Kill the five

They entered the yard through an old wooden gate. The hinges where covered with old rusted iron and flakes of orange metal flew of as the doors where pushed aside. The yard was filled with white dawnstars. Petals lifted by the wind from the flowers flew in the air passed the two wanderers.

To her left, Apple Bloom saw a barracks lined up with all manner of different kinds of weapons. From swords to halberds and even a zwiehander, taller than Nightglade. To her right was an open field, covered in white sand.

By the end of my first week the damn thing was stained by sweet, tears and blood.

In front of her was the main house. An almost humble cottage with a patches of pink potato flowers growing before the patio.

The old unicorn stopped her with his staff. He looked down on her with hard eyes. “Choose your weapon and get to the training yard.”

Apple Bloom did as she was told without a word. She had no idea what half of the weapons where, let alone how to use them. At best she had only seen Applejack use a pitchfork or used a hammer herself. She looked at a short sword and picked that. The blade´s edge shimmered in the sunlight when it left its scabbard. The light was damn near blinding to her.

In the sand field, Nightglade was waiting. He sat with his back legs folded and his fore hooves resting on his knees. His staff was laid at his side.

He stroked his mustache and glared at her. “Show me what you can do.” He put his hoof back on his knee. “Attack me.”

Apple Bloom rushed forward with the sword.

Nightglade made no effort to avoid her charge. He just sat there and waited for her to get close.

Apple Bloom stopped herself halfway through her swing. Nightglade´s eyes narrowed and his hoof slammed into her chest, pushing Apple Bloom to the ground and sending the sword into the air. He picked the sword before it could touch the ground and pushed the blade into the sand.

“Why did you stop?”

Apple Bloom got up, quickly, before answering. “I almost cut our head off.”

Nightglade through his head backwards and released a loud, mocking laughter. He leaned forward and kept laughing into the ground. Eventually he stopped. “Even if I was blind and deaf, you wouldn´t have been able to hit with a sword. Let alone cut my head off.” He stroked his mustache. “I must admit I find your arrogance amusing.” He drew the sword from the sand and tossed back to Apple Bloom.

She picked up the sword.

“Now, try again.” He sat back down.

Apple Bloom charged. This time she wasn´t holding back. And if she hit Nightglade this time she might kill him.

When Apple Bloom was one step from him, Nightglade made a spinning movement with his body and avoided her strike.

The movement was so fast and so unexpected that Apple Bloom was stunned. She had never seen a unicorn move with such speed and grace. And then Nightglade´s hoof came crashing down on her shoulder, slamming her into the ground.

She spat out a mouthful of sand and climbed to her feet. Only to have Nightglade slam her a second time. Apple Bloom grunted and turned in the sand. She used the momentum to get her feet faster and at some distance from Nightglade.

Nightlade stroked his mustache. For a moment Apple Bloom thought that she could see a small smile in between the silver white hairs.

“Your swordplay is nothing short of worthless.” He kicked the sword of the ground and threw it back into its place in the barrack behind her. “Let´s see if you can do better with our bare hooves.”

Apple Bloom whipped some of the sand of her mouth and ran forward, hoping to tackle Nightglade to the ground.

He made one swift side steep, caught Apple Bloom with his fore hooves and she ended up with her face in the sand again.

She snorted the sand out of her nostril, turned and tried to slam her hoof into Nightglade.

A blue blur flashed before her eyes and before she could understand what happened she was being held just above the white sand. Something was pushing her fore hoof backwards, so hard that it like the bone was about to pop from its socket. The pain made her wince and made the blood boil underneath her skin.

“You can´t use a sword.” Nightglade said from behind her. “You can´t fight with hooves.” He stared out over the field of dawnstars for a moment. “Maybe one week was too generous.” He twisted Apple Bloom´s hoof around a little bit, making her scream and cry. “I´m thinking three.”

Apple Bloom bit down. Once when she was about five years old she broke her back hoof while playing in the barn´s addict. That time Applejack had been close. She picked her up and carried her back to the house. Apple Bloom recalled the pain she felt when first trying to step on her broken leg.

It was harder than this.

The skin on her lip broke and droops blood stained the white sand.

Nightglade released the filly and she gasped when she hit the ground. The relief felt like a wave of soft, cold water through her throbbing shoulder.

“Do you want this strength?” Nigthglade glared down at her.

Apple Bloom tried force her breath to slow down. “Yes.” She managed to muster the word between a pair of shallow breaths.

Nightglade stroked his mustache. “Do you want to die?”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “No.”

“Look into my eyes.”

The little filly lifted her head and stared back into his emerald, green eyes. They were sharp, filled with cold harshness that chilled her down to the bone.

“Do you want to die?” He asked again. His voice was just as cold as his eyes.

“No.”

A slight, faint smile grew on his lips. He picked up his staff and walked into the house. Apple Bloom trailed after at a distance. She limped slightly on her fore hoof.

“This is your room.” Nightglade pointed her to a room with a soft straw mattress, a small pillow and a thin cover.

Apple Bloom looked at the room in front of her. There wasn´t the smallest resembles to her old room back at farm. The cover was white with no pattern, the bed may have been soft but it was hard rock compared to her old one, the pillow was cold and hard. She hadn´t slept on a bed since the massacre, only on a hard log or moist ground.

She lay on the bed felt the soft fabric brushing against her coat. She shifted to find a comfortable position. Though she was far hungrier than sleepy, she felt like now may be the only chance she would have in a long time to get some rest. Apple Bloom shifted to another side.

The bed still felt wrong. For has long as she could remember she had slept in her bed back at her room. A cranky old thing with a fat feather mattress, a thick cover and large pillow she could sink her head into. Once she laid in that bed she fell asleep within a minute after climbing in it. In this one she laid with her eyes open.

It took me a long while to get used that bed. Along with everything else.

The old unicorn and the little filly sat opposite each other in front of the dinner table. A plate of steaming potatoes with green asparagus on top was standing in front of them.

Nightglade served himself two potatoes and began to peeling them with a knife. Next to the potatoes was a cup filled with golden yellow butter. Once the potatoes were stripped their skin he put a dollop of butter on them and waited for it to melt.

Apple Bloom had never liked potatoes, regardless of how they were served. “Is there anything else to eat?”

His eyes narrowed. “If you´re not going to eat the food I give you,” He leaned forward. “Then feel free to go and get your own.”

Apple Bloom, reluctantly, took a potato from the plate and started to peel the skin of. Her hooves were considerably sloppier and when she was done almost half of the skin was still there. The steaming root crop was tasteless and dried her mouth up. She had to take a mouthful of water with each bite.

While I sit here and eat overbaked potatoes along a miserable old jackass, let me share some of the tales that created the immortals.