"Her dad was a bartender named Salty Rim, and her mom was a career counselor named Job Satisfaction." Heart grimaced. "They decided to be creative and combine their names."
Oak probably enjoyed the stories and such being told around him as much as the pancakes and the good old tunes he picked from the jukebox. Actually, the pancakes were pretty darn good. He'd have to remember to give his compliments to the chef. He was slightly put off by the amounts of magic (shape-shifting is magic, right?) being used in the room, but nothing he couldn't shrug off. He never figured out what it was about magic he didn't like, but this was a public area, and there's nothing warranting his say. But he was having a good time, and he didn't want his silly, insignificant anxieties to get in the way.
"To be fair, I doubt they knew what it meant. Let's face it, the average pony is pretty innocent when it comes to this stuff." She shifted to her Changeling form and sighed. "Honestly, you ponies are downright boring sometimes."
Cricket winked back. "I'll have to take you up on that, someday." She glanced at Maya's belly, and her eyes widened slightly. "Is it just me, or did the kid get bigger since last time I saw you? Like... a lot bigger?"
"Oh, yeah. Uhh... alicorns' kids do that sometimes I heard." She rubbed her belly. "This kid's gonna hurt."
"Magical nerve deadening. It's kinda pricey, but it works wonders." She tousled Hope's mane. "Didn't feel a thing when this one was born, and she damn near ripped my guts out."
"I'm not a pony. I can make myself look like one, but I'll never be one." She sighed. "Look, I'm sorry if I offended you, I'm just not very good at the whole 'empathy' thing."
"Little bit. Anyway, there's things that make sense to me, then things that make sense to you. Nothing wrong with that."
Xion: (still in the desert near the outcropping. Starting to bash a loose rock into the side of the outcropping in hopes of breaking some more rocks from it.)
A group of Unicorns who happened to be nearby heard the commotion and went to investigate. After a short whispered discussion, their leader approached the strange primate-like creature. "What are you, and why are you damaging my valuable geological samples?" ******************************************************************* Cricket shrugged. "I guess. Sometimes I think it was easier when the only emotions I had to worry about were the ones I was feeding on."
Heh. I don't have to answer you, considering the fact that this is granite with a small amount of coal, (pointing out a small streak of bituminous coal) , and can be found, hmm where???? Oh yeah! All over this desert. If you really want some that is valuable go about hmm, forty klicks northwest.
