Cherry Flower Orphanage
In the orphanage, Cotton Needle quickly ushered the children back into the main hall. War may still be upon them, but education was still important.
Cheerilee taught all the children in the main hall at once, instead of individual classes like she used to do before the war. It was simpler, and gave the rest of the orphanage staff a much needed break from the little creatures. Most of the Staff would rest in the kitchen, or take a quick cat nap, but Cotton Needle preferred to sit with the children during their lessons, in case Cheerilee needed any help.
But she never did. Cotton often found herself thinking back to her days in school, her hopes and dreams, and how she had come so close to reaching them....so close she could touch it. But then war stepped in and changed everything.
Standing up she decided to take a break from the lessons she didn’t need and walked to the apple tree growing outside the complex. Her she could think, and relax. The cool air from the mountains blew down and rustled the leaves, and waved her hair. She rested a hand on the tree. It was a gift from Applejack, a year after the war broke out.
Such a simple gift, yet it had a huge impact.
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Cotton couldn’t be happier. For the last 10 months she was lost. She had nothing to live for. Her goals where made irrelevant by the war, but now she had something to look after.
The children. Cheerilee had taken her in after she collapsed on the steps. Finally a friendly face. Cotton had run to the mountains after Spell had disappeared. She was the only link to finding him that they could get to. His wife was untouchable as she was everyone’s supplier of weapons. But Cotton? She was weak. A simple fashion designer. Sure she had random bursts of chaos abilities after one of Spell Bound’s spells went wrong infusing her with a small bit of his chaos magic.
But she refused to betray her friend. So she ran. She knew Rarity ran to the mountains with several others. If they lived she would help her surely? They may not have been the best of friends, but their rivalry was friendly and they got along fairly well. But she never made it that far.
She got attacked by timber wolves halfway through her journey, and only happened across the orphanage by chance. She collapsed onto the steps, not even realizing that they where steps. One of the staff discovered her there and carried her in.
It took a while for Cheerilee to recognize her as Cotton she was so badly scratched up.
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3 months had passed since then, and she had managed to write a letter to Applejack explaining her situation to her.
“Dear Applejack,
I know you must be worried after I suddenly disappeared. You see, every side of this accursed war wants Spelly. And now he’s vanished. No one knows that he’s gone off with his family. I know he’ll be ok. He has Dawn Star and Screwball....plus I know they’ll look after Apple Blossom. Anyway, they needed leads to find him, and you are untouchable. I on the other hand am just a simple fashion designer. So I ran away. Almost didn’t make it. Timber wolves attacked me. But I did, and I discovered the Cherry Flower Orphanage. And guess who’s in charge. Cheerilee! That explains where she went to.
She gave me a job here. Help look after the little ones and patch up their clothes and their blankets. Its good here. Peaceful. Even if they find me here they can’t touch me. Attacking an orphanage, that’s simply not done. However, all is not good. We are desperately in-need of food. Our supplies are dwindling fast. I’m sorry; this wasn’t meant to be a letter of complaint. Just letting you know I was ok. I hope to see you again soon, but that might not be till after this horrid was is over.
Yours sincerely’
Cotton Needle”
Cotton and written and sent that letter of months ago, and had no reply. She looked out on the valley, and noticed something worrying. A large group was making its way towards the orphanage when she noticed something. They were carrying the trees.
Turned out as soon as Applejack read the letter she dug up several apple trees and personally led the expedition to Cherry Flower.
When AJ arrived her worked began to plant all but one tree in an open field behind the orphanage complex, while other workers handed out food and clothes to the children.
AJ walked over to Cotton and gave her a hug.
“Thank the night your ok.”
“Thank the night? You choosing sides Applejack?”
“Eenope. Being neutral means ah can use language from all sides. But ah was so worried when ya disappeared.”
“I’m sorry AJ, but I had no choice. I wasn’t going to betray Spell. At least this was I can do something meaningful while this blasted war rages on. But what’s this tree? Why isn’t it being planted with the others?”
“Cause this one is special. Spell an Ah planted it. Ah want it here to be safe. Too many accidents on the farm. Will ya look after it for me?” AJ looked at Cotton hoping she understood the importance of this gift.
“I would be honoured to.” The two friends spent the next few hours talking and laughing, till AJ had to head back home with her workers, but she left Cotton feeling happier than she had in months.
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A thunderclap snapped her out of her daydream. She quickly ran back into the complex as the rain began to pelt down. Lightning flashed every few minutes, and the children were ushered into their beds. This was going to be a heavy storm.
Cotton rushed into the office to put close the windows and put away the loose papers blown about by the wind. As she did she was two Letters on Cheerilee’s desk. She knew what one said, as it involved her. But the second was unknown to her, and it was unmarked. The envelope gave no clue who it was for.
She reached out to take a look at it, when a knock echoed through the orphanage. Someone was knocking at the door, in this storm. Cotton was the first to recover and rushed out of the office to the door and opened it not looking who was standing there and ushered the person in.
She was surprised to find out it was several people. Two Avians came into the foyer, followed by a adult human and a little child. The final person to enter was a seer. There was something strangely familiar about them. The human lowered her hood revealing that she was female, with purple hair with silver swirls in it. The Avians then followed, the female with bright golden hair, the male with hair of burning crimson.
She recognised them all but couldn’t place them. The child kept her hood up shivering from the cold, and the first person to speak was the seer.
“Hello, old friend.” Cotton gasped slightly at the voice, and as the seer lowered his hood she confirmed her suspicions as to
who he was. He had long tied up fair coming over his shoulder. It was black with a red streak. And his eyes were turquoise and pupil-less.
“Did you miss me?” Spell asked Cotton with a smirk.
A/N Hey everypony. Sorry the chapter is so short and took so long. I decided to keep it short cause I want to get onto writing about the present instead of the past. This is the last flashback chapter. There might be a few more flashbacks, but no more chapters dedicated to them. Don’t want this to end up like Naruto with every second chapter being a bloody flashback.