//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Setting Up Shop // Story: The Sparkle of his Eye // by Silentpegasus //------------------------------// Chapter 3 Setting Up Shop The two unicorns had arrived at the house and began unpacking Inks art supplies. He trotted over to a large empty room lined with foam and had a massive window facing the rest of the house. Ink dropped the box and pulled out a large black safe, he set it in the corner away from everything else. Ink trotted out of the room and made his way over to Vinyl who was almost done unpacking a box of clay. “Thanks for the help Vi.” “No problem. Sorry for telling Tavi about...you know.” “It’s fine.” he said as he waved a hoof. Vinyl smiled at him and pulled out an old photograph. Three pony bodies were seen, a jet black unicorn colt with a bright red unicorn mare standing behind him. The top half of a grey stallion was torn off. Vinyl looked at the photo in surprise. She set it back down in the box and withdrew a rolled up piece of parchment, she flattened it out to see that it was a portrait of her. “What’s that?” he asked as he trotted over to her. “The painting you made of me when we were in school.” she said in amazement. “Y-you kept this?” she asked. “I never throw away good memories.” he said with t a smile. Vinyl returned the gesture and finished unpacking the last of the boxes. “I gotta head back to the shop. We’ll catch up later okay?” “Sure, I think I’ll go find a place to draw.” he said as he lifted his supplies on to his back. “Okay, see you later then.” Vinyl said with a smile. Ink mad his way out into the street and walked towards the outskirts of the town. His gaze then fell upon a wide landscape covered in trees, he found a spot at the top of a hill overlooking the orchard. Ink withdrew his canvas, and pencils. He focused his pulse to outline every tree in the orchard, including the barn, the plow left in the middle of the field and the sleeping orange blob underneath one of the trees. Ink’s horn glowed as the pulse came back to him. He focused the imprinted outline of the scenery and began to trace over the now rigid outline. He put his assortment of pencils beside him and began to fill in the canvas with life. As he reached the halfway mark, the stallion heard hoof steps coming up behind him, he sent out another pulse to see an orange outline facing his direction. “Can ah help you?” she said in a thick southern accent. “Sorry, I was just drawing. Hope you don’t mind.” he said with a smile. “What are ya drawing?” Ink pointed to the canvas to show a half done painting. The mare’s jaw dropped at the sight. “That’s fantastic!” “Thank you. You’re Applejack right?” “Yep.” “Thank’s for letting me use your land for the drawing, if you want a copy I’d be more than happy to make another one.” “Oh ah couldn’t ask ya for something like that.” “I insist, think of it as payment for allowing me the use of your land.” he said with a smile. “Well....Okay.” she said with a smile. “I’ll leave you to it then.” Ink gave her a nod and continued working on the art work. The image became clearer and clearer with each stroke of his pencil, he wiped the sweat from his brow as he finished his art work. He took a second to take in his work and let out a heavy sigh. Not too bad. Ink made a quick duplicate and rolled the piece up and put it in his bag. The dark stallion began to trot down the road taking in the scenery as he walked by the seemingly endless rows of trees. As he approached the farm house he saw three small fillies playing together outside the barn, he approached them with a smile on his face. “Excuse me, do you know where Applejack is?” “Why do ya wanna know mister?” the yellow outline said with a curious look on her face. “I have something for her.” he said with a smile. “What?” “Just a drawing.” he said as he took out the parchment. The three fillies eyes boggled at the canvas. “That looks awesome!” the orange Pegasus said. “Yeah it’s-” the white filly was cut off by a thick southern accent. “Applebloom? Where’d you run off too?” Applejack then noticed the dark stallion standing n front of the fillies. “Howdy there Ink.” “Hey AJ. I just got done with the drawing, here you go.” he said as he levitated the picture over to the orange mare. “Golly! That looks amazing!” she said with a smile. “Thanks, I’m happy you like it.” he said with a smile. “I’ll see you later AJ.” Before Ink could take a step back away from the farm a bright cyan blur landed in front of him. “Hey AJ, what's up?” “Not much. How about you Rainbow?” “Nothing.” Rainbow then noticed the dark unicorn stallion staring at her. “What’s he doing here?” “He was just dropping of a drawing.” “Can I see it?” Applejack nodded and showed the picture to her rainbow friend. Dash’s jaw dropped at the picture, she looked at the stallion who grinned at her. “Awesome!” she said with a smile. “How do you draw that well?” “Don’t know, just comes naturally.” he said with a shrug. “Can you draw me?” she asked. “Sure, just not right now I’m pretty tired from unpacking all my stuff.” he said with a smile. “That’s cool, how about tomorrow?” “Sounds good, I’ll see you later AJ.” he said as he turned away from the mares. “You going into town?” Rainbow asked. “Yeah.” “Mind if I walk with you, I need to head to the library anyway.” “Fine by me.” the two ponies made their way into the small town in silence. As they cleared the entrance to the orchard Rainbow spoke up. “So why did you come to Ponyville anyway?” “Just wanted to get out of the city.” he shrugged. “You’re from Manehattan right?” “Unfortunately yes.” he said with a grumble. “Was it bad?” “Yep.” “How so?” “Every time I walked down the street I either got mugged or the tar kicked out of me. Sometimes both.” “Oh....I’m sorry about that. Did you ever fight back?” “If I did then they probably would have killed me. It was a rough neighborhood but it taught me to look out for myself.” “What about Vinyl? I thought you two grew up together.” “We weren’t always best friends.” “What happened?” “Nothing.....ancient history.” he said as he looked down at the ground. Rainbow was about to protest until Ink had started to trot towards the door to his home. “See ya round Rainbow.” he said with a wave. Ink closed the door behind him as he went inside. The dark stallion made his way into his bedroom and laid down on the bed. Ink removed his glasses and put them on the nightstand next to him, as he slowly nodded off. Ink woke up an hour later hearing a loud knocking on his door, he put his glasses on and walked out of his room. He sent out another pulse, outlining the house and interior. As he opened the door he was met by a familiar lavender blur. “What’s up Twilight?” “I just came by to apologize for my rambling this morning.” she said in a low tone. “I shouldn’t have asked you so many questions.” Ink was surprised by the mares apology and gave her a nod. “Thank you and I’m sorry for snapping at you like that. It’s just that......this spell is really tricky and to be honest I don’t have a clue how I made it.” “What? Why?” “I don’t know it just sort of.....happened. I was practicing one time and it just became as it is now.” “That makes no sense!” she yelled in surprise. “Trust me I’ve told myself that about a million times, but you know how unicorn magic can be.” Twilight nodded in agreement. “AJ showed us the drawing you made, it amazing.” she said with a smile. “Thank you.” he said with a small grin on his face. “The girls and I were going to head to Sugar Cube Corner, do you want to come along?” “Are you asking me out on a date Ms. Sparkle?” he said with a smug grin on his face. “In your dreams.” she said as she rolled her eyes. “I was just being a good neighbor and offering you a chance to socialize with my friends.” she said as she held her head high. “Relax, I’m just messing with you. You need to learn how to have some fun Twilight.” he said as he closed the door behind him. “Hey, I know how to have fun.” “Oh really? Like what?” “I research and-” “That doesn’t count, that ties in with your work. I’m talking about a hobby or something like that.” “Well, I read.” “What do you read?” “Some ancient history, Psychology, Sociology and tons of other things.” “What about fiction?” her cheeks began to blush at the question. “Y-yeah, I read some when I’m bored.” “Like what, Horror? Adventure? Conspiracy?” “An even mix but I mostly read Ro-. Never mind.” Ink had a sly smile across his face. “I’m going to assume you were about to say Romance.” “N-no.” she said as her blush brightened. “You read Romance novels don’t you?” “NO!” “C’mon Twi. Remember what I said about lying to me?” he said with a raised eyebrow. Twilight’s face turned scarlet. “Fine, I admit it.” she said in a defeated tone. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of Twi.” he said as he put a hoof on her shoulder. “So you like to read about relationships and what not. Big deal.” “Promise not to tell anypony?” “I promise.” he said with a smile. “What about you?” “I’m not much of a reader.” “Why?” “I just don’t like too.” he said in a flat tone. “Now I know that’s a lie.” the lavender mare said as she looked at the stallion. “Look it’s.....private.” he said in a hushed tone. “Oh don’t give me that. I just told you my secret now I want to hear yours.” she said with a frown on her face. Ink stopped moving and began to scratch his mane. “All right, I suppose that’s fair. The truth is I can’t read.” Twilight looked at him in confusion. “I’ve got a condition where my brain screws up words and letters.” he lied. “It makes my ‘J’s’ look like ‘T’s’, it’ll flip an ‘R’ around to the point where it looks like a ‘B’.” “I’m so sorry.” she said as she put a hoof on her mouth in shock. “It’s fine, you didn’t know.” “How did you get through school?” “The teachers gave me audio books to listen too.” “What about paper work?” “The teachers were aware of my condition, most of them gave me oral exams and I had Vinyl who helped me out with the beuqacratic field.” he said with a smile. “My hoof writing was atrocious to begin with so it all worked out in the end.” “So you can’t read at all?” “No, but I did learn braille.” “Braille?” “Yeah, I figured if I couldn’t see the letters next then the best thing was to feel them. That worked out well in my High School days.” he said with a smile. “Is that why you became an artist?” “Yep. No writing required, just me and my talent.” he said in a low tone. Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder and smiled at him. “I have some audio books at the library you can borrow, if you want.” she said with a warm smile. “Thanks, I need to catch up on a few Daring Do books.” “So that’s what you mostly listen too?” she said with a chuckle. “Yeah when I’m in the mood. I love the stories by Colt Brown though.” “Which one’s your favorite?” “Hmm. I’d have to go with ‘Pegasi and Demons.’”
 “That one is so good!” she said with a smile. “Looks like we’re here.” she said as she stopped in front of the pastry shop. The two unicorns walked inside and were greeted by the other five mares. The two unicorns trotted over to the table and sat down next to each other. Pinkie suddenly popped up in front of the dark stallion with a wide grin on her face. “Did you really make that drawing Applejack showed us?” “Yup.” “It’s great!” she yelled. “I’d have to agree with Pinkie, it’s simply marvelous.” Rarity said with a smile. “Thanks, it was nothing special.” Ink said as he blushed. “How is that nothing special?” Rainbow said with a surprised look on her face. “Art isn’t my only talent.” he said with a smirk. “What do you mean?” AJ asked. “Just watch.” Ink summoned a quill and a piece of paper in front of himself and the mares. He drew two small simple pony outlines on the piece of parchment. His horn began to glow, a small magical beam shot out and touched the drawing. The mare’s eyes boggled as the two drawings left the paper surface and began to walk around on top of the table. “Not too bad eh?” “THAT IS SO AWESOME!” Rainbow yelled. The two miniature ponies then stopped moving and laid flat on the table. “Unfortunately it doesn’t last too long. I have better luck with clay and sculpting than I do with paper.” “That was amazing! How did you do that?” Twilight asked. “Magic.” “Well, duh. I mean what spell did you use?” “That was another one of my original pieces. I call it ‘The Art of Living’.” “You have to tech me that one!” “Sure. Can you draw?” “I’m not that good.” she said in a defeated tone. “Looks like I’ll have to teach you art too.” he said as he sipped his drink. Twilight’s smile increased and shook her head in agreement. “How does tomorrow sound?” “Sure! Should I prepare anything?” “Nope, I’ll take care of the materials. I’ll meet you at the library at eleven o’clock.” he let out a yawn and stretched his arms. “I’m gonna take off. See you tomorrow Twi.” he said with a smile. Twilight waved goodbye as he left the establishment. Twilight turned back to her friends to see them having smug grins strewn across their faces. “What?” “Don’t hide it Twilight, you like him.” “I do not!” she said as she blushed. “I’m just interested in the spell he used.” “Sure you don’t.” Rainbow said in a sarcastic tone. Twilight gritted her teeth at he can mare. Rarity put a hoof on her friends shoulder and gave her a nod. “Come now darling, he’s smart, sophisticated and he’s an artist. Quite a combination if I do say so myself.” she said as she bit her lower lip. Applejack then nudged the white unicorn. “I’m just saying that you’d better get a move on before somepony else gets the same idea.” “I DO NOT LIKE HIM!” she yelled with crimson cheeks. “UGH! I don’t need this right now, I’ll see you girls later.” she said with a stern tone. As Twilight exited the bakery the friends turned to each other and snickered to one another. “She likes him.” Pinkie said with a smile. “Totally.” Rainbow said with a devilish smirk. Ink had made it into his house, it was just as he left it; dark, warm and welcoming. Ink let out a sigh as he got into bed and pulled the covers over his dark body. As he closed his eyes he welcomed the blissful sleep. Unfortunately all that laid ahead were nightmares. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It had been two months since Vinyl had moved to Manehattan, since her detention with Ink she had started to treat him like the others. She ignored him, made fun of his appearance and even went as far as to sit at him. Ink was fairly used to the abuse he got on a daily basis from the other ponies. He knew that it would be better if he ket his mouth shut and just endured the pain. Day by day he felt what was left of his endurance beginning to fade and wither. Everyday he dealt with the torment that he faced at school and everyday it almost killed him. One day as the dark colt was making his way home he heard a crash come from the alleyway, he glanced over to see a familiar white filly being punched in the ribs by a large blue Pegasus colt. He could see tears start to form in her eyes. Ink quickly rushed in between the two. “Look who’s here.” the blue colt said as the other two pegasi stepped out from the shadows. “Y-you...L-leave her alone!” he yelled as he began to shake in his hooves. The pegasi laughed at his statement. Vinyl looked up at him in sadness and confusion. The blue colt slammed Ink in the jaw and followed up with a kick in the ribs while the other two started to stamp on his back. Ink was letting out cries of pain and agony as the colts continued their assault on the unicorn. A small tear escaped the filly’s eye as the colt’s walked away laughing at their work. Vinyl approached the shaking and bleeding black ball on the ground, as she put a hoof on his shoulder a shiver of fear rippled through the colts body. Ink began to cough up blood as he tried to get to his hooves. As he took his first step he felt woozy and began to fall towards the ground. Vinyl hurried over to him and levitated the unconscious colt onto her back. The white mare ran to the nearest hospital and bursted into the emergency room. Ink woke up to the sounds of a heart monitor and other machines working. He looked over to the corner to see a familiar white filly with tears in her eyes. Ink immediately cringed back in fear. Vinyl trotted over to him slowly and looked down at the ground in shame. “Why did you defend me?” she asked in a saddend voice. “Just returning a favor.” “What fav-....You mean that day in Art class?” the colt nodded. “Even after I’ve been so mean to you? How could you want to protect me?” “It....didn’t seem fair that he was hitting one of his friends and-” “HE is not my friend!” “Then why hang out with-” “The popular crowd...you know how it is. If you're not with them then you’re against them.” “Yeah I know the feeling.” Vinyl drew closer and wrapped him in a teary hug. “I’m so sorry.” Ink was moved by the filly’s action and returned the gesture. “Do you think that we could.....start over?” she asked as she broke the embrace. “Y-yes.” he said with a smile. The door suddenly burst open to reveal a crying red unicorn mare. “INK ARE YOU OKAY?” she said as she hurried over to them, she quickly wrapped the colt in a bone crushing hug. “What happened?” “N-nothing I was-” “It’s my fault ma’am.” Vinyl interjected. “I was being picked on and Ink saved me.” she said with a sad look on her face. The mare looked back at the dark colt who gave her a nod. “Hey mom, where’s dad?” “He’s at work.” she said wiping the tears from her eyes. She then looked at the filly who had a guilty look on her face. “So how do you know Ink?” “We’re in Art class together.” “Why didn’t you tell me you had a friend?” she said as she looked at her son. “Well,.....um.” “We never really talked since this afternoon.” she said with a grin. “You must be his mom right?” “Yes....It’s nice to meet you. I’m Star Shooter.” “Nice to meet you Mrs. Shooter.” she said with a smile. “Sorry Ink, I have to go, my parents will be wondering where I am. I’ll come visit you tomorrow after school okay?” Ink nodded and gave her a smile. As the white filly left the room the red mare looked at her son with a raised eyebrow. “She’s cute Ink.” “Mom! It’s not like that. I didn’t even talk to her until today.” “It’s nice to see that you have a friend.” “How long do I have to stay here?” “The doctors are going to run some tests, I’ll pick you up tomorrow evening after work.” she said with a smile. Ink let out a groan at the information. “Can you get my art supplies? I’ll need something to keep me busy.” “Of course dear. What ever you need.” she said as she kissed his forehead. “I’ll come back after I’ve made your father supper okay?” Ink nodded and the red mare got to her hooves and walked out the door. The dark colt laid back in his hospital bed and took in the events that had just transpired inside the room.