“Um... Rarity, are you sure I should be the one modeling the dress? I mean this is your wedding dress; it’s important,” Fluttershy said, doing her best not to move, or fall off of the pedestal she was on, or breathe. That last one was being made rather difficult by the fact that Rarity’s barrel was apparently slightly thinner than her own. It saddened her, but she was going to have to start saying ‘no’ when Pinkie offered her pastries for the foreseeable future.

“Yes, it is, but I can’t make tweaks to the fit while I’m wearing it, and I’ve already put poor Pinkie into a near nervous fit trying to stay still while I was changing a few things on her tuxedo,” Rarity replied glibly, tucking another pin into place.

“But I could sweat in it!” Fluttershy protested. ”Or trip and fall and rip it to pieces... or... or—”

Rarity kissed Fluttershy, soundly cutting off an impending tirade of worries. When Fluttershy began to wobble, she backed away, grinning slyly. “Darling, if you sweat, I can simply launder the dress. It wouldn’t exactly be a very good design if it could not handle a single wash. And if you of all ponies somehow manages to rip it, I can simply repair it, or replace any section too badly ripped to repair.” She briefly cupped Fluttershy’s chin with her free hoof, bringing their eyes on a level with one another. “More importantly, I trust you, sweetness. Now please hold still. I wouldn’t want to prick you accidentally.”

Fluttershy did her very best tree impression, silently trying not to fret. There were mere weeks to go before the wedding, and it seemed like the closer it got, the less satisfied with her designs Rarity became. Dates were becoming less frequent as Rarity handled small details like guest lists (and contacting said guests).

Pinkie’s family had proven difficult to reach. Invitations had been sent but none had been returned with the R.S.V.P. Rarity’s family had thankfully proven easier, although poor Magnum had to fetch smelling salts for Cookie Crumbles when Pinkie and Rarity had gone to deliver the news (apparently fainting spells ran in the family). With regards to the Pies, Rarity was planning a day trip with Pinkie to settle that particular issue if they did not respond soon. Pinkie had repeatedly assured Rarity that the invitations had just been eaten by an alligator, but Rarity was thoroughly miffed and would need both Pinkie and Fluttershy present just to calm her nerves enough to prevent her from doing something rash.

Which was not to say Fluttershy would stop her if the Pies really were ignoring the invitations, or that Fluttershy wouldn’t be more than happy to tell them exactly what she thought of them if that was the case. But she hoped it was a simple misunderstanding, or that the mail really had been eaten. It would be nice to meet the Pies. Pinkie seemed especially fond of her sisters.

Wait.

Neither of them were moving now.

Fluttershy’s eyes darted in Rarity’s direction, the latter having stopped fussing with the dress for a moment.

“Rarity? Is something wrong?”

“Hmmm? No, not wrong, per se. I was woolgathering. Forgive me.”

The alterations continued, but Rarity seemed distracted. Still, she had said she was woolgathering. Fluttershy just wished Rarity would tell her what she was thinking about.

Finally, Rarity stopped, and looked up at Fluttershy from her work stool. “Fluttershy... are you happy with your gown?”

The question startled Fluttershy, who stammered out a quick response. “Oh, it’s wonderful, Rarity.”

“That’s not what I mean. Would you care for something... more like mine?” Rarity gestured to the gown in question. It was a gorgeous dress to be sure, white as the driven snow with various frills and bows, and a train that would follow Rarity down the aisle for several yards.

“Wouldn’t that be very showy?” Fluttershy asked, then immediately blanched as she realized she’d just called Rarity’s wedding dress showy. “I mean, it’s wonderful on you, but I’m going to be your best mare, remember? I don’t want anypony else to think I’m trying to show you up...”

“No... I... nevermind. I’m probably just getting jitters again,” Rarity said with a sigh. “It’s just... I don’t want what we all have to change, do you see?”

Fluttershy shook her head, smiling apologetically.

“All right. What I mean is... I love you, and Pinkie, but Pinkie deserves... But I don’t want you to think just because we’re getting married that you aren’t always welcome. I slaved over those vows and nowhere in the revisions does it mention anything about what we do being in any way wrong; we’re pledging our hearts to each other, but you will always have a place in both of them. It’s just a ceremony in the end, but... it’s been a dream of mine...” Rarity stopped, screwing her face up in irritation. “Is any of this making sense?”

“A little?” Fluttershy offered sheepishly. “Thank you, though. I really appreciate being a part of your big day. I mean... not that long ago I was afraid I’d have to miss it and stay away from town for a few decades, so being able to be there is a dream come true for me too!”

“A few decades?” Rarity demanded. “Why—”

“I... I was trying to figure out how to keep my promise without... ruining everything. I figured as long as I told her before I died it would still count.” Fluttershy cringed inwards. “Then... Pinkie... said everything would be okay.”

Rarity blinked for a moment, shaking her head. “Right, that’s horrifying. Thank you for not doing that.”

There was a long silence between the pair, broken only by rising panic.

“What do you think about marriage?” Rarity asked at last. “I mean, I know it’s not important to everypony, but I’m very keen on it, you see?”

“I... I think I’m very happy to see you two happy? I mean, I’ll miss you while you’re on your honeymoon, but you’ll come back, and we’ll have spent all that time missing each other...” Fluttershy blushed, feeling a heat rising between her legs. “I think I’d better stop thinking about that.”

“That’s true, we could always have a second honeymoon here at home...” Rarity mused. “I suppose that would be nice. Yes! That... that could work!” Rarity jumped up and kissed Fluttershy again. “You’re so wonderful, sweetness! Thank you.”

Fluttershy’s face burned, and she felt droplets of moisture threatening to drip. “Um... Rarity, I think you’ll need to wash the dress if you don’t stop doing that.”

Rarity’s look of confusion turned to understanding, then a greedy little grin. “Let’s get it off you, then.” She said, leaning forward and whispering something that pretty much ensured a washing for the gown.

“I’m gonna go have lunch now, Mrs. Cake!” Pinkie announced as she closed the register.

“All right, Pinkie, thank you for covering!” Cup Cake called from upstairs. “Make sure to flip the sign over and lock the door.”

“No problemo!” Pinkie called back. She skipped her way to the front door, stopping briefly to take the ‘Open’ sign and flip it to ‘Closed, back at:’ and nosed the clock positions to indicate one hour from then. As she did so, her eyes flicked briefly to a particular booth where she and Rarity had spent a rainy day, her cheeks coloring at the memory. There had been many wonderful experiences since, but a girl never forgets that first kiss. There had been a lot of firsts that day, for both of them.

She sighed nostalgically, then closed the door and locked it.

Pinkie smiled and waved at the various ponies she passed on the short trip to Carousel Boutique. She still had her room at Sugarcube Corner, of course, but going to Rarity’s was like going home. It was where she slept most often, where she ate, where she took baths—both alone and with Rarity… It was basically where she lived. But her room at Sugarcube was still convenient for when Rarity or Fluttershy came by during her midmorning and midafternoon breaks, and it was a place to keep Gummy when the alligator wouldn’t stop snapping at Opal’s tail.

She wondered about that sometimes, whether she shouldn’t just move her room into Rarity’s home, but her job as apprentice baker came with room and board included, and the Cakes didn’t have a lot of extra bits to pay for the lack of room part. She supposed they could rent out the room to somepony, but sometimes it was good to have a place where she could be alone to think. Which was not to say that Pinkie normally had any deep and abiding quandaries in her life. Her problems were normally very simple.

But lately, they had become very very complicated. Pinkie’s problems stemmed from her family, and Rarity’s stubborn insistence that they answer her invitation. But no amount of time alone in her room pondering was fixing that problem. Her usual solution of keeping her family isolated from the world at large and visiting them instead was not going to work here. Rarity wanted them to leave the rock farm and come to the wedding.

For a brief, unhappy moment, she wished she could continue to avoid the whole problem as she’d tried to do up till now. After all, there was a very good reason those invitations hadn’t been returned: Gummy had eaten them. Granted, he’d eaten them at her request, and only after she’d shredded them up and placed them in his food-bowl, but he had eaten them. So technically she hadn’t lied, right?

A tiny piece of her shook its head in disappointment, and she cringed. She was a big fat liar-pants! And it didn’t matter if she’d never promised to send those invitations, Rarity trusted her, and she’d taken those incredibly detailed gold-embossed cards and cut them up into confetti to sprinkle into Gummy’s food dish!

But now she wanted to go visit, and Pinkie had no idea how to handle that. Her sisters were very very nice ponies, of course, and she doubted they would be anything but super happy for her. Maybe Maud would even smile a little! But her dad was... she just didn’t know. She loved her mom and her dad, but when she thought about them talking to Rarity, she didn’t like what she saw happening. Either Rarity would get very mad at them, or they would get mad at her. Neither of those prospects seemed nice at all.

She thought back to what Granny Pie had told her, trying to puzzle out once again what was important to her parents. None of it had made very much sense. Something about purity of spirit and the importance of hard work. That part she got; hard work got things done. But the spirit part... for some reason that meant it wasn’t okay to have fun by herself in bed?

Wait!

Did that mean it was okay as long as she was with another pony? She wracked her brain, searching for more clues, and turned up something about...

Oh my gosh, I think it’s okay if I’m married!

The revelation very nearly made her poor frazzled mind freeze up in shock. She thought some more, looking over the idea in her head from every side she could think of, and even some she couldn’t think of. It seemed to fit every silly thing her parents had ever said about what they’d caught her doing! She wasn’t supposed to do it unless she was married, but then it was okay!

She seemed to remember something else about foals, but she and Rarity and Fluttershy were going to figure that one out eventually. The Cake twins were adorable, and she was sure Fluttershy would be super cute with babies to take care of. She felt a wave of relief wash over her. Yes, she’d gotten over feeling bad about what she’d done, despite her parents’ negative reaction to it, but the idea that they’d actually approve of what she was doing made her super happy.

She galloped to the boutique in excitement, flying through the sales door without making the bell ring and taking the stairs two at a time. She finally burst through the bedroom door to find Fluttershy writhing on the bed with Rarity eagerly buried between the yellow thighs, her purple tail swinging back and forth in languid satisfaction.

“Rarity! I think everything’s going to be okay! I’m pretty sure my parents just want me to get married and then whatever we do is fine!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly.

A low moan from Fluttershy turning into a shriek announced that she’d noticed somepony else in the room, and was followed by the yellow pegasus frantically ducking under the covers. Rarity fell face forward onto the bed as the body she’d been resting on quickly scrambled out from under her. She shook her head as she sat back up, glancing around to see the source of the disturbance. “Oh, hello love.” Turning back to the quivering lump under the covers she whispered: “Sweetness, it’s just Pinkie Pie. Come out, please.” Rarity turned back to Pinkie, smiling indulgently. “Sorry, you were saying?”

Pinkie patiently repeated herself: “I said I think my mom and dad will be super happy that we’re getting married, because I’m pretty sure that’s why they were so mad at me! I’m supposed to do that stuff with the pony I marry!” She paused, sifting through the scattered memories of her foalhood. “Oh, except I was supposed to wait until after the wedding. Oopsie.”

Then she noticed what she’d walked in on, and smiled even wider. “Hey! You started without me!”

Fluttershy finally dared peek her head up from under the covers. “H-hello, Pinkie.”

“Hey, Flutters!” Pinkie said, scrambling up on the bed. “Sorry if I scared you, but this is big big news!” Pinkie pondered a moment, putting a hoof up to her chin. “I mean, I was really really nervous about what they would say, but now I think it’s going to be okay!”

“Oh, you were worried?” Fluttershy asked politely, trying not to let the fact that she’d just been caught in the middle of a really intense orgasm bother her. She still felt tingly, and it was hard to tell if her heart was hammering in her chest out of fear or excitement, or both. She wasn’t sure how Rarity wasn’t freaking out.

“Well, yeah! I mean, they’re...” Pinkie waved a hoof as she thought quickly. “Not... well kinda... They’re not bad ponies, but they have these weird ideas and they kinda punished me for doing things that feels really really good and I just didn’t want them to be mean to you two!”

Rarity had taken a brief moment to get up, go to the bathroom, wash her muzzle, and brush her teeth. She returned looking much more comfortable with their present situation. “So, should I mark them down as a tentative ‘yes’?”

“Yeah...” Pinkie replied. “I just need to send them a letter, first.”

“Letter? What about the five hoof-crafted invitations I sent?” Rarity inquired. “Were those not sufficient?”

Pinkie giggled nervously. “Um... those were great, but a letter is much better, you know? More...”

“It’s more personal.” Fluttershy supplied quickly as she noticed Pinkie’s discomfort. “I bet that’s all it was, wasn’t it, Pinkie? The invitation wasn’t coming from you?”

Pinkie hesitated, not sure she liked going along with a fib. But she didn’t want to hurt Rarity’s feelings, either. “Yeah!” she said quickly. “I mean... my mom and dad don’t usually care about sparkly things. They sell the pretty stones we find inside the rocks, but... they don’t really care about them being pretty. Except for Maud, but she just likes rocks. Pretty rocks, dull rocks, round rocks, rough rocks—”

Rarity just gave Pinkie a sad little look. “You... you could have just told me before I wasted my time!” She stood, nodding brusquely to Fluttershy. “I’m going to make lunch, sweetness. Take some time to clean up. I know we were rudely interrupted before you could attend to your usual ablutions.”

“—rocky rocks, dusty rocks and dirty rocks!” Pinkie finished. Seeing Rarity leaving, her ears went flat in dismay. “Hey, I didn’t mean—”

“Pinkie, I think it better that I go now before I say something I will regret. Just... give me a moment to compose myself,” Rarity said quickly, closing the bedroom door behind herself with a sharp click.

Pinkie watched the door close, her face stricken and ashen. A little whimper burst forth from her lips and her hair went partially limp. She hadn’t wanted to upset Rarity, but she’d done it anyway. She was the worst fiance ever. Even the funniness of that word didn’t make her happy.

“Pinkie?” asked Fluttershy hesitantly. “Are you okay?”

Pinkie quickly pulled her face up into smile number seventy-five. “Oh yeah! I’m great! I just...” Seventy-five needed some repairs apparently; it had some cracks. She switched to reliable old thirty-seven while she tried to think about something happy.

“—I think it better I go now before I say something I will regret.”

Thirty-seven held under the strain, but only by a thin and easily broken thread.

Soft wings enveloped her, and the thread broke, allowing her face to collapse into the shape it wanted to be in while the tears fell.

“It’s going to be all right, Pinkie. Rarity’s just as nervous about the wedding as you are. It’s okay to be nervous; it doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you,” Fluttershy whispered softly as she rocked Pinkie back and forth on the bed.

“She’s right!” Pinkie sobbed. “I… I fed those invitations to Gummy because I was worried about what they would say back!” It felt good to tell Fluttershy, even if she should have told Rarity. It just wasn’t fair. She shouldn’t have to worry about telling her parents that she’d fallen in love and was going to get married. That should be the happiest thing in the world. But instead it was super stress-filled and tummy-souring.

“Oh!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “Um... is Gummy okay?”

“Yeah, he eats confetti all the time. It doesn’t do anything but make his pellets really pretty.” That actually managed to make Pinkie giggle, and she felt the ghost of a smile grace her lips.

“Oh... that’s good,” Fluttershy said in relief. “So... your mom and dad, why were you worried about them?”

Pinkie was surprised at the question. She was under the impression that Rarity and Fluttershy talked about everything. “Rarity never told you?”

“No,” Fluttershy replied, holding Pinkie tightly. “She talks about you a lot, but not about your parents. Are they strict? My mom is strict.”

“They’re... they’re my mom and dad,” Pinkie said simply, as if that explained anything at all.

“I... I think I understand.” Fluttershy said. “They’re hard to explain, aren’t they?”

PInkie nodded into Fluttershy’s shoulder. “They’re really really nice ponies. My sisters and I always had plenty to eat, a warm place to sleep... and they let me throw parties! It’s just... they were weird about some things...”

“Oh...” Fluttershy said slowly. “Like Rarity’s mom was?”

“Maybe?” Pinkie replied, giving it some thought. “I mean... they only punished me that first time. And I had to be really really careful not to get caught again. But it... It made me feel bad every time for a long long time. Granny helped. She told me just because my parents said it was wrong doesn’t mean it was wrong, and then later when I talked to Rarity... it was like helping myself, a little? It felt nice to help her.” Pinkie laid her head down on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “But now she’s mad at me. I hate it when she gets mad.”

“No, Pinkie. She’s upset,” Fluttershy reassured Pinkie. “She just wants everything to go perfectly, and if something doesn’t go right, she takes it personally. But it’s going to be fine. Your wedding is going to be wonderful.”

“D-do you think she still wants to get married?” Pinkie asked with a small quiver in her voice.

“Of course she does,” Fluttershy said, holding Pinkie tighter. “She just needs a moment to calm down. She doesn’t like being mad at you any more than you like her being mad at you.”

Pinkie took that in, adding it to the list of things she couldn’t quite understand about Rarity. She was happy to hear that Rarity didn’t like to get mad at her, but sad to hear that she made Rarity mad and then made her feel worse for feeling mad. Maybe she needed to tell Rarity it was okay if she needed to be mad to just be mad?

Fluttershy pulled back from the embrace, using a hoof to wipe Pinkie’s tears away. “Now, I think you should go talk to Rarity, and tell her what you told me. You’ll feel better, and so will she.”

Pinkie nodded, her hair regaining its former bounce. “Okay! Did you want to come with me?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Not yet.” She blushed, her voice dropping down to a whisper. “I need to shower first.”

Pinkie approached the kitchen cautiously, looking at the door handle as if it was going to bite her. She could hear Rarity singing on the other side, and it instantly made her happy. That was the very first item on the list of things she did understand about Rarity: she sang when she was happy.

Except she also sings when she’s sad... but then she sings sad songs, Pinkie thought, her ears wilting for a moment. But the song on the other side of the door didn’t sound sad. Still, addendums to the list were important, so she added: Rarity also sings when she is sad.

She touched the handle with her hoofsy, but it failed to bite her. For just a moment, she stopped at the door, breathing a sigh of relief and wiping the sweat beading at her brow, then she dared opening it, peeking inside.

Rarity was making two tossed salads, and a delicious smell coming from the oven told her a casserole was baking inside. Pinkie almost slinked back away, afraid to ruin Rarity’s good mood, but that plan was spoiled by a light blue aura on the handle, preventing her from closing the door again.

“Come in, Pinkie. You can help me chop carrots,” Rarity said, as if she hadn’t been upset mere moments ago.

Pinkie hesitated a second or two more, then ducked inside, flashing Rarity number seventy-five, which she’d been tweaking while snuggled up against Fluttershy. From Rarity’s return smile, it looked as if seventy-five was back to a working state. “Heya! How’s lunch coming?”

“The casserole will need another ten minutes or so. I've already made you a fruit salad.” Rarity absently pointed at the refrigerator. “I just need to finish these salads for Fluttershy and myself and we can all sit down and eat.”

“Okay!” Pinkie replied, gathering the bowl of carrots and a chopping board in her hooves, and picking up a knife with her muzzle. With a deft flip, she laid out the carrots in a neat row, before twisting her head around, and around, and around... She always thought that she sounded like a woodpecker while chopping vegetables, and the world always refused to stay still afterwards. She smiled while the kitchen danced and swerved around her, making her legs go all wobbly underneath her body. Before they gave out, however, she was steadied by a light blue aura that felt safe and familiar, and she turned her smile on Rarity.

Rarity smiled back with a look of fondness, shaking her head slightly. “Well, that’s one way to do it, I suppose. Bring the bowl here, would you?”

Pinkie dutifully gathered the sliced carrots into the bowl, taking care to leave the greens behind on the cutting board. Rarity mixed half the bowl into each salad, then placed the completed dishes on the table, stopping briefly to retrieve Pinkie’s fruit salad and set that down for her.

“There we are; lunch is served, or the appetizer in any case.” Rarity attempted to sit down, being briefly delayed as Pinkie quickly pulled out the chair for her. “Thank you, love. Fluttershy is cleaning up, I take it?”

“Yeah,” Pinkie replied, sitting down herself. “She’s so cute when she gets embarrassed.” She popped a grape into her mouth, enjoying the feeling of it gooshing out on her tongue when she chewed. Grapes were like little balloons full of grapey goodness.

“You were in there a while. Is everything all right?” Rarity asked as she picked at her salad.

“Sort of...” Pinkie replied, bracing herself. “I need to tell you something, but I need you to promise me you’ll get mad.”

Rarity blinked several times, eventually chuckling at Pinkie. “I think you mean promise I won’t get mad, darling.”

Pinkie shook her head quickly. “No, promise me you’ll get mad. Fluttershy said you try not to get mad at me, which is super nice, but sometimes that’s okay. When somepony messes up, you can get mad, even if you love them.” Pinkie paused, trying to collect her thoughts. “Like... like you got mad at your mom when you found out it was okay to do stuff, you know? It doesn’t mean you don’t love her.”

“Well, she did give me a complex,” Rarity said defensively. “I think I had every right to be upset.”

“Yeah, and that’s okay! So when I tell you how I messed up, I need you to get a little mad.” Pinkie’s eartips quivered, then she was struck with a thought that cheered her up. “That way, we can have a fight, and make up afterwards!”

Rarity opened and closed her mouth several times, finally just settling on a slack-jawed stare of disbelief. When she managed to gather her jaw back up, she chuckled in mild amusement. “Very well, Pinkie. Tell me what you’ve done wrong, and I promise you I will get good and angry with you for it.”

“Do it right,” Pinkie insisted.

Rarity sighed indulgently. “Cross my heart and so forth,” she said as she made the motions. “Now out with it!”

“Okay...” Pinkie cleared her throat, just a little nervous that Rarity was going to be mad, even if she’d made her promise to do that. “So... those invitations... Do you remember how I said an alligator ate them?”

The question surprised Rarity, and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I remember you making light of my worries that no matter how many times I sent an invitation to your family they never responded, yes. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well... I kinda... fed them to Gummy.”

The room was very silent. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of a unicorn grinding her teeth together.

“How many of them?” Rarity asked, very quietly.

“All of them?”

The room seemed darker and colder. Pinkie shivered.

“Why?” Rarity demanded at last.

“I... I was afraid they wouldn’t like that I was getting married,” Pinkie squeaked out. “Are... are you mad?”

“I am!” Rarity said, glaring at the salad before her as if willing it to wilt. She shifted her gaze to Pinkie, who was more than willing to wilt in its stead. “That was horribly inconsiderate and thoughtless! Do you have any notion of how much stress you’ve caused me by doing that for weeks on end? I was fully prepared to march to that farm of yours and drag your whole family back with me!”

“That probably would have been bad.” Pinkie replied piteously. “My family punches rocks for a living. I don’t know if you could—”

“I would have found a way!” Rarity roared back. “I would have done it because I love you and I will not have them spoiling our moment, regardless of whether they felt our union was ‘moral’ and ‘right’. But now I find the problem wasn’t them at all; it was you. How am I supposed to feel about that?”

“Rarity...” a soft voice said from the entrance of the kitchen. “She was worried about what they would say to you. She didn’t want you to be hurt.”

“I am a grown mare! I do not need to be protected from Pinkie’s family!” Rarity snapped back. “And don’t you dare tell me I shouldn’t be angry about it, I promised her—” Rarity pointed at Pinkie “—that I would be!”

“Oh.” Fluttershy flashed a quick surprised look to Pinkie, who nodded with a weak smile. “Well, all right, then. So you’re angry. Do you feel any better?”

“No! I slaved over those invitations, fretted over the responses, and I still have no idea if they plan to come because they don’t even know about the wedding!” That last line seemed to have taken the last of Rarity’s steam, and her shoulders slumped. “It’s all going wrong! I just wanted... Even my mother didn’t give me any trouble beyond fainting when she found out. I don’t... I don’t know how I should feel now.”

“Um... disappointed is a start. Maybe a little betrayed, although Pinkie was doing what she thought was the best thing she did sort of ruin your plans a little.” At Rarity’s annoyed snort, Fluttershy quickly added: “But only a little. She can still send them a letter and get them to come that way?”

“No,” Rarity said decisively. “No more invitations, no letters. We’re going to do this right. It’s past time I met them in person in any case; they're going to be my relatives.” She turned to Pinkie. “Love, go ahead and send your letter, but just inform them you are coming home to tell them something important. Do that, and all is forgiven.”

“That’s it?” Pinkie asked, her ears perking up.

“That’s it,” Rarity replied, returning Pinkie’s smile. “You made me promise to get angry. You never said I had to stay angry. And really, this is how we should have done it to begin with.” Rarity leaned over the table, kissing Pinkie’s nose. “Now, unless you have committed some other grievous sin against me, I think we should eat.”

It was gray.

That was really all you could say about the rock farm. If pressed, Rarity would have added dusty, drab, and dirty, but only if pressed. It was impolite to speak ill of your future relatives’ home, after all.

A gray pony stepped forth from the gray house, clothed in what looked like sackcloth. Upon seeing her, Pinkie squealed in delight and immediately made a beeline for the mare.

The earth pony, who Rarity now realized was one of Pinkie’s sisters, turned towards the howling pink demon approaching it and calmly held out her arms for the soul-crushing hug that was to follow. Unstoppable force met immovable object, and the object held fast as Pinkie threw her forelegs around her sister.

“Maudie! I missed you!” Pinkie exclaimed. “How’s Boulder doing?”

“Hello, Pinkie,” the mare replied, nonplussed. “Boulder is fine, thank you.”

“Where’s Limestone and Marble? And Ma and Pa? Are they playing hide and seek?” Pinkie asked, her eyes darting around in search of her family.

“Ma’s making dinner. Limestone and Marble are helping make dinner. Pa’s fetching coal from around back,” Maud answered calmly. “You brought friends to visit?”

“Silly!” Pinkie exclaimed, releasing her sister. She pointed at Rarity. “This is Rarity, she’s my friend, and my marefriend, and my fiance!” She then pointed to Fluttershy. “And this is Fluttershy! She’s our friend and our marefriend!”

“Pleased to meet you both.” Maud replied, nodding to each of them.

“Errr, likewise?” Rarity replied, unsure how she was meant to respond. Maud was... fascinatingly different from Pinkie, so much so that she wondered if they might have been fraternal twins, Pinkie clearly having taken all the fun out of the pair for herself. She noted with interest that Maud’s hair was as flat and lifeless as Pinkie’s was when she was sad about something, and wondered if all the Pies tended towards expressive hair.

“Nice to meet you, Maud,” Fluttershy replied.

“Did you get my letter?” Pinkie asked, releasing Maud from her grasp and walking back to Rarity and Fluttershy.

“I did, yes. I’ll tell Ma to set out more plates.” Maud nodded once more to Fluttershy and Rarity, walking back inside to presumably tell the other Pies they had unexpected guests.

“She really likes you!” Pinkie said with evident glee.

“Really?” Rarity replied. “How can you tell?”

“She gets these little crinkles around her eyes when she’s happy. And they were super crinkly!” Pinkie bounced up and down in excitement. “I can’t wait for you to meet Lime and Marble!”

Rarity shot a questioning glance at Fluttershy but all she got in return was a look that was equally as confused as she felt. “I’m certain they’ll be just as enchanting as Maud.”

“Nah! Lime and Marble are... Lime and Marble. They aren’t like anypony else. They’re still super fun, though!” Pinkie threw her arms around both of her mates, dragging them along bodily. “C’mon!”

Upon entering the door, Pinkie called out in a loud voice: “Inkie, Blinkie!”

Two voices called back excitedly: “Pinkie!”

The floor became a jumbled mess of Pies as the younger Pie twins ran out of the kitchen to pounce on top of Pinkie.

“Um... how many sisters does Pinkie have again?” Fluttershy whispered to Rarity.

“I was given to understand it was just the three,” Rarity whispered back.

When the tickle fight had ended with Pinkie emerging as the victor, she picked her giggling sisters up and dusted them off. “Girls, this is Marble. I call her Inkie because it looks like somepony dipped her hair in ink!”

Marble smiled shyly. “Hello. It’s nice to meet you.”

“And this one is Limestone! I call her Blinkie because she has never in her life ever beaten me in a staring contest!” Pinkie announced with a big grin.

“I did so!” Limestone protested. “Marble, tell ‘em!”

“It doesn’t count when she’s sleeping,” Marble replied with another little giggle.

“Pinkamina, bring your guests to the table please. The meal is ready,” a matronly voice called from the kitchen.

“Okay, Ma!”

Pinkie lead them into the kitchen, and Rarity finally spied the odd bit of color here and there. It wasn’t much; the curtains were a washed-out blue, and the tablecloth had at some point been yellow, but in the midst of such a lack thereof, any color stood out boldly.

Of course, Pinkie stood out the most, a beautiful splotch of color in a family of various shades of gray. Rarity idly wondered if she hadn’t been a bit too much color for her family to take.

Pinkie immediately latched onto her mother, who smiled good-naturedly as Pinkie did her level best to strangle her while she continued preparations of the final dish. On the table was a repast composed of various foods, though the exact names of the dishes would not come to Rarity.

There was something that looked like biscuits topped with an unidentified brown substance. A large pot was filled with what seemed to be some sort of creamy soup which was largely composed of potatoes. She spied fresh baked bread next to a dish of what she presumed to be butter. And finally, ‘Ma’ Pie appeared to be topping a key lime pie with fresh meringue.

“Pinkie,” Rarity murmured as the aforementioned trotted back up to her after her unsuccessful matricide-by-hugging attempt. “I thought I told you to not have them make a fuss.”

“They aren’t!” Pinkie said, smiling happily. “This is just normal lunch.”

“I see... Big eaters, I take it?”

“I did tell you they punch rocks into dust, right?” Pinkie replied, looking even more amused.

“Ah yes, I suppose that would use some energy, wouldn’t it...”

Rarity took a seat near to Fluttershy, with Pinkie taking a chair in between them both.

“Dinner ready, Ma?” a male voice said as the front door opened.

“Yes, Pa,” Ma Pie answered. “Pinkamena’s here to visit. Brought some friends.”

“That’s nice,” Pa replied. He walked into the room carrying a few buckets of coal on his shoulders.

“Hey, Pa!” Pinkie exclaimed, doing her level best to bounce on the chair.

“Pinkamena,” Pa said, nodding to her. His eyes briefly flicked over Rarity and Fluttershy. “Who’s your friends?”

“Oh, they’re not my friends!” Pinkie giggled. “Well, not just my friends. Pa, this is Rarity. She’s my friend, and my marefriend, and my fiance!”

There are many types of silences in the world. For instance there is your typical ‘so quiet you can hear a pin drop’, the standard ‘silence in which you can hear crickets chirping from miles away’, and the quiet solitude of ‘an empty house in the middle of nowhere’. These are quite tame compared to the kind of silence a normally taciturn household can produce when the heads of said household are shocked about something.

The silence lay thick in the room, like smoke from burning grease. When it was finally broken by Pa, his voice sounded hoarse, and just a little shaky. “I see. And the other?”

“She’s Fluttershy!” Pinkie proclaimed, blissfully unaware of the reaction she’d brought on. “And she’s our friend and our marefriend!”

Somehow, the room managed to get even more quiet.

Rarity’s smile was very strained as she looked around the room. “Hello... nice to meet you.”