//------------------------------// // Diplomatic Immunity // Story: House that Heartbreak Rebuilt // by Jet_Black1980 //------------------------------// Chapter 38 Diplomatic Immunity Cast Form rolled his eyes at his perverted co worker. “One of these days he’s going to get us all fired.” Quietly he walked away as Narrow Beam looked around the yard. “Dang, her lawn looks like it needs some trimming,” He chuckled. “And I’m not talking about the grass..” Heartbreak slowly walked up behind Narrow Beam and attempted to deepen her voice. “What other lawn do you mean?” “Boy you are dense! The new mare, Heartbreak!” Narrow Beam said obliviously. “I’d like to trim that lawn!” “Uuuuuh, what’s a, ‘m-i-l-r?’ She asked taking advantage of the the situation as Cast Form slowly backed away. “Pffft, don’t you know anything?” Narrow turned to face Heartbreak. “It’s a, “Mare I’d Like to Rut-t-t-t-t!” Heartbreak’s neck crained hard to the left as her gaze focused in on Narrow. “Mare... You’d... Like... To... Rut?” She asked, her mane starting to form tight curls. Narrow Beam started to edge away. “Hey, there’s nothing meant by it, Ma’-” “Don’t. Call. Me. Ma’am,” Heartbreak hissed as she stared the stallion down. “You will call me, H.B.” “Heh, right! H.B!” Narrow Beam choked out. “Now, very Narrow Beam,” Heartbreak stomped her hoof down. “I would like to make something very clear. You are here to repair my house, and only to repair my house! Not to make unwanted advances!” She exclaimed as she walked forward, causing Narrow to inch back. “Not to, ‘trim my lawn!’” She shouted causing Narrow to topple over in the grass. “Not to make suggestive commentary about, ‘wood!’” She shouted as her eyes flashed with white streaks. “Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear!?” Narrow Beam shuddered at the mare that stood before him. “Uhm... ya got something-” He pointed at his eyes. “DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?” Heartbreak screeched. “Yes! Perfectly!” Narrow whimpered. “Thank you!” Heartbreak snorted and tossed her mane slightly. “And if you persist in this behavior, I’ll- I’ll- I’ll- Gaaaah!” She stomped her hooves on the ground and turned sharply, her tail snapping Narrow Beam on the nose. “Ouch! Geez lady, there’s no need to get upset!” Narrow said, dusting himself off. “If anything, a mare your age should take being a miller as a complement!” Heartbreak’s eye twitched and her teeth ground down as her head turned back to face the stallion of her ire. “Compliment? Compliment? And a mare my age?!” Narrow Beam pulled his hard hat off his head and held it over his chest while he dusted it off. “Yeah! It’s a compliment, I mean it means that yer still attractive!” He replied eying Heartbreak. “Yeah, you’re like what? Thirty something?” “I’m twenty-two!” She quickly turned back around. “Really!? Is that how you’re about to defend your position? ‘It means that you’re still attractive?’” She said sitting upright and making air quotes while talking in a mocking tone. “No! It means that you view me as nothing more than a piece of eye candy at best and a glorified sex object at worst!” Narrow Beam’s expression only was slightly phased. “And what’s wrong with that?” He asked in a confused tone. “What’s wrong with-What’s wrong with-” Heartbreak nearly grabbed her head and nearly let out a harsh cry of frustration. “GAAH! That’s it! Rarity! Rarity! Get out here! I need you so that we can talk to this Slide Ruler pony!” Narrow Beam jumped back. “Hey, hey, hey now! There’s no need to be like that, babe!” Heartbreak glared at Narrow Beam, the light nearly making small etches of warped lines in her eyes. “Babe?” “H.B! I said H.B!” Narrow protested as he attempted to back peddle. “No, you said, ‘babe!’” Heartbreak said turning around. “Uhhhhh,” Narrow Beam looked around for any sign of support. Just then, Cast Form and Bob Plumb came from the back. “Cast!” He said dashing up the great grey stallion. “You’ll vouch for me right? I said, H.B. and not, ‘babe.’ Right?” He asked, flashing a wide grin. “Hey, keep us out of this, Narrow,” Cast Form said. “Yeah. Unlike you, we’re here to do actual work,” Bob Plumb replied. Narrow sighed and turned to Heartbreak. “Alright, I did say, ‘babe,’ and I’m sorry for it. No hard feelings though, eh?” Heartbreak’s eyes narrowed and she turned her head in defiance. “I’m still going to have a talk with your supervisor. Your behavior is inexcusable. Rarity! RARITY!” She cried out. “Pfft, well how do you like that? ” Narrow Beam turned to Cast Form and put a hoof to the side of his mouth. “Darling, I’m almost-” Rarity began as her head popped out of the doorway. “First the white one shuts me down and now this...” He muttered. “That’s cankernags for ya, am I right?” He said shrugging at Cast Form. Heartbreak’s ears sharply swiveled back and her head followed suit. A seething look covered her face. “What did you just call me?” She asked, glaring at the stallion. Narrow Beam smirked and made clicking noises with his mouth. “Hey, I’m just calling it as it is, Sweetheart. If you can’t take a complement-” “Sweetie Belle! Enough playing in the kitchen! I need you here right here, Right now!” Rarity frowned. “A rather big problem has arisen.” Narrow Beam smirked a little before realizing seeing that Rarity had come out of the house as well. “Gaaahh! Look, I didn’t mean anything by it! I was just talking out of a little anger is all!” Heartbreak’s hoof shot down and small tight curls started to form in her mane. “Oh no, no, no. You’re not going to attempt to get out of this like you did with your, ‘I just meant it as a compliment,’ song and dance!” “What did he mean as a compliment, H.B? I could barely hear what was going on with the kitchen ruckus,” Rarity inquired giving a cold harsh glare to Narrow Beam. “Are you familiar with the term, ‘m.i.l.r,’ Rarity?” Heartbreak asked not taking her eyes off the stallion before her. “A, ‘Miller?’ Only in passing,” Rarity replied walking up next to Heartbreak. “It is a term used only by the most vulgar of stallions to describe somepony that they would want to take advantage of.” “Rarity, what’s a, ‘cankernag?’” Sweetie Belle asked innocently standing behind Narrow Beam. “Sweetie Belle!” Rarity exclaimed in shock. “Gah!” He quickly turned around. “You little-” Narrow paused and eyed the very irritated mares behind him. “-adorable precious thing! Heh! How did you get back there?” The three fillies looked at brown coloured stallion, unimpressed. “We came out the back door, duh. You don’t know what a cankernag is?” Scootaloo asked turning to Sweetie Belle. Rarity jumped and her eyes widened further. “Scootaloo!” “Shoot, even ah know what that is, Sweetie Belle,” Applebloom replied. “Ya know what a canker is right?” “Yeah! A painful sore you can get on your hoof,” Sweetie Belle responded. “Oooooh,” Heartbreak looked at Rarity. “So, seeing that this...gentlecolt... has expanded Sweetie Belle’s vocabulary, want to go talk to Slide Ruler?” Narrow Beam put up his hooves. “Hooold up a second, sounds like to me that this here filly would have learned what a cankernag was with or without my influence. I mean with friends like that orange problem foal right there-” Heartbreak’s eye twitched. “Ex-cuse me?” Her mane started to curl even tighter. “Are you bad mouthing Scootaloo?” “Hey, I’m just saying-” Narrow started. “You, ‘just say,’ a lot of things you-you-you fetting jerk!!” Heartbreak burst out, shaking her hooves. “You come to my house, insult how it looks, make passes at me, call me a, ‘cankernag,’ when I turn them down and to top it all off you are insulting my guest!? I have half a mind-” Rarity grabbed Heartbreak and took her to the side. “Excuse us, I need to talk to her... You know: Mare things.” Heartbreak glared at Rarity as she found her hooves dragging on the ground. “What is it, Rarity?!” She attempted to glare over the mass of purple mane. Rarity ducked back and forth and maintained proper eyesight. “Darling, I hate to break this to you, but this isn’t acting very lady like!” Heartbreak glared at Rarity while her mane curled tighter and the light in her eyes swirled. “I don’t think you get this Rarity, but I don’t really care about acting like a lady like you do!” Rarity put her hooves on Heartbreak’s shoulder. “Fine! I understand that we both have different priorities! How about at least acting like a decent pony!?” “How about he actsss like a decent pony?!” Heartbreak asked seethingly. Rarity flinched and then took a deep breath. “Darling. He’s a cad, but calm down! Your mane is curling horribly!” “Would you ssstop worrying about my appearance and-” Heartbreak began. “H.B!” Rarity whispered sternly. “I think your mane curling could be a part of your other problem?” “Pinkie’sss mane goesss flat when ssshe getsss sssad! Why do you-” Heartbreak started. Rarity kept her hooves firmly on Heartbreak’s shoulders. “H.B. Pinkie isn’t a... Minneighsotain. Look I understand your frustration and anger with this stallion. I want to smack my hooves across his face and outright pummel him. But.” She ducked her head and reasserted eye contact with the mare in front of her. “But. There are better ways of handling this. And there are better solutions to this than outright-” “Kicking his flank from here to Saddle-Arabia?” Heartbreak asked, her mane slightly uncurling. “Yes,” Rarity took a deep breath. “Remember last month? Twilight told me that part of your letter to Celestia was about Applejack's cousin... what was his name... Crab Apple?” “Dib,” Heartbreak corrected, her eyes softening. “He likes the name Dib.” “Right, Dib,” Rarity replied in a calm voice. “Dib got really upset over something and you were able to calm him down. Twilight said that you said that as long as you keep a calm head about things-” “Right... It’s just... He’s really upsetting me,” Heartbreak replied rubbing her face. “So, we are going to go talk to Slide Ruler, the one who is in charge of these things about it,” Rarity fluttered her eyes cutely at Heartbreak. “Alright?” Heartbreak took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Alright. Let’s go do that.” Rarity smiled. “Whew! That was close! What in Equestria is with what just happened?! Is it some sort of strange reaction to the chaotic magic contained within her? I will have to tell Twilight about this and ask if it has happened before...” ======================================================================= Ugh, I had such high hopes for today. And now I have a slight headache. What the hell was Rarity talking about?! Hair curling? Something with my eyes? Ugh. Whatever. “Holy crap, Rarity was right about something.” I think, walking with her in the direction of the trailer. “That was part of last month's lesson. Maintain a cool head.” Rarity raps on the door of the small almost bread box shaped trailer lightly. “Girls, I would like you to stay out here and stay out of trouble, this will only take a little while I’m sure.” There’s no answer to her knocks. She clears her throat and knocks again. Still no answer. Rolling my eyes, I take a swing at the door and bang it hard with my left hoof. “Hey! Slide Ruler!? We need to have a word with you!” Calm. Need to be calm. Finally after a moment there is an answer. “Huh?!” Comes a voice from within. It’s a stallion. Damn- NO! Come on! Not all stallions are like Narrow Beam and the others I’ve ran into! Just remain calm and try to keep your cool. Wait aren’t those two... Stop inner monologuing! “What is it!? Come in already!” Rarity opens the door. “After you, H.B.” I roll my eyes. “Thank you, Rarity.” Walking into the trailer we are met with what I would think to be a normal office site. Well, with the exception of the floating papers. A unicorn with a yellowish coat and black mane sits at a desk looking at loads of paperwork that is going in and out of trays marked... Well, no shocker here. ‘In and out.’ He’s wearing a helmet that is modified for unicorns. There’s a small cover over the horn. It’s not a big detail, but it’s something I noticed. He doesn’t even look up as he continues to sign and look over more paperwork. “Yeah! What do you want can’t you guys see I’m busy?!” He practically shouts. “Hmph!” Rarity snorts. “There’s no need to shout!” “What?!” He asks taking a drink of his, what I am assuming, coffee. “I said-!” Rarity begins as I notice the small white cords coming off his ears. No wonder he couldn’t hear all the yelling outside. I walk up to him and tap him on the shoulder. He looks up at me and does a double take. “You aren’t on my construction crew!” He shouts. I grimace at the volume of his voice before putting a hoof under the cords and yanking. “Yowch! Hey! Watch it, those things are kind of pricy!” As I return to the front of the desk, both Rarity and I look at each other out of the corner of our eyes. I think we’re both feeling the same thing. And it looks like he’s picking up on our annoyance. “Uhm, hello,” He says still with a look of confusion on his face. “Uhm, who do I have the... pleasure to be speaking to?” A prick of annoyance runs through me. This is most likely due to just having to deal with- Stop monologuing! I mentally swat it away. “Well-” Rarity and I begin together. She looks at me, surprised. “Do you want to handle this, darling?” She asks. “If you don’t mind, thanks. But feel free to jump in any time you like,” Rarity smiles a little about this. “Also, jinx, you owe me a soda.” The baffled look on her face is priceless. Right. Back to the matter before me. “Hi. My name is Heartbreak, please call me, ‘H.B.’ And I happen to be the owner of this house that your trailer is parked at,” I explain. Slide Rule claps his hooves and waggles them. “Right! I thought your appearance seemed familiar.” He flips through some paperwork. “Yeah, Twilight Sparkle contacted me yesterday around four o’clock. I’m really sorry but there’s been a lot of paperwork that I’ve had to go through. Spring and early summer are really busy for Hammer and Nail...” “Hammer and-” I notice the small business cards with a golden hammer and nail logo on them. “Right, name of your business. Twilight forgot to tell me anything about it...” “Right! Uhm, so, what can I help you ladies with?” He asks. Ugh! I know I shouldn’t make a big deal every time I hear, ‘ladies.’ But it keeps rubbing me the wrong way! NO! Calm down. Calm. Down. Deep breath! “Right...I don’t want to beat around the bush about this,” I let out a low growl. “It’s about your construction crew...” I can practically see the peal of sweat coming off his forehead. “Heh, uhm, what about them?” He asks nervously. I look at him in the eye. Alright, you can do this without losing your cool, H.B. “Both Rarity and I are having an issue with one of your construction workers named, ‘Narrow Beam,’” I practically hiss as I say his name. His ears practically drop to either side of his head and he face hooves. I cross my arms. “I take it that this isn’t the first time he’s been an issue?” “No, but before you ask? I can’t fire him either. He is the number one lumber specialist in the area and can spot any defect in wood, not to mention that it is a requirement that every construction -” Slide Ruler begins cobbling an excuse for this guy. Fuck, that’s right, guys tend to cover for one another don’t they? Well, as long as you are part of the, ‘group.’ I never had any guys, ‘cover,’ for me. Then again, I was never making passes at random girls. “Now see here!” Rarity jumps in. “He might be an expert in his field, but that’s no excuse for his behavior! He referred to my little sister and her friends as brats!” Slide Ruler shrugs. “If that’s the worst-” “He also referred to us both as, ‘cankernags,’ when I told him that I didn’t like being referred to as a- How is it pronounced again, Rarity?” Seriously, how would you say that grouping of letters? “Miller?” Fuck, I just realized that my house is also named, ‘The Old Miller House.’ This place better not have been a brothel... “Great...” Now Slide Ruler looks like he stepped in some dog shit. He facehooves and rubs the side of his face. He takes a deep breath. “Ladies... We can come to an arrangement, right?” He starts out. I fight a twitch. “If by, ‘arrangement,’ you mean-” Rarity puts a hoof on my shoulder. “Calm yourself, H.B...” Slide Ruler looks at the both of us as if we’re aliens or something. “Right, like I said, I have a load of paperwork to handle before I even think about letting the boys out there do any work.” A few papers flutter past his face. He’s not taking us serious.I take a deep breath. An involuntary snarl forms on my face, while Rarity’s eyes narrow at him. He holds his hooves up defensively and swallows hard. “I can’t trust Cast and Bob to police him all the time, so how about I cut you in on a deal, say whatever the initial cost is? Fifteen percent off.” “This isn’t about pricing. This is about-” I want to say, ‘my feelings,’ here but it’s obvious that he isn’t too keen on caring about those. I kind of wish that I could share same apathy that he has right about now. “-the safety of three little fillies and myself out there. And how I am feeling uncomfortable with a member of your construction crew-” “Uh-hu...” His eyes dart back to some of the paperwork. Fuck, how the fuck do I handle this?! I mean without throttling the lot of them and leaving their bodies in the nearby Everfree Forest!? ======================================================================= Rarity watched as Heartbreak looked like she was fighting the urge to reach out and touch somepony. “And not in the good way either. Her mane is starting to curl a little again. Well, at least she comes with a built in way to gauge her emotional state when she’s horribly irritated.” She glared at Slide Ruler. The stallions callus behavior was starting to irritate her as well! “We need to defuse this situation! Wait! I know!” “Or we could press charges,” Rarity crossed her hooves and narrowed her eyes at the worker pony. “We can?” Heartbreak asked raising an eyebrow. “Yes we can,” Rarity replied as Slide Ruler’s eyes darted up and went wide. “You are after all a foreign diplomat, exchange student, and guest in our fine country.” Slide Ruler looked at Heartbreak questioningly before swallowing. “She is?” “Perhaps you have heard of the recently rediscovered colony of, ‘Minneighsota?’” Rarity asked. Heartbreak eyed Rarity questioningly. “Yes... Actually I have. But I just thought that was just some sort of rumor!” Slide Ruler said, astonishingly. “I assure you, it’s no rumor. And H.B. here happens to be the diplomat to the ponies that are currently trapped in that location. But,” Rarity took a deep breath. “As a foreign diplomat; she is entitled to all the rights and privileges there within. One of those rights being covered in the Charter of the Fillydelphia Convention on page six, paragraph twelve, subsection A, dealing citizens engaging in unlawful pressuring of a foreign national to submit to any signatory nation’s cultural norms.” Heartbreak blinked and did a double take at Rarity. “Because you know, we can’t have representatives from Saddle Arabia complaining to Princess Celestia about being forced into participating in an uncouth Nightmare Night apple bobbing contest against their wills and wasting her precious time!” Slide Ruler scratched his head. “I-I-I guess you can’t...” “And I shouldn’t have to endure sexual harassment from a stallion that I have not shown any interest in,” Heartbreak said looking at her hoof. “Which goes along with the sexual assault guideline that Mayor Mare has put into place last month after one too many unwanted advances...” Rarity said tapping her chin thoughtfully. Heartbreak set her gaze back on “Look-” “Twenty percent off!” Slide shouted, the sheets of paper he was holding falling out of the air. Heartbreak chuckled. “All I want is-” “Look, I can’t go above twenty-five percent! However, we can also do all the paperwork for the zoning and free siding!” Slide Ruler shouted his hooves rapping against the desk in a panic. “That is a rather good deal, darling,” Rarity said looking over at Heartbreak who only frowned and kept her unwavering gaze on the stallion before her. “Rarity,” She turned to her left. “Money isn’t the issue.” “Twenty-five percent off, material and labor!!” Slide shouted desperately. “Like I told Rarity! Money isn’t the issue!” Heartbreak shouted back slamming her left hoof on the table causing Slide to jump. “Right, see the house that is outside your window? It’s being funded by Princess Luna herself. She has given me an unnamed amount of money to renovate it so that I can live in it.” “P-p-princess Luna?” He asked. “I’m not sure I believe that-” “Rarity, can you get the deed to the house out of my saddle bags?” “I would be delighted to,” Rarity replied smiling and pulling the papers out. The deed to the house floated out of Heartbreak’s saddlebags and in front of Slide Ruler’s face. Heartbreak seemed to practically smile in delight as the poor unicorns’ expression finally showed the comprehension of the gravity of the situation that his employee had placed him into. Rarity pulled the deed back and tucked it neatly back into Heartbreak’s saddlebags. “B-b-b-but I-I-” He began before shaking his head and swallowing hard. He refocused on the mares in front of him. “Right. Starting over. Hi, I’m Slide Ruler and I am the desk-pony for Hammer and Nail. One of my employees that I am required to have on site because of various zoning laws is causing you a great deal of grief. Is there anything I can do short of firing him that can make this situation OK? Yes. However, it would cost you more due to the fact that it would require me to bring in another foremare. She’s really the only one that can-” Heartbreak looked up at Slide Ruler with interest. “Wait, foremare as in an actual mare?” “Yes, she’s really the only one that can keep this crew in line-” Slide Ruler began. “Do it.” Heartbreak replied. “Are you sure? It will be extra...” Slide Ruler watched as the pony in front of him nodded. “Alright, and if I hire this foremare to keep all my workers in line-” “No charges will be pressed,” Heartbreak said calmly. “All I really want is for your crew to act professional.” Slide Ruler melted into a puddle of near relief before a scroll floated in front of his face. “Right, I’ll contact her right away, lucky for-” he rolled his eyes and muttered “-all of us-” he looked up and smiled at the two ponies in front of him. “She lives in Ponyville.” “Good to know. How long will it take for her to get here?” Heartbreak asked. “About fifteen minutes, I would suggest that you two fine ladies go out and get something to eat. My foremare should be here by the time you get back,” Slide Ruler said smiling and resuming his paperwork. Heartbreak frowned. “‘Fine la-” “That sounds like a splendid idea!” Rarity interrupted putting a hoof over Heartbreak’s mouth. She turned and gave her a look. “It might do you some good to get something to eat.” Heartbreak rolled her eyes. “Fine, whatever...” She muttered before getting up. ======================================================================= As we leave that little uncomfortable scene back in the trailer, I am impressed that Rarity would go as far as to bullshit for me. As the door closes, I can see Narrow Beam’s eyes jump from around the corner of the trailer. This whole ordeal has me in a bit of a tizzy and I’m not sure what to do from here. The situation has been resolved, but at the same time I’m left with this... feeling that I’m not sure how to describe. It’s like a mix of feelings. Some of them good, most of them bad, and all of them dealing with some level of annoyance. Like I said before, of the good feelings here, one of them is gratitude to marshmallow fluff. “I can’t believe that he bought all that,” I mutter within Rarity’s hearing range. Rarity looks confused as we walk towards where my bike is parked. The girls apparently are looking over my bike and Scootaloo is trying to attempt to mount it. “Whatever do you mean, darling?” Rarity asks. “There really isn’t a Fillydelphia Charter regarding everything you just said, right?” I blink and look at her. “We were just bluffing right?” Rarity turns up her nose. “H.B! I’m surprised at you! With everything you know, you don’t know about the Charter of the Fillydelphia Convention?” I shake my head. “Well, I assure you that it is very real! My father was a rather important hoofball player back in his younger days and when his team had to go up against a rival griffon team? Well, it was instrumental in determining a fair and balanced game!” I want to point out how ridiculous that whole explanation sounds. I want to rip it apart and go into the questions that it brings up. However, what the hell do I know? Everything I know I got from the show, the comics and books. Everything I know could be wrong. Up could be down and short could be long, and everything I thought was so important might not even matter. But. This does raise a question that actually affects me at this point. “So basically, I’ve gotten diplomatic immunity,” I roll my eyes and sigh. “Great...” “You sound distraught about this, H.B.” She stops and looks at me in a deadpan manner that gives me the impression that she has the underlying thought of, ‘Can’t I do anything that will make you happy!?’ “Why?” “I don’t want to go around solving my problems with, ‘Ooop! Can’t touch me! Diplomatic Immunity!’ How fetting sue is that?!” I reply rubbing my temples. “Plus, what the fet is going to stop me from abusing it!?” I cough. “Not that I would do anything like that...” Rarity just keeps walking. “Because it would be rude and rather mean of you?” “Uhm, yeah,” I reply. “Would you like to draw the attention of Princess Celestia every time a stallion even glances your way, darling?” Rarity asks, continuing to walk. Holy crap, Rarity seems on the ball today. I continue to walk with her. “Right. Good point. Oh Fet... Scootaloo! Get off my bike!” “I wasn’t going to hurt it!” She exclaims frumping as she makes a dismount. “Yeah, we were just looking at it,” Applebloom attempts to look innocent. Fucking-A... I need to find a way to make this whole, ‘little fillies are cute,’ thing to be less of a problem. “It’s really... uhm... Pretty!” Sweetie Belle exclaims adding to the cute factor. “I really like... The heart!” I take a deep breath. Thank you Sweetie Belle. You’ve given me point in which I can be a bit cynical. “I don’t.” I reply curtly before looking at Scootaloo. “I know you weren’t going to hurt it, Scootaloo. I just don’t want it hurting you.” “It’s a bicycle, how’s it going to hurt me?” Scootaloo asks smacking the bike. It wobbles and looks like it almost like it’s going to fall on her. I quickly zip up to the bike to prevent it from falling and give her a miffed look. She chuckles at me and rubs the back of her head. “Are you going to ride it this time, darling or are we walking?” Rarity asks with an air of ... something. Something that I’m not sure what it is but... Ugh, and we were getting along so well just five minutes ago! Grrr... Uhm... Happy thoughts? “Rarity, like I told you yesterday; I’m not riding it until I get it repainted and get that pink plastic heart out of the hub,” I reply as neutrally as I possibly can. “You could always have the heart painted black with a white crack going through it!” Scootaloo exclaims. “Just like your cutie-” She says her hoof encroaching bit too close to my flanks. Luckly, I jump away in time. She looks apologetic realizing her, ‘almost-mistake’. “Oh, right. Scars. Heh, I forgot.” I take a deep breath. “Right, so where would you girls like to eat today?”