In Remembrance of Me

by Kalameet

Chapter 10: The Assault

A/N: This chapter will contain the final flashback in the story.

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Chapter 10: The Assault

The mighty echo of the thunder's roar made the hospital tremble under Icarus' soaked hooves. The storm raged on outside as he worked his way down the stairs. The only thing that lay before him in the hospital was the lobby and any guards that may have gathered there. The storm was ill-timed for escape, but Icarus had no choice but to flee.

He reached the bottom of the stairs, but he didn't enter the lobby. Instead, he opened the closet door that was there and pulled out the security guard he had knocked unconscious earlier; Preston was his name. He was an ugly brown color whose build similarly resembled that of Icarus'. Icarus silently equipped the security uniform and left Preston laying in the middle of the floor. Hopefully, any guards that saw Icarus suited like this would give him minimal attention.

He took a deep breath, then opened the door and entered the lobby. The first thing he noticed was the trail of bloody hoof prints that led to where he stood. They were his, he knew, but he couldn't help but feel slightly haunted at the sight of them.

Icarus turned his attention to the group of guards that surrounded the crimson doctor corpses. They seemed too occupied to notice his entry. He then looked at the exit. It was unguarded.

Just then, a large intimidating guard entered the lobby. He appeared to be the captain. Unlike his subordinates, he retained a sharp and fierce expression. He didn't appear fazed by the recent events. He spoke up in his gruff voice.

"Fall into formation!"

In a moment's notice, all the guards were standing in front of him. Icarus had joined them as well. If he had an open opportunity he would make a break for the door, but that moment had yet to present itself to him.

The captain observed the group with narrow eyes. They were all obviously shocked, confused, or downright terrified. That is, all except Icarus. The fire in his eyes spoke how he felt. The captain addressed him directly.

"Speak soldier, your name."

Icarus had been thinking of a false name in case something like this came up.

"Rocky, sir," he replied. "Officer Rocky."

"Rocky, huh?" questioned the captain. "I don't recall that name."

"I am a recent transfer from Canterlot," lied Icarus.

The captain grew suspicious. "Celestia hasn't sent any transfers in months."

This caught Icarus off guard, but confirmed his suspicions about Celestia even further.

"Actually, I'm a transfer to the hospital itself, not the night guard. I had extra work to do this evening, but I finished and was on my way home when I heard all the commotion down here."

"I see." The captain looked at his guards again. "Seize him," he said casually.

In the brief instance that it took the guards to comprehend what the captain's orders were, Icarus had bolted towards the exit. He heard shouts emanate from the guards behind him, similarly to those the guards that had chased him to the roof had said. He threw open the exit door just as the sound of booming thunder caught his ears.

Icarus hesitated for a moment, but decided that making his way through the pouring thunderstorm was a better alternative than being captured and held prisoner or worse. He scurried out the door, becoming soaked almost instantly from the heavy rain. The guards stopped at the edge of the hospital lobby, refusing to pursue him into the storm.

As Icarus made his way away from the hospital through the terrible rain, he gazed back one last time at the hospital. A flash of lightning allowed him to see it with clarity, as well as its title, plastered atop the structure: Eden Hospital for Curious Cases.

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All was calm in the city of Canterlot. The ponies were all going about their daily business. Some were attending shops, while others were shopping and doing chores. The warm rays of the sun beamed onto the residents. It was truly a peaceful day.

In the blink of an eye, a bright light flashed and vanished in the middle of the city, leaving a lone pony standing there. Smoke rose into the air from where he stood. There was a pause from both the Canterlot citizens and the charcoal grey pony alike. He then smiled. It was a deep broad grin, but he refrained from making himself look deranged.

He lifted his hoof high into the air, and upon it a large fireball burst into life. He thrust it at the nearest building. The flames exploded and engulfed it in seconds. Screams began to sound from those who were witnessing the wreckage as they began to flee from the site. Icarus turned and faced towards the Canterlot castle.

"This is it," he thought to himself.

"You there! Stop!" A group of armed sentries approached Icarus from the direction of the castle. They lowered their spears toward Icarus. "Surrender yourself!" one called. "You're clearly outnumbered!"

Icarus chuckled to himself. "And you're clearly outmatched." He pounded the ground with his hoof, causing the sentries to sink into the dirt as if it was sinking sand. At the last moment, they stopped sinking, leaving only their heads exposed above the ground. They struggled to free themselves, but Icarus hardened the earth around them using his power to keep them trapped.

He headed towards the castle. There was someone he needed to see before he stormed the castle. Icarus halted in front of a familiar hut he had visited only days ago. He found it interesting that it was his starting point, as well as one of his final destinations. As he approached it, the door opened and Discord waltzed into the open.

"I do say, I love what you have done to Canterlot. The chaos that you've rallied up is truly marvelous!" praised Discord. "I see you've also returned to honor our agreement I presume."

"I have indeed returned," confirmed Icarus. "However, there is something you should know. During my travels, I have acquired strong power. In doing so, I have come to the conclusion that I can fulfill my quest without you."

"Oh, I don't think that's how it works," replied Discord. "You see, I loaned you your initial power, which means you owe me. There is no way that you could possibly have surpassed and beaten a chaos god at his own game."

"There is something you fail to realize, Discord. I have acquired my power from various sources. These sources include all six of the Elements of Harmony!"

Discord looked horrified. "You... You're bluffing!" he stuttered.

Icarus thrust his hoof towards Discord; A rainbow beam launched out of it and struck him, turning his body to stone.

"Traitor!" screamed Discord as his neck and head were turned to stone as well.

Icarus sighed, then turned back to face the castle. More sentries were coming from it and headed his way. The drawbridge to the castle was raising as well. As the sentries neared, he fired a large beam of sub-zero temperatures at them, freezing them mid-step.

He snickered to himself at the thought of how easy this all was. Canterlot was not prepared for any sort of worthy adversary, and Icarus more than met the requirements for that. He passed the frozen sentries and stopped in front of the castle's withdrawn drawbridge.

Did they really think they could protect themselves just by blocking the entrance? Icarus knew he could easily bust his way in, then it occurred to him that it could be a trap. The bridge might be enchanted to backfire any spells cast on it.

Icarus looked down at the moat that separated him from the castle. An idea hit him. He froze the surface of the water in a path-like fashion that led to the drawbridge. The icy path he formed chilled his hooves as he walked across it, but it was only a minor annoyance. When he reached the bridge, he shoved his hoof against the solid wood.

Icarus brought forth a powerful fire orb like the one he had first used when he entered Canterlot, but this time, he materialized it inside the drawbridge, which shattered a large hole into the bottom of the bridge. He hopped through the gaping hole, but a squad of sentries were stationed there, all of which were pointing their spears and various other pointy weapons at him.

A loud click resonated in the hall, followed by the whistling of something sailing through the air. Behind the sentries, a guard had fired a ballista bolt at Icarus.

Realizing the approaching danger, Icarus pounded the floor with his hoof, causing a wall to protrude from the ground in the path of the bolt, which impaled into the wall with a heavy thump. A couple of the sentries thrust their spears at Icarus, but he expanded the width of the wall so it would catch them as well.

The wall was perfectly in between Icarus and the sentries, obstructing him from their sight. He made himself invisible and discreetly passed the sentries, who still thought he was behind his protective wall.

The throne room was directly behind the ballista. Icarus hoped that Celestia hadn't fled, not yet at least. He couldn't give a care in the Equestria about what happened to her after he got his answers. As he entered the throne room, he pounded his hoof on the ground one final time. Another wall protruded behind him and filled the opening into the throne room, sealing Icarus inside.

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A/N: I hope you are enjoying the story so far! The next chapter will hopefully answer the majority of your questions as we are nearing the end of our journey. I plan on posting ~3 more chapters to wrap everything up, so stay tuned and let me know what you think! ~Kalameet