House that Heartbreak Rebuilt

by Jet_Black1980

A Dressing Problems

Chapter 12

A Dressing Problems.

The sounds of a pencil busily scratching on a piece of paper could be heard from down the hallway as Rarity came back from talking with the driver. Quietly, she peered back into the room. Heartbreak was still there, only now she had moved her sitting pillow more in front of the mirror and bobbing her head up and down. Here eyes were darting from the paper to the mirror and back again.

Rarity giggled to herself. The focused face of determination of an artist was a wonder to behold. The subtle lines of delight at something going right, the furrows of frustration when things went wrong, and the joy of actually accomplishing something. Heartbreak paused and looked at her reflection in the mirror again. There was one of those furrows of frustration.

Rarity suddenly felt a bit ill as she watched Heartbreak lift her hoof up. There, in that hole she had drilled, was a pencil of sorts. Rarity couldn’t believe that somepony would willingly do that to themselves! A hoof wasn’t just something that a pony did that to!

“Hooves are your livelihood! The state of your hooves reflect how much you care about yourself and others! And the way that it looks just jammed in at an angle like that...How can she stand it?!” Rarity peered at the drawing the best she could from the hallway. Despite how odd it looked, she had to admit that Heartbreak was doing a pretty decent job drawing. “Especially, since according to Twilight, she’s had the one thing that let her express herself taken away! Why, when Discord took my horn away-”

“Are you going to come into the room or continue to stand there, staring?”

“Eek!” Rarity jumped in surprise as Heartbreak posed her question.

She glanced over from her drawing spot. “I guess there is some advantage to having a wider field of vision. Being more aware of when others are watching you...”

Rarity walked into the room. “I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t mean to stare, it’s just-”

“You don’t have to explain yourself, Rarity. You have a p-p-pony with a mechanical pencil embedded into her hoof, laying in your...” She looked around for a moment. “Sewing room? With the design of this place, I haven’t a clue where the living room is.”

“My beautique doesn’t have a living room, darling,” she explained. “There’s a kitchen in back, an office and study area. Upstairs is my bedroom and bathroom areas. And then there is the attic on the third floor for storage.”
Heartbreak nodded and muttered a mm-hmm before frowning at her drawing. She lifted her hoof up again and tapped the top. The mechanical pencil seemed to spring to life with a whirring sound, the tip of it pulled in and then was replaced with a white nubby thing. Rarity cocked her head. “Did...did...”

“My eraser,” Heartbreak said, lightly brushing the eraser on the paper. “Having this thing be a multitasker was the smartest thing I thought of when I was...out of it. In retrospect, the dumbest thing of course was drilling the hole in my hoof.” She shook her head. She tapped the top of the pencil, and it turned back into a pencil. Rarity looked over the rough sketch as Heartbreak blew away her eraser crumbs. “Uhm...fet...I didn’t mean to make a mess, I’ll clean-”

Rarity fought the urge to make a deal about it. “Don’t think anything about it, darling!” She said waving a hoof and picking them up in a glow of her magic. She peered over Heartbreak’s shoulder trying to get a view at what she was drawing.

“You know,” Heartbreak said pausing her drawing. “For a pony who was just talking about manners-”

Rarity pulled back. “I wasn’t interrupting your concentration was I?” She asked apologetically.

Heartbreak shook her head. “No, just kind of invading my space, that’s all.” She blinked. “No offense.”

“Uhm, none taken,” Rarity replied. “But, if you don’t mind me asking, what is it that you’re drawing?”

“I don’t mind,” she focused on the mirror and then started to make faces at it. “I’m practicing drawing myself...again. It was hard enough to do self-portraits before all this.”

Rarity looked over Heartbreak’s shoulder again. Some of the lines looked a bit crude and the proportions were a bit off. She lifted a hoof and bit her lip. “I so want to correct a few things! But an artist’s work is a part of their soul! Part of their being! Part of-”

“Dangnabit,” Heartbreak said glaring at the paper. “Rarity?”

Rarity backed away. “You want me to give you some space?”

“No, can you help me? Something about this just doesn’t look right and I could really use an artproofer here,” she replied looking up.

==============================================================

Rarity looks at me completely confused, and I can’t blame her. I mean after yesterday’s bit of, ‘whining’ at each other and the way I usually am, well, I would be confused too.

I’m going to put it on an account of me drawing. Everything seems...well, not all together better, but a little more ok when I am drawing, writing, telling a story or maybe even reading. It takes my mind and keeps it focused on something else rather than my usual angst fests. I sorta forget that I have hooves for a moment.

Well, just for a moment. I think I like drawing and writing better than telling a story or reading to others. The sound of, ‘my,’ voice really irritates me. Heh, and I’m sure it really irritates Mi too.

Rarity is still looking at me with that rather overly emotional expression. “You want moi to assist you?”

Ugh, that face is making feel all sorts of weirdness. “If you wouldn’t mind. I used to have an artproofer that would go over my lines to make sure things looked neat and clean. She did some inking for some of my sketches too.”

Rarity flips her mane and prances a bit. “I would love to!”

“Just as long as you calm down a bit. Geez.” I roll my eyes.

“Right, so...” She picks up my sketchbook and looks it over. “Can I use your pencil or should I use my own?”

I look at the mechanical pencil in my hoof nervously. “Uhm, if you wouldn’t mind, please use your own.”

==============================================================

Rarity and I have been going back and forth on a simple drawing for a while now. I smack my lips and eye the clock. Holy shit! Forty-Five minutes?!

Well... At least it was forty-five minutes well spent. And not even a single mention of any terribly girly topics. Nothing that I was afraid of at all! Things seem to have gone better than I expected here.

“So, as long as you keep-” Rarity begins.

“I know, practicing, I am sure to get better.” Crap, is that a smile coming from my face? Do I stop in fear of it getting weird or keep going? “I almost always asked if others drew, if they had somewhere where they kept their artwork, if I could look and then would encourage them to keep drawing...even if they thought that their work sucked.”

Rarity gives me a sympathetic smile. “Self-criticism is the bane of any artist’s existence.” Her eyes light up. “Speaking of looking at others artwork...” She pulls out a few sheets of paper off the shelf. “I was wondering if you could take a look at some of mine.”

I grimace a little. Most likely these are going to be drawings of dresses. And seriously, I know jack shit about style. All I know is how to draw what I see or what I can imagine. I don’t care if the fabrics fold and look all pretty, just that it looks good. Then again, she’s spent three-quarters of an hour with my sulky-butt without much complaint. That’s got to count for something right? Besides, I haven’t looked at someone else’s artwork in forever. Well, forever in internet terms. I’m used to looking at artwork non-stop, where a click of a mouse can take me to anyone’s gallery. A little something fresh would be nice. “Sure, why not? I mean it’s sure to be something interesting.” The papers float in front of me. “So, what do we have h-”

I am cut off in mid sentence. And I can feel my left eye starting to twitch. Fuck, I need to fight that urge off really badly now. Really, really badly. What could be so horrible that I need to bite my tongue?

Dresses.

Alright, so dresses aren’t bad to look at. I was expecting dresses! Fuck, there are dresses all around me on the pony mannequins! But what is sending me into some twitches is the fact that there is a certain pony drawn in these dresses.

“Now, as you can see, I’ve been taking some inspiration from a great number of different places. But I decided to go with four different dresses for a variety of occasions. A casual dress, a formal dress, a full on gown and finally...” She looks around and gives me a rather sly looking grin. “An experimental, risqué-outfit.” I think my mouth is open and I’m not fighting the twitching of my eye. “Well! What do you think? Be honest now!” I continue to hold my mouth open and try to process words out of it. She looks at me a bit nervously. “Is there something wrong darling?”

“Huh? Oh! Right...What do I think about them.” I nod my head slowly. “They are very... interesting. Uhm. Yeah, interesting...nice...designs.”

Her eyes go sad. “Is there something wrong?”

“Uhm..”

“Are the colours off?” She asks.

“No, I think the colours are... nice.” Aaaaand I’ve turned into Fluttershy again.

“Is the risqué one too much? I will admit that it is one of the very few that I have ever done.”

I squeak something out and then facehoof. “Alright. Being. Honest.” I don’t look at her while I try to explain what I need to explain. “Alright, don’t get me wrong, Rarity. These are very nicely designed dresses and all.”

“Buuuut...?” She says her tone turning worried.

“But normally you don’t do your drawings in colour do you?” I ask.

“Well, not normally, but there were details that I wanted to get out, and colour was the only way that I could really make this whole thing pop!” She replies.

“Right, so then, I have one question, if I may ask. And please don’t take offense to it or feel like I am trying to hurt your feelings here.”

She looks at me with begging eyes and her head tilted forward. “H.B., you let me into a most intimate realm of yours and allowed me to assist you with your artistic skills, I doubt that there could be anything you could say that would offend me or hurt my feelings.”

“Don’t be so sure about that,” I think to myself. “Right. It isn’t the dresses themselves. You did a..uhm...wonderful job designing them. It’s the p-p-pony in question that you drew wearing them.”
She blinks. “Oh? You noticed that?” She asks smiling.

“Yes. Yes I did.” Fuck, how do I put this delicately? After all, I did promise Twilight and Spike I would try to get along with her. “Why does she have a brown mane, blue eyes, and a tan coat?”

“Well, isn’t obvious?”

Please don’t say what I think you are going to say, Rarity. Please, please, please, please don’t say-

“I had a wonderful idea of trying to design a dress for you!” She replies gleefully.

Fuck.

Comments

[Kuki-Shift]

And they were getting along so well!

In retrospect, that should have been the sign that things were about to go south real fast!

[Flame6666]

Oh come on Anthony, just tell Rarity that you were a guy before. What's the worst that could happen

[Grtgfbll]

That was disappointingly short... Still a good chap, though.

[Stormcaller]

Another chapter... and I'm even home sick to read it!

Thank you flu!! Thank you for making me ill so I can read this at once!!

Hmm... maybe there's more wrong with me than just the flu if I'm actually talking to it...

...nah!

[MrBackpack]

2501338
This is the one thing that I don't understand about this whole series, why can't HB tell everypony that she was male before coming to Equestria?

Still love the series though.

[Jet_Black1980]

2501408 She doesn't -want- to.

[Flame6666]

2501408
Well if she did at the start it wouldn't be a big problem, but now that it's been months it would awkward as hell and would only add on to all the other problems.

However if there was one of the mane six to tell it would be Rarity. Not only to avoid dressing up and going to the spa, but I feel she would be the best to help Anthony out with all the new/more powerful emotions, at least in my opinion.

[Jet_Black1980]

2501446 Rarity is the Last pony she wants to tell. Cause there might be that side, but there is also the side of her wanting to feminize her.
HB doesn't want that.

[Flame6666]

2501454
Oh I know that H.B. doesn't want to change, I was just stating what would be best for her.

Most of the drama in this story is centered on one thing, H.B. not being able to handle her emotions. And to fix that she would need to be a little more feminine.
But that wont ever happen, least till we're closer to the end.

[blazikenking]

2501356 Maybe, in addition to the flu, you have a case of ttershy. It has been reported in bronies with the flu. Typical symptoms of ttershy include talking to pony fics, videos, and/or pictures and dismissing the thought that there's something wrong with themself. It is usually not contagious in the sense of regular diseases. These two diseases, when put together, are known as Fluttershy, and can cause d'awabetes from prolonged exposure, possibly even severe cases of HHNNNNGG!!! Fortunately, nobrony (or pegasister) has died from this. No research has gone into a cure though, and it is highly suspected that nobody cares enough to cure it. Have a nice day.

[Jet_Black1980]

2501528 Indeed, now what did you think of the chapter?

[NaughtSought]

So rarity made all those with our protagonist in mind? Even the risqué one? Stop worrying Anthony I'm sure its not THAT bad.

[Jet_Black1980]

2501581 D: HB "We're going to put YOU in those dresses!"

[blazikenking]

2501553 My only complaint with the chapter is that I now have to wait for the next one

[Jet_Black1980]

2501699 You won't have to wait long. THe next chapter is done, just needs proofreading.

[blazikenking]

2501719
*SUPER INHALE*yay

[permeakra]

I immidiately remembered this video.
http://youtu.be/sDdL4z5qfr4

[NaughtSought]

2501593 as long as its just modeling. No pictures. Surely the fashionista would understand not wanting modeling to get out. There was an episode about that right?

Grasping at straws here!

[Jet_Black1980]

2501856 And then you were a fashion model... for several years.

[NaughtSought]

2501882 nope. Several years implies its going to get out. Not happening.

[Stormcaller]

Ya know, if it was me I'd likely just roll with being a mare rather than fight it. Oh I'm sure that at first there'd be some issues, be a bit of displeasure but really, whats the point in fighting it and making ones self and those around you miserable?

Also it'd seem to me that fighting it so hard would only make those that did this to me enjoy my suffering all the more. I think they've gotten enough chuckles at my expenses so no more!

Another great chapter and I await that next one you have ready for editing.

2501699

So THAT'S what I have... that might also explane why I talk to my plushies so much and that oddly shaped rock...

*eyes rock*

Rock "Nopony likes you and you smell funny!"

Buck YOU Skippy!!

[blazikenking]

2502538 I can assure you that that rock is actually a very dim-witted alien whose sole objective is to be annoying. Fortunately, there is an easy way to subdue it: play rock music. Getting rid of it is also easy. Most rocks can't swim, and they also lack any form of self locomotion, so the best thing to do is throw it in a pond, lake, or some other sizable body of non-puddle water. If the stone turns out to be hollow, it may float and ride the surface currents somewhere. Should this happen, find a cinder block, secure the hollow stone in it, and drop them into the loch ness. A monster will consume the hollow stone. This has been proven due to the fact that none of the hollow stones have ever come back.

[Y1]

Whelp, that aught'a do it. I've just been waiting for their first fight, and I suspect we're about to get it.

[Dream Weaver]

Getting better with every chapter...xD

[FIREDRA6ON]

This was bound to happen, Rarity was going to make H.B. a dress eventually, we all saw it coming.

[DrakeRenar1]

Yep, saw that coming from a mile away, and now I have the feeling that they're going to fight!

Where did I leave my Mortal Kombat theme music?

[MrBackpack]

2501431

I figured. Just my rationality overruling my understanding, or what I think my understanding is, of the character

[Jaffaarchfiend]

Aaaaaand in one fell swoop... Rarity has managed to collapse the last forty-five minutes of hard work the two of them had enjoyed. I don't suppose Heartbreak can try to convince Rarity to go all Scottish for her in the designs... that way it saves Rares feelings, and Heartbreak can convince herself that she's not wearing a dress, but is in fact wearing a very elaborate kilt.

[dargondarkfire]

2503922
I think i saw this the moment i knew HB would have a lesson with her.
the funny thing is... hb is acting weird. maybe its just me but... hb seems to act like she has a crush on rarity that she doesn't realize she has.

[Jet_Black1980]

2505638 It's just you.

[dargondarkfire]

2505890thought so

[IkioStar]

And 'That' Is why you DO NOT tempt fate.

[Boss_Hoss1]

Rares... I just...*groan*
gifsoup.com/view/98964/1000-facepalms-o.gif

[tk4]

"A Dressing Problems"
What. What is thi- Oh I see what you did there...

[Luckyfanisaac]

if they had somewhere where they kept their artwork,