"The bakery is this way. C'mon!" Blade grinned like a mad mare. He was so happy he was practically dancing on his hooves (which I found some what amusing). I still had no idea why he was so happy for me to meet his sibling. It didn't seem to be that big of a deal.
"Oww." I whimpered as my hoof stubbed into something metal and caused me to go sprawling on my muzzle. Blade snickered at my state but eventually helped me up. "Watch where ya drag me. I almost wound up breakin' a leg on a... rusty old horseshoe?"
The two of us looked down to my sore hoof, and sure enough we saw the old thing just sitting there on the pavement. Blade just gave a small groan and I gave a nicker response. I was kind of tired of finding the stupid things but picked it up out of habit anyway. I was going to give that mare a piece of my mind when met her!
"C'mon! I want you to meet her before she goes on her break." Blade huffed with a hint of annoyance. I wasn't exactly sure why he felt that way but I was still going to go meet his sister. With an uncomfortable yank of my hoof, the two of us were trotting down the street to the bakery.
* * * *
"She'll be in here. Go on in!" Blade said in his regular cheery voice. With that he swung open the door with a slight jingle and closed it behind me. The place was pretty much empty for a small bakery, and certainly had nothing on Sugarcube Corner.
It was pretty plain to be honest. There were dark wood chairs and tables with green decorative marks. The cash register and pastry windows were a bit on the small side but they did their job. The whole room smelt like coffee, sugar, and cake. Which made it all the more enticing since it reminded me of home.
"I need to go get her so you can meet her. I'll be right back. Don't move a muscle." he smiled, before running through a set of doors labeled 'employees only'. I wasn't exactly sure how to feel about the whole...thing. Meeting Blade's sister would be nice but I also didn't want to screw things up. Not to mention my trust meter with Blade was teetering on zero.
I waited for a good moment before I could hear the door opening behind me with a soft jingle. I turned to look at the pony behind me to see it was...Braeburn? I thought he had a terrible hangover. I knew he went to Tendercare's...but I expected him to be home.
"Braeburn? What in the hay are you doin' here? I thought you had a hangover?" I queried with concern. The yellow buck just gave me a small smile and took off his signature hat. I was pleased to see that he was also wearing his brown vest and they were both reasonably clean.
"Uhh...well I...uh. Let's just say ah have a few apologies to give. Especially one to yer friend even though ah don't rightly know if he won't hate me anymore." he whispered quietly. His gaze was kept firmly on the floor and...was that a blush on his cheeks? Was Braeburn embarrassed?
"Okay. Now Applebloom, I'd like you to meet my sister Kickstar." Blade said with a positive little smile before his gaze met Braeburn's. His irises contracted to pinpricks and his ears flattened back against his head in fear. I could feel both Braeburn and Blade tense up when Blade took a step back.
"Alright Blade. Now where's that lil' cutie you talk SO much about." a familiar feminine voice drawled. I looked into the direction it had come from and gave a gasp. I knew that earthy highlighted mane, those cold yet assertive green eyes, and the tan coat that could have rivaled dark sand. It was the mysterious mare from the train station! She stopped in her tracks and gave a pleasant little smile to me.
"Well...isn't it that nice lil' filly from the train station! It's a pleasure ta meetcha! Blade has told me so much about ya." she beamed. I shook her strong hoof and she roped me in for a hug. "Anypony who's a friend a Blade is a friend a mine!"
"Wait a moment," she said looking at Braeburn who seemed frozen in place. Her expression hardened instanly as she took a step towards him. "Yer the buck that beat up my lil' brother! I outta shove my hooves so far up yer-"
"WAIT!!! Before you do something...h-he's actually here to apologize. T-tell em Brae." I whimpered. Blade was still frozen in fear and Braeburn seemed stunned. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out at first.
"A-ah understand if ya don't accept mah apology b-but ahm truly sorry Blade and miss Kickstar. Ah really am." he whimpered. His downcast eyes showed nothing but shame and heartbreak. Kick's expression turned grim when she caught a glance at her little brother still frozen in complete fear.
"I'll do anything ah can to make it up to ya! Ahm tryin' ta change and it'll take a bit a time but...ah promise it will never happen again." he whimpered sincerely. Blade's ears perked up a bit but were immediately pushed back against his head. Any fear he had was washed away into an expression of pure hatred and anger. In fact, his horn began to glow and give off dangerous looking green sparks.
"You beat me up, completely TRASH my horn, leave me to die, and then THINK it's okay to come and give me some half-assed apology I know you would never give me. The only reason you're here is because Applebloom forced you to come here, didn't she!?" he snarled. Magic started to swirl around his horn and glow in his eyes as he stepped closer to a shaking Braeburn.
"Blade. NO!" I shrieked. Jumping in front of Braeburn and looking straight into Blade's glowing green eyes. "Don't! He's mah family and ah promise I didn't make him come here. In fact he went to Tendercare and promised he wouldn't hurt anypony anymore! Please don't use yer magic on him!"
Blade's eyes and horn stopped fizzling with magic and he grit his teeth in pain. Kickstar whimpered and helped her brother get to a chair before his nose started to bleed. Braeburn offered him a handkerchief but Blade waved the whole thing off.
"Fine. If you lay a hoof on Applebloom, my sister, or anypony else, there will be severe hell to pay. And I won't be the only pony there willing to give it to you!" he hissed through a mouthful of his own blood. I felt my ears flatten back against my head as his gaze shifted to mine. I really didn't trust him but...we'd have to talk about that later.
"Ah couldn't find anything else but some napkins. You really gotta be more careful Blade! Another one of these and you might just burn yerself out for good." Kick whimpered again, holding the tissues to her sibling's bleeding nose. Blade's angry expression completely dropped at his sister's words.
"I know sis...I just get so stressed out. One of Thunder's thugs came in and tried to buy the charm today. When I told him 'no'...he threatened to burn the place down. Of course I ran him off, but I think they're gonna start using force to try and get it." Blade whispered. Judging by the catch in his voice I suspected this was certainly not a good thing.
"Why do they want it? They're not even unicorns so they can't use it." I mused, tilting my head to add more emphasis to my confusion. Blade just gave a throaty sigh and pushed his head back to further stop the bleeding.
"From what I understand, you don't need to be a unicorn to use it's power. But this charm feels...different...from any other charm I've seen. Maybe you don't need to have a horn to use it, but I know it's full of dark energy. It feels wrong to look at it...or even touch it. Maybe it's just me." he thought quietly. I wasn't exactly sure if he wanted any of us to know that information, but he continued to hold his head back.
"You're right. When ah looked at it ah wanted to touch it. Maybe there's some kind of...attraction to it? That must be why Thunder and his thugs want it so badly. What if it doesn't even have a power?" I thought aloud.
"Hmm....well? Wait a sec! Applebloom, you felt that strange pulling sensation too?" he asked with expectant eyes. I gave a nod and looked to an utterly confused Braeburn for some kind comfort. Something told me that whatever idea that was coming to Blade wasn't a good one.
"Kickstar, did you feel any kind of pulling sensation to the charm when you looked at it?" he asked his sibling. She gave a fervent shake of her head and looked at me with the same confusion. I gave a shrug and looked back to thinking Blade.
"Hmm...I know!" Blade looked to Braeburn and narrowed his verdant eyes. "I don't really trust you but...if this works out I might have some kind of idea on what's going on with that thing." he stated with suspicion. With that he motioned us all to the door even though a protesting Kick told him to stay in his chair.
"Look. I might actually know what's going on with this stupid necklace that's ruined my life from the beginning! I might actually find out what it can do and what I was meant for. Isn't it exciting?!" Blade said with pure elation. Kick gave a grim little smile before following her little brother out the door.
"He's so worried about that thing I think he's obsessed." Kickstar whispered in a despondent tone. I didn't blame her since Blade's antics were really starting to creep me out too.
"Well c'mon. We don't have all day." Blade announced with a devil-may-care smile. I shuddered and continued to follow him down the street with Braeburn and Kickstar at my hip. I really didn't like how the whole thing was going down.
* * * *
We entered the little shop and as soon as we did I felt the strange pulling sensation to the charm once again. I whimpered and tried with all my will to look away but lost it and gazed in it's direction. The cool hypnotizing color melted with my thoughts and urged my body to move towards it. I complied and focused all of my attention to the charm and the world faded away momentarily, leaving only me and the whispering pendant.
Come to me for your destiny young child. I will craft you with the finest guild. Leave your troubles behind. Join me...
"APPLEBLOOM!!!" screamed a trio of familiar voices. I opened my eyes and found myself face to face with deep clouded azure charm in the shape of a scorpion. It was glowing faintly in my hooves and the gold trim surrounding it glistened with pure beauty. I could hear it coaxing me to meld with it in it's entire glory and I wanted to obey. The thought of finding my permanent destiny was too much for me.
"NO! APPLEBLOOM!" shouted another familiar voice but it felt distorted. I pushed the large pendant around my neck and reached for the clasp only for it to be knocked to the floor. As if in slow motion my gaze pushed upwards to find the frightened eyes of Braeburn. In that chilling second I was ripped back into a disheartening reality.
A cold feeling washed over me and I found the edges of my vision going black. The familiar voices grew even more wry and distorted as I tried my hardest to cling onto any consciousness I had left. The only words I could hear were the fierce promises of the charm itself. Repeating and repeating until a warm glowing softness made them fade away.
* * * *
"H-hey. Ah think she's waking up." a feminine voice drawled sweetly. I murmured as I started to regain what little cautiousness I could muster. I swallowed hard and could taste the warm saliva that had pooled in my mouth while I slept. I grumbled quietly opened my mouth to tell them to 'shut up' but all that came out was a muffled whine.
"Thank Celestia! If AJ found out about this ah would be in for a good beating!" another voice exhaled with relief. This one sounded even more familiar than the last one and I was wondering who they belonged to.
"Great. I thought she was dead for a minute." another familiar voice sighed. This one was masculine but didn't have as much maturity behind it like the other two. I found myself liking the smooth yet light sound of his friendly voice. Even though the statement he had made was certainly alarming.
"What makes you think ahm dead? Ahm just tired." I grumbled. My lethargic body tried to sit up but fell onto something warm and meaty. I yawned and cuddled into the soft fuzz that covered the comfortable frame provided. My muzzle found a particularly comfy spot of down and settled into it like a pillow. "Mmm...comfy."
"Applebloom? You might want to open your eyes." The smooth voice squeaked, making my warm mattress hum with vibration. I shook my head and buried it even deeper into it's comforting, soft warmth. If I could've slept like that forever I would have.
"GET OFF OF ME APPLEBLOOM!" the voice bellowed. It wasn't out of anger though, it was something else. I opened my eyes to find my vision full of silver, green, and even more green. I was quite confused and sat up to see even more of the comfortable mattress I had been laying on.
To my disoriented surprise, I realized that my 'mattress' was actually Steel Blade. I sat up even more while pressing my hooves into his shoulders to get a better view of the room we were in. There were all sorts of scrap metal and devices that looked wickedly sharp enough to cut it and melt the stuff.
My vision started to go blurry but I shook my head hard to wake myself up. I looked behind me to find a little cot that had more than likely been my bedding before Blade. Blade? Oh yeah, I forgot I had been on top of him the whole time.
"Oops." I said sheepishly while looking over his horn and into his embarrassed green eyes. "It would help if you were to GET OFF OF ME!!!" he squeaked again, the bright red tinge of red on his cheeks made me smirk. A small amount of snickering was coming from a small desk near a door in the corner. Sitting in the desk's chairs were Braeburn and Kickstar with confusing looks of amusement on their muzzles. Why were they enjoying that?
It took me a moment to pull myself off of him but when I did I fell back onto the floor and rolled onto my back with a groan. Where did the headache come from, and why did I feel so...slooooow?
"Applebloom? Applebloom?" Blade asked but his voice was growing distorted again. I yawned and curled up into ball around his hoof that was trying to shake me up. "Nighty night, Bladey-wadey." I whispered before everything faded to black.