//------------------------------// // Don't Sue Me // Story: House that Heartbreak Rebuilt // by Jet_Black1980 //------------------------------// Chapter 42 Don’t Sue Me I really hope that I didn’t gross out the girls to the point where they don’t like me. I know that I have hundreds of other problems on my mind as it is, and that these three thinking that I’m ‘uncool’ or something should be on the bottom of my priorities list. But at the same time? They’re sisters to three ponies that are rather vital to my continued existence. I’m having Applebloom spread the peanut butter on the celery and apple slices while Sweetie Belle is divvying out how many of each thing gets placed on the plates. Other than the little explanation of the blood thing? This has overall been really pleasant! Well, other than my tail tossing, turning and flipping about. Fucking thing. I swear it’s more useless than my hooves. In the show, tails seemed to be quasi-prehensile. Seriously, Applejack could throw a lasso with hers, I think I saw Mrs. Cake lift baby bottles, and I swear Zecora did something with hers. Not to mention the fact that Rarity hid that box with Pinkie Pie’s birthday cake in it... At least with my hooves I can push things around. But my tail? It’s big, bushy, and another tangled mess of hair that I have to brush. Just a fetting hassle. I wish I could just shave it clean, but that would look really weird and most likely lead to even more strange stares, and the last thing I need is even more attention drawn my way. I break out of these annoyed thoughts and look at the present reality around me. I have three little fillies helping me out with a task that would for the most part seem impossible. Or at the very least: difficult and messy. “I know this might seem unnecessary, but thanks again, girls,” Alright, maybe I’m overdoing it with the ‘thank you’s’, but I’m terrible with awkward silences and - ugh. I’m over thinking again. “Don’t think anything of it, H.B.!” Sweetie Belle replies smiling at me. “Eeyup!” Applebloom clears her throat and spreads more peanut butter on an apple slice. “We’re just happy ta help. After all, it must be hard doin’ this without Fingers ta help ya!” My heart jumps upon hearing that and I almost choke on my own spit. “F-fingers?” I ask meekly. “Yer pet raccoon?” Applebloom asks giving a questioning look. “Ma cousin Crab Apple told me about how ya used ta have a pet raccoon before ya came here ta Equestria!” “Oh! Yeah,” Darn it! Come up with a good cover for my reaction! “It’s just that I was surprised that you knew about him. And he likes to be called ‘Dib’ now.” Suddenly, Scootaloo’s head pops from under table. “You had a pet raccoon!?” “Gah!” Gawds! They’re just little fillies! Why the hell am I so jumpy?! Then again, I didn’t ask for a Scootaloo-in-the-box or in this case, under-the-table to jump out at me. “Uhm, yes. I had him ever since I was about your age. Scootaloo... What are you doing under the table?” “Uuuhm, I thought I saw a bit! Turns out that it was just a shiny piece of tinfoil,” She replies giving me a rather large smile. I blink. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that she was up to something. But then again, this is Scootaloo, she’s always up to something. “Scoots... You don’t have to hide anything with me...” I narrow my eyes at her. Her eyes go wide and she gives an innocent smile. “Oh?” Gods, those eyes! I swear, if Celestia doesn’t give me the brain bleach? These damn ponies will. “Putting dinner together isn’t the most exciting thing in the world. I know it’s boring, but you’ve already done your part in getting the dishes.” “Oh, yeah. I guess I just have -” She looks a bit embarrassed. “A short attention span!” Sweetie Belle interjects. “Eeyup! Ya know how Scoots can be,” Applebloom says pausing her spreading. “Always needin’ ta be doin’ somethin’.” Scootaloo eyes her friends seethingly. “Yeah. That’s me. Scootaloo the short attention spanned.” “Your fffriends are just giving you grief, Scoots.” I roll my eyes and laugh. Or at least I’m trying to laugh, it comes out more like a fucking giggle. “Now get out from under there. I think Applebloom is almost done.” I look over at the little yellow filly. “Right?” She quickly spreads peanut butter over one last stick of celery before looking at me with a large smile that seeks out approval. “Eeyup! All done!” “Yeah,” I tap one of the chairs that is around the table. “So come on. Dinner time.” As the little pegasus clambers out from under the table, I notice a fifth plate that is peanut butter free. I mentally smack myself upside the head for even wondering who it was for. “That’s for Rarity, isn’t it?” Applebloom smiles and nods. “Just making sure.” Tilting my head back, I take a deep breath. “Rarity! Dinner’s ready!” ===================================================================== The three fillies looked at each other while quietly chewing on their food. Never had they actually taken on a task this hard. Normally they would have just dove head on into the situation and asked right upfront any and all questions regarding what they wanted. “You three are sure being quiet,” Heartbreak commented between mouthfuls of celery. “Something on your minds? Thinking about anything in particular? How next to earn your cutie marks?” Scootaloo smiled and nodded, her friends quickly joining in. “Yeah! We’ve been trying anything that comes to mind. Though...” She eyed Sweetie Belle, hoping that she would catch the subtle hint at the idea that was forming in her mind. “As of late we’ve been really low on any ideas!” Sweetie Belle continued, silently passing the conversational cue to Applebloom. “Oh! Hey, didn’t ya say somethin’ ta Diamond Tiara about the ponies cutie marks up where yer from?” Applebloom asked. “Uhm,” Heartbreak chewed her food a little more slowly before swallowing. “Yeah, I said that they were a lot more literal and more than often that they were related to things like ice and snow.” “So it’s nothing but snow year round?” Scootaloo asked, her hoof carefully sliding next to the knife that Sweetie Belle had used to spread the peanut butter with. “Didn’t you say that there were really hot summers too?” “Yeah, we do have hot summers,” She replied, crunching down on an apple slice. “But there’s a saying in Minneighsota, girls. Well, more of a joke really. ‘We have two seasons: Winter and construction’.” “Ah don’t get it,” Applebloom asked, noticing how close Scootaloo’s hoof was to the knife and giving a silent nod to what her friend had planned. “Well,” Heartbreak held up a hoof while she swallowed. “What it means is that winter comes and things freeze over, there’s lots of heavy ice and snow storms. Then when spring brings the thaw? The overall destruction is taken account of and we have to rebuild.” She paused and looked thoughtful. “A great number of the buildings are made of stone and very hard wood. But it requires upkeep. With limited resources and time, p-p-ponies have to work hard to get it all done. So, two seasons: winter and construction.” “Sounds really hard,” Applebloom scratched her head. “Ah still don’t get how it’s a joke.” Heartbreak frowned. “It’s one of those things that you have to be there for, I guess.” “So there isn’t any time for planting?” Sweetie Belle asked tilting her head. “Uhm, of course there is time for planting,” Heartbreak said poking at a bit of celery on her plate. “It’s just that a different group tends to manage things like that. We try to take advantage of all the light we can get and use insulated greenhouses with battery powered lights, along with heaters to extend the growing seasons.” “Dib said somethin’ about that in a letter he wrote me,” Applebloom eyed Scootaloo again. “He was wonderin’ if ah had seen ya around. An’ if ya were gonna write ta him any time soon.” Heartbreak’s ears drooped with a bit of guilt. “I will, It’s just that I didn’t have much to write to him about. Plus I don’t know his address. I mean, I guess I could have asked A.J. but...” she rolled a carrot on her plate with her hoof. “I guess I was kind of waiting for him to write to me first.” She replied looking uneasy. Just then Scootaloo’s hoof ‘accidentally’ bumped the knife off the table causing it to clatter with a metallic ringing on the floor, this in turn caused Heartbreak to jump. She looked at the little filly with a stunned expression. “What was-” Heartbreak asked a hoof raised over her chest. “Oops!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Sorry, it was just the knife! I didn’t mean to-” “Are you alright?” Sweetie Belle asked looking at Heartbreak in concern. Heartbreak coughed a bit and took a deep breath. “Yeah, fine. It’s fine. Scootaloo, would you mind picking that knife up and putting it in the sink?” “No problem!” The filly replied reaching down at the knife before crawling under the table. “Alright, take two was a failure. That stupid tail of hers was getting in the way. But this time I’m ready! Operation Bad Mark, take three!” Scootaloo once again spied the prize brazened neatly on Heartbreak’s flank... and just like before, the massive brown obstruction nearly jumped between her and any observations she could make. Frustrated but not deterred, she made her way under the table. Maybe she could look at the other side unseen that way! Heartbreak’s head turned as the sound of the clock chiming fifteen minutes to the hour. “I just noticed that your sister hasn’t come down for dinner...” As Scootaloo crept out of the table on Heartbreak’s right side, she paused. Like a treasure of some forgotten temple, there was the mark. “Ugh! All this work just to get one look! Alright Scoots! One more time! Just hold still-” Suddenly, Scootaloo’s vision was flooded with a river of wavy brown tangles and the sound of something thudding against her face. ===================================================================== I blink and look down over to my right side. I swear just moments ago my tail flipped over and hit some - Oh yup. I just smacked Scootaloo in the face. I’m not sure if I should laugh or be concerned. Quickly, I push the blasted thing out of the way and look over the filly. “Oh geez, I didn’t mean to do that,” I look at her in concern. “Are you alright there, Scoots?” She rubs her face. “Yeah! Just fine, though I think a hair went up my nose.” She makes a funny face and I stifle a giggle. “Good,” I sigh, as long as she’s alright. That’s all that matters. “Are ya sure yer’ alright there, Scoots?” Applebloom asks, peeking up and over the table. “Yeah! Fine!” Scootaloo retorts. “It’s just a tail.” Why is it that when cute things get upset it’s funny? I’ve pretty much finished my plate. Not a very filling dinner, but at least it was something, right? I lean over the table and eye the the stairs leading to the second floor. Calling them ‘the upstairs’ seems redundant. Alright, the fact that Rarity hasn’t come down here to eat with us is starting to get my goat. Tapping my hoof on the table, I heavily sigh. “Seeing that your sister isn’t coming down, I think I’m going to bring dinner to her, Sweetie Belle.” I say picking up the platter that was reserved for Rarity. “She was probably wrapped up in her work!” Sweetie Belle exclaims. “She can be like that sometimes. I can give her a call if you’d like.” “It’s alright,” I reply, attempting not to drool on the plate. It’s something that I think I have gotten better with... At least I hope I have. “You three just finish up your dinner.” I kind of want to get away from them for another reason. They keep on asking too many questions about where I’m from. This wouldn’t be a problem with normal ponies - or normal people for that matter - but not me, I’ve had to make up a whole back story for myself. A whole fantasy life complete with who my parents were, what life is like in the cold harsh wastes of Minneighsota and even what the general cutie marks earned are. The issue with all that is that I haven’t really thought about every and all questions that these three could possibly ask, and as such I could be totally unprepared. Which means I could end up contradicting myself about something. If I am going to live a fantasy life, I better make sure that I have my story straight... “Are ya sure ya don’t need any help?” Applebloom asks. “Yup! Ah’m gewd!” I reply, through the side of my mouth. “You three have been more than enough help for today. Why don’t you three have some of the chocolate I got for dessert? It should be plenty solid by now.” “Really?” Sweetie Belle asks me. “Yeah, really,” I reply walking out of the kitchen and head over to the dumbwaiter. I have been waiting forever to have an excuse to use this thing. As I press the button and then the platter in, I peer my head inside to see how much room is in there exactly. “Maybe enough room for one of the fillies, but not a full grown pony,” I sigh. I am not going to let this get in the way of my dreams of having a pony elevator that I can operate. ‘Cause seriously, stairs are stupid. I find that I have to push the ‘hoof-button’ extra hard to get it to click. “Must need oiling or something. Maybe there’s a fucking users’ manual somewhere in this house among all the clutter.” I hear the grinding and tugging of gears and pulleys working together as the tray of food makes its way up to the second floor. Just a few minutes later, when I'm halfway up the stairs, I hear a bell chime and the wooden door slide open. “Whoever these Millers were, they either were very mechanically inclined or they knew a number of good mechanics. I’m not sure if this thing is electronic or not,” I ponder reaching the top of the stairs. “H.B.!” I jump a few inches, startled by the nasal voice from behind me. Turning around, I see that it’s Slide Ruler. His face and hooves are covered in soot. “I-” He shakes his head before sneezing, and floats a handkerchief to this nose. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought I would let you know that we’re done for the day. The roof isn’t fully complete, there are some insulation issues and some rot that was on the back face that we didn’t know about until we started repairs. However, the vines were taken down from that windmill, we repaired the door and the window shutters. Oh! And I cleaned out the fireplace. I gave it a quick test and you should be able to send letters with it.” “Good... to hear,” I blink and look back and forth, not sure how to respond to all that in this moment. “I take it that you’re going to be back sometime in the future?” “Afraid so,” He scratches the back of his head. “I need Bob to look at your pipes and make sure things are running smoothly. Oh, and I need to actually see where the rest of the wiring in the house is actually going. That’s a really interesting riddle.” I sigh and eye the open dumbwaiter. This stuff is important if I want a properly working house and for it not to catch fire or get me electrocuted. But at the same time, I just want to see how Rarity is doing and remind her that it’s almost dark. Fuck, that ‘responsible’ part of me is nagging to inquire what the fuck else needs tending to. “I would most likely assume that they go to the lights and outlets for different electronics,” I reply as Slide gives me a weird look. “What?” He just blinks and pushes up his glasses before tracing a hoof on the ground. “Oh, nothing. It’s just that I’ve never met a pony with an understanding of electronics that didn’t have a corresponding cutie mark is all...” Ugh, this is getting weird. “Yeah, I’m full of surprises. Look, not to be rude, but is there anything else that is vital that I need to know about? Switches that I shouldn’t touch, natural gas pipes that might give a horrible smell that I should be worried about? Anything that’s going to explode in my face if I turn it on?” Slide looks thoughtful. “Nothing that I know of, but I should double check the blueprints just to be sure.” He raises a hoof. “Oh! The fireplace. While you can send letters, they might have a difficulty reaching places beyond the Canterlot range. That’s if you don’t get specialized cleaning. There was a great deal of magical soot residue up in the flume and it might need a special burning log to get any stray bits of anything out of there.” Funny how most of that didn’t go over my head. “Good, when should I be expecting you back?” “How does Wednesday morning sound to you?” He asks. “I’m not really a morning individual,” I reply sighing. Dang, looks like I am going to need an alarm clock in the near future. “But I am sure I can swing that. Anyhow, thanks for coming out and have a safe trip home.” “You too!” He replies with a smile that falls quickly off his face in a moment of social awkwardness. “I mean... Have a good night, not a safe trip home. Because, well you’re already home, I mean-” I roll my eyes. I seriously hope that he’s just socially awkward and not doing this because of some weird crush thing. That would make things just ten times more uncomfortable. I don’t want to add threats to geld him as well. I’m just too tired for that right now. “Have a good night,” I interject while walking to the dumbwaiter. “Right! You too!” He replies as I hear the door close behind him. Ugh, that seemed to go on forever. ==================================================================== As Heartbreak left the kitchen, the girls’ fake smiles melted away and were replaced with disappointment and frustration. “So,” Applebloom began tapping her hoof on the table at Scootaloo. “Ugh! Every time I thought I was getting close? That fet-” Scootaloo bit her tongue in frustration. “-flipping tail kept flipping around! It’s like she knew that I was looking!” “What’d ah tell ya?” Applebloom asked smirking. “Not so easy a task for the ninja pony?” “Would you stop already!” Scootaloo replied in a loud whisper. “Ah’m just askin’” Applebloom said sheepishly before munching down on a bit of a leftover carrot. “Well, just don’t! I never thought that looking at a cutie mark would be so hard!” Scootaloo exclaimed spitting the knife into the kitchen sink. “And what’s worse? We’re running out of time!” “What do you mean?” Sweetie Belle looked out of the window that was over the sink. Shades of dusk were started to paint the barren trees with orange and yellow hues. “Oh. We could try again tomorrow, right?” “Not without her catchin’ on ta what we’re doin’ there, Sweetie Belle. Ya saw the way that she was lookin’ at Scoots? She’s got ta be figurin’ somethin’s up!” Applebloom replied getting up from the table and going to the cupboard. Scootaloo blinked and a smile crept up on her face. “Maybe we should spend the night here!” The two fillies looked at her questioningly. “Just think about it! With H.B. asleep? Her tail won’t be flipping around and we can finally get a good look at that stupid cutie mark!” “That does make some sense,” Applebloom replied tapping on her chin. “But Ah thought she said that she didn’t have any control over it, or am Ah rememberin’ wrong?” “She might have said something like that. But still!” Scootaloo scratched her head. “Even if she doesn’t have control, she’ll be asleep and her tail will be all-” the filly waggled her hooves above her head in frustration. “-non-flippy!” “Ah, while Applejack knows that ah’m with Rarity and ya all, Ah’m not sure how’d she feel about me spendin’ the night here. She might be ok with it. Ah’d still have to get over ta the farm early ta do mah chores...” Applebloom said placing the bag of chocolate on the table. “Are you kidding me?” Sweetie Belle replied apprehensively. “No offense to H.B., but this place is still a wreck. Rarity was reluctant just coming here, getting her to spend the night? I’m not sure even I can get her to do that!” “You’ll have to!” Scootaloo said putting her hooves on Sweetie Belle’s shoulders. “It’ll require bringing out the big guns! But- ” She looked deeply into her friends’ eyes. “I believe you can do it!” “Don’t ya think yer going a little overboard there, Scootaloo?” Applebloom asked pulling a bar of the wonderful smelling treat out. “Ah mean do we have ta do this while she’s asleep? Maybe... Maybe we ought'ta just give up...” “Weren’t you the one that wanted to get a good look at this thing in the first place, Applebloom?” Scootaloo asked frowning. “Now you want to back out? What about making sure we don’t get a bad mark?” “Ah know, an’ ah guess yer idea could work,” Applebloom started as she reclosed the bag. “but now it just feels a bit...” “Wrong?” Sweetie Belle finished looking at her friends. “Wrong? We’ll sneak in, take a good look and then sneak back out!” Scootaloo explained animatedly. "She won't even know that we were there!" “Ah don’t know...” Applebloom frowned, tapping her hoof on the table.. “Oh come on! In and out like that!” Scootaloo exclaimed slamming her hoof on the chocolate bar, causing it to divide into three almost equal pieces. “We’re just going to take a look at somepony’s cutie mark while they sleep. What’s the worst that can happen?” ===================================================================== Rarity hummed a small merry tune as she sewed the fibers of the overwear together. She eyed the strange sewing machine. It didn’t have the normal hoof operated crank that was used to operate normal sewing machines. Instead, it had one of the cords that attached to the wall, no doubt to those strange batteries that were kept locked away in the basement. She shook her head. Why H.B. would even want to hold on to such a strange bit of antiquated technology was beyond her. “The fact that she even understands such things...” Rarity took a deep breath. “Then again Rarity? She comes from a different world. A world where-” “Rafity! I brought you some ‘inner!” Were the words that jarred Rarity out of her thoughts. The unicorn turned around with a completely baffled expression on her face. “Darling-” She paused as she saw Heartbreak awkwardly carrying a plate of food in her mouth. “-you didn’t have to bring me anything... I bought that food for you and the girls.” She shook her head and floated the plate from out of the very concerned looking mare’s mouth. “You need food too, Rarity. You’ve been up here for hours.” Heartbreak said wiping her mouth from any saliva. “Have you even stopped for any breaks?” Rarity grimaced for a moment looking at the underside of the plate. A bit of drool dripped from the bottom. Stealthily, she wiped it off with a rag before turning to smile at Heartbreak. “I’ve had one here or there but making overwear is a task that takes my full concentration!” Heartbreak sighed. “I hope you don’t mind but I didn’t want to bring anything to drink, ‘cause... You know. Hooves.” She looked a bit disappointed. “That and I haven’t even tried attempting to balance anything on my head or...” She tapped her face with her hoof. “Muzzle.” “H.B. darling, you could have just called me down there to join you all for supper,” Rarity said smiling. “I did, repeatedly.” Heartbreak replied awkwardly. “I figured that you didn't hear me and were busy getting wrapped up in your work. Besides,” She paused. “It was just something that I wanted to do on my own, Rarity. You know, actually face a problem and solve it for myself. I know it seems stupid, but I...need to do somethings on my own and not let others solve them for me.” “It just seems like an awful lot of work, Darling. I mean-” Rarity began. “I just don’t want others to be constantly solving my problems for me, Rarity,” Heartbreak’s voice seemed be threatening on a shout. “Alright...” Rarity eyed the plate of vegetables. “Is there something troubling you?” Heartbreak kicked her hoof. “I don’t know. Maybe. There’s been a great number of things that have been troubling me about this situation. I guess. Parts of it just don’t feel right.” Rarity blinked. Was she actually opening up about something? The last few times that this happened were false starts. Cautiously she chose her words. “And what parts would those be?” “Well,” Heartbreak leaned against the door frame. “I was actually hoping that I would actually have projects to work on here. But if the construction crew takes care of them all for me?” “Darling, that’s what they are being paid for-” Rarity began. “And that’s another thing I'm concerned about! Where that money came from!” Heartbreak shook her head. “I mean, yeah great! I have money to support myself. But then what’s the point of me looking for work?!” She shook her head. “I’m even reluctant in letting the girls help me paint the house.” Rarity frowned in confusion. “Darling, we’re just all trying to help you acclimate to life in Equestria. The surprise money is questionable to be sure, but you can’t just keep turning down any and all help being offered to you.” Heartbreak tapped her head on the door frame. “I just don’t want to be a sue who can’t take care of their own problems without somep-p-pony else coming in and fixing it for me.” The unicorn blinked and turned around. “Darling, you keep bringing up this term, ‘Sue,’ or ‘Mary Sue.’ I’m afraid that I am as familiar with it as much as I am with that elastic-trickery you and Slide Ruler were going on about.” Heartbreak’s face went from frustrated to deadpanned in but a few moments. “First off: It’s electricity, not ‘elastic-trickery’, and it’s not too hard of a concept to understand if you take a little time to learn the basics.” Rarity floated a carrot stick up and munched into it, swallowing before she responded. “And how does this relate to the whole ‘Sue’ thing?” “It doesn’t relate in the slightest,” Heartbreak rubbed her temple before letting out a bit of a chuckle. “A ‘Mary Sue,’ or ‘Gary Stu,’ is a character in a story, who always gets their way, never has to work for anything,” She looked at the door frame and noted that there were a series of small notches carved with names and ages. She traced her hoof up and silently read each one. “If a problem comes their way? They just shrug it off and say, ‘Problem? What problem? My rich benefactor will take care of it.’ or ‘I don’t have to deal with consequences because hey! I’m a foreigner and the rules don’t apply to me!’” Rarity blinked. “Darling... I mean, H.B. I’m still dreadfully confused here. How is having others help you or solutions to problems that you have a bad thing?” “Because then I’m not prompted to grow, to do things, to... I don’t know!” Heartbreak slid down the door frame and laid down. “Maybe I’m just confused at the moment about things going, ‘my way.’” “I’m more confused about why you think that some sort of story cliché somehow applies to your life,” Rarity replied taking a bite of a celery stick. Heartbreak looked up and bit her lip before answering. “It’s just... Ugh... How do I explain this... I don’t want to be that type of individual who has to have some others come and help me every time some little problem comes my way.” Rarity rolled her eyes. “I still am not sure how that makes you a ‘sue.’ And despite the fact that you’ve explained what you think a sue is, I’m still not sure I understand what it is.” “Well, there’s a Sue for every situation really. The god sue, the smart sue, the general sue, the... ugh...” Heartbreak took a deep breath. “Right... You still read romance novels right?” Rarity blushed a little and swallowed her food. “From time to time... Why? Did you want to borrow a few?” “No,” Heartbreak’s voice replied in a growl. “And that’s not the reason I’m bringing this up. You know the mare who pretty much has no....” She paused and tried to think of a word. “Substance to them. Who comes out of nowhere, who we learn nothing about, other than they are all sad and mopey due to the fact that they just moved somewhere-” Heartbreak stopped herself and put a hoof up in a preemptive measure. “And if you even say that I am describing what happened to me, so help me-” “Perish the thought!” Rarity batted her eyes and waved a hoof. “It hadn’t even crossed my mind! Besides, what you just described isn’t at all like you.” Heartbreak raised an eyebrow. “You have an actual personality.” An apple slice floated up into the air and Rarity delicately munched it down. “Granted that it isn’t one that everypony is going to like.” “Gee. Thanks,” Heartbreak retorted snorting. “Don’t take this the wrong way, darling,” Rarity bit her lower lip hoping that she hadn’t just said something that would bring the conversation they were somewhat enjoying to a screeching halt. “But you are a bit... Gruff...” “Not everyp-p-pony thinks that, Rarity...” Heartbreak replied. “That’s true,” Rarity smiled. “I must say that you do seem to have quite the charm when it comes to colts and fillies.” She paused and held up a hoof. “Which reminds me! Fluttershy told me to tell you that the Summer Reading Group was concerned about your whereabouts and was really hoping that you could come back.” Heartbreak grimaced. “I’m not terribly sure that’s a good idea. Not with what happened last time.” “Well... They already know to keep away from your...” Rarity coughed. “Scars.” Heartbreak leaned her head back. “It makes me all the unnerved knowing what just-” “What is-” Rarity began only to have Heartbreak hold up a hoof. The quiet creaking and hoof steps came clattering up the stairs. She gave the unicorn a quiet, but understanding look. “So, like I was saying, Rarity,” Heartbreak began in a slightly elevated voice. “You really shouldn’t have turned the sewing machine on without having it checked out by somep-p-pony that knows what they are doing. It made a terrible stink that the girls could smell.” She turned her head around just in time for the three fillies to reach the top of the stairs. “Oh hi, girls! How are you doing?” “We’re doing just fine, H.B. We just came upstairs to say that we had a lot of fun, even if we didn’t get to do any repairs on your house.” “Uhm, that’s really sweet of you to say girls...” Heartbreak said her voice choking a bit. Scootaloo nodded before pointing a hoof at the large heart-shaped window behind her. “Though we’re wondering when we’re going to be going home? It is kind of getting late and the sun is starting to set.” Rarity jumped up in surprise before looking at the clock. “Oh my! Is it already almost seven-thirty?!” She sighed. “I was hoping to get at least another two pairs of overwear done before nightfall... I’m terribly sorry, H.B.” Heartbreak chuckled. “It’s alright, Rarity. I mean tomorrow is just a day away, right?” “It most certainly is,” Rarity replied smiling. She turned her head to the various materials and tools she had brought with her and they began to levitate in the air. “Well then, while there is a little light left, I suppose we should get a move on!” “Uhm, Rarity,” Sweetie Belle said looking at her friends before giving her sister a slight subtle cute look. “Yes, Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked putting needles and fabrics into her saddle bags. “About that...” Sweetie Belle tapped her sister’s shoulder. “We were wondering if it could be possible if we could all stay the night here instead of going home?” The pins, cloth and other various sewing tools that had been delicately floating in the air, suddenly dropped to match her expression. The frazzled unicorn paused her packing and looked at her sister. “Stay...” She blinked and looked aghast. “Here?” Rarity’s left hoof lifted up near her mouth. “I’m not terribly sure that would be a good idea, Sweetie Belle...” “But!” Sweetie Belle started as she pulled out her level one cute face. Hopefully she didn’t have to go all the way to level five! The strain alone would have the muscles in her face sore for a week! “Sweetie Belle,” Rarity started giving her sister a soft smile. “It’s just that the house isn’t quite finished. There are terrible drafts, horrible amounts of dust, and Celestia knows what creatures are living in the walls!” She countered Sweetie Belle’s cute face by batting her eyelashes. “Besides, wouldn’t you like to sleep in your own nice warm bed tonight? You can even have your friends over if you like! I’m sure mother and father would be alright with that...” The girls gave each other a silent signal. Sweetie Belle would have to step up the game if they wanted to see that mark. “What about H.B.?” Sweetie Belle protested pushing her cute face to level five. “If we leave, she’ll be all alone!” ===================================================================== The weight of those seven words starts to sink in as the light in the room begins to grow dimmer and dimmer. ‘If we leave, she’ll be all alone!’ I hate to repeat that to myself, but I can’t help it. The sentence is echoing around in my head and reinforcing some of the thoughts I had earlier about being isolated. If Rarity and the girls leave for the night? This will be the first time that I have actually been alone for the first time ever since I got to Equestria! There’s not going to be any Twilight in her study trying her best to quietly keep the pages of her books from making noise. No Spike who I can yell to get me a glass of water in the middle of the night! It would be just me. Well, just me and any animals crawling around in my house and anything living out there in the Everfree Forest. Not to mention the snapdragons out front... but I really doubt those things would really want to come into my house in the middle of the night and get me a glass of water, or assist me if something terrible were to happen, even if I said please. “Oh, I’m sure she’ll be fine! After all, she’s been wanting to have a little time to herself. Isn’t that right, darling?” Rarity’s voice catches my attention and I am snapped out of my thoughts. “H.B.? Is there something wrong?” “No... It’s just...” Come on, tell her what you’re thinking already! Remember last month with Applejack? Be honest with yourself! “The girls bring up a good point. If you all go home, then I’ll be out here... alone. And I’m not sure I like that idea...” I kick my hoof on the ground. Rarity’s eyes flutter a bit. “H.B., whatever are you suggesting?” Damn it, Rarity. Are you trying to get me to say this? Really? What’s your game here?! “What I am saying is that I agree with the girls about this,” I give her a pleading look. “Could you all please stay over for the night?”