The New "Roomie" (Mr. J)

"At least leave the sword behind!" Bella called after him with a laugh. She shook her head and went about to get ready for her afternoon class.

As he walked towards the school, Just Heart had regrets. He regretted how much his armour weighed, he also regretted how sore he was, and lastly, he regretted cracking his rib. He slowed down as the school came into view. He then realized how completely out of place he looked, and wished he had his cloak. His eyes scanned the school yard for Quick, when he saw him Just started walking towards him.

Quick was sitting by the fence, waiting when a couple of older colts walked up and started making fun of him.

"What sort of colt get his hooves' painted?" One taunted.

"I-I like the c-colors," Quick mumbled and looked down to the ground.

He stopped just out of sight and listened, wondering if Quick would stand up for himself. He would step in soon, but needed to see something first. You could tell a lot about a young colt from how he handled bullies.

Quick just shrunk back, ears pressed flat against his head as the older colts bullied and called him nasty names. He really wished his dad or auntie Prima would just hurry up and get him so he could leave. He sniffled and bit his lip, trying not to cry.

"Hey look guys! He's about to start blubbering wike a wittle baby," The lead bully said with a cruel laugh.

Just Heart's blood ran cold. He silently walked up behind them, speaking in a calm and cold voice. "Did you know, by Equestrian law, that emotional abuse and bullying is punishable by inprisonment? So, I'd suggest you boys move along before the guards hear of this." He looked down at them with a gaze that could turn a cockatrice to stone.

The bullies froze and looked up to Just Heart, quaking in fear before bolting away. Quick sniffled and wiped at his eyes, fixing his glasses before looking up at Just.

"W-Where's auntie Prima? A-Are you here to pick m-me up?" Quick asked.

Just Heart knelt before Quick, gently smiling at the young colt. "Quick Stitch, what is wrong?" he asked as he reached one of his massive hooves out to him.

"Th-Those colts w-were teasing me about my h-hoof polish. W-Why are they so mean?" Quick asked, stepping closer to Just Heart.

"Because you're different, and that scares them. You do not fit into the guidelines of what is right and wrong in society. Your uniqueness makes them fearful, and the only way the know how to deal with that fear is to bully you. They think that by doing so, they are proving that they are right about you. The fact that you are brave enough to express yourself in whatever way you want makes them jealous of you. Either because they can not be that brave, or because you are not bound by rules that are not even real." He looked into Quick's eyes "Instead of seeing how beautiful and brave you are, they only see how different and strange you are. But unlike you and I, they do not know that 'different' and 'strange' are just another way to say 'beautiful' and 'brave'." He shifted towards Quick "Just know that what is out here," he gestured to Quick's body "does not matter half as much as what is in here." He finished, pressing his armour clad hoof to Quick's chest.

Quick sniffled and looked at his hooves while Just Heart spoke, looking up when he finished, giving him a watery smile. "Th-Thank you," He said. "C-Can we go now?"

Just smiled back "Of course we can Quick. Is there anywhere you'd like to stoip along the way?" He asked as he stood up, and used his magic to place Quick on his back.

"N-No thank you, I just want to go home," Quick said, shifting slightly on his back until he was comfortable.

"Very well young master." He then set off at a comfortable pace, heading back to Bella's home. "Your aunt tells me you enjoy wearing armour, is that correct?" A plan was slowly forming in Heart's head

"I like to play dress up, Auntie Prima has chests full of costumes she lets me play with," Quick said.

"When is your birthday Quick Stitch? I am afraid I do not know." Yes, Just Heart's master plan had no faults what so ever, no matter what Bella would say.

"Not for another year, I turned six just before I moved here to Ponyville," Quick said, looking at the stallion curiously.

Well...turns out his plan had a flaw. He pushed it to the back of his mind, and started to speak to the young colt"Is there anything you wish to know about me, young master?"

"How did you meet my aunt?" Quick asked. "And why do you keep calling me young master?"

"We...erm, we met at the Tavern one night." He then told the story of how he met Prima, but kept it PG and put a slight spin on it so it seemed more like a fairy tale. When he finished, he moved on to answering the second question "It's, well, first I suppose I should tell you that I'm a little over one thousand and twenty years old. Back in my time it was a sign of respect, usually one used with young noble lord or ladies, and ever the princes...if you were unlucky enough to know them that is."

He loved the story of how Just Heart and Prima met, it was just like in his storybooks and it was so easy to see his aunt as the princess in the story... It kinda helped that she had tiaras in her costume chests too.

"You're over a thousand years old?! Why aren't you wrinkly like my great gramma?" Quick asked with big eyes.

Just Heart couldn't help but laugh "I..spent a lot of that time with my body locked in time, and my skill with magic has kept it from fading into nothing."

"Oh, it's a good thing you're good at magic then," Quick said and looked up when he saw they were close to the studio, smiling when he saw his aunt trotting over.

"Hello you two!" Bella said with a smile.

"Hello Bella!" Just smiled, and kissed her on the cheek. He then frowned a bit "I regret to inform you that young master Quick was being picked on, but I ran the bullies off. Does this happen often?" His voice carried worry mixed with anger, and a tinge of sympathy

Bella's smile quickly vanished and then reappeared as if nothing happened. "Quick, there's a snack waiting for you up in the kitchen, when not go on ahead," She said, lifting him off of Just Heart's back and setting him down on the ground. She waited until he was heading up before turning and nuzzling the stallion.

"More often than ever acceptable," Bella said quietly. "It's mostly colts but there have been fillies too. Manehattan is a little more accepting of a colt like Quick because it's a fashion epicenter, he loved spending his summers there with me because he got to meet mares and stallions with similar stories... It's too bad Ponyville isn't so understanding."