//------------------------------//
// Fate of the Underground 
// Story: To Save a Life 
// by Infernity Zero 
//------------------------------//

Sunset recognized the emptiness around her right away. It was the same dark void she'd ended up in after her first encounter with Flowey and after accidentally killing Toriel. Had Flowey killed her again? Or had he done something with her friends' souls? Well unlike before, she wasn't intending on dying this time. So, she clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and summoned her determination.

Nothing happened.

She tried again, pulling harder this time, but the result was the same. She tried one more time, drawing upon all of the power she could muster. Still nothing. The determination was still there, but she wasn't waking up. It was almost like...

Something's...blocking me?

A loud CRACK broke her concentration. A second CRACK knocked her to her knees. And a third CRACK flung her backward as Flowey's gigantic face appeared in the sky above her.

"Howdy! It's me, Flowey. Flowey the Flower." He stuck out his tongue at her. "I owe you a huge debt. From what that pink girl told me, they wouldn't have fallen down here If it wasn't for you." His face morphed to look like Pinkie's. "But now, with YOUR help, they're DEAD! And I'VE got their SOULS!" His face warped again into a nightmarish grin.

Most people would probably be scared by an admission like that. But all Sunset felt was her nostrils flaring, her teeth grinding, and her fists shaking. Drawing her knife, she slashed it at him, but nothing happened. He was too far away.

"Boy! I've been empty for so long. It feels great to have a SOUL inside me again. I can feel them all wriggling inside me. Trapped FOREVER." His face got even bigger. "But don't worry. I won't leave you out of all the fun. After all, I only have six souls. I still need one more." His face warped once more. "Before I become GOD."

Unable to attack, she just glared at him.

"And then, with my newfound power...." He laughed. "Monsters. Humans! EVERYONE! I'll show them all the REAL meaning of this world. But before that, I still owe you some payback from our first meeting in the ruins." The nightmarish grin reappeared. "I'll use your precious determination and tear you to bloody pieces. Over and over and OVER!"

Body still shaking, she pointed her knife at his face. "Not if I have anything to say about it!"

He stuck his tongue out at her again. "What? Do you really think you can stop ME? You really are an IDIOT."

Sunset was thrust into darkness once more. As she watched, a shadowy silhouette appeared, lowering itself from the sky to her level. After a few moments, Flowey's new form became visible, and Sunset found herself face-to-face with a gigantic, disgusting ABOMINATION! Her brain lacked the means to describe what she was even looking at. It had length, width, height, and a few other things. It had mouths, tentacles, eyes, faces, and even teeth. And it laughed, with a loud unbearable noise that assaulted her ears with pain.

Before she even had time to process what had happened, Flowey attacked, sending ten vines shooting in her direction. Leaping out of the way, she tried to counterattack; but while she managed to hit him this time, he didn't react to her blow. The creature's mouth opened up, firing a blue beam that narrowly missed incinerating her on the spot. Giant versions of the bullets Flowey had used on her before now flew towards her like rounds from a machine gun. One of them struck her, flinging her down. She leaped to her feet, only to be blasted by a plume of fire. The flames swept over her, licking her clothes and scorching her skin.

"AAUGH!"

After smothering the blaze, she had to dive to the floor as giant hands shot at her from her left and right. Then, several explosions went off around her, hurling her to the ground. She'd just managed to lift her head off the ground before another vine wrapped around her right wrist.

"Hey, let go!"

Before she could cut herself free, another vine caught her left arm. Both her legs were ensnared right after, and another wrapped around her torso. And then, Flowey began to squeeze.

"OWWW!" The air rushed from her lungs as his grip tightened. Her body swelled and turned red. Her ribs strained from the pressure.

"Don't worry, kiddo. This is all just a bad dream." Flowey's nightmarish grin returned. "And you're NEVER waking up!" 

There was a final scream followed by a loud splatter. Everything went dark again.





Sunset had only barely taken her last breath before the found herself back in front of Flowey again, her entire body wracking with agonizing pain. "What...what just happened?"

His grin was still there. "Did you really think I was going to be satisfied? Killing you only ONE time? Your determination belongs to me now. Which means you don't get to die until I say so."  His face disappeared only to be replaced by a heart. "Your friends are all just DYING to see you again! Wanna see?"

WARNING!

WARNING!

WARNING!




The void had shifted around her. Flowey was gone. And in his place was...a light blue SOUL? A few pink flowers revolved around it.

"Fluttershy?" Sunset waved at her. "Is that you? Thank goodness you're--"

A pair of red leaves shot in her direction. When they struck her SOUL, she jerked back with a scream as they sliced through her skin like razors.

"Ouch!"

More leaves clustered around the light-blue SOUL. A silhouette of her body appeared behind it; and like Pinkie Pie before her, Fluttershy's body was wrapped in vines. But unlike Pinkie, she wasn't being puppeted. Her eyes were lime green, and the pupils were gone entirely. 

"Flutters, snap out of it!"

"There's no point.." She readied another attack. "This is Flowey's world now. All we can do is die in it."

Sunset cocked her head. "You're one of the kindest people I know. Doesn't Flowey killing everything BOTHER you at all?"

"Why should I care? Nothing matters anymore. Nothing but Flowey."

Without warning, Sunset was suddenly wrapped in a cocoon of flower petals that lifted her high off the ground, ready to slam her back down.

"Don't." She struggled as best she could. "Don't do it."

Fluttershy paused. Her SOUL trembled. "It's easier like this. Don't look at me like that. It's better this way. If I don't kill you, Flowey will tear you apart. This is an act of mercy."

Sunset stretched her hand toward her attacker. "Fluttershy...help."

The cocoon squeezed her even tighter as it reached its highest point. Then, it shot downward toward the ground. But an instant before she would have hit, it suddenly screeched to a halt. The leaves changed color from red to green, and she felt her wounds healing over.

"Huh?"

Fluttershy's silhouette changed back to normal as the vines vanished from her body. Her eyes changed back to their usual aqua and began leaking warm tears. "Sunset, I'm sorry. So sorry. For driving you away and for everything with Anon-a-Miss. Even when I fell down here, I worried more about myself than you. I've been a horrible person, and I don't deserve to be your friend."

Sunset started in surprise. After everything in the Underground, she'd almost forgotten about Anon-a-Miss. Sure, Fluttershy had been one of her tormenters during that time, but that hardly meant she deserved to be killed by Flowey and turned into a battery. Sunset wouldn't wish that on her worst enemy. So moving closer to Fluttershy's SOUL, she put her hand on it. "Flutters, it's okay. It's okay. You've been more than punished enough. So I...I forgive you."

The light-blue soul moved towards hers and vanished into her body, filling it with warmth and calm. "Thank you, Sunset. Thank you."




The void shifted around Sunset again. Now, she was standing in the middle of a boxing ring. The stands around her were empty, and no one else was there beside her and an orange SOUl. It glowed brightly, illuminating another silhouette that had the same vine-wrapped body and lime-green eyes that Fluttershy had had before her.

"Dashie." Sunset managed to take a stance just in time to block a right haymaker from her opponent. Dash fired a downward shot to break her guard before slamming her with a kick to her side. "Stop it!"

"I won't stop." Rainbow kicked her again. "But it wouldn't matter if I did. Whether you moved like I did or stayed still as Fluttershy did, the result was the same. We all died. Flowey had us pegged from the start." "

Sunset blocked another attack and grabbed both of the girl's arms. "I can't imagine what you went through or what you're going through now. But I'm still here. I can still beat Flowey. And I will."

"I thought the same thing." Rainbow droned. " I fought with everything I had. First against the fish and then again against Flowey. But, it didn't matter. And neither do you. So stop fighting the inevitable and just die." 

"Listen to yourself!" Sunset forced her backward. "When have you ever let someone tell you what to do? When have you ever just accepted what's in front of you? You've always been loyal to your friends since day one, so don't stop now!"

Dashie wrenched herself free from Sunset's grasp and stopped to refocus. Her eyes flickered between green and magenta. "Loyalty. Loyalty...m-m-means nothing." The flower's control reasserted itself. "Under Flowey's rule, Loyalty means nothing. No more than our lives do."

Sunset decided to put that to the test, sheathing her knife and dropping to the floor with open arms. "Then if my life really means so little, then take it right now."

Once again, Rainbow hesitated. "You...you're not going to fight back?"

"I don't need to. If I'm going to beat Flowey, then I'll need your help. Without it, I'm already dead."

Closing her eyes, Sunset felt the air in front of her shift as Dash's fist shot toward her head. An eternity ticked by in seconds, but nothing happened. Opening her eyes, she found her friend's hand inches away from her skull, and she looked up toward the other girl's face.

Rainbow Dash's eyes had changed back to magenta, her body was vine-free, and her legs were shaking as shuddering sobs wracked her person. "Sunny. Forgive me. But, it was so horrible. It hurt so much. I just...I didn't think the pain would ever end."

Her eyes widened. "Oh, Dashie. Don't worry, I'll make sure he won't hurt anyone else. And I do forgive you."

The orange soul moved towards hers and vanished into her body, filling it with warmth and calm. "Thank you, Sunset. Thank you."




Everything had changed again. Now Sunset was standing in an orchard in the middle of a farm. The hot sun bore down upon her, making her sweat and pant.

No points for guessing who this is. Where are you, Jackie?

"Up here, Shimmer." The sun morphed into a yellow SOUL. Without warning, its rays shot downward to strike the ground around her, setting everything on fire! The inferno spread to the trees around her in an instant, surrounding her with flames from all sides.

"Applejack, what are you doing?"

"What the others can't. You can't beat Flowey, Sugarcube. That's just the honest truth. No more than you can stop the sun from shining. So just accept--"

"No. I. Won't." Sunset cut her off. "Jackie, I know you're all about truth and facts. But the fact of the matter is that you don't know whether or not I'll be able to beat Flowey, because I haven't tried yet. Or rather we haven't tried yet. Don't you remember how we beat the Sirens?"

Applejack's SOUL paused, freezing the fire below in mid-burn. "Yeah. Together."

"They seemed completely unbeatable even after we all came together. But we triumphed anyway. Friendship beat the odds every time, and Flowey's no different. So instead of talking about how hopeless it is, why not help me put that truth to the test?"

The question hung in the air for a minute. Then, the fire around her vanished, replaced by a cool breeze. The yellow SOUL descended from its height, moved toward her, and vanished into her body, filling it with warmth and calm. "All right, Sunset. I'll do just that."



After the next shift, Sunset was now standing on a large stage decked in lights. A spotlight shone down in the center, illuminating a dark-blue SOUL. Rarity's silhouette stood beneath it, singing a mournful song. Just like with the dog couple she'd faced before, the noise turned into several musical notes that fired off at Sunset like bullets.

"Oh, Sunny." Tiny water droplets tricked down Rarity's SOUL. "I hoped I'd never see you again. I messed up so badly. Even down here, I spent more time basking in the spotlight than actually searching for you. I'm a despicable human being. Just like the ones on the Surface."

One of the notes struck her soul. In an instant, she dropped to her knees as painful memories flashed through her head.

Twilight stood over her after the Fall Formal as she lay broken and humiliated at the bottom of a crater.

Her and the girls trapped underneath the stage at the Battle of the Bands while everyone succumbed to the Dazzlings' spell.

And all five of her closest friends abandoning her once again thanks to Anon-a-Miss.

Her eyes leaked of their own accord as she began to sob. 

"See?" Rarity moved closer. "Is that what you want to go back to? More rejection and pain? The monsters all love you down here, so why don't you just stay here where you belong?"

It wasn't entirely unreasonable. She'd had to ask herself that same question about leaving Toriel. But her answer remained the same now as it had been then. "Because no matter how great it is, this world will never be a paradise if you and the others aren't in it, Rarity. I left the Ruins for you. I traveled across the Underground for you. I'm even fighting Flowey for you. So instead of crying, dry your eyes and help me. And let's make things better for everyone."

The stage lights above them all went out, to be replaced with sunlight from outside bathing them in warmth. Rarity moved back and stopped singing. Her SOUL stopped leaking. And it bobbed up and down. "Very well, Sunset Shimmer. I shall aid you in this fight. Feeling sorry for myself wasn't helping anyone anyway." She added herself to Sunset's collection. "Let's go do some pruning."

Sunset nodded. "Agreed."




The next place the void brought her to wasn't a place at all. There was nothing. No land, no air, no ground, no sky, no colors, she couldn't see anything at all. The only thing she could hear was the sound of someone crying.

"Hello? Who's there?"

A giant crater opened up in the ground in front of her, someone was lying down at the bottom of it. She moved closer.

"Is that...Pinkie Pie?"

Unlike the other girls, Pinkie still had her body and not just her soul. But she was in the sorriest state yet. Her hair was flat, stringy, and filthy instead of its usual frizzy bun. Her eyes were still bloodshot from Flowey's vines. Her clothes were red and soaking wet in the torso area. One arm and one leg each were broken and bent the wrong way. She didn't even look in Sunset's direction as the girl reached her. She just sat there, crying her eyes out.

"Pinkie. What happened to you?"

"He shattered my bones. He fractured my limbs. He wrung me dry. He made me his puppet." Pinkie sobbed. "Why did I have to listen to him? He said he wanted to be my friend. I just wanted to be his friend. I just wanted to be his friend!" Her face pressed into Sunset's chest as she continued to weep.

Sunset didn't say anything. No amount of words could possibly suffice. So she just wrapped her arms around the party planner and let her cry. After several minutes, Pinkie ran out of tears and simply sank to the ground. The color drained from her face, her hair turned white, and her body crumbled into dust. Only her SOUL was left, and it joined the others inside her companion without a word. Sunset simply steeled herself with a shuddering sigh and waited for the next change.

"Oh Pinkie."




Now, she was standing in the hallways of Canterlot High. But as she opened the door to the gymnasium, she found several stained-glass windows placed along the walls where the lockers were supposed to be. Each one had a picture of one of her friends in it. And the biggest one on the center wall had all of them standing together. All except one, that is.

"Sunset Shimmer," came a voice that she'd thought she'd never hear again. "You're alive and well."

Despite the danger of her circumstances, she felt a grin leap into her face as she turned around. "Princess Twilight?"

"Yes, it's me."

Twilight was indeed there. Her silhouette was untouched by Flowey's vines, and her eyes were still their usual purple. Sunset looked her in the eyes for a moment before nodding.

"You're not under Flowey's control. Why's that?"

Twilight took a moment to rub her head before responding. "It's not for a lack of trying, I'll give him that. He's been battering away at the walls of my psyche like a wrecking ball. But unlike the rest of our friends, I've studied magic since I was a filly. And while his power might be several times greater than mine, my mind is skilled and disciplined. His is raw and unfocused. That allowed me to endure his assaults just long enough for you to arrive."

Sunset wrapped her arms around her mentor's SOUL and pulled her into a warm hug. "I'm so glad to see you again." Then, she frowned. "But, I'm sorry I got you into this. I shouldn't have just left a letter behind and run off. I should have stayed and spoken to you. Can you forgive me, Twilight?"

Twilight nodded. "Were I in your situation, I probably would have done the same thing. So of course, I can forgive you."

"Thank you." Sunset held out her hand. "Are you ready? Because after this, either we're all going home, or none of us are."

Twilight's SOUL added itself to the collection. "Ready as I'll ever be, Sunset."

Sunset felt herself healing once again before clenching her fists. "Hey, Flowey! In case you haven't noticed, I'm still alive!  So why don't you stop playing with your food, and let's finish this!"

"Still so defiant. Still so brave." Flowey's voice echoed all around her. "Still so STUPID! I'M in control here. I can kill you a hundred times over, and you can't do anything about it. But if you're in such a hurry to die why not speed it up a bit?"




The void returned her to her original location; and out of the darkness, Flowey reappeared. She slashed her knife at him again; and once again, he just laughed it off. A swarm of flies emerged from his eyes and surrounded her, stripping her body down to a skeleton instantly. Another reset found one of Flowey's bombs going off right next to her, incinerating her in an instant. A giant Venus-fly-trap ate her alive at reset number three. Number four found her impaled by vines. This went on for hours on end. She lost track after the one-thousandth death. Finally, she collapsed to the floor, unable to even stand anymore as the damage piled on her all at once.

"Do you really think you can beat me? I am the GOD of this world! And you? You're hopeless. Hopeless and alone!" He laughed again. "Golly, that's right! Your WORTHLESS friends can't save you now. Call for help. I dare you. Cry out into the void. 'Mommy! Daddy! Somebody help!' See what good it does you!"

She called for help. Several seconds passed, but nobody came.

"Boy, what a shame." Flowey licked his lips in anticipation. "Nobody else is gonna get to see you DIE!"

As he opened his mouth, another blue beam fired right at her. But as she braced herself for impact, a giant shield of radiant diamonds appeared in front of her, blocking the attack and forcing the beam around her instead.

"Huh?!"

Rarity's silhouette appeared in front of Sunset projecting the shield. Once the beam had dissipated, she hurled it right at Flowey, who had to duck underneath it. More friendliness pellets rained down on Sunset only to be halted in mid-air by a telekinetic field. Twilight's silhouette appeared next to Rarity as the latter threw more gems to meet each bullet, the projectiles cancelling each other out in a spectacular explosion of fireworks.

"That STILL won't save you!"

Flowey hurled another bomb downward, three times bigger than the previous one. Now, it was Pinkie Pie's turn. She whirled on Sunset. "Quick! I need something sweet!"

Sunset gave her her extra Nice Cream from earlier. "Here!"

In Pinkie's hands, the Nice Cream became a sugary explosive that she used to counter Flowey's bomb. The abomination glared at her.

"UURGH! You're wasting your time here. I'll never let you win!"

More bullets appeared in the air next to him. But before he could actually fire them, Rainbow Dash's silhouette raced by at super speed, collecting all of the bullets into one giant sphere that Applejack's silhouette rolled back at him like a bowling ball. He blew it to pieces with another beam and ground his teeth together.

"Stop DOING that! You're supposed to obey ME! Not her!"

Fluttershy's silhouette added itself to the rest of the group. "It doesn't matter what you say. SHE's our best friend. Not you."

At that affirmation, Sunset felt their magic flow over her, healing her injuries and restoring her body. "I say we show him what real friendship is all about."

As the seven of them linked arms, a rainbow flowed between them, mixing all of their colors together into a single supercharged beam.

"Take this, Flowey! RAINBOW POWER CANNON!"

"Oh no you DON'T!" Flowey met their blast with another beam from his mouth and strengthened it with his other attacks. "I am the GOD of this WORLD! And I will not be defied by some worthless humans!"

The two beams pushed against each other, their wielders straining for an edge. But gradually, the SOULS of the Seven began to gain the upper hand, their attack forcing Flowey's back little by little. 

"NO!" Flowey poured all he had into repelling their power, but nothing seemed to be working. "You can't do this. It's not fair! I am your god! I am your ruler! I am your--"

"Just SHUT UP!" Sunset cut him off. "You're no god. You're just a whiny, little brat throwing a tantrum now that you can't hide behind your stolen power. It's time to give it back!"

With one final push, their beam overpowered Flowey's, striking him dead-on.

"AAAAAUGH!" He screamed as the rainbow engulfed him. "STOP!!! STOP IT!!!!! STOOOOPPPP!!!!!"

Before all their eyes, the abomination began to shrink. The void around them flickered and cracked. Flowey's screams echoed around them. And everything faded to white.




Sunset jerked awake as her senses returned to her. She was back in the throne room once again, the handle of the knife pressing into her hand. Asgore's dust still lay on the ground nearby. And directly in front of her was a weakened Flowey. She quickly looked around. No one else was there, not her friends, not the other monsters, not even Sans. She and Flowey were all alone.

The ghostly appearance of a child in a blue striped shirt appeared next to her. Even though she'd never seen him before, a name worked its way to her lips anyway. "Frisk."

Frisk gestured at Flowey. "He is beaten. Let your devotion to friendship and harmony temper your rage."

Her eyes widened. "I know that voice. You talked to me in the void the first time. You tried to get me to stay determined."

He nodded. "Yes. Both Chara and I ended up in that void long ago. She was there after what happened to Asriel, and I was there because of Sans. But that's not important right now. Flowey's life is in your hands."

Sunset looked at the knife, then at Flowey, who still hadn't said anything. Her fist clenched. But before she could say anything, I appeared on her left.

"Are you really going to spare someone like him? He tried to kill you from the second you met him. He killed your friends. He killed Asgore. What do you think he's going to do if you spare him? Go right back to killing again."
She turned to Flowey. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

The flower didn't even look at her. "Do you really think I've learned anything from this? No."

"See? There's your answer. Just kill him and save everyone else a lot of trouble."

Sunset swung the knife experimentally a couple of times. "She's not wrong, Flowey. I can't think of a single redeeming character trait that you have."

Frisk shook his head. "But does his behavior justify yours? Will you be the one to strike him down after everything you've been through? What will your friends think?"

Sunset hesitated. The whole reason she'd ran away in the first place was because she'd thought she'd let everyone down. After pulling herself out of the mire a second time and finally reconciling with her friends, was she really going to just throw that all away? She looked at both Frisk and Chara before turning to Flowey. "You don't deserve forgiveness after everything you did, and there's nothing you can do to make up for it. My decision is made."

She raised the knife high and plunged it down. Flowey gasped as the blade struck--

--the ground next to him, embedding itself all the way to the handle.

Frisk gasped. I put my hands to my mouth. "But why?"

Sunset shook her head. "I was forgiven when I didn't deserve it. And it would be hypocritical of me to forgive my friends and not Flowey. So keep your life, little Flower. I'll just keep stopping you no matter how many times you try to get more SOULS."

Flowey looked up at her. It was hard to tell since his eyes were so small, but she could have sworn she saw tears in them. "Why? Why are you being so nice to me? I don't understand."

"You don't need to understand. Just take it."

"I just... I just don't understand!" Flowey ran away.

Sunset watched him leave without a word before giving a huge sigh and walking through the door to the back of the throne room. Everything went white again.





EPILOGUE


With Asgore's death, Queen Toriel became the next in line to the throne. She instated a new policy that all humans that fell down into the Underground were to be treated not as enemies but as friends. Thanks to the Humane Six's time in the Underground, its citizens were surprisingly accepting of the idea. As it turned out, not all humans were as cruel and bloodthirsty as the ones that had taken the life of the Prince. The royal scientist immediately set to work creating new robot bodies for the humans that Flowey had slain, until a way to bring them back could be found. Pinkie Pie and Rarity took to theirs quite nicely, with Rarity accessorizing hers to put Mettaton to shame. In fact, the two seemed to spend more time with each other than anyone else, keeping everyone's spirits up with their dazzling performances. Pinkie Pie's exuberant energy seemed to be amplified tenfold with a body that never got tired, so she soon found herself with the status of the Undergrounds premiere party planner. Fluttershy contented herself to remain in the RUINS with Napstablook, spending most of her time with him while Applejack became the royal gardener. Rainbow Dash found herself a new friend and rival in Undyne as the newest member of the Royal Guard. With their experience in magic, Twilight and Sunset were put to work analyzing the Barrier entrapping the monsters in the Underground to follow up on the late king's last decree. While Equestrian magic and Underground magic weren't exactly the same thing, the two were confident that they could find a way through eventually. Life in the Underground was never easy for the Seven. But after all their trials and tribulations, they were together once more. And one day, they would be free again.


THE END.