//------------------------------// // 6. My Art Class // Story: Azure Days // by Anzel //------------------------------// It had been a tough week. Most weeks were tough, but this one had been tougher. I’d consciously decided to stay in my apartment every night. That meant nightmares, barely sleeping enough hours, and having to listen to Mr. Peepers complain about his relationship. School, while desirable, had been very difficult. We were covering a lot of material in a short period of time. It was pushing me and all the other students to the limit. That was part of the goal of the instructors though. Being a Pony Resource Officer wasn’t going to be a cake walk. All of that led up to my Friday appointment with Mindful Soul. The waiting room had been empty again so nopony saved me from Good Vibes. I had to tell her about the art class and she just went on and on about how she wanted to buy my paintings and put them up in her house. She was exhausting. On the positive side, Mindful Soul was happy I’d stayed home, even if I was fried. She was pleased I was joining the art class. She was even interested to hear that Mr. Peepers and Diver Pony were back on. Which they were! For now, anyway… I thought it was all going so well until she recommended, again, that I go see Sandy. There was zero chance of that. Sandy had been permanently hurt because I was too scared to act sooner. If I’d been faster, she’d still be able to walk. Facing her was not happening. We’d worked through the rest of the appointment, I’d spent an hour in the bathroom crying afterwards, and now it was time to figure out how I was going to get across town to the art school. It was Friday night in Canterlot, so the streets were full of ponies. Crowds of ponies. Lots and lots of ponies. “Mom and Dad’s place is closer,” I muttered as I peeked out of the medical annex at the streets. Mindful Soul’s voice echoed in my mind. ‘I’m proud of you Azurite, you seem to be making progress this week.’ “Why do I even care about her praise!” I asked loudly. “Beats me,” a stallion replied as he trotted out and into the street like it was such an easy thing to do. There was a dusty bookstore about a block down that was usually empty. I darted out of the annex and rushed to the store. I slipped inside, causing the little bell to jingle. “Hello, welcome to the Reading Room,” the familiar clerk behind the counter said in his usual cheerful voice. His green eyes then focused on me and he added, “Oh hey. Traveling again, I see?” I nodded without looking away from the window. “Yeah, there are a lot of ponies out tonight” “Alrighty, well, hide as long as you need. We have hot tea in the back with the book club. You really should consider joining. Call if you need something!” “Thank you!” I squeaked absently as I pressed my face to the glass to look out. There were still plenty of ponies roaming here and there. The next stop was Happy Farm. It was my mom’s favorite salad bar. The door flew open under the power of my magic as I prepared my escape. I waited until there were fewer ponies to pass before shooting out and galloping a block or so to the Happy Farm. As I neared the door, it was clear there was a line out into the street. “Crowd? Crowd!” I gasped before taking a sudden sharp left and sprinting further down the street. My mind went blank as I tried to remember all of my safe spots. This wasn’t the plan. It wasn’t the plan at all! Streets signs were a blur as I kept galloping in the general direction of the art school. “This is a mistake! This is a mistake!” I huffed before taking a sudden right to avoid another group of ponies hanging out on a street corner. Directly ahead of me was the large Wonderbolt stadium and it was completely lit up. Beams of multi-colored lights shot up into the sky making it very clear that there was going to be a show tonight. I slid to a stop and stared in horror as I found myself in the middle of throngs of ponies streaming towards the gates. My heart skipped a beat and my breath caught. Why was this happening to me? Rescue breathing! Do rescue breathing. In. One, one, four out two six hold one three. No. Ponies brushed past me as they kept moving. A big grey stallion nearly knocked me over. A green filly told me she was excited to see Soarin. A lanky yellow-and-orange mare was baring down on me, clearly not paying attention. She was going to run right into me before my brain finally got in line with my body and I bolted. Instead of galloping with or against the crowd, I zipped horizontally through it. I ducked under tall ponies, juked around medium ones, and leapt over small ones until I reached an alley. Once there, I reoriented myself as best I could and rushed to the art school. It wasn’t far from the stadium. When I saw the sign out in front of the big, yellow building, the tightness in my chest started to relax. Where it had been, however, trepidation filled the void. What if the class was full? What if the ponies were mean? What if I couldn't paint well and the teacher kicked me out? I took a deep breath and trotted inside. The building was quiet and calm at that time of day. The main hall had a couple of ponies inside and they were going to the various continuing-education classes. I went down to the Dalmatian classroom and poked my head through the door. There were ten or so easels set up facing the front of the room. Every one of them had a pony behind it getting ready for class. No room left. Oh well, I tried! I could go home now. Just as I started to turn, a light brown stallion head popped out from beside the doorframe. He had a large, dark brown mane that looked like a manicured shrubbery. “Well hello there,” he said in a soft voice. “Hi,” I squeaked in surprise. “Are you here for class?” he asked, smiling. “Oh, I… I was," I stammered. "It looks like it is full, so I’ll just go.” The stallion’s head tilted and he walked out of the classroom. He was taller and lankier than the picture on the book. “You don’t have to go, friend. I’ve never turned a pony away before and I won’t start now. We’ll just have everypony else scooch over and set up another easel. Please, join us?” His voice was so smooth and calming. He spoke carefully, as if choosing every word, and offered me his hoof. I wanted to take it, but I was also nervous. Happy Tree saw my hesitation and smiled. “If you come inside, I’ll introduce you to my squirrel, Peapod. He’s a big fan of unicorns and blue is his favorite color.” A squirrel? I like squirrels. I set my hoof into his and he took it with a gentle squeeze as he asked, “What’s your name? I’m Happy Tree.” “Azurite,” I replied as we trotted in. All of the other ponies were looking at us. It would have made me uncomfortable, but they were all smiling. Not fake, forced smiles, but genuine ones. Soft chittering caught my attention and I turned to the easel that was set up at the head of the class. An adorable red squirrel with tufted ears was standing at the top talking to me. He looked my way with big eyes. Eyes like Mr. Peepers. “That is Peapod, and he is my assistant. I’ll go get an easel set up for you and we’ll get started. Would that be alright?” “That would be great,” I replied, feeling oddly comfortable and peaceful. While that went on in the background, I trotted up to Peapod. He carefully wound his way down the back of the easel and crossed the tile floor to me. He climbed my hoof, then my mane, and nestled by my horn, chittering the whole time. I giggled. “Aww, thank you. I like you, too.” There was more squeaks and chittering. “Yes, I’m here to paint. To reduce stress.” “That is a wonderful reason to paint,” came the soft voice that did not belong to Peapod. “You’re all set, Azurite. If you’d like to take your place, I’ll start.” I turned and saw my designated spot between two mares. “Okay.” I reached up to get Peapod, but he squeaked and leaned out of the way of my hoof. Happy Tree chuckled. “It’s okay, take him with you. It seems he wants to assist a different pony today. That’s perfectly fine. He can make his own decisions.” That was fine with me. Peapod barely weighed anything, and he was nestled between my ears, telling me about painting. “Alright, ponies, you should have everything you need at your station," Happy Tree said before turning to his canvas. "An easel with canvas, paint thinner, a pallet, lots of paint colors, and some brushes. Those are just tools, though. The most important piece is your imagination. “You see, painting is personal. You can follow me exactly and still not end up with exactly the same image and that is a beautiful thing. Let’s start together, shall we? Pick up your background brush, please. That is the large one.” I reached out with my magic and picked up a brush. I’d never painted in my life, not since hoof painting as a foal. For all I knew I had zero artistic talent. “Today, we’re going to paint a scene from our minds. Imagine you’re standing at the base of Alicorn Spire looking up at it. Not the side with Canterlot, the opposite one. See the sun beyond it, rising on the horizon. Close your eyes and fix the vision in your mind.” Envision it? I closed my eyes and tried to focus on that. The mountain, the world beyond, and the sun. I could see it! It was vivid, like it was really there. “Is that sun golden? Perhaps it is red. Do you have it? Wonderful. Open your eyes again and dip your brush into the midnight black and put it on the mixing pallet. Swirl it in some titanium white to build a beautiful grey on the very ends of the bristles. Now tap it to the canvas like so.” Happy Tree gently pressed the edge of his brush to the center of the canvas and started to make a jagged line diagonally down by bouncing it with small taps. His technique sounded like a soft scratching as he worked out some sort of line that vaguely resembled peaks. My brush made the same movements, but for some reason my line smudged and didn’t flow right. “Oops…” Peapod chittered soothingly. “Remember, there are no mistakes. Only happy accidents. If your line doesn’t look like mine, that is just fine. If your mountain is different that is fine. We all see the world differently. Now, let’s start drawing in some background. Switch to your pallet knife,” Happy Tree said as he picked up a tool that looked like a chisel but slimmer. Happy Tree scooped some grey paint on it, mixed it with a light blue, and then smeared it on the canvas. It looked like a horrible blotch. “Now let’s see. I like to have more blue in my mountains. Perhaps you prefer green. Take this paint right up to the base of your line and draw it down with the flat of the knife, just like this.” Holding the knife in my magic, I started to do the same as he was showing. Peapod chittered quietly, guiding me as I worked. A quick look around confirmed that all of our canvases just looked like a mess. I didn’t see the mountain from my mind. “Great work so far, ponies. Let’s go back to our background brush, dip it in the paint thinner and then beat the dickens out of it,” he said cheerfully before dipping the brush and beating it back and forth against one of the legs of the easel. A lot of the ponies in the room grinned as they did the same. I tried it, too, and it was more fun than I’d imagined. “Let’s get some titanium white, alizarin crimson, and yellow ochre. You want to layer the paint on the brush as best you can. If it mixes, that is fine. Now we’re just going to brush back and forth over the canvas above our mountain line to build a beautiful sunset… or perhaps a sunrise. That’s up to your imagination,” Happy Tree toned in his soft, soothing voice. My brush slowly went back and forth like he’d instructed. Peapod held onto my horn and helped direct my magic as we worked together in harmony. All of the tension from my trek over started to melt from my heart and into my hooves. All that existed were my canvas, my brush, and the soothing tones of Peapod and Happy Tree. The image came alive the more I worked at it. Alicorn Spire was tall, jutting, and purple-grey. It went from nothing but a blob of paint to a vague resemblance. Then there was the sunrise. It was big, bold, and far brighter than the lower portion of my canvas. I’d chosen to use a lot more of the yellow. I wanted it light and soft, not angry and red. There was orange too, though, near the top. Happy Tree's voice cut through my content fugue state. “Alright, friends, I’m afraid for tonight that is our time. We must let other ponies have a turn in the room. Let’s work together to clean up and we can meet back next Friday if you like. I know Peapod and I will be here.” “Was that already an hour?” I asked aloud. The mare nearest me, a purple pegasus, giggled as she cleaned up her station. “It was, isn’t he amazing?” “Yes,” was all I replied as I did my own cleaning. He’d taken me out of my head for a full hour. That was amazing! More than amazing, even! Peapod carefully climbed down my mane and hopped off onto the floor. He chittered at me and then bounced off. “See you next week, too.” I smiled after him, then levitated my canvas off the easel and set it on my back. Happy Tree clapped his hooves. “Thank you, everypony. Remember, please, if you have the ability to pay, please drop your bits into the school’s collection box near the office. If you can’t, that is fine, too.” Pay? I hadn’t thought about that, I had bits and he totally earned them. I looked back at the purple mare and whispered, “Hey, how much is the class? I didn’t even consider it.” She waved a hoof. “Don’t sweat that. It isn’t listed because there isn’t an official price. Happy Tree believes in paying what you can and are willing to. Some weeks I pay more because I got more tips. Some weeks it's less when I miss a shift.” “Oh, okay.” I frowned a little before finishing my clean up. That wasn’t helpful at all. What did an art class cost? How much was canvas, paint, and his time? What if I paid an insultingly low amount? The hair of my coat stood up as I tried to determine what was fair. Art class should cost more than lunch. Should it cost as much as dinner? More? How much was a film? Films didn’t have supplies? “Uh… sorry, I just need to…” a pony said as she tried to squeeze by me to drop bits into the box. When had I gotten to the box? I moved out of the way so she could drop her payment. I opened my saddlebag and fished out two silver, twenty-bit pieces and dropped them into the box. Surely that would cover art supplies? I’d have to do some research. With a new but somewhat shaky sense of calm, I took a deep breath and poked my head out of the school’s main entrance. The streets were still fairly busy, but I could hear the Wonderbolts show echoing in the distance. While that was still going, there would be a lot of ponies there. I could avoid the stadium and head to my parents’ home. Not because I was scared, but because it was Friday and we always had dinner together. That was a normal thing! Truthfully, I was also scared and exhausted from my week at home. Once most of the ponies in the class had left the school, I trotted out into the street and kept close to the buildings. I headed south, which was a longer route, but it kept me far from the stadium. Who knew when the show would let out? If there was one thing I was sure of, I never wanted to be anywhere near a Wonderbolts show. Those were not for Azurites. The rest of my trip home was mercifully uneventful. I went from safe place to safe place, greeting ponies, and hiding when necessary. Eventually, I made it to my Dad's shop, Sapphire’s Hoard, and went inside. “Well, hello, kitten! You’re running a little late, aren’t you? Hope you didn’t have any trouble,” my father said as he looked back at the large grandfather clock that was nestled by the rear door. I came over and sat my hooves on the counter before standing on my hind legs and stretching up toward him. “No, Daddy. I went to a painting class.” “A painting class?” he repeated as he leaned across the counter and rubbed his nose against mine. “Well, look at you Miss Poncasso. Did you have fun, sweetie?” “I did! The instructor was amazing, and he has a squirrel named Peapod. I’m going to go back next Friday.” No matter how bad things got, I always felt safe with my dad. “That makes me so happy to hear. It truly does. Now, do you want to help an old pony close up shop for the evening? I imagine your mother will have dinner almost ready.” “You bet!” I replied before scampering behind the counter and using my magic to slide open all of the small doors behind the displays. My father trotted over to the safe and put in the code. Two to the left, twenty to the right, five to the left: my birthday. “Alright, little girl, fly them in,” he called. “Okay, here they come!” One at a time, I encircled the black velvet trays with my magic and flew them from the display into the safe. They stacked perfectly and filled it up. After the last one went in, he closed the door. “Great job, kitten,” my father praised, making me feel warm and fuzzy inside. We’d been doing this since I was first able to use magic. It wasn’t much of a feat, but he always made it seem like I was doing the impossible. We went out the front door and he locked up, then we went to narrow staircase beside the store to head up to the living quarters above. My father opened the door to our home and moved out of the way for me to go by. He was a gentlepony like that. He commented as we entered the warm and cozy space, “Oh, by the way, my brother Emerald is going to be visiting tomorrow and Aurum is coming with him. Won’t it be nice to see your cousin?” Emerald and Aurum? I hadn’t seen them in over a year! “Yeah, it will! I don’t have any plans, so maybe Aurum and I can hang out.” “That will be lovely. Maybe you two can watch the shop for a couple of hours? I’d love to take Emerald over to the club. If that is okay, kitten. I don’t want you to stress over it.” I waved a hoof. “Daddy, I know how to run the store. You two go have fun.” My father slipped his hoof around me and pulled me close in a hug before we headed into the kitchen and the smell of a delightful meal. He smiled down at me. “That’s my girl. Always there when I need her.” I barely did anything for him. He’d done everything for me, and I was so glad to have him and my mom. They were the best parents ever.