//------------------------------// // Dinner at Pinkie's // Story: Meeting the Parents // by GreyTheGriffon //------------------------------// It was 6 PM on a particularly special night, a night whose importance was the reason Twilight Sparkle was trotting her way to Pinkie Pie’s house, her figure adorned with her favorite dress. The same dress she had worn on her first date with Pinkie. Tonight was special because it marked exactly one year since the day that Twilight and Pinkie had awkwardly blurted out their feelings for one another at the exact same time while playing ‘Never Have I Ever’ at a slumber party with their four other friends. The moment was spectacularly spontaneous, the kind of moment that Pinkie, and now Twilight, cherished. Twilight bounced in her last few steps towards Pinkie’s door, an unconscious action that was definitely picked up from Pinkie before excitedly knocking three times, practically summoning Pinkie from whatever she was doing, because a moment later, the door opened to reveal a pink earth pony dressed as finely as Twilight was. Twilight smirked.”You know you don’t need to look like that, right?” “Of course I know that! I just figured it’d be fun, since this is how I looked on our first date!” Pinkie punctuated her sentence with a quick kiss to Twilight’s lips, then pulled back, looking her up and down appraisingly. “Looks like you had the same idea!” She giggled, happy that they had coordinated without the need to plan it. Twilight rolled her eyes slightly. “You know, I prefer how you look without all that.” She gestured vaguely at Pinkie with a hoof. Pinkie giggled, she knew that perfectly well. “Yeah, yeah, lemme just change real quick…” Pinkie concentrated lightly for a moment, eventually resulting in a flash of light that obscured her for a moment before dissipating, revealing Pinkie Pie’s true form as a draconequus, not dissimilar to Discord in her mismatched parts, though of course with a color scheme revolving more around pink.. Twilight smiled widely and blushed. “Alright then, let’s get to this dinner party!” Pinkie took Twilight’s hoof in her claw and snapped with her free paw, causing another flash of light. They reappeared in the living room of a house that seemed to make sense at first glance, but whenever Twilight looked too closely at the strokes on a painting or the intricate markings on the rim of a vase, the details started to contradict themselves. It was the kind of thing that would drive her mad if she didn’t have the self control to simply ignore the inconsistencies. Nonetheless, she had to be jostled away from staring at the changing words of a book opened onto a lectern by Pinkie’s voice. “Alrighty!” Her voice was as bubbly as it always was, but it carried a little bit of nervousness. “This is the house I grew up in, mom and dad are probably already in the dining room waiting for us.” She rubbed the back of her head with her paw, Twilight offering an appreciated comforting hoof on her side. “I’m sure your family and I will hit it off.” Twilight let her tone slip into a more casual one. “And besides, being with you has taught me to expect literally anything. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Twilight patted Pinkie’s side, earning an appreciative smile before Pinkie’s eyes lit up as she remembered something. “Oh! I forgot to mention, I’m not an only child, my brother’s going to be here too-” Pinkie was cut off by another flash of light, dispersing to unveil a familiar draconequus that wasted no time in wrapping Pinkie up in a great big hug. “Pinkie! It’s great to see you again. It’s been way too long.” Pinkie chuckled, gratefully returning Discord’s hug. “Discord, you’re so silly, I saw you just a few days ago!” Twilight stood off to the side, subject to just observing what was unfolding. “Yes, yes, but I meant your true form. It’s so much more natural to see you like this, rather than that disguise you put on so as not to cause too much of a disturbance.” Discord said the word ‘disturbance’ with an emphatic intonation to mock Pinkie for caring so much about disturbing the peace. Twilight was still just looking back and forth between the two, keeping her eyes locked on whichever one was talking. Pinkie was unfazed by Discord’s teasing, however, instead breaking into raucous laughter and curling around Discord with her noodle body and squeezed affectionately. “Yeah, yeah.” She booped him on the nose, something she knew he hated. “It’s good to see you too, Discord.” Unconsciously seizing the lull in the conversation to collect herself, Twilight interjected the two’s reunion with a single, simple question. “Discord’s your brother?!” She calmed herself a little; she had yelled when she hadn’t meant to. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Pinkie frowned apologetically, causing Twilight’s involuntarily furrowed brow to soften. “Oh, I’m sorry Twilight, but Discord wanted to keep this on the down-low until you came over to meet my whole family!” Pinkie uncurled herself from Discord, returning to a neutral float. “He wanted it to be a surprise! Isn’t that so nice?” Discord smiled widely. A genuine smile, from what Twilight could deduce. “Surprise!” Discord seemed genuinely happy, so Twilight let her frustration that she was just learning about this now go, adopting her own genuine smile. “Alright, how about we all go eat then? I’m particularly excited to meet both of your parents.” Discord and Pinkie both nodded energetically, flying towards the dining room by phasing through the wall. Twilight sighed, then spoke with an irritated tone. “You know, you two, I don’t actually know the layout of your house. How am I expected to find the dining room?” Pinkie was the one to call back. “The house wouldn’t make sense to you Twily, just go in a direction and you’ll find it!” “Probably!” Discord amended, earning a giggle from Pinkie and an exasperated sigh from Twilight. Nevertheless, she closed her eyes and marched in the same direction Pinkie and Discord had gone, phasing through the wall in the same way they had. Once on the other side, Twilight came face to face with an immaculately decorated dining room with two draconequi seated across from each other. Notably, these two draconequi were not Discord and Pinkie, a fact given away by their appearances. They were both dressed fancily, and carried a businesslike demeanor. Twilight stepped forward into the dining room without a word, not quite sure what to say yet. The draconequus Twilight assumed to be the father noticed her approaching and spoke. “Hello there. You must be Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight perked up, quickly shuffling into a seat with an empty space purposefully placed beside her for Pinkie. “Um, yes! That would be me. You must be Pinkie and Discord’s father?” He nodded calmly and politely, surprising Twilight a little with his poise. “Yes, I am North Star, and this is my wife South Star.” Twilight opened her mouth to ask about their names, being cut off by North Star raising a paw. Twilight noted that North Star had two paws, instead of the ‘normal’ mismatching of appendages sported by his children. “Before you ask about our names, we changed them to match once we married. It’s tradition among draconequi, though I suspect that it will not be followed by our daughter.” South Star set her cheek on a claw, Twilight noting that she had two claws. “That at least explains the limbs…” Twilight thought to herself. South Star sighed, catching Twilight’s attention again. “Pinkie has always been such a free spirit, and so has Discord. They won’t be just like us, but isn’t that just the most beautiful thing? Anycreature can be any kind of person they want, and it’s all up to them.” Twilight nodded slowly, unconsciously noting to herself that South Star had a very pretty voice. Twilight opened her mouth to reply to South Star when Pinkie and Discord flew in through a wall. “Finally!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I thought we’d never find the dining room.” The two took their seats, Pinkie next to Twilight, of course, and Discord begrudgingly filling the empty seat between his parents. “That’s because we wanted to have a word with your partner alone.” North Star sighed. “I mean no offense, dear, but you can make it hard to have that kind of conversation sometimes.” Pinkie huffed, but regardless snapped her fingers, summoning dinner onto the table. Twilight wondered to herself why Pinkie ever bothered with the physical task of baking. “All right, whatever dad, let’s just eat already!” South Star glared at Discord for just a moment for his impatience, but it calmed quickly, melting into a loving, motherly smile. “All right.” South Star said much more calmly than her son. “Let’s eat.” Dinner went on, lively conversation was had, and just as Twilight had said, she had hit it off excellently with Pinkie’s parents. Pinkie told anecdotes about her and Twilight’s many dates, eliciting warm laughter from her parents, and a mockingly over-the-top expression of disgust from Discord. The juxtaposition between the two pairs of draconequi was a little jarring for Twilight, however, occasionally causing her to ask herself why they were so different. Ultimately, though, Twilight had to agree with South Star: the difference between the parents and the children was a beautiful thing that ought to be celebrated, as was all diversity in Equestria and beyond.