Nothing&NoOne

Maple smiled. "You got it." She pulled out a teapot and assorted teas, as well as a single teacup. She put them all on a slightly worn wooden tray, then levitated a small pitcher of milk onto it as well. She cut a slice of the cake and set it down gently on a plate, then placed it beside the empty teacup on the tray. She put Ebony's cake on the tray as well, then turned back to the various coffee machines. "Find a seat somewhere, I'll bring this over once your coffee is ready and the water is boiled." She called over her shoulder.

Ebony dipped her head to Iron in response, and lifted a hoof slightly as Maple addressed them. She turned her head away and looked around the cafe, her eyes settling on the plush chairs beside the frosted window near the front of the cafe. "Window seats sound good to you?" She asked, looking back up at him.

Maple glanced over at the 2 of them and half smiled slightly to herself. "Iron Bass, you go make yourself comfortable. I have..business to discuss with the princess." She shooed him away in a friendly manner, and gave Ebony a look when he was far enough away. "You have explaining to do, princess."

Ebony blinked, then laughed quietly. "Oh, Maple. "Princess"?"

Maple stuck her tongue out at her and poured the boiling water into the teapot. "That's not what I mean. Since when do you go for coffee with someone that isn't yourself?"

Ebony pouted in defense. "I've gone with Cutter before."

"Exactly." Maple smirked, glancing over at Iron. "Music festival?"

Ebony sighed and nodded. "You know I love music."

Maple grinned triumphantly, and ruffled Ebony's mane. "Did you lure him along with your sweet, sweet voice?" She asked in a sing-song voice, batting her eyelashes.

Ebony laughed and pushed her away gently. "Oh, please. I ditched Cutter and asked if he wanted to come along. There's no luring or witchcraft here." She smirked back, stepping back from the counter. Maple laughed and turned back to the mocha she was making, humming quietly to herself.

Ebony shook her head to herself and walked to the table Iron was sitting at. "..We can sit somewhere else, if you wish." She said, a bit hesitantly.

Maple groaned loudly. "So quiet. How was the festival?" She asked, wiping the counter down with a slightly damp cloth. She glanced at Iron and looked back at Ebony, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

Ebony laughed quietly. "It was delightful. Cutter made me sing, but..eh." She shrugged, raising an eyebrow back at her.

Maple giggled. "Well, you are the Princess of Song for a reason." She winked at her and put the cloth away. "Can I get you and your stallion friend a beverage? And perhaps some cake, as well?" She asked, noting how Iron was gazing at the pastries displayed on the counter.

Ebony looked at Iron and smiled, also glancing at the assorted cakes and pastries. "That sounds delightful. I'll have..a mocha and.." She made a thoughtful noise and scanned the chalkboard menu. "..A slice of the chocolate coffee bean cake."

Half Bean, still wiping down tables, looked up at the mention of his signature dish. "Always a good choice!" He grinned at her and continued working away.

Ebony laughed quietly and looked up at Iron. "Get whatever you want, Iron Bass." She smiled at him, and looked back to Maple, who had started to prepare the drink, as well as get a piece of cake neatly onto a plate using her magic. Maple looked up and looked over her shoulder to where her husband was. "Would you like a cup of coffee, Bean?"

Half Bean glanced up, pausing for only a second. "Oh, just a half for me."

Maple smirked and got another cup out. She turned to Iron and smiled. "What would you like?"

//no worries, you do a good job with it//

Ebony blinked the watery glaze away from her eyes and looked up at him. "It's..a few stores down, actually." She looked away from him and indicated with her head, her mane falling in front of her eye again. She stopped beside the door to the cafe and pulled the door open with her magic, raising a hoof and letting Iron enter first.

She stepped in the cafe after him, pulling the door shut as she did so, the chill from outside wrapping around her legs for a few seconds, as if trying to attach itself to her before the warmth of the cafe took over.

Ebony looked around. A cute little cafe; cozy with weathered brick walls, dark hardwood flooring, no 2 chairs alike or any matching tables; purposely, of course. It added to the uniqueness of the cafe, as well as the staff, who picked everything out for a reason. For example, one of the chairs was wooden and plush, stationed beside a small table that had an old map of Equestria under the glass; an interesting thing to gaze upon while one sipped their tea.

Ebony looked to the pony at the counter, who'd perked up instantly when they walked in. Apart from a pony cleaning the tables, she was alone, and had been waiting for someone to walk in for at least 20 minutes. Ebony smiled and dipped her head, and got a grin and a wave in return.

"Hello, Ebony!" The brown unicorn waved a hoof over her head, the grin still alight in her pale green eyes. Her golden brown mane bobbed around her shoulders as she leaned on the counter towards them.

Maple Harvest was a master in her trade, making the most delicious beverages, sneaking Maple Syrup into coffee for those she knew would enjoy it. If anypony would ever gain 2 cutie marks, it'd be Maple; she grew up on a Maple farm, and earned her cutie mark there for her freaky ability to make the sweetest syrup. She met Half Bean, now her husband, at the Canterlot Desserts competiton, who's Mochas and Chocolate Coffee Bean cake had blown her away. She stayed in Canterlot with him, and discovered a freaky knowledge for coffee products. The 2 now ran a cafe together, becoming known for its sweet pastry and astounding drinks.

"Good evening, Maple. Quiet night?" Ebony asked, walking to the counter, beckoning Iron with her.

Ebony walked quietly beside Iron. She glanced up at him, noticing his hanging head. She bit her lip and looked away, her mane creating a curtain between them.

She was torn. She could say something, but it didn't feel like her place to ask. At the same time, she didn't want him to feel bad in any way. But-

Ebony stopped suddenly when she heard a crunch under her hoof and looked down. The snow had crunched differently; she lifted her hoof from the snow, revealing pieces of a broken teacup, a smudge of her blood on one of the shards. She set her hoof down again, the glassy crunch sounding again, and her head hung down, her eyes staring into the snow.

She tried her best to push against the piece of the carriage, her small hooves crushing the glass she was scrabbling against, the crunching filling her ears.

"Mother-"

"Sweetie.."

"I can't-..it's too heavy.."

The filly tried pushing on the carriage again, more glass crunching around her.

"Mommy.."

She sobbed once quietly, her tiny head hanging. The tears rolled off her face and onto the ground, a few tiny droplets hitting the glass shards.

Ebony blinked, a few tears escaping her eyes. They rolled off her face and fell silently into the snow.

Ebony's ears pricked up in surprise when the Pegasus stepped out. She raised an eyebrow slightly, more curious than anything else. She laughed quietly when he recognized her, murmuring a quiet "charmed" under her breath, amusement in her voice.

She looked up to Iron when he addressed the Pegasus, taking in his horrified expression. She looked back to the Pegasus, now known to her as Barney, when he indicated her with his hoof. She glanced away, blushing slightly, but looked up again when he left and shouted over his shoulder.

Ebony half smirked and called after him. "I suppose we have that in common, then!" She laughed quietly after a few seconds and looked up at Iron, still blushing slightly. "You and I are alike, it seems." She grinned at him, leaning her head a bit to the right, letting her mane cover her one eye again.

She looked at the ground and giggled quietly again. "Sorry. Now.." She straightened up again, looking at the snow covered street. "Mm..I'm in the mood for a warm beverage. How about you, Iron Bass? You may join me, if you wish." She looked back up at him and half smiled.

Ebony looked up when and smiled when she saw Iron Bass walking towards her. She stopped and looked up at him, giggling slightly and blushing from the compliment. "Thank you..I much enjoyed your performance as well, it was delightfully energetic." She glanced at Cutter and moved a bit closer to Iron. "And, again, call me Ebony. Dot worry about formality with me." She smirked slightly and winked at him, then flicked her head to get her mane slightly away from her other eye.

Cutter stayed quiet as the stallion walked to her, inspecting his tone and awkward movements. He half smiled to himself and glanced at Ebony, who was clearly taken by the stallion's compliment. He met Ebony's gaze when she told him to call her Ebony..again..and chuckled under his breath. "Do as you wish Princess, I am merely here to guard you." He bowed his head to her slightly, then looked at Iron. "I'd admire his formality if I were you." He adjusted his helmet with his magic and looked to the street.

Ebony laughed quietly and looked back to Iron. "There, see? Don't worry about it." She levitated her crown off her head and stepped out of her shoes, then placed them all in front of Cutter. "I feel no more need for them tonight, Alfred. Leave me be about it, alright?"

Cutter levitated the items of the ground. "Yes, Princess. I trust you won't be back too late?"

Ebony smirked at him. "Yes. A search party won't be necessary."

Cutter chuckled and walked away, muttering "we'll see." Under his breath.

Ebony let out a huge sigh and fixed her scarf. "You play your instrument astoundingly well, Iron." She looked up at him partially through the sentence and smiled. She looked into his steely eyes, meeting his staring gaze, and stared back, the warmth of happiness still alight in her eyes.

"Gems. Gems, Twilight."

@,

 

I just went from a downloading spree to hiccups to downloading to programming to download to randomisationising. 

I don't like hiccups.

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world she didn't exist.

I love trains. Trains were my childhood

I love the old Steam Engines myself, I just love how they look.

Now, let's see...ASDF is taken, Sheldon is taken..I'll step in with Pinkie Pie.

2/10 never seen you before, I don't think

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world she didn't exist.

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world she didn't exist.

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world she didn't exist.

This may be what you're looking for, browse through those. If not, I'll try again

I always post things in the wrong spot as well, I know the feel.

7/10

I refer to myself as brony. I've never caught myself saying "pegasister" before, I don't think.

There's TONS of girls. Why wouldn't there be?

4/10 seen you once now, I believe.

I still think Hasbro needs to get their shit together. The thing that bothers me most is the manes..

They're probably losing money because I doubt tons of people are buying the current ones; a lot of people I've talked to are saying "I'm not buying any until they're show accurate."

They are getting better, it's true, but they still aren't that good. They could be doing WAY better; the fanbase is probably making more money off plushes than hasbro is.

The build-a-bear ones are alright. The manes are still..eh..but at least the body and everything is ok.

I'll probably still get the beanie babies, and the aurora ones. Mainly because I want MLP plushes that won't cost hundreds of dollars.

I'd hit you with Daniel's lantern.

This will be the best night EVAAAAAAR

what is this night of the living noobs?!

It would seem so..

It's going to be so special,

I'd hit you with my free sandwich card.

(Sorry this took a while, I haven't been on a computer in a few days. This is hard to do on an ipod )

Well, points for that. I could never figure Gimp out.

Alright, let's see. I'll start with the basic shading/lines/brushes first, then go on to the actual pony.

The first thing I noticed was the lines; they're very rough and shaky looking.

The shading on the far legs is a bit awkward; the rest of the body has lots of shading tones, while the far legs are just 1 colour.

The shading is a bit awkward on the rest of the body as well, some spots seem like they shouldn't be shaded (bottom of the jaw, for example, and the front of the front leg. Also, some shading under the wing would help out. It seems like it's just kind there, not attatched.)

The mane and tail look a bit odd because it seems like you used 2 different brushes; the mane is curly while the tail is straight and reflecting light.

As for the pony;

The mane looks like it's too far down his forhead. It looks like his hairline starts where his eyebrow would be.

Again, the varying brushes with the main and tail looks odd.

I'd add a line for a nostril; looks a bit strange without one.

The far front leg has a bit of an awkward pose. The leg seems to go too far up (shoulder wise), and his leg doesn't go wide enough at the bottom near where his hoof is.

The ear could use a bit more shading as well.

His eye looks like it's a bit too close to his ear; it could be centered a bit more.

The wing seems to have a couple too many lines for the feathers.. might just be me though.

Apart from those,

I really like the shading you did with the eye. I can never get the light shading with eyes done, so very good there

Props for the good work with the shading, it's pretty hard to do in Photoshop.

Also, points for using Gimp. I uninstalled it after half an hour

All in all, good job.   Digital drawing is complicated.

I'd love to see more though, keep at it :3