A PIRATE'S LOVE
CHAPTER 3 The Blooming of a Tale
"And you get to go now because?" The pegasus snorted grumpily at the idea and the earth pony raised an eyebrow, her piercing glare like a burning laser as it pointed at the orange filly, zeroing in on the annoyed, young equine.
"Fine, carry on." The pegasus huffed frustratedly at the death stare and lay down upon her measly bed of unfresh hay and mouldy straw as the earth pony continued, glancing back at her audience of one.
"Anyway, mah' name is Applebloom." The newly named foal gave Fluttershy a small smile that Fluttershy returned with a soft one of her own.
"Lovely to meet you Applebloom." The princess gave a polite nod and the foal smiled at the mannerisms, grinning widely at the display of respect sent her way.
"Thank you, now mah' story begins on a farm. This farm was called Sweet Apple Acres, where Ah' was proudly born and raised!" That explained the accent, Fluttershy quietly mused as the foal didn't halt in the proceedings of telling her tale.
"We owned a giant apple orchard and sold our amazin' apples across equestria! But for some mysterious reason we were still very poor despite our daily profits, it was as if our money was being stolen from right under our noses." Applebloom snorted at this, a frown creasing her forehead.
"Ah' started noticing my sister Applejack arrive home later and later each night, every time with a new scar or bruise adorning her body and after cataloging the time she went out each night, being the curious filly ah' am ah' decided to follow." The foal seemed near emotionless as she recited her tale with precision.
"Applejack lead us to this giant, towering ship, and ah' saw her talking to what seemed to be it's captain."
"Ah' remember the menacing pony givin' a nasty snarl and my sister shaking like she had seen a timberwolf, pale as a ghost. She then pulled out a bag of bits from her saddlebags and started to hand it over to the captain." The filly's bow dropped lower and she sighed deeply at her own words.
"Ah' remember being so angry at mah' sister, she had been stealing our money and giving it to this stupid captain, she had been robbing our family blind behind our backs! But through mah' fury ah' remember being confused, Applejack loved her family, her work, so why was she trying to give this stupid captain all our money?" Applebloom's face contorted into a deep glare at this.
"So ah' stayed to try and figure out why, i watched as the captain counted our bits and then slammed the bag down on a nearby barrel, his voice rising in anger. He furiously shouted about how it wasn't enough money and mah' sister replied in protest saying about they deal they made that if she gave him half of our profits he wouldn't harm our family, the captain then demanded all of our profits next time." Applebloom's shoulders sagged dramatically.
"Applejack then pleaded that she had her family to feed still and the captain hit her in rage, ah' had never seen mah' sister more vulnerable then she was then and it scared me, Ah' remember racing out to help her and asking if she was okay." The foal sighed again and her bow drooped lower then thought possible.
"Ah' remember her screaming at me to run, and ah' complied, but the captain caught me anyways and Applejack was forced to be a part of the crew." Applebloom's frown increased making her look a lot older then she was and Fluttershy could've traced the many creases in her brow. Shivering at this the princess attempted to curl into a ball to comfort herself, but was met with the tugging of chains as it jerked her around.
"Sweetie came soon after that and Ah' had company and Applejack kept coming here saying about how she was going to bust me out someday, but then she just...she just stopped coming." Applebloom finished and Fluttershy bit her lip in worry at the rather depressed foal.
"You fillies all have such awful back stories, I am so sorry." She said softly and Sweetie Belle and Applebloom shrugged at this.
"Well, wait till' you hear about my story!" The Pegasus grinned and her little wings buzzed in excitement, even lifting her slightly of the ground as she hovered above her bed of mouldy hay, the straw stirred by the wind created by her feathery appendages.
"It's pure awesomeness!" The filly continued her sentence eagerly, her eyes shining with joy at the thought of telling her own backstory.
"And why is your story so awesome?" Fluttershy gently encouraged, a tiny smile tugging at her lips at the filly's enthusiasm.
"Because it's filled with the awesome, better then twenty percent cooler, Rainbowdash!" The filly squealed, her eyes shining in delight at the very name.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Hold up!" Applebloom rubbed her forehead confusedly her mouth open as she tried to think of something to say.
"She locks you in a cold, tiny, stone dungeon, and you still think she's awesome?" Applebloom continued, a puzzled look gracing her features as she quizzically peered at the weird, small Pegasus.
"Oh right, the whole locking us in the dungeon thing..." The filly rubbed her neck while laughing rather phonily, her hood tangling with her spike cerise mane.
"Um, excuse me, would you mind telling me your name?" Fluttershy tried to interrupt politely, sensing the equine's discomfort that rolled off her in waves and the filly nodded gratefully at the distraction.
"My name is Scootaloo!" The newly named pony chirped, her tiny wings buzzing behind her as the tiny appendages stirred up the dust behind her, the dirt flying up into the air.
"Could you tell us your name?" Sweetie cocked her head curiously in reply and Fluttershy's breath hitched in her throat as she froze, her muscles jerking to a halt.