//------------------------------// // A Frisky Foal // Story: The Element of Concord // by Loyal Defender //------------------------------// Almost half an hour later, I had finished Chapter seven. Now, we were on to Chapter 8. "Chapter 8, My Dinner Goes Up In Smoke." "Hmm. Sounds bad." Chrysalis commented. "I'll read." Connor said. All the demigods looked at him in shock. "What?" Connor whined. "I can read you know." "We know that." Thalia said. "We just want to know why you want to read." "Usually when I try to teach you Ancient Greek you start to scream and whine like an eight year old." Annabeth added. "Oh." Connor said. "I don't know. After Travis fell on me I just felt like reading." Leo shrugged. "Maybe that fall knocked some sense into him. Literally." The other demigods shrugged. "My Dinner Goes up in Smoke," Connor read. Ares grinned wildly. The flames in his eyes increased. Hephaestus rolled his eyes. "Oh, please Ares. That puny little fire show that you put on in your eyes is nothing compared to what I can do." He held out his hand and a couple of flames fluttered in his hands. Ares watched for a second then through back his head and laughed. "Is that what you call a fire Hephaestus? That tiny little-" Ironically, or coincidentally, just as I was about to read that he was interrupted, I was interrupted by a glowing light. My Cutie Mark was the source. "Seems like the map is calling me. What about you, Starlight?" Starlight looked at her own Cutie Mark. "No, it looks like I'm just a typical pony, just like always." "Aww....that's a real shame. It would have been fun having you along. Uh, n-not that things are boring around here without you, and, uh...n-nevermind, heh. Well, I'm gonna go see if the map called anypony else, and where it wants us to go." I quickly jumped off of the bed, rushed out of the room, down the hall, and back into the throne room. Twiligt was sitting excitedly at the table, examining it. Perhaps she was trying to see where it wanted us to go. "Twilight, the map seems to be calling me! Is it calling anypony else?" I asked, approaching the crystal platform of adventures waiting to be had. Twilight's head snapped up. "Wait, the map called YOU? AGAIN? I saw my Cutie Mark and I just got so excited since this darn thing never seems to need me that I forgot to look who else it called! I- just- WHAT?" "Somepony sounds shocked. This is the second time it's called me. Pretty neat, right? I'm not dreaming, am I?" "N-no, this is definitely real... but that's still surprising! It doesn't ask for someone besides me, Rarity, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, or Pinkie very often... actually I can only think of one other time that's happened..." "And that was?" "Long story short, Starlight was called to Canterlot and we almost had to write a new legend in the books - 'Nightmare Moon, Part II - Starlight's Folly.' All joking aside it was right to call her. And only her." "You should write something like that. It might be interesting for others to see! Now, who's also been called?" "I'm not writing that. In fact never mention this conversation to Starlight. She's still not convinced her course of actions was right and if she knows I was joking about it, it could make her upset." Twilight turned her attention to the map. "Huh, never seen that before..." "What? What is it?" "It's called three of us. Looks like you, me, and Pinkie are going to...." Twilight gasped. "The Crystal Empire?" "My second calling, the first time the Map has called more than just two ponies specifically, AND a trip to the Empire? Oh, ho ho ho, this is gonna be an interesting mission!" "I'm wondering how there can be a friendship problem there, though... The Crystal Empire is basically a massive keystone of love and happiness..." "Not always. Remember last year's incident? And the train incident?" "The Crystalling hardly counted. It wasn't hatred that caused that. And technically the train incident didn't happen in the Crystal Empire." "But neither were one hundred percent happy. Especially not since I nearly died on s train. More dark than happy, really. But we did get a happy ending with the Crystalling. So your point is valid. Now, he question is, how long would we be at gre empire? Should I pack just in case it takes a day or longer? What are the essentials?" "Typically the problems don't take more than a day to solve. But Rainbow and I were at the Wonderbolts Academy for a few days. A bit of an outlier really, since we were working with recruits in an educational setting and we were having trouble balancing helping Spitfire with solving the problem." "So, is your point yes or no..?" "It's possible we could be there for longer than a day, but I wouldn't exactly count on it." "Hmm....well, there's one idea i have. I'll pack, but if the suitcases aren't needed when we find it what the issue is, we can just poof them away." "Alright! I'm gonna go get ready. I'm sure Pinkie will also take a few minutes to get here, knowing her and her fourth wall breaking abilities." With that, I headed back into my room to pack. I had never been more excited. I had to let Starlight and Chrysalis know, of course. So, when I went in... "Great news! Twilight, Pinkie and I have been called to the Crystal Empire for a friendship problem!" "Ooh, sounds interesting." Chrysalis remarked. "Starlight, if you want, I can tell Sunburst you said hi if you want me to, if I see him." I said. I knew she was probably a little disappointed she wasn't called, so I figured a favor wouldn't hurt. "That'd be great actually, thanks!" So, just to be sure, I packed the essentials into a suitcase - clean clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste, a rag (because at night I enjoy washing my face with hot water), a book on the Crystal Empire, in case there was something I didn't know, a few Daring Do books I also borrowed from Twilight last week (felt weird looking at them now that I had met the author, (she had a crudload of books in the series), and finally, a pillow and blanket. It took two suitcases to actually pack all of that. But I had the strongest feeling I'd be spending a day or two there. So, once we met up with Pinkie, who also must have been excited, we went to the train station at 11:28, and our ride was at 11:30. Two minutes of an intense feeling of not knowing what kind of problem we would be facing. It's what made things so much more exciting. That, and I loved riding the Friendship Express. The ride was so much fun for me. It was nice talking to passengers sometimes. They had interesting things to discuss about the place we would be going to. "So, what kind of problem do you think they'll have? An issue with the Crystal Heart? Sunburst feeling low on pride and confidence, causing him and his magic to weaken? Or a monster threatening the empire, and two ponies who can defeat it aren't getting along and not working together to beat it?" "Well the map only calls us to help solve friendship problems, so I'm willing to bet it's not an issue with the Crystal Heart." "Well, no matter the issue, you, Pinkie and I, all three of us can handle it. But really, I'm just so excited to finally be going on my first Friendship Mission! And on the same day the map called three ponies for the first time! Two spectacular events in one day!" I thought for a moment, before thinking of something to be done to celebrate it. It had to be celebrated, even in the smallest way. "Pinkie, you have any confetti to toss in the air? This deserves some acknowledgement!" Okay, so I was a bit overexcited. But I saw this as something to celebrate even a little bit over. Two special things happened with the map simultaneously. Pinkie glanced to Loyal, with a serious look on her face. "Are you insinuating that I don't carry Emergency Confetti everywhere I go just in case of celebration emergencies?" "No, not at all! I know you never leave party favors at home!" Pinkie reached into her bag and tossed a cloud of confetti into the air. "AND WE'RE CELEBRATING!" "Ahh, there we go! That's more like it!" I said, as a strip of confetti landed on my nose. I simply blew it off, giving it a bit more air. Moments after, a voice spoke through s nearby loudspeaker. "The train for the Crystal Empire has arrived! Repeat, Train C leaving for Crystal Empire has arrived!" I gasped upon hearing that. "That's us!" Let's go!" With that, I began heading towArds Train C. I boarded the train, making sure not to trample anypony or accidentally step on their tails or hooves. It was crowded, but I had the advantage of seeing where our seats were. Seats A1, A2 and B2. I eventually made my way to my seat, Seat A1. I sat down, the other girls not too far behind. I put my bag down and took out one Daring Do book. The train ride was about three hours long, depending on if there were any delays. That's why I had brought the Daring Do books. They seemed rather....interesting. But I didn't see yet what made them so popular. I mean,it looked like any other interesting adventure novel series. Big Neigh and Diary of a Wimpy Foal were also good series, and really good ones. So what was the big deal with Daring Do? I mean, I met the author, so would it make it better? I didn't know. "So, these books are supposedly very popular, from what I was told?" "Very popular. Popular enough that they changed Rainbow's mind about reading from..." Twilight cleared her throat as she did a - rather poor - imitation of Rainbow Dash. "'Undeniably, unquestionably, uncool' to... well, the opposite." "Did you just...imitate Dash?" I asked, trying to hold in a laugh. That was funny enough on its own. "....Maybe a little bit....?" "Haha, I have to admit, that was pretty hilarious. I wouldn't believe it if Dash did the same thing to you." Beat. "She has, hasn't she?" "...Yes." "Oh, my God, that is priceless. Well, everypony would have eventually done it, but I'm sure you eventually get used to it. I wouldn't be surprised if Pinkie did it, although breaking the fourth wall is more up her alley." "Anyways, I'm gonna see what's so amazing about this Daring Do. I mean, is it normal that I'm kind of doubting she's so incredible?" "What's not to find incredible about her?" "I'll tell you in three simple words, Twilight: She's like me." "From what I know, she's brave, adventurous, likes kicking tail, and usually ends up saving what ranges from a group of ponies to the world. And she's almost always adventuring. Do you see the similarities?" "But I promise you, if I see any reason to find Daring amazing, I'll let you know." I said, as I read into the first book of the series.. "I don't see the problem." "It's like reading my own autobiography. Sure, I'm a hero, too, but..How is Daring so popular? What is ONE key difference between us? I'm known for the defeat of an evil demon, and what's she done?" I asked. If Twilight could bring up a very good point, then I'd really have to see what this pony was best known for. "Well, aside from stoping Ahuizotl from taking over the world, she gathers ancient artifacts so they can't be used for evil purposes." "I--" I just stopped myself there. "....Huh. That is a good point...well, then I'm gonna see if there's other achievements she's made." I said, and continued to read. As I read on, I slowly learned that Daring Do had a thing for disguises, being slick, and outright making villains look incredibly stupid. "Oh, my God, she's like Indiana Pones. That's like Indiana Jones!" I said, after an intriguing 30 minutes of silent reading. " So Equestria has celebrity parodies, too?" "Pardon?" "If Daring is like Indiana Jones from the movies where I'm from, I'm assuming there's other celebrities that are based off of parodies where I'm from?" "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. But we do have celebrities. Sapphire Shores, Countess Coloratura - I mean, Rara - Hoity Toity... Heck, I'm something of a celebrity!" 8:31 "If Daring is like Indiana Jones from the movies where I'm from, I'm assuming there's other celebrities that are based off of parodies where I'm from?" "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. But we do have celebrities. Sapphire Shores, Countess Coloratura - I mean, Rara - Hoity Toity... Heck, I'm something of a celebrity!" "Wait, did you say....Coloratura...as in the kind of thing found in singing operas?" "Uh, yeah, why?" "Hmm. That's kind of interesting. What's this Coloratura known for? And...how do you know her?" "Singing, mostly. And believe it or not, we know her because she was a good childhood friend of Applejack's!" "She...wait....lemme try to get this straight. Applejack is friends with a world-wise famous singing celebrity?" "Man, I'd give my left arm for something like that! Let me guess, when you met her, you had to resolve a friendship problem she was having?" "Huge one." "What was it? You never really do expect one from a celebrity." "Her manager was using her fame to demand other ponies cater to his whims whenever she made appearances." "Well, was she one of those all-time popstars, or did she have any hobbies?" "Both, actually! She's THE Pony of Pop in Equestria - even more than Sapphire Shores, who's ALSO known as the pony of pop. But Rara loves spending time with children and writing her own songs. She's also big on charity." "Wow, that's actually incredibly sweet! Even if she does have a busy schedule, spending time with children is placed somewhere into it! That's rather sweet, really. You could put anything into a schedule like that, and she put charity and spending time with children! And, I'm assuming the nickname 'Rara' is shortened from Coloratura? I'm just guessing, I put some thought into that." "I'm just gonna assume so. Still...She sounds like a really nice pony to get to know. I'm kind of jealous, really. You girls get to meet all the big hits, while I sit back, doing nothing but obliterating Timberwolves with large stones. But, I'm not complaining. After all, my time will eventually come, too, when I meet a brilliant celebrity and get into either a big conversation, or, somehow, a big fight. And I'm hoping it's not the latter. I mean, I already met Daring Do, but....she's more of an all-time adventurer with no time for sidetracking or distractions. Unlike me." Afterwards, I just continued reading, and occasionally conversating with other passengers. Turns out, some of them were actually going to see Sunburst for some new spells, if he'd been studying any. I figured that'd be perfect, because when I had time, I'd go visit him, too. Provided the friendship problem didn't completely void my chance. In fact, I got so into conversating and reading that three hours went by fast. I was practically sucked into the book that I didn't notice that the train eventually stopped. We had arrived at the Crystal Empire, and I didn't even notice. I also failed to notice that most other ponies had gotten off of the train. I was focused, until I felt something gently shaking me. I looked over to see Twilight looking at me, her hoof on my arm. She had been trying to get my attention. I looked around, noticing the lack of ponies. "Where'd everypony else go?" I asked. "Oh. I was so sucked into the book, I hadn't noticed." I said, as I allowed Twilight to get up and make room for me to slide out of my seat. I grabbed my bags from the rack above, and let her and Pinkie move ahead. "You don't think anything too major is happening, do you? "Well I certainly hope not..." As we made our way towards the front of the train, I caught glimpses of what looked like Shining Armor and Princess Cadence standing outside the train. I slowly got a hunch that they were the ones who needed help. But I decided not to say anything until we got outside. We made our way to the train door, and, either for dramatic effect or because we were the last ones out, the train door opened after having shut a few moments ago. As we all stepped outside, Shining was the first to greet us. Well, greet Twilight. Siblings and all. "Twily! Oh, it's so great to see you!" "And it's been a long time! How've ya been?" He added, clearly happy to see us. "I've been great! It's so good to see you, too! But... How did you know to meet us here? I didn't tell you we were coming...." "Well....we have our ways. But that doesn't matter right now. Things are a little tense right now. There's a bit of an issue we're having..." "I think it's best if Cadence explains it.." "Explains what?" I asked, shifting my attention towards Cadence. "What's the problem?" "Well.... we're.... hosting a good friend of ours, but... Things aren't exactly.... going well. We're trying our best, but between trying to figure out what the problem is and taking care of Flurry Heart...." "So, if I'm guessing, you need somepony to look after Flurry while you two sort things out with this 'friend' of yours, right? To make the task a bit easier?" "Well, it would certainly help, yes..." Cadence admitted, scratching the back of her head. "Twilight, Pinkie! This is the exact reason the map called us! A friendship problem has arisen, and we're the only ones who can resolve it!" I said, full of pride and confidence, before turning back to Cadence. "Where is Flurry, anyway?" "She's napping at the moment, but we still have to keep our eyes on her, because she could wake up any minute. Come with me..." "Alright, lead the way." I said, motioning for the girls to follow. "Flurry herself hasn't been too much trouble, has she?" "Oh, no, not at all. She's been just the same as always since the, umm, incident." "That's a relief. Funny thing, I never did nullify the antigravity spell she afflicted onto me all this time from last year. Because I both forgot about it, and didn't...care." Cadence and Shining led us into the castle, and through the series of halls and corridors, eventually leading us to Flurry's room, outside the door. "And, pardon me for asking, but what kind of problem are you facing with this...pony 'friend' of yours? Are you rivals or something?" "Oh, no, no, we're good friends. Or, at least, we were... I'm not sure what's going on, but something seems to be bothering him..." "Hmm. Well, it does sound very important. For future reference, how long will you two "Who said we're going anywhere? We're hosting our friend here at the castle, but.... things haven't been going well. Which is why we're so grateful that you're able to help take care of Flurry Heart." Cadence turned to Twilight. "If I'm honest, having you here is a bit of a relief, Twilight. I know maintaining friendships is sort of your thing, being the Princess of Friendship and all, so I was hoping...?" Twilight nodded. "Loyal, do you think you and Pinkie can handle Flurry Heart without me?" "Absolutely! I mean, really, how hard can caring for a baby Alicorn be?" Pinkie raised one hoof. "Explosive sneezes?" Cadence chuckled. "Haven't seen one of those since the Crystalling. Sunburst is really good at remembering when to apply that spell of his." "Apply? What, does it actually wear off over time?" Cadence nodded. "Most spells don't last forever. There are some, like conjuration spells, but even some of those aren't permanent. If Sunburst forgets to apply the spell on schedule, bad things could happen. Which reminds me, if Flurry Heart seems to be at all magically unstable..." She took a piece of paper from a drawer in the desk nearby and scribbled something down on it. "...Here's where you can find Sunburst. He's usually very busy, being the Crystaller and all, but he does need to take a break every now and then." "That'll come in handy, thank you. And, is there a simple series of how to care for Flurry, or does it involve one of those mile-long lists?" "Mile long lists," Cadence said, pulling said list from the same drawer. "...I may have been influenced by a certain filly." "Brilliant." I commented. "Let me guess -- Twilight." "Yes, we've all joked about Twilight's mile long lists. They're hilarious, really," Twilight said. The good-natured sarcasm has hard not to notice. "Well, I knew she was inspirational and influential, but I didn't think she was influential in THAT way. It's kind of....scary." "Twilight can be influential in all kinds of ways," Pinkie said, cheerfully. "True. She knows what to do in a tough situation, and she can even inspire others to do the right thing." "Well...if that's all we need to know about Flurry, leave it up to us. The party pony and courageous hero are up to the job! You won't need to worry about a thing!" I said, with an encouraging wink. Just so you all know, I wasn't faking this enthusiasm. This was my first friendship problem, and I was happy to resolve it. "Thank you. I trust she's in good hooves. And hands. Now, then, come along, Twilight." Cadence, Shining Armor, and Twilight turned to leave the room. "Good luck you two. If you need anything, just come find us, and I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out," Twilight said, with a reassuring smile. "No worries!" I replied, and smiled back. Once the three ponies were gone, I turned to Pinkie. "So, what should we do first?" "I'm guessing make sure she doesn't need anything to eat! Babies get cranky when they need a yummy-nummy snacky-wacky!" Ay, here's a fun story: In the single player Don't Starve, every character has something they say when they examine their own skeleton, assuming they were able to be revived somehow. Most of them are uncomfortable looking at it. Except for Webber and Wendy. Webber's more concerned that the spider parts of the skeleton seem to have disappeared. Meanwhile Wendy looks at it and says "I was so, so close." ...kind of creepy. "There's two ways to tell if she's gonna be hungry. Hearing her stomach growl....and you, apparently. I'm guessing you have good experience with babysitting?" "You could say that," Pinkie said, happily. "Heya, Flurry Heart! You hungry? Bored? Need anything?" I peeked into the room, only to see Flurry sleepily staring back at me. "I think she just woke up. This'll be fun.." I said, as I gently entered the room, and approached the crib. Flurry looked up at me, and smiled a bit. She was kind of cute when she was pretty calm. The moment was kind of ruined when her stomach let out a growl. "Someone needs a snacky-wacky! Whatcha want, huh? Err, did Cadence.... mention where she keeps the bottle? Or... if she even still uses it...?" "I don't think so. See if anything about eating is on the list. Hopefully, it's somewhere on it. Otherwise, that's our first..issue." I said, walking back into the hall. I'm proably gonna head to bed soon. Do you think we can continue this tomorrow morning? "Right!" Pinkie said, unrolling the list. "Let's seeeee....." I waited a few moments, watching Pinkie roll down the paper. "See anything about eating on the list?" "Uhhhhh.... hang on, it's gotta be here somewhere...." Flurry's stomach growled again. I walked back into her room, picked her up, and cradled her. "Don't worry, Flurry...we'll get you some food." I took her back out into the hall, and tried to look for the bit about eating. I saw what looked like the word 'kitchen', halfway down the list. Thankfully, it was big enough for me to see. "Pinkie, over here!" I called out. "Hmm? What's up?" Pinkie asked, from behind Loyal. "Gah!" I sometimes kind of hated it when she did that. Her fourth wall-breaking powers were beyond comprehension. "I think I found it, right here." I said, pointing to a section on the list, making sure not to drop Flurry. "Okie dokie!" Pinkie gave a smile and hopped down the hall and into the kitchen, which was on the first floor. "Second shelf in the pantry in the back!" I called after her. "I got it!" Pinkie said, bouncing out of the kitchen. "Heeeey, Flurry Heart! Look what Pinkie's got!" Flurry giggled in delight at the small jar of baby food. "We should probably take her to the kitchen for this." I said, walking towards the kitchen. "We wouldn't want her to make a mess in the hallway." I caught a glimpse of part of the list saying to 'take cover when feeding'. I wasn't sure what that meant, but hopefully it was nothing bad. I took Flurry into the kitchen and sat her on the already placed booster seat. I strapped her into the seat, and got a small bib from the counter. "Hey, Pinkie, the list said something about 'taking cover' when feeding Flurry? Any idea what that means?" I asked, as I tied the bib around her neck. "Absolutely none~!" Pinkie said. "Oh, boy. Well, it can't be that bad." I got a spoon from the drawer that was conveniently labelled 'silverware'. I took the jar from Pinkie, opened it up, and got a fair portion of it out of the jar, holding it up in front of Flurry. 'I can't believe I'm about to do this..' I thought. I wasn't a cheeky, happy babysitter like Pinkie, so stuff like this felt sickening to do. "Here comes the train! Choo ch--" *SPLAT* "...ew." Flurry had apparently figured out how to do that thing where boys could fling food with a spoon at people. And she just did it to me. "Pinkie, you try to feed her while I find a towel, alright?" I said, looking around. I was beginning to understand what it meant by 'take cover', that list. "Alrighty! Flurry Heart, are you hungryyyy?" Flurry let out a coo/giggle kind of sound, possibly waiting for another chance to fire food at someone, before turning her attention to Pinkie. She moved the spoon towards her, implying that she wanted to be fed this time...hopefully. "Heeeere comes the airship!" Pinkie held the spoon carefully, moving it towards Flurry. Just as Pinkie was about to place the spoon in her mouth, Flurry used her magic to turn the spoon towards Pinkie, and flung it at her. *SPLAT* "I.... think she might want her mommy." "Would this really qualify as going to Cadence for an emergency?" "Not an emergency. But it could BECOME one if she doesn't eat, and honestly I don't know how Cadence does this." "Should we go to her, then?" "Ah... maybe go tell her we're having trouble, and I'll keep trying in the meantime?" "Will do." I said, with a small salute, and headed out of the kitchen. There were a lot of rooms and halls to look through, but I had an idea. I could just listen for voices coming from one direction. So, I silently walked down one hallway, pressing my ear up against the doors. First thirteen doors, no luck. Finally, on the fourteenth door, I heard familiar voices. I crackled my knuckled and knocked on it, rather loudly. "Err, yes? Come in, but, umm, do note that we're a little busy in here at the moment..." I sighed, and walked into the room. "Heh...Hey, Cadence. Sorry to be a bother this early, but....Flurry's trying to create a war with the food, and we already tried using the train and the airship to make her eat it...we kind of need your help to get her to actually eat it." "Oh, yes, of course. One moment, please." "Alright. Sorry about this, everypony. Responsibilities and all." I said, rubbing the back of my head. "Oh, it's no trouble. Flurry Heart has been getting... playful... when we feed her lately. I'm sure you've noticed." "Yeah, she has. Does it become a problem sometimes?" I asked, wondering what other problems Flurry had caused in the past for her parents. "Not so much for us. Moreso for the others who insist on cleaning up after her." "Like Pinkie and I." I said, as we headed back down the hall (which the list was *still* in.) "I'm sure one day we'll look back on this and--" I looked into the room, and in the time I was gone, Flurry had turned the room into a war zone. The table was flipped, carrot mush was flying everywhere, and Flurry was basically...having her own fun. "--laugh." I finished. "Has this happened before?" "Alarmingly, yes," Cadence added, as she ducked under a ball of carrots. "No, Commander Flurry, it's YOU who will be having a munchy lunchy!" "Pinkie, I was only gone for about 10 minutes! What HAPPENED in here?!" I said, ducking under a glob of carrot mush. "There you are, private! Ah, and General Cadence! It is great to see you both here! We've got a mutiny on our hooves. Commander Flurry refuses to follow the General's order of a munchy lunchy of carrots!" "Well, what have you tried to get her to eat?" I asked, ducking behind the table to avoid getting hit. "Let me guess, you tried singing first?" "Of course I tried singing first, it's my number one tactical strategy." Pinkie closed her eyes, clenching one hoof up before her face. "It's never failed before today." "Well, what did you try afterwards?" "Did you try reasoning with her or anything?" "Well yes of course I tried that but-" A ball of orange mush hit her in the face. "Any time I tried, she would hurl carrots at me when I least expected it. Pinkie proceeded to clean her face off. "And along the way we kind of went into full-on 'tactical lunch assault game' mode." I sighed, and just shook my head. This baby was being difficult, sure, but I didn't think she was capable of doing...THIS. "Cadence, what do we do?" I said, narrowly avoiding a glob of carrot. "She's your baby, don't you have some special way to get her to listen?" Cadence gave a light giggle. "This is actually a typical Wednesday afternoon. And by typical I mean 'every other week.'" She proceeded to calmly approach Flurry Heart. "Flurry Heart, if you're a good girl and eat your carrots for Pinkie, then I'm sure she would love to keep playing with you afterwards. Maybe she'll even bring you something special next time she comes to visit." Flurry Heart stopped throwing carrot food, and set down the spoons and carrot mush cans she had in her possession. The mess she made poofed away, and she gave a sweet, but possibly devilish giggle. I was speechless. "Wh---but---she---we--- HOW?!" "Flurry Heart and I tend to understand one another pretty well. I have a pretty decent idea of what she might be wanting. She should listen to you two now." "Well, that's a relief. The last thing we need is more trouble. Thank you for your services, Cadence. You can head back to your meeting. Hopefully, she won't give us anymore trouble. And hopefully you meeting can go without frther interruptions." I said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Still, sorry we had to drag ya away from it." I added, rubbing the back of my head. "It's no trouble. I'm sure Shining Armor and Twilight can handle things okay without me for a moment." Afterwards, Cadence left to go back to the meeting, possibly to ensure she didn't miss much. I looked over at Flurry, who was now sucking on her hoof. She was so adorable, yet, oh, SO vicious at times. "This anything like you've ever seen before in babies, Pinkie? I mean, I know you've dealt with babies before, but has this come anywhere near how wild your previous babysitting job was?" "Depends on what you mean." "Have your babysitting tasks ever gone to baby food fight levels of wild is what I mean." "Oh! Nope! But I did wind up covered in flour once!" "...How'd that happen?" "Well, I was trying to sing a song about little piggies to Pound and Pumpkin Cake to get them to calm down, and I wound up bouncing into a shelf where we were storing flour! It landed on my head and kinda became a running gag that day." "And I'm guessing the song somehow made things worse, surprisingly. Right?" "Pretty much, yeah." "Now, about lunch..." Finally, once Flurry completely calmed down, we were able to get her to actually eat the food instead of chucking it. "That was....wild." I said. "And let's pray to Celestia we won't have to go to Cadence a second time. I don't wanna ruin their meeting." Eventually, lunch time ended, and up next on the list was...playtime. Personally, I didn't count the lunchtime war, because Flurry did that, not us. "Hmm...what game should we play with Flurry? I would suggest hide and seek, but considering the kitchen incident, that'd be a bad idea. Pinkie, what're your ideas?" Pinkie didn't seem to be anywhere. "Flurry, where'd Pinkie go?" came a voice. Flurry looked around, confused. I looked around, too. How in the living hell does she do that?! "Pinkie, where *did* you go? You just straight up vanished." "Here she is!" she said, popping out from behind one of the decorations in the hallway. Flurry saw Pinkie pop out, she giggled and laughed, clapping her hooves. "She likes that, Pinkie! Keep doing it!" Pinkie smiled and pulled herself back behind the object. "Where'd Pinkie go now, Flurry Heart?" Flurry looked around in confusion again. "Oh, my, she's gone!" I said, playing along. "HERE I AM!" Pinkie popped out from behind another decoration, this time across the room. Flurry laughed again, seeming to enjoy this. Pinkie leapt back behind the decoration again. "Wheeeeere's Pinkie Pie?" Just when things seemed to be going well, with Flurry enjoying Pinkie's little game, Flurry enveloped herself in magic, and.... *POOF* ...she was gone in a flash. "...Uhh, Pinkie?" "HERE I... am...." Pinkie looked around. "Umm.... where's... Flurry...?" "Let's just say she just tried out your hiding game." "But where did she GO?" "How should I know?! She just poofed to...wherever! We gotta look for her!" I said. "I'll check the rooms in the left side of this wing, you check the right! She could be anywhere!" I said. "Err, right!" "Yeah, that's what I said!" I said, and took off towards the left room. "Let me know once you've found her, and don't let her get away!" "Got it!" I dashed towards the left wing of the floor we were on, calling Flurry's name. I didn't care if I got the attention of Cadence and the others, *their baby was gone*, and it was Pinkie's and my responsibility to find her. I ran into one room, and looked everywhere for Flurry. "Where ARE you?!" I shouted, slowly growing more and more panicky. I looked everywhere I could, each room from top to bottom, but I came up empty handed. Eventually, Pinkie and I met back in the hallway we started searching in. "Did you find her?" "No! You don't think she teleported OUTSIDE, do you?!" "Oh, I hope to Celestia she didn't. The Empire's HUGE, it'd take DAYS to find her! What are we gonna do now?!" "...Couldn't hurt to check the castle grounds... could it...?" "No, it couldn't. If we're lucky, someone will notice her and try to return her." I said. "And if Cadence asks, we're playing a little game of hide and seek. And she's winning. Okay?" "Don't you think Cadence is smart enough to know that means 'We have no idea where she is?'" "Well, it's better making it sound a lot less worse, isn't it?" I said. "To be fair, she broke the Crystal Heart before, you'd think losing her would be half as bad." "Okay truuuueee, but what if we say I helped Flurry hide, and I know EXACTLY where she is, but I can't say because then you'd know? Am I over thinking this? I over think things sometimes when I'm panicking. Not to say that I am panicking but WOW this situation could be bad! Like, really REALLY bad!" "So, you're saying lying could be good or bad in this situation?" "Who's lying about what now?" Pinkie tensed up and turned around to see Twilight stepping out of a nearby room, levitating some papers in front of her face. "Oh, Celestia, this isn't going to end well.." I muttered. "Heh, hey, Twilight. Just a bit of conversation we were picking up, is all." I wasn't technically lying, this was a conversation. But still...it wasn't a good one. "Oh, is that all? I thought you two were concocting some kind of huge lie... But what were you talking about then?" Pinkie thought quickly. "We were just, y'know, having a friendly debate about when lies might be dubious but ultimately for the best, and when they'd be abominations that should never escape somepony's mouth." "Yeah, you never know when you'd need to say just the right words!" I said, pretending to agree. "That's why lies could be used at the right time, or you could say the wrong words at the wrong moment!" "Wow, that's... interesting. Not the kinda thing I'd expect from you two." "Hey, we have our moments from time to time. Besides, it's not strange, especially if it can come from the pony who literally sneezes confetti, right?" "Fair point... hey, uh, where's...?" "Flurry? Oh, she's around. We're just playing a little game of hide and go seek. ...She's winning by a landslide." "Is that supposed to mean that-?" Pinkie cut Twilight off. "No, no, of course not! All we mean is we're pretty sure she's CHEATING and teleporting around." "Yeah, and that's why she's so difficult to find! It's not that surprising, she's a baby Alicorn with magical powers that she can use to her advantages!" "While we'd love to stick around, we have to find Flurry Heart before she ends up someplace else where we wouldn't find her!" I said. "Let's go, Pinkie. We've got a lot of searching ahead of us!" I said, hoping to make like a banana and split before Twilight questioned us more. I hoped she wouldn't. "Oh, right. Hide and seek with teleporters can be annoying. Well, I've a meeting to get back to." "Right, you have 'fun' with that!" I said, before turning around and lowering my voice. "She bought all that! Let's scram while we can, Pinkie!" Pinkie nodded. "We'd better find her before she gets worried we gave up looking! Wouldn't want that, huh?" "Considering how long it might take us, I'm sure it'll take a while for her to gt worried." So, with that, Pinkie and I headed outside, and split ways to look for Flurry. Believe it or not, this had become the biggest game of hide and seek ever. We searched everywhere outside, through almost every alley, street, and block, but still no sign of Flurry. According to the clock, it took three hours and three quarters of an hour to look everywhere. Well, not everywhere. In fact, we had one quarter of the Empire left to search. We met back at the Crystal Castle's main foyer. "We've looked almost everywhere, and still no sign of her! You don't think she went someplace dangerous, do you?" "Oh, I hope not! Something bad could happen to her, and then do you know what'd happen? It'd be our fault because she disappeared on OUR watch!" "To be fair, Pinkie, you're just as random as she is. Neither of us would have expected it, right?" "But we were supposed to be taking care of her! And we let her get away from us! Do you know what Cadence is going to do if she finds out we lost her baby?" "No. I'm guessing you do, though?" "Well.... no, I don't... But I betcha it wouldn't be good!" "Well, we have to find her SOMEHOW! Otherwise, we'll be--" I was interrupted when I heard a knock at the front door. "Uhh...I'll get it." I said, uneasily making my way to the front door. "Hello, how may I help--" I stopped myself, surprised to see Frisk at the door. When in Tartarus' name did SHE get here..? "...Frisk?" "Oh, hello there! Fancy meeting you here!" They gave a smile to Loyal. "How in God's name did you know we were here?" "....Are you Psy-Frisk? It's like Psychic, but different when you do it." Frisk giggled lightly. "I actually had no idea you were here. I'm just here to return something. Or... someONE, rather...." "Don't tell me. Let me guess--" "It's Flurry Heart, isn't it?" "Oh, is that her name? I was just told it was the royal baby. What was she doing outside, anyway?" "Let's say a little game of hide and seek went so horribly awry." Flurry let out a little coo, indicating that she was, in fact, in Frisk's possession. "Where did you find her?! We'd been looking all OVER for her!" "She was down by the cafe. I've been wandering around looking for anyone who might know where I should bring her, and I only just got word that she belongs here at the castle." They looked to Flurry Heart. "Leaving the castle without your mommy and daddy isn't very safe, Flurry Heart." "Uh, do come right in, then!" I said, opening the door more for her. "Pinkie will be relieved to hear she's okay." Frisk smiled and stepped into the castle. "Hello again, Pinkie Pie. It's very nice to see you." "Heeeeey, I know you! You're that kid who came in yesterday asking about a little flower! Then you bought a slice of pie!" She gasped. "And I still haven't finished planning your welcome party!" "I told you she'd throw a party if you were new." I said, laughing a bit. "Hey, Pinks, get this: We couldn't find Flurry because she was down by the cafe. The Crystal Empire's cafe, or Sugarcube Corner, I don't know. I'm guessing it's the latter." "Oh, actually I was in the Crystal Empire! I'm still looking for my brother... I haven't seen or heard him anywhere..." "Why would he be in this place, in the cold?" "Well, he's born of this special type of flower... I don't know what it's called - my friends and I always just call them Golden Flowers. They're Chara's favorite kind, and they're ridiculously hardy." "Can you imagine if he was like a god flower? That'd be incredible." "Still, how long ago did you find Flurry?" "..." Frisk was silent. They seemed distracted by something. "Huh? Wha?" They looked around. "Umm... Nothing. Nothing's wrong. I was just... thinking about something..." "Are you sure you're okay? Chara didn't badmouth me again, did she?" "No, no they didn't... I'm fine, I was just thinking about Flowey is all." "Flowey's a bit of a threat to you, isn't he..?" "Not really, no. He holds no power over me." "No, Chara, you said you didn't want me to tell him yesterday. ...Yes, I know it'll freak him out, that's why I'm not going to tell him." "Chara, it was horrifying. I haven't even told MOM about that. You're the only one who knows, and that's because you were there." "No. I know you'll just tell him." "Okay, what's this about not telling me something you think would freak me out?" "Chara wants me to tell you my history with Flowey, but it's... it's not pretty. We weren't always siblings, we can leave it at that." "I'd dealt with 7 demons, one giant and destructive, wanting to kill me, and an evil insect queen bent on destroying an alternate universe. I think I can handle the truth about a little plant." "I don't know. You'd be surprised how far a little flower's ambitions could go." "You'd be surprised how stubborn I can get when it comes to stuff like this." "You'd be surprised how stubborn I can be in general." "Call it what you will. Stubborn, Determined, whatever. Point is, I'm... I'm it." "Come on, Frisk, if you really think the truth can freak me out, then you might as well try to prove it. You don't know if I will or will not take it lightly, or if I'll accept it or not accept it unless you tell me." "But why do you want to know so badly? What effect could my past with Flowey possibly have on you?" "If I end up doing something to him at any point in time and I don't realize how important his past could have been, I could have easily hurt someone that I needed to know how not to hurt." Frisk gave a sigh. "You're not going to stop asking me until I tell you, are you." "I told you, I'm stubborn. So no." Another sigh. "Well...." "...No, he doesn't need to know the WHOLE story. Just Flowey's." Frisk cleared their throat. "It all started one afternoon, after I climbed the forbidden Mt. Ebott..." "I'd stumbled my way into a hole up on the mountain. A deep hole, one I couldn't hope to climb my way back out of. With no other option, I had to move forward. Flowey was the first person I met down there. He seemed nice enough at first. But it was a charade, meant to lure me into a false sense of security so he could kill me, and take my SOUL. 'In this world, it's kill or BE killed,' he told me. And... And I lived. Because my mom saved me. I didn't see Flowey again for a while after that. But, y'know, we probably should've made sure he wasn't going to be a threat to me again..." "A plant almost killed you...?" "Oh that's not even the beginning of where things got bad with me and Flowey... See, I was on a journey through this cavern. It was long, dark, and treacherous, and yet somehow, I made it to the other end. All the way to the capital of the Kingdom of Monsters, New Home. And that's where I finally saw him again." "Was this one of those scenarios where he either got stronger or wanted revenge?" "Sort of... See, once I reached the capital, I was told I had a choice to make. A big choice. One that would alter the fate of the world." "What was that choice?" "...Monsters were locked beneath Mt. Ebott by a magical barrier. Only one thing can break the barrier - the might of the power of 7 Human SOULs. ...The Monsters already had 6. ...But... There's a way to cross the barrier. If someone has a Human SOUL and a Monster SOUL, then they can cross. So I had to make a tough decision...." "Do I fight and kill the King of all Monsters, take his SOUL, and go home...? Or do I forsake my freedom so the Monsters can have what they deserve?" "Believe me when I say it wasn't an easy decision for me to make. I wanted to go home so badly. I really did. But I didn't want to hurt anyone. When I was finally given the opportunity to make up my mind.... ....I chose to stay." "I get it. If you killed the King, you would go home, but with guilt and blood on your hands. But if you stayed, you would never be able to leave, and you would either be killed, or worse, and everyone would be freed. But apparently, you had a good outcome with choice B." "Oh no. Not by a longshot." "But you're alive, aren't you?" "I'm not done with my story yet. I refused to kill the king. I couldn't do it. I couldn't turn around and take his life after I'd let all his subjects go. Yes, I'd have to do it to go home, but I'd rather hold on to my principles. And you know what? He was so moved by my dedication to do the right thing, even when it would cost me my greatest desire, he called off everything. There would be no more war. Monsters and Humans would live in peace, he and my mom would repair their relationship and raise me as their child... We would all be happy." "And then Flowey killed him." "...I beg?" "Right when things look like they're going to be okay, Flowey shows up and kills the king. And what's worse, he destroyed the king's SOUL, so I couldn't even go home. And boy, let me tell you, things only got worse from there..." "Do you know what happens when someone gains the power of six Human SOULs?" "It can't be as bad as what I can picture.." "Picture the following... First... picture a little yellow flower with a white face and a happy smile." "Awwww~!" Pinkie coo'd. "That sounds adorable!" "Okay...picturing it..." "Pinkie, you may want to take Flurry Heart somewhere else. This, umm, really isn't the kind of thing she should be hearing." "Err.... Alright...? Come on then, Flurry, let's go play!" "Don't let her play hide and seek or Peekaboo again!" I warned. "I woooon't!" Pinkie called, as she and Flurry went down the hall. "...When that little yellow flower gets six Human SOULs, he gains absolute control over the timestream. And what does he do with that power? He drags me into a world of his personal creation, where there's NOTHING, except for me and him. And then, he tells me he intends to kill me and take my SOUL, too. So we have to stand up to him, right? That's what I do. It's all I can do." "Nothing in my life could've prepared me for what he did to himself." "And now I'm in imaginary hell." I said, (sadly) picturing it. "From out of the shadows that stretch for eternity in every direction comes an abomination of nature.... Twin cactus arms, a writhing mess of vines engulfing a screen of some kind, from which there protrudes a hideously grotesque fleshy face of some kind. Metal piping loops around above, in the vague shape of flower petals. And on that screen, a face filled with psychotic rage. And he lets out the most horrifying of laughs before he begins to attack me." "Are we discussing the same flower...?" "We are. Oh yes, we are." "It... it was unlike anything I'd faced before. I could hardly find an opening to fight back, and when I did...? It hardly scratched him. It was hopeless. In hindsight... I'm not that surprised he killed me." "If he killed you, how are you alive and breathing now?" "Remember when I said he gained total control of the timestream?" "As I draw my last breath, he leaves me with one last message.... 'This is all just a bad dream.... And you're NEVER waking up!' And then he turns back time to before we started fighting." "And of course I'm confused at first! But he brought me back to life, so I have to try again!" "I die. And I die. And I die. And he keeps bringing me back." "And he admits to me that he finds some kind of sick, twisted pleasure in this, fighting me over and over, watching me struggle to secure what he believes to be a hopeless victory." "But what he doesn't seem to realize is that I'm learning from my mistakes. Each time, I make it farther and farther. And eventually, I'm able to reach out to the SOULs he'd taken and get them to weaken him from within. And finally... Finally, I'm able to defeat him." "It really wasn't a dream, then...just..wow...in retrospect to that giant demon I fought, that's intense." "Oh, but I'm not done! Then, he turned time back again." "So I know what you're thinking. It really was hopeless. Well, not entirely. The SOULs, they remembered. And as he kills me over and over, and leaves me on the edge of death just to gloat about how he's more or less become a god and I'm powerless against me... They know this isn't right. So as he sends in that last attack - and I'm sure he intends to leave me dead this time - they turn on him again and save me. Only this time, they use their powers to fix everything. Send us back to the world we came from, and take away his power to manipulate the timestream." "I'm guessing it wasn't luck, then. It was really you being determined, the SOULs, of course, and Flowey being a bit overconfident that nothing would go wrong. But things went oh, so HORRIBLY wrong for him." "And then, suddenly, I'm faced with another choice. Flowey is left before me, powerless. And I have to decide whether I let him go, or execute him for his crimes. And you know what? I let him go." "I'm not trying to berate you, but was it really worth it?" Frisk smiled. "Oh, it was. It really, really was. Because, you see, I found it hard to live with the fact that the king was dead...." "So now that everything was said and done... I went back." "Frisk, I hate to break it to you, but this place is filled to the brim with magic. Magic plants, magic books, magic forests, magic everything. You put a plant who could harness magical entities into a world with....magical entities, and we have a bit of an issue." "Let me finish." "Sorry." "I turned back time, back to before the king and I ever had a chance to fight. And on Flowey's advice, I went to talk to my friend Alphys. Things seemed to go okay from there..." "...Up until after I went to see what was so important about Alphys' lab. Then things went downhill again." "Why, what happened?" "It wasn't anything in the lab... Actually, things didn't start to go downhill until after I left. Just before I did, I got a call... A voice I'd never heard before...." "I still remember the call clearly, because it was the first time I heard anyone say Chara's name besides me.... 'Chara, are you there? It's been a long time, hasn't it? But you've done well. Thanks to you, everything has fallen into place. Chara... See you soon.'" "And then we were back in New Home, except the only way out was jammed shut with vines. I had no choice left now but to move forward and try to talk down the king again." "I never got the chance to try." "Why not? Was he not there?" "Oh no, he was. But after my little adventure in Alphys' lab... my mom showed up, and put a stop to the fight before it had a chance to begin. Then, one by one, ALL of my closest friends show up to further talk us out of fighting - not that it was really necessary at this point - and everyone gets a chance to meet one another. Finally. Everything seems perfect. I don't need to go home - I'll be perfectly happy underground. And then Flowey showed up again." "Was he not pissed you beat him this time?" "He seemed pretty happy with all my friends wrapped up in his magical vines, actually." "I can already guess he wasn't hugging them." "Definitely not. While nobody was looking, he stole the Human SOULs again, and he had a pretty sinister plan in mind.... He didn't need my SOUL anymore." "He'd been manipulating me all along, preying on my desire to help everyone. He told me I could get a better ending if I made sure Alphys was my friend, all because he wanted to be sure she'd be willing to come to my defense. He knew that with how kind I'd been to everyone underground, they'd all be willing to support me and try to stop the fight with Asgore so neither of us would get hurt." "That's....that's so *evil*." "And you know what he did next?" "He...tried to kill them?" "Not exactly.... With the power of the six Human SOULs.... He had the strength necessary to extract the SOUL of a living Monster and make it part of his own. And that's exactly what he did. To every single one of them." "Monster SOULs aren't as strong as a Human's SOUL, but, combined they do have some strength... conveniently, just about enough to fill the power void he was missing without a seventh Human SOUL. With six Human SOULs and countless Monster SOULs, Flowey basically had the strength of 7 Human SOULs." "Care to imagine what he looked like with THAT kind of power?" "Something even scarier than the other form?" Frisk gave a giggle. "Oh heck no. Not even close. With the power of 7 SOULS, Flowey was able to achieve his TRUE form... ...A little boy." "My mom's long-lost son." "Long...lost son?" "...Maybe... Maybe someone else should explain this..." They turned their head to the side. "Care to tell him what happened?" There was silence for a moment. "Frisk...you are the only one who sees and hears Chara." Frisk's eyes closed briefly... and when they re-opened, a red gaze was cast in Loyal's direction. "You wanna bet on that, pal?" "Wh--what--what just...how... *Oh, my dear God.*" "Heheh, nice to meet you too." "So, you're the one Frisk is talking to." "That's right. Name's Chara." "AKA the one who seemingly didn't and probably doesn't like me all too much. I could tell from how Frisk reacted when we first met." "Yeeeeaaah, humans aren't exactly high up on my favorites list. Unless their names start with F and end with K and have an R, I, and S in the middle." "So, tell me, Chara, what's this explanation you seem right for that you two had in store?" "Hmm, right. Flowey's true form. My brother. Mom's son." "See, it's like this." "A long, long time before Frisk climbed Mt. Ebott, I climbed Mt. Ebott." "Back when things were happy. The monsters were sealed underground, sure, but there was still hope in their kingdom. The day I fell down and met the family I'd always longed for. The day I met... The day I met Asriel Dreemurr." "When I fell down, I hurt myself pretty badly. Asriel found me and brought me back to his family, and... and they took me in. His mom, Toriel, and his dad, Asgore, king of the monsters. They were so kind to me, even though we barely knew each other. It wasn't long before they decided to raise me as their own child. Like Asriel and I were siblings. And really, that's what we'd become, because Toriel and Asgore had adopted me, since there was no way I could go home anyway." "Sounds like a happy life." "It was. It really was. I became such a shining beacon of hope for Monsterkind that they decided to move their kingdom back towards the mouth of the cavern they'd been sealed in. They called me 'The Future of Humans and Monsters.' It felt... good... being something bigger than myself. Something that made people happy. But the truth of it was, I couldn't be that future for them." "I was content to just live underground with them. They had never done anything to wrong me. Not like humanity had..." "Would the fact I'm a caring, tough, defensive, generous and kind of famous hero change one percent of your dislikability against humanity?" There was a chuckle. "Look, the truth of it is, I'm starting to get over it. But it's tough to just let go of things. At any moment, a human could do the same things they did to me. It's hard to trust people. Frisk is the only one I trust." "But that's besides the point." "What *did* humanity do to you?" "I'm not comfortable discussing it." "It's got a lot to do with me as a person and my parents. Long gone though they are, some scars don't heal so easily..." "Ahh. I understand. I also know how losing folks feels. That feeling stuck with me for three entire years." "....No, no. I don't have those scars because they're gone." "Again though, beside the point." "They loved to tell me about how much hope I brought them, hope that Monsters and Humans could live in harmony. And I understand. I was living with them peacefully. But I wasn't be the hope that they would actually get the CHANCE to live with them. I could never be that hope. Not while I was alive." "Being hope would mean being like someone to look up to when things got bad, wouldn't it?" "No. You don't understand. I was the first." "There were eight humans who fell down the hole on Mt. Ebott.... and I was the first. Back then, there were no other SOULs. There was no way anyone could get out of the cavern. Not until I showed up." "I held a SOUL that could give any Monster the strength to cross the Barrier. And Toriel, Asgore, and Asriel? They held SOULs that I could take." "But I wouldn't. I couldn't. They had shown me so much love and kindness. I couldn't hurt them." "I could become the hope Monsters needed to return to the surface." "They just needed my SOUL." "...So I decided to let them have it." "I talked to my brother.... and together, we decided... I would fake a fatal illness. And when I died.... He'd take my SOUL, cross the Barrier, gather 6 more, then come back and free everyone." "Things started exactly the way we planned it. But once we got back to the village I used to call home, things... went wrong." "He couldn't muster up the courage to actually take any SOULs from the humans, and.... ...Well. He decided we'd go home empty handed. And as soon as we returned, he collapsed and turned to dust." "That's terrible.." "Sounds like it should've been the end of it. Both of us dead and gone, both of the royal children dead in one night, hope of ever returning to the surface totally crushed. Sounds like a pretty depressing ending, huh?" "Well, luckily, that's not actually where it ended." "Flash forward a few decades or so, and Dr. Alphys becomes the royal scientist for King Asgore. She's performing experiments in an effort to find some way to break the Barrier without having to wait for seventh SOUL. With the six they have, she manages to extract a mysterious, powerful force from them... The will to keep living. The resolve to change fate. Determination." "She injects this force into Monsters in an effort to get their SOULs to last after they die. But Monsters can't absorb Monster SOULs, so they need something to use them when they finally have enough. But a Human can't absorb a Human SOUL either. So, she decides... what about something that isn't a Human OR a Monster? She decides that the vessel she's going to use is going to come from Asgore's garden... Something that sprouted just before his wife left him... A little... golden.... flower." "...Flowey." I said. "Right. And, deep inside Flowey are the memories of a scared little boy who I hurt in ways I didn't realize until it was too late." "Buried deep inside Flowey is Asriel's conscience. Except he has no SOUL. He's incapable of feeling any form of love or compassion for anyone." "Flash forward a few more years, and Frisk shows up. They go on their quest and deal with Flowey and the others, and ultimately manage to get to a point where Flowey gets what he wants - the power of 7 Human SOULs, and a plaything he can never lose." "And suddenly, Asriel is back in the world once again." "Hmm. It's hard to believe he--Flowey--couldn't feel love. That must have been a sad part of his life..." "Oh it gets worse for him, believe it or not. Frisk stood up to Asriel. They stood up to him and all his god-like, time-destroying powers, armed with nothing but their Determination. They wouldn't have been able to hurt Asriel if they tried. But they stood firm, and held on to the hope that things would be okay. With his power, Asriel could wipe out the timeline whenever he wanted. So why didn't he? It's because Frisk was there, Determined to not let that happen." "I want to make this perfectly clear to you. Frisk stopped the timeline's complete and total annihilation just by staying Determined to save everyone." "Determination can do all that? It must be insanely powerful..." "You have NO idea. Frisk didn't even die once fighting Asriel. And it's not because he wasn't trying to kill them! It's because Frisk flat-out refused to die. Any time Asriel struck what should've been a fatal blow, they just stood right back up and kept fighting." "So realizing they're in a stalemate the way things are, Asriel unleashes his full power as the God of Hyperdeath - his words, not mine." "And even that doesn't work." "Even though Frisk is powerless against Asriel, they still won't die. They still refuse to let things end the way they're going. And even though they can't control the timestream anymore, they realize there's something else they can do... and re-purpose their Determination to reach out to Asriel's SOUL, remind their friends of who they truly are, and weaken Asriel enough to get him to admit to Frisk and himself that... all he really wanted.... ...Was to see me again. He just wanted to be able to play with me like old times. But I'm dead... and he's not. That's how life works sometimes... Heh..." "You're DEAD?!" "What did you think happened to my SOUL when Asriel died?" "I don't have a SOUL of my own. The only way I'm able to hang on to my humanity is because I'm drawing compassion from Frisk's SOUL. If anything were to ever happen to them.... ...Well, it wouldn't be pretty." "Is that why only Frisk can see you?" "That might be why, or it might not. Honestly, I don't really know." "Anyway, Frisk is able to soothe Asriel and get him to stand down. He realizes that I'm still gone, and... and he's not. But more importantly, he knows he still has the power we had planned to get so long ago... And he finally fulfils the promise he made to me. He uses the SOULs he had to break the barrier, and set everyone free." "Left with no SOUL of his own, Asriel... was ultimately resigned to his fate, doomed to return to being Flowey, and unable to love or care for anyone." "That must've been terrible." "But Frisk didn't want him to be alone. So they came back for him. He stayed with us for a while..." "But... there was nothing we could do about the burning emptiness he had. He tried his best. He really did. But in the end, he ran away." "Now we don't know where he is. If his SOULlessness is driving him bonkers again, there's no telling what he could do." "Well, we're all still doomed even if he has nothing of his own. This world has truckloads of magic. And I don't wanna imagine what he'd use it for.' "Flowey already HAS magic. Born from the memories, dust, and essence of a dead Monster, pumped full of Determination, he's everything a Human or a Monster could be, but without a SOUL, it's focused into something dangerous." "I'm sure Monster magic is somehow different from the magic here, but I don't think Flowey could hope to steal that magic." "I guess you're right....but still, that story....Just...Wow....that's....this...this is a lot to process and take in...I had no idea you'd gone through so much." "Well, everyone has a story..." Their eyes closed once again, and when they opened, they were a dark color - hard to tell if it was navy or black. "...And that's ours." "So, now you know the truth about Flowey. He's my brother on a technicality - he's what's left of Asriel, and Asriel is Toriel's son, and she adopted me." "W-Wow....I don't even know what to say about that." "It is kinda a lot to take in." "I want to find him and bring him home. Somewhere out there, I know there's a way to save him." "Is this one of those stories I mustn't share with anypony else?" "I'd prefer if you didn't. I don't want everyone to know there's a creature out there who could potentially destroy the world on a whim, if he was able to gather enough power. Do you realize how scary that'd be? And the panic would only make whatever it is he's planning easier to pull off." "You do have a point.." "I do know my limits though.... I'm just one kid. That's why I'm not above asking for help." "If I can get him home, everything will be fine. I know it will. He doesn't want to hurt us. We fought so hard for our happy ending, and he was willing to give it to us. He doesn't want to take it away." "But what if he realizes something else and wants to take our happy endings away?" "That's why I want to take him home. So he can't hurt anyone else. I know he has a very skewed view of things... he told me what he did with his powers when HE had control of the timeline, before I came along." "He's only a little disgusted with himself. But a little is better than not being disgusted at all." "He told me he'd never do that again. And he told me why. He had never considered the ending I managed to achieve to be possible. He saw a set of actors with only so many lines of dialogues and numbers before him, and to him, it was boring. All the same. And he could undo anything he did at any time, so why NOT do all he could? But once he got bored... once he let more time flow by and let ME fall into the Underground.... things changed for him. I was able to get reactions out of people he'd never seen. I helped them. And I was able to do the one thing he couldn't." "Love?" "No, no. Free the Monsters." "In his earliest time loops, he was kind. He helped everyone. But he wasn't able to set them free, because no matter what he did or said, Asgore wouldn't let him have the Human SOULs. If Asgore had let him have them... Well, things might've been a lot different. But without me, Flowey wasn't able to set everyone free." "I can only imagine how irritating it must've been." "Still, a life like that makes me almost feel sorry for Flowey." "A life like that DOES make me feel sorry for him." "I know he's good deep down. He just can't show it because he doesn't have a SOUL. He has the capability to be good, but he doesn't see the point since he won't be able to feel good about DOING good." "The more I think about it...the more I feel like I know Flowey somehow...and not from the story. It's like there's this reminder that I know him, but I don't know what it is. I never met him, so it should be impossible I know him." "That's sorta strange..." I looked at the clock behind me, and saw that it was almost 5:00. Had time really flown by that fast? I hadn't noticed. "Well, that was a crazy, amazing, and rather menacing story. Thanks for sharing it, Frisk. Very emotional, deep, a bit dark...it's incredible, though.. Maybe sometime, I can tell you one of my stories. But for now, I have a baby Alicorn to care for." I got up, and started heading off, before stopping to say one last thing: "Oh, and Frisk? One other thing.. I know what you really are." "...Because that doesn't sound threatening at all..." "I know you're actually a human." "Oh, oh, that..." Look, I know Twilight mentioned that the topic would be hard to bring up, but that's why instead of discussing it, I flat out told Frisk I knew she was human. "My primitive mind could comprehend that if Chara knows what humans are, so would you...because you were one. That's why she trusts you. And it's not sweater season, so why else would you be wearing a sweater?" "They," Frisk said, quietly. "I wear a sweater because I'm fond of the stripes, actually!" "Ahh, so you're into fashion a bit, I presume?" "Not exactly. The stripes just looked pleasing to my eyes. And blue and magenta are two of my favorite colors!" "You know, Rarity would be pleased and possibly inspired with a design like that, I'm sure." "Pardon, who?" "Rarity. She's Ponyville's and Canterlot's fashionista. She can make a dress out of almost anything, even a fabric velvet curtain! She's just that good." "I'm sure she'd like your style, Frisk. You should try talking to her when you can. She might make a nice striped design." "I dunno, I really should keep looking for Flowey..." "Well, you should take a break every now and then! Unwind, ya know? Anyways, I've got a baby to care for! I'll see ya later, Frisk!" I said, waving farewell and heading into another room. Frisk stood quietly for a moment before turning and leaving the castle...