Elusive Inspiration
Heavy and Weight, twin earth ponies, run the Ponyville gym. And since half the population in town was male, the place was usually flooded. That day the Core Colts, that being Duskshine and his friends Applejack, Rainbow Blitz, elusive, Bubble Berry and Butterscotch; where all taking an exercise day. Each one was busy with his own routine: Duskshine was in the treadmill, calmly trotting; Applejack was kicking a punching bag, Rainbow Blitz was doing some wing-push while reading a Brave-Being novel, Butterscotch was lifting weights and Bubble Berry was in the aerobics class; Elusive came out of the pool, still wearing his speedo, and let out a big sigh of relief.
“Ahh, just what I needed, nothing better than a few laps on the pool just right before I jump in into my latest assignment!” Spines was already at his side waiting for the towel. Elusive tossed it to her without even looking back.
“Glad to see you keep yourself busy, Elusive!” Duskshine commented.
“Ah yes, I´m immersed into a creative frenzy! I love those! A whole week of uninterrupted work! How I wish you could understand me” Elusive was practically beaming with excitement.
“Actually I do. When I got into a study frenzy I could spent days without sleeping, jumping form one research to the next! It’s so exciting!” Duskshine said.
Both Applejack and Rainbow Blitz let out a chuckle at this.
“Yes! Once I finish my last ensemble I´ll have my Four Seasons Line completed! The best work of my career! I´m so excited!”
“Goo…good lu…good luck, Elusive!” Butterscotch squeaked while struggling with a weight that made all the other ponies cringe.
“Thank you my friends, and once I´m done with my work I´ll make sure to grant you personal outfits as a token of my appreciation.”
“Don´ need fer tah, haystack.” Applejack said while giving a finishing kick to the bag.
“Nonsense, I don’t create my art pieces for fame or recognition. My geass is to make pieces that everypony will enjoy and wore on a daily basis, which is frankly a hopeless task in this town where everypony simply refuses to wear clothes…”
“Stop being a drama queen, Lucy. Your clothes are cool, ´kay? And don´t forget you still owe me a new training outfit.” Rainbow Blitz said.
“Dudley noted, my friend. “
In that moment, Berry broke from the exercise lien and began to bounce around the whole gym like a rubber ball, bouncing from the steam room to the showers to the basketball court to the lobby to the parking lot to somehow across town and finally landed right in the middle of the group.
“…and split!”
Everypony laughed and stomped his hooves at Berry´s performance.
*****
Elusive magically levitated the final emerald piece and placed it precisely in the center of the bowtie.
“Perfect! Now it´s finally completed! The Spring Outfit! I´ve made four different types of formal suits, each representing a season of the year! Oh, would you just look at them? Look at the colors progression! It´s like watching the entire seasonal change happening right in front of your eyes! Oh Elusive, you have outdone yourself!” He was talking to nopony in particular since he was alone in the Boutique sand the company of his Egyptian cat Alexander, who couldn’t care less about his master’s excitement. “I have already finished my friend’s pieces and good ol´ Klutz will come to pick up the line later and now…I´m done. Uh, I have finished all my work. I have free time finally. Wonder what should I do? Maybe I should start working on my next line or better I should make the better of this time and indulge in some hobby…maybe visited some friends or family…ugh…oh dear.”
****
Days later, one lilac unicorn and one yellow bright pegasus were trotting down the street, heading to the Carrousel Boutique.
“We haven’t heard from Elusive in days. I wonder if he´s all right.” Butterscotch said.
“I know, Scotch. I ran into Klutz the other day and he told me that Elusive barely raised his head when he came looking for the package.” Duskshine said.
“Ugh, I hope he is not depressed or hut or sick or hearth broken or…”
“Scotch, stop it. He´s probably fine. You know Elusive, he´s always throwing tantrums.”
“I hope you´re right, Duskshine…”
They knocked the door and since they didn’t get an answer they got in. They were hoping to find elusive drape don his bathrobe and locked in his bedroom but instead they found him without clothes and sitting on his drawing board. Glad to see he was still working they approached him smiling.
“Hi Elusive! We haven’t seen you in ages!” Duskshine joked.
“Oh, hi Duskshine…” Elusive barely responded.
Unconformable silences were Butterscotch worst enemy so he tried to make small talk. “Uh, are you working in something new?”
“Meh, I made some designs but they all suck…”
“What are you talking about? These are pretty good!” Duskshine said.
“Oh please, they are an absolute rotter! That’s it, I’m quitting! ” and Elusive left the table to roam around his room, leaving his friends with confused looks.
“Umh, you’re quitting…these designs?” Butterscotch asked.
“No, I’m quitting it all, all the designing and sewing and cloth making!”
“What? You can´t do that! You can´t quit your life passion!”
“Oh, I´m sorry! I was under the impression that I was throwing my life away on a pointless pursuit that nopony else gave a flying feather about!”
“I already apologize for that!”
“You shouldn’t have, you were right…”
Since Butterscotch was on the verge of a breakdown, Duskshine had to step in. “Elusive, what’s wrong with you? This isn’t you! What happened?”
“What happened, what happened…nothing happened! You understand me?”
“No, I don’t! Not at all!”
“I have lost my mojo, my enlivenment, my furor poeticus…” since his friends were looking completely dumbfounded Eusive had to explain. “My inspiration! I have lost the will to work!”
“But Elusive, that’s just silly. You have obviously been working these past few days!” Duskshine said.
“A-and they’re really good!” Butterscotch added.
“Ugh, you don’t understand…it´s not a matter of amount, it´s a matter of will! You see, us artist, we have this hunger, this…craving for creating art! It´s bigger than us, it leads us, it guides us, it keeps us awake for days working on one single piece or producing dozens of works in one afternoon! But once the craving stops, everything just…loses sense. There´s no point in working anymore, there’s not even a point in appreciating other artist´s art, everything seems…so pointless.” And Elusive fell down into his couch.
Duskshine looked at Butterscotch, asking for an explanation, but the pegasus´s mind was a blank so he approached the depressed unicorn.
“It´s true Elusive, we don’t really understand that but we think you have been working for too long and need to take some time off. So, what do you say?”
Elusive looked at Duskshine´s hoof on his shoulder and let out a sigh. “I suppose you´re right…”
****
Duskshine and Butterscotch led his friend all the way to Sweet Apple Acres. They were convinced that a journal of hard work outdoors was just what he needed to clear his head. Elusive was in such a devastated state he didn’t bothered to complain.
“Hi, Applejack!” Duskshine greeted the orange farmer pony who was pulling a wagon full of apples.
“Well hoy-do mah friends! What bring yah lot tah mah little piece of Equestria?” he sang.
“elusive is feeling a little blue. We thought that helping you gather some apples will clear his mind.” He explained.
“HAHAHAHA…oh wait, yah serious!”
“Of course I´m serious, look Applejack; he´s really felling down for some reason we can’t understand. “
“He has lost his mojo.” Butterscotch added.
“His what now?”
“Just make him sort some apples, maybe paint one of the apple boxes you know, something to distract him…” and they turned over to see how Elijah, the family dog, jumped over elusive to kick him covering the pony in mud. In normal circumstances Elusive would have thrown a fit but this time h just stood there covered in dirt.
“Woah..it´ serious. Well, ah suppose he could sorta these morning harvest. Big sis, take Lucy to tah barn and made him pull some boxes, will yah?”
“Eeeyup!” the tall red mare sang and led Elusive to the barn. Normally, he would have made some comment about a gentleman duty to lead a lady instead but this Elusive was on the verge of becoming a statue.
“What´ gotten in tah ´im?” Applejack asked.
“Artist´s disappointment I guess…” Duskshine said.
“Ah never understand tah Lucy and them mood swings! Are all unicorns like tah? ¨cause yah also a bit of a rattle snake’s tail, haystack…”
“No, Elusive is different…and please don’t mention me snakes, you know I hate them!”
“Maybe we should take him to the gym. He always perks up after a few laps on the pool.” Butterscotch suggested while petting Elijah.
“Nah, after he pulls some them apples he´ll be back in tah mood an´ complaining ´bout every little thing!” Applejack chuckled.
Ten minutes later they went to the barn and found Macareina crying he heart loud while elusive patted her head.
“What in tarnation happened in ´ere?” Applejack yelled.
“Oh, we were just making small talk and Macareina here commented on how Applebuck was growing and how he´ll soon get this Cutie Mark and then I pointed out how he´s soon to grow up and leave the farm as all kids do and eventually my brother will do that too and soon even our friends will leave us and we´ll end up alone and the inevitably of death and all of that…” Elusive explained.
“He´s growing too fast!” Macareina cried.
“And Sweepie Bell too! He´s soon to get a mare and leave me alone with my Alexander! Oh my dearest brother! How could you?!”
“…Duskshine, get mah rope.”
****
“Come one come on come on…YEAH!!!”
The stadium was build around the ice lake, which of course was only available during the winter season, and was flooded with all kinds of ponies. On the front row, Harpsy was cheering with a foam thumb leaving his significant other Babar pretty confused. Duskshine had convinced Rainbow Blitz to take Elusive to see the game. Of course, he was against the idea but he agreed once Duskshine promised to give him the latest Brave-Being model figure.
“YEAH, this is the best game ever! I love the Ponyville Lightning! They´re the greatest, right Lucy?” and he patted him on the back, HARD.
“Yes, they’re great…” he growled.
“Hey cheer up, Lucy! You know how much these seats cost me? They’re the best location in the whole stadium!” hard to argue there, they were sitting on a cloud right above the speakers so they did have a great view but Elusive was slowly going deaf due to the announcements.
“I´m sorry Blitz, I´m just not a big fan of hockey...or losing my hearing.”
“AH, stop being so picky! Come on, let’s enjoy the game!”
“I also want to apologize for not finish your training outfit…”
“My what? Oh, that! Yeah, I don’t care, take your time! Oh come on, are you a mule or something?! No offense.”
“None taken.” came from the row below.
“YesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesYES!!!!” While Rainbow Blitz was cheering, elusive was sighing. “Jeez, you´re really down! I thought Dusks was overreacting. What the hay is wrong with you, Lucy?”
“It´s nothing.”
“Oh, come on! What happened? You missed a cufflink again! YOU SUCK!”
“Please Blitz, just give it a rest…”
“Oh come on, I´m your friend! You can tell me anything.”
“Okay, It´s…how could I explain this? You like those Daring-Do books, right?”
“Brave-Being! Daring-Do is for mares! She´s just a filly scout with an overinflated fandom! Oh, look at me! I´m Daring-Do and I just found this rock inside a dusty cave and I look so sexy in this jacket!”
“…right. So, since you´re such a fan of the series, how would you feel once it ends?”
“It has already! I bought the final book the very same night it came out; I have to line up for a whole week but I was the first to bough it!”
“And how did it was?”
“It was awesome! The best one in the series! They even made a shout-out to the first volume! That’s not a wing!” and he pulled out his wings. “That´s a wing! HAHA! Awesome!!!”
“So you do understand me. Now that all the excitement, that all the waiting, all the wondering about what would come in the next issue is gone…what´s left?”
“What´s left?! HA, what’s left?” Blitz’s face slowly began to fell down. “…what´s left? Oh no, it is over! No more Brave-Being! No more adventures in the Low Equestria! No more animal hunting! No more Crikey! It´s all over!” Rainbow was then hit by the hockey disk but he didn’t care. “…it’s over.”
****
“We have to do something with Elusive!” Duskshine sentenced.
“Ah just have tah ran off mah own house! Macareina had been crying all nigh´ long! Ah can´ take it anymore!” Applejack lamented.
“He´s out of control! I took him to my cottage so he could cheer up and look what he do to poor Angela!” Butterscotch pointed at the bunny who was wearing a gothic dress complete with fake tears.
“That’s not even the worst thing. Look at what he did to Rainbow Blitz!” and Duskshine pointed to the cyan pegasus who was under a pile of books, frantic sorting them all.
“Read it, read it, read it twice! There´s nothing left to read! Maybe I should ry the Daring-Do series…NO! You’re a braver, Rainbow Manuel Blitz! Don’t leave the fandom!”
“This is getting out fo hoof. Elusive is turning all the ponies in town mad with his depressing attitude. He can’t make such a scandal over such a trivial matter! Yes Applejack I’m aware of the irony, put your hoof down…”
“OH, my poor baby!” Spines lamented, watching through the window.
“We have to do something!” Duskshine repeated.
“But we ´ve tried everything tah cheer ´m up! What can we do haystack?”
“I´ll said that desperate times require…” and Bubble Berry rolled the chair to reveal himself stroking Alexander. “Berry measures!”
“Berry, did you bring that chair to my house just to make that joke?”
“…perhaps.”
“But what yah mean with Berry measures?”
“What else? A PARTY!!”
****
A few hours later, Elusive was knocking at the door of Sugarcube Corner.
“All right Berriswainer, I’m here. What did you needed me for?”
“Ugh don’t call me by my full name! Now come in! Close your eyes, no peeking and…SURPRISE!!” Elusive reaction to seeing all those smiling ponies was merely raising an eyebrow. “Look, I throw you a party! And I did what you always ask me too! I bring you all the mares I know! Here´s Mrs. Cake of course and Pish Posh the fashion pony and your remember Applejack´s cousin Jazz? And here´s Applejack´s sister Macareina who is crying okay moving on and here´s Beat and Toffee and Glida and Princess Bluebelle your remember her and Poppy Pin and the three cheerleaders from the Sonic Rainboom episode and…”
“Berryswainer! What’s the point of all this?”
“The point is to cheer you up so you stop driving all the ponies in town insane.” Duskshine explained.
“Agh! First of all, I didn’t ask for your help and secondly, I don’t need any mares! And for that I don’t need any friends! What I need right now is an audience, costumers, somepony demanding my work that´ll force me to get back in to work and hopefully get back my mojo! Of all the times you could have thrown a stag party, Berryswainer…this was the right time!!”
Berry reaction was to break down into tears before his hair went straight.
“Agh, I´m going home. Good night everypony…”
Duskshine crossed his forelegs and growled.
****
The next day it was Elusive´s turn to growl as someone knocked his door. He opened it, preparing to bark at his friends but instead ran into poor Spines who backed down.
“Oh it’s you my dear. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I know you have been feeling a bit blue these days so I uh I brought somepony who might cheer you up…”
A flash of lights and loud music accompanied the arrival of the Pony of Filming, Snap Shot.
“Bongiorno! Io, Snap Shot, have arrived!”
“…oh, it’s you again.” And Elusive went back his store.
“Io, Snap Shot, had come here because this piccolo dragoness asked me to bring you back into business, Elusive!”
“This is not a business to me! I didn’t get into suit making for the bits, I was aiming to make the perfect suits that everypony will adore!”
“So? What is stopping you?”
“Because now it seems pointless, sure I could find one or two ponies who will like my suits, I could talk Prince Artemis into wearing that tuxedo again and then I´ll become famous, I could even start a fashion trend in equestrian and cause every single pony to wear my pieces but then what? I´ll be replaced by the next trend in fashion something really ridiculous like I don’t know, overalls?”
This caused Snap Shot to ponder a little so Elusive yelled a big “COME ON!” that would have made his little brother proud.
“Never the less…” Elusive just rolled his eyes. “That is pointless! An artist cannot stop producing art merely because he had a bad day! Art waits for nopony! You must keep working Elusive, endure all hardships, all in the name of your art!” Snap Shot declared and Spines applauded.
“Sure sure, this all coming from the oh so successful film director whose latest piece was censored by the Prince for using the word Derpy…” Elusive mocked him.
“Ah ma fangulo! Io couldn’t be bothered less by those critics! So the movie is censored in Equestria? Big deal, It’s a success in the griffon lands! They appreciate my works of art! La lengua de la cinema es universal!”
“Agh, I don’t care! Why does everypony have to keep bothering me? I don’t need any friends now! So…LEAVE!” and Elusive magically pushed them out his store.
“Hu, che palle! Io, Snap Shot, am leaving! Chao!”
Elusive watched the blue electric pony leave and then looked at the store, sighing deeply.
****
“That´s it! He has made Spines cry! I can stand almost everything but that was the last straw!”
Duskshine knocked in the Boutique’s door hard and when he didn’t get an answer he simply teleported in. Once inside he found the store in darkness and that Elusive had bought an organ merely to play the part.
“Who dar-AUH! what the deuce? What´s the matter with you, Duskshine?”
“What’s the matter with me? What’s the matter with you?! We have been worrying sick, busting our flanks out to cheer you up and you have done nothing but treat us like dirt!!”
“I-I didn’t ask for your help!”
“Well, we are your friends so you’re gonna get it whenever you like it or not! And I could even stand you being a jerk to your friends but you made Spines cry!”
“S-spines?”
“YES! She is so desperate to find some way to help you and when she finally got an idea you basically spit in her face! Listen to me Elusive, you better go apologize to her now or I would lock you into a box, throw the box into the river and throw the river into the sun, you get me?!”
Elusive merely blinked hard a few times and after Duskshine teleported out, he stood there wordless.
***
Later that night, Elusive went to the library. He threw some small stones to the balcony window while he called for Spines.
“Spines…Spiny-Bitsy…Spines. SPINES!”
“Woa-woo-woah-who is there?!”
“It´s me, my dear Juliet!”
Spines realized she was still wearing her sleep mask so she took it out and blushed furiously. “Wha-wha-why are you here?”
“What else? To see you, my dear.”
“R-r-r-really? And what else?”
“As romantic as this scene is, I can barely hear you my dear Spines so, please come down.”
“Oh, right!” the dragoness rushed down stairs and went next to the unicorn. “What did you needed Elusive?”
“My dear Spines, my dear Barbara…”
“Huh, only you call me that…”
“I want to apologize to you. You did something really nice bringing Snap Shot to cheer me up and I failed to appreciate it…”
“No, please Elusive! I was ju-“ but he interrupted her.
“nevertheless, as a gentlecolt I have to repay a lady’s favor so here it is…” and he placed a diamond tiara on her head.
“Oh Elusive! It’s beautiful!”
“My dear little dragoness, you never lost your faith in me, didn’t you?” and he blushed harder. “…thank you.”
And he gently kissed her forehead.
****
The next day, Elusive was back to his usual cheerful self.
“Splendid morning today, isn’t it my fellows? To apologize for my reprehensible behavior yesterday I made you all new head pieces. Butterscotch, I apologize for the mess I caused at your cottage the other day so here’s a bowler hat!”
“Thanks Elusive umh could you do something with Angela?” the little bunny did a mute humph! and turned over to keep watering the plants.
“Applejack, I know you´ll never leave your Stetson but here´s two pieces of Straw Hats for Macareina and Applebuck. I hope this will fix things between those two.”
“Thank ya kindly, haystack. I do hope this stop them crying…”
“Duskshine, thank you for your harsh words, I needed them. Here´s a homburg.”
“Thank you Elusive. Huh, it does say science…I like it.”
“And Rainbow Blitz, since you are such a fan of Brave-Being, I made you a replica of his leather hat…”
“Thanks!”
“And apologizes for making you lose your faith in your beloved series…”
“Nah, it´s fine! I got into Daring-Do now; I actually wrote a fan-fic starring the two! Hey Dusk, would you read it?”
“Sure! …woa, you get straight to the point in here…”
“Heh, keep reading. It gets better after the weeding scene!”
Elusive turned over to see Berry with his hair still straight and refusing to look him at the eye. Elusive magically placed a top hat with a card on it on his head. At his confused look he said:
“We can’t have a tea party without the hatter.”
Berry immediately perked up and hugged his friend.
“Come on, it´s time to party!!!”
Elusive watched his friends move to the picnic table and smiled. He realized what a fool he was. Worrying about things he couldn’t change instead of appreciating the things that were granted to him. So, some days he´ll feel more motivated that others. Big deal. That doesn’t mean he should stop working. That would make a great lesson for the Prince Solaris, he thought; but he´ll write it later. Right now, he had a tea- party to attend.
He smiled once more, put on his flat cap and trot to meet his friends.
