I had invited Fluttershy over for breakfast. We were enjoying some homemade waffles when there was a knock at the door. I sighed. "Do we ever have time to ourselves anymore?" Shy smiled. "You'd better answer it." I nodded and got up.

I opened the door and froze. It couldn't be. Why would they be here? "Speedy dear!" My mother pulled me into a hug. "M-Mom? Dad?" What were my parents doing in Ponyville? My mother let me go. Before I could move however, my father grabbed me. "How are you son?" I smiled. "Fine Dad. I'm fine. What are you guys doing here?" He let me go and looked at my mother. She looked concerned. "We got your letter the other day and were worried." Now I was confused. "What made you worry about me?" Dad rolled his eyes. "Your mother read that you had had some serious medical problems and so she insisted that we come visit you. Honestly dear, he looks fine to me." Oh boy. I did tell them that in my letter, but I didn't have the heart to tell them the whole story. I had done that out of fear they would race out here to see if I was okay. That had sure backfired.

"Speedy?" I turned around to see Shy standing right behind me. Uh-oh. My mother spotted her. "Who is this Speedy?" Of course I had seen fit to include a half-truth about my leg in the letter, but nothing about having a marefriend. I turned to my parents. "Um...his is Fluttershy. She's my neighbor...and my marefriend." My father's jaw dropped while my mother was either about to cheer or cry. I stepped back to stand next to Shy. I could see she was nervous. "Um...hi." And then my mother was hugging her and my father was patting me on the back.

"It's about time you found yourself a girl!"

"Oh she's adorable!"

"We're Speedy's parents. That's my wife Feather Quill and I'm Tailor"

"Um...hi."

We adjourned to the living room where my folks asked a thousand and one questions about me and Shy. I answered them all. Fluttershy just sat next to me. I hadn't seen her this quiet since I had first met her. When my mother finally paused to take a breath, I interrupted the questions. "So, you said you came because you were worried about me?" My mother looked at me. "Of course dear! You didn't say what had happened to you, so I was naturally worried." My father sighed. "He looks perfectly healthy to me honey." I forced a smile. "Yeah I am perfectly healthy. There is one thing you should know about. All I ask is that you don't speak until I'm finished." They looked at each other and then nodded to me. Shy scooted closer to me and whispered. "You haven't told them already?" I shook my head. "Do you want me to leave?" I shook my head again. I held her hoof. "I think I'd like the support." She smiled.

I turned to my folks. "It all started several months ago when a dragon landed in the forest..."

I was getting to the part about my leg having poison when my mother couldn't hold it in any longer. She began bawling. "My poor little colt!" Luckily Dad guessed she would try to jump me and pulled her into an embrace so she couldn't. I hadn't seen a single tear in his eye. In fact I don't think I've ever seen him cry. We waited until mother calmed down and then Dad nodded for me to continue. "Anyways the Princess was able to save my life. But it came at a cost." I reached down and slowly removed my false leg. My mother nearly fainted.

I showed off what was left of my leg. My Dad stepped forward and examined my replacement. "Good workmanship. Almost elegant. Who made this for you?" I smiled. "My friend Rarity. She's a fashion designer. With my blueprint and her keen eye, she was able to fix it up pretty quick." He nodded. "I've heard of Rarity. Impressive that she can make a convincing prosthetic and a beautiful fall lineup." Fluttershy glanced at me. I pointed at my father. "Dad here is the pony behind the fashion world. Half of the stuff you see in shops has his name on it." He chuckled. "Not something I brag about however. I prefer to be out of the spotlight. I'm glad to see you're safe though son. And I'm sure having a mare at your side was comforting." I smiled and Shy blushed.

After a few more minutes of chatting, I could see that Fluttershy was getting comfortable. She even asked a question. "How long do you plan on staying?" My parents looked at each other. My father shrugged. "Well...since Speedy isn't in trouble...we may have to leave pretty soon. I have to okay some designs and Feather has a deadline for her publisher." Fluttershy stood up. "I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe we could take you to lunch before you go?" Mother smiled. "That would be wonderful dear. It will give us plenty of time to talk about the future." I stood up with Shy. "The future?" She rolled her eyes. "Well you two have been together for a number of months now from what you've said. Haven't you begun to think about marriage?"

I don't know who had fainted first, but when my eyes opened I was on the floor next to Fluttershy and my folks were standing over us. My vision was still a bit blurry, but I could here my father. "I can't believe you honey. Why would you ask that?"

I raised my head off the floor. "That's what I'd like to know!" My parents jumped at my sudden consciousness. I slowly stood up. "Mother." I looked eyes with her. "What were you thinking?" She stepped back and gave a weak smile. "Speedy, can you blame me. You finally have a marefriend. I guess I just got excited." I shook my head. Before I could reply I heard a groan from Shy. I walked over to her and helped her up. "You okay Shy?" Her eyes were still trying to focus. "Wha?" I led her to the couch and sat her down. "Are you okay?" Her eyes focused on me and then at my folks. "Oh my. Did I faint?" I nodded. "Don't worry. I did too." She blinked a few times. "Did I hear your mother say-?" I put a hoof over her mouth and nodded. Her eyes grew wide. "Oh my." I turned to my parents. "Why don't we head out for that lunch. The next train to Filly should be taking off later today."

We went to our usual cafe and treated my parents to lunch. There wasn't much talk. We ate in silence. The excitement began as Twilight and Applejack walked past. I waved to them. "Hey!" They saw us and walked over. I looked at my folks and motioned to the mares. "I might as well introduce you to some of my friends. This is Twilight and Applejack. Girls, these are my parents." Twilight's eyes grew wide. "You're Feather Quill!" Oh boy. Forgot about that. Twilight was instantly sitting by my mother, talking her ear off. Good thing Mom was used to being recognized, but she had never met a mare like Twilight. Applejack shook hooves with my Dad. "Good ta meet ya!" He smiled. "And you as well. So you're friends of Speedy?" She nodded. "Sure are." She looked at me. "Why didn't ya say ur folks were in town?" I shrugged. "I didn't know until today."

I don't know where she came from, but all of a sudden Pinkie had her hooves around my parents. "Omygosh! You're Speedy's Mom and Dad! This is great! We need to have a party!" From nowhere she pulled out a small cannon and fired it. I was about to duck when I saw that it had fired streamers and balloons. This was just strange. And then Rainbow Dash landed at the edge of the cafe. "What's with the cannon-fire?" Pinkie jumped around her. "Speedy's parents are here!" Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Oh. I mean...Oh! Cool. I'm Rainbow Dash." Pinkie hopped up on the table. "And I'm Pinkie Pie!" She pulled out a kazoo and blew into it. The looks on my parents' faces were priceless. I started laughing.

We all sat around getting to know each other. I slipped away from the party and ran to the boutique. There was still one pony missing. I ran inside and found Rarity at her sewing machine. She looked up as I burst in. She scolded me. "I would think you would have the decency to knock first darling." I smiled. "No time for that. I have a name for you. Tailor." Her jaw dropped. "What?! What about him?" My smile grew even bigger. "Cafe!" She nearly ran me over.

We ran up to the party and I led Rarity up to my father. "Rarity, this is Tailor. Dad, this is Rarity." Rarity stared at me and then my father. "What? You? Him? Father?!" I began to laugh again. This lunch was going better than I could have ever hoped.

I waved to my folks as the train pulled away. They waved back from their window. Soon the train picked up speed and was out of sight. I walked over to the bench where Fluttershy was sitting. I sat down with a sigh. "Well that was interesting." She giggled. "It was fun." We sat for a few minutes, staring at the clouds. Fluttershy took my hoof. "How long do you think this will last?" I looked at her. "What do you mean?" She shrugged. "Us." I was at a loss. And then I connected the dots. This was because of my mother's comment this morning. I put a hoof around Shy and pulled her close. "I hope it lasts for the rest of my life." She put her head against my neck and we sat on that bench for the rest of the day. Next Chapter: Chaos And The Princess Estimated time remaining: 53 Minutes