It as just a normal day in Equestria, where an experiment is in the process of going wrong. "Okay, Bon Bon, I'm going to cast this spell upon you." the young unicorn, named Twilight Sparkle, said to the earth pony. "Alright, so gimme one last rundown what's this gonna do to me?" she replied. "Well, if I'm right, it should make you stronger and faster. I wanna cast it on you before I do so on Rainbow Dash." she said, slightly nervously. 'Or at least that's what it SUPPOSED to do.' Her horn glowed a bright purple and Bon Bon was lifted in the air.
She was engulfed in a bright light and a white flash spread all throughout the library. When the light cleared, Bon Bon was on the ground in a pool of blood flinching. "SWEET CELESTIA!" Twilight exclaimed at the top of her lungs. "Its about time!" A pegasus said lifting the soul from Bon Bon's lifeless body and putting it in his watch then casting a spell through the means of incantation changing everyone to a form known as "humans."
"Trust me, this new form will be worth it, and your gonna need this," the stranger said, handing her a spell book and a gun. "When am I going to need a gun?" Twilight asked. "THAT!" he called pointing at Bon Bon's lifeless body raise up on her new human feet, moaning and staring at twilight as if she were hungry. "Impossible!" Twilight said, watching with horror in her eyes.
She grabbed the gun, which appeared to be a small handgun, and fired six quick rounds into the zombified version of her former friend, watching it walk toward her and sink its oddly misshapen teeth into her now human shoulder.
But that was six months ago, and since then I've had to watch the infection spread from my domain of the underworld. My name is Ross Grimm and I was chosen by Celestia to guard and count the souls that pass into the gates and on occasion I was allowed to save a few lives like Applejack, though she is one of them now. But I watched many of my friends die though their souls stayed with them like the subconscious of the brain, NO control over their own bodies.
"...I will allow you to assist the survivors and one of my elite guards Shining Armor will watch over your Domain. Singed, Princess Celestia." I said aloud the letter I received. "Thank you miss Derpy that will be all, you may be on your way." I said to the rather ditzy messenger. "Okay, see ya!" She called flying off in her human form carrying a rather large assault rifle with her, for protection obviously.
So i head out meeting Shining Armor halfway to my first stop, Ponyville. (Okay my first stop the library to see if that unicorn I spoke with is okay, Twilight was it? Ah yes it was.). I walked in calmly. "Twilight!" I called out, "You there?" I watched a quick movement of unknown origin go by me. "Is that you Miss Sparkle?" I asked again hoping for an answer, unfortunately the only answer I got was a female on top of me pressing down on my shoulders, I was pressing on her to keep from being bitten. "Sorry to intrude Ms. Sparkle but stop trying to eat me, okay?".
I was met with a deep moan from what used to be Twilight. A bullet burst through her head. "A-are you okay?"a familiar voice said to me. "Ah Fluttershy its been a while.!" I said to my old friend, from before I was chosen to watch the underworld. "R-Ross? I-is that you Ross I don't think we've spoken since we were kids!" She replied.
I could remember it like it happened yesterday it was my 8th birthday party, one of Pinkemina's first, we all were having fun (except twilight she wasn't there) Rainbow Dash challenged me to my first race, and I lost, but after the cake and the games I got a letter from Celestia, telling me I would guard the underworld. "Yep, so how's Pinkemina?" I asked concerned for Pinkie. "Breathing." "That's always a good sign" I said, "So where are you all staying?" "Sugarcube corner." Fluttershy informed me.
So that's where we headed and killing those things when they got in our way. When we arrived I was covered from head to former hoof in blood. "Pinkemina Dianne Pie! Where are you?"I cried out in the middle of the small building. "Kitchen!" I got as a reply. I walked in to see a gory scene, but where was Pinkemina? "Hey!" I heard from my left side. "Pinkemina Dianne Pi- SWEET CELESTIA WHERE IS YOUR LEG!" I shouted and bit my tounge staring at her "leg" wondering why she had an artificial limb. "I would have been one of them if not for Rarity!" She half-giggled-half-coughed.
"Yes not my best work but okay I suppose." Rarity said from across the room. "Hey Rarity." I said to her noticing she put on some weight, was I going to tell her, no I've seen things that would make Big McIntosh soil himself but I am TERRIFIED of Rarity. I mean I knew why she put on some extra weight it was more than likely stress, I mean I'd go crazy to if someone who meant as much to me as Sweetie Belle meant to her. "Stop staring," She shouted at me with tears in her eyes "I know I'm fat!" "I never said anything miss meltdown," I said VERY sarcastically. "I'm sorry I just don't feel the same way as I used to after I watched her turn, it took two weeks for her to become one of th-those things. "I could see the awkward combination of insanity and utter terror. "Howdy." I heard a small voice behind me. "Ah Applebloom, I presume."I said to the little filly. "That is Applebloom." Fluttershy commented. "So now you know us, ALL of us." Rarity said to me.
I headed out to the ruins of what used to be Ponyville. Finding the used to be locals, blowing their brains out on the way. So when I ran into the one place I thought wouldn't be overrun, and of course me being me I was wrong, I ran out of ammo halfway through the hoard and then it was knives, "CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP!" I shouted and stabbed with increased fear and of course adrenaline.
Stab, one blade snaps 'crap.' I thought. Swish right across another's gut. Stab second blade shatters. Fists. Oh god why. I am weaker than butterfly, I will more than likely be bitten. That thought jinxed me, about fifteen minutes into the fight, nom nom nom in my left shoulder, pain only pain and vague grogginess. Of course, again saved by guess who, Fluttershy, like a wuss. So, we headed back to Sugarcube Corner, and I had to explain the bites, yes plural of bite, bites, and also I had to apologize to, well everyone (I am very cocky.).
So the next day I felt a severe migraine. "That's how Sweetie Belle was on her first day of infection." Rarity said with tears in her eyes. We heard a knock at the door. When we opened it we saw, well Applejack, half turned. Which scared the life out of me when I opened the door, again I'm half turned myself, so not thinking.
"Where's Applebloom?" She asked not stuttering but slurred as though she were drunk, though like me half turned. "Applebloom, where are ya?!" She hollered. "Applejack!" She came running at full speed toward her fleshy falling off-ish sister. "Applebloom, I'm turning." She looked in her sister's eyes and cried, blood she cried blood, creepy excruciatingly creepy. "I AM TRUE SCIENCE!" Luna burst through the door yelling something about science and cures, it made NO sense whatsoever. "Perfect you two aren't fully turned, perfect!" She looked at Applejack and I saying cure over and over again. "Come with me I can help you." She said to us leading us into the kitchen and injecting us with a strange purple liquid that burned in my arm and stung like a hornet, but all I could do was fall to the ground and totally spas out, it was the most painful thing I have ever experienced.
But after that I blacked out, when I woke up I looked at A.J. her speech still very slurred as though she was plastered. "Are y-you alright sugar cube?"she said slurred and scarred. Of course I had already recovered in the speech division. "Yep, so I wanted to talk to you about when we were eight, I love you" I said to her, drunk on pain. "Is now really the best time?" She replied her face red as, well an apple. "Hey, no better time than the present!" I said. "Aw!" I heard in three voices at once, and an EWW from Applebloom. "I'll go make celebratory cupcakes!" Pinkie said hopping off just as happy-go-lucky as ever. "Well sugar cube," she said, my statement sobered her up REAL quick. "I won't lie to you, I love you too." She replied. "Congratulations!" Rarity said to me. I was hoping there were more men there than just me, because that feeling of Alpha-Male gets old really REALLY quickly. So we ate dinner and went to bed that night all of us early, except for me, I stayed up watching for those things to come get some from the happiest man on the planet.
Than right as I was almost asleep I heard a moan from a live person, it was a moan of pain, she wasn't bitten but she crashed into the ground pretty hard, fractured a wing even. "Ow!" The small former Pegasus said in pain. "Rainbow Dash, we haven't spoken in a while you seem, different somehow almost as though you've been being followed." As the prince of the underworld I learned to pick up on cues like that. "Ah but she is being followed." From behind her a man with an odd single saber-fang and horns both different, very asymmetrical. "Discord?" I heard from behind me, Fluttershy's approach was quiet enough to make me jump. "What's all the commotion?" Applejack said tiredly. "Rainbow's alive!" I said flabbergasted at the very thought. She was bleeding, not a lot but enough to attract"them".
Applejack opened one of the doors and gestured for her to enter. I blocked the doorway so Discord couldn't enter, I then counted the spirits by means of my watch and wrote on a parchment and sent it off to Celestia. "Come on!" Discord said to me. I knew he could've easily teleported behind me and "helped", but for some reason he wouldn't, or maybe couldn't. "Discord, give me a good reason to let you in." I said, I am very distrusting of him after what happened when he visited my domain and released about half a trillion spirits, took me six months to get 'em all corralled back in there. "So Mr. Half-southern." Discord called out my heritage, he knew I didn't like my father, a stupid redneck, he was abusive called me pathetic, stupid, worthless. I really hated him.
"You're part southern?" I was asked by A.J., she was absolutely flabbergasted. "Yepperz!" Pinkemina said to her, she knew for a while now. "Were you trying to keep that a secret?" Rainbow inquired. Pinkemina then looked at me and gave off the look of terror, as it turns out Rainbow Dash and Discord led about 250 of those monsters here. "R-Ross turn around!" Pinkie said in a slight yell. "Huh, what?" I said turning around to see them all, at that point i was blind firing praying for headshots. But hey, that night wasn't bad we all slept well, no attacks.
I woke ten minutes later than normal. I walked down stairs kinda staggering around i didn't see A.J. sitting in a chair. "Mornin' Ross" she said not dressed in normal clothes, still pajamas. "Hey." I said my voice slurred. "Hi!" I heard from behind me I didn't hear Pinkie coming. She scared me enough for me to, in one fluent motion pull a knife to her throat and stop myself from killing her. "What are you doin' Ross?" Applejack asked me, she knew I stopped. "My bad, just kinda jumpy with those things." I said with my "oops" face on. "It's fine." Pinkie said. "Why did you apologize?!" I heard from the stairs, "That was probably the quickest reflex I've ever seen, and I've watched videos of myself." Rainbow said just as cocky as ever.
I sheathed my knife. "So A.J. I wanted to know about what happened while I was guardi- away." I said a tear in my eye. "Not much, just the elements of harmony." She said like it was a minor detail. "Okay cool, I'm going hunting." I told her with my sniper on my shoulder and about ten extra clips. "I'll go with you." Discord said behind me. I reached for my knife, but stopped realizing, if he wanted me dead he would've killed me by now. "Okay then." I said with a grimace on my face. I felt breathing on my shoulder while I was thinking about plans of attack, only to be distracted by the heat of the breath on my shoulder, it was warm on my shoulder, I was cold, it felt like a small flame to me. "Aren't you forgetting something?" Applejack. "No I've got ammo, this guy I think; I've got everyt-" I was cut off by a kiss, which after that my face was as red as my coat used to be, a nice dark blood red, the surprise was on my face. "Maybe I did?" I said with a look that screamed ALPHA-MALE all over my face. "Hey, oh! Is now a bad time to say rematch on our race from when we were kids?" Rainbow looked at me and my cocky look on my face. "Maybe later Rainbow, I'm going hunting." I told her. Rainbow gave me that 'you're just scared' look.
Discord and I were out for about an hour when I turned to ask him why he had returned, but he had disappeared. "Excuse me Discord where are you?" I called out. I felt a sharp pain in my head, everything went dark. When I awoke I was in a dark room, tied down at my hands and feet on a steel board, tilted at an angle so I could see everything. "So what do you think, finish him off or let him bleed to death?" A scarred man who I could barely see. Discord was on a table like me, on my left. "Hey, Discord." I said smiling. "Well, I think we shou- Hey stop talking!" The other man who I thought I recognized said to Discord and I, slapped us across our faces, with a knife. Pain shot through my face. I stopped to calm myself, only to see a black cylinder, MY black cylinder. "So Grimm, how are you, do you remember me?" The other man said to me. "Firestarter?" I knew him, the original replacement of the last Grimm but he hightailed out of the underworld. I was next on Celestia's list.
VHe released me saying something about kidding with me and the look on my face. So I led him back his "partner" was a spirit. I knew the spirit as well it was Twilight. "Did your brother let you out?" I asked her. "Yes." She said, "I'd like to join you, my brother said I could if its cool with you anyway." "Sure I never had the chance to introduce myself, I am Ross Grimm." I said with a bow. Afterwards we went back to Sugarcube Corner. Everyone was happy to see Twilight again, Rainbow even shed tears. "Its hot, I'm SWEATY!" Rainbow said lying. "Thank 'ya Ross." Applejack told me with her southern twang. "Anytime, Ya' know I love 'ya!" I said letting my own southern accent come through. "You're southern?" Twilight asked.. Everyone answered with a yes. So I sent a letter to Shining Armor, "...Twilight will be staying with the others and I." I sent it out with Derpy.
"AJ!" I yelled through the building after falling asleep outside. Sugarcube Corner was covered in more blood than usual. "Guys?" I called. "Ha ha ya' got me!" I said nervously hoping for a joke. "Hello!" I heard from nowhere in particular. A ball of concentrated flame whizzed by my head. I walked toward the kitchen to see Applejack and the others tied down to chairs, a bomb strapped to AJ's chest. She mumbled something I couldn't understand. "Ah! One more step and they die." Firestarter said with a remote in his hand, it controlled the bomb. Tears streamed from their eyes like Niagara Falls. "I'll fix this, don't worry!" I said in the middle of a minor freak out.
My mind frazzled, 'move quick, strike quicker' the only thought in my mind at that moment. "Kill me, lose them. Kill yourself they walk away." Firestarter said the ultimatum. I simply pulled the black cylinder from my jacket pocket. "Count of three Firestarter, count of three." I said to him making him think. "Count of three for what?" He asked me. "ONE!" I said dashing toward him quicker than he could move his thumb from the button that would detonate the explosive. "TWO!" I said jamming my elbow into his kidneys, causing him to grip the detonator harder. "THREE!" I shouted finishing him off, thankfully he jammed the button into the hole to where it was stuck there.
"There ya' go." I said looking like I controlled who lived and who died, in a way I kinda did though. I undid their restraints, Rainbow had ones on her wings to keep her from flying off. "Thank you." Rainbow said quietly, "Man! Now I owe you!" She said angrily, glaring at me. I dragged Firestarter's body outside to give those thing food for the night. We wouldn't have to deal with them in the middle of the night.
I ran that night to where I dropped off his body, darted my eyes around and stole his bones, I was crafting armor to signify death, which is what I was. "Hey, Ross! What's in the sack?" Pinkie said from behind me. "Nothing Pinkemina." I said feeling my eyes subconsciously darting around. The bones shifting in the bag over my shoulder. It made a sound that could only be described as scraping. "Are these bones?" Rainbow asked, she grabbed one from a small hole in the bag. "Yes, truth is I am making a rather intimidating set of armor." I said calmly. "So, bone armor?" Applejack said from the stairs on my left. "Yeah, but no helm." I replied to her question with a blank face, "I have to let these dry after I clean them, their fresh." "That's not creepy at all!" Rainbow thought aloud, "Sorry Ross I had to let that out." She laughed until she couldn't breathe.
The next morning I was in the basement I claimed as my room. My potion making things lie on my left, my various spell books on the right. In front of me in the back of the room, my crafting table. Bones lie scattered across the table. A knock on my door causes me to turn around. "I heard about your armor and want to help.". Rarity said looking interested in my designs. "Sure just don't touch that." I said pointing to a jar containing an odd mist. "Understood." She said obviously raring to go.
After about an hour and a half down there we returned to sea level. I walk out wearing a suit of armor made of nothing but bones. Various ribs going down the chest piece. A skull on the left shoulder, the sleeves made of various different bones. From the shoulder to my elbows uncovered. Gauntlets from my lower wrists to my fingers. My legs covered, sharpened shoulder blades on my knees pointing up and slightly curved to fit, literal shoulder BLADES. "Woah, sugar cube don't ya' think ya' went just a hair to far?" Applejack asked me a look of fear on her face. "No, I am basically death and I must look the part." I said with a cocky smirk on my face. I could tell she was unpleased. "Epic!" Rainbow said walking around me, "Even your wings have bone plating!" "Yep, I thought it would look good. Does it?" I asked. "Yeah actually it does." Rainbow said, "So about our race, wanna go?" "Lets go, circuit or straight sprint?" I inquired. "Huh, I guess I never thought of it like that. Sprint." She said with that ready to go look on her face we all know. "Now Rainbow don't get too testy, he is an amazing distance flyer ya' know." Applejack said. Talking about me like that made me feel like the king of the skies.
We set out for the skies after about ten minutes. "Go!" Pinkie shouted to us. I took off like a jet, Rainbow not too far behind. Soon a cone of air surrounded her signifying the sonic rainboom wasn't too far behind. 'Okay duskboom time.' I thought to myself. My move, which is very similar to hers, the sonic duskboom a dark grey, but not black, circular wave of energy tripling my speed. I got very close when I could see a dark ball in front of me. Talons in my gut. Pain loads of pain. I dropped into a spiral, and passed out.
I woke up in an abandoned hospital surrounded by people, including one I didn't know. "Hi there." I said tired and wanting to go back to sleep. I shut my eyes and rolled over. "No sugar cube get up." Applejack said poking my side. "Why?" I asked sarcastically. "Rainbow, see this?" A.J. asked her pointing at me. "Yeah." She replied bored. "That's what you look like in the morning." A.J. said making her point. "Can I sleep now?" I asked tiredly. My eyes opened to see the person I didn't know, funny thing is I did know her. I saved her life once. Gilda, a young griffin, acts a lot like Rainbow Dash, and I have told I do too. "Seriously, Gilda?" I looked at her wanting to know why she was there. "Yeah, gotta problem with it?" She gave me the 'no one loves you' look otherwise known as the 'go to hell' look. "Anyway Ross we found you a house." Rainbow said smiling. "Neat." I said, that 'seriously!' look on my face. "We'll be neighbors, except you'll be in the sky." Applejack said to me. I thought about that, clouds and grass, fun. "You'll be my neighbor too, its on the cloud next to mine." Rainbow says.
I left with Rainbow to see this mighty cloud, it was a storm cloud. "You're kidding." I said. "Oh, I thought this would happen. I told them 'storm clouds are stupid.'" She said with a look of 'I told them so' all over her. "This is the most AMAZING THING I HAVE EVER SEEN!" I told Rainbow. She showed me the inside. I turned around too quickly and smacked her with an open wing. "Hey! Watch it, Ross!" She snapped. "Heh, my bad." I said scratching my head. She snorted and led me to the master bedroom. I simply laid down on the cloud bed and slept. "He is like me." Rainbow said walking away and going home.
I awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of footsteps in my new found home. I walked from my room to the kitchen to see a certain tired former pegasus rummaging through the room. "Rainbow?" I said startling her enough to throw a knife at me. I ducked under it with ease. "Oh, hey Ross." She sounded as tired as I was. She explained to me why she was there and the awkward thoughts she had been reading. She then proceeded to inform me she could read the thoughts of others. She told me basically everything. "So why do you think so much about me, stop doing it, it feels weird. Hey! You're doing it now!". She said angrily. She wasn't wrong, my life is composed of awkwardness. She read my thoughts of her. How I saw her as a role model. So after us talking for about an hour the sun rose and we went back to Sugarcube Corner, and began conversing with the others.
"Hey, uh Ross come with me." Applejack said to me. I obliged. "Yes?" I asked. "Well about our relationship, I think you've changed a lot, but so have I, you just aren't the same Ross I was in love with seven years ago." She said explaining in detail various ways I've changed. "So it just won't work, I'm sorry." She finished.
"Its cool." I said flying to my cloud moving out away, closer to the library. Most of the leaves had fallen off the hollow tree. Rainbow visited me about an hour and a half later. "That was odd for you, I read it, try clearing that head of yours." She said. I couldn't when I stopped thinking of Applejack, I though of Rainbow and her ability the others didn't know about. She looked into my eyes, the sunrise behind her made it looked like her extended wings were shining. "Stop thinking that." She said an angry look on her face. I couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked right then and there. "Sorry." I said hoping she left my mind.
I made an ammo run the next day when we were near out. I found food and plenty of ammo. Pinkie got some gnarly bite marks on her artificial limb. Rainbow's cloud drifted toward mine closer day after day. She comes over frequently. I didn't know why, and she knew I didn't. Until the third Monday of winter. I as usual completed my duty of gathering ammunition and slaughtering those former people. My wings closed as I landed at home, to see Rainbow standing in my home. "Hey." I said startling her. "Oh, heh hey Ross didn't see ya there." She replied nervously. "You continue to show up here you know that right." I said to her confused. 'Why is she here?' I thought knowing she read my mind at that point. Gilda walked in from the room on my left. 'You lead her here!' I thought looking at Rainbow Dash. 'Yeah, of course I did!' She thought. 'I just read your thoughts!' I thought to her. Powers of the Grim is what my families abilities are called apparently I was gifted with my father's, telepathy. 'You did!' She thought at me. "Yes, fascinating isn't it!" I said aloud. "I guess." She said. As if on cue Gilda stopped us and pinned me on the ground. "Keep off Dash, she doesn't like you like that." She said the claws on her hands dug into my neck and chest. "Congratulations, you know how to read my emotions." I said to the former griffon. "Woah dude!" Rainbow said her face redder than any rose I had ever seen.
I stopped and looked at Rainbow, she looked different at sundown than sunrise, and I had seen her at both. I simply pushed Gilda off me and rolled on top of her. I pulled a small black cylinder from my pocket, blood dripping from my neck, making me very dizzy. "Hey sorry!" She was afraid. I knew she was. 'Sorry Rainbow.' I told her through my thought and took off quicker than a bullet. "Wait Ross!" She replied aloud a hand extended out toward me. "I love you." She realized I was to far off to hear her. I cried, I didn't bother fighting the tears, I fell toward the ground faster and faster. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings and crashed hard enough to leave a crater in the earth below.
I woke up in the same room of the same hospital in the same town. "Celestia knows little Trio wishes he was here." I sighed at the thought of my dog. "You have a pet?" Pinkie said her eyes practically glowing with excitement. "Yep the same pet every Grimm has except mines only a puppy, he was just born about six months ago, I bet he's bigger now." I smiled. "What is he?" Rainbow asked with Tank by her side. "A dog." I replied. "What breed?" Twilight inquired. "Cerberus." I said. A crack in the ground opened up to a green colored ridge, allowing a puppy with three heads to jump out. "TRIO!" I exclaimed. The little Cerberus licked my face with all three heads. 'So that's Trio?' Rainbow asked me with telepathy. "Yes!" I said aloud. "Yes what no one said anything?" Twilight asked. That made Rainbow Dash sigh. She explained everything and even proved it by having Pinkie think of a number. "Eight hundred and three." She said concluding her speech. All eyes were on Pinkemina. "She's right!" She exclaimed her jaw agape. 'Was that really necessary?' I thought to her, 'I hope things aren't awkward between us.' 'You do realize Gilda doesn't really know me, if ya know what I mean.' She told me through telepathy. 'So you actually do love me?' I asked her. "Yes! Celestia! It took you ten minutes to figure that out." She said her face again red. Everyone else had left.
About a week afterwards I took to the skies toward the library at top speed from our visit in Canterlot. "Okay bag check." Rainbow said cheerfully. I had to report to Celestia about the Elements Of Harmony. I was told I may house the element of magic because of Twilight being dead and myself being the first spellcasting pegasus. "Got my watch and scythe, that's all I brought." I told her. "Good thing to, how's your wing Ross?" Rainbow asked me. I extended my right wing, I had a bit of a crash landing getting here. Some crazed pegasus tried to knock me out of the sky. "Tingly." I said a slight wince on my face. "It gets like that, if I had a bit for every time I broke or sprained a wing I'd be rich." She said with a laugh. "Well, the flight back should help you lose the weight you gained here." I said poking her midsection, which sent me into a laughing fit. "Hey! Not cool Ross!" She said embarrassed. "Hey if you can crack jokes on the fact that I'm short than I can do that." It was true I was a five seven pegasus, technically I'm human, short for our race. "I guess that justifies it." She said obviously not caring anymore. "Thanks Loyalty." I said. "Dude you know I hate that!" She said anger in her voice. I held in the laughter I felt at her anger, when she gets mad her face goes blood red, like when she's embarrassed. I couldn't help it, just how red her face was made me laugh like a hyena. "Alright sugar cube, suit up." I told her putting on my armor made of bones. She wore a matching set, it was a gift I made with some bones I had left over. Hard to take your girlfriend's measurements, she thinks you're getting all intimate and stuff. "Okay but can we get breakfast first I'm starving!" She said. My stomach growled at the point. "Sure." I said smiling, and at five thirty in the morning, a rare sight.
After about fifteen minutes of almost burning a guest room, and a hotel next door, down and eating for about ten, we set out for Ponyville. It took us five minutes at most from point A to point B. We returned and explained to Twilight about the Elements Of Harmony. When we concluded my watched glowed a bright gold and changed to a gold color with my mark on the face, two scythes in an X, and Twilight's next to mine. "Oh wow!" I said knowing I didn't do it. "Did that really just happen?" Twilight said the bewilderment in her voice. "Epic." Even Rainbow sounded surprised and bewildered.
About a fortnight went by and by that time Rainbow and I had been on a date in a zombie infested world, how many couples can say that might I add. Gilda was bitten and put down "humanely", in other words I splattered her brains on the pavement when tried to bite Rainbow. "Dashie!" I called through my home. "Yes?" She said rounding the corner of my home from the bedroom to the kitchen. "Well I was going to ask where my shirt went but, now there's no need." I said pointing a whisk at her. "Whisk, stove's on, mixing bowl in the sink. Eggs?" She asked. "Correct my dear." I said smiling. As it turns out she loves eggs, who knew right? She walked up behind me and kissed my cheek. "Smells great. What you're cooking not you, I mean you do, but I-" she said frantically but was silenced by my index finger to her lips. "Stop stressing out Dashie." I told her. "So after we eat wanna go check on the radio?" Rainbow Dash asked me. "Sure." I had built a radio from nothing but steel and an old computer. So we ate and went to Sugarcube Corner. "Hey there folks!" I exclaimed as I entered. "SHUSH!" Applebloom said to me. "Repeat this is Scootaloo I'm in Ponyville I need help I'm in the library an AH!" The young one that I knew as Scootaloo screamed. "Cousin Scootaloo this is Ross, I'm on my way don't panic." I said to her, she was a Grimm. "Wait, Cousin Scootaloo?" Applebloom gave me a look that said 'What'. I headed to the library at top speed, the place was surrounded by those things. "Hey Fleshy!" I yelled like a hero. All of them turned toward me. I loaded my twin pistols.
It was all over in about ten minutes, it took three for the place to look like the underworld. "Scootaloo!" She was in a corner crying, her leg had been bitten. 'Luna!' I pushed into the princess of the night's mind. 'Scootaloo has been bitten please help me.' She arrived soon after to inject the young one with the cure. "Hey Scootaloo." I said after she awoke after fifteen minutes of silence. "Ross!" She exclaimed. She jumped up and grabbed me in a hug and cried. "Its okay." I said to her in a whisper. She told me how she got back to Ponyville. "We need to train you so that if I die you can take my place, after all you and I are the last of the Grimms." I told her smiling to her and handing her a small purple cylinder. "What is this?" She asked me, her small wings extended. "Its your scythe, you are a Grimm you must know how to use it." I grinned at her and brought her my training room.
After about a month she could mirror my every move. "Bravo!" I shouted and began to execute the battle formation. Scootaloo snapped to attention and immediately picked up on move three. After ten minutes we had open and closed our scythes three times. "Nice drill little one!" I ran my hand through her hair. "Thanks!" She said smiling. "Ross, don't ya think you two have been training too hard?" Rainbow asked me with a concerned look. "Yeah I guess. Sorry little one!" I shouted toward my younger cousin. "Its fine Ross!" She said to me. "Get down!" Pinkie shrieked through the stronghold. We all dropped like flies. A flower pot from a balcony dropped onto my head. "Ow!" I said, shards of harder clay in my long hair, which was pulled up. "That looked like it hurt, honey." Rainbow said to me. She examined my head, I opened my mouth and tasted a little blood and blacked out.
Common scene, hospital everyone there. "Sorry don't really like blood." I said still dizzy from blacking out. "You were out for a week. It was more of a coma." Twilight said to me. She continued to explain I had a concussion and when I blacked out it put me into a coma. "Fun." I said, I was still tired. "I was here the whole time." Rainbow said to me and smiled. "I knew you were loyal but, I didn't think like this." I told her smiling. "The next day I went on an ammo run, only to be captured by you." I said to the silhouette in front of me. "That's your life story?" The person of a gender I didn't know asked me. "Yes." I told him turning my head and seeing Rainbow asleep next to me.
The facility, that's what they called this horrendous place. Rainbow Dash and I have been trapped here in the same room for three months, the others are here too except for Twilight, she's with her brother. We are tested every morning like clockwork. 8:15 a dreaded time for us, that's when they let out the ones they trapped out as a twisted test. "Awaken oh my loyal subjects!" The first overseer called through a intercom system. "Celestia, you coward I'll tear you apart! Show yourself!" I shouted up and around. Rainbow got up and grabbed her weapon, a small submachine gun. I grabbed my black cylinder that was a collapsed scythe and flicked my wrist and unleashed my mighty blade.
Sobbing from the next chamber over grabbed my attention. I looked over to see Scootaloo with her hand pressed against the glass, Applejack had her hand on Scootaloo's shoulder. "Then come up here and stop me!" Celestia said to us. I extended my wings and went straight up like a bullet and into an electromagnetic field. Pain shot through me and I dropped like a fly.
The next day the doors opened and the things came out, they were extra hungry today. We fought valiantly. Rainbow didn't let one get within ten feet of her. I however had to get close. Next thing I knew I turned around and there was one there that managed to sink its teeth into me. Then another, and another, and another. After we finished them off a man in a guard's uniform dragged me out and into a an abandoned medical ward. In and out of consciousness I heard their voices. "...Too extensive..." One of the "doctors" said. "...Full body replacement..." Another said. "...This should do nicely..." The first said with a piece of steel in his hands. I couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about. Then my arm shot up with pain until I couldn't struggle to move it any longer. I looked over to see it wasn't there. I blacked out from the pain. I awoke to a startup screen.
-loading
-loading
-start-up finished
A white line squiggled over my line of sight. I looked around the room. Who am I? Where am I? A man in a regal armor set dragged me through a long corridor into a small room. "Ross! What did they do to you?" A female of the species human said to me. Her long rainbow colored hair looked surprisingly natural. I scanned her down, she was a natural rainbow. All scans indicated a file imbedded in my memory, Rainbow Dash. I felt like I knew her, I didn't.
"Are you in armor, Ross?" She asked me. Ross. Sounded familiar. Maybe I was this, Ross, she spoke of. I looked at my legs they bent at the knee and ankle, causing me to walk oddly, very unstable. A glass wall rose around the room to let more humans in. "Ross!" A small one with purple hair grabbed my leg in what, at a scan was called a "hug". A small opening above my chin materialized, "D-do I know y-you all?" I said. Speech. I did not know I was capable. "R-Ross you do remember us don't you?" An adult female asked me, her hair was a natural, curly pink. "Who is this, Ross, that you speak of?" I asked the humans surrounding me. "He doesn't remember." The rainbow haired one shed tears at what she said. "Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Applebloom, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity." I said a red light from my left eye scanned them. "He knows us!" The small one with a large red bow in her hair said excitedly.
"Scanning complete." I said. "Think again, Applebloom." The on who was clinging to my leg released me and said that. "Welcome back to conscious thought, Ross!" A voice from an intercom said to me, I think. "You have to remember!" The rainbow haired one said to me smacking my head on the side. "Combat mode active." A targeting sight put itself on her face. "Wait!" She said to me. "Ceasing." I said. "Ross you have to remember, if not for me for your cousin!" She shouted pointing at the one called Scootaloo. "Cousin. Family, I am drone number 157, I have no family." I said. This brought tears to their eyes. The Rainbow haired one leaned on my shoulder and a static shock from her brought memories from my past, a fleshy form by the name Ross Grimm.
"Celestia, I can't believe you would do this to us!" I shouted to the skies. "Ross?" Rainbow asked me a look of surprise and happiness on her face. "Hey, honey I just needed a reminder of myself, and a tear short circuited me, now I remember!" I explained. "Cool!" Rainbow said with a confused look on her face. I shot straight up like a bullet and pierced through the field of electricity. Talk about a super charge. "Its safe, I disabled it!" I shouted to the others. An android barreled me down in midair. A large black figure, like an odd opposite of me. My left synthetic wing buckled and I went straight toward the ground. The left side of my optics fizzled and went dark.
A book dropped from the sky, landing on Rarity, knocking her out cold. "No way! My spell book!" I exclaimed happily. I scanned through for the truth of form spell. "Eye of the beholder, no. Fireball, no. Oh I know index!" I said happily. "What?" Rainbow asked. "Aha! Perfect, page 193. Here we go page 19- what?" It wasn't there. "Oh Celes- Luna!" I shouted at the ceiling. "Oh so now I'm not good enough to be shouted to the heavens!" Celestia said through the intercom system. She was infuriated. "You tore my book?!" I asked her angrily. "Only page 193." She told me. "WHY YOU SMUG LITTLE-" I was stopped in mid-sentence by an alarm, 8:15. The steel doors opened and out they came running. Scootaloo and I had our scythes, but that's all the weapons the group had. "Execute uh...ALPHA!" I shouted to Scootaloo. She immediately picked up on my command. Within five or ten minutes we had taken them out. "Hey am I interrupting any thing?" We all turned to the source of the voice. "Twilight you have gained a physical form. How?" I asked. "Her, unfortunately." She pointed to a woman we all knew and, I knew her the most.
"Trixie, Its been a while old friend!" I ran up and hugged her. "Ross?" She asked returning the hug. "Yes, old friend!" I told her grinning from ear-to-ear and releasing her. "I didn't recognize you, what with the steel plating and all." I had completely forgotten about that when I hugged her. "Ya know, I get that a lot!" I started laughing, sorta. It was an odd monotone cybernetic haha sound on a loop. It was odd for all of us. "Yeah you make a point to the great and powerfu-" she stopped herself and bit her tounge. "Cocky as ever I see!" I told her smiling. "Me, you make a good point to me." She said her face flushed. "Red as blood." I said pointing at her face. She rolled her eyes and her hands glowed a red aura, not my scarlet aura, but more garnet. I was lifted into the air and was surrounded in a white light. When the smoke and light died down I had changed, my legs were of a more, human shape, I felt a leathery substance on my fingertips. Wait felt, I can feel. "And POW, you're human!" Trixie shouted. "Really?" I said my eyes showing through a black screen. "Take off that helmet and let me see your face Ross." Rainbow said to me.
My helmet retracted into a set of headphones then to a com link earpiece. "Sweet!" My voice sounded like, well my voice, not some crappy digital my voice in a fan thing. My face was as it used to be, the devilishly handsomeness of the Grimm family males. "Thank you!" I said hugging Trixie once again. "Um...anytime." She said nervously. "Heh heh, okay guys you can stop now!" Rainbow said, there was jealousy in her voice. "Jealous, Rainbow?" Applejack said, voicing what we all knew. Rainbow's face went to a shade of red that can only be described as hell's fire mixed with the shade of a rose. "What?! No I just, uh... Er... Um... Ya' know um... Oh... YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT!" She snorted angrily and walked off mumbling about "country stupidity." "Um... I'll go talk to her." I told the others.
About ten minutes later she finally started answering my questions. "I ask again honey, are you jealous of Trixie? I mean we only dated for like a month." I told her. "Wait, YOU DATED TH-THAT!" She shouted pointing toward Trixie and the others. "That's not important honey, I just wanted to know." I explained to her. "Well... No, of course not, never, nope." She said quickly. It was obvious she was lying to me. "Okay if you say so." I said walking off. I spun around quicker than she could react, I plucked one of my wing's feathers and looked her in the eyes. "No! Please don't Ross!" She said knowing I was threatening to tickle her until she couldn't breathe. "Tell me the truth." I replied, giving her the opportunity to get out of it. "Hm... Okay I was a little jealous." She said looking at the ground. I threw the feather over my shoulder. As it fell, I hugged her. "Thank you for telling me the truth Dashie." I said quietly.
The next day I made breakfast, it was my turn to do so. A familiar voice came over the intercom system. "Ross! Help me!" The voice pleaded. "Do you that Ross, she doesn't have much time before she dies." Another voice said to me, waking the others. "Celestia, you hurt one rainbow colored hair on her head so help me, I'll crush your head beneath my foot." I threatened. "R-Ross do you think you'll need help, I mean of not that's okay too." A quiet voice said from behind me. "Fluttershy wake Pinkie, I need the extra firepower." I told her smiling a wicked half smile. About ten seconds later a flash of pink froze in front of me, holding a mini gun. "Dashie's in trouble Pinkemina." I told her. "-GASP- Ohs Noes!" She shouted, a look of surprise shot over her. We headed through a door purposely left open, and into a long hallway. The final door had a note on that read, "we are in here -signed Celestia." I read it using a zoom function on my helmet that used to be my mechanic head. I grabbed Pinkie around her waist and flew toward it down the two mile long hall, shattering the door into pieces.
We were too late when we got there we saw Rainbow Dash's lifeless body against a wall, sat up, a note written in blood for me. "Ross, meet me at your base camp, I have something you know all about." I read aloud. Tears welled up in my eyes. I let out a monstrous roar sending flames, from letting my magic do its own thing, in a semicircle. "Ross, calm down." Pinkie said, the sadness on her face. Her hair went straight, a rare sight for her. "I swear when we get back, I WILL KILL HER!" I shouted that last part, drawing my claymore from my back. It was just another tool at my disposal. I hit a sonic duskboom on way back. When I arrived, I saw Celestia holding Rainbow, which confused me. "Oh, what you thought that android made out to look like her was her? Why no, Ross this is her, this is your precious Rainbow Dash." She said with a psychotic smile on her obviously deranged face. "Ross." Rainbow said in the princess's hand, she was being held by the back of her cyan shirt. "Let her go, or this claymore will go so far up your-" a hand on my shoulder stopped me from finishing that sentence. "Thanks -pant- for the lift." Pinkie said, she had finally caught up with me. "Hm... Maybe not, maybe I'll just kill her." Celestia said with that same smile on her face. "Ross, if I die I want you to know, I will always love you." Rainbow said smiling. "Mother of Celestia that was cliche." I said laughing. Rainbow rolled her eyes. I unsheathed my mighty claymore, threatening to slice the princess in two. "It'll be like cutting butter." I said looking Celestia in her deranged eyes. "Fine, you're no fun." She said dropping Rainbow to the ground.
I scattered toward her, dropping my claymore. "She didn't hurt you, much did she?" I asked a frantic vocal pitch about my speech. "I'm good, just beaten quite a bit." She replied, blood covered her clothes. "I wonder what she meant by 'something you know all about'?" Pinkie inquired quietly. "A soul..." Rainbow said softly, panting in between words. "Whose soul?" I asked. I was concerned, mostly for Rainbow, but my job is important too. "Rainbow where are the others?" I asked turning in circles looking for them. "She let them go, the door is still open." Rainbow replied, she had stopped panting, for now. "So, wait..." Pinkie said pausing, "If she just let the others go, then she had a reason, and if she had a reason, it had to have been very good, which means we get to go free!" "Pinkemina that made no sense, but let's go. Rainbow can you walk?" I asked. "Maybe." She said rising to her feet. Her head rocked a little and she sat back down like her legs were made of a gelatinous compound. "Guess not." She said obviously dizzy. "I'll go after her!" Pinkie said her tone changed to a dark serious tone. "You sure?" I asked. "She got to Dashie, and Dashie is my friend." She replied, the dark serious tone was still there. "Go on and good luck Pinkemina." I said saluting at her. She did one back and ran off, her gun on her back somehow. Rainbow got to her feet, "The door's right there." "I know, but I won't leave Pinkie here." I replied.
About ten minutes later we heard a high-pitched scream. "That sounded like Pinkie!" I exclaimed, the fear on my face. "Oh, it was." A voice from behind me called. It was Celestia, in her hand was a familiar pink haired dismembered head. "Prophet's wind!" I shouted as a gust of wind shot from my sleeve knocking a small bottle out of her hand and onto the floor. A soul escaped and was talking to fast for me to understand. "...In short thank you!" The spirit finished before acclaiming a form we recognized. "Pinkie!" I said, "slow down!" "Oh, a spell war huh?" Celestia said, "Flame of destruction!" A ball concentrated flame whizzed by my head. I shouted in anger, a primal way of thought washed over me. Pure instinct was what drove me now, no thoughts, only war. Pegasi were a military race, so this was instinct. "Death's fury!" I shouted in a deep voice that sounded nothing like my slightly higher voice. A large black skull appeared behind me and rushed through my body and into Celestia, her soul rising from her body and flying toward the underground at super sonic speeds. I hit the ground and watched my vision go black. When I awoke I was in Sugarcube Corner surrounded by faces I recognized. "What is it with you and blacking out, Ross?" Rainbow asked hugging me as I came to. "I have no clue!" I said hugging her back.
End of part two.
