//------------------------------// // A Grayscale Town // Story: My Little Mages: End of the Rainbow // by Foxhelm //------------------------------// The next morning, the six had just exited Hotel Hope. Twilight yawned as she stretched her wings and arms, “Well...it wasn't the worst night of sleep ever.” She stated as Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow also yawned and stretched in an attempt to wake up. While both Applejack and Rarity both looked well-rested and ready to take on the world. Rarity brushed her hair back, “While not the bed I was expecting, I can’t imagine last night being that bad.” “Yah’ll need to spend more time camping.” Applejack added, “Getting used to sleeping on the ground makes sleeping anywhere a lot easier.” As she and Rarity stepped ahead, both were seemingly oblivious to their friends’ reactions or the fact that the sun’s light revealing the town was white, black and all the shades of gray. “But not everyone here could spend the night in the same bed as their boyfriend,” Rainbow muttered to herself. “You’re just sour that you lost the rock paper scissors to not sleep on the broken bed, Dashie,” Rarity countered with a giggle. “Nah, she’s just jealous that her girlfriend wasn’t in the other half,” Applejack added with her own laugh. “I AM NOT G-!!!” Rainbow desired so much to shout, but her mouth was covered by Twilight. Twilight shook her head as pointed to the inhabitants of the town who were murmuring among themselves. “Will you calm down, you’re making a scene.” The princess requested. Rainbow pouted but held her tongue. “Say, does anyone know why everyone is looking at us anyway?” Fluttershy asked as even though they had quieted down, the people hadn’t gone back to their normal business. Yet the residents of Hope Hollow still looked at them and muttered. “Maybe they see an uncanny family resemblance between myself and my father, if Petunia is right, this is his hometown.” Rarity mused. She then looked to Rainbow and Twilight, “Then again, a demigod is rare sight so it could be Twilight.” She countered, “or Dashie as she is the guest of honor and there is a fan club of hers based here.” She continued to muse. However, something felt off and Rarity took out her red sowing glasses and started to look around. She then froze as something clicked. She took off her glasses, “No.” she declared. “They're staring because we're the only part of this town that isn't…” she trailed off as she connected the dots, “gray.” The other five looked at her in confusion, “Look around. All the colors here are gone!” She pointed out. Now that it was called to their attention, the other five could not notice the fact. As the reality sank in, “That's so strange.” Twilight mused as she held her chin and thought back to last night, “It's just like I noticed about Petunia last night. Everything's mostly gray.” The group then spotted Petunia talking with another resident of the town. The latter then walked away before Petunia turned to the six visitors, “Oh!” she exclaimed and waved to them, “Hellooo!” she cheered greeting them yet again. “This is so weird!” Rainbow pointed out as Petunia turned to go about her day as the group watched the town. Rarity shook her head, “No, darling, for them this is the norm, we’re the ones that are weird.” The enchantress mused. “While this most certainly isn’t the norm in the whole of Mystica, we have to keep things in perspective.” She continued, “But what could have caused a city, the nearby area and the inhabitants to have every pigment shift to grayscale?” She mused as she held her chin. “While Petunia might be willin’ to answer that question, we still need to talk to the mayor,” Applejack point out. “So we’ll add that to the list,” Rarity said as she jotted that down, “Perhaps should make that the priority.” She added as she drew a star next to it and underlined it three times. “Still we need to find him first,” the paladin countered. “To city hall.” Applejack declared before the group headed towards city hall. While that occurred, two Skyborn children, a boy dressed in a hooded sweater and a girl dress in a tee shirt and cap were watching. The duo couldn’t have been a collective age of 21, flew literally right next to each other grunting as they seemed to shove and push the other to the side. “Quit shoving!” The girl shouted. “Shoving?” The boy asked as he stopped to hover for a second, “These are pro-level moves I'm doing, sis.” He retorted. “Yeah— Ohhh!” He shouted as he realized the girl was ahead of him. He then bolted ahead to catch up to her and end up once again neck and neck. “C'mon! Let go!” The girl exclaimed before the two saw that they were about to crash into Twilight and Co. The siblings gasped as they landed and grunted as they skidded to a halt. Once they stopped they gasped at the sight of Rainbow Dash, before they backed away from the group ashamed of what Rainbow might have seen. They then zipped away to hide behind the corner of a building. This left the six, Rainbow, in particular, befuddled. With the young siblings gone the group’s sight, the next sound they heard was the voice of a woman over fifty that was most likely from Manahatten. “Don't pout, dear. It'll wrinkle your withers.” The six turned their gaze to see two Magicborn, an old married couple, the woman dressed in a long gown, her hair done up like an upper-crest old-money resident of Manahattan with a rendering of two diamonds cut in the shapes of kites on her gown’s right shoulder. Around her neck was a necklace that looked like a string of pearls with a diamond. The man next to her was also a Magicborn, he had a brush-like mustache and was dressed most noticeably in a long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled and top button unbuttoned with fancy looking neck scarf all under a sleeveless sweater vest, on the back was the render of three bows with streams. “I'm not pouting, sweetums,” he countered, confirming their marital status. “but I am hurt by your comment. I thought the pie I baked was quite tasty.” he said somewhat defeated as he looked to the ground as they walked. “I didn't say it wasn't.” the woman pointed out, slightly irritated with her husband. The man then turned back to his wife, “You didn't say it was.” he commented before the two bumped into another man, an Earthborn. The other man looked to be between five to ten years the couple’s senior and had a large scarf around his neck and a beret, on his shirt was a rendering of turnip root. “Oh!” the couple exclaimed upon impact. The other man recovered first “Watch where you're goin'!” he exclaimed as the three stopped. He was the first to start walking and walked around them slightly, “You don't own the sidewalk, ya know?!” he punctuated seemly bitter. After the older man was a short distance away, “Well, I never!” the Magicborn man declared as he shut his eyes in disgust. His wife groaned, “Ugh.” in agreement. The two then spotted the six just watching them. Feeling self-conscious the two left. Which in turn left Twilight et al more confused than before. The six continued their and spotted a crane raising the actual balloon of the balloon, “Well, look at that. Somepony's fixin' up our balloon.” the paladin said before they trotted over. There they spotted a Magicborn man, not too different from them in age dressed in a three-piece suit often worn by small-town politicians, at the base of the crane. As they approach they heard him speaking to a woman that was repairing the components that went into the basket of the balloon, dressed in overalls and a short-sleeve shirt, her face hidden under the metal masks often used to shield one’s face when using a blow torch and such. “Oh goodness. This is unfortunate. Bad with a side of terribly awful.” the man said as he paced back and forth. There they noticed on his right side was a rendering of a smiling sun. The man turned from the can and started to leave, looking down and not noticing the six, “Excuse me. Sorry.”... or rather who they were. After the six shouted “Hey” he turned to face them and then recognize the six. He smiled and laughed as he skipped to greet them, “Well, stuff me in an olive and call me a pimento! It's the Rainbow Dash! Ya made it!” He said as he took Rainbow’s hand. “Oh, thank Celestia, you’re alright! I saw the balloon, thought the worst, and…” he trailed off before he cleared his throat. “Well, you're here, all o' ya!” he cheered as he offered his hand to each of the six, “As Mayor of Hope Hollow, Let me formally welcome you to the Hope Hollow Annual Rainbow Festival!” he shouted. “Sunny Skies, I presume,” Twilight asked. Sunny nodded. “I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, and this is Applejack A, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy and of course you already know Rainbow,” she added as she introduced the six to the mayor and offered her own hand. “And I’m pleased as a poplar tree to meetcha!” Sunny exclaimed at the two shook. Fluttershy then hovered to be beside Twilight, in front of Sunny, “We're very sorry about your rainbow billboard, Mr. Mayor.” the druid apologize. “it was dark and—” she started to explain before Sunny cut her off. “Oh, don't give it a second thought. That old thing needed repair anyway,” he said almost as if to dismiss her concerns. “I haven't used it since... uh…” he started to explain but stopped before he could clarify. “well, never mind.” he started to look for a new topic, “Uh, a-a-anyway, once your balloon's fixed up, Torque can take care of the billboard,” he said as he back to the woman that was in the middle of the repairs for the balloon. “Everybody, meet Torque Wrench, our town handyman,” he said as he introduced the woman at work. “She offered to repair your balloon for ya,” he added with a smile. The recently identified Torque took a pause in the repairs as she shut off the welding torch and lifted her face guard to speak and be heard, “He volunteered me.” the bitter annoyance in her tone was not cushioned by her accent being as cheery sounding as Sunny’s, or Petunia’s for that matter. “She'll have it fixed in a jiffy.” Mayor Skies added after he pulled on his shirt collar slightly nervous. “If, by ‘jiffy’, ya mean ‘this will take all day.” Torque retorted before she lowered her faceguard back down and reignited the welding torch and returned to the task in her hands. Sunny gave a nervous laugh before he turned back to the six “Sooo ya got in last night. I wish I'd known. I would've been here to greetcha.” he said cheerfully, glad that they were safe. “Uh, where'd y'all stay?” he asked wanting to know that the six guests were taken care of. The six looked to each other, all of them bemused at the question. “At the ‘Luxury Hotel’.” Rarity answered as she gave air quotes while she said, ‘Luxury Hotel’ in no small part to point out the mislabeling. Electing to take a fairer approach, “Petunia Petals let us in.” Applejack stated, making sure Sunny knew that there wasn’t any breaking and entering. Sunny shut his eyes and smiled, “Oh, well, of course, she did.” he started before he opened his eyes. However there seemed to be a lack of focus on Twilight and Co as Sunny continued like he was in a dream, “She's somethin', I'll tell you what. I'd be lost without her.” as soon as Sunny finished that his pupils constricted in terror. “I mean, uh, th-the town would be.” he contradicted himself with an unmistakable blush on his face, even if all his colors were shades of gray. There was a moment of silence as the six looked to each other for a second. Twilight was the first to speak up, “Mayor, I hope you don't mind my asking,” she started very diplomatically, “but is there a reason your town is…” she trailed for a second to find the most tactful word to use, “faded?” she asked with her selection made. “Oh! Heh.” Sunny laughed “Ya spotted that, did ya?” he asked. He didn’t seem to be able to stay still, most likely out of nervousness. “Well, it's a... long story.” he said as he started to walk towards the main streets of the town, “Uh, why don't I show you the town highlights first?” he asked. Twilight et al looked at each other confused at the mayor’s antics, but elected to follow him towards what looked like a small fountain just off the center of the town’s street. “Here's our famous outdoor spa with the all-natural mud bath. Pretty, huh?” he asked as he pointed to the ground, which looked to be a small mud pond. Rarity wanted to gag and faint, but part of being a lady was knowing when to endure things. Twilight noted her friend’s disgust, “Maybe we could see some of the Rainbow Festival activities from the brochure.” she suggested hoping to avoid a Dramaity moment. “O' course!” Sunny exclaimed happily as he pointed to an open spot of land, “The bakery booth is there…” he stated before he trailed off as he recalled that there was nothing there. “Or... will be. We're... still settin' up, but we gotta lotta great things planned,” he said as he turned back to the six with a nervous smile. Fluttershy looked around “And... the butterfly garden?” the druid asked, seeking something else that was offered. Sunny smiled and pointed to set of bushes, “Oh, that's right over here.” as the six turned to spied the bushes they saw that they were covered with pieces of paper with butterflies drawn on them. One of the papers fell off one of the bushes, “Oh, uh, lemme fix that.” Sunny said as he walked over and put the piece of paper back on. Fluttershy walked over to the bushes and took a second to look over them and the pieces of paper, “So none of the butterflies are actually…” she trailed off “Real?” Sunny finished the question for the druid. “Oh, no.” he answered as he shook his head, “Uh, what with the flowers not havin' color and all,” he said as he pointed to the flowers on the bushes and pointed out the gray of the flowers, “the butterflies don't really come around much anymore,” he added. Applejack sighed as she thought back on the brochure if the butterfly garden was fake, what else was, “I'm almost afraid to ask,” she started, assuming that the rainbow trout fishing was also a bust, “but the brochure mentioned fishin'?” she finished electing to bit that bullet. Sunny scratched his head as he squinted at the paladin in confusion, “Fishin'? Oh, I'm not sure whatcha mean. “‘Our famous rainbow trout’?” The paladin asked quoting the brochure. Sunny’s eyes widen in realization, “Oh, yah, sure!” he exclaimed. He looked around and seemed to be dodging something, “Uh, well, uh, you don't fish for him exactly. You just kinda, uh, talk to him.” the mayor informed. “Uh, he's right over, uh…” he trailed off as he pointed to what seemed to a large ‘kiddie’ pool that was set up to look like a pond. Sunny walked up to the pool and sighed before he started to look around, “That's funny. Where'd our trout go?” he asked as he couldn’t find hide or head of him. “Oh, Mr. Mayor!” came the voice of a man. They all turned to see a man sitting on a bench dressed in a trout costume with an open metal lunch box to his side. “Uh, just, uh, taking my lunch now, okay?” he said before he pulled out his juice box. Sunny waved at the man and smiled as he gave a nervous laugh. Applejack hung her head and shook it, “Should’ve know yah meant ‘catch and release’ literally.” she muttered. While the other five gave Sunny bemused glances, Pinkie then popped to right next to the mayor, “Um, so no big deal – well, actually, okay, yes, kind of a big deal – but the brochure also mentioned a karaoke contest?” she asked the most important question, blinking her eyes a couple of time. Sunny then point to a stage not far from them, the back of it had a sign with various song notes. “Right here!” he exclaimed. The sign fell with a thud. From the microphone on stage, there was the sound of feedback as it too fell over. Everyone turned to look at the mayor. “The trout doubles on harmonica,” he said, everyone then turned to the man in the trout costume picked up a harmonica and played a few notes on it. Fluttershy was the first to speak of the group, “How…” the druid trailed as she tried to find the right word, “multitalented of him.” Pinkie shrugged her shoulders, “Good thing I bring my own karaoke party!” she exclaimed as she reached into her pockets and pulled out a portable karaoke machine “With me wherever I go Whoa, whoa-oh!” she sang into its microphone. Sunny froze for a second as he tried to phantom where Pinkie got the device, but in the end decided not to ask, “Well, uh... that's the big tour.” he said as he hummed nervously and started to leave. However before he got far, “Mayor Skies.” Twilight said making him stop and turn around. “I don't understand. Your Rainbow Festival isn't quite as you described.” she elected to get to the very heart of the subject. Rainbow then moved to hover next to Twilight, “And the resort hotel wasn't what it was cracked up to be either,” the elementalist added “'Cept for all the cracks,” Applejack added as she and Rarity joined Twilight and Rainbow. “Getting to the brass tacks,” Rarity stated as Pinkie and Fluttershy joined the four, “None of these things are as pictured in your brochure.” Sunny’s eyes darted for a moment, “Well, maybe I exaggerated a little, but I-I'd intend on havin' everythin' ready.” he attempted to explain. “It's just kinda hard gettin' anybody excited about anythin' in this town anymore!” he exclaimed frustrated with his town. When he realized what he just said, “Ugh.” he corrected himself as he saw that the six visitors were unmoved. He looked down ashamed of himself, “I didn't think ya'd come if ya knew the truth.” he confessed. Before any could ask he took a breath, “There is no Rainbow Festival.” he finally admitted. The girls gasped at the announcement, “No Rainbow Festival?!” Applejack shouted in turn. “No fan club?!” Rainbow added as she flew up into Sunny’s face. The mayor gulped, “Believe me, I didn't mean to—” he started but was cut off. The elementalist was the one to cut him off with her accusation, “Bring us here for nothing?!” “If ya just let me—” Mayor Skies started but was again cut short. This time it was Rarity that spoke up, “We should just leave this very moment!” the enchantress declared as she raised her nose. Before Rarity went anywhere, “1) the balloon's not fixed yet.” Applejack pointed out “and 2) we’d get a better idea of what's this is about if the mayor explained.” The six turned to face the mayor and waited. Mayor Skies then cleared his throat, “Guess I should start at the beginnin'.” he said as he shut eyes before he stepped so that everyone could get a view of the town, “A long time ago, when my Grandpa Skies was mayor, Hope Hollow was different. They used to call this town "The End of the Rainbow", 'cause everything you'd ever want, you could find right here.” he said before his focus gem started to glow. Soon everything was a washed in their natural colors. “Next door neighbors chatting over white-wood fences Stoppin' on the street to say hello When friends did well, we sang their praises Brought soup to comfort them when they felt low That was our town at the end of the rainbow.” he started to sing, and as he sang the projected residents of the town engaged in the various activities he described. “No pots of gold or buried treasure Just everybody looking after each other The truest riches cannot be measured It was a lesson that had kept us together In our town at the end of the rainbow” As Sunny sang a projection of himself a couple of years younger and dressed in more casual clothes was seen walking, he stopped not far off from a projection of Petunia as she was looking at a small taw of flowers. He used his magic to place one of the flowers behind her ear. Elsewhere the old man with the root aura mark was helping another man fix his cart, as the couple was giving away their goods. “To honor our fine town, my Grandpa Skies decided To throw a party each and every year They planned for weeks, cooked for days, celebrated fifty ways So everybody would gather here In our town at the end of the rainbow Grandpa made a gizmo called the Rainbow Generator To paint the sky with lots of colors shining bold and bright To remind us all together we are greater And darkness never wins against the coming of the light Grandpa passed it on to Dad, then it was my turn To make the pretty rainbows in the sky It filled my heart with pride to see our whole town gathered gratefully Where we were sure there would never be An end to the rainbow.” As Sunny continued he showed a picture of a much older man that seemed to be his grandfather announced that the town would throw a communal party, the Rainbow Festival, and bits and pieces of the first Rainbow Festival were shown before the identified grandpa Skies revealed a metal device that looked egg-like in shape. He activated it and it produces a beam of light that looked like a rainbow and caused an aurora-like effect just above the town as everyone was left agape in awe. As Sunny continued to sing, the years passed in a few scenes as Granda Skies passed the device and position on to Sunny’s father, and then on to Sunny likely a few years ago. “Then fences went up, we lost track of our neighbors Each year passing, dimming spirits all around The happy days came to an end Nobody had time to spend together in the town I thought I knew exactly what the festival needed A bigger, better rainbow would surely make them see it But the extra magic was too much for the Rainbow Generator And I'm the one who brought the rainbow to an end.” The song then went dour, as the projections showed that bit by bit, day by day, the town seemed to disconnect from each other to the point that almost no one was there for what seemed to be Sunny’s third Rainbow Festival as mayor. Desperate to reignite the community, Sunny began to tinker with the device and on the next Rainbow Festival, the generator seemed to backfire and drained all the color out of the town. “That's how our town, our little town That's how our town saw the end of the rainbow.” As Sunny finished the projected showed the drain of color. With the song over, the project that Sunny conjured faded and everything was gray again. Pinkie then started to whale and sob, “That is the saddest story-song I've ever heard!” she said as he tried to wipe her tears. Sunny sat down on the ground and looked down, ashamed with and of himself, “I tried for a long time to get everybody interested in the Festival again. To remember what it's like to come together as a community and share the fun.” As they noted two residents just walk by not caring what was going on, “But nobody even bothered listenin'.” Sunny added before he got up and turned to face the six guests, “That's why I wrote to you, Rainbow Dash.” his focus mostly on the elementalist, “You were my last hope. I figured if a person of your stature came to town, it would get everybody excited about puttin' on the Festival again. I mean, "Rainbow"'s even part o' your name!” as he spoke there was some hope hinted to in his voice. Rainbow couldn’t help but have a smug little grin at that. However, before she could say anything, “Mayor Skies,” Twilight addressed Sunny, “what kind of magic did you use on the Rainbow Generator?” she asked, as magic was for forte, it would make sense to her to solve the problem by knowing what magic was used. The mayor scratched his head, “Oh, I'm not sure. I didn't know what I was dealin' with.” he admitted, albeit riddled with guilt, “I only wanted to help. But instead, I sucked all the color outta the town.” he said as kicked the ground as a proxy for himself. He looked towards the entrance of the town and the remains of the rainbow billboard. “That billboard's one o' the only things that didn't change. To me, it's a reminder of what we can be. Keeps the "Hope" in "Hope Hollow". Twilight held her chin for a second and “Hmm-ed” in thought. “If I could find out the type of magic you used, I might be able to reverse the spell.” she mused. “And since we did break the sign, we might want to help fix it.” Applejack commented. “I came here for my fans and if words got out I ditched them, even if it was because of their mayor tricking me in the first place, that would really bring my awesomeness down a few levels.” “Ya mean, you're gonna stay?” The mayor asked utterly shocked that they might be willing to help him. The six turned to each other and nodded. “Heh,” he laughed as if joy was rekindled in his heart, “You don't know how clam-happy this all makes me!” he exclaimed as he couldn't help but jump into the air with joy. “Thank you kindly!” “We'll do whatever we can to bring back your Rainbow Festival.” Twilight said as she placed a hand on his shoulder, silently telling him to calm down and reassure him of their commitment, “We know it won’t be easy. Given what we’ve seen, but we have a little experience of bringing people together.” “Reuniting Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Saving Princess Cadance and Shining’s wedding, Restoring Krystalopolices, Bring the Pillars of Virtue, Reconciling the Pillars and Stygian, just to list a few.” Pinkie said as she showed a small book with newspaper clippings of the accomplishments of the six. “Besides, this is exactly like planning a party! Only bigger, 'cause it's a festival!” the jester shouted and giggled, “Which means more cupcakes! Whoo-hoo! Ooh. Ah! I've got a date with the Bakery Booth! Ha-ha!” the jester went back and forth before skipping to the town’s bakeshop giggling rhythmically. Fluttershy then started to float after Pinkie, “Um... I'd better go with her.” she said nervously. Rarity looked around the town, her focus on where the festival would be set up, “Hmmm, an overall stylistic look to unify the sentiment of the celebration. That's what this festival needs.” the enchantress declared. As Mayor Skies raised his hand as if to ask a question, “Yes, darling, yes, yes, it needs an actual rainbow, but more complex, more thematic, something like—” she trailed off until she spotted the town clothing store and the shopkeeper, a Skyborn woman about her age with a metal leg that started above what would have been her knee, dressed in a short-skirted dress and a fur-like vest, “Ooh! something like that!” she exclaimed and started to walk over, “Formidable!” Twilight then walked to Sunny, “The biggest challenge is getting your town interested in a Rainbow Festival when everything's so... gray. I think if we can bring the color back, it'll solve everything.” Twilight surmised what she thought would solve the problem. Sunny nodded in agreement. Twilight then turned to Rainbow, “Rainbow Dash, I need your help” she said before she flew off. Before the elementalist followed the demigod, “Mr. Mayor, seriously, is there a fan club?” she asked. Mayor Skies nodded, “Oh, you betcha!” he declared. He started to look around, “The Barrel twins are around…” he trailed off as he failed to spot the duo. “Somewhere.” he finished and gave Rainbow a nervous smile. Rainbow groaned and followed after Twilight. The last of the group, Applejack, then walked up to the mayor, “Any tools I can borrow, your Honor?” the paladin asked. “I'm gonna spruce up that billboard to let everybody know this here Rainbow Festival's back in business!” the farm girl declared with a smile. “Oh, that's music to my ears!” the mayor cheered at the prospect. He then spotted Torque, who was in the process of collecting the fallen pieces of the billboard. “Torque Wrench, let's get our guest tooled up, whadaya say?” he asked as he called to her. “She's gonna put our rainbow back up.” Torque placed the last piece into her cart, “Oh, yippee.” the sarcasm in her voice was unmistakable even to the most gullible of people. Torque then started to move the cart back to her shop. As she left, Petunia was walking down the street. She stopped and waved at Applejack and Sunny with a ‘heh-heh.’ Sunny then blushed and started to leave, “Oh! Uh, if ya don't mind, I, uh, I have a speech to work on. See ya 'round.” he said sheepishly to the paladin. Applejack was confused for a second but elected to not press the matter.