Inspiration
I sat in front of the door to the crusader's clubhouse, too afraid to go in. To be honest those three fillies scared the crap out of me. The destruction and mayhem they were able to cause just by going about their day was outrageous! I often thought that their cutie marks had something to do with demolition, it seemed to be the only thing they were good at. I could only imagine what they would do to me once I entered. Perhaps they would try to be vets and end up killing Vlad, or maybe attempt to be flying instructors and push me off a cliff. It was just one terrifying vision after another. Little did I know while I was lost in my daydream, they had decided to leave and came across me at their door. I was oblivious to everything when I was thinking about things. You could literally scream in my face and I wouldn’t even blink. The only thing that could really snap me out of my daze was a nudge or push... which Sweetie Belle was brave enough to do. She just gave me a quick poke and just like that I was back in reality, staring at three wide-eyed fillies.
“Can we, uh... help you sir?” Scootaloo asked, just as puzzled as the others.
“Don’t call me sir... I am not part of the military or police force. I came to find out which way Twilight’s house is.” I said, trying to remain calm and assertive in order to hide my fear of them.
“Oh, so yer the one my big sis was talkin’ about.” Applebloom said, examining me up and down.
“Wait, I remember Rarity talking about you too!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.
‘Rarity really has told everyone about me’, I thought before asking through clenched teeth, “Is that so? What did she say?”
Sweetie lifted her hoof then looked up as she thought back and answered, “Well... she said you were a gentlecolt with a lot of problems, but deep down you still have a heart of 23 carat gold. You are ‘out of this world’... Oh! And your jacket looks like something Opal spat up!”. Sweetie finished with a smile and a ‘squee’ (yes, the squee was a real sound that they made. I couldn't believe it either).
I looked down at my jacket and responded in a depressed tone, “But I like this jacket... it’s not that bad is it?”.
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom nodded while Scootaloo shook her head. The majority vote deemed that it was as ugly as Rarity said. At least it wasn’t unanimous. Fashion sense aside, I mentioned that I was lost again. They told me that it was hard to find your way through if you weren’t familiar with the land, so they offered to guide me. I turned around and went to leave but they noticed I had a passenger.
“WHAT IS THAT?!” Sweetie Belle shrieked, nearly rupturing my eardrums with her high pitched voice.
“IT LOOKS LIKE A BAT!” Applebloom yelled, hugging Sweetie tight in fear.
“Coooool!” Scootaloo said excitedly, looking at Vlad closely with an enthralled gaze.
The two frightened crusaders stayed back, trembling while they clung to each other. They were in such a vulnerable and horrified state that I felt bad for them.
“You know he doesn’t drink blood, right?” I said, looking back at them with a raised eyebrow.
“H-he doesn’t?” Applebloom asked, regaining a little confidence.
“Nope, he’s a fruit bat... he wouldn’t harm a fly.” I confirmed, scratching beneath his chin.
“Okay... but he’s still scary.” Sweetie Belle said, looking somewhat embarrassed from her previous behavior.
I wasn’t pleased with the fillies statement. When someone says that they are afraid of something it is normally for a logical reason. I didn’t understand what made bats, snakes, and mice so fearsome to some people. In order to open their eyes to what was wrong with them fearing Vlad, I asked, “Why is he scary exactly? He won’t hurt you, he isn’t big or vicious... what is it that makes him scary if he is nice?”
“Um... I think it has to do with the wings.” Sweetie started.
“And the way they only come out at night!” Applebloom continued.
“And it's so cool how they hang upside down and have fangs!” Scootaloo joined in. They all believed they had gotten the answer correct, but they had only revealed that they were only afraid of what they did not understand. I thought this was the case. I sighed and shook my head.
Kneeling down to their level I told them, “They need wings to get around. Without flight to aid them they would never be able to make it just by walking. The reason why they come out at night and sleep during the day is so they can avoid other animals that would want to hurt them. Bats are practically defenceless and can easily be taken down by predators. So while the strong creatures of the day sleep, bats and other nocturnal animals sneak out to eat. While they sleep they hang upside down to stay out of reach from anything that would want to eat them. Think of it this way... if you are in a cave and you don't hang from the ceiling, where else do you have? The ground... the one place where you are reachable by everything. As for their fangs, how else would they be able to eat? Their fangs pierce fruit and flesh alike in order to drain fluid from whatever they eat. Just like needles from the doctor, they only make holes big enough to get what they need. Now how do you feel about my pet?”.
They sat there, mouths agape from all of what I explained. I didn’t know if they were stunned by how much I had said or if they felt sorry for their earlier prejudice. Either way, it didn’t matter. I gave them something to think about and told the truth of the commonly misunderstood animal. I left the clubhouse and the three followed shortly after. They apologized to Vlad multiple times, but he most likely heard only half of them. I noticed that he fell asleep along the way. When we finally made it out of Sweet Apple Acres, I saw Applejack working up a sweat from bucking trees. She looked in our direction and started to march up to the fillies.
“What have ah told ya’ll about botherin’ ponies with yer adventures?! Ah’m sorry if they were any trouble Jason... they tend ta attract it like flies ta honey.” Applejack said glaring down at them.
“Actually they helped me. See I got lost in your orchard and they led me here. Given how everything looks the same, I would have been lost for hours if I hadn’t found them.” I explained.
“Oh, well then ah guess ah owe ya three an apology.” She said sheepishly.
“Hey Applejack, a little advice before I head back to the library... if you buck higher up on the tree, you will shake it easier with less effort.”. And with that, I was on my way, making sure to stay on the path this time. Applejack must have tested out my tip because I had barely made it fifty feet before she galloped up next to me.
“How’d ya know that?” she asked.
“Know what?” I replied, keeping my eyes forward, unconcerned about her gratitude.
“The thing about buckin’ the tree! How did ya know it was easier yer way? Ya look like ya haven’t bucked in yer life but ya talk about it like yer a dang pro?!” She said exuberantly.
“Common knowledge... the tree is thinner and more flimsy the higher you go. If you hit it higher up it will bend and wobble with less force applied, thus making the job of shaking fruit loose easier.”
Applejack stalled for a second, but continued walking right after. “It’s crazy how much ya sound like Twilight. Ya could be her long lost brother if ah didn’t know any better.”
“Perhaps... but don’t you have some more work to do?” I said, hoping to get some peace away from anyone that way I could thoroughly enjoy the rest of my walk ho- I MEAN BACK TO TWILIGHT'S! Applejack left soon after I had mentioned her work. One thing is still bothering me though... why do I keep trying to say home? That place is not my home and it never will be. I can’t accept her help forever and I will find my own place. I don’t belong with Twilight. I don’t belong period! Wherever I go I will be a stranger to this world. My place amongst ponies would never truly be comfortable. I would always see them as different from me, but I had no choice in the matter. I was stuck and I knew that I would have to cope. ‘At least here they see me as one of them’, I thought as I began to near the library. Before I could open the door I felt a tug on my jacket. Looking at the source, there was Applebloom... just Applebloom.
I checked to make sure she was alone and after I was satisfied that the coast was clear I asked, “Yes? Is there something you need?”
“Yeah, the girls and I were wonderin’... how did you get yer cutie mark? It looks weird and we were tryin’ ta figure out what it was.”
Now there was a good question. I looked back at the mark on my flank. Since I had got here, I didn’t put any thought into it. To be completely honest I was totally stumped. I had no clue what it could mean. It almost looked like yin and yang but not quite because it was pure black on both sides. The zodiac symbol for Pisces maybe? No... that couldn’t be it. I was a Sagittarius and I didn’t have any talent that had anything to do with fish.
While I continued to contemplate what it could mean, Applebloom repeated her inquiry, “So how’d ya get it?”.
“I... don’t really know.”, I said, wishing that she would drop the discussion. No such luck.
“What do ya mean ‘I don’t know’?! How could somepony not know what their special talent is?!”
I leaned in close to her and said, “I’m gonna tell you a secret. You must promise to never tell anyone else, okay?”
“Okay?” she said nervously.
“I’m not a pony and I came with my cutie mark. That’s why I don’t know what it means.” I whispered. She looked back at me astonished. “Remember when Sweetie Belle mentioned Rarity telling her I was ‘out of this world’? That wasn’t just a play on words... now remember our deal, okay?”. Applebloom nodded with her gaze set on me like I was, well, an alien. ‘I could get used to these kinds of reactions.’ I thought, before going inside and leaving the little filly in shock. I only told her to keep it a secret because it made her believe she was holding valuable information. I didn’t care if anyone knew I wasn’t from this world anymore. It wasn’t like I was going back anyhow, so why hide it for the rest of my life? I would probably keep many things about my past life hidden though. If I was staying, I didn’t want to have my previous problems to haunt me here as well.
I noticed that I wasn’t welcomed by Twilight. Seeing Spike just organizing some books, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I crept up behind him slowly making sure not to let him know I was there. Once I had carefully made my way up to him, I shouted, “HEY MAILBOX!”. He screamed and shot out a burst of fire which hit the books and caused them to presumably be sent to Celestia. I laughed sadistically at the cruel joke I had played.
Spikes face turned red and he yelled, “DON’T DO THAT!”
“Do what? Call you ‘Mailbox’ or scare you?” I said, still chuckling.
“Both...” he grumbled back.
“Come on, lighten up. I was just messing with you. So, where’s Twilight?” I asked, going over to lay down on the sofa. Vlad woke up and hopped off my back to hang from the ceiling.
Spike resumed tending to the books and said, “She went to visit the princess on ‘important matters’. She told me to tell you that she would be back later in the evening.”
I reclined a bit and thought of what I could do while she was gone. There weren’t many things I could do. Equestria wasn’t known to be an electronically advanced place so my options were limited.
Knowing that there was only one thing that I could really do to pass the time, I asked Spike, “can you get me some paint and an easel? I’m feel like doodling...”
Spike reluctantly got me what I had asked for along with a few other things. Now that I had the materials, I needed inspiration. I put on my headphones and turned on my mp3. I saw that it was low on power, but that wasn’t going to be an issue. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on a mental image of an electron. I visualized the trillions of invisible atoms around me, floating about with the energy I needed. Electricity was made up of electrons so I just willed them into a concentrated stream straight into the musical device. I could hear static crackling in the air. I waited for a few moments before looking at the progress of its charging. I was surprised to see it was full, but it was nice to have a thirty second charge time so it didn’t bother me. Flipping through the songs I came across one that felt right and instantly threw an image into my head. Most of my pictures were made because I happened to be listening to a song and they found their way into my brain. After they were there I had to bring them to life... it wasn’t my call. Something just possessed me until I was done. In nearly every case the song would work very well with the completed picture. If the song was dark and depressing, odds are that the picture would turn out that way too. The song I was listening to this time was an instrumental, but it was full of hope and beauty. I levitated the paintbrush given to me and started the picture by making a forest green expanse of grass that lead up to mountains in the distance. The song made me think of calm and serene, so I used that as the time of day which to me was sunset. I felt that I wanted it to be just at edge of night so after I was done making the sun, I faded the sky out to be a dark purplish blue... just like the night sky. I added a few clouds and lightly speckled the corner of the sky with stars to show the coming darkness.
After I was done I still felt it was missing something. I needed a subject... then it came to me; ‘Twilight at twilight’! I loved putting a play on words into my art. Some inside joke or something made it feel more personal. I went off of only memory as I painted her, trying to get the right shades of color and proportions within the right ballpark. The eyes, ears, mane, horn... it all had to be proportioned as accurately as possible and the lighting had to look realistic. What people didn’t normally realize was that all my work was freehand. Everything I made was just from rough estimation and a buttload of patience. Many people told me that I should make an outline before, but it never worked for me. It was just a waste of time and effort because when I tried to sketch things out, the outcome would be worse than if I had just done things my way. The thing that scared me about my talent was that I used to suck years ago, but after several years of not attempting to draw, one day I just picked up a pencil and showed a bit of skill. I did nothing and got better, how cheap is that? It used to be that I couldn’t even make a decent stick figure, then years later I can make things like a realistic tiger portrait in five hours! I guess I was just freaked out by things that defied all rational logic.
It took me around four hours to finish, but I was pleased with the results. I made a few mistakes here and there but it was as close to perfect as I could get. I looked over it all one last time before signing my name in the bottom left corner with red. I made the ‘O’ in my name a peace sign with two demon horns. It was just something that I felt like doing to make it clear it was mine. In the past I had done multiple things to keep people from stealing my work. I normally used a stamp that I made. It spelled out ‘JTD’. That alone was not enough for some of my pictures though and I would hide that little demonic peace sign to secure it with a metaphorical ‘double lock’. Whenever my friend or family member would complain about the chance of theft, I would just show them the hidden symbol and shut them up. If they persisted to whine I would show them the saved file of my picture without a few things. Only I would be able to post one of my pictures while they were still a work in progress. To be honest I was sick of all the precautions I needed to take. I mean why couldn’t people just make something themselves if they wanted to show off so badly? Oh wait, that's right, they have no talent to do so! Theft was a big deal for me, especially when it was over trivial crap like art or games. I never stole anything in my life no matter how much I wanted to have it, but one of my friends and some of my family had a problem with it. The lack of willpower some people possessed was disgraceful.
Finally finished with my picture, I was satisfied enough to take a nap. Spike fell asleep while I was making it, so I had no need to worry about him torching it in a petty display of revenge. The tranquility that would wash over me when I was done drawing was always a nice touch. It led me into a peaceful sleep.
* * * * * *
~Two hours later...~