Author's Notes:

Credit goes to my editor/co-author Nightwatch for helping me with this chapter.

The herd enjoyed their time on the festival grounds until it was time for lunch. Razor Wit had been keeping an eye on Artex after Rose had made her comment regarding his previous weight. She had seen the hurt in his eyes every time he looked at Rose. He did exactly what she feared he would: he internalized his feelings. The entire time she had known him, he had always been a very private person. He spoke often and freely, but not about his feelings. She knew him well, but Rose did not yet understand their stallion like Razor did. Artex had to know that Rose had not meant her comment to be cruel or hurtful, and he was trying to hide it so she would not feel bad, but holding the feelings within was not doing him any good.

Razor thought she knew how she could talk to Rose about it, but she would have to be careful. Rose was very sensitive about a number of things even though she would not easily admit it. Vaiawa had shed her disguise and recommended that the herd enjoy some of the olden style foods which were being sold at various vendors. It was lunch time and nobody argued with the idea. Seeing as they all had different tastes, they decided to go get their respective meals separately and then meet in the cushioned seating for the Shakespeare plays which were continually performed on the main stage near Town Hall.

Instead of heading off with Oriana, who had similar tastes to herself, Razor Wit decided to join Rose Thorn so as to talk to her alone about the issue with Artex. She trotted up next to the hulking Earth Pony mare and gently nudged her side to get her attention, "Hey there, Rose."

Rose Thorn glanced to her side and smiled broadly, "Decided to join me this time, eh?" She said playfully, "I hope you like new things. I'm finally going to try out the 'roast beef' they're serving at one of the stands. Artex seems to love meat so," she shrugged, "Might as well try something new. Who knows, maybe I'll like it too."

Razor tried not to blanch. The memory of the stench from when she had spent weeks tracking the Humans before they reached New Humansville returned to the forefront of her mind. One of the days, they had caught fish and the smell of the guts festering in the sunlight had left her with an indelible memory of rotten fish. Still, she could admit that she was curious about how it tasted. Being around Artex for so long, she wondered why she had never thought to try it before. The smell of cooked meat was pleasant enough, but fish still made her gorge rise when she thought about it. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, "There was something I wanted to talk to you about, too."

Rose pivoted her ears toward the smaller Unicorn mare, giving Razor her full attention. She kept her eyes ahead so as not to bump into anybody, "What is it?"

"It's about what you said about Artex earlier... you know, about how big he used to be?" Razor said.

Rose smirked, "Yeah, it sounds like he was a real butterball. Glad he managed to lose his weight though. Being that fat couldn't have been good for his health." She growled playfully, "Mmh-hmm! My sexy stallion!"

"It hurt his feelings, Rose." Razor blurted.

Rose Thorn turned her head toward her herdmate, eyebrows raised, "What? How?" She asked.

Razor placed her left forehoof against Rose's right side and slowed to a stop. Rose stopped as well, face confused and concerned, "Why did that hurt his feelings? He wizened up and got healthy, what's the big deal?"

Razor took a breath, 'I have to make her understand... in her own terms... hmm...' Razor Wit raised her head and regarded Rose seriously, "What would you say if, when Artex first met you, he asked whether you were a mare or a stallion because of how tall and muscular you are?"

Rose laid back her ears and flared her nostrils, pawing at the ground, "I'd probably have rearranged his arms and legs."

"But what if he really didn't know? What if he said it innocently, not meaning to upset you?" Razor pushed gently.

Rose's ears wilted, splaying to to the sides, as Razor continued, "I know it's a sensitive subject for you, but try to understand. Artex was teased a lot about his weight back on his world. He didn't 'wise up' Rose, at least not at first. He lost all his weight because he was in a coma for months and the doctors didn't know how much to feed him or even what to feed him. He threw up and the doctors thought it was because they were giving him too much food, so they reduced it. He threw up again and the doctors kept reducing his food until he was starving. They didn't know the reason he was throwing up was because his body was developing a screfula. When I first saw him he was so weak he could barely stand. It was pitiful Rose. Once he began eating again, he did learn how to be healthy, but it wasn't his choice at first. I think he still feels like he's fat and I know for sure that he's still sensitive about it."

"But he didn't seem to be upset... and Darryl teased him about how big he used to be." Rose countered.

Razor nodded, "He didn't get upset with Darryl because they both used to be big. It would be like if you had a workout buddy and the two of you trained together. You could play around about it because you both knew what you had gone through." Razor paused and took a breath, "Artex internalizes his feelings. He wouldn't show how he feels because from what I understand Human males are told that they shouldn't show emotion. It took me months to hear about the wife he left on Earth. And even then he only told me because Applejack made him do it. Humans have a different culture than we do and that is one of the differences with dealing with him. We have to know what he's feeling because he won't say it out loud."

Rose's ears were completely wilted by that point, her head hanging low, "I didn't mean to upset him. I was only trying to be funny... it just slipped out..."

Razor placed a gentle forehoof on the much larger mare, "Rose calm dow..."

"But I hurt him." She whimpered, cutting Razor off.

Razor patted her shoulder, "Come on Rose. All you have to do is talk about it with him. He'll forgive you, I know he will. We can't let this go, not with him. I'll be there if he gets too stubborn. You know he loves you." Razor snorted, "Believe me. If he didn't want you, he would have just said no and been done with it. You have to admit, he can be pretty blunt... and kind of dense."

Rose giggled quietly, her ears perking slightly, "He really is. And he's SO hard to understand. I have trouble telling whether or not he's joking."

Razor nodded with a giggle of her own, "It takes a while to understand him. Oriana is only barely starting to understand him." She nudged Rose in her side again, "Come on, you said you wanted to try some 'roast beef' right?"

Rose brightened slightly, "Yeah, care to try it with me?"

Razor shrugged, "Maybe. Let's just see how well your stomach handles it."