Sugarcube Corner was the happiest place in Ponyville. That’s what it said on the stationery, anyway. There was a trademark symbol after the phrase so it didn’t technically have to be true. It was just a mission statement. A catchphrase.

It was a good thing it wasn’t legally binding -- everypony was stressed out enough without lawyers getting involved.

Pound Cake was a teenager, just about ready to graduate from Ponyville’s one-room schoolhouse and move on to bigger and better things like the only other school in town, where he’d spend a few years before coming full circle back home and working in the bakery full-time.

“I wish they’d stop yelling,” Pumpkin mumbled, from the top bunk.

Downstairs, their mom and dad were going through the vicious cycle of shouting at each other, remembering that the walls were thin and going quiet, then arguing about who was being louder until it turned into a shouting match again.

“What do you think it’s about?” Pound asked.

“Who knows?” Pumpkin sighed. “They always get like this when Pinkie Pie goes away for more than a few days.”

“At least you’ve got the top bunk so you’re a little further away,” Pound said.

Pumpkin rolled to the side of the bed and looked over the edge, sticking out her tongue. “You’re just mad because I called it first.”

Pound blushed. “No, but shouldn’t I get the top bunk anyway since I’m a pegasus?”

“Nah, I’m older, so I get the top bunk.”

“You’re older by like two minutes!”

“Still counts!” She smiled smugly. “But if you ask nicely, I’ll let you come up here.”

“Huh?”

“The top bunk is quieter,” Pumpkin explained, her cheeks pink. “You’ll sleep better.”

Pound blinked in surprise, then scrambled up the short ladder. Pumpkin moved the blankets for him, letting him crawl under the comforter.

“Thanks,” Pound said. The distance and extra mattress did help muffle it, turning it from words he could just about make out into background noise.

“You don’t think they’re gonna split up, do you?” Pumpkin mumbled, facing away from him.

“They love each other,” Pound said.

“They don’t act like it.” She wiggled. “This bed is really small.”

“It’s not designed for two ponies,” Pound said. “I can get down if--”

“No, I told you you could come up here,” Pumpkin said, firmly. “Just… here.”

She grabbed his hoof and wrapped it around her waist, pressing back against him. Pound’s heart jumped when his sister’s plush ass, already round and soft thanks to a steady diet of bakery leftovers, pushed against his thighs.

“There,” she said. “Now we aren’t gonna fall off the edge.”

“Y-yeah,” Pound said. He had to struggle to keep himself under control. If he lost it even for a second, Pumpkin was going to feel it right away with how firmly she was pressed up against him.

“There’s gotta be something we can do to fix things,” Pumpkin said.

“What, like, now?” Pound asked.

Pumpkin snorted and looked back at her brother. “In the morning! We’re not gonna find anything in the middle of the night.”

“I guess,” Pound said, unable to meet her gaze.

“Just hug me, stupid,” she said, her voice low. “I just… need a hug tonight.”

Pound nodded, and Pumpkin wiggled, settling down. He squeezed her tighter, wing wrapping over her like a blanket.

That night, Pound had a strange dream.

He was in class, listening to Miss Cheerilee drone on, and he couldn’t quite make out what she was saying. He was too distracted by what was going on under the desk. He had a raging hard-on that was only barely concealed by a desk that seemed two sizes too small.

Pound tried to stay still, wishing his erection would calm down. If it didn’t, everypony was going to end up seeing it.

“Pound, are you listening?” the teacher asked, her voice suddenly coming into focus.

“Yes, ma’am!” Pound said.

“Then you can answer the question in the book,” she said.

Pound looked at the book open on the desk, and the words swam. He could almost read it but the words kept changing and slipping away, like he was reading every line three times and it changed whenever he looked away.

“Um…” he swallowed, trying to figure out what to do.

At that moment, something touched his cock.

He froze up. Whatever it was, it kept rubbing up and down his length. He looked under his desk, trying to be subtle about it so the ponies around him wouldn’t stare.

His sister was under his desk, squeezed into the small space in a way that only made sense in dreams, licking his shaft like she was enjoying a tasty candy treat. His cock throbbed at the sight, and he felt ready to burst.

“Pound?” Miss Cheerilee asked. “The answer, please.”

“It’s, um, it’s--”

His whole body shivered when Pumpkin bobbed down, his blunt head sliding into her throat.

“Are you trying to sneak something?” Miss Cheerilee said, starting to walk over. She was going to find out what was going on. She’d expose them to the whole class. The thought only made Pound harder, like he couldn’t control his body.

“It’s nothing!” he said.

She stopped right in front of him and looked down at his crotch.

“I hope you brought enough to share with the whole class,” she said, huskily.

Pound woke up covered in sweat, feeling like he’d been tossing and turning all night. It was some kind of miracle that he didn’t have morning wood, because he still felt intensely horny after the dream.

He and Pumpkin ending up facing each other, legs intertwined, and the first thing he saw when he woke up was his sister, lips nearly pressed against his. Of course she’d immediately snored and ruined the moment.

Now he was staring at a blank page and wishing words would appear on it.. He’d been assigned homework. On a weekend. Miss Cheerilee wanted every student to write a thousand-word essay on their families, which was an impossible amount and also the last thing he wanted to think about. Every time he thought too much about it, he saw her face in the last moment of that dream.

“Pound!” Pumpkin yelled, as she kicked open the door. “I figured it out!”

“...a way to avoid having to write reports on the first weekend with decent weather all year?” Pound asked.

“No, I couldn’t find anything to help with that, but I have something even better!” She rummaged around in her saddlebag, tossing crumpled papers to the side and producing a small crystal bottle half-full of pink liquid.

“What is it?” Pound asked, after looking for a label and not finding it.

“It’s a love potion!”

“A love potion,” he repeated, confused. “How is that going to help with my essay?”

“It won’t. Well, not exactly. But after we use it to save our family, you can totally write about how we did it! You just have to make sure to credit me as the awesome, amazing pony who came up with the idea.”

“You wanna use a love potion to help Mom and Dad?” Pound asked, putting down his pencil, mid-sentence.

“I went to Princess Twilight and asked her for advice, and she said the best thing was to talk to them and tell them we’re worried and junk like that.” Pumpkin rolled her eyes. “And that’d be great and all but whenever they talk it turns into yelling! I didn’t tell her that, though. It’s probably rude telling a Princess that they’re being dumb.”

“And the love potion?”

“When I was leaving, Miss Trixie saw me and tried to cheer me up and I talked to her about it and she had a way better idea! She gave me this love potion and said we just needed to bake it into a cake and get our parents to eat it, and the problem will totally be solved!”

Pound hesitated, then nodded. “It’s the best idea I’ve heard so far.”

Pumpkin squealed and jumped him, hugging her brother and nuzzling his cheek. Pound could smell her shampoo, rose petals and cinnamon, and her own scent hidden under it. “Thank you. I was worried you’d say it was a dumb plan!”

“Nah,” Pound said, cheeks burning. “You’re really smart, and you wouldn’t have bothered telling me about it if you didn’t think it would work.”

“We just need to come up with a way to get them out of the bakery for a few hours,” Pumpkin said, pulling away.

“I think I have a plan,” Pound said.

“And you two will be okay for a few hours?” their mother said. “I’m not sure how long the Princess will need us.”

“It’s fine, Mom,” Pumpkin assured her. “We’re practically grown up!”

“The bakery isn’t even going to be open,” Pound added.

Cup Cake looked unsure. She loved her children but love and trust weren’t always close cousins, especially after years of experience with three overenergetic fillies in town had left her with a form of post-traumatic stress.

“We need to go if we’re going to get there on time,” Carrot Cake said from the door. “You know how Princess Twilight gets about her schedules.”

“Yes, dear,” Cup said, rolling her eyes. “Be good, and if anything goes wrong, um…” she hesitated. “Come and get us right away. Even if we’re talking to the Princess.”

“Honey,” Carrot cake warned, sounding annoyed. “We need to go!”

Cup Cake huffed and walked out, pushing past him without looking him in the eyes. Carrot turned to the twins and shrugged as if he had no idea why she was in a mood.

The door closed behind him, and Pumpkin sprang into action.

“That was a really good idea,” Pumpkin said, running into the bakery’s expansive kitchen and grabbing some of what they needed with her magic. “They couldn’t refuse an invitation from Princess Twilight!”

“And she’ll keep them busy for hours with a lecture,” Pound said.

“Help me find everything on the list,” Pumpkin said. “We need eggs, flour, sugar…”

She rattled off a list of ingredients and opened up a low cabinet, moving pans around and looking for the right one. Pound didn’t hear the rest of what she said, his eyes wide when he saw her with her flank up in the air, tail swishing from one side to another and giving glimpses of what was underneath.

“You got all that?” Pumpkin asked, breaking him out of his trance.

“Uh… I’ll get the flour from the storeroom!” he said, fleeing to the back for a few minutes of relative peace to calm himself down.

Pound needed to fly a few laps around the room with his legs crossed and thinking hard about hoofball and math before he was able to grab the bag of cake flour and come back out with it.

“What took you so long?” Pumpkin asked.

“It, uh…” Pound hesitated. “I’ll get the dry mix started since I have the flour. You get the wet stuff. Are we gonna do chocolate or vanilla?”

“Vanilla would be easier,” Pumpkin said. “But I don’t know what the potion is gonna taste like. It could have a weird aftertaste.”

“So chocolate, to cover it up?”

“Okay,” Pumpkin agreed, cracking eggs into a bowl. “You know, it’s been a long time since we cooked anything for fun.”

Pound nodded while he measured the sugar, flour, and cocoa powder. “Did you ever think about which one of us was gonna run the bakery when we grow up?”

“We’re gonna do it together, duh,” Pumpkin said, with a shrug. She added buttermilk and oil to her bowl along with a few drops of vanilla extract.

“But what if you like, decide to go off to some other school? I know Princess Twilight said you should apply in Canterlot.” Pound added a pinch of salt along with baking soda and baking powder, and his mix was finished.

“Unless you’re going to Canterlot too, I’m staying here,” Pumpkin said. “We’re twins. That means we’re a team.”

She carried her bowl over to Pound.

“It’s like this cake,” she said. “You start out with two separate bowls and they don’t make anything by themselves. Then you mix them together really well…”

Pumpkin poured the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing them with a wooden spoon until they smoothed out into batter.

“Now they’re ready to turn into something better than the sum of its parts,” she said. “Almost. They just need one special ingredient.”

She uncorked the love potion.

“How much are we supposed to use?” Pound asked.

“I got this from Trixie,” Pumpkin said. “Do you really think she had detailed instructions?”

“Let’s just dump the whole bottle in.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” Pumpkin upended the bottle, emptying it into the batter while Pound folded it into the batter. Soon there was no evidence it had been added at all.

Pound looked at the batter critically. “Should it look magical?”

“Let’s just put it in the oven.”

Pound almost jumped when the timer went off.

“Okay, this is the most critical part,” Pumpkin said. “Let’s hope the potion didn’t like, turn the cake green. Or into frogs. I don’t think we can serve it to them if it turned into a pan full of frogs.”

“You want me to pull it out?” Pound asked.

“Nah, I got it,” Pumpkin said. She carefully maneuvered the cake pans out with her telekinesis. “This is a lot easier than oven mitts.”

Pound cleared space on the counter, and Pumpkin set the pans down. He expected the two round pans, but the third smaller one surprised him.

“You made a cupcake?” Pound asked.

“Remember how Pinkie always used to make a little test cake whenever she was doing a new recipe?” Pumpkin asked. “This way we can see if it set properly without cutting into the cakes we’ll actually use.”

“Good idea,” Pound said. “Let’s figure out what icing to use while they cool.”

“It’s chocolate cake. Obviously we use chocolate icing,” Pumpkin said. “Like, that’s the basics of the basics.”

“Yeah but this is a special cake. We shouldn’t just do everything normal.”

“There’s nothing wrong with normal.”

“I was thinking we could do something cool instead, like pumpkin spice.”

Pumpkin smiled a little at that. “I am pretty spicy.”

“Chocolate and cinnamon are a classic combination,” Pound said, trying to hide his blush. “Like that spicy hot chocolate Pinkie makes.”

“I guess. But it might be gross if the potion tastes weird.”

“We don’t know what the potion tastes like, though.”

Pumpkin looked away and coughed into her hoof, hiding her face. “There’s one way we can find out. We have the test cupcake. We can each eat half of that.”

Pound’s cheeks were bright red. “But it has love potion in it!”

“Yeah but like, barely any,” Pumpkin argued. “We’ll only have a couple bites each to figure out the flavor, then we’ll know what kind of icing to use.”

“I guess if there’s only a tiny bit it won’t have any real effect,” Pound mumbled.

“Yeah!” Pumpkin agreed, too quickly. “I mean, it’s from Trixie, right? We’ll be lucky if it works at all even if Mom and Dad each eat a whole cake.”

Pound pulled the still-warm cupcake out of its mold.

“Just take a bite and give me the rest,” Pumpkin said. “We’re not gonna get cooties from each other.”

Pound nibbled at the edge. The cake tasted like a normal fudge cake, but there was something else to it that he couldn’t quite place.

“Let me try some,” Pumpkin said. She plucked it from his hooves and took a small bite from the other side. “Huh. Is that some kinda… berry?”

“Not exactly,” Pound said. He licked his lips. “Maybe it’s cherry? The chocolate covers it up a lot.”

Pumpkin gave it back, and he took a bigger bite now that he knew it wasn’t gross. This time it really hit him, mostly aromatic, something between the brandy their parents used over the holidays making fruitcake and the artificial cherry flavor that went into cheap Hearts and Hooves day candy.

“Cinnamon and cherry would still be okay with chocolate,” he said. “What do you think?”

“One more bite,” Pumpkin said. She started to reach for the cupcake, then smiled and closed her eyes, opening her mouth.

Pound giggled and carefully put the rest on her tongue.

“You know, it’s pretty okay,” she said, finishing the cupcake off. “It’s not exactly normal chocolate but you were right about it being better that way.”

“We could put cherries on top to decorate.”

“Oh, in the shape of a heart!” Pumpkin said, excited. “That’d be great! Grab the jar out of the pantry.”

Pound flew off to get it, pulling open the door.

“Do you want me to get the regular ones, or--”

He turned to look and never finished his sentence. Pumpkin was facing away from him, taking off her apron. Her tail was pulled to one side, revealing needy, dripping-wet pink. Her ears folded back in alarm, and Pumpkin spun, tripping on her half-removed apron.

“What was that?” She asked, cheeks the same shade as the lower lips she was trying to hide. “I was just- It’s getting warm in here with the oven on and I wanted to take my apron off!”

Her eyes slid down to Pound’s lower half.

Pound tried to hide his thickening rod, covering it with his hooves. After seeing his sister’s dripping snatch it was going to take more than that to really conceal it.

“That’s even bigger than last night!” Pumpkin gasped.

“It’s the potion!” Pound said. “Wait, last night?”

Pumpkin looked away. “You just sort of got hard in your sleep. I didn’t wanna wake you up because I knew you were having problems sleeping with the yelling downstairs, so I might have just… sort of… touched it a little.”

“What?!”

“Well I never saw one before!” Pumpkin huffed, her blush as hard as Pound’s crotch. “And it looks even bigger now!”

“You don’t have to stare…”

“It’s fine, Pound. It’s just because of the potion!”

Pound wasn’t so sure about that. He could still see his sister’s slick lips in his mind’s eye, and now he was thinking about the dream he’d had and wondering just how much of it had actually happened.

“I mean, we’re twins, so it’s not even weird,” Pumpkin continued, in defiance of all logic and evidence to the contrary. “The only problem is…”

“Don’t we have enough of a problem already?”

“No, because we haven’t even finished the cake yet, and there’s no way I can finish it like this! I feel so horny I can barely even think!”

“At least you don’t have an extra leg getting in the way of everything.”

“Instead I get to feel like I’m burning up on the inside.” Pumpkin reached between her legs, rubbing herself. “This is really bad…”

“It hurts?” Pound asked, concerned.

“It’s like a muscle cramp,” Pumpkin explained. “Like there’s something missing and my body is freaking out trying to hold onto it. Remember when you lost a baby tooth and you have a weird feeling in your mouth for a few days because there’s a hole where a tooth should be? It’s like that but a hundred times worse!”

“I didn’t think it was that bad…”

“From the looks of that, it’s not any easier for you.” Pumpkin looked at Pound’s stiff cock, twitching with need.

The love potion had him so on edge that even just having his sister look at his stallionhood was enough to make it throb, a bead of pre leaking from the tip.

“We have to finish the cake before they get home, and the potion isn’t gonna wear off on its own soon enough,” Pumpkin said. She stepped closer, tail twitching from side to side with every step. Pound could smell her, the need practically coming off of her in thick waves.

“You think we could--”

Pound’s question was cut off by Pumpkin’s lips. The kiss started tentative and probing, each of them unsure how far the other wanted to go. Their tongues entwined and they lost themselves for a moment, leaning into each other.

Pumpkin fell back, taking Pound with her to the floor of the bakery. Their kiss broke apart on impact, and they were facing each other, Pound on top with his rock-hard member sandwiched between them.

“I need you,” Pumpkin breathed, spreading her hind legs wider and rubbing herself against Pound, her slick snatch painting a trail of her arousal along his stallionhood.

Pound lifted himself up, freeing his cock from the tight embrace and rubbing it along his sister’s body, moving with her. It felt amazing, a hundred times better than using his own hooves! Drips of his thin pre dripped over Pumpkin’s belly as they rubbed against each other, edging closer and closer.

Their position slipped, Pumpkin sliding forward an inch at a time by their combined thrusting. Pound gasped as the angle changed, the sensitive head of his member pressing against Pumpkin’s mound, the blunt end pushing and slipping away to rub hard against her.

Pumpkin moaned, and Pound adjusted his angle, deliberately pressing against his sister’s entrance.

“Are you ready?” he asked. He pushed forward just a little, not quite enough to pop inside, unintentionally teasing Pumpkin.

Pumpkin nodded quickly, unable to bear even another moment without being filled with the hot stallion cock her body demanded. More than just the love potion, every part of her wanted to come together with her brother, and when he finally did it, his wide flare stretching out her lower lips and punching inside, it was like a key fitting into a lock.

With how aroused she was, Pound’s cock slid deeper and deeper in without pain, the pressure like soft, velvety marshmallows rubbing against him, almost as sweet as the pony he was making love to. After only a few seconds he bottomed out, his hips meeting his sisters.

“We were made for this,” Pumpkin said, a silly grin blooming on her face. “Just stay like this for a second. You can feel it too, right?”

Pound nodded in agreement. His body tingled with pleasure. They fit together in a comfortable, easy way, like they’d been born just so they could find each other and come together.

Pound kissed his sister again while they lay there, bodies adjusting to each other, Pumpkin’s burning need to be filled starting to calm and turn into sweet release. While their lips were together, Pound pulled his hips back, just a little, before pushing forward again, feeling that amazing sensation of coming fully together again.

Pumpkin moaned into his mouth, moving with him as he started to slowly thrust in and out. She urged him forward, squeezing around him, her sweet tunnel trying to hold on to him and never let go again.

His hips slammed forward, and Pumpkin broke the kiss with a loud moan of pained pleasure, his head hitting a spot deep inside her that she knew nothing else would ever reach. It was electric, pleasure surging through her body. Her nectar dripped from their joining, a puddle growing under them.

“I’m so close!” Pound groaned.

“Fill me!” Pumpkin gasped, barely able to breathe. She crossed her legs behind him, not letting him pull out.

Pound’s cock pressed against her back wall, throbbing with his pulse as he climaxed, wings spread painfully far behind him as he unloaded into her, thick splatters of his young cum coating every inch of her insides until it was forced out of her to join the puddle of her own arousal under them.

Feeling that hot cream filling was enough to send Pumpkin over the edge at almost the same time, clamping down hard on Pound’s hardness, her body grasping it like a lifeline, feeling more complete than ever before as she was stuffed to the brim with her brother’s seed.

They lay on the floor for a long time, trying to catch their breath, bathed in the soft afterglow of their lovemaking.

“That was amazing,” Pound said, once he could speak again.

“I just wanna stay here with you,” Pumpkin mumbled, nuzzling her way into his sweaty mane, wanting to remember that scent forever.

“We still have to finish the cake,” Pound reminded her.

“And Mom and Dad will kill us if they find us like this,” Pumpkin admitted, groaning and uncrossing her legs to let Pound slide free along with a stream of his seed. “You get the icing together.”

“What are you gonna do?” Pound asked, when she stood on shaking, unsteady legs.

“I’m gonna get the mop. We sorta made a mess.” She took slow steps to the door, then looked back at her brother with a warm smile. “At least we know the potion works.”

“Definitely,” Pound agreed.

“When we finish, we should get a shower,” Pumpkin said. “Together.”

“What if the potion hasn’t worn off?” Pound asked.

Pumpkin grinned and raised her tail, letting her brother get a good look at the mess he’d made of her. “We’ll figure something out,” she teased.

The next morning was a rare sight for the Cake household. Cup Cake was humming a tune to herself as she cooked, and Pound and Pumpkin watched from the kitchen table with shock as their father walked in and kissed her on the cheek before sitting.

“Kids, we don’t know how to thank you enough,” Carrot said. “That talk with Princess Twilight really helped.”

“It did?” Pound asked. “But--”

Pumpkin kicked his shin before he could say the whole talk had just been a ruse to get them out of the bakery for a while.

Their father laughed and shook his head. “It’s okay, Pumpkin. I know what your brother was about to say.”

“You do?” Pound asked.

“Dear, it was obvious,” their mother said. She put plates of scrambled eggs and prench toast in front of each of them. “You two baked us that nice cake for when we came home! You have no idea how much that meant to us.”

“The lecture from the Princess felt like a waste of time at first,” Carrot admitted. “We came home tired and angry with each other, and the first thing we saw was that cake and the note you left us.”

“We each had a slice and…” their mother blushed. “Well, it’s been a long time since anypony did anything special for us like that. Pinkie tries her hardest, bless her heart, but seeing it from you two made us remember that we were a family.”

“And it was okay?” Pound asked.

“It was the best cake I’ve ever had,” Carrot said. “And I’m not just saying that because you two learned from the best bakers I know. It’s because of the love you put into it.”

“Lots of love,” Pumpkin agreed, blushing.

“I swear it was like a dam broke,” their mother said. “I swear I’ve never felt so much like a newlywed since--” she giggled and stopped herself. “The important thing is, we both feel much better, and we’ve decided that we’re going to spend more time like this, being a family instead of working all the time.”

“I’m sure Pinkie can find somepony to help cover a couple morning shifts every week,” Cup said.

“That’s great!” Pumpkin said. “I knew it would work!”

“You two really knocked it out of the park, too,” Cup said. “I have no idea what you used for the flavoring, but it’s great. I might just have to think about hiring you to help out if you’ve got skills like that.” He winked.

“It’s a trade secret,” Pumpkin said.

They laughed and ate together, feeling like a family for the first time in ages. The tension that had been building up in the air vanished, and soon they were sitting at empty plates. Carrot kissed his wife again before leaving to check on the bakery proper.

“You two deserve a little something extra for all that hard work,” Cup said.

“A bigger allowance?” Pound asked.

“We’ll talk about a larger allowance when I see larger grades,” Cup told him. “Instead I’ll let you break one little rule.”

“A rule?” Pumpkin asked, confused.

“Your father and I are usually very strict on you not eating dessert for breakfast. Not everypony has a metabolism like Pinkie Pie,” Cup said. “But for today…”

She put a slice of very familiar cake in front of each of them.

“Your father and I couldn’t finish the whole thing, and it really is a wonderful cake. You two deserve to have some for all that hard work and putting up with us. Is there anything you two need before I go help your father out?”

Pound looked at the cake in front of him and blushed, looking up at Pumpkin.

She shrugged and took a big bite with a wide smile and eyes full of mischief.

“Don’t worry Mom,” Pumpkin said. “We’ll figure out a way to entertain ourselves today."