Sunset Shimmer checked her phone again. “Nothing,” she said, continuing her pacing.
“Me neither,” Fluttershy said, sliding her own phone back into her pocket. She rested her hand on her knee; she'd chosen to sit on the low wall instead.
“It was her idea to come to this, wasn't it?” Sunset asked.
“Yes, it was. She's trying to design an album cover. Apparently, it needs to be a hundred and forty percent awesome.”
Sunset cracked a smile. “Sounds like something she'd say,” she agreed. “Do you think she realizes she's going to need more than just one session for that?”
“I think today she was just hoping for some inspiration.”
“Well, the community art center is definitely the place for that,” Sunset said. “I love it here. I always feel so inspired after coming here.”
“Inspired enough to go… paint a wall?” Fluttershy asked cheekily.
“I'm sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sunset said loftily.
There was a pause.
“It's strange that she's late,” Fluttershy said, checking her phone again. “She's usually early to everything.”
“She's certainly fast enough,” Sunset said.
“Maybe she got lost?” Fluttershy suggested.
“Maybe, but she usually texts before then.” She checked her phone again, even though she knew it was still devoid of new messages.
Fluttershy giggled. “Remember the time she said she'd meet us at that show, but she ended up two cities over and we had to stall for time until she got there?”
“Oh, don't remind me,” Sunset groaned at the memory and pressed her fingers against her forehead. “I'm never doing stand-up again as long as I live.”
Fluttershy was about to reassuringly say that it hadn't been that bad; but she stopped as she caught sight of an approaching rainbow-colored contrail. She stood up in anticipation.
Within seconds, Rainbow Dash was there, skidding to a stop. “Hey girls! Sorry I'm late, Scootaloo’s soccer game ran long.”
“No worries,” Sunset said, relieved. “We're just glad you made it.” She lead the way into the community center. “So, today's drop-in is figure drawing-”
“Oh yeah, I remember that.”
“-but there's nothing stopping you from doing your own thing. This place is just Creativity Central.”
“Did you have any ideas of what you wanted your album cover to look like?” Fluttershy asked.
“Not really,” Rainbow admitted, “but I've got a couple concepts. I'm front and center on it, of course; but I'm also thinking rainbows, guitars, thunderbolts, lightning-”
“Sounds very, very frightening,” Fluttershy murmured.
“-a big crowd, more rainbows, maybe a mountain, and…” Rainbow stopped short. “-and a very naked girl,” she finished awkwardly.
For so there was. She stood on an elevated platform, surrounded by easels, her fingers interlocked and her hands raised above her head, balanced on one leg, and wearing not much more than a knowing smile and a bandana in her hair.
And just to make it more awkward, she knew this woman. Her name was Tree Hugger, and she was one of Fluttershy’s friends who had already graduated from school. Rainbow knew they were friends, but didn't know too much else about her (except she could apparently bake a mean batch of brownies). Now, she was knowing a lot more about her than she was completely comfortable with.
“That's normal,” Sunset said, bemused. “What did you think ‘figure drawing’ meant?”
“I don't know, I guess, like, a statue or something?” Rainbow defended herself lamely.
“She does look like a statue, though,” Fluttershy said. “She's a very good model.”
And while Rainbow was trying to not pay too much attention to certain parts of Tree Hugger’s anatomy, she didn't seem to be wobbling at all. Her supposed proclivity for brownies aside, she had defined muscles and impeccable balance.
Ok, this could work. An image began to form in her head. She could see herself flying, yeah! Guitar held over her head like she’d just found a secret item in a video game, lightning flashing behind her…
And also she was stark naked.
She winced and let the thought fade. That wasn't quite the look she was going for.
It was a little disturbing, how comfortable Tree Hugger looked. “Does she get paid for this?” Rainbow wondered aloud.
“She's a volunteer, but you can hire her out to model privately,” Fluttershy explained.
“Sounds like she just wants an opportunity to take her clothes off in other people's houses,” Rainbow muttered, giving Tree Hugger a sideways look.
To her shock, she'd heard her. Tree Hugger opened her eyes and looked over, met Rainbow’s eyes…
And she gave her the tiniest of smiles and winked.
Rainbow shuddered.
Misreading her reaction, Sunset leaned in. “You don't have to draw all the details, no one will say anything. It's more for a launching pad for ideas than anything else.”
Rainbow glanced around. Most were drawing her but in their own various styles, some with light and sketchy lines, some with thicker lines, some detailed, some not; and one who was drawing her dressed as a superhero (albeit with a substantially larger bust, complete with heart-shaped cleavage window in the center). This shouldn't be too hard at all. She nodded, mentally psyching herself up. “Yeah. Let’s get started.”
She followed her friends over to where the donated art supplies were stacked, and she slowed to a stop as she realized the extent of her art supply knowledge didn’t go much further than fingerpaint and doodling in the margins of her school notes. “Ok, this looks good,” Rainbow said, picking up what looked like cloth on a square.
“That's canvas,” Fluttershy explained, “and it's more for paint than pencil. You're sketching, and you're just starting out. Try one of those sheets of sketching paper, and a clipboard to hold it.”
“Sounds good,” Rainbow said. She wandered over and picked up a big sheet of light paper.
“That's newsprint,” Sunset said.
Rainbow checked the back, but there was nothing printed on it. “If you say so,” she said.
“No, just… take this,” Sunset said, gathering a few beginner-friendly pages and a large clipboard.
Rainbow took them, a little bemused. Art was apparently very serious business.
But to create art, you also need tools, and Rainbow looked at the stack of pencils. Numbers like ‘2.5’, ‘6B’, and ‘4H’ jumped out at her. “And here I thought pencils could only count to two,” she joked. She grabbed a few and examined their points, trying to see if she could tell the difference. They all looked pretty gray to her. Maybe art was harder than she thought it would be.
“Try this one,” Fluttershy suggested, holding out a pencil reading 2H. “This one is easier to erase but dark enough to see, doesn’t smudge as much, and you can always go over it with a heavier pencil later.”
“Erase? What, you think I won't get it right the first time?” Rainbow asked teasingly.
“No,” Sunset and Fluttershy said in unison.
Rainbow scowled and took the pencil, and paused as she noticed something. “This one doesn't even have an eraser.”
“They come separately in the art world,” Sunset said, pointing to a different section.
Rainbow ambled over. She paused as she noticed something seemingly out of place. She reached out a finger and poked at the offending object. “Is this poster tack?”
“That’s a kneaded eraser,” Sunset said.
Rainbow picked it up and began squeezing it between her fingers. “What's so needed about this kind of eraser?” she asked. “I've always just used the pink ones.”
“No, kneaded as in… never mind. Just use one of the white vinyl ones.”
Now, finally, with all her supplies in hand, she was ready. She sat down, looked at Tree Hugger, and began drawing.
Sunset shuffled uncomfortably as she heard yet another page be pulled off the clipboard and unceremoniously dumped on the ground. Rainbow had gone back for paper again, and judging by her muttering, she was having a hard time getting her mental vision on the page.
But it seemed the eighth time was the charm. This time, the sound of pencil scratchings was consistent, sustained, and lasted over ten minutes. Even Tree Hugger was intrigued enough to open an eye to check on her. Curiosity overcame her. She set her paints down and as innocently as possible meandered over.
“Whoa, Rainbow,” Sunset said, legitimately impressed by what Rainbow had drawn. “That’s really good.”
“Thanks,” Rainbow said, shaking out her hand. “I think I’ve really got it this time.” She winced, shaking it out a bit more slowly and extending her fingers.
“Hand cramping?” Sunset asked knowingly. “You might want to use an easel, just for the support. Any one that isn’t currently being used is fair game.” She gestured towards the circle.
Rainbow could see two open spots, both right next to each other. One was a great big easel, bulky, and looked like it had been made with two-by-fours bolted together; while the other was much less so, with a slim frame made of slender rods so thin they looked like spindles.
“I guess there's a difference between these two, too, huh?” she asked Fluttershy, half jokingly, half in seriousness.
“Oh, yes,” Fluttershy said, pausing her own painting. “Go with the smaller one. I mean, it's not a huge deal; but, generally speaking…
“You should always choose the lesser of two easels.”
