//------------------------------// // Chapter 24 - Grey // Story: The Red Dusk // by Barony //------------------------------// The rain came down in droves, every few minutes stopping and every few minutes beginning yet again. The water had made almost a sheet, rather a curtain, with which one could not see through, with it fluttering every few seconds as the rain surged and went back to a constant, steady pour. The lightning was but a reassurance that there was, indeed, light in the land with which the weather had grabbed hold of forcefully and with great vigor, knowing that it would not hold on for very long. Atleast, this is what a bored alicorn thought of as he looked out the window, sitting on a cushion, staring outside. Behind him, Rarity listened in on her radio, a weather warning which said something about a "Everfree stormsurge.", with which the mare had responded to with a worried sigh and furrowed eyebrows. The Everfree was always so famous for its unpredictable weather that came and went at the clip-clop of a hoof. Yet, it was so interesting to the alicorn, so fun too to dance in the open sometimes in full kit, to wash himself and his armor of whatever impurities laid upon him or it. Yet, for him, dance is used loosely. He never had time to learn how to dance like all the others on Earth, like those who would perform to him when he entered such towns that supported him, deep in the frigid North, deep in the hostile forests of the Southeast, and scattered about in the sands of the desert. He showed interest, but yet again, it was downplayed by...a 'compulsion' that was forced upon him to keep on training, to focus on one thing and one thing only. The most he can do is tap, and that was it. Another bolt of lightning lands not too far out from the Boutique, and it was at this point that Red could hear hooves walking upon the kitchen tile. He looks behind him to see Rarity taking a receiver from a phone port right outside the kitchen's entrance arch, upon a small, stout table with a drawer. With her hoof, she dials some random number, each press emitting an annoying beep, before it floats up to her ear to leave the mare to wait uneasily. She notices Red staring, the unicorn giving a quick wave with a barely genuine smile before turning around, the cable laying itself on the back of her neck. After a few seconds, the low sound of somepony talking can just be heard in the white noise of the rain's drone against the house. "Ah, yes. Applejack, is that you?...Yes, he is here, I doubt he'll have anything to say to you regarding ehh...What? You found who?... Oh he'll definitely understand..." Rarity looks over her shoulder to see Red, whose straight face had not changed, except for the fact his lip twitched a bit. It better be a good reason for their disappearance. "Darling, if you don't mind me asking, is Sweetie Belle over there?...She is? Oh thank Celestia! I've been so worried about her the last thirty minutes, being out there in the rain, bound to get a cold and get dirty...Whats that?...Oh...Yes, ofcourse..." Rarity looks over her shoulder once again to see Red looking at her, periodically looking at other parts of the room, outside the window, anywhere of some interest. "Can you get her back here? She...Okay...You'll be over soon? Alright...Well, goodbye, Applejack... Stay dry, yes, goodbye..." Rarity puts down the receiver, the piece making a click as it docked with the home set. She looks over at Red, who still sat, doing what he had been doing the last time she looked. He blows out through his nose, blinking, the rain continuing to provide a white noise for him to think more clearly. What was he thinking about before Rarity got on the phone? He frowns, his brows furrowing as he tries to remember something from a few minutes ago... He huffs, disappointed. Maybe it'll come to him later, when he's walking in the rain. Speaking of which... He looks over at Rarity, who was nowhere in his sight from his position at the kitchen window. He gets up from his cushion, doing a light stretch and walking over to the kitchen's arch. He walks into the center of the structure, looking up to see the two other upper levels of the building, a rather dark part of it by now, the only lights on being the ones at the base level. He looks around, looking for the distinct alabaster unicorn to pop out at him in midst of all the different colored fabric rolls, dresses, and brown figures, but alas, he saw nothing of the sort. But what he did see was a lit-up room underneath the staircase, with a small poster board beside it. On it, there were reminders for getting specific types of fabrics such as Hashmir wool, grocery lists, many of them crossed out, and even a June calendar which had a Friday seemingly erratically circled with marker: that was yesterday. Red quickly browsed throughout the board with his eyes, before bowing down his head to go underneath the overhanging staircase, going inside of the room to see a rather cluttered desk with a lamp overhanging a bunch of different documents and design concepts for dresses and such. There was a computer on another desk in the back, a notably newer and smoother looking model in comparison to the one that Red was shown by Shining at the castle. Right beside it was an old camera, a ‘Kikon’ camera that showed some wear and tear. Odd for something in this ‘perfect’ world that resided inside of the large, cavernous house. However, Red had most importantly found Rarity, sitting at the cluttered desk, writing on a notebook with what seems to be an antique fountain pen. She notices him, looking up at him from her sitting position on a low stool. "Oh, Red! Uhm... Do you need anything, darling?" she asks, eyes slightly widened, but other than that, she seemed relatively calm, albeit startled. The alicorn simply shakes his head, looking out the door with a glance. "I believe I will be taking my leave, Rarity. I just wanted to inform you." he says in a usual blank voice, the unicorn taken aback. She snorts. "But Big Macintosh is coming back over here with Sweetie Belle. Don't you want to meet her, him aswell?" she asks, putting away the notebook that had half a paragraph of cursive Equestrian on it. He shakes his head, an ear flickering as thunder booms from outside. "Nay. I already met Big Macintosh in the orchards after I had gotten out of Fluttershy's house about two hours ago." the burgundy stallion takes a glance at a clock with a squint, not always being so good reading them, but he could vaguely see that it was around twelve fifty. There was alot more things to do, but nopony would want to be with him in the rain. "It's raining out there, though... You could wait out the rain." the fashionista argues, another thunder bolt making its distinctive clap outside, rather close too, the unicorn flinching. "I'd rather leave and come back at a better time. Maybe you can talk to Big Macintosh and tell him to tell the others to meet with me at Fluttershy's cottage some... time later this week." he stutters, thinking up of a better idea right then and there. "Why not tomorrow?" Rarity recoils, blinking. "Primarily to get myself settled in, hopefully get my tools and armor by then, get to know my hostess at the cottage, make myself useful." the alicorn explained, as he looked up with his eyes, thinking up of things. It was all true, he needed atleast a week to get settled in... But he also needed a week to venture into the Everfree and find ingredients and such for his plan. Ofcourse, his plan assumes that he has not forgotten which plants to use and which plants are useless... And that he doesn't get caught while harvesting them or that deep in the forest, either it by a curious townpony which he can probably catch up to and knock out or by wildlife. "Well... If you insist." He breaks himself off from thinking as he hears Rarity begin to speak once again. She points over to a long vase with a bunch of different umbrellas, each one a different size, color, and handle. Some were rounded, some had accomodations for a hoof in the middle of a straight handle. Some were cool colors, others hot. "Please, darling, take the big purple one there." Red sees it, the large purple umbrella towering over the others with a straight handle with only a rubber grip. With his magic, he pops it from the others with barely any effort, realizing just how big it was. It almost went halfway up his legs, to the base of his neck, he notes. "You know, I'd imagine ponies like Shining Armor to have this, not ponies like you." he deadpans, looking straight at Rarity while the umbrella bobs in its position, hovering next to Red. "Eh, I thought the same thing. A friend came by a month or two ago and accidentally left it here. She said I could have it, but I have not used it as much, too bland." she points to a picture in a frame with a tall, rather skinny light cyan mare besides Rarity. Behind the two in the picture was the carousel, a bit blurry too. He glanced to the corner of the picture, seeing a line of light red numbers. He squints to see them, the light red almost blending in with an orange wagon that seemed to be parked right there at the time of the image being taken. "4/18 1995" A date it seemed. They were only five years away from the beginning of the new millenium, Shining told him when he first showed him a calendar up in Canterlot. He remembers it being this particularly 'insulting' picture of a mare splayed out, showing all her body. He blushes thinking about it before he shakes his head when Rarity was looking away, a yelp coming from her as a small cup full of pencils fellover. "What umbrella do you use?" Red cocks an eyebrow, getting his answer with a point from the unicorn to behind him. A small, petite looking umbrella with some kind of design on it featuring some subdued blues, a bit of grey, and some purple. "Huh." he simply says, before looking back at her, "So, when shall I return it?" "Return...?Oh! No no no, darling~" she chuckles, shaking her head,"~it's your's." Red blinks. He's only borrowing it, is he not? Maybe he misunderstood. "It's mine?" He asks for clarification, emphasizing rather heavily on mine. "Yes, darling. Don't worry about me if that's what is bothering you." Rarity simply responds again, Red looking back at the umbrella. Its just an umbrella, a rather mediocre gift when you think about it. But in the big picture, it’s very useful. He looks outside the door to a window all the way across the building, to faintly still see the light grey ‘filter’ the rain made on the darkness outside. The summer did seem to be a wet one, atleast down here. A small smile appears on his muzzle before he finally walks out. “Well, I shall be going.” He says as he walks out from the office, the unicorn looking after him with a gleeful grin. “Oh, bye! Stay clean and dry, darling!” The alicorn hears her call out to him from behind just as he gets to the front door. He looks behind him, over at where he came from, before looking back at the door, his horn dimly glowing, holding the umbrella to his side and grasping the knob of the door. Another lightning bolt strikes relatively close as he cracks open the door, a strong breeze moving in to make his mane slightly waver. A slight mist of rain was felt on his face, a result of all the little droplets falling at almost the same exact time, so much water in the air. He steps out, quickly closing the door behind him. He sighs, breathing through his nose as he searches for the release button. A little, plastic button with a metal lever inside of the umbrella pole itself was what he was looking for, his magic quickly depressing it. The umbrella flips open to begin to block rain... And slap Red in the face, the alicorn growling while he quickly jerks his head off from the path of the umbrella, the part and the associated limb springing back up just to where his ears would’ve been. He hangs it over himself, looking around while still holding the umbrella, before finally walking right, going into the town as his hooves make their characteristically heavy clip clop on the hard road.