Rarity is standing in place as she watches Twilight pace around the room. It’s been like this for a few hours now. Ever since she called her over to help her get ready for her date she hasn’t stood still for even a moment.
“Twilight you’re simply worrying over nothing.” Rarity says with a titter.
Twilight’s mind is somewhere else right now as she starts muttering to herself.
“I knew I should’ve made those reservations... Why did I think that inviting him over to my home for dinner was a good idea?”
“I think it’s rather sweet.” Rarity remarks.
“He’ll think I’m a whorse!” Twilight shouts at Rarity.
Rarity looks offended. “Really, Twilight? I doubt George would think of you in such a way. He seems like a very nice person.”
Twilight faces away from Rarity as her mind starts thinking of the worst possible outcomes.
“I’ve probably scared him away. He’ll think I’m just a broodmare in heat! It was stupid of me to think this would work.”
“Twilight!” Rarity grabs ahold of Twilight and shakes her a bit. “Will you snap out of it! I will hear no such words from you any longer!”
Twilight come to her senses a bit. “S-Sorry, Rarity. I... I’ve never dated anypony before. I don’t know what to do.”
Twilight covers her face feeling lost. This is her first date and she doesn’t want to ruin it. If it was with any other pony she probably wouldn’t mind so much but she really likes George and she wants everything to be perfect.
“I know you like him a lot, Twi, but you simply must control yourself.” Rarity lets out a sigh. “I’m sure he’s just as nervous, Dear. So just take it easy and be yourself.”
Twilight takes a few breaths, using the technique Cadance taught her. It helps a little but she’s still got a lot of butterflies in her stomach.
“Yeah, it’s not like you’re going this alone.” A cocky voice says beside her.
Twilight and Rarity flinch in surprise as they look up to see Rainbow Dash flying there.
“W-What are you doing here?!” Twilight asks.
“Duh, to help you with your date?” She states matter of factly.
“I...You...How?!”
“Everypony in Ponyville could hear you gushing to yourself last week about your date.”
Twilight face covers in a blush. She wasn’t talking that loud, was she?
“How rude!” Rarity comes in. “If Twilight wanted help then she’d ask you for it. So run along now.”
Rarity tries to wave Rainbow off but it doesn’t work. Rainbow rolls her eyes as she lands onto the ground next to Twilight.
“Listen, Twi. I think George is a cool guy. So if you’re into him, that’s fine by me. However, what Rarity doesn’t get is that he’s a meat eater. I can get Gilda here in five minutes to help make him a meal he’d never forget.”
That is a really good idea that Twilight didn’t think of. Rainbow’s right. George does eat meat and if they are going to have a meal together then she wants to make sure he enjoys it just as much as her. It’s not what she expected from her friend Rainbow but if she’s willing to help then who is she to deny her?
“Ok, call Gilda. Just, please, Rainbow... I really want this to work out.”
Rainbow chuckles. “With Gilda and I working the food, you don’t have to worry about that.”
“Do you mind if I help?” A timid voice calls out.
They all look over to see Fluttershy is standing there.
“Fluttershy, you too?” Twilight asks surprised.
Fluttershy nods. “Of course. I want you to be happy, Twilight.”
Twilight is about to burst into tears but then she gets a weird feeling.
“Um... Anypony else here?”
“Present!” Pinkie pops out from behind a pillar. “I’ll handle the ambiance. Super romantic.”
“Ahem.” Applejack shows herself too. “I don’t quite get what you see in him, Twi, but you’re my friend and I’m here to help. I’ll handle the drinks.”
“Thank you, thank you all.” Twilight says with a few tears. “Alright, let’s make this date perfect.”
“Why are you so nervous?” Celestia asks George.
“A lot is happening. It feels like I just came to Equestria yesterday and yet in a few hours I’m about to have a date with a pony.”
“Does that bother you?”
“No.” George adjusts his tie the best he can but his hands are shaking too much. “I just don’t want to screw things up. There’s so many things I don’t understand about pony culture.”
George stops with trying to fix his tie as he notices a golden glow surrounds and fixes it for him. He looks over to see Celestia giving him a smile.
“You’ll do fine. I’ll be honest, George. I’ve been worrying about you since you came to Equestria. You were always locked away in that library, content with simply being with those books. Yet here you are, about to go out and have a date. All it took was a few visits from Twilight.”
George lets out a sigh. “It’s surreal. There’s just something about her I can’t quite explain. When she’s around I just feel like I can go anywhere and not have a single care in the world.”
“There is so much you’ve yet to see, George. I hope she can show you the things that I could not.” Celestia turns to look at a clock on the wall. “It’s almost time for you to leave and I have work to do.”
Celestia turns away to leave but stops when she feels something rest onto her back.
“Thank you, for everything.”
Celestia smiles some as she continues to walk towards the door.
“Just be yourself and you’ll do fine.”
George is left by himself as he looks back at the mirror. Everything is ready, now all he has to do is get to Ponyville. By the time he arrives, it should be just on time.
George is now standing before Twilight’s castle. The evening has already set in, most of the ponies in town having went off to their own homes. There aren’t any guards at the front of the castle, so George simply knocks on the door. He waits a moment and soon the door is answered but not by the pony he expected. It’s Rarity.
“Perfect timing!” Rarity says with glee. “Please come in.”
George can’t even get a single word in as Rarity drags him inside with her magic.
“What are you doing here?”
“Hmm? Oh, Twilight needed a new dress and she came to me for help. I’ve actually just finished up.”
That makes sense. George remembers Rarity being into fashion. Rarity walks past him but stop briefly to say one thing.
“~Have fun~”
With that said Rarity trots off back to her home. She knows the rest of the girls have everything under control. George can only shake that little thing off as he looks around the empty main room of the castle. Should he call for someone or just wait?
“Ahem.” A small voice calls out next to him.
George looks over to his side to see Fluttershy standing there. She’s here too? Not only that but why is she wearing the top half of a tuxedo?
“Fluttershy?”
“Hi, George.” Fluttershy says before she remembers why she’s here. “Uh... I’ll be showing you to your seat. Twilight thought it would be nice to have a waiter to help out with your date.”
This is weird on so many different levels. If it was just some random pony serving him food, that’s one thing but a pony he knows? Still, maybe this is just a way for Twilight to not feel as nervous? That’s understandable and George wants to make sure Twilight is comfortable about this date.
Fluttershy leads George to the throne room, the center table now covered in a silk sheet of some kind. Not only that but the table appears to be far smaller than before and the thrones that sat around it have been removed and replaced with two large pillows. George takes his seat at the table and looks over at Fluttershy.
“Where’s Twilight?”
“She’ll be out in just a moment. Would you like anything to drink while you wait?”
“Water is fine.”
“Ok. I’ll be back in a moment.”
Fluttershy walks away leaving George to himself. This is going to be an interesting date for sure.
“Twilight?” Fluttershy pokes her head into Twilight’s room.
“Yes?” Twilight answers, putting on the finishing touches to her dress.
“George is here.”
Twilight freezes slightly in place. She can feel a bit of sweat on the top of her brow. She needs to calm down.
“T-Thank you, Fluttershy. I’ll be out in just a moment.”
“That’s fine. I’m bringing George a glass of water. Would you like some too?”
“Please, thank you.”
“Good luck!” Fluttershy says just before she closes the door.
“Luck...”
Yeah, she’ll need as much as she can get.
George is sitting in wait for Twilight. There’s not really much else he can do considering the situation. So when the door to the room opens, he’s excited to see who it is. Twilight walks into the room and finds George is looking at her eagerly. He’s probably been waiting for awhile.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Twilight says with a blush.
“No problem.”
George can feel his own face become red as he looks at Twilight. Her dress is rather pretty, nothing over the top, some would call it plain but he thinks it fits her well. She appears to be just as nervous as he is as she walks over to the table and takes her seat. The both of them are silent for a few moments.
“So, you had your friends help with today?” George asks.
Twilight nods some. “Yeah... I wanted it to be perfect.”
“So far so good...” Once again they fall silent but George tries to find a way to keep the conversation going. “I’ll be honest, Twi... I have no idea how dates are supposed to go. We’ve already talked a lot about ourselves, so what is there to talk about?”
“I guess it couldn’t hurt to talk about our dreams for the future?”
“That’s true... What do you expect for yourself in the future?”
Twilight takes a second to give it some thought. She’s had many thoughts about this subject, there are things she wishes to do before she grows old but she has no idea if those are things she can do with George or not, that’s assuming this even works out.
“I would like to travel. See things I’ve never seen before. I spent most of my life in Canterlot and when I came to Ponyville a lot of new things were shown to me. If that can happen with only a few miles, what else can I find with an entire world to explore?”
That’s an interesting thing for George to hear. He’s never really thought much about going out to see the world. Mostly content with the idea of reading about them rather than seeing them first hand.
“What about you?” Twilight adds.
Him? Hmm... There is one thing that George has in mind. Though it’s not really something he thought about too much until recently.
“I guess I’d like to bring a few items from my world to Equestria. You know, make things easier for all the ponies here.”
Twilight gets a sparkle in her eye hearing this.
“Really?” George nods. “Do you have a certain item in mind already?”
He does. Since talking to Twilight it’s been an item that he can’t get out of his head.
“Actually, yeah. I’m sure you’d love it too.”
Twilight has a large smile on her face as she looks excitedly at George.
“What is it?”
“Well, I guess you could say it’s a self contained quill and inkwell.”
“Self contained? I don’t think I understand...” Twilight looks confused.
“So, the idea behind it is that the inkwell and quill are merged together into one item. So you don’t need to constantly dip your quill into the ink and there’s no worries over spilling your ink.”
Twilight’s eyes widen at hearing that.
“How is that possible?”
“Do you have a quill and some ink laying around?”
Twilight instantly brings them. “Always.”
“Hand it over.”
Twilight gives George the items, he then pulls out a piece of parchment from his pocket. He gives a very rough sketch of a pen, detailing the inside that holds the ink and pointing out the tip that has a metal ball.
“This is the basic idea.” George hands over his sketch.
Twilight takes a second to look it over, taking in the detail. Her eyes seem to widen as everything comes together.
“This is so simple.” She states breathlessly.
“Yeah, I’m sure it’d be easy to make.”
“Easy to make?” Twilight looks at George with an almost bewildered look. “I can make this right now!”
“Really?”
“Of course! With the raw materials in my castle, I can create a prototype. With that, you could take it to a manufacturing pony to mass produce it.” Twilight looks a bit flustered. “T-This can change everything!”
“I wouldn’t say everything. It’s just convenient.”
“Convenient? Convenient?! This is groundbreaking!” Twilight seems to lose herself in thought. “I can imagine all of the ink I’ll save. How much time I can dedicate to writing instead of worrying about dipping my quill. There’s so many possi-”
“Dinner is ready!” A pony calls out.
Twilight and George looks over to see Fluttershy standing there with a tray on her back. She stops as she looks over at them with a blush on her face.
“Oh, um...” She walks over to them quietly as she sets their meals in front of them. “Dinner is served.”
With that said, she quickly walks out of the room. She knew she said something wrong. She should’ve let Rainbow Dash do this. She’s not fit to be a waitress. Twilight gets a large blush on her face once she realises how zealous she became about George's invention.
“Sorry, George. I-I just can’t believe I’ve never thought about an item like this before.”
“It’s alright. It took us awhile to figure it out too.”
Twilight decides to try and get back on track.
“Is it something you want to sell?” She asks.
That’s an interesting thought. “I’ll be honest, I haven’t thought that far.”
“I’m sure you’d become very wealthy.” Twilight assures him.
“It’s odd, having money on my world had a lot more meaning.” George remenises. “I can think of all the things I’d buy if I were rich there. Here, it’s not really the same. What could I do with money?”
“Lots of things.” Twilight comes in. “You could watch plays. Invest in a business. Maybe even travel?”
George has no idea if any of that stuff interests him. The fact is, money isn’t something he needs. He can maybe buy a home, which is nice but after that he doesn’t know what he’ll do. His thoughts wander over to Twilight. Her suggestions... He wouldn’t want to do them alone.
“I guess if you came with me I’d like that.” George says.
Twilight feels her face cover in a blush.
“I-I’d like that too.”
“So is there anything else you are interested in?”
“I’ve always wanted to write my own book on magic.” Twilight states. “A collection for all ages and skill ranges. I remember when I was a filly, some of those books weren’t easy to understand. Too complex than they needed to be. Since then, I’ve not seen a book that simplifies things for younger ponies.”
“So in a way, you want more ponies getting into magic?”
Twilight nods. “I realised that it was a problem when I met Rarity’s sister, Sweetie Belle. She can barely lift a broom, something all unicorns should know naturally. Who knows how many unicorns are out there that can’t even cast simple spells because they weren’t taught by a teacher.”
“Sounds rough.”
“It can be. Though with my book, I’d hope to help many unicorns.”
“Maybe your first book will be written with my pen?” George jokes.
Twilight smiles at that. “I’d like that. I’m sure it’d save me a lot of time.”
The mood feels considerably lighter than it was before. George looks down to his food remembering why they’re here. What he first lays eyes on is a bit of a shock to him. That’s meat, without a doubt. Not only that but it’s cooked too.
“I wanted to make sure you enjoyed this meal just as much as I did.” Twilight remarks noticing his shocked expression.
“Are you sure you’re alright with this?” George asks.
“Of course I’m alright with it. My friend Rainbow and Gilda worked really hard on making it for you. Gilda is a griffon and they know a lot about meat related foods.”
Gilda? Wait a second.
“The one Fluttershy talked about?”
Twilight nods with a large smile. “The very same. I don’t know too much about preparing meat, so I left it to someone who could.”
George is touched that Twilight would go so far just to make sure this date was perfect. So, he just gives her a large smile.
“We better not let our food get cold then. I’m sure they worked hard on it.”
Twilight too can feel herself smile. “That’s true.”
George and Twilight fall silent as they enjoy their meal. There’s a content feeling in the air between them.
The evening is finally coming to an end. All things considered, both Twilight and George think it went off without a hitch. After eating they spoke about a few other things and even went as far as to produce a prototype of that pen George talked about. They got so lost spending time with one another, that neither of them noticed when Twilight’s friends left for home to give them some privacy. Not to mention, that George didn’t realise that the last train to Canterlot had left hours ago.
So here George stands looking at the clock in some shock, Twilight in many ways feeling the same way as him but also a bit of excitement from what it entails.
“You know...” Twilight speaks to grab George's attention. “You can stay here with me. This castle may not be as big as Celestia’s but it has enough room for you to spend the night.”
George would be against such an idea, staying with a stranger, but Twilight is anything but that. Not to mention, he feels at ease around her.
“Sure.”
Twilight smiles widely at hearing that.
“Let me show you your room.”
Twilight walks the halls, it’s still new to her having such a big home but it didn’t take long for her to remember every door and room to this place. She stops before a door, an empty room for guests.
“This is your room.” She then points to a door that’s two doors down. “That’s my room, just in case you need anything.”
George opens the door and walks inside of his temporary room. It looks nice. The crystal aesthetic makes everything look rather fancy, so despite there not being much in the room, it has a rather high class feel. Twilight stands at the door unsure if she should walk in or not. Sure, this is her castle and all but this is his room. Plus it’s getting late and she’s not sure if he’s in the mood to talk anymore or is just plain tired.
Twilight feels exhausted but she doesn’t want to leave him. The thought of being away actually scares her a little. George notices that there’s a bookshelf in the room, curious he walks over and looks them over. There are actually many books here he’s never read before. It seems that Twilight went through the trouble of providing a large variety of books that any guest would like. However, one book catches his eye.
Twilight notices George reach for a book. She instantly recognises the cover. This isn’t a book that George has ever read before. He opens it and looks inside. It appears to be a picture book of some kind. Perhaps for foals? It’s a rather thick book but the first image he sees is something he recognises, Celestia and Luna. Albeit drawn but still recognizable.
“The tale of the two sisters.” Twilight speaks out.
George looks over to see she’s still standing at the door. Now that he thinks about it, it’s rather late and she probably doesn’t want to intrude... Still, he kinda doesn’t want her to leave. He can feel the book weigh heavy in his hand.
“Wanna read with me?” George asks.
Twilight’s eyes light up at hearing that. She nods quickly as she trots into his room. George looks around and finds there aren’t any seats here, so he heads over to the bed to get comfortable. Twilight follows after him and stands beside him as he takes a seat. He opens the book to the front page and notices out of the corner of his eye Twilight straining to look at the book, largely due to his height while sitting on the bed and the awkward angle. So, George does something he never expected himself to do, something bold.
He sets the book down to his side, reaches over, picks Twilight up and sits her between his legs. Twilight was completely shocked when this entire thing went down. Her face now covered in a blush as she looks up at George who is now sitting behind her.
“Better?” He asks.
“Y-Yeah.”
George picks up the book and opens it to the first page again. He’s never read this story before but since it’s a kids story it’s rather easy to follow. Another idea comes to him as the silence builds in the room.
“There once were two sisters.” He speaks calmly.
Twilight fills her heart flutter as George speaks. H-he’s actually reading to her? She’s read this story over a thousand times and yet hearing him read it to her makes it feels like it’s the first time she’s ever heard of the tale of the two sisters. She feels frantic and yet her heart is calm. George is being rather bold but Twilight can be just as bold! She leans back until her back is resting against George’s chest.
George wasn’t expecting Twilight to get so comfortable but that’s fine with him. He leans back a bit more too, allowing him to rest his back on the headboard. He notices that Twilight is a bit unstable while leaning back so far, so he moves his hand below her forelegs to better support her while he reads. Twilight can feel that redness on her face continue to grow. They’re almost laying in bed together. She’s so lost in the moment that she almost forgot George was reading.
His voice is soothing. Twilight can already feel the entire day starting to take its toll. Her eyes start to fall, her thoughts slipping. After a few minutes, George hears something. He looks down and can hear Twilight snoring lightly. It had been a rather exciting day and George feels just as tired. Yet, now he’s faced with a new dilemma... Does he wake Twilight up, take her to her room or simply get comfortable and follow her lead?
If this were any other pony. He’d wake them up, maybe even take them to their room but this isn’t any other pony. George feels comfortable around Twilight and the fact that she’s sleeping right now must means she feels the same way. Not to mention, the thought of Twilight not being here feels wrong in a way. So, George closes the book, sets it aside and moves Twilight to the other side of the bed.
Spooning would be too much but it’s fine if she’s on the other side. George lays down and turns his back to Twilight. This feels alright but still a bi-. George freezes some as he feels something wrap around him from behind. He can hear Twilight mumble something in her sleep. Well, it appears he’ll be the little spoon for tonight.