The Pencil Pony

by MrMsSiren

Chapter Three

Sketch Pen was NOT enjoying her time her in this… well, whatever this place was.

So far she had literally been drawn, discovered that she was stuck inside her own doodle pad, nearly had her head taken off by a massive pencil, and now she had to deal with this.

It had taken around ten minutes for Sketch to stop hyperventilating, and another twenty to try to get the malfunctioning gears in her head to start spinning again. Even then, she still had no clue how this world worked.

Sketch Pen sat upon her haunches, staring past the wall in front of her. Juniper was on Sketches bed, purring as he laid on the warm spot sketch had made before she spotted the cat.

In Sketch’s defense, most would probably freak out when the thing you just created that you thought was inanimate decided to lay on your lap. Sketch turned toward the animated doodle, eyes narrowed.

How did Sketch not even consider the possibility of this? After all, the pencils that drew her were animated, as was she, considering what she was now. Sketch sighed, deciding that the best course of action would be to just sleep, letting her mind replenish its energy.

She trotted towards the bed, eyes narrowing further as she saw Juniper lying in the very middle of the bed. She hoped this Juniper was just as relaxed as the one back home, cringing at the thought of bloody cat claws.

Sketch blinked for a moment, wondering if it was even possible for her to bleed in this world. She shook her head simply thinking ‘later’. She grabbed the cat in her magic, setting him down on the edge of the bed, before jumping onto the life-saving mattress herself.

She settled in, smiling at the thought of being able to sleep. ‘How long has it been since I got any sleep? It took about half a day to get to Ponyville, coupled with the fact that it’s now night-‘ Sketch sighed a hoof covering her face. ‘Thinking tomorrow, sleep now’.

She removed her hoof from her face, only to cringe back at the cat that was now staring at her. She did not know why, but she had a very odd feeling as she looked to him, a strange mixture of wonder and fear.

Sketch picked Juniper up in her aura, setting him down on the floor. She sighed, closing her eyes. A meow burst her quiet serenity as Juniper simply hopped back on the bed. She picked the cat up, placing him on the end of the bed, grunting slightly as she did so. She glared at the persistent feline, grabbing him in her aura once more. The cat floated out of the room, as the door shut. Sketch sighed as she rolled over to face the opposite wall.

Sketch practically rolled off the bed as Juniper meowed again, sitting stock still on the beds edge. “How did you even-“ Sketch sighed as she massaged her temples. “I’m not going to be able to sleep around you, am I?”

Juniper meowed once more, looking as pleased as a terribly drawn doodle can get. Sketch rolled her eyes, contemplating simply just erasing him, before becoming sad and guilty at the thought. ‘Would that count as murder? I’m not sure I want to find out’.

Sketch sat down, contemplating what she could do to pass the time until somepony found her. After several moments a theory began to blossom. “I brought Juniper into this world because he worked as a protector,” she pondered. “When I was younger and sometimes got bored, I had a set of building blocks I would use to construct cities, I would even place some dolls and action figures within it just to make it seem more alive” she remembered.

Sketch then began to realize something. ‘Wait, so if everything that I create becomes animated… then what would happen if I were to create a city filled with ponies?’

The doodled unicorn rose, trotting out of the house, leaving the slumbering feline. She went to the next page, thinking she would not get enough space. Once she believed herself ready, she began to envision Manehatten in her mind’s eye, combining them with the memories of herself as a foal, playing with colorful building blocks.

The two visualizations impacted, thoroughly mixing into one big mess of dirty alleyways, and bright streetlights. She then focused her attention on the pencil by her side, commanding it to begin.

Sketch frowned when she remembered how small the personal writing utensil was, and got an idea. She called upon the bigger pencil instructing it to begin to replicate itself.

Before long, Sketch could feel a grand total of ten pencils under her influence, constructing the city of doodles. She took a moment to wonder at how she not only felt zero strain from preforming such high amounts of magic, but could command so many things with a simple thought. She chucked the thought behind her, realizing that her focus was waning as her mind wandered.

Sketch Pen began to feel the city’s spires reach the top of the paper, the roofs of such tall skyscrapers beginning to form. The city began to stretch, first taking up most of the first page, then a second, a third, before beginning to slow down.

She could feel the windows and doors, each support beam and terrace. It was almost as though she was connected to the city, a massive developing creature, with her as it’s brain. Her skin sensed the pavement washing over the streets, as she counted every brick fitting into its place.

Everything seemed to slow down, the pencils moving as though they were stuck in blocks of molasses. The city seemed to cease becoming and simply was. Sketch felt a calm (word out) overcome her as she opened her eyes to see genuine walls and streets.

“OH COME ON!” The cities walls were colorfully painted, the pavements of the streets looked close to cardboard, and every window was painted over. Sketch sighed, realizing that it was probably not a good idea to use memories of her playing with building blocks as a foundation for an actual city.

Her attention was then drawn to a specific detail, her ears perking up. ‘Wait… color?’

She looked to the pencils under her control, only to blink. Each Pencil was a different color, the only pencils retaining their typical monochrome being the original and Sketches personal pencil. She contemplated how gray pencils could create colored duplicates, before she realized that there was something off about the colored pencils.

‘They don’t even look like pencils. They look more like markers… but where…?’ Sketch blinked, before turning her attention to the 3D perspective beyond her papery world. Sure enough, the bag that Sketch had brought with her was open, revealing the different drawing utensils inside.

One such utensil lazily floated nearby, the colorful marker seemingly unable to get inside the doodle pad like its monochromatic cousin. Sketch Pen could only assume that the original pencil began to copy the marker since regular pencils could only draw in gray.

She turned her attention to the city before her, just now realizing how empty it was. She smiled, Pencils and markers floating behind her. “It’s time to increase the population...”

Sketch blinked before frowning. ‘That sounded better in my head. Oh well, time to add some ponies!’

***

Sketch gave the creature before her a scrutinizing look before shrugging. The creature in front of the doodle of a mare was supposed to be a griffin, but it seemed to look more like a foal’s interpretation of said creature. ‘Meh, I was never really good with drawing anything but ponies.’
The griffin’s eyes opened, and then began to blink in confusion. Sketch rolled her eyes before pointing at a large brick building. “Head in there, there should be a pony in there that could give you your apartment and tell you where you are.” The griffin only nodded, before walking towards the appointed building.

Ever since Sketch Pen had begun to create ponies, they seemed incredibly odd to her. None of them actually seemed to think they were in a doodle pad, nor think of themselves as drawings. Sketch seriously began to wonder if they were ponies teleported from Equestria, with Sketch the only one capable of seeing the world around them.

At first Sketch had only drawn ponies, but realized that she could draw whatever she desired in this place. Since then, griffins, dragons, zebras, as well as changelings had been added to her repertoire. She even attempted to draw creatures from myth and legend.

She did alright on certain ones, but when she got to the human, she screamed and began a barrage of erasers. She knew that she wasn’t the best artist in the world, but whatever that THING was… she wasn’t too sure she wanted to see it again. She could only wonder how certain ponies fall in love with that legend.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t keep any of the good mythical beasts, as any of the drawn ponies that saw them would scream and hide. So once she felt there were enough creatures roaming the streets, she began to contemplate what to do next.

Sketch was still tired, but she had gotten her mind off of everything that was bothering her, so she thought it was a good idea to try again.
Before she had the chance to head off, a few nervous looking ponies, as well as the griffin she sent off earlier, appeared before her.

“Oh, hello. Is there something I can help you with?” One of the ponies stepped forward, looking at the ground.

“Oh, yes, we checked with the pony at the front desk and she said that there were no more empty apartments. She said to check with you.”

Sketch blinked before frowning. “Alright, stay here, I’ll be right back.”

She walked towards the edge of the city several papers away, looking to the buildings. All she had to do was add another building then head to bed. Sketch Pen’s frown deepened when a yawn overtook her. She sighed, thinking she may not have enough focus to create an entire building.
Just then, she had an idea, and mentally called forth one of her pencils.

The pencil levitated to the side of the concentrated Sketch for several moments, before suddenly lurching forward to begin its new creation. ‘If I can’t make the rest of the buildings, then maybe somepony else can!’

The pencil finally stopped its barrage, floating back to its master’s side. Before Sketch Pen stood a terribly drawn duplicate of herself, blinking in confusion. The doppelganger noticed it’s sister and looked attentively to her.

“Hey there- well… me. You are in a world where you can use massive floating pencils that draw animated objects and do your bidding. While I’m back home, could you build some additional buildings like the ones next to them?” Sketch pointed to the nearby apartments.

Sketch Pens doppelganger stared at her with a confused look before simply shrugging. “Sure, why not? I guess I have nothing better to do.”
Sketch blinked before frowning. “Huh, did not expect you to sound different. Well, you sound nothing like me, so we may as well give you a different name.”

Sketch Pen took a moment to contemplate some new names for her… well, herself. ‘Sketching Pencil, Artists Work, Marky, Stencil…’ Sketches eyes widened, as a smile stretched across her face.

“Alright, what do you think about the name Stencil?” The duplicate took on a contemplating posture, before nodding. “Sure, that will work.”

“Great, so I’d recommend getting started on those buildings! I’ll be back in a couple of hours or so.” Sketch trotted across several pages, finally crossing the last barrier to arrive at the cottage.

Sketch sighed in relief when she saw Juniper on the living room couch, rather than her bed. Once in her room, Sketch sighed yet again, allowing the beds folds to envelope her.

‘Okay, just a small nap, enough to get me thinking clearly and figure out a way to get out of this mess.’ Sketches eyes began their rapid descent into a chasm of slumber.

***

Sketch was startled awake by an almost unbearable noise outside, coming from her window. She huffed, getting out of bed to see what the commotion was about.

“What’s going on out… here?” Sketch’s jaw dropped to the window sill as her eyes grew to the size of plates.

Outside the cottage, the city had grown in both length and complexity, several pages being drawn over. New buildings were being created in a matter of seconds, odd mechanical pencils drawing their works. Each strange pencil was being watched over by a duplicate of what Sketch could only assume was Stencil. The ponies made by Sketch were fleeing, shouting and screaming as the pencils made their way towards them, erasers threateningly forward.

Sketch could only watch in terror as one of the duplicates noticed her in the window, as the possessed pencil stopped chasing a nearby pony and changed course.

Comments

[Canary In The Coal Mine]

I'm enjoying this story thus far, and would like to see more of it. Her existence is so... _strange_, and yet intriguing. Certainly it's a change of perspective, among other things.