Twilight Sparkle was both happy and unsure of what to think of her friends, barging into her house. She had expected things to go wrong from here on out. But to her surprise, the introductions went smoothly. Gehrman all greeted them, and they did the same. The fact that Fluttershy was a bit less hesitant than she usually was, was saying something. Applejack asked him questions about his origins. Rarity asked him about his sense of fashion since (in her opinion) the top hat really matched with his clothes. Pinkie didn’t really ask him anything, only if he’d like another cupcake. Rainbow Dash was a bit more courageous with her questions, asking him how he lost his foot.
And Spike? Well, let’s just say he was more interested in the thing Gehrman had attached to his back.
“So Yharnam is yer home?” Applejack asked, looking up at Gehrman.
“Yes it is,” Gehrman replied, looking down at the Stetson mare. “And to answer your question, Rainbow Dash,” he said turning to her. “We don’t have these ‘lasers’ you keep mentioning in your question.”
“Well that’s a bit of a disappointment.” Rainbow Dash huffed.
“Darling I must ask,” Rarity spoke up, inspecting Gehrman’s hunter’s attire carefully. “Does everypony has such a good sense of fashion, as yourself?”
Gehrman shrugged. He rubbed his back. It was aching, and it was aching badly. He was used to sit in his wheelchair, only getting up if he needed to. And when he needed to, he would usually have his Burial Blade in one hand, and his Blunderbuss in the other.
“I have no sense of fashion, Rarity,” Gehrman replied, looking down at his attire. “But this is what protected me from the beasts. I could be fast and agile, while having a sturdy defense to back me up.”
“Beasts?” Rarity repeated in confusion. “What beasts are you talking about?”
Before Gehrman could reply to her question, Twilight answered it for him. “From what he has told me,” she spoke up. “Beasts were once human, like him. But because of a plague, they turned into beasts.”
Rarity turned her head to Gehrman. “They turned into beasts, why?” she asked, curiosity clearly present in her voice.
Gehrman let out a sigh. This was bound to happen sometime. He had explained it to so many hunters who visited the dream. The plague of beasts, the Old Blood, the Healing Church. All of it. He was actually getting sick and tired talking about it, but he knew if he didn’t give them an explanation now, their questions would never stop.
Walking over to a nearby table, Gehrman grabbed hold of a chair and sat down on it. The chair could barely hold the First Hunter’s weight. Gehrman ignored the cracks and spoke up.
“Listen carefully, young ones,” he spoke up, his voice getting a little stern. “This is a subject I would rather forget. But you have all treated me with respect, so giving you all an explanation of what the beasts are, how they spread through Yharnam, and how we hunters were there to stop them, is the least I can do.”
“I got front line!” Spike exclaimed, running over to Gehrman and sitting down in front of him. The rest soon followed, all of them grabbing a chair and sitting down at the table.
Gehrman cleared his throat. “A long time ago, when Yharnam was small and less populated, there was man. I lived in Yharnam with my family, my friends lived there too. There are two men who I should mention. Master Willem, and Laurence. Master Willem was a ‘teacher’, and Laurence was one of his most prized scholars. They were an unbreakable team, never leaving each other’s side. Master Willem had many scholars, at his school in Byrgenwerth.”
“So he was a teacher,” Twilight said, smiling to herself. “He must know a lot.”
Gehrman nodded, but continued his story. “But time passed, and scholars went on several expeditions. One of these expeditions turned out to be a major success. You see, underneath Yharnam there exists a great; ancient labyrinth, were once two races lived among each other in harmony. One of these races were the Pthumerian. An ancient race similar to us humans. And then there were the Great Ones.”
“Great Ones?” Rainbow Dash repeated in confusion. “What’s so ‘great’ about them?”
“I will get to that later,” Gehrman replied, rubbing his temples. “The scholars of Byrgenwerth went into the Old Labyrinths and found something. Something so rare and so powerful, that it was uncertain if this was the work of a god. They had found: The Old Blood.”
“Sounds disgusting.” Rarity commented, shaking her head in disgust.
Gehrman shook his head. If only she knew. “The Old Blood was seen as a cure. For it was. The blood cured any disease, even if the disease itself was deemed untreatable, the Old Blood would treat it, and annihilate it.” Letting out a sigh once again, Gehrman closed his eyes. This was the part where it was going to get tricky. He did not remember a lot about the Healing Church. He only remembered the Choir, the School of Mensis, and the Healing Church itself. “Everyone had different opinions about the Old Blood. Master Willem stated that the use of the Old Blood was unnecessary, and that humanity could be lifted into a higher existence by knowledge. Laurence thought otherwise. He thought that the Old Blood would ascend humanity into a higher existence, rather than to gain more knowledge.”
“What happened next?” Twilight asked.
“Ideals clashed,” Gehrman sighed. “And their friendship was no more.”
“That’s just silly,” Pinkie commented. “Just because you didn’t like other’s opinions doesn’t mean you can’t be friends anymore. That’s just wrong.”
“I do not know how friendship works in this world, dear Pinkie,” Gehrman said, looking at her. “But in Yharnam, friendship doesn’t last forever.”
“But friendship is what makes living such a wonderful thing!” Twilight retorted as she looked to all of her friends. “It’s what makes you happy! It’s the most powerful magic in the world!”
“Believe me, Twilight. The Old Blood is far more powerful than you think.” Gehrman retorted. “So Master Willem and Laurence both parted ways. Laurence went on to found the Healing Church, who used the Old Blood to their advantage. They gave it away freely to the men, woman and children of Yharnam. And of course they all accepted. I mean, if a church were to be founded here in Ponyville, and had access to a substance that could cure any illness… what fool would not visit to see it for themselves, and perhaps even be treated by said church.”
“I wouldn’t,” Rainbow Dash replied, smirking. “I’m way too awesome to get sick.”
“Everything went smooth at first. People from all over the land came to Yharnam to be treated with the Old Blood. The church was worshipped, and they continued their work. That was, until the plague of beasts arrived. It was strange at first. When the first beast had been found, and killed, no one knew where it came from. No one even knew it was human before. But then there started appearing more and more beasts. Some even more dreadful, than others. Many people had their lives taken by the beasts. And eventually, the church was out of options. And that’s when I came into play.” Gehrman said, mentally patting himself on his shoulder. Sure he was partly responsible for a lot of bad things that happened in the past, but he still killed more beasts than any hunter had.
“You came into play?” Rainbow Dash asked, curiosity filling her voice. “This might get interesting.”
“I was tasked by Laurence and his Healing Church to halter the spread of beasts. I founded the Hunter’s Workshop and created the trick weapons that many hunters used during the hunt for beasts.” He said, tapping his sheathed Burial Blade. “My blade was the first. There came more, soon after. Within months we had grown into a powerful subsection of the church. We hunted the beasts every night. Assuring the safety of the townsfolk. But we had to stay a secret, for some people thought the Old Blood caused the beastly scourge. So we did. We hunted under the cover of night, cleansing the streets of the beasts.”
“But we couldn’t stay a secret forever. A new disease appeared in what would come to be called Old Yharnam. The Ashen Blood. It spread the beastly scourge through the old city… so we were left no choice. We had to burn it down, and the hunt became known to all. Old Yharnam was sealed away, no one was allowed to enter it anymore. And my once proud workshop was disbanded, and was soon replaced by the Church Hunter Workshop. A hunter named: Ludwig became their chief hunter, and the church locked themselves away in a place called: Cathedral Ward.”
This time, it was Applejack who spoke up. “So because tha church couldn’t handle these beasts, they locked themselves away and just let it happen?”
“No,” Gehrman replied. “The church’s hunters had on job. Make sure that any sign of the beastly scourge is destroyed. If a church hunter deemed you sick, you would be killed. And by sick, I mean if you were to turn into a beast. But Ludwig, the chief hunter of the church, once recruited Yharnamites as church hunters.”
“Why would he do that?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.
“The townsfolk once blamed the church for the scourge of the beast. But his move was actually pretty clever. He recruited the populous, and they probably stopped blaming the church for the beasts. And so, the populous and the church hunters worked together… but remember, the townsfolk could still be infected by the plague of beast. And if a church hunter noticed any signs of them having been infected with the sickness, then that hunt would become their last one.” Gehrman stopped, catching his breath and thinking of what he should tell them next. Should he tell them of the Great Ones?
No, he should not. He could not. What if one of them were to make contact with a Great One? He wasn’t sure if they could, but that was the same thought he had himself, when he made contact with one. He still regretted that decision.
“This is all I will tell you, for now.” Gehrman said, putting his arms on the table and resting his head on them.
“But I-I have so many questions!” Twilight exclaimed. “What was it that Laurence saw in the Old Blood? Why did Willem just not dispose of the Old Blood? What became of Ludwig? What was your part in all of this?”
At that last question, Gehrman’s head shot up. He glared at her. He was actually glaring at her. “My part?” He repeated, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white. “Just know that I made a grave mistake. The beastly scourge has not come to an end, yet. There is still no cure for it. And I lost absolutely everything that I once held dear!” Gehrman shouted at Twilight, making her flinch and fall back into her chair from embarrassment.
“S-Sorry,” Twilight apologized. “I still don’t understand a lot, but I can kind of see the big picture. The beasts are bad news. The Old Blood is bad news. And The Healing Church is bad news, too.”
Gehrman said nothing.
Twilight but her lower lip in thought. Closing her eyes and letting out a hum, she thought of an idea that might distract Gehrman from bringing up some unpleasant memories.
“How about,” Twilight said, taking quick glances at her friends. “I tell you of some of Equestria’s history.”
Gehrman looked at her and slowly nodded his head in agreement. “That would be… nice,” he gave her a small, but sincere smile.
“Alright!” Twilight beamed with much joy. “So it all began when…”
When the hunter meets a beasts, blood is surely to be shed. When a pistol is fired, it will need to be reloaded. And when a trick weapon finds its target, it usually kills it.
Gascoigne’s body felt frozen, but he needed to press on. He was feeling tired, but he needed to press on. His wife and daughters counted on him. Oh, he could already smell the mashed potatoes and pork his wife used to bake for them. He remembered inviting Henryk over for dinner once. He also remembered how his youngest daughter took his hunters cap and played with it. Oh did he have a hard time catching her.
Gascoigne and Henryk. Two hunters with the same passion. One of them old, one of the younger. It did not matter to them. They just wanted to hunt. They wanted to protect. They wanted to serve. ‘Let ye take part in communion.’
It was at this moment Gascoigne knew there was no point of return. He needed to reach the Crystal Empire as fast as possible. He needed to retrieve the Crystal Heart. And if anyone dared to stand in his way, they would become just another one of his victims.
Even if that ‘anyone’ were a Princess.