# A Delicate Balance

## by JapaneseTeeth

### The Triple Fool

This is so weird. Usually I’m the one who’s freaking out. Applejack is usually so confident. I mean, I know it must be tough; she wants my parents to like her, and since her parents aren’t around any more the entire thing is just awkward… I wish there was some way to make this easier for her. My parents sure aren’t going to make it easy.

I am two fools, I know—

For loving, and for saying so

In whining poetry

--The Triple Fool,

John Donne

Twilight tried futilely to suppress a smile. Despite her best assurances, Applejack had spent most of their pre-date conversation growing more and more tense. At the moment, she was so wound up that she could barely walk. At this rate, it would take them twenty minutes before they got to the restaurant where her parents were doubtlessly waiting. Her dad had probably gone right ahead and ordered an appetizer or something.

“Applejack, you know you can relax a bit, right?”

“What are you talkin’ about?” Applejack stared straight ahead and sounded almost as if she were speaking automatically. “I’m totally relaxed. What makes you think I’m not?”

“Well, you’re walking like a wind-up toy,” Twilight said. “Normally, I’d think it was just because you aren’t used to wearing dresses, but we’ve been on enough dates that you should have that figured out by now. You’re still scared of meeting my parents, aren’t you?”

“Scared, no.” Applejack shook her head. “Nervous? Yeah. Just a bit.”

“Well, you don’t need to be.”

“You can keep tellin’ me that, but it doesn’t make it any easier.” She scratched her head, which had a notable lack of hat. “It’s just… your parents are Canterlot ponies is all. They’re all classy and whatnot, and I’m just a Ponyville farm mare. It’s like two totally different worlds.”

Twilight sidestepped and pressed herself against Applejack. “I’m a Canterlot pony, and I like you just fine.”

“Yeah, but you barely count. You lived in the Canterlot Library for most of it.”

“I did not! I just… uh…” Twilight playfully poked Applejack in the shoulder. “Okay, I concede that point, but my parents are barely what you’d consider Canterlot ponies anyway. They’re actually originally from Manehattan. And not the upper crust part, either. ”

“Really?” Applejack’s walk became natural for a moment. “I never knew that. How’d they end up in Canterlot?”

“My dad got an internship at the royal observatory. It’s incredibly difficult to get a position there, so they decided that it would be worth the move.”

“Isn’t it a mite expensive to live there?”

“Yeah, from what they tell me, they were strapped for bits for a while. Then around the time Shining Armor was born, the first Daring Do book got published, and things started to turn around. A month later, my dad was officially hired as a research assistant after interning there for a year and a half. Now he’s the head of the observatory.”

“I see.” Applejack nodded. “Your parents really earned their success didn’t they?”

“Sure, I guess.”

Applejack began to trot forward, an undeniable energy showing in each step. “Let’s go meet your parents, then. I get the feeling I’m gonna like them.”

“This is gonna be great!” Pinkie bobbed up and down for a moment and then pressed her face against the window. Through a striking stroke of luck, it just so happened that Twilight’s parents were seated at the cafe directly across the street from Sugarcube Corner, and Pinkie’s room provided an ideal vantage point. Whether the stroke of luck was good or bad depended on which side of the window you were on.

“Quit moving around so much. Your mane is blocking my view.” Rainbow Dash shoved Pinkie’s hair out of her binoculars’ field of vision. “Where are they? Twilight is never late.”

Pinkie responded with an exaggerated gasp. “Maybe they eloped!”

“Huh?” Rainbow lowered the binoculars and gave Pinkie a sideways glance.

“Inviting her parents down here was just a front!” Pinkie mused. “They wanted to throw us off so that they could skip town and none of us would notice!”

“What, and Twilight tricked her parents?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No, they’re probably in on it! Twilight called them in to distract us while she and Applejack sneak onto a train for Las Pegasus! They’re probably on their way right now!”

“Wow.” Rainbow Dash continued to stare. “There’s so much wrong with that I don’t even know where to start.”

“Like what?” Pinkie retorted. “It’s a perfect plan!”

“Like, why would they elope? It’s not like anypony is gonna try to stop them if they wanted to get married. And the entire town knows that they’re a couple! They’ve got nothing to hide.”

“Okaaaayy…” Pinkie narrowed her eyes. “Maybe they just did it because they thought it would be fun!”

“Do you know Applejack and Twilight? Even if Twilight would elope, she’d still spend like a year planning it. And do you honestly think that Applejack would up and leave her family to run off with Twilight? I mean, Twilight can go a bit crazy, but not that kind of crazy. They’re just not the kind of ponies who would do something like that. I mean, if it were you and me, then it might make some… uh… sense.”

It was Pinkie’s turn to stare. “Rainbow Dash, is there something you aren’t telling me?”

“What? No?” Rainbow waved her hooves in front of her face. “I just meant that, uh… Hey, there they are!” She thrust a hoof toward the window. “Let’s see if Twilight’s dad tries to wind her up!”

Applejack approached the table cautiously. The fact that Twilight walked beside her made the walk easier, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was stepping into a trap. Twilight’s mother was hidden behind an upright menu, and her father sat stoically, tapping his hooves together. As he saw Twilight and Applejack, he nodded towards the seats across the table.

“Mom, Dad!” Twilight bounded forward and gave each of her parents a quick hug. “It’s so good to see you! How was your train ride?”

“Fine,” said her father.

“Well, I suppose I should properly introduce you,” Twilight said. “Mom, Dad, this is Applejack. You remember her from Shining Armor’s wedding. Applejack, this is my father, Nightlight.” He nodded, his face remaining the same. “And this is my mother, Twilight Velvet.”

Twilight Velvet lowered the menu, revealing that her face was as emotionless as her husband’s. Applejack felt like she had just swallowed a stone.

“Take a seat,” Nightlight said flatly. He waved a hoof at the two open seats.

“Uh, are you two okay?” Twilight asked as she and Applejack slipped into their spots. “Did something happen on your way over? Why are you being so-”

“Twilight, please.” Nightlight held up a hoof. “Just a moment.” He turned his attention to Applejack and gave her a stare that would turn a grape into a raisin. “Now then, Applejack, was it?”

Applejack nodded dumbly. Twilight had assured her that her parents were easygoing. Twilight clearly had an odd idea of what “easygoing” meant.

“I only have one question for you,” Nightlight continued. “What are your intentions with my daughter?”

“I-intentions? I don’t have any intentions!”

“Then why, pray tell, are you in a relationship with her? Are you simply going along with her out of pity? Or do you have some sort of ulterior motive!?”

“W-what?” Applejack’s tongue momentarily knotted itself. “It’s… I’m goin’ out with her because I like her! I don’t have any ulterior motive! I just wanna make her happy!” She turned to Twilight. “You know that, right? What’s he talkin’ about?”

“I have no idea!” Twilight answered indignantly. “Come on, Dad, what are you-” She turned back to her father to find that he was making quite an unusual face. His lips were puffed out, as if he was trying to keep his face from exploding. Then he threw his head back and let out a loud guffaw.

“Hahaha! You should’ve seen the look on your face!” He banged one hoof on the table and poked his wife with the other. “Did you see her expression! It was priceless!”

“Dad! Why did you do that!?” Twilight glared at him. “Do you know how nervous she was about meeting you!?”

“I, uh, I’m sorry, Applejack.” He grinned widely. “I’ve always wanted to freak out my kids’ very special someponies. Thing is, Cadance was a princess, so obviously I couldn’t mess with her too much, and from what I hear you and Twilight look to be pretty close, so I didn’t think I’d get another chance.”

Twilight put a hoof to her forehead. “Dad…” Then she suddenly looked up. “Wait, what do you mean, you thought you’d never get another chance?”

Applejack opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. She knew as well as anypony that every family had its own rhythm, and she wanted to try to listen a bit before trying to jump in.

“Well, it’s not like you’re going to be going out with anypony else, is it?” Twilight Velvet said. Like her husband, she was now smiling. “At least that’s the idea I got.”

“The idea you got from what?” Twilight asked.

“Well, just listening to you go on and on about Applejack while you were visiting, for one,” Velvet said. “Oh, and also Spike’s been keeping us up to date.”

“Really.”

“Oh, yes.” Nightlight nodded. “In fact, we just got a letter from Spike a few days ago. He says that when you got back, you and Applejack were up all night…” His grin widened, and he winked. “Catching up with each other, shall we say?”

“Eh.” Twilight’s words didn’t even make it out of her mouth. She just mumbled a few sounds, then turned to look at Applejack. They both saw that the other was blushing. “W-w-what are you saying!?”

Nightlight ignored her and turned to Applejack. She swallowed.

“You haven’t been keeping Twilight from her studies, have you?” He winked again. “You know, with your feminine charms?”

“I… I don’t have any feminine charms,” she mumbled.

“Ha!” He chuckled. “Twilight sure knows how to pick her mares. But seriously, if she’s anything like she was when she was still at school, she could use the distractions, if you know what I mean.”

“Dear.” Velvet jabbed him in the side. “You can stop embarrassing her now. Look at her! The poor mare looks like a tomato.”

“Or an apple,” he said.

Velvet gave him a look of mixed disgust and ire. He withered a bit, but didn’t quite lose his smirk. Velvet shook her head. “I apologize for my husband. He just got off of a long day of dealing with new interns, and he tends to be a bit loopy after he spends so much time having to be the smart one in the room. I spent most of the train ride trying to get him to be serious again. Apparently it didn’t quite take.”

“I, uh, it’s okay. I’m just glad that he wasn’t being serious.”

“But really, it’s very nice to finally meet you, Applejack,” Velvet continued. “Twilight talks about you all the time when she visits. I almost feel like I know you already.”

“Oh, does she, now?” Applejack nudged Twilight playfully.

“All the time,” Twilight’s mother said. “She’s always going on about how strong you are, and how you’re such a hard worker, and how nice you are, and how you take such good care of your family, and how you’re the prettiest pony in town. Really, the way she talks about you, one would think that you were some sort of superhero.”

“Is that so?” Applejack said with a chuckle. “I think she might be exaggeratin’ a bit. I mean, I do my best around town and whatnot, but I’m not that great.”

“I didn’t exaggerate anything!” Twilight crossed her forelegs. “I meant what I said.”

“Oh come on, Twilight. The prettiest pony in town? There’s no way. Even assumin’ that I could even get called ‘pretty’ at all, there’s no way I could be at the top of the list.”

“I can’t think of any other pony who would top the list,” Twilight said indignantly.

“Well, Fluttershy was a successful model, and you do realize that Rarity lives in this town too, right?” She leaned against Twilight. “I mean, sure, you blow them both out of the water, but there’s no way I’m number one with ponies like them around.”

“Me, seriously? I’m one of those ponies that you like for their brain, not for their looks.”

“I like you for both.” Applejack flicked the edge of Twilight’s mane.

“You need to get your eyes checked,” Twilight said with mock humility. “You clean up far better than I do.”

“Even if that were true, I need to ‘clean up’. You look fine just with your everyday look! I have to… uh…” Applejack bit her lip as she realized that Twilight’s parents were watching intently, wide grins on their faces.

Velvet suppressed a laugh. “Aren’t they adorable?”

Nightlight nodded in assent. “They sure are. It’s really quite impressive. Most couples wouldn’t be able to have that sort of conversation without sounding sickeningly sweet.”

“Well, that’s our daughter for you!” Velvet said clapping her forehooves once.

Applejack chuckled nervously. “Well, if you want to hear that kinda stuff, you should hear my brother and his marefriend. They can get pretty sappy.”

“Oh, yes, Twilight mentioned your brother a few times,” Nightlight said. “Mainly about how she’d visit the farm to see you and he’d have to tell her where you were.”

“Y-yes, that sure does sound like something that happens,” Applejack mumbled.

Velvet shook her head. “I’m sorry, we’re making this quite awkward for you, aren’t we?”

Applejack’s first impulse was to shake her head, but her element of honesty won out. “Yeah, a bit.”

“In that case, why don’t we just start the conversation over from our introductions,” Velvet suggested. “We can skip over all of Nightlight’s playing around and get right to talking.”

“I think we’d both like that,” Twilight said. Applejack nodded vigorously.

“Sorry about making things so weird,” Nightlight said. “Let’s see if I can get out of ‘embarrassing dad’ mode.” He cleared his throat. “So, Applejack, Twilight tells me you work on a farm. What’s that like? I’ve lived in cities for pretty much my entire life. I’d love to hear what it’s like to live in the country.”

Applejack smiled, and finally felt like she wasn’t at a loss for words.

Rainbow Dash scratched her head. “You know, I bet if we could hear what they were saying, it would be a lot funnier.”

“You could always do what I do when I can’t hear what somepony is saying,” Pinkie suggested.

“And that is?”

“Imagine them saying whatever you want! Like for the last ten minutes, I’ve been pretending that Twilight wants to grow an afro, but Applejack doesn’t want her to! Twilight’s dad supports her decision, but Twilight’s mom thinks she should get a mohawk instead! Personally, I agree with Twilight’s dad. Afros are way funnier.”

“You really think that Twilight would ever get an afro?” Rainbow Dash asked. Even having known her for years, Pinkie’s train of thought pretty much teleported from station to station. “Why would she do that?”

“Because it would be funny?”

“Right, Twilight would give herself a ridiculous mane cut because it would be funny.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I just don’t see it. Now, if she wanted to make herself look cooler… she could just do a bit of trimming and she could have my signature cut!” Rainbow Dash flicked the tip of her mane.

“I thought you cut your mane yourself.”

“I do! It makes it unique!”

“I should have suspected as much.”

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie turned around to see Rarity standing in the doorway to Pinkie’s room.

“I understand why you might want to keep your mane short, but you needn’t do it yourself. I’d be more than willing to handle it for you. No reason it needs to be so crudely done.”

“Last time I let you do anything with my mane, you had me stuck in that chair for an hour while you gave me a complete makeover. I am not doing that again.” Rainbow Dash folded her forelegs. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“I just finished up a rather large order, and I thought I would celebrate with one of Sugarcube Corner’s triple-chocolate fudge brownies,” Rarity answered. “Then Mrs. Cake mentioned that the two of you were up here, and naturally I was a bit suspicious.”

“Suspicious!?” Pinkie Pie tilted her head. “Of what?”

“Of the fact that Twilight and Applejack happen to be having their date across the street, and that your window offers you a perfect view.”

“What, so you think we’re spying on her!?” Rainbow Dash jumped into the air and hovered inches from Rarity’s face. “Why would you think that!?”

“Your binoculars, for one.” Rarity said, tapping the object that hung from Rainbow Dash’s neck. “Not to mention the fact that as I walked up the street I could clearly see the two of you looking out the window.”

“Uh…” Rainbow Dash looked away. “It was Pinkie’s idea.”

“Hey!” Pinkie gasped. “We weren’t watching Twilight and Applejack! We were watching the… uh… the waiter!”

Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her forehead.

“And why, exactly, were you watching the waiter?” Rarity asked. “If anything that’s even more odd.”

“Because… we… we had a bet on… how many tables he could serve in an hour?” Pinkie looked at Rarity, who was staring flatly at her, then to Rainbow Dash, who was shaking her head. “Ugh, fine. I can’t always come up with something good off the top of my head.”

“Pinkie, we’ve been over this before,” Rarity said. “You simply cannot keep spying on Twilight and Applejack.”

“But they’re meeting Twilight’s parents!” Pinkie protested. “It’s like a special occasion!”

“Be that as it may, that doesn’t give you the right to watch everything they do. They deserve at least some privacy. You can’t go poking your nose into their business at every opportunity!”

“Is that why you keep interrogating Twilight every time she gets back from a date?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“In those cases she voluntarily gives me information. I don’t have to follow her around and watch her private moments through binoculars!” She sniffed. “Besides, I have a precedent for this sort of thing. When Twilight first realized her feelings, I was the one she asked about it. Ever since then, she’s come to me whenever she’s unsure of what to do!”

“Yeah, and when was the last time that was?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I… uh… well, naturally it isn’t as often as it used to be.”

“It’s been like, months, hasn’t it?” Pinkie said.

“It has not!” Rarity snorted. “As a matter of fact, just yesterday I happened to bump into Applejack, and she was more than grateful to take me up on my offer of a new dress for her date tonight!”

“Bump into her?” Pinkie scratched her head. “But you were following her around for like half an hour, waiting for a good time to ask her about it!”

“I-I was not!”

“Yeah you were! I was trying to tell you about the ultimate s’more when you saw Applejack at the market, and you snuck after her and overheard that she was going to meet Twilight’s parents, and then you started following her trying to find the right time to offer to get her a dress!”

“So that’s how it is.” Rainbow Dash’s wings whipped, and she zipped into the air and came down next to Rarity, with one foreleg over the unicorn’s shoulder. “And after you give us so much grief for poking into their relationship. Not cool.”

“I am doing it with the intent of helping them!” Rarity said in a huff. “Not merely to satisfy my curiosity.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I dunno. I kinda think they’re way past the point where they’d need any help from us.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“I’m just saying, they’ve been going out now for longer than you ever have. I mean, what kind of advice are you going to give them about romance stuff?”

Rarity opened her mouth to answer, but couldn’t.

“Yeah, I thought so.”

Rarity bit her lip, and changed the subject. “In any case, regardless of my efforts to assist them, I think we can agree that peeking at them while they’re on a date is quite improper.”

“Eh, we really haven’t been watching them that closely anyway,” Pinkie said, waving her hoof dismissively.

“Pinkie, I saw the two of you looking out the window!”

“Actually, she’s right,” Rainbow Dash said. “After the first few minutes, we realized that it was really kinda boring, so we’ve mostly just been playing Settlers of Catria and just checking on occasion to see if anything interesting is happening.”

“Really.”

“Yeah! I’ve already got three cities!” Pinkie pointed at the game, a complicated-looking set of cardboard and wooden pieces sitting on the floor surrounded by stacks of cards. “If anyone rolls an eight I get like five wheat cards!”

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself, Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash barked. “I have like half a dozen development cards!” She turned to Rarity. “You want to join when we’re done with this game? It’s more fun if you have more than just two ponies.”

“I… Oh, it’s not like I have anything else to do.” She sat next to Pinkie. “How exactly does this game work? It looks rather complicated.”

“Eh, it’s not that bad. Even Rainbow Dash figured it out!” Pinkie said. She rolled the dice. “Eight! Give me wheat!”

Rainbow Dash glared at Pinkie. “Thanks. But seriously, it looks kinda tough at first, but you’ll figure it out just fine. Just watch for a bit and you’ll get it.”

“...So me, my grandma, and Big Macintosh are all holed up at the entrance to the orchard, and this big old swarm of parasprites is comin’ right on down the path.” Applejack waved her hooves. “We braced ourselves, gettin’ ready to take out as many of them as we could before they hit the orchard.”

“Then what happened?” Nightlight asked.

“The parasprites came down the path…” She paused dramatically. “And then went right past the orchard entrance and went right to the barn. They ate the whole thing.”

“They ate the barn?” Velvet gasped.

“Yeah. Because of Twilight’s anti-food spell, they weren’t really interested in the orchard.” Applejack shrugged. “Loved the barn, though.”

“You caused the parasprites to eat Applejack’s barn!?” Nightlight said to Twilight. “I thought you learned your lesson about messing with magical animals after that time we took you to the Canterlot Zoo!”

“Well, it’s not that big of a deal,” Applejack said. “That barn was probably going to collapse or something soon anyway and… wait a minute, what happened at the Canterlot Zoo?”

“When Twilight got her cutie mark, we took her to the zoo to celebrate,” Velvet said. “Then she apparently decided that it would be really cool if the monkeys had wings.” She shuddered. “We were lucky that the spell only lasted for half a minute. Still, it gave me a good idea for my books.”

“You mean you inspired the Flying Monkey Corps!?” Applejack stared at Twilight. “Why didn’t you ever tell me about that?”

“I didn’t really even think of it that way.” Twilight scratched her head. “I guess I never really put it together. Don’t tell Rainbow Dash. She’ll try to convince me to use that spell again.”

“Oh, is Rainbow Dash that pony you were telling me about that you got hooked?” Velvet asked.

“Yeah, she was laid up in the hospital with a broken wing, so I suggested it. I figured she’d appreciate the adventure. The fact that Daring Do is a pegasus didn’t hurt either.”

Velvet grinned. “I knew I was right to make her a pegasus! My editor wanted a unicorn protagonist because I was unicorn, but I wanted to try something different. Make it more of a vicarious experience. Does Rainbow Dash know that I wrote those books?”

“I doubt it,” Applejack said with a chuckle. “If she did, she’d probably fly right to Canterlot to try to get your autograph.”

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to keep it a secret,” Twilight said. “I know you’ve never been big on the whole fame thing, and Rainbow Dash isn’t always the best at keeping things on the down-low.”

“Well, I appreciate that,” Velvet said. “Although I wouldn’t be averse to meeting her at some point. It’s always nice to meet fans.”

Twilight shrugged. “Maybe we could arrange something for her birthday. If we got Pinkie to help plan, I can guarantee that nopony else would find out.”

“Is Pinkie the one who interrupted the Grand Galloping Gala that one year?” Nightlight asked.

“You were at the Gala?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t see you anywhere.”

“We weren’t.” Velvet shook her head. “My publisher got us tickets one year. It was… not our type of event.”

“And by that, she means ‘mind numbingly boring’.” Nightlight clarified. “Though from the sound of it, when you were there it was anything but boring.”

“It was… quite a night,” Twilight admitted.

“Of course it would be,” Nightlight continued. “Really, it seems like wherever you guys go, crazy stuff happens! Barns get wrecked, the Gala goes crazy, giant cosmic bears come into town, Spike grows into a giant, whole towns get brainwashed, changelings invade…” He scratched his head. “At this rate, when you two get married, the wedding will probably be crashed by aliens or something!”

“Waitwaitwait.” Twilight shook her head. “Isn’t that getting a bit ahead of things!?” She looked to Applejack for support. The only reason Applejack hadn’t made a similar outburst was that she had been mid-drink, and was now sputtering.

“Y-yeah!” Applejack managed. “That’s goin’ way too fast!”

Velvet tilted her head curiously “But the idea must have surely crossed your minds at some point. Haven’t you even considered the idea?”

“W-we talked about it a bit…” Twilight mumbled.

Applejack nodded. “We did. We just thought that… we decided we needed to think about it a bit more.” She tried to think of something else to say, and looked to Twilight for help.

“It’s just such a big step,” Twilight said. “Before we even consider the idea we really need to… uh… mull it over.”

Nightlight chuckled. “Well, for what it’s worth, I think you two are more ready than you think. Still, if you think you should take it slow, then take it slow.”

“Yes, that isn’t something you want to rush into,” Velvet added. “Needless to say, when we made the leap we weren’t quite as prepared as we thought we were. Things worked out, but a little more forethought certainly wouldn’t have hurt. Not that Twilight ever has trouble with thinking things through.”

“I think you two are far more sensible than we ever were,” Nightlight said with a laugh. Then he winked. “I’ll keep an eye out for my invitation.”

Applejack and Twilight sat stock still, as they tried to make an adequate response. Then Applejack spoke.

“So, uh, would you still like that tour of the farm? The orchard is really beautiful this time of year.”

“We’d enjoy that very much,” Velvet said.

Nightlight nodded, then frowned. “But I wanted to get some dessert first.”

Velvet shook her head and poked her husband’s stomach. “You don’t need dessert, dear.”

Rainbow Dash rolled the dice. “Five!”

“AGH!” Rarity groaned. “More wheat! Why must it always be wheat!?”

“Well, if it’s any help I can take one off your hooves.” Rainbow Dash flipped over a card that sat in front of her. “Here comes the soldier!”

“Oooooh!” Pinkie gasped. “Are you going to shut down her wheat production?”

“Of course.” Rainbow Dash reached towards the board and moved one of the pieces. “Alright, I get to steal one of your cards now!”

“Fine, take one. Not as if I don’t have wheat to spare.” She held out her cards. “Go ahead.”

“Don’t mind if I do!” Rainbow Dash plucked a card out of Rarity’s grip. She looked at it. “Oh come on!”

Pinkie shook her head. “All those wheat and you get the one brick!”

“I was going to use that,” Rarity grumbled. “Say, are Applejack and Twilight still at the cafe?”

Pinkie peeked out the window. “Either they’re gone, or Twilight and Applejack disappeared, and Twilight’s parents got old really suddenly and changed the colors of their coats and manes.”

Rainbow Dash glanced at the clock. “Huh, I wonder where they went. It’s too early for them to be done with their visit.”

“Maybe they’re downstairs getting dessert!” Pinkie sprang to her feet. “I’ll go check!”

“Pinkie, wait a moment-” Rarity sighed as Pinkie rushed past her. “It’s your turn!” She turned to Rainbow Dash. “So, where do you think they went?”

“I dunno,” Rainbow Dash said with a shrug. “Maybe they decided to go out for ice cream or something. Who cares? What do you think they were talking about?”

It was Rarity’s turn to shrug. “Mostly likely simply giving proper introductions, getting to know each other better. Applejack probably told them about what it’s like to live on the farm. That sort of thing.”

“Eh.” Rainbow Dash blew her bangs out of her eyes. “That’s boring.”

“Well, what do you think they’re discussing?”

“I bet Twilight’s parents want to know when the wedding’s gonna be.”

“Why would you think that?” Rarity asked. “Do you really think that Twilight’s parents are the type to bring up that sort of thing the first time they meet their daughter’s very special somepony?”

“Have you met Twilight’s parents?” Rainbow Dash stared incredulously at Rarity. “You remember when they came over to meet us during the reception? Yeah, they’d totally bring up that sort of thing.”

“You… may have a point,” Rarity conceded.

“Besides, it’s about time they got on with it.”

“What do you mean? They’ve only been going out for a year. Wouldn’t that be moving a bit quickly?”

“They’ve only been going out for a year,” Rainbow Dash said, idly shuffling the cards in her hooves. “They’ve been really good friends for years before that. It’s not like they just met a year ago. I think a kick in the behind would be pretty helpful, honestly. Seriously they spend like forever agonizing over everything. If they would just go for it once in a while...”

“Well, neither Twilight nor Applejack are very impulsive ponies. Better safe than sorry, after all. They may be taking their time getting there, but at least it ensures that once they do, they’ll be ready.”

“So you do think they’ll get married?”

Rarity flicked the tip of her mane. “Well, of course. It’s merely a question of when, really.”

“A question of when what?” Pinkie Pie’s upside-down face suddenly filled Rarity’s field of vision.

“A question of when you were going to come back and finish your turn. I have wheat to get rid of.”

“Oh, okay!” She took her seat. “Applejack and Twilight aren’t downstairs, by the way. There’s a cake, though.” She licked her lips. “Well, there was a cake.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Just roll the dice, Pinkie.”

“You sure picked a good hill for your stargazing,” Nightlight said as he watched the last rays of the sunset fade into the darkening sky. “It’s on the edge of town, so there’s less light pollution, and there aren’t any trees or mountains to block the view. I wish I had my telescope.”

“And you have a great view of the whole orchard,” Velvet added. “I can see why you come here so often. It’s beautiful.”

“And you say you watched the meteor show from here? That must have been amazing.” Nightlight sighed wistfully. “I got to monitor it from the Canterlot Observatory, but it’s just not quite the same. Not that it isn’t very nice now, of course. I wish I had somewhere like this.”

“Yeah, I come out here whenever I need to think,” Applejack said. “It’s good for clearin’ your head. Not to mention it’s where Twilight and I first decided to start goin’ out.”

“Oh, is it?” Velvet asked with a smile.

Twilight nodded. “Applejack said that she wanted to meet me here to...uh… give me her answer. I barely made it out here, my knees were shaking so hard!”

“What, you think I had it easy?” Applejack said with a laugh. “I was a nervous wreck. I had no clue what I was even gonna say to you. I knew I needed to talk to you again before I decided anything, but I really didn’t have any idea how things were going to go.”

Twilight smiled and leaned against Applejack. “For what it’s worth, I think you made the right choice.”

Applejack returned the smile and gently rubbed her cheek against Twilight’s. “So do I.”

“AWWWWWWW!” Nightlight grinned like a loon.

Velvet jabbed him in the side. “Dear, they were having a moment!”

“They’re young. They’ve got time to have plenty of ‘moments’,” he scoffed. “When we head back to Canterlot tomorrow, they’ll have all the time in the world for that.”

“Speaking of which, it’s probably high time we headed back to the library,” Velvet said, slowly pushing her husband in the direction of the path. “Maybe we can catch Spike before he goes to bed.”

“We can find our way back to the house,” Nightlight said. Then he winked. “Don’t worry about curfew, Twilight. You can stay out as late as you want.”

Twilight blushed slightly. “Um, I think I’ll be heading back too. I’m pretty tired.”

Applejack nodded. “Yeah, I gotta go put Apple Bloom to bed soon, anyway.” She pawed at the ground for a moment. “Well, it was real great meetin’ the two of you. You’ll have to visit again sometime.”

“We certainly will!” Velvet said with a smile.

“Maybe it’ll be for the wedding,” Nightlight added, a smirk on his face.

“And now we should be going.” Velvet gave Nightlight a shove. “It was lovely meeting you, Applejack. We’re both glad to see that our daughter found somepony like you.”

“T-thanks.”

Nightlight waved at the couple. “We’ll see you back at the house, Twilight.” He nodded at Velvet and the two of them headed down the path.

As they disappeared from view, Applejack let out a long sigh of relief.

“What’s that for?” Twilight said, giving Applejack a gentle poke. “It wasn’t that bad, was it?”

“For a bit at the beginning I thought your dad was gonna chew me out.” She laughed and swiped a hoof across her forehead. “I like them, though. They’re fun. Takes a bit of getting used to, though.”

“Yeah, he can be like that. I think they liked you.”

“That’s good to know.” Applejack sat on the grass, careful to keep the hem of her dress out of the dirt. “I’m glad I made a good impression.”

Twilight sat next to her. “So are you feeling a bit better now?”

“Oh, definitely. Really, once we got passed all that introducin’ and got to the plain old talkin’ I was in the clear. You’ve got great parents, Twilight.” She sighed, and stared up at the moon. “It’s just…”

“Hm?”

“It’s nothing.”

“You’re thinking about your parents, aren’t you?”

Applejack nodded. “I was just thinkin’ about what my parents would’ve thought about you.”

Twilight put a foreleg around Applejack’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Do you think they would’ve liked me?”

“I’m sure they would’ve. Might have taken a bit of time to get used to you, though. They’d think it was real strange that I went out with somepony so… bookish. They’d probably expect me to go for somepony who’d be more up for life on the farm, not somepony who’d rather be in a library studying. They wouldn’t know what to make of it.”

Twilight cocked her head. “You don’t think they’d approve?”

“What? No. I think they’d be fine with you. They just… I think it would take some time for them to understand you, that’s all. Our family just hasn’t had a lot of eggheads in it.”

“Yeah, I understand that. My parents were kinda surprised when I first told them about you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, they assumed I was dating Cheerilee. You know, because she’s a teacher, and I’m a nerd, and all that.”

Applejack chuckled. “They sure wouldn’t be the first ponies to think of it that way. Though I’m sure my brother appreciates it that you left her alone. I know I sure prefer it this way.” She paused long enough for Twilight to smile pleasantly. “If she’s datin’ Big Macintosh, it means they’ll handle all of Apple Bloom’s school stuff and I don’t have to deal with it as much.”

Twilight shook with stifled laughter. “So the real reason you went out with me was a roundabout way to leave Cheerilee free for Big Mac?”

“You caught me!” Applejack said with mock seriousness. “Speakin’ of Apple Bloom, it’s about time for her to go to bed, so I should probably get goin’.” She stood. “You still up for lunch tomorrow?”

“I’ll meet you at the library after I see my parents off at the train station. I’m already looking forward to it.”

She leaned forward, and the two of them pressed their lips together for a long moment.

“I’m already lookin’ forward to it,” Applejack said. “Goodnight, Twilight. See you tomorrow.”

Twilight yawned as she opened the door to the library. Even though it was hardly late (especially not by her standards), she felt just about ready to tumble into bed. Then she stepped into the room and realized that she probably wouldn’t get that chance for a while yet. Spike was sitting at the table, shuffling a deck of cards.

“Hey, Twilight!” Spike waved. “Your parents were just telling me how everything went.”

“Back already?” Nightlight emerged from the kitchen, a large plate of nachos hovering in front of him. “When you said that you would be coming along in a few minutes, I thought you were just being modest. You sure you don’t want to double back to the farm?”

Twilight glared at him, then wagged her head in Spike’s direction. Spike scratched his head. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

“It’s nothing.” Twilight said, continuing to glare daggers at her father, who was trying not to smile too widely.

“Oh, you’re back!” Twilight’s mother followed Nightlight out of the kitchen. “Just in time to join our poker game!” She turned to Nightlight. “I told you that we needed enough food for four!” She set the two bowls she was carrying on the table. One was filled with popcorn, and smelled delicious. The second was filled with… something red with green specks, and Twilight didn’t want to risk smelling it.

“What is that?” she asked.

“That is your father’s attempt at making his own salsa.” Velvet delicately pushed the bowl towards Nightlight. “I wouldn’t suggest trying it, not after seeing how many peppers he put in there.”

“Well, I think it’s delicious.” Spike dipped a chip in and popped it into his mouth.

“You breathe fire, Spike, of course a pepper isn’t going to bother you,” Twilight shook her head. “I think I’ll pass. Anyway, everything went just fine with Applejack. We had a great time.”

“Of course you did,” Spike rolled his eyes. “I know Applejack well enough to know that you guys were going to be fine.” He shuffled the cards a final time. “You want in on the game?”

“Uh…”

“Come on, Twilight!” Velvet darted behind her and shoved her toward the table. “It’s been years since we all played anything.”

“And if you don’t, I’ll show Applejack all of your embarrassing baby pictures!” Nightlight chimed in.

“Fine, fine, I’ll play!” Twilight took a seat at the table. “But for the record, Applejack wouldn’t care about my baby pictures.”

“What about that one where you dressed up as a Vampire Carrot for Nightmare Night?” Spike giggled. “That one was a classic.”

“She probably wouldn’t even realize that it’s supposed to be embarrassing.” Twilight shrugged. “I bet she dressed up as an Apple for Nightmare Night at some point.”

“Well, if your father shows her those pictures, and she sticks with you, then you’ll know she’s a keeper,” Velvet said. “But seriously, going by our conversation, she’d probably just offer to show you some of her own pictures.”

“Thanks, but I already know she’s a keeper,” Twilight said, popping a nacho into her mouth.

“Then why haven’t you bought a ring yet?”

“Dad! We’ve been over this. I don’t want to rush into things, okay?” She sighed. “It’s just too weird to think about it now. Can we please just start the game already?”

“Fine fine, we spent the whole night with Applejack, after all,” Nightlight shrugged and began to deal the cards. “We can talk about something else now. Like improvements to my salsa recipe.”

Twilight groaned. “Fine. Just give me my cards.”

“How’d things go with Twilight’s parents?” Apple Bloom asked as Applejack shooed her toward the bed. “Did they like you? Did you like them? Did they show you embarrasin’ pictures of Twilight from when she was a baby like Granny Smith does every time somepony visits?”

“Everything went fine, not that it’s any of your business. You brushed your teeth real good, right?”

“Of course!” Apple Bloom bounced once on the bed before settling under the covers. “What were they like?”

“They were really nice. I like ‘em. You’d probably like ‘em to. They’re a lot of fun, really. Kinda makes me wonder how Twilight turned out to be so into studyin’. And Twilight’s pretty sure that they liked me, too, so all things considered I think things went well.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah, it is. I even got to take ‘em on a tour of Sweet Apple Acres. They thought your clubhouse was really cool.”

“Really!?”

Applejack nodded as she tucked Apple Bloom in. “Yup. Twilight’s dad thinks you need a telescope, though. He even said he might have an extra one lying around that you could use.”

“That’s awesome!”

“Yeah, it is pretty nice of him. If he does give you a free telescope, you be sure to thank him, okay?”

“Okay!” Apple Bloom nodded enthusiastically. “It’s almost like Twilight’s family is gonna be part of ours!”

“Uh…” Applejack bit her lip. “Well, I dunno if I’d go quite that far…”

“Why not?”

“It’s… complicated,” Applejack said. “I’m not sure I’d be totally able to explain it.” She was silent for a moment, then patted Apple Bloom on the head. “It’s time for you to sleep now, okay? Goodnight.”

“Goodnight!”

Applejack closed the door behind her and sighed contentedly. Today had put a lot of fears to rest. Twilight had a great family, that much was sure. Twilight’s family is gonna be part of ours, huh? That wouldn’t be too bad.