Colors Of Life

Split liked his job as a painter. It allowed him to travel around the land and see lots of amazing sights. He got to meet celebrities. Attend fancy parties. And even visit the palace on occasion. The pay was excellent since he was the most famous painter in Equestria. He was also somewhat of an oddity since he had no cutie mark which made ponies even more curious about him. He got some weird looks yes but he really didn’t mind as he had grown quite used to it. He didn’t know why it was but he had learned that pushing the thoughts didn’t help to do anything besides aggravate him. He saw no reason in worrying about things that he had no control over since it didn’t serve him any purpose. Life was good.

On this particular day he was on his way to the Canterlot Art Museum’s opening of the new modern art wing that he had several paintings featured in. He had his private carriage to himself and was drinking a cold glass of cucumber juice. He sat and looked at the passing landscape. It wasn’t far to Canterlot now and he would be glad to get there and out of the cramped carriage. As he looked out the window he saw a young mare limping along in a fancy dress. She was a light grey color with a mane the color of pale roses. But just as fast as he saw her she was gone. Split sat back and thought about her for a second. He wondered why she was out by herself and why she was limping but dismissed the thought since he noticed that they were pulling up to the museum.

Hanging from the front of the building was a large banner proclaiming,

GRAND OPENING OF THE MODERN ART WING FEATURING THE WORK OF SPLIT!

Split grinned to himself as he noticed his picture on the banner as well. His broad grin on his light bluish green coat and wings, red and blue mane split down the middle, and wild red and blue tail. His black glasses sitting just below his eyes unfortunately had a glare and he wondered to himself why they had not edited it out. The carriage stopped and he opened the door and climbed out. There was a cheer from a small crowd and there were quite a few cameras snapping pictures. He smiled and waved to the gathered crowd and walked up the stairs. Inside he was met with a crowd of mares and stallions in fancy dress. He was the only one in the crowd who chose not to wear any garbs to the party and didn’t really care. Most of the people here were of the group that enjoyed putting on the ritz for almost nothing. He wasn’t like that and vied for comfort over looks. He intermingled amongst the crowd for a while until he heard a clicking noise that didn’t sound like a camera. He looked around for the source of the noise but couldn’t find it before it faded and then stopped completely. There was a tinging noise that he knew was a knife being tapped against a glass and looked up to the stage to see who was talking.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts! I would like to welcome you to the grand opening of our newest wing of the museum!” The mare on the stage said, “We have amongst us tonight the stallion who donated a large sum of money that made this all possible. He is also responsible for many of the paintings in the new wing as well as many paintings throughout the museum. Please welcome to the stage. Split!”

There was a deafening stamping of hooves and Split walked up to the stage.

“Thank you. Thank you.” Split said, “When I heard that the museum was trying to open a new wing I thought to myself, ‘Why Split! You were just thinking that you needed something new. Why not donate both money and work to put in it?’ I told the curator my idea she nearly fainted from excitement!” There was a pause while the crowd laughed. “So I got to work as did the construction team and may I just say that they put me to work trying to keep up with them! So without further ado. May I present the Modern Art Wing!” He waved his forehoof towards the new hallway and the crowd surged towards it. He opened his wings and flapped up into the air. He hovered over the crowd for a second before spotting pale red hair that looked familiar. It was the limping mare from earlier. She still had the limp and he noticed that it was worse than he originally thought. He decided to ask if she was okay, flew down, and landed besides her.

“Excuse me miss. Are you alright?” He asked.

She whipped her head around and glared angrily at him.

“Yes I am.” She snapped angrily, “And I would appreciate it if you would leave me be.” And limped away with an indignant look on her face.

Split felt like he had been slapped. What had he done wrong? He had just been trying to be helpful. Then he heard the clicking sound again. He noticed that it came whenever the mare took a step on her back left hoof and also noticed that it was the one she was limping on. He wanted to go after her and demand an apology but didn’t. Instead he just shook his head and walked behind the crowd. People milled around the art but he noticed that very few were actually paying much attention to it. They were mostly socializing and he knew that his earlier assessment of the crowd had been right. They were socialites wanting to look as elite as possible. He walked around the wing, mingling with the crowd, exchanging pleasantries, and talking about his current projects for a while before growing bored. He had seen most of the art. He had painted it himself hadn’t he? He decided to go through the rest of the museum and see if any new pieces had been donated.

The museum was dark. The lights were at the dimmest setting without being fully off but Split could still see fine. Years of painting in sunsets and during starry nights had trained his eyes to see the colors around him. He saw paintings from times long ago and places he had never heard of. He knew them still though. He had studied many of the artists. As he admired one painting of the Mare in the Moon he heard the clicking again.

Shouldn’t she be with everyone else? Split thought to himself. And started towards the noise. He found her admiring one of his paintings. It was one he had painted of the sea far to the east. She looked completely mesmerized by it. He stared at her, noticing her looks for the first time. She was quite beautiful. She had a well-kept mane that looked (and smelled) of pale roses. Her coat was a light grey that reminded him of rain clouds that had not yet reached a point of bursting. She had grey eyes that matched her coat and they sparkled in the low light.

“If you think it looks nice in the painting you should see it in person.” He said casually.

She jumped when he said it since she had not noticed him. She looked at him angrily.

“Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to sneak up on ladies in the dark?” She snapped.

Once again Split felt like he had been slapped. Was she always so aggressive?

“Sorry.” He replied, “I just saw you admiring the painting. It’s one of mine you know.”

She snorted. “I’m aware. So why are you out here Mr. famous painter? Why aren’t you in there with the rest of them?”

“Well I’ve seen most of the paintings in there enough times to know their every line by heart so I figured I would take a stroll through the rest of the place. I could tell you about some of the paintings if you would like.”

She blushed. “No need.”

Split raised an eyebrow at this. “Are you sure? It’s no problem at all.”

“I’ve been here enough to know most of the paintings like the back of my hoof.”

“Oh?” He replied. “You like art?”

She mumbled something to herself.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear what you said there.” Split said.

“I said…” She said before mumbling again.

“Speak up!” Split said again.

“I SAID I LOOK AT YOU ART A LOT.” She nearly shouted before turning away.

Split stood there for a minute dumbfounded before laughing loudly. The mare turned around again looking angrier than ever.

“WHAT’S SO FUNNY!?” She demanded.

“Oh –hehehe. Just that I’ve never heard anybody so ashamed to admit they like art!” He answered, still laughing.

The mare turned around again and started to walk away. The clicking began again. Split walked next to her.

“Come on! I wasn’t trying to be rude. What’s your name?” Split asked.

“None of your damn business.” The mare snapped.

“Come on. I’ll give you a tour of my studio if you tell me.”

The mare paused at this.

“Really.” She asked.

“Yup!”

“A tour of your studio.”

“Double yup!”

“Free of charge.”

“Affirmitive!”

“Lunch included?”

“Sure. I don’t see why not.”

She thought for a minute before answering, “Fine. But it’s not a date so don’t get any ideas. My name is Melody.”

Melody, Split thought, What a lovely name for a lovely mare.