The room was so silent, that you could hear a pin drop. Fluttershy's eyes darted nervously between Roxy, Clyde, and Blinkie. Pinkie looked calm and had a small smile on her face, but she was beginning to think that this had been a bad idea. A really bad one.
Blinkie blinked, looking between Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy with a slightly confused expression on her face. "Wait a second, you mean that you two are dating?"
Pinkie and Fluttershy slowly nodded together, feeling nervousness creep back into their minds at Blinkie's reaction. But Pinkie and Fluttershy were both glad and a bit surprised to see her confused visage turn into a large smile.
"I can't believe it! My little sisters got a marefriend," Blinkie exclaimed, "I always knew that you'd find your special somepony!"
She turned her attention to Fluttershy who was at a loss for words. "You have to tell me how you met Pinkie, and your first date!"
"O-oh, well we had a picnic for our f-irst d-date." Fluttershy replied, realizing that she had been holding her breath since Blinkie opened her mouth.
"Yeah, it was actually really romantic." said Pinkie, who couldn't help but blush as she gave Fluttershy a sideways glance. "Something small, but Fluttershy wouldn't want a huge party or anything-would you?" Pinkie quickly turned to face her.
Fluttershy just stared at Pinkie, after a few seconds Pinkie turned back to her sister. "I guess not."
"Just wait until Inkie hears this!" Blinkie grinned as she took Fluttershy by the hoof. "C'mon, you just have to tell me everything." Blinkie either didn't notice Fluttershy panicked expression as she dragged Fluttershy into the living room, or she just didn't care.
Pinkie giggled quietly at her marefriend's obvious distress and her sister’s excited reaction, and turned towards her parents who had remained silent since the announcement. Feeling optimistic, she broke the awkward silence.
"Sooo...what do you think about the news?" Pinkie asked, hoping for the best.
"Well, this is certainly unexpected." Roxy stated, trying to think of what to say. The surprise was wearing off, and Roxy didn't really know what to think. Instinctively, she felt like she should be telling Pinkie how wrong it was to like a mare, but being close minded was not something Roxy wanted to be.
So, she answered as honestly as she could. "I don't really know, Pinkie. You two did seem to be very happy this afternoon..." She trailed off, failing to come up with any reason that they shouldn't be together.
"Yeah!" Pinkie grinned, in spite of feeling nervous at her mother’s answer and her father’s continuous stony expression. "We haven't been dating for too long, but I really really like Fluttershy."
Roxy gave a small nod. "Well, if you're happy then I am too, after all, that's all a mother really wants." She gave a half-hearted smile as Pinkie ran over and hugged her.
"Really?" Pinkie beamed.
Roxy nodded, "Yes, but it may take a bit to get used to. But, I want to support my child."
Roxy looked over to Clyde. "Clyde, I hope that you're going to support your daughter as well?" Adding a bit of edge to her voice to show that he was going to, whether he liked it or not.
Clyde frowned, "Well, I'm not going to say I approve of anything yet." He turned to Pinkie and said grudgingly "But I guess it would be wrong of me to not at least give her a chance."
Pinkie was beaming; glad she didn't get a completely negative response from her father. "I'm sure you'll love Fluttershy, she's so amazing!" Pinkie quickly sprinted into the living room, eager to share the news with Fluttershy.
Clyde looked at Roxy. "You know that I don't like this, right?"
Roxy nodded. "Clyde, I'd like to think that you'd support your own daughter! This may be a little different, but I think Pinkamena really likes that filly."
Clyde shook his head. "This isn't something you can just spring on a pony, and expect them to accept it!"
"Then how did I?" Roxy replied.
Clyde glared "But I'm not a liar, so I will give Fluttershy a chance."
Roxy sighed, knowing that her husband was going to fight this however he could. "Alright, well I think it's about dinnertime. Could you fetch me some nutmeg from the pantry?"
"Sure." Clyde replied, heading into the kitchen, glad for the distraction.
***
"So, how long have you and Pinkie been dating?" Blinkie asked Fluttershy with a large grin. They were sitting next to each other on the couch in the living room.
"Well, about three weeks." Fluttershy replied, feeling a little less nervous at Blinkie's positive, yet a little overly energetic, response.
Blinkie blinked in surprise. "Only three weeks? Why come 'meet the parents' that early?"
"Pinkie thought that it would be a good idea since she was already coming here..." She gave a small frown. "But to be honest, I'm really worried about what everypony’s going to think."
Blinkie gave a knowing nod. "Yep, meeting your significant others can be hard. The last guy I dated, his mother hated me." She laughed. "I don't think she thought I was 'refined' enough for her son, or something. It didn't end to well."
She saw Fluttershy's eyes widen. "Heh, that probably didn't make you feel better, huh?" Blinkie chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm sure my mom and dad won't do anything too bad."
"Really?" Fluttershy started. "They didn't look too thrilled..."
Blinkie waved a hoof. "Don't worry, my dad's face is always like that."
Fluttershy shakily laughed. "Pinkie Pie has really given me some confidence that this would go well, but all this worrying is really starting to take a toll on both of us."
Blinkie gave a comforting smile. "Well, if it counts for anything; I think you and Pinkie look adorable together, and you seem like a really nice pony."
"R-really?" Fluttershy asked, feeling some of the pressure abate.
"Yeah." Blinkie suddenly narrowed her eyes, and her voice lost its chipper tone. "But if you hurt my little sister, there will be Tartarus to pay."
Blinkie smiled as Fluttershy looked shocked. "Anywho, I have some more questions about you girls. When did-"
Her sentence was interrupted as Pinkie Pie rocketed into the living room, jumping onto Fluttershy. Pinkie looked down at Fluttershy with a large grin.
Fluttershy looked up at Pinkie. "Pinkie, what are you doing?" She said slightly panicked.
"This!" Pinkie exclaimed leaning down and kissing Fluttershy. Fluttershy eyes widened in surprise. A moment after the initial surprise, Fluttershy leaned into Pinkie's soft lips. After a few all too short seconds, Pinkie and Fluttershy broke apart.
"C'mon you two, save it for the bedroom." Blinkie giggled from a mere foot away.
Pinkie nervously laughed. "Heh, well I'm excited." She had a barely noticeable red tinge to her cheeks. Fluttershy's face, however, was a deep red and all she gave was a small embarrassed squeak.
"My mom likes you!" Pinkie said, still looking down at Fluttershy. "And I think my dad does too, at least I think he does, doesn't matter, he will when he gets to know you. Sorry, I'm rambling, just got excited."
"That's good, but Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah?" Pinkie said with her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth.
"Could you get off me?" Fluttershy said, causing Pinkie to laugh.
"Oh, sure thing!" Pinkie said, getting off Fluttershy and sitting between her and Blinkie. "So, what have you girls been talking about?"
"I was just about to ask Fluttershy if she has any embarrassing stories about you!" Blinkie smiled as Pinkie playfully shoved her.
***
"Dinnertime!" Roxy shouted from the kitchen, interrupting a story Blinkie was telling Fluttershy about Pinkie's childhood.
Blinkie frowned. "I guess I'll have to finish my story later. Don't worry; I can't wait to tell you what happened after she found the fireworks."
"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "It's a pretty great story. Well, not for Inkie."
Blinkie nodded. "I'm pretty sure she still hasn't forgiven you for setting them off in her room." Fluttershy remained quiet, suddenly glad that she never had any siblings like Pinkie.
The three ponies got off the couch and trotted towards the kitchen. Roxy smiled at them "The food’s in the dining room. Fluttershy, I hope you like pumpkin soup."
Fluttershy smiled. "Well, I've never had pumpkin soup before. But it smells lovely."
"Well, you're in for a treat then." Blinkie said, leading them through the kitchen to the dining room "My mom makes some amazing soup."
Pinkie nodded vigorously, licking her lips "I lived off of this when I was a kid...well, this and cupcakes."
Fluttershy looked around as they entered the dining room. The dining room was fairly small; most of the space was taken up by a large wooden table. There were two chairs on each side of the table, and one at the head of the table. The room was sparsely decorated, with only two paintings adorning the walls. There was a small window, but it was too dark to see anything clearly in the distance.
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy sat next each other near the doorway, while Blinkie sat across from them. The table was already set, and there were small bowls of light orange soup, with a small plant floating on top of the soup.
Roxy and Clyde walked into the dining room and sat down at each end of the table. They all started to eat the soup, and everypony was quiet as they enjoyed the meal. After a few minutes or so, Roxy decided to try and start up a conversation with Fluttershy.
"So, how is the soup, Fluttershy?" Roxy asked as she swallowed a spoonful.
"It's very good soup Mrs Pie." Fluttershy said, eating another spoonful of her own. "I just might have to look into finding a recipe for pumpkin soup when I'm back in Ponyville."
Roxy smiled warmly. "Nonsense, I'll let you borrow mine. My mother taught me the recipe when I was around eight years old. I'll show you it tomorrow."
"Thank you, Mrs Pie." Fluttershy said.
"Call me Roxy, dear." Roxy grinned.
"O-okay, Roxy." Fluttershy replied. Pinkie watched the conversation with her own grin, glad to see that her mother was making an effort to make Fluttershy comfortable.
"So," Roxy began, "how did you and my daughter first decide that you liked each other more than friends?"
"W-well, we both got sick and decided to stay with each other until we felt better. That was really when I started to realize that I liked her more than a friend." Fluttershy laughed. "It was a pretty interesting time."
"Aww." Pinkie smiled, giving Fluttershy a small nuzzle. "Yeah, the chicken pox was really annoying, but spending the time with Flutters made it worth it!"
"At least something good came out of it." Roxy said, turning her attention back to the soup.
Clyde looked at Fluttershy for a moment before asking "So, Fluttershy. What exactly is it that you do?"
"Oh, well I take care of any creature that needs my help." She smiled "I'm a veterinarian of sorts."
"Really? That sounds like it would be a interesting job." Clyde said.
Fluttershy earnestly nodded, "Yes, it's so wonderful helping all the animals in Ponyville. I couldn't ask for a better job!"
Clyde nodded, stony faced as ever. "Yes...that does sound like it would be a rewarding career. So, why did you decide to ask Pinkamena on a date?"
Fluttershy glanced at Pinkie. "W-well she always so energetic, and she makes me laugh and smile. She's also really sweet and always knows just what to say." Fluttershy blushed. "I guess there are a lot of things that I like about her."
Clyde gave a small smile. "Yes, Pinkamena certainly knows how to make ponies smile, and she can be a bit energetic."
"A little!?" Blinkie asked incredulously, "we are still talking about the pony who would sometimes stay up all night jumping around the house, right?"
They all had a laugh at this, and everypony returned to their soup. It was quiet around the table, and Pinkie was internally celebrating. This is great! They like Fluttershy! Now I can show her around town, and introduce her to Inkie, and she can help me plan the part, and- her thoughts were interrupted as Clyde cleared his throat.
"Well, I did say that I would give this – relationship – that you two have a chance." Clyde started "But, I can't say I approve."
"...What!?" Pinkie asked, shocked.
Clyde shook his head. "Listen, I don't know what it is that you see in Fluttershy. But you need to get over your silly crush and find a proper stallion." He turned his head to a distressed looking Fluttershy. "No offense, but Pinkamena needs a nice strong stallion to be with."
"WHAT!?" Pinkie exclaimed. "How can you say that!? Fluttershy is an amazing, kind, strong pony!"
"Well, why isn't she telling me that?" Clyde looked at Fluttershy's expression. "Again, I'm not trying to be mean, and I'm sure you're a good friend to Pinkamena. But, marefriends? My daughter deserves a strong pony to help support her."
"I-I-I've b-been a gre-great special s-somepony to Pinkie." Fluttershy stammered, trying to defend herself. She was trying to hold herself together for her and Pinkie's sake, but she could feel tears welling up in her eyes from Clyde's harsh words. "W-we haven't been to-together for long, but we've been b-est friends f-for a ve-very long time."
Roxy looked at her husband, shocked "Clyde! What do you think you're doing!?" She said angrily.
Clyde frowned. "I'm doing what any sane pony would; I'm stopping this mess before it gets any worse!"
"This isn't a mess!" Pinkie exclaimed, angrily getting up from the table. "How could you say that!? Fluttershy and I-" She turned away from her father as Fluttershy got off of her chair, and ran towards the stairs. Pinkie was sad and angry to see tears running down Fluttershy's face.
"Look what you've done! You've made Fluttershy, who only wanted to be accepted by you, cry!" Pinkie met her father’s eyes with a glare, before trotting after her marefriend.
The dining room was silent for a few moments, before Blinkie got up from the table and slowly shook her head. "Dad, that was terrible." She frowned. "I thought that you'd be able to support them, but you insulted their relationship! You should be ashamed."
Clyde glowered. "You shall not speak to me like that in my house."
Blinkie scowled. "Can't you see how much this meant to Pinkie? To Fluttershy!?"
Blinkie trotted out of the dining room, leaving Roxy and Clyde alone. Roxy sighed, "Clyde, what did you think would come of that? Do you really think Pinkamena will just abandon Fluttershy if you don't approve?"
"One could hope." Clyde said, as his own wife's eyes narrowed into a glare. "Listen, I just want what’s best for Pinkamena, and she needs a strong stallion to help support her in life. Look at what that mare did, she ran off!"
"Well, I don't blame her! You were being incredibly rude." Roxy frowned, knowing full well that her husband’s stubbornness was near impossible to overcome "Did it ever occur to you that maybe you don't know what's best for Pinkamena?"
"I stand by what I said." Clyde said, although with a tiny amount of regret. Maybe I shouldn't of been as harsh with the filly...but I needed to make a point. Pinkamena would never be happy with a weak filly like that.
"Is it because she's a mare?" Roxy asked, feeling some of her anger abate; being replaced by tiredness.
"Well...that certainly didn't make things better." Clyde admitted, "But I could manage to deal with that, it's just that Fluttershy seems to be a weak and timid pony, how can she help take care of Pinkamena if she can't even defend herself?"
Roxy frowned. "I'm not going to say anything else, but I highly suggest that you apologies to Pinkamena and Fluttershy in the morning. It also wouldn't hurt to say you’re sorry to Blinkie for her having to witness your little rant."
Clyde snorted, as Roxy got up from the table and began to pick up the mostly empty bowls of soup.
***
"Fluttershy?" Pinkie whispered as she opened the door to the guest bedroom. Fluttershy was lying face down on the bed, her pink mane in disarray. She was quietly sobbing, and the sight cause Pinkie's heart to drop.
Pinkie shut the door behind her, and walked over to the bed. She climbed onto it and sat next to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, don't cry. My dad didn't mean those awful things."
Fluttershy lifted he head from the pillow and looked at Pinkie. "B-but it's t-true! I just choked up, while you defended me." She said, sobbing.
"Hey," Pinkie said softly, bringing Fluttershy into a hug. "You were awesome down there."
"No I wasn't." Fluttershy said, burying her face in Pinkie's shoulder. "I let you down when I ran away like a f-foal."
Pinkie shook her head vehemently, lifting Fluttershy's head so that they were face to face. "You didn't let me down! I don't want to hear you ever say that again either! If anything, I'm proud of how you stood by me. It's just not fair that my dad was such a meanie."
Fluttershy frowned, "But-" Pinkie silenced her by placing a hoof on her mouth.
"What did I just say?" Pinkie said with a comforting smile. "I like you Fluttershy, and nothing's going to change that." She laid down still hugging Fluttershy.
Pinkie was about to say something else, but a soft knock on the door stopped her. "Pinkie? Fluttershy?" Blinkie asked from behind the door.
Pinkie looked at Fluttershy, Fluttershy nodded. "C'mon in Blinkie." Pinkie said.
Blinkie peeked her head through the door, and gave a half-hearted-smile as she walked up to the bed. "Hey, I figured I'd see how you two girls are doing after dad's little rant."
Pinkie sighed. "I thought for sure that he would give Fluttershy a chance."
Blinkie nodded. "Well, if it's makes you feel any better; I think you two are perfect for each other." She looked at Fluttershy. "Don't worry, he'll come around."
Fluttershy shook her head. "I don't think Clyde will magically change his mind..."
"You know, I'm sure you can change his mind." Blinkie said. "Why don't you two come into town tomorrow? I think Inkie would love to see both of you, and maybe it'll take your mind of things."
Pinkie leaned over and hugged her sister. "Thanks Blinkie, you’re a really great sister."
Blinkie smirked. "I know, I'm the greatest!" Prompting a chuckle from Pinkie, and even a small smile from Fluttershy. "Well, goodnight Pinkie, Fluttershy." Blinkie turned around and left the room, closing the door behind her.
"Tomorrow we can see Inkie, and sort out how to make my dad change his mind." Pinkie said, giving Fluttershy a small kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry, this'll turn around!"
Fluttershy slowly nodded, managing a smile. "Pinkie, how did I deserve such a wonderful pony to have as a marefriend?"
Pinkie laughed. "I'm the one that should be asking that, silly." Pinkie smiled as Fluttershy rested her head on her stomach.
Fluttershy was still sad, sad that Pinkie's father didn't approve and about how she didn't defend their relationship as well as she could have, but the warm embrace of Pinkie was making her feel a lot better. After a few minutes she found herself incredibly tired after the hectic day. Closing her eyes, the last thought that Fluttershy had before drifting off to sleep was I'm going to prove to him just how strong our relationship is.