A Young Artist's Journey

by Jackal The Unicorn

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 1400

Sketchbook, a young filly has only recently discovered her special talent, sketching and drawing. See as she travels through Equestria, showing her artwork.

"I had always thought sketching things was fun, but I would never have thought it would be my special talent.
"Flamethrower, are you serious? I'm just like any other pony. I have a destiny to fulfill, but it doesn't involve me being famous!"

Well, that's what Sketchbook had always thought. Until she got a letter from Princess Celestia asking her to join the Best Young Artists competition in Canterlot.

Published 2014-05-06 15:30:03 UTC
Last updated 2014-05-06 15:30:03 UTC

Chapter One:Her Special Talent

Sketchbook sat alone in her room, sitting at her desk and staring at a blank notebook.
She sighed. "I'll never get my cutie mark! Not even the thing I'm most proud of doing works!" Sadly, she picked up a pencil and started sketching. She was drawing a picture of her favorite Princess, Princess Luna. She was so misunderstood, and had trouble socializing with ponies.

Reminds me of somepony.. Sketchbook thought sarcastically. She was, of course, referring to herself. Sketchbook was a socially awkward filly who trouble starting even the simplest and smallest conversations. The light blue mare adjusted her black rectangle glasses and continued sketching. The details of the Princess were expressed immensely, including her sparkling mane and dazzling eyes. The sketch was so realistic, so lifelike Sketchbook thought that she could touch it...

Suddenly, a bright flash of light hit the blue mare's face, sending her soft black-and-blue mane flowing back. Much to Sketchbook's surprise, a cutie mark had appeared on her flank. It was a bright red heart with a pencil making a rounded line towards it. It was true. Her special talent was drawing.

The next day at school, Sketchbook ran over to her best friend, Flamethrower. The handsome stallion was a dazzlingly bright orange with a red mane almost like Spitfire's. he had deep blue eyes that glistened in the light. His cutie mark was a blazing red comet.

"Flamethrower! Guess what happened!!" Sketchbook squealed excitedly to her friend.

The orange stallion turned around. "What?"

"I got my cutie mark!!"

"No way!"

"Yes way!!

Flamethrower looked at his friend's flank. "Totally awesome! You've discovered your special talent! Plus, all those Stuck-up kids won't pink on you anymore now that you don't have a blank flank!"

"Yeah! I had always thought Sketching things was fun, but I never knew that it would be my special talent!"

Right after she said that, an orange Pegasus filly trotted up to her. "YOU got your cutie mark too?" The filly let out a groan. She and her friends were about the only ones in their class that didn't have their cutie marks. Sketchbook knew the filly as Scootaloo. Her two friends, a white unicorn and a pale yellow earth pony, walked up behind her. Sketchbook knew them, too. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.

"ANOTHER pony got their cutie mark?" Sweetie Belle groaned.

"Yer Kiddin' me!" Apple Bloom cried. Sketchbook couldn't help but take pity on the three other fillies. Besides, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had targeted them the most.As If by magic, the two annoying fillies came out of nowhere.

Diamond Tiara looked at Sketchbook. "So, Blank Flank, find your special tal-"

Sketchbook cut her off. "Yes. I actually did!" She turned her flank towards the pink filly. "See?"

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon gasped. "No way!" They both cried out.

"Yes way!" Suddenly, the bell rang for class to start.

As Sketchbook trotted into class, everyone looked at her new cutie mark. She blushed as she headed to her seat.

As Sketchbook trotted home after school, she levitated a notebook and a pencil. She was sketching a beautiful picture of a bird. Specifically, a Blue Jay. It's wings were spread wide apart, it's elegant feathers ruffling in the wind. Once again Sketchbook thought that she could touch it...

Suddenly, Sketchbook was given a hard shove in the side. Standing by her was a muscled Pegasus stallion. He had a broad dark blue body and a black mane. His amber eyes seemed cold.

"Hey Junkbook!" He sneered.

Sketchbook rolled her eyes as she picked up her balance, notebook and pencil again. "Shut up." She murmured as she continued walking.

"What'cha drawing, huh? A garbage bird? Or is that just a blob?" The stallion hissed.

"It's a Blue Jay. Now leave me alone." Sketchbook stated.

"Aww.. can't I have a peek?" The stallion said in a fake whiny voice. He dove out of the sky, grabbing Sketchbook's notepad with a powerful jaw. Skechbook tried to wrench it away from him, but he was too strong. He grabbed it, stopping Sketchbook's magic, leaving her lying on the ground. The stallion snickered, ripping out a few pages. Sketchbook tried to plead with him to stop, but no sound came out. After ripping out a few more of Sketchbook's artwork, he dropped the notebook on Sketch's head. Hot tears flooded Sketchbook's eyes. She finally burst into tears.

Sketchbok ran home, tears falling. She slammed the door to her house, not even bothering to say hello to her mother. She went into her room, shutting the door tightly and locking it. She stared at her sketchbook, now bare of her best pieces.

Wait, She thought. If my special talent is sketching, than maybe I can redraw these! Sketchbook wiped away her tears with the back of her hoof and picked up her pencil. She started sketching. She redrew her sketch of Princess Luna, Her sketch of Princess Celestia, her sketch of a dragon, her sketch of the Canterlot Castle, and a lot more. She had a feeling that someone was watching her, but she didn't care. Finally, after about an hour or two, she finished.

The Next day, Sketchbook told Flamethrower the whole story. She even brought her sketchbook for proof.

"Awesome! Sketch, these drawing are amazing! You could be FAMOUS for these someday!" Flamethrower told her after she told her story and showed him the ripped-out pages and the redrawn versions.

"Flamethrower, are you serious?" Sketch asked. "I have a destiny to fulfill, but it doesn't involve me being famous!"

"It could happen!" Flamethrower replied. "You're the best artist in the class. Maybe even in all of Ponyville! Maybe even all of Equestria!"

"Pfft.. Yeah right! This dork being famous!" Said a slightly high-pitched voice from behind them. It was Diamond Tiara.

"Shut your big mouth, Diamond. She could too be famous!" Flamethrower argued.

"This nerd? No way! You must be thinking of me!" Diamond Tiara shot back.

"You are SO vain, Diamond Tiara! No wonder your special talent is being a brat!" Flamethrower said angrily.

"You say that like it's a BAD thing!" Diamond Tiara sneered. "Come on, Silver, we don't have time for these LOSERS. Lets' go!" She trotted off with Silver Spoon hot on her hooves.

"She's right.. I could NEVER be famous. I'm just a silly like dork who likes to sketch useless things." Sketchbook said shyly.

"No you're not! You are a great artist. Don't listen to that Big Mouth." Flamethrower assured her.

"Yeah right.." Sketchbook stated as she trotted glumly into class.

Chapter Two- The Letter

As Sketchbook sat gloomily in the classroom, the words of Flamethrower and Diamond Tiara's conversation floated in her head. It was all so crazy, she was barely paying attention to what Cheerilee was saying.

Famous. Dork. Her. Artwork. Best.

A shout made her snap back to reality. "Sketchbook! Are you listening?" It was Cheerilee.

"Y-Yes! I'm so sorry!" Of course, that made all the other kids giggle. Sketchbook blushed with embarrassment.

Sketchbook trotted home, the conversation from that morning still running through her mind.
"There's no way I could be famous!" She said to herself. "Barely anypony knows me!"
"You got that right."
Oh no. Sketchbook thought. It's Aquafine.

The dark blue stallion was standing right in front of her. Sketch knew it meant trouble.

"You got some more pencil scratches for me today?" He snarled.

"Go away!" Sketchbook yelled angrily.

"You think you can tell me what to do?" Aquafine laughed. He started running towards Sketchbook, but he was stopped right in his tracks.

"Hold it right there!" A lavender alicorn stood near Sketchbook and Aquafine. She was using her magic to hold onto Aqua's tail so that he couldn't move."How dare you try to hurt an innocent filly like that?!" Sketchbook gasped. She had recognized this pony as Twilight Sparkle. Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Aquafine blushed. "Oh.. Uh...Twilight! I was, uh,, just...."

"Bullying a filly?" Twilight Sparkle said angrily. "If Princess Celestia knew what was happening.." Her voice trailed off. She dropped Aquafine to the ground, and he scrambled away, kicking up dust. Sketchbook chuckled slightly.

"P-Princess Twilight!" Sketchbook said, astonished. "Thank you!"

"Of course." The purple mare said as if it were nothing. "What's that?"

She motioned to her sketchbook.

"Um, that's just my sketchbook." The filly said.