Twilight looked up from a spellbook. There was nothing stopping her from using the spell right then. She sighed.
“Okay,” the princess said, getting up, “It’s a simple spell, if you think about it. Just a teleportation spell.” She lowered her head in preparation to cast the spell. Her horn was surrounded in a pink aura, crackling and sparking like it had never used magic before. That made sense, considering the stress the spell was putting her under. She squeezed her eyes shut. Finally, in a blinding flash of light, she disappeared with a loud snap.
When Twilight opened her eyes again, she was laying on her side, grass under her and the slightest hint of sunlight above her. She looked up and saw she was in a cave. A hole was directly above her, leading into a higher part of the cave that was probably open to the outside. She then looked around at the surprisingly dark room that she was in.
It was obviously carved on the walls and floor in some manner to make it more square-shaped, but the ceiling was natural. There was a hallway several feet away that led into near pitch black shadow. Finally, Twilight decided to get up. Her head was spinning slightly, but she got up anyway and spread her wings to maintain balance. As she stood up, she looked down and realized she had been crushing a bed of beautiful yellow flowers. She sighed.
“I’m sorry, flowers,” she whispered, “I didn’t realize you were there. Then again, I kind of just woke up here. Hmm… I must have passed out while using the spell. I hope I teleported to the right place. That hallway looks like a way out of here. Well, other than the ceiling hole, but...” She fluttered her wings slightly and winced. There was an ache in them as if she had fallen on them, but she could still fly. The hole was small, however. She wouldn’t be able to fit through it with her wings extended. “I can’t teleport up there either. There’s no way for me to envision it. Horsefeathers. Okay, hallway it is.”
Twilight began walking towards the hallway, lighting up her horn with a glowing spell so she could see past the darkness.
The hallway went on for a little while before it turned left into a large stone door. The door was painted purple with a strange white symbol on it. Maybe the spell had been successful. Twilight pushed the door open with her hoof, causing a loud scraping sound to echo through the caves. She cringed at the sound of stone against stone, then walked through the doors and into a new room.
In the room, there was a single flower facing her. It smiled slightly. “Oh wow. I didn’t know people came here anymore. How did you get in here? Did you fall?”
“I… don’t know,” Twilight admitted. Now she knew the spell worked, at least partially. “Probably. My wings hurt.” She flared the aforementioned appendages, wincing as if to prove her point.
“Golly. Well, I don’t know when Frisk’s coming back with more pie,” the flower said, feigning sadness unsurprisingly well. “But until then, I’ll show you the way to Home. Oh, where are my manners? I’m Flowey. Flowey the Flower.”
“I am Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said kindly. “Princess of Friendship, Magic, and a portion of Equestria.”
Flowey raised an eyebrow at her. “What.”
“You’re probably very confused right now,” Twilight nodded. “That’s okay. I’m from a different universe- no, multiverse. You are familiar with the concept of the multiverse, right?”
“Of course I am,” Flowey sassed. “You’re from a place where everything is drastically different. Including, it seems, the dominant species.”
“Dominant is a strong word,” Twilight said with a wave of her hoof. “Ponies are more common in my world than we are in yours, is all. In fact, we may not exist in your world, and you may not exist in my world. I believe that despite the differences between us and our world, we can still be friends.” She held out her hoof. “So, friends?”
Flowey eyed the appendage skeptically. “I can’t speak for everyone here,” he sighed, “As it is, the humans and monsters are only beginning to repair relations. I’m not even a monster or really part of the politics of the nation. However… I have some connections. I can try to get you a meeting with the Ambassador.”
“I don’t mean to be disrespectful,” Twilight said slowly and decisively, “but I would prefer to talk to an adult in charge, not a 14 year old little girl. May I meet with the King instead?”
“I can’t promise you anything,” Flowey replied. “I will talk with Frisk, see what I can do to get you a meeting. In the meantime, I’m still available to bring you to Home. It would be more comfortable to wait there.”
Twilight nodded gratefully. “Thank you very much, Flowey! I do want to ask, though. Can we be friends? Just us?”
Flowey narrowed his eyes, thinking. He hummed for a little bit, probably weighing the pros and cons. Finally, he answered, “Yes.”
“Wonderful! Well then, we should get going,” Twilight cheered, already starting down the hallway. “Lead the way, my floral friend!”
It took a long walk and the explaining of many puzzles to get there, but Twilight and Flowey found themselves at the door to Home. Flowey sighed both in relief and exasperation as he popped out of the ground next to the tree. Once again, the purple princess pony wouldn’t stop gushing about the caves, the architecture, the strange creatures, the foliage that grew without the sun. He was getting a headache.
“Okay!” He yelled over Twilight’s ongoing commentary, stopping the mare in her tracks. “I get it! You like the caves, you like the plants, whatever! Just please! Stop! Talking!!”
Twilight blushed, realizing she had been rambling. “Oh, sorry,” she laughed sheepishly. “I, um, ramble sometimes. Especially about books. Oh! Speaking of books, did I tell you about the new book I started reading? It’s about a-”
“Stop!!” Flowey yelled at her. “You’re rambling again! Let me get some aspirin to overdose on before you start talking, please!”
“I see what you did there,” Twilight said, catching the dark humor. “Okay, I’ll stop talking. Is this where you live?”
Flowey nodded, opening the door with a vine. “This used to be my mom’s house, but she moved to the Surface after Frisk broke the Barrier. I stay here to take care of mom’s flowers and guide fallen people out. People like you, actually. Come inside.”
“Okay. So, why do you want to take care of the flowers?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t want to live with the others. I’m… not like them,” Flowey sighed. “If I try to live with them, I’ll just bring them down. Besides, I don’t want their pity. I don’t want their kindness, either. I just want some peace and quiet. Time to mull things over, work out my life. It was too stressful before, so I just wanted to put down roots, so to speak. I like it here; it’s quiet. But it… it gets lonely sometimes. And it’s a small world, you know? But there’s comfort in the routine. It’s clean, not hectic like it is on the Surface.”
“Yeah, I understand. But don’t you hate the feeling? Being in such a big house all by yourself must be depressing.”
“It’s lonely sometimes, but Frisk and the other humans visit me sometimes.” Flowey smiled. “I think I’m remembering how to feel. I’m putting my broken soul back together, shard by shard. There’s a sweet, warm feeling that I get whenever I see Frisk and the others. I think it’s love.”
Twilight sniffled. “That’s beautiful, Flowey.”
“Oh, no no no. None of that. Stop it,” Flowey groaned, putting a vine right over the mare’s face and looking away. “None of these waterworks. Oh god, please stop.”
“I-I’m sorry,” Twilight mumbled, tears rolling down her cheeks, “I just get worked up easily. Your story is beautiful, Flowey. I hope you can be happy here.”
“Yeah yeah, sure kid,” Flowey said. “Okay, can you please stop? Why don’t you tell me more about yourself? How about that?”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Twilight smiled.
“We’re more alike than you think, Flowey,” Twilight said, now sitting in a sofa chair by Flowey’s fireplace. The little plant had allowed her to transfer him into a flowerpot so he could more easily hear what she was saying. She had her surprisingly flexible body curled around the pot, hooves almost completing the circle. “I have a big, cold, mostly empty house and plenty of friends who love and care for me, too. And, just like you, I’m… sometimes hesitant to get close to them.”
“You’re the Princess of Friendship,” Flowey said dryly. “How in the world can you be hesitant to have friends? Doesn’t that go against your entire philosophy?”
“You see this?” Twilight asked, pointing at her horn with her hoof. “And these?” She fluttered her wings. “I’m not just a unicorn or a pegasus. I’m an alicorn. I have unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony magic all in one. I’m extremely powerful, though not as powerful without the Elements of Harmony. As an alicorn, I will live forever-”
Flowey cackled wildly, cutting the princess off. “Forever?” he asked incredulously. “Ha! You idiot… Nothing lasts forever. Not even your godlike power or your supposedly everlasting life. We will all fall to the relentless flow of time. Even death itself, time’s only companion, will run out its course eventually. No no, you will die, princess. But before then, you will suffer. Pain, loss, grief. You will suffer like no being ever has or ever will.”
“I know,” Twilight laughed sadly. “It’s ironic, isn’t it? I, the Princess of Friendship, will lose all of my friends to time. No matter how many I make, I will always outlive them. Chances are, even the Royal Sisters and Princess Cadence, my sister-in-law, will die before me. They are at higher risk of assassination, after all. It’s… quite a happy thought, no?” she finished sarcastically, voice cracking.
Flowey watched, insides churning with a discomfort he couldn’t quite place, as the princess broke down. Twilight covered her face with her wings, but that didn’t hide her sobs. He reached out a vine hesitantly, face changing subconsciously to match his lost goat form.
Twilight peeked out of her wings when she felt the comforting plant on her shoulder. “F-Flowey? Your face is…”
“What?” the flower said quickly. “What is it?”
Twilight’s horn glowed with its pink aura and a mirror levitated in front of Flowey. His eyes widened.
“Oh no. No no no no…” Flowey turned his face away, trying to control the form it took. “No no no… scary face… do a scary face… oh god please no… no no no no…” He began to cry, memories flooding back to him, emotion overtaking his small body.
“Flowey? Are you okay?” Twilight asked. Her queries didn’t last long, however, because when she saw his tears and remembered the last couple minutes of their conversation, she couldn’t stop her own breakdown.
The two lonely royals sat curled in a cozy sofa chair, no words further exchanged, crying their hearts out for their own reasons. It got late quickly, but even after they stopped, they stayed by the fireplace. They watched the flames curl around the logs, somehow still living but never eating its fuel. And finally, when the day was young, they fell asleep together, sitting curled in a single chair, silently aware of each other and their doubts.