//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Family Matters // Story: My True Home Calls // by Arguyus //------------------------------// (Disclaimer: I do not own any copyrighted material you will encounter in this or any other story.) AN: And now is the time for a problem to show itself, a problem that most people forget. Chapter 3: Family Matters Last night's sleep was better than the night before, seeing as the bed was now at the right size for my comparatively tall stature. I got out from under my blankets and stretched a bit before reapplying my glasses. I was greeted by the sight of my room in Twilight's observatory, a sight that I was quickly becoming accustomed to these past three days. But now I noticed that the sun was just above the horizon. I got to my feet and began my daily preparations, in other words, taking a shower. Twilight had gone to the store yesterday after breakfast and had got some things for me without me even asking; such as a toothbrush, a notebook for my stories, and a razor. Oddly enough, it looked like an electric razor, but it ran on magic. Speaking of magic, she also enchanted my watch and capbill-flashlight to run on ambient magic; apparently a battery powered watch was considered primitive. On another note, Twilight had also remembered a cleaning spell that she has not needed to use for years now. Unfortunately, she accidentally added a scent that I had a hard time with, my cloths honestly smelled like ozone. Oh well, better then smelling like a zoo. I dried myself off with a towel and put my cloths back on, thankful that they didn't have as powerful of a smell as yesterday. Wait, aren't Twilight's parents coming over today? That thought made me kick in to high gear, I didn't want to look like a mess when they got here. I put my glasses on once more and looked in the mirror; my hair was short enough to not need combing and the hair on my chin doesn't need to be shaved seeing as I shaved last night. A knocking on the door brought me out of my thoughts. I went to the door and opened it. It was Spike. "Oh, and here I was about to ask if you were done in here." The young dragon said as he stood there. I smiled lightly at this statement, there is good little Spike for you, "I guess you just have good timing Spike." He smiled in response as I moved out of his way. He was always so well mannered; I wouldn't be surprised if mares start fighting over him when he comes of age. Provided Twilight let them, she always was slightly overprotective of him. I couldn't help but wonder whether she thought of him as a little broth or a son. When I got to the main room, I saw Twilight running around as if the world was about to end, everything is normal. I chuckled to myself a little at the pure absurdity of that assessment, but it was true. She was a bit of a worry wart. Okay, she was a serious worry wart. I decided to make my presence in the room known by clearing my thought. Her head snapped in my direction, which looked to me as if it should hurt, and she pretty-much ran over to me. "Stephen! I need to talk to you about something's before mom and dad get here!" She exclaimed in a near panic. I nodded and sat down so that I wouldn't be standing the whole time. "Alright, firstly, you can't be in the room when the get here because I haven't been able to tell them about you yet. Secondly, I really want you to leave a good first impression on them, so don't do anything embarrassing. Thirdly, I know I got fish for you yesterday, but I don't think it would be a good idea for you to eat any while they are here, they would most likely be very uncomfortable with that." She listed off after she sat in front of me. "Don't worry so much Twilight; you'll give yourself a heart attack if you keep on like that. But in any case, I know how to behave politely." I tell her in an attempt to calm her down. She sighed and rubbed her temples while somehow staying balanced, "I know, I know, but these are my parents, I want them to have a good first impression of you, seeing as you are the first friend that I have made outside my own family in quite some time." I smiled at her; I knew she was being completely honest about that, she was usually too busy with her snout in a book to socialize. I personally found that kind of cute. It did, however, strangle her personal life. That being, I put a hand on her shoulder, "I understand, you just don't need to worry like that, it's not healthy for you… or anyone for that manner." She took a deep calming breath, "Alright, now let's have some breakfast before they get here." And with that, we made our way to the kitchen. (-0-) Twilight pacing in the living room, Stephen was in the other room waiting for her to call him, and Spike was finishing making lunch in the kitchen. Why was Twilight pacing? Because she was worrying her head off, as per usual. "What if they don't let me explain, what if they hurt him before I can explain, what if they, Celestia forbid, think I'm dating him!" The mare rattled off in her head. It went without saying that she was nervous, Stephen being the first new friend she had made in many years. Not only that, but he had been through enough as it was; she didn't want him to suffer because of a misunderstanding. He seemed like a nice guy, and she could only hope her parents thought the same. A knocking on the door interrupted her thoughts, they were here. She went over to the door and opened it, and there they were. One was a stallion with blue fur, a darker blue main, yellow eyes, and a Cutie Mark that consisted of two crescent moons with one inside of the other and facing the opposite direction. The other was a mare with off-white fur, a white and purple striped main, light blue eyes, and a Cutie Mark that was a set of three purple stars. They were none other than Twilight's parents, her father Nightlight and her mother Twilight Velvet. "Mom, Dad! It's so good to see you again!" Twilight cried as she wrapped her forelimbs around them in a hug. Nightlight chuckled as he returned the hug, "It's good to see you too, so how is my little girl doing?" She let go of them and smiled, "I'm doing very well, and I have someone I want you to meet." Both of her parents were excited to hear her say that, both of them assuming that had found her significant other. Boy were they in for a surprise. "But, I need to tell you something first." Twilight began, "The day before yesterday, I was trying to get a plant sample from the past, but someone was on the other side… and I kind of didn't realize that until it was already too late." And now they were worried, what had she bought though? "I wrote a letter to the princess about him when he fell through, and when he explained that he didn't intend on hurting anypony she asked me to help him integrate into our society." She explained to them with a little bit of a sheepish smile on her face. "So, where is this… house guest, of yours?" Velvet asked her daughter in a somewhat uneasy tone of voice. Twilight turned her gaze to the doorway that Stephen was behind, "I asked him not come into the room until I had explained this to you, and since I have… Stephen, you can come in here now!" Her call was soon answered by the entrance of another being into the room, it was unmistakably a human. Both Nightlight and Velvet hoped that their assumption about Twilight finding her significant other was wrong. The reason for this being that most thought of humans as selfish, greedy, cruel, and unable to control their more animalistic desires. This, of course, led to an uneasy silence. Twilight was beginning to fear that this was a bad idea. It was then that Stephen ended the silence, "Hello, my name is Stephen McIntyre." (-0-) "Hello, my name is Stephen McIntyre." I said in an attempt to end the silence. Both of Twilight's parents snapped out of the trance they had gone into upon seeing me, I could only hope they didn't react violently. "Hello, I'm Nightlight and this is my wife, Twilight Velvet." Her father introduced the both of them in a guarded tone of voice; they obviously didn't believe that I didn't mean them any harm. That was understandable, considering the common idea that humans were monsters. It was now that Spike decided to enter the room, "Hi mom, hi dad, I got lunch ready." Nice way to break the awkward moment dude… (-0-) We were sitting at the table eating lunch, no one had said a word as of yet. That was something that I found slightly unsettling, especially since Nightlight and Velvet kept giving me uncertain looks. I had never liked being the center of attention, but I was just now realizing just how bad it could be. "So, Stephen…" Nightlight began in an obvious attempt to make it look like he didn't think I was a monster, "What do you like to do with your free time?" There were lots of things that I liked to do, but only a few were still around, "Well, I like to read a good story and I'm also a starting author." Now Velvet perked up at this, and I had a good idea why, "Really? I'm an author myself, I usually write romance." "I usually write action stories, but I happen to be a sucker for romance, it tends to find its way into most of my stories." I tell her honestly. At least things would hopefully go smoother from this point on. (-0-) The rest of the day had gone well; both Nightlight and Velvet were much more comfortable around me. I guess it was because I tend to be easy to get along with. It had always been like that, but I was usually only me who felt awkward. Twilight's parents were getting ready to leave, with her giving them a heart full goodbye. It was nice to see a close knit family. It made me think of the families of my friends… Friends that I will never see again… Friends that I will never be able to talk to again… Friends that I will never be able to hear the fate of… It hit me full force at this moment that not only would I never see them again, but I would also never hear about what happened to them or my own family. The shock of this made me have to sit down and hang my head. The more I thought about it, the worse it got. I began to feel tears forming in my eyes, so I took my glasses of to allow me to try to dry my eyes. "Stephen?" I heard Twilight's voice in front of me, "What's wrong?" (-0-) "It was so good to see you again!" Twilight said as she gave them a goodbye hug. "It was good to see you too dear; you should really visit use more often." Her mother said as she returned the hug. The younger mare smiled as she went back to standing on her own hooves, "I'll try, but you know how stuff comes up." Her father chuckled at this, "We all know how dedicated you are to your studies, just remember to take care of yourself." "Dad!" Twilight responded to his teasing, "I'm a grown mare, I know when to stop studying." Her father smiled as they began to walk away, he always teased her about that one time when she was little. She had spent a whole night studying for a test and had been a zompony lookalike until she passed-out at the table at lunch, and he had never let her live that down. The worst part, she had only done that once. She shook her head lightly as she closed the door and turned around, and that was when her good mood died. What had killed it? The sight of Stephen sitting on the floor with his head hanging down and his glasses in his hand. "Why is he sad?" She thought to herself, "He was happy a moment ago." She silently walked over to him and she heard a muffled sniffle. "Stephen?" She asked, "What's wrong?" At first, he just responded with another sniffle. But then he looked up, and she saw that he had a large amount of tears building up in his eyes as he answered her, "I-I just fully realized wh-what being here means, n-not only will I never be a-able to just see my family, b-but I will also never kn-know what happened to them…" Her eyes widened at this, she hadn't thought about that either. "D-Did my parents think I had killed myself, d-did they think I-I was kidnaped?" He began listing his thoughts. "What a-about my friends, d-did any of them get married, who did th-they marry, did they have kids, d-did they get the jobs they wanted?" He continued as he began to brake-down. Twilight could feel herself beginning to cry. She wanted to help comfort him, so she wrapped her forelegs around him expecting to be pushed away. But he once again surprised her by wrapping his arms around her and burying his head in her shoulder as he broke into full out tears. "What about my s-sister and brother-in-law, did they e-ever have kids, how many did they have, did their kids ever wo-wonder where their uncle went?" He cried into her shoulder. Twilight could only guess at how he truly felt. She knew that, were their positions reversed, she would feel completely devastated. She was also surprised once more, the humans she had always heard about would often kill their families just because they grew tired of them, and here was Stephen crying because he wouldn't ever be able to see them again. She held him tighter as his body began trembling from the intensity of his crying, her own tears running down his back as his practically poured from his eyes. They stayed like this for an amount of time that neither of them noticed. It was a sight that no one would think possible, a human crying into a pony's shoulder. Then she felt him begin to calm, only the occasional hiccup. As she tried to back off see saw why, Stephen had cried himself to sleep. She smiled sadly as she levitated him off herself and carried him to his room, putting his glasses in their usual spot on the end table. She closed the door quietly as left the room, and then she sighed. She knew that this would continue, but she couldn't blame him. She just hopped his depression wouldn't become suicidal. "There has to be something I can do to help." She determined in her mind. "Spike!" She called out when she had reached the living room. The young dragon in question poked his head out of an adjacent doorway, "Yes?" "I need you to take a letter for the princess." The mare told him as she began forming the letter in her head. Spike got a parchment and a quill ready to write down the letter. "Dear Princess Celestia, I wish to inform you that my parents visited me today, and Stephen got along well with them. But after they left, he came to a full realization that being here entails not being able to so much as hear about what happened to his own family and had an emotional breakdown. I fear this may lead too continuous, if not constant, bouts of depression. He has become a friend to me in the three days he has been here, and I want to know if you think there is anything I can do to help him though this. Hopefully awaiting your reply, Twilight Sparkle." After Spike had sent the letter in a plume of green flames, he decided to add his own two cents worth, "If he's sad because he doesn't have family here, why don't we help him make a new one?" Twilight's reaction to this was to first give the dragon a flat stare, then facehooved, "It's not that simple, Spike." "Why not?" Spike asked, using his child logic to try, and fail, at solving an adult problem. She sighed as she began to go into her lecture-mode, "Spike, starting a family is the biggest decision any two beings can ever make, it's a lifelong commitment that should never be taken lightly. Besides, even if he wanted to start his own family, he would have an extremely hard time finding a mare who would want to marry him just because he is a human." Spike tried to say something, but Twilight stopped him by raising a hoof, "I know that sounds racist, but you have to remember that he would be considered the exception to the rule as far as humans go. Most would consider him a monster as soon as they see him, and it will be a long time before that fact changes. Even I sometimes forget that he isn't like the humans that we read about in history books." The dragon looked down as he silently admitted that she had a point, but that somber moment was ruined by a column of green fire erupting from his mouth with a burp. Twilight grabbed the rolled up piece of parchment and unfurled it to read what was inside. "My dearest student, It is good to hear that your parents get along with him; it gives me hope that his integration into Equestrian society will go smoothly. As for the problem for which you wrote your letter, I wish I could help, but I have no knowledge of how to comfort him during these trying times. I may have lived a long time, and I may have a similar experience, but he is a unique individual and as such needs different things to bring him comfort. My only advice for you, get to know him and ask him what you can do to help. Your mentor, Princess Celestia" Twilight just looked at the letter for a few seconds after she had finished reading it. She couldn't believe that the princess didn't know what to do, she always knew what to do. At least she had been honest about not knowing what to do. "So… what do we do know?" Spike inquired in a quiet voice. The mare was silent for a few moments before she answered, "I-I don't know."