//------------------------------// // Arc 2, Part 2: The Crystal King // Story: Crimson Heart // by Starkeeper_Ponyfic //------------------------------// The next day, Frisk awoke to Thorax snuggled against them as a cat. They chuckled and nudged his sleeping body and he shifted back as he fell out of the bed. "Agh, sorry, Frisk, I was just lonely!" Thorax whimpered. "I'm... still not used to sleeping alone." "Hey, it's alright," Frisk promised, giggling. "I like cats!" "Heh, thanks, Frisk..." Thorax chuckled. "So, we leave for the north today, right?" "Yep," Frisk sighed. "I can't shake the feeling that we're about to stumble into something bigger than just the return of an empire..." "Hey, at l-least we'll be facing it t-together!" Thorax proclaimed. "Sure thing, buddy," Frisk declared. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna change into something warmer." "See ya at the train station," Thorax called as he slipped out. An hour later, the entire party had gathered. Frisk was dressed in a sweatshirt and cozy plush pants with a thick red winter coat, while the ponies just wore scarves and earmuffs. Celestia waved solemnly as the train pulled out while Twilight and the others pulled out of the station. ❤︎ The train ride took until noon, in which time Frisk got to know Luna and Discord as more than just "dreamwalker night princess" and "funny draconequus spirit chaos dude." Rainbow would have napped most of the way if Pinkie didn't keep interrupting her with games and entertainment. Twilight and Cadance busied themselves reading up on the material available on the Crystal Empire, including a royal family tree that was revealed contain a distant ancestor of Cadance's. "That could be useful," Luna suggested. "The Crystal Ponies may consider Cadance a legitimate heir to the throne and rally to her side, which might prove instrumental in the fight against Sombra." "Do we really have to fight Sombra?" Frisk murmured, they thought too low for anyone to hear, but Luna caught their words. "Yes, we do have to fight him, Frisk," she warned sternly. "Didst thou not hear Celestia speak of the crimes he committed?" Frisk sighed. "Yeah, I heard, but... he was being influenced, or maybe even controlled, by dark magic..." "That he looked into," Luna barked. "Sombra is irredeemable, despite what your naivete wishes to believe." "He's only irredeemable if we don't try!" Frisk spat. "Everyone deserves a second chance... to try to be a good person. A world without MERCY... isn't one I want to live in..." "He killed my sister, Frisk," Discord reasoned. "He enslaved the Crystal Ponies, used dark magic to try achieving immortality, and that's not even close to exhaustive." "Fine, I won't talk about it anymore," Frisk muttered. "Just... maybe... no, nevermind," they sighed, storming over to the most isolated part of the train and huffing as they sat down. *Frisk... are you alright? No, I'm not, Chara, Frisk shot back. And I'm not interested in your thoughts on the matter. *Heh... well... if you wanna talk, I'm here. And... for what it's worth... I need to thank you. ...For what? *For being yourself. For... for giving me hope that maybe not every human is automatically a scumbag on account of being human. ...You're welcome, Chara. Hours later, the train finally chugged into the station and gave the accompanying ponies just enough time to get off before leaving so the engines wouldn't freeze. Luna applied a warming spell to everyone who needed it, which meant all the ponies, Thorax, and Frisk, and led them into the snowstorm. After what felt like an hour of walking but was likely less than half that, the party approached the shining light of the city. Cadance gasped as they passed the crystal gates, her cutie mark shimmering ever so slightly. "This place is positively splendid!" Rarity cried, gazing around in awe. "Wow," Frisk breathed. "I... have... no words..." "You and me both," Thorax murmured. "Let's get to the castle," Luna ordered. "We need to find out where Sombra is so we can destroy him." Anger split Frisk's expression. "Or we could make sure the civilians are alright, since they've been in, like, limbo, for like a thousand years, and then we can go on your little revenge mission!" they seethed. Luna grumbled before sighing. "Very well. I suppose that would be a better course of action. Discord, Miss Rarity, Miss Fluttershy, we'll search the northern and western quarters. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Shining Armor, you four search the eastern quarter. Thorax, Twilight Sparkle, Frisk, Cadance, search the southern quarter. We can split the guards three ways." "Understood, Princess Luna," everyone sans Frisk replied. They hurried off on their separate ways, going through each alley to search for injured or cursed. Eventually Cadance's team came to a large building with a signpost depicting a book. Light shone in Twilight's eyes. "A library, or a bookstore maybe!" she squealed happily. Twilight knocked on the door and a small voice replied, "Coming!" The door opened up and a furry white biped greeted them. "Uh... howdy! I'm-" "Asriel?" Frisk interrupted in shock. "You're... you're here! You're alive! You..." *He's alive he's safe he's a goat he's not a flower he's Asriel my brother he's safe I don't understand... Frisk, with no lack of encouragement from Chara, leapt forward and embraced Asriel. "H-how?" they asked. Asriel let out multiple shaky breaths. "H-Howdy, F-Frisk... It's... nice to see you too..." Cadance cleared her throat politely. "Um... I take it you know each other?" she asked. Tears of joy trickled down Frisk's face. "Yeah... This is Asriel... Asriel, these are some of my friends from this world," they explained before introducing each pony and the changeling. "There are others, but they're in different parts of the city." "W-Well, it's really nice to meet you all. Frisk... Frisk saved me a couple months ago, so... well, they mean a lot to me," Asriel explained. "So I take it you're a monster?" Twilight asked, horn flaring as she began to take notes. "Y-Yeah? I..." Asriel trailed off when he noticed Twilight taking notes. "Uh..." "Don't mind her," Frisk laughed. "She's basically Alphys with less lizard except purple." Asriel snickered. "I see!" he exclaimed. "Well, this is the Crystal Library. There's a pony in here who's probably the librarian but... her memory isn't great and she's... a little confused." "Well, this entire city, heck, the entire empire has been... nonexistent for the last thousand years or so," Frisk explained. "So... I mean, that's not super unexpected that some or even most of the citizens would be a little dazed." "Oh, I see," Asriel nodded. "Well, she's really nice and I've been helping her memorize some of the genre locations if purple not-lizard Alphys wants to study." Twilight allowed a brief look of frustration to pass over her face before the prospect of a new library to study in won over her excitement. She darted in and began striking up a conversation with the librarian while Cadance, Frisk, and Thorax laughed. "That's the last we'll be seeing of her while we're here," Frisk mused. "Well, I guess we could replace her with you in our search party. We're looking for anyone who can tell us what happened... so far we haven't had much success." "Sure thing, Frisk," Asriel murmured. "But... I do wonder how you're here." "I'll tell you what I know while we walk," Frisk promised. *I can't believe he's here I can't believe he's here my brother's safe my brother's fine Asriel's alive he's not Flowey please tell me this isn't a dream I don't wanna wake up Frisk's story was interrupted by a spontaneous burst of laughter. "What is it, Frisk?" Asriel asked. "Um... so... you know when Chara died, their SOUL kinda shattered?" Frisk replied. Asriel nodded with a confused and upset expression. "So... what I think happened is when Mom buried their body, a piece of their SOUL persisted and stuck to the grave and then attached itself to my SOUL when I fell. In any case, they gained a measure of consciousness and they've been a second voice in my head and a narrator for my journey so far." "Huh," Asriel mumbled. "Anyway, they were just kinda... freaking out over the fact that you were still alive and my mind was so overwhelmed by the constant stream of thought that I defaulted to laughter," Frisk explained. "Also, as part of the narrator thing, I know what all your 'God of Hyperdeath' attacks were called." "Wait, hold on..." Asriel squeaked. A devilish grin spread on Frisk's face. "Yup," they cackled, "there's Star Blazing, Galacta Blazing, Chaos Buster, Chaos Blaster..." "Frisk, please stop-" Asriel pleaded. "...Shocker Breaker I and II, Chaos Saber, and of course, Hyper Goner!" Frisk finished. "Plus whatever those swooshy rainbow comet things were called." "Friiiiisk," Asriel groaned. "You're worse than Mom ever was when it comes to embarrassing me!" Cadance and Thorax giggled. Even Chara chuckled from their spot in Frisk's mind, having recovered from their freakout. "Anyway..." Frisk sighed. "I think Chara's glad you're here. Glad you're safe and alive." "I'm... I'm really glad they are too," Asriel replied. "Er... as close to 'alive' as they can be considered." *Can you... tell him I missed him? Chara asked. "They wanted me to say they missed you," Frisk echoed. "I missed you too, Chara," Asriel breathed. "Even when I was... him... I think I still missed you somewhere... deep down..." The group came to the castle at the center and met Shining Armor's group. Frisk introduced Asriel to the four and Pinkie promised to throw him a party when they got back to Ponyville. While they waited for Luna's team to arrive, Frisk decided to take a picture of Asriel to send to Toriel and Asgore. ❤︎ Toriel managed a smile as she watched her class enjoy the bright fall day during their recess. Suddenly, her cell phone buzzed and her smile grew more genuine as she noticed the sender. Despite how much she missed Frisk, the frequent pictures and messages they kept sending eased the pain. When she saw the picture they sent, though, she dropped her phone. "That's... No, it's not possible... He... He's there?" she gasped. "Asriel... is... alive?" Asgore called her as she was processing her emotions. She quickly picked her phone back up, wiped off some of the fur and dust its fall had collected, and answered the call. "Toriel, did you just get a picture of Asriel from Frisk?" he asked. "I did," she replied. "That's... that's our son... and he's alive?" "It... truly is a strange world Frisk has found themselves in," Asgore mused. "And yet... perhaps it is a good one, for if Asriel could come back to life..." "He could come home," Toriel murmured. "And... perhaps... so could Chara..." "I suppose I will see you later, Toriel... Perhaps we can have Alphys meet us in the CORE and get a proper call going instead of just intermittent texts," Asgore hoped. "Perhaps..." Toriel murmured. ❤︎ Luna trotted up with a firm, serious look on her face. "'Tis worse than I had feared," she informed them. "Sombra's spell has locked the memories of the past from many of the Crystal Ponies, and I know not the spells to heal their minds." She gazed around the collected group. "Where is Twilight Sparkle?" she asked. "She found a library," Frisk explained. "And I'd like to introduce everyone who hasn't met him to a close friend and adoptive brother of mine, Asriel Dreemurr." Asriel waved at the newcomers, who regarded him with intrigued, and in Luna's case slightly suspicious, gazes. Asriel looked like he was forcing himself not to question Discord before Luna cut in. "Well, the only place Sombra could be is in the castle, so let us go and face him," she ordered. "And at least try to show him MERCY," Frisk insisted. "We will not be having this discussion, Dreemurr!" Luna snapped. "WE ARE!" Frisk yelled back. "I'M NOT GONNA AVOID IT ANY MORE!" "Why dost thou not understand that Sombra cannot be trusted! He deserves NO MERCY!" Luna screamed, horn sparking. "OR MAYBE YOU'RE TOO SELFISH TO ADMIT HE DOES!" Frisk replied, rage building up in their eyes. Asriel reached out and clenched their hand, causing them to sigh. "...I worked so hard to prove to Asriel that the world wasn't kill or be killed... and now you're so willing to forge ahead with that mindset... I'm gonna help you find Sombra. Because he does deserve to be held accountable for what he's done. But he also deserves to be given a second chance. To be a good person, if he wants. If he rejects that chance... You know what, even if he rejects it, I'm gonna try again. It took twenty times of telling my mom I wasn't willing to fight her to get her to let me pass. I had to get Undyne to a spot where she was weakened by the environment before I could get her to stop trying to kill me. If Mom hadn't arrived when she did, I would have been forced to fight Dad. But I never let that stop me from loving them. I'll stay DETERMINED. And I won't fight Sombra. No matter what you say, or what anyone tries to make me do," they promised before storming into the castle. Asriel and Thorax shared a look before chasing after Frisk so they wouldn't face Sombra alone. When they caught up to Frisk, Asriel cried, "Frisk, wait up!" Frisk sighed. "Neither of you are going to be able to talk me out of this, you know," they warned. Thorax chuckled. "We know, Frisk. B-But... we don't want you to be alone. We'll help you spare him," he promised. "M-Maybe even redeem him." Frisk smiled. "You're really good friends," they chuckled, gripping Asriel and Thorax in a hug. Asriel laughed sadly. "I'm not really," he mumbled. "But... I failed Chara, so this is my way of making it up." "Alright," Frisk breathed with a look of fierce determination on their face. "Very simple plan. We find Sombra, we talk him down, we show him MERCY. Any questions?" Thorax raised a hoof. "Yes, Thorax?" Frisk asked. "How are we gonna find him, or at least find him before Luna?" Thorax wondered. "We start at the throne room then work our way to the top, and then to the bottom," Frisk replied. "Sounds like a plan!" Asriel said with a wide grin. "L-Let's do it," Thorax said. The trio slipped through the castle quietly, the only indication of their presences the occasional hushed whisper or footstep. When they arrived at the grandest set of doors they'd so far encountered, Asriel nudged them open to be greeted by a crystal throne, and a coal-black unicorn with a crimson horn posed atop it. His very presence seemed to drain the light from the area around him. "That... was easier than I expected..." Asriel murmured. "Didn't expect to find him so fast." "Ah... the child, the prince, and the shapeshifter," the unicorn scoffed haughtily. "You already have heard of my power, and yet you come looking for me? I admire your daring. But your silly notions of 'mercy' will not work on me." "That's what Undyne believed, but I still managed to spare her," Frisk countered. "And I know we can spare you. I believe you can be a good person, Sombra..." "Your belief is wrong!" Sombra insisted before spreading the shadow around them, slamming the door shut behind the three coming to face him. "I am the KING! And I will not show mercy!" A furious pounding along with the noise of a magic blast hit the door behind Frisk but it was no use. Frisk took a deep breath and stepped forward, holding their arms up defensively. A shining light cut through the darkness in front of them as a SAVE point materialized. They used it, filled with DETERMINATION anew, and faced the King of Shadows. Asriel and Thorax joined Frisk, refusing to let their friend stand alone. Sombra smirked and blasted dark magic at the three. Asriel and Frisk dodged while Thorax used his magic to construct a hasty shield. "Sombra, you don't have to do this," Frisk promised. "You can be a good person!" "You foolish child! Your naivete shall do nothing to aid you!" Sombra cried, slinging another bolt of magic at Frisk and their friends. This time, Asriel summoned Star Blazing to block the attack, startling himself and Frisk with the display of magic. "It's not naive if it works!" Frisk insisted. "I spared Mom, and Papyrus, and Undyne, and Mettaton, and Dad, and Asriel, and everyone else! I can spare you, too! You don't have to do this!" Frisk cried. Sombra's expression began to crack, and Frisk, encouraged, stepped forward. "I promise, Sombra. I can help you be a good person. You just have to try..." they pleaded. Sombra cast a pained look at Frisk and Asriel before a shadow covered his eyes. "The shadow will not be denied," he muttered. "The shadow masters all, is my savior. My dearest will come to me when she sees my power, my commitment..." "Your dearest..." Frisk murmured. "You mean Luna, don't you?" Sombra let out a pained gasp at her name. "She was lost to me long ago... her arrogant fool of a sister forbade our love." "She's right outside," Frisk encouraged. "You can make it up to her if you just try..." Suddenly, Discord snapped in. "YOU!" he cried at Sombra. "YOUR FILTHY MAGIC KILLED MY SISTER!" he screamed, willing attack after attack at Sombra. Sombra dodged, weaved, and shielded, but he grew weary fast. Frisk clenched their teeth, used the SAVE point one last time, and then rushed forward and threw themselves in front of Sombra. "I won't let you kill him, Discord!" they cried. "Killing him won't bring Eris back, and you know that! It'll only hurt more people!" Discord clenched his paw and claw. "Frisk, get out of the way before I make you." "You can't, Discord," Frisk promised. "I'm DETERMINED to save Sombra. Whether it's from himself, or from you." Sombra groaned. "Child, get away. I can handle myself!" he insisted. "But you can't handle Discord," Frisk reasoned. "Not alone." "Frisk..." Asriel murmured, "you might need to get out of the way... Discord's mad, and I don't know if even you can talk him down." "Asriel... I've got this," Frisk reassured before turning back to Discord. "Please... let us talk this out. Let's try pacifism... if just this once..." they pleaded. In Discord's moment of crisis, Frisk reached out and did the one thing they did best- SAVE their friend, and their pseudo-enemy. The crystalline landscape spread across the horizon. A black unicorn and a pleased draconequus gazed out from the tip of the crystal castle. "Well, ol' pal, you've done it!" the draconequus cried. "This is the most impressive display of magical prowess I've seen since your marefriend first took control of the moon!" "Ah, Discord, you flatter me, but Princess Luna is hardly my marefriend," the unicorn insisted. "She's leagues above me." "Ah, but you're a king!" Discord reminded him. "But she's functionally immortal. Even if she reciprocated my love for her... I couldn't stand to break her heart like that," the unicorn sighed. Discord grinned slyly. "Well, what if I knew of spells to fix that?" he suggested. "Immortality spells?" the unicorn gasped in awe. "No, not true immortality," Discord replied. "But longevity... that's certainly a much simpler matter. You'd merely have to give up something in exchange." The unicorn gazed out somberly. "For the chance to be with Luna... I would give up anything." -Many days later- "DISCORD!" the unicorn cried, shadows coating his body. "I... I..." Discord appeared with a mocking grin. "Oh, little Sombra, didn't you know that lengthening your lifespan is always a tradeoff?" "You!!!" Sombra cried, pained with every effort to move or speak. "You never said I'd have to give my will to do right! Luna hates me now!" "But I thought you'd give anything for the chance to be with your precious Luna," Discord mocked. "May the goddess curse you for all time," Sombra muttered. "I must... I must go, before you end up a corpse." "Good luck with that!" Discord guffawed before disappearing. Frisk gasped as the present returned to them. "F-Frisk?" Thorax piped up. "Discord... What did you do to Sombra?" Frisk asked warily. "What do you mean, Frisk?" Discord asked with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, what kinda jerkface genie moves did you do to Sombra when he was desperate to find a way to stay with Luna?" Frisk replied. Discord's face grew into a look of extreme discomfort. "Where and when did you hear that?" he deflected nervously. "Just now, when I used my SAVE ability on you and Sombra... I saw... what I'm guessing was a memory of Sombra pining for Luna and you telling him you knew a way to increase his lifespan," Frisk explained. "And then I saw Sombra being overtaken by a bunch of shadows while you mocked him." "I remember that!" Sombra cried. "He promised me a chance to be with Luna and then tricked me into exploring dark magic!" "That's what I gathered," Frisk confirmed. Discord sighed, "I was a different person then. A worse person." "I agree that you've changed, and for the better," Frisk replied, "so why won't you give Sombra the chance to do the same, or the benefit of the doubt that maybe he already has?" "I know he didn't change while the empire was lost," Discord scoffed. "He had no sense of the passing of time." "How do you know that?" Frisk pressed. Discord grumbled, "Because I taught him the spell he used to make the Empire vanish..." "So give him the chance to change now," Frisk insisted. "Or at least let me give it to him." Discord's eyes glistened with tears as his facade broke. "...No," he spat. "I need to avenge Eris' death. And... if it means killing you, then... I'm sorry, Frisk. But. If you won't get out of the way... THEN I'LL MAKE YOU!" he cried, shooting lightning from the tips of his clawed hand. Frisk screamed in terror as their SOUL flickered to life, then shattered. "FRISK!" Asriel cried, rushing to their body. "No, no, no! Frisk! Come back! ...Stay DETERMINED!" *But it refused to die. The SOUL persisted on. Frisk gasped as their SOUL reformed. They coughed furiously as they looked around. "...Howdy, Asriel..." they murmured. Discord wavered and drifted over to Frisk. "Frisk, I..." Discord whimpered. "I'm sorry... I didn't... I thought you were strong enough to take that hit. And I was wrong." "Ya think?" Asriel muttered spitefully. "Their SOUL actually shattered. If they were any less DETERMINED... I don't wanna think about it." "H-hey... it's f-fine..." Frisk panted. "I'd still have been able to... you know." "I actually don't," Discord sighed. Frisk shook their head. "N...nevermind. I... gh... man, dying... kinda hurts, huh?" they chuckled weakly before using Asriel's support to get to their feet. "So... back to saving Sombra, huh?" "...Frisk..." Asriel pleaded. "You're not in great shape... what if-" Sombra finally spoke up, his voice raspy with tears. "You... you don't need to worry about me... You took a fatal blow for me, and managed to defeat death itself. I wouldn't dare attacking anyone with that kind of power no matter my mental state. "Well, we could test that..." Discord mumbled, earning a pointed glare from Frisk and a murderous hiss from Asriel and Thorax. "Ha, I don't think so, mother-" Asriel cut off at the direction of Frisk's glare to him. "I... uh. I just... no. Don't do that, because making people go insane is bad. In case you didn't know." Discord chuckled weakly. "I was joking, of course!" Frisk coughed and gripped Asriel. "Well... Like I... Like I said. Sombra, heh..." "I know what you wish to ask," Sombra replied. "And... I want to... I want to be free of... these cursed shadows." Frisk smiled gently and gazed over at the SAVE point, clutching their locket. Leaning on Asriel, they stepped toward Sombra, who made strained noises as he tried to keep himself from attacking them. Frisk gathered their DETERMINATION, reached out, and shined their SOUL's light on Sombra's. "Don't worry, Sombra. I'm here... I promise," Frisk murmured as their DETERMINATION seared the shadows from Sombra's SOUL. "I won't give up on you!" "Frisk..." Asriel squeaked. "Are you sure about this?" "Almost as sure as I was with you," Frisk promised. "A world without second chances... it's not worth one living in." Sombra laughed softly as the shadows continued receding. "You're really something special, 'Frisk,'" he mused. "Even if... if I never return to the stallion I was, I'll at least have met you," he sighed as the light of Frisk's SOUL finally eradicated the shadows from King Sombra's own. The barricade of sealing magic fell away from the door to the throne room as Applejack threw herself against it, busting it open. She rolled out her momentum and reared up defensively. Luna walked in with a shattered expression on her face and gazed at Sombra. "Sombra, I..." she trailed off. "I never knew..." "I don't expect you to have, Princess," Sombra reassured her as he attempted to catch his balance. "I've never been good at... sharing my thoughts..." "Heh... sounds like a couple people Frisk and I know," Asriel mumbled weakly. Frisk nodded, leaning heavily on Asriel for support. "Yeah..." they murmured before collapsing from exhaustion. "Frisk!" several voices called as their conscious mind faded.