Snow Feather, the lesser known Art Restorer of Canterlot

by dracone

How did THIS happen?

I looked around; this was not the house my parents had or my shop. It looked like I was in somepony’s arboretum, a well-maintained one at that. Further confusion came to me in the form of each of the seasons occurring at different points around the facility, and plants that were associated with certain seasons in the section that corresponded with the seasons outside. It was at this point I realized I was dreaming and woke up. I was not in a good mood, but that’s usual for me when I get up. The first thing I did after getting up, besides looking around for uninvited guests, was check and tidy up my nest before passing down the stairs into my workshop.

Note to self, again, find a way to keep ponies from magicking their way into my personal space. I decided to put up some quick notes for potential visitors on some of my spare red cards and placed them on the rear door and just above the drop chute, the notes basically said I didn’t care who they were, whether they are an affluent elite or one of Equestria’s princesses, they are not allowed in my workspace without my expressed permission.

Since it was still early in the morning, the sun had yet to rise, I decided to do a little wandering about town. In particular, I decided it was time to do some resource hunting, which is just my fancy way of saying I’m going to look through the literal trash of high society for items that were thrown out that I could potentially restore. I started with the school, mostly because I was less likely to get spotted and I really didn’t like hearing pointless tirades about private property by ponies who had way more space than they needed. The “Academy” actually had a tendency to throw out some decently underappreciated gems, at least when it came to art and texts.

I personally never attended an institution like that, I was homeschooled by parents when they had the time for such things. I want mom to be happy, same with dad. I suppose I could have networked and established a greater customer base if I had attended the school, but I don’t like being stared at and treated like some kind of curiosity. I had no doubts the school would have been just that, both in terms of the students and faculty. Is it any wonder I’m agoraphobic? The only reason I have my shop where I do is because of how much my talent is potentially in demand in the area. I would like to live in a much smaller community and slowly get over my phobia, but having a lack of income in the area is a bit of a problem.

I found a few pieces that had been discarded in the trash and decided to take them back to the shop with me. After returning home I went through the process of opening up the shop. I began wondering what things would have been like if I had been born as a pony, a thought process I liked to play at from time to time. Given my profession, I often imagined I was a unicorn due to the fine touches that often needed to be done in my profession.

All further thoughts on things were halted when I found a scroll in my drop chute, when had that gotten there and who had deposited it was unknown to me, mostly because I was still in the process of opening the place up and hadn’t seen any sign of someone inside or outside my shop. I was not happy with what it said, the note was from Princess Luna, as was evident by the seal of her mark on the wax. The note said she was going to look into finding a financial advisor for businesses such as my own, little workshops that were operated by individuals that didn’t have a proper understanding of how to price their wares. The note went on to mention how products like those that I deal in are far more valuable than I tended to price them and that such low prices would cause many potential customers to believe the wares were facsimiles and recreations rather than the genuine article. I will admit, she had a point. My prices were considerably low, especially when compared to various art galleries and other facilities that practiced the same art as me.

That all said, it was never really about the money with me, it was about bringing something of the past back to its former glory. My care for bits starts and ends where necessities are required. Facility charges, basics like food and water, my relaxation aids, and materials for executing my craft were all I needed. If I could get all those at next to no cost I would, provided I wasn’t putting somepony off or screwing anypony over.

I turned to look at the work from Princess Luna’s pre-Nightmare era work, saying it was in rough shape was the understatement of the millennium. It was no wonder all the other restoration houses, all nine of them, had turned down the project. But those places had teams of ponies and backers with very deep pouches, I was a little facility with a single member and very limited resources at my disposal, I didn’t have a single backer or investor. The very fact I said it was salvageable, albeit at a price that was equivocal to a ransom for either one of the princesses, was enough for them to put their faith in me. I had even told them everything needed to restore the piece, so even if I did fail to properly restore it they could at least make the attempt themselves.

Why do I punish myself like this? I looked over at the sewing kit my mother had given me on her last visit, I had at least gotten to a point where I wasn’t tangling myself with the thread. I heard the bell above the bell ring, a gasp of somepony I’d heard in the storefront before, the pony that was older than she looked if I was guessing right. I had put a stool out in the storefront, and placed the poorly done goldfish pillow with a note saying it was an original work and I was only charging five bits. A white notecard with the words “Thank You, keep the change because you’ve earned it” was slid in along with a twenty-bit coin before the sound of the pony leaving was heard. I was thankful I hadn’t said whose original work it was.

The fact that the goldfish pillow I made managed to sell at all was astounding, even more so is the fact the piece had literally been in the storefront for less than a day. I suppose having that stool there for ponies to relax for the day was alright, I’m gonna take it out after a few days anyway.

Author's Note:

I think you can all guess who bought the goldfish pillow, and if not then you need to read more of Anzel’s work.

This was the last chapter I had prepped for the story, I actually forgot it was here while I worked on other projects. If you want, feel free to PM me suggestions on where you think the story could go next, and who should make an appearance (Quill and Blade Characters should have at least one place they appear referenced if they haven't appeared yet, the more cannon MLP characters should have their names provided so they can be looked at for reference on the MLP Wiki and based on their appearance in the Q&B universe, which means at least 1 of the stories they appear in should be provided as well)

Comments

[Fistfire]

That was a nice chapter