Writers Block

I had lost track of how long I had been sitting behind my couch when I heard a knock at the door.

“Yeah, come on in!” I called out, not moving from my hiding spot. I heard the sound of the front door opening, shortly followed by Twilight’s confused voice.

“Um, Sketch? Where are you?” she called out. I slowly raised a hoof from my hiding place. “Why are you hiding behind your couch?” she asked, even more confused than before.

“Look at the table!” I whispered urgently. There was a moment of silence, and suddenly she started laughing.

“It’s just a spider! Come on out, Sketch. You don’t need to be scared.”

“I’m not moving until it’s gone!” I shouted stubbornly. I heard her sigh, the sound of hooves clopping across the floor, the door opening and closing, and then her voice again.

“Okay, it’s gone.”

I slowly peeked my head out and looked at the table. Notebook, stack of papers, pencils… no spider. I smiled and completely emerged from my hiding spot. “Whew. I hate spiders!” I exclaimed, and saw that Twilight was glaring at me. “Heh heh… sorry.”

She shook her head. “Never mind that. Today, I figured we should work on your approach for when you confess your feelings to Rainbow Dash,” she said cheerfully.

I groaned. “Aw, come on, Twilight. Can’t I just let this sit inside me until it finally makes me snap and go insane? Besides, I have to work on my book,” I said, gesturing to the table.

Twilight pushed me out the door. “Nope. We are going to work on this first; I’m not usually the one to say this, but books can wait!” she said as she ushered me off to Sugarcube Corner.

“…So anyways, Pinkie, that’s the story,” I heard Twilight tell Pinkie Pie. I heard her squeal with delight.

“Dashie has a secret admirer? Oooooh!” she said happily.

“Can I come out now?” I called from inside the closet they had locked me in. I wasn't very on board with telling Pinkie about my feelings for Rainbow Dash, and my refusal to let Twilight speak led to me getting locked in a storage closet. I heard the latch turn and click, and I was released from the dark prison.

“So, you want to know how to tell a girl you like her, huh?” she asked, raising an eyebrow and suddenly getting serious. I nodded slowly, and her face lit up. “GREAT! It’s simple, really; first you’ll need to bake her a biiiiiig cake!” she said as she ran to the kitchen.

“Pinkie, this is about what Rainbow Dash would want, not you! I don’t think a big cake is going to help,” Twilight called after her. Pinkie gasped and stuck her head through the doorway.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! Everypony loves cake!” she cried.

Twilight shook her head. “Yes, but I don’t think that’s the way to Rainbow Dash’s heart. It sounds more like what you would want somepony to do,” she said gently.

Pinkie suddenly looked dejected. I figured she was looking for an excuse to bake a cake, so I added, “Hey Pinkie, why don’t you make a cake for us all to have tomorrow instead?” I said, smiling. That got her spirits up; she bounced happily for a few seconds, and ran back into the kitchen, where I heard all sorts of strange noises.

I turned to Twilight. “Well, I don’t think she’ll be much help for a while. Why don’t we stop by some other time?” I asked.

She nodded, and then suddenly gasped. “We can go ask Rarity! She might know a thing or two.”

I shook my head quickly, and stamped a hoof. “Oh, no! We told Pinkie already. Nopony else needs to know about this!”

“…And that’s pretty much it, Rarity.” I heard Twilight conclude. I sighed, for once again, Twilight had locked me in a closet to keep me from interfering. This time, it was a fabric room at Rarity’s house.

“Will you let me out?” I called from the darkness. There was a click, and the door swung open.

“So, Sketch, you want to impress Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked teasingly when I walked out into the room. I nodded, just as I had when Pinkie asked. She suddenly started measuring me and mumbling things to herself. When she was satisfied, she ran over to a table and started scribbling on a large piece of paper.

“Um, what are you doing?” I asked, peeking over her shoulder.

She kept drawing, but replied, “Why, making you a suit, darling! You must have a decent outfit, and, no offense, but just that shirt isn't going to cut it.”

“Hey, I like my white shirts!” I said defensively. They were one of my unique styles, other than my ever-messy mane.

“I know, but this isn't about you, it’s about showing Rainbow Dash how handsome you are!” she said, turning back to me. Just then, Twilight cut in.

“Rarity, I know you like making outfits, but I don’t think a fancy suit is going to help Sketch with Rainbow Dash. You might think a handsome pony in a nice suit would be a perfect match, but I think Rainbow needs something a little more… attitude-oriented.”

“Fine, fine, say no more,” She said, then looked back at the design, “oh, but I do hate giving up on an outfit…”

I smiled. “It’s okay, Rarity. I’ll tell you what: I could use some nice clothes, in case a special occasion comes along where I need to look nice. How about you keep working on that?” I asked her, causing her face to light up for a moment.

“Of course I will!” she exclaimed, then trying to act bored, said “I mean, if you insist,” and then went back to work. Twilight shook her head, smiling as we exited the house.

I was a little more submissive when it came to telling Fluttershy, mostly because I didn’t want to get stuck in a closet, listening to Twilight tell that story all over again. She seemed a little shy (duh), but I could tell she really wanted to help.

“Oh, well, I think you should ask her to go on a walk in the forest one night,” she said quietly.

I smiled a little, realizing that could be a great idea. Twilight seemed to have the same feelings about it.

“That’s actually a really good idea, Fluttershy. How’d you come up with that?” she asked.

Fluttershy shrugged, her pink bangs bobbing slightly. “It just came to me,” she said modestly.

I smiled. “So it’s settled. I’ll just ask her if she’d like to go for a walk!” I said happily.

“Hold your horses, loverboy,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes, “do you really think it’ll be that easy for you?”

“NOOOOOOO!” I cried, suddenly curling up on my back and rocking back and forth. “I've never talked to a girl that I've liked before! What do I do?!”

Twilight patted my shoulder gently. “Remember, we still have one stop left. We’re off to Sweet Apple Acres!” she shouted, pushing me to my feet.

“Thanks, Fluttershy!” Twilight cried behind her as we ran out the door.

“Oh, no problem,” she said quietly, blushing.

“So, you wanna ask Rainbow to be your very special somepony?” Applejack asked, circling me out in the apple orchard. I nodded, a little more enthusiastically than when the others asked. “Well, then, let me and Twi show you how it’s done. Twilight, you be Rainbow Dash, and Ah’ll be Sketch.” She said, turning to Twilight.

“Oh, uh, okay,” she said uncertainly.

Applejack cleared her throat, trying to imitate my voice. “Hey there, sugarcube. How are you this evening?”

“Well, I-“ Twilight started, but I cut in.

“Wait, wait, wait, what? No offense, but I don’t think you’re playing me very well,” I said.

“Alright, why don’t you play yerself, and I’ll play Rainbow?” she asked sweetly.

“Uh…. okay?” I said, the cleared my throat. “Um, hey, Rainbow Dash, what are you up to?”

“Oh, I've just been chilling out at my place. How about you?” Applejack asked in a perfectly executed Rainbow Dash voice that made me stare for a moment. She smiled sheepishly.

“Anyways, I was just wondering if maybe you would like to do something together sometime, like go for a walk, or…” I trailed off, letting the question hang in the air.

“Oh, that’d be awesome! When do you want to meet up?” Applejack added, keeping the convincing Rainbow Dash act up.

“Uh, how about tomorrow night at sunset outside my house? We can walk from there,” I said nervously, actually starting to believe this was how it would go.

“Okay, that sounds great! I’ll see you tomorrow!” Applejack cried, ran off, jumped into the air like she was trying to fly, and landed in a puddle. Twilight and I ran over to see if she was okay.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” she said, laughing, “I guess I got a little too into character for a second there. Anyways, did that help you out at all?”

I smiled and nodded. “Yeah, as crazy as that was, it did help a little. Thanks, Applejack,” I said.

“It’s Rainbow Dash!” she said, pulling the fake voice again, and started laughing when she saw my face. “Ah’m jus teasin’. Hey, it’s getting pretty late; you two had better head home!” she said, turning toward home. “I’ll see you two later!”

We said goodbye and headed back to my house, laughing about the day’s events.

“Did you really have to lock me in a closet, though?” I asked Twilight.

“Of course! You wouldn't stop freaking out if I hadn't!” she said, laughing. “I have to head home. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said, turning around.

“See you tomorrow, Twilight.” I called as I went inside. I went into the living room and sat down, deciding it was time to work on Pinkie’s idea for characters. First, I drew a picture of each of them, making sure to get every detail right; I figured it might help with designing them if I had a good visual aide.

Hmm, where to start? I thought, thinking of my friends one by one. Well, why not Rainbow Dash? I chuckled to myself as I started drawing.

“Well, she wanted to be cool. What’s cooler than a knight?” I said, drawing a suit of armor over her body. I left the helmet off, deciding that her multicolored mane blowing in the wind would make for a good scene. I nodded, pleased with my work, and moved on to the others.

After a few hours of scribbling, shading, erasing, and pondering, I finally finished my cast. Twilight, being an alicorn, would be the princess who tells Crimson Embers about the legend of the Lord of Shadows, and sends him on his quest, assisting him along the way. Fluttershy would be a gentle medicine mare, skilled in using plants and natural remedies to help her friends when they were sick and injured. Rarity became the heir to a great fortune who, although she didn’t like getting her hooves dirty, wanted to have some sort of adventure. Pinkie was an obvious choice for an acrobatic prankster, who would defeat her enemies through confusion and trickery. Applejack could fill no other role than the tough-as-nails farm girl who just wanted to make sure her family stayed safe. Last but not least, Rainbow Dash filled the spot of Crimson Ember’s closest childhood friend, who always had his back no matter what they went through.

I smiled, staring at my work, and yawned. I was so tired from all the walking around and character development that I simply lied down on the couch and slept there for the night. It wasn't as comfortable as my bed, but I was too sleepy to care.