Pony Treasure Island

The Blind Mare

Later that night, after Applebloom had brought the doctor to the Captain, all was quiet at the Admiral Benbow. Boyle was at his table, finishing his dinner, while Applebloom was upstairs tending to her mother.

It turned out that Black Crow spoke true about the medicine. When Buttercup was served her bread and water, with the medicine mixed in, it took not but an hour for her to feel better than she had in a while. The Doctor was skeptical, but told the young filly that he’d be back in the morning to check on Buttercup’s condition. As Applebloom gathered up her mother’s dirty clothes, Buttercup attempted to throw the covers off for the third time. “MA! You heard Doctor Turner! You need to stay in bed till the morning! He needs to make sure you’re not gonna relapse,” Applebloom sighed, pushing her mother back down into the mattress. Buttercup smiled, kissing her daughter’s head.

“Oh, darlin’. I’m so happy how responsible you are, but I’m feeling more alive than I have in awhile! It’ll be alright! I know Doctor Turner means well, but he worries too much at times.”

“He needs to, Ma! When last he saw you, he was sure ya weren’t gonna make it. You making a full recovery only an hour after getting medicine from a scruffy pirate, he has a right to be worried.” Before Buttercup could make a rebuttal, Boyle called to the little yellow filly from downstairs, asking for his usual glass of cider. Applebloom sighed, as she tucked her mother back into bed. “I’ll go tend to the Cap’n, you get back to sleep, okay?”

“Now you’re acting like my mother, hon,” Buttercup chuckled. The filly rolled her eyes, as she blew out the flame in her mother’s lamp and closed the door, heading downstairs, where the Captain looked to be on the verge of a meltdown.

“CIDER!! I NEED CIDER, APPLEBLOOM!! I’VE GOT THE HORRORS!!” he bellowed, his cutlass leaving his scabbard and cutting down a tankard that rested on one of the other tables. “CIDER ‘TILL I FLOAT!!”

“Alright, alright, Cap’n. Just one small one, though, okay?” Applebloom said, sitting Boyle back in his chair as he sheathed his sword.

“DON’T BE GIVING HIM ANYMORE CIDER!” a voice from above called down. Boyle’s favs etched in confusion, mirrored by Applebloom’s. Starlight Glimmer frightened him at times.

“How does she bloody do that?” he murmured, before he heard it. The tap-tap-tapping of a wooden stick coming up the road, followed by a wizened voice.

“Hello? Won’t somepony or somecreature assist a helpless blind mare?” Applebloom and Boyle looked to each other, before the little filly slowly approached the door, gulping. Slowly opening it with a creak, Applebloom took a look at the blind mare. She didn’t look...intimidating. Dressed in simple, dusty clothes, with a black hooded cloak over her head and shrouding her body, and with a thick purple cloth over her eyes. Her fur was white and Applebloom could see a bit of her spiked blue mane poking out of the hood. Clutched in her hoof was a gnarled, wooden cane. The mare’s head perked up from the sound of the creaking door, and she smiled. “Is somepony there?”

“M-My name is Applebloom,” the filly said, her voice quavering. The mare might not look intimidating on the surface, but after Black Crow, she’d learnt appearances could be deceiving. The blind mare chuckled kindly, bowing her head.

“My dear Applebloom, would you assist this poor blind mare, who lost her sight in the service of Princess Celestia, bless her soul, by telling her where exactly she is?” Applebloom cocked her head, slowly approaching the mare. Perhaps she truly did need help?

“You’re at the Admiral Benbow, Miss,” the filly said. The mare nodded, slowly moving close to Applebloom, with a tip-tap of her cane.

“The Admiral Benbow, is it? An Inn, if I’m not mistaken, my dear? Why, I can smell the sea from here. Truly, this is be a great port for a sea mare to dock at,” the blind mare said. As she finished, both the mare and Applebloom heard a rumbling come from the former’s stomach.

“Oh, you sound hungry, Miss. Come inside, we have plenty of food still left,” Applebloom said, closing the distance between her and the mare and gripping her foreleg. The blind mare cooed, as she gripped Applebloom tightly, perhaps a bit too tight for the filly, and was lead into the Inn.

Boyle’s breath left him as he glimpsed the blind mare that Applebloom lead in. The mare in question, began to chuckle. But not the kind, slightly wizened chuckle from outside. This chuckle was cold, sinister, and strong of voice. Applebloom looked from the Captain to the mare, who opened her mouth.

“Now then, Applebloom, dear. Fetch me no more than an apple and a serving of cider for me and me mate, Boyle,” the blind mare ordered, with a slight bark to her voice.

“Vinyl,” Boyle whispered. Vinyl cackled, bowing with more finesse than one would think a blind pony would have.

“Vinyl as ever was, Boyle! Ye needn’t worry, though. I’ll not be here for long. I’ve merely come t’ deliver something to me old shipmate.” Reaching into the folds of her cloak, Vinyl extracted a folded up piece of paper, and with her cane tapping on the stone floor of the Admiral Benbow, she approached the Captain slowly. “Hold out yer wing,” she growled. Boyle hesitated, as Applebloom finished pouring the two cups of cider. “NOW!” Vinyl roared. Boyle grimaced, holding out his wing, as Applebloom approached with a cup of cider and the apple. Vinyl grinned, placing the folded up paper into Boyle’s wing and closing it, before swiping the cider from Applebloom. Downing it in one shot, the blind mare cackled, as she took a bite from the apple.

“Now, it’s done. Good evening, Boyle. Dear Applebloom.” Then, with a tap-tap-tapping of her cane again, Vinyl walked out the door and away from the Inn. Applebloom rushed to close the door, as Boyle unfolded the paper with shaking feathers. To the untrained eye, it looked to be nothing. But to a pirate, to Boyle, it was the harbinger of death.

“The Black Spot!” The scream that came from the parrot echoed through the Inn and out to the cliffs and even beyond the sea. He’d been warned. Black Crow was the warning. Vinyl had come to deliver the sentence. They were coming.