Morning Routines

The Crayon Knight stretched his arms as golden sunlight streamed through the tall windows of Crayon Castle. His blue armor clinked softly as he rolled out of bed and walked to the window overlooking Creativia.

"Another beautiful day," he said, watching the humanoid gryphons soar gracefully between the fluffy white clouds. Their feathered wings caught the morning light as they called cheerful greetings to each other.

Down in the courtyard, a group of humanoid unicorns tended to a rainbow garden, their spiral horns gleaming. The humanoid dragons were already hard at work in their forge, sending up colorful sparks of red and gold. Even the humanoid goats were busy, their nimble hooves clicking as they climbed the castle's outer walls to hang bright banners.

The Crayon Knight picked up his rainbow crayon sword and crayon-box shield. Everything looked perfectly normal in his colorful kingdom.

He had no idea that somewhere in the distance, the first drops of color were beginning to fade.

The Fading Garden

The Crayon Knight walked down the spiral stairs of his tower, his armor clanking cheerfully with each step. He planned to visit the humanoid unicorns in their rainbow garden and maybe help tend the flowers.

But when he stepped into the courtyard, something was wrong.

"Where did all the red go?" asked Sparkle, a humanoid unicorn with a silver horn. She stood next to what used to be a bed of crimson roses. Now the flowers were pale pink, fading to white even as he watched.

The Crayon Knight blinked hard. "I don't understand."

"Look at the forge!" called Ember, a humanoid dragon with golden scales. Her usual bright orange flames had turned yellow, then flickered to almost nothing.

Across the courtyard, Feather the humanoid gryphon landed with a soft thud. Her magnificent purple wing feathers were now lavender, growing lighter by the minute.

"It's happening everywhere," Feather said, worry creeping into her voice. "The colors are draining away like water through sand."

The Crayon Knight gripped his rainbow sword tighter. The red stripe along its edge had already dulled to pink.