Twintwined in Twincest and Twinbreeding Part Two

Flurry Heart and the Cake Twins became fast friends and stayed in touch ever since the Barrel wedding where they first met. Unable to stop talking about each other as young foals, their parents would arrange playdates for them in both Ponyville and the Crystal Empire or sometimes even a compromise in between. Once they were old enough they became pen pals, continuously sending letters back and forth to one another. When Pound and Pumpkin turned eleven They begged their parents to send them to the Crystal Empire Boarding Academy where Flurry Heart attended. It would have been too expensive for the Cakes to afford so the royals ended up paying their tuition to make it work.

At the academy was where Flurry and Pound became officially coltfriend and fillyfriend though their families had treated them as such from practically the beginning due to their intense devotion and the oddly auspicious circumstances of their first meeting. Though the three of them were all good friends with one another, sometimes Pumpkin felt like a third wheel around their blossoming romance.

Flurry got her cutie mark at fifteen when she found a special date for a friend going to a dance. She was a matchmaker with a mark of two interlocking golden hearts. Pound and Pumpkin however remained pitious blank flanks.

The sky was crystal clear on the day of Flurry's, soon to be, epic cute-ceñera. It was still a couple of hours before the party actually started and the festivities kicked off but a few of the guests were already there including the alicorn princesses and most of Twilight's friends.

Cadance toured the veranda where servants were hustling to set up the outdoor dining area. She checked table runners and floral arrangements. The chocolate fountains were currently dry but there was still significant time left before they needed to be functional so she didn't mention it to anyone.

“Princess,” hailed the butler from behind her. “The Barrels are here,” he announced.

Cadence looked past him to see the twin stallion and mare pegasi and their entourage of over a dozen foals trailing behind. They spanned the gamut of every age continuing ever since they'd conceived their first. The grandmother, Brandy and step grandfather, Davenport brought up the rear carrying the two smallest ones on their backs.

“I'm so glad you could all make it out here,” smiled Cadance.

“It was a long train ride,” sighed Pickle, scratching his stubble.

“I bet it was. How did you even manage it logistically?”

“Three compartments, one to two adults in each one.”

“Oh, you got compartments; that makes it easier when you can trap them all in boxes with you.”

“Of course. We're way beyond riding in ordinary train carriages at this point.”

The middle foals began tussling the moment they sensed that the attention of the adults was elsewhere.

“No biting or we will leave you at home next time,” scolded Barley.

Their oldest child, Tornado stood at his parents' side. He was lithe and composed with a swoosh of mane, an early bloomer. He was already dressed in his Junior Wonderbolts flight suit.

“I need to go report,” he informed his dad. His unit was to perform alongside the Wonderbolts for the entertainment of the party.

“Go ahead,” he nodded. They'd miss the extra eyes to watch the rest of the foals.

Tornado fluttered his wings and zipped away.

“Well, let me show you where the nursery is," laughed Cadance. “I know you'll probably want to take full advantage while you're here.”

Flurry trotted casually through the garden between the Cake Twins as they all killed time before the party. Pound and Pumpkin wore their matching school uniforms with starched collars and clipped ties. Flurry had a fancy dress waiting on her bed that she had yet to try on.

“This is already the biggest, fanciest thing I've ever been to and it hasn't even started yet,” mused Pound.

“What about the Crystal Ball?” Flurry reminded him.

He scrunched up his nose in recollection. “Oh yeah but we were more like tagalongs in that. It wasn't all about you and we weren't formally invited; we're just family fixtures that are always hanging around. This feels different.”

They stopped under a shady trellis covered in honeysuckle and looked across the lawn at the bustling veranda.

“That must be the Barrel Family,” guessed Flurry, focusing on the gaggle of mostly yellow ponies talking to her mom. “ I don't know what big group would be here this early unless it was the music ensemble but most of them look too small to play instruments professionally.

“Whoa, is that Tornado?” gasped Pumpkin.

Flurry looked for the biggest colt in the crowd. “No way,” she breathed.

“He looks completely different from the last time I saw him and it looks like he made Junior Wonderbolt.

“Either that or he's playing dress up,” laughed Flurry.

“I wonder if he got his cutie mark.” She turned to Flurry. “Is he going to be in the matchmaking game?”

“I don't know,” shrugged the princess. “Maybe you should go ask him yourself.”

Pumpkin blushed.

The three of them watched as the colt took off into the air and rocketed away.

“Oh, he probably has to go practice for the show,” clarified Flurry, visorint her eyes from the sun.

“Oh… maybe I'll just go watch him then,” mused Pumpkin, already wandering away. “Catch up with you later.”

Pound and flurry exchanged shrugs.

“You never wanted to be a Wonderbolt,” said Flurry. “Isn’t that kind of weird for a pegasus?”

Pound knocked on an upright trellis beam. “Well you know I'm okay but not an amazing flyer and I'm too much of a slacker to train like that. I really don't think it's my calling but I guess we'll see eventually.”

“Speaking of training…” Flurry cocked her head in the direction of the hedge maze. “We've got work to do. C’mon.”

Flurry led her coltfriend to the south entrance of the labyrinth.

“Alright let's go through this one more time before the big event,” she smirked.

“This is a lot of practice for one thing,” mumbled Pound as she fished the blindfold out of the shrub wall. “Even if we screw it up it's not like it means anything permanent.”

“It'll be super embarrassing,” argued Flurry, pushing the blindfold down over his eyes.

“Then why did you want to do this?”

“Because it's fun, we're not going to screw it up and I think it gives our relationship another level of seriousness. It's easy; just stick to the plan.”

“Another level of seriousness from a rigged game?” he droned.

She tousled his mane into a mess. “It's not us we're convincing here, it's the whole world.” She swept a hoof through the air dramatically even though he couldn't see it. “Okay here we go, you're on.”

Pound licked his lips and approached the arched entrance. He held out a hoof to sense where the edge of the opening was. He began his narration when he felt his hoof brush the finely kempt wall of leaves.

“I enter the maze’s south entrance.” He began walking with brisk but measured strides, feeling for the number of gaps on his right side with his outstretched hoof.

“I walk twenty-one paces… and turn to the right. He walked a short distance then turned again. Eight paces then right again. Another eight and then left. Fourteen paces and then right and then I should be in the little courtyard.”

“Correct,” said Flurry.

He ran his hoof along the wall as he walked the perimeter of the little courtyard. At the center was a raised, square shaped gazebo surrounded by a few topiary plants made in the shape of animals.

“I go to the second alcove on my right side, stop and that's where I wait for you.”

“You did it!” Flurry clopped her hooves together. “Now it's my turn. Be right back.”

She snatched the blindfold off of his head and teleported away, appearing at the north entrance of the hedge maze. She slipped on the blindfold and then entered the labyrinth on her own. Moving along efficiently, she counted her steps and felt the walls similarly to how pound had done. It was only a matter of seconds before she appeared at the opposing side of the courtyard. Pound saw her but he waited patiently not saying a word as she fumbled toward him along the outer wall. A smile grew on her face as she sensed that she was nearing her coltfriend. She raised her hoof, reaching out through the air. When it landed on his muzzle he couldn't help but start laughing.

“Found you! Then we just wait here until time runs out and the bell rings… ring!”

“Then what happens?" asked Pound, playing dumb.

Still unable to see, Flurry leaned in toward him slowly and he closed his eyes. Their lips met, caressing one another. They opened their mouths daringly for but a moment.

Flurry pulled away. “Then we kiss and then we can look.” She whipped the blindfold off of her head and acted surprised with a melodramatic gasp. “Oh, it's you!” She looked over her shoulder and then up at the sky just to reaffirm their aloneness. “Then you know what happens after the party’s over, right?” she asked in a low voice.

“Uh… what?”

“We do it,” she whispered.

“It?” his eyebrows shot up.

“Rutting. That's what happens after your party if you have a coltfriend or fillyfriend after your cute-ceñera. You do it with them.”

“You do? That's a thing?”

“Yeah it's a rite of passage. I don't make the rules. You want to, right?”

“Y-yes,” he stammered.

He was still dubious of the claim. He'd never heard anything about that and she'd certainly never warned him ahead of time. It wasn't as if he never thought about it before. She might have just made it up on the spot but did it matter?

“We have to do it this evening before we go back to the academy or we'll have to use a closet or the PE shed,” cautioned Flurry.

Pound swallowed. “My sister and parents will still be hanging around and wondering where we are… probably like what they're doing right now.”

Flurry looked up at the sky and thought. She watched as a group of pegasi flew overhead in a Delta formation, practicing for their show later. They were too high up to tell if they were the Wonderbolts or the Junior Wonderbolts. “Hmm… We should sneak off to my room together before the party actually ends and then come back.”

His insides quivered nervously but he nodded in agreement. “That's a lot of sneakiness in one day.”

“This is gonna be the best day ever,” she smirked.

The clock ticked on the wall. Shining buttoned his regal coat as he looked his profile over in the mirror.

“If this isn't the best, most well executed cute-ceñera that ever happened then we have failed as parents,” he resolved

“Oh Shining, it's going to be fine," muttered Cadance dismissively. “The weather is amazing, the catering is prepared and everything else is on schedule. What could happen?” She stopped and thought for a moment. “Crap, did they ever get those chocolate fountains going?” - - -

The party was huge and instantly legendary. Classmates and foreign dignitaries alike attended and mingled both inside the castle and out on the veranda. For the foals there the candy was unending and there was practically infinite space to run around. The event straddled the fence between high class and casual.

Pumpkin screamed and swooned at the Junior Wonderbolts outing as they performed their aerial acrobatics show with their older counterparts. The princesses played croquet. There was even a magic show. Everyone was having a wonderful time but most importantly, Flurry Heart found it to be adequate.

As the party neared its end Cadance addressed the attendees over the outdoor speakers.

“I just want to thank everyone again for coming and making Flurry's big day the most amazing it could be. We're going to wrap things up with a little blind matchmaking event.

There came a murmur of excited intrigue from the guests as she continued to explain.

“Unlike what my daughter does, this coupling event will be based on fate alone. Eleven colts and eleven fillies will enter the hedge maze. All will be magically blinded and silenced to prevent them from identifying each other. The colts will wear bracelets while the fillies will wear necklaces.” She floated the two accessories into the air so that everyone could see.

“The colts will enter first. They will have two minutes to stake out a space in the maze. when the bell rings, they must stop where they are and wait for a filly. When the fillies enter they will have ten minutes to find a colt to partner with. Once you find a partner, stay with them. At the end of the game we will ring the bell one last time. At that point you are to kiss your partner on the lips just like on New Year's Eve. Your blindness will dispel and allow you to see who you’ve found. Some of you may not find a partner and that's okay. Everyone gets a prize but those that share a kiss at the end will get an extra special prize to take home and maybe even a special somepony. And one last thing: if you find a partner and suddenly get cold hooves about kissing them, cover your mouth with your hoof. If you find yourself kissing someone's hoof please respect it as a sign of them revoking consent for a kiss. Do not continue trying to get a kiss from them.”

Cadance pointed to the maze. “Participating fillies please gather at the north entrance of the hedge maze. Colts will gather at the south entrance.”

A crowd of intrigued party goers drifted from The veranda and gathered around the edges of the hedge maze to watch. Others lined the balconies in the castle above.

Pound assembled with the other ten colts at the prescribed entrance. A servant snapped an ornate silver bracelet around his right foreleg. Sunburst went down the row, magically silencing each player one by one. Out of curiosity Pound tried to speak after the spell hit him. His voice was gone. He couldn't even whisper; he could only hear the sound of air exiting his lungs without form.

Pound looked down the line to see what they were doing for blindfolds. To his surprise, they were not issuing physical cloth blindfolds. Instead Starlight Glimmer was casting a separate spell that left a swirling black cloud around the aflicted’s head. He stood still as she reached him and her horn lit up.

Pound's vision blacked out completely in an instant. It was almost like having his eyes shut but with a texture of strange hazy ripples.

“The blindness cloud will lift upon a successful kiss or dissipate on its own a little after the game ends,” she instructed, already moving on to the next colt.

“You may enter the maze after the first bell tolls. When it does, be careful and don't shove. Remember, it's not a race. You'll have two minutes to find a place to stand. When you hear the second bell, stop where you are and wait. Get ready.”

The line of colts tensed in anticipation. After a few short moments there sounded a single, jarringly loud clang. The colts hurried moderately fast into the hedges, leaving Pound in the dust. That was fine he had a plan he had to execute and the less players that were in his way, the better. He found the entrance with his hoof and began counting out his steps from there.

He imagined Flurry Heart at the other entrance getting prepped for her descent. Then he imagined her waiting for him on her bed after the game. He'd climb on top of her and they'd explore each other’s bodies like they never had before. The butterflies entered his stomach again. He needed to stop thinking about that and focus.

The rustling of leaves and scraping of hooves on the coarse dirt path died away as he made the first right. As it became quiet he considered time slipping away while he inched forward slowly but steadily. Had a minute gone by? He hadn't really taken this element into account during practice.

A sense of relief came over him once he found himself in the courtyard. He felt for the perimeter wall with his hoof. Walking quickly along so his spot he was startled to feel the face of another colt waiting in the very same alcove that he had told Flurry he would wait in. Panic sparked inside of him. He needed to coax this pony into leaving and quick but with no way to communicate other than physical touch, how is he going to do it?

At a loss for a good way to get in and occupy the alcove, Pound reached out and tapped him on what he believed was his withers. The colt did not move or respond in any way. He tried pushing on him a little more forcefully. The annoyed colt swatted his hoof away and lurched up into his face. Pound reflexively shoved him causing him to come back swinging. Their hooves scuffled on the ground. Something connected with the side of Pound's head and he recoiled, stumbling to the ground on his side. The other colt tripped over him but continued walking. He came back around feeling for him on the ground with one hoof and pressed into his ribs.

Pound swatted him away and scrambled back upright. He was angry and frustrated but didn't want to escalate the struggle and cause a big scene so he retreated a short distance to a wall. He shook his head trying to shake off the pain and brushed the gritty dirt from his side.

Suddenly the second bell rang out loud and Pound froze in place. Great… he didn't know where he was and some other guy had taken his spot. What if Flurry ended up kissing him now because of it? He began to feel sick.

The fillies were entering the maze now. Panic welled within him. He should have just not bothered and set up in front of the other colt. He couldn't get his spot and now worse he was disoriented. Where was the north entrance to the courtyard? Maybe he could catch her coming in. But he wasn't supposed to move anymore. Would he get disqualified if he got caught? Was anyone even watching? Someone must have been, at least for safety. He pushed into the wall trying to visualize in his brain where he was. Maybe he could fudge it a little?

Blind and dumb, Flurry entered the labyrinth and began to count her paces. Her mind cleared once the other fillies had left her proximity. Now it was as simple as recalling the numbers for a combo lock. She entered the courtyard and heard at least a couple of other foals traipsing around in the space. They must have been other fillies. Maybe she'd have to shove someone away from her coltfriend if they'd found him first.

“Can't even see what's going on in there,” griped Rainbow looking over at the maze from The veranda.

“They're supposed to make the maze transparent at the end so we can see,” explained Rarity. “Hiding it and then having it revealed all at once is supposed to make it more exciting.”

“That's not more exciting. Where's the back and forth drama? It's like not watching a ballgame and then just looking at the box scores in the paper later.”

Flurry began feeling her way along the wall toward the agreed upon alcove. All along she heard the sounds of others shuffling around in the peripheries. Her hoof landed on the side of another pony. She felt another hoof tentatively investigating around her neck for the necklace. She reciprocated stroking the colt's foreleg. Her hoof caught on the edge of his bracelet.

Flurry grinned and put a hoof on his cheek. It slipped up into his main and bumped something hard that was unexpected, a horn. Flurry frowned, this was not him. This was the right spot she was pretty sure but where was Pound? She abruptly pulled away from the unknown colt and continued her search nearby.

Was he here somewhere in the courtyard or had he gotten lost on the way somehow? The unfortunate reality of the situation quickly set in. Because of this missed connection she now had no idea what to do. Her chances of finding him were just as good as anyone else's but right now they felt like zero. Maybe she should check the gazebo?

“How did you come up with this game?” asked Twilight.

Shining quickly swallowed his bite of croissanwich. “It was completely Flurry's idea. This sort of thing is her special interest after all.”

“I would not have been brave enough to play this game at their age,” she laughed.

“Oh I know; I remember you. But honestly has anything changed?”

Twilight shrugged.

Flurry walked around in circles on the gazebo. Pound wasn't there; it didn't seem like anyone was there. Her mind flailed for some kind of lead to help track him down but she couldn't come up with anything.

Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst stood together at the north entrance of the maze.

You remember how to turn the hedge maze see through, right?” asked Starlight.

Sunburst adjusted his glasses. “Uh… Yeah”

“Are you sure, because it's important that we get the timing down right when the bell rings.

“Yeah I know how to do it," he reaffirmed defensively.

“Okay.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie can do it if he can't,” boasted Trixie from behind.

“I know how to do it,” he growled.

“One minute,” boomed Cadance's voice over the labyrinth.

Pound gritted his teeth. Flurry hadn't found him yet, no one had. This had all gone so horribly wrong. They had no contingency plan for this scenario. He listened carefully as he heard hoofsteps approaching. They paused for a moment as if the filly was deciding where to go. It was then that he got an idea.

Pound began to scratch his hoof on the ground with a heartbeat rhythm, hoping to attract her by sound. Underneath the sounds of his beat he could hear the filly’s hoofsteps getting louder. It was working; she was honing in on his position. Suddenly someone bonked him in the head. The other pony staggered back then extended a hoof tentatively to feel him. He felt it slide down his foreleg to find the bracelet. He’d found someone but what were the odds that it was Flurry? She was most certainly looking for him here but how could he know if it was her?

He stretched out his foreleg and found the necklace which confirmed that it at least wasn't a wayward colt. His hoof went up to her head where he felt a definite horn. It could be Flurry. Just then the final bell tolled heralding the end of the game and suddenly he found himself being desperately reeled in for a kiss. There was no more time for debate; he made the snap decision to pucker up. Their lips came together with uncertainty.

Just like that the cloud lifted from their heads. Pound opened his eyes to a mess of golden locks. His heart sank as he realized he'd made a mistake and the Philly wasn't Flurry. It imploded entirely when he recognized who he'd found instead.

Princess Celestia peered through her opera glasses from the balcony. “Oh my. Is that… the Cake Twins?”

Flurry fumbled past helplessly, still afflicted by the spells. Pound and Pumpkin pulled away from each other in shock. Their corresponding gasps confirmed that the enchantments had fully dissipated but before either could say a word something began to happen. They looked back at their hindquarters as a tingling sensation started in them. A magical light enveloped them and began to grow brighter. Then suddenly it was gone and there on their flanks were their cutie marks. A glazed pumpkin bundt cake with a loaf of pound cake sticking out of the hole in the middle.

Their parents watched with open mouth horror from outside the maze.

“What just happened?” gasped Cup Cake.

“They got their cutie marks,” answered Carrot aghast.

“For kissing each other? This can't be real.”

Every eager onlooker completely forgot about the game, now totally enraptured by the kissing siblings and their double cutie mark phenomenon.

“Is that what I think it is?” asked Barley.

“Right there in front of everyone,” answered her brother. They're just like us.” - - -

When all was said and done only six foals paired off out of the twenty-two and Flurry wasn't one of them. Pound and Pumpkin's inadvertent kiss in front of everyone signaled an immediate end to the party, at least for her. Pound rescued her with a kiss but she retreated to the castle mortified and wailing and she did not show her face outside for the rest of the day. Her parents and the Cake Twins tried to console her but there was no taking back what had already been seen. A day that was supposed to be about her and her cutie mark was now about this perverse faux pas. They would never live it down.

“I cannot believe the greatest day of my life so far was ruined and I did it to myself. This was such a stupid idea!” Flurry sat on the sofa with Pound, slamming a pillow into her face repeatedly.

Pound grabbed the pillow to stop her. “Come on Flurry, nobody died.”

“I died inside,” she growled. “How are any of us going to show our faces at school?”

“Everybody had to understand from the beginning that this outcome was a possibility,” argued Pumpkin.

“Someday we'll all look back on this and laugh," added Cadance with a nervous chuckle.

The situation might have been a lot more volatile if they hadn't all been good lifelong friends.

“What about your cutie marks?” railed flurry “What is that about?”

Pound and Pumpkin exchanged glances and shrugged.

“Baking stuff?” posed Pumpkin. “It's not that surprising.”

“For kissing?” she scoffed doubtfully.

Just then Shining Armor entered the room followed by the Barrel Twins and the Cakes. All five of them wore grave expressions and particularly their parents looked white as sheets.

Shining sat down next to his wife in a chair. “So, Cadance I just had a very interesting conversation with the Barrels. I think it's pretty important that everybody here listens to what they have to say about what happened today.”

Flurry covered her face in a fresh wave of embarrassment.

The Barrels maneuvered into the center of the parlor where they could address everyone. But first they singled out the twins.

“Can we have a closer look at your cutie marks?” asked Barley.

Pound and pumpkin got up from their seats and turned slowly to show them their broadsides. The barrel's eyes went back and forth between their flanks and then to each other.

“Yeah it's just like we thought,” nodded Pickle. “You two have the same type of marks that we have.”

Shining rubbed his face.

Cadence's mouth dropped open. “He's right. I should have noticed before; they have a breeder bond like you.”

“What is that?” shrugged Pound, fearing that he did not actually want to know.

“A breeder bond is a rare type of cutie mark. It means you're destined to be coupled together and breed a lot,” explained Barley bluntly.

Their parents remain standing in the periphery like living statues.

“That can't be right,” blurted Flurry. “They're siblings.”

The Barrel twins lined up rump to rump to show their identical cutie marks.

“They're twins and they have fourteen foals,” explained cadence.

“We've done a lot of research on this unique phenomenon ever since it happened to us thirteen some years ago,” added Barley. “We also got our marks when we accidentally kissed each other just like you two.”

Now it was Flurry’s mouth that dropped open. “What? No! This is an absolute nightmare. You're saying they're destined to be each other's special someponies?”

“Yeah…”

“So we have to break up now?”

The Barrels looked away uncomfortably.

“That is essentially what we both had to do,” said Pickle. “It did hurt though neither of us had been together for as long as you two… but I mean we're really happy together now.”

“Well that's great for you and them but what about me?” her voice cracked. She buried her face in her hooves and began to sob again. Shining sat in the spot next to Flurry that Pound had vacated and put a foreleg around his daughter.

Cup Cake finally spoke up. “Um, this has all been a very surprising turn of events for everyone but Barley and Pickle, maybe it would be helpful if you had a private talk with the twins. You probably have a lot of questions, some of which you may not want to ask in front of the rest of us.”

Pound and Pumpkin looked at each other with mutual dread.