//------------------------------// // Chapter VI: Memories // Story: Dark Souls: A White Knight // by Timeless Lord Slayer //------------------------------// The Elements all sat in one of the waiting rooms outside the door to Asmunds room in the Ponville General Hospital. They had been waiting for half the day for their friend to wake up, or at least be allowed in to see him, but the doctors were still trying to help keep him stable. The reason for the exceedingly long wait was because the doctors didn't know Asmunds biology at all, having to go off of guesses with similairities with minotaurs. Even so, they endeavored to be extremely cautious as they were still only working on theory and might injure him even further if they messed up. So, the Elements were forced to wait. Even though they hadn't known him long, they had quickly grown attached to the man. He was polite, loyal, chivalrous, but most of all he was kind. In the short time they had known him, he had never once been rude or impolite. Not even a little. Even when they were all suspicious of him, he took it in stride, never once getting angry or upset. One of the nurses came out of Asmunds room and gave them a quick nod before walking off to complete other tasks. The six quietly walked into the room and were surprised to see the Princesses standing on one side of the bed Asmund was in, worry etched onto their faces. "Princesses?" Twilight asked, confused. The two lifted their heads and smiled simultaneously. "Hello, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Pinkie. We came as quick as we could when we heard what happened. Are you all alright?" Celestia asked. Twilight nodded."We're fine. A little bruised, and Applejack is a little burned, but fine. But why are you two here?" Luna spoke up. "We have come for the same reason as you, to see Asmund. We heard what happened from the locals, but all they told us was that you defeated the criminal. Pray tell, what exactly happened?" "Well..." The girls gaped in horror as they watched Asmund fall to the ground, twitching every now and then from the electricity coursing through him. Then they turned to the masked man who had hurt their new friend, full of fury. "How could you!?" Fluttershy cried angrily, tears of sorrow streaming down her face as she used the full force of the Stare on Ororboro. "What? It was just a little fight. He'll come back, they always do." He said with a shrug, the stare not working worth a damn thanks to his mask. "You're a monster! You killed him!" Twilight shouted, infuriated at the idea of someone killing one of her friends. "Let's get him girls!" All six let out cries of fury as they stampeded towards Ororboro, Twilight and Rarity firing bolts of white hot magic at him. Oroboro weaved through the barrage of bolts, coming closer and closer to them even as he dodged. Applejack came up behind him and bucked his legs out from under him, then Rainbow tried to divebomb him. Oroboro quickly recovered from his fall and grabbed Rainbow's hoof as she got close to him and slammed her into the ground beside him. He rolled away from a blast of Pinkie's party cannon, leaving a small crater where he used to be and almost hitting Rainbow. "Holy hay! Be careful Pinks!" Rainbow yelled. "Sorry!" Pinkie called back. "Boo!" Pinkie jumped as Oroboro somehow surprised her of all ponies and appeared behind her and kicked her into a wagon, breaking it and sending splinters in all directions. A blast of magic from Twilight hit him in the back, making him grunt but not moving him in the slightest. He turned to her and laughed. "Oh this is fun!" he said as he bumrushed her. Twilight, stunned from seeing a blast that would knock out a manticore do so little to the man, didn't move in time and was hit with a solid punch straight to the face. Twilight rolled and tumbled from the sheer force behind the punch, before finally standing up, fury in her eyes. She noticed Applejack coming up behind him, and fired a bolt of purple magic to distract him. Sadly, this did not work as Oroboro back flipped behind Applejack as she reached him, grabbed her and used her as a shield. Applejack screamed in pain as the bolt of magic burned her fur and singed her flesh. Oroboro dropped the writhing Applejack before looking around frantically. Finally noticing the absence of Rarity. "Shit! Where's the white one!?" "Right here you brute!" Rarity yelled from behind before her horn glowed and a large cage appeared around Oroboro, trapping him. Oroboro tried and failed to break the bars. "Those bars are magically reinforced. You aren't breaking out of there anytime soon." Rarity stated as she flipped her hair and gave Oroboro a smug grin. Oroboro continued to try and break the bars, before stopping and sighing, sitting down and staying quiet. The girls all gloated over their victory before remembering their friend, who was still twitching a bit from the remaining electricity. They all rushed over, and Twilight immediately put her ear to Asmunds chest while the others watched on in silent apprehension. She waited for what seemed like an eternity for some kind of noise to emanate from his chest, anything at all. She was not disappointed. However, his heartbeat was extremely weak and oh so very slow. Twilight cried out in joy as she heard his heartbeat, and the six all hugged each other, tears of joy streaming down Fluttershy's face as well as some of the others. Then, Twilight and Rarity picked the man up with their combined magic as gently as they could and made their way as quickly yet smoothly as they could to Ponyville General Hospital. Luna and Celestia tried and failed to hide their shock. They looked at each other for a moment, a silent conversation seemingly being held between them before they turned back to the Elements. "We will have to talk to Ororboro about this. This does not bode well. However, Asmund is more important right now. What did the doctors say about his condition?" Celestia asked. Twilight was slightly confused as to why the Princesses seemed so familiar with Oroboro, but decided to ask later. "They said he was stable from what they could tell, but he has third degree burns all across his body and his heart was apparently on the verge of giving up. Some of his muscle and nervous tissue has been burned out and so he might have complex regional pain syndrome. Other than that, he's fine as far as they can tell." Twilight informed. "I see...Well at least he's alright." Celestia said, looking slightly relieved. "If you call almost being electrocuted alright." Rainbow snarked. Celestia frowned at Rainbow's remark before noticing Asmund...was he crying in his sleep? The others seemed to notice as well. Celestia turned to her sister. "Luna, could you see what's wrong?" "Certainly." Luna's horn glowed, trying to peer into Asmund's dream. She frowned after a bit and ceased the spell. "What happened? Is he alright?" Pinkie asked. "He will be fine. He is reliving a memory from long ago. It would be best if none of us disturbed him." said Luna. "But he looks so sad and lonely...why can't we try to comfort him? I mean, if that's alright..." Fluttershy said timidly, wanting to help the kind man. The sisters frowned, as if they wished to do so as well. "He needs to relive this memory so he can remember. If we disturb him now, he will never know anything about his past. And that would be more than unfair to Asmund." Celestia stated in a slightly somber tone. The girls all looked to the weeping man wrapped in bandages, before sighing and looking for a seat so they could wait for him to wake up. Screams echoed through the air as I saw thousands of people rushing to get out of the city, the large wave of water steadily consuming more and more of the city. I rushed through the streets, pulling along my family with many others following behind as we all ran through paved brick streets and walkways, trying to get to one of the bridges leading to the mainland, of which there were two. One had already been subsumed by the encroaching wave on the eastern side of the city, so we were heading to the southwestern side where the second bridge was. The problem was there were two waves, one coming from the north and one coming from the east. Not only that, but the only path remaining to the bridge winded to the north, bringing us closer to the wave. So the only course of action was to run as fast as we could through the path and onto the bridge to the mainland. I could hear the sound of rushing water coming ever closer, and tried to ignore the gargled screaming from the thousands that were no doubt drowning. Unfortunately, while my armor was light compared to others, it was still heavy enough to affect my speed, so after realizing this, I quickly turned to my beautiful wife, glancing at her for what would no doubt be the last time. Her mahogany hair cascaded down her back and bounced up and down with every step, her beautiful cerulean eyes gleaming with fear. In her arms was our son, with dark brown hair and green eyes, crying into his mother's bosom. I fought to hold back my tears as I pulled her in front of me and gave her a push. "GO! RUN!" I commanded as she quickly ran. She glanced back at me for a moment, tears in her eyes, before she continued running full speed. I smiled softly as I watched them turn a corner and run out of my sight, and then, I heard the wave crash into the street behind me, engulfing the people who were following me. And eventually, it engulfed me too. After struggling for breath and trying to fight the current, I just gave up. I cried, but I could not feel the tears, as there was already plenty of liquid streaming through the gaps and holes of my armor. As my lungs burned and my vision began to fade, I said one simple thing. 'Goodbye, Dear...Goodbye...Oroboro...My son...' I shot up from my original position, cold sweat covering me. Then pain flared throughout my body, forcing me to lay back down. There was something embedded in my forearm, and I could hear a constant beeping. My breathing started to slow, and then I noticed that my face was covered almost entirely, aside from part of my nose and my eyes. I looked up and immediately noticed numerous familiar faces surrounding me, aside from one. "Good morning...everyone..." I croaked, my throat dry. I was instantly hugged by the six mares I now called friends, each of them latching on to a body part. Pain shot through me and I yelped, causing the girls to release me. They all mumbled out sheepish apologies. I noticed their furs were matted with dried tears, and their eyes were all puffy and filled with concern, yet relief. Then Princess Twilight got a look of anger. "How could you be so stupid!? You almost got killed!" she screeched, making me wince. The other girls nodded. "Dummest thing Ah've seen ya do, sugarcube." said Applejack with a stern look that said, 'don't do it again.' "Why would you do that you idiot!?" said Rainbow with a growl. "I was so worried!" said Miss Fluttershy. "I-I thought I lost you!" sniffled Miss Pinkie. "Gentlemanly, but bull headed." concluded Miss Rarity. I looked at all of them and their angry faces, though Miss Pinkie and Miss Fluttershy were more distraught then anything, and laughed heartily, confusing the mares. Only for the laugh to devolve into a coughing fit. After recovering from my coughing fit, I spoke. "I...do not...care...if you are angry...only that you are safe...but...I will say...I'm sorry...for worrying you all..." I wheezed out. "You idiot...You stupid, kind, loyal...idiot..." said Princess Twilight, pounding my chest lightly with a regal hoof. Tears brimmed in her eyes as well as the others, before they all hugged me again. Pain shot through me, but I endured. They needed to let this out. After a while, they stopped crying and returned to their seats. A thought came to my mind of the dream. If it was to be believed, than the man I had thought a monster...was my son. "What...happened...to...Ororboro...?" I asked. "We captured him. He's on his way to the Canterlot Dungeons now. We won't be seeing him again." Princess Twilight said with a triumphant smirk. "Need...to see him...must...talk to...my..." I hesitated to say it, but decided it was now or never. "...son." I finished. The girls stared at me in bewilderment. "He's your son!?" Princess Twilight shouted. "How!?" "Just...found out...myself...dream...told me..." I said weakly. "I cannot believe such a brute is your son." said Miss Rarity. "I...know...hard to...swallow...that...fact..." I rasped. "Girls, could you leave for a bit? We need a moment with Asmund here." Said Princess Celestia. Almost forgot she was there, she was so quiet. "But..." Princess Twilight started. "Just for a bit. Please?" Princess Celestia asked. "Yes Princess..." they all said. They slowly filed out of the room, one by one until they were gone. I turned to the Princesses. "What...do...you need...your...highnesses...?" I croaked. "First, I would like to introduce you to my sister, Luna." she said, motioning to the blue alicorn next to her. Her mane was like the night sky, and her coat was a lush navy blue. "Greetings...your highness..." I said politely. "Hello...Asmund. It's good to finally meet you. I've been waiting for some time." said Princess Luna cryptically. "Waiting...? For...me...?" I asked, confused. "Indeed. We've both been waiting centuries to meet you. The stories don't do you justice." said Princess Celestia. "Stories...?" I asked. "Yes. Come to Canterlot when you are healed. We will explain everything there." Then they did something I did not expect. They nuzzled me. "Goodbye...Asmund." And then they walked out of the room. I was so confused. What were they talking about? What stories? Why would they wait centuries just for me? This and more plagued me, until sleep took it's hold on me. I'll get my answers later.