Mrs. Pie fixed her mane bun and straightened her glasses. She held her breath as she opened the front door. She let out a sigh of relief as her fears were dismissed.
"Maud. So good to see you home." She placed a hoof around her eldest daughter's neck.
"Hello, mother," Maud said in her usual deadpan tone.
"I've been wondering when you'd arrive. Your sisters and I have been tidying up the place. So, can you give me an idea on Pinkamena's new special somepony? What's he like? What kind of family does he come from? He wouldn't happen to also come from a rock farm, would he?"
Maud stepped inside and dropped her duffle bag on the floor. "He's fine."
Mrs. Pie place a hoof over her mouth, and let out a sniffle. "I'm sorry, dear. I'm just a little overwhelmed and excited to meet this stallion who stole my little filly's heart!"
Maud just blinked.
"We'll get you settled in your old room, and then you can help the girls move the rocks to the south fields before Pinkamena arrives with her—"
"We need to talk," Maud said.
Mrs. Pie turned around, her smile gone and her eyebrow raised. "What is it?"
Maud paused for a moment before telling her mother, quite blankly about Pinkie's new boyfriend. After she was done, Mrs. Pie took a weary breath and walked over to the couch on shaky legs, then she dropped on the sofa; she folded her glasses and placed them off to the side and covered her face with her hooves.
"Oh Celestia. Why?"
Maud sat beside her mother and put a good on her back. "You needed to know beforehoof."
Mrs. Pie steadied her breathing and looked up at her daughter. "I'm just, just..." She couldn't complete her sentence.
"It's okay."
Mrs. Pie frowned. "No. It's not okay. I-it's wrong!"
"Mother."
"How can you be okay with this, Maud?"
"Because he loves Pinkie."
Mrs. Pie let out a weary sigh. "I know Pinkie can be unpredictable, but I never thought she was..." She couldn't finish any of her sentences. "What will her father say? Oh, he's going to be furious!"
"I'm going to tell the others." Maud got up and started walking towards the back door. Mrs. Pie followed at a slow pace.
Out on the fields, Limestone and Marble were busy moving rocks as Mrs. Pie had already mentioned. The door to the house squeaked open, and Maud and her mother came trotting out. The two sisters halted their progress to go and greet their older sibling. After all the hellos had been said, Maud told them about Pinkie's special somepony. The sisters’ faces changed drastically, but unlike their mother, they were only surprised by what they heard; not disgusted.
"It's not that big of a deal, mother," Limestone said, "so what if he's foreign? Pinkie Pie has always been, well, different."
"Yeah, it's not that bad," Marble said. "I mean, what is it that makes it such a big deal in the first place?"
Mrs. Pie was a little disappointed in her daughter's ganging up on her. Without her husband, she had to fend for herself. "You girls don't understand that we were raised to believe to only marry and raise ponies of our own kind. Nowadays you younger ponies are off exploring and fondling with other ponies of other races. It's just unnatural."
Lime and Marble were taken aback, while Maud's expression had not changed.
"How can you say that, especially when Pinkie is bringing her boyfriend over today?" Limestone spoke with disappointment.
Mrs. Pie's ears dropped to the sides of her head.
“You can’t judge him until you’ve actually met him, no matter what species he is. This is Pinkie Pie we’re talking about.”
Mrs. Pie hung her head by her daughter’s words of criticism. “Alright. I may not approve of it, but I’ll at least act civil when they arrive.”
Limestone and Marble both went and gave their mother a hug, she embraced them both tightly.
~~~
After the Pies had finished moving all the rocks to the south fields, they all headed inside to get dinner ready, setting the table up, and preparing the cabbage stew. They would all engage in small talk time to time, but the tension hanging in the air made it difficult to start up any sort of meaningful conversation.
When the rapid knocking came from the front door, everypony fell silent. The only one who seemed perfectly calm was Maud. The Pies all walked to the entrance, the three daughters looked to their mother, and she nodded to them and then went to answer the door. She twisted the knob, and time seemed to have slowed down as she opened the door to reveal the smiling face of her youngest daughter.
“Mama!” Pinkie Pie squealed in her cheery voice as she dove forward and bear hugged her mother.
It was all so sudden for Mrs. Pie, however, it was as if Pinkie had squeezed all the tension right out of her. To hear her say “mama” washed all worries away from her bones. She returned the tight squeeze, happy to have her little filly back. After she let go of her mother, Pinkie went and gave a super duper Pinkie Pie hug to each one of her sisters before returning to the front door to face them all.
“Girls, Mama, I’d like to introduce you to my new boyfriend,” At that moment, Mrs. Pie’s warm smile quickly vanished as she watched the front door swing wide open to reveal the stone cold face of Pinkie’s boyfriend. “King Grover of Griffonstone!”
In front of the doorway stood the large marble stone griffon, claws up, face hardened, and a crown rested upon his head. Pinkie hopped in the air and swung her arms around his neck, and nuzzled the side of his face; tiny bits of rubble chipped away between their faces.
The Mrs. Pie and the twins were both stunned at the size of Pinkie’s lover, Maud kept her usual blank expression. At the very least, Limestone and Marble stepped forward to greet the griffon king.
“Hello, Grover,” the two said in unison.
The king said nothing, leaving an awkward silent to hang in the air between them.
“Come on, big bird, no time to get cold hooves now. These are my other two sisters, Limestone and Marble.” Pinkie Pie encouraged her special somegriffon.
“Hello, Lime and Marble,” Grover said in a tone similar to Pinkie’s but much deeper, while Pinkie mimicked his words behind his back. “I didn’t know that Pinkie’s looks were genetic.”
The two pie sisters grinned awkwardly and blushed slightly by his flattering words.
“Oh, thank you, Grover.” Limestone brushed her mane out of her face.
“Yes, very kind of you.” Marble held her awkward grin.
“Isn’t he just a charmer? That’s exactly the reason why I fell all over for him!” Pinkie said while tickling the griffon’s chin.
~~~
The dinner table was filled with silence except for Pinkie’s chatterbox rattling off everything she knew about Grover: how they met, his family history, their common interests, and some other things that didn’t really seem to contribute to the story.
For the most part, Limestone and Marble had warmed up to Grover, Mrs. Pie, however, was still unsettled about all this. A big part of her wanted to support her daughter and make her happy, but that part of her was locked inside while the part of her that resented and disapproved this was still well on her mind. Despite this, she kept her fake smile as best she could while sipping on her soup trying to look interested in her daughter’s conversation.
“So anywhoooooooo, after we got settled in at SugarCube Corner, I thought it would be great for you all to meet him! Maud came by—of course, you already knew that—and they really hit it off, right Maud!”
Maud made a small nod. “Boulder was very fond of him.” She picked her pet rock up off the table.
“Oh, yeah, and Gummy was very happy too! He and Grover couldn’t get enough of each other, they became best friends like instantaneantistantly!”
Mrs. Pie set her spoon down and adjusted her glasses. “So you two have officially—” she cleared her throat, “moved in with each other?”
“Yup! One-hundred and eleven percent official! He was a little sad having to leave Griffonstone, but, he was okay with leaving it all back there to live with me in Equestria with all my friends!” She cuddled up against his rock hard abs.
“Awwwwww!” The twins said.
“That’s so sweet that he would give up his kingdom for a simple life in pony country.” Limestone rested her head over her hooves.
Mrs. Pie’s mouth twitched slightly. She thought it was a very heartwarming story, something she used to dream of when she was just a filly. She wanted the best for her children when it came to being a rock farmer, but what she had forgotten was that Pinkie had been the one to change her outlook in raising her daughters. She thought putting them to work and disciplining them was all they needed to get past in life, but it was a miracle when Pinkie had gotten her Cutie mark, and showed her that a good family is a happy family. To keep her happy family, she had to understand what made Pinkie happy, and the way Pinkie looked at Grover undoubtedly made her smile brighter than ever before. It would still take time getting used to, but she was willing to give it a shot if it made her Pinkamena happy.
“Mama?” Pinkie Pie said.
Mrs. Pie jumped back to her senses again. “Yes, Pinkamena?”
“I was just asking when will papa be here?”
At the immediate mentioning of her father, Mrs. Pie’s heart sank. Her father is going to have a fit! She thought. Mrs. Pie looked to the clock that said a quarter to six. He would be coming home in any minute now! “O-Oh! He should be here in just a couple minutes.” She turned and faced her twin daughters with a look of distress in her eyes.
The two knew exactly what it meant, and they both excused themselves from the table and went outside to the backyard. They trotted down the back road that lead to their fields, and not too long afterwards they saw Mr. Pie walking in their direction.
“Hello, girls. What brings you out here?” He greeted them with a warm smile that only a father could provide.
“W-We just knew you would be coming home soon, and—”
“And we thought we’d take a detour around the fields! Because even though we moved the rocks, it would alway be a good thing to make sure we got every last one of them, right?” The two smiled from ear to ear.
“Well, I’m proud to see you two so devoted to the farm, but I’ve had a busy day, and your sisters, Maud and Pinkamena should be here. I think it’d be great to have us all be together like it was when y’all were little fillies.”
“Or we could—”
“Also, you mother kept going on about Pinkamena and her new coltfriend. Oh, she was just yipping this and that about this ol’ colt feller that got an eye for our little pinkie.”
“Right, about that, we could talk more about that while we—”
“Oh, hush, you two. We’ll have plenty of time in the morning to do our rounds on the fields, but for now let your old pa get settled in and have a good ol’ time with his family.”
“Oh, boy…” The two said as they helplessly followed their clueless father through the fields and up the steps to their house.
“From what I heard from reading Pinkie’s letter is that this feller comes from an old family, good history, I like it. I bet he’s bold, strong, a bit of a charmer, and… A GRIFFON!”
As soon as he shouted, all eyes were drawn to him. Mrs. Pie looked mortified at him, Maud stared blankly at him, and Pinkie was absolutely energized.
“Papa!” She hopped over the table with a spring in her hooves and continued to bounce over to the old stallion who paid little attention to her embraced, and dead in the eye of Grover with scorn.
“Papa, this is my coltfriend, Grover! He’s a king!”
“If he’s a king of anything, it’s a king of thorns in my side!”
“Papa?” Pinkie noticed the lack of returning hugs from her father, and finally saw the awful face he held. He walked out of her hug and stomped up the dinner table, eyes locked on the hard faced griffon.
“Your kind ain’t allowed to get with any of my daughters, not while this old feller still breathing air!”
“Daddy!” Pinkie gasped in horror. She ran over to her lover’s side and held his arm. “How can you say such a thing? Grover is the nicest griffon in all of Griffonstone!”
“I won’t have my daughter be dating some birdbrain from across the sea! There are far more suitable stallions that you could be with than this featherhead!”
“You’re wrong, daddy! It doesn’t matter if he’s a stallion, griffon, zebra, goo, or dragon; he loves me for me, and that’s all that matters to me.”
“Quartz, dear, you’re not seriously okay with this… this… thing being with our daughter.
Mrs. Pie froze in place, her eyes shifting from her husband to her youngest daughter. She knew no matter what she said she’d hurt somepony she cared about. It was a torn decision, but she thought in the end it would be for the best.
“Pinkamena,” she said in a somber tone, “know that I still love you, but you must understand that Grover isn’t the only creature out there you may fall in love with—”
“NO!” Pinkie cried out.
“There are plenty other rocks in the field, Pinkamena, some that are more suitable for you.”
“By your standards!” Marble spat out. “Grover could have saved Equestria and you’d still not approve simply because he’s a griffon!”
The dinning room quickly erupted in a full blown argument between Mr. and Mrs. Pie and Limestone and Marble Pie, while Maud, Pinkie, and Grover stayed out of it.
After the bickering went on for some more minutes, Pinkie couldn’t take another moment. “STOP IIIIIIIIIIIIIT!”
The pie’s who argued immediately stopped and stared at the sobbing Pinkie Pie. “A-All I wanted was to bring my special somegriffon to meet my family, but that has only made my family tear itself apart. I-I love him. Isn’t that not enough for you both?” She broke out in full tears and ran up the stairs to her old room. The door could be heard slam shut from the dining room.
The room was deathly silent for only a moment. Mr. Pie scanned the room, from the disappointed faces of Lime and Marble, to the heartbroken expression of his wife, to the blankness of Maud’s eyes; and the hard look given by Grover.
With a huff, he trotted out to the back, slamming the screen door shut.
~~~
Mr. Pie chewed on his piece of wheat while staring out at his open fields, hoping the air would calm his nerves.
His ear twitched, from behind he heard the sound of something heavy being dragged through the dirt, like a stone slab. He turn his head over his shoulder and saw it was Grover, he held his claws up in a defensive stance.
“Don’t you think you’ve done enough damage to my family already?” Mr. Pie said facing away.
“......”
“Humph, you think that’s going to change anything? You’re still a griffon, and it’s still an interspecies relationship!” He spat out his wheat.
“.....”
“Why? Because she’s my daughter. I have to look out for her, even if she thinks I’m only hurting her!”
“.....”
“It’s how we’ve always been, it’s how it’s supposed to be! There are no exceptions!”
“......”
“What are you saying?”
“....”
“H-How dare you think that! As if I would have never—”
“.....”
Mr. Pie started sweating. Old memories rushing back to his conscience. “N-No! I…”
“....!”
Mr. Pie hung his head in defeat, he couldn’t hide the past anymore. “Her name was Titeo. Oh, she was a sweet one, she was. She always talked about dancing on the big stage in Manehatten street.” Mr. Pie looked up to the sky with a sad smile of nostalgia.
“....?”
“...Yes. She was a beautiful dancer. And I loved her, stripes and all.”
“….?”
Mr. Pie frowned and closed his eyes. “My pa had beat some sense out of me, and I guess hers did too, because I never saw her afterwards. No note, no letter, nothing; just the memories we shared in those few months.”
“.......”
“After that, I quickly tried to forget all about her. The pain it caused was too much for me to bear. So I followed my pa’s words, grew up as a hardened stallion, got married to Quartz, and we had our little pies.”
Grover remained silent.
“And that’s it. It turns out that Pinkie had gotten it from me, I suppose. I never thought I’d ever put her through the same pain that I did.” He looked up at Grover with pain in his eyes. “I’m mighty sorry for all I said about you.”
“....”
“Yes, anything.”
“......”
Mr. Pie tightened his lips, he breathed deeply through his nose. “Just promise me one thing.”
“...”
“Take good care of my Pinkie.”
“..”
“Good lad.” Mr. Pie put on a warm smile.
~~~
Pinkie sobbed into her pillow as all of her sisters sat on the sides of her bed, trying their best to comfort the hurt Pie member. Their mother stood in the doorway, wanting to comfort her daughter, but knew it would only make things worse.
The back screen door shut, and there was a horrible scraping sound, like some heavy object was being dragged across the wooden floor. The noise made Pinkie lift her head up, still sniffing, but a look of optimism in her eyes. “Grover…”
The mares all followed Pinkie in an orderly fashioned line down the stairs, only stopping when she froze at the last few steps. Pinkie stared wide at what she saw. Her pa, and her Grover, standing side by side looking at her. Mr. Pie stepped forward, and took his hat off and placed it over his chest.
“Pinkie. After having a moment to talk with Grover, I want to give you my sincerest apologies, my dear. I was wrong to get in the way of you and Grover’s relationship. I had grown to be the hard and hateful pony my pa used to be when I was your age. I don’t intend to live making that same mistake.” He moved to the side and waved his hoof over to Grover.
Pinkie was at the verge of crying again, she ran up and hugged her father, who was surprised but returned her hug.
“I love you, papa!” Pinkie sniffled.
“As do I, Pinkie.”
They held each other for another long moment before letting each other go. Pinkie looked to the griffon king who had his claws up, just begging her to jump in them, which Pinkie did exactly. She wrapped her hooves around his neck and caressed his chin with her forehead.
“Oh, Grover, I love you too!” Pinkie let her tears fall from her face.
The rest of the Pie family gathered around the young couple, all of them holding a proud and warm smile on their face, even Maud’s lips cracked a bit.
And speaking of cracks, a chip in Grover’s chiseled nail fell to the floor, making a hard knock that got everypony’s attention. Pinkie looked down at the nail, and hopped off to investigate. She eyed the gray chip closely, poking it with her hoof. The nail crumbled to bits, and from inside hid a glimmering diamond. Pinkie gasped, as did every other pony in the room, minus Mr. Pie who just smiled ever more.
Pinkie covered her mouth with both of her hooves. She looked over to her father, who nodded in approval, then she turned back to Grover; her heart melting. “YES! YES! I WILL! I WILL MARRY YOU!” She ran up and tackled him, they tilted backwards and fell to the ground. Grover broke into a hundred pieces upon impact. Pinkie held the crumbled bits that was his neck.
The Pie family watched the scene, slack jawed, and unable to believe what they just witnessed.
“Well, I didn’t expect their marriage to crumble that quickly.” Mr. Pie said.
Fin
