Ponytale

by Scarlett Haze

honesty.corrupt

The doors of the RUINS shut behind you forever. This cold weather is meant to chill you to your core, but Midnight has a tougher skin than that. Nothing fazes you as you walk through the thick forest, not even the snapping of a branch behind you. If something is following, let them try to strike. The snow crunching behind you confirms the thought that you are being followed and you wait for the steps to stop behind you.

The voice behind Midnight tells you to turn and bump hooves with her. You turn and push hard against the extended hoof, not even showing a little surprise at the sound of a whoopie cushion slowly losing air. This skeleton creature expects you to laugh at its less than substantial humor, but you only look directly at the pinpricks of pink lights in its eyes. Just fight me.

It only tries to move on like it is unaffected by your dead stare as it introduces itself as Sans. This skeleton is meant to be on duty looking for ponies and she mentions a sister that is a pony hunting freak. Your mouth twitches upwards at the thought of confronting this new opponent. Being told that this new opponent was nearby, you are led by Sans across a bridge and then she tries to lead you into hiding. You don't budge, only waiting for her sister, ready to take your Toy Knife and jam it through the skeleton's empty eye socket.

The taller skeleton rushes in and asks her sister if she's found a pony to which the other says she has. You can hardly contain yourself and then see the other skeleton just... rush away. Frustration builds within. Is this some kind of joke? You turn to sans and demand to know why her sister didn't attack, but she doesn't budge. You so desperately want to strangle this bag of bones in front of you, but you must become stronger.

"Hey. I'm going to be straight-forward about this," the skeleton starts as you go to leave. "Papyrus would really like to see a pony. So how about trying to pretend to be one?"

These words echo within you and something inside stirs. It makes you want to beat and destroy every monster in your way. The box along the road has gloves. They make you stronger so you hurl the stick and fake knife away, their usefulness over. You take pleasure in smashing other monsters with your hooves, seeing them burst into dust and your strength growing even more. You even take down a monster dog that holds a shield and sword, feeling even more powerful as it lets out a pained yelp before fading away.

You do meet with the skeletons from time to time, but this Papyrus seems to still be under the impression that you're NOT a pony. Oh, its going to be a joy to destroy her expectations and wipe that smile from her face. You watch them both walk off and go after them, only stopping at the dog with a black mask revealing itself to you. It's shivering. That's good, it understands its place. You beat the dog guard and keep moving.

The skeletons stand across a square of ground and the hunter is going on a long spiel on something. You don't care as you move up and get in distance with her. You want to make this fight happen. Midnight needs to be stronger. That skeleton seems to ignore you as she leaves. Sans only looks at you, "Hey. Play along, won't you? It'd make my sister happy."

You ignore Sans. Who cares about that other one's happiness? You want to be happy and to do that you need to get stronger.

Two more dogs, both with axes. They will have to do for the moment to satisfy your need for combat. Nothing is stopping you, not even the puzzles. It is as if they were never activated. Once more, you feel something stir inside. You are far too strong to be stopped. They fear you. This makes you smile as you walk toward the two skeleton sisters again. They both blabber before you see Papyrus simply lay down her sheets and lowers her hat before calmly walking away. You once more glare at Sans.

"Puzzles can be fun, if you'd try them," Sans only tells Midnight. Her look hasn't changed, but you can tell that Sans is suppressing something. You dare her to try something to stop you and then go to follow Papyrus. You are instead blocked by a small dog in large armor. It doesn't take long to beat down the beast and press forward. On a rope bridge, you see Papyrus setting up an elaborate deathtrap and something in you feels excited. This is what you want. You want a fight. You want to see them try and stop Midnight. And they never will.

Seeing Papyrus be hesitant in activating it makes you realize that she also doesn't have the courage to try and stop you. She is just as cowardly and weak as Toriel. She talks about having a friend that she can appreciate using this trap and you are ready to make Papyrus suffer. Sans only shrugs at you as you reach the ground. "We didn't need your help to have a great time after all." She sounds defeated. Good.

You go to leave again, but Sans starts speaking again. "I've been thinking. You're gonna fight my sister real soon. Here's some friendly advice, if you want to hear it through your own thick skull." Sans' eyes shut and she takes in a breath, "If you're going to keep going the way you are..." Sans' eyes open, showing no light within as she speaks with conviction against you. "You will have a bad time."

You raise a hoof to strike at her face, but you seem to black out and then find yourself raising a hoof to strike against nothing. A real opponent.

You hardly notice the town you are in. All you do is swipe all of the coin in shops and stores, stopping when you see a kid on the street. You approach it and it tells you that the whole town ran away. It also makes mention of Papyrus' 'friend', Undyne. If she is as good as this thing tells she is, then maybe you don't need to wait for long for a challenge.

The town is useless to you and you leave it behind, getting caught in a blinding snow. You can see Papyrus' outline as she tries to put on some spiel about how you're acting so strangely, about how you are heading down a dangerous path. You go to raise up a hoof and shatter those bones when she says something. "I know there is greatness in everyone. And there's somehin' in you too, I can see it in your eyes. Maybe I'll never understand why you're acting like this, and I won't really try. But I can at least try to show you what being a good individual is. I won't harm you."

You stop for only a moment. No other monster you've come across has merely let themselves be so open. It's... It's...an absolute joke. You crack a hoof against the body of Papyrus and her head just falls to the ground, her body falling to the ground and fading away.

"I... I still believe in you," Papyrus' voice tells you. "You can do better! Even if you don't believe or think you can! I... promise..." You watch the skull let out some tears before it too fades away. You ready yourself to take Papyrus' SOUL but find nothing. Midnight feels disappointed, but knows that it is still out there. You can bet on who has it too... "They can tell you as many comments they want and claim it's honest," you tell yourself. "But I already know the truth. They are pathetic and weak. And those who are weak, will never survive."

---

You shiver again. That nightmare is just not leaving you as you walk into a rather thick and heavy snow. You try to hold up a magic shield to block the snow from hitting your eyes. This helps you see a figure in the distance.

"I've been meaning to say some things about us," Papyrus speaks out. "Feelin's for one. Like joy over finding another lover of pasta or admiration over another's puzzle-solving skills." She shuffles in place, "Or the desire to have someone cool and smart also think that you are cool. These must be the feelings that... YOU are thinking about right now."

You give a smirk, knowing she also meant someone else.

"It must be hard to imagine someone like that," Papyrus continues. "I'm pretty great and don't have to... wonder what it's like having lots of friends." She goes quiet, like she's wondering what to say next. "Don't you worry! That loneliness you're feelin' can be fixed! Because I, The Great Papyrus will..." Once more she goes silent. "I... I just can't. I mean, you're a pony, I'm a skeleton, it just wouldn't... And I have to capture you too, its the only way I can fulfill my dream of being in the Royal Guard. I can finally become powerful, prestigious, and popular." Her hoof hits the ground and her resolve strengthens again, "That is who Papyrus is! The newest member of the Royal Guard!"

The battle begins and you open up your first action with a small compliment about Papyrus' mane. You then realize that skeletons don't have hair at all. Her cheekbones turn red, "W-What? You're unveiling your ultimate feelings for me now?!" She looks really nervous. "I- I have you know that I have real high standards as a skeleton!"

You offer up that you can make spaghetti and she pulls her hat with both hooves deeper onto her skull, now even more nervous. "Oh no! You're meetin' my standards!" She tries to hide her face with her hat, "Should I go on a date with you? We'll date later... after I capture you!"

She throws out some bone attacks from behind her hat. They drag along the ground over your floating SOUL. With Papyrus feeling flustered, you willingly let your stick down and show that you won't fight Papyrus. Papyrus raises her hat back over her head and sets it back. "You ain't fightin'? Alright... then I'll get you with my BLUE ATTACK!"

You suddenly have your SOUL thrown through an onslaught of blue bones of various sizes. You don't move and the attack seems to end. That wasn't as bad as-

Your SOUL feels heavy and it falls from the air and onto the ground. It then gets struck by one of the bones sliding on the ground, hurting you. It feels so odd, like your SOUL can only jump. It's not red anymore either its-

"You're blue now," Papyrus tells you, a shimmer in her eye as she flicks her hat. "And now I have to worry about what to wear."

The attacks start coming, each one testing your patience and skill. While you do this, Papyrus is dabbing some things behind her ears and remarking on a certain special attack. Even while she is daydreaming on her hopes of becoming a member of the Royal Guard, the attacks are literal leaps of faith for your SOUL. It gets so ridiculous that by the time Papyrus realizes that she doesn't have ears, the bones are going into wild patterns.

"Undyne is gonna be proud of me," Papyrus remarks aloud. "My sister is... gonna... well, she's not gonna change a lot, but she'd have a better me." Her next attack looks to be non-bone related but she stops and looks back at you. "Give me a second, I messed somethin' up."

You wait patiently until Papyrus returns, now with a proper bone related attack. "Sorry about that. Guess I made a mistake on the order I had set up. Gave me time to think about the others that would admire me and question if they would have the same level of admiration as yourself."

The attacks resume as Papyrus continues to ponder on things. "Dating would be difficult if you were captured and sent away too... Now this is gettin' complicated." She's not lying, those bones are starting to extend and move more erratically and your SOUL is trying to do the vertical leap over 13 bones... on fire. "It doesn't matter, if you ain't quittin' then you'll face the wrath of my special attack!"

You have already been running off high femurs ever since Papyrus has been giving out these bare bones. It makes you more than aware that you'll never be hip at the rate this is going. Papyrus unveils her special attack and you scrunch up for what comes. For a few moments, you don't know what is happening and you open up an eye to catch sight of Papyrus chasing after a dog.

"Consarn it! Get back here with my special attack!" She yells out, now rushing back and forth. "No! Don't chew on it more! Stop that!" The dog escapes and Papyrus just stands there looking off into the distance. "M...my special attack..." She looks absolutely devastated. "I guess I have to... use a normal... cool attack..." She looks back at you, almost too hurt about not getting able to show off that attack which escaped with the dog. She sighs and removes her hat, putting it down in front of her. "Here's the absolutely normal attack."

This 'normal' attack is accented with a lengthy portion of bones moving up and down AND sliding around AND there's the dog with the bone AND the bones are reading out 'Cool Chick'? AND why is that bone on a skateboard with a hula hoop around it?! You can hardly keep yourself up but an all out army of bones come for your SOUL. With one mighty and slow-mo action jump, the SOUL goes over all of them. It lands back on the ground and with it, so do you and Papyrus. Everyone can agree that everyone else is tired.

"I... told you... that you can't... beat me..." Papyrus wheezes out to you. "You're shakin'... right now... in disbelief... And so am I. So, I'm gonna spare you. You're gonna have to accept my mercy."

You can't argue and you only let out a noise of confirmation. The two of you rest there for a second and then get up. Papyrus looks at her hat and brushes off some snow that got on it. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't stop ya, even if you were weak. Undyne won't be too happy with the news." She keeps the hat in her hoof, lost in her thoughts. "I won't make it as a member of the Royal Guard and I won't get no friends."

You wonder what you should do and instead use your magic to lift up Papyrus' hat and place it back on her head. Papyrus looks touched by your actions. "You want to be friends? With me?" She looks misty eyed and hides her expression behind her hat again, "I suppose I could make an allowance for you." She readjusts her hat to fit on her skull again and looks confident again. "We ain't even got on the date and I'm in the friend zone! I couldn't have guessed that in order to make friends was to have them go through horrible puzzles and then get in a fight with them!" She then thinks on something, "Well, Undyne also went through that as well and she's my friend too. I'm 2 for 2, honestly."

She places a hoof on your shoulder, "I got to learn a lot from you... Err... What was your name?"

You tell Papyrus your name and she nods. "Okay, I'm glad I got to hear it. But will you be alright with me calling you pony? I don't want to look foolish in the event I forget your actual name in front of my many other friends."

You laugh and tell Papyrus that its fine. "Excellent! So, from here on forward, I grant you permissions through and I'll tell you how to reach the surface. Pay attention, I don't like repeatin' myself very much. Payin' attention? Okay. Continue forward until you reach the end of the cavern. You'll reach the capital and from there you can cross the barrier. That there barrier is what seals us monsters from the surface, you see. It can let others in, but there ain't no exit through, exceptin' if you have a powerful SOUL."

She starts back to Snowdin, "The king wants powerful SOULs like yours. He wants to open the barrier with pony SOUL power. You will need to get through the king's castle to reach the barrier. 'Taint nothin' to worry about if you meet him, he's a fuzzy fluffball. We all love him down here because he's the helpful type. Just ask Mr. Dreemurr to lead you to where you need to go to reach home and he'll take you to the barrier himself."

She turns back to look at you, "And listen, when you're ready for the date, I'll be at my home in Snowdin being the cool and tough gal that I am. Hope to see you soon! Niegh Heh Heh!"

With a new friend's encouragement you feel some accomplishment. This victory fills you with determination.