//------------------------------// // Patience and Bravery // Story: To Save a Life // by Infernity Zero //------------------------------// She could only panic for so long. Getting pulled into a sinkhole in the middle of the Everfree Forest, meeting a talking flower, and finding out she was trapped in an underground labyrinth full of deadly monsters had left Fluttershy with plenty to panic about. But after she'd screamed herself into a sore throat and cowered in the nearest corner of the ruins for thirty minutes, her paralyzing terror eventually downgraded into on-edge apprehension. This isn't happening. It can't be happening. Not really. There's not really a giant monster-infested sinkhole underneath our creepy forest. I probably just hit my head when I hit the bottom, and I'm dreaming all this. Just like that movie about the white rabbit. Or that other movie about the creepy buttons. Whenever a girl like me ends up in a strange new world, she realizes she's dreaming, gasps, and suddenly wakes up. Closing her eyes, she waited a couple of seconds, and then snapped them open. "Gasp!" A few more seconds passed. She closed her eyes again. "Gasp!" More time passed. "Gasp! Gasp! Gasp! Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!" Somewhere around gasp number 15, she realized this wasn't working and stood up with a groan. Okay, I'm not dreaming. And I don't seem to be under attack this very instant. That means I need to find a way out of here. That proved easier said than done. The monsters of the Underground were a lot different from the animals she was familiar with on the surface. One monster ran off in tears as soon as she said a single word to it. Another tried to get her to eat him, claiming he was healthy for her. A third paid her no attention at all, too focused on dancing. It was all just too much. Just stay still, Flutters. Stay perfectly still. You're not in a hurry. Keep going as slowly as possible so they don't see you. Just don't move. Putting her back to the wall, she slowly slid her back along it toward the proceeding rooms. Take a step, then stay still. If a monster came into view, she would freeze completely, not moving so much as a single muscle until it left. She noted a family of snails starting at the door she'd entered, crossing the entire length of the floor, and exiting out the other side long before she'd even made it halfway through the room. But as embarrassing as it was to be outrun by snails, it was necessary. If she angered these monsters, she just knew they'd hold her down and take turns nibbling on her innards. Then, they'd eat her brain and leave her body for the buzzards! They can't do this to me. I'm too young to be eaten. And I don't taste good. Noooo! Her already hoarse throat was the only thing keeping her screams internal instead of external. Still, she was making progress. After what felt like hours, she arrived at a clearing with another monster in it. But this one seemed to be blocking the path she needed to move through. She waited several more minutes, but he didn't budge an inch. Instead, he seemed to be saying the letter "Z" over and over again. Seeing that he wasn't moving, she approached him. "Um...excuse me." Her voice only just qualified as a whisper. "Yes?" The ghost opened one eye, his voice was only barely louder than hers. "Well...um...you see...." She hesitated. "I was just wondering if you could move ever so slightly so I could get past you...please?" The ghost opened his other eye. "Well, I would move, but I'm just too sad. Really not feeling up to it right now. Sorry." He then proceeded to cry, sending a river of tears flowing in every direction. Fluttershy looked upon the weeping ghost, and her usual timidity abandoned her. "Oh, you poor thing." She sat down next to him. "Tell me all about it." "Well, my name's Napstablook." The ghost said through his sobs. "And since I just ate lunch. I was just doing my favorite activity. Lying on the ground and feeling like trash." She grimaced. "That's your favorite activity?" "Yeah. Ever since my cousin left home to possess a training dummy. And my other cousin left home to get a cool robot body, I've been floating all over the place. All alone. With no one to talk to. And no one who wants to be my friend." His tears had nearly flooded the entire room. "And since I'm a ghost and can't die, I think I'll just stay that way. Forever." Fluttershy tried to give the ghost a hug only for her body to pass right through him. "Well, I'm not a ghost. I'm a human. And I'm not going anywhere. You can talk to me as long as you want." She scooched over closer to him and lay down next to him. "Let's feel like garbage together." Blooky looked at her and stopped crying. "Thanks. I usually come to the ruins, because there's nobody around. But today, I met somebody nice." Sighing with relief as his tears drained out of the room, Flutters just laid there next to him and let him talk. He was a lot like her, very timid and always fearing the worst, but he kept trudging on anyway. She could relate. As she stayed there on the ground, she felt the world around her blur away until she was staring into the starry void of space. She suddenly understood how the darkness of the underground connected them all. Human or Monster, they were all the same. Blooky didn't seem to be willing to move anytime soon, but it didn't matter. So, she remained on the ground next to him, ignoring the leaves piling up on the ground around her and the loud growls of her stomach. This is nice. Just stay here where it's safe, and everything will be fine. Two beady eyes looked at her from the distance before disappearing into the darkness. Everything is NOT FINE! Several blue spears whistled past Rainbow Dash's head, one of them shaving off a chunk of her hair, and embedded themselves in the wall behind her. Pulling one of them out, she used it to deflect a follow-up spear that would have nailed her brain. The spear's thrower approached her, a blade in each hand, and leered at her with a menacing grin. "Not bad, Human. Not bad at all. But you'll have to try a little harder than that if you want to defeat the Captain of the Royal Guard!" She did a dramatic pose before summoning two more spears. "Undyne the hero shall vanquish you this day, oh Human of multicolored hair!" Dashie looked down at herself. There were several cracks in her orange Heart, several rips and tears in her clothes, her back was to the wall, and her chest was on fire. This crazy fish girl had been chasing her for miles and didn't seem to be even the slightest bit tired. Still, no one on Earth would dare call Rainbow Dash a coward and live to tell about it. As Undyne moved closer, Rainbow removed another spear from the wall and pointed it at her. "We'll just see about that. I'm having fish sticks tonight." Spear raised, she attacked. Undyne rained down blows on her as she slashed madly with her stolen spears. The battle raged fiercely for what felt like hours until both were panting and covered with sweat. A glancing blow from Rainbow bounced off Undyne's armor. The hot metal hissed and steamed. Undyne grimaced and clenched her spears. "Armor...so...hot." She glared at Dash, who looked just as exhausted. "But I can't...I can't give up." She took another step towards her opponent, swayed on her feet, tried to save herself by planting her spear, and then fell to the ground unconscious. Rainbow grinned in triumph and nearly lost her balance herself. "How'd you like...that? No fish...is as awesome...as me." Her spears clattered to the ground, and her body followed right after. It struck the ground and slid a short distance before coming to rest against a pair of comfy vines.