Artis' Model

by BatwingCandlewaxxe


Day 2: Something In The Air

Day 2: Something In The Air

Fluttershy awoke early the next morning to the sound of rattling and clinking. Peeking out of the tent flaps, she could see Artis already at work setting up his easel and paints, a kettle hanging over the camp stove, his little table set for tea with two services. She crawled out of her tent, stretched, and took a deep, slow breath, enraptured by the scents of grass and tree and flower that mingled in the still morning air. Trotting over to her viewing stand, she began setting up her own gear again, as she had done the previous morning.

"Good morning, miss Fluttershy," called Artis, his basso profundo voice rumbling across the valley. "Would you care for a cup of tea?"

"Good morning Mr. Donum," the pegasus' musical voice lilted back. Angel crawled out of the tent yawning, and hopped to the treeline to begin breakfast. "Tea would be very nice, thank you." She nibbled another granola bar from her pack.

"Hrm... Mr. Donum," mused the fiery-maned stallion. "Sounds a bit formal, doesn't it? You're welcome to call me Artis if you like. Or..." he paused for a moment, "Canvas. That sounds friendlier. Funny, you're only the third pony to learn my old name in over a century. I don't think anyone else besides the princesses remember it now."

Fluttershy smiled at the powerful stallion. "Blank Canvas is a very nice name for an artist." She walked back and looked at the canvas that was her new friend's namesake, no longer blank. Artis had blocked in colours for the valley, as well as a preliminary composition for the portrait of Fluttershy, and broad details were beginning to take shape. "How long does it take you to finish a painting?"

"Well, that depends on the subject and size, of course, as well as the style." Artis levitated the kettle over to the table, setting it on a small flat rock. "I find myself particularly inspired for this one, and want to capture the details as thoroughly as possible." He scooped two heaping spoons of tea leaves into a small stoneware pot, and poured in a small splash of water. Swirling the pot briefly, he poured the water out again, placed it back on the table, and proceeded to fill it with more water from the kettle. After a minute or so, he poured the tea into wide, shallow porcelain bowls, floated one over to where Fluttershy sat opposite, then picked up his own bowl and gently inhaled the steam arising from it.

Fluttershy imitated the elder alicorn's ritual with her bowl, the scent of distant lands and exotic perfume filling her nostrils. She took a small sip of the golden liquid and sighed contentedly. "Oh this is just lovely."

"It is rather nice, isn't it?" remarked Artis pleasantly. "It's from a tiny village far to the east, beyond Griffonstone. Ancient tea plants tended by a secluded Antelope village. It grows high up on misty mountainsides, and only the Antelopes who live there can navigate its steep slopes to reach the tea without disturbing the mists the way a pegasus pony would. Mists that water the tea and protect it from the sun's glare, allowing it to develop such fine and delicate aromas. Very rare and very secret." He took another sip and leaned his head down close to Fluttershy. "Not even Celestia knows where I get it," he confided in a conspiratorial whisper. "She's been pestering me about it for centuries."

"Your secret is safe with me," Fluttershy whispered back, giggling. The two ponies laughed together as they sipped the fragrant tea.

Soon, the air was full of buzzing, and Artis pointed out the first flutterspiders waking up and setting forth on their hunt. The two ponies painted and sketched in silence all morning, as the flocks of flutterspiders grew, blanketing the valley and hillside with brilliant flashes of colour. Fluttershy had completed several sketches and was preparing to start on a fourth, when she heard a polite cough from Artis. Turning to look, she saw him nod his head at her, then peer pointedly into the valley, just down the slope in front of her. Followed his gaze, she beheld a dark red magic aura dislodging a rough ball of earth supporting a blue-and-purple flower, an enormous flutterspider perched on top. Her eyes remained fixed on the plant as it slowly levitated it's way up the slope towards her, stopping scant feet away, the spider intent on his meal of a recently-acquired bee. She sat frozen in awe, before another polite cough broke her trance, and she slowly began to sketch. A few minutes later, finished with its bee, the arachnid flitted into the air, circled the watching pegasus several times, then settled onto the top of her head. Fluttershy held stock still, not daring to even breathe, for what seemed both an eternity and a fleeting second, before it again arose, and fluttered its way back down into the valley. The flower followed close behind the flutterspider, and was firmly re-planted from where it had been dug.

"That was beautiful," Fluttershy said breathily. "Thank you so much."

"It was most assuredly my pleasure," responded Artis, his deep voice strangely shy. "A beautiful scene, for a beautiful pony." He chuckled lightly. "I remember doing something similar for Celestia when she was just a filly, at the annual monarch butterfly migration. Only she ended up covered in them." His laughter boomed down the hillside. "She stood for nearly five whole minutes, afraid to twitch even a hair for fear of hurting them. I finally had to shoo them away so she could breathe again. She spent the next ten minutes bouncing and squealing giddily."

Fluttershy laughed gently along with Artis. "I cannot imagine Princess Celestia squealing like a filly. I can't even imagine her being a filly. You really knew her when she was young?"

"I certainly did, her and Luna both, from the time they were born. They were quite the handful, those two, inveterate pranksters. I imagine they've grown out of that by now," Artis remarked, ears drooping slightly, a note of wistful sadness in his voice.

"Oh no, they still like pranks," replied Fluttershy. "Twilight says that when she was Princess Celestia's student, they even had a little bit of a prank war going."

"I can only imagine," said Artis, chuckling quietly to himself. "The stories I could tell you about those two... Why don't we break for lunch, and I'll tell you more, if you'd like."

"I'd like that very much," replied Fluttershy warmly.

Artis smiled, and brought out a picnic basket. From it he extracted a large dandelion-green pie, a jar of rhubarb compote, a crusty baguette, and a jug of sparkling mountain spring water. Two sets of celadon porcelain plates followed, accompanied silver cutlery and crystal tumblers. Fluttershy's eyes grew large as Artis started dishing out the pie, and tore two small hunks off the baguette. "I hope everything is to your liking, my dear Fluttershy," he said when he had finished serving. "Please help yourself to the compote."

"It's all so... exquisite," replied Fluttershy, in a tone she borrowed from her fashionista friend. She picked up a wide-handled fork in her hoof and pastern and took a bite of the dandelion pie, and it was like a whole garden exploded in her mouth, the slight bitterness of the dandelion greens perfectly balanced by a creamy white sauce, and the pungent mountain herbs. "Mmm! That is so good!"

Artis' eyes sparkled. "I'm so glad you like it. It's one of my particular favorites. I may have overdone things a bit with the place settings, but it's so rare I have any company up here, let alone someone so charming and lovely. I'm afraid that I'm showing off a bit."

"Oh, I don't mind at all," replied Fluttershy, "and you're quite the handsome gentlestallion yourself."

"Well then," said Artis, surprised to discover that he could, after all this time, still find himself blushing (thankfully hidden by his jet-black hide), "you were asking about Celestia..."

The two passed a long lunch trading stories about the princesses, Equestrian society, rare and exotic animals, and whatever else happened to come to mind. They laughed easily and lightly, and when they had finished eating, continued their conversation as they sketched and painted, until the sun again dipped toward the horizon. As Fluttershy began packing her things for the evening, the alicorn turned and fixed her with an odd, soft look she had trouble interpreting.

"My dear Fluttershy, I find myself enjoying our time together more than I have enjoyed the company of anypony else for many a decade. My domicile is not far from here, just a short glide to the north, and I have a guest room that has not seen use since well before your time. If you would care to fly over with me, I would love to continue our conversation over supper.

"I, that is, I'm not sure I could. Not that I don't want to, but I'm not a very strong flier, and my equipment is rather heavy, I had to hike up the mountain on hoof..."

"I see," replied Artis. Lifting his head and closing his eyes, the dark alicorn mumbled a quick incantation. A shower of deep red sparks fountained into the sky from his horn then rained back down, the cascading magic spell encompassing a wide circular swath of the clearing and nearby forest, briefly encasing it all in a soft crimson glow. "There," he said, looking back down at Fluttershy, "everything should be perfectly safe for the night. And of course, you're welcome too," he said, looking down at Angel hiding behind Fluttershy's back leg.

Angel shook his head, and hopped over to the open tent. "I'm not sure I should leave Angel alone," said Fluttershy, looking over at the white rabbit. Angel gave her an exasperated look, and made a shoo-ing motion with his front paws. "Oh, okay, if you're sure." She turned back to Artis. "Thank you Art...Canvas. I'd love to."

Artis took to the air and Fluttershy followed closely behind, both ponies riding the updraft that rose from the valley, circling around the mountain to the north. Fluttershy marveled at the imposing alicorn's grace and poise as they soared through the open air between the peaks. Before long, she found herself following him down to a small plateau on the east side, finally landing on a lush green field near a large sprawling cabin. As they approached the door to his cabin, the ancient alicorn stopped, cleared his throat, and gave a short speech in an ancient tongue, which Fluttershy responded to with a quizzical frown. He smiled down at her. "It's an ancient welcome ritual," he said, answering her unspoken question. "It's hard to translate into modern Equestrian, but it essentially means that as long as you are in my house, you are under my sworn protection, and should feel as free of my home as you would be of your own."

Fluttershy blushed again, and bowed. "I am honored, sir, and I thank you very much for your hospitality."

"The honor is most certainly mine," replied Artis, dipping his head to the small yellow pegasus pony. He held the door open for Fluttershy, following her inside. "It's a bit spare, I have little desire for luxuries, 'though I daresay you should find it comfortable enough." He showed Fluttershy to the guest bedroom and washroom, and, bowing again, left her to her ablutions.

When Fluttershy returned to the main room, she found Artis had prepared a heaping plate of assorted greens, several small wedges of cheese, and a bottle of wine. She seated herself on a cushion opposite him, and nibbled hungrily but politely on a leaf of arugula. Artis poured the wine, taking a slice of cheese for himself.

"So, you've told me much about your friends and about Ponyville," he began, "but little enough about yourself."

"Well, I'm not really all that interesting..."


"I beg to differ, my dear. You're the most interesting pony I have met in some centuries; and I would love to learn more about you."

Fluttershy began talking, timidly at first, but more freely as the wine took effect. She spoke of her work with the animals, of meeting (and sort-of abducting) Celestia's pet Philomena (which greatly amused Artis), her adventures throughout Equestria, of growing up in Cloudsdale, discovering her cutie mark, and anything else she could think of. Artis in his turn regaled Fluttershy with tales of his land before the founding of Equestria, and the various artists he had known throughout his life. As the hours wound on, eventually Fluttershy found herself yawning.

"Oh dear, I've kept you up too late," said Artis suddenly. I suppose it's time we both turned in for the night. There's still one more day for the flutterspider migration, and I don't believe you'd want to miss it." The two ponies stood, but before Fluttershy could turn and leave, Artis spoke again. "I..." Artis cleared his throat, and briefly glanced away from Fluttershy. "I've been away from pony society for a very long time now, and I'm afraid I've lost touch with modern custom. I apologize if I am being too forward, but, well..." His voice took a slightly more formal tone. "If you're interested, you're welcome to stay with me tonight."

Fluttershy looked stunned for a moment, one hoof sliding back and forth lightly across the floor. Artis... no... Blank Canvas was a very attractive pony, despite his gothic appearance, but... "I, I'm sorry, Canvas, but... I just..."

Artis smiled warmly at her and held up a hoof, "No apologies or explanations are necessary. You are my guest; and, I hope, my friend. I would not dream of pressuring you. I will simply leave the invitation open, with no expectations." He held out his hoof to Fluttershy, who pressed her hoof to his. They smiled at each other, walked off to their respective rooms, and were both soon fast asleep.