"-And I don't want Applebloom gittin' all attached and whatnot, and then him just leavin' her like he did us! It ain't right!"
Form the other room, Applejack's rising voice was clear, but Granny Smith's was firmer.
" I didn't raise you to be selfish, missy! Everypony deserves a second chance!"
Big Mac slowly trotted in, injecting a rare opinion on an argument.
" Eeeeyup."
" Big Mac, you too? Dontcha see how wrong this is? Two and a half years later, and he just thinks we'll welcome him with open hooves?"
" That's what family does, girl. Now you better straighten up; Applebloom don't need ta hear no fightin'."
" But-"
" Not another word!"
Granny Smith stomped her hoof with all the might she could muster- which wasn't much, at the moment- but she got the message across, all the same. Once Granny Smith put her hoof down, that meant you lost the argument.
Applejack dropped her head with a sigh, giving in.
" Now!" Granny Smith declared. "I think I know two ponies who have some trees to buck!"
---
Back at PaintStain Studios, Prairie Fire was sketching madly from memory, the three ponies he remembered from his early colthood, and the tiny filly he'd had the pleasure of meeting that very morning. It took longer than it would have had they been right in front of him, but still, it was his special talent, and he was a much more effective artist these days. Soon, the page was alive with happy images; Big Mac playing with Applebloom, Granny Smith making breakfast, Applejack... Huh. Prairie noticed his gestures of Applejack weren't, well, quite as joyful as the others. She stood imperiously at the edge of the table, glaring at him as if from a great height.
Mesmerized by the image, he suddenly opened a new page, and there he was sketching the events of last night; He didn't think about what he was drawing. In fact, he hardly looked at the page. Soon, sketches of Applejack crying, Granny collapsing, and Applejack's face at the party when they were forced to shake hooves took up the new page. After it was filled, he took that page and snapped in onto the easel; Creativity flowed freely, and so did his oil paints.
These were the first paintings he had done with specific ponies in mind since his first ones, the Fleur series. Only as he was finishing up the first one did it occur to him that he's never painted another model since then; He'd sketched countless models (Sometimes without their knowing!), but it had been a long time since he had painted one. He wondered why not, painting from life was always better.
Big Macintosh, can I paint you naked?
With an attention span short enough to make even Pinkie Pie proud, he dropped his paintbrushes in the middle of the third piece and rushed through the curtain with plans to find himself a new model!
Nopony was in his shop, and he doubted there were any customers who could not wait until tomorrow, so he changed the door sign from "Open" to "Closed" and rushed out. While trotting out of his building, however, he suddenly realized he had no idea where he was going. Who would he ask? Who did he even want to ask?
You sound like a nervous filly trying to find a date for prom, will you RELAX?
Before he could even process the thought, he realized he was halfway to the Everfree forest, and recoiled. What the-? What was he doing HERE? It only took the work of a tiny tinkling voice to the East of him for it to make sense.
"Come here Angel, it's time for breakfast..."
Prairie smiled- Of course! Fluttershy was beautiful and elegant yet feminine in a youthful, natural way. Out in this beautiful, dualistic environment? The edge of the dark forest... It would be fantastic. Soon enough, he was racing toward her home; Only a moment too late, realizing his excitement would probably terrify the poor little mare.
"Angel, we..." She looked up from the rabbit, then, and saw Prairie's crazy approach, thrown even more out of control when he tried to pull to a stop and ended up only tripping forward faster, and let out a small "Eep!" before racing inside.
"Wait, Fluttershy!" He cried, nearly at the front door- WHACK! It closed on him, and soon, all the windows were drawn.
He sat for a moment in front of it, blinking rapidly-
Ooohh, pretty stars! Look Prairie, look at all the twinklies!
He shook his head, and called out, a little impatiently, "Fluttershy, I know you're in there! Also, that hurt!"
"Oh, uhm, I'm so sorry, but, please go away!"
"Fluttershy, geez, I'm not gonna hurt ya!"
(-"I ain't out here with ya tah kick yer flank... "-)
The strange parallel confused him for just a moment, making him pause before he continued.
"I just wanted to ask if, maybe, I might be able to.. Well... Paint you?"
There was a long silence. At first, Prairie was afraid she'd just given in to hiding and hoping he would go away, but slowly, the door opened and revealed one deep, shimmering blue eye. Hesitantly, she opened the rest of the door, wincing.
"You'd really like to paint me?" she asked cautiously.
"Yeah, I think you would be a perfect model for what I have in mind."
Now it seemed, her curiosity was getting the better of her, as the door slowly opened more. "What do you have in mind?"
Prairie grinned as he figured a way to get her to agree; "Well, you won't know unless I paint it, and I can't paint it unless you model for me!"
"Well, if you really won't be able to paint it..."
"I reeeeally reeeeaaaallly can't!" He piped up, hooves together like a little filly.
"...Then I'll just have to help you." She said, nodding her head matter of factly.
He perked up immediately, a big smile on his face.
Prairie's the name, optimism's the game! Idiot.
"Thanks Fluttershy! You wanna get started this afternoon?" He asked, his bright and eager face peering into her's with all the hope and desire of a newborn bunny seeing a meal of lettuce for the first time.
"Oh," She said, visibly uncomfortable, "Well, you see Prairie, I'm a little -"
"-busy, right, of course..." He finished, his heart sinking. "Well, don't worry about it, there's always tomorrow..."
"Um, actually, Prairie-"
"Wednesday?"
"Well, see, uhm-"
"Thursday? Friday?"
"Uhm-" She peeped, cheeks now burning red.
"Right, well, whenever you're not busy!" He smiled at her again, but it was a pained, forced smile, and it broke her heart. Before she could speak, he was turning and trotting off her property.
Prairie was already in town before he was able to swallow his disappointment completely. He sighed roughly, shaking his head. No matter! It was just time to find somepony else, that's all. Who else in town would be fun to paint... Images of random ponies went through his head. Lyra? No. Cheerilee? No. Bonbon? Nope. Mrs. Cake? NO!
Suddenly, "Cake" made him think of somepony else- Pinkie Pie! Of course! She was such a bouncy, colorful pony that she would surely inspire him and help him create something whimsical and beautiful. He found, to his surprise, he was already at Sugarcube Corner.
You never seem to take control of your life, why should now be any different?
Prairie shook his head to, for the umpteenth time, rid himself of the cruel little voice in his head, and knocked on the door, then facehooved. It wasn't a house, it was a business! He didn't have to knock. He rolled his eyes and pushed the door open, to be greeted by the pink tornado herself.
"HIYA PRAIRIE! Did you and Applejack have a good time at the party? You two were having such a serious talk, I thought about going out to make your time more fun, but then Rainbow put a lampshade on her head and started dancing, so I had to go join her, and then everypony was dancing, and we all got caught up in dancing! It was so much fun!"
"Hey Pinkie," He tried to interject, but was cut off when she continued, oblivious,
"And so, did you hear about Miss Cheerilee? She passed out and then somepony wrote bad words on her face! I hear she's giving class with a sack on her head! I bet it was probably Derpy, th-"
"Pinkie, I want to-"
"-is totally crazy sometimes! I want to do some pranks with her someday, I bet she'd be-"
"PINKIE!"
"Yes Prairie Fire?" She asked cheerfully.
Prairie sucked in a deep breathe before exclaiming; "Will you model for me so I can paint you?"
"OOOH! That sounds fun! Sure!"
"Really?" he asked, relieved. Great! He had a model!
"Of course! What do I have to do? OOH! OOH! I know! Will I get to wear one of those big fancy dresses and sit next to a bowl of fruit like this-" She demonstrated by making a squatting pose with a faux-solemn face, "-Or will I be smiling! Or- GASP! - Will I get to be all in between like the Mare-a Lisa Smile painting?"
He chuckled a little at her enthusiasm. "No, Pinkie, you'll just be yourself."
"Oh." She seemed to consider this for a second. "Are ya sure? It might be more fun if I-"
"No, Pinkie," He said, shoving a hoof in her mouth to stop her; She was starting to give him a headache. "It's fine to just be yourself for the painting. So, when can you do it?" He pulled the hoof from her mouth, and she nearly toppled forward on the floor, but recovered with a bounce.
"Not today!" She sang cheerily. "I have to take care of the store while Mr. and Mrs. Cake visit family in St. Paulamino."
His heart sank. "When will you be free?"
"Oh, I think they're coming back in a week-"
He held up a hoof to stop her. "It's okay, Pinkie, don't worry about it. I'll find somepony else."
Her smile dropped, disappointed for a moment, but bounced back up like a faithful boomerang. "Oooh! Try Rainbow Dash, I bet she'd do it for you!"
He waved a weak goodbye before heading out the door. Apparently, he was never going to find a model. And it was already noon; His stomach was grumbling loudly about the lack of food, but he ignored it. He didn't feel like eating. Instead, he decided to take Pinkie's advice and headed toward Rainbow's home. The day was starting to sit heavily on his shoulders, and his lack of sleep and food was starting to make his head hurt. But nevertheless! Onward, and, in this case, upward- To Rainbow Dash's house!
---
"But that sounds so boring!"
"But, Rainbow Dash, don't you know how important your first semi-professional portrait will be, once you're super duper totally extra famous?"
Prairie bit his lip after speaking; Eyes screwed shut, he waited for her reaction. Hopefully, flattery indeed would get him anywhere.
"Hey..." Rainbow Dash seemed to be thinking it over, "Hey, YEAH! All my fans will look at it and swoon over the awesomeness that is Rainbow Dash! Aw yeah, this is gonna be SWEET!" She suddenly flew off her cloud and did a big excited flip.
Prairie grinned, relieved, and started to bounce a little in his spot way down on the dirt.
"Great! Great! Oh, I'm so happy to hear you say-"
"But not today! I'm training extra hard today, there's an expedition in Baltimare that I'm trying to get into!"
"Ugghhhh!" Prairie cried, and set off without even giving her an answer; Clearly, his hunger and fatigue were getting the best of his manners. But why couldn't he seem to find anypony who was free today? What's more, why did it need to be today? He didn't know, but the sense of urgency growing in his tummy was undeniable. There was one other pony who he figured HAD to be willing to help him out; She had always done so in the past- Rarity! He was fully sprinting towards Caramel Boutique now, the late afternoon air whipping his hair around, and threatening, but never removing, his black stetson.
"RARITY!" He cried, busting through the door like a rabid pony.
"Prairie, darling!" Rarity dropped the sewing tools that had been floating next to her head moments ago, startled and concerned. "What on earth is-"
"Will you model for me to paint you today?" He barked, clearly too aggravated to bother with any pretense of niceties.
"W-well, dear, I'd love to, but..." She gestured at the window, " It's nearly sundown."
He started. Somehow, that hadn't come into his head; He looked through the window she pointed at, and indeed, the sun was nearly at the horizon. He facehoofed.
"GREAT! I finally find a willing model, and I've got maybe fifteen minutes to use her!" He groaned and collapsed on the floor, front hooves covering his face.
Rarity hesitated a moment, looking at the poor colt, and finally headed into the other room; Moments later, she returned, floating a small, decorative metal tray along behind her. Prairie hadn't moved.
"There there, darling, I'm sure this will all work itself out. There's always tomorrow, is there not?" She cooed, floating him a cup of hot tea from the tray. He sat up, accepting the cup and drinking some, only to suddenly spew out the contents to the left of him (Fortunately not on Rarity or any of her fabrics, merely the floor), much to Rarity's distaste.
"Tomorrow? You can model for me tomorrow?" He cried urgently. "You're free?"
Rarity fidgeted a bit, looking away from him. "Well, I can't say tomorrow tomorrow, but-"
His eyes closed and he stood forcefully, turning toward the door.
"Nevermind," he mumbled bitterly. "Don't worry about it."
Rarity looked crushed as he started to leave. "Please, Prairie darling," she implored, " be reasonable! Surely somepony else, Fleur perhaps-"
"UAGH!" He cried, throwing the teacup at the wall where it smashed. "Save it, Rarity!"
Rarity gasped indignantly, but it was not heeded; Prairie was already out the door.
---
Nopony cares, Prairie. Nopony cares. Nopony cares.
That accursed voice in Prairie's head was always there to make sure he knew just how little his worth really was. This time, the message seemed to meet very little resistance. Prairie, apparently, didn't care either. He was gathering his things; All of his paintings. All his supplies. All of his belongings.
What a filly. You're leaving just because you can't find a model? What a drama queen!
"You know that's not what this is about." Prairie sighed. So now he was talking to himself; Arguing with himself, at that. Yep, it was time to go. He wasn't a stupid pony. He knew, deep down, that the Apple family was tense the morning after they all reunited. He knew Granny Smith and Applejack were arguing about him. He knew Applejack was right when she said he was just tearing their family apart. It was best if he just left; And this time, for good. As Applejack had mentioned, it didn't make anything better that he was hiding from them in plain sight, in the very town to which they belonged. He needed to go far. He needed out.
What had started as a minor annoyance had suddenly, with the help of sleep deprivation, hunger, self-pity and insecurity like nopony's business, blossomed into a philosophical judgment of his entire life; Nopony would model for him. Not that nopony would work as a model, but nopony would model for him. He was just a bother. Even Pinkie Pie was more worthwhile to the town than him, he reasoned; At least she threw parties and made everypony smile. He was just a mule to everypony; He'd just blown up at Rarity, the pony who was the very reason he even HAD an art gallery/house to be emptying right then! Tears welled up in his eyes, and he started for the door. He had to leave; he was ruining everypony's lives!
O woe is me, I'm a jerk! So misunderstood is the melodramatic artist! You're such an idiot, Prairie.
"Shut up!" He whimpered at the voice. The sun had set, and now, he was ready to go. He took one last look in the shop, and realized there was something he needed to do. He could not do to Rarity what he'd done to Applejack two years ago; She deserved some last words from him.
So he set his things down, and ripped a couple of pages from his sketchbook, as well as a quill and inkpot; He wrote two letters, sealed them, and set them on the desk that used to have a cash register on it. One was addressed, "To the last cultural gem of Ponyville." The other, "To my big sister, and the Apples."