By and by

by Bysen

Family Dinner Part 2

“Happy anniversary.” Octavia said, jokingly but some-what meaning it too. It got a laughed from Pinkie, but in all fairness what didn’t? Clyde however didn’t seem to find it as funny. His daughter had been hanging around this monster for a full year and this was the first he was hearing of him! Actually, he had heard about him, he’d just ignored it thinking he was an imaginary friend. Pinkie was still only nine. Wait, no she was ten now… how the hay could he forget such large of a party as her tenth?

“Sorry to interrupt, but you still haven’t answered how you met my daughter.” Clyde said, trying to fight back his nerves. He had calmed dramatically since Bysen had come in but was still wary of it. The fact that he could keep a civil discussion and even read maps helped on that front a lot.

“My apologise.” and he was courteous to boot. “As Pinkie Pie says, it was a year ago. I had just arrived in the forest outside the day before. I was not aware of what creatures live in these woods. I know now there is nothing more than a few rock-lobsters but I heard rustling in the brush and prepared myself. I had never seen a pony before and was unsure of her intentions.”

“Um… Bysen. I don’t think they need to hear this part, just skip to when I introduced myself.” Pinkie fretted over him telling about how he’d pinned her down and pressed his horn against her neck.

“I would like to hear what happened.” Bonnie said, starting to get curious. She’d been just as nervous and scared as Clyde had been when this beast walked in and now she wanted to know what her daughter didn’t want them to know.

“No don’t. I mean, I would appreciate it if you didn’t.” Pinkie said calmly as her eyes almost begged.

“She is your elder Pinkie Pie, and she has requested I tell this tale.”

“Thank you.” Bonnie replied.

“Well, Bysen. I’m your friend and I request that you don’t!” Pinkie said with a rather strong tone, hiding her rather scared one. It was a long time ago, but she’d made her parents so worried about her! She assured them she was fine and had been for the next year to follow. If they found out that she had nearly been killed by the one now sitting at their table, she didn’t know how her they would react. Especially her father.

Bysen was actually torn by what Pinkie had said. He always respected the wishes of his elder. Be them elders in the tribe or simply older than him. But Pinkie was his friend. His ONLY friend. And ultimately, that meant more to him. “V-very well. After me and Pinkie P…”

“What happened Pinkamena?” her mother asked sternly, cutting off Bysen.

“MUM!!!!” Pinkie shouted as loud as she could! It stunned not only her parents and her sisters, but even Vinyl who was pretty aloof and not really paying much mind to all this.

“Watch your tone!” Clyde snapped right back at her. “And it’s Mother, not Mom.”

“But she said it! My name! I just told you not to say that stuff! And you said it!” Pinkie exclaimed. Clyde had to agree on some level but he wouldn’t tell her that.

“Your mother wants to know what you don’t want him to tell us. And so do I. What happened? Did he do anything to you?”

“N-no… I mean not really.” and that broke the flood gates. For both parents.

“What happened!?” both said in unison.

“F-fine… he attacked me. He thought I was going to attack him.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Clyde said as he slammed a hoof on the table and turned to Bysen. “She’s a little girl, how could you think she would attack!?”

“As I said, I had never seen a pony before. I was told they were smaller, and I underestimated an adult pony’s size.” it was a reasonable answer. But Clyde didn’t see it that way.

“What did he do to you Pinkie?” he said, still hard staring Bysen, who was very much feeling uncomfortable and unwelcome at this point.

“He um… he pushed me down and put one of his horns against my neck.” and Clyde’s stare hardened further, starting to bare his teeth a little. “But he stopped as soon as I said spoke. He, he realised he’d made a mistake.”

“It is true. I threatened your daughter and I apologise. I had no intention to hurt her, whether she was hostile or not. Once I removed my horn, I stopped her crying, saw she was only a female by lifting her tail and then offered her some water.”

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Clyde asked.

“I offered her some wa…”

“Before that.”

“I saw she was a female.”

“You lifted her tail up and looked at her!?” Clyde stated as he put both his hooves on the table and lifted himself up. Without breaking his stare at Bysen he said to his wife “Get me my gun.”

“Dad!”

“Quiet!” he snapped. His wife didn’t move, unsure if he was serious about his gun or not. “Couldn’t you see she was a girl? What kind of perverted creature lifts up a young fillies tail?!”

“I did not mean any offence.” Bysen replied. He didn’t quite know what he had done wrong but it obviously made Clyde mad. “I had never seen a pony, it was the only way I knew that would tell an animal’s gender.” he defended himself. “How else was I to find she was a cow?”

“Are you calling my daughter a cow?”

“Was it not clear?” he said, again not sure what he’d done wrong. Cow was just the buffalon word for a female, like how bull meant male. Clyde grew furious; he stood up and marched over to Bysen at the table. Pinkie pulled out from her seat and tried to stand between them but she was pushed aside, rather angrily by Clyde. As Clyde stood face to face with Bysen, whose face alone was at least his height, he had second thoughts about this course of action.