Pencil had been awake for a while, yet she found it a rather difficult task to remove herself from the bed. She kept finding herself staring into space, thinking about nothing and everything at once. Time felt like it was moving so slow, which was making her sleepy. She began to lie back slowly, too fatigued to maintain her upright position.
Pencil’s hooves slowly went limp and began to dangle off the sides of the bed. Her eyes drooped until her vision became so blurry that she could barely make out shapes. Her breathing softened and her thoughts hushed, as if she were able to turn her brain's volume down.
Things were so peaceful lying here. Maybe she would just stay like this all day.
You're not doing anything productive!
Pencil jolted, sending the covers flying and causing her to nearly fall out of the bed.
It didn’t take long for Pencil’s heart to palpitate and her breathing to quicken. She felt disoriented, almost dizzy as complex shapes shot back through her retinas and her thoughts swiftly regained coherent words like a radio picking up feed.
Alright, fine, getting up! I need to get a move on with this new project I'm starting, anyways.
She reluctantly forced herself out of bed, practically throwing herself to the floor. She hit the floor a little harder than she meant to as a result.
“Well!” she scoffed, straightening herself up.
Granite couldn’t be bothered to take off his hoodie yesterday. He had slept in it all night. It reeked of sweat and tears but he didn’t care. It made him feel safe. The black fleece was like a suit of armor protecting him from any physical danger. It was also quite soft, as if another pair of hooves was wrapping around him protectively.
Why don’t I wear this all the time? Granite wondered. He breathed in deeply as he began to contemplate this, then quickly came to a conclusion.
“Eugh!” he gasped, immediately taking the hoodie off and tossing it aside.
Granite sighed and laid back down on his bed for a moment. He hugged himself, suddenly longing for that soft fleece again. If it wasn’t for the relatively warm weather outside, he would have definitely reconsidered wearing it the whole day.
He missed the colder weather sometimes. Cold weather meant he could wear long clothing without any judgment. It meant all he needed to numb the fiery feeling in his arms was to step outside. Colder weather was miserable for his plants, though. It was bitter and often unforgiving to them, despite Granite's intricate protective measures.
Not wanting to think about that aspect anymore, he turned away, happening to look in Thorns' direction.
“Why does it...burn?” Granite asked suddenly, looking up at Thorns. He didn’t care this time how much it hurt to stare at those blazing eye sockets.
Thorns gave him a mildly displeased look. It said, “You know the answer”. Granite looked down defeatedly, then took a moment to rub his eyes. When he looked up again, he shakily replied,
“N-no, I don’t, actually. Please, Thorns, please just tell me.”
Thorns stood silent a moment, as if in deep thought. Granite fidgeted nervously as he waited. After what felt like an eternity, Thorns finally communicated something.
Thorns bulged his eyes out and gritted his teeth. He swayed his head back and forth and grunted, appearing to struggle. The dreadful motions continued until Granite finally spoke.
"So, you're saying something painful is inside me?"
He was reassured with a simple nod from Thorns.
"Okay, what's the painful stuff, then?" Granite asked impatiently.
No response.
"Guess that's for another day, huh?" he asked defeatedly.
After a nice shower to get rid of the hoodie stench, Granite decided to head out to grab a few supplies. Although he normally did his shopping quite early in the morning, the shower gave him a late start to his day so now he would be out when lots of ponies were, too. Granite cringed.
Not very easy to be discreet in the daylight. he thought.
He would definitely have to cover up but he couldn't use his nasty hoodie again. Granite trotted over to his closet to see what he could find. Since he didn't wear many clothes to begin with, his options were quite limited. Inside was a black winter jacket, a black sweater, and an empty hanger where his hoodie would be. Yikes.
The items in his closest were way too warm, not to mention he'd look ridiculous wearing any of those clothes if there wasn't any snow out. Still, he had to wear something; there was no way around that.
"Ugh, so much for showering!" Granite complained as he retrieved his hoodie from where he threw it. There wasn't any time to wash it, so he just threw it on and tried to ignore the grimy feeling all over his body.
"I really could've cut somewhere better! But noooo, I just had to pick the most visible spot!" Granite cursed at himself as he made his way outside.
Pencil took careful steps towards the market to compensate for her slightly disgruntled appearance. She combed her mane and tail thoroughly and did her best to appear clean, but it didn’t come together quite like she had hoped. Her hair was badly frizzed at the ends and flat, and there were small bags under her eyes. Seems like this was another one of those "off days". Pencil just hoped nopony would think much of her appearance.
She didn’t spend long at the stalls since she already knew what she wanted. Unlike most ponies, she didn’t see the point in frolicking around stalls or stores when it was much easier to just grab and go. She made relative haste at the market, buying some fruits, veggies, an assortments of snacks, and other miscellaneous grocery items. Most ponies chatted with the stall workers, but Pencil didn’t find it necessary unless she had a question. Was that rude, or was it polite to the ponies who just wanted to do their jobs?
A customer nearby smiled at her and she smiled back, although the effort felt slightly forced. When she was able to relax her facial muscles, a twinge of guilt tugged at her for being disingenuous. She stared at the ground in concern.
How often do I act like this? Pencil wondered. She may be faking it without even realizing! Well, with strangers, it didn't matter too much since she wouldn't see those ponies again anyhow, but what about her loved ones? What does that say about her if she just goes through the motions with friends and family?
Suddenly, Pencil felt a little dizzy. She had to shake her head a few times to get the feeling to pass. Once she was stabilized, she took a few slow, calm breaths.
Ok, I'm probably overthinking this...I'm sure this is all because of a lack of sleep! I do genuinely care about my friends and family! she thought reassuringly.
Question is, do they see it that way? she thought as she started leaving the market, allowing worry to creep through her thoughts once more.
Granite felt extremely exposed the moment he reached the market. He had to feel himself to make sure he was still wearing his hoodie. Normally, going out wasn't a big deal since most ponies didn't converse with him aside from stall workers, but today he was worried that his odd fashion choice would inspire unwanted conversation.
He was quite careful with his eye movements, ensuring he wouldn't make eye contact where it wasn't warranted. He also took measured steps, making sure he didn't fall off balance, walk too slow, or do anything that looked out of place. When he finally made it to a stall, he felt a cold sweat break out. Great, more hoodie stench! He stepped back a bit, worried the stall pony would catch a whiff of it.
"Hello, sir, what can I get for you this morning?" the pony asked, speaking as sweet as he could. Granite almost found that comforting.
"I'll take a bushel of apples, one container of strawberries, and a couple of pears, please, sir." Granite responded.
Can never be too comfortable around the nice ponies, though. The niceness could just be a way to hide bad intentions. Granite thought as he swiftly made his purchase, but not so swiftly that he looked impatient.
Granite wanted to let out an exhausted sigh, but that could also garner unwanted attention. All this building exhaustion was probably putting bags under his eyes. He blinked a few times in an attempt to wake up a bit more. His heart dropped as he did that, worried that would look wrong too.
He wanted to look back at Thorns to see if he was doing things right, but he knew deep down that the best thing to do was to just press forward. The quicker he could get this arduous shopping trip over with, the better.
As Granite was heading home, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something purple and light brown.
Pencil? Hehe, we rarely shop at the same time! Granite mentally chuckled. Thorns didn't find this as amusing, though.
She was surprised to see Granite here, too. Once she got over the perplexion, however, she bounded over to him with a small piece of folded paper.
"Hi, Granite! I have this thing to give you! Ok, bye, time to avoid ponies!" she exclaimed quickly before escaping the burden of morning socialization.
Granite chuckled while rubbing his ears. Sometimes she got pitchy when she was excited. Once his ears recovered, Granite opened the folded note, which read:
I'm doing a little art project that I need your assistance on. Won't take long, promise! See you after your shop closes up, if you're not busy!
-Pencil Pouch
Granite nodded. Admittedly, he thought it was bold of Pencil to just invite herself over for something so random, but he did appreciate that she at least warned him ahead of time that she was dropping by.
Once Pencil finally had breakfast and recuperated some energy, she began putting together her side project since there weren't any pressing commissions to deal with. She was inspired by a doodle she made, which was seemingly random but deeply emotional for her. Laying before her was a scene of an art studio. The wooden desk in it was quite beautiful and detailed, as were the canvases hanging on the wall. However, the contents on the desk were rather disorganized. Pens and pencils lay about randomly, papers were scattered, and a few paint and marker splotches stained the surface of the desk.
Pencil's plan was to create an exercise where all her friends would draw personal emotional pieces and have her try to interpret them. Her goal for this was to gain a deeper emotional understanding of all her friends and visa versa. Her hooves rubbed together in anticipation. This was going to be so exciting!
Pencil sprung up from her seat, eager to get started. She grabbed an oversized saddlebag that held a large sketch pad and a few sharp pencils. She was going to Granite's house first. She hoped she wasn't being annoying by frequenting his house so much. He just happened to be the friend in the closest proximity to her.
Now that work was finished, Granite could finally take his pungent hoodie off. He remembered to throw it in the laundry this time so the stench could finally dissipate. Now utterly exhausted from the day, Granite flopped onto the bed, sinking into the mattress. He knew Thorns was watching him there but he was too exhausted to care much about it.
Knock, knock!
Granite sat up suddenly. He almost forgot Pencil was coming over tonight. Quickly, he messed with his mane a bit to straighten it out and made his way to the door, head up and poster straight. Even though this was just Pencil, he wasn't going to look like a slob.
Shoot, the hoodie! he panicked. It's still in the laundry—what could he do about it now? He could just choose another item in his wardrobe but that would probably arouse too much suspicion. Frantically, he went to grab his hoodie, hoping it was dry by now.
Still wet. Well, it's not drenched. I can deal with that. Granite reasoned, although he cringed at the thought of more odor potentially combining with the water.
"H-hello, Pencil," Granite said as he grabbed the door for her. "Sorry for keeping you waiting."
"It's ok, Granite." Pencil said, beaming. "So, I have a little art exercise for you! I hope you'll find it as interesting as I do. Wanna grab a seat on the couch?"
"Of course." Granite said with a genuine smile as he led Pencil to the living room.
"Okay, so, here's the deal: whatever you're feeling right now, try and illustrate that. When you're done, I'll take a look and try to
guess what it's supposed to represent." Pencil explained.
"Ok..." Granite replied, feeling slightly uneasy as Pencil gave him the large notepad and a pencil.
He sat there a moment in silence. Was he supposed to draw his current feelings, or his overall feelings throughout the whole week?
Was he allowed to be abstract, or did it have to be literal? He looked up briefly, seeing Pencil waiting. He would have to come up with something soon or else she would start asking questions.
Granite's left hoof made a rhythmic slicing motion across the paper. He was quickly unsatisfied with that technique, however, since he erased the pencil marks almost as quickly as he had made them. He instead gave his etches more movement as if they were dancing across the page. He appeared to be attempting to better harmonize whatever he was drawing but quickly erased that too, still unsatisfied.
Meanwhile, Pencil stared absentmindedly about the room. Wasn't much fun to sit there and watch somepony draw if you couldn't even look at their work. She knew how weird it was for somepony to stare over her shoulder, though, so she resisted the urge to pester Granite and just let him do his thing. She inhaled softly in an attempt to relax.
Huh, where's that smell coming from? Hope that isn't me... Pencil wondered.
Granite's movements became a lot more sporadic. Pencil was able to form a few guesses as to what he was drawing the first couple of times, but now it seemed as if he was just pointing the pencil in different places without rhyme or reason. Feverishly, Pencil wondered what all this would mean.
Finally, to Pencil's excitement and relief, Granite was finally finished. He gently gave Pencil the notepad back, which she nearly yanked out of Granite's grasp. Holding it in her magic, she leaned back to study it.
"Fascinating." she remarked. "This is different than many things I've seen before, and especially different from what I normally see from you."
Granite just nodded. He wasn't sure if Pencil's response was good or not so he didn't dare attempt to question it.
"Tell me, Granite, without giving the whole thing away, what were you thinking as you were drawing this?" Pencil asked quizzically. She furrowed her eyebrows and tapped her chin in a thoughtful manner as she awaited his response.
"Uh, I-I-I'm not sure. I, um, just drew stuff." Granite stuttered, drawing into himself. He quickly realized what he was doing though and proceeded to shrug his shoulders to appear more nonchalant.
"Um, okay." Pencil said, a hint of skepticism in her voice.
"Welp, here is my guess: this is a representation of all the new changes you're going through, in that you're taking in many new things at once! It's all quite beautiful but overwhelming at times...is my guess correct?"
"Y-yeah, um, right on the dot!" Granite sputtered.
Pencil beamed, then sprung up from the couch and headed towards the door. Granite quickly followed. Despite his nerves, he didn't want his friend to leave without him saying goodbye.
Holding the door open for her, he said,
"You'll have to let me know when you're done with your project. I'm curious as to what everypony else comes up with."
"Oh yeah, sure! Just gotta see how many of our other friends are available to participate. I already contacted Global Gleam about it so she's gonna be next, and I know she'll love it!" Pencil exclaimed, her entire face lighting up.
Before Granite closed the door behind her, he gave her a warm smile and a small wave. She gave a hyper wave back and Granite just had to giggle at that. He then took a moment to exhale, not realizing he was holding a breath in.