Twilight Sparkle was really beginning to love this newly found feeling of flight, and cherished the wind flowing through her wings and mane as she soared over the land of Equestria on her way back to Ponyville. Given how sensational it was to glide through the serene skies without any issue, she could certainly see why Rainbow Dash was always so eager to go flying. However, despite how nice it was to appreciate her wings without a strong fear of heights, her serenity was interrupted when she heard her cyan friend call her back to reality.

"Hey, Earth to Twilight! We're nearly there!"

Twilight nodded to Rainbow Dash as she slowed her speed, feeling grateful to have her friend escort her on long flying trips like this. While she was hesitant at first to have the pegasus with her due to her need for speed, Rainbow proved to be a surprisingly good mentor when it came to helping her friend adjust to her new wings; Dash was still rather inclined to fly ahead of Twilight, but that just helped to give the alicorn a better incentive to strengthen her own wings to keep up. As the two flew across the clear blue skies, Twilight couldn't help but smile as she saw Ponyville come closer into view.

When they landed near Sugar Cube Corner, both ponies were surprised to not hear Pinkie Pie's usual antics from within the bakery. Usually, Mister Cake would have to escort Pinkie out in order to find a new hiding spot for his bags of coffee grounds by now. Although Pinkie had told her friends and the Cakes numerous times that she didn't like the taste of coffee, none of them wanted to give her any chance of getting into the stuff. Since she was curious to see what Pinkie was up to, Twilight decided to look around town to see where she was, while Rainbow Dash went to check on Fluttershy.

As the new Princess walked around the town, she gave her usual greetings to the ponies who passed her and wished her a good day. While her coronation changed a lot of ponies' outlooks on the former librarian, Twilight was happy that most of the ponies in town didn't try to change that much in her presence. They just acted the same way around her as they did before, albeit more polite nowadays. As Twilight basked in the relief of the whole town not bowing to her every time she left the library, she was surprised when she noticed one particular pony doing something she never thought she’d see:

Pinkie Pie was sitting still.

Twilight walked over to where Pinkie was sitting, and heard her talking with a familiar-looking aqua pony who had a bandage over his right eye. The pony seemed to be drawing Pinkie as she waxed lyrical about this, that, and the other, although it didn't look like he was paying much attention to what she was saying. Instead, his eyes were narrowed in concentration while sketching out the details of Pinkie’s face, occasionally whipping his head back to get strands of his long brown mane away from his snout. Twilight caught the butt of the one-sided conversation, and soon rolled her eyes when she realized what Pinkie was talking about.

"So then I found out that since Spike was a dragon, he didn't have any problems with spicy food or even lava and stuff! But Rainbow Dash didn't know that. So when Spike ate the ghost pepper without flinching, she was all like, 'I can totally do that if the baby dragon can!' and started chewing on three at the same time! Her face was getting totally red and sweaty and stuff, and she needed to chug down two whole gallons of milk just to be able to talk again! Then she got all mad because she thought Spike cheated! Of course, that was because he said it tasted like candy, so she..."

Looking back at the pony drawing through her ramblings, Twilight's eyes widened in surprise when she noticed his cutie mark: a light-brown painter's palette with four different colors of paint within it, and a matching paintbrush underneath with red paint on the bristle.

Twilight immediately knew who the pony was, even with how drastically different he appeared since the last time she saw him. While Canvas continued to sketch Pinkie’s features, neither seemed to notice her presence when she approached. After Twilight coughed into her hoof, Pinkie finally took notice of her, which lead to the mare bursting out of her stool and hugging Twilight like she just came back from the dead.

"Twiliiiiiight! I'm so glad to see you again! How was the Crystal Empire? Was it fun? Did you bring back anything?"

Struggling to breathe, Twilight patted Pinkie Pie on the back in a gesture that was both appreciative and pleading, the party pony mercifully pulling away with a smile. "The Crystal Empire was just fine. I just had to help Shining and Cadence with some law reforms, nothing too exciting."

As she looked back to the pony on the bench, Twilight was surprised to see he was still drawing in the pad, seeming entirely focused on shading the final effects on Pinkie's mane. Noticing Canvas' lack of attention to Twilight as well, Pinkie walked up and poked him on the head with her hoof, slightly startling him as he looked up at her, somewhat peeved. "W-What. What is it?"

"Guess who's heeeeere!" Hosting a huge grin, Pinkie Pie pointed her hoof to the Princess beside her.

Canvas nearly fell off the bench for a second time whilst trying to get to his hooves at the sight of Twilight. After quickly placing the pad and his graphite on the bench, Canvas stood in front of Twilight, unsure of what the proper protocol was for addressing royalty. Breathing heavily, Canvas was only able to stammer a few noises―which were supposed to be words―until Twilight gently put her hoof up.

"It's alright. There's no need to worry." As she extended her hoof, Canvas started to put out his own before realizing his hoof was covered in graphite. Twilight pulled out a handkerchief from her saddlebag with her magic, levitating it to Canvas.

As he tried to wipe off as much of the material as he could, he bit his lower lip before looking back up at Twilight. The Princess’ smile was just as warm and inviting as he would’ve imagined, which caused him to blush profusely in trepidation. The artist took a deep breath before speaking. "M-My name is Canvas. I-I heard that you helped save me. And… And I just wanted to talk to you, and, y’know… umm…”

Much to Canvas’ surprise, Twilight placed a hoof on his shoulder, and said with the sincerest expression of gratitude and appreciation, "It's perfectly fine, Canvas. I'm really glad to see that you're okay. Just... try to relax, okay?"

Canvas nodded, a bead of sweat falling down his forehead. "I-I just wanted to thank you for what you did for me. I mean, I-I have no idea what would've happened if you didn't get me to the hospital. A-And I… I'm beyond grateful for what you've done. Just… thank you.”

Glad to finally get those words out of his muzzle, Canvas saw Twilight blush slightly as she tried to keep her composure. "Well, you're very welcome. Although, I think Troy is more deserving of your thanks than I am. He was the one who actually found you out in the storm." Twilight's words became more enthusiastic as she recalled the events. "He was actually out in that storm for about two hours. And by the time anypony noticed he was gone, he was already halfway to the hospital! Frankly, I was shocked to see a gryphon run that far!"

Canvas blinked. "Wait, the gryphon ran?” One of his brows raised up in slight confusion. “Why didn't he just fly or something?"

Twilight flinched. "Well, ummm… he apparently got hit by lightning, and one of the bolts struck his wing.”

“What!?” Canvas’ eyes shot wide-open while gawking at the Princess. “Nopony said anything about that!”

Before he could work himself into a conniption, Twilight raised her hooves in a calming gesture. “The strike just grazed him! I swear, his wings are perfectly alright now.” Canvas still looked alarmed, but the stallion no longer looked like he was going to tear down every door in Ponyville to make sure the gryphon who saved him was alright. “Anywho, when I found him, he was carrying you on his back through the storm. I believe he ran about seven-point-eight miles by the time I reached him!"

Staring at Twilight in surprise and shock, Canvas wasn't able to come up with any real response to what she just told him. He knew that the gryphon helped him, but he didn't think he went through that much trouble. Canvas tried to blink a couple times to organize his thoughts, but could only stare at the ground before saying the first thing that came to his mind.

"Holy cow..."

The two mares giggled at his response, and Canvas looked back up as Twilight replied, "I guess that's an appropriate response. Even Rainbow Dash was surprised when I told her about it."

"So… you said the guy is alright now?"

Twilight nodded with a warm smile on her face. "Rainbow Dash told me he was fine a couple days ago. I believe he went to Appleloosa to help with the drought there, but he's supposed to be back in Cloudsdale by now."

"Yeah, that was what the doctor told me. Is there a way I can contact him? I’d like to… y’know..."

Twilight put her hoof to her chin in thought. "Hmmm… I can probably get Rainbow to find him for you, but she's at Fluttershy's right now." She then looked over at her friend to ask, "Pinkie, would you mind if we stopped by her place before we go for lunch?"

Pinkie quickly nodded with a huge smile. "Sure thing! OOH! We can bring Canvas with us!"

As they both turned back to Canvas, he looked down at his hooves and bandaged legs while thinking about Pinkie's request. Even though he would’ve loved to go with them, he was already feeling sore in his joints just from standing upright, and he knew that anymore walking would just make it worse. "Ummm… Thank you for the offer,” he said as he looked back at the two of them, “but I honestly don't think I should walk around much right now. My legs still feel pretty tense from leaving the hospital this morning."

Pinkie looked at Canvas with a saddened slump in her posture, though Twilight didn't seem as upset. "Well, that's understandable. I saw for myself how bad your injuries were, so it would be a smart idea to take it slow for the time being."

After saying their goodbyes, Canvas walked back to his bench and picked up the pad. Remembering what he was doing earlier, Canvas quickly grabbed the sheet and pulled it from the pad before running back to the mares. "Pinkie, wait! You forgot this!"

Pinkie took notice of the sheet in his hoof, and quickly trotted back to Canvas in excitement. "Oh, yeah! Hey Twilight, check out what Canvas did!"

Pinkie held the paper up proudly with both her hooves, giving Twilight the opportunity to see it herself. The sheet of paper displayed a drawing of the pink mare, boasting a toothy grin that perfectly encompassed how she looked in real life. Everything about the picture looked exactly like Pinkie Pie: her eyes were drawn with perfect symmetry and shading to match the blue pair of the mare's; her mane carried the same feel of volume and energy, even on the two-dimensional surface; and her face on the paper had the exact same look and emotion as the real counterpart. Simply put, Canvas' drawing of Pinkie Pie was absolutely flawless.

"Wow!" Looking up from the sheet held by her magic, Twilight caught sight of Canvas’ blush when he saw how much both of the ponies liked his sketch. "This is amazing! Did you draw this by hoof?"

"Umm… Yeah. I… I kinda have to hold the graphite on with a rubber band, but it works." When he saw just how impressed both of the mares were, Canvas tried looking away from them to hide his face. However, what he didn’t notice was that several ponies had overheard Twilight's praise, and were now walking in to look at the paper from behind her.

"Wow, that's really good!" said one mare as she admired Canvas' sketch. "That was seriously done by hoof?"

As he glanced back at the growing crowd looking at the sheet, Canvas’ heartbeat started to accelerate as more ponies asked him about his work.

"How long did that take to make?"

“You got Pinkie to stand still? How!”

“Why, you’re as talented as my grandson, young stallion. Silver, isn’t he as good as Feathernote?”

"I couldn’t even do that with my horn!"

“It’s witchcraft, I tell ya! Witchcraft!”

“I wish I could draw like that…”

"Pfft. It’s nothing special. I could do that, too, if I wanted; I just don’t have the time for it.”

“Can you do color pieces too?"

"Draw me next! I have money!"

The crowd continued to grow as more ponies saw the sketch and asked questions. All the while, Canvas looked back at Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie with an extremely heavy blush on his face. Luckily, they started to look as overwhelmed as he was at the attention he was getting. "Alright everypony,” said the Princess authoritatively, "can you give Canvas some space, please?"

The other ponies quickly complied, giving Canvas some room as he thought about what that last pony said regarding selling more. Like a light bulb being turned on above his head, Canvas realized that he had a pristine opportunity right now. He needed to make some money, and he couldn’t really do much else with his legs leaving him mostly immobile. And if he could make some bits doing something he enjoyed, then why the heck not?

"Umm… did somepony say something about buying one?"

From the crowd, a white mare with a short, scarlet mane stepped forward. Canvas noticed that the mare had what looked to be a rose as her cutie mark.

"Yes, I was wondering how much it would cost if you drew one of me?" The mare blushed in slight embarrassment, mostly due to how the artist looked all bandaged up. "You see, I'm not really that great at taking pictures, but that one you did of Pinkie looks great! And I would love to have something like that."

As he looked around the crowd, Canvas could see that this mare wasn't the only one who wanted a sketch from him. By this point, it looked like about ten ponies were here besides Pinkie and Twilight. Even if he gave a cheap price, he knew he could easily make enough money to at least get a good meal before the day was over. So by the time he turned back towards the white and scarlet mare, Canvas bit his lip before he thought of a number.

"Well… I guess I can draw a sketch for… five bits?”

The mare smiled wide and said, "Perfect! That sounds fair."

A wave of relief washed over him as he saw that most of the ponies looked content with his price. When he finally looked back at Twilight and Pinkie, Canvas could only give them a light smile before saying, "Well, at least I have something to do while my legs get better."

The two mares nodded as the pony walked up to the stool in front of the bench. “Don’t worry, Canvas,” assured Twilight as she went off with her friend, “I’ll make sure Troy knows where you are.” After giving their goodbyes once again, Twilight and Pinkie went off to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy while Canvas sat back down.

Canvas started a new sheet, not noticing the small crowd that was forming behind his bench. Rubbing the graphite layer on the page, Canvas looked back at the white mare, who smiled when she saw he was ready to start.

"I think I'm ready. This will probably take five or ten minutes, but I promise it'll look great." Canvas placed the piece of graphite under the rubber band, and made a quick circle and framework of her face on the paper. "So, tell me a little about yourself. What's your name?"

"Oh, my name is Roseluck. I work over at the flower stand in the market district…"

While Roseluck cheerfully talked about her job, Canvas started drawing his second pony for the day. More ponies gathered around Canvas as they watched him start sketching the mare's face. A few filtered out of the crowd, curiosity sated, as they went about their day, but as he realized how much attention he was getting already, Canvas couldn’t help smiling to himself with a newfound feeling of optimism. Even if his prices were cheap, the artist was happy to know that this pony definitely wouldn't be his last.

Just so any newer readers are aware, I've recently been undergoing a big project to turn the Brushed Away series into physical books for individual sale. Because of that, I just wanted to make a quick note for which chapters have been revised so far, including this one.

I want to give my deepest thanks, as well as some well-deserved credit to the editors helping me out with this process: SirReal, and Double R. Forrest. And if anyone is interested in helping out with making this project a reality, I highly recommend checking out my Official Ko-Fi page dedicated to it.