> Reaped in Scarlet > by Belial > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: The fall > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everypony in town gasped as they saw a red burr plummeting at a high speed from the sky. At first, most of them thought it was a meteorite, but, as it got lower and lower, they realized- It was, in fact, a pony. Rainbow Dash was around the first to realize this, and blasted into the sky to catch the falling pony. The first thing she noticed when she caught the pony, was that it was, in fact, a unicorn with a surprisingly long horn. She also noticed that it was extremely bright red, with a slightly deeper red mane. Though it had a beautiful, slender body, she could feel very strong muscles under the silky red coat. The face was feminine, with a pointed muzzle and long, lush eyelashes. Assuming that the pony was a female from their feminine body, she of course found this natural. As she landed, she lay the pony gently down on its side, revealing its cutie mark. It was a shiny metal chainsaw, complete with razor-sharp edges, with a red and yellow base. It also had a black and white line of film, like from an old movie, curled around it in an eloquent way. The unicorn moved slightly, its eyes fluttering like he was having a nightmare, never opening, before it went still again, silken mane splayed around its head in a way that could make rocks swoon. All the ponies gathered around, staring at the mysterious red beauty. Just then, Applejack walked up. "So, who is it?" She asked, staring at the blood-red unicorn, raising an eyebrow and staring down at the unconscious pony. "No idea. They came from pretty high up, though." Rainbow Dash answered, shrugging. "I'm wondering how they got there." The rainbow mare added, a confused expression on her face. Applejack poked the red pony with her hoof, surprised at how welly muscled the feminine body was. "Well, she need's to stay somewhere, so ah suppose ah could take 'er back to the farm for awhile. She seems strong, so if she wants to stay, ah could put 'er to work." The farm pony mused, automatically assuming the unicorn was a female. "Hey, Big Mac! Come over here!" She called out, watching as her brother walked over and stopped to stare at the unconscious unicorn. "Pick 'er up for me, will ya'? Applejack asked, gesturing to the scarlet pony. "Uh...Sure." The large stallion said after a moment, bending his forelegs so the fallen unicorn could be lifted onto his back. Rainbow came over and helped Applejack with that, before hovering into the air. "Well, I have to be going now. Saving ponies takes a lot out of you, you know. I'm going to go take it easy now." She said, turning and dashing off above everyponies heads. "No, You're goin' to go slack off an nap somewhere..." Applejack muttered, watching her leave, chuckling slightly, before turning her attention back to the matter at hand. "Let's take 'er back to the farm, Big Mac." She said, turning and trotting off. The red stallion followed her, wondering how this mystery pony got its fur to be so unimaginably soft. They walked in silence all the way home, only having to stop when the scarlet unicorn moved once, almost falling off, before going back to absolute stillness. Once they where back at the farm house, Applebloom automatically bounded over to say hello. "Who's that, big brother?" She asked, craning her neck to see the new arrival. "They fell from the sky, Applebloom." Applejack said, pausing at the I-know-your-lying face the filly gave her. "They really did. Ask anypony in town, they'll tell you the same thing. How in tarnation she got up there is beyond me, though." The orange pony said with a shrug. Applebloom trotted around Big Mac to look at the skyponies face. "Woah! She's beautiful!" The filly said, her eye's widening. Applejack rolled her eye's. "Yeah, well, she's goin' to be stayin' here for awhile, at least until she wakes up." She said, before ushering the filly away to finish her chores. As they walked in, they had a small conversation about which room to put their guest in, Applejack doing most of the talking, Before putting it in one of their less used guest rooms. As they lay it down, they both stare at the red unicorn. "Well, Now I guess we can jus' wait for 'er to wake up." Applejack said. "Eeyup." Said Big Mac, before they both turned and walked out. The scarlet unicorn stirred slightly, then went back to being still. > The waking > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Darkness. That was all he saw as he slowly rose to consciousness. He heard voices, but couldn't distinguish what they were saying. He moved slightly, and the voices stopped. He twitched his eye's, realizing that they were closed. Slowly,he opened them, but only slightly before the light burned them. He rolled over, partially burying his face in the pillow, before opening his eye's. Slowly, the world came into view. He noticed three ponies staring at him expectantly. AT first, he found this quite strange. But, noticing his own bright red hooves, he guessed it must be normal. He was having trouble remembering things, after all. As he rose into consciousness more, he realized - He didn't remember anything. He remembered the name Grell - It must be his name - and something about a chainsaw. He blinked his eyes a couple times, hoping something would come back. When nothing did, he resigned to the amnesia. He shook his head slightly, clearing away the sleepiness, then looked up. Staring at him was a purple unicorn(On that note, he realized that he, himself, was a unicorn), an orange pony, and a blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane. He stared at them a moment, unsure of what to do or say. Then the unicorn spoke up. "Hello there. I'm Twilight Sparkle. This is Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow caught you while you were falling from the sky yesterday." The unicorn said. Rainbow Dash puffed her chest out a little at the mention of her saving him. He smiled slightly. "Oh...Well...Thank you, Rainbow Dash..." He murmured, voice a bit quiet. The three mare's couldn't help but thing that this guest had a bit of a deep voice for a girl. Shaking his head a bit more, he suddenly realized that he was having a bit of a problem seeing. Just then, Applejack spoke up, "So, miss....What's your name...? And, If you don't mind me askin', how did ya' get up there?" He giggled slightly at the word 'miss', before shaking his head a bit more. They thought he was a girl! It was slightly funny, yet it also seemed fitting to him. He decided that he didn't mind. "I...I'm not exactly sure." He said, looking down to his left side. "I think I have amnesia. I can't really remember anything. I think my name is Grell, though." He said, Scratching behind one of his ears with a hoof. Moving it up slightly, he felt that he did indeed have a horn. He touched the tip slightly, finding that it was much sharper than Twilight's horn when he felt a small pain, and a bead of blood squeezed through. "And I believe that I need glasses..." He added in, blinking a bit. "I'm sorry, But...I honestly have no idea how I got up there." He said, his bright green eyes glinting slightly in the sunlight coming in through the window. "Well, we'll figure out eventually," Applejack said, shrugging slightly. "For now, why don't you try standin', sugarcube...?" Grell slowly picked up a foreleg, holding it out over the edge of the bed. He gently put it down to the floor, trying a little bit of weight. It seemed stable, so he put his other foreleg on the ground to, putting his weight on them, before slowly sliding off the bed. His first attempt failed, resulting in him now laying on the floor, but he tried again. He puled his legs out from under him and pushed, finally standing on shaky legs. He walked around the room a little bit, stopping in front of a mirror. He stared at himself intensely, wondering if he might really be a mare. His face was slender, beautiful, and curved in all the right places. He licked his lips slightly, wondering why he felt and looked so much like a girl when he was, in fact, a stallion. He decided to put it out of his mind, though, and went back to walking around the room a bit. "All right, I think my body is fine." He said after a minute. "That's good," said Twilight, smiling. "I was wondering....Can you do magic?" She asked, cocking her head to the side and looking at the scarlet ponies horn. "I don't know...I guess I'll try." Said Grell, as he closed his eyes. Try as he might, he couldn't do anything. After around three minutes of trying, he finally gave up. "Well, I guess it'll come to later." He said, laughing a little bit. Suddenly, his stomach growled. Holding a hoof onto it, he looked down, "Oh...Umm..." He said, biting his lip slightly. "Come on down to breakfast, sugarcube." Applejack said, smiling. "Y'all can stay and eat too, if ya' like." She said to Twilight and Rainbow, before trotting down the stairs. Grell walked out of the room, pausing at the top of the stairs. "You go ahead of me." He said, backing up a step. Rainbow Dash rushed down them, while Twilight walked down more slowly. "You want me to help you?" She asked Grell, looking slightly concerned. "No, I should be fine." He said, furrowing his brows and, very slowly, beginning his descent. Twilight watched him as he came down. She was thinking that he(she in Twilight's mind) should be more accustomed to moving. Amnesia doesn't make you forget your body. But, she tried to put it out of her mind. She could research it later. As Grell finished coming down the stairs, he suddenly realized that he had sharp teeth. Opening his mouth, some blood ran out as he had just cut his tongue. "Woah! Came Applebloom's voice, as she rushed down the stairs toward Grell. "You're awake! An' you got sharp teeth!" She said, bouncing a little. "Leave 'er alone, Applebloom. Grell, this is mah' little sister, Applebloom. Applebloom, this is Grell. He has amnesia, so don't go askin' questions. Ah'mm goin' to go make breakfast now." Applejack said, turning and walking into the kitchen. Grell turned, looking for the table, and Applebloom started staring at his cutie mark. "That's an awesome cutie mark you got there. What's it mean?" She asked, looking up at him. "Huh, Cutie mark?" He asked, turning and looking at his flank, noticing the marking there. "Oh....I didn't notice that...Uhmm...What IS a cutie mark, anyway?" He asked, turning to the filly, who then gasped. "You don' know what a cutie mark is?" She said, eye's wide. Grell nodded. She then went into an in-depth explanation of it. "Oh...Okay, I see." He said, nodding. looking at his flank again, he wondered what his meant. "Maybe I'm an actress? In horror movies?" He suggested, not sure why he decided on actress instead of actor. "Maybe." Agreed Applebloom, shrugging a bit. Just then, Applejack came back in. "Food's done." She called, setting it on the table. Everyone sat down and ate. Grell looked out the window, wondering how his life would be from now on. He could help but feel something nagging at the back of his mind, though. But he ignored it, going back to smiling and making friends with the other ponies at the table. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A/N : Yes, Grell does have pointy teeth in the original. Just thought you'd want to know.