The Pencil Pony

by MrMsSiren

Chapter One

Eyes narrowed, Sketch Pen watched her target, sweat drenching her mane as she focused. It seemed like weeks since she has done something like this, and she was not going to let procrastination and fear overtake her. She focused, and finally lept at her unsuspecting opponent, weapon drawn. She aimed, and fired, releasing a quick flurry of attacks, each one centered at the very center of her opponent’s body.

After what seemed like an endless battle she finally stepped back to observe the carnage she wrought upon her foe.

“OH COME ON!” She cried as she looked towards the easel that displayed what could only be described as a brutally distorted version of a sketched pegasus mid-flight. She sighed, placing her pencil on a nearby table before beginning to make her may out of the room.

This was the seventh time in the last day that she had failed in doing anything remotely artistic, most of her other failures looking more like a pony who was run over by a carriage, rather than the happy scene she had envisioned over and over again.

When she first started off, Sketch Pen’s work was something to be admired, most of her earlier works now covering the halls of some Canterlot nobles. She had even been commissioned by Princess Luna herself, at her request of getting something modern to place in her old room.

But, as soon as she moved to Manehattan, away from her parents in Canterlot, she began to have trouble even just drawing the simplest of stick ponies. It was probably made even worse when her parents were disappointed when she had gotten her cutie mark, an outlined pen drawing itself. She sighed yet again, remembering how her father had trained her practically as soon as she could walk, learning to use spears, shields, swords, even some offensive magic.

But as soon as she had gotten her cutie mark, all of that training had stopped, and she was sent to an art school, rather than follow in her parent’s hoof steps to become a solaris guard.

Sketch Pen took a moment to look out a window in her hall, staring out at the streets of Manehattan. For some reason, the idea of city life had excited her to no end, and as soon as she had made enough bits from her drawings, she decided it was time to leave. Her parents told her she was always welcome back, but every time she would look back, she could only imagine her parents disappointed looks.

After a couple moments of thought, she began to walk back to her room, only to be interrupted by the sound of the doorbell chiming. She slowly blinked, trying to recall if she had invited guests over, before coming up blank and walking to the door. She opened it only for her eyes to widen in surprise, a small smile coming to her face.

In front of her was one of her friends from art school, Golden Chisel. The golden coated earth pony had a wide smile on her face, her purple hair rustling in the slight breeze.

“Hiya, Sketch Pen! How are ya’ doing?” The golden mare asked.

“Oh, I’m fine, just… you know, working on some stuff.” Sketch cringed internally, remembering why she tended to be one of the more unsocial fillies.

“Cool! I’m working on things too!” She replied smile still plastered on her face. “Anyway, mind if I come in? I have a bit of an offer to give you.”

Sketch Pen relented, allowing Golden Chisel into her home. Sketch stared at the unkempt, barely used living room, cringing at every stray piece of trash left on the floor, hoping Golden would not be averted at the sight of it. Golden settled on a nearby couch, looking expectantly at Sketch. After doing so, she looked back to see Golden with a smile that seemed nearly ready to split her face in half.

“Wow, been a while since I’ve been here! Anyway, I know how you are about conversation, so I will get down to business!” After a small amount of squirming, getting into a more comfortable position, Sketch looked at Golden expectantly.

“So, it’s been a while since I’ve been to my parents place down in Ponyville, and they’ve been sending some letters asking when I’m going to visit. Since you have been holed in here for the past couple months, I was wondering if you wanted to come to Ponyville with me!”

Sketch blinked, staring at Golden confusedly. ‘She wants me to come to Ponyville with her?’ Her thoughts uncertain, ‘but I have so much to… do…’ Sketch’s eyes widened, realizing what this could do for her. ‘Oh, this could be perfect! This could give me the jumpstart I need to help sell some actual art!’ She smiled as she looked to Golden.

“Ooooh! I know that kind of smile! I’m guessing you’re interested?” Golden enthusiastically asked.

“Yeah, actually, that sounds kind of nice. When would we head over there?” Sketch questioned, her head tilting slightly to the left.

“Ah, right, that the only problem.” Golden’s eyes looked to the side as her ears drooped. “We would have to go today. The tickets I have are only good for a train at five.”

Sketch looked to a nearby clock, noting that it was around three in the afternoon. She took a moment to think, wondering if she had anything better to do, and found none.

“Alright, I’m still willing to go” She stated, smile on her face. She absent-mindedly noted that golden just seemed to have a contagious smile.

“Alright, well pack your bags, ‘cause we’d better hurry! It’s almost rush hour!” Golden exclaimed beginning to rush out the door. “Meet me at the Train Station at 4:30! I’ll be waiting for ya!”

Sketch took a moment to wonder how an earth pony could move so fast to appear to almost teleport, but also wondered how she could still hear her after she had done so. She shook her head of such thoughts, placing them in a specific area reserved for ‘odd things that Golden can do’, and began to pack up, hoping that this vacation was just what she needed to get her creative juices flowing, and her pen flying.

*******

The Ponyville train station was practically mute compared to the one in Manehattan. There was barely much of a peep, save for the few ponies conversations, and the hustle and bustle that seemed to dominate city life seemed almost non-existent here.

That is, of course, before some ponies turned their heads at the sound of the Seven o’ clock train coming in. The train crept to a stop at the station, its wheels slowly grinding the rails as it halted.

As soon as the train had come to a complete stop, the doors opened, allowing the ponies inside freedom from such a cramped place. Sketch pen slowly began to trail behind the overexcited pronking pony in front of her.

“Oh, this is so exciting! We haven’t done something like this in years!” Golden Chisel made an odd squee like sound as she continued forward ignoring the occasional glance her way.

“So, what do you plan on doing here in Ponyville? Come to see the sights? To Rest from Manehattan’s busy life? Ooh, did you come here to escape from something? Are you being tracked by a stalker? Oh, or maybe a bunch of cyborg aliens who came here to take over-“ Sketch Pen stuck a hoof into Golden’s mouth silencing her.

“Calm down Golden, I didn’t come here to escape from anything.” Sketch rolled her eyes. “Besides I don’t think Manehattan has any cyborg aliens.”

Golden scrunched her face “Hmph, well even if you were being tracked down by cyborg aliens from the future, ol’ auntie Golden will be here to save you!” Golden stopped her pronking to make a valiant pose, only to fall flat on her face from momentum. Sketch rolled her eyes yet again, helping golden to her hooves.

Golden didn’t skip a beat. “Well even if you aren’t here for anything, we should definitely check out some Ponyville sights!” Sketch sighed, looking to Golden. “I’m probably just going to curl up somewhere with a book or two and hang out for a couple days.”

Golden’s face went blank, before suddenly erupting in a smile that nearly split her head in half. “Good thinking! That way we can go sight-seeing AND get you some new books!”

Golden reached down Grabbing Sketch with her hoof. “Wait, what do you mean-“ Sketch was interrupted as Golden took off with a speed that she could have sworn belonged to rainbow dash herself.

“WAaAagh!” Golden began to pick up her pace, rushing as fast as she could to get to the town’s library. After several moments, they arrived, both ponies stopping on a dime. Sketch’s eyes twirled within her sockets, feeling like she was going to need a bush to throw up in.
“We’re here! Welcome to Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle-“ Sketch made an odd gagging noise in the background, “As well as the town’s library!”

Sketch Pen began to cough, eyes bulging. She was absolutely terrified of the princesses, almost hiring somepony to deliver the night princess’ commission, only to find none available at the time. She ended up having to go herself the sweat on her coat turning into froth as she approached the diarch. But, now as she thought of it, she became even more terrified at the thought of the newly winged alicorn from Ponyville. At the very least the Diarchs were a little predictable, let alone someone who just became an alicorn a few short years ago!

“A-are you sure that there isn’t another l-library somewhere else?” Sketch managed to sputter out, “I’d rather not go in there, no offense to the p-princess or anything.”

“None Taken.” Both Golden’s and Sketch’s heads swung towards the new yet familiar voice. “Also sorry to say, but this is the only library in town”.

Princess Twilight Sparkle stood at the ajar door to the castle, along with Spike the savior of the Crystal Empire, and literal dragon.

Golden simply smiled, waving to the princess, while Sketch stared wide eyed, quaking as she futilely attempted to calm herself down. When that didn’t work, she instead tried a different approach.

She stood up as straight as she could, plastering a stoic expression upon her face as she saluted. Twilight simply stared at her blinking several times before looking to Golden.

“So, do you two need anything in particular? A book perhaps?” The twinkle in her eyes as she said this was unfortunately strangled by the awkwardness of Sketch passing out, failing to breath. Golden looked towards Sketch, only to find her in a lump on the ground, quaking slightly, before looking back at Twilight.

“Actually, yeah, we’re here to pick up some books for my friend here!” She placed a hoof on Sketch’s back smiling good-naturedly at twilight.

“Ooookay… well we certainly have those. Come inside and we’ll show you what we have!” Twilight began to trot back into the castle, intent on showing her new guests inside.

Golden smiled, before pronking indoors, knocking spike over. Spike sighed before staring at the lump of fur in the grass. He sighed once more, grumbling to himself as he grabbed Sketch, dragging her indoors by a hoof.

Twilight led everyone to a nearby section of the crystalline castle that was open to the public, showing off the large selection of books she had recovered ever since the Tirek incident. After informing Sketch and Golden that she had a meeting with someone named Pinkie Pie, Twilight left with Spike in tow, the young drakes’ expression shifting to a more positive expression as he thought of the party that was undoubtedly occurring where they were headed.

Sketch sighed, relieved that the princess was now gone. She began to check through some of the books in the art section of the library, curious to see if there were any she had already not read.

As she was searching she noticed an odd book that seemed to stand out compared to the others. It was a simple hardcover, with nothing on the front nor back save the title: Animated works in art: Spells and Enchantments.

Sketch grew curious, wondering what kind of spells an art book could contain. She opened it up to the table of contents, skimming through it.

‘Let’s see… On the concept of mediums… An artist’s work… Animated Sketches? How to cure a lack of inspiration… Self-Drawing tools… wait, what?’

She flipped through to the specified page, eyes widening as she looked at what she had stumbled upon. ‘A spell to animate your pencil, pen, or quill to draw anything you imagine or desire?’

Sketch simply closed the book, face blank, as she turned towards Golden Chisel. “Alright, found my book. I’m ready to go when you are.” Golden looked up from the book on modern sculptures she was glued to.

“Already? Wow, that was fast! Welp, I’ve seen enough of this book to know which one I’m getting!” She hugged the book to her chest, looking at it like one may look at a newborn foal. “I’m ready to go!”

*******

“Are you SURE you don’t want to go?” Golden Chisel pouted slightly, ears drooping. “It’s gonna be the party of the century!”

Sketch only shook her head, an odd smile present on her face. “No, I’ve had way too much stress back in Manehattan. I came to Ponyville to get away from all of the busyness.”

Golden sighed, but a smile made its way onto her muzzle. “Well, alright, I can understand. Well, if you change your mind, I’ll be at sugarcube corner!”

Golden trotted away, allowing Sketch to close the door and trot back inside. She walked into the spare bedroom in Golden’s parent’s home, staring at a peculiar object on her bed. She giggled, closing the door and grabbing the book, readying the small sketchbook she brought with her.

She happily sighed, opening the book to the page she knew could save her career. ‘Alright, let’s read this a little more thoroughly. “This spell will animate your pen, pencil, or quill, to which said object will draw any image you imagine.’”

Sketch giggled yet again, her smile widening. She looked down at the spell’s requirements igniting her horn. She stopped suddenly, noticing for the first time a warning label for the spell.

Caution! Do not reverse the spell! Unexpected results may occur!

‘Huh, wonder what that’s about? Oh well, lets’ just do this!’ Sketches horn ignited once more, brightening the room slightly as the sun began its decent. Her horn began to spark, the aura surrounding it increasing in size until it was three times as large as the average telekinesis spell. She aimed her horn at the simple pencil laying on the edge of the bed causing an odd swirling glow to light up the room. The entire room flashed with a blinding white light.

And just like that, it was over, no more flashing lights or etheric sparks, the room simply darkened. Sketch opened her eyes to see the one light source of the room, her pencil. It currently was floating mid-air, seemingly of its own accord, no telekinesis in play by Sketch.

Sketch gulped, looking to the large pad of paper laying on her bed. ‘Let’s hope this works…’

Sketch visualized a simple horn drawing of a pony, doing nothing, saying nothing, just standing there. She imagined the short mane and long tail she is usually known for drawing, as well as slightly longer legs. She began to pour her heart and soul into the drawing, hoping for the best results.

Sketch opened an eye, staring down at it. Both eyes opened in shock, her mouth opening slightly.

Before her lay one of the most realistic drawings she had ever seen looking closer to a photo than a simple drawing. She could even see little tufts of fur across the mare’s coat, as well as the unique texture of the hooves. She could have sworn that she could see each individual hair in the mane and tail, making it look like the drawing had taken hours to make.

Shocked, she flipped the page over, intending to watch this in action. She thought of exactly the same pony, thinking of it like a picture in its frame.

She could only watch in awe as the pen began to move at what seemed like rainboom speeds, moving to the point where she could no longer hear the scratch of lead on paper. The pencil began at the top, slowly moving its way down to the bottom of the page, leaving the image of a pony in its wake. She snorted when the pencil added what could only be assumed as a picture frame border on the edges of the paper, before it lifted away from the paper.

Sketch remained there staring at it for a good period of time. She could hardly believe it. This spell alone could save her career. The only thing that might stop her would be lack of inspiration, but sketch could have sworn that she saw something about that in the table of contents.

After some time, Sketch finally looked up, an intense smile on her face as she began to laugh. Pages began to fly from the notebook, the pen beginning its volley upon them. ‘With this spell I could do anything! I am practically an art god!’ Sketches laughter rang throughout the house catching no ears but her own.

Eventually she stopped laughing, Smile still present as she stared at the small floating pencil. She sighed happily, firmly believing that she just saved her career. She looked to the book that managed to make this trip well worth its time, wondering how she could have almost refrained from going.

She flipped the book open to a random page, curious of the other contents hidden within the saint of a book. She blinked in surprise when she landed on the same page that give her the spell in the first place. But instead of the title or the spell itself catching her eye, it was the warning.

Caution! Do not reverse the spell! Unexpected results may occur!

Her eyes narrowed, her brain wracking itself for anything negative that could result from something such as preforming the spell backwards, and when finding none, began to think of the positive.

‘Okay this spell is probably one of the best things that has happened to me in a long time, so I doubt the reverse of the spell would do much. I mean come on, what would it do? Disenchant the pencil? I could just preform the normal spell again!’

Sketch concentrated her aura, her horn glowing brighter than before. ‘Well, if it does disenchant the pencil than that will be easy to fix. And if it does nothing, well, than nothing really lost, right?’

Her horn began to brighten the entirety of the room, making it look like it was a room of windows hanging in the sunset. Sketch Pen’s horn let off a flash and a final spark, and Sketch became blinded with white light.

And then everything went dark.

Comments

[silvadel]

Too Stupid To Live is Sketch.

[Canary In The Coal Mine]

I'm curious to see where this goes. If this will be the start of a series of shenanigans before being cured or a new state of being that she has to learn to live with.

[KrspaceT]

Not much for OC work, but noticed your fic went up and gave it a like. You write well.