The Artists

"Pen, get off yer lazy little pen n' paper lovin' flank!" I shout. We have finally arrived at our destination, Deivans. Name's Nightly Storm, or just Nightly. I'm a southern pegasus pony artist. Mouthful, I know. My friend Blue Pen and I are on our way to find some inspiration for our art, startin' off in a far off land that other ponies rarely visit. I heard it storms a LOT here, and I draw storms an awful lot, so... that's pretty good.

My friend here's Blue Pen. Known her since kindergarten. She's my best friend in the whole of Equestria. Can I even say that if we're not even in Equestria? I guess I can. If not, "best friend in the whole world." There, better. We each have our own separate interests when it comes to art. She makes quick little pen and paper sketches with the occasional color, and I make oil on canvas drawnings. I draw storms a little too much and she draws animals and wildlife a little too much. It's not a big deal, really.

"I'm up!" Pen groans. She grabs around for her luggage, but I have already grabbed it. I throw her her canvases and pens. We rush out of the train onto the station floor.

As soon as we step off the train, we realize nothing is the same as Equestria. For one, there's a lot more than just ponies, donkeys, and mules. We see stuff like wolves and cats flying overhead. It's like we walked right into a rainbow's garden, then one of the artists from school spilled their paint all over it. Definitely wasn't what we were expectin'.

"D'you think we made a mistake?" Pen asks.

I shake my head. "Heck no! This may just be the best idea we've ever had! Explorin' new lands for inspiration? What could be better?"

"Once again, you've convinced me!" Pen chuckles. "So uh... now what?"

I look around, seeing what we can do. "Let's go find a place to stay, and then after that we'll see what we can do."

Pen and I searched all over Deivans, rather shocked at the sight of all these rainbow colored wolves and cats. From what I saw, they seemed to speak the language of ponies. They walked and talked around just like they were part of us. Yep, Devians is certainly the weirdest place I've ever been to, and I've been to Las Pegasus.

Pen and I just found a really really good hotel. It's not all run down and cruddy, but is actually well constructed and welcoming. We dropped our luggage off in our room and trotted through the streets of Deivans. We walked around for a while until we reached the market, and what a sight! I ain't gonna lie, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. The only thing that would've made it better was if it stormed a bit, but I can live with it.

"Ow!" somepony says. It's a light blue unicorn stallion in a scarf. He and his friends bumped into Blue Pen. He's with a pegasus stallion and a female Deivans-style wolf with dragon-like wings and the oddest coloring I've ever seen.

"Oh, Celestia! I'm so sorry, sir!" Pen stammers.

"'Sir,'" the stallion chuckles. "How formal. Name's Snowfire, what's yours?"

"Blue Pen, and this pegasus over here is my friend Nightly Storm. We're art students visiting to find a bit of inspiration," Pen explains.

Snowfire smiles and introduces his other friends. "My pegasus friend over here is Burner, and this wolf here is Featherbrook. We're art students, too."

I chuckle. "Really?"

"Well, kinda. Featherbrook here is into painting and sketching, whereas Snowfire and I are into performance arts," Burner explains.

"We were just heading out to find some of the nicest wild landscapes," Pen says, "wanna come?"

"Sure, why not! We actually know the perfect place! Burner, Snowfire, lead the way!" Featherbrook says. She has a southern accent, similar to mine and Blue Pen's. "Do you guys have a certain style?" she adds as Snowfire and Burner lead us to the wildlife spot.

"Nightly here absolutely loves to draw storms! Guess that all has somethin' to do with her name. I like to draw wildlife and landscapes. I sometimes draw portraits of my friends. Of course, I have my own little art style that isn't really realistic," Pen explains.

"I stay to oil on canvas, and Blue Pen sketches on paper," I add.

Featherbrook chuckles. "Well, lucky for you, Nightly, we've got some rain planned this afternoon. I, myself, love rain!"

"Same here!" I exclaim. "When I was in high school, I helped a bit with the weather for money. I still do today in order to pay for my and Blue Pen's apartment."

"What does Blue Pen do?"

"She sells some of her sketches to a collector."

"Already goin' big I see!" Featherbrook chuckles again.

"Hey!" Burner shouts from the front of the pack. "Here's the perfect spot, fillies."

Pen and I walk over a hill and see probably one of the most beautiful landscapes ever. It was a large circular area surrounded by a forest on all sides except ours, and one giant oak stood in the middle.

"This is honestly beautiful!" Pen shouts. She looks over as we hear a rustling in the leaves. A bunny hops through the undergrowth.

Featherbrook's eyes widen and she chases after the bunny. Snowfire chuckles. "She's still in touch with her feral roots!" he sighs. The ponies rush down the hill and start running around the big oak.

"Okay, picture this; a wolf named Pupear has her siblings stolen from her pack by another pack, and she places it upon herself and her friends to save them," Snowfire explains.

"I think that's insane!" Blue Pen chuckles.

"Not as insane as Burner's story idea. Go ahead, tell it to her!" he says as he looks over at Burner.

Burner chuckles. "Fine! Three canine assassins that work for the government named Emily, Talon, and Moon, run away once they learn that their most recent target is their old friend, Crescent. They live with Crescent's new family and hide from their old colleagues for the rest of their lives."

"Okay, it seems y'all love putting wolves in pony situations!" Pen says, busting out laughing.

"Well, you saw Featherbrook!" Burner says, casting his glance to Featherbrook running across the open field, chasing a rabbit. "It's not entirely impossible!"

Pen chuckles. "I guess you're right." She takes her colored pencil and finishes up her drawing.

"What'cha working on?" Burner asks as it starts to rain.

"Check it out!" Pen calls them over to her. She holds up her sketch pad.

"Woah! It's the clearing!" Snowfire says.

"Yup! Much better than the one I drew a few days ago." She shows them the sketch she made on the train.

"Ooh!" Burner winces. "Yeah, that's bad."

"Heheh, yeah..." Pen sighs. She puts her sketchbook back in her saddlebag to keep it from getting wet. "Whaddya got, Nightly?"

I look up from my painting. "Come here and look!" I say.

Burner, Pen, and Snowfire rush over to see my canvas. It's of the clearing during the rain.

"Well put me on a boat and call me a sea lion, this is fantastic!" Pen exclaims.

"Pfft what?" Snowfire chuckles. "'Put me on a boat and call me a sea lion'? What kind of expression is that?"

"Don't judge me!" Pen shouts, falling over in the dewy grass and fake-crying.

"Gee, sorry!" Snowfire mocks. "But seriously, Nightly, this is amazing! But, the rain only just started. How did you get this much painting done in time?"

"I pictured what this place'd look like during the rain. It's not that hard, really." I say.

Lightning strikes, followed by an explosion of thunder.

"Oh, Celestia," Blue Pen says. "I think it's about time we went back home. It was great meeting y'all! Seeya tomorrow?"

"Sure! How long you plannin' on staying in Deivans?" Featherbrook asks.

"We're not entirely sure," I say.

"Oh well! Seeya tomorrow anyway," Burner says. We all say goodbye and head back to the city.

Pen and I get back to our room in the nick of time, when the rain had picked up. We flop on our respective beds, leaving our saddlebags with our art supplies on the floor.

"Wow! What a day, huh?" I exclaim after catching my breath.

"Yeah," Pen says. "Glad we met three citizens who know the city inside and out."

I sigh and squint my eyes. "Ugh, I'm getting tired. You?"

"Yeah. G'night, Nightly!"

"Night!" We shut off the lights and go to sleep.