Inkwell

Rose sighed and turned over on her side and stared up at the ceiling again. She felt the heat inside of her start to abate as she tried to focus on an answer. “Oh… it depends on which family member is writing. Most of them are just giving me advice and trying to point me in the ‘right and proper’ way to conduct myself as a member of the most illustrious and noble House of Maestro.” She started laughing at the thought, bending forward to hold her aching sides. After a minute or so, she finally calmed down enough to talk again. “It’s funny because they’re not even part of Equestrian nobility, they’re just a bunch of rich, pretentious artistes. They disowned my mom because she became an herbologist and married a roofer. But now that my brother and I just proved that artistic talent skipped a generation, oh, now they want us back!” She slammed a hoof into one of the pillows and sighed. “The only one who seems remotely nice is my cousin Staccato. He… just wants to get to know me, like a pen pal. Sure, his letters are as overwritten and flowery as the rest of the family’s, but he’s not judgmental and he actually read my book and loved it, controversy and all. Hard to believe he lives with the rest of those blockheads, huh?”

The duke proceeded to give Rose a monologue about all of Canterlot’s many merits, after explaining that he was essentially on holiday. She still wasn’t sure why he was the Duke of Manehattan when he calld Canterlot his home, but she wasn’t willing to interrupt him. He spoke so well, as was only fitting for an ambassador, and described the city in many of the ways Rose herself would have done so. It wasn’t completely similar, as Rose would probably end up describing nightclubs, cafes, and poetry readings. She’d spent far more time in Canterlot’s cool underground scene than such fancy places as the opera house or art galleries. Maybe she ought to try changing that sometime, she thought, especially given how many of both the Old Masters and new talent she could claim were blood relations. She had a few things to say to Polaris, from attributing the quote he gave to a great-great-uncle of hers to politely correcting him about her name, but he had other business to attend to, namely that of his poor young ward. “Of course. Take your time, your grace.” She smiled and turned away, just noticing that she’d folded her ears back while talking to him. Now that he’d actually heard Princess Cadence talk, Rose discovered that she seemed a lot less formal in diction than the duke, a development she didn’t know what to make of. At the very least, Rose knew that the princess was approachable, so if Rose concentrated hard enough, she could pretend Cadence was just another mare. A mare with both horns and wings. “Oh, I know the feeling. I didn’t want to interrupt him either. He’s got a way with words. And don't worry, all my friends call me Rose.” Rose turned to look at the strawberry fudge that Cadence found, smiling that Sweet Surprise had it in stock after all. “Well, sure, I’d love to try some daisy fudge. I’ve never had it before!” Her horn glowed as she broke off a tiny piece of Cadence’s fudge and levitated it into her mouth. “Mmm, not bad, not bad. But I think I’ll stick with berries for now.” The hint that Polaris was cheating on his diet by coming here made Rose giggle. She knew too well what that was like, except that she wasn’t expected to attend diplomatic courts that would pounce on every extraneous ounce of fat on her flank. That was an experience she didn’t care to pick up. And of course Cadence herself was under the same obligations. “I don’t envy either of you,” Rose told her. “I’ve never been that good with dieting. I always preferred to go running. That’s kind of why I’m here, running through the city and just looking at the streets, finding new shops, rediscovering old ones, seeing the sights…” She smiled and trailed off. “I wasn’t planning on getting any candy, buuut I won’t turn down the chance. Mostly I’m just looking for inspiration.” After that, Sweet Surprise approached her with a tray of all the various berries. Rose’s eyes darted between them all as she briefly debated which flavors to sample first. Her stomach growled and she looked back at the saddlebag with her burrito in it. “Um, Sweet, would you mind if I had some outside food in here? I’m kind of hungry and I wouldn’t want to eat all your samples by accident.” She gave Sweet Surprise a sheepish grin.

Arrow couldn’t help but watch Braeburn talking to his gal for the evening. Something about the fellow’s enthusiasm, and the way he yelled out he name of his hometown every time he said it, made Arrow snicker. “’e’s got a good point, Boxer,” he says. “We orta be dancin’ the night away like real AAAARRRRP’LOOSANS, don’cha fink?” He elbowed Boxer in the ribs. Boxer just sighed and bit his lip. “Yeh sure y’ won’ get mad when I trip yeh up?” he asked. “F’ cryin’ out loud, yes!” Arrow rolled his eyes. “Yeh ent e’er been this scared out on a job afore, an’ yeh’d risk yer life alla time then!” “Yeah, ‘cause I kin do fightin’ well! This ent fightin’, Arrow!” Arrow blew a strand of hair out of his face and snorted. “Eh, get on the floor, yeh big foal,” he said, walking on the dance floor. “Don’cha worry, I’ll lead. Yeh just do what I do.” Boxer nodded and gulped, following Arrow out there, and took a deep breath. He could do this. It was Arrow he was dancing with this time, and they were just about the most think-alike ponies he’d ever seen. If anyone could dance with Boxer and his four left hooves, it would be him. “Ready when you are,” he said.

Rose shook her head. “Nah, that’s an entirely different issue here. A Single Note came out of my… awful love life. I’ve had the worst luck when it comes to romance. Five bad breakups in Canterlot alone.” She snorted and laughed, feeling a tinge of bitterness. “But now my super-rich extended family wants to suck up to me, after what they did to my mom. I told them to stuff it, but they keep writing me over and over again!” The anger surged, but also mixed with doubt. “I don’t know what they want from me.”

Rose sighed and pulled a pillow closer, setting it securely under her head. “Well, I guess that’s part of it. I’ve written down a lot of ideas, seeds if you will, for stories, but I’m not sure which one I wanna focus on now. So I guess I’ve just decided to make as many of them into short stories as I can. You know, publish a collection of them sometime. “But honestly, I’ve been thinking a bit farther ahead, to what kind of writer I want to be. I was so focused on making A Single Note work that I hadn’t really thought about what to publish next. I mean, that book is so bleak and harrowing and shocking because I put my all into it.” Memories of the bad times that inspired the book surfaced in her mind, flashes of romance gone sour and rotten. “Even if I could write another book like that again, I wouldn’t want to. Shock gets hit pretty hard with diminishing returns, and besides, I don’t want to write the same story for the rest of my life. I’ve seen authors do that before and it always seems kinda sad to me.” The emotions that went with the statement were more pity and scorn than sadness. “And I forgot to mention that I’ve got issues with family now that I’m kind of a big deal in the art world.” She frowned and started to feel coals of anger in her heart. “Pompous Trottingham blowhards trying to cozy up to me.”

Rose took a deep breath and looked into Heart’s eyes. “Okay. Yeah, let’s start simple. You can go ahead and use whatever you want. Just so long as, you know, I get doctor-patient confidentiality I think we’re good.” She tapped a hoof on a pillow on the end of the couch as she concentrated on putting words together in her mind. “Well, I guess I should start with what I do. I’m a writer. I’ve published a novel. A Single Note. You may have heard of it, it got a few awards from some underground publications.” A hint of pride crept into her voice, and she smiled a bit before continuing. “And now I’m trying to figure out what to do next, is basically the root of the problem.” Uncertainty buried that proud feeling once more.

“Rose Madder,” she replied to the duke. “My name is Rose Madder, your grace.” Rose looked over at the princess to see if she had anything to say, but apparently she didn’t. Rose blinked and peered at the princess. Was this… awkwardness she saw? How curious. Or perhaps she didn't want to get involved just yet, instead turning her attention to the nervous pony who was going a bit too far in apologizing for some misbehavior. Oh well, Rose thought. One royal pony at a time. Then the shop owner addressed her, and she turned away. “Yeah, I understand. I try to meet a lot of ponies and sometimes I lose track. You’re Sweet, right? I think I forgot part of your name too.” She shrugged and smiled. “And yes, I am interested in fudge! It’s been way too long since I had the good stuff.” She walked over to the fudge display and browsed the labels. “Hmm, let’s see, what to pick, what to pick… Ah, raspberry!” She smiles and stands aside, allowing Sweet to see what she wanted. “I love raspberries. Strawberries too, but I couldn’t find any strawberry fudge. Weird.” She turned back to Polaris. “If you don’t mind me asking, your grace, what brings you to Canterlot?” The intricacies and duties of being a member of the nobility were something she had little experience with, for obvious reasons, and she had to admit, she was curious. Learning more about the duties of the ruling class might give her some inspiration for her stories. Or perhaps it was simply the duke himself she was curious about.

Once in a while, a pleasant surprise dropped into Inkwell’s path. He’d thought today would be ordinary and not too terribly eventful, filled with drawing and finishing commissions. During his normal walk through town, looking for interesting things to draw, he saw something he’d somehow missed before: another artist! Seeing the sign for portraits made him smile hard enough to make his mouth sore. One of his favorite things was meeting a pony who loved art as much as he did, and doing things like comparing notes and looking at each other’s work. How in Equestria did he somehow never see this mare at work until now? He almost walked up and started spouting off with typical enthusiasm, until he saw that she was occupied with a customer, and a rather regal-looking one at that. From experience he knew just how jarring it was to be interrupted in the middle of work. Introductions could wait. Instead, he had another idea, one that made him giggle. Inkwell stood off to the side of the two ponies, making sure that he could see both of them, then got out his sketchpad and pencil set. As Electric Vibe began her painting of Polaris, so Inkwell started work on a pencil sketch of the both of them. It was such a cheeky idea. Rose would probably love it. Hopefully his mere presence wouldn’t serve as much of a distraction if he kept as quiet as possible.

Inkwell nodded and smiled at Mr. Cake. Of course he would be getting apples for his bakery. The thought of apple pie made Inkwell smile, but then he remembered that he wanted to try making his own pie. It wouldn’t come out as good as the ones from Sugarcube Corner, but would Mr. Cake react well to the idea of someone else making them? He looked at the ground and considered breaking the question, only to see adorable little Pumpkin Cake tossing her rattle at another pony in line. “H-hey, that wasn’t very nice, sweetheart,” he said, not that she paid him any attention. And then who should show up but Pinkie Pie, dressed in a country outfit and playing a banjo? Inkwell never really knew what to say when he met her, so he just let her talk to her boss and play a neat little improvised song on that banjo. In a way, he envied that spontaneity, especially since nopony seemed to think any less of her for it. “Hello, Pinkie!” he finally said, smiling and waving in her direction. “I didn’t know you could play the banjo!” He wasn’t the only one who liked it, seeing as how little Pumpkin was applauding and calling Pinkie’s name. “Looks like you’ve got a fan.” He smiled and gave Pumpkin a little wave. And of course, Pinkie was letting a few embarrassing things slip. Apparently she thought that Apple Bloom had a coltfriend, and at such a young age, not to mention sometime about stealing recipes. “Oh, um, that reminds me, I’m getting these apples kind of because I wanted to try baking. Not as a job or anything, just wanted to try something new. I don’t suppose either of you have any advice for me starting out?” He looked over at Pinkie Pie and Mr. Cake with a nervous smile.

(So sorry about the delay, everyone.) Arrow didn’t need much incentive to start dancing with his fellow Appleloosans. He quickly learned the dancing patterns and kept up with their every move throughout the night. Every time it looked like somepony was struggling to find a new partner, he stepped up and offered his services. After a while, though, he felt himself starting to sweat with the effort, and he took a pause to wipe his brow with his fetlocks. “Cor, these App’loosans ken move,” he muttered, just before he heard somepony cry out in surprise. That somepony was Boxer’s dance partner, a young mare half his size who had bumped into him after he failed to make the right move. He helped her back up, mumbling barely audible apologies to her. “’m so sorry ‘bout that, I shoulda looked where I was goin’.” “No no no, it’s my fault,” she responded. “I’m the one who bumped into you.”­ “You arright, Boxer?” Arrow said. He walked across the dance field to take a closer look. “I dun’ wanna dance no more, Arrow,” Boxer said. “I keep bumpin’ inna other ponies an’ ruinin’ the dance fer ‘em.” “Aw, come off it, mate. Yeh were doin’ okay till jes’ now.” Boxer shook his head. “Alla the other ponies ‘ad the same problem. They jes din’t say nuffin.” “Right, come on, les getcha outta the way.” Arrow led Boxer off the dance floor and next to the table of refreshments. “Tell yeh what, Boxer, what’s say we all ‘ave somefin’ to eat ‘n drink, then we kin dance togevver later? If yer up to it.” Boxer nodded and looked away from Arrow. “Tha’s the spirit, mate!” he said. The two of them proceeded to help themselves to a generous helping of snacks and punch. As they ate, Arrow’s eyes darted from one dancing, celebrating pony to the next, occasionally smiling and nodding in approval of what he saw. Boxer, on the other hoof, kept his eyes squarely focused on Haymaker performing onstage with her family. He sighed through his nose, since his mouth was full of onion rings. “She’s a pretty thing, int she?” Arrow asked. Boxer flinched and turned his head to look at Arrow. He swallowed his mouthful and nodded. “Uh huh. She looks strong, too. But I fink she already got somepony else for her…” He glanced at Dapper Dan. Arrow shrugged. “What can I tell yeh? Plenny a’ mares ‘round, mate, if yeh gotta ‘ave one.” With a sigh, Boxer kicked at a clod of dirt on the ground.

Rose twitched a bit when she heard Heart talk. "Yeah, okay." She looked around the room and saw a couch, probably for Heart's patience. "I'm Rose Madder. Nice to meet you." She shrugged and climbed onto the couch, tucking her legs underneath her body. It was comfortable, but it would take more than that to relax her. "There's a lot going on in my life and I thought I could use some advice in dealing with it," she explained. "It's kind of a long story. Gimme a sec, I need to find out where to begin..." She tapped a hoof to her horn a few times, trying to get her brain to work. The haze of confusion - or perhaps it was a complex knot of rope - in her head was getting in the way of her thinking.

The flyer Inkwell had received that morning wasn't all that well-designed. The letters were crooked and the colors clashed. Not that he would have told anypony else about that. After all, it was for a sale in a small town where everypony knew each other pretty well already. Judging from the line that had formed on Sweet Apple Acres, it worked like a charm, so who was he to judge aesthetics? Perhaps he was concentrating on that in order to put the actual idea represented by the flyer out of his mind. Applejack was bundling the opportunity to kiss her with a bushel of apples. The offer made Inkwell dither and delay on actually going there despite the fact that he needed food, loved her apples, and wanted to practice cooking with them. It wasn't even that he didn't want to kiss Applejack. Far from it! Inkwell was getting to be pretty lovesick, as anypony who somehow saw at his pages of drawings of mares in sensual poses could tell. That was a problem he didn't know how to cure, lacking the nerve to actually ask any of the mares he knew out on a date. So many opportunities to plant the seeds of romance had passed him by because he was too "nice" (or timid) to make the first move. And besides, this kiss from Applejack would be bought, with no affection or promises of something more behind it. Not the kind of kiss that would satisfy him, in other words. Ultimately, his growling stomach reminded him that he needed food more than he needed to feel sorry for himself, and after he used up the last of his hay filling up, he walked down to Sweet Apple Acres. As soon as he saw the crowd gathered there, he felt relieved that he thought to get a bite beforehand. With a line this long, he thought, he'd at least have some opportunity to sketch. As he approached the end, he brought out his sketchpad and pencil. It wasn't until he started drawing that he noticed that he stood behind Mr. Cake and his infant daughter! "Oh! H-hi there, Mr. Cake," he said. "Fancy seeing you here. I guess you're here for the apples too?" He scratched his head and smiled. It would probably be tactless to mention the whole kissing part of the deal, he figured.

Welp, here she was. Rose stood in front of the door to Mending Hearts Clinic. The décor up front looked reassuring and welcoming, with light pastel decoration and a cute little heart motif. “Come on in,” it seemed to tell her, “you can tell us anything.” Who was she to distrust this friendly little building? The implications of what she was thinking made her giggle. As if buildings could talk! She sighed and sat down next to the door, looking over the streets. Not a whole lot of things going on. There was another apartment building visible around a corner. She could see an earth pony sunbathing on one of the balconies. A Pegasus flew through the air right in front of her, blowing her mane to the side. After she rubbed her eyes and straightened it out again, she looked down at the cobblestones on the street. Pinkish-gray as usual, though somepony appeared to have fit in a brown stone in a regular interval. Rose imagined lines running through the brown stones to form a triangular or maybe hexagonal pattern. She had extrapolated the pattern down to the apartment building when she violently shook her head. All she was doing was procrastinating again! Like many other ponies in need of therapy, she had doubts about whether she needed it, fearing the process of sharing herself with a complete stranger. Did she even really need to do it? Had she ever needed somepony else’s help to sort out her emotions and make sense of her life? An earth pony pushed open the door and walked past her. He looked… contemplative? Troubled? Whatever he felt, it was clear that he didn’t get an easy fix. With a sigh, she got to her hooves and pushed the door open and walked into the waiting room. She figured she might as well get things over with. The determined face she put on for the benefit of the receptionist couldn’t disguise the morass of confusion and doubt in her heart, even for ponies who couldn’t sense emotions like Heart Healer could. “Bad day?” the receptionist asked Rose as she signed her name on the sheet on the counter. “Yeah… you could say that,” Rose replied. The receptionist nodded. “Well, you came at the right time. Heart Healer can see you now.” Rose looked at the door on the side and took a deep breath, then pushed the door open, looking into the counseling room. “Heart Healer?” she asked.

Hey again! I really enjoyed talking with you on chat and I wanted to talk with you again sometime (especially about art). Maybe we could exchange contact information?

Rose Madder was never all that used to dieting. Growing up, she had an enviable metabolism that allowed her to burn all of those calories she put on with sweet treats and cheesy food. Whenever she got a bit pudgy, she had always found it easier to put most of her attention on exercise, running through the streets for an hour or two until she got winded. She could also explore new places in the city while she was exercising, an idea that made her feel oh-so-clever when she first thought of it. But she didn’t always go to new places, since Canterlot was only so big and she’d run out of them eventually. Sometimes she craved the familiar instead of the exciting and new. So it was that she found herself walking through a district with lots of sweet smells. Perfume, flowers, food, all so appealing to her nose. Perhaps she could have a nice bouquet for lunch, or a whopping big pile of hay fries? Her reckless gallop slowed to a far more reasonable canter as thoughts of food made her stomach rumble at a volume she briefly thought the ponies next to her could hear. She would have to fill up on something before she ran back home. The decision of what to eat didn’t take long. Rose soon emerged from a local restaurant with a warm, thick burrito tucked into her saddlebags. She wasn’t expecting too much from it, but she’d had it before and it was alright. Those burritos went down without much complaint and filled her up well enough to last. Still, she could use some dessert, and so she entered a sweet shop she vaguely remembered visiting in the months before. The fact that it was having a sale didn’t hurt, either! “Helloooo!” she sang out as she pushed the door in. “I don’t suppose you remember me from earlier? I keep meaning to drop by again but I keep putting it… off.” She caught a glimpse of another customer in the store, a face everypony in the city recognized from the most popular and famous wedding in recent memory. Princess Cadence still looked stunning in the flesh, and Rose could see why stallions wanted her and other mares wanted to be her. But personally Rose was never really enchanted with the princess life, and the media had never really given many hints that there was more to Cadence than that. Maybe today Rose would be proven wrong. “Your highness!” Rose said in surprise. “Fancy seeing you here!” Then she noticed the princess’s gentlecolt companion, a regal stallion wearing what looked to be fancy and expensive metal barding. “I have to admit, I’m a bit at a loss for words. I wasn’t expecting to see any of the upper crust here!” As much as the hype surrounding Cadence’s wedding exasperated her, she had to admit that very important ponies were still very important ponies. Every opportunity to network and get a patron of the arts to notice her was well worth taking. Though Rose tried to play it cool, she suspected she was coming off star-struck. How fortunate that nopony could hear her quickened pulse. “Oh, do pardon me, your highness, I’m not familiar with your friend here.” She gave the Duke of Manehattan a small bow. “May I have the pleasure?”

The day before Rose went to the bookstore, she realized that her life had gotten into a bit of a rut. When she set out to join the modelling tour of Equestria, she said it would just be a lark, a horizon-broadening experience that would help her write. But instead it turned out to be a whirlwind event that dominated her life on tour (and Inkwell's too, she supposed) to the extent that she simply forgot to write with all of her modeling, posing, and socializing. In the end, she returned to Canterlot with a photo collection, addresses for several charming ponies she'd met on the trip, and not one single word of prose. After such a prolonged period of life in the fast lane, living in alone in a meager apartment seemed like sleeping in molasses to her. More than once she spent an entire day in her room reading an exciting pulp fiction book in the confines of her apartment and neglecting the outside world entirely. On top of that, she'd been seeking out easier access to food, which meant lower quality nutrition and more pudge around her waist. That was the breaking point in the end, when she felt just how soft she'd gotten in the shower that day. Today was the day to change everything. She'd gotten up early, cleaned the apartment, had a good breakfast at the Cafe Viridian, and hiked to a bookstore she'd never been to before. When she entered it, she found herself having to wipe the sweat from her brow. Her haunches ached from the walk, tired from what used to come naturally to her. Rose wasn't looking forward to subjecting them to the burn again, but she had no choice, not if she wanted to get back to the way she used to be. So she settled down in the cafe and took out her notebook. The final and most important step was upon her: making the effort to write again. The money she'd received from her first book wouldn't last her forever, and the publishing house was anxious for her next work of art. Thankfully the manuscript was still intact at her apartment, but she could probably stand for some warm-up exercises before she added to it again. As she looked for something to inspire her, she saw a little display case of her first book leaning up against a shelf. A Single Note's cover featured its protagonist slumped over a desk, looking despondent, and Rose couldn't help but empathize. "I feel you, buddy," she mumbled to herself.

The punch made Arrow stumble a bit. He wasn’t expecting that at all, not from one of the upper crust. Boxer, yes. Max, no. It wasn’t even that hard of a punch, either. He’d taken worse from Boxer before the big lug learned just how strong he was. “Co’se not,” Arrow said. “I’m a changed stallion, I am.” Most of him was sure that the background check wouldn’t be “too crazy” for Max to accept. After all, the heists he pulled were small potatoes compared to some of the nasty customers he’d met in Beakbreak. “I’m gunna tell Boxer the good news. Lessee, where is ‘e?” Arrow looked around the hoedown, peering at the gathered ponies, until he found Boxer onstage. When he saw Haymaker shedding more tears, Boxer found himself sniffling, too. Now he knew he had to do something to help cheer her up. All it took was the prompting of the other stallion, Dapper Dan, for him to come up onstage and embrace both of them in a hug. Of course, he forgot his own strength in the heat of the moment and squeezed them hard enough to knock the wind out of them. “Oh, sorry!” he said, immediately relaxing his grip enough to make them comfortable again. “I, um, I didn’t mean…” “Oi, Boxer!” Arrow called out. “I di’n’t know ye were part a’ the performance!” He walked up to the stage, sporting a wide, knowing grin on his face. “Leave ye alone fer five minutes an’ ye fin’ a nice lady friend. Never woulda guessed.” Boxer blushed and released Dan and Haymaker, his eyes flitting nervously between them and Arrow. “Oh, um, ‘ey Arrow,” he mumbled.

Martini had asked a good question. What would Inkwell do with the finished painting? Would he put it in a gallery where one of the ponies he painted could see it? “Well, um, maybe. I don’t really see why I wouldn’t put it in a gallery.” He spoke at half his normal speed, double-checking his words before they left his mouth. “The odds of anypony recognizing the subjects wouldn’t be that high, I think. Maybe I should credit them. What do you think, Rose?” Rose just shrugged. “Eh, I don’t really think they’d care. Do what you want.” “Oh, okay.” Inkwell peered at the drawing, checking once again for misplaced lines. There were a few that he thought could have been placed better, but since everything was already inked, there wasn’t much point in worrying about those lines. He’d fix them in the painting. Then Martini talked to him again, forcing him to put the sketchbook down. “Th-the mare of my dreams?” he asked. Once again his cheeks turned pink as thoughts of romance and courtship ran through his head. “Um, well, maybe. I guess I could try making some new female friends here. They all seem nice. And I’ve got Rose to help me out! She’s the one who knows all about the romance, right?” Rose smirked at Inkwell and nodded. “Got that right. No need to share my secrets with just anypony, though, right?” She poked him in the ribs three times. “Ngh, right, right.” Inkwell didn’t need any more hints to know what Rose was talking about. The main reason that she was so experienced at romance, after all, was because of how often she had seen the extremes of love, especially the bad ones. Those painful stories didn’t need to get spread around anymore. Rose nibbled her lip, wondering how to answer Martini’s question. “Actually, I’m not really sure,” she says. “I just know that I want a big change from my first book. That one was kind of too dark and weird. Well, maybe not weird. I don’t want to cut that part out, I love it. But I want something more upbeat.” “Something that won’t kill my soul?” Inkwell asked. “Yeah, that.” Rose rolled her eyes. “I think I’ll be trying for whimsy. Maybe. Not sure if I’ll stick with the modeling, but it would probably get me a couple good short stories, at least.”

Whenever Rose felt dissatisfied and starved for ideas, she made a habit of looking at other ponies’ art. After all, art itself didn’t come from a vacuum. It grew like a flower from everyday life, from the past, from the experiences of other ponies and the interaction between them and the artist. Such a method of inspiration had helped Rose smooth out the wrinkles in her own creations. Several of the more otherworldly details of A Single Note were inspired by designs she’d seen in the more baroque and gothic sections of the museums she’d toured. But now she needed a different kind of influence, something that was still weird, but not quite as alienating and disquieting as before. Perhaps the abstract art wing of a new, Manehattan museum would prove to be the answer! Yes, a brand new city would surely give her some ideas. This modeling tour was already starting her on the right track. Before she could notices any of the actual exhibits, she caught a glance of a stallion wearing one of them! It took a while for her to recognize him, but she’d seen that stallion’s flaxen mane before, during the backstage work at the last modeling show. Time for her to mingle. “Well now, fancy meeting you here,” she said, walking up to Glizten and getting a closer look at his outfit. It made her feel a bit underdressed; she wore only a simple black scarf and headband to the museum, two of her favorite accessories. “I don’t think we were introduced in Gallopocous. I’m Rose Madder, one of the models.” She lifted her hoof for Glitzen to shake. “Did you design that outfit yourself?”

As Haymaker relayed her woes, Boxer couldn’t help but feel his own tears start to surface. The poor girl just wanted to be loved, but her habits kept getting her in hot water, made ponies afraid of her. Boy, could he ever relate. “’s okay,” he muttered, looking up at her. “Th-they don’ fink that bad of yeh. ‘m sure.” What was the right thing to do in this situation? Give her a hug? Tell her it would get better? Explain how ponies and griffins got scared of him because of how big and bulky he was? Boxer couldn’t decide. He just bit his lip and looked away from Haymaker, meeting Dan’s eyes and just giving him a meek shrug. In the meantime, Arrow had shaken his head and recovered from his earlier stupefaction. He realized that Max was, in fact, going to require an actual response to his offer. So Arrow sought him out and tapped him on the shoulder. “Mister Max, I fink I’m gunna take you up on it. I’ll give yeh all the background checks yeh wan’. Phys’cals, too. When ‘o we start?”

Arrow’s eyes normally looked wider and more open than the normal pony’s, leaving his miniscule pupils surrounded by whiteness. As they took in the words and figures on the card Max gave him, they somehow managed to get even wider than that. Just when it seemed like Arrow had seen the height of his luck and Max’s generosity, the unicorn kept sweetening the deal. Not only were he and his “brother” practically guaranteed secure, paid jobs in a nice neighborhood, but the pay was amazing and they’d be staying the night in a posh mansion? The rapid onslaught of good news sent chills down Arrow’s spine. It was all too good to be true. His eyes never left the card as Max spoke up about the physical and background check, and his mouth hung open an inch or two. “Yeah… background check,” he muttered. “Sound about righ’.” But by the time he said it, Max had already moved on to dealing with the arrival of a new, amphibious party guest. When the frog hopped out of Madame Bistro’s punch and clung to Braeburn’s face, Boxer was standing by himself at the other end of the table, having been cowed by Braeburn’s greeting. He passed the time nibbling a cookie or two, trying to get lost in the taste, but then the frog emerged and caused Braeburn to shout out again. Once again, Boxer flinched, but then he rushed up to Braeburn, his face frozen in panic. This new stallion was in trouble, and despite him scaring Boxer with his yelling, Boxer knew he had to help him. But how? He couldn’t dislodge the frog without hurting Braeburn. None of the helpful skills he knew involved much in terms of precision or delicacy. But he needn’t have worried, for the frog left of its own volition, and everypony else grew concerned with Madame Bistro again. Boxer hadn’t even noticed that she needed assistance! Or maybe she didn’t. Before he knew it, everything got settled, and the band started playing again. Boxer looked around for something to do, and settled on getting a closer look at the band. He didn’t have much experience with music or musical performances, so he couldn’t compare them to anyone else. But he knew what he liked, and he found himself tapping his hooves to the beat almost immediately. His eyes drifted to the red-headed mare up front. She was pretty, but she also looked strong, and she handled her instrument well. Boxer had no idea how she did it, making sound into something so appealing and catchy. He remembered trying his hooves at an instrument he found once, and it screeched so loud he almost went deaf. Did she ever have a problem like that? Then the light caught off her face and made the fresh tear streaks on it gleam, and Boxer had to tilt his head. Why was she crying? Was she sad? “Wha’s wrong?” he asked her, forgetting that she was right in the middle of a song and that she needed to concentrate. Then he realized his mistake, and his blue cheeks turned red. “Um, nuffin’, ne’er min’,” he mumbled.

At first Arrow was surprised to hear that nopony else had responded to the rumors of new developments and work opportunities in Appleloosa. But soon an even bigger whammy left him gobsmacked. Was Maximilian seriously claiming that he was offering jobs that paid better than anything else in the country? Just like that? No screening or tests of qualification necessary? He couldn't do anything but blink and hold his mouth open. How lucky was- "I'm powerful surry bout runnin' into ya. Reckon I wasn't lookin' where I was goin'. I'm with the band!" Arrow's eye moved down to see that the filly who had bumped into him earlier was still trying to apologize. Couldn't she take the hint and leave him alone? He took another deep breath. "Look, no 'arm done, luv. It ent worf talkin' about. Jes' concentrate on yer music, alright?" He made a little shooing motion with one hoof and looked back at Max. "Blimey, mate, 'ow kin we possibly resist such a generous offer?" he asked. "We're no strangers to 'ard work, so we oughter fit right in!" He didn't elaborate on what kind of hard work he and Boxer had engaged in previously. Max didn't need to know that, and those jobs were all behind him now. If anything, the work Max offered was all but guaranteed to be safer... and more legal. When Braeburn came up to talk to Miss Bistro, Boxer gave him a bit of a blank look. He wasn't entirely sure what to do now that somepony had approached him when he wasn't expecting it, but then the situation resolved itself. They were a couple, and wanted to spend time together. "Oh, um, alright," Boxer said, his ears folded back. "That's okay. I can manage myself. You two can have fun-" But apparently Braeburn wasn't content to let him go that easily. Instead of going away with Miss Bistro and doing his own thing, he tipped his hat and introduced himself in ostentatious fashion. When he announced the name of the town with the force of an airhorn, Boxer jumped back and tensed his body, wide-eyed and trembling. Just as he was starting to relax, Braeburn did it again, but this time Boxer just flinched. "Th-thanks!" Boxer said. "I'm sure I'll like the inn! Um, bye!" He stepped away from the couple and looked around for something else to focus on. Thankfully, seeing a stallion turn a mare's dress inside-out with a fan made him laugh, and managed to take the edge off of his encounter with Braeburn.

"Only ten?" Rose asked. "You are generous!" She fished around for ten gold coins and levitated them over to the nearest counter. "Thank you so much for picking this out. I'll be getting a lot of use out of it. Till next time!" She gave Cross Stitch one last smile and sashayed out of his shop. Sometime soon, she'd have to pay him another visit...

As soon as Malediction started to get indignant, Rose lost her composure and started to double her head with laughter. It took a while for her to calm down enough for her to make a response. "Ohhh, boy. Wow, you sure saw right through me, didn't you? Yeah, I made it all up. I'm a writer. It's what I do. No hard feelings, right?" She stuck out a hoof for Mal to shake, but shock of all shocks, she didn't take it. Instead she just stormed off in a huff. "What, can't you take a joke?" Rose asked. "Sorry I wasted your time and all, but you really need to lighten up!" Rose sighed. Malediction was gone, and Rose had to admit that she probably didn't make a good impression. But really, what kind of pony was she? All serious and plotting all the time. What did Celestia ever do to her? That just left her with Cat Napper and Dark Core. From the looks of things, they were completely engaged in their own affairs. So Rose left them to discussing their own affairs, hoping that Inkwell wouldn't be too disappointed when he heard the news.

Rose had herself a giggle. Seems the new shop owner wasn't quite used to dealing with multiple customers! "It's warm, snug, light as a feather," she said, giving it another little twist on her head. "It's perfect! How much do I owe you?" Hopefully the hat wouldn't be too expensive. Rose still had to pay for groceries later that day and the price of grapefruit wasn't getting any lower.