Journey to Avalon
Before her eyes stretched out a vast sea of gold. As if in a trance, her hooves carried her forwards, down a hill of emerald-green grass, and with each step came a soft crinkle of glass. Stopping at the bottom of the hill, she gazed out at the golden sea. She poked at a fallen spec of gold on the ground.
“Leaves,” she muttered. “These are... the gold... leaves?” Looking up at the trees of golden leaves, she mumbled, “Applejack, what have ya gotten yourself into?”
Applejack took a step forwards, making a crinkling sound. Looking down to her hooves, she poked at the grass, prompting it to shatter into a fine dust. Confused, she brushed the dirt beneath the grass, then began to sweep the dirt away until she hit something solid. Less than an inch down, the soil stopped and made way for a sun-reflective green material. Cocking a brow, she rapped her hoof on the material.
“It’s glass. What in tarnation?”
Shaking her head, her four legs began to move again, her eyes wandering all about without aim. Turning a corner for no particular reason, she stumbled into a great clearing in the forest, a clearing dominated by a huge lake with water as clear as a cloudless sky. In the middle of the lake was a snow-white swan swimming in little circles.
She ambled forwards until she stood just at the lake’s edge, then stared into the water, getting a perfect reflection of herself for her trouble. Without warning, the water began to ripple, and tiny waves formed on its surface.
As Applejack took a step backwards, a giant golden waterlily burst from the surface, sending up a short-lived spout of water. Then, as she watched, another lily dove out of the water, it too floating on the lake’s surface. And then another came up. And then another. Soon, an entire bridge of golden lilies spanned the lake.
Looking across the lake, she saw the trees on the other side began to shake and bend, then they shifted and moved, their branches twisting until they formed a corridor.
And then something thumped her knee, prompting Applejack to look forwards, to look a apple as red as any ruby. Raising her head, she looked around. “Um, hello? Is anypony out there? Hello?”
She looked down to the apple just in time to see it begin to bounce away from her, taking a path across the bridge of lilies. Then it stopped on the second lily from Applejack, just bouncing there in place.
Tilting her head to the said, Applejack muttered, “Do ya... do ya want me t’follow ya or-or somethin’?”
The apple continued bouncing.
She put a hoof on the first lily, then applied pressure, testing it. When it held her weight, she took a proper step forwards, and then she was standing on the lily. “Alright,” she sighed, “here goes nothin’.” Applejack stepped onto the next lily, and the apple, still bouncing, moved onto a further lily. “Well, this certainly ain’t gonna end bad,” she muttered, stepping onto the next lily.
Soon, she found herself standing in the middle of the lake, the swan swimming in circles behind her, the apple bouncing in place and no longer retreating. As she stepped onto the lily upon which the apple bounced, it stopped bouncing. After looking from left to right, Applejack bent her neck forwards, opening her mouth to grab the apple.
Then something wet and thick coiled around her right hindleg. Her body froze up as the whatever it was tightened its grip. Almost as if laughing in triumph, the apple began to bounce, once again hopping away from Applejack
“Oh, horseapples,” she murmured as she turned her head to view what grabbed her leg, seeing a thick green vine tightening around her leg. Dripping water, the vine began to retracted, pulling Applejack towards the edge of the water. Before she could even scream, she was underwater, her vision slowly darkening.
***
Her eyes bolted open, a drip of sweat rolling down her forehead. She knew where she was: she was lying under Jenkins, her favorite apple tree since giving away her previous favorite to a cousin. All around her was the Apple Family Apple Orchard, a familiar stomping ground if ever there was.
“Wha’? When did I fell asleep?” she muttered, rubbing her eyes. After about half a minute of idle thought, she rose herself to a stand. “I guess I was jus’ dreamin’.” Applejack looked down, and her eyes went wide. There, resting just an inch before her hoof, was a golden apple leaf.
She just stared at the flick of gold, her head refusing to trust her eyes. With an arduous slowness, she rubbed her eyes and blinked hard. Yet when she reopened her eyes from the rub, she found the leaf still there, still laying where it had been.
“B-but it’s summer – there ain’t supposed t’be leaves till autumn. What gives?”
As if on queue, a gust of wind swept by, brushing Applejack’s blonde mane and spiriting the leaf up into the air, taking it off to Celestia-knows-where.
“What?” she asked herself.
“Good mornin’, Applejack!” said a familiar voice nearby.
“Oh, mornin’, Granny Smith. You didn't happen t’notice that I fell asleep here, did ya?”
“I sure as sugar did!” Granny Smith chirped, walking by Applejack, her old legs almost creaking with each step.
“Then why didn't ya wake me up? I coulda caught a cold down here!”
Granny Smith chuckled. “Utter nonsense, my dear. Nappin’ in the orchard can’t be bad for ya.” A nostalgic smile on her face, she stopped walking and looked up at the apple trees around her. “Ahh, just that the good ol’ days. There’s always been somethin’ magic about this orchard, I’m sure; have been since I was a sassy young lass.”
Applejack winced.
“Why, I once took a snooze in the orchard and had myself a lovely dream about this colt who’d just moved into town.” She smiled inwardly. “As it’d turn out, he would be your grandpa – an immigrant boy from some country that sounded like the name of a plant, and from some place with a scary-sound language. Well, anyways, he was looking for work or somethin’, and since’a that dream I got him t’help as a farmhoof, since the orchard was getting mighty big and it was a hard year with deadlines and that kinda stuff. And, well, one thing lead to another, me helpin’ him with his Equestrian, him...” She shook her head. “I’m getting lost in thoughts. Just that somethin’ about these orchards always gave me these sort of special dreams.” Granny Smith made a move as if to walk away, then added quickly, “For better or worse.”
As Granny Smith walked off, Applejack found herself sitting there, her mind wrapped up in thoughts. “Special dreams, huh?” she mumbled.
“Special dreams,” mumbled Applejack, absent-mindedly looking at her hoof where minutes ago was a golden leaf from her dream. “What if I sleep here again tomorrow?”
“Applejack!” somepony suddenly called. “Breakfast’s ready!”
Applejack looked at the source of sound to see Apple Bloom running towards her. “Well, prophetic dreams can wait,” she muttered to herself.
***
It appeared before her, just as it had before: the same sea of gold, the same crystal-clear lake. “It worked,” Applejack mumbled. “I’m here again.” Looking around, she sighed. As her eyes made contact with the far side of the, lake she steeled herself with a deep breath. Then she made eye contact with the white swan. The swan’s beak opened and he uttered a faint series of short honks, almost like he was–“Whatcha laughin’ at, huh‽” Applejack demanded, but the swan only began to prune his feathers. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forth into a nearby water lily.
She stepped onto the next lily.
And the next.
And the next.
Before she knew it, she was standing at the second-to-last lily, only two hops to the land she sought. “Why do I get the feelin’ I’m forgettin’ somethin’?” Pausing, she looked over her shoulder, to the swan and his black eyes. Shaking her head, she looked forwards again and took a step.
That’s when she felt a movement beneath her, from under the lily and within the water.
“Oh no...”
Without warning something ensnared her leg, its pressure causing something to snap, then pulled downwards. Before she knew it, she was drowning, the water forcing itself her lungs.
***
Gasping, Applejack’s eyelids burst open. A drop of sweat fell from her forehead and into her eyes, and Applejack yelped because of it. Her hoof swept across her naked forehead as she wiped the sweat off.
It’s sweaty. Too sweaty. It' feel almost like I’ve been in the pond recently.
She looked out across the her vast green apple orchard, watching the distant hills as the sun shined down upon them.
“What in tarnation.?” she mumbled. She spent the rest of her sparse hours before breakfast just sitting there, lost in the perdition of perturbed preponderance.
***
“Hi, Applejack!” Twilight said as she physically bumped into Applejack.
Applejack turned to her friend and offered her own greeting, which itself was almost drowned out by the sounds of a busy market day in the Ponyville markets.
“What’s the matter? You look kinda–” Twilight tilted her head to the side “–tired. Did something happen?”
“Me? Nah. Ain’t nothing up.” Applejack yawed. “S’pose I haven’t been gettin’ too much sleep is all.”
Twilight cocked a brow. “Have you been overworking yourself again, Applejack? I told you, you could always ask for–”
“That’s not it, Twi.” Applejack yawned again. “Just had a nightmare, that’s all.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Well, okay then. But remember, if you need any help, you can always ask. I’d never deny you.”
“Okay, Twi. But now that ain’t the case. Anyway, see ya later!” Applejack proceeded to walk off towards a local fruit stand, only too eager to get away.
***
“Okay,” she sighed, “now I’m ready.”
Applejack stood in the middle of Sweet Apple Acres. Before and above her was Jenkins. Before and below her was a pillow and blanket. Around her waist was tied her favorite lasso.
“I don’t know whatever’s on the other side’a that lake, but I’m sure as hay gonna find out. Get ready.” She laid down, put her head on the pillow, threw the blanket over her, and let the moonlight shine down upon her. It took twenty minutes for her to fall asleep.
***
The swan glared at her as it swam in its little circles. She noticed that no matter what the bird did, the water beneath it was unaffected, as if the swan was actually floating just above the water. After a few seconds’ worth of staring into the swan’s hollow eye sockets, Applejack forced herself to look away.
“Third time’s the charm, AJ,” she muttered as she stepped onto the first water lily. Out of the corner of her eyes she thought she saw the swan sadly shaking its head. “Just you wait, bird,” she hissed, making an effort to avoid looking at it. “I’m gonna make it this time.”
Suddenly, the swan pulled its head from water and looked right in Applejack’s eyes. After a few seconds, Applejack looked away.
Within moments she was standing on the second-to-last lily, and she was mumbling to herself, “Alright, hafta be careful, now.” She put on a hoof on the last lily, tested it, then stepped forwards. Licking her lips, she surveyed the land before her, wondering what would try to stop her this time.
As she was about to set hoof onto the land she sought, something cold, wet, and sticky touched her right hind leg. Jerking her head to attention upon the object, she saw a golden vine lurching around her leg and coiling around her. Without even sparing the time to think, she grabbed her lasso, spun it around, and threw it towards a tree upon the shore. To her relief, it caught something, and it as that moment that the vine began to drag backwards. As her hinds were forced into the water, she helped, but the rest of her body was held in the above the her rope.
Gripping the lasso so hard that her teeth felt like they were being wrenched from her gums, Applejack held fast. Yet the golden vine’s pulling began to feel it was physically tearing her apart. And though she knew it was a dream and therefore wasn’t real, she couldn’t help but scream through her teeth, the pain was so real to her.
She grabbed at the rope with her forehooves. But then the lake began to rumble and erupt into titanic, world-eating clouds of steam and foam.
Without any warning, two more vines shot out of the water, each lashing tightly to her body.
“No. You. DON’T!” Applejack screamed through her mouthful of rope, using every last bit of strength to pull herself up.
That’s when the branch her lasso was tied to shattered into a thousand shards of glass.
That’s when she was thrust backwards into the lake’s abyss.
That’s when she woke up.
***
“Not again,” she groaned, her eyes creaking open. She laid there beneath Jenkins, the moon the only light above her. Then something rang next to her, like wind chimes only softer. Looking to her side, she saw a pile of glass so shattered that it was literally dust, and it sparkled in the moonlight. Next to the glass dust was a single golden leave.
Applejack’s heart skipped a beat as she looked at the objects. But then a strong gust of wind rolled out from nowhere and swept up the glass, and she flinched backwards, throwing a foreleg over her eyes, to protect herself. When the wind stopped both the leaf and glass were vanished.
But there was now a new object in the glass and leaf’s place: a lone and immaculately white feather.
“The swan... The swan!”
***
The door slammed open. Twilight, who had been sitting down and reading a book, jumped. That’s when she saw the tired and haggard image of Applejack.
Spike, who had been sitting off to the side, frowned. “Applejack? Something wrong? You don’t look so good.”
Twilight finished collecting herself and asked a question not unlike Spike’s.
Applejack closed the door behind her. “I need to talk, Twi’,” she sighed.
With a nod, Twilight said, “Well, whatever you need, it’s yours.” She glanced at Spike. “Would you mind making us some hot chocolate?”
“Aye, aye!” Spike dashed away. With moments he returned. “I was actually making some for myself, but whatever,” he explained.
Twilight thanked Spike as she helped accepted her cup of cocoa. Looking across, she saw Applejack slouching into the opposite chair. Spike placed the last cup on the table besides Applejack's chair, then scampered off.
“I’m glad you decided to come by, AJ.”
Applejack sighed, then mumbled something Twilight couldn’t hear.
“Anyways, I was going to hunt for you later, but now you’re here.” She looked into AJ’s eyes. “My Celestia, your eyes are so red, your mane’s a mess, the sacks under your eyes could hold half of Sweet Apple Acres. What’s going on?”
Applejack gave Twilight an apologetic look, but otherwise remained silent.
“Look, AJ; I’ve gotten some hearsay about. I’ve heard that you’re family’s worried, and so am I and the girls. I’ve heard that you’ve just been vanishing, only returning when you’ve practically starved to death. What’s going on? I’ve heard you explain things away using something about apples trees in the borderlands between Ponyville and Whitetail woods, but there are no apples there! What are you lying, Applejack‽ That’s so out of character that it’s just... it’s just...” She took a sip of tea and sighed. “I’m sorry, it’s just that I’m worried about you. I didn't mean to get snap at you.”
“That’s why I came t’ya, Twi.” Applejack sighed, her eyes almost glazing over. “I s’pose it’s really, really stupid, Twi, but I’ve been having this same recurring dream, and having it every night.”
“A dream?” Twilight asked,
“Each night in my orchard I see the same place in my dreams. It’s this endless gardens of gold-leafed apple trees. Every time there’s this same lake with this hallway on the other side.” Shaking her head, she took a sip of cocoa. “I always try t’cross that lake, but every time I do, somethin’ always stops me. Those somethings always drag me inna th’ lake an’ them I wake up.
After a brief hesitation, Twilight said, “You mentioned in your apple orchard. Why there? Why not your bed?”
AJ chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I should’a mentioned that. It only happens when I sleep in my orchard, only beneath Jenkins – my favorite tree – t’be exact.”
“Then why not sleep in your warm cozy bed?”
She licked her lips. “Because I gotta know what’s on the other side of the lake. Until then, I’ll never be happy. I just need to see. And I think I need your help t’do so.”
Twilight just sat her, slightly grinding her teeth. With a start she got up and cantered on towards one of her many bookshelves. She pulled out a seemingly random book with a deep purple color, then flipped it open to the index, then flipped to a page somewhere in the middle of the tome.
“A lucid dream.”
“A liquid what?” Applejack asked, cocking a brow.
“It’s what we’d call a lucid dream, Applejack.”
“Mind explanin’ it t’me?”
“It’s a dream in which the dreamer is aware that they're dreaming. It can be ultra realistic and vivid. In your case, oddly, it seems to loop every night in your case. While recurring dreams aren’t unheard of, they’re usually connected to a major event – a traumatic event, for example.”
“...What?”
“I’m saying that you’re obsessed with this idea and it keeps returning to you because of it. Thats what I think, anyways.”
A pause.
“So–” she hesitated “–how can I get across that lake?”
“Ugh, don't you get it?” Twilight groaned. “You don’t need to cross that lake! This dream is just the manifestation of some festering obsession in your head! What you need is to calm down, find your nice bed, and get to sleep.”
“Please, Twi,” Applejack mumbled, “I really, really need to know what’s on that other side.”
“No, you don’t!” Twilight snapped. “It’s just a dream! You won’t find anything there!”
“But Twilight – I really, really, reeeally need to know...”
After a few seconds’ pause, Twilight a sighed. “It’s clear to me that I’m not going to change your mind, am I? You’re not going to end this little charade until after you quell this little obsession, am I wrong?”
AJ shook her head.
Twilight sighed. “I... I think there’s some way I could – could! – help you.”
Applejack blinked. “You mean, really?”
“I’m going to hate myself for this,” Twilight said, shaking her head at the ground, “but I...” She called out for Spike, and the he showed up out of nowhere. She whispered something into his head. Spiked then saluted and darted off.
“Where’s he gone off to?” Applejack asked.
Twilight didn’t reply.
Then Spike showed up with a large tome in his hands. After thanking him, Twilight picked the book up and trotted her to seat. Spike darted off as Twilight sat down. “This... is a rather controversial spell I know that’s–” she hesitated “–that’s capable of entering a pony’s mind.”
“Why do you sound so nervous?” Applejack asked, and Twilight sighed.
“In the ye olde days, this spell may have been something of an unforgivable sin – the user essentially does–” she paused to collect her thoughts “–a lot of technical magical stuff that can and were used on ponies who, for the most part, were unwillingly made to be subjects. It hails from a time before the proper Three Tribes–” Twilight paused as she caught Applejack’s confused look. “In short, it’s really old, really ethically gray, and really... other stuff. Since your dreams are of the lucid variety, I shouldn’t have any problem entering them along you. That is, if you’ll have me.”
AJ nodded. “Thanks, Twi’. I’d love for your to try that on me.”
“So, let’s meet this evening, say, in your apple orchard,” said Twilight. “Sound good?”
“Ayep.”
“Good. Until then, I’ve got some reading to catch up on.” She glanced down at her book. “A lot of it, actually. Oh, and one last thing.”
***
“Hey there, Applejack,” Twilight greeted, setting her bags against a tree. “How are you feeling? Did that pill I give you help at all?”
Applejack nodded. “Yeah; fever’s gone and my head’s clear for once in ever.”
She smiled. “Good. I’m glad. Look, so I brought my own blanket for this, as well as my own ceremonial salt. And do you have any idea how hard it is to find these kind of magical reagents?” She shook her head. “Never mind, AJ. I’m just glad we’ll be getting this thing done.”
“That’s good an’ all, Twi’,” Applejack said.
Twilight cocked a brow. “What’s with that lasso, AJ?”
“Hmm? This on’?” She glanced to her waist. “I need this stuff on hoof; let’s me take it into the dream an’ all, ya know?”
“Well, whatever works for you,” Twilight said with a shrug. Twilight pulled out a stick and a jar of yellow salts from her pack. She put a hoof into the air and twirled it about, pointing her eyes up and moving her mouth.
“What are ya doin’, Twi?” AJ asked as she settled into her blanket.
“Trying to remember how to cast the spell.” With a deep breath, Twilight drew a crescent moon into the dirt, using her stick. When she was done, she tossed the stick aside and opened her jar of salts. Mumbling things like “pater” and “cotidianum”, she proceeded to sprinkle the salts all into the little grotto she’d carved out with her stick.
When she finished, she tapped a hoof to her forehead, her breast, her left shoulder, and then her right, mumbling all the while, “Sto ónoma tou patéra, to gio, to ágio pnév̱ma.”
“Twi, what are you sayin’?” AJ asked, and Twilight looked up at her.
“I’m not exactly sure,” she said with a shrug. “Some older magics required these complex rituals and stuff. So this spell is older than Starswirl the Bearded, and thus it required a poem in some dead language. Regardless, please don’t touch this little symbol, or else the spell could go haywire and how that could end with anything from giving you permanent nightmares to possible ending the fertility of this entire orchard.”
AJ bit her lip and nodded.
“Now, to get my pillow and blanket
***
“We’re here, Twi!”
Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes and gazed out at the magnificent forest before her. She gasped as it fully hit her.
“I know!” AJ chirped. “I’m surprised my little ol’ mind came up with this beauty too.”
“So, where should we go now?” Twilight asked after a short pause.
“Right here!” Applejack pointed down a hoofpath that Twilight was dead-sure wasn’t there a second ago.
A pause.
“Okay, Applejack, hear me out – try to imagine an apple.”
A pregnant pause.
“Aaand?” Twilight prodded.
“And what? I thought of an apple. Nothing happened. What’s the big deal?”
Twilight made a face. “Strange. In a lucid dream you’re supposed to have a supreme amount of control over your dreams. This is weird.”
“O...kay then, Twi. I’mma head on out to the lake. It’d be nice if’n ya were t’follow me.”
“Okay, so how long till we get to the lake?”
“Already there,” AJ chirped, and Twilight blinked.
“What?”
“Ya – we walked and everything, remember?”
Twilight shook her head, muttering, “Lucids dreams.” Raising her head, Twilight stared out at the enormous lake, its reflection so clear that it was like a mirror. If somepony had told Twilight the lake were actually just glass, she wouldn’t have doubted it.
“Neat, huh?” AJ goaded. “Can’t ya see why I’ve been so nuts about crossing it? It has to have some sort of symbols or whatever on the other side!”
Twilight took an uneasy step forwards, peering over the edge and into the water. It was so crystal-clear and reflective that Twilight extended a hoof to touch the surface, but Applejack grabbed her hoof and pull her back.
“Don’t do that, Twi.”
“Why not?”
“‘Cause I dunno what’ll happen if ya do. Just that those things always come out from the water when they do, always draggin’ me in and the like. My guess? The water’s where the dream just sort of has its end.”
“Okay. It’s your dream, whatever.”
“In order t’cross, we need t’hop on the lilies, got it?”
“Gotcha,” Twilight said, and then she jumped into the lake.
“Twilight! What are ya doin’‽” Applejack gasped.
“My guess?” Twilight called back. “This is the source of your nightmares. I’m gonna have to lure whatever’s within it out.”
“Using yourself as bait‽”
“Yep!”
“Look out, Twi!”
“Wha’?” Twilight asked as a lasso leashed on of her legs. But then something else grabbed a leg, something tighter, made of gold, and coming from below her. And both lass and the golden vine were pull in their own directions. The vine was pulling harder.
Applejack, unable to keep on the shore, was dragged into the crystalline depths of the lake. Within seconds she was submerged, and three golden vines coiled around her, choking her and squeezing her and strangling her as they pulled her down.
That’s when she heard a roar and a flash of pinkish light. Within seconds the vines were flailing around, loosening their grips on her, and then she was being pulled up to the surface. As her head broke the surface she gasped for breath, and Twilight grabbed her forelegs and hauled the rest of her up.
All around her was a sphere of Twilight’s magical energy. Applejack fell to her haunches as she tried to get a hold of her rampant heart. That’s when she noticed the wetness lapping her; looking down, she just stared at the water.
“Twilight, why am I sittin’ on water?”
From outside the bubble a vine rammed the shield, creating a thick, blunt clonk.
“Simple, AJ,” Twilight chirped: “just a little bit of me messing with the solidity of the water and... a bunch of science stuff that I think I can only do because I’m in a dream.
Applejack's eyes were drawn to the red streaks running up Twilight's legs. “What–”
“The vines appear to cause some sort of burning sensation when they touch me.” She grunted. “I wouldn’t recommend touching my legs, what you’re seeing is just the fur’s reaction to the mass of bloody welts.”
“Welts? Do they hurt?”
Twilight nodded.
“Oh my Celestia, Twi, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t’a brought ya here!”
She held up a hoof. “No, no, it’s okay... Pain’s surprisingly real, but I’ll make do. I’ve been through worse.”
“Really?”
“…No, but at least now I can say that in reference to this.”
Applejack gave a single solemn nod. “So... should we end this?”
“No, no; we’ve come this far, and we might as well reach the other side, don’t you think?”
A pause.
“Applejack? You there?”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah.” She looked down as another vine slammed against the shield. “Oh sweet Celestia!” The water beneath them let slip a little cloud of steam. “That water’s startin’ t’boil, just like last time Twilight we need to go now!”
“Wait! What's going on‽”
“Ain’t no time to explain! But we need to get a’gallopin’ t’the other side’a the lake, pronto!”
“AJ, wait!”
“What! What?”
“Stay. Still,” she growled as her horn began to pulsate. With seconds the pinkish bubble of a shield around them began to levitate, its edges pulsating with fire. As the shield rose into the air, Applejack began to slide down into the bottom of the sphere. With a light hesitate orb began to float towards the shore Applejack's wanted to run towards only a moment earlier.
A vine rose out of the water and slammed against the bubble, but it was to no noticeable effect.
“Oh my stars, we’re gonna make it!” Applejack shouted, her eyes filling with sparkles.
Twilight groaned.
The sparkles in her eyes quickly became a reflection of Twilight Sparkle. “Er, Twilight? Are you...?”
“It’s-it’s draining me!” Twilight groaned. “Magic! I don’t know if I have enough to complete this!”
Applejack gasped. “No! We gotta make it! We gotta!”
A torrent of vines ripped forth from the surface of the water, each tearing at the bubble. With the sound of the earth sundering in two, the vines smacked the shield. In an instant the bubble was tumbling through the air.
“I can’t hold it steady–I can’t–we’re gonna–I can’t!” Twilight cried as a particularly meaty vine grabbed a hold in the far side of the bubble.
“Oh my Celestia!” Applejack shouted as the bubble began to give downwards. Without sparing a moment to think, she grabbed at her ropes and then lunged towards Twilight, grabbing her and holding tight. With a whip of her lasso, the shield collapsed in on itself, yet the lasso was already hurling through the air.
“Here goes!” AJ screamed as her lasso wrapped around a tree and she pulled forwards. In what seemed like less than a second, Applejack and Twilight were tumbling across the orchard’s green glass, which shattered into powder as they rolled over. Nary a second to waste, Applejack dove to her hooves – ignoring the throbbing ache of sliced flesh in her leg – and shouted, “Come on, Twi! We gotta go!”
Twilight, her leg and flank literally burning with agony, rose her head as her body found a rest by hitting a tree. There, sitting in the middle of the boiling whirlpool that only seconds ago was a lake, was a white swan. It looked back at her, its wings outstretched.
“...go!”
She blinked. “Wha–huh?”
“Twilight, come on!” AJ said as she hauled Twilight up to her legs. “We’re on the other side. We just gotta follow that corridor of trees. Come on!”
***
“We... we actually made it,” Applejack panting, rubbing the sweat off her forehead.
“Yeah... yeah we did.” Twilight glanced around, also panting. “There’s... there's nothing here.”
“What‽”
“It’s just a dead end of trees, Applejack.”
“No! No, there’s gotta be something here but these stupid trees!” Applejack bellowed at the top of her lungs, though not to Twilight but at the sky.
“You would be correct,” a distant and feminine voice whispered.
Applejack jerked to attention. “Who’s there‽”
“I am,” came the voice again, and Applejack turned to its source. “Yes, the tree before you is I. And you have no need to fear of me, honest.”
“What… who are you?”
“You may call me Hamadryad, for it is what I am.”
“What does it mean, Twi?” whispered Applejack.
Twilight blinked as he managed to catch her breath. “Hamadryad – they’re spirits that live within trees in as or of symbiotic relation... Rather rare spirits, too. Perhaps one hamadryad per every million tree out there?”
Applejack nodded, then frowned. “Wait. How could a hama-whatchamacallit end up in my dream if I ever heard about ‘em before today?”
“Because this isn’t your dream,” the melodic voice of Hamadryad said.
“I–what?” AJ stammered.
“I shall admit, I may have lured you here, but I can explain – and I need your help.”
Twilight and Applejack exchanged glances. “I don’t know, Applejack. If what she’s saying – you are a she, right?”
“I am,” Hamadryad replied.
AJ held up a hoof. “Let’s at least hear her out.”
“If you want,” Twilight replied, cocking a brow.
Applejack nodded at the tree.
Hamadryad sighed. “I once lived in a majestic zap apple tree, way out in the middle of the Everfree Forest. I was consumed, born, and lived in that tree. When I was what you’d call a child, there was this nice little boy I used to player with – a spirit of a crystal lake. We were the best of friends. Then one day something changed. I grew at first envious of his freedom of motion, that he could travel freely and without. Envy festered into jealousy. One day he left for a long time, and then he came back about five years ago. When he did... I... I told him innumerable nasty, evil, and horrific things, like I never wished to speak to or see him again. In a fit of rage, he stole my heart.”
“Heart?” Applejack said. “Trees have hearts?”
“Not as you would know it, but yes. It was a part of my soul, really, and he consumed it whole and without mercy. Or at least he lusted and endeavored to. In the end he penetrated my soil and entangled himself within me; I used this to trap him whole. Now we are two corpses in the same grave.”
A heavy silence fell over all parties involved. Applejack and Twilight exchanged another glanced.
“With him forced to remain within, I lost my link to the outside world. I was no longer to even interact with anything but myself. One way or another, I ended up in your garden, Applejack.”
“Me?” Applejack said.
“Yes. By some miracle, I became your prized and most favorite of trees. You even talked to me – and for that I am endlessly grateful.”
Twilight nodded, saying nothing.
“Using what pitiful reserves of magic I could muster, I managed to pull Applejack’s dreams into my own thoughts. Here you are now. I want your help. I need it. I would have of you to help me rid myself of my former friend. Not to hurt him, no, but to set him free, that me may go our separate ways.”
“If we set your friend free and save your heart,” Twilight said, taking a step forwards, “will you end these dreams for Applejack?”
“Yes. Without question.”
Twilight nodded. “Then we’ll help you – I can’t be sure that you’re real–”
Hamadryad groaned.
“–but it’s either this or nothing. How do we get to your heart?”
“It is kept prisoner at the bottom of the lake. You need to find a way down there on your own.”
Twilight groaned. “That’s an annoyingly vague answer. Right up there with ‘you’ll know how to use it’ with the most annoying answer you can possibly give.”
Without warning two branches from the large tree stabbed towards them, grabbing them. In less time than an eyeblink, the two mares found themselves standing at the side of the lake. Behind them was the corridor leading back to Hamadryad. But then a series of vines shot out o the trees, blocking the entrance back to Hamadryad.
Twilight stamped a hoof. “By Celestia’s sunburnt cl–”
Clicking her tongue, Applejack looked over her shoulder. “Twilight.”
“What‽”
“Look.”
“Urg, what is... it... Oh... oh my.”
Before them once stood a sea of beautiful colors, gold and green. Now all that Twilight could see was an ashen land of grays and soot. Even the sky had lost all its color, settling for a strange and mud-like hue. The only object which retained any semblance of its original color was the crystal-clear lake and the swan swimming in the middle of it.
“Is it just me,” said Twilight, “or is that swan staring at me? Does it even have any eyes?”
The swan began to peddle forwards, moving at the girls
“Um...”
Making landfall on one of the giant lilies, the swan’s feathers began to convulse and twist outwards, the flesh beneath it bubbling and bloating and puffing and turning a bluish-green color, the same hue as much of the fur now covering its body. Within moments the swan was gone, replaced by a pony-sized frog. The only semblance to the pristine feathers it once had were now located on its particularly bright beard.
“I need to lay off the cider...” Applejack muttered.
Twilight cocked a brow. “A vodyanoi, right? You’re a vodyanoi.”
The frog nodded. “You are not entirely incorrect. I don’t have a name that I’m willing to offer you, so I am both a vodyanoi and called Vodyanoi. I’ve been watching you so far, though I was hoping you’d be done with this without me. Seems I need to intervene.”
“I read about your kind in a book once. You’re supposed to be a myth.”
“Yet here I am. Funny how myths work, hmm? Always a shred of truth to them.”
Applejak barked, “Then your the source of Hamadryad’s problems! Release her heart at once!”
Vodyanoi stared Applejack down. “Would have if I could.”
“What?”
He shook his head. “I already tried. She’s holding on far too tightly for even me.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.
“Both of you think that is is I who is holding her heart. The truth’s another matter. Her barbed branches and vines have ensnared mine, and I am metaphorically and somewhat literally bleeding to death on and in her.”
“Explain,” demanded Twilight.
Vodyanoi sighed. “She has no doubt explained to you her story, no?”
Both mares nodded.
“Well, allow me to start back when I left. I went on a trip to try to figure out how to give her the gift of motion. I visited half of this earth, and I eventually found the answer I sought.” He pursed his lips to the side. “It has something to do with bringing the heart of a hamadryad to a Spirit of the Grove, that, somehow, he can grant her such a body.” He let out a long breath. “When I returned with the news, I met only a bitter old harpy of a spirit. Perhaps I acted without thinking it through, but I tried to be more forceful in getting past her barrier. One thing lead to another, and she trapped me here, in a fit of terror. Those vines that kept attacking you? Those aren’t mine, they’re hers. Everytime I try to reach the bottom of her lake, reach her heart, those accused vines always strike me down. I suppose you and I are both sort of trapped here now, as things go. Weren’t it for what little I could do, those vines would have torn you limb from limb.” He shuttered. “I hate violence.”
“That... actually makes a lot of sense.”
“What do ya mean, Twi?”
“Vodyanoi are spirits of the waters; thus, they have no real control or influence over plants, which those water lilies and vines obviously are.”
“Clever pony. Nice pony,” Vodyanoi said. “I would not suppose that you would care to help our hamadryad, would you?”
“We do,” answered Applejack.
“Then I will help you in return. With my flesh I can distract the vines, for though they are strong, they are limited, and my body can take more punishment than yours. While I do this, you must reach her heart and... and I’m not exactly sure, but it involves something important-looking. Haven’t been there myself, so hopefully you’ll manage; I think you will ,since you both look smart.”
“Not the worst thing ever said,” Twilight grumbled. “Would have liked a little more, though.”
“Can you really do that?” Applejack asked Vodyanoi.
“Honestly? I have no idea,” he replied, and Applejack slowly nodded.
“An’ what if the waters starts t’boil again?”
“That? That’s merely an illusion, as much as one can be when you’re in a semi-dreamlike reality thing. But you ought be fine, I’d wager.”
“How do we know you ain’t lyin’? How to we know you’re not just some trickster?”
“If I’m lying, then may whatever popular deity these days plunge his/her/its dagger through my heart and leave my eyes out for the vultures to consume as I remain alive, in agony, but unable to die. And have it be done a thousand times over,” he growled. “Happy?”
AJ leaned towards Twilight. “Whatcha thinkin’, Twi?”
“I don’t think he’s being dishonest. You?” Twilight whispered.
“Same here. I can’t help but think he’s honest.” Applejack called out, “Okay, we've agreed to help you out.”
“Most excellent,” he chirped. “Now – are we all ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” AJ said.
“Ditto,” Twilight chimed.
“Good, good, very good.” Fishing an arm into the water, he said, “When I give the signal, you two need to get into the water and swim to the bottom. The lake isn’t actually that deep and beneath it is a pocket of air for you to breath. So trust me.” A cascade of vines tore out of the water, all careening towards Vodyanoi. “This would be the signal! Hop to it!”
And the two mares galloped forwards dove into the waters.
***
Before them it stood, a giant glowing object from which all of the vines came from. The green and gold stems of the vines were twisting, twirling, and convulsing as they battled with Vodyanoi up top. Looking upwards, Twilight just gawked at the floating lake above them.
“We’re under the water,” she muttered. “And there’s oxygen down here. What the...?”
“I know,” Applejack replied, a stern glare towards the object, its glow illuminating them all pink. She took a deep breath. “Shall we?”
“I think so.”
They began to walk towards the ball of light, which kept beating and pulsating with an exactly heart-like rhythm. As they approached within touching distance, they began to grab and tear at the stems of the vine. One by one, the stems fell limp and the vines died. As the last vine fell dead, the vine’s root released a cloud of silver sparkle.
“I guess the real heart’s in there,” Applejack muttered. Steeling herself, she then jabbed a hoof into the hole from which the sparkles originated. Then both mares’ legs gave out and they fell unconscious.
***
Then they stood there, on the glass grass, which had regained all of its luster. Twilight blinked, her eyes going savage until they finally found perch upon Vodyanoi. He too stood there, his body covered in open sores, pulsating welts, and scratched all over and too horribly for Twilight to look at.
“That’s about the most fun I’ve had in some time,” he chuckled. “I’m not even hurt, pain beside the point.”
Applejack shook her head as her own eyes locked onto the pulsating heart in Voydanoi’s hands.
“I cannot but thank you enough, you two,” he said with a smile. “You risked a lot for me, a stranger and a spirit. I don’t mean to be rude or ungrateful, but why?”
“Why is a good question!” a disembodied voice bellowed out, loud enough to shatter the glass grass beneath them. “How dare you help him! Why! Why? WHY‽ Why would you help HIM steal my heart‽ I asked you help me! Yet you couldn’t, wouldn’t even do that much for me‽”
“Stop this nonsense at one!” Applejack shouted, stomping her forehooves.
The earth fell silent.
“I might not be the cleverest pony around, but even can see that it wasn’t frog-things’ fault for sealing your heart! You did that!”
“I did not!” Hamadryad screamed.
Twilight shouted back, “Don’t lie to us, Hamadryad! In the depths of your soul you know it wasn't his fault, that is was your egoism which sealed your heart away! Vodyanoi only wanted to help! He always did! He always will! Yet you were unwilling to listen to him, and now look at what happened! Yet when you trapped him, you were still unwilling to let him hear your heart, so you created those vines to keep anyone out, and this orchard – this everything! – is merely the extend of your physical vanity! Your soul was once beautiful, but after what you did you turned your every soul into a glass wasteland which you cared into the likeness of a twisted garden! But you already knew that, didn’t you‽”
“I-I do…” Hamadryad whispered, her voice still reaching everypony clearly. “I just don’t want to… let him go… I just don’t want to be alone anymore. And I never will be again!”
“Hamadryad–no, Ampelos! Remember? Your own name!” Vodyanoi interjected. “You know I would never leave you!”
“Sh-shut up! Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up! You did it once before!”
“He only did it to help ya!! Applejack shouted, looking around and trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. “He was lookin’ for a way to give you the gift of movement! He was sacrificin’ himself for yo! And you do this to him in thanks‽”
“L-lies!” Ampelos cried. “It’s all lies! All just lies!”
Twilight shook her head. “If it was lies, then why did you really call Applejack? Your story doesn’t match up. You already know all of this. You just needed someone else to say it for you, didn’t you?”
A silence emerged, so quiet that it was downright defending. And then the glass beneath them all began to crumble and turn into ashes. From the ashes sprouted a layer of actual grass, moist with fresh dew.
“You’re... you’re right…” Ampelos whispered. “You were always right… Th-thank you… I... My god, what-what have I done?” She whimpered, then began to cry.
***
Applejack opened her eyes. Judging by the shadows and the sun, it must have been early mid-morning, possibly just before or during when breakfast should be.
“Ugh. Are you alright?” Twilight asked, rubbing her eyes.
“I’m fine, Twi. Least I think I am.”
“Think you'll be having any of those dreams ever again?”
Looking over her shoulder, Applejack gasped. Jenkins was gone. Not a stump or anything left; however, where the stump would have been was a single basket filled with the most delicious and succulent zap apples she had ever seen.
“Nah. I don’t think that I will be.” Applejack smiled.