Family First

by Monarilla

My Family is Cunning and Creative

The cottage was ready and everything was perfect. Fluttershy had finished rehearsing the animals on how to behave in front of her parents, Pinkie had brought with her a cake that the Cakes helped her bake, Applejack had been kind enough to build Fluttershy a spare bed so she wouldn't have to sleep on the sofa, Twilight had read everything she could about wealthy culture, Rainbow Dash had set up a lookout cloud to see when they were coming, Rarity had picked out some fancy dresses for them to wear (and in the hopes that they might catch the arriving guest's eyes), and even spike had come along to help clear away some of the dust and fur lying about. Fluttershy was nervous but thanks to her friends she was a lot more confident than if it were just her and her parents. After all their chores were done, the girls had nothing better to do but wait. Rainbow Dash of course still had to be on the lookout but she was more than content with closing her eyes for a minute...or two.

"They were supposed to be here at three, where are they?!" Pinkie restlessly stomped her hooves on the dirt path

"Pinkie, its half passed two..." Twilight moaned, Pinkie had been doing this for the past fifteen minutes. "Even if they were a little late we have to be patient."

"That's right, remember what Fluttershy said girls, we all need to be at our best behavior before and while her ma and pa are here" Applejack stomped her hoof to make her point; unlike Celestia, Fluttershy knew her parents were not as tolerant of informal behavior.

"That is most certainly correct" The girls dropped their jaws and swiveled their heads. A dark orange mare with a mane of pure white, a tan stallion with a dark red mane, and Rainbow Dash with the most embarrassed look on her face approached from behind them. Rainbow Dash joined the other, the other two ponies stood still, scanning the group as if to judge their fate. Finally their eyes rested on the bright yellow pony avoiding their gaze under her long pink hair. The orange mare tilted her hair and smiled, "Oh Fluttershy darling, you need not be scared, it is us mummy and daddy."

Fluttershy emerged from her pink curtain, she looked at her parents for the longest time, her body froze in a desperate attempt to hold back her emotions. Her lips trembled, her legs shook, a cool breeze sent a chill down her spine.

Her father frowned "What's wrong sweetheart? didn't you miss..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Fluttershy had already flung herself into her parents arms. She held on to them with all her might, as her tears flowed like rivers down her cheeks. The three of them stood there in an unbreakable embrace, none of them said a word. Her parents didn't cry but any pony could tell they were as happy as she was. The other five stood a little ways away, none of them could hold back at least a few tears at the site of Fluttershy reuniting with her parents. It had seemed too good to be true when Fluttershy had first heard they were coming that she didn't really understand the amount which she had kept bottled up all those years. Now they were here and everything was different. There was so much she wanted to do with them three days would never be enough.

The three eventually broke away, Fluttershy wiped the tears from her face and recollected herself. "Mama, Papa, I want to introduce you to Applejack,"

"Howdy there"

"Rarity,"

"Charmed to meet you"

"Rainbow Dash,"

"Hey-I mean hello"

"Twilight Sparkle,"

"Pleased to meet you!"

"And Pinkie Pie"

"I. Am. So. Glad. You. Could. Come."

Pinkie let out a deep breath, when Fluttershy had taken her off to the side while they were preparing and told her to be at her best behavior, she would have preferred if she had given her the stare compared to the look in her eyes.

"So you are the friends our butler informed us about, I must admit being the elements of harmony is a good start to getting to know you all. Allow me to introduce us, I am Flutterdawn and this is my wife Flutterbird" The smile on Fluttershy's dad had left him the moment he saw her friends. Not out of disapproval, simply because like all things a smile is earned, and not given freely. "Why don't we continue this after we have unpacked and over a nice cup of tea. Sweetheart, do you still have some of those Everfree leaves?"

"Of course, I guess Snouten told you about them too. I'll get the kettle ready, but wheres Spike? He said he would help my parents unpack.

"I think he's passed out on your couch," Twilight mused "He was a little tuckered out after hauling all those garbage bags."

Fluttershy's parents frowned, lesson number one: the host is always ready for the guest.

Fluttershy bit her lip "That's okay, Twilight could you and Rarity help carry their bags in? I'm sure it will be easy for the both of you."

"Sure thing, but where exactly are your things Mr and Mrs Flutter?" Twilight had noticed that there wrent any bags in sight."

"Oh they should be arriving any second now, we decided to fly ahead since there wasn't any need to wait." Flutterbird turned towards the dirt path. "Ah there they are right now."

From around the bend was a sight to behold. A pack of luggage cases rolled along on their very own whim, they raced along the dirt path coming to a halt in front of the dumbfounded group.

"Aren't they wonderful? They carry a motus stone given to us by a spirit elk as a thank you to us to us for protecting their forest. They still have trouble with steps though so your assistance would be appreciated." Flutterbird had what some optimists would call a smile on her face

Flutterbird looked up at the cottage "I see our cottage is still in livable conditions,"

"Your cottage? But ummm mama, I-I assumed that I owned the cottage since you ummm stopped paying the bills for it years ago. I'm sorry if I was wrong." Fluttershy dropped her head in shame.

It's quite alright dear," Flutterdawn laughed "But remember that just because we don't pay its bills, doesn't mean we don't own the land."

"Right, sorry. I'll remember that for next time" Fluttershy said with a sheepish smile.

Everyone had finally settled down in the living room. Fluttershy poured everyone a cup of tea and they all sat back in preparation for all the talking they had to do. But there was no talking. Not even on the calmest nights had such a silence ever blanketed the room. Not that there was nothing to say but more no one who wanted to speak first. Even Pinkie Pie couldn't bring herself to speak. Fluttershy's parents were not as reluctant to begin however, they just were too polite to start first. But seeing that their daughter and her friends were jaw locked...

Flutterdawn broke the silence, "So why don't you tell us more about yourselves, let's start with you Rarity. You seem to be the most formal among these ponies, spare our daughter, and you also have a fine sense in formal attire."

Rarity went a cherry red. "Well I have always valued proper language and a good dress, gems are my specialty. I simply adore gems."

He raised an eyebrow, "Embroidered dresses? Using gems? Those may not be hard to come by but they certainly require a certain level of talent to make them properly. We saw one once in a boutique in Canterlot. I tell you it was absolutely stunning, the designer had created beautiful rainbow patterns all along the seems and had lined the collar with a cotton as light as a cloud!"

Rarity's jaw dropped "B-but that's my design! it was an inspiration of Rainbow Dash, a stallion walked by my shop and special ordered it to be delivered to Canterlot. I had no idea he was going to sell it..."

Flutterdawn's other eyebrow was now raised. "tell me, how much did you sell the dress for?"

"Oh it wasn't too hard to make, still it was one of my fancier designs so I sold it for around three hundred bits if I remember correctly." Rarity looked over and shrunk a little at Flutterdawn's dissapointed look

"I'm afraid I have ill news for you, the stallion who bought the dress from you was selling it for triple the price."

"That's absurd!" Rarity gasped "Certainly no one would buy it for that kind of price."

"The only reason you don't see me wearing it right now was because someone beat us to it." Flutterbird sighed "Fancy pants was his name, one of our business partners. Apparently hey was buying it for a friend of his and complimented the shop owner on his fine sewing skills."

Rarity stared into her cup, thinking about all the unspeakable things she would do if she saw that wretched thief again. The room fell back into silence but only for a moment, Rainbow Dash quickly broke it.

"So Mr and Mrs Flutter," their eyes moved to Rainbow Dash "Did you know that I'm the one who performed the sonic rainboom last summer?"

"We are well aware of that, apparently you saved a foolish unicorn who had given herself wings in order to compete."

"Oh, that was Raritrmnismina..." Rainbow Dash said desperately trying to put the words back into her mouth

Rarity was the first of Fluttershy's friends to experience that stare, that dreadful stare. She felt like she was being crushed under the weight of it. But why should she be so disappointed in herself? She had learned her lesson and hadn't done anything like that again. So where was this guilt coming from? Simply a disappointing gaze? If there weren't unicorns in this world, that stare would be the closest thing to magic. Celestia know what happens to a ponies spirit when they started throwing in words. And this all happened in a matter of seconds.

"Mama, Papa." Fluttershy said, breaking her parents eye contact with Rarity, "Did you know Applejack here has a business of her own? She runs an apple orchard in Ponyville." Fluttershy knew that if anything caught her parents attention, it was business.

"Oh really?" Flutterbird leaned in a little "You know, my sister runs the agricultural division of our company, do you know of her products?"

"Well I don't think I would mam, y'see at sweet apple acres all our seeds and what not come from the farm." Applejack beamed, "we don't use anything grown or built outside of our farm besides lumber and such."

The Flutters truly seemed impressed by that. "I certainly do appreciate an entrepreneur who cuts off her liabilities for maximum profit." Flutterdawn made a rolling gesture with his wing.

Applejack stared with a blank expression at them. "I'll just pretend I understand what that all meant."

"We understand, we are well aware of the sub par education that most farmers acquire." Flutterbird took a long sip of her tea.

"Hey! You can't just be saying things like that to Applejack!" Rainbow Dash began to hover in the air. "Who do you think you are to call her an idiot! Unlike you two she works herself to the bone every day to feed her family and Equestria!"

And that made two. As Rainbow Dashes eyes fixed on theirs, all she could feel was the shame and humility of her outburst. Wasn't it right for her to defend her friend? She felt like she had just come in second in a race, and that would be pretty accurate. Her loyalty was good, but their eyes were better. Rainbow Dash slumped back into her seat. She didn't say a word the rest of the day.

"You didn't have to do that sugarcube" Applejack smiled "They're right, I don't have the biggest brains in this here room, but its fine."

"Indeed." Flutterdawn had already brushed off the outburst like dandruff. "However, I hope that the rest of your friends are more disciplined with their words."

Their cursed words drew their attention to Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy looked back and forth nervously at her friends and her parents, she was sure this was going somewhere bad.

"So what is your claim to fame Ms Pie? Surely with such accomplished friends you have a tale or two to tell." There was no smile, there was no frown. Flutterdream was challenging Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie was turning volcano red in the face. One does not simply as Pinkie Pie a question and expect a straight forward answer. And that was exactly what Fluttershy had told her to do. She couldn't do it, she simply couldn't keep herself contained for a second longer.

"I LOVE BAKING AND EATING AND SWIMMING AND PLAYING AND LAUGHING AND JUMPING AND RUNNING AND SMILING AND PIEING AND CAKING AND BABYSITTING AND PARTYING AND MORE PARTYING AND FRIENDSHIPPING AND PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT AND..." Pinkie stopped in somersault to catch the gaze of her audience.

Unlike the others, Pinkie Pie's experience was a little more obvious. The first thing that happened was she deflated, literally. Her mane and tail flopped to the ground and she curled up in her seat next to tears. She had failed Fluttershy, she had failed her friends. She couldn't keep it together long enough and now they were all mad at her and would never forgive her. Why was she so upset over being herself? What was it about that stare that made her feel so miserable? Like the other two, Pinkie had been rendered speechless

Applejack and Twilight were shocked, simply shocked. Could they have complained? sure. But they understood now what it took to be one of the wealthiest people in Equestria. It took dominance, condensed in their eyes was an unstoppable strength and they could use it like a play thing. Fluttershy was desperate, this time she didn't have any more business topics to bring up. She did have one last thing though.

"M-m-mama, Papa, guess what I've been doing these past few years." She could barely bring the words out she was so nervous.

"Snouten informed us when he returned" Flutterbird said dismissively "You take care of animals for a living and spend most of your earnings to care for animals you're not even contracted to care for."

Fluttershy took a deep breath. Her parents were starting to get nasty, she knew it wouldn't have happened if things had gone smoother. Why was she so stupid as to introduce them to her friends?

"Well, yes. Its my passion to help animals in any way I can, and you know that." Fluttershy had to be strong. for once, she was the only one who could.

"Well sweetie, if you ever need any... support you can let us know." Her father smiled down at her.

Three of her friends were victims of er parents stare and the other two were ready to run out the door at a moments notice. This was going swimmingly awe full. Even the tea was nasty.

Fluttershy was done. she looked up at the clock, it didn't really matter what the hands pointed to. "Goodness look at the time. I guess you five have a lot to do and I wouldn't want to hold you up. this has been a nice get together though, I'm sure you all enjoyed it as much as I did."

Her friends quietly got up, nodded goodbye and walked out the door. The family sat in silence, there was nothing to say.

The rest of the visit was surprisingly nice, once she and her parents had some alone time together, they were as kind as kind could be. They had brought her some cloud light chocolates which is as fancy as chocolates get, and they were very kind towards Fluttershy's animals. What Fluttershy didn't know was that a decision had already made and there was no point in her parents bringing it up to spoil the moment.

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A week had passed since Fluttershy's parents had headed back home. She still hadn't brought up tea with her friends, fortunately there was a mutual desire to keep that day buried and to focus on more important things. Like today, Fluttershy was heading over to Rainbow Dash's cloud house to help her re-decorate. She had just opened the door when she heard an odd noise coming from the road. Around the bend, a stampede of luggage came rolling towards her house followed by Snouten. Fluttershy waved at them as they approached, the luggage came to a halt at her steps and so did Snouten.

"Hello Snouten!" Fluttershy smiled "I didn't know you were coming to stay with me, that's a lot of luggage you've got there."

"I'm afraid I wont be staying with you my lady." Snouten sighed

"Oh? well then who's coming?" She was a little excited because she thought it might be one of her siblings.

"You don't understand my lady, as of this moment no one will be staying her. This luggage is for you, pack your things and be ready to leave for Cloudsdale."

Author's Note:

Hope you all are enjoying this story, if you have any ideas about what might happen next leave a comment!

What do you think about Fluttershy's parents? Why do you think they came to visit?

Comments

[RaptorCalloftheShadows]

...I think Fluttershy's parents need a dose of humility. Eeyup.

[Lunacorn]

Very good story. Can't wait to see what will come next!