//------------------------------// // Family Dinner Part 1 // Story: By and by // by Bysen //------------------------------// Pinkie had returned to the farm a few hours ago and had been helping her mother cook since. She was cooking up one batch of cupcakes while her mother cooked everything else… that counts as helping right? Anyway, most the guests were here now. Blinkie’s coltfriend JD was the first to arrive and by the looks of it, had no idea what tonight was about or that their father knew about the two of them being together. As for Octavia… well there was an awkward moment when Clyde found out that her friend’s older brother wasn’t actually her older brother. SHE was just a some-what tomboyish filly named Vinyl Scratch. Clyde had brushed over it pretty fast but he had mentioned same-sex relationships in his lesson which made Octavia wonder what her father was implying about her and this Vinyl filly who she barely even knew. It was made slightly less awkward that her good friend Lyra was there at least. And don't forget to mention that Vinyl called herself DJ. DJ and JD, that surely wouldn’t get confusing. Pinkie’s guest hadn’t arrived yet, he had been told to come at around dusk and that was coming up pretty soon. The sun was just starting to lower now and Pinkie was looking out the window every few seconds. Switching between watching her cooking and staring out to the gates. The cupcakes were finished before Bysen's arrival so she got them out and let them cool. It would be a while before she could frost them and since her mother was already laying everything else out on the table, Pinkie decided she’d helped enough. She took her spot at the table between Octavia and an empty seat. Everything was ready and Clyde had begun to say grace but Pinkie stopped them “Wait, my guest hasn’t gotten here yet. He’ll be here soon. He’s just running a little late.” Pinkie had referred to Bysen as ‘he’ a few times which Clyde hadn’t missed. Either Pinkie hadn’t truly understood what tonight was meant to be about and was just inviting a friend or she had lied to him when he asked if there was somepony she was interested in. If she had lied, he would let that slide. He knew it must be embarrassing for all his daughters. And if it was just some friend of hers who happened to be male then, the fact that Vinyl wasn’t a male seemed to make tonight a bit more casual anyway. It’s not like he had planned to drill the colts his daughters brought here for information on their intentions with his children. Much… “Alright, we’ll wait for…” Clyde said but was interrupted by a sound of cracking wood outside. He stood up from the head of the table and made his way to the window. “Is that a… buffalo?” he asked out loud to himself. He’d never seen one but the description was pretty unmistakable. And one had just broken a rail of fencing climbing over it. Into their yard. Clyde’s first instinct was to get his gun, however… “He’s here!” Pinkie exclaimed, taking a place beside her father at the window before calling out “Bysen! You made it!” and then zipping off to the front door. Clyde’s jaw dropped as he stood there and saw the big lumbering beast walk up to his front door before Pinkie showed it inside. Bysen was a little nervous to say the least, having never been inside a house before. He was hesitant as he took his first step inside, tilting his head up and looking at the ceiling. Not to mention he barely fit through the door. But Pinkie ushered him over to the table and showed him his seat, which he was equally weary about too. He had his doubts about its stability if he sat on it. “I am fine just standing, thank you Pinkie Pie.” he said. Everypony but Blinkie was awestruck by the beast in their midst. Octavia looked scared, as did Bonnie and Lyra. JD was fascinated and Vinyl just thought he was cool. He regarded them “Thank you for inviting me to this feast. I am… grateful to meet the tribe of… I mean, family of Pinkie Pie.” cultural differences already drawing ahead. “Well, haallo. Nice to meet you, name’s JD.” the blue pegasus with a black, incredibly gelled-up mane, sitting beside him said as he extended a hoof towards him. Bysen had only really interacted with Pinkie Pie when it came to pony customs and gave him a hoof bump instead of shaking it. Which quite frankly made JD think he was cool because of it and said “Right on.” and nodded his head. Clyde was still stunned, trying to comprehend what was going on in front of him until he eventually got a hold of himself. Pinkie's sudden interest in buffalos made sense now but something came to his mind. What about buffalo, can they have children with ponies?. It shouldn’t have impacted him the way it did seems as his eldest daughter was sitting next to a pony he knew she was intimate with. But that was his eldest daughter and Pinkie was his youngest. He returned to the table, trying like everypony else, not to stare at their guest who looked uneasy with everypony else staring at him. Clyde took his seat and tried to think of something to say. He couldn’t really. And so the awkward silence just continued. Eventually Pinkie broke it with “So are we going to eat or just sit around all night? The food’s getting cold!” Clyde finally found him voice and spoke up. “Of course. Let’s say grace shall we.” he said and gave his hooves to those sitting next to him. Everypony followed suite. Everypony. Bysen didn’t quite know what was going on until Pinkie took his hood in her own. She then motioned for him to do the same with JD’s. JD himself wasn’t religious but went along with it, and suspected the same of Lyra and Vinyl. Aside from Vinyl, all the ponies closed their eyes as Clyde began “Dear Princess Celestia. Thank you for the food we are about to eat. Thank you for the day’s in which we harvest our fair and thank you for all that you do. A-neighn.” “A-neighn” said everypony else in tandem. Bysen felt he understood what that had been. It was similar to thanking the spirit of an animal you were about to eat or kill. Clyde had been rather calm about their latest guest, but his eyes weren’t the only ones that were starting to get drawn back to Bysen. He took a piece of bread and put it on his plate, while half the others were silent and the other half took various foods to their own plates. “So uh, I didn’t catch your name?” JD asked “My name is not important.” he replied. Surprising JD a little. The colt felt a little bit insulted since he was just trying to be kind. And Bysen sensed that from him, he hadn’t intended to come off as rude and didn’t even know he had. Pinkie however clarified “Real names are like a taboo in his culture. I gave him the nickname Bysen. You can call him that. Well not the actual word ‘that’, I mean call him ‘Bysen’.” Pinkie said, cheerful as ever. “So, um… sorry for telling you my name was JD. Uh man… I did it again didn’t I?” he sighed. “Don’t worry." Pinkie told the colt. "Real names and news names are different things too. If you changed your name after getting your Cutie Mark than that’s not your true name. Or something. So… oh, Sis, make sure nopony tells him her real name then!” she announced. And unintentionally brought attention to the fact that Blinkie was the only pony, and the oldest of the children here, to not have their Cutie Mark. To which she sarcastically replied “He already knows my name Pinkie.” “No, he knows you as Blinkie, but that’s not your REAL real name. That’s just what I call you. Well, me and Octi and Mom and JD and Bysen. But it’s still not your name.” saying that made Blinkie very aware that even her new name wasn’t her NEW name. She still hadn’t gotten her Cutie Mark and chosen a name for herself. She sighed and tried to just let it all slip. Well, actually that was only half true, she didn’t have her Cutie Mark but she had chosen her name. She didn’t want something to do with whatever her talent was, she just wanted something that she liked. ‘Elliot’. Of course she’d also keep the family name Pie. JD could tell something was up with his fillyfriend but wasn’t too sure what. He’d ask later, but for now he’d ask “I’ve never met a buffalo before. Where are you from anyway?” “I come from the deserts to the south. Near an area Pinkie Pie showed me on a ‘map’ she called ‘Appleloosa’. My home is around thirty miles west of there.” apparently 'near' was a relative term. But since Appleloosa was about six-hundred miles away, give or take for transferring to kilometres [which all ponies used and buffalo apparently used that old out-dated inches, feet and yards system], JD supposed thirty miles could be considered close. “Wow! That’s so far, how long did it take to get here?” “I am unsure. The further I went, the harder it became to tell the difference between changing to winter or simply getting colder heading north, but I would say it was about one and a half seasons.” “That’s one and half years!” Pinkie clarified for them. Not that it needed clarifying. Bysen talked with a few different mannerisms when it came to time. He called months, moons and years, seasons. Along with having a fourteen day weeks and thirteen month years. Of course that actually made sense, given there are thirteen moons to a seasons and two weeks to a moon. “Yeah, I figured, thanks Pinkie Pie. Anywho, how did you meet Pinkie Pie anyway?” despite dating his daughter, Clyde was starting to like this kid. He was asking all the stuff he wanted to but couldn’t bring himself to ask. Sure, this buffalo seemed friendly enough but Clyde still saw him as a wild beast. A wild beast that was twice his size or more. “It was just over one seasons ago…” Bysen began but was cut off by Pinkie. “Nope, it was less than that.” “Then it was just less than a seasons ago.” Bysen corrected himself, only to be corrected by Pinkie once more. “Nope, it was more than that too.” she chirped. “That does not make sense Pinkie Pie.?” Bysen replied, slightly confused. A normal state of being while around her. “It was exactly one seasons ago that we met. Well, one year. I’m not entirely sure if there’s the same number of days in a year as in a seasons but I think there is. Anyway. We’ve known each other for one year now!”