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Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1, Ponyville
Chapter 2, My Quest
Chapter 3, An apple a dozen

Prologue

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Prologue

Once upon a time in a land named πρώτη γης, there lived a group of ponies. These ponies roamed freely across the land, without rhyme nor reason as to where they were going. This land had no lasting settlements of sentient creatures, as they had yet to develop any method of communication.

Fifty-thousand years before Equestria was even settled, these ponies roamed the land without any concept of their existence, until one day, when it all changed. The ponies awoke to find that some had grown horns, and others grew wings, while the rest had developed an impressive muscular build. After a while, some went missing, disappearing overnight. Only to be seen again some time later, by the tribe that they had abandoned.

Those who were ‘missing’ from many different tribes of ponies awoke to find themselves far, far away from where they had laid their heads the night before, to find themselves with both a horn and wings. They were also taller, with a more slender build to their bodies. This intrigued some, but scared others.

Before panic could set in, a bright light enveloped the area, momentarily blinding the crowd. When their vision came back, they were met by the presence of a giant of a pony that emanated light from his very being. This made the ponies panic more, to the point of getting to their hooves, intent on running. But once they stood up, they froze as knowledge flooded through their minds. They now knew what they were, how to control their powers, and how to speak in a common language. The being then greeted the ponies, and introduced himself as “το ον”.

He had told the ponies that he had chosen them, as the distinct in their tribes, to do a task that he could no longer perform. To watch over the land as the celestial avatars of all elements of nature. He gave them all names pertaining to what they each represent, and a new name for their race, Alicorns.

ήλιος (Sun), Σελήνη (Moon), γη (Earth), ουρανός (Sky), αγαθός (Good), κακός (Evil), ζων (Live), θανατικός (Death), σύμπνοια (Harmony), and διαφωνία (Discord). Each created to counter their opposite, they were given eternal life until they relinquish their duties.

After he gave them their duties, he said his farewells, and disappeared forever. After he disappeared, the various alicorns found that their hair and coat had changed to represent what they were tasked to control. They were stunned by the events that just followed, but quickly found themselves drawn to their opposites, and later became more closely connected to each other. Harmony and Discord were the only two that didn’t feel the same bond thus forth, relinquished their duties and found that they became different beings. Harmony became a crystal tree that stood strong and embraced the land, while Discord became a creature now known as a Draconequus.Earth and Sky, as being together meant being apart. Earth agreed to be the cushion, should Sky need a safe landing.While Sky made sure to take care of Earth, in case illness took root.

The others created heirs that inherited their duties, Sun and Moon had two daughters, Good and Evil had two sons. While Live and Death’s offspring were lost throughout time.

Written by: Canvas Stories

Edited by: Potato Pride

Chapter 1, Ponyville

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Chapter 1, Ponyville

The day is nice and warm this time of year. Coming from Applewood made it so that traveling by hoof enabled me to see the great open fields and rolling hills that led to Ponyville. Judging by what my map was saying, Ponyville was just over this next, particularly large, hill. Making it to the top of the hill gave me a great view of Ponyville and the remaining distance that I needed to travel. As I looked at Ponyville, I saw what looked to be a celebration near the center of the town. Judging from where my new house was, I assumed that I was likely to pass by the gathering on my way there.

Upon arriving in the town, I saw that it was getting late, and if I wanted to unpack while it was still light, I would have to hurry. As I got closer to the big event, music began to make itself more apparent. Once on site, I saw that it was not a party, but was one of those weird crowd signings that is pretty hard to avoid joining. I quietly snuck by, so that I could get to my home and unpack.

My house would normally be hard to see, due to the eerie similarity between all the houses, but my house wasn’t far enough from the town square for that to be a problem. This was still a good distance from my newly attained workplace, being a couple of blocks away. My new occupation was working as a cashier at the new Radio Stable.

Once I arrived at my house, I levitated my key to the door’s lock, to make sure that it was the right house. After opening the door, I trotted back to my cart to levitate all of my material possessions into the house.

The next day, I awoke to the groaning of my stomach, crying out for food. I got out of bed with a groan. The kitchen was my next destination, to quell the fury of the growling monstrosity that was steadily growing within me. I had gotten the bedroom and kitchen set up last night, but there were still piles of boxes scattered around the house. Once I reached the fridge, I opened it, only to reveal a complete absence of any food.

“Aaah, I forgot to buy food yesterday!” I grumbled to myself before a well deserved hoof to the face.

I grabbed my saddle bag to prepare for the trip to the market, ten bits occupying the meager space it provided, then brushed my mane. As I walked out the front door, I immediately got the sense that I was alone. Coming from a city like Applewood made me used to dozens of ponies, and other sentient creatures, walking about the streets. Being a town, there shouldn’t be as many denizens on the streets, but this was ridiculous. There wasn’t a single trace of life on the street, aside from a bird or two. It was almost midday, the busiest time of the day, even for little settlements like this town. Giving a sigh, I began walking, assuming that they're all at the market, conversing and buying stuff.

As I traveled to the market, it seemed as if there was no one around, to the point of it seeming like a ghost town. As I reached the market, I still couldn’t see anyone, heck, even the booths were void of any vendors or goods. After a quiet sigh, I thought back to the map and remembered that there was an apple farm just on the outskirts of the town, by the name of Sweet Apple Acres. Looking around at the nearby hills, I saw an apple orchard just a bit northeast from my position. I began to walk towards the orchard, with thoughts of relief on my mind. Once I made it past the buildings, and got a better view of the farm, I saw that it was more than just a small distance away. The road was actually about four miles away going over a hill, or two miles of apple trees.

“........Buck!”

After about two and half hours of walking, I finally made it to the door of the large barn-house hybrid in the middle of the acres. Being tired, hungry, and more than a little annoyed from the day thus far lead me to feel a bit aggravated. Arriving at the door gave me some relief, and knocking the door only increased the feeling. I knocked a few times… nothing, no one was home. This sent rage through my veins, to the point of stomping on the welcome mat, but I restrained myself after two strikes.

“Okay, calm down, it’s starting to get a bit late, so they must be coming back home soon, so I’ll just wait.” I thought to myself.

30 minutes later

“Buck this, I’ll just pick them myself.”

I then proceeded towards the task of obtaining ten apples, leaving a compensation of ten bits, and a note onto the porch of the large house-barn hybrid.

Dear, owners of Sweet Apple Acres

As nopony was home, I took it upon myself to gather precisely ten apples. I personally feel that this should cover it. If you would like to file a complaint, you can find me at 397 Gryfoth Lane.

Sincerely, Blank Canvas

“Where has everypony gone, and why aren't they back?” I thought to myself as I passed the last apple tree leading out of the farm.

A large pop sound grabbed my attention, forcing me to look to my right. I gazed intently in that direction, I saw nothing at first, but after a few seconds, a bright light popped into my vision, coming from the other side of a hill just outside of town. Continuing to stare at the same place, I began to see them more frequently, and they looked like fireworks or some sort of magical beasts. Regardless, it meant that a grand celebration or big party was being conducted at the source. Being fireworks or something of the like, meant that it was a pretty big deal.

“Aaah, that must be where everypony went.”

Most of the time I wasn’t shy to join a party, especially big parties like this one. This time I would have to pass, due to the fireworks normally marking the end of it, and I was just too tired from the day thus far. Even if I were able to make it, I would just hang around the refreshments table to cool my stomach-monster back into it’s slumber. Thinking of this only served to awaken my stomach, invoking an orchestra of grumbling, forcing me to levitate an apple up to my mouth, and eat it. Now I really wanted to get home and sleep, so that I could even get up tomorrow.

Once I reached home, I could already see the lights of the party dying down, signalling that the party was over. After fumbling with the keys to open the door, I walked into my home, dropping my saddlebags on the table and lazily walking up the stairs. I plopped into bed, barely wrapping myself in a blanket, and fell asleep.

I awoke the next morning to an annoying beam of light hitting my eyes, blinding me as I reflexively opened them. I hadn’t put up the curtains the night before, resulting in the unpleasant waking I just received. I wrapped part of my blanket over my head to block the sun’s rays and go back to sleep, until I heard some knocking coming from the front door. Who could it be? No one had seen me move in, and I wasn’t expecting anyone. I groaned as I got out of bed, still half-asleep. The knocking resumed, and I quickened my pace to the stairs. I lost my hoofing half way down the stairs, dooming me to tumble down the remaining stairs, eventually landing straight on my back. After getting up, I rubbed my back a bit and continued towards the door. Upon opening the door I was greeted by an orange mare with a blonde mane and brown hat, holding a folded piece of paper in her mouth.

“I heard the tumble ya had a second ago, y’alright there, partner?” Dropping the note from her mouth as she opened it to talk.

“Yeah, I’m ok” I responded before levitating the note back to her, I saw that it was the same note that I had left at the farm the previous day.

“You must be from Sweet Apple Acres?”

“Indeed Ah’ am”

“So I guess that I didn’t pay enough for the apples then, right?”

“You must be new to town?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?” I asked suspiciously.

“This is a small town where everypony knows each other. It doesn’t go unnoticed when somepony new shows up.”

“So how much do I owe you then?”

“No need, just take them as a welcome to Ponyville gift from the Apple family.”

“Aaah, so you’re part of the apple family then.”

Her cutie mark was a dead giveaway, as an abundance of apples on one’s posterior tends to be.

“So, I take it you’ve met some other apples then?” she asked

“Hardly, I’ve just briefly talked to some in the other towns and cities I've been to. One of them did mention that the apple family is all over Equestria. Now, I have yet to ask your name”

“I’m Applejack, what's yours?”

“Blank Canvas.”

“It was nice talking to you, Mr. Canvas.”

“Canvas is fine.”

“Okay, well, it was nice talking to you, Canvas, but I need to go now. I’ll see you around.” She said, raising her hoof for a hoofshake.

“As will I.” returning the action.

After closing the door, I ran back up to my room. As the previous tumble had shaken any and all sleep from my eyes, I just went to the calendar to check the date. Seeing that it was circled reminded me that this was an important day.

“I suppose that I oughta go sooner or later.” I mumbled to myself, with a sigh.

I rushed to the bathroom and brushed my mane and tail until they pleased me. After walking out the door, I stopped at the sidewalk to gather my bearings and tried to remember the layout of the town. As I looked to my right, I was knocked over by a dangerous pink blur. As I was getting back up, I noticed that the blur was actually a distinctively mono-pink mare.

“I’m sorry ar-” After an extremely long gasp, she zipped off in the other direction.

“Okay… that was weird.” I exclaimed, then remembered that I had to go right.

As I walked down the street, I saw a white coated mare having trouble pulling a cart. In my endless chivalry, I walked over to her and offered my help.

“Do you need some help with that?”

“No thank you dear, I wouldn’t want to waste your time.” She responded.

“It’s no trouble, I was heading in that direction anyway.”

“Oh, you’re too kind.”

I pulled the cart as I followed her. As we walked, she talked about the dress that she was making was for some high roller in Canterlot, and how great it was that they came to her for such a thing. Once we got to her Boutique, she finished her rant with a heavy sigh.

“I absolutely must pay you for the hard work you’ve done for me.” She said as she unhooked the cart from me with her telekinesis.

“I can’t accept that, I am quite good on money, ma’am.”

“No, I must do something hmmm… I know! How about a nice suit?”

“I guess I could use a suit for fancy occasions...” I replied.

“How’s 5:00 PM on Tuesday? We can get the fitting done then.” She asked.

“I work at that time, Six would be better. Sorry, but I gotta go now.”

“Splendid, I’ll see you then!” She called out as I walked away.

As I saw my destination, I began to gallop. The town library was just four blocks away. As I got close to the intersection, a yellow mare intersected my path.

“STOP!” She yelled.

I planted my hooves in the mud. The ground was slippery enough that I flipped over and face planted straight in the mud. I slowed down, stopping barely a hoof-length in front of the mare. I stood up, to see a line of ducks being guarded by the yellow mare. After they passed, she turned back to me.

“I...I...I’m sorry sir, but you need to be more careful...” She said quietly, avoiding eye contact. She seemed ashamed of herself, eliciting an internal “daaw” from me, as ponies call it.

Being in cities for the past two years instilled a habit of yelling at other ponies for such things. This pony though, just looking at her made my heart grow three sizes. I didn’t have the anger to tell her off.

“Uh... It’s no problem. After all, you were helping a bunch of ducks. I might have stepped on the little guys if you hadn’t stopped me.” I said, nervously.

“You like ducks?” She spoke a bit louder, finally meeting my eyes.

“Yeah, I like ducks, who doesn’t like ducks?” I replied.

“What about your mane? You got mud all over it.”

“It’s fine, I, uh...needed a shower anyway.” I lied, showing sympathy for the timid mare.

“Mind sharing your name?” I asked

“Oh, um... My name is Fluttershy. I’ve never seen you around, are you new in town?” She asked with a little more confidence than before.

“Yeah, I just got here yesterday. The name’s Blank Canvas. I gotta get going, though. Guess I’ll see you around then, Fluttershy,” I said as I began to trot off towards the library.

“Goodbye Canvas. Sorry again about making you fall!”

After getting a bit of a distance between us, I took a moment to catch my breath. With my head hanging low, and my self esteem even lower, I continued to the library. I was halfway to the library from the last intersection, when a lightning bolt from a nearby thundercloud hit the ground just a hoof behind me. I looked up to see a rainbow-maned pegasus perched on a cloud, pointing a hoof at me as she laughed hysterically. I guess her little prank was supposed to startle me, but it just annoyed me further. After she finished her laughing fit, she flew down in front of me.

She tried to avoid my gaze as an awkward silence filled the air. Her eyes kept drifting to my mane, body, and pretty much anywhere that wasn’t my face. Eventually, she let out an awkward chuckle, and spoke.

“Sorry about that little prank, I thought you were some other pony. You look really dirty, you want a rinse?” She said, before flying back into the sky to grab the cloud once again.

“I’d appreciate it ma’am.”

“Nopony calls me ma’am. The name’s Rainbow Dash,” She said while adjusting the cloud above me.

“Sorry, I’m Blank Canvas.” I said as she started jumping on the cloud, sending a torrent of rain down on me.

“You’re new in town, right?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“Like I said, nopony calls me ma’am.”

She stopped jumping, and the rain ceased. I took a couple of steps forward, but she cut me off, and began flying circles around me. Her speed increased, and she soon became a blurry cylinder of rainbows, that I was trapped inside. The cool wind she created made my mane blow all over my face, tickling my muzzle. Soon after, she slowed down and came to a stop by my side. I felt my mane to find it almost rid of moisture.

“My very own, patented, Rainblow Dryer.” she said, taking a bow.

“Wow, Rainbow Dash, that was really impressive.” Showing a slight grin to the mare.

“Well, I am the fastest flyer in all of Equestria!”

“Thanks for the help, but I gotta get going.” I said as I began my trot to the nearby library.

“Guess I’ll see you around then, bye!”

After many an introduction, I finally made it to the library. I then proceeded to knock a few times. After a moment, I knocked a few more times, and the door opened. A small purple dragon appeared on the other side. It surprised me to see a dragon in Ponyville, but I managed to keep a straight face.

“Can I help you, sir?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m looking for a Miss Twilight Sparkle. Is she here?”

“No, but she should be back soon.”

“May I come in and wait for her?”

“Sure, the name’s Spike, by the way. You can relax on the couch.” He said moving aside to let me inside. I stepped inside and took a seat on said couch.

“So, how do you know Twilight?” I asked.

“I’m her assistant, what about you?” Spike asked

“Well, I don’t... I was sent by Princess Celestia.”

“Why would the Princess send you?”

“I think it’d be better if I tell Twilight first.” Spike grumbled a bit, and went upstairs.

I reached for my laptop from my saddlebag, but sighed, realizing that I forgot to bring it. So I entertained myself by looking at some of the books. Looking through the shelves to pick one out, I came across the section where the Daring Do books should be, but they were all taken, so I just picked out a book named Guide to Telekinesis.

After reading for about half an hour, I heard talking from outside the door. I put the book down and stood up to greet who I hoped to be the mare I was sent here for. The only thing I know about her is that she has purple hair. As the door opened, I saw a mare with purple hair enter. I bowed my head and spoke.

“Miss Twilight Sparkle, I was sent by princess Celestia to-” I then saw all the mares I’d met earlier rush into the room.

“Hey, it’s you!” All the mares, expect for the one I presumed to be Twilight, exclaimed in unison.

“That it is.” I responded, before walking up to Twilight.

“Miss Twilight Sparkle, I was sent by Celestia to be your apprentice.”

Written by: Canvas Stories

Edited by: Potato Pride and Blue_Thunder

Chapter 2, My Quest

Blank Canvas

Chapter 2, My Quest

The whole house went silent. Several seconds passed before I finally raised my head and broke the silence.

“What's wrong, didn’t the princess inform you, Miss Sparkle?” I questioned.

“I don’t think so.” she said with a bit of confusion in her voice. “Spike, did we get a letter from the Princess a while ago?”

“Yeah, we got one saying that she was sending him here, but that was over a month ago.” said Spike, from atop the stairs.

“About a month sounds right.” I thought to myself.

“A month is a long time to get from Canterlot to Ponyville.” said Applejack.

“Well, I came from Applewood.”

“You don’t seem to act like you're from Applewood.” said Twilight.

“Well that’s a bit of a generalisation.”

“I wasn’t living there for very long, I was only there for some research.” I said.

“Well, why did Celestia send you to me? Oh, does she want you to learn the magic of friendship?” She asked, with some enthusiastic flare in her voice.

“Not to my knowledge, all I know is that she sent me here to learn magic from you.”

Twilight sat down, brought a hoof up to her chin, and looked up at the ceiling, obviously now deep in thought. After a few seconds, she turned back to me.

“Why did she send you to me? Celestia’s the most powerful pony in all of Equestria.” She asked.

“I’m not sure. After I showed her my talent with magic, she said that you would be a better teacher for me.” I responded.

“Speaking of which, I’m curious about your level of skill in the arcane arts. I had to study like crazy for Princess Celestia to take me under her wing.”

“I guess I can show you something.” I said, as I thought of a spell to showcase.

“She probably just wants to know how much magical energy I have in total.”

I took my stance for a heavy levitation spell, took a deep breath, and focused. I became aware of the magical essence flowing throughout my body. I retracted it to my horn, and it started to glow a dark gray. I started to imagine how the library looked from the outside. With the image in my mind, I started trying to lift it. I felt my magic leave my horn, as it quickly gathered more from my body to replenish it. I felt my magical aura grip the house, and I lifted. I grunted, feeling like I, myself, were physically lifting a heavy object. Twilight looked around to see what I was doing and saw nothing.

“What are you doing?” She asked while looking around.

“Look outside!” I managed to get out through clenched teeth while still trying to concentrate.

With a perplexed look on her face, she walked to the door and opened it. She was taken aback, after seeing her house floating a couple dozen feet off the ground. She noticed that her house was surrounded by the same gray aura that my horn emitted.

“By Celestia, are you doing this?” She asked, in awe.

All of her friends ran to the door to see. A minor headache quickly came as I started to slowly bring the house back to the ground. They kept on staring, even after the house touched the ground. Twilight slowly turned to me as I sat on the floor, trying to recover.

“How- *pant* how was that?” I questioned, still trying to catch my breath.

“That’s... certainly some power you have there, where exactly did you come from?” Twilight asked me.

“To answer your question… well, let me tell you my story. My origin is still a mystery to me. I remember waking up far north, in a cave, during the middle of winter. I was so cold and scared. It was snowing so heavily that I couldn’t see five hoof-lengths in front of me. I would have died if not for a certain white-coated foal that brought a rescue team to me. I didn’t catch his name, but he was a unicorn, with a dark colored mane. Why I was there, and anything before then is still a mystery to me. After that, I woke up in the hospital and went on a quest to learn about the arcane art, in the hopes of becoming a very powerful unicorn. But if I could ever meet that pony that saved me, then I would try to repay my debt as best as I could.”

“Why did you go to the Princess then?” Twilight asked, interested in my story.

“Well, I have been studying and learning magic for about ten years now, and as you saw outside, I thought it was enough to impress the Princess.”

“Did you show her what you’ve shown me?” She asked, confused as to why Celestia didn’t take me as her apprentice.

“No, I levitated something bigger,” I said, taking a prideful stance.

“What was it?”

“Her whole dining and resting tower.”

Twilight’s mouth fell open.

“Wow! The whole thing?”

“Yup, the whole thing. But I will admit, it ended in a horrible nosebleed, and a migraine that lasted the rest of the day.”

“Why do you need my help? Your magic is already stronger than mine.”

“While I do have a lot of magical energy in general, there are a lot of spells I have trouble with, even things as simple as teleporting,” I said, a bit humiliated that I couldn’t do something as simple as a teleportation spell.

My horn lit up as I got ready to cast the spell. Resulting in an unpleasant explosion, directed straight towards my face.

“Wait, you have been taught under many different teachers, and none of them could help you with this?” She said, with a look of disbelief on her face.

“They trained me on how to use my magic smoothly, and helped me with some spells, but they all just said that the next one would help me with that.” I said, blushing a bit from the embarrassment.

“Ah, now I understand why she sent you to me, I know more spells than anypony!” She threw her arms up into the air with enthusiasm.

“So, will you teach me?” I asked.

“Sure, I would love to be your mentor!” She ran up and hugged me.

“I won't let you down, Princess Sparkle.” I said, hugging back. I quickly let go of her, jumping back.

“Please, just Twilight.” she said with a giggle.

“Alright, Twilight, what are you gonna teach me first?” I asked with an enthusiastic grin, obviously excited for the events to follow.

“Wow, easy there, partner.” Said Applejack.

“Yeah, Canvas. We are doing something else today, which involves your presence in Sugarcube Corner.” Twilight said.

“Wait, what?” I questioned as the pink pony started to push me from behind.

“You're going to love, love, LOVE IT!” She said with a shriek.

We walked a good five or six blocks before we got to the building they referred to as “Sugarcube Corner”. It looked like a giant gingerbread house, leading me to assume that it sold candy. They told me to wait outside for a couple minutes. I heard them mumbling a bit before they called me to come in.

“Surprise!” Roared dozens of voices as I stepped inside.

“Welcome to Ponyville, Canvey!” The pink pony blurted out.

“A party...for me? Uh… thank you!”

By: Canvas Stories

Edited by: Potato Pride and Blue_Thunder

Chapter 3, An apple a dozen

Blank Canvas

Chapter 3, An apple a dozen

The day began just like the last few: Wake up, tap the alarm clock, get out of bed, and get ready for work. I had gotten so used to this cycle that when I got to the door I realized that it was my day off. I became a little frustrated after realizing this. As I began to unravel my tie, a knock came from the front door that puzzled me for a few brief seconds.

“This is my first day off, that better not be a request for me to take a shift today.” I muttered to myself.

Upon opening the door, I was greeted by a familiar sight, an orange mare with a brown stetson, just about to knock on the already open door.

“Oh hey Applejack, what brings you here?” I slurred, blinking sleep from my eyes.

“Sorry, do ya have work today? Twilight said ya don’t.” Applejack said, trying to be formal.

I raised a single eyebrow on my unamused face.

“I don't, but still, why are you here?” I asked.

“Good, since Twilight has given you your first task.”

“Oh, well then, what is it?” I said, ears perking up to this news.

“Well, you are to come and help me with the apple orchard.” She said with a nervous grin on her face.

“Ooo, what are we doing? Are we going to turn a tree into a pony, or an apple into a orange, or are we going to fight some Timberwolves back into-” I asked rapid-fire until Applejack stopped me with her hoof.

“Woah, hold up there sugar, we're not doing any of that. We’re just going to be bucking some apple trees.” Applejack stated, promptly shattering my dreams.

I stopped and thought about this for a second.

“... Why?”

“She said something about a sound body holds a sound mind, you know, like training a muscle, I guess.”

“Guuuuuh, I guess I have to do this crap again. Just let me get out of this uniform first.” I said with a tone completely free of enthusiasm.

After a little bit of walking, we arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. We were just about to enter the acre, when a big red stallion came out, blocking our path.

“Who’s that?” I whispered to Applejack

“That’s my brother, Big Macintosh” she proudly announced

“Big…. yes, a very big one” I thought as I turned back to the red stallion, blushing a bit.

As I turned to him, I found that staring eye to eye causing me to backpedal a bit. I tried to look directly at him, but my eyes darted from his hooves to his face rapidly.

“Big Mac, Canvas. Canvas, Big Mac.” Applejack introduced, motioning between the two of them with her hooves.

Now he began mimic my actions, looking from my hooves to my face, but squinting a bit.

“Sis, Ah don’t know who this Canvas is, would ya mind telling me?” Big Mac asked with an unnaturally deep bellow.

Applejack opened her mouth to talk, but was hastily interrupted by an excited me.

“I am Blank Canvas, scholar in the magical arts and now student of Princess Twilight Sparkle!” I announced pridefully.

“... Were you the one that levitated Twilight's library?” Big Mac asked.

“Indeed I am. Speaking of Twilight, I haven’t seen her yet. Is she already in the orchard?”

I looked to the Orchard, hoping for a sign of Twilight, but was disappointed to see nothing but apple trees.

“Sorry sugarcube, but Twilight isn't going to be here.”

“Wait, what? Why?” I asked with a noticeable tinge of disappointment in my voice.

“She said she has some royal duties to attend to, and put you under mah watchful eye.”

I planted my hoof on my face, and gave an annoyed sigh.

“OK, let’s just go.” I said in a disgruntled tone.

After a good 3 hours or so of apple bucking, my left flank started to cramp, causing me to sit down and rub it for a bit. The cramp itself distracted me enough that I didn’t notice Applejack until she was only a hoof-length or two away from me.

“Y’alright there, partner?” She asked

“Yeah, I’m alright.” I said as I stood back up.

“Ya seem a bit distracted.”

“I just thought I was going to have today off, but no, I’m out here bucking apple trees.” Expressing my distaste with the current situation as I bucked another tree.

“What’s so bad about it?” She said, earning an annoyed glance from me.

“Well, first of all, I’m- OW!” I yelped as my left leg began to cramp up after a forceful buck.

“Y’alright?” She asked as she rushed up to me.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. As I was saying, I’m not particularly active.”

Applejack looked at the sky, seeing that it was going to get dark soon, and shrugged a bit.

“Welp, I guess it’s about time to head back anyway.”

“Finally, lets go- OW!” I yelped as I tried to stand up, only to fall down from the cramp in my leg.

“Wow, hold up buddy, you seem to have hurt your leg a good bit. I think it’s probably best that you don’t walk all the way home with that leg.” She deduced.

“Oh, so you're some kind of doctor now, are you?” I sniped sarcastically.

“I ain’t no doctor, but it doesn't take a doctor to tell that you can’t walk very far with that leg. why don’t you stay the night with me and mah family?”

“*Sigh*... You know what, why the hell not?”

The journey back was nice; fresh air, clear weather, and the scent of apples in the air. Oh, who am I kidding? I had a limp leg, it was getting dark, and that smell of apples just made me even more hungry then I was before. Worst of all is that I had to use Applejack for support to walk.

Upon arriving, I let out a justifiable “Finally”, and quickened my pace to the door with Applejack following my lead. Just before reaching the door, I spotted three small fillies blocking my path, causing me to skid to a stop, eliciting a brief twinge of pain from my leg. They all stared at me with big eyes and exclaimed “It’s you.”, before slowly shuffling towards me.

“Aaaah, hi, how are you three fillies doing?” I said nervously as I leaned back a bit.

“You're Twilight’s apprentice, aren't you?” The white filly asked as they creeped ever closer.

“Girls, don’t go pestering our guest. Canvas, this is my sis, Applebloom.” Applejack said as she motioned towards the orange filly.

“And these are her two friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.” Pointing towards Sweetie Belle, but finding that Scootaloo had disappeared from her original position.

“What’s wrong with your leg?” The repositioned Scootaloo asked as she jabbed the raised leg with her forehoof.

I tensed up from the unexpected pain running through my leg, and whispered through gritted teeth:

“Please don’t touch my leg.”

“Oh, sorry, are you okay?” Scootaloo said as she scooted back towards Sweetie Belle.

Once my muscles relaxed once again, I spoke:

“Yes, I’m okay, can we just go inside and talk? I’m a bit tired of walking on this leg.”

“Twilight is right, you really do need some exercise” Applejack responded callously.

As my forehooves passed the doorstep, I heard an elderly pony call out “Supper time!” and found myself in a twirl after an oncoming Big Mac charged past, with a mighty “Yup!”. I began to lose my balance as I stopped spinning, and fell to ground, only to look up to find that the three fillies had already flocked towards the voice.

“Come on Canvas, you can rest at the table.” Applejack said as she walked beside me to make sure I didn’t fall.

Everypony crowded around the dinner table, talking to each other as they ate hay and apple themed entrées, all except for me, which sat at one corner of the table just a bit away from the group. I ate persistently as I watched and listened to the three fillies talking about an adventure they embarked on in the hopes of getting their cutie mark. Applejack gave her advice to the fillies, the older pony rambled, and Big Mac remained silent through it all, but still remained a distinct part of the crowd.

“Hey Canvas, how did you get your cutie mark anyways? It doesn't look like anything to do with magic.” Applebloom asked.

“Yeah, how did you get yours?” Applejack asked.

I raised my head with the remains of an apple fritter still being crushed between my teeth. I made eye contact with the other ponies, and lifted my hoof to signal them to wait. Before talking, I looked to my cutie mark. It is a simple desktop file with a mouse cursor over it. The simplicity of it confused me as to how they could be so interested in it, but after carefully thinking about it, and devouring the remaining entrails of the poor apple fritter, it struck me why they were so curious to find out.

“Oh, well, it was way back when I was a colt, just a bit older than these three fillies.” I said as I casually motioned my hoof towards the three polytoned fillies on the other side of the table.

“I was in Canterlot and-”

“Oooh, so you are from canterlot!” Sweetie Belle interrupted enthusiastically.

“Hush.” Applebloom whispered to her friend before fixing her eyes back on me.

“... No, I’m not from Canterlot, but that is the first city I remember. Anyways, I was placed into the custody of two foster parents. One day they let me use their fancy piece of innovation called a mainframe.” I told as I wandered off into a memory.

“Mainframe? What’s a mainframe? It sounds lame.” Scootaloo asked.

“To put it in simple terms, it was a computer before computers became a popular thing.” I said blissfully to the fillies as my mind briefly wandered.

“The darn thing was old even then, but it amused me nonetheless. I started messing around with some of the digital components and next thing I know, my cutie mark appeared.” I said, pointing towards my cutie mark. “Nothing particularly special about it.”

“Then why are you training with Twilight? I thought she was good with magic, not computers.” Sweetie belle asked with a considerable amount of flare in her voice.

“True, and I am learning to enhance my magic, not my computer skills.” I responded with a chuckle.

“But... why? you know what you're good at, why do something else?” Applebloom asked.

I stopped and pondered the question for a few seconds, looking up to find the three fillies leaning increasingly closer.

“Well… there’s usually at least one thing that you will always be good at, but that doesn't mean it is going to be the thing that you like the most. Sometimes you will become interested in something different than what fate prescribed. Besides, I’m better with magic anyway.”

A short silence fell upon the three fillies as they mulled over the wise words I gave to them.

“... Pffffffff ha ha ha, whatever you old horse. You girls want to see if something happened outside?” Scootaloo called out rudely.

“YEAH!” The two other fillies yelled in perfect synchronization as they followed Scootaloo out of the room.

“Hey! I’m not ol- GAH!” I shouted as I was rudely cut off by a sharp pain in my flank from the sudden rotation.

I turned back to subside the pain in my leg, then thought to myself “Heh, maybe I am getting old.”

“Get back inside, you three, it’s time for bed anyway!” Applejack said as the fillies ran out the door.

“Big mac, can you go get them?” Applejack requested.

“Eeyup.” Big Mac responded quickly.

“That means you two as well.” Applejack said, referring to the old mare and me.

“Come on Canvas, you can sleep in the guest room for tonight.”

Written by: Canvas Stories

Edited by: Potato Pride