by Lily.Sweet » Mon Jan 06, 2014 1:48 pm
by SeddieDeer » Mon Jan 06, 2014 1:51 pm
Lily.Sweet wrote:Anyone remember me? hey~! This is Lily. Not making a return, just dropping in to say hi.
Anyway, to the point, I'm bored and I wanna draw some ponies. Here's a recent piece I've done so you guys can kinda judge what you'll get
by Lily.Sweet » Mon Jan 06, 2014 1:53 pm
by Tom Bombadil » Mon Jan 06, 2014 3:08 pm
by SeddieDeer » Mon Jan 06, 2014 3:49 pm
Tom Bombadil wrote:Look at this awesome gift art ~Starry~ did for me of my OC Storm Clouds!
by ~Tornado~ » Mon Jan 06, 2014 4:02 pm
by Angel Daiyu » Mon Jan 06, 2014 9:14 pm
by Dr. Paine » Mon Jan 06, 2014 9:38 pm
Water flew out from under Silver's hooves as she ran, her hood up and her wings spread high and wide to try keeping the rain off as much as possible. The sky above was a gray rivaled only by the pavement below in terms of soul-crushing blandness, and the endless rise of gray, black, slightly lighter gray, white buildings did nothing to help her mood. Canterlot could be so beautiful in the sun, but in the rain? Miserable.
'Come on Silver, you can keep going. You've got some bits, you can get a bite to eat and find somewhere out of--'
Thunder shook the sky, a bolt of lightning briefly drenching the street in white light. Silver stopped dead in her tracks, pale eyes wide and staring for several moments before she could regain her wits and keep on. Her fur was soaked, even under her sweatshirt; her mane drenched and hanging in limp wet tangles around her face. Each step was shakier than the last, her body fatigued from cold, from no sleep, from hunger, from being so tired of it all. Her friends-- the ones she'd thought were friends-- were long gone, their meager apartment with it now that she had no one else to help make rent and she was alone. Alone and lost and empty, 'worthless and unlovable and stupid like they said they were right they were right of course they were right...'
Silver Lining's pace slowed from a gallop to a slow trot, a slower walk, until she couldn't even keep her head up and was barely capable of moving one hoof in front of the other. She crawled up a set of steps, huddling and trembling under a doorway. She closed her eyes and sighed softly, resting her head on her front hooves and folding her wings close against her sides. She was still cold, but she was out of the rain. She could rest. Just... just a little rest...
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"Hello? Hey, hey! You okay?"
Silver groaned, her head throbbing. She should still hear the rain, but the sound was now joined by a voice and... something... poking her side. She groaned again, slowly lifting her head and opening her eyes. A pony stood before her, a white mare with a long-- wait, was her mane rainbow? Silver Lining blinked, giving a soft grunt. Yep. Definitely rainbow.
"What in Celestia's name are you doing here?" the mare asked, crouching down to meet Silver's eyes, her own wide and with that look of pity Silver knew all too well.
"Sleeping. I... I think," Silver said quietly, sitting up and swaying slightly, almost falling back onto the ground. The mare laid a hoof on her shoulder though, shaking her head.
"In here? Oh, and you are... /soaked/, and so thin... what's your name, dear? I'm Suncatcher, if that sets you at ease some."
"S... Silver. Silver Lining," the pegasus said quietly, looking up at Suncatcher again. "And... yeah. I'm sleeping here. Didn't have a chance to get anywhere else."
Suncatcher clucked her tongue, shaking her head. "Come with me. I live just a block or so away, I'm not letting you spend the night on the street!"
Silver gaped at the mare for several moments, her mouth hanging open. "I... why?" she finally asked. "I could be--"
Suncatcher snorted, shaking her head. "You could be many things. What you are, right now, is a young mare who likely hasn't seen a proper shelter or meal for at least a month. I do understand if you might not feel very comfortable with it, but... the offer is open, if you so wish."
With that, Suncatcher turned away, taking a few steps before looking over her shoulder. Silver sighed softly, flipping up her hood and following the mare into the rainy night.
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It was only meant to be one night. One meal. But Silver Lining had developed a cough the next day, and Suncatcher had just told her to not worry, she could stay for as long as she needed to recover. Silver had felt so awful, what could she do? Suncatcher refused the few bits Silver had tried to give, but Silver had insisted she do something. So Suncatcher had proposed a deal-- Silver could stay on as a tenant... but in return, Silver would serve as her apprentice, learning how to create glass art. It had been laughable at first, and besides, what good would she be? She was a pegasus, it took a lot of work to even use a spray can, much less the intricate tools for glasswork. But Suncatcher had just given a laugh, gesturing to the grand windows and whirligigs, delicate sculptures and etched glasses.
"I know this might sound trite, but if life has taught me anything? As long as you are willing to put in the work, a pony can accomplish anything," she had said. And for the first time since Suncatcher had found her, Silver Lining smiled.
So she worked. It was hardly an easy job, and she was left with more than a few bald, burned patches from some early mistakes... and indeed, there was a time when she felt she would be cast back out. She had irreversibly botched her first solo job, and despite Suncatcher's attempts, the client had been... less than understanding. Until then, Silver had done a fairly good job of keeping her emotions in check, even building up some confidence, but after that? She had fallen into her... 'empty' state. No desire to even eat. But rather than throw her out... Silver hadn't been able to believe it at the time. Rather than toss her back to the streets she'd come from, Suncatcher had instead put Silver in touch with a psychiatrist in the area. For once, she'd gotten help. It might have been slow progress, but it was solid; Silver felt herself finally falling into a proper place. There were fewer burns, fewer irate customers, and fewer broken things. But it was a broken piece that really set things in motion.
-----------------------------------
"I'm so sorry!" Silver exclaimed, cringing slightly and only just able to force herself to meet Suncatcher's gaze.
"Oh... oh, no, it's okay, it's my fault. I haven't gotten that floor fixed in forever," she sighed, trotting over and getting the broom. "Maybe it can be fixed... oh, but Highwind's so picky, she'd just stuff it away," she mumbled, dumping the shards into the cullet bin. Silver hung back, staring at the floor and just... remembering that it was a mistake, and Sun didn't seem too horribly mad, there was no sense beating herself up over it. Suncatcher kept mumbling though, something about how 'Highwind doesn't even like glass that much anyway,' as she trotted off, looking quite frazzled.
Silver stood there for a little while after the door closed, unsure of what to do. She knew Highwind as well; an airship mechanic who was... certainly on the rough side for Canterlot ponies (certainly in the language department), but she was good enough once one looked past that. She trotted over to the cullet bin, peering down at the colorful shards within. Without really thinking about her actions, Silver pawed through them, carefully bringing out some ones that would work for... whatever she was planning. Highwind was a picky mare indeed, she thought as she selected a stone disk and spread the shards over it, working out a pattern until she was satisfied enough to re-work it with cement on the disk.
She hoped Suncatcher would be able to find a nice gift. And... well, the mosaic wasn't turning out too bad. Rather... pretty, almost; broken shards turning into a figure resembling Highwind, brass leg and all, but... also with wide, mechanical wings the same color as her leg, lifting her alongside one of the ships she so loved. Quite literally rough around the edges, true, but bright and honest and the joy of hoof-made work, something she knew Highwind valued deeply. Silver yawned, shaking her head and going off to wash her hooves as the cement dried and to get some food, not paying much mind to the mosaic-- it wasn't the first she'd made, after all, it was a calm-down tactic she'd gotten from her psychiatrist ages ago.
The day passed, Silver going to bed before Sunchaser returned, and waking up only when the front door burst open the next afternoon. The pegasus jerked awake, her eyes wide when she trotted downstairs and saw not only Suncatcher, beaming as bright as her products, with a burly brown mare beside her, who had... a... brass leg. Silver's eyes went wide and she set her ears back, slowly approaching the stern-faced Highwind, wearing a weak smile on her own face.
"Sunny said you made this?" Highwind said, taking something circular from her saddlebag-- the mosaic!
"Y... I... guess?" Silver said, shooting a questioning glance at her mentor, who blushed slightly.
"I'm so sorry. Y... I didn't want to wake you and I hadn't been able to find anything! I... Oh, Silver, I'm so sorry, I should have--"
"It's fine," Silver said, giving Suncatcher a puzzled look. "W... why, did..." She trailed off, glancing at Highwind, who wore a small smile. "Did... she actually like it?"
"Oh, very much," Highwind boomed, letting out a rich laugh. "I'm not usually into these little glass things, they break too much, but this? Love it, it's sturdy and I gotta say Silv... Lock said you really captured... 'me', and she's got a point."
"Really?" Silver said, a small grin spreading over her muzzle. Highwind nodded, smiling in return.
"Really. In fact... Lock'n I have an anniversary coming up, and it don't feel right just having one piece. Drop by for lunch with us sometime Monday so you can meet her, see if you can do this again?"
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The rest of a week was a blur. Silver Lining met Lockheart and created another mosaic of... well, what Highwind had said to work with. To just meet Lockheart and see... her, and turn that into art; a simple portrait of a pink flower and a hummingbird-- Lockheart was such a quiet pony, one who gave so much to help others and let that reflect her beauty. And more orders flooded in-- not for Suncatcher, but for Silver. She was startled at first, naturally-- she just... put crushed glass together into a picture that gave her impression of a pony. And she did think all of them were beautiful-- a kitten batting a ball of yarn for a sweet young filly who fed the neighborhood strays. A dewy leaf for a street cleaner she saw many mornings, grumbling under his breath but still ensuring everything was neat and clean. A simple, colorful heart for a struggling artist who could rival Highwind for his grasp on foul language, stars and clouds and snowflakes and so many different flowers and birds and buildings.
Several months of this passed when Suncatcher approached one evening, touching Silver on the back to get her attntion.
"All caught up on commissions?" she asked.
Silver laughed, flicking her head to get her mane out of her eyes where it had fallen out of the careful bun. "Yeah. And no more new ones for a little while, we're running out of broken glass!"
"Well, we'll definitely be getting you more," Suncatcher chuckled. It was then that Silver looked up and saw Suncatcher. Her mane seemed faded, the rainbow giving way to a platinum blonde (of course, she dyed it...), and she seemed to have a suitcase behind her.
"So... are you going somewhere?" Silver asked, frowning slightly.
"As a matter of fact, yes," Suncatcher said. "Not for a day or two, but I'm going back to the Crystal Empire for a while. And I wanted to know... would you be interested in running things here?"
"O... oh. Yeah. Sure," Silver said, her eyes going wide. "Y... you think I... could?"
Suncatcher nodded, giving a reassuring smile. "Oh yes. You've been bringing in so many of your own clients, and you know how to make windows like mine, you'll do fine! We can hire on an assistant too, there's that nice young colt who came in last week... but, yes. I fully believe you are able to handle this job."
Silver's ears went back, and she gave a shy smile, pawing at the ground. "I... S-Sun...catcher, I... that means a ton," she said quietly. "I mean... I love it here, I just never thought I'd get to... run something! And if I mess up, I... what if I mess this all up?" she said quickly, her smile gone and her tone tight with fear. But Suncatcher simply laid a hoof on her shoulder, giving a warm smile.
"Before I go," she said softly, "I have one request, and if it does not help your fear, I will tell you why I believe you can run this shop just as well as myself."
Silver frowned, tilting her head to the side. "Ah... okay. Sure?" she said.
"There's a new batch of colored cullet. My request--" Suncatcher paused, drawing herself to her full height, "--is to see you make one of your lovely mosaics about yourself."
Stunned, and more than a little confused by the request, Silver allowed Suncatcher to gently nudge her off into the workroom. A disk and cement sat next to the cullet bin, the room lit by a number of soft lanterns. Silver glanced back at the door, but... well. Why not? So she went over to the bin and picked out as many shards as she could, carefully arranging them over the disk.
Minutes passed as Silver shifted the shards around, barely resisting the urge to grind it all into dust after a while. No matter how she tried, there was just... nothing! She closed her eyes and pulled her hood up, trying to just get a feel for... herself, really. Almost immediately, those old voices and doubts crept up; saying she was just... pretending, she had no idea how to make this work and would ruin the business of the incredible mare who had become the closest thing to a mother she'd known since she was a filly. But now she knew that they were wrong. How many had come for her art? How many times had one of the Renegades come to her for advice, to just have her listen, and how often had she tried-- and succeeded!-- to find the bright side of things? Slowly, pieces of glass came together in the shape of a simple flower, a lily with white petals edged with small pebbles of silvered glass against a simple blue and green background. It was like Lockheart's in a way-- she was open to others, but instead of just giving advice, she... reflected. Whether it was with a reassuring word or a mosaic showing something beautiful in even the most mundane life, she realized she could help others see in themselves something they would not have noticed otherwise.
"Suncatcher!" Silver called, getting to her feet as soon as the last piece was in place. "Suncatcher, come quick!"
Suncatcher entered, looking puzzled for a moment, but then her gaze followed Silver's; not to the mosaic on the ground... but to the one that had, at long last, appeared on her flank.
A simple, stained-glass lily with silver-edged petals, set against blue and green.
by DecafBunny » Tue Jan 07, 2014 3:38 am
• Going on Haitus again... •
Art by sugartabby72600 wrote:Owed Work wrote:
• Dealing with personal issues. Probably won't be active again.
•
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