Hearts and Minds
CHAPTER FOUR
Hearts and Minds
The days turned into weeks, and then the weeks turned into months. Nine of them passed by and I was still living with Cheerilee in Ponyville. The two of us had become such good friends during my stay, she insisted that I stayed permanently.
My job at the school was moving along nicely too. I spent a lot of my time helping Cheerilee with her lessons, teaching the class all that I knew about humanity, grading papers, playing with the foals at break times, and generally just having a great time.
But of course, there were some issues. Such as when the townsponies found out that I was omnivorous. A few hotheads around town were worried that I'd start eating ponies, but I managed to convince them all that humans could live without meat.
But then Fluttershy brought me some fish. At first I was shocked, but she assured me that it was one of the otters she looked after who killed them — hell, she even dragged me back to her house so that I could thank the little guy.
Another issue was that some visitors to Ponyville were a bit hostile towards me. Some of them even compared me to a hairless minotaur. But somepony was always nearby to put them in their place. A stallion insulted me in Sugarcube Corner one day, much to Pinkie's chagrin. I later heard that he taken his son a birthday cake. The colt had opened the box to find the words 'Daddy is a racist' in bright red icing, along with a photo of him giving me a hard time.
Where Pinkie got the camera from, I could only guess, but nonetheless I was grateful for her support. Nonetheless I didn't let crap like that get me down, because for every one pony who hated on me there were five more singing my praises.
And Cheerilee was always one of them. It amazed me how quickly she had warmed up to me, and I to her. Time and again she was there for when things got bad. Or when I felt homesick, which happened a lot. I lost count of the number of times we sat up all night just talking to each other about various random things.
I dreaded explaining human history to her, but she accepted that although humanity was capable of such evil, I alone had nothing to do with it. True to what she had said at the town meeting, she wasn't letting the actions of humans as a whole cloud her judgement of me as an individual.
As the months passed by, I began to feel different around Cheerilee. Whenever she talked I developed butterflies in my stomach and my legs would feel wobbly. It wouldn't take a genius like Twilight Sparkle to work out that I was in love with her.
Like any man, I kept my feelings tightly bottled up, refusing to discuss them with anypony, most of all the mare in question. I always had the sinking feeling that my feelings would be revealed eventually — but not even I was prepared for the day when they finally did, nor was I prepared for how.
It all started when the Cutie Mark Crusaders came by. Their sisters, or parents in Scootaloo's case, had signed them up for additional tutoring after school in an attempt to boost their grades. To the fillies' dismay, they were the only three in the class to be put forward for such an undertaking, so Cheerilee decided to bring them back to the house. After all, a cosy house was much better than an almost deserted school.
The Crusaders seemed to agree with this logic and they eagerly rushing into the house and started exploring. Eventually Cheerilee caught up and ushered the three of them into the living room, where they found me sitting on the couch reading a copy of the local paper. Hearing the commotion I folded the paper and placed it on the table before giving the four females my undivided attention.
"Afternoon Crusaders," I said cheerfully, "and what brings you to Cheerilee's humble abode on this fine day?"
"I keep telling you," Cheerilee said, "that it's our humble abode. You live here too you know."
"But Ah thought he was just a friend?" Apple Bloom piped up, "If y'all are callin' it 'your house', does that mean yer together?"
Cheerilee's eyes widened as her cheeks turned a new shade of purple. I coughed and looked away nervously. The Crusaders took this as an answer — but not the one we were trying to give.
"Aww," Sweetie Belle chirped, "they are together! That's so sweet! But... why haven't you told anypony about it?"
Cheerilee and I exchanged a cautious glance.
"Because there's nothing to tell." I replied, "We're not together, we're just good friends. And nothing else."
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked disappointed. Scootaloo was wearing her usual mask of indifference, and Cheerilee was still blushing furiously.
"Geo's right girls," she said, "we are good friends. Just because two ponies – or in this case a pony and a person – live together, it doesn't mean that they're dating. Do you understand?"
"Yes Miss Cheerilee," Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle said together, "we're sorry for embarrassing you both."
I waved a hand dismissively.
"It's all right girls," I said, "no harm done. But if I could divert your attention to my original question — what brings you here?"
"Our sisters an' Scootaloo's parents signed us up fer additional lessons after school," Apple Bloom replied, "but we're the only three in tha class who got put forward."
"So rather than teach them in the schoolhouse," Cheerilee added, "I decided to bring them back here."
I nodded.
"Makes sense," I said, "to teach them here instead of a classroom which is practically deserted."
"Exactly." Cheerilee replied as she turned to the girls, "Okay girls, follow me to the kitchen and take a seat. We're going to go over what we learned in class today about the Grypho-Minotaurian War."
She trotted into the kitchen and the Crusaders followed, each of them taking a seat at the table. I dragged myself off the couch and entered the kitchen after them.
"You want a hand Cheerilee?" I asked with a smile, "After all, my job title is 'Teaching Assistant'."
"Yes please," Cheerilee replied, "you can make sure they don't cheat when I test them later."
The chorus of groans that entered my ear implied that a perfect plan had just been thwarted. I nodded and took a seat as Cheerilee began her lesson.
***
A few hours later and three little fillies were leaving the house in the company of their sister or Rainbow Dash, who was going to be taking Scootaloo for a flying lesson, leaving Cheerilee and I free to enjoy the rest of our evening. As everypony trotted or flew out of sight I thought back to the embarrassment from earlier and suppressed a laugh. Unfortunately it came out as a snort, thus catching Cheerilee's attention.
"Something on your mind?" she asked as she closed the door.
"I was just thinking about that awkwardness earlier," I said as I sat on the couch, "It was rather cute how the girls thought you and I were together, don't you agree?"
Cheerilee giggled and nodded.
"It was," she said, "and it was actually quite hurtful to have to crush their hopes like that. I only hope that they don't try to get us together. They've tried that with me before, and... well, I nearly ended up getting married to Applejack's brother."
"Big Macintosh?" I asked, "Really?"
Cheerilee nodded.
"The girls meant well," she explained, "and wanted me to have a special somepony for Hearts and Hooves Day. So they slipped Mac and I some love potion. Needless to say it worked, and we became infatuated with each other. Thankfully they managed to keep us apart for long enough to allow the potion to wear off."
"So," I said hesitantly, "you don't like Mac in that way?"
"Don't get me wrong," she replied, "I like him as a friend. He may be quiet but he's a great listener, and he's been known to offer some good advice from time to time. I'm sure there's somepony out there for him, but I know it's not me."
"Yeah," I said, "Mac's a good guy. He's helped me out a couple of times when some loudmouth has been giving me a hard time. I'm sure he'll make some mare really happy one day. Though I heard a rumour he has feelings for Fluttershy."
"That's nice," Cheerilee smiled, "those two seem like such a good match for each other. They're both kind, considerate... and quiet."
We both laughed at the last statement. Cheerilee was the first to stop, and she observed me for a moment. I eventually stopped laughing and clocked her looking at me.
"What?" I asked, "Is there something on me?"
"Sorry," Cheerilee replied, "but I was just wondering. Since you're the only human here, there's obviously no females of your kind. So... have you thought about finding a special somepony?"
That was rather... unexpected.
"I've been here for nine months," I said, "and truth be told the thought has crossed my mind more than once. At first I was ashamed of myself, but then I came to realise that I can't be alone for the rest of my life. But the trouble is finding somepony who appreciates me for me, and not just the novelty of being with the only human on the planet."
"Well," Cheerilee said nonchalantly, "what if I told you that I know of somepony who fits the bill?"
"Then I would ask you to introduce me to her as soon as possible," I said, "and then help me pick a suit for a date."
Cheerilee glanced around the room before chuckling nervously.
"I'm glad you're opening up to the possibility of a relationship with a pony," she said, "at least now I don't have to worry about offending you."
"Offend me?" I said in shock, "What the hell do you me—"
My words were cut off as Cheerilee leaned forward, bringing her soft lips into contact with mine.
Holy hell, I actually updated this! 
I've finally worked out how this story is going to pan out. Expect more updates soon!
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Yay!! fluttershy happy
keep going
Ok, I've given this and the canon Geoverse a shot and I noticed one consistant theme that just destroys it for me.
Geo is constantly ok with everything the moment somepony says 'oh thats normal here' and always gives them a smile.
No way would anyone sane person being told 'healing from a gunshot wound near the spine in two days is a long time' going to let the matter drop like that. If it was me it would require at least 20 minutes to an hour of explaining how the hell that's even possible before I'd let the matter drop.
Seriously, why the hell does he have complete trust in everyone instantly? Going by his backstory he shouldn't be this quick to trust or quick to smile.
In addition, a recurring theme in these stories is the generally weak decriptions and lean content. Overally the whole 'Geoverse' has been a disappointment.
2535936
I'm not you. 'nuff said. You'd think that the fact Geo is in a different world entirely there would be some massive differences. Better to just shut up and go with it, I say.
Geo's backstory was covered in Chapter Five of To Friend Is Human. Let me go over it really quick.
* He was bullied at school.
* He started lashing out at people who insulted him.
* He was sent to a therapist, where he learned to 1) control his anger and 2) make friends.
* He made a few friends, but they moved away after a while.
* He found that he was slipping back into his old ways, so took the warehouse job to keep himself occupied.
* He had been through a bad shift at work the night he was shot and was angry, thus causing him to shout at Derek when he nearly ran him over.
I'm guessing you didn't see the whole 'therapy' part? Because that probably explains why Geo is quick to trust people (or ponies in this case).
I'm sorry you feel that way but yours is but another drop of disappointment in an ocean of praise.
2537214 Image completely relevant.
encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcShbiCLqRexNaudpi6Ip9Aqm0icVoS8rk3i5BfgdC1yHaudfWMX
2537214
All the more reason to question everything actually. Humanity didn't become the dominant species on Earth by accepting everything at face value, we question everything we see and seek ever more detailed answers.
No it doesn't, not at all. Far more likely that someone would act open and trusting on the outside but keep everyone at arms length until they're sure they aren't going to stab them in the back.
In fact I could only believe the genuine quick trusting if the character had prior knowlege of the ponies. Which you where quick to show he didn't in the original story
It always amuses me when people ask 'why do you down vote' or for criticism then when someone actually takes the time to tell them what they're doing wrong they throw up the less-then-ten-word-praise-posts as a defence mechanism. Kid, if you want to write a good story you should consider those short posts to be the enemy and welcome any and all critique you can get, positive or negative.
Someone taking the time to tell you what you are doing wrong is something to celebrate in the fic writing community. If you receive a hundred comments and only one of them is a critique then you disregard the 99 other comments.
If you are satisfied with your current quality (which I grade at 4 out of 10) then you simply wont become any better, you lack the drive to improve. In contrast I am never satisfied, I know I've stuffed something up no matter how many times I double check my work, even with an editor looking for grammer and spelling errors that I missed.
2539906
How do you know that for sure? In case you haven't noticed, this is a self-insert story. Therefore the character of Geo is based around me and my own experiences. Geo's backstory is pretty much the same as mine. I did undergo therapy to sort my anger issues, and I did learn to trust people. I am wary of new people, but if they're nice enough I will grow to trust them. Yes, I know that even the worst people can act nice, but I know how to handle myself.
Who's being defensive? I'm simply saying that I respect your opinion, but the vast majority of comments are from people who like the story, hence the 'drop in the ocean' paraphrase.
'Kid'. Wow, that's real original.
Anyway, when have I ever said that I don't appreciate the comments I get? Because I do. It's not my fault the majority of them are positive.
Again: I appreciate every comment I get. And I do my best to take all the advice I get to heart.
I'd like to know what you are basing these assumptions on, because that's all they are — assumptions.
You assume that I don't give a shit about my work, you assume that I don't care about the comments I get and you assume that I don't care about improving my stories.
You assume wrong, but I've already said this.
Right, that's these points answered so I guess the ball is in your court now.
2542717
This was justifiable in the original as you skipped several months where Twilight and your character had time to bond. In the case of this story that period never occured and he blindly accepts the word of a stranger and a doctor of unknown credability as absolute truth. If he had prior knowlege of the pony world this would be justified, as I've said before.
You are trying to make a stone fortress out of short-post-praise when such a defence only amounts to a sand castle.
This isn't about opinion, if it was I wouldn't have read the entirety of 'To Friend is Human' and the first two chapters of this before commenting. If it was about opinion I wouldn't have commented at all and simply navigated away. If I know I won't like a story from the get go I won't waste my time.
There is nothing wrong with HiE Romance, and in fact TFiH did a fairly good job of it overall, as far as plot and direction at least. But as for the writing itself? TFiH maxed out at around 6/10 on quality and then only near the end. It suffered from very little description and was rushed at points and the fight near the end was disjointed and difficult to keep track of the action.
This story, considering what you managed to put out in TFiH, it seems like you simply aren't trying. If you consider this a 'side project' or 'just for fun' then I have to say, unacceptable. You claim to care about your writing, that all my 'assumptions' are wrong, and yet right here there is a story not receiving due care and diligence.
2546061
I'm not going to waste any more time arguing with you, as any point you make I counter, which in turn gives you more of my points to counter. It's a vicious cycle, so let's just agree to disagree and leave it at that.
But if you want to continue then by all means, be my guest. I'm just going to be the bigger man here and walk away.
Well that escalated qui-
wait...
"Nine months"
nevermind