//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Time to work // Story: Rainbow in the Dark // by Sayer //------------------------------// Edited and revised by kalash93. Thanks for everything, pal! Chapter 3: Time to work I woke up in the middle of the night, at the verge of dying from asphyxia and coughing so hard that I thought my lungs would exit through my mouth. I trotted to the kitchen in search of a glass of water and swallowed it in a big gulp. Oxygen filled my lungs again, and I found myself panting for a few minutes before returning to my bed to return to sleep. I always had some troubles sleeping. After what seemed like an eternity I finally fell asleep again, only to be awakened by my alarm clock. Silently cursing it I searched for it, instead grabbing my sack of bits. Curious to see how much money I had left, I started counting the bits stored inside; much to my chagrin, I barely had enough to last me the rest of the week. Considering that I already spent like a week and half without a job, I’d say it’s been better than expected. Without better ideas or alternatives, I worked on some posters to advertise my services as an artist and placed them all over the town, hoping that I could get some clients. It was very basic: what I could draw, a list of prices, my address, and to leave a letter in my mail if I were absent. My last stop was in front of what could only be described as some kind of gingerbread house, decorated with chocolate, frosting and candy canes. The only normal thing was a sign with the text “Sugarcube Corner” written on it. Are any buildings in this place normal? As I tried to leave, I noticed the weird carriage Pinkie Pie had been pulling the first time I met her. As if tempting fate, I remarked, “And here it comes…” I don’t know if she really was waiting until I said that, but in the blink of an eye, I was again pinned against the ground with Pinkie Pie on top, like our first time. Alright, that came out wrong. The pink pony started to talk even faster than the first time I met her. “Hey, how nice that you paid me a visit! But how did you know I was working here? Maybe Twilight told you? Oh, yeah, she already told me how you managed to defeat Rainbow Dash in a reading contest. Wow, that must mean that you’re very fast, right?” As she continued chatting, the flyer I had placed on Sugarcube Corner fell down and landed on top of my face, blocking my vision. It somehow managed to silence Pinkie, thank Celestia. “Is this yours? You’re an artist?” I simply nodded, knowing that if I opened my mouth I would be interrupted again. “Oh, that’s amazing! I will tell my friends about this, which means that the everypony in Ponyville will know what you do, and ask you for a drawing and you’ll get rich! This’ll be awesome!” “Okay…?” I was very scared of this mare, and her randomness was even worse than what the rumors said. How could the rest of her friends survive her horseplay? “Could you get off me, please?” “Oh, yeah. Sorry. I’m always excited when I have a new friend.” Wow, she had a bit weird concept of friendship. Not that I complained, though. “Hey, you still haven’t spoken too much with Fluttershy, didn’t you?!” She continued before I could even reply. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you with that! Well pay her a visit!” Before I even realized what was going on, I was suddenly pulled by Pinkie Pie through the entire town so quickly that for a moment there I thought that Rainbow Dash had grabbed me. The rest of the world was turned into a messy blur of myriad colors, fused with the buildings in the background. After what seemed like a few seconds, Pinkie suddenly stopped dead, launching me against a wall with her inertia. She started bouncing around like a hyperactive rabbit crossed with a kangaroo. “Here we are. Fluttershy’s cottage! Did you enjoy the ride?” Dizzy and confused, I tried to stand up the best I could. “I don’t know… Let me see if I have any missing parts…” Before I could even react, she was already slamming at the door so hard that I thought she was trying to break it down. “Fluttershy! Are you there? Open the door! Fluttershy!” I tried to stop her before Fluttershy ran away thinking that a serial killer was trying to invade her house. “Don’t you think that this is going to scare her? I mean, if somepony knocked on my door like this I would probably run out the back.” And because the universe is always against me, the door started being opened, the yellow pegasus pushing it from the inside. “Oh, hello, Pinkie. What’s the matter? Is Gummy ill?” Gummy? Who the buck is Gummy? “No, silly. Gummy is fine. I wanted to introduce you to Brownie.” She pointed her hoof at me, expecting me to say something, but I was at a loss of words. “I thought it would be a good idea if you two got to know each other a bit more. You barely said anything at his welcome party, Fluttershy. I bet you could become great friends.“ Fluttershy turned her eyes to me, trembling as if I were some kind of monster. “I don’t know… Maybe?” The urge to hug her and never let her go was increasing with every passing second. “I was going to meet Rarity at the spa, sorry… But some company would be great. If you’d like, of course…” “Yeah, of course. It will be a pleasure, Fluttershy. And meanwhile, you two can meet each other and become super great friends!” Waiter, I’ll have whatever she’s having. “Uhm, alright.” The yellow pegasus stuck her head inside the cottage. “Good bye, Angel. Take care of everything while I’m away.” “Who’s Angel?” I asked her. “Oh, he’s my little bunny. Don’t worry, he can take care of himself.” That’s something I couldn’t do until I reached twenty. “Let’s go to the spa. If that’s okay with you, of course…“ By Celestia, her cuteness was increasing with every word she said! Pinkie Pie started a new conversation, helping Fluttershy and I to our reservations. “So, did you know that he managed to defeat Rainbow Dash in a reading race?” Her surprised expression was a bit exaggerated. “Is that true? Wow, that’s a real achievement.” From anypony else, that would have sounded sarcastic, but I could feel that Fluttershy was really impressed. “Come on, it’s nothing special. I mean, it was just a stupid reading contest without a prize for the winner or anything like that,” I replied. The last thing I wanted was to become famous because of a stupid feat. Without anything better to talk about, I changed the subject of our conversation. “So, I was wondering, do you have a job, or you just get paid by Princess Celestia for defending Equestria?” “Well, I have a job, and I take care of other ponies’ pets when they’re on vacation… Oh, and I take care of some animals until they can find a good home, aside of some gardening so they can have food. Rarity always gives me a part of her earnings to buy food for them.” I was amazed by how much Rarity helped her. “That’s very nice from her. I wish my old friends were so loyal and helpful.” “Why do you say that? I bet they were very nice and great,” Pinkie replied. “You obviously don’t know them. I barely had friends, and the ones I had were a bunch of liars and backstabbers. They only used me to get things they wanted.” Fluttershy remained silent, but her expression told me that she had gone through something similar. Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, remained as happy and cheerful as always. “The past is the past. Ponyville is different, and I’m sure you’re going to make lots of great friends. And we will help you; right Fluttershy?” The meek pegasus was hiding her face behind her pink mane, trying to disappear. “Yes… I guess?” By Celestia, why is this mare so cute and adorable? “So, I found him in front of Sugarcube Corner, placing flyers about how he’s an artist, and that he needs money, so if anypony wants a drawing they could pay him for one. Isn’t it great?” “Maybe?” She looked at me with a puzzled expression, probably expecting a different reply. “Sorry, it’s just that I think it’s funny how much I changed my opinion about my talent. When I was just starting, I felt like the best artist in Equestria, but when I got my Cutie Mark I started to think my drawings weren’t very good, even though everypony else praised my work.” Pinkie Pie quickly replied with great enthusiasm. “Don’t worry; I’m sure that you’re a great artist, even though I haven’t seen any of your works. But that’s okay; I know a great artist when I see one!” Fluttershy soon followed the conversation. “I know that feeling. But don’t worry; we’re here to help you.” Before I realized it, I found myself smiling thanks to their speeches. “Thanks, you really helped me a lot. I wish I could have met both of you before back at Hollow Shades, or that at least I had been born here. It would have been great.” “Hey, you know what this calls for?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Fluttershy and I shook our heads before being crushed in a bear hug. “A group hug! Because that’s what all good friends always do!” Between being crushed by this crazy mare and standing so close to a pegasus, I didn’t know what was I supposed to feel, but from Fluttershy’s pained expression, she wasn’t enjoying this too much, either. After what felt like hours of being crushed without air, we finally escaped from Pinkie’s clutches, dropping to the ground like lifeless dolls. My lungs burned upon contact with fresh air, still hurting from last night. “My goodness… For a moment there I thought I wouldn’t survive this encounter.” “Don’t worry, it’s a matter of getting used to it.” Fluttershy replied, her voice so low that for a moment there I thought I had gone deaf. The rest of our travel was very quiet. Well as quiet as it can be with Pinkie Pie around, but we got to know each other better and even started a new friendship. I couldn’t help but feel that Ponyville was the best place to make new friends. I instantly recognized the spa partially to the unusual structure, but mostly because Rarity was waiting at the front door. Rarity quickly fixed her attention towards me. “Oh, hello darling. I didn’t know you wanted to enter the spa, too. I could have invited you to come along.” I quickly corrected her. “No, nothing like that. I just got dragged along by Pinkie Pie to meet Fluttershy and we accompanied her.” Pinkie burst it, “Oh, and did you know that he’s an artist? He was advertising himself all over the town with flyers! Isn’t it great?” Thanks, Pinkie. That was very subtle. Rarity looked very impressed. “Is that true?” I nodded. “Oh, but that’s wonderful! And how many clients did you have?” “Still nothing. I just finished advertising myself when Pinkie Pie found me. I’ll need to have clients every day to make money, so I’ll do something else and just do work on commission.“ “Don’t worry, I’m sure that you will get enough clients to concentrate on your drawings. I’ll talk about your talent to some of my friends from Canterlot.” I doubted that any of those ponies would ever require my services with all those famous and professional artists out there, but maybe I would be lucky and get some clients. With nothing else to do, we parted ways and I went back home. I opened the mail, hoping to find a not or something similar, but it was empty. Of course, I had been expecting that, but I hoped that somepony would require my services. I headed inside, ready for a session of doing nothing but reading comic books and listening to music, but as soon as I stepped inside my bedroom, somepony knocked on the front door. “One moment, please.” I silently cursed Muffin’s law and headed to the door, opening it swiftly. I would have never expected to find Rainbow Dash at the other side, holding one of my flyers with her mouth. “You wanted something?” Oh yeah, a very intelligent question. She handed me the flyer before delivering an answer "It landed on my face while I was slee- I mean flying." Yeah, right… “And you came here to return it to me?” She chuckled before answering. “Well, the truth is that I was interested. It’s the first time I see somepony advertising himself as an artist, and I thought it would be cool to have my portrait taken.” I couldn’t believe that Rainbow Dash was in my house! And on top of that, she was my first client. I took a few breaths to calm myself so I didn't cause a scene. “Alright then. Since it’s you, I’ll give you a special discount. So, what’s your request?” “Well, I know it’s weird that I’m asking you this, but I wanted a portrait of myself. You can do that, right?” If this was a dream, this would be the point where my sexual fantasies would start. “Yeah, of course. How do you want it? Head, half body or full body?” “Full body, of course. I can’t be portrayed with parts of my body left out. I’m too cool for that.” “Alright then. Please, follow me to my studio. It’s the best place to work, and I can draw any pose you want.” I started to imagine her lying on my bed and whispering “Draw me like one of your French mares” into my ear. Alright, enough fantasies for today. She followed me back to my room and landed on my bed as I took out my drawing tools – a pencil, an eraser, and a white sheet of paper. Most artists used lots of different tools, pencils, paints and high quality materials, but I loved simplicity. As I got ready to start our art session, Rainbow Dash was still finding a good pose that would immortalize her. She finally decided on a crouched position and a defiant look, as if she were going to start a race. “Is this pose good?” She asked me. “As long as you like it, I don’t really mind. I want my clients to be happy with my drawings.” She winked an eye before returning to her position. I started by drawing a skeleton of her body, formed by a circle for her head and curved lines for her limbs and torso. Then, I added the basic forms for all her body parts, erasing and drawing again anything wrong before adding the finishing touches, like her mane, tail and expression. I worked very hard on the drawing, trying to capture all her essence and personality on the blank paper, but unfortunately it was incomplete without her characteristic rainbow mane. There was nothing I could do, since my skills with colors were pretty bad; I still had a long path ahead of me. “Alright, I finished it. Tell me what you think.” I handed her the drawing, nervous and worried that she would reject it. “Awesome! You did a great job! I love it!” Everything went better than expected. “Wait until my friends see this. They’ll be green from envy. Thanks a lot, Brownie.” I was dumbstruck, but I managed to reply with great effort. “No problem. After all, that’s what friends are for, right…?” “You’re a great friend. Oh yeah, before I forget.” She handed me some bits. “For the drawing, and because you’re so cool. Consider me your best customer.” And with those words, she quickly left my home, leaving me behind and wondering if I just imagined everything. The bits she handed me were still there, as proof that had really happened. My life was starting to change, and for once, it was for the better.