A Little Bit of Colour

by IMNOTHERE889

Prologue

You wipe the sweat off your brow, and let out a long held breath as you look over the steaming Rainbow-colored concoction below you. You flap your wings at a certain rate to stay hovering in the air, but, with this heat, you were quickly tiring out.

"This one's good! Send it down!" You shout to a Pegasus working the machinery, who nods and pushes a lever, making the conveyor belt move, and bringing the next cauldron of Rainbow towards you. You take a deep breath and close your eyes, and held it when you felt some water droplets form on your face. You open your eyes, and examine the concoction below you. You see that the color is right, save for one color missing. You bring up the spoon you're holding in your hoof, and you put it into the steaming pot, making sure not to spray any of the hot liquid onto yourself. This stuff burns when you get it on you, and, it stains. You shudder at a memory of getting multiple droplets all over your body, and the stinging sensation after impact. What sucked is that it didn't come off your fur, so you learned your lesson about experimenting with hot liquified rainbows.

You swirl your spoon around the liquid, only to find chunks of solidified rainbow in the concoction. You let out the breath you were holding.

"This one has Violet missing! Chunky! Needs re-do!!" You shout to the Pegasus working the machinery, and, again, he nods, but pulls a different lever, and the cauldron below you gets transferred into a different trail, where the ones in need of a re-do go. A line of pegasi go along that line, following the pot sent down it, special tools in hoof. You wait for the next pot to be sent towards you, but you don't pay attention as A buff Pegasus with dark fur flies into the room with a megaphone.

"Alright, pegasi! That's the end of this work day!" He shouts into the megaphone, sighs of relief done in unison filled the room soon afterwards, one by you included.

"Ahh, quittin' time!" The Pegasus working the machinery says, throwing his hard-hat on the ground, flying off to the exit. You chuckle at that Pegasus. He did come from the south, and was more of an outsider here than anypony else. You fly off to the nearest form of ground, and sigh happily once you touchdown and give your wings a rest. You have to stay suspended for long hours, only two breaks throughout your work day. Most pegasi would turn down your job instantly, mostly because their wings aren't strong enough to go on for so long. Luckily you trained for long periods of time before applying for this job. Sure, your job was tiring, but, hey, at least if you can get some money, you'll be fine, eh?

You find some pegs where the workers would hang their hard hats, and you put yours up on a random peg. You walk out of the room, find your way through the factory, and walk out into cold afternoon air. Well, it would be cold to nopony except for the ponies who worked in the same room as you. It was the moments like this you relished: walking out of the hot room and out into the cool air, feeling the breeze come over you, a buddy from work fly towards you–

Wait, that's not right. You barely hung out with your friends from work, and you only do so during the weekends. Since tomorrow was a weekday, it made no sense to you.

"Hey! Hey, buddy!" She says as she lands next to you. You take in the mare's features; white coat, yellow mane, green eyes. Her wings are slightly tinted a yellow at their tip, and she had a cauldron with rainbow sparks coming out of it for a cutie mark.

"Liquified Rainbow? What are you doing here?" You ask, giving the mare a quizzical look.

"I'm asking you to come for a fly around, duh. Cmon, it'll be nice compared to that hot room you're always stuck in," she says, giving your shoulder a bump with her elbow.

"Uhh.. I dunno...." You say, looking away, feeling unsure.

"Hey, it won't be for hours on end like the way you spend in that factory. It'll just be a short fly, to, y'know, cool off and stuff." She looks at you with puppy dog eyes that you struggle to resist.

"Uhh... Okay. I surrender. Let's go for a fly." Liquified Rainbow's face instantly lights up, and you can't help get get her infectious smile. You flap your wings once to make sure they're all good, and you take off, Liquified following soon after. You fly forward at a reasonable speed, and the breeze you felt before intensified as you went along. You smile contentedly.

"So... Rae-Rae..." You say, trying to engage in conversation.

"Hmm?" She asks, looking over to you.

"How was work today?" You ask, not knowing what else to ask, tilting your head at her slightly.

"Oh, the usual. But, there was a Pegasus who tried to dye his mane like Rainbow Dash's by dunking the top part of his head, as well as his neck and plot, into the Rainbow solution. I forgot the name of that guy..." Rae says, scratching her head with a wing, but soon loses a bit of altitude after. When she regained her altitude, she chuckled slightly, and, her infectious laugh made you chuckle too.

"Do you mean FaahrtFeathers? He was always a bit of a derp. I feel sorry for him too, what kind of parents would name their son something that sounds like FartFeathers?" You say, chuckling slightly.

"Yeah, those parents must've been derps themselves to name their son that," she says, chuckling a tad louder than you. A beeping sound is heard, and she pulls a phone (one of the first!) out of her uniform's pocket.

"Oh shoot, I gotta go. I have a hot date," she says, smirking slightly.

"Go for it, Rae-Rae. Have fun!" You shout out to her as she flies off for her home. You fly around for a little while longer before approaching your home and pulling out your keys from out a pocket in your uniform. You unlock your home and trot inside. You strip yourself of your uniform, hang it on a coat rack by the front door, and walk outside again. You check your mailbox, knowing that Wednesday's are usually the day your mail gets delivered. You open it up, and you're met with a few envelopes and such.

You take your mail, close the mailbox, walk inside and close the door. You plop yourself on a couch and go through your mail.

"Bill, advert, paycheck—" you notice a rainbow-colored envelope that has the words 'Paycheck :D' adorned on it, "wait, Paycheck?? Sweet!" You say, happy that your hard work at the Rainbow Factory paid off. You plop the rest of your mail on the nearest coffee table and rip open your paycheck, and see a cheque fall out.

"I'll trade this for a bag of bits later today at Cloudsdale Bank." You say to yourself, looking at the number on the cheque. You get up and stick the cheque in a secret hiding place, and get back onto your couch. You still had some mail to go through.

"I'll throw away the advert and pay the bill," you say as you pick up your small pile of mail. Other than the advert and bill, another ad, coupons for your favorite book store, there was a certain envelope that caught your eye. It was pure white, and had a rainbow-colored seal keeping it closed. You gulp, it was a letter from your manager. You shakily remove the seal and remove the letter inside.

"Dear worker," you say, reading the letter out loud, "You have impressed me with your skill. You have been assigned to bring some color to a gray town with no confirmed name. See me in my office tomorrow, 9 o' clock sharp. Don't let the Rainbow Factory or the inhabitants of this town down. Sincerely, Your Manager, Dark Colors." You look up to...

Hey, stop looking at me.

STOP.

YOU'RE BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL.

Look at the fireplace or something! Just not here!

Thank you.

You look over to the fireplace with a questioning face. "A town without a name? Bring some color to it?" You scratch your head with a hoof. "I need to see what my manager has in mind. Until then, time for dinner! I'm starved!" You say to no one in particular, walking over to a phone that was built into your home. You pick up the phone, dialing in a number you memorized using the tip of a wing. You bring the phone up to your ear, and wait for a pony on the other side to pick up.

"Hello?" A bored feminine voice says on the other side.

"Uh, hi. I'd like to order a large Cheese and Tomato Pizza with some hay to the side, please?" You say, making sure to be polite. Some typing is heard on the other side.

"Address?"

"9th Albatross street, house number 337."

"Your meal will arrive in an hour. We have a lot of orders coming in. Sorry for the inconvenience." Dang, this mare sounds like a robot or something. She sounds so bored!

"No trouble. I have an errand I need to run anyway," you say.

"Thank you for ordering from Pizza Shack. Your order will come soon."

You hang up, and find your cheque. You hold it tightly in your mouth. You walk to the door, open it, lock it once you were outside, and fly off to Cloudsdale Bank. You quickly arrived with an extra strain on your wings, and walk inside. You smiled to see that there were only about seven ponies, each in different lines. You walk up to the front of an empty queue, and wait patiently for a worker to attend to you.

A stallion with a coat, mane, and eyes all different shades of gold pops up in front of you with a big smile on his face. You also smile. You quickly stick the cheque under your wing.

"Stephanooooooo!!!!" You say, giving the stallion a hoofbump.

"Ahhh, there's my Rainbow checker! How's work been?" Stephano says, giving you a noogie.

"Ah, the usual. Steam, a re-do or two, just, a normal day overall," you say casually, causing Stephano to burst out laughing.

"Ahahahha! There's no such thing as a normal day in my world! Say, did ya hang out with that cute mare, Liquified Rainbow?" He says, giving your chest a nudge.

"I did, but, she has a date. Sorry Stephano, I'm afraid she's taken," you say. You silently mutter, "But she probably will be single again soon, she's moving from stallion to stallion faster than I can check rainbow concoctions..." This got another moment of glee out of the bright stallion, which made you roll your eyes.

"Ohohohooooooooohhhh...... Okay, so, what can I do for ya?" Stephano says, propping up his head on the desk using an elbow.

"Oh! Can I trade this in for the allocated amount of bits?" You say, some of your speech muffled by grabbed the cheque and having it in your mouth. You put it down on a desk, and Stephano examines it.

"Hmmm, yeah, yeah, I could do that. Just as long as you don't spend it all at once," he says, giving you a wink, causing you to roll your eyes again. Stephano walks off with the cheque in his mouth, leaving your eyes to wander. You look around the surprisingly big room, and take in it's amazing architecture.

"Uh, ahem," you hear somepony say, and quickly turn back around, to see Stephano standing back behind the desk, a bag of bits on the aforementioned desk.

"Hey, thanks bro," you say, grabbing the bag with your mouth.

"Hey, take care now," Your golden buddy says as you walk out of the Bank. You fly home, and put your bits into a mini safe you have somewhere in your house once you were inside. You hear your doorbell ring soon after, and you lick your lips in anticipation.

"Mmmmmm, Dinner's here!" You say as you head towards the door. You open it and you are greeted by a mare with a dark red, messy mane and a yellow coat, in a Pizza Shack uniform.

"Enjoy your dinner sir," the mare says in a bored voice you recognized. You thank the mare and pay her, take your food, and close the door. You sit down on the couch, turn on the TV, and eat your food.

Ah, what a peaceful day. Still kinda anxious for tomorrow, though...

Author's Note:

BOOM. new Reader Insert. I wrote this during the weekend while I had no wifi.

So, hope you enjoy the epilogue! :D

And, as always, criticism is always welcome!

Comments

[No One and Nobody]

Well you did say that "criticism is always welcome".
Well written, I couldn't really find that many mistakes.
However I have to say that the fourth wall joke just came out of nowhere, and I don't mean in a good way. Usually we shouldn't see it coming, however it shouldn't feel forced. Now maybe I'm no expert, but that joke just felt... stale.
I love a good fourth wall joke (goodness knows I've put enough in my stories) but this one just felt like it was inserted to fill a spot.
As for the way the story is flowing I have to say that you seem to be getting the reality of living as a pony down really well. Maybe that's because it's in first person, but it's still interesting.