Inkwell

As always, these pictures are amazing. It took me a while to stop looking at DC's face in the top picture. Seems you accidentally used the quote tag instead of the image tag, though.

Rose Madder nodded and smiled as that same waiter returned with their lemonade. She smiled and started sucking on the straw, letting that sweet and sour medley hit her tongue and cool her throat. "Mmm, this is great, Hollandaise! Keep up the good work!" she told him. He nodded and gave her a little smile before leaving for a table on the other end of the outdoor patio. "Yeah, I suppose you're right, but my preferred sort of horror is more of an atmospheric thing, you know? I guess that going into that forest might have the same sort of effect, if you're going into the woods and expecting a horrible monster to jump out at you and hurt you but it never does and you see and hear little things like rustling bushes. Now, I don't know what forest you're talking about, but it can't be as unreal as the sort of settings I've mapped out for the underworld. It's really surreal and disquieting. Dark claustrophobic tunnels with dim red lighting made of rusty metal gratings? You try telling me that's not creepy." She smiled around her straw and took another strong sip of lemonade, reducing the level of the drink by half an inch or so. "Sorry. I tend to ramble a bit when discussing my craft. I should probably stop doing that so much. The last time the conversation started going on about heartbeats and ruptured eyeballs ponies really started to look at me funny. I think that was the last time I talked to one of them. Oh well. "Thanks for your vote of confidence, by the way."

Rose nodded at the suggested explanations that Scale Model offered. They were mundane and they made sense, so naturally she disinclined them in favor of other ideas that popped into her head. Perhaps these tools, clearly inclined to be used with fingers, were left over from some ancient civilization that predated ponykind? Hmm, it had potential, though the idea didn't sound scary enough for her. She'd have to come up with some suitably horrific demise for them, or perhaps a hidden artifact of their culture unearthed by archaeologists and bringing misfortune on them. But then Scale Model asked her about her book, and she quickly shelved those thoughts away for later reference. "My book?" she asked. "Well, it's called A Single Note, and it's about a man who goes into the underworld to bring his wife back to life." Her eyes dart back and forth. "I'll admit it's not for everypony to read. I made it pretty scary and sad. The underworld isn't exactly a happy place, you know." She sighed and looked up at the sky. "I had to take it to several different publishing houses before I found one that didn't think it was too depressing or scary. Maybe bestseller status is a bit too much to hope for, but oh well. It was a labor of love."

Inkwell got a closer look at the filly as she packed up and acknowledged her work. "Well, you certainly made the best out of a bad situation. I might have to try my hoof at painting rocks sometime. You make it look so rewarding!" She pointed out his cutie mark and asked him if he was a fellow artist. He couldn't help but beam when she did; he'd always enjoyed meeting fellow artists, and this one was the first he'd met ever since he left Fillydelphia. "Oh yes, I'm an artist, too. I've been one for about five years now. I've had some of the best times of my life drawing and painting. Of course, it was rather difficult for me to learn to work with oil paints and a brush. One wrong move and you've got paints mixing where they shouldn't and fine details getting smudged! Not like using pens and pencils at all." He chuckled as he noticed Cat Napper extending a messy, paint-stained hoof for him to shake. She looked like a pony who got too into her work to care much about her appearance, and Inky sympathized. Sometimes he got a lot like that, too, and sometimes he wanted to look his best. "Pleasure meeting you, Cat Napper. I'm Inkwell. I believe you mentioned something about a studio?" Inkwell didn't have a studio set up just yet, unless he counted his room. He was curious about how Cat Napper set hers up.

Rose nodded and listened to Scale Model explain his goals. "Oh, I see," she said, looking a bit more interested in the subject matter all of a sudden. "Yeah, that actually does sound kind of interesting. And necessary." She thought a bit about the subject, stroking her chin with a hoof. "Kind of makes you wonder how we got used to tools like those. Seems that someone would have gotten your idea a lot sooner, don't you think? Where did we get those tool designs, anyway?" Her eyes barely glance in his direction, now that her imagination's started to fire up.

Dear Mom and Dad, Inkwell wrote as he took a walk. Sorry I haven't written to you in a while, but I haven't had the opportunity to drop by a post office box lately. After I left Fillydelphia, I decided to go on a wilderness expedition. It seems like it was months ago, and I can hardly remember why I did it at all. Maybe it would put me in the right mood to draw nature? I don't know. But I'm okay thanks to all the foraging knowledge you gave me, Mom! He smiled and looked around the village. This was nice scenery too, and he didn't have to sleep in a hollow tree and eat wild plants to appreciate it! Anyway, I didn't stay in the woods long. An airship passed over me a few days ago. A griffin airship! I didn't know they were so amazing in person! I followed it all the way to this charming little town called Ponyville. Everyone here's been very welcome, and I think I'm going to have a hard time leaving it. There's a bakery that sells some of the best pastries I've ever had, and a charming little library in the middle of town. It doesn't have as many art and fiction books as I'd like it to, but I'm sure I could help out the owner with that! As he walked, Inkwell came upon a rather large rock. If he'd picked another time to finish that paragraph, he might have tripped over it and spilled ink everywhere! Thank goodness for small favors. He started walking around it when he noticed that it was covered with something. Was that... paint? His eyes beheld a wondrously unique piece of art. It depicted a grand, majestic pegasus, and for a work that seemed to have been painted entirely by hoof, it managed to capture details rather well, especially in the facial area. "My word..." He spotted a blue filly with goggles working to pack her saddlebags. "Did you make this?" he asked, looking back at the rock painting with wonder.

There we go. Inkwell managed to get down a basic enough framework for his sketch; the basic shapes composing Muddy's cart and the five ponies in the picture were still visible, but he could always erase those later. He caught the three more grown-up ponies in their own conversation, and the foals in another; he was especially proud of the facial expressions he gave them. Now to talk to them for real. "A pleasure to meet you, Carrot Fields. My name is Inkwell." He approached the two foals when Carrot did, and lowered his head as well, though Inkwell wasn't quite as big as Carrot and probably couldn't have intimidated a foal if he tried. "I'm sure you'll learn how to fly eventually, little guy! It took me a while to learn how to use this horn, too!" He couldn't help smiling in the presence of this shy little foal; he was adorable! Then his attention turned to Mud's talk of enriched soil. He didn't even know a pony could base her life around mud and soil, but he guessed it made sense the more he thought about it. "Yes, I can see that you have a rather intimate relation with it," he noted, glancing at Muddy's soiled hooves, which were starting to dry out and become caked instead of dripping with mud. "Does that include the fancy kind of mud that spa ponies put on their face and/or bathe in?"

Rose nodded and looked around for the waiter. "Oh, it's a delight," she said. "It's basically mozzarella, tomato, and basil with olive oil. Actually, now that I think about it, I'd like some in a sandwich." A well-groomed stallion in a black and green suit arrived at their table. "Oh!" Rose said, looking up at him. "I'd like the Insalata Caprese sandwich with a side of potato salad and a glass of lemonade, please!" "Very well," he said. "And for you, sir?" Once he took both of their orders, he gave them both a curt nod and left for the kitchen again. Rose watched him walk away with a smile on her face. "I'll have to remember to give him an extra tip," she muttered, before turning back to Scale Model. "Anyway, it's not like I took on the job thinking I'd like it or stick with it. It was really just something to pay the bills until I got published. And I'd love to cover for you, just this once." She listened to him talk about his school interests. "You're actually trying to find a livelihood with that sort of thing?" she asked him. "Weird. Why would you do that?" She gave him an odd look, not realizing at the moment that her question was kind of rude.

Line by line, stroke by stroke, the page began to resemble a stylized window into the real world. Inkwell's sketch blossomed into an elaborate framework of the airship Venture. He smiled and pulled a bottle of ink out of his bag, ready to begin the next phase of the drawing, when he felt something bump into his head. A quick look around confirmed that it was a discarded apple core, and another look in the direction he felt it come from revealed a couple of ponies gathered around an apple cart. Then he finally noticed his stomach pestering him for food. It was so loud, he was surprised that nopony else had heard it, or he would have been if there wasn't a giant airship to distract them all. He decided he could use some breakfast before finishing up his sketch. Hopefully these other ponies wouldn't be too busy to help him. He guessed that the pony with apples on her flank would be the one in charge of the cart, so he walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. "'Scuse me, freckles, but, um, I was wondering if maybe you were still selling apples? I could use a couple pretty soon." He gave her what he hoped was a friendly enough smile; hopefully this approach wasn't as awkward as he started to think it was.

Rose extended a hoof and bumped it against Scale Model's, making a light knocking sound as they collided. "I'm Rose Madder," she says with a smile. "But my pen name is Black Orchid. It'll be a household name." When she remembered the conversation turning to her boring day job, she sighed. "Yeah, it depends. I've been writing a lot of instruction manuals for these things that people buy, then assemble in their own home. Things like bookshelves and bunkbeds, and in one case a portable sauna. You know how those things go. "Insert peg A into slot B." The faster I can get away from that, the better!" The growling of Rose's stomach interrupted her irritated rant. "Oh, right, food. Let's see, what do we have." She took another look at the menu, scanning the lines with the tip of her hoof. "I think I could do with a bit of potato salad on the side, but I'd also like some Insalata Caprese. How about you?"

Rose Madder (Inkwell) -Tends to sleep in on mornings and stay up late at night. -In Canterlot / Solstice Heights, especially the upscale areas, including the shopping district, the park, her apartment, and her favorite restaurant, the Cafe Viridian.

Inkwell blinked and gave Carrot another look. He... thought he understood what Carrot said, but that accent was so thick you could use it to roof a house. All Inkwell needed to do was pick out the word "alrecht", though. "So be it. I just wanted to make sure." He nodded and walked back over to the other cart, where it appeared the two foals were bonding nicely. It was a picture-perfect moment, and before Inkwell knew it, he had his sketchbook out and was making a framework of the muddy filly and her young companions. The drawing didn't feature them in the exact positions they were in now, but he improvised. Carrot moved past him to talk to them, and Inkwell managed to snap out of his trance just in time to step aside. After a brief pause, he decided to add Carrot and himself to the drawing, too. He gave himself a chuckle at the hint of feistiness MudBug displayed, addressing Carrot as "tough guy."

Hey everypony, here's something of mine that doesn't involve ponies. It's this project I've been trying to do on the MS Paint Adventures (the place where Homestuck comes from) forums, which has a subforum where you can put your own little adventures on it which rely on user suggestions from other forumites. I've got the main characters all mapped out in my head, and I have a general idea of where the story is ultimately going to go. Problem is, I don't really get that many suggestions, which are kind of necessary for updating; I'll do my best to change that after I graduate in a few weeks. I just wanted to show it to you so that you could see if the writing I'm doing right now. I'm going to see if I can add drawings to it later, seeing as how I've noticed text-only adventures tend to be the red-headed stepchildren of the forum. I don't know if it's technically kosher to accept suggestions from places outside the MSPA forum; I'll check with them and see. http://www.mspaforums.com/showthread.ph ... -adventure)&highlight=reunion

I just want to add that I couldn't finish the actual fic. I just read the snarky comments.

Good idea. I'll see what I can do. Hmm, coloring someone else's drawing? Interesting...

The bad news is that he is concentration was interrupted, but the good news is that it didn't matter. He'd sawed through half of the biggest part of the branch when that little unicorn foal accidentally vaporized the whole thing. After a brief check to see that his little saw spell didn't damage any part of the cart, he stood back up and shrugged. "Oh well. Thanks for the save, little lady," he told Candy Cotton. Seems that the other good Samaritan wasn't so quick to shrug off the pointlessness of his efforts. "The important thing is that you tried," he said as Carrot walked back to his own cart. Seems that he hurt himself in his attempt to help Mudbug! "Um, need any help?" Inkwell asked, walking up to Carrot's side and putting a hoof on his shoulder. He looked back at the other three ponies, who looked happy to be able to transport their special mud now.

They're so adorable! Best ten dollars I've spent in a while! ...I just noticed that Rose Madder doesn't have a horn in this pic. Oh well!

Rose rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it," she said, using her horn to pull out a chair for him. "I've been meaning to get some company today, and I'd love to help you enjoy this place to the fullest. You got lucky finding it." She pored over the menu for a bit as she waited for him to take that seat. "Anyway, I'm a technical writer. I write documentation and user manuals for tools and machines and stuff, and it's pretty damn tedious. Buuuuuuuut..." She broke into a wide beaming grin. "I might not have to do it anymore. I just got a notice in the mail that my novel has been picked up by Obscurus Books!" A light squeal escaped her lips. "I'm gonna be on the bestseller lists! I'm gonna be famous!"

[uNICORN] [colour=#D2B48C]Inkwell (#D2B48C)[/colour] Profile THREADS Defensive Flying Oranges for Everypony The Library Cart Troubles The Rubins of Equestria Some Dirty Lyrics Time at the Bar Advice Pony Seeking the Artist Crash Landing! What the Wind Blew In A Watery Predicament A Second Chance Somepony to Love Nightmare Fuel Running of the Leaves 2011 (spectator) 100 Country Kisses ​ [colour=#E32636]Rose Madder (#E32636)[/colour] Profile THREADS A Cause for Celebration One's Own Black Heart Catching a Breather Appletastic! Somepony to Love Iggy's Night Out Fire on the Streets Fall Vacation Running of the Leaves 2011 (contestant) Exchanging Words Mending Hearts Fudge Frolic ​ [colour=#954535]Staccato di Maestro (#954535)[/colour] Profile ​ [PEGASUS] [colour=#800000]Straight Arrow (#800000)[/colour] Profile ​ [EARTH PONY] [colour=#000080]Shadow Boxer (#000080)[/colour] Profile ​

I would LOVE to attend that streaming event! What web address do you usually hold them at?

Hmm. Service seemed to be taking longer than it needed to. Maybe she just needed to get the attention of one of the waiter ponies. She supposed she should have known this would happen if she didn't wait to be seated. As she waited for a waiter to call out to, she noticed a knackered-looking colt walking into the cafe. Normally she wouldn't pay him a second glance, or maybe she would have just watched him and made up a story behind him, but she still felt generous and giddy. "Hey you! What's up? Hard day at work? I know the feeling! Work was pretty brutal for me, too!"

Looks like Inkwell wasn't the only pony who noticed this filly's cart troubles. A gray colt with an odd accent approached the cart and offered Inkwell his help. "Help? Sure, I could use WHOA, careful!" The other colt just started yanking the branch out of the wheel, pulling with all his might to get the branch out of the wheel. Inkwell started to worry that maybe he'd pull too hard and yank the spokes out in the process, but fortunately, that didn't happen. "Well, um, at least you got part of it out," he said, wincing at the rest of the branch. Now it wouldn't budge the slightest bit; it might as well be a part of the wheel now. The filly, named MudBug, seemed a bit irritated as she introduced herself and her young companion. Inkwell couldn't help but smile as the little guy talked to another little foal about MudBug's mud selling. "Nice to meet you two. My name's Inkwell. I think I might have another way to solve your problem, but I'll need to concentrate." He peered a little closer at the branch, practically touching his nose with it, and looked for a weak spot that he could saw through. He'd been studying some spells at the library, and while most of them gave him headaches just trying to concentrate on them, he did get a little cutting spell down, or so he thought. His horn glowed as he concentrated on the branch, slowly sawing through it like he used a tiny saw. One misstep and he'd damage the cart with it instead; hopefully the other ponies would respect his request not to be disturbed.

Just at the side of the road, a carefree colt lay sprawled on the ground, lying on a thick, brown wool cloak. The sun felt great on his coat, giving him a warm, toasty feeling all over. He chuckled and shifted his head, letting his mane fall over his face. He'd never been able to enjoy a day like this in the hustle and bustle of Fillydelphia. It was nice to just sit back and enjoy the sun and the breeze without worrying about having to draw anything. That didn't mean he wasn't prepared to; his saddlebags full of art supplies sat next to the cloak on the grass. He'd heard the sound of hoofsteps clopping on the road a few times before, but usually he could hear them just passing by, fading away in the distance. This time he also heard the creaking of a cart wheel, and both sounds stopped not far away from him, replaced by the voices of a filly and a little foal. They talked about the cart being stuck on a branch. Sounded like something he could help them with! With a yawn and a groan, he stretched out his legs and slowly rolled over onto his hooves. He shook his head to clear the hair from his eyes and took a look at them. Neither of them were familiar ponies; he saw an adorable little white pegasus foal and red-maned filly with mud all over her hooves. A branch got twisted in the wheel of their cart; it looked like a doozy, too. "Mmmph. Wow, that looks pretty well-ensconced in there. Let's see if I can do anything with it." He concentrated and tried to move the branch with his glowing horn, but no matter which way he tried to turn it, it just got stuck. It felt pretty heavy, too; he wasn't used to lifting heavy loads with his horn. He was more of a delicate, fine control kind of colt. "Great. Perhaps we should try and cut the branch. Somehow."

Oooh. I'm quite intrigued. Here's hoping this gets off the ground.

Normally Rose Madder wouldn't pay attention to all of the background sensations of life, all of the nice, pleasant details that came to ponies who just sat down and took time off to relax. She thought those were boring, preferring instead to look at the things that didn't belong in the picture. But somehow, she couldn't help but notice how the sun was shining and glinting off the pearly white Canterlot architecture. Her spirits were so high it was a wonder it didn't propel her into the air with the pegasi. She felt like she was going to explode with joy! Her mood was improved at just the right time, too. Her day job was particularly stressful today; she ended up writing thousands of boring, miserable words describing the operation of a forge, a printing press, and a ton of other junk she didn't want to remember ever again. Plus several of her earlier drafts for manuals were sent back to her with copious edits, forcing complete rewrites. Finally, after hours of tedium, she returned to her apartment, exhausted and contemplating a change of employment. Then she got the letter. It was from the publishing house, telling her that A Single Note had finally found a home, and would be in store shelves within the month. Enclosed was a check with quite a few more zeroes on it than any Rose had ever gotten before. Within the hour she was rapidly scribbling joyous letters and sending them out to everyone she knew, the pain of her earlier writing entirely overruled. She told her mother, her father, her old friends back in Trottingham, all of the new ones from Canterlot, and even left a note for her suitemate, despite the fact that she would probably tell her in person, anyway. Then she bounced around her room and on her bed for a few minutes before tiring herself out for a while and realizing that she should probably go out again before she broke something. Besides, it was about dinnertime, and she just had to go out and celebrate what could be the best day of her life. So she came to her favorite restaurant in all of Canterlot, the Cafe Viridian, an outdoor salad eatery divided from the sidewalk by a vivid green fence; each of the outdoor tables and the cloth umbrellas attached to them had the same shade to them. And of course, there was the food! Oh, she was practically drooling at the thought of it! Before one of the waiters could show her to a table, she trotted over to the nearest empty one and sat down on the floor, a wide, uncharacteristic grin planted on her face.