[Ponyville] Despair and Panic! The Missing Cake Twin (Finished)

[Rosewind]

Pumpkin crossed her hooves and rolled her eyes at her father, Carrot. It was strange to see him presenting flowers to another mare. She quickly forgot about the incident, her faced twisted in a terrible frown as her father lifted her off of her chance foalsitter. She writhed and struggled in his grip while she was nuzzled. She loved her papa very much, but she was starting to get cranky from the long day of searching (she had lost at least three nap times!), not to mention Pound was still gone. She reached out with her little hooves at Cadance, tears streaking down her wheat-colored cheeks.

Hhhggnn! Dancy! Dancy! Pumpkin cried.

[deleteaccountpls]

Upon hearing Cadence's story of how she found Pumpkin cake he seemed surprised at first but then let out a dejected sigh, "She made it all the way outside on her own? Looks like that unicorn magic of hers is running amock again, Pound must've flown off too, the window was open." Carrot said, seeming to calm down a bit, although this didn't last long as Pumpkin began to cry. "Now, now, shh, it's okay, we'll find your brother." he said, cradling the foal in his hooves as he listened to Crescent. "Really? You mean you can use this spell find Pound Cake? That's amazing!" Carrot said, clearly impressed by the unicorn's skill in magic. "Only problem is that we don't really have anything that belongs to just him, these two share just about everything." In his mind, Mr. Cake began to despair again, then suddenly an idea hit him. "Everything except..."

He quickly gave Pumpkin back to Cadence, "Go ahead and take her, she seems to have taken to you. And come and follow me inside." He said as he opened the door to the Sugar Cube Corner and galloped up the stairs, returning a short time later with what appeared to be a diaper genie. "Sorry, but this is the only thing that I could think of that belonged only to Pound Cake alone." he said as he opened up the diaper genie and produced a diaper that still smelled rather fresh. "I'm er, pretty sure this is his diaper from last night. He had quite a bit to eat last night." he said, sitting the diaper down on a nearby table. "I really hope the diaper itself is enough, I do not want to have to reopen that thing again." Carrot said, gagging at the thought.

[Solaria]

Cadance listened with interest as Crescent mentioned that he was now confident that he could scry Pound Cake, if only Mr. Cake would provide an item belonging to what she assumed was the tiny pegasus. The fact that they'd reuinted even part of the family was reassuring to the alicorn, despite her growing concern for Pound. Pumpkin had been found relatively early, but who knew what kind of trouble her brother could have gotten into with being alone all this time?

At that point Pumpkin started to cry, reaching out to the princess from her nestled position in her father's hooves. Cadance was astonished that the baby had learned her name that quickly, even if only in the form of "Dancy." With a smile and a nuzzle the mare placed her little friend squarely on her back again, offering a strand of multi-colored mane as a calming treat.

Her muzzle wrinkled slightly as Carrot Cake invited them into the bakery before rushing away and returning with a diaper. Thankfully it wasn't her magic that required the item, and she opted to leave Crescent to his spell while gently poking Pumpkin on the nose with a hoofguard.

"Hear that, honey hooves? We're going to find your brother in no time at all now thanks to the nice unicorn. Maybe someday you can do magic like that too!"

[Salacar]

Crescent made his way into the bakery together with the others, making sure to dismiss his earlier spell as well. He took in the all too sweetly environment with a slight shudder, the presence of so many sweets and pastries filling the air with such a strong scent that he could practically taste sugar on his tongue. At this point he remembered why he normally stayed away from confectioneries like this.

He did his best to push away all stray thoughts and sensory inputs, simply nodding to Carrot Cake as he went to retrieve something belonging to the pegasus foal. He'd need to have a clear mind if he wanted to get any results with the scrying spell.

As the baker returned and deposited the used diaper on a nearby table; Crescent could barely stop his nose from twitching up, the rather fresh smell of the diaper clashing strongly with the sweet scent of his surroundings. He returned his attention to Carrot Cake as the baker spoke.

"I really hope the diaper itself is enough, I do not want to have to reopen that thing again."

With a hopeful smile Crescent addressed the baker, "Well, it should do quite...nicely I think, the diaper together with his name should give a pretty good result." Without another moment of hesitation he placed himself by the table, sitting on his haunches and closing his eyes. While readying the ritual area in front of him, Cadance spoke up and he turned to see Pumpkin Cake, happily returned to the back of the princess.

"Hear that, honey hooves? We're going to find your brother in no time at all now thanks to the nice unicorn. Maybe someday you can do magic like that too!"

He couldn't keep a smile from his muzzle at the comment. "I'm certainly going to try my best, this is my special talent after all."

Not waiting for a reply, Crescent turned back to face the diaper and the spellwork ahead of him, he had hoped for something a bit more personal, but it would have to do. Closing his eyes and shutting out all outside interference, Crescent used a meditative technique in which he constructed the room in his mind, slowly removing everything else not of import. First the walls, then the floor, ceiling, the furniture without the diaper, then finally the other ponies, leaving himself sitting in a dark space with only himself and the focus of his spell visible. Next he brought the name of the lost foal, Pound Cake, to mind, adding a representation to the scene of his mind in the form of a simple nameplate situated next to the diaper.

With all of the materials in place, the unicorn started constructing the spell, his horn glowing a soft blue at first, then growing ever more in intensity as his work progressed, adding the linking components and finally forming his intent into the shape of a sphere.

As he finally released the spell and opened his eyes, he saw the all too familiar azure sphere in front of him, this one different from the earlier Seeker spell in that instead of a ball of light, it looked more like ice cold wind turned into a liquid through some arcane process. With a look of success on his muzzle he turned back to the others, panting and sweating slightly from the magical fatigue.

"There we go, I've got a pretty good feeling that we'll be able to track down Pound Cake now. Just give me a moment to catch my breath." After relaxing for a moment he got back on his hoofs, eager to finally track down the lost foal and reunite him with his family.

((OOC: I'll be leaving the spell up to Rose again of course ^_^))

[Rosewind]

(( Thanks! This has been a fantastic RP, and I think without further adieu, it would be my honor to start wrapping it up. We'll have to NPC Pound, if nopony minds doing so. ))

Pumpkin was more than delighted to find herself on the back of the Princess once more! Her tears quickly dried on her little wheat-colored cheeks. She happily stuffed the offered lock of pretty mane into her drooling maw. She watched her father intently from her perch, drool dribbling down her chin, as he went upstairs and came down with a...previously occupied nappy. She wrinkled her little nose in disgust, lifting her forehooves in revulsion. Of course she didn't notice she was wearing one as well. She snuggled up against the Princess' warm mane, feeling drowsy from her lack of nap time. She started herself awake, eager to see follow-through on Pound's rescue.

Mmmm? Pumpkin hummed curiously at Crescent. That strange floating, blue ball again. She lifted an ear as Cadance booped her nosie, mentioning something to her about magic. What was that? The strange sphere crackled its usual magical energy, and slowly floated toward the stairs. It knocked over several trays of cupcakes and muffins as it ascended to the second floor, right up to where the story began: the Twins' room! Pumpkin's eyes widened as she watched. Cadance's lock of damp mane fell out of her mouth. The orb came to a halt outside of the closet, where it anchored, casting a soft blue glow throughout the nursery.

The closet door shook. BANG. BANG. BANG.

Gasps all around.

[deleteaccountpls]

Carrot Cake watched intently as Crescent weaved his spell. He was quite impressed with the unicorn's magic proficiency, he'd not seen another pony use magic like this outside of Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia herself. Watching in awe as the azure sphere formed before them, Carrot hardly took notice of Crescent's request to catch his breath. "Hey come on now, there's no time for resting, we gotta find Pound Cake!" Carrot said, poking at Crescent with his hoof. Next thing he knew, the magic sphere suddenly darted away from them, knocking over various baked goods in its path. Carrot winced at the sight of the spoiled sweets, but quickly pushed it from his mind as he watched the sphere go up the stairs.

"Upstairs? Why would it be going there?" he asked, looking to Crescent before following the sphere up the stairs and into the hallway. The sphere moved too fast for him to see what room it went into, but he was able to tell that it went into the twins' room from the faint blue light eminating from inside the room. Upon stepping inside the room, Carrot Cake saw the sphere come to a halt, levitating in front of the closet door. The closet? Had he checked the closet? Could he have been in there all along? Before he could think anymore on it, he heard a loud banging noise coming from behind the door. Nervously, he reached his hoof out to the doorknob slowly turning it…

And out of the closet came Pound Cake, flying at full force into his father and sending him tumbling backward and landing on his back with the pegasus foal on top.

[Solaria]

Cadance watched with wonder as the seeker spell seemed much more coherent this time around. It flowed with purpose, like a bunny stalking a carrot. The fact that it knocked over so many sweets was regrettable, but since it was going upstairs in the same building the princess grew a little excited. Could it be that Pound had never left the building in the first place?

Carefully picking her way through the crumbled remains of delicious looking cupcakes and muffins, the alicorn ferried her passenger across the treacherously sugary floor to the stairs and began to climb after an excited Mr. Cake. Perhaps the father truly had been so distraught that he hadn't checked the house when he discovered the missing foal? Although she assumed he had been in the twins' room when he leaned out the window, so it was very possible that he had just uncovered the issue. Either way, it would be the perfect unexpected ending to her impromptu foray back into foalsitting.

Without further hesitation the seeker spell disappeared around the upstairs corner, its light fading with it as it completed its task. Cadance came to a halt behind Carrot, standing with an interested expression at the closet door that the arcane globe was illuminating. The door shook once, twice, then blew open as a tiny furry missile propelled straight into Mr. Cake! Upon further inspection the projectile revealed itself as another drooling foal, this time a pegasus about the same size and build as Pumpkin.

"Pound, I presume," the princess laughed with a smile, bucking her hips slightly to toss her little unicorn friend into a waiting cradle of magic before lowering her to the floor to reunite with her brother.

[Salacar]

Crescent had his gaze firmly planted on the glowing orb, both anxious and excited to see where it would lead them. Perhaps the poor foal had somehow made his way out of Ponyville? Could be that he was lost somewhere in the town, or that someone had actually foalnapped him? A number of possibilities made their way into his head, each of them making him more paranoid and nervous, right up until the point where the orb took off towards the stairs, knocking over various baked goods on its way. The unicorn was left somewhat dumbfounded, the idea that the foal was still somewhere inside the building was entirely nonsensical.

"Upstairs? Why would it be going there?"

Crescent shrugged at the question, just as surprised as the baker. Pound Cake couldnl't actually be up there, could he? As the baker and princess took off, Pumpkin still hanging onto Cadance's mane, Crescent decided to dismiss the thoughts and quickly follow the trio upstairs, doing his best to keep the blue glow of the sphere in his field of vision.

He entered the foals' nursery just in time to hear some pounding, then see Carrot Cake open a closet and be swiftly torpedoed by a flying pegasus foal. Crescent just stood there, mouth slightly open until the princess spoke.

"Pound, I presume,"

The unicorn was sure that at that point, if he hadn't been so unbelieving about the entire situation, he'd had been rolling around on the floor laughing his flank off. As it was, his surprise only managed to contain some of the mirth, laughing happily along with the princess at the display in front of him.

[Rosewind]

The room fell into silent disbelief as Pound emerged from the closet. He must have flown out of the crib during the night and locked himself in. Pumpkin facehoofed herself as she saw her twin and her father tumbling about on the floor. Pound shook his head, his eyes spinning dizzily. The one place she hadn't looked, of course! Relief flooded over the young unicorn. She sniffed several times as Cadance magically whisked her off her perch to the floor. Pound smiled at his little sister. She crawled over to her brother, and the two twins happily embraced.

Hot tears flooded down Pumpkin's face, her blue eyes watering with happiness. Pound was okay! She kissed him on his nose, then unceremoniously stuck her hoof into her mouth. She wiped her eyes with her free hoof, turning to Crescent and her Savior/Foalsitter. She reached up high, and booped Crescent on his nose with her drool-covered hoof in thanks. He was good at making weird orbs, and that was noteworthy enough for her!

Pound shuffled over to meet Cadance. He playfully hits his hooves on the floor board, sending loud thumps shuddering across the wooden floor. Pumpkin introduced him to her foalsitter, popping her hoof back into her mouth. She hugged onto Cadance's knee, her eyes starting to tear up again. She had such an adventure today and made so many new friends -- and just as quickly, it was all over.

Dancy! Pumpkin sniffed. She turned to her father, Carrot, giving him a mournful, unmistakable "Can she be our new foalsitter?" puppy-dog eyes look.

[deleteaccountpls]

It took Carrot cake a moment to recover from being hit by the torpedoing foal as he lay their on the floor. When he did recover, he was met with the scene of cuteness that was the two Cake twins reunited. "Pound Cake, you're alright!" Mr. Cake joyfully proclaimed. He then looked back at the open door that Pound had just shot out of. "And you were in… The closet?" he said in disbelief, mimicking his daughter's reaction as he fachoofed himself. "Of course, why didn't I look there in the first place?" Mr. Cake said as he surveyed the mess he had made of the room earlier looking for these two. "Pinkie is always telling me how much Pumpkin loves hiding inside there! Although, I'm not sure how Pound got in there…" he said, looking away for a moment as he pondered the situation. It was then that he remembered Cadence and Salacar's presence and looked at them both with a warm smile.

"I really can't thank you enough for all that you two have done today, especially you, Princess. I think it says a lot about somepony with a position like yours who would take time out of her busy schedule to help a lost foal." he said as he got back up on his hooves. "I"m not sure what I can do to repay the both of you. But if you're ever here in the neighborhood again, you can have whatever you want here at the Sugar Cube Corner on me. I think you two have done more than enough to… Huh?"

Carrot Cake's attention turned back to Pumpkin, now clinging to Cadence's foreleg. Even though she might still be a foal, he could tell exactly what she wanted by the look she was giving him. "Oh no, I know that look. Sorry Pumpkin, but I think the Princess is a bit too busy for foalsitting. Besides, you've already got Pinkie as your foalsitter."

[Solaria]

Cadence smiled brightly down at Pound as Pumpkin introduced them, her hoofguard tapping smartly on the floor in response to the baby's pounding. If a display of strength was what he wanted, it wasn't hard to give by foal standards. She leaned down to nuzzle them both before straightening again, a sympathetic look on her face when her little companion cried out her name.

"It's ok," the princess whispered, ruffling Pumpkin's ducktail mane while listening to Carrot Cake. "It was no trouble at all, Mr. Cake," she replied, speaking more loudly. "Both Crescent and I did our parts, like I'm sure anypony would have. After all, Pumpkin helped me avoid a pretty boring day," she joked.

Cadence knelt to the floor, bringing her face even with the little unicorn.

"Well, I wouldn't want Pinkie to feel left out, but how about sometime soon you come and visit the castle? We can spend a day together!" she offered.

[Rosewind]

Pumpkin wiped her damp, blue eyes dry, sucking a dribble of snot up her nose. The baby unicorn hugged Cadance's face as the Princess reassured her of a ...visit to Canterlot Castle?! Pumpkin nodded eagerly at the suggestion. They had been through so much together! Pound nodded affirmatively at the Princess, crossing his arms and grinning widely. As a final gesture of goodbye, Pumpkin grabbed Cadance's horn and stuffed the tip in her mouth, drool running down her chin.

Nom nom nom!

The foals yawned sleepily as the late afternoon sunlight pooled into the nursery, with the golden glow of burnt auburn. Pound had been found, new friends had been made, and a little unicorn foal had a big adventure! What more could Pumpkin ask for?

(( Unless anypony has anything more to add to wrap up, I declare this RP ~fin~. Thank you to everyone who participated and made it a fun, heartwarming, and interesting RP! I look forward to doing more like this in the future! ))