//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Love of the librarian // by Sarcastic Brony //------------------------------// George sits in his living room and looks out a window lost in thought. So much has been going on lately that he rarely gets the time to just sit and think on the past. It’s been months since Twilight and him had their first date and now things are so different. George looks over to one of his couches and finds Twilight resting there. It’s weird to think that they live together now in a house just outside of Ponyville. It was rather sudden but not something either of them felt was forced. They just wanted to be together and that was that. As for the castle? A portion of it was converted into a library, with the throne room being left in place for official Element business. Spike takes care of the place now, as he’s been growing large as of late and Twilight thought it was time to give him his space. Not like the kid wanted to see his sister being all lovey dovey with her special someone, so he didn’t object to Twilight moving out. He still visits and Twilight also checks on the castle from time to time. As for the rest of the elements? They’ve been nothing but supportive. Well, for the most part. George still gets the feeling that Applejack doesn’t like him but is willing to tolerate his presence for Twilight’s sake. They don’t really see each other much so it’s not that big of a deal to George. However, a good friend of his is actually Rainbow Dash. They got to talking one day and quickly became friends. Not to mention he got to meet Gilda and that put him into contact with a meat seller. So, it’s actually been really great for George. He still rides the train over to Canterlot every morning to help Strict Rule with all the sorting. Not to mention that Twilight has made contacts with a few manufacturers in Canterlot to help George get his pen produced. Though George made her promise to work on her book while this entire deal was being hashed out. Helping her with the process has been interesting too. Basically, George is a good analogue for gauging if what Twilight is talking about is simple to understand or not. Seeing as he knows next to nothing about magic. So every so often Twilight would come to him with a chapter on some kind of spell and give it to George. He would read it, not really trying too hard to understand it but seeing if it made sense. The chapter on levitation was the first he got from Twilight and after a few rewrites it actually made a lot of sense to George. While the chances of him being able to cast a spell is literally zero, he at least understood the concept. That’s why the both of them are so exhausted lately. Just a lot of stuff going on, almost too much to deal with. However they’ve been taking it one day at a time and helping the other wherever they could. George doesn’t even want to think about all the stuff they’ll need to do when Twilight’s ready to publish her book. He just hopes his pen production stuff is finished, if only to spare them the extra load. George lets out a sigh as he finds the morning sun starting to rise just beyond the horizon. He’s happy it’s the weekend. That means he doesn’t need to go to the royal library today but that doesn’t mean he can relax either. Twilight and him have a very important thing happening today. Something the two of them have been putting off for awhile now. It’s time for George to meet Twilight’s family. George adjusts his tie a bit as he’s starting to feel hot under the collar. “Relax, George. You’re acting like we’re about to face down a dragon.” Twilight remarks as the both of them sit side by side on a train to Canterlot. “These are your parents, Twi. What if they don’t like me?” “I love you and what my parents think won’t change how I feel.” George feels his face heat up a bit. “Why do you have to say it like that, Twi?” She nuzzles him with a smile. “Because it’s true. I love my parents but if they can’t accept you then that’s their problem. I don’t want to keep them in the dark about what’s happening between us, everything after that isn’t really important.” She then looks up at George. “Don’t get me wrong. If they like you then that’s fantastic but if they don’t then it’s nothing to worry about.” “I know, I just want to make sure things are good between you and your family.” “Well, I’m not sure about my parents but I know you really need to watch out for my brother. He’s very protective.” “Brother, right... Shining Armor if I remember correctly?” She nods. “Yup, captain of the solar guard.” Yeah, George has seen him every so often walking around the castle. He even came into the library to borrow a book a few times but the things he requested fell into Strict Rule’s area, so George never spoke to him personally. The only reason he even knew that he was related to Twilight was because she told him the story with the Changelings. “This is going to be a long day.” George remarks. “Well, how about this. If you try your best today, then I’ll try my best tonight.~” Now George is feeling hot under the collar for a different reason. “Are you sure you’re not in heat?” Twilight giggles at that. “No but you’ve taught me a lot about human mating habits.” It goes without saying that they’ve grown really close since their first date. After a few weeks, Twilight asked about humans and when they go into heat. To say that Twilight was surprised to hear that humans are always ready to mate is putting it lightly. Soon her curiosity grew and they decided to try and see if ponies were the same way. It was a very interesting night for both George and Twilight. To make a sexy story short, they did it and it was amazing. A lot was learned about their differences and how those differences made sex mind blowing. In the end, Twilight found out that having sex was great, even outside of her heat. So to say the both of them have been active in the bedroom is putting it lightly. “Don’t get me worked up before seeing your parents. That’s a new level of awkward I don’t want to deal with.” “Of course. Just remember what I said, everything will be just fine.” George takes a breath to calm himself. “I’ll try, Twi.” Twilight leans up for a kiss and George returns it without hesitating. Twilight’s right. It doesn’t matter what her parents think. He loves Twilight and that’s all that matters. They’re finally here. Twilight and George stand before a small home nestled between two others. A common way of making homes here in Canterlot. There’s not much George can say about the building but he knows that homes here in Canterlot are expensive, so Twilight’s parents must have a bit of money. Twilight walks up to the door and gives it a few knocks. George really wished Twilight told him something about her parents. Damn... He doesn’t want to worry so much but how can he not? It’s probably just the fact he’s meeting new ponies and those ponies happen to be the parents of his lover. Oh man, this is weird and really bothering him. George feels something rest on his leg and he looks down to see Twilight giving him a smile. It helps calm him down considerably, he just needs to play this by ear and see what happens. The door opens to reveal a mare that sorta looks like Twilight, albeit different colors for her fur and mane. “You’ve finally made it!” The mare says with glee as she quickly hugs Twilight. “Hey, Mom. How have things been?” “Great, as always.” Twilight’s mother pulls away and looks up to George. He can see how surprised she is as she looks back to Twilight. “This is him?” “Yup! George, this is my mother, Twilight Velvet. Mom, this is George.” “Hi.” George gives her a small wave. She looks unsure about all this as she ignores George and looks at Twilight. “I, um... I thought he was a pony?” The happy demeanor Twilight had slipped away as her face falls to one of annoyance. “Mom, don’t do this, not right now.” Twilight Velvet chuckles nervously. “Y-Yes... Of course. Please, come in.” George and Twilight walk into the living room as Velvet closes the door behind them. She walks around him, keeping a large distance between them as she heads over to the kitchen. This isn’t the reaction George was expecting but it’s not uncommon. Still, he doesn’t want to point out the obvious. “E-Everyone is waiting already.” She remarks. Once she leaves them alone, George looks down and notices the frown on Twilight’s face. He rests his hand onto her withers to help calm her. She snaps out of it for a bit as she looks up at George. “I love you.” He says. She smiles back at him. “I love you too.” That’s all that is said as they walk into the kitchen, ready for whatever is to come. George lets Twilight enter before him and as soon as he enters all eyes are on him. Not a single pony at the table is anything less than shocked. Twilight ignores their looks and takes her seat, looking up to George as she pats the empty seat next to her. He doesn’t linger as he sits beside her, everyone now looking nervous instead of shocked. “T-This is George?” Cadance breaks the silence. “Yup.” Twilight nods. “He’s, certainly not what I expected.” She admits as she turns her attention to George. “Are you perhaps the creature my aunt spoke to me about a few months ago?” “Most likely.” George can feel how tense everything is right now. Everyone falls silent again. This has got to be a worst case scenario and George has no idea what to say right now to make everything better. “George isn’t a pony. Alright?” Twilight speaks out. “Can we move on?” George notices that during this entire thing, Twilight’s father has been rubbing his chin in thought. “George? Why does that name sound familiar?” He asks to himself. Twilight leans over to George and whispers. “That’s my dad, Nightlight.” “Oh! I remember now! You’re the one that created how libraries are organized, right?” This is odd for George to actually see someone at this table looking excited about something related to him. “I didn’t create it personally. It’s a system that we use on my planet.” Nightlight’s eyes widen. “Y-Your planet? You come from another planet?” Oh no... Maybe he shouldn’t have said that? “Yeah.” “This... This is amazing!” Nightlight looks over to Twilight with a huge smile. “My theory! This changes everything!” Ok... George is lost. Twilight for the first time today actually feels a genuine smile on her face. She notices George's confusion and leans over to whisper something to him again. “My father’s an astronomer. I guess you could say he’s kinda like a scientist from your world. He’s been creating these theories that there are other planets like ours, places where life can exist.” “Dad, calm down.” Shining comes in. “You’ll give yourself a heart attack.” Nightlight regains his composure. “S-Sorry about that. It’s just, I’ve been working on this for a very long time and now I have actual proof!” He then looks over at George. “Can we talk later?” This is all so sudden but certainly a nice change of pace. “Uh... Sure?” “Great! I-uh...” He quickly gets out of his seat. “I gotta write this down!” Without pause, Nightlight gallops out of the room and to places unknown to George. Now, the five of them are left alone. Seems it’s time for the awkward to return. “I-I don’t like this.” Velvet speaks out. “First you bring home a non-pony and now I find out it’s not even from our world?” “Mom, I said don’t do this.” Twilight warns. “I thought I taught you better.” She says in disappointment. Twilight is shaking in anger. She can’t believe her mother is saying these things in front of George. Of all the times for her to do this she has to do it right now? “Mom, chill out.” Shining comes in. “There’s no reason to act like that.” “At least your brother brought home a pony.” Velvet says ignoring Shining. “Well... If they love each other, does it really matter?” Cadance tries to defuse the situation. “It does!” Velvet shouts. “The thought of that creature putting its dirty appendages on my daughter makes me sick!” George doesn’t know what to do. This has just gone full shitstorm. He wants to call Velvet out on what she’s saying but that’ll only make things worse. However, if he does nothing then this is going to get out of hand quickly. “How dare you?!” Twilight shouts as she stand up from her seat. “Don’t you speak about my special someone like that!” “Twilight, it’s alright.” George tries to calm her. “It’s not alright, George!” Twilight shouts never looking away from her mother. “I knew you’d act this way! Even when I was a filly I still remember all those terrible things you tried to teach me. How dangerous griffins were and how only ponies could be trusted! I thought you’d change but I was wrong!” Oh no... George can see that this is about to turn ugly. What can he do to help? “Everypony calm down!” Shining shouts loud enough to grab both Twilight and Velvet’s attention. “Sit down, both of you!” They follow his command without a word. “Dad! Get out here!” George can hear hoofsteps from above as they slowly come down what he can only guess is stairs and towards the kitchen. “Yes?” Nightlight asks as he pops his head in. Shining just waves over to his sister and mother. It takes him a moment to understand what’s going on. “Not this again.” He shakes his head as he enters into the kitchen. “I leave for one second and you two are at each other's throats.” He takes his seat again. “So, what is it this time?” “Mom is mad that George isn’t a pony.” Twilight remarks. Nightlight looks confused for a moment until he really gives George a good look. He rubs his eyes a bit and even pulls out his glasses. Until then, he’ll be honest, he thought George was a weirdly tall pony. Then again, that’s probably why he should always wear his glasses. He gets it now. “I see...” He lets out a sigh as he looks over to his wife. “Velvet, this is our daughter's special somepony... You can’t do this right now.” “He’s not a pony, Nightlight.” “That doesn’t change the fact that what you’re doing now is only going to hurt your relationship with our daughter and nothing more.” Velvet doesn’t say anything as she lets out a snort and quickly leaves the kitchen. All that does is make Nightlight give a sigh in response. He looks over to Twilight with some sorrow in his eyes. “I’ll talk to her, Honey.” He then looks up at George. “I uh... Guess this wasn’t a very good first meeting? Sorry about that.” “It’s not your fault.” George says. “I’ll be honest... It’s about as bad as I imagined.” He tries to joke but it does little to help the mood. “Can we do this another time?” Nightlight asks. “I think your mother needs some time.” “Fine by me.” Twilight says in an almost hollow tone. “Let’s go, George.” She doesn’t say anything else as she gets up from her seat and quickly leaves. George is stuck there for a moment, left alone with Cadance, Shining and Nightlight. This isn’t how he wants it to end, not like this. He looks over to Cadance as she desperately holds herself back from going after Twilight and her brother who has a sneer on his face, just looking at the table. “Are you two staying in Canterlot?” George asks. Cadance looks up at him and nods. “Yes, Hotel Canter.” George gives her a nod in return before following after Twilight. He quickly walks out into the streets and can see Twilight storming off in no particular direction. He has no idea where she’s headed but he runs to her side to try and stop her. “Twi, where are you going?” She doesn’t respond as she just keeps walking. George lays a firm hand on her withers to stop her and she freezes in place. “Tw-” It’s subtle but he can see a few teardrops fall from her cheek and onto the cobbled stone below. She’s starting to shake in place as he hears her trying her best to choke down her sobs. Thinking isn’t something he needs right now as he quickly gets to his knees and pulls Twilight to his chest. She wraps her hooves around him and doesn’t hold back any longer. George doesn’t know what else he can do other than hold onto Twilight and let her cry. He certainly wanted things to go better than they did but he’s not going to let this day be spoiled. He’ll salvage as much as he can and make this day something Twilight won’t regret. Twilight is now resting in bed as she’s sound asleep. George took her to the very same hotel Cadance and Shining are staying at and got themselves a room. Meeting Twilight’s parents didn’t go so well but he hopes that the same won’t happen when he meets with Twi’s brother. George gave a message to the pony at the front desk to give to Cadance, asking her to meet him and Twilight for dinner later with Shining. Of course, Twilight doesn’t know about any of this but George wants something to go right for Twilight today and he gets the feeling that Cadance will provide that. Her brother on the other hand, well, he just hopes it doesn’t go south like with her mother. All things considered, Nightlight seemed like a nice pony and Shining did try to calm his mother. George lets out a sigh. He’s thinking too much about this stuff. He takes off his jacket and sets it onto a nearby chair and crawls into bed with Twilight. He’s just as exhausted as she is and just having her close like this is helping him greatly. “We should just go home.” Twilight says as they walk towards the restaurant. “Pretend that none of this happened.” “You know we can’t do that, Twi. This is just a problem we have to face together. I’m sure Cadance won’t be as bad...” At least that’s what George hopes. “Yeah, I’m sure Cadance will be fine but what about my brother? It’s bad enough that I had to hear all that stuff from my mother... If I hear the same thing from Shining too, I don’t know what I’ll do.” George can see Twilight’s eyes starting to glisten. He rests a hand on her withers as she looks up at him. “No need to worry before we even get there. If your brother was going to say some nasty things about me, I’m sure he would’ve done it when your mother was there.” Twilight nods at that. “Y-Yeah, I guess you’re right.” George looks up to see that they’ve made it to the restaurant. It took a bit of doing but he managed to get the four of them a seat. Nothing like having Celestia as an emergency contact for whenever you need to smooth things over. They walk into the restaurant where a pony waits at a desk. “You must be George?” The pony asks with a raised brow. George nods. “Yeah, are our guests here?” “They’ve already arrived and are waiting. Please, follow me.” The waiter, showing utmost professionalism, doesn’t even react to George's appearance and simply grabs a few menus and shows the both of them to their seats. There sitting in wait is Shining and Cadance. George can already feel the awkward tension in the air. “May I take your orders?” The waiter asks. George is glad for the save there. The four of them look over their menus and give the waiter their orders. They’re going to be having a long chat so they might as well make sure dinner is on its way. However, the silence between the four of them is strong. Not a single one wants to say anything. “So...” George speaks out. “I guess we should get the elephant in the room out of the way.” “Elephant in the room?” Cadance looks confused. “It’s a saying his people use. It means there’s a problem he wants to address.” Twilight answers. “Yeah, so about what happened... It sucked and there’s not much else that can be said.” George says. “So, let’s pretend that didn’t happen and act like we’re meeting each other for the first time. It’s just easier this way.” Cadance and Shining look at one another and give a small nod before they return their attention to Twilight and George. “We can get behind that idea.” Cadance remarks. “Good... So, I’m George.” George starts to feel that nervousness coming back. “Twilight and I have been dating for three or so months now and she even moved into my house about two weeks back.” “You both live together?” Shining comes in. “Yeah, just outside of Ponyville.” Shining looks over to Twilight. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?” “Why didn’t you tell me about your wedding?” Twilight shoots back. Shining winces at hearing her say that. That seemed uncalled for. George leans down and whispers to Twilight. “Twi, it’s alright. Calm down.” He rests his hand onto her hoof and gives it a light squeeze. Twilight comes to her senses a bit. She’s really on edge about what happened with her mother. It’s understandable. “S-Sorry, Shining... I’m just still mad about what happened.” He gets it. It’s stressful enough to bring somepony you love to your parents... It’s another thing entirely when everything falls apart so quickly. “Yeah, I’d be pretty upset too if mom said those things about Cadance.” Shining then looks over to George. “Sorry about all that. I know it sucks meeting your special somepony’s parents but what happened was over the line.” “I won’t deny that but in the end it doesn’t really matter. Just as long as I have Twilight then I’m fine.” “It’s nice to know you love Twilight so much.” Cadance comes in. Oh yeah, she’s the princess of love. She can probably sense how much he loves Twilight. “It’s been a crazy ride. I used to just work at the library but since meeting Twilight we’ve been doing a lot of things together.” “Like?” Shining asks. “Well, I’ve been helping George with an invention of his.” Twilight replies. “Invention?” Shining raises a brow. “Oh, what did dad say? He made the weird library thing?” “Dewey decimal system.” Twilight corrects him. “But that’s not what I’m talking about. It’s currently hush hush but you’ll find out what it is soon enough. Maybe I’ll even send you an early version?” Twilight teases. Shining rolls his eyes. “Fine, keep your secrets. Just make sure it doesn’t explode, like that one time you tried making your own spell.” He jokes. “That only happened the one time.” Twilight says with a frown. “It would’ve worked if you didn’t break my concentration!” He gives a mock laugh. “That spell was unstable. You nearly blew the roof off the house.” The both of them get out of their seats, lean over the table and locks eyes for a moment but despite what they’re saying, George gets the feeling this is actually normal. “Calm down you two.” Cadance says with a small giggle. “So, George... I don’t mean to intrude but could you go into more detail about where you come from?” Shining seems to be interested in this subject as well as he takes his seat and turns his attention to George. It’s an understandable question to ask and he feels no reason to keep it to himself. “Sure. So, I come from a world that in many ways is similar to Equestria but also has other differences as well.” Well, this is going a lot better than with Twilight’s parents. As far as George is concerned, neither Cadance or Shining seem to dislike him. After talking for awhile, their food came out and they enjoyed their meal together. As the hours went by George noticed how much Twilight relaxed and while it did take time eventually her smile came back in full force. Shining and her would tell stories from their childhood to George and it was very interesting how each of them had a different view on what happened. It was like the morning never happened and things were better than before. George then notices Twilight let out a yawn. “Well, I guess it’s time for us to call it a night.” George says. Shining nods. “It’s getting late.” He then looks over to George. “Thanks for watching out for my little sis. You’re a good guy and that’s all that matters.” “Thanks, Shining Armor.” “It was nice meeting you.” Cadance also come in. She then looks over to Twilight. “Let’s do this again sometime. Maybe at the crystal empire next time?” Twilight nods her head. “That sounds nice. George hasn’t been there yet. I’m sure it’ll be fun.” Cadance and Shining get up first to leave. George pays for the meal and tips the waiter as well. Once he’s all done with that Twilight and him set off into the cool night of Canterlot. “Thank you for doing this, George.” Twilight says honestly. “I was really upset by what happened and just wanted to get out of here but it’s nice knowing I have ponies who support me.” “We’re still not done yet, Twi.” She raises a brow at that. “What?” George smiles at her as he waves for her to follow. She doesn’t say anything as George has one last thing he wants to do. “George, we shouldn’t be here.” Twilight says seriously. “This isn’t going to end well.” George and Twilight are standing before her parents home once again. However, George came here for a reason and he’s not going to back down. “Trust me, Twi.” He says while looking at her. She lets out a small sigh. “Alright.” George walks up to the door and knocks loudly. It only takes a moment before the door is answer by none other than Twilight Velvet. This is just the pony he was hoping would answer. She looks up at George, as Twilight is behind him, she gives a look of disgust and is about to turn to look at Twilight but George speaks up to grab her attention. “I love your daughter.” He says in a dead serious tone. Velvet looks at him with a sneer. “I don’t ca-” “And there’s nothing you can say or do that will change that.” George cuts her off. “Honestly, I don’t even care if you bad mouth me but if what you say hurts Twilight then that’s a problem. I love her with all my heart and that’ll never change.” George notices her face soften a bit but he’s not giving her a chance to say anything. “One day, we’ll get married.” He hears a gasp from behind him but doesn’t lose concentration. “Maybe not today or tomorrow but someday we will.” He takes a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. “On that day, I hope you’re there because I know deep down that if you’re not, then you’ll regret that decision for the rest of your life. You don’t need to like me, you can hate me for all I care but you’re still Twilight’s mother and...” George is trying to find the right words to say. “You’re family in the end. That’s not something I have anymore and I don’t want Twilight to be without her family.” George lets out a sigh. “That’s all I have to say. Let’s go, Twi.” Now it’s George that walks away as Twilight and her mother are left there unsure what to do. Twilight simply looks at her mother, seeing a bit of regret in her eyes and decides to say her peace. “I do love him, Mom... He’s right... I hope you are there for our wedding, just like you were there for my brother.” Twilight can see George is further away now and doesn’t wait for her mother to say anything as she takes off after him. Twilight Velvet is left there confused by what just happened. “That was pretty brave of him.” A voice speaks up next to her.  She looks over to see Nightlight standing there. “There’s no reason for you to be worried. Our daughter is doing fine... She always has.” Velvet doesn’t say anything as she simply looks off to where she can see her daughter walking side by side with that creature. She doesn’t know what to think but she doesn’t want her daughter to hate her. She feels Nightlight rest a hoof onto her withers... She has a lot of thinking to do. George and Twilight are walking down the streets of Canterlot. Neither of them saying a thing. Twilight bumps his legs slightly as he looks down at her. “So... We’re going to get married?” She asks with a blush. That causes some heat to rise on George’s face as well. “Um... Yeah, one day... I mean, is it something you’d like too?” She smiles at him and nods. “It is.” “Great. So, I’ll just leave the asking to you then. You know, when you’re ready.” George stops as he feels some kind of magic hold him in place. He looks down at Twilight as she looks up at him. “How about now?” She asks. Despite his face being completely red, he feels a smile also grow on his face. Well, there’s only one answer to the question. “Sure.” Then George remembers something important. “Maybe after all our work is done?” Twilight chuckles at that. “Yeah... We’ve already got a lot on our plate right now.” They continue walking towards their hotel. It’s weird in a way how natural this all feels for the both of them. Twilight basically asked George if he wanted to get married and he was fine with it. George can only chalk it up to how weird this world is but deep down he knows Twilight and him were meant to be... Afterall, why else was he chosen to come to Equestria? It doesn’t matter, all he knows is that he loves Twilight and nothing will ever change that.