//------------------------------//
// 30-The In-Laws 
// Story: The Life of a Non-Brony 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//

And so we continue to plan our wedding. It's going as well as can be expected, and we are both going nuts about it. With only a month and a half until Cheerilee becomes Mrs. Cheerilee Powell--won't that be interesting--crunch time is closing in on us. Changes are coming to Ponyville, my friends, and they are coming fast.

We talked and decided that Cheerilee is going to move in with me, rather than the other way around. My house is a little bigger, so it can fit the three of us comfortably enough. Should we have a foal or two, we'll probably have to get Manderley 2, but for now, we're cozy. So, Cheerilee put her house on the market, and it looks like a buyer might be interested. Well, that's one more thing off of the list of to-dos.

But there's one more thing that has been bugging me lately that I failed to address. More specifically, I failed to bring it up to my fiancée again, and with our wedding on the horizon, I figured that the time was now to talk about it once more. I wouldn't feel right getting married without this being resolved.

The in-laws.

If Cheerilee and/or I didn't at least make a token effort to talk to her parents to let them know that their daughter was getting married to a... something, I think that would strain their already fractured relationship even more if they ever did try to get in contact with her, and they found out she got married. I think it would be great for them all if they tried to get back in contact because of this. Yeah. That's what I was thinking.

I just... hadn't broken this idea to the future wife yet, that's all. I'd put it off probably too long, considering that the wedding was so close, but now was as good a time as any.

Cheerilee and I sat in my dining room, enjoying an afternoon meal as a break from a few wedding plans. We are both smiling, as per usual when we're around each other, but on the inside, I'm freaking out. Oswald is perched on the back of my chair, and I'm shooting him glances. I've talked with him a few times about what I'm planning on doing. Or rather, I've monologued to him while he patiently listened.

No sense beating around the bush with it, though. I take a deep breath and lean back in my chair, my smile fading.

"Cheers, we need to talk."

Her own smile fades, and she raises an eyebrow. She puts down her half-eaten sandwich and pushes her plate away. "Oh?"

I nod. "Yeah. This is actually a talk that I wanted to have long before this, but with all of the wedding plans, I guess I just kept putting it off." I straightened up in my seat and put a hand on her hoof. "Cheerilee, I know this isn't going to be the most pleasant, but I want to talk about your parents again."

Cheerilee's left ear flickers, and her gaze trails to the floor. "And why would you want to talk about my parents, TD?"

My resolve falters slightly. I don't like seeing my fiancée upset like this, but now that I've brought it up, I can't just go back on it. I clear my throat and cross my arms. "Well, because we're getting married, and I just think that it would be a good idea to at least try to get back in contact with them, you know? If you got in contact with them down the line and you already got married, maybe even had a foal, then I think that would hurt them a little, ya know? They'd have missed out on some really big parts in your life."

"Even more," Cheerilee mutters.

"Exactly." I lean back in my chair and run a hand through my hair. "So, I think it's time that you or me, or even both of us, go talk to your parents. Now I'm not gonna force you, and I'm obviously not gonna love you any less if you decide not to, I just want you to think about it is all. I mean, you haven't talked to your parents in what, almost fifteen years?"

"Yes, I believe that's correct." Cheerilee sighs and shakes her head. "I'm not sure, TD. I mean, yes, I'd love to have a good relationship with my parents again, but I'm worried about what will happen when I see them."

My mouth twists into a frown. "She says to the guy who not only hasn't seen any member of his family in over ten years, but any member of his species, and will not do so again. From my point of view, if you had even the chance to re-connect with your parents again, why wouldn't you?" Her ears flatten, so I give her a comforting smile. "Look, I get it: you haven't seen them in almost fifteen years, so you're worried that when you do see them again, there will be some bad blood between the two of you; that they might slam the door in your face and never want to talk to you again, but what if that's not the case? What if you walked up to their door, and they welcome you with open... er... forelegs?"

Cheerilee gives a single, weak chuckle at my half-joke, and manages to look back up at me. "Yes, TD, that is what scares me. It's what's scared me every time I've thought of my parents since I left them when I was sixteen. I don't know if I could handle trying to get into contact with them after fifteen years and having them just slam the door in my face. I don't know what that would do to me, and trying that now, just before our wedding?"

Hmm, I hadn't thought of that. If they did slam the door in her face, and she did get depressed from that, as she would, then that would put a real damper on our wedding. Conversely, if they welcomed her back, then that would make our wedding even better. Risks, risks, risks. I take a deep breath and shrug.

"Ultimately it's up to you, Cheerilee. I obviously can't force you to try to get back in contact with your parents again." I can't force her to do anything. This is a matriarchal society.

Cheerilee nods and straightens back up fully. "Yes, and I appreciate you not pushing me too much on the issue, and I can see why you would not understand why I wouldn't jump on the chance to re-connect, especially since, as far as I'm aware, they're still just a single train ride away."

"Yeah." I shrug again. "And don't think that I think you're a bad pony or anything. I get it: fourteen years is a heck of a long time, and anger can either dissipate or fester in that time. Just think about it, that's all I'm asking, okay?"

"Okay," Cheerilee mutters with a nod. "I'll think about it."

"Good." I click my tongue and clear my throat. "Now with that aside, have you thought of a Best Mare yet?"

Cheerilee's smile returns, a little wider and more genuine. "Well, I was thinking of Berry Punch. You?"

My gaze flickers over to Oswald. Because sure. If I'm gonna marry a pony, might as well have a phoenix as my Best Man.


*  *  *  *


A week later, I walk back into my house after a long day's work, and put my cleaning supplies back in my storage closet. I yawn and lay down on my bed, while Oswald perches on the backboard. I smirk up at him and reach up to scratch his head feathers, but my arms aren't quite that long, so he has to hop from the backboard to a spot right next to me for me to do so.

"Ugh, not a fun day," I mutter. "I cannot believe that Lyra managed to trash that much of town with that experimental spell." I rolled over and fluffed my pillow a little. "Still, Apple Bloom's cutie mark is right. Wouldn't have made it through today without her." Oswald chirrups, and I chuckle. "Yes, I hope tomorrow will be easier. It's Saturday, so I have my day off with Cheerilee for more wedding plans." I raise my head and grimace when I see the mess that is my house. "Gotta organize this place a little more before she moves in, though."

Before I can do anything else, I hear a knock on the door. I groan, not really wanting to do anything but take a nap right now, thank you very much, but slide out of bed and walk over to the door. I open it up, and smile when I see my fiancée on the other side. However, my smile fades when I see that she is not smiling. As a matter of fact, she's looking at the ground and shifting uncomfortably.

"Hey, Cheers." I tilt my head. "Is something up?"

"Yeah." She takes a deep breath and manages to look up at me. "I've been doing some thinking about my parents, and, well..." She takes another deep breath. "I realized that you're right: I should try to at least talk to them again, especially if we're going to get married. Fourteen years is too long to ignore them. I want to... I want to try to talk to them again."

I admit, hearing her saying that makes me a little nervous too. I mean, these are the in-laws that I might be meeting, but even beyond that, this is going to be a huge moment in Cheerilee's life either way it goes. At this point in our relationship, any event in her life that's significant for her, is also significant for me on some level. Such is the way things go in devoted relationships.

At any rate, hearing her say that makes me nod and take a deep breath of my own. "Okay. I'll get us train tickets to Baltimare for tomorrow then."

Cheerilee flinches back. "Tomorrow?"

"Yep. You want to see them, and we can't put it off forever. I know tomorrow is free for you, so unless you'd like to do it today..."

"You're right..." Cheerilee glances in the direction of the train station. "It would be best to do this as soon as possible. I've put this off for fourteen years, and I shouldn't put it off anymore."

I don't know if that was her gaining resolve, or reservation on her part.


*  *  *  *


By nine A.M. the next morning, Cheerilee and I board a train for Baltimare. We don't expect an overnight stay, I have some work tomorrow anyway, so we don't pack anything. Cheerilee is completely silent, and I have a comforting arm around her shoulders. Baltimare is the closest city to Ponyville, so the ride will be a short one. Too short for my fiancée, I'd wager. Only a few hours.

I can't imagine what's going through her head. I mean, for me, I'd be so excited that I couldn't breathe. Seeing my parents again after fourteen years? Man, that would just be the greatest. Now, would they be pleased that I'm marrying a pony? Eh, probably not that, no, but after fourteen years, they might not care. Cheerilee, though? I mean... hmm. The two obviously didn't part on the best of terms, and she pretty much ran away from home to get away from them, something they could very well have taken personally. As it is, though, I think her showing up like this is going to be one heck of a surprise for her parents. Something will get resolved one way or another, I'll wager.

Before either of us can fully register it, though, the train whistle blows, and the train slowly comes to a halt. I hear Cheerilee sharply inhale, and she tightly wraps her forelegs around my forearm. I give her a comforting smile and run my fingers through her mane.

"Easy, Cheers. It's gonna be okay."

"How do you know?" she whispers, her ears flattening.

"Because I'm here, and whatever happens, I'm going to help you through it." I stand up and start to pull her up. "Now come on, let's go see your parents, alright?"

Cheerilee takes a deep breath and slowly nods. "Okay, TD." She stands up. "Okay."

We exit the train with Oswald flying behind me, and I pay for a taxi to the closest we can get to the farming outskirts of Baltimare. Like the train ride, Cheerilee is completely silent, something that, this time, irritates me just a touch. I kind of want to talk to her about her plans with her parents either way they reacted, or even if they had moved and we couldn't find them. I get it, she's scared as all else about seeing her parents again, but I would like to go into this with at least a little bit of a plan.

Ugh, I just had to hope that they didn't see her and then slam the door in her face right away, leaving her completely heartbroken. I love her and all, but I just cannot stand seeing her like that.

I hardly notice the sights of Baltimare as we pass through the outer edge of the city on our way to the farming area. I'm only looking at my fiancée. The thought crosses my mind that next time we come here, especially if today goes well, then we'll have to look at the city in a little more detail, but for now, it passes me by without me taking much notice.

This is all resting on Cheerilee right now.

It's roughly an hour's ride before I notice that the buildings are behind us now, and that I'm now seeing farmland. Lots and lots of farmland. In the distance I see large fruit orchards, but for the moment, we're passing by what looks to be wheat fields. Yeah, we're pretty close, I'd wager, but I'd best make sure. I glance up at Oswald to make sure that he's still doing okay, which he seems to be. He's fallen asleep, which is unsurprising. I shrug and look back down at Cheerilee. She still has her head resting on her foreleg and is staring in the distance at nothing in particular. I reach out and poke her shoulder, causing her to jump. She looks back at me, her eyes wide, before she sighs and takes a deep breath, a small smile gracing her face.

"You scared me, TD."

I chuckle and lean back. "You were way out of it. Thinking about your parents?"

Cheerilee snorts and leans against my shoulder. "That obvious?"

"It kind of seems like the time." I motion around to the farmland. “We seem to be getting close, am I right?"

"Yes." Cheerilee sighs and looks out into the horizon. "I recognize one or two of these farms, actually. The families had foals that I played with growing up, but..." Cheerilee scans the various farms and I hear her squeak. Her ears flatten, and she wraps her forelegs around my arm again. I frown and look out into the farms and grimace when I see an orange orchard. I motion to it.

"Is that it? Is that your home?"

Cheerilee nods, and I can hear her breathing get a little faster. I wrap my other arm around her and squeeze. "Easy, Cheerilee. I'm here. It's gonna be okay."

"I know," she whispers.

It's not more than ten minutes before the taxi stops near a small dirt path that leads to a white farmhouse at the orange orchard. I gently nudge Cheerilee out of the taxi and follow her out. I pay the taxi driver, and he thanks me and runs off, leaving Cheerilee, Oswald and I alone. There's no going back now.

At the end of the dirt path, just a few feet from where we've been dropped off, is a small red mailbox with its flag up. Cheerilee walks up to it, and once again squeaks. I frown and look where she's looking, and see two names on the side. Orange Picker and Sky Flier. Underneath the two names on the otherwise very well kept mailbox, I see what looks like scratch marks. In fact, it looks like somebody had attacked the side of this mailbox with a key, or something like that. I narrow my eyes and lean in closer to examine the scratch marks, as it looks like there's something underneath them, and I see what appears to be letters. On one end of the length of the scratch marks, I see a "c" and on the other, I see two "e"s. The scratch marks look just long enough to cover up the name "Cheerilee."

I sigh and look down at my fiancée, who is sitting on the ground and wiping her eyes with the back of her hoof. She sniffles and looks up at me. "I... I guess they r-really don't want to see me anymore," she whimpers.

I click my tongue and put my hand on her head. "Hey, there's no reason to believe that. They did that fourteen years ago, right? They could regret it."

"Maybe, but..." Cheerilee stand up and shakes her head. "I can't do this, TD. I can't walk up to that door and hope that they don't slam it in my face."

"Fine." I cross my arms. "Then I'll do it. You go take a walk and hang out in the orchard, or something, and I'll go talk to your parents."

Cheerilee's eyes widen, and she touches my leg with a hoof. "No, you don't need to do that! W-we can just go home!"

I shake my head. "Nu-uh. We came this far, and we're not stopping now. Either you come up with me, or take a walk through the orchards while I talk to your parents. Take your pick. We're doing this, Cheerilee."

Cheerilee flattens her ears and looks out into the orchard. "You go, TD. You go talk to my parents. I'll go take that walk; see the orchard again. I might as well in case they want me to leave."

"Alright." I nod and turn towards the thin wooden door of the farmhouse. "You go have your walk, then, and I'll talk to your parents."

"Okay." Cheerilee takes a deep breath and looks out into the orange trees. "Okay." She wraps one of her forelegs around my waist and squeezes tightly. "Good luck, okay?"

I chuckle and run my fingers through her mane. "Thanks, Cheers. I'm sure it'll be okay. You just relax, and I'll take care of it for now, okay?"

"Right." Cheerilee lets me go and starts slowly walking in the direction of the orange trees, leaving me standing on the little dirt road leading up to the farmhouse.

Well, this is it: time to meet the in-laws. I'd always imagined that it would be... dramatic in a different way. I mean, sure, there's always the basic drama of telling two parents that you want to marry their daughter, but when you're doing that at the exact same time that you're trying to reconnect them with said estranged daughter, the stress levels go through the roof, as I'm sure one could imagine.

Nothing else for it, though. I have to be strong for Cheerilee, and that means going up to the farmhouse and knocking on the door.

I take a deep breath to steady myself, then give a single nod to Oswald. I crack my neck and walk up to the door, each step making my legs feel heavier and heavier. Somehow the simple, charming farmhouse begins looking more and more like the house from that one horror movie that I saw back on Earth with my mother. Somethingville Horror.

Laaaaa ah. Laaaa ah. La la la la, la la la.

Or something like that.

Anyway, I reach the door and raise my hand to knock. I falter for a moment, but realize that I have to be brave for Cheerilee.

So I knock on the door three times.

Okay, now there's really no going back. I've only doorbell ditched nine or ten times in my life, but I'd never do it here. Especially not now. I exhale and straighten out my shirt to make myself a touch more presentable. That's when I hear it.

Hoofsteps.

My stomach clenches, and I shift nervously where I stand. A million different scenarios run through my mind, a fair amount of which center around my being a species previously unknown to 99.9% of Equestria. They could think that I'm some monster out to destroy them. Then, once I establish that I'm not, I have to tell them that I'm marrying their long lost daughter.

I hear the hoofsteps stop on the other side of the door, and the creak of the hinges as the door swings open, revealing an orange coated earth pony stallion with three oranges for a cutie mark, and a dark orange mane that's already graying at the edges. As the door opens, he has a friendly smile on his face that gives me a little bit of courage... but that courage wanes, as the moment he sees me, the smile evaporates so thoroughly, it might as well not have been there at all. Instead, now his expression goes completely blank.

Heh.

I gulp and scratch the back of my neck. "Uh... are you Orange Picker?"

The stallion's eyes narrow a fraction of an inch, but he tilts his head in a single nod. "Yup." A moment of silence falls between us before he speaks again. "Da Tartarus 'r you?"

I give a single chuckle with no real humor in it, and clear my throat. "I'm a human, Mr. Orange Picker, sir."

"Uh-huh." Orange Picker's starts looking behind me. "And... wut exactly 's a human..." He peers at Oswald for a moment. "And a phoenix doin' on my doorstep?"

"Well, I'm here to talk about your daughter, Cheerilee."

His gaze instantly snaps back to me, and his eyes widen. "Cheerilee? Y'... y' know my daughter?"

I nod. "Sure do."

"Y' know whure she is?"

"Uh-huh."

Orange Picker grunts before turning his head back to inside the house. "Sky!"

From inside the house another voice replies. A mare this time. "Yeah?"

"Got a... human at th' door."

"Human? What's a human?"

Orange Picker shrugs." Dunno, really, but he says that he knows Cheerilee."

The house is silent as the mare doesn't respond right away. That doesn't last too long, however, as I hear the sound of running coming from inside the house, and I see a teal pegasus mare with a light blue mane, which also has the gray creeping up, bolting towards the door. She's going fast enough that I start to wonder if she's going to stop in time, but just as she reaches the door, she digs her hooves into the floor and flares out her wings, bringing her to a complete stop.

"Cheerilee?" She looks first at her husband, then at me. "This..." She blinks once and tilts her head. "Oh... is that what a human is?" Orange Picker nods, and she returns it. "Right... right. Well, this thing knows where Cheerilee is?"

I grimace and cross my arms. "I'm not a thing, thank you very much, I'm a 'he.' Yes, though, I know where your daughter is."

The mare, whom I'm going to presume is Sky Flier, rushes out to me, and leaps on her hind legs, flaring out her wings for balance, to put her forehooves on my shoulder. I can't miss the wild look in her eyes.

"Where?" She shakes me once with surprising strength. "Where is my daughter? Please, sir! I haven't seen my little filly in fourteen years, nine months, three weeks and nine days!"

Well, ah, hmm... Cheerilee shouldn't have worried about her mother, then.

I chuckle, this time with a touch more humor, and gently push Sky Flier off of me. "Well, she's not so 'little' anymore, really. She's going to be thirty-one in a few months here. As for where she is..." I motion out towards the orange orchard. "She's taking a walk through the orange o--"

I don't have time to finish my sentence. Sky Flier takes wing and flies straight into the orange orchard, screaming Cheerilee's name. I blink once and look down at Orange Picker.

"I guess she missed your daughter."

Orange Picker took a slow, deliberate breath. "Yup. Guess so."

"Did, uh..." I hesitate for a moment and tilt my head. "Did you?"

Orange Picker doesn't respond, instead choosing to walk past me and into the orange orchard. I shrug and run a hand through my hair before Oswald and I follow him.

Well, we're able to follow Sky Flier's cries pretty well, and as such, we know exactly which direction she went. That won't really help us find Cheerilee unless she went in the same direction, but it's a start.

As it turns out, I needn't have worried. After a few minutes of walking, I hear Sky Flier give a loud gasp, followed by one that I recognize as coming from Cheerilee. I put on a little more speed and jog to where I hear the two voices coming from, and reach a little clearing in the trees where I see it.

Cheerilee and her mother are both sitting in the grass, crying their eyes out. Sky Flier has her forelegs wrapped around Cheerilee's shoulders, and Cheerilee is leaning into her mother's chest, one of her forelegs draped over one of her mother's. Her mother is saying something that I can't quite make out through all of the tears, but, in all honesty, I don't really mind. Anything said is really for them. I smile and lean against one of the trees, while Oswald perches on one of the branches of said trees. It looks like everything is going to turn out to be okay.

Orange Picker arrives on the scene, and he stares at the two crying mares before him. He takes a deep breath and blinks once, and for the life of me, I cannot read his expression. Cheerilee looks up and sees her father standing there, and she extends a foreleg to him.

"Hi, Daddy," she says in a quiet voice.

Orange Picker gives a single nod. "H'lo." Slowly, Orange Picker walks up to his daughter and, when he reaches her, he touches her outstretched hoof. As he does, he sits down beside his daughter and puts his other hoof on her shoulder. "H'lo."

Cheerilee lets out a noise that's a cross between a laugh and a sob, and leans her head on her father's shoulder. Sky Flier sniffles and wipes her eyes before turning her head to me.

"You brought our daughter back to us. We cannot thank you enough."

I gave her a two-fingered salute. "No problem. I was happy to do it."

"I haven't seen my little filly in almost fifteen years, and now she comes back with a..." A slight frown crosses Sky Flier's face. "A human, is that what you're called?"

I nod. "Yep, but my name is TD. TD Harrison Powell, but everybody just calls me TD."

"TD." Sky Flier returns my nod. "I see. And how do you know my daughter?"

"TD and I have known each other for almost ten years now, Mom," Cheerilee says, wiping her eyes with the back of her hoof. "He's been my best friend for a long time, but he proposed a little while back. We're going to be married in a few months."

Both parents' eyes went as wide as dinner plates and they locked me in their gaze while at the same time saying in perfect unison...

"What?"