Seeking the Artist

[StrawberryBlossom]

It had been a few days since the disaster at her shop.

Rarity had, of course, quickly forgiven Sweetie Belle and by extension Scootaloo; nothing too disastrous to her career had occurred, and with the help of the foals she had gotten her boutique quickly back in order. Once that was done (and the promised sisterly bubble bath!), it had been a simple matter to finish her order. All in all, Rarity was in high spirits!

At least until she found the sketchbook again.

She had nearly forgotten the creature who had had the nerve to try to scold Sweetie in her place until she opened the drawer to discover his sketchbook. Rarity had paused, remembering the exquisite (even if slightly damaged) drawing she'd seen, and smiled a bit at the memory. She had to wonder what the rest of the book was like!

Not that she was going to go rooting through. Oh no no no, that was rude, like someone going through her concepts without permission. But perhaps he would show her, if she could find him and return the book. They had gotten off on the wrong hoof, certainly, but that could be dealt with one artiste to another!

With this in mind, Rarity levitated the sketchbook into her saddlebag and was of at a brisk trot.

[Inkwell]

As it happened, Inkwell set off to see Rarity on precisely the same day, with almost exactly the same intentions. While his role in the incident was quickly forgotten by Rarity, it weighed on his mind ever since it happened. He didn't allow himself to forget it, but at least he didn't let it get him down. After his visit with Fluttershy, in fact, it made him determined to present Rarity and Sweetie Belle with a token of apology. Now he carried that token, a beautiful and rather heartwarming painting of Sweetie Belle helping Rarity with a dress, in his saddlebag.

He started to get serious deja vu as he approached the door to her shop. Once again, he felt himself get a sudden case of the jitters as he approached the door. This time he had a bit more reason to be nervous, seeing as how he'd botched his first impression. But hey, he told himself. He had a gift for them, and if they still snubbed him after that... he didn't want to think about it. He knocked on the door, loudly and clearly.

It took him five minutes to realize that nopony was home.

Those blushing cheeks and furrowed brow of his must have made him look quite the sight as he wandered into the town square. It figured that he would miss Rarity when he was finally ready to see her again. He was about to ask a pony with a blue and pink mane if she'd seen her when he caught a glimpse of an elegantly curled indigo tail.

"Miss Rarity?" he called out, trotting after her. "Miss Rarity! May I have a word?"

[StrawberryBlossom]

Rarity perked her ears on hearing the unicorn's voice - at last! She turned and trotted over to greet him, beaming.

"There you are! Why, I've been looking everywhere for you! You see, you left something in my boutique, and I wanted to return it and speak with you."

She turned to levitate the sketchbook from her saddlebag, chattering all the while.

"And really, this is rather fantastic. Not that I went looking through it, mind you, I understand as well as anyone that art is often highly personal, but it had fallen open to a particular ink drawing, and I must say it was exquisite! But oh my, listen to me go on!"

Rarity gave a ladylike titter as she moved the sketchbook to Inkwell.

"Perhaps you'd like to join me for coffee and danish?"

[Inkwell]

She... wasn't mad? She wasn't mad! Inkwell couldn't help but smile right back at her. And she had his sketchbook with her! She must have decided to return it at the same time he decided to apologize. "Oh, thank you! I knew I left it over at your boutique, but I didn't want to intrude until I had my apology gift ready." He looked back at his saddlebag. "I can show you when we get to the cafe. You'll have to show me where it is, though, I haven't found the cafe yet. I'm new to Ponyville, you see."

As they walked to the cafe, Rarity praised his drawing, making him blush and fold his ears back. "Thanks. I've been drawing for years now, and when I saw my first airship I had to capture the moment on paper. I'd be happy to show you more of them." He levitated the sketchbook in front of his face and flipped through it, on the off chance there were any drawing that he wouldn't want Rarity seeing, or that he believed Rarity wouldn't like. He saw a few, but most were alright. He spotted a masterfully shaded rendition of the Everfree Forest and showed it to her. "I made this one into a painting. I'd say it went over pretty well. Though I did end up suffering a bit for it." He looked at the bed of poison joke flowers at the bottom of the frame.

[Kudalyn]

Rarity

"Amazing! You truly do have a gift with the pencil! It's almost like the way I sew - bringing an idea to life for other ponies to enjoy!" Rarity gushed, enjoying the blush on the other unicorn's cheeks.

"And yes, I have had the unfortunate luck of coming across poison joke before... it was not fun." She said flatly, shivering at the memory. She was lucky Zecora had made that large batch of the remedy... otherwise she would never have been able to go out in public again!

"If you don't mind me being so bold, what exactly did the poison joke do to you? I know it played a truly horrific prank on me,but I cannot imagine what it could have done to you!"She said, truly curious as to what happened to the artistic unicorn.

[hope you don't mind me jumping in ]

[Inkwell]

Inkwell nodded when Rarity compared his drawings to her dressmaking. "Yeah, that's kind of why I wanted to meet you in the first place," Inkwell said, still looking a little bashful from all of this praise. "You're an artist, too, and I always like meeting other artists. Heh. I probably told you that already."

He tilted his head when Rarity brought up her own experiences with the poison joke. Was it a common experience for ponies to get exposed to that strange plant? "Yeah... it wasn't fun for me, either," he said. The uncomfortable memory made him frown and glance at the ground for a moment. Then Rarity asked him what it did to him, and after a moment of silence, he shrugged. "I guess I can show you. I actually ended up sketching the results somewhere. I think it's in this book somewhere, hold on."

Inkwell levitated the sketchbook and began flipping through it until he came upon a drawing of himself in colored pencil. "There it is." He turned the sketchbook around with that drawing open to face Rarity, so she could see a distinctly uncomfortable and nervous-looking Inkwell. In the drawing, he bit his lip and raised a hoof above the ground, looking unsure of where to put it. The most distinctive part of the drawing were Inkwell's eyes. The skin around his eyes and behind his glasses was dotted with vivid blue spots, an occasional signature of the poison joke, and his eyes themselves were completely blank. The irises and pupils were completely gone.

"I've been told that the poison joke takes away your best asset," Inkwell said, "and my eyes are vital in my line of work. I'm glad nopony laughed at me stumbling around town that day. They just told me where to find the spa, and Lotus and Aloe gave me a special bath. Heh. That drawing's going by other ponies' accounts of how I looked, so the spots might be a little off. Call it artistic license." He gave off a bit of a nervous chuckle, doing his best to make light of a bad memory.

[Kudalyn]

~Rarity~

"Well, it sounds to me like you made the best of your unfortunate experience! Despite the unpleasant subject, the art itself is very wonderful."; She said, nodding to Inkwell. "Myself... well. Let's just say the whole experience lead me to have a whole different level of appreciation for mane care products..." She chuckled a little bit, trailing off a bit.

She stomped slightly on the ground with her front hooves, clearing her mind as she cleared her throat."Now, shall we head off to the cafe? We've been talking for so long already, the store's only a block away! I can already smell their elegant cafee mocha, and can already taste their scrumptious lavender and berry danishes!" Rarity said, taking the lead as she trotted down the street ahead of Inkwell.

[Inkwell]

Rarity's mention of unpleasant subjects made Inkwell wonder what sketches of his she'd be better off not seeing. Nothing really came to mind; most of his drawings were drawn straight from life. The minor derivations could only really be spotted by ponies who'd seen the original subject themselves. They almost always took place in expansive landscapes with many smaller subjects, which he painted doing the most interesting or aesthetically pleasing thing he'd seen them do, even if it hadn't all happened at the same time. Visually dense images like that were by far the most entertaining works for him to make.

In short, Inkwell's work was highly based in realism, but sometimes he tried to make things more fantastical or stylistic. Recently he'd been doing it more often thanks to seeing his friend Cat Napper's art, which often looked like the world filtered through the lenses of dreams, if not dreams themselves. But before then, he usually worked with his sister, indulging her requests to see her nightmarish imagination come to life. He had an entire sketchbook full of the prototypes to the finished paintings he sent Rose, and not only were they creepy and unsettling, but he didn't think they were all that good. He had a lot to learn about that sort of stuff, and Rarity wasn't interested anyway, so it was a good thing that wasn't the sketchbook she brought back to him.

"Sounds great!" he said, when Rarity offered to take him to the cafe. "I worked up a bit of a thirst looking for you." He still felt a little nervous hanging out with such a sophisticated mare, but then, he sort of always did, no matter how often he pulled it off before. Really, he had nothing to worry about. She liked him, liked his work. As they walked into the cafe, he managed to act calm and natural, looking over the menu.

"Hmm... I think I'd like a vanilla latte... and a strawberry tart," he said, catching a glimpse of that small, hoof-sized pastry behind the glass display. "I assume we'll each pay for our own items?" he asked Rarity, taking out some coins to pay for the latte and tart. "Actually, I think I can cover both of us. It's the least I can do... if it's alright with you."

[Kudalyn]

~Rarity~

"Such a gentlepony! I truly appreciate your generosity! In that case, may I have extra foam on my mocha, and a light dusting of your Imperial Honey Sugar on my danish, please." She said when she turned to the cashier. hiding her triumphant smile.

She wasn't trying to take advantage of Inkwell... it's just that the colt should ALWAYS pay for the lady. It was just the way of chivalry! She had barged into the shop before Inkwell did, and she was sure he would have opened the door for her if he had been able to!

She took her danish and mocha, daintily floating it over to a cute little table right by the window. A young couple tried to take the table before she got there, but a well-placed glare sent the foolish young things scampering to another table without a peep. She sat down elegantly, taking a sip of her mocha and watched as Inkwell stood at the counter with a bit of a blush on his cheeks.

[Inkwell]

Inkwell couldn't help but smile. He'd made the right choice about paying for Rarity, purely by guessing! Really, though, he ought to have known. Not all mares were like his sister. Some of them would naturally be pleased by chivalry, Figuring them out was pretty tricky, wasn't it?

He fished out another few coins to cover Rarity's order. Rarity's last minute additions meant another bit added to the price, but he didn't mind. He'd gotten a nice, big sum for his last illumination, and he wasn't exactly the most frugal penny-pincher around. After squaring things away with the cashier, he followed Rarity's lead and levitated his meal over to the table she picked out.

"This is a great place," he said, looking around with that smile still on his face. He felt his glasses start to slip, but he caught and readjusted them before he looked back at Rarity. "I'm actually kind of new to small towns like this. I didn't really know what to expect. So far it's been a pleasant experience, I have to say."

He took a sip of his latte and let it sit in his mouth for a while. When he first started travelling, he hated the taste of coffee. He still couldn't take it black like his sister. But he got used to it. It was the drink of artists, after all, or so he'd been told.

[Kudalyn]

~Rarity~

"Well, this little town is far more than it first appears. After all, why else would I be in such a little backwater village instead of the regal Canterlot? Ignoring the fact that my professors at the University of Magical Fashion and Design didn't know what 'taste' was even if it slapped them in the face." She said, muttering the last part quickly under her breath and disguising it by holding her mocha in front of her lips.

She daintily took a sip, savoring the taste as it slid over her tongue.

"Speaking of experiences, you must tell me what it is you've been up to in Ponyville! Have you decided if you're going to make this a permanent home, or are you only visiting for the season? The change of season festivals are always the talk of the town, so you MUST at least stay for one of the festivals!"

She said eagerly, munching lightly on her danish and dabbing the honey sugar off her mouth with a napkin.

[Inkwell]

Inkwell managed to catch Rarity muttering about her professors, which made him chuckle. "Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that you sounded a bit like my sister for a second there," he explained. "She had quite a few colorful words to say about this one creative writing teacher. I... think I'll spare you the details." He took another sip of his latte. "Suffice to say she was furious."

He waited for Rarity to finish sipping, wondering where to bring the conversation next, when she solved that problem for him. "Oh, I plan on staying here for at least a year," he answered, "but beyond that I can't say. I've lived in a few cities since I got my cutie mark and left Trottingham, Sooner or later I always end up with the wanderlust and move on to the next town."

He sighed and looked down at the tart on his plate. "I have a lot of pen pals now. Including my sister. She says she's gonna come and visit for one of those festivals you mentioned. I think it was the Running of the Leaves, right? Yeah, that was it." Another smile. "She's a very lively mare. I'm sure she'll get along great with Pinkie Pie."

[Kudalyn]

~Rarity~

"Oh my, yes. Pinkie is quite the character. Once you get past her initial over-enthusiasm for everything she does, she is quite a delight to be around." Rarity chuckled, brushing a few stray crumbs off the table

"I myself didn't participate in the Running of the Leaves this year - far too much sweating and dirt in my opinion. I had just gotten a hooficure on the day of the event too!"

She picked up her danish again, nibbling on it thoughtfully. "Well, what else do you have planned for today? I myself was going to go to the spa this afternoon for my bi-weekly mane-and-tail treatment. Would you care to come along? Fluttershy has to take care of a new litter of kittens she found the other day, so she can't go with me today."

[Inkwell]

Inkwell snickered. That was certainly one way to describe Pinkie Pie. "I think my sister only really gets over-enthusiastic about three things: her writing, Nightmare Night, and handing out dating advice, whether I want it or not." He gave a little smile and sipped his latte again.

"Yeah, I won't be running, either," he said. "Knowing me, I'd get dehydrated and pass out, or maybe get a cramp. Physical exercise isn't really one of my strengths, you know?" He glanced down at his scrawny body. "I'll just be in the stands, drawing the race as it happens. I know I won't be able to see the whole track from there, but maybe one of the unicorn spectators will be able to hook up a scrying portal and let me use it."

When Rarity mentioned a spa, Inkwell's ears perked and he looked right at Rarity. "They have a spa here?" he asked. "That's great! I haven't gotten myself treated since I left Fillydelphia!" He couldn't keep a smile off his face. "I'd love to go with you, Miss Rarity!" he said. "Um, just as soon as we finish up here." Resisting the temptation to just gulp down the rest of his coffee, both because it would be rude and because it was still too hot to drink, Inkwell instead looked at the rest of his tart and finished the rest of it in a few slow bites.