Ponies Souls

Twilight painfully woke to a familiar warmth, one she felt before. She tried to move her arm to crawl closer to the fire, but the moment she tried, an explosive pain shot through her arm to her chest and soon the rest of her body, making her gasp in pain. This drew the attention of the two other bodies sitting at the fire. The first to turn was Oscar, immediately rushing to her side, followed shortly by Applejack.

"Twilight? Twilight, whats wrong?" Oscar asked, softly placing an armored hand on her shoulder, Applejack held Twilights hand as she closely watched for any more signs of pain. Twilight slowly opened her eyes, looking at the two by her side. She smiled as she looked over the two, tearing up at the sight of her now restored friend. She to move her body again, but was met with more pain, causing her to yell out in pain. Applejack leaned in and placed a hand on Twilights other shoulder.

"Stop trying to move around so much, I thought we almost lost ya there sugarcube." Oscar nodded in agreement and looked over at Applejack.

"C'mon, lets get her closer to the bonfire." Applejack nodded and the two of them slowly lifted Twilight by her clothes, softly laying her near the base of the bonfire. The two sat down by her as the warmth of the bonfire now seemed to flood over Twilight, she soon felt she could move her fingers and toes again. A clambering sound soon drew Twilights attention to a nearby ladder, hidden in a corner of the room. Another person was climbing down, clad in what looked like grey chain mail, and a bright white tunic. He bore a bizarre shield on his back, different from the one Oscar uses. It was round and grey like the chain mail, and had what seemed like a depiction of sun with an almost impartial face in the center. Applejack looked over at him with a curious face.

"Hows it looking up there?" The man turned around, giving Twilight a view of his helmet. It was almost bucket shaped, with two eye holes, letting Twilight actually have eye contact with him. To top all of this off is a large feather attached to his helmet, but unfortunately is was currently on fire, which also coincided with the top of his helmet being charred black.

"I'm afraid the dragon has no intent of leaving......" He turned his gaze to the now conscious Twilight. "Oh Ho Ho! She lives!" He approached the bonfire and bowed semi-gracefully, his armor clinging loosely.

"I am Knight Solaire, of Astora. At your service m'lady."  Twilight had the most confused look as she glanced over at Oscar and Applejack. The two looked at each other.

"Ah'll explain it to her." Applejack said, before looking over at Twilight.

"Twi?" Applejack slowly sat up to see her friend, now passed out on the floor of the building. She immediately stood up and rushed over to her.  She dropped to her knees, ignoring the fact that her lack of pants just made several sharp rocks meet her bare skin. She took her friend in her arms and tried to wake her up.

"Twi? Twi! C'mon wake up." Applejack shook Twilight to get her to wake up. Her eyes left Twilight to find a heavily armored person climbing up the ladder, a slight chuckle escaping his helmet.

"We did it Twilight! We......" He stopped mid sentence as his gaze met Applejack holding the now unconscious princess. Applejacks grip tightened as looked around for something to defend herself with. She soon snapped her attention back to the person as he sprinted over to Twilight, only to have her body jerked away from him. He looked to Applejack and knelt down to her eye level.

"Is she okay? What happened?" A sound of true concern in his voice, Applejack looked down at Twilight and shrugged.

"Ah can't get her to wake up..." The man laid his hand on Applejacks to get her to ease her grip on Twilight.

"My name is Oscar, I'm a friend of Twilights. Your one of Twilights friends, Applejack was it?" Applejack nodded as Oscars hand slowly pulled Twilights body away from her. He inspected her before resting his hand against Twilights cheek.

"She's only unconscious, you don't need to worry. We just need to find her a safe place where she can wake up." Oscar stood up and walked over to the ledge and looked down. The demon was now gone, and the fog covering the door at the end of the rampart was gone.

"Maybe those are somehow connected to the demon." Oscar thought to himself. He turned to the still worried Applejack, who was still clinging to Twilight. He slowly approached the two, kneeling down to be eye level with Applejack.

"We need to get her to a bonfire. I think I saw one while we were chasing after you, but who knows if more hollows showed up while we were fighting the demon." Applejack wore a confused look then shifted to a more serious one.

"What are ya suggestin'? We head through that door over there?" She motioned with her head to the now unblocked door. Oscar nodded and went to pick up Twilight, but the cowgirl quickly pulled her back. The knight sighed before looking Applejack in the eyes.

"I need you to trust me, Twilights life may depend on it. I know if you give me a chance I won't let you down." Applejack thought about this for a few minutes before once again loosening her grip on the princess, letting Oscar slowly lifting Twilight. He gently placed her over his right shoulder, and offered his left hand to help Applejack up. She took his hand and proceeded to climb down the ladder, followed shortly by Oscar. Once down, he moved Twilight from over his shoulder to holding her bridal style. They both made their way to the now open door, and down the hallway.

"So.... How did ya'll meet?" Applejack asked, trying to break up the awkward silence between the two of them. Oscar looked down at her and then to the princess in his arms.

"I found Twilight locked in a cell at this place call the Undead Asylum. They're everywhere and were meant to contain the spread of the curse that causes us to become undead." Applejack stopped walking suddenly and stared at him.

"Us?" He turned and nodded.

"Yes, you, me, Twilight. We're all cursed undead now." He shifted Twilight and motioned for Applejack to come closer. "Pull down her collar, back of the neck. Applejack slowly did as he asked and found and perfect circle seemingly burnt into her skin, embers that carry no heat drift away from the circle.

"The darksign is what brands us as undead, marking us as cursed and undying. The location differs from each undead but it all means the same fate in the end...... Hollowing, losing all sense of who you were, all hope and dreams." Oscars last words hit Applejack like a train.

"You....you mean.....all those things ah was..... was...." Her body was now shuddering as Oscar confirmed her fears with a nod. The cowgirl collapsed against a wall, her head in her hands as her mind raced, trying to put together what she had done. Oscar gently set Twilight down and went over to Applejack.

"Hey, listen to me. Are you listening?" He moved her face to face his helmet. "You were not in control of your actions, you were not responsible, nor did you do anything wrong. You're no hollow, not anymore." Applejack slowly started to calm down, her eyes never leaving Oscars helmet.

"But I....I k...killed 'em."

"Death is a better fate than hollowing, Applejack. You saved them from doing others any more harm and ended their torture." The knight slowly stood, offering his hand to her again. "Don't forget that."

Applejack slowly took his hand, standing up but using him and the wall as supports until she fully calmed down. She looked up at Oscar, who nodded to her. She nodded back and he left her to pick up Twilight again. Once she was all herself again, she rejoined Oscar at a staircase leading down. They both walked down, soon coming through another door. They both peeked out, to the left was a bridge, what looked like the path forward, but was teeming with hollows. Only they were different than the others, these were clearly more heavily armored, brandishing crossbows, spears, long swords and shields. Oscar and Applejack looked at each other before shaking their heads at the same time, then looked to the right. They couldn't see more than what looked like a stone balcony and two flights of stairs on either side of it. And in front of them was a simple wooden door.

"Ah'll go check this way out." Applejack slowly exited the doorway, heading towards the door, leaving Oscar with checking out the balcony. Applejack tugged and pulled on the door, but to no avail, it was locked. She crossed her arms and turned to Oscar, ready to call out his name when she saw he had placed Twilight down against the short wall of the balcony. He was turned to her, his index finger placed pointing up against his helmet, and his other hand waving her over to him. She slowly made her way to him, and crouched down next to him. Before she could ask what was going on, he motioned for her to look over the ledge. She looked and saw a single person, fully armored and staring at the sky, more specifically the sun. She returned to Oscar who was beginning to pull his sword out when Applejack shook her head and shoved the sword back into its sheath.

"You stay here with Twi, she'll be safer with you. If anything happens to me, tell her 'am sorry." Applejack whispered to the knight, before standing up and walking down to the person, all before Oscar could react. Applejack slowly got closer to the person until a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Oh hello there! You are an undead as well? Good to see that you made it past that beast up on the wall." The voice came from the person in front of her, and come out muffled. The person completely turned to face the cowgirl, looking down at her.

"I am Solaire, knight of Astora and adherent to our lord Gwyn, lord of sunlight." The knights introduction, made Oscar slowly stand up, drawing the attention of Solaire.

"Oh ho! Another knight? And a noble one from Astora as well, if your armor tells me true. No need to be wary, I mean you no harm if you mean me none in return." Oscar makes his way down and stood next to Applejack, staring at the other knight. Solaire offered a bow to the both of them.

"It is always an honor to meet another from Astora, tell me, what is your name?"

"Oscar, of Astora as you already said." Oscar dipped his head slightly to Solaire. The knight turned to the cowgirl.

"And you?"

"Ah'm Applejack." Her drawl caught Solaire off guard, making him tilt his helmeted head.

"You're not from anywhere I know of, pray tell, where do you come from? You're accent is most curious." She looked to Oscar, who shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Sweet Apple Acres." Now both Oscar and Solaire tilted their heads in confusion.

"I have never heard of this place, but it sounds simply divine." Solaire commented with a chuckle, causing the cowgirl to relax a bit.

"What are you doing here Sir Solaire? Trying to fulfill the prophecy as well?"

"That is what drew me here, yes, but my true goal is to find my sun!" He turned to face the sun once more. "Isn't it glorious? Like a magnificent father. Oh if only I could be so grossly incandescent!" The two behind him looked at each other then to the knight.

"Maybe we could help each other?" This caused the knight to spin on his heels to face Applejack.

"I do not wish to ask for assistance, but I will gladly help you!" He stretched every limb in his loose armor and formed a Y shape, with the sun falling perfectly between his outstretched hands. Applejack and Oscar looked at each other again, with even more confusion.

"Great?" Oscar commented.