Twilight Sparkle was really starting to love this newly found feeling of flight. She cherished the wind flowing through her wings and mane as she soared over the land of Equestria on her way back to Ponyville. She could even understand why Rainbow Dash was always so eager to go flying. Said pony was also the one to interrupt her state of tranquility.
"Hey, Earth to Twilight! We're nearly there!"
Twilight nodded and slowed her speed, feeling grateful to have her friend escort her on long flying trips like this. While she was hesitant at first to have the pegasus with her due to her need for speed, Rainbow proved to be a surprisingly good mentor. Dash was still inclined to fly ahead of Twilight, of course, but that just helped to give the alicorn a better incentive to strengthen her own wings to keep up. As the two flew across the clear blue skies, Twilight couldn't help but smile as she saw Ponyville come closer into view.
They landed near Sugar Cube Corner, both surprised to not hear Pinkie Pie's usual antics from within the bakery. Usually, Mister Cake would have to escort Pinkie out in order to find a new hiding spot for his bags of coffee grounds by now; Pinkie had told her friends and the Cakes numerous times that she didn't like the taste of coffee, but none of them wanted to give her any chance of getting into the stuff. Curious to see what Pinkie was up to, Twilight decided to look around town to find her, while Rainbow Dash went to check on Fluttershy.
As the new Princess walked around the town, she gave her usual greetings to the ponies who passed her and wished her a good day. While her coronation changed a lot of ponies' outlooks on the former librarian, Twilight was happy that most of the ponies in town didn't try to change that much in her presence. They acted the same way around her as they did before, albeit more polite. She was surprised when she noticed one particular pony doing something she never thought she’d see:
Pinkie Pie was sitting still.
Twilight walked over to where Pinkie was sitting, hearing her talking with a familiar-looking aqua pony who had a bandage over his right eye. The pony seemed to be drawing Pinkie as she waxed lyrical about this, that, and the other, although it didn't look like he was paying much attention to her. Instead, his unbandaged eye was narrowed in concentration while sketching, occasionally whipping his head back to get strands of his long brown mane away from his snout. Twilight caught the butt of the one-sided conversation, and soon rolled her eyes upon recognizing Pinkie’s topic of conversation.
"So then I found out that since Spike was a dragon, he didn't have any problems with spicy food or even lava! But Rainbow Dash didn't know that, so when Spike ate the ghost pepper without flinching, she was all like, 'I can totally do that if the baby dragon can!' and started chewing on three at the same time! Her face got totally red and sweaty, and she needed to chug down two whole gallons of milk just to be able to talk again! Then she got all mad because she thought Spike cheated! Of course, that was because he said it tasted like candy, so she..."
Looking back at the pony drawing through her ramblings, Twilight's eyes widened in surprise when she noticed his cutie mark: a light-brown painter's palette with four different colors of paint within it, and a matching paintbrush underneath with red paint on the bristle.
Twilight immediately knew who the pony was, even with the drastic reduction of bandages. Neither Canvas nor Pinkie seemed to notice her presence when she approached. Only after Twilight coughed into her hoof did Pinkie finally take notice of her, which led to the mare bursting out of her stool and hugging Twilight like she just came back from the dead.
"Twilight! I'm so glad to see you again! How was the Crystal Empire? Was it fun? Did you bring back anything?"
Struggling to breathe, Twilight patted Pinkie Pie on the back in a gesture that was both appreciative and pleading, the party pony mercifully pulling away with a smile. "The Crystal Empire was fine. I just had to help Shining and Cadence with some law reforms, nothing too exciting."
As she looked back at the pony on the bench, Twilight was surprised to see he was still drawing, seeming entirely focused on shading. Noticing Canvas' lack of attention, Pinkie walked up and poked him on the head with her hoof, slightly startling him. He looked up at her, somewhat peeved. "W-What. What is it?"
"Guess who's heeere!" Hosting a huge grin, Pinkie Pie pointed her hoof at the Princess beside her.
Canvas nearly fell off the bench for a second time whilst trying to get to his hooves at the sight of Twilight. After quickly placing the pad and his graphite on the bench, Canvas stood in front of Twilight, unsure of what the proper protocol was for addressing royalty. Breathing heavily, Canvas was only able to stammer a few noises―which were supposed to be words―until Twilight gently put her hoof up.
"It's alright. There's no need to worry." She extended her hoof. Canvas started to put out his own before realizing his hoof was covered in graphite. Twilight pulled out a handkerchief from her saddlebag with her magic, levitating it to Canvas.
He tried to wipe off as much as he could, biting his lower lip as he looked at Twilight. The Princess’ smile was just as warm and inviting as he would’ve imagined, causing him to blush profusely in trepidation. The artist took a deep breath before speaking. "M-My name is Canvas. I-I heard that you helped save me. And… And I just wanted to talk to you, and, y’know… umm…”
Much to Canvas’ surprise, Twilight placed a hoof on his shoulder, and spoke with the sincerest expression of gratitude and appreciation, "It's perfectly fine, Canvas. I'm really glad to see that you're okay. Just... try to relax, okay?"
Canvas nodded, a bead of sweat falling down his forehead. "I-I just wanted to thank you for what you did for me. I mean, I have no idea what would've happened if you didn't get me to the hospital. A-And I… I'm beyond grateful for what you've done. Just… thank you.”
Glad to finally get those words out of his muzzle, Canvas saw Twilight blush ever so slightly. "Well, you're very welcome. Although, I think Troy is more deserving of your thanks than I am. He was the one who actually found you out in the storm." Twilight became more enthusiastic as she recalled the events. "He was out in that storm for about two hours. And by the time anypony noticed he was gone, he was already halfway to the hospital! Frankly, I was shocked to see a gryphon run that far!"
Canvas blinked. "Wait, the gryphon ran? Why didn't he just fly or something?"
Twilight flinched. "Well, ummm… he apparently got hit by lightning, and it struck his wing.”
“What!?” Canvas’ eyes shot wide-open. “Nopony said anything about that!”
Before he could work himself into a conniption, Twilight raised her hooves in a calming gesture. “The strike just grazed him! I swear, his wings are perfectly alright now.” Canvas still looked alarmed, but was paying attention. “Anywho, when I found him, he was carrying you on his back through the storm. I believe he ran about 7.8 miles by the time I reached him!"
Canvas stared at Twilight in surprise and shock. He knew that the gryphon helped him, but he didn't think he went through that much trouble. Eventually, he moved his gaze to the ground, and said the first thing that came to his mind.
"Holy cow..."
The two mares giggled, and Canvas looked back up as Twilight replied. "I guess that's an appropriate response. Even Rainbow Dash was surprised when I told her about it."
"So… you said the guy is alright now?"
Twilight nodded warmly. "Rainbow Dash told me he was fine a couple days ago. I believe he went to Appleloosa to help with the drought there, but he's supposed to be back in Cloudsdale by now."
"Yeah, that was what the doctor told me. Is there a way I can contact him? I’d like to… y’know..."
Twilight put her hoof to her chin in thought. "Hmmm… I can probably get Rainbow to find him for you, but she's at Fluttershy's right now." She then looked over at her friend. "Pinkie, would you mind if we stopped by her place before we go for lunch?"
Pinkie quickly nodded with a huge smile. "Sure thing! OOH! We can bring Canvas with us!"
They both turned back to Canvas, who looked down at his hooves and bandaged legs while thinking. Though he would’ve loved to go with them, he was already feeling sore in his joints just from standing upright, and he knew that anymore walking would just make it worse. "Ummm… Thank you for the offer, but I honestly don't think I should walk around much right now. My legs still feel pretty tense from leaving the hospital this morning."
Pinkie looked at Canvas with a saddened slump in her posture. Twilight didn't seem as upset. "Well, that's understandable. I saw for myself how bad your injuries were, so it would be a smart idea to take it slow for the time being."
After saying their goodbyes, Canvas walked back to his bench and picked up the pad. Remembering what he was doing earlier, Canvas quickly grabbed the sheet and pulled it from the pad before running back to the mares. "Pinkie, wait! You forgot this!"
Pinkie took notice of the sheet in his hoof, and quickly trotted back to Canvas in excitement. "Oh, yeah! Hey Twilight, check out what Canvas did!"
Pinkie held the paper up proudly with both her hooves, giving Twilight the opportunity to see it herself. Everything about the picture looked exactly like Pinkie Pie: her eyes were drawn with perfect symmetry and shading to match the mare’s blue pair; her mane carried the same feel of volume and energy, even on the two-dimensional surface; and her face boasted the same toothy grin as the real counterpart. Simply put, Canvas' drawing of Pinkie Pie was absolutely flawless.
"Wow!" Looking up from the sheet held by her magic, Twilight caught sight of Canvas’ blush. "This is amazing! Did you draw this by hoof?"
"Umm… Yeah. I… I kinda have to hold the graphite on with a rubber band, but it works." When he saw how impressed both of the mares were, Canvas tried looking away to hide his face. What he didn’t notice, however, was that several ponies had overheard Twilight's praise, and were now walking in to look at the paper from behind her.
"Wow, that's really good!" said one mare as she admired Canvas' sketch. "That was seriously done by hoof?"
He glanced back at the growing crowd. Canvas’ heartbeat started to accelerate as more ponies asked him about his work.
"How long did that take to make?"
“You got Pinkie to stand still? How?!”
“Why, you’re as talented as my grandson, young stallion. Silver, isn’t he as good as Feathernote?”
"I couldn’t even do that with my horn!"
“It’s witchcraft, I tell ya! Witchcraft!”
“I wish I could draw like that…”
"Pfft. It’s nothing special. I could do that, too, if I wanted; I just don’t have the time for it.”
“Can you do color pieces too?"
"Draw me next! I have money!"
The crowd continued to grow as more ponies saw the sketch. All the while, Canvas looked back at Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie with an extremely heavy blush. Luckily, they started to look as overwhelmed as he was. "Alright everypony,” said the Princess authoritatively, "can you give Canvas some space, please?"
The other ponies quickly complied, giving Canvas some room. He thought about what that last pony said, regarding having money for more. Like a light bulb being turned on above his head, Canvas realized that he had a pristine opportunity right now. He needed to make some money, and he couldn’t really do much else with his legs, leaving him mostly immobile. And if he could make some bits doing something he enjoyed, then why the heck not?
"Umm… did somepony say something about buying one?"
From the crowd, a white mare with a short, scarlet mane stepped forward. Canvas noticed that the mare had what looked to be a rose as her cutie mark.
"Yes, I was wondering how much it would cost if you drew one of me?" The mare blushed in slight embarrassment, mostly due to seeing the artist all bandaged up. "You see, I'm not really that great at taking pictures, but that one you did of Pinkie looks great! I would love to have something like that."
As he looked around the crowd, Canvas could see that this mare wasn't the only one who wanted a sketch from him. It now looked like about ten ponies were here besides Pinkie and Twilight. Even if he gave a cheap price, he knew he could easily make enough money to at least get a good meal before the day was over. So, when he turned back towards his potential first customer, Canvas began thinking of a price.
"Well, I guess I can draw a sketch for… five bits?”
The mare smiled. "Perfect! That sounds fair."
A wave of relief washed over him as he saw that most of the ponies looked content with his price. When he looked back at Twilight and Pinkie, Canvas could only give them a light smile before speaking. "Well, at least I have something to do while my legs get better."
The two mares nodded, and the pony walked up to the stool in front of the bench. “Don’t worry, Canvas,” assured Twilight. “I’ll make sure Troy knows where you are.” After giving their goodbyes once again, Twilight and Pinkie went off to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and Canvas sat back down.
Canvas started a new sheet, not noticing the small crowd that was forming behind his bench. Rubbing the graphite layer on the page, Canvas looked back at the white mare, who smiled when she saw he was ready to start.
"I think I'm ready. This will probably take five or ten minutes, but I promise it'll look great." Canvas placed the piece of graphite under the rubber band, and made a quick circle and framework of her face on the paper. "So, tell me a little about yourself. What's your name?"
"Oh, my name is Roseluck. I work over at the flower stand in the market district…"
While Roseluck cheerfully talked about her job, Canvas started drawing his second pony for the day. More ponies gathered around Canvas as they watched him sketch the mare's face. Realizing how much attention he was getting already, Canvas couldn’t help smiling to himself with a newfound feeling of optimism. Even if his prices were cheap, the artist was happy to know that this pony definitely wouldn't be his last.