A New Kind Of Party

by Wolfie 03

VII - Having A Big Ol' Harvest Feast

End of November, 1004 A.D. (After Discord)

It was another beautiful fall day and Twilight was at her usual place, in front of her desk with a couple of books nearby. In fact, it was so peaceful that the studious mare half-expected something to happen; so when Pinkie Pie tackled her, Twilight merely smiled while checking to be sure the books were safe (something Pinkie made sure not to disturb least she make her mare upset).

“Hey Twilight! You totally know to keep November 22nd completely open and not full of studying right?!” Twilight rolled her eyes as she gently pushed her marefriend back in order to sit up.

“Of course! Harvest Feast is almost as important as Hearth's Warming Eve and Day.” Pinkie grinned at this and nodded rapidly.

“Yep and even though giving each other presents would be totally awesome-” purples eyes widened at the sudden reminder of a task she had yet to complete, “-we can't forget the awesome time we'll be having with friends and family! Oh, and I saw Applejack on the way over so she'll be here in just a second.” As the lavender mare opened her mouth to ask what that had to with anything, Spike came up the stairs with a shout.

“Twilight! Applejack wants to talk with you!” The two mares looked to the stairwell and found the orange farmer close behind the young drake with an apologetic frown as she watched the youth.

“Hey AJ! Perfect timing!”

“Hello Applejack, how can I help?” Once the farm mare was in front of the couple, she smiled sheepishly and readjusted her hat.

“Hey gals, Ah hope Ah'm not interruptin' anythin'.”

“Not at all,” the farmer slumped in relief at these words before continuing on.

“Ah wanted tah know if y'all can come by for Harvest Feast? Ah'm invitin' all the girls.” Pinkie grinned as she hopped in place, shifting from one hoof to another while Twilight shook her head at the display before looking to the orange mare with a smile of her own.

“'We were just starting to discuss Harvest Feast; I would love to go.”

“Glad tah hear it and since all the others should be able tah go, it'll be at Sweet Apple Acres so there's enough room. We'll able tah sit down to eat around 4, maybe 5pm, that ok with y'all?” At the two agreeing nods, Applejack nodded in return and tipped hat.

“Alrighty then, Ah'll see y'all later.”

“See ya AJ!”

“Bye Applejack.” The farm mare gave one last downtrodden look to Spike before heading out, something that drew Twilight's concern while Pinkie began to make plans aloud.

“Let's see, we'll need streamers and cups and plates and balloons and we gotta make it the best first all-our-best-friends-are-together Harvest Feast ever!” The lavender mare smirked at her marefriend's enthusiasm and nodded soothingly.

“Yes, of course, whatever you say... Don't think we forgot about you Spike, it wouldn't be the same without all of our important friends and family to be there.” The young dragon smiled and perked up from his worried position to run to the unicorn for a hug; Pinkie smiled even further and joined in with a tight squeeze.

“Of course we wouldn't! Come on, you should totally come with me to help get the needed supplies!” Spike nodded with a large grin and followed the bouncing mare out to the market place to gather party supplies while Twilight smirked at the retreating figures before turning back to her books with a shake of her head.

The lavender unicorn wrote a quick letter to her parents explaining how her friends wanted to spend this year's holiday with them and so she wouldn't be able to see them until Hearth's Warming Eve and Day; setting the letter aside for later mailing, the bookworm returned to her studies with pleased at the recent turn of events.

---

The next two weeks passed by in a blur of studies accented with a date with the party mare every so often; due to her excessive scheduling, Twilight and Pinkie Pie hadn't been able to go out as much as the pink baker hoped. Because of this, the party pony wanted nothing more than absolute fun and to have the best Harvest Feast with her marefriend and all their friends this year and made plans to make it so.

Sugarcube Corner had roaring business that morning but were still able to close at noon so the workers could go to their own celebrations; Mr. and Mrs. Cake offered their well wishes to the their young apprentice as she skipped out to the library with saddlebags full of the items needed for a proper party, something she returned along with the promise to see them later.

She barely paused to open the door, knocking it open with a shout that rang through the tree house.

“TWILIGHT!!! I'm HOME!!!” While the unicorn wasn't all that surprised by the shout or slam, the second line was a shock that caused her to spill a whole jar of ink on the calender she was working on for next month.

Spike and Twilight shared startled glance before looking to the doorway where Pinkie smiled at the pair and hopped over to give them a tight hug, all without disturbing her saddlebags.

“Ooooo! Are you sending another letter to your family? Can I say something too? Though I guess it would be write something instead of saying something; how would I even start it? 'Hi this is Pinkie Pie, your wonderfully lovely daughter's marefriend just saying hi'? Or should I try something more formal like 'Hello, this is your daughter's marefriend and I'm very happy that you gave birth to my little star and-'”

“Pinkie! Wait, stop, it's not a letter!”

“-oh, ok.” The lavender mare stared incredulously at her marefriend as she thought about what the pink mare was just saying while Pinkie slowly lost her smile as she realized that Twilight was still worried about telling others of their relationship.

At the sight of drooping ears and slight frown, the bookworm put a hoof onto a pink shoulder with a concern gaze.

“I'm sorry Pinkie Pie, I-I just don't know how to tell them.”

“That's easy, silly! All you need to is say 'Mom, Dad, this is my marefriend, Pinkie Pie, and we're very happy together!' They should want you to be happy so it shouldn't be a problem.” Purple ears flipped back as Twilight scuffed the ground with a hoof.

“Yeah, I just, want to be prepared before we tell anypony else....”

“Oh, ok...” Pinkie's grin wavered for a moment before returning as she shifted in place, removing the banner detailing their love from her bags without anyone noticing.

“I'll make a note to prepare what I'm going to say, promise.” A quill levitated over to where a list was growing and flourished as the unicorn added the note right away, earning another grinning hug before being tugged towards the door.

“Come on! We can't be late to help set up the party, that would be rude and totally ruin it all!” Twilight couldn't hold back her amused smirk while Spike made sure to lock up the library before joining the two mares heading to Sweet Apple Acres.

Considering how they left for the dinner at 3pm to arrive with plenty of time for the half an hour journey, Twilight was nearly positive that they were the first to arrive only to be surprised at the sight of Rarity and her sister looking at Applejack who was showing them the layout; something that drew a shocked dismay from Pinkie Pie.

“GASP! Applejack!! I haven't put any of the decoration up yet, so you have to wait to do the grand tour! Oh oh oh! I know, I'll give it right now!” The four others hadn't been able to say or do any before being dragged by the pink mare around the red barn.

As Pinkie displayed a normal or empty area, with a bang and pop she partied up the spot in seconds as she gave the 'tour'.

“And here are the streamers! Over this way are some balloons, and here are more balloons and this is where the banner is hanging and here are the games and-”

“Pinkie Pie, Ah don't think we need games for this kind of dinner.” Pinkie froze in the middle of placing said games on the ground and blinked a few times before sheepishly smiling at the farmer.

“Oh yeah, heh heh, I guess not; I'll just put these away for later then.” The others rolled their eyes while the baker replaced the games in her saddlebags and Applejack led them back to the table.

“Y'all are real early, was there anything ya wanted to do while waitin' for the grub tah be done?”

“Was there anything you needed help with darling?”

“Where's Apple Bloom?”

“OOoo we can use the games to pass the time!”

Twilight and Applejack rolled their eyes at the sudden outburst of answers while smiling; the orange earth pony started with the youngest pony's question and gazed down at the young unicorn in amusement.

“Apple Bloom is in the kitchen, ya can go an' join her if ya want.” As Sweetie Belle perked up at this while Applejack turned to the older unicorn with a bashful smile.

“There ain't much more can be done tah help, sorry Rarity.... Though Ah guess ya can help set the table if ya want. As for the games-” a lavender hoof waved to cut the orange mare off as Twilight took over speaking specifically to her mare.

“I'll try some of those games Pinkie Pie; why don't we go over there so we won't be underhoof?” The hyper mare squeed as she led the way to the corner of the barn while the farmer and fashionista went to the kitchen with Sweetie Belle and Spike following close by.

While the two mares started to play tick tak toe, the studious mare allowed her mind to wander to how her orange friend was possibly feeling as well as other things that could go wrong with the day.

(I wonder how long Rarity and Sweetie Belle were here for; it must have been hard for Applejack considering how she wants to impress her... If she's willing to try and act more 'proper' and see a play that she must not have liked at all, I'm willing to bet that Rarity was the first one Applejack invited to come to Harvest Feast... So this may be something that is further hidden from others at this dinner... Oh, I hope nothing really goes wrong...)

Twilight tried to hide how distracted and worried she was, but Pinkie still picked up on it and frowned briefly before nodding in determination.

(I have to make sure that Twilight has nothing to worry about since this is our very first Harvest Feast together as a couple! GASP! I have to make sure she knows how much I care that this is our very first one and want more!)

With a sudden lunge, the pink mare grabbed her mare in a tight squeeze and nuzzled her side, causing the lavender mare stiffen in shock and looked around for any witnesses to the sudden affection before focusing on the baker once more.

“Uh, Pinkie...?”

“You know I am really happy to spend Harvest Feast with you right? And I'm sure glad you want to play games with me and it's totally fine that you don't feel confident about telling others about us being together.” Twilight felt a pang of guilt at these words but returned the grip with a quick peck to show her appreciation before they separated and grinned at one another.

They continued to play a few more games as the others came back from the kitchen with stacks of plates and utensils on their backs or in their claws (or in Rarity's case, in magical grip) and placed them on one end of the table.

“Just so ya know, Granny Smith is inside makin' sure nothin' goes wrong with the food. Rainbow, Fluttershy an' Scootaloo should be comin' soon too.” Just after the hostess finished explaining the situation at hoof, a knock came at the door that revealed the three pegasi; one of which took off with a rainbow trail to the curiosity of all those watching.

As Scootaloo raced to where her friends were sitting, Twilight was curious as to what was happening just in the doorway between the the canary pegasus and the orange earth pony; before anyone could make another move, Applejack went to the farm house to check on the food while Fluttershy watched from near the door. As the Cutie Mark Crusaders sat in the corner and shared news, Pinkie found the current décor was still lacking in the decoration part and was attempting to remedy it; meanwhile Twilight, Rarity and Spike took part in simple small talk as they stood near the large wooden table.

Once more supplies were in place, the pink baker hopped over to where Fluttershy was still by the doorway in nervousness.

“Hey Fluttershy! I saw Scootaloo come in already, now we just need Dashie!” Pinkie leaned forward precariously while Fluttershy crouched back from the hyperness.

“Oh uh, I think Rainbow Dash is checking on something, she should be here soon....”

Before either could continue the conversation, the doors burst opened to reveal the cyan pegasus they were just talking about who stood in a proud posing manner.

“Everypony can relax, the most awesome of ponies have arrived!” The canary mare relaxed her stance while the pink mare grinned before leaping over.

“Hey Dashie!! Are you ready for the best Harvest Feast ever?!” Rainbow smirked at the excited tone and leaned forward to whisper into a pink ear.

“Sure it's going to be the best, and I have a few 'insurances' to make sure it is the best.” Blue eyes widened before shifting side to side conspiratorially as Pinkie tried to remain in place as she bounced.

“Oooooh, I see; in that case, I better step up my own game!” With a bright smile to the pegaus, Pinkie hopped back to her marefriend to put a party hat on her head before heading to the others and setting them up in style as well, though before she could try and add more streamers or balloons Twilight stepped up next to her to try and distract the hyper mare.

“Pinkie, perhaps you could calm down? Remember, this isn't a birthday party, it's a dinner with family and friends...” The lavender mare's words trailed off as the farm mare re-entered the barn sheepishly.

“Guys, sorry tah say but the food won't be done until ah bit later...” Rainbow Dash groaned at these words and rolled her eyes while she complained.

“Oh come on, can't we at least get something to have for now?” Applejack rolled her own eyes at the tone before nodding.

“Alright, alright, Ah'll see about getting somethin' for everypony tah drink; y'all just han' tight.” Rarity frowned at Applejack's sudden leaving once more and stepped forward.

“Perhaps I could help darling?” The farmer blushed while looking towards the door, something that drew Twilight's attention and empathy at the hidden crush.

“Oh er, sure Rarity; we'll just need tah grab some juice an' maybe a few treats tah tide us over.” The gray-white unicorn smiled and trotted over to the other mare before both went back to the main house, when Spike ran after them with a shout of his own.

“Hey, can I help?” The response was lost as they went out of easy hearing range though since he didn't return it was assumed that his offer of help was accepted. Meanwhile, Rainbow suddenly took off once more for unknown purposes, to the timid mare's obvious worry.

Pinkie Pie decided that if Rainbow was going to set up pranks she should make sure the others get the chance to have fun another way as well. Twilight watched concerned for a moment as Rainbow dismissed whatever Fluttershy was saying but became distracted when Pinkie hopped over and gave her marefriend a hug before waving with a hoof to the barn.

“It's a new kind of party
Where nopony is frowny!
It’s a time for family and friends,
where the fun never ever ends!”

Pinkie pulled Fluttershy and Twilight over to the table with a grin, making sure they each had a paper cone hat on their heads while giggling.

“Silly! Why would you want to stop the party?!”

The two shared a confused glance since neither one had even suggested to stop the dinner party as they remained in place by the table watching in wonder while the hyper mare continued to sing as she bounced over to the three fillies.

“It's so fun and pretty,
And I'm being pretty witty
So I've just got to say
Hip Hip Hooray!
It's a new kind of party today!”

The Crusaders watched curiously as Pinkie lifted them up and and set them on her back with a smile, earning three in return at the ponyback ride.

“Don't forget your party hats sillies!” With a soft snap, three party hats were placed on the fillies' heads before they were set down with the others by the table.

As the group continued to stare curiously at the bouncing mare, Pinkie reached out a hoof and pulled Rainbow Dash over from where she had just finished her preparations before setting a pink hoof against her chest as she became serious for a moment as she got to the main part of her song.

“Now it may be the first time
That these great friends of mine,
have all gathered together
to prepare for the weather
that's just around the bend!”

Everyone's attention turned from the singing mare to the doorway where Applejack and Rarity (with Spike trailing in a lovestruck daze behind them) were just returning with snacks that were placed onto the table by Pinkie before she gathered the returning friends to bring it all home.

“But we can start a new trend
and always meet
on Harvest Feast!”

By this point, Pinkie had gathered everyone in front of the table for big finale where they smiled in either wonder or amusement at the song.

“Where there's a big ol' meal!
A great big deal!
At Sweeeet Apple Acres!”

The baker slid from the entrance way to be in front of her friends with a large smile, earning an amused chuckle from the orange farmer.

“That's real nice Pinkie Pie; not sure why ya had tah sing about it but it was nice of ya tah say it like that. We got some snacks tah hold back hungry ponies, just don't fill up too much, we got ah lot of food comin' yer way.” Applejack shook her head amused as Rainbow zipped up to start stuffing her muzzle with the crackers and fruits that were offered.

Soon everyone was getting things to drink and Twilight reached out with her magic to get her and Pinkie a cup of apple juice; she didn't notice Dash's smirk as she went to fill it only to have it drip out in front of her, sending her into a mild panic about the mess being made.

“Oh my gosh, I'm sorry Applejack I-”

“Ah hahahahaha!” Rainbow Dash tipped over to lean against the pink earth pony who also smiled at the well hidden prank.

“Oh hahahahaha, dribble cups! Classic RD!” Twilight glared at the laughing duo while she tried to clean up the mess with some napkins.

“Pinkie~” The pink baker stepped up and gave her mare a quick nuzzle with a small grin.

“Oh Twilight, you know it's all in good fun; I want everypony to have fun and sometimes a good prank is the way to do it.” The lavender mare rolled her eyes while Applejack gave the rainbow maned pegasus a glare and a warning to behave.

As they got the apple juice cleaned up, everyone settled down to try and relax for a moment before the food was complete. Just as they started to sit on the stools provided, Rarity stiffened in fright as her chair wobbled from underneath and broke further with a resounding crack, spilling the gray-white unicorn to the ground.

“Waaa ha ha ha-help!” The farmer threw herself forward to try and catch the unicorn, managing to stop her momentum only after she rolled a few times along the ground.

Once Applejack checked on the gray-white mare, she glared at the laughing pegasus who was banging a hoof on the table at the fashionista's expression when the stool gave out.

“Rainbow! Ya better not have some other pranks planned, it's not ah regular ol' party ya know!”

“Yeah, yeah, relax, it's just harmless fun!” The farmer shook her head at the dismissive mare before making sure the fashionista was going to be alright; while Applejack took Rarity inside to get cleaned up, Twilight took a closer look at the stool and found the sabotage put there by the cyan pegasus.

The lavender unicorn shook her head in annoyance as she fixed the chair with a repair spell; once everything was back in place, Twilight frowned at the table before her as she thought of Rainbow's behavior.

“Twilight? Are you ok...?” Pinkie became concerned at the stressed face of her mare, something she was trying to prevent; it was as the pink earth pony gave the lavender unicorn another nuzzle that Twilight came back from her thoughts to sit up out of her mare's show of affection.

“Yes, I'm fine, but I would rather have this evening go well for everyone's sake... This also means that we should take care to not give Granny Smith or Big MacIntosh a reason to think we're dating...” Twilight felt guilty at the dejected frown of the pink baker and pat her leg reassuringly.

“I promise, once I get back to the library I'll work on my speech for when we do tell them; just please, try to keep it a secret.” Pinkie could see that the unicorn didn't want to upset her and she smiled wistfully as she nodded and took a step back from the other mare to keep up appearances.

The next half hour was quiet compared to the last ten minutes; especially since the multitudes of food finished and was soon brought out to be put on display, drawing many a drooling muzzle to gaze at the various apple-themed foods. While one would think it would grow tiring to have almost everything have some kind of apple in it, with traditional and old recipes at hoof the food almost tasted different no matter what.

Once everything was in place, everyone took a seat at the table (checking that no other chairs had been sabotaged), with Granny Smith and Big Macintosh at either ends of the table, Applejack, Rarity, Spike, Twilight and Pinkie Pie on one side while Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy along the other; they had to use two tables to fit everyone but it made it feel much cozier and warm, having everyone be close helped to heat the otherwise chilly barn as the evening wore on.

Just as they were about to start the meal, Applejack tried to use better manners than usual to appease the unicorn on her right when she found the next prank Rainbow Dash had set up; as she tried to shift the fork from her left hoof to right, the farmer found that it was firmly attached with glue of some kind. She gave it a few quick jerks but found no change in it's hold on her and was only starting to suspect foul-play when Dash couldn't hold back a burst of giggles.

“Raaaiiinbooow...” The pegasus tried to speak through her laughter as the table ended up focusing on her.

“Heh heh, at least -giggle- you'll be able to, ha ha ha, eat with proper manners -HahaHA- now!” The orange earth pony was growling towards the laughing pegasus when Rarity caught her attention to try and help remove it.

As Rainbow became distracted by the pegasus on her right, Twilight frowned worriedly as she glanced at Granny Smith who was watching her granddaughter work with the gray-white mare to try and free her hoof with an interested raised brow; the lavender unicorn knew that Applejack probably wanted to have this dinner go well to impress Rarity as well as impress Granny Smith with her friends, and having so many things go wrong was starting to stress the unicorn out.

(What if something like this happens when I tell my parents about how Pinkie and I going out? Should I perhaps just keep things simple and have a small family get together before inviting all my friends to a meal with them least something like this happens as well? What is Rainbow planning next? She's just doing whatever she wants, not caring that we want this to go well or anything; what if she goes as far as to even let slip how we're dating? I can't tell what Granny Smith thinks, have I ever heard what her stance was on same gender couples? What if she-)

The downward spiral of worry was cut short by a call from the cyan mare who tried to gain Pinkie's attention; something that was difficult to do since she was in her own little world as she worried on behalf of Twilight whom she could tell was starting to become extremely tense.

“Hey, Pinks! Do you like sea-food?” The pink mare tilted her head at the question with a thoughtful frown.

“Not really, I mean, fish is a little fishy and crabs are just too cute and-”

“See! Food!” Rainbow knew to cut the hyper mare off early and merely stuck out her tongue that still had part of the meal she was eating on it; once Pinkie realized what was said she laughed and banged the table with a hoof.

(That's it! A good joke can solve any frowny faces, right after a good party! Which Twilight doesn't seem to like how this one is going, so this is just what she needs!)

“OooOoh! See-food! Oh oh! I want to try!” Twilight, who was on the party mare's right, rolled her eyes at the sudden enthusiasm and tried to put a stop to it.

“Pinkie, please don't-” She was cut off as the pink pony turned to face her with her tongue already out and a pile of mashed food on it.

“See food!” The lavender unicorn face-hoofed before trying to get her marefriend to focus and behave.

“Piinkkiiee! Please, be good; it's bad enough that Rainbow is encouraging you but-” Just as Pinkie was becoming dejected at how her attempt at joking didn't seem to be working this time, she couldn't help but focus on the lavender muzzle in time to find that it wasn't the same as usual.

“GASP!!! Twilight, Twilight, your tongue is blue, your tongue is blue!” The hyper mare finished her seefood and pointed to the lavender one while shouting, grabbing everyone's attention as Twilight froze in place before sticking the offending appendage out and trying to see for herself.

“Oh darling, it is! What in the world caused it?! It doesn't match your coat at all!” Applejack rolled her eyes at the last sentence before looking closer to what was on the plate before the studious unicorn to see what may have caused it.

“Ain't nothing there that would turn yer tongue blue unless-”

“Bwahahahahahaha! You, you guys are hilarious!” The majority of the older ponies rolled their heads and eyes at the laughter, the reason for the color changing tongue becoming clear.

“RAINBOW!” Everyone (aside from the Cutie Mark Crusaders) yelled at the pegasus who smirked proudly with crossed hooves.

“Hey Pinkie, I bet it tastes just like the dark blueberries I used to make it change colors; you'll let us know later right?” Dash smirked at the hyper mare who frowned thoughtfully at the request while the others glared at the pegasus.

(How would I know what it tastes like? I'd have to taste Twilight's tongue and we'd only do that if we were kissing- OoooOOOhhhh.....)

Once Pinkie figured out what Dash meant, she couldn't help the blush that spread across her muzzle; one that matched Twilight's that had appeared a few seconds before as she too realized what was being implied. With a final glare at the smugly indifferent brash mare, the bookworm stood and went to find a mirror that would help her figure out if she managed to change back her tongue's color, Spike following close by for moral support if nothing else.

“I'll be right back Applejack, if that's ok.”

“Sure thin' sugarcube; the bathroom is on the second floor, second door on the right.” Twilight nodded thanks before heading to the farm house to try and remedy the situation with bright trouble blue eyes watching closely with a tense frown on the pink face.

After the lavender mare was out of sight, Pinkie slapped on another smile and tried to appear interested in the conversation that had hesitantly started up while everyone stayed on guard for more pranks; something that didn't go unnoticed by the elder farmer who smirked at the baker's attempt at appearing like nothing was wrong.

Up in the bathroom, the lavender mare was splashing water onto her face as her stress levels continued to climb; especially since she couldn't remember the exact spell to get it back to normal. Spike was nearby with a towel in claw, trying to encourage her with whatever would work.

“I'm sure it will come off eventually!”

(Why? Why is having a normal dinner so hard to have?)

“Maybe you could use an illusion spell?”

(It's bad enough that Pinkie is acting hyper this evening, but Dash just won't stop!)

“Twilight?”

(I may have gotten slightly more used to being marefriends with a pony like Pinkie usually is-)

“Twilight?!”

(-but that doesn't prepare a pony for having to deal with constant pranks! Even she knows when to stop, though she does need to be reminded every so often and-)

“Twilight!”

“Huh?” Spike huffed in annoyance at the distracted tone and tried to offer another suggestion.

“I SAID, maybe you could use a color changing spell and get your tongue back to normal? Or maybe it will just go away on it's own.” Twilight blinked at her young assistant before realizing that she was dripping wet from constantly splashing her face while she was thinking and reached for the towel to dry off.

After drying off all the excess water, she looked back to the mirror and searched for a color changing spell that she may have picked up while trying to prank the pink earth pony; once it was firmly in mind, it wasn't but a moment before everything was back to normal and they were on their way back to the dinner.

---

Pinkie was on edge the entire time that the unicorn was away and looked up sharply when the door opened once more; with a large grin, the hyper mare waved ecstatically to the seat Twilight had been in as if she had saved it for her, which earned an amused eye roll as the unicorn sat once more.

As everyone continued to eat, the pink earth pony had to remember to not reach out and hug her mare as she tried to find out if she was having a fun time or not.

“Twilight, I know you didn't think the tongue thing was funny but you are having a fun night right? It's not a fun party holiday unless everyone is having a good time!” Twilight focused on the food and tried not to make eye contact with the mare next to her for longer than a few seconds, worried that she would lose herself in the concerned blue orbs; Pinkie noticed this lack of eye contact and frowned slightly as she pressed for answers.

“You, you are having fun right? I mean, that's what all the streamers and balloons and games are for! It-it's suppose to help make the evening better for everyone...”

“Yes, I'm fine Pinkie; all of your supplies are doing a wonderful job of cheering up others.” The party pony frowned at comment and looked around the table, noticing how no one was smiling all that much aside from Granny Smith who was smirking and Big Mac who seemed stoic no matter what anyways.

Pinkie drooped in place as her ears flattened in worry, her mind abuzz with ideas of how to liven and cheer up the room when she looked across the table to find Rainbow smirking as she stretched her wing; suspecting future pranking about to happen, the pink mare was about to follow any one of her impulses to distract the cyan mare when Fluttershy placed a hoof on the wing that was trying to hide some kind of object. Rainbow Dash hadn't expected the canary mare to do anything and gave a small start of surprise, setting off the fog horn she was about to use.

At the sudden loud sound, Fluttershy let out an eep of fright and swatted away the offending object, sending it soaring through the skies and into the rafters, hitting a well hidden bucket full of water which fell down onto the canary mare, soaking her completely.

The whole table froze in place while Fluttershy stayed still, the water dripping off her ears and mane. Twilight watched with wide eyes while Pinkie looked on in worry, knowing that the canary mare did not take pranks or jokes of any kind very well at all; Dash, on the other hoof, was trying to hold back her laughter at the sight but the feeling died at the stare Fluttershy gave her. The quiet mare, after taking in everything that happened, turned to the pegasus and almost glared at her, disappointment coming off her in waves that could be felt all around the table.

“Rainbow Dash, you were asked to be good and not do anymore pranks.” The cyan mare seemed to shift in place while everyone glared before settling for trying to be indifferent to the problem.

“Phsstt, it's just some harmless jokes...” Before Twilight could try and prove how not so harmless these jokes had been, Fluttershy shook her head briefly before continuing on.

“No Rainbow, with that air horn you could have made someone choke on their food. Sometimes, pranks are not a good or harmless thing.” Rainbow Dash frowned before trying to dismiss the dangers once more as everyone else looked on.

“Look, I know what I'm doing, everything would have been fine.” Fluttershy gave her old friend one last look before shaking her head in frustration and getting up from the table with a soft frown.

Once the door closed behind her, the tension and stress broke with everyone (save for the two on either end of the table) falling to pieces; as Rarity and Applejack started to bicker about what had caused it and why, Twilight put her face into her hooves while Pinkie tried not to break out in tears at how badly the dinner party was really going.

“Twilight, am-am I a bad party pony?” The lavender mare shot up in worry only to see blue orbs full of barely controlled tears and reached out a hoof to assure the mare before remembering that they were in front of others who didn't know about their relationship.

Twilight watched helpless as Pinkie rested her head on her hooves on the table before them, purple mane frizzling as she glanced around rapidly before feeling as though something cracked on the inside, freeing her mind and body from whatever was holding her back from expressing her affection for the usually hyper mare.

(I'll think about why I felt like I couldn't be near her later, right now Pinkie needs reassuring!)

“Pinkie Pie?” Twilight leaned closer to the pink mare and softly called to her, with only a single ear showing any signs of acknowledgment by flicking towards the unicorn.

“Pinkie, it's not that you are a 'bad party pony', but that everypony is too nervous about silly things... I was nervous about silly things... Please, I don't want you to be sad; how about a joke? Would it make you feel a little better if I told a joke?” The unicorn wasn't sure how well telling a joke was going to help, but seeing the usually joyful and bubbly mare in barely controlled tears removed her ability to think; seeing the tiny nod with a whimper of agreement, Twilight rapidly tried to make up a joke on the spot, even as she feared the worse for her ability to do so.

“Ok, ok, how about.... Why did the cockatrice cross the road?” Pinkie raised her head to be able to focus on the lavender unicorn with a hint of a smile showing at the attempt at cheering her up.

“I dunno... Why?”

“Where are the girls?” Twilight froze as she was about to finish the lame joke at the simple and almost unoffensive sentence from the brash pegasus with fear lacing through her; everyone paused in their actions to look at the three empty seats next to Dash with trepidation as the possible (and dangerous) actions of the Cutie Mark Crusaders flashed through their minds.

“Is... that... smoke!?!” Rarity put a hoof to her mouth in fright as her head whipped towards the door where the smell came from, drawing everyone's attention to the outside.

In moments, the others rushed out the door and found smoke rising from the kitchen; they ran to the back door and burst in to find the three Crusaders trying to get something from the oven amid smoke and bits of flame that licked along the sides.

While Rarity levitated the girls away from the oven in blind panic, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Twilight and Rainbow Dash all used different methods to try and put out the fire simultaneously; while Applejack grabbed the fire extinguisher from under the sink, Pinkie grabbed a pitcher of water (from where, nopony knows), Twilight rapidly thought before turning on the faucet and channeling the water to shoot to the oven while Rainbow decided it was too slow and busted the tap off to tunnel the gushing water with rapid hoof and wing work.

In moments of the combined efforts, the fire was put out and Twilight was left to try and fix the faucet with a repair spell; luckily it was easily done and gave her ample time to glare at the pegasus for having broke it so badly in the first place who had the good graces to be sheepish at the damages.

Since the house still had a lot of smoke, Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Granny Smith focused on clearing the air while the others spoke with the girls about what happened. The unicorn called forth her wind spell to try and get the air clear while the two earth ponies used fans (one was a plate that was grabbed from the nearby cupboard while Pinkie pulled a chineighes fan from … someplace). Without caring if the older mare was watching, the lavender mare gave her marefriend a hug and nuzzle before making sure the rest of the house was ok.

Once everything was in order, they returned to the dinner in the red barn; on the way back out they found Fluttershy standing nervously right outside, worried about what had happened. Without a word, they all signaled to the cyan pegasus that she was the one to fix the problem and continued without the older pegasi to the barn once more.

As they took their seats, it was to their surprise that it seemed like nothing had happened given how stressed and upsetting the majority of the evening had been; Twilight was the first to crack under the realization that it was mostly in their minds with a quiet chuckle, followed by Spike who covered his mouth with both claws at the sound of laughter trying to escape. Soon everyone was laughing as they returned to their places, much to the confusion (and private joy) of the three fillies who could only watch as all the older ponies broke out in different kinds of laughter.

“Heh heh heh.... Ah'm sorry y'all, Ah got so worked up tah make sure this here evenin' went just right that everythin' just got out of control.” Rarity patted the orange mare's hoof reassuringly while Twilight felt the need to also make a statement.

“I'm sorry too; I got so worked up with making sure nothing went wrong or seemed odd that I wasn't paying attention to what really mattered...” Pinkie joyously grabbed the unicorn for a tight hug before remembering how she was supposed to be keeping a low profile and released her quickly; Twilight could tell why this was and grabbed the pink mare for a continuation of the hug, to Pinkie's great surprise and pleasure.

“Everything was just fine but I'm glad we were able to clear the air as it were; hopefully we can enjoy the rest of our meal without all this unneeded stress.” Rarity smiled at the others while Pinkie hopped in place after having been released from the hug.

“Yep! And I know just the thing! 'I'm sorry' cake!” While the others were amused at how the baker pulled a two layered, fully decorated cake from seemingly nowhere, Twilight raised a curious brow at the title.

“An 'I'm sorry' cake? Are you sure that we need that kind of-” Pinkie turned sharply and with a large (almost too large) grin, stared deeply into purple eyes that shrank at the almost disturbing image.

“Eat the cake! Pretty please with lots of icing and sprinkles and toppings and yumminess on top?” Even though the baker still had the (almost too) large smile on, the usual silliness brought a hesitant smile from the unicorn who merely nodded her consent before both mares turned to the cake to begin to divide it out evenly.

It was as they were getting back to the dinner that the two pegasi returned, both a little bashful but no one minded and offered greetings before returning to the feast before them.

Compared to how the first part of the evening went, things were rather calm since both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash tried to behave (they still cracked jokes, which were kept to a minimum and on the quiet instead of trying to demand attention). What really brought the night to another pause was when, near the end when they would start going their separate ways, Granny Smith felt the need to say the blunt truth about the hidden couple.

“Well Ah gottah say that y'all make fer interestin' dinner companions; an' you two make ah cute couple.” The older mare pointed with a hoof to Twilight and Pinkie Pie who froze at the words; Pinkie wasn't sure what the best reaction would be while Twilight crouched down in worry.

“Oh, uh, what do you-?”

“Oh nonsense! It's as obvious as ah golden delicious in pile o' almata apples, don't know why y'all were tryin' tah hide it.” The whole group (minus the Crusaders and Big Mac) wore sheepish looks while Granny Smith smirked at the couple.

“What do you mean, 'a cute couple'?” Scootaloo broke in with obvious confusion, looking from the two mares at the end to the oldest farmer, bringing even more bashful looks from the mares who knew what was going on.

Twilight glanced at her marefriend who stared back with encouragement in her eyes, willing to follow her lead with whatever she wanted to say.

“... Well, it means that Pinkie and I are dating; we just haven't really told anypony about it yet...”

“That ain't th' best way tah have a relationship! No good comes out of bein' more secretive than a bear in a beehive.” While the lavender mare hunched further at the light scolding, Pinkie sat up with a grin.

“We're just waiting for the right time to throw a 'Twipie Party' but we want it to be a surprise for everypony else, so could you keep it a secret until the party is ready?” Granny Smith raised a brow at the 'excuse' while Rainbow rolled her eyes at the 'party'; something that went unnoticed by most of the others as they looked at the oldest mare in suspense.

“If'in y'all insist, though Ah don't know nothin' about some kind o' 'Twiple party', why y'all can't jus' have ah normal one like we did in the old days... Why Ah remember when yer great aunt twice removed had ah big ol' shindin' fer her new relationships any ol' time she wanted and....” The older mare trailed off as she recounted from her younger years, bringing an embarrassed smile from the other members of the Apple family that was laughed away by the others.

The couple stayed behind to offer their assistance in cleaning up the remains but found it wasn't needed; Rarity offered her own assistance as well as Spike who stared after the fashionista with an adoring gaze, something that didn't go unnoticed by the librarian who realized why Applejack had looked so woeful before.

(Oh, that's right, Spike overheard our last conversation about who she likes... I wonder what Applejack plans to do about him, he has been crushing on Rarity for over a year and a half now... Who should I try to support in their efforts? Should I support one and not the other? I suppose it is up to Rarity about who she is interested in in the first place... I better ask Applejack about this...)

With a nervous smile the lavender unicorn stepped up to the orange farmer who stopped reaching towards another stack of dirty dishes to see what she wanted.

“What's up sugarcube?” Pinkie hovered nearby with a slight frown at the seriousness of her mare, she had a hunch about what was going on and knew that this wasn't something that was going to end happily.

“Applejack, I've got something that you should hear... In private.”

“Oh, ok; Ah'll be back y'all.” The farm mare waved briefly at her help before walking with Twilight to stand right outside the doors, out of sight and hearing of the others.

“What's the matter Twi'?”

“... Spike overheard us when you stopped by about the ungrounding of the Crusaders and knows of your crush on Rarity... He's not sure what to believe, but you should talk with him about it.” Green eyes widened in surprise and fright before all the fear left the orange mare as she bowed her head tiredly with a sigh.

“Ah see... Ah'll talk with him tonight if that's ok with ya Twilight.”

“That's fine, but don't keep him out too late.” The orange farmer nodded before heading back inside passing Pinkie who was nervously trotting out once she knew that the 'serious' talk was over.

“Hey Twilight, are you ready to go home?” Twilight smiled at the other mare before giving her a loving nuzzle, something that drew a smile from the earth pony who returned the affection.

“Yes, I am. While I would want to spend the night with you, I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Cake would want to spend some time with you this evening. That and I want to prepare my explanation speech and having you there would be really distracting; in a good way though.” Pinkie smiled at these words and nuzzled under Twilight's chin before the unicorn gave her a quick kiss.

“Though it would be nice if you could stop by in the morning?” Pinkie hopped in place with a large grin and nodded, her nerves buzzing from the kiss.

“Sure thing! I'll be over first thing!” Twilight smirked at the assurances before giving one last kiss to her mare before heading for the library, plans and lists starting to take form as she walked.

The two trotted on the path out of Sweet Apple Acres, barely keeping close contact with one another as they went back to town. To lessen the amount of time spent apart, Pinkie walked the studious mare to her front door and gave her a goodnight kiss.

“Sleep well my little star and I'll check on you in the morning with a good morning breakfast!” Twilight shook her head with a smirk and watched the hyper mare skip home for a moment longer before going inside and starting to gather all the needed supplies.

A brown feathered owl flew by with an inquisitive hoot which earned a pleased smile from the librarian.

“Good timing Owlowiscious! I'll need all the reference materials I have started to gather on social reactions to same gender couples and marriages, physiological and social repercussions of same gender couples I have compiled of the past hundred years as well as the lists of books on back order; I'll need to switch tactics so instead of subtly on ordering texts that deal with the subject to ordering them faster in order to present a proper presentation...”

As the brown owl flew around the tree house, Twilight pulled over extra scrolls and ink, starting to edit the ordering lists while starting with the proper talking points; she would spend the rest of the night trying to make a thorough and convincing argument and would only take a break from this endeavor when the pink earth pony arrived in the morning with all the things needed for an extremely large breakfast (wanting to give plenty of energy for the cuddle and nap session she was going to force Twilight to do since she could see how tired she was).

Author's Note:

Ok, so this updating system isn't working. It kills my creativeness and makes it stressful (for me if not for my proofreaders), so I'm going back to speratic updates that come as I finish them (though in the same cycle of what story gets an update).

If you don't recognize the song Pinkie was singing, that's because I made it all up. On my own. In my free time. Neat huh? If you want/need original lyrics for something of yours, just PM me and I'll see what I can do!

The invention/creation of Harvest Feast goes to Gwg who came up with it when I was a lazier writer and wanted to have a cheap cop-out instead of making a new holiday.

Comments

[ObligedShelf7]

Apparently if you do nothing but watch anime in your spare time you get lots of updates to catch up on. Anyway good chapter; I'm really liking this interconnected story thing, it's pretty cool.

[Wolfie 03]

4084532 Thanks, I like how the interchanging thing works too, gives me a chance to see/write all sides of an event and give different perspectives on it.

What anime are you watching? (Though I find TV in general can do a similar thing to a reader)

[ObligedShelf7]

4085684 At the moment I'm watching Eyeshield 21.

[Wolfie 03]

4085861 I think I heard of it but haven't really seen it or anything, hope it's amusing/good. So long as you don't forget the wonderful stories to be found online as well, then it's all good.

[ObligedShelf7]

4086219 I always come back to reading eventually.

[SUBJECTXVI]

4086219 you made RD a bit of an asshat in this chapter. sorry for not visiting in forever but I've had to wade through a huge backlog of on hold stories and Unread chapters.