Apple Bloom and the Floating Windmill

Meeting

I still can't believe what I'm seeing, an actual unicorn, and one powerful enough to kill an ashenwolf like it was nothing, a single ashenwolf can kill a hydra in less than thirty seconds but once that strange magic touched the creature, it immediately vanished...

The unicorn looks nervous... shy, I guess. She looks around the same age as me, maybe slightly younger but that's just a guess obviously. Dark grey coat, light grey mane, strangely vibrant green eyes and a cutie mark of a white rose, she's so grey she'd totally blend into the background if you weren't paying attention.

I've definitely spent too long just staring at her, I guess I should probably say something...?
"uh... hi?" I begin, I pause slightly before continuing, "are... are you okay?"
Although this unicorn seems to be very powerful, I should still make sure she is alright, it's only polite to do so.
She looks away slightly, then looks back at me and opens her mouth to speak... before immediately closing it, inhaling and trying again, yeah, she's definitely shy.
"I, uh... yeah, I'm fine... are you alright? I sensed the ashenwolf's appearance from the forest, my mother wouldn't want me to help anypony but I just... thought it was the right thing to do..." she finishes speaking and quickly looks away again.

She hasn't said much but it's already raising questions, I decide to just go ahead and ask the most important question directly, "Uh, what exactly do you mean by 'sensing' the ashenwolf?"
She seems to be caught off-guard by the question and panics to answer, "Oh, uh, It's... uh, well... it's just a magic thing, you know?"
It's not exactly a convincing argument but I don't really know enough about unicorn magic to say otherwise so I guess it could just be something all unicorns can do. Regardless of her abilities, now that I know she isn't hurt, I guess I should introduce myself. I try to relax before I begin speaking, "Well, my name is Apple Bloom, thanks for helping me out there, it's nice to meet you!"
The unicorn smiles and replies quickly, "Uh, nice to meet you too, Apple Bloom, I'm Hulthemia."

We're walking together now, she decided she'd like to talk with me for a while, a little time has passed and I've been able to learn a few things about Hulthemia.
I tried asking about her parents, the comment she made about her mum earlier raised some questions, she didn't seem enthusiastic to talk about her mum other than she's apparently a really good parent and that she's waiting back home... wherever that is.
When I asked her about her dad she actually asked me what a dad is... I figured it would be best to avoid this topic as much as possible going forward.

She asked me why I'm travelling through the middle of nowhere by myself, I could've asked the same thing in return but instead I just explained what was going on.
"...And that just about covers everything, I'm gonna get sick and I need to get to Canterlot to find a cure of some kind."
She looks kind of excited after hearing everything I had to say, "Wow, that's actually a crazy coincidence, I need to get to Canterlot too, actually... I can totally help you find the essence!"
Wait, what?
I turn to look at her with a confused expression on my face, "What's... 'the essence'?"
She's once again caught off-guard by my question, I guess she didn't realise I wouldn't know what she's talking about...?
"Well, uh... it's the name of the cure, it's called 'celestial essence', at least, that's what my mother calls it..." she finishes her sentence somewhat nervously.
"Whoa, how exactly does your mum know about the cure? I thought it was like, super secret or something..." I ask.
"Well... uh... you see, my mother has actually been to Canterlot before, that's how she knows." she attempts to explain, it seems unlikely but I guess it's not impossible.

Even if she's telling the truth about her mum, there's still one thing that she hasn't explained, "Okay, I guess that makes sense but how come you're going to Canterlot?"
She answers rather quickly and simply, "Well, I'm actually taking something there for the princess to see, it's super important..."
That's all I could get her to explain about her reason for travelling to Canterlot, I guess I'd like a little more information but she seems trustworthy so whatever...

We continued walking for a while but at some point Hulthemia suddenly stopped walking and looked at the ground nervously, I also stop and turn around to face her so I can speak to her, "Why'd you stop walking? Canterlot is still a while away..."
It took her a couple of minutes to work up the confidence to reply to my question but when she did, she said, "We can't get to Canterlot... I... uh..." she seems to be having trouble explaining so I ask another question, hoping that'll encourage her to continue.
"What do you mean, we can't?"
She breathes carefully before responding, "Canterlot is completely blocked off from the rest of Equestria, the princess created a magical shield to prevent anypony from entering the city, there's a path around the shield but..."
"But what?"
"...It's not safe..."

Whatever she's worried about doesn't matter I have to make it clear how important this journey is, "Listen Hulthemia, I need to get to Canterlot, it doesn't matter how dangerous it'll be, I don't have any choice..."
She seems to hesitate, she second guesses what to say, then third guesses and even fourth guesses... is that a thing? whatever not important, what is important is her response,
"Apple Bloom... okay, I'm coming with you, I don't know if I can keep you safe, but I'll try, I promise."
She seems confident about this promise.

Hulthemia and I continue walking, as expected, the grass has begun to return, still dead grass though, it seems we're out of 'ashenwolf territory' now so that's good. Technically I'm not sure if I can call it that considering we only saw one ashenwolf but honestly, that one was enough for me anyway.

As we continue our journey, slowing approaching the bottom of the mountain that Canterlot was built on the side of, I suddenly trip over a branch I hadn't noticed while walking. A small trip shouldn't be enough to hurt this much but my hoof is still injured from yesterday...
Hulthemia has noticed my injury, she tells me to stop and gets closer to me, "Apple Bloom, why didn't you tell me your hoof is injured?"
I'm a little confused about the question so I reply, "What do you mean, it's not important and it's not like you're a doctor or anything so..."
She rolls her eyes for some reason before responding to me, "Maybe not but I still know enough magic to heal small injuries, my mother taught me all the magic she knows... I'm still learning some of it though..."

Her horn glows green and after a few seconds, my leg doesn't hurt anymore. I can't believe how cool Hulthemia is, I mean she can use powerful magic to attack and to heal? "Wow, that's really impressive Hulthemia!" I say as I hug the unicorn in front of me.
She's surprised by the hug and after I step away she asked something kinda weird, "Hey, Apple Bloom... are we... friends?"
Huh, I guess I hadn't really thought about it until she asked, it just seems kinda obvious that we'd be friends now, that's how friendship works... I think?
"Yeah, sure... If you wanna be!"
"...I'd like that, thanks Apple Bloom." She's seems really happy about this.

As we continue walking, I'm now considering it, the fact that I actually haven't had a friend before, I don't think Granny Smith counts so yeah, Hulthemia is my first friend... my best friend.
It's not long until we reach the mountain now, I still need to climb the thing, but at least I'm not alone anymore.
It's nice.