Dear Granite Rose,
We wanted to give you a bit of space so you could have time to settle in, so we decided not to pester you right away. We're sure you're all settled in by now, so, how have you been? Is the flower business going well? How is independent living going? Do you need anything? Sorry, that's probably too many questions all at once, but we just want you to know that we're here for you any time.
Mom: I have a couple coloring book samples you might like that have flowers in them. Want me to send them to you?
Dad: If you ever need some extra gardening tools, there are some spare ones in the shed. How about your little plastic shovel you used as a colt? Ha! Just kidding!
We love you! So proud of you, Granite!
Love,
Mom and Dad
Granite stared at that letter for the longest time. He had certainly planned to write his parents at some point and he was more than happy to hear from them, but...how could he possibly tell them what was going on? If they knew what he'd been doing these past few weeks, they'd be disappointed, scared, and maybe even hurt.
Ugh, I don't know! Granite thought angrily. There's nothing I can say that won't send my parents into a panic. I just can't tell them that I...
Granite rubbed his arms nervously and glanced around. He wished it wasn't so quiet around here. Back home, there was always the noise of his parents chatting or shuffling around to give his ears something to focus on. Even when he was home alone a few times as a teen, knowing his parents wouldn't be out for long comforted him during those periods of silence. Now the only pony around was the one he always sought to avoid.
Come on, come on! he thought, concentrating back onto the letter.
He strained his brain so hard to come up with something that it was as if he was trying to will some words out of the paper itself. Not wanting to induce a headache, he shortly stopped. He sighed then picked the pencil back up. He swayed it gently side-to-side, swinging it like a pendulum. It felt a bit cold in his hooves but the sensation was quite soothing, unlike the tip of the pencil, which made his hooves feel a bit tingly. The sensation kind of reminded him of—
Whoosh! Clatter! went the pencil as Granite threw it. The tip broke off upon impact.
All of this was just wasting time! He'd have to come back to this after work now that he was running behind.
Global Gleam, one of Pencil's good friends, was kind enough to travel all the way from Galloping Gorge to visit Pencil so she wouldn't have to make the trip herself. Her motorbike was really fast and reliable so it was quite efficient, anyhow. The light red mare with a brighter red mane was currently zipping down the thin dirt roads towards Sire's Hollow with her short mane flowing like a kite in the wind and her leather jacket fluttering like a cape. Her sleek black helmet glistened in the sunlight, as did her recently polished motorbike.
When she neared the gated entrance, she stopped and tied her bike onto a nearby tree. Pencil Pouch was waiting on the other side, waving eagerly. Global grinned and took her helmet off, revealing her light blue eyes that were glistening in the midday sunlight.
"Hey there, Pencil!" she called as Pencil kindly opened the gate for her.
"Hiii!" Pencil responded, giving Global a big shoulder hug after she entered and heard the infamous "Welcome to Sire's Hollow" chime.
"Sooo, I hear you have some sort of experiment for me to partake in?" Global asked eagerly.
"Yup! All you gotta do is draw something and I'm gonna analyze it when you're done. Hey, thanks for coming all the way out here to visit me, by the way. I really appreciate it, especially since I'm no good at directions." Pencil responded.
"No need to thank me, you know I love traveling any day! Now, let's get started on this drawing thing of yours. I'd like to see your house, too, since I don't think I've seen it yet."
"Okay!"
The two giddy mares strode off to Pencil's, chatting the whole way there.
These scars are healing fast. That's good. Granite thought as he inspected himself.
The next time he cut, it wasn't going to be in such a visible place. He had so many less obvious places on his body to use, and it's not like Thorns was picky about where he bled from.
Speaking of Thorns, there he stood, curiously arching an eyebrow at Granite. "B-back for more already?" the more timid pony asked. "Can't this w-wait until evening?"
A hot white stare bore into him in reply.
"Alright, alright, hold on!" Granite yelped, trembling as he inched towards the bathroom.
Click!
He sat down in his usual spot with his kitchen knife in hoof. He scanned his body, locating a decent spot to target.
Okay, here it goes... he thought. Lift it up, swing it down—
Wait.
Startled, Granite fumbled and dropped the knife with a loud clang! Who said that, him or Thorns? Granite flipped his head around, wondering if Thorns was also confused.
Try again. Go deeper. Free your blood.
Granite stared back with a horrified expression. Thorns had never sounded so desperate before!
Touche. Granite thought, realizing his desperation was growing, too. Why else would he continue to hurt himself?
He sucked in his breath as he started bringing the knife closer to his fur.
The tension between his skin and the tip of the blade was intense, like a balloon the moment before it was about to pop. Granite tried to keep his breathing level, but his breaths only quickened as the pain kept worsening. Finally, when the tip felt like it was pushed deep enough, he slashed the knife across the right side of his torso and let all the built up tension finally release.
Granite watched tearfully as a thin stream of red poured down his throbbing grey leg. It was hard not to focus on his own agony right now, but he had to stay strong if he wanted to get his answer. It would be a waste not to pay attention.
Thorns smiled contently as he watched the stream of blood in fascination. Granite sat there tortuously as he waited for Thorns to be done. When Thorns' head finally lifted, Granite clutched his side and let out a few relieved gasps.
Thorns made an odd display by leaning his head over to the side and sticking his tongue out. It was almost humorous to Granite. Thorns also managed to make a few black teardrops form and fall on the ground.
Szzh, szzh!
"Thanks for that." Granite grunted as a few more tears stained the floor.
He continued watching the charade and attempted to study it. It was proven difficult as the word "blood" started to repeat feverishly in his head. He tried blocking it out, but that only made the volume of the chanting increase.
Soon it was all he could hear, despite his labored breaths. The room started spinning in a mix of grey, white, and red. It was fortunate that he wasn't standing or he might've fallen over. Granite was eventually able to get the room to stop spinning, but the loud chanting persisted.
"Ok, ok, I think I get it." he replied weakly, hoping that response would suffice. Fortunately, the voice lowered its volume until it was completely silent.
Finally, Granite could get up and move on from this mess. He grunted as he shakily stood up.
He quickly bandaged up and headed outside. Time to get all the equipment ready before—
"Sunrise already?" Granite gasped as he glanced out the window.
Global took a moment to look around Pencil's home once she stepped inside. She smiled at the lavender walls, knowing they must make her unicorn friend so happy since they're her favorite color. She wondered where all of the decor was, though, since the walls were so bare.
"Where is all your decor, filly?" Global asked.
"Oh, I just don't see the need in hanging up a bunch of stuff." Pencil replied. "I do have a few of my own artworks hanging in my room, though."
Global hummed, then took a brief moment to analyze the rest of the ground floor. Other than a couple small tables, a decent-sized coffee table, a couple mats, and the couch, there really wasn't much.
Although minimalism bored Global, she could at least understand why Pencil liked it since she was new to home-owning and she lived alone. Content with the silent inspection, she grabbed a seat on the couch. She stretched all her tired limbs out and sighed contently.
"Okay, so I've got this notepad here and you're gonna—wait, hold on, do you want me to grab you a snack?" Pencil sputtered, talking almost too fast for her lips to keep up.
"Uh, sure." Global replied, sinking further into the couch.
The red mare almost dozed off before Pencil skipped back into the living room, dangling a small bag of pretzels above her.
"Heh, thanks." Global said, tearing into the bag. "Last I remembered, you always had these sorts of snacks on you. You do eat real, healthy foods as well, don't you?"
Pencil frowned. "Ugh, yes, I do! Um, sometimes...d-don't be my mom!"
Global giggled as the pouting Pencil took her own seat on the couch. Pencil then began to explain the project Global drove all the way from Galloping Gorge to help her with.
Granite stumbled out the door, quick to grab all his daily supplies. He’d been decoding Thorns for so long that he was running behind schedule! Not only did that mean less profits, it meant less time to properly care for his garden.
“I am so, so sorry!” he cried to all the flowers. “I hope you’re all ok, I’m sorry!"
He bent down towards the various patches of flowers, clenching his teeth as a twinge of pain shot through his side. He tried his best to ignore it for the time being as he carefully inspected each petal on the flowers. Some looked a little dry, but otherwise healthy. Very slowly, he got up to grab the watering can.
Granite gently sprinkled the thirsty flowers, then leaned down to pet them again. He sighed, wishing he had made the time to properly care for them like he usually did.
"It's still pretty hot out." Granite said. "You all should be good for a while but I'll be back to check up on you, okay? Don't want anyone getting too dehydrated."
He gave them one more look-over before he stood back up.
"Okay, guess I better set up shop. If any of you go to a new home today, I hope you go to a very caring pony. Maybe somepony a little less scattered than me, hehe." Granite chuckled as he trotted towards his booth.
Global took her time on her drawing, although she knew it wouldn't amount to anything her amazing artist friend could ever draw. At least she'd learned enough during her years of teaching to draw something recognizable. When she was finished, she sunk back into the couch and gave the sketchpad to Pencil.
"Thanks!" the chipper unicorn exclaimed as she studied the artwork.
It was a thought bubble with many crude sketches of various objects, ponies, and vegetation. They looked to be from various places in Equestria, all of which Pencil knew Global had visited at least once. Everything about the drawing radiated energy and excitement since everything looked so cheerful and lots of things were underlined.
"You're thinking about all your travels and how much fun they are." Pencil said.
"That's part of it." Global said with a wink.
"R-right, I'm supposed to go a little deeper with this...uuh, your travels have filled you with a lot of awesome knowledge and wonder. Oh, and you have a lot of experience around the world!" Pencil replied.
"Correct. My theme probably wasn't that hard to figure out, but I do think of my travels a lot. It's very exciting to go and see new things and it's also...comforting to possess a lot of knowledge. Even if it isn't all fun to know, it's better than not knowing much at all." Global replied.
"Right." Pencil nodded while looking away. "I wish I knew as much as you do, or at least a fraction of what you know. Sometimes I feel like I just go through life not having any idea what's going on. Heh, it's kinda why I'm doing this experiment. I guess I don't know my friends that well if I have to analyze their personalities through some drawings."
Global sat up.
"Hey, now, don't beat yourself up. Art is how you communicate best. That's something very special about you, don't forget that!" she said. "You may struggle with certain things, like how to decorate a house..."
"Hey!"
"Haha, kidding! Anyways, you probably know more than you think. You either need to give yourself more time to learn something new or just re-approach it. You may end up surprising yourself."
"Probably."
Pencil shifted into the couch, turning away. Global brought up some good points, but still...was she right? Would Pencil really be able to solve some of her problems if she just changed the way she thought about them?
Guess I could at least test her theory. Pencil thought.
Nervously, she pulled out Granite's drawing she'd held on to. She really hated to involve somepony with something private of Granite's, but what choice did she have here? She could be missing something crucial he was trying to tell her! Besides, his name wasn’t even on the paper, so if Global suspected this was Granite’s work, Pencil still had the ability to keep the drawing anonymous.
Global tapped a hoof to her chin as she studied it intensively. After much thinking, she said,
"I'm no art expert, but if you're just going off thoughts and feelings with this one, it looks...distressed? Frantic? Moody? Clearly whoever drew this either has a lot on their mind or they drew this very quickly. Or both."
"Hm, yeah, I gathered that as much." Pencil replied.
"Hey, did your friend Granite draw this? I know he really likes flowers." Global asked.
Pencil quickly stuffed the drawing back into her notebook. She then silently cursed herself for making a scene.
"Uh, that's all I had to show you." she sputtered.
Global thought about asking Pencil what was wrong but decided not to press. She already seemed a bit strung up today and figured all the mare wanted to do was relax. Instead, she asked,
"Can we play a game?"
Pencil nodded and led her to the games closet.
Various drawings littered Granite's desk, all of which were more abstract that his usual art. They were also a lot sketchier, much like the drawing he drew for Pencil.
What was that drawing exercise for, anyways? Granite wondered. What was it really for? Maybe I shouldn't do something like that again...that stuff doesn't seem too safe to participate in right now.
Turning again to his drawings, he realized he drew them with such haste that he wouldn't be able to remember their context later on. While the context was still fresh in his mind, he hurriedly wrote important words down.
"Deeper...freedom...b-blood..." he murmured. "I h-hate that word...why did he have to say it so much today?"
An intense tingly sensation overcame Granite, one he was quite familiar with, along with a bit of stomach pain. He groaned, wrapped his arms around himself, and put his head down. Then his stomach growled, and he realized he forgot to eat today.
He hopped up from his desk to go get a snack, one that wouldn't need any prepping. As he trotted towards the kitchen, he smelled something akin to burnt rubber or tar.
"What is that?" he asked, following the source of the odor. "...Oh."
Granite forgot that Thorns' tear stains were still on the bathroom floor. To be fair, he hadn't imagined they would actually stay there. Sighing, he grabbed some paper towels from the kitchen counter and started rubbing at the stain.
"Oooww!" he howled, jumping back. The tears were scalding hot! They were so hot that they singed the fur on the tip of Granite's hoof...somehow.
After shaking his hoof around to cool it, Granite tried again by dampening the paper towels first.
"Ah!"
That wasn't much better. He'd just have to leave the tears there for now until they cooled. Stepping around them very carefully, he trotted over to the cupboards to grab some crackers, then made his way back to his writing desk.
Granite continued siphoning through all his drawings as he snacked, doing his best to assign meaning to the frantic images. Cleaning the floor had distracted him a bit so he couldn't remember everything he drew, but he did remember most of it. Once he finished writing notes, he took a quick glance at some bills and paperwork lying on the desk.
I'm too tired to do all that now. I'll just do it in the morning. Granite thought. As a reminder, he stacked the important papers on top of everything else on the desk.
Granite got a few crumbs on the desk, so he brushed those away before he called it a night. He stood up and as he trotted away, he realized he’d nearly pushed a paper off the desk. He went to push it back into place then froze as he realized what the paper was.
His unfinished letter.
“Shoot! They’re going to freak out if I don’t write them something!” he cried. He immediately sat down and racked his brain for acceptable words.
I can’t just make stuff up, they’ll know! he thought as he bounced the pencil back and forth between his hooves. I can talk about my garden and things like that, but they’ll want to know how I’m doing. I don’t know what to say.
Adapting. one of the ponies in the room suggested.
“Yes, that could work!” Granite exclaimed, relieved. “This moving process has been an adjustment. I’ve certainly had to ‘adapt’ to a lot of new things. It’s perfect!”
Dear Mother and Father,
What can I say? A lot of things have changed. I'm managing my own house, my own bills, and my business in my own backyard. It is something I am learning to adapt to. This new chapter in my life will require a lot of adapting. That's all I can really say at the moment.
Mom, how's the coloring book business? If you are making any new flower coloring books, send me one!
Dad, I hope you're not getting too cold up in the mountains. I also hope the ice business won't slow down too much this coming winter.
Love you guys!
- Granite
"It'll be fine." Granite assured himself. "Once I figure all this out, there won't be any need to worry. I'll have my answers and then I can go back to normal."