//------------------------------// // Arrival // Story: A Little Bit of Colour // by IMNOTHERE889 //------------------------------// You were heading west a long time, so much so that you were struggling to stay awake. Your head kept drooping down and your eyelids kept falling, but your determination was still at large. But, then again, it was slowly withering get way, even as a small town with a rock farm to the side comes into view. Wait... "There it is!" You shout triumphantly, speeding up your pace. You didn't notice how low you got as you tried not to fall asleep, so you accidentally landed face-first in a tall tree. After you get your face off of the cartoonishly sticky tree, you shake your head and say to yourself, "I have to remember to look where I'm going." After that little accident, you continue to your destination, observing the surroundings in front of you instead of behind you this time. As you do a quick fly-by of the town, you realized that your manager wasn't joking when he said that the place was devoid of color. "Wow... Everything looks so lifeless," you say to yourself as you slowly land by the edge of the rock farm located to the side of the town. You start looking around, turning away from the small house at the one end of the rock farm. You take in all the dead trees, no sign of green plant life in sight. How do these ponies get their food? The don't have any crops, so, do they export it all? you randomly thought, feeling a small sadness wash over you as you turn back to the small house, only to see a gray mare with a straight, purple mane in front of you. You scream out of surprise, standing up on your hindlegs before falling over onto your back. "Hello," she says in a completely emotionless and monotone voice. You wriggle onto your stomach before standing back up and shaking yourself off, much like a dog does after having a swim. "Uh.. Hi," you say, looking down on yourself and wiping away any stray dirt left on your slightly rainbow specked coat. As you look up, your heart stops. The mare looked beautiful; her perfectly straight mane, her amazing eyelashes, heck, even the sweater she's wearing. You stare into her beautiful light turquoise eyes, and you can't look away. There was something about them that made you all fuzzy inside, and you hate the feeling, but simultaneously love it. "Are you okay?" She asks, her voice deadpan. Your brain registers what she said a few seconds after she said it, and you start blushing from embarrassment before nodding like crazy. "Okay. Welcome to Rockville. It has rocks. You're on a rock farm. I'm Maud Pie. My father owns the farm, but my sister runs it. Want me to show you around?" She says. You shake your head again, only to get you out of your trance. This time, your head started to hurt slightly, so you slightly regretted shaking your head more than you needed to. You clear your throat before saying a squeaking out a quiet, "Yes please." "Okay. Follow me." She starts walking away from where she was before to show you around the strangely gray town. You quickly follow behind, and, as she talks about the town, you can't help but take in everything about her. Her coat; her mane; her cutie mark; and her eyes. Those brilliant eyes. "And over there is the rock museum. It has the most famous rocks in the history of Equestria. Say, I didn't catch your name," she says, her voice unchanging, stopping in her tracks. You stop beside her, and look down to the ground beneath your hooves. "I... I don't have a name. I was abandoned as a foal. But, from then on, I was determined to do my best. I made a few friends when I was at flight school. Thank goodness flight school is free, then I would have been screwed," you say, chuckling after that remark," A few years later, I trained to work at the Rainbow Factory. And then, I got the job as a Rainbow Checker. Which gave me the nickname Checker." Maud didn't interrupt once during your small story, even sitting down and nodding her head as you went along. "So, just call me Checker, I guess," you say, shrugging you shoulders. Maud gets back to her hooves and nods. "Okay, Checker." Her voice stays deadpan. You feel saddened to see such a beautiful mare so, well... colorless. You had to help the town somehow. You look around to the homes and small businesses that surround you, and see a few other ponies like Maud Pie walking around lazily, like there is no hope for them to see a brighter day. You look back to Maud, and see her looking at you with a bored expression on her face. At least, you thought she looked bored. But, as you basked in her beauty once again, you realized something... Is she the surprise reason my manager was talking about?