"'Ey, who's this filly?" one of the older stallions at the table asked, his foreleg around the chocolate-and-cream-colored mare beside him.
Another stallion of a slim and slender build snickered. "Pick up another stray off the streets, eh?"
Papa Pizza laughed loud and proud. "Why, you two, I outta!" He shook a hoof in their direction and laughter broke out across the table. "She isn't a stray! She was lookin' for us!"
"Really?" A mare, who was somewhere between brown and orange with a shock of white mane twisted in a braid, tilted her head. "Who is she?"
Crystal opened her mouth to speak, but Papa Pizza said over her, "Manners, eh? If a pony's at our table that makes 'em family!" He ushered Crystal into a seat and took his at the head of the table. "Now, speakin' of those manners, let's introduce ourselves, a'right?" He offered a smile that threatened to stretch wider than his bushy mustache. "I'm Pizzaiolo, padre to some of these rascals, nonno to most of 'em, and—would you believe it, eh?—bisnonno to that little sleepin' one over in Biscotti's lap."
He pointed at the mare who Crystal could only assume was Biscotti and she smiled. "Oh, he's adora—"
"Let's start there, okay?" Pizzaiolo drummed his hooves on the table. "So, Biscotti is the wife to San Marzono, the son of my eldest, Cheesy Crust. That's the smart mouth saccente over there with 'is sweet wife, Cannoli. The sleepin' foal is my precious pronipote, Breadstick."
Cheesy Crust? Crystal's eyes widened. So, then, this really was her family? A hoof raised to cover her mouth when it fell open at the realization that followed. Her mother's name was a reference to... pizza?!
The stallion who had first spoken waved his free hoof, the other still holding the mare lovingly to his side. "How you doin'?"
Pizzaiolo winked. "Most of my bambini keep it Itailian, you know? 'Cept for Pretzi, hah!" He gestured at the mare with the white braid. "Pretzel Crust, eh, she's probably about your age. Must be somethin' about your generation. Whisperwind is the oddball of the family, no Itailian blood to speak of, if 'e ever spoke."
Laughter broke out across the table while the pegasus sitting at Pretzi's side ducked his head. Pretzi put a comforting hoof on his and offered him a small smile, which he returned, then she glared at her father.
"I—" Whisperwind started to say, but was verbally bowled over.
"You'd think bein' in this family, the colt'd pick up a word or two." Pizzaiolo turned his gaze on the young filly in Pretzi's lap. "But that's all right, 'e treats Pretzi right, and they got sweet little Foccacia to speak for 'im."
Crystal just nodded and did her best to keep track of the ponies. So far, she had two uncles, two aunts, three cousins, and... a cousin once removed?
"Now," Pizzaiolo continued, "back to Cheesy's kids. So we covered San Marzono. Can't skip over Margherita and Marinara. Marge, Mari, give a wave, will ya?"
Two more cousins! A mare of various red hues and another of red, white, and green waved at Crystal. She put on her best smile and waved back with barely enough time to open her mouth when plates wrapped in magic levitated over and onto the table like a gentle rain of food. There were breadsticks, garlic knots, three different types of pasta, a giant bowl of minestrone soup, and an oversized pizza divided into four quarters.
Crystal's eyes went wide as she looked over the spread. "Oh, wow, this—"
"And this will be la mia bellissima moglie, Fior di Latte, Mama Fior." Pizzaiolo inclined his head to smile at the tall, lithe mare who walked into the room with a pitcher of water and a few bottles of wine floating along behind her. "Ciao, amore mio."
"Mi scusi," several voices exclaimed while magic and the occasional hoof went wild, filling up the individual, personal plates from all the serving dishes.
Fior's light red magic pulled the cork out of one of the wine bottles and she started to fill the glasses, her eyes of the same color fixed on Crystal. "And who is our guest? She looks... fame."
A general murmur of consensus went around the room and Crystal found her plate suddenly full of a bit of everything.
"We're getting there, we're getting there," Pizzaiolo said, chuckling softly as he waved his hoof. "Now, who's left, eh?" His gaze sweeping across the table.
Two stallions raised their hooves, the foals in their laps bouncing up and down. One of them, a shocking combination of purple and orange, nearly jumped onto the table as she exclaimed, "Don't forget us, Nonno!"
Pizzaiolo laughed and slapped his knee. "Sì, sì! My other son, Thin Crust."
The slim and slender stallion bobbed his head, the voluminous curls of his mane exaggerating the movement. "And my husband, Flatbread."
"Ciao," the stallion sitting beside Thin Crust smiled. He lifted the filly in his lap and added, "This is Calzone, but we just call her Cal."
"And my name's Deep Dish!" The colt puffed out his chest. His dark brown, almost black mane had a streak of yellow running through it; neither he nor his sister resembled any of the other family members.
Thin Crust gave a knowing smile and winked as he said, "Yes, they're adopted."
Crystal flushed lightly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sta—"
"But enough about us!" Pizzaiolo clapped his hooves and turned his head toward Crystal. All the eyes in the room followed suit. "Who are you, cara?"
"What?" Crystal blinked, her eyes wide as she looked at all of them. "Wait, what? Why would you give me all of that introductions if you didn't know who I was?"
Cheesy Crust shrugged. "Why wouldn't you get to know a pony you're going to eat with? Or, in this case, sixteen ponies?"
A chorus of giggles and snickers agreed with him.
"But, I—" Crystal furrowed her brow, then tried to smile. She took a breath and said after searching for the right words, "My name is Crystal Wishes, and my mother is Upper Crust."
The whole room seemed to freeze. Not even a crumb fell from a raised breadstick. Every pony just stared at her, save for Pretzi, who tilted her head and asked, "Who's Upper Cru—"
Thin Crust slapped a hoof over her mouth. "Shh," he murmured when she gave a muffled complaint at being forcefully silenced.
Crystal's ears folded back as her aunts, uncles, and cousins started to rise from their chairs and shuffled out of the room. Her heart pounded against her ribs with sudden anxiety. "I-I'm sorry."
The door shut behind the last pony to leave, trapping her with Pizzaiolo and Fior, both of whom were staring at one another with unreadable expressions.
Crystal swallowed. "I—"
"So," Fior started, one brow raised, "is your father Jet Set? Or, by any chance, did she marry somepony else?"
"M-my father is Jet Set, ma'am." Crystal nodded meekly, uncertainly.
"Figlio di puttana," Pizzaiolo spat and folded his forelegs over his chest. "So, then, what do ya want? What are you after?"
"After?" Crystal squeaked. She shook her head and waved her hooves in a hurried, frantic movement. "Nothing! I just, well, she gave me your address, and..." Her ears drooped. "I wanted to meet my grandparents."
Another long, tense moment of silence held them until Fior broke it with a soft laugh. "Would you look at that!" She pushed back a strand of her short-cropped mane that had strayed into her face. "She sent 'er daughter into the mouth of the wolf."
Pizzaiolo leaned back into his seat and drummed his hooves idly on his stomach. "And without a clue, it seems. Guess our figlia 'asn't changed much, eh?"
Pretzi's voice shrieked from the other side of the door, "I have a sister?!"
"Hmm." Fior paused to look at the door with a stern glare, then returned her gaze to Crystal. "I suppose, then, she never told you about her family and why we disowned her."
"No, ma'am." Crystal shook her head.
"Please, call me Nonna." Fior smiled softly. "It's not your fault your mother decided to cast aside her family." She sighed and looked to her husband as she rose to her hooves. "Tesoro, I'm going to scold the children for sitting outside the door like piccole spie."
Pizzaiolo bobbed his head. "Sì, sì." After Fior had left the room and the door shut behind her with the sound of stallions laughing and mares squealing at her arrival, he let out a long sigh and slumped in his seat. "Never thought this day would come." He offered a small smile to Crystal. "I thought when we left Canterlot, that was that."
Crystal twiddled her hooves, trying to not look as nervous as she felt. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come. I didn't mean to resurface old wounds."
"Old wounds? Ahah! You think we'd be mad at gettin' to meet a pretty little nipotina? It's just a shock, you know? It's been over twenty years since we left Canterlot."
Crystal hesitated a moment before she leaned in toward him and asked, "Could you please tell me what happened?"
Pizzaiolo didn't answer for a while. Instead, he just looked around the dining room, the walls of which featured nigh countless pictures of the family over the years. Crystal followed his gaze and while she waited for him to reply, noted that none of them featured a pony she'd recognize as a younger Upper Crust.
"I moved the family to Canterlot to try expanding the family business," Pizzaiolo said into the silence. "Back when my padre was still Papa Pizza. I was very eager, you know? Too eager. Ready to become Papa Pizza." He sighed and shook his head. "I didn't know a thing about Canterlot. Fior, Cheesy, and I were downright miserable. Canterlot wasn't for us. But I was stubborn, determined to make it work, because I had moved us."
He tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. "We had Upper Crust there. The name seemed funny, you know? Upper Crust. It seemed fitting." His lips curled beneath his mustache into a deep frown. "Too fitting, I guess, because she was... different. Different from Cheesy and from us. Nothin' we ever did was good 'nough for 'er."
Crystal tried not to snort. That sounded familiar.
"When she started goin' to the academy, she got the hots for some colt. Jet Set. The pigliainculo who never worked a day in 'is life. Parents just gave 'im everything. Bet those 'ooves don't got one single mark on 'em!" He sneered, jerked his head to the side, and continued in a bitter mutter, "We tried to talk Uppsy out of it, but she wouldn't listen to a word we said. Told us it was 'er chance for a life we denied 'er and threatened to leave the house."
Pizzaiolo sighed, turning to look at her with a serious expression. "By that time, we'd had Thinsy and Pretzi. Learned our mistake with naming Uppsy the way we did, so we kept 'em closer to the family tradition. They wanted to move back to Chicagoat to be with their nonni, away from the pozzo nero that is Canterlot."
When he paused, Crystal pressed, "And?"
"We told Uppsy to pack 'er things. She refused." He glared at the table of food gone cold. "We told 'er family didn't leave family behind, and definitely not when it meant them livin' a vita di merda. She could've had more. Met a good, 'ard-workin' stallion with sweat on 'is 'ooves, to take care of 'er proper. But she was determined. Told us to leave without 'er, that she didn't want to be part of no 'low class' family."
Crystal could only nod as a strange combination of realization, understanding, and guilt swirled around her chest while too many thoughts buzzed around her head. Did her mother send her in an attempt to open her eyes? To make Crystal understand her side of things? Or was she completely unaware of the similarities between them?
Pizzaiolo shrugged. "So, we left. Told 'er she was on 'er own. If she didn't want to be a part of our family, then we didn't want 'er in it. That was the last we ever saw of 'er."
"But she's—she's your daughter!" Crystal furrowed her brow. "In all these years, you've never tried to find out if she were okay? Never wrote a letter?"
"Why should we make an effort for a pony who never did the same for us?" He glared at her.
"Because..." Crystal's ears drooped and she dropped her gaze to her lap. "Because that's exactly what she said, and it—it just doesn't seem right."
The door creaked open as Fior leaned her cream-colored head in. "Did she really?"
Crystal jolted upright and looked over at her grandmother. "Yes, ma'a—Nohn-na," she corrected with careful enunciation, testing the word before she smiled. "She told me not to come because you two had never done anything for me."
"Well, how could we!" Fior huffed. "She never told us we had a granddughter!"
A few heads poked around the door to peer at her. "So you're Uppsy's daughter?" Cheesy asked. "She still with that cazz—"
Pizzaiolo raised a hoof. "We already covered that, Cheesy. Time we thought about letting it go, eh?" He smiled at Crystal while all the ponies wandered back to their seats. "So, let's try this again. Tell us about yourself, will ya, cara?"
All eyes were on her and she shifted in her seat. "Well, to reiterate, my name is Crystal Wishes. I'm a—well, I'm a—" She held her breath. She had to get used to owning up to who she was if she planned to go through with revealing her identity someday. "I'm an author. A romance novelist, to be specific, actually."
Whisperwind's ears perked. "What—"
"That so?" Pizzaiolo grinned, leaning in toward her, as did the rest of the ponies at the table. "Like what? What've ya written?"
Heat rose to the tips of her ears. "I-I just released my third novel, Her Silent Love." Murmuring went around the table and she waved her hooves. "Any-anyway, I live in Canterlot, as do my parents, Upper Crust and Jet Set."
"'As do'?" Fior raised her brow. "Not 'with'?"
"No, Nonna." Crystal bit her lower lip. "I moved out to live with my best friend, Velvet Step." Another moment of hesitation as she felt the weight of all sixteen stares boring into her. "I suppose I can empathize with the less than positive feelings toward her in that as soon as an opportunity arose to move out, I took it."
Pizzaiolo was the first to laugh, followed by a soft chuckle from Fior and Cheesy's snicker. Pretzi leaned forward and asked, "Why is that so funny? I don't get the joke. Is she really that bad?"
Everypony seemed to wait for Crystal to answer. She sucked in a breath and cautiously explained, "She is a... very particular mare. My whole life she's tried to force me to follow in her hoofsteps." She glanced at Pizzaiolo and Fior—a familiar story. She shifted and continued, "I've resented her for most of it, but we've recently come to a bit of a neutral ground after we fought about my fiancé." Another familiar story.
It was all unsettlingly familiar. A heavy sense of empathy clouded her thoughts as they drifted over all the memories of growing up.
Flatbread's grin was poorly hidden by a hoof. "I was wondering if that ring was for décor... or somethin' more." He laughed when Thin Crust elbowed him in the side. "What? I was!"
Crystal went crosseyed trying to look at her own horn. "Oh, yes, I suppose that is actually why I came here." Her gaze wandered the faces at the table. "My wedding is in three months and I would absolutely love it if you all were there."
"Eh?" Pizzaiolo's smile fell. "You're invitin' us to your wedding? All of us? Ya sure about that, cara?"
"Absolutely!" Crystal puffed her chest with renewed vigor. "Family is family! Don't you agree?" She winked.
Boisterous laughter broke out again and Cheesy waggled a hoof at his father. "She's got ya there, Papa!" He grinned at Crystal. "Oh, you'll fit right in, I can tell."
Pizzaiolo chuckled, shaking his head. "We'll see, we'll see. Not gonna make any promises." He gazed at Crystal with a soft fondness in his eyes. "Tell me, 'ow did a nice, polite mare like you survive livin' in Canterlot ya whole life without gettin' chewed up?"
Crystal paused. She blinked a few times and opened her mouth to reply, but words failed her for a moment. After thinking it over, her lips curled into a smile and she started, "It's simple, actually, I suppose. I would have to thank my mother. She prepared me from a very young age to survive the best and the worst that Canterlot has to offer..."
Good luck to anypony trying to learn everypony's name at the wedding!
Wow, just wow.
And no, there is no way I can remember all the names.
....alright.... at this rate, Q&B universe might get it's own spreadsheet. That's a LOT of names.... 0.o
On a side note... wow that's a fair few similarities.... Poor Crystal.... poor Pizza family. Oh well, next chapter should be lighter, no? Can't wait until thursday!
Oh, this wedding's gonna be a hoot.
I think my brain shut down from all those names at once.
I'm pretty sure I already forgot everyone's name.
There were pizza puns though. And just general Itallian cooking puns as well.
When I realized that Upper Crust's name was a pizza pun, I damn near broke my nose from the ensuing facepalm .
Heh, sounds a bit like my family. A lot like my family, drama and all.
I'm assuming you know Italians IRL because that was too accurate.
Gosh, it's very sad to find out that Upper Crust was disowned. She brought it upon herself however. Calling her own family "low class" is a quick way to land on their bad side.
On another note, I LOVE how you played the whole "crust" part of her name to a pizza themed family. Perfect!
that's kind of sad… I really don't know what to say to this. At best I can relate to being the odd person out, especially with my family but… geez, that's harsh. I'm glad that Crystal got to meet of her grandparents, especially when I can imagine how they were react to Silent Knight.
Called it, whelp, i'm as satisfied as i can be for seeing what you alluded to.
Chicagoat should have given it away instantly though...
Thank you for another wonderful chapter, each is a gift.
-Jacklethekitsune
Let us hope Crystal Wishes uses her knew found power for good... unless Upper Crust does something to really deserve it.
Papa Pizza must be very happy with that granddaughter.
This chapter made me really really hungry. Someone play the Hungry Mare jingle.
Mirror Clone Theory debunked.
Upper Crust certainly is her parents daughter even if she didn't want to be.
Will we find out more about why Jet Set specifically is not so happy with them, or more of the background in general?
6642890
Spreadsheet or not spreadsheet with a side of timeline.
These grandparents seem like legitimately terrible people.
As someone who has a very large Italian side of the family I think you have done an excellent job with these last few chapters.
Well, even if Upper Crust's family disowns her, at least they won't do the same with Crystal Wishes.
Is this all of her mother's side of the family here? There's just 13 right? Damn that's unlucky. And I've forgotten every single one of their names.
And the big family appears. DUN DUN DUN
Holy mother of all plot twists I was not expecting this. Amazing chapter!!
That's quite the extended family. I'm guessing that these guys have approximately the same problem that Crystal's mother has, but instead of exalting the upper-class lifestyle, they're exalting the hard-working lifestyle.
Well..... the wedding is bound to be VERY interesting....
(great chapter!)
Considering Silent Knights promise to his mother, are we going to her and Crystal Wishes interact soon?
I have a feeling that papa pizza is gonna be super happy that crystal is marrying a house guard
Cuz of his approval of hard workers
See! Even Crystal is shocked it went there.
As for the family, they are endearing. I like them and I like the atmosphere they give off. I can already tell the wedding is gonna be awesome. with a hint of madness. But everyone needs that to make life interesting. Its good that she can relate to them as well, especially given the.. rocky relationship between them and Upper. And its good they are willing to accept her. I have a sneaking suspicion that Upper Crust did have the motive of trying to steer her away from "Lower Class" Life, and im sure it just backfired. anyway a great chapter and im happy to have read it.
6643223
Indeed ... I'm going to need more popcorn
6642848
You know, normally I'd say something about a freakin' storm of OC's like this. But I have a friend with a very stereotypical Italian family and they all came to her wedding, so this seems very familiar and I'm honestly not sure how much it's being deliberately exaggerated
Oh wow. Upper Crust really did burn some bridges.
6643066
Terrible for your ARTERIES.
Seriously though, it's difficult to tell how much of that falling out was whose fault. Not 100% of either, because as much as I expected Upper Crust to be a jackhole to her family, they clearly crossed a few lines too. But I expect the sheer scale of vitriol was in large part Upper Crust's doing.
I don't know how I forgot to mention this; All Hail Breadstick the 250th named character in the Quill & Blade setting!
Don't hail to loudly though as he is sleeping.
6642837 evil all of you
So, Crystal, how does it feel to be 1/2 Itailian? (I'm assuming Jet Set isn't Itailian.)
Also, I bet Upper is going to flip her lid clear out of Canterlot when she learns how the guest list is populated. This is going to be a nightmare for her. First, we have Raven and Willowy on the job of ceremony and location, and then we have the estranged halves of the families.
It would be funny if the wedding did for the Crust family what Upper Crust and Jet Set did for Velvet's family way back when...
I think I now need to revise my own character spreadsheet...
Huh... Interesting yet somehow more realistic than I expected. I suppose that comes from the middle ground this Chapter takes. It really is no pony's fault. Things just happened. I was expecting some sort of drama or tragedy that would put Upper Crust in a more sympathetic light, but in the end it was all a series of horrible coincidences. Upper Crust was always Upper Crust -- although probably a bit more uppity now. Her family was like Velvet's originally was and just couldn't relate to the city, so while she managed to survive and thrive her family couldn't and then they all overreacted upon separating... Probably from those traditional big family values...
Wait...
Oh my gosh...
Was that Upper Crust's reasoning for helping Velvet's family those many many chapter's ago? Their family was in the exact same predicament, and the only reason they stayed as long as they did was because Velvet was friends with Crystal... Did you plan the general gist of this development that long ago? Or is it crazy coincidence?
*phew* Google translate got a workout this chapter, though I laughed hard seeing "Figlio di puttana" translated.
Bit sad, especially realizing that history is sort of repeating itself with Upper and Crystal, though at least Crystal is at least trying to be civil. Also I'm glad Upper wasn't entirely 100% in the wrong, there's plenty of blame to go around on both sides.
Oh yessssss.
Being from a fairly sizable family myself (youngest of six from the same two parents, with more nibblings than I remember the exact count of), this is delightful.
The large quantities of Italian food being served doesn't hurt either.
Uh oh!
Yikes, this is suddenly very rocky.
Oh wow.
You know, I can't entirely blame Upper for her decision to stay in Canterlot as described here. If she was of age to move out on her own, demanding that she move back to Chicagoat with the rest of the family and break up with the pony she was (apparently) going to have a marriage and family with is not really a 100% reasonable request. Now that said, it sounds like she didn't exactly handle it well, but from the description here it doesn't sound like her parents handled it well either. The reasons listed for disliking Jet are a total pile of you know what, and whatever his prospects looked like at the time, he clearly did well for his family and did not actually provide just a vita di merda. It smells a bit of classism, to be honest. But hey, at least they didn't hold it against their granddaughter, though that may be at least partially due to the passage of time dulling the resentment.
Also, this reveal lends some interesting context to Crystal's parents' decision to continue supporting her after she moved out into the condo with Velvet.
Oh yeah, this should be fun, even if just some of them attend.
6643405
Ooooo, nice analysis. I am very impressed if this was planned from that far back.
.....HOW many names were there? I couldn't remember all the Dwarves' names in the Hobbit movies, and I think there's a lot more than just twelve.....
..
..
..
..
I feel REALLY bad for anyone that only reads Secrets and get a massive character dump when Silent and Crystal's wedding comes around.....
Okay so I've spent 20 minutes or so trying to come up with my thoughts on Crystal's grandparents since they bugged me (and not just because there are like 30 new names to forget ), but I'm not a particularly articulate person so this is the best I could come up with:
Eh, can't say that I like or understand the grandparents. They are so similar, yet so different from my mom's side of the family: they are PA Dutch farmers who also believe in hard work and family. Yet, they certainly aren't going to throw a fit if you don't marry someone they approve of (they will tell you though...) or if you decide to move away and not really respond back to them. They would just wish you luck and tell you that you are always welcome back. So it's very odd and unthinkable to me that the grandparents wanted to disown Upper Crust simply because she married someone they didn't approve of and didn't want to move back with them. TBH, it's probably a cultural difference, but it struck me as a childish and petty response from the grandparents as my mom's family always taught me that family is the most important thing in life, but a family member's happiness is also important (or something like that).
Doesn't really make me think of Upper Crust any better as she seems to be doing to Crystal as her parents did to her (minus the disowning) so daughter like mother/father? Though Zeroxion231 does have any interesting analysis about this possibly being part of Upper Crust's reasoning for helping Velvet's family...
I so hate the "hard working" believers. My grand father is like that and it does not understand that working with you brain is also quite demanding. I can understand Upper Crust choice very well.
Okay, let me start off by saying that it's totally okay if you don't remember a single name. I took a bit of a gamble by introducing all of them (it took just over 1,000 words before they actually asked who Crystal was) and overloading with so many names, but I wanted to try to emulate the feeling of being overwhelmed by meeting sixteen ponies all at once. It's chaos, you definitely won't remember any of them, and you have no idea who is who by the end of things.
I may do some minifics at some point with some of them—Pretzel Crust and Whisperwind, for example, are totally adorable. I'd also like to do a minific for Thin Crust and Flatbread. The Mar Trio (Marzo, Marge, and Mari) are a fun bunch, too. Nonetheless, although they may reappear later, they are content to stay in Chicagoat and Crystal is content to stay in Canterlot. It's definitely not going to be required to remember all of them.
And, for your convenience if you're curious: Crystal's Family Tree!
Okay, time for responses!
6642848 It's okay! You're definitely not expected to. If they come up again, Crystal will need a refresher, too, so there will be some context if any show up at her doorstep.
6642890 Oh, trust me, the next chapter will be heavier. ...
6642897 Hopefully there will be no fowl play!
6642915 Mission accomplished!
6642935 It's okay, neither will Crystal.
6642969 Blame Anzel! He came up with the idea originally.
6643002 I actually don't! I read a couple articles and blogs and watched a few video blogs of people who were Italian. Then I crossed my fingers and prayed that I didn't offend any actual Italians.
6643021 Yeah, there is some blame on both sides for sure. Hopefully Crystal will help the healing process... or make it worse! Who knows!
6643024 I tried to frame the sad with silly and fun so it wouldn't hurt too much to hear Crystal's grandparents side of things.
6643031 You did call it indeed! And, oh gosh, thank you. Each comment (well, 99% of them, anyway) is a gift for me!
6643038 Oh, yes, Papa Pizza loves Margherita. (She's really colored after the tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil, but nice coincidence, eh?)
I don't know exactly how/if it'll come up, but Fior and Jet Set fought. A lot. Fior made her less-than-stellar opinion of him very clear on several occasions and he's always felt unfairly judged. They assumed a lot about him because of his parents and his upbringing that they never gave him a chance. They also insisted that their way was best for Upper Crust, when she made it clear she strongly disagreed.
6643066 They definitely took a pretty strong course of action.
6643072 Aahh! I'm so happy to hear that. I was legitimately worried I'd offend someone because I only know one Italian woman, and did most of my research through blogs, articles, and video blogs. That relieves a LOT of my worry, so thank you!
6643105 Family is pretty important to them... Not enough, apparently, to repair a bridge on their own, but enough that they'll not blame their granddaughter for the parents!
6643113 You know you like it.
6643142 Sixteen—the grandparents and fourteen uncles, aunts, and cousins all told. The "thirteen" in the previous chapter was because the foal, Breadstick, was sleeping.
6643169 Big is an understatement!
6643180 Glad to amaze and surprise! It was a really fun chapter to write.
6643183 They do DEFINITELY value getting your hooves dirty. If you didn't work for it, then you can't appreciate it, they say.
6643223 Yes indeed! And thank you!
6643238 Refresh my memory—what promise are you referring to? Wallflower is in Cloudsdale, so unless she comes to visit, they probably won't see each other again until the wedding.
6643257 There is no denying that guards have to work for what they have, and that's what Papa Pizza respects!
6643259 She was very shocked. I don't think she ever saw that coming. And I'm glad you liked it! Yes, Upper Crust definitely wanted better for Crystal (sound familiar?...)
6643283 Don't forget to share!
6643292 Yeah, normally I would definitely not throw sixteen new ponies at a reader all at once, but I wanted that feeling of a chaotic storm, so... I gambled that I wouldn't get too much backlash for the choice! Whoo! Yeah, Pretzel was very young when they moved back to Chicagoat, and they never spoke about her... so Pretzi had no idea.
6643375 Evil? Don't you mean awesome?
6643382 It should be really interesting to see how Crystal approaches this. My favorite mental image, currently, is Upper Crust opening the door and a pizza delivery pony is standing there, with a pizza that has toppings arranged to spell out "I KNOW."
6643444 Hahahah. I really enjoyed my page of Italian insults. Whoo, boy. That one was my favorite! And, yes. I wanted it to be grey—not totally Uppsy's fault, not totally their fault, with both sides blaming the other and neither giving any ground.
6643587 Sixteen, but it's okay, you really don't need to remember any of them.
6643648 That is totally fine to not like them. I believe that if everyone likes or dislikes a character then I'm not portraying them correctly. That's why I try to frame my characters in shades of grey (... that story has really ruined a perfectly great idiom) rather than black and white! Disowning and cutting all contact from her is a really strong reaction and not one that everyone can (or should) agree with or understand.
6643747 Yes, the strong pushing for "hard working" can put some pretty strong blinders on to other ways of life!
6643783 That's good to hear.
6643783 Should see my dad's family lol
6643783
Haha. Good job recreating the overwhelming atmosphere of meeting so many new people at once.
6643783
That would be so wonderful.
6643448 You're definitely not wrong about it smelling of classism. They saw the son of a very wealthy family and made some pretty harsh assumptions about him. That's why he said what he said in Secrets about hating his mother-in-law; she was the most vocal about her dislike for him and was very clear as to why, and never gave him a chance to show her otherwise.
6643405 Okay, I'll be upfront and frank and say... yes and no.
The specifics of Upper Crust's family were a mystery to me until a few months ago when Anzel and I realized the fun we could have with her name. I did, however, know a few details from very early on:
- Upper Crust and her parents were at odds because of different desired lifestyles
- Her parents were "ordinary ponies"
- They tried to force her into living their way of life (for the parallels for how Upper Crust raises Crystal)
- They did NOT like Jet Set because he was "rich and spoiled"
- They were no longer in Canterlot, having moved away after Upper Crust chose Jet Set over them
Other than that, they were a big ol' question mark. All of that has always factored in to Upper Crust and Crystal's relationship, though. When Upper Crust looked at Crystal back at the first cupcake tasting, she saw herself. She saw that Crystal was trying to make a life for herself, and for her friend, so she acted the way she did. She wanted the better life for her daughter, and that extended to the filly that clearly meant so much to Crystal. Upper Crust has actually always liked Velvet, just not as a romantic partner for Crystal.
So... yes, sort of. No, kind of.
Yikes.
Wish I could say that the family literally flat-out disowning someone for basically romancing and preparing to marry the wrong person was unfamiliar to me. I know someone it happened to, though, and according the them it is very common in their ethnic group. (Won't say which because don't wish to start an argument but according their logic it makes a lot of sense).
To sum up her explanation- marrying who she wanted required basically telling her family they could stuff their traditions and their heritage because she was going to do what she wanted. Her family viewed that as betraying her ethnicity and heritage. It wasn't just that she was disobeying them, it was that she was ignoring 'the way things are done' to do it. Of course, 'the way things are done' was archaic.
The flip side, of course, is that she really did lose out on a lot of her heritage because of the separation, and that bothers her because the homogenized american society isn't exactly supportive of the morality and spirituality she was raised with. And yeah, her kids have pretty much nothing in common with other kids of that ethnic background, and they notice that when they're clumped together for reasons.
Tough stuff.
6643783 I just hope to see more of her uncle/cousin that has a husband and those two kids, sounds very cute
6643823 It really is tough stuff. I'm sorry it happened to someone you know, though. It is definitely not something I want to write a lot about because there are so many convoluted issues wrapped up in it that people of different cultures can't always understand. Especially, like you said, when it involves things that are "archaic" and totally unfamiliar concepts to us.
6643832 Oh my gosh, Thin Crust and Flatbread. They will definitely be on my list of ponies I want to write minifics about, don't you worry.
6643839 I am not sure of the age of the kids, but I do want to see them interact with Dot...
Wait, are any of the ponies the same age as Velvet and single?
Because if so, methinks Velvet will begin rethinking being honoury sisters to Crystal
6643292
Well it sounds like they tried to separate her from Jet purely based on his family and when she didn't want to do that they just left and never spoke to her again? It definitely seems like they were the ones to offer an ultimatum and cut off all contact. If anything this revelation makes Upper Crust a lot more sympathetic because for all of her disagreements with Crystal, she has never abandoned her or repeated her parents mistakes.
These ponies have all of the same faults of the canterlot elite plus a few more, it's just hidden within a quirky veneer. We saw Jets father try to manipulate him and we hated him for it, the same should apply to Uppers parents. They're no different. I'm surprised they didn't fit right in at Canterlot, they seem perfect for it.
6643854 Their kids would be just about the same age as Dot, yup! Plus Sunset Coffee will be there (I mean, how could he and his family not be invited). Blue Belle is a little younger than them, and Violet even younger, but Dot will have a LOT of new ponies to play with at the wedding!
Margherita and Marinara are just about Crystal and Velvet's age (Marge a little older, Mari maybe a year-ish younger), and they're both single.