Kill the five

They had walked through most of the night. Apple Bloom felt her legs trembling and shaking with each step and the world swirled around her head. The lantern on Nightglade´s staff swung back and forth atop of his staff, spreading warm light around him in a yellow circle. Even though Apple Bloom was juts right behind him, the old unicorn never said a word to her or even turned to look at her.

Apple Bloom tripped and the ground came up to give her a hard punch in her chin. For a brief moment she saw white stars before her eyes. Then the world turned black.

Nightglade stopped and looked behind him. The little filly laid still on the ground, her mane was tussled with bits of leaves and broken twigs wrapped themselves in the red hair. He put the end of his staff on her barrel and waited for a moment. There was a slight raise after a moment.

The old unicorn´s horn started glowing and the lantern flowed from the staff and landed gently on the ground. Then he turned and stared at a collection of bushes with bright, pink leaves. He analyzed their height and distance from him. He took the staff with both his front hooves and pulled it apart to form a pair of short, pointy blades. He closed his eyes. With a series of swirling movements, the branches and blades of the bushes separated from the trunk and hung in the air around him. He sheathed the blades back together and opened his eyes. His horn started glowing. The flying branches stopped their descent and gathered up just above his head. He leaned the staff back on his shoulder and trotted silently back to Apple Bloom.

One of the branches hovered down and landed next to Apple Blooms head. Then the lantern ascended back to the tip of Nightglade´s staff before he turned and walked away. Regularly placing branches with pink leaves behind him.

Nightglade was old, sharp, skilled and far from patient. You may think what he just did was cruel but it only a small taste of the trials he would place on me.

Apple Bloom woke when the sun´s rays hit her eyes. The bright light stung and her first instinct was to turn away from the light. Then she woke up and looked around her. There was only the branch with a pink leaf. A cold finger moved up her spine. She was alone again. She grabbed the branch with a bloody sore hoof and stared at the trail laid in front of her. She put the branch between her teeth and bit down. She climbed to her feet. Apple Bloom trotted forward damn, near limping, and picking up each branch she came across on the way.

Nightglade leaned against a thick tree. The sun had set and a flame danced atop a small bonfire. He took a purple berry from a small mound of them he had gathered and ate it.

The fire cracked and a pile of twigs with pink leaves were thrown on the fire. Apple Bloom stared at him with narrow eyes as the flames turned the pink leaves to orange embers, flying through the air.

The old unicorn stared back at her. His hard, green eyes felt piercing but Apple Bloom didn´t flinch, and then offered her a berry.

The sweet juice that came from the berry when she crushed it in her mouth drowned out the dry taste of wooden bark. For a brief moment she forgot about the world around her. She closed her eyes relished the soft flavor filling her mouth until she had to swallow. When she opened her eyes she noticed the pile of berries that Nightglade had collected. She felt her mouth getting moist. “Can I have another?” She asked.

Nightglade took one berry in his hoof, held to Apple Bloom. She was about to take it when he tossed it in the air.

Apple Bloom barely had time to react before he snatched it out of the air and put it in his mouth. He then took another berry and held it towards Apple Bloom.

It was damn near taunting and it took me few times before I figured out what he wanted me to do. Even then I only managed to get myself one out of six.

Soon enough the berries were gone. “You are weak, Apple Bloom.” Nightglade whipped the purple juices of his mouth with the back of his hoof. “And you´ll probably be dead within a week with me.” He licked his lips to gather up the final bits around his mouth. “Luckily for you it will be the longest week of your life.”

Apple Bloom felt her heart skipping a beat and her face turned visibly pale. Despite the warmth of the fire she stood completely frozen. She wanted to say something back at him. Tell him that his threats were empty and she didn´t care, but it was a lie and what if he meant it? What if he would see this defiance as insult and he would kill her right then and there? Or just abandon her.

Nightglade stroked his mustache. “Get some sleep. I´ll heal your wounds while you sleep. Tomorrow we will begin the real training.”

Somehow those words melted her and Apple Bloom managed to get relatively quiet, albeit dreamless sleep.