“Chaos Bloom, are you ready for this?”
Even though it was pitch black, and the voice echoed so loudly the freezing floor shook, the small mare closed her eyes and nodded. Her pale yellow coat was almost glowing in the dark, her baby blue and lemon yellow mane seeming very heavy at the moment, as if she might faint under the pressure.
Her voice was soft, light, and in some way… eerie. Too soft. “Yes, brother. I will do whatever you wish.”
In the dark, Chaos Bloom could make out the shape of her elder brother; he was very tall, and his blood red coat seemed almost brown in the thick blackness that surrounded them.
It was true; her brother was not normal. A defect, as he described it. He was a Pegasus pony, unlike herself as she was an earth pony, but instead of being gifted with feathery wings he had been cursed with those of a bat. His eye shaped cutie mark brought its own dark talent as well, the ability to control the mind of any pony (With the exception of royalty, who for some reason he could not get through to.)
However, despite his power, Hypnotic Aura had never once used it on Chaos Bloom. His little sister had done everything he asked willingly, and worked her way up to a prized possession in Hypnotic Aura’s eyes. He trusted the small, fragile looking mare just as she trusted him; both without hesitation or second thought.
“Good then, you understand the plan? Repeat it to me, Sister.” He gritted his teeth, impatient and wanting his plan to go into motion as soon as possible.
“Yes, I understand the plan. I am to go and find the Princess Celestia’s prized pupil, a purple unicorn mare by the name of twilight Sparkle, and earn her trust. Once I have obtained that, I am to contact you.” Her whispery voice was like honey, seeping over the words she spoke and coating them in sweetness that was incredibly soothing.
“I will tell you what to do from there. If you are caught, or your cover is blown…” Hypnotic Aura blinked, and then fired off the rest of the sentence with cold cruelty. “Do not bother coming back home, because I will give you a punishment so severe you will regret the birthright you stole from your mother.”
Even though her coat had begun to crawl, Chaos Bloom nodded. “Of course.”
There was a silence after that. Neither Hypnotic Aura, nor Chaos Bloom moved in the dark, stone room, almost unwilling to make time move.
Finally, Chaos Bloom moved forwards and touched her nose against her big brother’s shoulder. “I’ll be safe… don’t worry.” Then she turned to the wall, using her teeth to grip the drapes over a window and throw them open.
Moonlight poured into the room, revealing the small mare’s sweet face, and baby blue eyes. The pale moonlight revealed that she was slightly taller than average, but still short compared to most male stallion ponies. Not only that, but her tail was extremely short, almost deer like, with a blue tip. It was true, Chaos Bloom was a very pretty little mare. Her cutie mark was a square, with several thick arrows piercing its sides; it had no color, and was all black. Any old mare could tell you that she bore the mark of a very old, very ancient family of ponies of which almost succeeded in destroying all of Equestria at one point. They were called, the Night Riders. The Night Riders had all black cutie marks, DARK cutie marks.
She looked at her brother, her last family member, and she found that even if he was twisted and hollow with vengeance to a source she did not know she still loved him. “I promise.” Then she pushed open the front door and galloped into the night.
Hypnotic Aura did not smile back at her, but he was frowning. “Goodbye.” Was all he muttered, but then his tail swished cheerfully, because he remembered;
He was going to soon, very, very soon, rule Equestria.
Braeburn ran; he didn’t care if his hooves stung in the snow or if his shoulders ached. He NEEDED to get into Ponyville as soon as possible! Over his back was the limp figure of a small mare, her baby blue and lemon yellow mane falling softly over his flank.
Finally, he entered the town with thundering hooves, blonde mane flying behind himself and his hat just barely staying on his head. “Anyone? Help!” He called into the streets, and many ponies turned their heads to see a coatless stallion, looking weak and hungry, standing over a limp mare on the ground with a protective expression. “Please!”
A whole group of ponies rushed over, gushing questions like;
“What happened?!”
“Is that poor dear okay?”
“Will someone get Nurse Redheart?”
However, suddenly one voice rang out over all of them. “Al’ight, break it up everypony! What in tarnations is goin’ on here-“Applejack had pushed through the crowd, before freezing. “Cousin?”
Braeburn looked at the hoard of ponies warily, as his cousin trotted speedily over. “T-The girl… she showed up on the edge of Appleloosa… she was just collapsed at the edge o’ town. The town nurse said it was real bad-“he paused, thinking of the blinding, elderly pony that really should have retired years ago. “-but we don’t have any medical stuff near as good as Ponyville. S-So I ran here.”
Applejack’s jaw hung in disbelief. “You RAN here? From Appleloosa?”
He nodded, seeming less stable by the second. “Yep. Hey… I’m kinda tired….” With that, Applejack got next to him and he put all of his weight on her, so as to not pass out from exhaustion.
Nurse Redheart was now at the mare’s side, and was searching the small thing carefully before she declared, “The poor thing has been awake this whole time…”
Chaos Bloom coughed and her eyes closed, as she blacked out. However, in her own mind she knew throwing herself in front of that buffalo herd was the right thing to do. Now she seemed like an innocent victim. Her cutie mark was hidden under make-up and mud; she was safe, for the time being.
With that, Chaos Bloom went completely still and gave into the pain, blacking out completely. She heard the nurse scream something urgently, but she could not stay awake long enough to listen.
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~` ~ ~ ~~
Chaos Bloom’s eyes fluttered open softly, mouth dry and legs sore. Her eyes, feeling rather stiff somehow, scanned her surrounding immediately.
She lay down in the bed of an infirmary, a blanket covering her lower half and lamp light illuminating the small humble room she stayed in. There were other hospital beds, but they were all empty. Her back was to the door, so she squirmed painfully and bucked off the sheets, slipping from the bed and feeling the coolness of tile on her hooves.
It was so quiet, she could hear her own breathing and the freezing rain splatter on a closed window. A dove chirped in the snow outside as it looked for cover from the downpour.
It was so quiet, she could have probably heard a pin drop.
So, as you can imagine, she had a right to be scared half to death when a voice came from just behind her ear.
“Well, howdy partner! I’m happy to see that you finally decided to get you’re sleepy hooves outta bed!”
She whipped around, heart leaping into her throat and eyes so wide the whites showed. What she saw was almost terrifying. A small group of horses, some wearing cowboy hats and some wearing boots… she noticed they’re cutie marks all had something to do with apples, so she suggested they were all family.
There was the horse she remembered, from the town she had been found in; he was a rather handsome looking horse with a golden mane, and bright green eyes. She noticed he was covered in bandage, from the long run they had embarked on. There was an old, green mare with kind eyes and a walker, a younger mare with a cowgirl hat and freckles, then there was…
HIM.
As soon as her eyes locked onto his, she blinked and looked down.
The stallion was red, with calm looking eyes and a green apple cutie mark. Something about him reminded her of her own older brother; yet his presence was more warming, more welcoming. He returned her gaze, and then nodded politely.
Applejack grinned, “Don’t be frettin’. We aint goanna hurt you; we’re all just real happy that you’re okay! I’m Applejack, this is Granny Smith,” She pointed a hoof to the elderly mare, then to the pony who had saved her life. “-This is cousin Braeburn-“finally, her hoof was at the direction of the red stallion, who was chewing on wheat. “-This is my big brother, Big Macintosh.”
Big Macintosh nodded, and greeted “Yee-up.”
Immediately, Chaos Bloom looked to make sure her cutie mark was covered. It was, still with caked blood and mud; good, in a way. “H-hello…” She greeted, and Applejack immediately noticed a certain elegance of this small mare. “My name is-“she paused for a moment, before lying “-Orchid. It is very nice to meet you all. Also, I must thank you for my life, Braeburn.”
The stallion nodded, grinning widely. “It’s real nice to see that you’re okay. You gave us all a real fright.”
“If you don’t mind me asking… We are in Ponyville, correct?”
Big Macintosh answered, “Yee-up.”
“T-Thank you.” She found herself swishing her own small, deer like tail nervously at his voice. “I have no idea where I came from… where did you find me? May you fill me in, Brae burn?”
“Fill you in?” Applejack grinned warmly. “We’re goanna do more than that! We’re goanna give you the ol’ Apple Family welcome!”
