Secrets of the Everfree

by PaisleyPerson

Chapter 25: Acrylic's Anxiety

Chapter 25
Acrylic’s Anxiety

Wild Flower and Cedar stayed on the train to continue on back to Baltimare. Essence bid us farewell at the station as well, for she was splitting off to the Everfree. There was no train to take her, so she would fly the rest of the distance. The rest of us went straight home.

Blaze ended up falling asleep in the abnormal quiet, so I carried him home and put him right to bed. Torch was already climbing under the sheets when I walked in.

“Is he alright?”

“Still asleep,” I confirmed, stepping into the bathroom. I pulled the white bands out of my hair, and combed it smooth so it wouldn’t tangle.

“That was certainly an adventure, wasn’t it?” Torch chuckled, switching off the bedside light. Though the moon was already out, neither of us were really ready for bed yet. He worked up a small tongue of fire, and played with it for a while.

“An adventure I never want to live through again,” I shivered, setting the brush down before joining him in bed. He held the sheets aside as I slid under.

“Being an alicorn couldn’t have been all that bad,” he argued. “You still had wings this time, right? It wasn’t like before when they were taken away.”

“It’s not that being an alicorn was bad. It was the cutie mark. I thought I was going to lose it again.”

“Oh.” His eyes filled with sympathy and understanding.

“I’m still trying to figure out what happened to make it disappear last time. When it was taken away again...” I bit my lip and rolled over so he wouldn’t see me cry. “I was even more confused, and scared. A cutie mark is a symbol of your destiny. If I don’t have a destiny, then who am I?”

“You don’t need a cutie mark to tell you that you’re the world’s finest artist. Even I know that much.”

“But how do you really know? What if I’m not really supposed to be an artist? Once it was removed altogether, and when I got it back, the magical fire on the brush was changed. Today it was switched again with Twilight’s, the Element of Magic. What if I got the wrong mark? What if my destiny changed? What if my talent is really in thestral magic- fire dancing, like you?”

“I know that you are, and always will be, my wife,” he scooted closer to me. “And you’re mother to Blaze and Garble. Isn’t that enough?”

“I love all my boys,” I assured. “But I need to know who I am, what my destiny is. I want to live to my full potential. How am I supposed to do that if I don’t even know what my full potential is?”

“That’s what we all need to learn, I suppose. We go through life to find out who we really are. You’ll figure it out eventually, and I’ll be here for you every step of the way.”

“But what is the first step to finding yourself?”

“I think only you can answer that.”

---

“Morning, honey,” Torchwood pecked my cheek as he passed by. I looked up from my paperwork.

“Hey,” I smiled, distractedly turning back to the folder. “There’s muffins on the counter. From Sugar Cube Corner,” I quickly added.

“Heaven forbid they be homemade,” he joked, seeking out the basket. I rolled his eyes and turned back to my work. “Is that the paper?”

“Since when do I read the news? That’s what Rarity’s gossip is for,” I laughed. “No, these are lesson plans. I promised Apple Bloom an art class in two days.”

“Already? How long have you been working on those?”

“Since about six this morning. What? I couldn’t sleep!”

“You’re taking this very seriously,” he raised an eyebrow.

“I am! Those girls want me to teach them what I know, and I need to make a good impression on their new friend. What if I can’t do it?”

“I’d say you’re overqualified for the job,” he kissed me again.

“It’s not qualification I’m worried about,” I shook my head. “Drawing or painting myself is one thing, but to put it into words... that’s a completely different story.”

“You’ve been teaching Blaze,” Torch pointed out. “I’ve seen a lot of improvement in him already.”

“But he’s been watching me for a while. A lot of it he picked up on his own.”

“You’ll be fine,” he promised.

“Maybe I should talk to Cheerilee,” I mused. “She teaches a whole class of students. She’s got to have tips on how to handle five. It might not be a bad idea to talk to Twilight, either. She’s full of ideas, and has a whole library of books.”

“If it’ll put your mind at ease, go for it,” he urged. “I guess I’ll go ahead and open up the shop. See you tonight?”

“Where are you going?”

“It’s Wednesday. You’re going to take Blaze to the Dragon Craters. Right?” he prompted.

“Oh! I forgot!” My eyes darted back to the paperwork, then to where Blaze was sleeping. I wasn’t about to let him down, but I was stressed over the art class preparations.

“Do you want me to take him today?”

“No, no! I made the promise, so I’m going to go through with it.” Torch just chuckled.

“Come on. You’re obviously stressed over this class of yours. Blaze won’t mind me taking him, so long as he still gets to see his brother. It’ll be one less thing on your mind, and besides! I haven’t seen Garble in a while. It’ll be a guy’s day out.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. You run the shop and sort out your plans, and I’ll take Blaze to the craters. Sound good?”

“If he’s alright with it, so am I, I guess,” I consented, looking over to the baby dragon one last time.”

“We’ll be fine. Twilight should have opened the library by now. Why don’t you run by and talk to her first? That way, if Blaze absolutely has his heart set on you taking him, there’ll still be time and you’ll have a bit of food for thought to consider.”

“Okay,” I agreed. It wasn’t as though I had much of a choice. Torchwood practically shoved me out the door.

“Great. We’ll see you later tonight!”

“Bye,” I bid farewell just before the door was shut on me. I took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. Driven by both determination and anxiety, I headed for the Golden Oaks Library. I had a class to plan.

I walked alone through town, and arrived promptly at the doorstep of Twilight’s residence. As Torch had predicted, she was already up.

“Acrylic! What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to take Blaze to the Dragon Craters?”

“Torch is taking him today,” I informed.

“Oh! Well, that’ll be good for them both.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, they don’t seem to spend a lot of time together. This will be a good chance for them to bond.”

“I guess I have been a bit possessive of Blaze,” I blushed.

“Now, how can I help you?” Twilight swung the door the rest of the way open and strode back inside.

“I was hoping you could teach me how to teach,” I admitted. Twilight’s expression became puzzled.

“Come again?”

“I promised Apple Bloom and her friends an art class,” I reminded her.

“Oh, that’s right! Hmm... teach you how to teach, you say? To be honest with you, I don’t know anything about art myself. I’m not sure where to begin teaching an art class.”

“That’s okay; that’s my job. Just tell me how you’d start any other class.”

“Well, alright then. Like any other class, you’ll want to start with the basics.”

“Check,” I affirmed, glancing at the first bullet point in my folder. “Lesson one: Seeing Basic Shapes.”

“It looks like you’ve already got it planned out! May I see that?”

“Be my guest,” I answered, holding out the folder. Twilight neatly separated each page with her levitation magic, and rotated them around the library as she read each one.

“Lesson One: Seeing Basic Shapes. Lesson Two: Complex Shapes. Lesson Three: Value. Lesson Four: Perspective and Dimension. Lesson Five: Color. Lesson Six?! Acrylic, how far does this go?”

“To Lesson Thirty,” I blushed. “I don’t know how advanced each of them are, so I’m not sure where we’re going to start. I need to know what they’re already capable of.”

“What are you coming to me for? It looks like you’ve already got this down to a science!”

“I’ve never taught before! I know the information, I just don’t know how I’m going to present it.”

“So do you want me to give you a lesson on public speaking? Come on, Acrylic! It’s just Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. You know them!”

“I don’t know their friend!”

“Oh, I see. So you’re worried about making a good first impression on their friend?”

“Yes! I don’t want to embarrass the other girls because I turn out to be an incapable teacher!”

“Acrylic, you’re great with kids! Just be yourself, and it’ll all be fine. I promise.”

“What if myself isn’t good enough?”

“You’re completely overthinking this!” Twilight exclaimed. “Those girls just want to have a good time. Just set them to work drawing something, and help them where they struggle. Maybe art is just one of those things you have to pick up on.”

“They won’t learn anything if I give them a bunch of exercises,” I protested.

“You might be surprised how much young fillies can teach themselves, just from experience. That’s how you learned, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes, but-”

“Let them figure it out, then. You’ve got enough on your mind as it is. And in all honesty, I don’t think they’re as interested in improving their artistic skills so much as spending time together. Just let it happen, okay?”

“But-”

“Okay?” I slumped in defeat.

“Okay.”

“Good, now-”

“But do you think the library has any how-to-draw books I could borrow? Just to get ideas, I mean. They teach you how to draw without an instructor, and I want to see how they do it.” Twilight sighed in consent.

“Alright, I guess that’s a fair request. They should be over there in the art section.”

“You have a whole art section that I didn’t know about?!”

“Spike and I decided to rearrange things a bit on reshelving day.”

“Oh, boy! I’m going to have a field day with this! Look at all these art guides!”

“You have seen most of these before, you know.”

“But I never noticed them because I already knew the material. But now I’m bound to get some ideas! Thanks, Twilight!”

“I didn’t really do anything,” she mumbled. I barely noticed as I began pulling books off the shelves.

It wasn’t long before I had completely encircled myself with notes and books. I’d read a passage I liked, write a few bullets on a note card, and move on to the next one. I decided I didn’t like the how-to-draw books after all. They showed you how to draw, sure, but by the end of the lesson, you could only draw one angle of one object. I wanted the girls to really understand how their subject was formed so they’d understand how to put it on paper. But what if their subject was living, and/or moving? I moved back to my lesson plans. Lesson 7.1: Movement.

“You’re still here?” I hadn’t noticed when Twilight had left, but she now reentered through the front, a bag of groceries in tow.

“I didn’t hear you leave,” I absentmindedly commented, returning a book to the shelf.

“You’ve been busy,” she commented. For the first time, I noticed the mess I’d created in my little study circle. Papers were strewn everywhere, and books littered the floor. I blushed and hurriedly started cleaning up.

“I did get a lot done, though. I think I’ve got the general idea of what I’m doing, now. I must’ve skimmed every book on art in here!”

“You’re not kidding!” Twilight was looking over my revised notes. “Maybe I was wrong; this looks like some pretty serious stuff. Did you come up with a vocabulary list?!”

“I’m not going to make them memorize it, but I want to introduce them as we go.”

“At this rate, you could be teaching a college level class! Remember, you’ve got beginners on your hooves.”

“But what if they aren’t always? They are the Cutie Mark Crusaders. What if one of them finds their special talent in the arts like me?”

“It is possible, and it’s great that you’re taking this so seriously. Just remember to be patient with them, especially Scootaloo. She can get ahead of herself sometimes. Take baby steps.”

“You know me, Twi. I love kids! This’ll be a breeze!”

“Weren’t you freaking out about teaching just this morning?” she grinned.

“I wasn’t ‘freaking out,’ I was just preparing myself,” I indignantly turned up my nose.

“If you say so,” she laughed. I happened to glance behind her, and my eyes bulged.

“Is it sunset already?!”

“You’ve been here all day,” she affirmed.

“I’m supposed to have dinner on by now! I’ve gotta go!” I’d already cleaned up the books, so now I scooped the stray papers back into the folder. “Thanks again, Twi!”

---

“Sorry I’m late,” I panted, slamming the door behind me. “I got distracted at Twi’s. I’ll have dinner on in a jiff. How do sandwiches sound? I don’t think I have time to break out the stove. I-” I stopped dead in my tracks when I spotted Torch and Blaze already at the table, eating without me. There was a steaming dish of delicious looking squash, decorated with sparkling gems.

“Oh, hi, Acrylic!” Blaze waved. “That’s alright, we already got dinner ready. We saved some for you.”

“Did you get everything sorted over at Twi’s?” Torch asked, pulling out a seat for me.

“Yes,” I dumbly answered, still a bit perplexed. I didn’t know Torch could cook so extravagantly.

“What did Cheerilee have to say?”

“I didn’t talk to her after all...” I shook myself out of the stupor. “Did you boys make this? Since when do you cook?”

“It was all Blaze, actually,” Torch winked.

“Spike’s been teaching me how,” he proudly boasted. “Since Torchwood took us to the old gem mines, I said I’d make dinner!”

“We found a few ripe emeralds and rubies down there.” Torch gestured to the jewels sprinkled over the squash.

“Go on! Try some!” Blaze urged. I did eat a fork full, and my eyes fluttered. It was heavenly!

“Well?” The rubies were indeed at their prime. It was mouth-watering.

“I don’t know what Spike’s been teaching you, but tell him to keep it up!” Blaze beamed.

“It’s getting pretty late. I’m going to go hit the hay,” he finally yawned.

“Already? It’s only eight.”

“Wandering around those mines really wore me out,”

“If you say so. Goodnight, Blaze.”

“’Night,” he called, heading for his bed.

“I think I better get some shut eye, too.” Torch kissed my forehead before heading for the stairs.

“I’ll be up in a bit,” I promised.

“See you then.” I turned back to my food, a little disappointed that I’d become so preoccupied that I missed dinner with my family. I hadn’t noticed how often I’d been doing that lately. They didn’t exactly seem distant, yet, but it was only a matter of time if I didn’t correct myself. I didn’t want to be the wife that was never home or the mother who never had time for her children.

In actuality, I had only missed a few dinners and stayed out a couple nights. Perhaps it was more the idea of becoming an absent, distant wife that scared me. After all, Torch had always been there for me, and I only wanted to return the favor. But I needed to proove to myself that I was, in fact, there when they needed me.

But how to do it...

Comments

[Ponykiller_V2]

dam it theres my prediction out the window
ANYWHO keep up the good work

[Bobbin]

She's got something going on. And she's not yet aware of it. It's a slow-boiling pot you've created here, and I'm curious as to how it's going to go about boiling over. Well done.

[Fistfire]

. “You’re completely overthinking this!” Twilight exclaimed.

"That's my job!"

[ShadowLight96]

7099414 so true!!!