"Okay," Twilight said to herself. "Okay. Okay. Okay." She took a deep breath and let it out. "Let's go over it one more time. Table ready?"
She turned her attention to the dinner table. Although it could not be seen, the table had been cleaned and freshly polished until it glistened. Currently, it was covered in a tablecloth that was supposed to be a very light pink, but looked white to her. A crystal vase filled with blue silk roses sat in the center of the table, red candles in silver holders set on each side. Six place-setting had been set out, ready for dinner.
"Check," Twilight said. "Dinner?"
"It's pretty much finished," her mother answered. "Just adding one last layer of cheese to the top to melt and brown."
"Okay, check. Spike all cleaned up?"
"Still can't believe you made me take a bath," the dog grumbled, sprawled out on his pet bed.
"It's your own fault for chasing that rabbit through a mud puddle."
Spike let out a snort.
Twilight reached up to run her hand through her hair, and stopped, clenching her fingers tight as she pulled it back down. She had just finished styling it a few minutes ago after her shower. Then she had checked it again as she was coming down to make sure everything was going right and would be ready on time. Her hair was perfect. Well... not perfect. Fine. However she would consider it, it would not stay that way if she kept messing with it.
Everything was ready.
Everything was fine.
Everything was fine.
Everything. Is. Fine.
The sound of the doorbell ringing caused Twilight Sparkle to yelp out. Everything was not fine. In fact, it was far from fine. They were not ready. She was not ready. Dinner was not ready. Everything had to be perfect, but Gilda was here and nothing was ready!
"Twilight, sweetie?" the familiar, deep voice of her father called out. "Why don't you put everything down so I can answer the door?"
Looking around, Twilight found that most of the furniture was now floating in the air. Not just in the dining room, either. She could also see objects floating in the living room, including the couch that her father had been sitting on. A blush formed on her face as she put everything back down.
"I'll get it," she announced as she made her way for the door.
Opening it, Twilight did not find Gilda, but she did find a familiar face she almost as happy (and a lot more relieved) to see.
"Cadance!" the younger girl shouted as she lunged forward to hug the older one.
"Glad to see you too," Cadance -- Twilight's former dean, and (as it turns out) her brother's current girlfriend -- replied, returning the hug.
"Great you could make it. Where's Shiny?"
"Don't worry. He's on his way." Cadance gave the younger girl a gentle pat on the shoulder as she smiled. "He's just running a little late."
"LATE!" Twilight cried out, eyes going wide. "Shiny can't be late! I didn't plan for it. This is supposed to be perfect. This isn't perfect. What if she shows up before he gets here? What if he doesn't show up? What if they crash into each other when the both try to turn into the driveway at the same time? What if they get into a fight and up being arrested? What if--"
"Twilight!"
Cadance's hands took a hold of Twilight's shoulders. The grip was strong, but gentle. Strong enough that it brought Twilight out of her pessimistic spiral of building worst case scenarios, or to make it clear that a student would not get away if caught misbehaving, but comforting enough that Twilight felt safe, and any caught student was sure they would not be in too much trouble.
At least not as much as if Cinch had caught them.
"It's okay, Twilight," Cadance stated in a calm, measured voice. "Calm down. Just breathe like I showed you."
With a nod, Twilight closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. She took a long, slow, breath in through her nose, then let it out through her mouth, letting the tension go with it.
After her six... teenth... breath, she felt calmer and back in control of herself.
"Feeling better?" Cadance asked, getting a nod. "Good. Now, you have nothing to worry about."
"I have plenty to worry about," Twilight replied. "My girlfriend is coming to meet my family." She turned away from Cadance, rubbing her hands together as she started pacing. "This is the first time I've had a girlfriend over for dinner." Twilight turned around, staring at Cadance with wide eyes. "This is the first time I've had a girlfriend. Or any relationship for that matter."
"Well, that's not entirely true," her father --Night Light -- said from his spot on the couch, getting the attention of both girls. He smirked and rubbed his chin. "I mean, yes, it is the first one you've had since you were old enough to have one and actually understood the idea of a romantic relationship." He grinned wider. "For instance, there was the time that you said you were going to marry Starswirl the Bearded." A chuckle escaped him as he shook his head. "You were so heartbroken when you found out he had lived centuries ago."
"Daaaaad!" Twilight whined out, her cheeks blushing with embarrassment.
Cadance giggled.
"Then there was... Light Show?" Night Light continued. "Day Glow?" He huffed and shook his head. "I can't remember his name."
"Oh, I think know what you're talking about," Twilight's mother -- Twilight Velvet -- said as she joined the others. "It was when she was in... second grade I think. One day, Twiley came home, and mentioned she had a boyfriend. Turns out one of her classmates was reading the same book as her, so she decided they were together."
Hiding behind her hands, Twilight let out a massive groan. She could feel her cheeks burning cherry red.
"That sounds like something she would do, alright," Cadance said with a smirk, getting another groan in response.
"Are you going to embarrass me in front of Gilda like this?" Twilight asked.
Moving over to her daughter, Velvet reached out and pulled her into a hug, patting her on the back.
"Oh, sweetie," she said softly, "of course we are."
This got the younger Twilight to look up at her mother, brow furrowed.
"It's part of our right -- our responsibility -- as parents to embarrass our children in front of potential romantic partners," Declared Velvet. "We did the same thing with Shining Armor when her first started dating Cadance."
"I even have a couple photo albums picked out and ready," added Night Light. "One even has a nice picture of you after you managed to get into a bottle of baby powder."
"DAD!"
"Well this conversation is not at all going how I expected," Cadance sighed out, rubbing her forehead. "My point is that things do not have to be perfect, and everything will be fine."
"Really?" Twilight asked.
"Really. I understand your anxiety, Twilight. But let me assure you: even if the worst happens and we don't all get along--"
The rest of Cadance's statement was forgotten as Twilight's phone rang. It was the default ringtone, so it was not a number she had programmed into her phone. But only her friends had her number. Why would one of her friends be calling her from a different number? Had something happened?
Only one way to find out.
"Twilight Sparkle speaking."
"Twilight," a grizzled, masculine voice said through the speaker, "this is Gruff."
Gruff. Gilda's grandfather.
Twilight's legs wobbled.
"There's been an accident."