//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: Secret of the Pies // by Player 4 //------------------------------// (The next day) Twilight finishes preparing the meeting room in her castle for a few hours from now, when Pinkie's biological parents are to come and see her and the girls for the first time. Earlier in the morning, when Twilight's sleepy eyes and mind were still fogged up, Pinkie bounced over to the castle to announce to her the date and time, which was today at 1 PM. At that announcement, Twilight paced around the castle exclaiming "short notice!" even though it was 8 AM at the time. But Spike succeeded at to calming her down, and now, 30 minutes in advance at 12:30, the snacks and drinks are all sorted out, the room looks shiny and clean; the chairs are all there; everything ready for a meeting. "And finished! I'm so excited, Spike!", she squeals. Spike, walking into the room to look at the finished product, does not replicate the enthusiasm of his friend. He stands in the room concerned and conflicted. "What's wrong, Spike? Aren't you excited to meet Pinkie Pie's biological parents?" "Well, that's just the thing.", Spike says. "They may technically be her parents, but they're compete strangers to me, yet there's supposed to be some sort of connection? Like, whenever I imagine myself meeting my biological parents, it sounds, like, I don't know, weird. Because I've come to know you as my parent." "That's alright.", Twilight assures. "Everypony has different reactions to this kind of thing. You don't have to talk much in the meeting if you don't want." Spike tried to work out a decision on how much he'd participate, but can't reach a conclusion and just shrugs. "I guess I'll just see how everything goes." "I'm sure it will all be fine.", Twilight says. Her horn receives a notification that Pinkie and her parents have landed in Ponyville, so she sends out a magical signal to the rest of the girls. "This is going to be so fun!", Twilight squeals again. "Hoping for everything to all work out well!", Spike salutes. ... "You excited for this, mom?", Pinkie asks Fire, as she sees the landscape around her change to the recognizable pre-castle path. "I'm fired up for it! Hehe, pun. Anyway, my dream showed your friends as being super nice, and I can bet that's how they are in real life too." "That is how they are! They're the best friends in the whole world!", Pinkie says. "Ooh, and we can play a game! You'll get to test how accurate your dream was!" Fire giggles. "Sure. That sounds fun." Pinkie laughs. And yes, she was serious about that game. When Pinkie woke up this morning, Maud turned out to be right about draconequi receiving signals from creatures who need them. Fire peeked through Pinkie's bedroom window in Sugarcube Corner as she woke up, startling her but also relieving her. Pinkie then explained her feelings from the previous night, and her mother assured her that she had no ill will for anything that happened. "I fully expected you to just see your friends at first. My plans already were to meet them with you some other time." Fire had also explained that she did go back to her home world for the night, not because of any anger towards her daughter, but because she did not want to introduce herself to Ponyville without Pinkie being there. After all, draconequi other than Discord are not believed to exist there. "I didn't want to confuse the whole town, you know?" Fire had said through the window. "I wanted to do it with somepony who could explain things." Pinkie's anxiety had melted away, and she had a mind lightbulb as she asked Fire if they could do the meeting on the current day, provided the Mane Six could make it. And that's their plan. "I am so, so excited for this, Pinkie." Fire claps her hands together as they draw closer to the castle. "Meeting your daughter's friends takes it to a whole new level." "Happy to hear it." Pinkie says, smiling gently. "And I'm fully prepared for whatever reaction they have." Fire notes. "You don't need to worry about offending me; I understand this is something that goes against what your friends thought was true about this family, and finally solves the big thing they've always wondered about you." The meeting room of Twilight's castle fell silent as everypony processed the shock of the information. "Huh. So, yeah. That's why.", Twilight said. "Yep." Fire stated. "I was their original mother and passed my draconeqqus ways down onto them, them being ponies because their father is a pony, and not hybrids on the outside because... randomness." The ponies take a minute to respond, something that Fire's dream did get right, albeit for a different reason. "Well, the six of us know an Earth pony couple who had twins of a unicorn and a pegasus, so it's not that surprising.", Twilight says. "I knew it." Fire says, giving the table a little pound. "These unusual combos are not caused by the logic-less nature of my home universe.", Fire says. Twilight jolts, sensing a big discovery here that she could research into. "You live in a logic-less universe, that's full of your species?", Twilight says. "Well, that's another theory confirmed!" "Nice!", Fire said. "That's a great feeling." "It is!" Twilight exclaimed, leaning in closer to Fire. "We could go to your world together and talk about it to those in Ponyville!" Rainbow Dash giggled. "That's our Twilight. Loves her research and information." Fire giggled too. "I can tell. And I like it." ... "So, Fire, how do you overall feel about the whole situation, looking at it from this new perspective?", Twilight asks. "I'd say it's pretty good." This catches looks at each other from the ponies. "So, you don't feel bitter?", Rainbow Dash asks. "A little bit, but it's been healed a lot. I may not have gotten to see my daughters grow up, but being able to have contact with them again now, and to know they've had a great life in this universe, courtesy of you all... I'm happy." "Heh. More accuracy points for my dream." "That's the spirit, Fire.", Applejack says. "Can you girls all give me a hug? For celebration of making my mom happy for us?", Pinkie asks. "Right on board, Pinks.", Applejack says, stepping off her chair. All of Pinkie's friends piled onto her, for what Fire saw as the perfect symbol for what this universe gave to Pinkie. I can also feel at peace, knowing... that I made the right choice. ... This was awesome. "So, Fire, when would you like to introduce yourself to Ponyville? As in, publicly?", Twilight asked. "I mean, they already know there is another draconeqqus in town, due to the newspaper reports." "I'd say I'm ready tomorrow.", Fire responds. "You're right; the news did mention that draconeqqus heritage gave Pinkie and Maud these abilities. Before we do that, though," - she hatches up an idea - "Pinkie and Maud, how about you go back to your original parents and talk to them about all that's happened, now that it's progressed this far and you're back home?" Oh, shoot. At this moment, Pinkie's face sported a look of sadness and fear, her mane moving as if it was about to deflate. "Oh... right.", she says out loud. "We have to do that someday, don't we?" "Hey, no need to do it tomorrow if you don't want.", Fire assures. "We can do my public introduction first. I was just making a suggestion." "No worries, mom.", Pinkie says. "I'm afraid of going back to them in general." Pinkie learns the hard way that the storm is not clear just yet. There was indeed one big step of this journey still unturned. And that step did not look pleasant. "And no one will blame you for that. Guess who's here to help you the whole way?", Fire says. Pinkie looks up at her mother and her friends, all smiling directly at her. She knew exactly what Fire was getting at. Pinkie breathes out. "You're right. I will do it, and I have help." Rainbow Dash nods at her. "That's the spirit, Pinkie." "And while we're here, we can focus on the happy stuff.", Fire says. "Pinkie has plenty of time to handle her task." "Good idea." Rainbow Dash says. So they do return to discussing happy stuff, but for Pinkie, this conversation can't become quite the same as it was before.