//------------------------------// // The Second Dream // Story: Undone by the Blood // by Visiden Visidane //------------------------------// Undone by the Blood Chapter 7: The Second Dream The scent of apple blossoms carried by a warm breeze is all it takes to tell me that I'm in Sweet Apple Acres. The pale light gently pressing against my eyelids and the hard feel of packed earth against my hide confirms it. I'm inclined to question how I've gone from sleeping in a room in the cathedral to being here, but my last trip here had been more dramatic. I open my eyes once I feel the brush of tiny hooves against my sides and shoo away the bizarre, tiny, equine creatures that had gathered around me. True enough, I'm lying in front of a gravestone near the apple grove; the same gravestone the doll told me to lie down next to when I asked how to get back to Ponyville. "Welcome back, Good Hunter." The doll's standing no more than a few feet away from me, eyes blank and staring as usual, while her head tilted slightly. "Doll, why am I here?" I ask. "I didn't die." "Hunters who still belong to the First Workshop are always drawn here whenever they slip into unconsciousness," the Doll replies. "If they have a strong need to be here, or if they are burdened with the echoes of blood." The Doll walks closer to me as I dust myself off. How odd. My outfit should be quite damaged after all my fights and, while Scootaloo helped me patch my wounds up, I should still be in bandages. Instead, I look as good as when I first left this place. The Doll kneels in front of me, then lifts my left front hoof close to her face. "You are laden with echoes now," she says. Her front hooves suddenly glow with pale, golden light. I gasp and tense when a great flood of vigor washes across my body. This time's a lot more powerful than the last. When the glow from the Doll's hooves fades, my body feels light and strong, and my thoughts come swiftly and clearly. The Doll tilts her head and stares at me. "Good Hunter, how odd. You have slaughtered much prey, but the most precious echoes you carry comes from other hunters." "I'm not proud of it," I mutter. The sight of Ghast Coin's daughter flashes in my mind. "He was glad, though," the Doll says. "He was sorry for his daughter and for hurting you, but he was glad that he did not stay a beast for long." My brows furrow. On instinct, I grasp the Doll by the shoulder. "How do you know that?" I ask. "You weren't there. You didn't know the stallion." I might be gripping her shoulder a little too tightly, but the Doll looks at me with the same blank stare. "The echoes," she says flatly. "They carry the last thoughts of the fallen. Good Hunter, appreciate your prey. You carry their strength now." I let her go, an apology reaches the tip of my tongue, but I stop. Does it even matter to her? "Tell me, Doll," I say instead. "What about those other beasts I killed? What were they thinking?" "Kill," the Doll says. "Kill, kill, kill. Need more blood. More blood." Charming. "Look who's back!" There's a show of steel under that friendly greeting of Applejack's. I turn around, and find her wheeling herself along toward me. Her smile's warm enough and her wave seems genuine, but why is it that I find the Doll's flat welcoming of me safer? "You've been up to a bunch of stuff, have you?" she asks. I nod. That's how far I'm willing to go for some reason. There's a shake in my voice I can't get rid of even with this third swallow. It's clear why. The more I learn of Ponyville, the more unsettling Applejack becomes. The wheels on Applejack's chair squeak a bit as she rolls the device next to me. I can feel her just looking up at me expectantly and I can't meet her gaze. We stay like that in total silence with the Doll just standing there as well. Finally, Applejack lets out a sigh. "Okay, partner," Applejack says. "Just come out with it. You've been talking to ponies out there, now you want me to tell you something." I finally take the courage to look at her. She's the very picture of a kindly old mare with the warm, wrinkly smile, the haggard cheeks, and the wispy white streaks on her blond mane. There are bags under her eyes that speak of a lifetime of worry, though, and those green pupils look around too sharply. "You didn't tell me you were a member of the Church of Harmony," I say. "I also didn't tell you I was a strapping young stallion," Applejack replies. "That's 'cause neither's true, and I ain't given to lying." "But...you were one of the founding members!" The smile slowly fades from Applejack's face as she wheels herself back to the barn. I follow closely behind her, keeping what I think is a respectful distance. "You found them, then," Applejack says. "I helped them start. I thought it was a stupid idea from the beginning, but little miss fancy-schmancy really wanted to be called Vicar." She opened the barn doors and stopped to stare at all the blades hanging from the ceiling. "I pitched in with my Hunter's Workshop because they needed the help, not 'cause I believed that 'divine Twilight' nonsense. Guess that was enough to make me a 'founding member'. Wouldn't have minded so much if Miss First Vicar didn't stab me in the back." "But what was it for?" I asked. "Can you start at the beginning? What is this Magical Mystery Cure, what does it have to do with Church of Harmony, and why is Ponyville such a wretched place?" Applejack answers that outburst of mine with a stifling, frustrating silence. "I'll give you a short version, partner," she says eventually. "Listen, I ain't talking in circles 'cause I like confusing you. It's 'cause too much of this stuff will kill you. I'm serious." She grabs a hold of my foreleg. For an old mare she has an iron grip. I think she just bruised me there. "You get in deep, and not even the Magical Mystery Cure will break you free from this nightmare. Trust me, I'm trying to help you here!" I nod. "Tell me as much as you can then," I say. "It'll be better than nothing." Applejack frowns at this. "Don't be so sure, partner," she says. "You might regret having so much insight." She pauses again, then lets out an exhale. "Princess Twilight Sparkle created the Magical Mystery Cure," she finally says. "The process made her into one of the Great Ones like Princess Cadance, Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia." "But what did the Magical Mystery Cure do?" I ask. "What didn't it do?" Applejack replies. "It fixed you up, made you stronger, faster, tougher, smarter, live longer...everything. Everypony wanted it. The Church of Harmony--" Applejack spits the name out in a harsh mocking tone "--was founded to do two things; help Twilight keep making the Magical Mystery Cure, which I thought was dumb, and make sure everypony appreciated who made it through fancier and fancier means, which I also thought was dumb." The biting tone in Applejack's voice softens along with her gaze. "Twilight was our friend," she says. "The higher the Church built her up, the harder it was for her to be that way." I don't think she's looking at the inside of the barn at the moment. That distant gaze is looking at something from long ago. I have to clear my throat. I want more information and Applejack looks like she's going to go off into her own reverie then fall asleep. Sure enough, she snaps alert, then looks at me sheepishly. "Sorry," Applejack says. "Anyway, I wanted no part of the whole Church of Harmony thing, but I stuck around because they were my friends. The Church of Harmony was really popular, but it didn't have any muscle. My Hunter's Workshop filled out that role." Her voice dropped again. "When the beasts showed up more and more, it was obvious that the Church of Harmony needed us more than ever. When the beast plague hit..." The pieces fall into place easily enough. Why would a city with a cure-all substance be ravaged by a plague? "This plague," I say. "The Magical Mystery Cure couldn't fix it, could it? In fact, the cure probably caused the whole thing!" "You're mighty sharp, partner," Applejack says. "Might even give your cleaver a run for its money." "Then, why would I want it?" I ask. "I don't want to turn into a beast!" "Too late for that now," Applejack says. She rolls towards one of the tables, where a blunderbuss, complete with its wheel holster, was. Ith practiced ease, she takes the thing apart, deftly wiping off each part, then applying some oil from a nearby canister. "You wouldn't even be here if you didn't have some Ponyville blood in you already. Obviously the cheap, bootleg stuff if you lost your memory." She lifts a piece of metal to her face and squints before going back to cleaning. "You must have had some other disease when you came here. Must have been terminal. Nopony would risk it if they could just live with their sickness." "You could have told me this the first time I came here," I say. Applejack stops to look at me shrewdly. "And what do I get for doing that?" she asks. "I ain't running a charity here. An old mare like me has no use for money anyhow, but there's always beasts that need hunting." I have to sigh at that. "So what now?" I ask. "I don't feel any sickness so that bootleg blood must have worked somewhat. Do I really need to get some actual Magical Mystery Cure?" "If you want to get back your past," Applejack replies. "The real deal will also make you stronger. Hey, might as well get the good stuff if you're going to turn into a beast, right?" "And if I don't want to turn into a beast?" Applejack snorts and snaps a piece back into the blunderbuss. "Then you have to complete this hunt," she says softly. "A terrible crime was committed. If you right it, then, I promise you, I'll get you out of this nightmare beasthood-free." I roll my shoulders a bit and stretch out my neck. "Alright, how do I do that?" It's not confidence that makes me say that. I have no other options anyway. Applejack smiles and puts the newly-cleaned gun aside. "You just keep looking for the Magical Mystery Cure for now. Let me guess, that vicar of theirs has you doing errands, hasn't she?" I nod. "And she used to be such a sweet filly," Applejack sighs. "Gonna be just like her sister...anyway, just go along with their jobs. They'll lead you to the problem that needs fixin'." "That's it?" I ask. "Sounds too simple." "There is more..." Applejack says. "Try to get to the Church of Harmony's Workshop. They'll have weapons there that's different from ours." "What's this?" I ask with a snort. "You want me to steal blueprints from your rival workshop?" "You'll need it," Applejack said, her tone suddenly melancholic. "My brother designed many of their weapons. I thought they were ugly first; too big and straight-edged, not suited at all for fighting beasts, but I understand them now. Big Mac, he...he was thinking of hunting other things when he made them. You might run into...those things. It'll be good to have one of his weapons for that. Oh, and feel free to stock up on bullets while you're here." "Alright," I say. She was quiet again. I suppose she's said enough. At least, for now. Already, half a dozen of those freakish, wrinkled equines glide across the ground towards me. One of the has a pouch of bullets hanging from its mouth, while the others fought over who got to give it to me. I take the bag and nod my appreciation. The lot of them gurgle happily before scurrying off. I turn towards the gravestone I had been lying in front of earlier. Something else niggles the back of my mind though...so Applejack and Big Macintosh were siblings. Big Macintosh, the First Hunter of the Church of Harmony... I stop and turn around. "Applejack," I say. "What made you leave the Church of Harmony in the end?" Applejack was already working on a saw cleaver when I asked that. Without taking her eyes off the weapon, she replies. "When the beast plague broke out, my Hunter's Workshop had its hooves full keeping the beasts down. The Church of Harmony dedicated itself to finding a cure and studying the plague. Rarity wanted the Workshop to become part of the Church." Her voice hardened. "I refused. Twilight was my friend, consarn it. She will never, ever, be my boss no matter how many hymns they sing about her! So she went around me. She got Big Mac to sign up for the Church of Harmony. Since he knew all the techniques and blueprints, he started up the Church Workshop." Her voice lowered to almost a whisper. "Never could forgive Rarity for that. Not that it matters. I see the nightmare that traps her, where she burns just like Old Ponyville burned. I couldn't stand the sight of the Church after that so I left." "And your brother?" I ask. "He stayed on. I heard stories of how great and noble he was, and how he was showing signs of the plague. My sister joined up with him soon after. Then, they both disappeared." "I see..." I whisper. "I'm sorry to hear that." "I'm sorry too..." Applejack says softly. "Wish I told him that." I have to leave after that. I think I pushed her too much. She sounded so old during that last story. So old and tired. The gravestone back to Ponyville awaits. I hope I wake up where I was sleeping in the Church. Next to the gravestone, the Doll hadn't moved from her spot. "Hey," I tell her. She answers eith a slight tilt of her head. "Take care of Applejack." "Of course, Good Hunter, as I always do." With that, I lie down and close my eyes.