Home.

Shala blinked and chuckled to herself. Another new pony, and a pony with a mean gut punch. She grinned and nodded her head.

"Nice punch. You said your name was Heartsong?" Shala liked this new pony already. "Shala is my name. I have a few other nicknames around here too that your bound to hear, but they are all lightweights."

Blackberry gasped for air as Heartsong hoofed him in the stomach. He got back to his hooves after a minute, leaving his bag and easel on the ground. "I don't recall writing 'key bai'..." he said a bit flat, "and I was following my dream-- I knew that if I told you in person, you'd try to stop me... admittedly had I knew then what I knew now, i'd have prefered you stopped me..." he said, his ears lowering a little at the admitting of his mistakes.

Blackberry exchanges hugs with Heartsong and smiles genuinely to see his long time friend again, "Don't worry Heart, I'm back in Ponyville, for good..." he said as he stepped aside to form a triangle between the three ponys, "just got to get my hooves back on the ground here..."

“That's stupid I would not have stopped you, you always know I supported you in your talent, you where always better than me with your art.” She picked up his bag and easel for him. “So tell me how it went, did you make enough money to move back here? Oh and I have to tell you how things went for me while you where away, remember that ratty old basement apartment I used to rent, well I don't have that anymore I got my own house.” She jumped around, overjoyed to be seeing her oldest friend again after him being away for a year.

Shala could see that these two were really wanting to catch up with each other. She simply sat in place and took out her flask from her mane before drinking some.

"how it went..." Blackberry said a little weakly as he glanced to Shala, who already knew how it went. "uh--not well..." he said with a bit of an disappointed smile.

Blackberry lowered his head a little and his horn began to glow. His easel floated from Heartsong and over to him, followed quickly behind by a paintbrush from his saddle bags. His eyes also began to glow as he watched the canvas as the brush began going to work.

It did a quick drawing, it was sketch but still well done, and obviously blackberry. A little more sketching and it was clear to see he was in ponyville. Before either of the mares could say anything the paintbrush began moving again, but not touching the canvas, it was more like it was conducting an orchestra. Immediately the drawing of blackberry began to move.

He was loaded with his easel and saddlebags, much like he was today. He approached a house and appeared to almost knock, but he hesitated. He hung his head as a quill and parchment floated from his bag and wrote a quick note. The not attached itself to the door and Blackberry turned away from it. He took a step forward and stopped, looking back towards the house. He turned forward again and lowered his head before galloping off. The door opened after the image of Blackberry disappeared off the canvas and a sketch of Pirouette stepped out. She looked at the note and began sobbing.

Blackberry was on the train pulling into Grand Central Station, the smile was back on his face, as his face was full of energy. He got off the train and it transitioned him to getting into an apartment in the housing area of Manehatten. Everything seemed to be going great. He began painting picture after picture and placing them in his apartment, he stepped out of the apartment and was in an art gallery, shaking hooves with the curator. He spun and the gallery was filled with the various paintings and ponys were filling the room. He looked about as snooty looking ponys were looking at the art with bewildered looks on their faces. He went to one and they shook their heads and trotted off. He ran to another and they ignored him, leaving the canvas, every pony walked off the canvas and the curator went up to him and pointed him away.

The scene transitioned to Blackberry sitting on the street, various paintings around him as he tried to get the attention of passing ponys. None would stop and look at his work. The few that did stop quickly kept going as soon as he approached them. The scene goes back to his apartment and he hands his last few bits to his landlord, he looks at them and shakes his head, Blackberry pleads with the landlord but the landlord points Blackberry away in the same fashion as the curator. The landlord leaves and Blackberry goes into a fit of anger and begins destroying his works hanging around the room, smashing the canvases.

The scene returns Blackberry to the streets, this time he has his easel and saddlebags with him and he has a clothe over his head as he sits under the raining, looking completely broken. He hears a scuffle and looks up to see a black stallion being assaulted by some ruffian ponys. He quickly jumps to his hooves and runs at the other ponys. He uses his powers of levitation to throw a trash can at one and tackles the other. Taken off guard the two ponys flee.

The black stallion looks thankfully to Blackberry and motions him to follow. He leads Blackberry to a falling apart building in the slums of Manehatten where, along with a musically inclined pony, he is allowed to stay. The building is dark, cold, and leaking in the rain, but its a roof. Blackberry continues to paint in this run down home, and every so often it shows him sell a painting, getting just a few bits per brilliant piece. All the bits he gets are shown going to buy firewood and food so that the three ponys can stay warm and fed.

Blackberry loads up his easel and saddle bags and hugs the two stallions a fond farewell and walks out of Manehatten, heading for ponyville on foot with little money and little food, but a smile on his face as he looks onwards to Ponyville, the painting remains still with the image of Blackberry overlooking Ponyville

Blackberry's horn and eyes stop glowing and he gasps as he colapses to his needs, breathing hard, "I've never done that for so long before..." he said, exhausted.

(+3 points for anypony who knows to what i paid homage too. ;))

Upon the completion of Blackberry's story, Heartsong tearfully explained that she was infact on her way to the train station to make her way to Canterlot, as she was taking her music career to the next step. Blackberry and Heartsong gave each other a sorrowful hug goodbye and he wished her luck. He waved his hoof at his friend as she made for the train station to take her life to its next step. (Oddly enough no one has seen her since the Changeling invasion. ;))(Of course I'll edit this bit if the player who was controlling that character comes back and tries to retool that character to make it acceptable...)

Blackberry lowered his hoof and sighed as he turned back to Shala, a bit of disappointment clear on his face as he just got to reconnect with his childhood friend, and now she was gone again. "Well, I guess it's like coming to a whole new town..." Blackberry sighed, "The ponies I knew have moved on, and so many new ponies have moved to town..."

Blackberry gave a weak smile to Shala as he used his magic to fold up his easel and put it back on his back, "Would it be alright if I stayed at your place until I was able to get settled?" he asked, "I intend on doing some work to try to make some bits, I'd like to pay you rent for your generosity when I'm able..." he told her

Shala watched the whole ordeal with Heartsong and Blackberry from a distance, not wanting to interrupt. Once they parted ways, she moved in on Blackberry and watched her friend leave.

"...Huh...Well that blows." She said with a shrug. Shala took a few steps in the other direction toward her home. "Yeah, you can hang at my place. I don't charge like some nutters do though. You seem like a clean kind of pony anyhow."