“Rapid, could you swap out those turnovers?”

Rapid Souffle and Pound Cake were practically dancing between the kitchen and the cash register as they experienced yet another massive flood of customers. Being one of the only sweet shops in town generally meant good business, but today was just ridiculous. Ponies were lined out of the door to get something, anything on this hot, hot day.

“Here are some more of the cupcakes, Pound.”

“Thanks-” Pound says as he bit down on the opposite carrying handle, his muzzle inches away from Rapid's. Only the distraction of his job kept him from noticing the muzzle next to his warmed considerably at his proximity.

“No problem,” Rapid Souffle whispered as she disappeared back into the back room.

She tried to focus on making all of the treats they were quickly selling out of, but her mind slowly began drifting into other, more entertaining thoughts. Sighing, she hardly noticed she had grazed her leg on the lip of an oven until after the fact.

“OW! OW!” she hissed, dropping the tray of fresh cookies on the floor.

An instant later, Pound was poking his head around the corner.

“Rapid, are you alright? What happened?”

“Nothing, Pound,” she gritted, already wrapping some gauze around her leg. “I'm good.”

“If you insist,” Pound said before returning to a now slightly irritated customer.

“At least he cares enough to check what is wrong,” she thought to herself as she gave a cringe at the mess before her. Sweeping it all to one side, she tossed the now-empty tray into the dishwashing machine and started replacing the ruined tray of cookies, using the rest of the dough to stamp out a new batch.

They were busy all the way up until an hour or so before closing, at which point they had a startling revelation: they'd ran out of multiple ingredients. They were effectively sold out of over half of the menu.

“Sorry, but that's all we have,” Pound said with apology, his ears pinned back as he ushered the last fuming customer out of the store. Locking the door before him, he turned around and headed straight into the kitchen. Rapid Souffle was making decent progress cleaning up, considering how busy they had been the past few hours.

“Good job here, Rapid. I'll be down in a moment, I'm going to go check on Pumpkin.”

Rapid grunted in response, to which Pound took his leave, climbing the stairs and trotting into his room.

Pumpkin was sleeping on her bed, crumpled tissues piled at the foot of it. The tray of food she'd been left that morning now held only crumbs, and she was sleeping on her side, legs straight out before her.

Pound slowly climbed onto the bed with her, cradling her against his stomach and running a hoof down her side, stroking at her mane.

“Hey, Pound,” Pumpkin said with a yawn. Apparently she hadn't been asleep.

“Hey baby,” he said as he nuzzled her neck. “How are you feeling?”

“Same as yesterday,” she sniveled, reaching out with her magic for yet another tissue, which she soiled against her nose in a matter of seconds. It was the crumpled and proceeded to join the rest of them in the pile of shame.

“And the day before,” she finished, snorting inwards. She felt like crap. Getting sick sucked.

“I bet,” Pound said as he stroked his beautiful sister again, giving her a line of kisses down her neck. “Is there anything you need me to grab you?”

“Water. I'd love some water,” she said, reaching back behind her with a hoof and ruffling Pound's mane.

“Alright, I'll be back.”

Exiting both the bed and the room, Pound returned to the kitchen to find that in his short departure, Rapid had make significant progress. The kitchen wasn't clean by any means, but it was definitely getting there.

“How's she doing?” Rapid said as she scrubbed away at an unruly patch of clumped up... something. Scowling, she pressed harder against it.

“She just needs some water, and then she'll be good... for now,” Pound added, a stroke of concern laced in his words.

Rapid sighed, giving up at the smear for the time being as she rolled around to lean against the counter with her back, looking across the room at Pound as he drew a cup for his sister.

“He really cares about her, more than I've ever seen colts care about their marefriends back home at least.”

She sighed at the thought of having somepony to care for her as Pound returned to Pumpkin's side, administering her the glass.

“Thanks,” she coughed out before she downed the glass in one swift gulp.

“Let me know if you need anything else,” Pound said as he leaned down, kissing the tip of her horn gently before taking the empty cup back from Pumpkin and returning downstairs.

As he entered the kitchen, he saw that Rapid had returned to the stubborn stain, scrubbing at it with a determined fire.

“Doing a good job,” Pound commented towards her as he began assembling all of the dirty dishes he could find onto a washing rack, running it through the dishwasher. While he waited for them to cycle through, he allowed himself a glance at Rapid.

She was certainly a hard worker, and Pound could, in a way, see why Pumpkin had befriended her. She was quiet when she worked, honest and determined. That was what Pumpkin looked for in friends, and might have just been why she had so little. There just weren't that many ponies like that in Ponyville anymore.

“See anything you like?” Rapid giggled, feeling Pound's gaze on her.

“I see a hard worker,” Pound said. He knew exactly what a flirt was, and he tried to step around the uncomfortable conversation she would inevitably try and start.

“Like your sister?”

Pound raised an eyebrow at Rapid. He was expecting her to try and flirt with him, not talk about his sister. But then again, he knew very little about the mare in the kitchen. He had no right trying to guess what she might want to talk about.

“Yes, like my sister I suppose. She is a very hard worker.”

Rapid gave a short, amused laugh.

“You two love each other a lot, don't you?”

“What is this, is she giving up already?”

“Yes, we do. She's my best friend, and I've known her my entire life-”

“And that's not the least bit awkward?”

“Ah, so that's the card you're going to try and pull...”

“No, it isn't really. Although I have to ask you, why did you not seem to have a problem with us? Usually when somepony walks in and sees a brother and sister sharing a bed as Pumpkin and I have, their first thought isn't Dang I missed all the fun.”

“Why don't I have a problem with it?” Rapid laughed. “Pumpkin is my best friend, why would I have a problem with who she finds happiness with? Personally, I think these taboo what-nots are rather silly, at least some of them.”

“Ahuh,” Pound grunted as he pulled the now-clean rack of dishes out of the far end of the dishwasher, sorting them out and beginning to put them away. “So you have no problem with Pumpkin and I being... lovers?” He caught himself on the word for a moment, still finding it slightly difficult to say.

“Well, I do have my opinions, but it isn't because you two are siblings, mind you,” Rapid said as she turned her nose up in the air.

“You can lose the prissy accent, you know,” Pound said with a chuckle.

“Fine, then I'll tell you straight,” Rapid said as she dropped everything and took a few steps towards Pound, making him back up slightly in response.

“You. Are. A. Hunk.”

Pound's brow lifted slightly. That certainly was the first time he'd ever been told something quite like that.

“R-Rapid-” Pound said, still backing away.

“You have everything I see in a colt. Strong but shy, charming and attractive. Pumpkin is a lucky one.”

Rapid Souffle had cornered Pound into, well, a corner.

“Yes, well, I-”

Rapid suddenly jumped at him, latching lips. A moment later, Pound tore her away.

“What the buck was that for?!” he yelled at her, stumbling past the earth mare as he rubbed a foreleg against his lips, trying to remove any trace of the mare.

“She was right, you do have a strong taste... although I suppose she was probably talking about something else, no?” Rapid said with a wink.

“What the Hell is wrong with you?!” Pound asked her, astounded.

“I think it's obvious, Pound. I. Want. You.”

With that, she jumped at Pound, who sidestepped at the last moment.

“You're crazy!”

“A tad,” she giggled before chasing after him.

“I'm with Pumpkin, Rapid! You know that!”

“Dear, you need a real relationship, not an- OOMF!”

Rapid was stopped abruptly as Pound halted, whirling around and catching her shoulder with his hoof. It wasn't an aggressive motion, simply one to hold her in place. One could even say it meant to further imply the importance of what he would then say.

“Real relationship?” Pound said, hurt. “I am in a real relationship, Rapid. Yes, she might be my sister, but she is the best thing I could have asked for, so will you please never say that again.”

“A real marefriend you can take on dates, stroll about in public, kiss out in the streets. Can you do this with Pumpkin?”

“N-no,” Pound stammered. “At least, we haven't yet-”

“And you won't, Pound. Come on, think about this. This isn't good for her, she needs a real coltfriend, much like-” Rapid slunk a little closer to Pound.

“-you need a real marefriend.”

Pound rolled his eyes, taking a dramatically wide step away from Rapid.

“Coming from somepony who said they didn't have a problem with Pumpkin and I's relationship, you seem rather keen on ending it for your sake.”

“Come now,” Rapid said, “let's be realistic-”

“No, you come now and listen here,” Pound said as he suddenly stood at his full height, towering over Rapid. “You are Pumpkin's friend, so I will not say anything too harsh, but I will tell you the absolute truth. I am with Pumpkin, and you can not do anything about that. And when I am with her, nopony else comes between us. Do you understand?”

Rapid sat there, blinking slightly at Pound. She had only seen him be this forceful that one day, before the race.

“Do. You. Understand?” Pound repeated, staring Rapid down. He could be rather intimidating when he wanted to be, something that Rapid was very quickly learning.

“Perfectly,” she said as she skittered backwards, a blush screaming across her face.

“Damn it girl, why'd you just go and do that! You just ruined any chance you had, yes you did.”

Pound sighed as Rapid returned to her dishes, behaving to the world as though nothing had happened at all.

The rest of the night passed by in silence. The kitchen was cleaned and organized. Rapid excused herself quietly and professionally, slipping up the stairs to the guest bedroom.

Making sure everything was clean and proper, Pound nodded to himself before he headed up the stairs, making a quick detour to the bathroom before heading to his room.

Finishing his business, he turned from the sink, washing his hooves thoroughly and then drying them on a towel. As he basked in the silence, he was interrupted by a a subtle, choking sound. Alarmed, he slipped out of the bathroom and stepped into his bedroom.

Pumpkin was asleep in her bed, curled up comfortably.

Curious, Pound stepped back out and carefully trotted down the hall until he was standing next to the door to the guest bedroom. He didn't even have to press as ear against the door to make out the undeniable sounds of suppressed sobbing.

There was no way around the fact that Rapid Souffle was crying in her room. Pound raised a hoof to knock on the door, but stopped at just the last second. He was having a test of faith. Should he, or should he not.

Some time during his mental warfare, Rapid had slipped off into a fitful sleep.

As Pound became aware of the fact that the crying had stopped, he mentally kicked himself for not having done something. He wasn't a bad pony, he hated seeing others like that.

Sighing, he turned around and headed back to his own room.