Azure Edge

by Leaf Blade

115. One Last Job

Applejack sighed as she tapped her finger against the wooden counter of the smithery. Pinkie sat in a nearby chair; she had planned to gather food and stuff from the kitchen to pack up for their journey, and Applejack was gonna see if there was anything worth salvaging from the shop, but—

Both ponies sat in cold silence.

This was it. They were really closing down the shop, and there was no way of knowing if they were gonna be able to recover it after this.

“I mean,” Pinkie chuckled awkwardly, “we have a few loyal customers. They won’t just forget about us, right?”

“Not enough to break even,” Applejack mumbled, chin resting in her hand. Pinkie just sighed.

“I’m sorry, Applejack,” Pinkie pouted, curling up into a ball with her legs held in front of her like a shield. “If it weren’t for me—”

“Don’t even start, Pinkie,” Applejack shook her head. “I love ya more’n any shop or job. Yer family to me, and I don’t wanna hear you beatin’ yerself up over any of this.”

“Oh,” Pinkie hummed. “Well then, can I be honest?”

“Absolutely,” Applejack offered a warm smile.

“I am gonna be so glad to be done with this place!” Pinkie groaned, lurching back with her hands over her face. “Working here has been like one nightmarish stress headache after another and I am SOOOOOO done!”

“Y’know what, Pinkie?” Applejack grumbled, before bursting out laughing. “Big same! Gawd, I’m so glad we’re on the same page here!”

“Me too!” Pinkie gasped, jumping into the air. “Oh, I was super duper worried you were gonna be totally bummed out!”

“Eh, I am a wee bit,” Applejack shrugged. “But the truth is, I ain’t gonna miss doin’ this work. Heck, I ain’t even gonna miss Canterlot if I’m bein’ totally frank.”

“Me neither,” Pinkie huffed and crossed her arms. “Twilight was the best thing to ever happen to this city.”

That statement caught Applejack off-guard, and she arched an eyebrow. Truth be told, she still wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about Twilight Sparkle, the dragon. All she knew was she for dang sure didn’t want Pinkie gettin’ involved with such a dangerous situation.

But then again, she knew there was nothing she could do or say that’d stop Pinkie from chasin’ after Twi if that’s what she wanted to do.

Didn’t mean she couldn’t try though.

“Pinkie—”

A jingling bell interrupted Applejack’s train of thought as a customer came into the smithery. Applejack prepared to put on her polite dealing-with-customers face, but before she could even do that she was left stunned by exactly who it was that walked in, and her face went completely pale.

“Um,” Fluttershy muttered, fingers twiddling in front of her, “is this store open still? Should I come back later? Or uh, never?”

“Oh, Fluttershy!” Pinkie’s eyes lit up like glittering stars and she bit her lip real hard, probably trying to control herself from just leaping onto Fluttershy in a big hug. “No, you’re totally welcome here! Our home is your home!”

I wouldn’t go that far, Applejack thought, but it wouldn’t do to be impolite to a guest. After all, Applejack might not have trusted Twilight or Fluttershy, but she wasn’t ready to just start jumpin’ to conclusions about ‘em either.

“How can we help ya, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked.

“Well, I um-” Fluttershy cleared her throat “-I was under the impression that this was a smithery. I was wondering, if um, you could maybe—”

Fluttershy bit down on her thumb while twirling a strand of hair around her other hand. Pinkie walked up to her and grabbed Fluttershy’s arm gently, smiling brightly at her. That seemed to help Fluttershy’s mood a fair bit.

“I was hoping you could make me a sword!” Fluttershy said with an exaggerated bow.

“Heck yeah!” Pinkie squealed, jumping in the air and pumping her fists while Applejack was still trying to process what Fluttershy had just said. “One last job, Applejack! What d’ya say!!”

“I’m a little surprised,” Applejack tapped a finger on the counter, her brow thoroughly creased. “How come yer lookin’ for a sword, Fluttershy? Thought you were the non-violent type?”

Pinkie glowered at Applejack, but Fluttershy just chuckled.

“Complete non-violence isn’t very realistic, is it?” Fluttershy said with a calm, measured smile on her face. “There are always people out there who might want to hurt you, and I’d rather be able to defend myself with a sword than with fire, you know?”

“Ah,” Applejack chuckled awkwardly, “I guess that makes sense.”

“Besides,” Fluttershy looked down at Pinkie and gave her a serene smile, “I’ve heard that Pinkie Pie is an expert enchanter, and I would like something—” Fluttershy bit her lip and pondered her next statement for a second. “In case I ever need to go back into hiding, I would like to have something of hers, a small part of her that can always be with me.”

Pinkie’s eyes glistened with tears and her smile was as wide and brimming with joy as Applejack had ever seen it. Applejack couldn’t exactly say no to that face, but it didn’t much matter since she wasn’t planning on saying no anyway.

“What d’ya say, Pinkie?” Applejack grinned at her tiny pink companion. “One last job?”

“Yeah!” Pinkie gave an eager grin and pounded her fist against her palm. “Let’s make one last sword—the best one we’ve ever made— not just for Fluttershy, but to celebrate all the time we’ve spent here and all the friends we’ve made and stuff!”

“Honestly, Pinkie,” Applejack chuckled and gave a soft sigh, feeling a mountain of weight falling off her back as she stood up and readied her tools one last time, “that sounds great.”

Fluttershy had an ideal in mind for what her sword should look like, and she tried to give specific instructions about it to Pinkie Pie and Applejack, but she also didn’t want to step on their hooves too much, so she felt like her suggestions might have gotten muddled, and she worried that her weapon wouldn’t come out how she wanted it.

Turns out she worried for nothing— what a concept— because the sword that Fluttershy now held in her hands was even better than what she had imagined.

A sturdy, curved blade that gently glowed with pink runes etched onto it— six of them, each representing a different enchantment inspired by Pinkie Pie’s love for the people she cared about, and her desire to protect Fluttershy with those feelings.

The hilt was a forest green with a pale pink design of a butterfly etched into it, and as Fluttershy swung it this way and that, it felt lighter than air, like it was a part of her body and not just a tool for self-defense.

“Thank you, Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy smiled brightly, her cheeks tinted a rosy pink, “it’s perfect.”

“I daresay it’s the finest thing we ever made,” Applejack wiped some sweat off her brow as she sat contentedly at the counter, arms crossed over it and head resting over her arms.

“I’m super duper glad you like it,” Pinkie beamed, a little squeaking noise escaping her lips that warmed Fluttershy’s heart.

“I do,” Fluttershy sighed, feeling a breath of fresh air filling her lungs for the first time since she’d left her forest as she stared at the runes etched onto her blade. “I love it.”

Author's Note:

yo real quick; huge shout out to earthsong9405 for making some EXTREMELY RAD art based on this fic!

her au idea was the inspiration for this fic in the first place, so seeing her take on my take on her work is like?? so incredible

so yea, go check out those pics! and then check out all of earthsong's other art too! cuz quite frankly she's a fantastic artist and u should have her works in ur life if u don't already

Anyhoo, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!

Comments

[Xanni]

"Turns out she worried or nothing" - "or" is a typo for "for".