluttershy asked. “Gala works at Sugarcube Corner every single day, she almost never takes a day off.”

“Saturday should be fine, Soarin and I can bring the twins over here to have dinner and you and I can tell them about their mom and dad.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Saturday is perfect. I know Gala can’t make it on Friday because she has a date with Pound Cake, but Saturday is good.” Fluttershy said.

Rainbow Dash giggled. “Gala and Pound Cake?” She asked.

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “He walked her home the other day, he’s a real sweetie. He seems to make Gala happy, so I’m happy for her.”

“I should go now, but I really don’t want to, taking care of the twins is so exhausting, even with Soaring to help me.” She said.

“You can stay longer, if you want to.” Fluttershy said.

“Awesome!” Rainbow Dash said. She and Fluttershy chatted about their lives and husbands and children and such. They reminisced about some of the things they had done with their other friends before they had died. Rainbow Dash finally left a few hours before the sun would go down. She decided to fly so she wouldn’t run into Gala on her way back home.

Of course, Rainbow Dash and Gala had met before, but Rainbow didn’t want Gala to see her coming from Fluttershy’s house. She looked down as she flew, just in case she saw Gala. She passed over her, and saw a young pegasus stallion walking next to her. “That must be Pound Cake.” She said to herself. She heard them laughing from underneath her and smiled as she continued flying home.

Chapter Four

Gala woke up and remembered what the day was. She jumped out of bed and got ready as quickly as she could. Mrs. Cake had given her and Pound Cake to get off early that day so they could go out together. Gala was extremely excited, she hadn’t even seen Pound that day yet, but her mane and tail were already at maximum poofiness.

She ran out of the house as fast as she could and practically galloped all the way to Sugarcube Corner. When she was almost there, she slowed down to a walk so she didn’t look like she had been in a hurry to get there. She caught her breath and then walked up to the door. She saw Pound Cake as usual, cleaning off the tables.

She smiled and gently rapped on the window. Pound turned and saw her, he smiled and blushed slightly. He trotted over to the door and opened it for Gala. She hugged him and then made her way to the kitchen. She started a batch of cupcakes, and only noticed that Pumpkin wasn’t there when she had put the batch of cupcakes in the oven.

She walked out of the kitchen and over to Pound. “Hey, Pound?” She asked.

“Yeah? Is something wrong?” He asked.

“No, I was just wondering where Pumpkin is. Do you know?”

“Oh, she got sick last night and she can’t work today.” He said.

“Oh, that sucks. Do you think Mr. and Mrs. Cake will need me since they don’t have her to bake for them?” Gala said.

“No!” Pound yelped. “I mean umm… No, I’m sure they’ll be fine on their own once we leave.”

“Oh… Ok.” Gala said. She walked back into the kitchen and stirred up the batter for another batch of cupcakes. She had started on her fourth batch of cupcakes when Mr. and Mrs. Cake arrived. They looked exhausted, maybe they’d had to take care of Pumpkin last night while she was sick.

“Good morning.” Gala said happily with some concern.

“Good morning, Gala.” Mr. and Mrs. Cake droned in unison. They walked over to the coffee maker they kept in the corner of the kitchen, used only when they were tired, like today.

Pound walked into the kitchen, “Hey, mom, dad, do you want me to open the store?” He asked.

“Sure.” Mr. Cake said over a cup of coffee. Mr. and Mrs. Cake both sipped on their coffee while Gala continued baking and Pound tended to the early morning customers. Once Mr. and Mrs. Cake had woken up Mr. Cake walked out to help Pound with the customers and Mrs. Cake started a batch of brownies. Gala began baking some cookies while she waited for her latest batch of cupcakes to cool off so she could ice them.

Around lunch time, Mr. and Mrs. Cake left to go check on Pumpkin and Gala and Pound continued running the store. Gala started baking a batch of chocolate muffins and Pound was moping about the counter, waiting for the next customer to walk in. The store was empty at the moment so Gala came out of the kitchen to talk to Pound while she waited for her muffins to be done.

“Hi.” She said, walking out of the kitchen.

Pound looked over and saw her, “Oh, hi. How’s it going?”

“Good. How’s it going for you?” She asked him.

“No customers are coming in right now, so I’m bored.” He said.

Gala giggled. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake should be back from their lunch break soon and then we can leave.” Pound perked up and smiled at Gala. Gala smiled back at him and then walked back into the kitchen. She had heard the oven go off, the muffins were ready. She pulled the muffins out and waited for them to cool off.

Mrs. Cake walked back into the kitchen. “Gala, you’re free to leave now if you’d like to.” She said sweetly.

“Thank you.” Gala said, smiling at Mrs. Cake. She pulled off her apron and hung it on the hook near the entrance and exit of the kitchen. She remembered what Fluttershy had told her the night before and she turned back around to Mrs. Cake. “Mrs. Cake?” She asked.

“Yes?” Mrs. Cake asked, turning to face Gala.

“Do you mind if I take tomorrow off? Fluttershy said she has something planned and I don’t want to miss it.

“Of course, go right ahead.” Mrs. Cake said.

“Thank you.” She smiled and walked out and saw Pound getting ready to go. “I’ll see you guys on Sunday.” Gala said to Mr. and Mrs. Cake.

She walked out of the store and waited outside for Pound. She looked up at the sky, it was such a nice day. Pound came out of the shop a few minutes later. “Ready?” He asked.

Gala nodded, a huge smile on her face that wouldn’t go away. She and Pound took off into Ponyville. They stopped by a few little stores and even went by the library. When they both finally got hungry, they went to the diner that was nearby and ate a late lunch together. They spent the rest of the evening hangout with each other, and around sunset, Pound walked Gala home.

They stood outside Fluttershy’s cottage, just staring at each other in the dim light. “Being with you today was really nice.” Gala said, her face turning slightly red.

“Yeah,” Pound agreed, smiling at her. Gala smiled back.

“I should probably get inside now.” Gala said, glancing at the door of Fluttershy’s cottage. Pound nodded.

“I guess I’ll see you at work on Sunday then?” Pound asked.

“Yeah.” Gala said nodding. “Bye, goodnight.” She said. She moved towards Pound to hug him, and Pound quickly kissed her.

“Uhh… Goodnight.” He said quickly before galloping off towards his home, leaving Gala staring up at the night sky. Her face grew a deep red and she walked inside in a daze. She walked up to her room and collapsed onto her bed. She rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling, replaying the moment in her head.

She blushed again and brought her pillow over her mouth, squealing into it. Fluttershy and Discord heard her from her room and they smiled at each other. The laid down in their bed and fell asleep. Gala stared at the ceiling some more and continued replaying that moment over and over again. She finally fell asleep, thinking of Pound Cake and dreamt about him.

Chapter Five: Secrets Revealed: Part One

Gala woke up and hear Fluttershy humming down stairs. Gala recognized the song she was humming, she always hummed that song when she was cleaning, but Gala couldn’t remember why she would be cleaning. She walked down stairs without bothering to manage her mane or tail, which were both tangled and messed up.

She saw Fluttershy dusting off the mostly empty bookshelf that was in the living room. “Fluttershy?” Gala asked.

“Oh! Gala, you’re awake.” Fluttershy said, surprised.

“Yeah, remind me again why you’re cleaning the house, please.” Gala said, placing her hoof on her forehead. “Oh, and what time is it?”

“It’s almost noon, you slept in pretty late. And I’m cleaning because Rainbow Dash and Soarin are bringing their foals over for dinner tonight.” Fluttershy explained as she continued to clean.

Gala nodded. She was amazed that she had slept so late. “Why are they coming over? Is something going on?”

“No, it’s just a little get together.” Fluttershy said, doing her best to hide the truth from Gala.

Gala nodded again and walked back up to her room. She untangled her mane and tail and brushed them so they were straight again. As she stared at herself in the mirror while brushing her mane and tail, she remembered the night before and watched her own face get red. She squealed softly and forced herself to calm down.

Once she had straightened out her mane and tail, she went back downstairs to help Fluttershy clean things up. “Where’s Discord?” She asked.

“He left to go to the store to get some things that I could use to fix dinner tonight.” She said.

“Oh.” Gala said as she continued cleaning alongside Fluttershy. The two of them cleaned in silence for a while. Fluttershy looked over at Gala and noticed that she was deep in thought and her face had gotten slightly red.

“So what happened between you and Pound Cake last night?” Fluttershy asked.

“What? Nothing!” Gala exclaimed, her face getting redder. For a second, Fluttershy was worried that they had done something they shouldn’t have, but she knew how shy Gala could be, so it was probably nothing.

“Oh, come on. You can tell me.” Fluttershy said. She moved closer to Gala as they cleaned, begging for her to tell her what happened.

“Well ummm…..” Gala said, her entire face red now.

“Yeeeesss?” Fluttershy pestered.

“He umm…. He k-kissed me.” She said quickly.

Fluttershy released a quiet fangirl squeal and hugged Gala. “That was your first kiss wasn’t it?” She asked.

“Ummm… Yeah.” She said awkwardly.

“How was it? Is he a good kisser?” She asked.

Gala gasped and blushed more. “I… I don’t know.” She stuttered, “Can we not talk about this?” She asked.

Fluttershy released Gala from the tight embrace with a smile. “Alright. But one day you’ll tell me, right?”

“Sure.” Gala said as she wiped some dust off a counter top. Fluttershy walked over to the opposite side of the room to clean off a table. Gala’s mind drifted back to thoughts of Pound Cake and her blush returned.

Once they had finished cleaning, Discord came back with groceries and he put them all on the kitchen counter. Fluttershy walked into the kitchen and pulled out an old cookbook. She began preparing the ingredients and Gala asked her if she could do anything to help.

“No, I’ll be fine on my own. Thank you though.” Fluttershy said.

Gala and Discord sat next to each other on the couch while they waited for their guests to arrive or for Fluttershy to finish cooking dinner, whichever came first.

When Fluttershy said she was almost finished with dinner, Discord and Gala set the table for six people. Once they had finished, they retreated to the couch once more. Fluttershy finished dinner and put the food on the plates that were already on the table.

Right as Fluttershy was putting the food on the last plate, there was a knock at the door. “I got it!” Gala and Discord shouted in unison. They both jumped up and raced to the door. Gala got there first and opened it to reveal Rainbow Dash and Soarin. Behind them were two young colts. Their coloring was similar to Gala’s and they three of them stared at each other for a minute before the twins walked into the house, still keeping a watchful eye on Gala.

Gala continued to glare at them and give them strange looks. She had a strange feeling about those two. Little did she know that the twins felt the same way about here.

“Gala.” Fluttershy said calmly. “This is Chocolate Rain and Skittles. Chocolate Rain and Skittles, this is Gala.” She said, introducing the three of them.

“Hi.” They all said bitterly at the same time. The six of them went to sit down at the kitchen table so they could eat the dinner that Fluttershy had prepared. They all slowly started eating their food, Gala and the twins continued looking at each other suspiciously.

“So…” Fluttershy said awkwardly.

“Chocolate, Skittles, and Gala, there’s something Fluttershy and I need to share with you.” Rainbow Dash said.

“What is it?” The three of them asked in unison. They gave each other those strange looks again and then looked back at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash who were sitting next to each other.

“Well, we decided that you were all old enough to know about your real parents.” Fluttershy said quietly.

The young ones all brightened up and stopped eating so they could pay attention to what their adoptive mothers were telling them.

“Wait, our parents?” Gala said.

“Yes, you three are siblings.” Rainbow said.

“Oh!” They all exclaimed.

“Go on.” Skittles said.

“Yeah, who were our parents?” Chocolate Rain asked.

“Well, your mother’s name was Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow Dash started. Before she could she could say the name of their father, Gala interrupted her.

“I knew it! I knew Pinkie Pie wasn’t just someone who worked at Sugarcube Corner, I knew she was more important than that.” Gala exclaimed.

“Right.” Fluttershy said. “I had a feeling you didn’t believe me and the Cakes.”

“Mom, dad, is that why you didn’t want us going to Sugarcube Corner? Because our sister that we didn’t know was our sister works there?” Skittles asked.

“That’s right.” Rainbow said. He looked over to Soarin who was nodding.

“Anyway.” Rainbow tried to continue. “Your father, was Cheese Sandwich.”

“The famous party pony?” Chocolate Rain and Skittles asked simultaneously.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both nodded and grins appeared of Chocolate Rain and Skittles faces. Gala rolled her eyes and looked back at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy who were telling the story.

“How did they die?” Gala asked.

“Well, your mother, Pinkie Pie, died when she was giving birth to Chocolate Rain and Skittles. And your father, well, he died of a broken heart.” Rainbow Dash explained. She decided it would be best if they didn’t know about how they used to torture and kill other ponies.

They all nodded grimly. “Well, I’m satisfied now that I know who my parents were and how they died.” Gala said happily, continuing to eat her dinner.

“You two now have permission to go to Sugarcube Corner whenever you want to.” Soarin said to the twins.

“Yes!” They shouted in unison. They hoof bumped each other and continued eating their dinners as well. Once they had all finished the adults and teenagers split up into two separate conversations.

Gala and the twins talked to each other about their lives, since they now knew that they were siblings. Gala’s mane and tail had even poofed up slightly after dinner. The twins noticed this and asked her about it.

“Hey, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash?” Gala asked them.

“Yes?” The replied in unison.

“The thing that happens with my mane and tail… Did that happen with my mom or dad?” She asked.

“Your mother’s mane would go straight sometimes when she got depressed.” Rainbow Dash said. “I remember one time, she thought me and all our other friends were mad at her just because we were trying to throw her a secret party. She went completely crazy and was mad at all of us. She even talked to a bucket of radishes and a pile of rocks!” Rainbow Dash said, smiling slightly at the memory or Pinkie Pie and all her other friends.

The twins and Gala shared a laugh before separating the conversations once again. Once it had gotten extremely late, Rainbow Dash and Soarin took the twins back home to their house and Gala went up to her bedroom to go to sleep. Fluttershy and Discord stayed up talking and cleaning up a little longer, and then went to bed as well.

Chapter Six: Secrets Revealed: Part Two

Gala woke up that morning, her mane and tail were straight as ever. She was glad that they weren’t tangled badly so she wouldn’t have to brush them out this morning. She did brush them a little, and then she left for Sugarcube Corner.

About halfway there she remembered what had happened with her and Pound two days before. Her face grew red and her mane became poofy. She continued walking towards Sugarcube Corner, but the closer she got, the more nervous she became. She really liked Pound Cake, but she thought things might be awkward between them now.

She saw Sugarcube Corner in front of her on the other side of a small hill. She took a deep breath and continued walking. The nervousness she felt caused her mane and tail to fall flat. She arrived at Sugarcube Corner and saw Pound Cake cleaning the tables as she always did. She stared at him for a minute before knocking on the door.

The expression on his face was a mixture of embarrassment, nervousness, happiness, and he also looked anxious. She noticed that his face was slightly red as well. She smiled slightly and her mane poofed up. She quickly wiped her smile away and her mane and tail became straight again and she knocked on the door.

Pound turned his head and tried to keep a smile from popping up onto his face as he trotted over to the door. He opened the door, “Hi, Gala…” He said somewhat awkwardly.

“Ummm… Good morning, Pound.” She said, avoiding eye contact with him. Her face grew red as she stood in front of him. She could feel him looking at her, so she brought her eyes to his and saw how sad he was that she wasn’t looking at him.

“Look, Gala, I’m really sorry about Friday.” He said.

“What? Why would you be sorry?” She asked.

“I just…. You don’t hate me?” He asked.

“No, of course not. Why would I hate you?”

“I just thought that because you weren’t looking at me, that you hated me.” He said sadly.

“Pound, I could never hate you.” Gala said. She hugged him and he hugged her back. As they broke the hug, Gala hesitantly planted a soft kiss on his cheek. He blushed and looked away.

“You should uhh… You should probably come in now.” He said, realizing that they were still standing in the doorway.

“Oh, right.” Gala said awkwardly, she walked into Sugarcube Corner, her mane poofing up as she did so.

“Hey, ummm, Gala?” Pound asked after Gala had walked in. He closed the door and they both turned to face each other.

“Yeah?” Gala asked.

“Will you ummm….. Will you be my marefriend?” He asked.

Gala’s face lit up and her mane became extra curly and poofy. “Of course!” She said, pulling Pound into a hug. Pound Cake hugged her back happily.

“We should really get back to work before we get in trouble.” Pound said. Gala nodded and made her way to the kitchen. She hummed happily as she started a batch of cupcakes.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake came into the kitchen a few minutes later. “Gala, can I ask why you’re always here so early?” Mrs. Cake asked.

“Well, I really love this job, it’s the only thing I really do, and the only thing I like doing, so I try to get here as soon as I can. What about Pound and Pumpkin? Do you know why they’re always working so early?” Gala asked.

“They’ve always been morning ponies, for as long as we can remember, they’ve been awake before us.” Mrs. Cake said, laughing slightly.

“Speaking of Pumpkin, where is she?” Gala asked.

“The poor darling is still sick.” Mrs. Cake said sadly.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Gala said.

“It’s fine, I’m sure she’ll get over it soon, it’s nothing serious.”

Gala nodded.

“Oh, and Mr. Cake and I have to go on another delivery today, will you and Pound be alright running the store together?” She asked.

“Of course.” Gala replied happily.

Mr. Cake then came into the kitchen and he and Mrs. Cake began baking a large, complicated cake. Once they had finished it, they iced it and left on a train to Canterlot. Gala and Pound ran the store for the rest of the day. Gala would occasionally go and check in on Pumpkin who was upstairs lying in bed. Once the day was over, Gala checked on Pumpkin one last time so Pound wouldn’t have to and then went back downstairs to clean up.

She began cleaning up the kitchen like she always did. For once, she finished before Pound did and she left the kitchen to help him clean the main store. “Do you need any help?” She asked, when she saw Pound looking under the counter.

“Maybe.” He said.

“What’s going on?” Gala asked.

“There’s a plank of wood from the floor here, it’s propped up. Nothing happens when I push it down, it just pops back up, see?” He said, pushing on the plank in the floor. Gala noticed that behind him, a door opened up in the wall.

“Pound! Look!” She shouted.

“What?” He pulled his hoof of the board and turned around, seeing the door in the wall open to reveal a staircase. “Woah.” He said, staring at the dark, empty space through the doorway.

“Should we check it out?” Gala asked.

Pound shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh, come on. Don’t be a baby, let’s go.” She said. She walked over to the door and stared down the stairs. The door started closing so Pound jumped through it and followed Gala down the stairs.

“It’s really dark down here.” Pound said. “I can’t even see my hoof in front my face.”

“Careful, the stairs stop down here.” Gala called.

Pound continued walking down the stairs until he stood on a flat surface next to Gala. The darkness was overwhelming and they could hardly see anything. But it wasn’t the darkness that was surprising, it was the smell. Gala and Pound were forced to hold their hooves over their noses and try to breath through their mouths.

Gala couldn’t stand being in such darkness so she removed her hoof from her nose and used it to feel around for a light switch. She found one on the wall near the staircase they had come down. She flicked it on and the room brightened up.

Both Gala and Pound closed their eyes to shield them from the sudden brightness. Gala opened her eyes first and looked around the room. She gasped but didn’t scream. Pound opened his eyes at the sound of Gala gasping.

“What’s wro-” He stopped himself mid-sentence when he saw what was in front of them. He looked around the room. There was a banner hanging by only one corner and he had to tilt his head to read it. “Life is A Party…..” He read aloud. He glanced at Gala who was looking around the room, her mane had poofed up and was almost like an afro.

There were pony skulls astrew on the ground, and they were painted colorfully in different patterns. There was a table that had fallen to its side and knives and other instruments were laying all over the floor. Gala’s eyes were wide, not with fear, but with excitement. A smile slowly spread on her face as she looked around.

She noticed the torture tables, all covered in blood. She noticed the organs strung up on the walls, some had fallen and were lying in piles on the ground. There was a particularly large knife on the ground in front of Gala. The blade was covered in dried blood and it also pretty rusty. The handle was covered with bandages that were wrapped around it. The bandages also had a fair amount of blood on them. Curiosity got the better of her and she picked it up.

“Gala, what are you doing?” Pound asked, staring at her and the strange smile on her face. His eyes shifted from her face to the knife in her hoof.

The smile fell from her face and she looked at Pound. “I… I don’t know.” She looked down at the knife in her hoof and something inside her head told her to unwrap the bandages around the handle. She sat down on the floor, which was covered in dried blood. She slowly and gently unwrapped the bandage from the handle of the knife.

Pound didn’t know what else to do, so he sat down next to Gala and watched her as she unwrapped the bandages. Once all the bandages had come off, a paper fell onto the floor in front of Gala. She picked it up and unfolded the paper. “It’s a note.” She said, stating the obvious.

She gasped. “Pound, look, it’s addressed to me.” She exclaimed. She stared at the note, and for a few minutes she just stared at her name written on the paper in somepony’s writing that she didn’t recognize. Finally, she broke away from her trance and began reading the letter.

“Dear my sweet Gala Amour,

If you’re reading this right now, it means I’m dead. There are so many things I would have loved to do with you. So many things I was waiting to teach you. But, I’m gone now, and so is your father. I’m assuming Rainbow Dash or Discord told you about what happened to us. Or perhaps you discovered it on your own.

I wrote this letter the night we captured Mayor Mare. You had woken up and as I was putting you back to sleep, I took the time to write you this letter in case we didn’t make it. I don’t know what made me think that we wouldn’t make it through the night, but I just had a feeling. But perhaps we lived longer than that and this note is old now.

Your father and I would just like to let you know that we loved you more than the sun and the moon. We loved you more than we loved each other. You were the most precious thing in all of Equestria to us. Even more precious than Barry. He’s the knife you found this note in. Please keep Barry as your own knife, and treasure him.

I would like to share my secret ingredient with you one day. From fear of dying, I’ll write the secret in this note. The secret ingredient to my cupcakes is, ponies. I know that seems strange, but ponies taste delicious and they made my cupcakes the best in Ponyville, and all of Equestria.

We loved you, and we still love you, even though we’re gone now. We both hope that you love us back. I would have loved to see what kind of mare you would have grown up to be, and what your cutie mark was. Maybe I’ll find out in the afterlife. After many, many years, when you finally come to join me and your father.

Love,

Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich, Mommy and Daddy”

Tears formed in Gala’s eyes as she read the note and her mane, which had been extremely poofy, popped and dropped down to become straight. When she finished it and realized the note was from her parents, she began crying and she couldn’t stop. She dropped the note on the ground and buried her face in her hooves and cried. Pound Cake didn’t know what to do. He decided he might want to read the note so he picked it up and began reading it.

He gasped multiple times through reading the letter and when he finished there were tears in his eyes for Gala’s sake. He dropped the letter on the ground just as Gala had and wrapped his foreleg around Gala in a side hug to try and comfort her.

“Gala, you shouldn’t cry just because your parents were serial killers.” Pound said.

Gala stopped crying and turned her tears streaked face to Pound. Her mane hung over her face and it seemed to part over her eyes so she could see him. “What?” She asked.

Pound was confused. Had he said something wrong? He was just trying to help. He didn’t want to repeat himself so he just stared back at Gala with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth.

“Pound, I’m not crying because my mom and dad were serial killers.” She said.

“Then… Why are you crying?” He asked hesitantly.

“Because this note, and this knife are the only things I have left of my parents.” She said to him. She suddenly gasped. “I’ve got to tell my brothers!” She stood up quickly.

“What? Brothers? When did you get brothers?” Pound asked, having not known about Chocolate Rain and Skittles.

“I’ve always had them, I only met them yesterday though.” Gala said. She picked up the note in her mouth and hurried back up the stairs. About half way up, she ran back down. She dropped the note out of her mouth and back onto the floor. “I’m sorry Pound Cake.” She said, hugging him.

He hugged her back, his mind blank.

“It’s just… This is really big for me, and I need to figure this all out. I have to talk to Discord.” She said. She looked at Pound, waiting for him to answer her, but he continued staring blankly at whatever was in front of him. “Pound?” She asked, shaking him gently.

Pound shook his head and blinked a few times. “No, it’s ok, I understand.” He gave her a soft, reassuring smile. Gala smiled back and hugged him again. She started to leave again, but Pound stopped her. “Wait!” He called.

Gala came back down and stood in front of him. “What is it?” She asked.

Pound brought his hoof up and gently wiped the remaining tears off her face. She smiled at him and he smiled back at her. His hoof was already on her face, and he slid it around to the back of her neck and pulled her closer to him. He closed his eyes and kissed her.

Gala was surprised at first, but then closed her eyes as well and kissed him back. Her mane, which had been completely straight, slowly became curly and poofed up. When they broke the kiss, they were both blushing.

“It’s probably getting late, I should get home.” Gala said after a few minutes of silence.

“Yeah….” Pound agreed. He picked the note up for her and gave it to her. She took it from his mouth and into her mouth, blushing slightly. Pound flicked the light switch and turned the lights off and he and Gala walked up the stairs together. The door opened automatically when they were close enough to it and they walked out into the shop.

“I’ll bring my saddle bag tomorrow so I can bring the knife home.” Gala said to him. He nodded, understanding why she would want to keep it.

They hugged one last time and Gala left the shop and rushed home.

Chapter Seven: Secrets Revealed: Part Three

“Oh great, just my luck.” Gala said to herself when she got home. It was slightly later than she would usually get home and both Discord and Fluttershy had already fallen asleep. She sighed and grunted and then went to her room. She carefully stuffed the note somewhere safe where she knew neither Fluttershy of Discord would find it.

She crawled into her bed and tried to sleep, but she just couldn’t get to sleep after everything that had happened that day. Her mind drifted off and she relived all the events of the day in her head. She blushed when she remembered that Pound had asked her to be his marefriend.

Tears formed in her eyes as she remembered the letter. She was tempted to read it again before she fell asleep. She had a small debate in her mind and decided not to read it. Reading it again would probably keep her up all night crying. She used her blanket to wipe away her tears. She shook her head and tried to think of something else. She tried to focus her mind on Pound Cake until she finally fell asleep late into the night.

She woke up the next morning, and she was extremely tired from staying up so late the night before. Despite her tiredness, she got herself up and ready and then headed off for work. She arrived slightly later than usual since she had slept later, and walked slower. But she eventually made it to Sugarcube Corner and Pound Cake let her in.

“Good morning, Gala. Are you alright?” He asked, noticing how tired she looked.

“Good morning. Yeah, I’m fine. I just didn’t get much sleep last night, but I’ll be ok.” She said, smiling at Pound slightly. He smiled back at her and watched as she walked into the kitchen. She stared at the wall where the door to the basement was hidden as she walked past it.

When she made it into the kitchen, Mr. and Mrs. Cake had already each started a batch of cupcakes. Gala accidently let out a yawn as she walked into the kitchen. “Good morning.” She said to them.

“Good morning, Gala.” Mrs. Cake said. She paid no attention to the fact that she was later than usual. Since she was still perfectly on time, it didn’t matter.

“Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Cake.” She said as she walked over to the kitchen counter she usually worked at. She pulled out a cookbook and turned it to the page it was at most of the time, the recipe for cupcakes. She stared at the recipe for a minute, remembering what her mother had written in the letter she found the day before. She gave a small gasp and jumped back slightly.

Neither Mr. or Mrs. Cake noticed, and Gala was glad they hadn’t. Though, Mrs. Cake walked over to her. “Gala, were you planning on baking cupcakes today?” She asked.

“Ummm….” Gala looked down at the cookbook in front of her, which was opened to the cupcakes recipe. “Yeah, I was.” She looked back up at Mrs. Cake. “Why?”

“I was thinking that you should try baking a cake so you could expand your baking skills.” Mrs. Cake said.

“Oh, ok.” Gala said, slightly relieved that she wouldn’t have to bake cupcakes today. She turned the pages of her cookbook to a recipe for a cake. She gathered all the ingredients from throughout the kitchen and began mixing them in a big mixing bowl. Mr. and Mrs. cake left the kitchen a few minutes later, once they were sure that Gala could handle baking a cake by herself.

Once Mr. and Mrs. Cake had left, Pound Cake came into the kitchen and pulled out a cookbook. Gala stared at him for a minute, slightly confused. “Pound? I thought you didn’t usually work in the kitchen.”

“I don’t.” He said blatantly as he flipped through the cookbook, trying to find the right recipe. “I was just worried about you, so I asked my mom and dad if I could take a shift in the kitchen today to work on my baking skills.”

Gala smiled at him even though he wasn’t looking at her. She turned back to the cake she was baking. Once she had all the ingredients stirred up, she poured the batter into a cake pan and put it in the oven. She checked to cookbook to see how long it would have to bake, and she set the time. She walked over to Pound to see how he was doing and if he needed any help.

“Do you need any help with anything?” She asked him.

“I think I got it.” He said, clumsily pushing a messy tray of cupcakes into the oven. He turned to Gala and gave her a smile. Gala held her hoof over her mouth to keep herself from laughing and her mane became extremely curly. “What?” Pound asked.

Gala began giggling uncontrollably. Pound had flour and batter all over his face and in his mane. Pound continued staring at her, wondering why she was laughing so hard. When she had finally calmed down she wiped a tear out of her eye. “Go look at yourself.” She said. Once she had said it, she immediately burst out into laughter again.

Pound pulled out one of the shiniest cookie sheets and looked at himself in it. He saw the flour and batter on his face and in his mane and he blushed slightly knowing that Gala had been laughing at him. He wiped his face off and shook his head to get the flour out of his mane. He walked back over to Gala, now being mostly clean.

She had finally stopped laughing, but she was still fighting small bursts of giggles. “I see you’re feeling better.” Pound said to her with a smirk. Gala nodded, giggling slightly.

The oven beeped and Gala stopped giggling and rushed over to it. She pulled out the cake that she had put in earlier and waited for it to cool off. “Your cupcakes are probably ready.” She said to Pound.

“Oh, right.” He had been watching Gala take the cake out of the oven. He walked over to the oven he was using and pulled the cupcakes out. They were all different sizes, and some were even different colors. There were drops of batter on the pan where they weren’t supposed to be. Gala giggled slightly at the sight of his cupcakes.

Once the cake and the cupcakes had cooled down, Gala carefully pulled the cake out of the pan and set it down. It seemed to have turned out nicely. She nibbled on some crumbs and was satisfied with the taste. She checked on Pound’s cupcakes; he was having a hard time getting them out of the pan.

One of the cupcakes had hopped out and Gala picked it up. She stared at it for a moment and then she looked at Pound, who was still trying to get the rest of the cupcakes out. “Pound Cake….” She said.

Pound stopped shaking the tray of cupcakes and turned to Gala. “Yeah?” He asked nervously.

“Did you forget to use cupcake liners?” She asked.

“Cupcake whaters?” He asked.

Gala sighed and walked over to him. “Pound, we can’t sell these. All cupcakes need to have cupcake liners.” She said. She pulled out a pile of them and set them on the counter in front of Pound.

“I thought we put the cupcakes in those once they were done.” He said awkwardly.

Gala giggled slightly. “I can’t believe you live and work in a bakery but you don’t know the most basic instruction for baking cupcakes.” She said, setting the cupcake down on the counter. “Do you know how to ice cakes or cupcakes?” She asked.

“Of course, I’m not stupid.” He said. Gala stared at him blankly.

“You’re lucky I love you.” Gala said.

Pound blushed and once Gala realized what she had said, a blush spread across her face as well. “You…. You do?” He asked.

“Ummmm….... Yeah, of course I do.” Gala said, forcing herself to look him in the eyes. “To tell you the truth….” She started, looking away from him nervously. “I’ve had a huge crush on you since the day we first met.” She stared at the ground, not wanting to look up at Pound to see his reaction.

Pound brought his hoof up to Gala’s chin and tilted her head up so she was looking right in his eyes. She noticed that there were tears in his eyes and he was crying slightly, but there was still a smile on his face. “I love you too.” He whispered. Tears formed in Gala’s eyes as well and the two joined together in a passionate kiss.

One of the ovens beeped and they jumped away from each other, both of them being ripped back into reality. “Since you know how to put icing on cakes and cupcakes, then go ice the cake I made, I’ll start another batch of cupcakes.” Gala said.

Pound nodded, tears still in his eyes, and walked over to where Gala had been just a minute ago. He pulled out a bowl of icing that had been tucked away and began putting it on the cake. Gala began another batch of cupcakes.

Once Pound had finished icing the cake, he brought it out to his parents. They cut it up into equal pieces. They kept one piece for themselves so they could taste test it, and they set the rest out for the customers. They each took a small bite of the piece of cake. “Pound, go get Gala.” Mrs. Cake said. Pound nodded and went back into the kitchen to get Gala.

“Gala, mom and dad want you out there to tell you what they think of your cake.” He said.

“Ok.” Gala had just taken the cupcakes out of the oven and she rushed out as soon as she could to see Mr. and Mrs. Cake.

“Gala, this cake is delicious.” Mrs. Cake said. Mr. Cake nodded in agreement. Gala smiled and thanked them for the compliment. She trotted back into the kitchen to see Pound carefully taking her cupcakes out of the pan.

“Oh.…” He said awkwardly when he saw that the cupcake liners were already on the cupcakes. Gala giggled and Pound jumped, startled by the noise. He turned to see Gala and his face turned red with embarrassment.

“Would you mind icing those for me?” Gala asked. “I’ll start another batch while you ice them. Or maybe we could both ice them and then I could show you how to bake cupcakes as good as I do.” She said.

“Great idea.” Pound said. He was being slightly sarcastic, a little upset that she had pretty much insulted his baking. But he knew he was bad, and he knew that she loved him, so he ignored it and began removing the rest of the cupcakes out of the pan.

Gala began icing the cupcakes that he pulled out, and once he had pulled them all out, he began icing the ones that Gala hadn’t gotten to yet. They finished somewhat quickly and brought the finished cupcakes to Mr. and Mrs. Cake on a tray. They went back onto the kitchen and Gala began a batch of cupcakes, making sure to show Pound how she did everything so he could eventually do it himself.

While the cupcakes were baking, Gala started a batch of cookies. Cookies were much easier to bake than cupcakes, but Pound still wasn’t sure if he could do it. Gala showed him and then put them in the oven. Once they were in the oven, the cupcakes had finished and Gala asked Pound to pull them out. He did, carefully, and set them on top of the stove.

When lunch time came around, they each took a cupcake and sat at a table. They ate their cupcakes happily. They looked at each other and they were both pretty messy. Though Pound was covered in all kind of baking ingredients. Gala just had some batter on her hooves and face.

Once they had eaten their cupcakes, they went back into the kitchen. Gala began baking something else, and Pound tended to the customers while his mom and dad took their lunch break. Gala started another batch of cupcakes and a batch of cookies. Once the cupcakes were done, Pound joined her in the kitchen.

He helped her ice them and he took them out to his parents as Gala took the cookies out of the oven. He started his own batch of cookies while Gala began mixing some ingredients for cupcakes. She put the cupcakes in the oven, and brought the cookies she had made a little earlier to Mr. and Mrs. Cake.

The few minutes she was out of the kitchen, she saw her younger brothers a the counter. Seeing them triggered memories of Pinkie Pie, her mother, and the basement underneath Sugarcube Corner. She gasped slightly at the sight of them and they turned to look at her.

“Oh! Gala! Hi, how are you?” Skittles asked.

“Oh, I’m good, how have you been?” She asked them.

“Do you know them?” Mrs. Cake asked.

Gala nodded.

“We’ve been good.” Chocolate Rain answered. Gala noticed Skittles wince slightly at the sound of Chocolate Rain’s voice. Gala gave them a small smile. Skittles smile back at her, but Chocolate Rain didn’t react. He seemed to always be in a bad mood and he seemed to boss around his brother.

“I should probably get back to work now.” Gala said, turning around and starting to walk back towards the kitchen.

“Gala, you’re welcome to take a little break to talk to your friends if you want.” Mrs. Cake said.

“Actually, we’re her brothers.” Chocolate Rain corrected Mrs. Cake.

“Oh! Goodness.” Mrs. Cake said. “Gala, by all means, take a break and talk to them.”

“But I’ve already taken my lunch break.” Gala protested.

“It’s alright, you’ve only ever taken one day off, you’ll have plenty of breaks ahead of you.” Mrs. Cake said.

Gala sighed. “Alright, I’ll take a break and talk to them. After I get my batch of cupcakes out of the oven.” She said, walking back into the kitchen.

“What took you so long?” Pound asked.

“My brothers are here.” Gala said. She pulled the cupcakes out of the oven, which had gone off just seconds earlier.

“That’s great!” Pound said.

“It’s really not.” Gala said. “Mrs. Cake insisted that I take a break to talk to them. But we have nothing to talk about. Would you mind icing these for me if I’m not back by the time they’re ready?” She asked, changing the subject.

“I’m sorry…. And yeah.” He said. He had started his own batch of cookies which were still in the oven. He refrained from starting another batch as he waited for the cupcakes to cool off. Gala thanked him and left the kitchen again. She pulled off her apron and sat down at the table the twins had chosen.

“So what do you two want to talk about?” Gala asked as she sat down.

Each of the twins had a cupcake and were munching on them slowly. They both shrugged and Gala sighed. “I knew we would have nothing to talk about.” She said, mostly to herself than to her brothers.

“The only thing we have in common is our mom and dad, and we never even met them.” Chocolate Rain said rudely.

Gala suddenly remembered that she had discovered the basement and that it had sort of belonged to their parents. She got a sudden urge to tell them about it, but something inside her told her that she shouldn’t tell them. She looked around them, to see it there was anyone listening to their conversation.

She opened her mouth to tell them, but her mind was screaming at her to keep quiet. She closed her mouth and eyes. She looked over at where Mr. and Mrs. Cake were standing at the counter. They each gave her a reassuring smile and smiled back. She noticed Pound Cake standing next to them, watching her carefully. Her eyes darted to the spot on the wall where the entrance to the basement was.

Pound saw this small action and shook his head and mouthed, “No.” Gala sighed and nodded. She turned back to her brothers. They had both finished their cupcakes and were looking at her curiously.

“Were you going to say something?” Skittles asked.

“No.” Gala lied. She really wanted to tell them, but she knew she couldn’t. Even if she did tell them, she couldn’t tell them in a public place like this. “I should probably get back to work, they need me in the kitchen.” She said. She stood up to leave, but Skittles stopped her.

“You work in the kitchen?” He asked,

Gala stopped and sat back down. “Yeah.” She said.

“So you baked those cupcakes that we just ate?” He asked.

“I did.” She said.

“They were really, really good.” He said with a small smile. Gala smiled back at him.

“Thank you.” Her mane had been straight up to that point, and when he had said that, it poofed up slightly.

“Woah, what’s with your mane?” Chocolate Rain asked rudely.

“Oh,” Gala said. “It gets curly when I’m happy, and the more curly it is, the happier I am. When I get sad, or nervous or any other bad feeling, it gets straight.” She explained.

Both the twins nodded. They actually began talking and laughing like family who hadn’t seen each other in a long time, which was exactly what they were.

They all looked out the window at around the same time, and the twins spoke up. “We should get home. Mom and dad said that we couldn’t be home too late, they’ll be wondering where we were all day.” Chocolate Rain said. Skittles didn’t seem as scared of him as he was earlier and he actually seemed to be in a good mood.

“Alright. I should be getting back to work anyway.” Gala said. They got up and parted ways. The twins went out the door and Gala went back into the kitchen.

“How did it go?” Pound asked when she returned.

“How did what go?” She asked.

“Talking to your brothers.” Pound explained.

“Fine.” Gala said, putting her apron back on. Her mane had been curly when they were talking, but it had straightened out when they left. Now it was slightly wavy because she was with her precious Pound Cake, but still not completely curly.

“Did you tell them about the….. You know…?” He asked.

“Almost, but no.” She said.

“Good, you really don’t need to tell them.” He said.

“But Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich were their parents too.” She said. “I think they deserve to know.”

“But they’re so much younger than you.” Pound said.

Gala sighed. “I know, but I still think they should know. I’m sure that Discord will know something about this, I need to ask him about it.”

“Are you sure he’ll understand where you’re coming from?” Pound asked.

“I sure hope so.” Gala began mixing a batch of cupcakes. Pound sighed slightly and began a batch of cookies. The day ended quickly and Pound walked Gala most of the way home.

“Can I walk you to work tomorrow?” He asked.

Gala smiled, “That would be great.” She said. He smiled back at her. Gala leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. She began to walk away but Pound stopped her.

“Gala, wait.”

She turned around. “Yeah?” She asked.

He pulled her into a tight hug. She didn’t notice, but there were tears in his eyes. “Please stay safe.” He whispered into her ear. He pulled out of the hug and planted a soft kiss on her lips and then turned and left her. She watched him as he walked away. Then she finally turned herself around and walked the rest of the way home.

When she arrived back at Fluttershy’s cottage, the first thing she noticed was that all or most of the lights were on inside. She wondered why and hurried inside. “Fluttershy, Discord, I’m home.” She called.

“We’re in the kitchen!” Discord called. Gala knew that Fluttershy couldn’t have called for her because she was so quiet, so it wasn’t weird that Discord had called for her. Gala made her way into the kitchen and at the kitchen table she saw three familiar faces.

“Scootaloo? Sweetie Belle? Apple Bloom?” Gala asked happily. They all nodded and her mane poofed up as she squealed and hugged each of them. They all hugged her back happily. Fluttershy sat at the end of the table next to Discord. She was on a hugging spree and hugged both of them as well.

“How was work today?” Fluttershy asked her.

“Good.” Gala said. “Chocolate Rain and Skittles stopped by and Mr. and Mrs. Cake let me take a second break to talk to them.”

“That’s great.” Fluttershy said.

“Who are Chocolate Rain and Skittles?” Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom nodded in agreement to her question.

“They’re my brothers.” Gala said.

“You mean, Pinkie Pie and Cheese had more kids?” Sweetie Belle asked, surprised.

“Yes they did.” Fluttershy said.

“Wow.” Apple Bloom said. “They must have gotten busy after they ran away.”

“What do you mean?” Gala asked.

The girls looked at each other and then at Fluttershy and Discord. “Does she not know?” Apple Bloom asked.

Fluttershy shook her head sadly.

“Know what?” Gala asked.

“Nothing.” They all replied in unison.

Gala scowled and her mane flattened out. “I’m going to my room.” She said grimly. She stomped off up the stairs and into her room. She collapsed in her bed and fell asleep almost immediately. She’d had a long day and she was very tired.

* * *

The next morning, Gala woke up earlier than she normally did, due to that she had fallen asleep so early. She got out of bed, got ready and walked down to the living room. She saw Discord sitting on the couch.

“Oh, hi Discord.” She said.

“Gala!” Discord nearly shouted. He was obviously surprised. “You’re up rather early.” He said.

“I know.” Gala said. She thought of what she had been wanting to ask him. Especially after the events of the night before. “Ummm Discord?” She asked.

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you a question about my parents?” She asked.

Discord lifted up one of his eyebrows and tilted his head slightly. “I guess so.” He said cautiously. Gala smiled slightly and dashed up to her room. She came back down with the note in her mouth.

“I found this in a basement that’s in Sugarcube Corner. Did you know anything about this?” Gala asked him.

Discord didn’t have to read the note to understand that she knew that her mother and father were serial killers. He sighed and put his claw to his forehead. “Gala…” He started.

“Please tell me.” Gala begged him.

“Gala, I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you.” He said, shaking his head slightly.

“B-but… Discord…” She said sadly. “Please?” She whimpered, tears in her eyes.

“Gala, I said I couldn’t tell you. I never said anything about not being able to show you.” He said, an evil looking smile appearing on his face.

Gala was very confused at what he had said, and she didn’t understand his meaning. She tilted her head and lifted a single eyebrow just as he had done earlier. Discord placed his claw and paw on the sides of Gala’s head. Gala’s eyes went wide and the last thing she remembered seeing was the evil smile on Discord’s face.

* * *

Gala awoke to find herself standing on a moving cloud. She looked down at the cloud and at her own hooves on the cloud. She lifted one of her hooves up to her face and looked at it, or more accurately, through it.

She began to freak out a little, but then she heard Discord’s voice. “Don’t worry, you’re just in a memory.” He said. Gala breathed a sigh of relief. “Make sure you watch this.” Discord said. “Even the smallest of details is very important.” Gala nodded. She looked out into the sky and she saw a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail flying through the air towards a big city that looked like Canterlot.

“Rainbow Dash…” Gala whispered to herself.

“You know about your mother and father killing ponies to make cupcakes, right?” Discord said. Gala nodded as she watched Rainbow Dash fly through the air. Rainbow Dash flew into Canterlot and landed in front of Canterlot Castle. She nodded at the guards and they led her in. The small floating cloud that Gala was standing on followed Rainbow Dash as she went into the castle.

She saw Rainbow Dash follow a guard through the castle and into Princess Celestia's throne room. “Princess Celestia?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Gala noticed that her voice seemed more vibrant and she looked much younger as well. Of course, this was fifteen years ago.

“Yes, Rainbow Dash?” Princess Celestia said.

“I have news for you about the disappearances in Ponyville.” Rainbow Dash said. All the guards around the Princess gasped and stared at Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash, could I speak with you privately?” Celestia asked.

“Of course, Princess.” Rainbow Dash said with a little bow. Gala’s cloud followed the Princess and Rainbow as they walked to a small, private room.

“What is the information you have for me?” The Princess asked Rainbow Dash.

“I know how the ponies have been disappearing.” She said,

“How?”

“Somepony has been kidnapping them and torturing them to death.” Princess Celestia hardly reacted.

“Do you know who?” Celestia asked.

“Pinkie Pie.” At this, Celestia’s eyes widened and she released a small gasp.

“Are you sure?” She asked.

Rainbow Dash nodded solemnly.

“Rainbow Dash, are you not the Element of Loyalty? Wouldn’t you remain loyal to your friend Pinkie Pie?” Princess Celestia asked.

Rainbow was surprised that her princess would ask such a question. “Well, yes… But…”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept this from you.” Celestia said. “If this had come from Applejack, I might have accepted it.”

“Princess Celestia, Applejack is dead.”

“Oh…” The Princess replied grimly. “I’m sorry for your loss. Now, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave.” She stood up, towering over Rainbow Dash, and left the room. Rainbow Dash followed behind her and left the castle. Gala’s vision went black and once again, she saw nothing.

Slowly, it brightened up and Sugarcube Corner came into Gala’s vision. Though, it looked much older and it was in the middle of the night. She heard a few muffled sounds, but she didn’t pay attention to them. Instead, she watched as the two princess of Equestria, the princess of the day, and the princess of the night, flew down over Sugarcube Corner.

Princess Celestia’s eyes glowed a bright yellow and her horn lit up. The entire top of Sugarcube Corner lifted up and her magic lifted Pinkie Pie and Cheese out. Gala glanced inside and she saw the three fillies she grew up with sitting inside. Her vision went black again.

When her vision cleared, she looked around and it seemed like she was in a dungeon. She saw Pinkie Pie and Cheese, her mother and father, sitting inside a cell together. The princess came down the stairs and walked over to Pinkie and Cheese’s cell. They talked to them for a few minutes. Gala didn’t feel like any of the details were very important so she didn’t listen very much, thought she continued to watch.

Princess Celestia used her magic to lift up both Pinkie and Cheese and she and her sister flew out of the castle. They flew over Canterlot, and Ponyville and even the Everfree Forest. Gala’s floating cloud followed them all the way to the old castle and down into the dungeons.

She watched as Celestia and Luna tortured her mother and how her father escaped and attacked the princesses and escaped with Pinkie Pie. There were brief details on them running away and stopping at Fluttershy’s. The ‘memory’ went through quickly, and she saw her parents run away, and they lived in a cave, and then she saw winter go by.

Eventually, she saw her mother die, with Cheese by her side. Cheese left the cave and turned himself in to the princesses and Gala’s vision went black before she could see the details of how her father died.

Gala slowly blinked her eyes open. At first, everything was kind of blurry, but then she blinked again, and the water in her eyes ran down her face as tears. She had somehow ended up laying down on the floor. She stood up and looked at Discord.

“I-is this all true?” She asked.

Discord nodded sadly. “I’m afraid I can’t change visions like this except skipping parts and making them go faster.” He said.

Gala wiped away her tears with her hoof and went back up to her room to grab her saddlebag. She heard a knock at the door while she was upstairs. She figured it was Pound Cake and while she was upstairs, she couldn’t answer the door, which meant that Discord would answer it.

She started down the stairs, but stopped when she heard Pound’s voice. “Oh, uhh, hello sir. Is Gala home?” She heard him ask.

“Yes, I believe she just went upstairs, I’m sure she’ll be back down in a second.” Discord said. “You must be this Pound Cake I’ve heard so much about.” He said with a smirk.

Gala ran down the stairs. “Thanks Discord, I’ll just be off to work now.” She said, stepping out of the house and standing next to Pound Cake. “Bye.” She said to Discord.

She closed the door and turned to leave. Her face had gotten red, and her mane was as straight as ever. She and Pound made their way to work.

“Hey, umm.. Gala? Are you alright.” Pound asked nervously, trotting to keep up with her fast pace.

“I’m fine….” She said somewhat angrily.

“But…” He started.

Gala turned around to face Pound and he bumped into her because she had stopped so suddenly. When they bumped into each other, their noses touched slightly which made them both blush, but Gala quickly shrugged it off. “Look, Pound, I’ll tell you after work in the basement.”

“Uhhh…. Ok…” Pound said awkwardly. The two of them walked in silence the rest of the way to the bakery that Gala now knew the secrets of.

Chapter Eight

The work day at Sugarcube Corner went by rather quickly that day. Before Gala knew it, they were closing up shop. She remembered that she had told Pound that she would tell him what had happened after work, and work was over so she would have to tell him soon. She anxiously cleaned up the kitchen, trying to clean slower than usual just to postpone telling him about what happened.

Pound walked into the kitchen to see Gala slowly and nervously scrubbing the counter. “Gala, are you ok?” He asked. She didn’t answer, she just continued to scrub the counter silently.

Pound walked over to her and wrapped his foreleg around her. This elicited a reaction from Gala and she gasped and turned to look at him. Pound noticed that there were tears in her eyes and that she was shaking. Pound’s face was immediately filled with worry.

“A-are you ok?” He asked again. He looked into her eyes and wrapped his foreleg tighter around her, but not so tight it would hurt her.

“Oh, Pound.” She whimpered, and he noticed that her voice was shaking along with her body. “Pound, it’s awful.” She cried. She rested her head in his chest and began crying. Pound gently placed his hoof on the back of her head and stroked it to try to comfort her. He didn’t understand why she was crying or what was wrong, but he didn’t want to ask her in case it made her feel worse. He just hugged her and let her cry into him.

Once he thought she had calmed down, he decided to ask her what was wrong. “Gala, what’s wrong?” He asked. She looked up at him and then around the kitchen.

“I… I can’t tell you here.” She said. She sniffed a few times and wiped away her tears with her foreleg. “Come on.” She waved her hoof at him to follow; she left the kitchen and Pound followed her out. She grabbed her saddlebag and then pushed down on the floorboard that opened the basement.

The secret door slowly creaked itself open. She and Pound stood silently as they waited for it to open wide enough for them to walk through. When it opened, she and Pound walked down the staircase to the basement so they could talk privately.

Gala flicked on the light switch and turned to face Pound Cake. “I’ll tell you what happened.” She said. She paused, gulped nervously and took a slow, deep breath.

“Wh-what it is?” Pound asked. He wasn’t sure he should ask her, he didn’t want to force her to tell him.

“I….. I showed Discord the letter we found in here the first time we came here, and he showed me what happened to my parents.” Gala said. She stared right into Pound’s eyes, tears streaming down her face.

“Showed you?” Pound asked, a little confused.

“Yeah. He used some kind of magic to literally show me.” Gala explained.

“So….. What happened?” Pound asked hesitantly.

Gala told Pound everything. Including the part where Celestia and Luna killed her father. By the end of the story, they were both in tears. Gala picked the knife up off the floor and put it in her saddle bag.

“Aren’t you afraid that you’ll get caught with that?” Pound asked, wiping away the tears that had accumulated on his cheeks.

“No, Fluttershy hardly ever goes into my room, and if Discord found it, he would know why I had it, and he won’t get me in trouble.” Gala said. She walked past Pound and was about to start up the stairs. She turned around to face him. “You ready?” She asked.

“Huh? Yeah, sorry. Let’s go.” He flicked the light switch so the lights turned off and followed Gala up the stairs. They embraced quickly at the top of the stairs and then Gala left the shop and headed back home.

The long walk wasn’t necessarily hard, but she didn’t enjoy it. She was trying not to cry, and she was being extremely careful with the knife in her saddlebag, she didn’t want to get caught with that, especially since it was still covered with dried blood.

Gala passed some ponies as she was walking home. A few of them gave her friendly smiles, and others didn’t acknowledge her at all. When she was more into the country area of Ponyville, she let out a sigh of relief and allowed herself to relax a little.

She finally made her way back home and she went inside to her room. She put away her saddle bag after taking the knife out. She hid the knife somewhere that she knew neither Fluttershy nor Discord would find it.

It took her a minute to make sure it was perfect, and when she was sure it was, she hopped into her bed and tried to get herself to fall asleep. She had had a long hard day, and she was extremely tired, so she was able to fall asleep easily.

During the night, she dreamt about all the things Discord had showed her in his vision. She spent the whole night tossing and turning. A few times she woke up in the dead of night, covered in sweat and breathing heavily, on the brink of crying and screaming.

At one point, she woke up and the sun had already risen. She decided she would stay in today, she was in no condition to go to work. Gala laid back down and tried her hardest to get back to sleep, but a few minutes later, she heard a knock on the door downstairs.

She waited a minute, but she didn’t hear Fluttershy nor Discord go to answer it. They were either still asleep, or they had already left the house for the day. She sighed and got out of bed. she walked down the stairs and into the living room to answer the door herself.

She opened it, “Hell… Oh… Hi.” She said, seeing Pound Cake standing in the doorway.

“Gala!” He exclaimed. He jumped onto her, hugging her tightly. There were tears in his eyes and he was shaking.

“Pound, wh-what’s wrong?” She asked. She was surprised to see him here, and she was surprised to see him crying. She didn’t know why he was crying, but she hugged him back to try and comfort him.

“I…. I was so worried about you.” Pound sniffed.

“But, Pound, I’m just fine, you don’t have to worry.” Gala whispered sweetly into his ear. Pound didn’t respond, he just continued to sob into her. Gala sighed and rubbed his back for a moment.

Pound pushing himself up so he was standing over her. There were still a few tears in his eyes and running down his cheeks. They dripped down off his face and onto Gala. He leaned down and kissed her. Gala blushed profusely and kissed him back, wrapping her hooves around him.

She suddenly pushed him off of her and jumped up, looking around. “Gala, what’s wrong?” He asked.

“I live here. With Fluttershy. And Discord.” Gala said, she continued looking around to make sure they were nowhere to be seen. Pound stared at her. “I’ll be right back.” She said.

“But-”

“Don’t move.” She ran up the stairs to her room, leaving Pound standing where he was feeling foolish. She ran into her room and brushed her mane and tail as quickly as she could. She leaned into Fluttershy and Discord’s for just a moment, they were still sleeping. She released a quick sigh of relief and rushed back down stairs.

Pound had closed the front door and was standing awkwardly, looking around the room. “Come on.” Gala practically dragged him out the door.

“What? Where are we going?” He asked, following her half-heartedly.

“To work.” She said.

“But…” Pound started.

“But what?” Gala asked. She stopped walking and turned to face him.

“Sugarcube Corner is closed today.” Pound said.

Gala’s face grew red with embarrassment. “Then we’ll just go out.” She said. “Come on.” She began trotting away and Pound had to gallop to catch up to her.

Pound Cake and Gala Amour walked around Ponyville that day. As they were walking, Gala gasped and startled Pound.

“What? What is it?” He asked, still a little shocked by her loud gasp. Her mane had suddenly poofed up and she was wearing a large smile.

She looked around to make sure nopony was listening to their conversation and she leaned in closer to Pound and whispered. “We should go to Sweet Apple Acres.”

“What? Are you crazy?” Pound asked.

“Oh come on.” She whined. “Can we please go?” She begged.

Pound scrunched his face up in thought. He glanced at Gala and when he saw the look on her face, he just couldn’t say no. He sighed and tried to look away. “Fine.” He breathed out shamefully.

“Yay!!” Gala’s mane and tail became even poofier and she hugged Pound. “Come on, let’s go right now!” She began skipping towards Sweet Apple Acres and Pound followed her slowly, not quite as eager to get there as Gala was.

Gala stopped skipping so Pound could catch up with her. “Are you ok?” She asked him once they were side by side.

“I just really really don’t want to go. Mom and dad always told me never to go there.” He said, giving Gala a pleading look, begging her to go back with his eyes.

“We don’t have to go if you really don’t want to.” Gala said reassuringly.

Pound sighed happily and a smile appeared on his face. “Thank you.” He said sincerely. They turned around and started walking back.

Gala looked up at the sky. “Its’ actually getting kind of late, maybe we should go home now.” She said.

“Alright.” Pound said, he looked up as well, and searched around for the sun. “Sweet Celestia….” He breathed. “Gala, we need to get going now, it’s almost sundown.”

“What’s wrong with nighttime?” She asked, following Pound as he began trotting back to Fluttershy’s house.

“My parents don’t like it when I stay out too late, so if I show up late, they’ll worry about me, and they’ll probably ground me.” Gala nodded and they continued trotting back to Fluttershy’s cottage.

When they finally arrived, the sun had just gone down. Gala went inside and waved Pound inside as well.

“Welcome back Gala… And… Pound Cake…..” She said, slightly confused as to why Pound was standing in her living room after dark.

“I’m sorry Fluttershy, we lost track of time while we were walking around Ponyville, and now it’s really late and…..” Gala trailed off in her explanation.

Fluttershy just smiled at them. “Pound, why don’t you stay here tonight? When you go back tomorrow, you can tell Mr. and Mrs. Cake that you stayed the night at a friend’s house.”

“Thank you Mrs. Fluttershy, but….” He looked at Gala and she was blushing and had a shy smile on her face. He looked back at Fluttershy.

“But what?” She asked.

“Nothing… Nevermind.” He said. “Thank you very much for letting me stay here tonight.” He said politely like he was addressing a customer at Sugarcube Corner. He bowed his head slightly.

“Gala, there’s an extra bed in your room, right?” Fluttershy asked.

Gala’s face grew redder. “Ummm, there’s actually two extra beds…” She said.

“Perfect!” Fluttershy said with a smile. “Pound Cake, you can choose one of those to sleep in. You two are both very responsible, and I trust you to sleep in the same room. You have work tomorrow, right?” She asked.

“Yes ma’am.” Pound said with a nod. Gala stared at him and noticed that he was blushing slightly as well.

Fluttershy smiled at them once more. “You two should go on to bed now and get some sleep.” She said.

Gala went up to her room and Pound Cake followed her. She pointed at her bed, “I sleep in this bed, you can choose one of the other two.” Pound nodded and sat down on the bed that was closest to hers. Gala walked over to her bed and crawled up into it. She shook her head to get her mane out of her face, and she realized how dirty it was.

She got out of her bed, “Umm, Pound, I need to take a shower.” She said.

“Ok.” He said. “Have fun.” A slight smile appeared on his lips and Gala blushed and hurried off to the bathroom. She took a quick shower and then rushed back to her room.

Pound Cake was lying spread eagled on his stomach on the bed he had first sat on. Gala smiled. His breathing was steady and even, he had obviously already fallen asleep. Seeing him sleeping, Gala yawned. She climbed into her own bed and quickly fell asleep.

Gala woke up because she felt something on her forehead. She opened her eyes to see Pound standing over her. What she felt on her forehead must have been a kiss from him. She stared at him for a moment and he pulled his head back and she sat up in bed. He was standing next to her bed looking at her.

“You’re cute when you’re sleeping.” He said with an adorable smile. Gala blushed and looked up at him. His eyes darted from her eyes to her mane and then he looked down at her tail. He brought his hoof to his mouth to stifle a small giggle.

“What?” Gala asked. “What is it?” She got up and looked at herself in the mirror. She squeaked when she saw how bad her bedhead was. Her face grew red and she tried her best to smooth it down with her hooves.

Pound giggled a little more and picked up her brush in his mouth. He walked over to her and began brushing her mane. Once her mane was brushed, he moved on to brush her tail.

“P-pound… I… I can do my tail myself.” Gala stuttered nervously.

“Don’t worry, I got it.” He said, doing his best to talk around the brush handle in his mouth. Gala blushed as Pound ran the brush through her tail slowly and gently.

“Pound, today is your birthday, right?” Gala asked.

“Mmmphh hmmph mmmph.” He mumbled over the handle of the brush.

“What?” She asked. He finished brushing her tail and then he set the brush down.

“I said, it’s actually tomorrow.”

“Oh, right. Well happy early birthday.” She said with a smile. Pound smiled back at her, but it was half hearted. “Is something wrong?” She asked.

“No, I’m fine.” He said, smiling again, trying to make it more genuine.

“Pound, you know you can tell me anything, right?” Gala said to him with a very soft tone, she sounded very worried.

“Really, it’s just nothing. It’s just a little hard having to share a birthday with your sister.” He said with a small laugh. Gala gave a small sigh of relief, happy that her little Pound Cake didn’t have some kind of serious problem.

“Are you ready to go to work then?” She asked.

Pound nodded and they left her room and the house and started walking to Sugarcube Corner. They got there and Mr. and Mrs. Cake asked where Pound had been and he told them he had stayed the night at a friend’s house. They didn’t get him in trouble and they all just started working as usual.

Pumpkin Cake had gotten over her little sickness and she was working today. The work day went by quickly without anything significant happening. Gala and Pound cleaned the kitchen together as usual and they hugged and kissed before she had to get back home.

The walk back to the cottage was uneventful and she collapsed in bed as soon as she got into her room. She fell asleep quickly without telling Fluttershy or Discord that she had come back home, they would figure it out when they checked on her.

Chapter Nine: "Happy Birthday, Pound!"

Gala woke up extra early and brushed her mane and tail as quickly as she could. In a matter of minutes, she was out the door. Today was Pound’s birthday. It was also Pumpkin’s birthday, but Gala wasn’t very close with her anymore. Their personalities differed and Pumpkin had many other friends, something Gala didn’t have an abundance of.

Gala wanted to get them each a present, but she had no idea what to get them. As she was walking around Ponyville early in the morning, she had the sudden thought that if she wanted to buy something, she would need money. She had been saving up from her job at Sugarcube Corner and she had a piggy bank full of bits at home.

Gala quickly rushed back home and filled her saddle bag with a bunch of bits. She tightened her saddle bag, it had gotten heavy since she put all the bits into it and started slipping to one side, and then she left again, searching for something she could get for Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. Of course, she would get something for each of them, she didn’t want them to have to share a gift.

She wandered around Ponyville, trying to think of something that she could get for them. She sighed. She had never been good at picking out gifts for people. Maybe she could ask Fluttershy or Discord. Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Cake knew what they would want, but she didn’t want to bother them, they were probably busy with their own birthday celebrations for Pound and Pumpkin.

As she was wandering through Ponyville, she eventually passed by Sugarcube Corner. She looked inside the window, it was dark, and it seemed like nopony was home. She became curious as to what was happening. Gala stared into the darkness for a little while longer. She saw a shape dash from down the stairs and into the kitchen, followed by a loud crash. Gala jumped back from the window, but quickly moved back and continued to look inside.

She saw Pound Cake trotting down the stairs to go after whatever it was that had flown into the kitchen. She gently knocked on the window and Pound turned his head to see her. He trotted over to the door and let her in. “Hi.” He said in a cracked, tired voice.

“Pound, are you ok?” Gala asked.

“I’m fine.” He said. “Pumpkin is sick, so mom and dad and I have been taking care of her.” He said.

“If you need any help, I’m always here.” Gala said with a smile.

Pound smiled back weakly. “You’re the greatest.” He said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“Happy birthday.” Gala said. She closed the door and pulled off her saddlebag, putting it where she normally would if she were working. Pound smiled again.

“Thanks.” He said, almost sarcastically.

Gala followed him back upstairs to Pumpkin’s room. Her face was bright red, and her horn was glowing like crazy. Items all over the room were floating around. Gala assumed it was her magic that was going out of control. Pumpkin lay in her bed, contorted in pain.

“Where are Mr. and Mrs. Cake?” Gala asked.

“They’re taking a nap, it’s my shift.” Pound said. “Thanks again for stopping by and offering to help.” He said.

“Really, it’s nothing.” Gala said. “What can I do?” She asked.

“She looks like she could use another glass of water.” Pound said.

Gala nodded and trotted down to the kitchen to get Pumpkin a glass of water. Gala helped Pound take care of Pumpkin Cake until Mr. and Mrs. Cake woke up and took over.

“Oh, Gala, how nice of you come here and help. Thank you so much, dear.” Mrs. Cake said to Gala.

“We can take care of Pumpkin for the rest of the day, why don’t you two go out and do something?” Mr. Cake said.

“Pound, I could take you out for dinner.” Gala said.

“But, Gala…” Pound started.

“It’s your birthday. I didn’t get you a present, you have to let me do something for you.” Gala pleaded.

Pound sighed. “Alright, fine.”

“Why don’t you two go to Canterlot? You could stay at a hotel for the night. I’ll get you some money so you don’t have to pay out of pocket.” Mrs. Cake said. Gala and Pound looked at each other awkwardly.

“Mrs. Cake, it’s fine, I have plenty of money, I haven’t spent a dollar ever since I’ve started working here.” Gala said.

“Oh, alright. You kids have fun, and Pound, I’m not letting you back in until tomorrow.” She said with a small giggle. Mr. Cake chuckled slightly as well, and Gala noticed Pound blush, though she didn’t know why.

Gala and Pound left Pumpkin’s room and Gala grabbed her saddlebag. “Are you sure you want to pay for everything?” Pound asked. “You could at least let me help with the train tickets or the hotel room.”

“Pound, relax, it’s fine.” Gala assured him. Pound sighed and looked down at the ground. Gala kissed his forehead. “Come on, let’s get going.” Gala said. She quickly put on her saddlebag and left Sugarcube Corner.

The sun was just starting to set, so it wasn’t too late. They walked side by side and Pound wrapped one of his wings around Gala. Gala couldn’t stop smiling and when Pound noticed how big her smile was, he just had to ask. “Why are you smiling so much?”

“I just really like being with you.” Gala said, her smile growing even larger. She looked in front of them. “Oh! Look, there’s the train station.” Gala said. Pound looked and nodded. When they got to the train station, they had to wait a few minutes for a train, but they used that time to buy two tickets to Canterlot.

Gala had bought the tickets and gave one to Pound and kept the other for herself. They sat down while they waited for the train to come into the station. Even in this poor lighting, Gala could tell that Pound was tired. He had dark circles under his eyes and he was hardly able to keep them open.

“Pound, are you alright?” She asked, gently placing a hoof on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He said, smiling at her.

“You should try to sleep on the train.” She said. Pound nodded, too tired to respond. There was the loud squeal of metal on metal and Pound’s eyes jerked open wide. Gala giggled slightly, “That was the train.” She said.

“Yeah….” Pound said. They got up and went to go get on the train. They gave their tickets to the conductor and waited for the large group of ponies to flush out of the train and then they got on it themselves. They found and open seat and then sat down. Pound leaned his head on Gala’s shoulder and quickly fell asleep. Gala smiled and gently kissed his forehead.

She wasn’t tired, she had gotten plenty of sleep the night before. She stayed up during the train ride to Canterlot. She had never been to Canterlot before, so she couldn’t plan ahead of where she thought they could eat. Maybe she could ask a local, or maybe Pound knew some place. Gala endured the bumpy train ride, trying to keep her body as still as possible so Pound could sleep as soundly as possible.

After about half an hour or so, the conductor announced, “Next stop, Canterlot!” Gala stirred slightly from her motionless position, and Pound’s head jerked up. His eyes popped open and as he looked around his surroundings, they began to droop closed again, and he laid his head back down on Gala’s shoulder.

“Pound, sweetie, we’re here.” Gala said, nuzzling him slightly.

Pound sat up again, slower this time, and his eyes fluttered open. He looked around once more and his gaze settled on Gala. He yawned and stretched, seeming fully rejuvenated. The train lurched to a stop and Gala and Pound both stood up. They walked off the train together, and Pound wrapped his wing around Gala once again.

“Do you know where we should eat?” Gala asked.

“No, I don’t. Maybe we should just walk around for a bit until we see some place that looks good.” Pound said.

“Ok.” Gala said. They walked together in the still night, the stars twinkling above them. Gala sighed happily, and she relished in the feeling of Pound’s wing over her back. “Maybe we should just skip eating and just go to a hotel and sleep.” She said.

“But I’m hungryyy.” Pound whined, giving Gala a begging look.

Gala giggled, “Ok, ok.”

They walked around Canterlot for a little while, searching for some place to eat. As they walked, they passed many couples walking around the lovely city as well. Gala and Pound passed a large building, a restaurant. Gala looked up at it and then she looked at Pound. “Where do you want to eat?” She asked.

“Wherever.” Pound said.

Gala sighed. “You need to choose someplace…. Please?”

Pound sighed and then he looked around, pointing to a small, cozy looking restaurant. “How about that place?” He asked.

“Alright.” Gala said, and they started walking towards it. They walked in and the lighting was gentle and there was classical music playing through speakers. They looked around for a moment and then they went to speak to somepony who looked like they were in charge. “Ummm, hello, sir?” Gala asked.

He had been looking down,perhaps doing taxes or something. He gasped and looked up. “Yes?” He asked eagerly.

“We’d like to eat here.” Gala said. She looked at Pound, unsure of what she should say next.

“Oh, this is wonderful!” He exclaimed in a high-pitched cheerful voice, almost like a mare. He picked up two menus. “We hardly ever get any guests anymore. Follow me.” He said. He walked through the restaurant. “Is there a certain spot you would like to sit at? There’s nobody here, so you have your pick.” He said.

“N-no, anywhere is fine.” Gala said, looking at Pound quizzically. Pound was wearing a goofy smile as he watched their waiter nervously fumble about, wearing that nervous, excited smile.

“Alrighty then.” Said the waiter in a sing-song voice. He led them to the far side of the restaurant. He set down the menus in front of where they would be sitting. It was a small two-seater table with a candle as the centerpiece. It wasn’t lit, perhaps due to the lack of customers, so the waiter pulled out a match and lit the candle. “Enjoy.” He said as he left Pound and Gala alone standing by the table.

They looked at each other for a moment, and then they burst into giggles. They each sat down on opposite side of the table.

“Gala….” Pound said once their giggles had died down.

“Yeah?” She asked through a few small, lingering giggles. Her giggles stopped when she looked up at Pound and saw how sad he looked. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

“There’s something I need to tell you.” Pound said solemnly. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Gala noticed a small tear roll down his cheek, and she suddenly became very worried.

“Pound, what is it? Please tell me?” She begged, her voice cracking slightly as she tried not to cry.

“You know how sick Pumpkin is?” Pound asked. Gala nodded. “None of the doctors in Ponyville know what’s wrong with her, so mom and dad want to move somewhere where they can find a professional doctor that can figure out what’s wrong with her and make her better.”

“So, you’re moving away from Ponyville?” Gala asked sadly.

“I might be able to stay, but I’m not sure yet.”

“What do you mean? You might be able to stay?” She asked.

“Mom and dad said that I might be old enough to stay here and Ponyville and run Sugarcube Corner.” He paused and a smile appeared on Gala’s face. “But…” He continued. Gala’s frown dissipated. “Since I’m only 17 now and technically I would have to be 18 to own Sugarcube Corner, I need somepony, and adult pony to own it until I turn 18.” He said.

“I could ask Fluttershy, or, Discord, or Sweetie Belle, or, Apple Bloom, or, Scootaloo.” Gala said. “I’m sure at least one of them would do it.” She said in a sad, almost desperate voice.

Pound smiled weakly and tiredly at her. “That would be amazing.” He said. “Thank you.” He picked up his menu and began looking at it. “I’m sorry I had to tell you this now, let’s just forget about it and have a fun night.” He smiled at her.

Gala smiled back and picked up her menu as well. They both ordered what they wanted to eat from their ecstatic waiter. He happily wrote down their orders and skipped away into the kitchen after picking up their menus.

Gala and Pound talked to each other about things that would make them happy, things that would help them forget about everything Pound had said. They talked, and laughed and there were a few kisses. When the waiter had finally come back, he was carrying their food with his magic from his horn. He placed their plates in front of them.

“Is there anything else you would like?” He asked.

Gala and Pound both looked at each other, shaking their heads slightly. “No.” They said in unison. The waiter left them to eat their food and talk. The food was delicious and expertly prepared, they were both surprised that this place didn’t have any more customers. They finished eating their food, chatting casually as they ate. Once they finished Gala paid the waiter.

“Oh my goodness!” He exclaimed when she attempted to give him the bits. “Why are you paying?” He asked her.

“It’s Pound’s birthday, I’m treating him.” She said.

The waiter seemed to relax some and accepted that the lady was paying. He accepted the bits and then Pound and Gala were on their way. They wandered around Canterlot for a bit, enjoying the calm night and the beautiful sky. Eventually, they grew tired enough that they retreated to a hotel for the night.

They walked into the first hotel they see. Pound’s tiredness had returned and he could hardly keep his eyes open. Gala walked up to the pony at the front desk. “Umm, hello…” She said awkwardly. “Do you have any rooms available that we could stay in for the night?” She asked.

The pony at the front desk looked at her and then he looked at Pound. “Yes, but I’m afraid we only have two rooms left, and they’re both only one bed rooms.” He said.

“That’s fine.” Gala said, opening her saddle bag. “How much?” She asked. The strange pony raised an eyebrow, and then he looked down and told her the price. She gave him the right amount of bits, as well as a few as a tip, and then he gave her the key. She and Pound walked up to their room, referring to the number on the key, which was the same as their room number.

Chapter Ten: The Love Between Pound and Gala

She let Pound open the door, mostly because she had never stayed in a hotel before and wasn’t sure how the door opening process worked. They walked into the room and Gala closed the door. Pound set the key down on a table that was near the single bed. Gala took off her heavy saddlebag, moaning softly as the weight was lifted off her back.

Pound heard her moan and he looked over at her wondering why. “Gosh, that thing was sooooo heavy.” She complained. She set her front hooves further out in front of her, and without realizing that Pound was right behind her, she pushed her backside up into the air to stretch her aching back.

Pound stared at her flank, which was mere inches from his face. Pound’s face grew bright red, and he wanted to back away, but he was too drawn to her. Gala’s tail swished back and forth, covering her marehood and then revealing it and then covering it again. Pound finally took a step back and turned around.

Gala groaned slightly as she stretched a little more, pushing her rear up further and bringing her front down lower. Once she was satisfied, she stood up straight once again. She turned to see Pound facing away from her.

“Pound?” She asked. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah… Fine…” He said. “I’m just tired, I guess.” He said.

“Then we should go to bed.” Gala said.

Hearing Gala say this, it finally dawned on Pound that they were staying in a hotel room with only one bed, which meant they would have to share it. They would have to sleep in the same bed. Pound’s face grew red at the thought of sleeping with her. He noticed that Gala’s face was slightly red as well. “Gala, maybe we should stay somewhere else.” Pound said.

“But I’ve already paid this place, and you look like you can hardly keep your eyes open.” Gala said. She walked over to him and kissed his cheek gently. “Come on, you should really get some sleep.” She gently urged him closer to the bed and then he got in. She walked around to the other side and got in the bed as well.

At first they laid with their backs to each other, facing the walls opposite each other. They both slowly turned to face each other. They each slowly scooted closer, their faces growing redder as they got more embarrassed and nervous. They hugged each other close, and kissed a few times.

“Happy birthday, Pound.” Gala whispered.

Pound said nothing in return, he just stared at Gala and at the small smile on her face. Pound sighed and he kissed her nose. She scrunched it up for a moment, and then she looked up at Pound. He smiled, “Gala, I love you.” He whispered.

“I love you too.” Gala whispered back to him. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Gala’s eyes closed slowly and she leaned closer to Pound. Their lips met in a passionate kiss, sending vibrations of pleasure and love throughout their bodies.

They wrapped their legs around each other and began to cuddle with each other, their lips never parting. They began to make out lovingly, their hooves traveling around each other’s bodies as they did so. Pound broke the kiss and his lips traveled around Gala’s face and down her neck and parts of her torso.

They had been together longer than many mares and stallions, but had never done anything more than a few kisses. Soon, they both become overwhelmed with the pleasure of being so close to one another and being all alone, able to do whatever they wished. As they kissed each other, moans escaped their lips and their tongues intertwined.

They both began sweating, though they stayed underneath the blanket as they gently caressed each other’s bodies lovingly, carefully. Pound stopped for a moment, he had somehow ended up standing over Gala, looking down at her beautiful face. He lifted a hoof and gently brushed Gala’s curly, tangled, matted mane out of her face, looking into her eyes.

She stared back up at him, breathing heavily, her face red from the neverending heat inside her that was taking her over. Pound smiled at her, and Gala’s lips slowly curved up into a weak smile. She looked up at him, staring at him with her blue-green eyes, beckoning him to come back down to her.

Pound let his body slowly fall down on top of her. He rested himself on top of her quivering body, holding himself up slightly. He kissed the tip of her nose, and Gala crinkled it up slightly. Pound smiled, and chuckled. She was so adorable, and he loved her so much. “Gala?” He whispered softly, staring down at her face, her cheeks flushed, her eyes barely being held open, her mouth parted slightly.

“Yes?” She whispered through her parted lips, her eyes widening slightly, staring at him eagerly.

“I love you.” He said to her, leaning down and kissing her lips tenderly. Gala happily kissed him back. She reached her hooves up and pulled his body down, closer to her own. She was aching to feel his touch, she never wanted him to leave her.

She broke the kiss, only for a moment, to whisper, “I love you too.” And then she continued kissing him. She kissed him with such passion, such love. The love inside her that blossomed for Pound Cake, more love than she could keep inside.

Pound kissed her back, loving every moment that he was close to her. They began to make out once more, their bodies pressed tightly against each other, their tongues intertwining inside each other’s mouths.

Without either of them knowing exactly what was happening, their instincts took over as they engaged in an act of pure bliss and love for the very first time. They were gentle with each other, whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears as pain and pleasure came together. The act of love ensued late into the night, and seemed to last for hours, days even.

Eventually it all came to an end. Both Gala and Pound were tired, and happy. They were wrapped up in each other’s grip and they kissed a few more times, whispering, ‘I love you’ before falling asleep holding on to each other.

Chapter Eleven

Gala and Pound woke up the next morning, slightly surprised to see that they had slept in the same bed, but them the memories of the night before came rushing back to them. Their faces grew red and they could hardly look at each other they were so embarrassed. They eventually got out of bed, packed up and then left the hotel room after cleaning off and checking out.

They hopped on the first train back to Ponyville and arrived back home a few hours later. They both went straight to Sugarcube Corner to start work.

“How was Canterlot?” Mr. Cake asked Pound when he and Gala walked through the door.

“It was nice.” He answered. “The food from the restaurant we went to was really good.”

“So your birthday dinner was satisfactory?” He asked, tilting his head and giving his son a strange, funky smile.

“Yeah.” Pound said.

He and Gala walked by him. They passed Mrs. Cake as they walked into the kitchen. Today Mr. Cake was serving and Mrs. Cake was taking orders while Pound and Gala cooked in the kitchen. They started out with Sugarcube Corner’s most popular treat, cupcakes. They baked one batch each and then moved on to cookies and cakes.

Throughout the day they made 10 batches of cupcakes, 6 batches of cookies, 4 batches of brownies, 2 batches of tarts, 3 pies, and 5 cakes. Almost everything was sold. At the end of the day, the only treats left were a few cookies. Mr. and Mrs. Cake shared them with Gala and Pound and took the last one up to Pumpkin. She still wasn’t doing very well.

Gala was devastated at the thought of losing Pound, but hopefully she wouldn’t have to. Gala decided she would go with Pound to talk to the ponies she knew to see if any of them would take control of the shop while Mr. and Mrs. Cake are in Canterlot and until Pound grew old enough to own Sugarcube Corner himself. She thought for a moment, Fluttershy was responsible, but she already had so much to do, and she was always so tired that Gala didn’t want to put that on her. She then thought of Apple Bloom. She had once lived on a farm, she was pretty responsible then, right? Then she thought of all the other things that she had seen Apple Bloom do, and how irresponsible they were.

“What about Scootaloo?” She asked herself. “She’s more irresponsible than I am. That’s a definite no. But what about Sweetie Belle? She’s always organized and very responsible for her childish attitude.” Gala then decided that she would talk to Sweetie about it and hope that she said yes. She waited next to the door of Sugarcube Corner for Pound to come back down from Pumpkin’s room so she could talk to him about it.

He came back down a minute later. “Hey,” He said with a shy smile as he trotted over to her.

“Hi.” Gala said, smiling back at him. She suddenly felt really shy around him, she wasn’t sure what to do or say. Memories of their night in Canterlot flooded back into her head and her flushed deep red. Pound’s smile grew and he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

“Did you want to talk to me?” He asked her.

“Oh… Ummm… Yeah. Remember how you told me that you need to get someone to own Sugarcube Corner for the next year until you turn 18 and can own it yourself?” Gala asked him.

“Yeah, why?” Pound’s face contorted in confusion and he tilted his head at Gala. She smiled, she couldn’t resist, he was just so adorable.

“Um, well, I thought I could ask Sweetie Belle, she’s really responsible and-” Pound held his hoof over her mouth.

“I don’t care about the reasons. If you think she could do it, I trust your judgement. I’ll go with you to ask her.” He said. Gala blushed deeply as she stared up at Pound.

“Tomorrow.” Gala said. She leaned in and kissed Pound slowly and deeply, and then she left Sugarcube Corner for the long walk home.

The next day after work, Gala and Pound set off to find Sweetie belle ask talk to her about owning Sugarcube Corner if only for the next year. They hurried off towards Sweetie Belle’s house. It had been a while since Gala had seen Sweetie, and she was excited to see her again. With Pound next to her, she knocked on the front door. A few minutes later, Sweetie Belle opened the door.

Her long pink and purple mane was pulled up into a knot at the back of her head. A few strands stuck out here and there, curling around her ears. “Hi, Gala.” Sweetie said. She sounded slightly out of breath. “Did you need something?” She asked.

“Well, umm… Yes. I need to ask you a very important question.” Gala said.

“Oh, come on in.” Sweetie stepped aside, opening the door wider and Gala and Pound walked inside. Sweetie closed the door and led them through her spotless house and into the kitchen which was extremely clean and organized. They each sat down and together Gala and Pound proposed the question to Sweetie Belle. Near the end she was wiping away tears.

“Oh, of course, I’ll do anything I can to help.” Sweetie Belle said once they had finished explaining everything.

“Thank you so much.” Gala said, hugging her. They worked out all the details with each other and with Mr. and Mrs. Cake. (I’ll spare you the boring details… Partly because I have no idea how any of that kind of stuff works).

About a week later, Mr. and Mrs. Cake and Pound Cake moved to Canterlot so she could be taken care of by better doctors. Sweetie Belle then owned Sugarcube Corner and she helped around when she had the time. She said it just felt right that way. But for the most part, Gala and Pound were the only two working.

It was easy for them, they’d had days where they worked alone together. It wasn’t too much work, and it wasn’t hard. They managed to keep it running until Pound turned 18 and was able to maintain ownership of Sugarcube Corner by himself.

Pound and Gala stayed together for the next year. They remained happy. They hardly had any arguments and some night Gala slept at Sugarcube Corner so she could start extra early the next day.

After all, she was almost 17 and soon she would be full time living there. Fluttershy was happy to see her happy. Over the past year, Gala occasionally visited Fluttershy and helped out with the animals and talked with her and Discord over tea. Sometimes she would bring Pound with her, and sometimes she would go alone.

As Pound and Gala tended the bakery on their own, her brothers, Chocolate Rain and Skittles, would visit Sugarcube more often. When the work day was early, or when they closed early, Gala and Pound would go down to the basement and work on cleaning it up.

They debated whether to continue its use, or to clean it and use it as something else, like a storage room. Gala continuously tried to convince Pound to keep it as a torture dungeon because, although she had never really met her mother or father, she only had vague memories of them, she wanted to continue their legacy. Make their spirits happy. She just couldn’t explain why, but Pound understood her.

They talked about it and talked about it over the past year and eventually decided what to do.

Chapter Twelve

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