Cadance smiled at me. It was the smile of an experienced babysitter. "I think everypony should calm down. You wouldn't have asked if you weren't concerned. Tell me, Frisk was it? What made you worried about the coins?"
She didn't sound accusing, or angry. She kept her voice harmless. I felt admiration for her building. She was trying to play me like the child I was, with kindness and caring. I still couldn't remember much, but I wasn't a child, not under it. She wanted to know my secrets. Should it be a secret? What was I hiding from? I held up a coin in clear view of the room. "I get coins when I 'defeat' any monster of threat."
Cadance recoiled. "You see me as a monster? And a threat?" She blinked softly. "You defeated me?"
Trixie went pale. "Familiar, watch your tongue. One does not 'defeat' nobility and brag about it."
I shook my head. "Defeat in a different way. When I first came in here, I was a stranger, ugly by horse standards, and a potential threat myself. We were enemies." I smiled at her. "Now friends, I hope? I defeated you, and turned you into one."
Cadance burst into soft giggles. "Oh, yes. If that's what defeated means, then we've both been thoroughly defeated."
Shining Armor nodded in agreement. "I've never been so happy to be defeated before."
Trixie gently nudged me in the side with an extended hoof. "What was that about monsters? We are ponies, not monsters."
"Pony Monsters." On that, I didn't budge. Something... It insisted, they had to be monsters.
Cadance gestured at herself with a hoof. "Are 'monsters' a bad thing?"
I shook my head. "They don't have to be. All the pony monsters I've met so far have been nice. The monsters you want us to defeat may not be as nice."
Shining suddenly sat up. "Wait! Are you going to try to make friends, uh, defeat, the shadows? They're dangerous! Please. We've tried to reason with them in the past, and it's never turned out well. The history books are full of warning stories from failed expeditions."
His fear, and his worry for me. It made me... It filled me with... determination. I would succeed where their stories had failed. I felt suddenly replenished and ready to face fate. "Everyone deserves a chance. They want to be friends, they just don't know how to be."
Trixie plucked me up with her magic and set me on her back. "We've taken enough of your time. Trixie must review the maps and brush up on the shadows before we enter their domain and banish them from your fair land." She turned away from them, only to look over her shoulder at Cadance. "We'll discuss proper payment after Trixie returns with tales of her triumph."
They both nodded towards us, and we were allowed to go. As Trixie began to trot out, I looked at Cadance carefully. An alicorn, one of four known in the world. The second youngest and considered the kindest of them. Special talent: Love. Married to Shining Armor.
Trixie trotted out of the royal hallway and the doors were closed behind us by guards. With a little sigh, she turned left and began moving again. "You are quite the curious familiar. Trixie can feel magic ebb and flow in you. She wonders if even you understand how you work?"
I shook my head. "I'm figuring out some of it."
She gave a soft noise as she nudged into a library and set me down. "Can you read?" Once she got a nod from me, she smiled. "Excellent. Assist Trixie in her research then. We need to know more about the shadows. Their weaknesses especially."
With her half-buried in tomes that she flipped through with her magic, I was left to my own devices. I picked up a random book and blinked at it. This was not English. Despite that, the meaning of the book seemed clear to me, leaping into my mind without further prompting than flipping through. Each book provided a summary, and no more. I grunted softly in annoyance. The best I'd be able to do is find a book that looked interesting and bring it to Trixie to actually read it.
So that's what I got to doing. A lot of them were about things I didn't know much about. 'How to Sharpen your Horn.', 'Proper Polish of Crystal Ponies', and 'A thousand Recipes for Crystal Berries' were just the start of the 'wisdom' to be found there. Some seemed more applicable, and I brought one to Trixie. "How about this one?"
Trixie wrapped it in her magic and drew it over. "King Sombra's Fell Army. A study of oppression by Brightshine Amethyst." She smiled brightly. "A detailed look, from the view of one of the slaves of the time. It may have some useful information. Very good, familiar. You're already proving your worth." Her head tilted a little. "Speaking of which, let Trixie see some of your coins."
I fished out a handful from a pocket and set them in a jumble at her table. She set down her book and turned her magic to a few of the coins, spinning them about in the air. "Standard bits. No magic, at least, left. That isn't to say there was no magic in their making. Trixie felt that. You realize, making bits with magic is very illegal."
Fear suddenly spiked through me, but she just laughed. "Trixie is playing with you. We mean, yes, it is illegal, but you have no control over it. Princess Cadance wouldn't send you to jail for it." She snorted and rolled a hoof. "Did you see her? She looked ready to adopt you right under Trixie's nose. Too bad for her! I saw you first. You're Trixie's familiar."
A shrewd expression suddenly went over Trixie's face. "Wait... Did you 'defeat' Trixie?" When I nodded, she leaned in closer. "Were you paid for this marvelous feat?"
Considering back on it, there was no memory of the jingling sound after defeating her. Trixie took the news poorly. "What?! But you said, defeating any monster that could be a threat caused you to receive bits. Trixie is a powerful and awe inspiring magician! How does she not qualify?!"
Cadance wasn't the first. I could remember the guard producing bits when defeated. Just not Trixie. "I don't know?" Then it came to me. "Maybe it was because you didn't want to fight. You were meant to be a friend from the start."
Trixie seemed floored at the idea. "Meant to be..." Her face lit up with a huge smile. "Of course! You truly were drawn in by my powerful magic. I'm no threatening monster to you. I am your master, and you are my familiar." Everything seemed to be right in Trixie's world. "Er, not as a slave, before you think that." She made a little dismissive gesture. "In fact, in an act of generosity, Trixie frees you from further obligation today. You should explore the city and meet more ponies. How many bits do you have?"
Without counting, the number came to me, and I spouted it out effortlessly. Trixie nodded. "More than enough to buy a few snacks and maybe a trinket or two. Enjoy yourself, and come back when you are ready, or when it becomes dark."
She waved for the door, and out I went, free and independant again. It'd been a while since I had the power of self-determination again. I walked out of the castle and turned around to look up at its huge crystal... mass. It was huge! It filled me with... determination. I would protect it from those shadow creatures and set things to right.
Spinning in place, a little shopping plaza came into view. That seemed as good a place as any! I walked there with a little smile, noting the horses around me seemed mostly alright with my presence. Maybe my coming from the castle had something to do with it? Or maybe a little person smaller than them in a harmless looking shirt and pants just didn't set them off.
Something flickered up above. I glanced up and saw the sky twitch like a bad glitch a moment before it went back to normal. What did that mean?
Putting it aside, I wandered up to the first booth. Crystal corn, or so the sign seemed to say despite being written in horse words. That sounded like something you'd chip a tooth on. The crystal pony behind the booth smiled down at me. "Hey there kid. Want to try one?" He picked up a napkin in his mouth and used that to grab a crystal corn on the cob, then offered it out to me.
Who was I to refuse free food? I reached up with both tiny hands and accepted what felt like a huge corn. "Thanks!" As monsters went, horses were definitely one of the nicer kinds. I sniffed at it. It was like, well, corn, but sweet? I gave it a careful nibble and taste exploded into my mouth. It was delicious! It was also sweet and juicy despite looking like crystals. I started taking big mouthfuls of the delectable kernels as I wandered past. "Fanks," was all that came out around the crystal corn I was eating. Oh man, it was really good!
The stand to the left of me suddenly exploded as a swarm of jet black beetles scuttled out of the ground. I felt the tension of conflict rush in, and the sensation of my body faded. I was in heart mode, but it was no gentle circumstance. These beetles would not be impressed passively and turn away.
Their claws closed on at me, snapping and biting. I could barely dodge the first when the second grabbed me in a painful pinch, bruising my heart, er, my soul. I devoured the last of the crystal corn, or more specifically I imagined I did, and it vanished away. I was healed, just in time for the beetles to close in. I tried to jig out of the way, but they were too fast, and I was too inexperienced. They caught me between three mandibles.
Everything went black. Was that it? No! I couldn't lose that way! I promised I'd save that castle, and the horse monsters in it! I was determined! I couldn't lose. Not like that!
I looked up at the castle before turning away. With a spin, a shopping plaza came into view, and I began wandering that way. Wait. This all happened before. I could remember the missing, repeated, time. The beetles were coming. I quickly tossed a coin on the counter. "I'll take one please." I ran off with the crystal corn without eating it, barely getting out a thanks.
I saw a merchant selling armor shaped for horse knights and rushed to her. "I'll take one of these, too!"
She hiked a hoof up at the price listed on the sign. It'd take most of my money, but winning was worth it! I slapped several handfuls of bits on the counter and she nodded before gesturing at the rack of armor. Apparently I got to pick one. No time! I rushed in and dug around through the rack and came out with one that was shaped perfectly for me. Why would they even have that?! This wasn't the time to ask that. I quickly squirmed into it, and the booth beside me exploded with the black beetles.
Out they came, the deadly trio. This time, I'd face them properly.
This made me laugh so much. I actually started playing Undertale last night. These lines fit in perfectly.
The stand to the left of me suddenly exploded as a --> warm <-- (I Think it should be swarm) of jet black beetles scuttled out of the ground.
I am feeling DETERMINED to help you Catch all the typos!!!
I like it so far keep up the good work .
6613784 Behold, a small portion of Frisk's power!
6613436
Daily reminder that this is not CHARA you meet at the end of Genocide.
We know as a fact that soulless beings are not to be trusted and that they are evil just to be evil - when Flowey turns back into Asriel he deeply regrets all of his actions and changes his way of being. Likewise, Genocide Chara does not represent the real Chara - it was you, the player who shapes Chara into the murderer and demon they become at the end of genocide.
6613802 The typo is defeated! You gain 0 XP. You gain 1 bit.
Wait, how would them fit themselves with horse armor?
6613810
wat
calm down
have some ketchup
6613885 Frisk asked the exact same question.
Ha! Save points. Makes me wonder who Frisk will eventually run into that has awareness of the... anomalies they cause.
This should be a question, should it not?
6614036 All fixed! I couldn't write a story of Frisk without Save Points coming up somewhere along the journey.
6614090 Congrats on hitting the feature box, mate.
6614218 Thanks! Enjoying the story?
6614226 Immensely, you are doing a great job.
So, how long until they decide to enact a genocide run?
6614313 They couldn't go for a proper genocide run. They already let some NPCs off the hook and didn't attack them! The best they could hope for is a sad neutral ending. Go big or go home!
6614320
Well yeah, but who's to say they won't reset once they reach the end of this "playthrough"?
6614339 That would make this a very long and confusing story, likely.
I´m curious, do they attack the heart, or do they attack his body? I mean does his body vanish if he is a heart?
I noticed that my first instinct was, that I didn´t liked the time reserve thing, but I guess it works for this game.
However I´m not sure if that less attacks should already kill him completely, and maybe he only should do that heart thing, you know if it is ripped apart, and if he continues to fight. Then again it should only be something for special moments, if he actually has something very important to fight for.
So far I like this story, and the less good things, aren´t important.
I give you an upvote, and I get the feeling after a few chapters more, it is going to be one of my favourites.
That restart back after Frisk got defeated was great, I was wondering when you started mentioning the determination like that if we were going to start seeing "save points."
6614641
I saw an Undertale comic with a funny interpretation of how the soul representation thing works. It showed the player pov vs the monster pov, with the player all we see is the heart moving around dodging the attacks. The monster pov sees Frisk holding the heart and dancing/hopping around moving it around themselves. I really wish I could find that comic again, just explaining it isn't nearly as funny.
6614589
There is something called being non-binary, you know?
6613810
Yep. Good job. You monster!
Everyone has needed that to be clarified at some point in their life
KEEP THIS FIC GOING, THIS IS F*CKING AWESOME!
It would be nice to have a random Temmie encounter somewhere.
Also put megalovania in here somewhere it would make my day.
6615291 As you command, flowery overlord.
6615311 I wouldn't exactly call myself an overlord, more like a heartless lich with the desire to kill.
6615305 Or even Song That Might Play When You Fight Sans.
So, when will the "cool guy" show up?
6615422 Unsure, it is a challenge with Frisk being the main intrusion of the universe on Equestria.
6614963 Do you talk about the two gender thing? Well I forgot about that, but I don´t think that this was exactly what Frisk was supposed to be, I think something like this would have been probably mentioned, since it is more or less rare. At least it is not something everyone thing about, the first moment they see something like that.
I bet that was already the only harmless reason for the downvote huh? No really I would understand a downvote in every other comment from me more than something like this.
6616055
A downvote isn't necessarily malicious or otherwise compelled by ire. I am aware that the player character and Frisk are most likely of ambiguous gender to allow people to more easily identify with them, but the existence of Napstablook makes me think that there are other gender identities confirmed in that world.
6614698 Oh don´t worry I have a rather good imagination, and it was at least a little bit funny.
6614993 Sorry if I don´t understand it right away, but I think you talk about his gender right now right? What does his gender has to do with the E rating? At least he is wearing pants, and not a pokemon that would be exposed all the time. Ahhhh now I understand, but well while I don´t see the reason it seems you don´t want to give him a gender, but well that could be easily mentioned I guess, without any special stuff around his special equipment.
6614985 Alright, that should be enough for me.
6616081 Well that sounds interessting, I have to think about it, till now I´m no exactly sure why you thought that way about him, but I don´t deny that point for now.
6616088 The characters around Fisk have a gender, often. Fisk doesn't, nor is one ever granted to them by any power. It simply isn't. Since our protag gets to be Frisk, they get that undefined gender too. It's just part of being Frisk.
I'm not trying to play coy. That's just Frisk's nature. They are not a boy or a girl. They are a child. Neither he nor she be they.
6616088
Napstablook is referred to as "they" by every single character. Since Metatton isn't, it suggests that Blookie's gender is either neutral (agender) or both. (genderqueer) And besides, there are more genders than two elsewhere anyway.
6616115 Well I accept your reasons, however I still think Frisk isn´t exactly meant to have no gender in the game, I really believe it is only made that way for the player.
6616185
Being agender or genderqueer are genders in themself. It means you either reject the concepts of male and female, or that you identify with both too much to be definite. To be fair, an ambiguous and silent player character means they can be whatever each person playing wants.
6616261
6616261 okay one last Question because right now I have not much time to try to understand it, or translate if because I have an job interview, but are we still talking about the sex organ itself, or is this a bit more? Because I know that there are people with both gender, and woman with beards, or stuff like that.
Or do you try to tell me that he has no gender and everything that comes with that? I´m just not sure about what you trying to convince me.
6616322
(Best of fortune then!) Sex does not determine one's gender, simply put. A person with a certain set of genitalia can be assigned a gender they don't identify with. Male and female are not the only genders there are either. There are many variations on them; some people identify with both, some with neither, and those identities are themselves genders. This is commonly called a gender identity.
Genderqueerness is the state of identifying as both male and female, to which extent depends on the person. Agenderism is the state of identifying as neither. How they express this is dependant on the person, whether they intentionally dress in an androgynous way or simply don't care much either way. Napstablook likely has one of these gender identities.
6616322
Primarily, gender identity is divided into two main categories; cisgenderism and transgenderism. The former refers to individuals whose sex and gender match entirely. They identify to varying extents with their legal gender assigned on basis of their sex, and there isn't really more to it than that. Though, It's rather possible for this identity to go beside anything from the other category. (To be cis, yet simultaneously genderqueer, for instance.) The term transgender is an umbrella term, which refer to all and any forms of gender identity where one deviates from the concept of identifying with one's sex. Here, you find genderqueerness, agenderism, and what is known as being transgender. While cisgender people have an identity where their sex corresponds to their gender, (they are at the same side) a transgender person is someone whose gender is the opposite of their sex. Their psychology has developed in a separate direction from their physical appearance, leading to girls whose bodies develop through a male puberty and vice versa. (This discrepancy tends to result in gender dysphoria, and may compel them to undergo a transition where they take hormones to undergo an appropriate puberty.)
Napstablook presents themselves as neither male nor female, and it seems they prefer to be addressed as "they" rather than "he" or "she", which is why I believe that Blookie does not adhere to the gender binary.
6616367 Okay I believe i understand now "how" you mean it, and I believe that I already knew that. I guess I just don´t understand everything in english as fast as I want it, since one english word have so many meanings in German.
Well I thank you for remembering me about that stuff, and I remember some information on TV about that stuff, but I guess that still means that everyone can decide for themselfe what the main char is supposed to be right?
I more or less didn´t understood if he made the Main character without any sex organs, or if he has choosen both genders for him.
I just think it could be difficult to go through the story without to mention any gender in a way. I just wait for an explanation towards the ponys, If Trixie should really be something like his mother, I just think she would probably want to know it.
I want to know if I should call him he, she, or it if he should have both genders.
I just remember something, wasn´t it like this, that those people could choose what they wanted to be called? Or that they had to choose a gender themself?
edit: I actually only wanted to know what the main char is supposed to be, I didn´t really wanted to be in the dark about that. I mean he has to have something, I mean what he is suppoed to be called. I probably said that already, but that doesn´t means that the main char from Undertale has to be exactly something of the other more special options, at least I don´t know if the maker from that game said it is that way.
6616680 What would it really change? Would our protagonist be more or less as a boy or a girl?
They are who they are. They certainly aren't viewed as a creature to identify with in that way. What kind of strange pony even looks at a biped alien magical creature that way, who also happens to be underaged?
Not like Fanon Lyra is around.
6616690 I think it is as unimportant, as it is important.
I don´t said it to be sure, that they can have children with him/her no, but at the same time it doesn´t make much sense to call him "the thing", or Human all the time outside from the game.
I guess I just call him an it from now on.
6616680
The main character is whatever you feel they are, but the game does also validate their identity as neither male nor female. Using the they/them pronouns is acceptable. Basically, the author can make the decision, but for now, it's not significant, and needn't be.
6615919 :P
6616764 Alright, it is just a bit weird, even if I understand all your reasons.
6616885
Sometimes, all you need is time.
Ha! Just like that!