I waved goodbye to Miss Rarity as I walked away from her boutique with my new clothes in tow. Today was a good day. In fact, every day I've been here has been a good day. Well, aside from the end of yesterday. I shivered as I remembered the exams Princess Twilight performed on me. I wish I could've said no, but it was an order, and I can't disobey orders. Especially ones from a royal. Though I suppose she is the only one qualified enough to do checkups on me, something of which I can't ignore. And thankfully, she promised not to share the information she acquired with anypony. I sighed.
The things I do for royalty.
Another good thing is that Princess Twilight had offered me a room within her castle, something I am very grateful for. As I made my way back to the castle, I noticed Rainbow sleeping peacefully on...was that a cloud? I shook my head and decided to ask later. There was still much I did not know about this world, but starting tomorrow I would be getting lessons from Princess Twilight herself about the world. And, not to mention I would be meeting the two rulers of this land today. Although I had already met one.
I sighed again as I opened the large doors that lead into the crystalline castle. I still don't know how she knows of me, much less how we are supposedly so close. What connection could we possibly have? She did say she's known about me for a long time, so perhaps she watched me during my time as a Hollow? Or has she been watching me since long before that? I sighed again as I walked up the stairs leading to my room. Perhaps I can ask her when she arrives.
After entering my well decorated room and placing my new clothes in one of my dresser drawers, I decided I should go and bathe. Gods know how long it's been since I took a proper bath and cleaned myself. I pulled out one set of the starnge new clothes. I say strange because they were nothing like the tunics and clothing I vaguely remembered from my time.
Instead, I now had what Miss Rarity called "t-shirts" for my torso and "jeans" for my legs. I sighed again. There were so many differences between this world and my own. Could I really fit in here? I shook my head and headed out of my room with my set of clothes tucked under my arm. After a while of searching, I finally found who I was looking for. The purple reptile, or as I was recently told, dragon, Spike, was sweeping the floor of the castle lobby with a broom. He turned to me as I walked into the room.
"Hey Asmund! Need something?" he asked, leaning on the broom.
I nodded. "I was going to take a bath. But, seeing as how there are no servants here, I was wondering if perhaps you could draw it for me. Is that alright?" I asked.
"Why would you need me to draw it for you? All you have to do is turn one of the knobs and you're done." he replied.
I looked at him quizzically.
He sighed and put the broom down, walking past me and motioning for me to follow. "Come on, I'll show you."
I followed him until we reached one of the restrooms. He opened it and we stepped inside. My jaw dropped as I took in the decor of the room. The floor was made of marble tiles, whilst the ceiling and walls were made of that same glittering crystal. A chandelier made of gold with a simpler design than the one in the lobby hung above us, aglow with strange blue lights. To the right was a large claw-foot tub just a little longer than I am tall lined with gold and made of...was that white cast iron? I shook my head and looked to the left, seeing a sink made mostly of wood and topped with granite. But why wasn't there any water in it? And was that a drain? And what were those knobs doing there?
Spike cleared his throat, snapping me out of my stupor.
"My apologies, I am still getting used to living in such a luxurious castle."
"Yeah, I understand. Me and Twilight are still getting used to it ourselves. Anyway, come here." Spike said, motioning for me to come over towards the tub. He pointed to each of the knobs, explaining that all I needed to do to get water was to turn one of them and the water would come out of what he called the "facet".
I asked him how it worked and he replied with an, "Ask Twilight,". After that, he walked out of the room, leaving me to my own devices. So, I began to undress, starting with my helm and working my way down. After getting the armor and scabbard off and setting them down on the floor near the door, I started taking off my leather jerkin, pants and undergarments, placing them in the same spot. Finally, I placed my new clothes next to the pile of armor.
Stepping into the tub and sitting down in it, I turned the knob for hot water and to my astonishment, the facet started to stream hot water. After filling up the tub, I grabbed the bar of lye from a shelf nearby and started scrubbing. But when I got to my back, I noticed a large amount of black coming off of that area. Curious, I grabbed a mirror from the nearby shelf and dropped my jaw at what I saw. It should be impossible, but my sign, the Darksign, was washing off as if it were a tattoo. To say I was astonished would be an understatement. A mad grin split my face as I realized what this meant. I was no longer cursed! I was free! But wait, how did this happen? The greatest minds of every land have tried tirelessly to find a cure for the curse and all of them came up with nothing. So how was it that my sign had just washed off like it was nothing?
I decided to ask Princess Twilight if she had any ideas when next I saw her. So, I continued my bath, simply letting the warm water wash my worries away. After an hour or more I got out and dried off with a towel. Putting on my new clothes and picking up the pile of armor along with my sword I opened the door and walked out, heading towards my room to put the armor away. It felt strange, not wearing my armor, but I reasoned that if I wanted to look friendly to these ponies, I would have to sacrifice protection for it. Well, not all of it, as I would never be caught dead without my sword. So, after putting my armor away and strapping my sword to the belt at my waist, I headed to the door of my room, only to have it swing open before I could touch it, revealing Princess Twilight behind it.
"Asmund! There you are! I need you to come with me quick! Something's happening in town!" she said hastily, motioning for me to follow her as we both ran throuh the hall and down the stairs into the castle lobby where Miss Pinkie, Miss Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow, and Miss Rarity were all waiting.
"What is going on? What happened?" I asked, confused but ready to take action.
"Some brute that looks like you has taken Mayor Mare hostage, and we're going to rescue her." said Miss Rarity.
"What does he look like exactly?" I queried.
"We don't know, we couldn't get an exact description before everypony ran inside their houses." said Rainbow.
"Is he armed?" I asked.
"We don't think so." said Applejack.
"Do you know who he is?"
"No. Never even seen 'im before." Applejack replied.
"Are there any more hostages?"
"No. Everypony else escaped before he could get them." Miss Rarity informed.
"How did he act? Did he seem illogical?"
"He just walked into town, grabbed the Mayor, and then everypony else ran before he said anything." Miss Rarity explained.
"Alright...looks like we're walking into this a little blind. But we can gather information from him when we get there. Everypony ready?"
"Yeah but...shouldn't you put on your armor?" Princess Twilight asked.
"There isn't any time. The longer we spend here the more likely the Mayor could get injured or the situation could spiral out of control. We need to get there as soon as possible." I answered.
"Alright, understood. Everypony gather around." Princess Twilight ordered.
I stepped closer to Princess Twilight, along with everypony else and soon my vision was filled with white before we appeared in what appeared to be a town square, with a tall building in the center that I assumed to be the Town Hall. Shaking off the nausea, I looked around and immediately spotted my target. Dread filled me as I took in his appearance. He was one of the Wretches of the Brotherhood of Blood, the famed Oroboro. The man who had killed hundreds of beasts, men, and Hollows all without dying even once. Despite all this, I stood my ground and unsheathed my blade. He was currently riding the Mayor like a horse, but when he noticed us he waved and got off of her, allowing her to run away inside the Town Hall. He slowly approached us, and I could see all the others tense. I remained in my battle ready stance.
"Hello!" he greeted jovially.
"How are you here? Why are you here?" I asked.
"Rude, aren't you? But to answer your question, I have no idea. Just woke up in that forest over yonder and walked all the way here. Speaking of which, could you tell me where I am?" he answered.
"You're in Ponyville, Equestria." Princess Twilight answered, her horn glowing with power.
"Hmm. Never heard of it. Oh well. Wanna scrap?" he asked.
"Not until you tell us why you kept an innocent pony hostage, jerk!" said Rainbow.
"Hostage? I just wanted to ride her. I mean sure, it was weird that she could talk and was apparently sentient, but I just wanted a pony ride. No harm done." he answered.
"Lies! I will not believe such words from one who has murdered hundreds without care!" I spat. The mares gasped when I mentioned hundreds.
"Do I have to teach you manners? And besides, none of the things I killed could be considered human or anything anyway. So once again, no harm done." he replied calmly.
"And what of those whose worlds you invaded? What of them, Wretch?"
"I don't like your tone, mister. And they all knew the danger of being killed by the likes of me and my brethren when they became Undead. And in the end, no harm is done. They all come back." he answered, tone level.
"But each death brings them one step closer to Hollowing!" I shot back.
"There are a few ways to counteract that. Human Effigies, the four crowns of the Ancient Kings blessed by Vendrick, the Shrine in Amana, and of course, souls. I just so happen to have three of those things. Numerous Effigies, all the crowns, and plenty of souls." he replied.
"Lies! Hundreds of the greatest minds have tried, and none could find a cure, temporary or no!"
"True, there isn't a cure. But the crowns allow one to exist outside the cycle. You're still undead, but at least you don't go Hollow." he explained. "I'm all for it if you want to fight, though."
"Asmund, calm down!" Princess Twilight commanded.
"Princess, this man has killed hundreds solely for fun. He does not have the right to live." I replied.
"All things have a right to live, Asmund. I don't like the idea of him killing so many anymore than you do, but he's been civil so far. Just hear him out, okay? If he steps out of line, we'll deal with him, alright?"
I grit my teeth before sighing and nodding. She smiled.
"Thank you." She turned to the cur. "Now, what is your name? I'm Twilight, these are my friends, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Asmund." She said, pointing to each of us as she said our names.
"My name is Oroboro. It's nice to meet you. Wanna scrap?" He asked innocently.
"Um...no thank you?" Princess Twilight said with uncertainty, seemingly surprised by the question.
"Too bad! Get ready motherfuckers!" He yelled as he charged full speed at the Princess.
I jumped in front of her just in time to block his punch with my sword, but the force behind it made me stagger. He took advantage of this and followed up with two swift punches to my abdomen, making me gasp for air.
"Asmund!" I heard the girls yell. They all made ready to attack him, but I couldn't let them get hurt.
"Stay *cough* back! *wheeze*" I managed to say in between gasps and wheezes.
He watched on as I coughed and hacked before he dashed forwards again. I quickly regained my composure and lashed out with a thrust, which he sidestepped before trying to uppercut me. I backstepped and lashed out with another thrust which he sidestepped again. I lashed out with a side swipe, but instead of dodging it he parried me with enough force to stagger me, allowing him to land a punch straight into my jaw, knocking a few teeth loose. I spat out the teeth and glared at him.
"Is that all?" I asked.
He chuckled. "I like you. You have spirit. But..." He took out a chime from an unseen pouch somehow and raised it, producing a glowing spear of lightning. My eyes widened. "You're not nearly good enough!" He tossed the spear at me. I tried to move, to dodge or anything, but my body wouldn't respond. Then, I felt blinding, searing pain, and everything faded to black. The last thing I heard was the screams of the girls.