Your Family and You

The mouthwatering scent of the cookout filled the warm spring air.

Five large pit-fired grills had been set up in front of Golden Oaks Library, and the flames crackled away merrily along with the sound of sizzling veggies. Kabobs of seasoned zucchini, summer squash, red peppers, mushrooms, red onions, and tomatoes roasted on two of the grates. Ebony kept an eye on them, turning them periodically as they cooked before removing the finished kabobs and placing them out on the serving table where ponies could grab them whenever they fancied. The kabobs weren’t all, though—the table was already laden with a sizable spread of chips, pretzels, carrots, celery, grape tomatoes, and several dozen varieties of sugar-coated fruit slices. Ponies swarmed the table, sampling and piling plates high with their favorites.

Twilight was using another cooking pit to grill up some hayburgers. She wore a simple yellow sundress that fluttered in the gentle breeze, while her mane was bunched up in a ponytail. Seasoning and flipping a dozen or so patties with ease, she gossiped cheerfully with Octavia, Rarity, and Fluttershy, the latter two wearing matching sun hats and sunglasses. The buttery pegasus enjoyed a kabob while Rarity was content with a fruit cocktail. Octavia just sipped a glass of water as she kept an eye on the inhabitants of the next cooking pit over.

The fourth grate had been taken over by a drooling Vinyl and Primrose. They cooked their own kabobs using any and all blood veggies that had matured enough for consumption (and several more that were probably still a little unripe). Both had already consumed several and had the used skewers sticking from their mouths as they sucked off the residual juices, watching the next batch of kabobs cook with unblinking, hunger-filled eyes.

And the last cooking pit was reserved for me and my special menu. Unlike the other pits, my pit was more embers than flame—a low, even heat for a slow cook. A metal lid covered the grate, helping trap the heat. My food had been cooking since sunrise—nearly six hours ago—and it was almost finished. While I waited for it to cook for the last few minutes, I nursed a root beer float I got from Pinkie while I conversed with the pony sitting next to me.

“What would you want your last meal to be if you could choose it?” Cadance asked as she sipped at her own root beer float.

“Manicotti with garlic bread,” I answered immediately.

Cadance’s ears perked. “Mani-what-i?”

“Manicotti,” I repeated. “Large pasta tubes that are stuffed with Ricotta cheese and parsley and cooked with a nice healthy tomato sauce, and topped with grated Parmesan cheese.”

“Huh…” She stirred her float for a moment before scooping out some ice cream. “Something so simple. May I ask why that dish in particular?”

“It’s only as simple as you want it to be,” I said. “It’s something that my mom used to make all the time. Every other Sunday was ‘Manicotti Day’. We’d get back home from church and the kitchen would just transform into a cacophony of smells and noise. She’d always make the sauce from scratch—crushed garlic, onions, tomatoes, seasonings, fresh basil, and parsley.” Closing my eyes, I let a small smile touch my lips. “She’d let it simmer as she stuffed the pasta and the aroma would fill the whole house. It’d only get worse when she was making the garlic bread until your stomach was begging for just a little taste of something.”

“Ah, so it has sentimental value,” Cadance hummed.

I nodded. “That, and it was also the last meal I had before being plucked into Equestria. I didn’t have any breakfast before work that day… so mom’s manicotti was my last taste of home before, well…”

Trailing off, I gestured around at the gathering in our front yard. A large banner hung between two posts in the ground that read ‘Happy Ponyville-versery!’ on it. Beneath the fluttering cloth, ponies mingled and conversed. Applejack and Big Mac were rolling up a couple of barrels underneath the banner, to replace the barrels of cider that had already been consumed. Pinkie had set up a couple of game stands off to the side for the foals, and the Crusaders were desperately trying to earn their cutie marks in cornhole. Rainbow Dash was encouraging them, a half-full mug of cider in her hoof.

Several other ponies from around town were present too: Aloe, Lotus, Ditzy and her little filly, Berry Punch, Piña Colada, Nurse Redheart, Mr. and Mrs. Cake and their foals, as well as a couple of others that happened to be passing by and were invited in. A couple had stopped over to congratulate me on my year-long achievement, while several others had come over just to catch up. Lotus in particular stuck around for a while to talk before joining her sister at the food table. A few just stopped in for a bite before leaving, but that had been the whole point—come when you want, leave when you want, eat what you want.

“So… this dish has sentimental value,” Cadance repeated her previous statement with a smirk.

“Yes,” I laughed. “It has sentimental value.”

Draining the last of her float, Cadance smacked her lips. “Have you thought about making the dish again? I might not know the entire process, but it sounds like an easy enough dish for you to replicate if you had it so often.”

“I’ve actually considered it. There were a couple of times I started to look for the ingredients I’d need for it.”

“What stopped you?”

“I… I didn’t want to ruin my memories by making it wrong,” I said softly. “It’s one of the few treasured memories I have of my old home, and I don’t want to sully it. I know it sounds stupid, but I’d rather never eat it again and always have the memories than make a bad dish and ruin everything.” Swirling the ice cream in my float, I frowned. “It sounds silly when I say it out loud, but it’s really how I feel.”

“No, I understand,” Cadance said softly. “It’s not silly. When I was a filly, my adoptive parents had an orange tree in their yard. Being a pegasus at the time, I used to snag fruit off the top branches to snack on whenever I could. When, well… when they… were no longer there, I grabbed five to take with me when I came to Canterlot. I made them last as long as I could, savoring each one as much as possible. Every orange I eat now I compare to those last five from my parents’ tree.” Her ears folded back. “And with each new orange I have, I can swear I feel the memory fading. It’s part of the reason I don’t eat them as often now. I… I’m afraid I’ll forget the taste completely.” She was silent for a moment before placing a wing on my leg. “What I’m trying to say is, I understand completely. Some memories are better left as just that. Memories.”

Tentatively, I placed a hand on her wing, taking comfort in the knowledge that someone else understood how I felt.

It was a few minutes later that Avera landed down beside the fire, her delivery cap still on her head and an empty delivery bag about her shoulders. She looked exhausted, and her feathers were disheveled.

“By the Frozen North, that was ridiculous,” she grunted.

“Busy morning?” I asked.

“You have no idea.” Removing her cap, she stowed it in the bag before tossing that towards the base of the library. “You’d think it’s the holidays with how many packages are going out these past few days. I swear my wings feel like they are going to fall off!” With a thump she sat down next to the cooking pit. “I’m starving, too. Is that special thing you were talking about finished yet?”

“Should just about be. Let’s take a look!” Placing my empty root beer mug on the ground, I picked up a hot mitt and gingerly lifted the lid off the grate, revealing four full racks of pork ribs covered in glistening barbeque sauce.

It had taken some searching on Twilight’s part—and several letters—but once I was in contact with them, the griffon butcher in Lower Canterlot was positively thrilled for the business. Ribs were apparently not a big seller in this part of the world—go figure—so someone looking to purchase a full rack, let alone four, was almost unheard of. It took some back and forth to convince her that I was serious about buying such an amount, but when the hen was satisfied it was legit, she sent over some of the biggest racks I had ever seen. While there might have been a lot of sapient creatures on Equus, there were also a lot of large non-sapient ones too. The racks she had sent me were nearly three feet in length, and they were so thick that I could barely get all four on the grill to be cooked.

Giving one of the racks a tentative poke with a set of tongs, I smiled at the tenderness of the meat.

“Oh, they’re done alright,” I said as I gripped a rack with the tongs. “You want a full one or half of one?”

“Oh my Celestia,” Avera breathed, drool rolling from her lips. Her fangs flashed. “Mama needs a full one. A big, fat, full one.”

“Alright! Coming right up!” Carefully lifting a rack off of the grate, I placed it on a plate that Cadance proffered up with her magic. It was so long that the last four ribs on either side hung over the edge of the plate, dripping barbeque sauce onto the ground.

I barely had the plate held out for Avera before she sank her teeth into the ribs. Meat tore and bones cracked and she moaned happily, cheeks bulging. She sucked the marrow from the bones noisily before swallowing everything. The next bite was just as large and messy as the first.

As Avera made noises that were borderline sexual next to me, I turned my attention to the two vampires at the next cooking pit over. “Oi! You guys want some of this?” Primrose shook her head, eyes remaining locked on her cooking blood veggies, but Vinyl got up and wandered over. Breaking off half a rack, I offered it to her before claiming the other half as my own.

“Not bad, brony,” Vinyl said as she sampled a rib. She didn’t crunch the bone like Avera; she just sucked on the rib before pulling just the bone out with her magic, leaving behind the meat. Savoring the morsel, she nodded slowly. “Not bad at all. It’s been a while since I’ve had something like this.” Popping another rib in her mouth, she pulled the bone free again. “I could get used to this.”

“Well, don’t,” I said around my own mouthful of meat. “Do you know how expensive this was? Special occasions only.” The meat was exquisite; it melted off the bone and the seasoning and barbeque had saturated it enough to make it flavorful. I found myself sucking my fingers after each bite, trying to get as much enjoyment as I could from the experience. It had been ages since I had a good rack of ribs—I was going to make the most of this. It also helped that I caught Twilight watching me as I licked my fingers, a faint blush on her cheeks. I, of course, didn’t mind putting on a show.

About the time Vinyl and I were working on our second halves (and Avera was plowing through another whole one), two new ponies walked up to the grill. Caught in my blind spot, I didn’t notice them at first, at least not until they made a beeline for me. Well, one of them did, at least, with the other one following close behind. When they finally entered my field of vision, I glanced over, only for my eyes to widen as I caught sight of the pair of sightless ones. Putting my plate aside, I quickly scooped up the one pony without whom I wouldn’t be having this party—without whom I would probably have never survived long enough to arrive at the library in the first place. My first real friend in this world of magic and friendship.

Settling back down in my chair, I cradled said pony in my arms, scratching her belly as I cooed. “Well hey there, butterbutt. How are you doing today? Glad you could make it.”

Sunny Breeze tittered happily, her blind eyes staring at a point just above my head. She pawed at my hand, trying to stop the tickling.

“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world!”