Crimson Heart

by Starkeeper_Ponyfic


Arc 1, Interlude 2: Confirmation (Alternatively, "Look, I'm Okay!")

“What do you mean, gone?” Toriel cried.
“I mean they just... disappeared!” Undyne explained. “We were playing soccer together, and one second they were there and the next... they’d vanished.”
“Did... did you check with Sans? I know he’s got his teleportation shortcut things, maybe...” Asgore trailed off.
Undyne shook her head. “I was looking at Frisk when they disappeared. Unless he both lied to me and can use them in the time it takes me to blink, he wasn’t involved,” she sighed. “Damn it... I hope the kid’s okay. I tried calling them and texting them but... never got a response. Maybe Alphys’ll have some ideas... I’ll go check in with her.”
“Please... Anything you c-can do,” Toriel sobbed, clinging to a wavering Asgore.
Undyne gave one nod before racing down the street to Alphys’s house. She barely checked to make sure the door was unlocked before throwing it open. "Alph, we've got a missing human!"
"What happened?" a startled Alphys asked.
Undyne explained what she knew before asking, "So... you got any ideas on how to find Frisk?"
Alphys thought a moment before suggesting, “Maybe if we went back to the CORE, we’d get enough of a boost to contact Frisk?”
Undyne nodded. “Not a bad idea. Damn it, I just... I feel guilty. Maybe I turned away for a minute and they were taken before I could do anything, and if I’d been just a little more attentive, I coulda saved Frisk,” she sighed, leaning into Alphys. “What if it’s too late to save them? What if they weren’t even taken anywhere and they just spontaneously vaporized? What if–”
Alphys cut her off. “I’m wondering if I should be more worried about you? The Undyne I know wouldn’t be questioning herself like this. She’d be off on a heroic adventure to save one of her best friends from potential doom and terror and anime villains!” she joked.
The responding laughter wasn’t sudden. It faded from just a small smile grew into a chuckle and further until tears were streaming down Undyne’s grinning face. She eventually managed to compose herself and planted a kiss on Alphys’s forehead. “Thanks, Alph. I needed that,” she admitted before heading back to Mt. Ebott.
Alphys had dunked her face in Sans’s ketchup stash and lost the ability to form coherent thought until after Undyne was gone. Her face cleared and then morphed itself into an expression of the purest form of joy and she let out a tiny squeal before hurrying out to join Undyne. Alphys revved up her pink motorcycle and chased after Undyne. She honked her horn and rolled to a stop when she reached Undyne, who grinned and hopped behind Alphys. They drove off to Mt. Ebott and Alphys sighed wistfully when they arrived. Even Undyne was lost in nostalgia for a moment.
“Remember when Toriel and Asgore remarried here?” Alphys asked with a grin. “Sans somehow managed to get whoopie cushions in almost every seat during the toast at the reception.”
Undyne laughed. “I don’t know how he does it,” she reflected as they made the walk up the path to the entrance. “And Gerson’s speech about how he expected to be there next time they divorced and remarried was hilarious.”
The two reminisced as they walked through the former capital to the Underground’s technological heart, waving at the monsters they passed who still remained. Apparently a few humans had even moved underground, mostly scientists and historians. Alphys and Undyne finally reached the CORE and Alphys typed in the passcode for inner access. Undyne was mildly excited, since she’d never seen this part of the CORE.
“Okay, this is probably where we’re gonna get the strongest signal,” Alphys decided when they reached a tiny room furnished with only a desk, chair, and a few electrical outlets. “I think the old Royal Scientist used to work here when he needed privacy. When Asgore first put me on the job I found some old journals here indicating the rooms on this corridor were used for more unusual experiments that he wanted to keep to himself until they proved to bear more fruit. One of them was investigating the possibility of civilizations beyond this solar system. The journals didn’t divulge much, I assume because he was never able to make much headway, but one did mention finding magical energy signatures unlike anything a monster could put out reaching through the CORE. It was dated about a century ago, right before he supposedly fell inside it.”
“We’re not gonna follow his example, right?” Undyne questioned.
“Of course not, but this is the closest room to the core of, well, the CORE, and if Frisk happened to end up in the place said energy came from...” Alphys began.
“We might be able to get a message to them from here,” Undyne realized.
“Exactly,” Alphys confirmed. “It’s a long shot, but it’s our best shot. Here, plug your phone in and then try texting Frisk.”
Undyne followed the instructions and texted a simple, You okay, kid?
Omg I’m so sorry you’ve all probably been so worried I’m fine was the reply. Undyne heaved a massive sigh of relief.
Where the heck are u? You just kinda disappeared.
Ended up in some kinda land of magic ponies it’s kinda cool
Undyne tapped out a response. Excuse me I need proof now
Frisk replied with a selfie of them with eight ponies in a variety of colors. Two had horns, two had wings, two had horns and wings, and two were unadorned. One of the unadorned was bright pink and popped in from the side.
Yo what’s up with the pink one? Undyne asked.
Frisk infuriatingly dismissed it. It’s Pinkie Pie don’t question it
Undyne remembered a slightly more pressing matter. Should I tell your parents ur fine?
Frisk replied, Oh ye do that but I’ll probs be here a while bc portal magic is apparently really hard to do on purpose
Aight I’m gonna go tell Toriel and Asgore
Frisk suddenly sent a message. An urgent WAIT HOLD UP preceded a face swapped selfie with them and some weird snaky mishmash of animal parts.
what the actual
His name’s Discord and he’s cool ok bye now
Bye?
Alphys gave Undyne a hopeful look.
“The kid’s fine,” Undyne confirmed. “They’re in a land of magic ponies.” She showed Alphys the pictures. “And some kinda animal mishmash named Discord.”
Alphys snorted at Frisk’s selfie with Discord. “Well, they at least look happy. Tor-Toriel a-and Asgore will be really rel-rel-relieeee... I can’t say that with a straight face while looking at that,” she laughed. Undyne nodded and unplugged her phone.
“We should probably head back. Every second we’re gone is a chance for Toriel to enter frantic mental breakdown and Asgore to cry,” Undyne pointed out.
Very fair point,” Alphys decided.
The two returned as quickly as they could and Undyne couldn’t help feeling that Alphys was pushing the speed limit a little bit more than necessary to expedite the journey as much as possible. Toriel sobbed in relief when Undyne delivered the good news, and Asgore was quite bemused by Frisk’s selfies. After she’d calmed down, Toriel called Sans and Papyrus and explained. It took a great deal of convincing and a mini-lecture from Undyne to assure Papyrus that Frisk was okay, and Sans didn’t really have much to say aside from a halfhearted attempt at making a pun out of the situation. Undyne forwarded Sans the pictures that Frisk had sent her, which noticeably improved both his and Papyrus’s moods.
“next time ya text the kid, tell ‘em i said hey, ok?” Sans asked.
“GIVE THE HUMAN MY GREETING AS WELL, PLEASE!” Papyrus added.
Undyne gave an affirmative grunt before Toriel ended the call.
“I believe... I am going to go take a shower,” Toriel decided, drifting down to the linen closet.
Undyne and Alphys bid goodbye to Asgore before going off to spend some time together.
Watching anime, of course.