Dull Skies

by Glacier Frostclaw

A World Without Rainbows

Chapter 3: A world Without Rainbows

Moments later, Rune found himself in the south field, getting a piercing stare from Inky’s father.

“So… you were in my silo last night, huh? Why? Thinking of stealing my harvest?” he asked accusingly. Rune blinked, not sure if there would have even been a point in stealing from a rock farm.

“No sir, I was only looking for shelter to sleep. I came to Ponyville last night and realized I didn’t have a place to stay. I didn’t think anypony would mind me staying in the silo just for the night.”

“We’re a ways away from Ponyville, colt. Why’d you come way out here if you were in Ponyville?” Inky’s father asked. Rune frowned.

“Well… I was trying to find somepony, and I was told she lived out here,” Rune replied cautiously. It’s not the best idea to tell someone you were at their place at night looking for a filly, but it was an even worse idea to lie to them.

“Is that so? And who was this filly you were looking for?” the father’s response came, sharp and accusing as the last inquiry. Rune took a deep breath.

“I was looking for a filly by the name of Pinkie Pie. I was told she lived here and I was needing her help with something,” Rune said, hoping they wouldn’t ask any more questions. This hope was, of course, pointless.

“’Pinkie’ Pie? Young colt, that is not my daughter’s name. Her name is Pinkamena Diane Pie, and I demand to know what you want with my daughter,” Inky’s father said firmly. Rune winced again. As he’d figured, Inky was Pinkie’s sister, and this was her father.

“I need her help with a gift for a friend of mine,” Rune answered. To his surprise and relief, Mr. Pie seemed to soften up a little.

“Is that all? Well, she’s in the north field. Just know, if I find out you try any funny business, I’ll report you to the authorities,” Mr. Pie warned. Rune nodded.

“Yes sir. Don’t worry,” Rune reassured, then headed towards the northern field. A few moments later he found himself standing next to the pink pony he’d been looking for, except she looked nothing like she had in the photos. Her mane and tail had been curly in the pictures, but the filly in front of her had perfectly straight mane and tail. The pony in the picture also had three balloons on her flank, and this filly was a blank flank.

“Um… hello? Pinkie?” Rune asked nervously. He was starting to wonder what was going on. The filly turned around and grimaced at him.

“Don’t call me that. My name is NOT Pinkie. It’s Pinkamena! And what do you want?” the filly demanded.

“I’m sorry. Pinkamena, why aren’t you working in Sugarcube Corner? And where’s your cutie mark?” Rune asked without thinking. He was focused on figuring out what had happened that caused this confusing predicament. Pinkamena simply blinked and looked at Rune.

“Work at Sugarcube Corner? Where the hay did you get that idea? I’ve always lived with Ma and Pa. And are you just here to make fun of me being a blank flank? Because if you are, just leave!” she grumbled. Rune shook his head rapidly. Then he remembered something worrying that he’d read in Twilight’s journal.

“Pinkamena… When you were a little filly, did you ever see Rainbow Dash’s sonic rainboom?” Rune asked nervously. It was the only thing he could think of. Twilight’s journal mentioned that Pinkie Pie had gained her cutie mark on the day that her friend Rainbow Dash performed a sonic rainboom for the first time. The worrying thing is that according to the book, Twilight and all five of her friends had gained their cutie marks at the same time because of the sonic rainboom. If his suspicions were correct, then he was in trouble.

“Sonic rainboom? What are you talking about? And who the hay is Rainbow Dash?” Pinkamena’s reply came. Rune blinked and shook his head in realization.

“N-nothing… Forget I said anything. I’ll be going now,” Rune said before turning around to leave. He made his next destination Sweet Apple Acres.

******

Rune approached the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres and looked around for the orange pony in the picture. Not seeing her, he headed for the barn, where he nearly ran into a red colt with tan mane and tail, as well as a half apple cutie mark.

“Oh, sorry! Didn’t see you there,” Rune apologized quickly. “Hey do you know where I can find Applejack?” he added a moment later. The red pony blinked and frowned.

“Eeyup. She lives in Manehatten. She has ever since she went to live with our Aunt and Uncle Orange. Why you need her? I’m sure I can help,” the red colt said. Rune shook his head.

“No, I have to talk to her specifically. Thanks anyway though,” Rune replied. He quickly checked in the journal to see what he should do next when a young filly with yellow fur, red mane and tail, and no cutie mark came in.

“That’s too bad. Unless you really hurry, you’ll miss the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration in three days. Princess Celestia herself is coming to Ponyville,” the young blank flank added, causing Rune to blink.

“Wait… what did you say about the Summer Sun Celebration?” Rune asked urgently. The filly looked confused and repeated herself.

“It’s the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration. We’re hosting it here in Ponyville. Surely you know what the celebration?”

“Oh no… this isn’t good,” Rune said to himself, a little loudly. The filly tilted her head.

“Why not?” she asked. Rune looked at her for a moment then shook his head.

“It’s nothing. I have to go,” Rune said, rushing towards the edge of Sweet Apple Acres. As he ran, he started heading towards Fluttershy’s cottage. He had to find Rainbow Dash, and the only one who would know where Rainbow Dash is would be Fluttershy, because according to Twilight’s book, they were friends before Rainbow Dash’s race. If the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration was only three days away, then the book said that Nightmare Moon would be released from her prison on the moon. Rune was now on a tight schedule. He had to somehow get the six fillies their cutie marks, get them to be friends, and then convince them to face Nightmare Moon and use the Elements of Harmony to defeat her. As he thought, he followed the roads to Fluttershy’s cottage. He quickly knocked on the door. The door opened a bit.

“H-hello? Who’s there?” Fluttershy asked quietly. Rune was panting from running.

“It’s me… Rune… I…. need your help… Rainbow Dash… I need to find her…” Rune forced out between pants. Fluttershy opened the door a little more.

“Why do you need to find her? She tends to be practicing right now,” Fluttershy said, looking out enough that Rune could actually see her face. He let himself catch his breath before continuing.

“It’s something very very important. It involves her cutie mark. I think I can help her with it,” Rune said, taking a guess that Rainbow Dash never got her cutie mark either. Fluttershy opened the door all the way and stepped outside.

“Really? Oh she’ll be so excited! You know, she’s always being laughed at by these two boys for never getting her cutie mark. I tried to help her after I got mine but-“

“Wait you have your cutie mark?” Rune interrupted. Fluttershy blinked.

“Well… yeah I’ve had it… I got it after Rainbow Dash accidentally knocked me off a cloud as a little filly,” she said shyly, apparently embarrassed at being interrupted.

“Oh… whatever. Can you show me where Rainbow Dash is?”

“Oh, right. Follow me,” Fluttershy replied and flew off, Rune chasing after on the ground.

******

Fluttershy stopped in front of a cloud where a tuft of rainbow mane could be seen. She looked worriedly at the tuft of mane.

“Rainbow Dash, are you ok?” she asked. A groan from the cloud was the response. A filly with blue fur and rainbow mane and tail popped out of the cloud, looking very grumpy.

“It was those two colts again! I was trying to practice and they kept getting in my way, chanting ‘Blank Flank’ and stuff like that! I couldn’t get anything done at all!” Rainbow complained. Rune caught up and frowned. He was never fond of bullies. Rainbow Dash looked down at him. “Fluttershy, who’s this guy?”

“This is Rune. He said he knows how to get you your cutie mark!” Fluttershy replied excitedly. Rainbow mirrored her excitement and flew down to Rune.

“Really!? You’re serious?! Tell me! Tellmetellmetellmetellme!” she exclaimed excitedly. Rune couldn’t help but chuckle.

“It’s simple, Rainbow Dash. You just need to complete a sonic rainboom,” Rune informed her. Rainbow Dash’s excitement immediately disappeared.

“Ex-CUSE me?! ‘JUST’ complete a sonic rainboom?! It’s impossible! The sonic rainboom is nothing but a myth. I made it up myself and I can’t even do it!” she exclaimed angrily. “You’re…. You’re just here to make fun of me too, aren’t you!? Well, FORGET IT! I’m out of here. Fluttershy, I don’t want you to bring anyone else to help. No offense but no one you’ve found has been able to help me,” she said and flew off, quickly disappearing into the clouds. Rune sighed and Fluttershy looked down at him.

“Were you being serious, Rune? Because if you were only making fun of her, that wasn’t very nice…” Fluttershy stated quietly, as if afraid he might hear her speaking to him.

“Yes, Fluttershy I was being completely serious. Don’t ask me how I know, but if she does a sonic rainboom she’ll get her cutie mark. I swear it.”

Comments

[soulwinds]

MORE!!!
This is quite interesting waiting for next chappie

[Mobius of the Moon]

Much better than I anticipated. Good Job!

[Rainbowstep]

It's a very indulging story! Love it^ but i never knew Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash got their cutie marks shortly before the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration?? I always thought that Pinkamena Diane Pie was a lot younger too. I also know that Fluttershy is a year older than Pinkie. Oh and from Cutie Crusaders episode, Dash said she was the first in her class to get her cutie mark!?! I'm sooooo confused... If there are some canonical holes in the story i really don't care though.

[Glacier Frostclaw]

209550
did you read the description of my story? it'd help with the stuff that you're confused on lol

[Rainbowstep]

209578 Ohhh okay, sorryz.... Thank you again though!

[Glacier Frostclaw]

209653
lol it's fine.

[uberPhoenix]

An interesting story so far. A bit confusing, as we don't know exactly what happened yet, but I expect that will be revealed in time. It's like a puzzle, the pieces slowly falling into place.

That said, my biggest criticism would probably be the lack of detailed descriptions. It feels like there's no real backdrop for the story. It's something I struggle with too, but it's important. Providing a good visual description can help to reader to imagine exactly what's going on.

My second criticism is that the dialog can be a bit stilted at time. We're four parts in and I still don't have a good grasp of what the main character is like, because he doesn't have a unique voice.

I think the plot has potential, but I personally feel that more detail could be used to flesh out the character's personalities and their environments.

[Glacier Frostclaw]

211260
I have the entire storyline planned out, and the start of a sequel planned. I intend to go back and improve the story before moving on to the sequel, so eventually the chapters WILL have more details. consider this a rough draft version.

[vinilith]

Aliens man, Aliens.

It is CuddleUppet by the way. :D

[bcsnakeeyes]

more must have more of this.

[bcsnakeeyes]

soo i was just wondering, if this story is getting scrapped or your working on new chapters???
this sotry really deserves major love man its good.

[Glacier Frostclaw]

1951949

it's on hold while I work on my RPG project. Then it'll be rewritten.

[bcsnakeeyes]

cool as long as its not forgotten about,aka cancelled im happy this stories concept is rather interesting to read about.