The Adventures of Color Splash
By Penguifyer
“Oh my god! You got cutie mark!”
Color Splash shifted her eyes from her painting to her flank, noticing a blue spot on her white fur. “Really? What is it!?” She dropped her paintbrush and spun around in circles trying to look at it.
Her mom giggled, trotted up to her, and caught her with a hoof. Looking for herself, she squeaked, “It’s a paintbrush!” She picked Color up and held her in the air. “We have an artist in the family!” she celebrated as she lowered Color and squeezed her.
“Artist?” Color murmured to herself. She had lost herself in the painting, losing track of time in the process. Her painting of a tree looked better than she ever could’ve expected and her mind ran with excitement. There were so many possibilities with just painting, let alone other mediums like sculpting, woodworking, and even fashion. She smiled in anticipation as her body tingled with excitement.
“Uh-huh, let's go celebrate. I call dad and your brother right away.” Her mom plopped her on the ground and darted out of the room. Color turned her head and looked at the mark herself. It was a paintbrush with a splash of rainbow-colored ink on its tip, the whole thing against a background of blue paint splotches. It felt just like her.
— — —
The New Ponyville Founding Festival was in full swing celebrating 70 years since its founding. New Ponyville was itself a small and quaint town with only twenty or so festival booths lining its main street, which was just a dirt road.
Color Splash sat on a bench licking a double-stacked ice cream cone in her hoof. Beside her sat her mom with a foreleg wrapped around Color while across from her sat her brother and her dad. She took a lick from her ice cream. “Dad, why do they call it ‘New’ Ponyville?”
“That’s because west of here and deep inside the Forest lies the old Ponyville.”
She took another lick of her ice cream. “Has anypony been there?”
“Well, anypony who has hasn’t returned. They say vicious beasts and monsters of great power lie in there waiting to prey on any trespassing ponies. And if they don’t get you, a magical barrier that can only be entered traps you inside to die.”
Her Mom squeezed her in defense. “Don’t scare her on her big day.”
Dad giggled as her brother rolled his eyes. “That’s what Dad did to me when I got my cutie mark.”
Dad grabbed him and gave him a nuggie. “‘Cause that’s what I do to my Night Light.”
The four of them laughed before Dad raised his hoof. “I will say, I don’t know if anypony will believe this. A studious unicorn and an artist, it’s like you two complete each other.”
Night rolled his eyes again after giving his horn a poke. “Come on, dad. I’m only nine.”
“And I already hear wonderful things from your teachers.” He turned towards Color. “That being said, I’m proud of you too, Color. Who knows, you might even surpass this kid.”
“Dad…”
“What, you don’t like being teased?”
Mom squeezed Color with one hoof while pointing to the booths with the other. “How about you two have a little fun for a bit?”
Dad laughed again. “You don’t know what you’re asking.” Night’s eyes widened as Dad pulled him away toward the booths.
Mom giggled. “Don’t worry about those two. They’ll be fine.”
Color took another lick of her ice cream before noticing something odd across the street. “Mom, what’s that?” She pointed to a strange, tall, and slender creature sitting at a table holding a book.
“That’s a human, like the ones you see on TV. Although, we don’t get many of them here.”
Color thought about it for a sec, recalling some of the shows she watched which included the occasional human. However, they were never important and still alien to her
“Don’t worry, I hear they’re not dangerous to us ponies. I’d be careful though.”
Color nodded as she licked her ice cream again, not giving it much thought.
“I know your brother tends to steal the limelight a bit. Dad pushes him a lot, but that’s what he does. I just want you to know that you don’t have to be like him.”
Mom squeezed her again as Color took another lick and stared at the human. He sat there content with his book with no sign of ill intent. She lost interest and instead leaned deeper into Mom. Everything felt alright and okay.
A rumble shook the ground. A loud crash came after.
Mom perked up. “What was that?”
Another rumble and another crash. A large dark figure appeared down the road.
Mom grabbed Color and rushed her away. Her ice cream fell to the ground. “We gotta get out of here.”
They darted into the closest building and ducked underneath a table. Mom put a hoof to her mouth. “Shhhhhh…”
The crashes continued as thundering footsteps drew closer. Screams and cries accompanied the turmoil. The thumping escalated.
For a second, the world stopped. Nothing sounded except for a faint “hmm?”
Suddenly, the roof and front walls of the building were torn off revealing a towering centaur.
“Heh, trying to hide from me?”
He held out his arm as his pointer finger extended like a needle and pierced the table. Mom leaped out of the way with Color still in her hooves.
“You think you can hop away from me?”
Three of his other fingers extended and shot toward them. Mom sidestepped the first finger and hopped over the second. The third struck her in the side while she fell to the ground, causing her to grunt in pain. Color squeezed her back, eyes tearing.
“Fine dodging, but I have fused my cells with the strongest rubbers allowing them to stretch and deform with my levitation magic. As they stretch, the fibers weave together making them stronger than steel.”
The final finger began to stretch.
“I have ascended beyond pony and beyond human. I, the Elastic Centaur, shall rule this town and begin my conquest!”
The final finger shot toward them, aiming for Color. At the last second, Mom shifted Color and took the finger to the chest. She coughed up blood. Tears ran down Color’s face.
“Tenacity, I like it. But I have a whole other hand.”
He raised his other hand in front of himself as a metallic disc rolled in front of Color and Mom.
“Huh?”
A burst of blue energy lit up the room. The centaur’s fingers went limp and retracted.
“What? Why aren’t they stretching?”
The human dashed in front of Color and Mom. He spread out his legs and raised his hand.
The centaur stopped. “Who are you?”
The human raised his head to the centaur. “No one special.”
“‘No one special?’ Even without my elasticity, my grip strength tops out at two million pascals. What makes you think you can stand in front of such a superior being? I have fused with both exotic beasts and plants alike! These muscles can crush…”
The human flattened his palm to the centaur. A circle appeared on the centaur’s chest. The top half of the centaur exploded as the bottom half rolled across the street. A brief moment of silence followed.
“I’m just a guy currently on duty,” he said, brushing the dust off of his jacket.
The human turned to Color as she cried holding on to her mother. He knelt down, placing his hand on her mother’s neck. With a light sigh, he closed her mother’s eyes and carried Color away.
— — —
Color was in the hospital for a month. For the first week she drifted in and out of sleep, too exhausted to do anything. The second week she could stay lucid and even move, but soreness enveloped her body and prevented her from getting out of the bed. During this time, she heard Dad argue with the doctor about magic and her cutie mark. When she checked her flank, it wasn’t there.
This was also when she was told her mom had passed. The second finger pierced her heart. She died with Color in her arms.
The third week she could get out of bed, but standing proved to be difficult as she would lose her breath once on her legs. By the fourth week, she could walk and move around the hospital. She also noticed that her cutie mark returned, but only faintly. When Dad noticed it too, he hugged her and cried. At the end of the week, she was discharged from the hospital due to her steady recovery.
It took her a year to fully recover. In that time, her stamina couldn’t keep up with her friends which made play difficult and she struggled to focus on classes. Her cutie mark slowly returned to its original vibrancy, but she couldn’t feel it in the same way she did before. It didn’t stop her from painting though, even if it was a difficult task at first.
— — —
Color Splash opened her eyes as she knocked a canvas off of her head. She knew she stayed up late last night as her eyes struggled to open. Looking around her makeshift studio revealed several canvas stands, most with ongoing projects on them while a couple of them laid flat on the ground. Knocking another canvas off of her back, she realized she fell asleep on her pile of fresh canvases. Beside her was a stack of paints with colors randomly arranged and lids screwed on tight. However, they were arranged by paint base since she has ruined a few projects by using oil paints on acrylic paintings. The only organized part of the studio was the shelves and wall used for drying paintings as each one was tagged with the name of the recipient and date of completion.
She rubbed her eyes. Didn’t she have to do something today? Glancing at the clock revealed it to be half-past ten.
She jumped out of her canvas. “Shit! I gotta paint a mural for the Cakes today!” She grabbed a sketch she made the previous night off of a desk, fished through her sets of wall primer paints, threw them into a saddlebag, and bolted up the stairs.
Dad sat a recliner sipping his coffee as Night Light laid on the couch reading yet another book. “Got somewhere to be, Color?” Dad teased her.
“I do and I’m late.” She poured herself a mug and proceeded to down half a glass on the spot.
Her brother chimed in. “Color, it’s Sunday.”
“Every day’s a workday when you’re an artist.” She finished her coffee before coughing. “God, that’s hot.”
Dad chuckled. “You’re supposed to let it cool.”
“I’m aware!”
“So…” Night closed his book and sat up. “…what do you have planned then?”
Color dropped her mug in the sink and grabbed two pieces of bread, stuffing them in her saddle pack. “I gotta start working on the mural for the Cakes.”
“They actually commissioned you?”
She nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
He crossed his hooves. “That’s fair.”
“Anyway, I gotta go. I’m already late.”
Dad interjected. “Don’t die!”
“I won’t!” Color shouted as she dashed out the front door.
Thankfully, the Cakes’ bakery was only a short jog away through town. Stumbling through the front door, she tossed her saddlebag onto a table and pulled out the primer paint. “Sorry Mrs. Cake for being late. I’ll get started right away.”
“Uh, Color… it’s okay. We’re not in any rush.”
Color didn’t listen to her as she pulled out a brush, dipped it in the can of primer, and splattered primer on the wall. She paused. “Please tell me you guys washed the wall.”
“About that…” Mrs. Cake trotted from the counter to a mesmerized Color, whose eye twitched in frustration, and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Breath with me In… and out…” Color matched her breathing, letting her eyes fall to the floor. “In… and out… better now?”
Color looked up at the wall. The paint was still wet. She stood up on her hind legs and snapped her body into a pose, pointing at Mrs. Cake. “I need a rag.”
Washing the wall didn’t take long, only thirty minutes with another thirty for the wall to dry. The primer application only took an hour too, putting her completion time just after noon. After applying the final strokes in the upper corner of the wall, she hopped off of her stool and dropped her paintbrush on a table. “All done for the day.”
Mrs. Cake stared at the wall next to her. “I know you said it’ll take a week and I know primer is important but…”
Continuing Cake’s sentence as if she already knew the question. “It won’t start looking like a mural till Tuesday. Today was for the gesso primer layer. Tomorrow, I’ll grid out the whole wall and start chalking out the mural, cross-referencing with a scaled-down version I have at home. The next day will be for finalizing the design and beginning the painting with the next three days being exclusively for painting. Finally, on Saturday, I’ll apply a clear coat to finish it off.”
“That’s quite a process.”
“It is, but judging from how much you two loved the small version, I know you’ll love the finished product.”
“Oh honey, I believe you. Just can’t wait for my husband to see it.”
“Don’t worry, It’s what I do.”
As the week went on, she stuck to her schedule, for the most part. Monday and Tuesday saw her sticking to the plan with her finishing the chalking by the end of Tuesday. The mural itself would have the old Sugarcube corner on the left with the current location on the right. All of the different Cake generations would be found in between the buildings with the oldest to the left and youngest to the right.
Mr. Cake finally came home late that Tuesday night too and got his first look at the mural.
“Looks nice, Color.”
“I tried my best with the old Sugarcube Corner but all I had to go off of was the couple pictures you gave me.”
“You know, it’s not like anypony is gonna notice.”
“How come?”
“Well, it’s in the old Ponyville. Probably still standing too.”
“Hmm…” she muttered as she finished up the chalking.
The next three days brought the fun, and aggravating, process of painting. She loved to paint, but the process of painting a spot for an hour, cross-referencing with the grid, realizing it’s off, and strategizing a solution exhausted her. To make matters worse, by Friday evening, she realized she still had a couple of feet of wall left. She worked past closing and right to the last rays of the summer light when she laid her last stroke and called it a night.
“I’m so sorry for keeping you here so late, Mrs. Cake. I swear tomorrow won’t take that long.”
“It’s okay, Color. You know I live upstairs.”
She grabbed her bag and darted for the door. “I know but I gotta go.” Outside, she slowed to a trot as the exhaustion from the days prior caught up to her. Slowing further to a stop, she rubbed her eyes only to reveal a black figure standing ahead of her in the twilight.
“A lone filly after dark, heh?”
She rubbed her eyes again and focussed on the figure. Although the colors weren’t discernable, a large meat cleaver glistened on top of a stallion. The cleaver itself spanned three pony lengths with its handle resting upon the stallion’s shoulder. He gave a devilish grin and put his hoof on the handle.
“You wouldn’t happen to be related to that one smartass, would ya?”
Color stepped back. Everyone knew Night was a unicorn prodigy, but she didn’t recognize the stallion, giving her a chance at lying her way out of this. “Who are you talking about?”
With a smile, the stallion grabbed his cleaver and lifted it above his head. Color lunged out of the way, screaming as the cleaver slammed into the ground.
“And you think I’d fall for a blatant lie like that!”
Color fell to the ground and scuttled to her hooves, noticing a faint nick on her hindleg. As she lunged toward the closest building, the stallion landed in front of her, raising his cleaver in the air.
“Don’t think you can just run away! Now that my Fate Dance has tasted your blood, I can smell, even taste your presence!”
He laughed with his cleaver in the air. Color covered her tearing eyes and braced for the impact. Instead, she heard a loud crash along with a grunt from the stallion. Something grabbed her by the chest and hurried her behind a building on the other side of the street.
Once plopped against a wall, Color opened her eyes. Before her stood a human with relatively dark hair and lighter skin, although she couldn’t quite tell in the twilight. His dark jacket and jeans further obscured his figure in the dark.
“I’m just gonna say it, that was close.”
Color stuttered. “Cl-cl-close?”
“Yeah, I mean, what else could it…”
The stallion dashed behind the human, taking a swing with his cleaver. “I can smell you, dumbass!”
The human planted his feet, thrust his hand out, and caught the cleaver. Blue sparks emanated from his hand to the blade, traveling down it and electrocuting the stallion. With a scream, the stallion stumbled to his hooves as the human pulled Color with him and ran down the street. After being plopped down again, she noticed blood dripping from the human’s hand.
“Your…”
“Yeah, I can feel it. Can’t keep running away like this.”
Color couldn’t stop her stuttering. “What’re we gonna do?”
The human placed a hand on a metal disc attached to his belt. “I got one last trick up my sleeve.”
— — —
“Strength and electricity!” Meaty shouted. “Godammit, what’re you gonna do next? Breath fire?”
He knew humans were tough and that their magic was far more potent than pony magic. However, he knew that they rarely wielded more than two spells. He knew all of his tricks by now, and if he had another one up his sleeve, he knew to prepare for it.
He also knew of that device the humans had. But as long as the two of them were together, he wouldn’t dare use it.
Jumping on top of the building, he sniffed the air and released his Fate Dance. Two glowing trails of scent hovered behind the buildings, a blue one for Color and a brown one for the human. Meaty darted along the trail, following it through an alleyway, across the street, and through another alleyway. The two trails veered to the left behind the buildings while a fainter human trail veered to the right. The human probably threw off his jacket trying to divert him off of their trail. It was more important for him to protect Color anyway.
Meaty dashed left and followed the trail to the edge of town. The scent for the human waned but Color’s scent remained strong.
Slowing to a trot, he saw a faint pony figure glow from the street lights in the town. He found her and now it was time to close the deal.
His eyes adjusted, revealing Color’s signature paint-splattered mane and white fur. But something was off. She was wearing the human’s jacket.
At that moment a flash of blue light appeared behind him. His cleaver vanished. Turning around, he saw the silhouette of the human in the town’s light.
“You’re ruthless, aggressive, and focussed, aren’t you.” He walked forward, picking up a metal disc from the ground. “But that also means you can be tunnel-visioned.”
Meaty growled in confusion. “When did you…”
The human raised his hand. “I used the electricity to burn my wound close, reducing my scent. And with that, I figured you wouldn’t follow the weaker scent trail even when it jumped up and skipped over the buildings.”
As the human got close, Meaty lashed out with a hoof. But with a quick sidestep and a tap to the back of his head, his vision went black.
— — —
Underneath a town street lamp, the human tied a bandage around Color’s nick in her leg. Meaty sat beside them with all of his legs tied together and still unconscious. After he was done, Color examined her leg.
“You know, my cut wasn’t that bad.”
He chuckled. “I know, but I thought you would appreciate it.”
She set her hoof down. “How’s your…” She stuttered, not knowing the word.
“Hand?”
“That’s it. I see you guys on TV all of the time and I keep forgetting.”
He held his hand up. “The cut’s gonna leave one hell of a scar but it’ll be fine. I might stop by the hospital just to get it checked out.”
“Would they know what to do?”
He wiggled his fingers. “Everything’s moving. He probably just broke through the skin. They’ll be able to stitch it up.”
“By the way,” she tugged at the jacket, “you want this back? It’s not really cold out or anything.”
He stood up as she pulled the jacket off. “Sure.” After grabbing it, he examined the blood drops scattered on it. “Even though I think they saved my life, those stains are gonna be a bitch to remove.”
She chuckled back, standing up herself.
A police pony came by, eyeing Meaty. “Yep, that’s him alright.”
The human pointed at Meaty. “You mean him?”
“Yeah, he somehow broke out of prison a couple weeks ago. Didn’t think he’d end up here.” He walked and examined Meaty’s face. “Moreover, reports claimed that he traveled with a human.”
The human glared at him. “Are you trying to push your luck?”
The police pony sighed. “I would if she wasn’t right next to you. Then again, for every human who helps us out, there’s another that causes trouble.”
The human smirked at Color, pointing at the police pony. “Is everypony like this?”
Color swallowed. “My memory is a bit blurry, but when my mom died, I remember being saved by a human.”
The human stood up and stretched out as a couple more police ponies trotted over and carried Meaty away. “Welp, gotta get this hand checked out before I can sleep. I’ll be here for the week anyway.”
The police pony raised his voice. “I want a word with you.”
The human raised his hand. “Be careful what you wish for.” He stretched out his arms before turning to Color. “By the way, I don’t know how this affects you as an earth pony, but if you have any issues doing any magical things, it’ll come back in an hour.”
She nodded in response. As he turned to take a step, she mustered up the courage to speak. “Thanks.”
He stopped. “Huh?’
She spoke up. “Thank you… um…”
With a wink, he held out his hand, giving a thumbs up. “Call me Saul.”
As he walked away, the police pony whispered to her, “In my experience, they’re all like that.”
She let out a faint “hmm,” before standing up herself.
— — —
After a brief questioning and an affirmation from the police pony, Color started on her way home. The few street lights the town had still managed to mask the starlight from the now night sky. Although she was used to staying up late, she usually did so in the safety of her makeshift studio. Still, the night only distracted her from the onslaught of questions that filled her mind. Where did Meaty get that cleaver and why did it disappear? Was that what he called his Fate Dance? Did the disc that made the blue flash make it go away? Is that related to what he said about her magic coming back in an hour?
Two thoughts connected. Was that disc the same one the other human used when she was little? It seemed reasonable, but she’d have to ask Saul tomorrow. The exhaustion from the fight and even the mural caught up to her, causing her to yawn. She decided to leave it for now and make it tomorrow’s problem.
Arriving home, she noticed all of the lights were off, at least from what she could see from outside. Stepping through the door, she checked the clock which displayed half-past eleven. Though she knew she stayed up the latest, Night usually didn’t go to bed till after midnight. Even Dad stayed up this late on a Friday.
She tiptoed through the entryway, stretching her hoof out and flipping a light switch. Bright light strained her eyes as they slowly adjusted. Broken photos scattered all over the floor, gashes littered the furniture, glass and splinters stuck out of the wall, and Dad laid down in the middle of the room motionless.
“Dad!” She rushed to him and put a hoof to his neck. Several gashes cut into his barrel and back, but his neck still gave a pulse. She sighed in relief, knowing she didn’t have much time.
Her attention shifted to her brother, who wasn’t in the room. She dashed over to the kitchen, but to no avail. She ran through the dining room and hallway next but still couldn’t find him. None of their rooms yielded a Night, nor did her basement studio. Even when she ran around her house and screamed out his name, no response came.
Tears filled her eyes as she stumbled back inside and saw Dad still sprawled out on the floor. She needed to find Night, but if she didn’t act now, Dad would die.
Bawling, she laid down next to him and rolled his body onto her back. Slowly standing up, she inched through the door and outside. Dad’s body went limp over her as she stumbled every couple of steps from the weight. She had to get him to the hospital. If he died, she’d have no one left.
“Help!” she screamed, tripping again before catching herself. “Somepony, hel…” she tripped again, falling to the ground. Dad’s weight crushed her torso, causing her to gag. “Somepony… please…” she whispered with the last of her air before gasping. Her vision blurred as she saw two figures approaching in the town’s light. Darkness filled her eyes as her consciousness faded.