Through time and space, a voice echoed through the void of realities. The voice pleaded, until its determination grew strong enough to penetrate the barrier to the looped timeline. In response, a scattered entity chuckled at the sentiment.
‘Reality... is interesting is it not?’ they asked.
‘…’ No response.
They chuckled, ‘The results for this timeline are strange indeed. Clearly a variant that deviates from the intended timeline."
A sighing sound could be heard, ‘Where does the voice come from if I might ask?’ they finally replied.
The first entity chuckles again with a little more mirth, ‘Another reality, where love and kindness reign. They have seen us many times with sorrow in their eyes.’
The second entity's interest perked, ‘Should we let the voice break through, G?’
‘Such an act would break this copy, but this may be our only chance to see something new.’
'...' No response.
‘They call for young Asriel Dreemurr.'
Surprise overtook the second entity, ‘The young boss Monster?' They questioned, 'Why?’
‘Your guess is as good as mine, but I've come to hypothesize that they pity him, and that he might do better there. Sentimental creatures they are, it boggles my mind.’
‘So we are going to let them break our reality to save a single Boss Monster?’ The second entity scoffed.
‘Seems like it, after all, it’s what the player that controls this timeline's Character wanted most. They won’t know it of course, to them the game will be broken.' G replied.
‘… Perhaps it wasn't so wise of the dog to put such a dependency on a single being.’ They shot back.
G thought for a moment, ‘Perhaps,’ They thought a little harder, ‘However, you must keep in mind that this is only one copy Universe that won’t make a difference in the grand scheme of things. I doubt the dog would mind too much if one copy of his creation were to venture beyond his world and onto the next.’ Let alone get destroyed, They thought.
'Lets get to the point G, will there be any resets in this world?'
'I'm quite certain that there will be... Actually... I think we may have already reset.'
The second entity perked a little more, ‘... Before we break the game, might I at least save the code of the other entities.’
‘Whatever for?’ G asked.
‘I have my reasons. You may see them as nothing more than useless data, but i’m more sentimental, besides, they may be useful.’
‘Do as you wish, but quickly, it is almost time.’
The voice echoed softly through the cavern, and in its center where daylight shone through, lay a flower patch where a young monster sat glumly. His floppy ears perked as the sound reached him. Surprised, the little monster stood and turned his attention away from the small patch of flowers, “Who’s there?" He looked all around the dark room of the ruins, but not a soul could be found. Did I imagine it? Scratching his head, he turned back towards the patch of flowers, waiting reluctantly for the time that he will once again be among them, heartless and without love for the rest of time. He sighed, “I imagine that I’ve been doing this awhile.” He said to himself. A sad smile spread on his face as he curled up in the patch, “I saw it in his eyes, the recognition, the sad and knowing look he gave me.” His voice echoed through the cavern system, “He just doesn’t give up, always trying to find a way.” His smile vanished, “but he’ll figure out soon that there's no hope for me. I doubt even his determination can help me.” A sinking feeling began to run through the little monster, “Almost time huh?” He chuckled at his doom. “Perhaps this will be the last time. Then I can finally be at peace.”
A loud Crack! Echoed through the cave.
The sound was loud. Bright light filtered through the ground as it began to give way. A series of numbers followed by computer processing noises began to appear and disperse along with the ground. Asriel let out a yelp as he quickly got to his feet and backed away from the hole in the ground. What in blue bla… Whah! Without warning the ground broke from underneath him. The light blinded him. Air rushed around him as he fell from the Underworld. Blue and green spun around him as his vision cleared. Asriel’s heart throbbed as he controlled his spinning. Adrenaline rushed as he began screaming, Oh my god oh my god! I’m going to die!
The wind rushed at him as he made his way towards the ground. Silently he prayed and gulped, Not like I had much to live for to begin with, he thought. Asriel closed his eyes accepting his fate. Suddenly he landed on something soft.
He squirmed around in discomfort before getting his bearings. Taking deep gulps of air to calm his wild heart, he began noting that he had not hit the ground, and was instead floating on a white fluffy puffball that was way too solid to be a cloud (not that he has been on clouds before).
The monster’s heart beat wildly for what seemed like forever as he gasped for breath, I’m alive! He began laughing before a thought occurred to him. Gripping the cloud, he stretched his neck over the edge to look down below. He was uncomfortably high in the sky on top of a little island of white fluff.
Okay Asriel, you're on what might be a cloud in the sky, He analyzed, You’re safe for the moment, not dead, not a flower yet, and still uncomfortably high in the sky… Many things were wrong with this picture but that didn’t matter at the moment, getting on solid ground was the more immediate problem.
What could be estimated as thirty minutes passed as Asriel waited on his fluffy gas water island. The chill in the air began to bite through the little monster. Shivering, Asriel looked down for a lower cloud to hop onto, and as luck would have it, a couple seemed to begin to move far beneath him. He had his eyes on one particular cloud that was just borderline. At first, it seemed that the larger cloud wasn't going to move anymore in his favor, but he noticed that as the cloud touched the border of the forest underneath it, the direction it was heading shifted into a desired position. Asriel gulped, “Now or never.” As soon as he was sure of it being a target, determination gave him the extra push to jump off of his cloud and onto the next.
He had originally planned on grabbing the top of the tree's branches to climb downward from once he landed, but as he observed that was now impossible, as the cloud he jumped on spiraled out of control, moving further within the forest at a speed that prevented him from grabbing any one tree.
Panic began to well in the little monster as the thing zoomed further and further into the forest. Thinking on his feet, the monster began the works of casting a fire palm spell. He planted himself as firmly as he could in the cloud, If I could just create enough force from the blast, maybe I can slow the cloud down and reverse the direction. It's worth a shot, He thought. He had estimated that his magical aura was low due to the lack of living soul within him, that and the fact that he was magically stunted from the disconnection between him and his parents didn’t help his cause. Knowing both of these facts, Asriel mustered every bit of his living energy into the spell, but what was unbeknownst to him was that he now resided in a world near completely composed of magic unlike his own, thus, as he was a being of pure magic, amplified his abilities quite a bit.
A massive jet of superheated plasma erupted from Asriel's palms, not just stopping the cloud, but actually moving it the opposite way at an increased speed. The Forest below disintegrating instantly.
Asriel stayed as firm as he could against the crushing force that was propelling him backwards. Sweat poured down his brow as he watched in shock of the destruction that was taking place, Ah! Turn it off, turn it off! He suddenly felt his floppy white ears get hot as they neared the plasma jettisoning from his hands. Startled, Asriel threw his hands up. That was a mistake. He blasted through the cloud and into the forest floor, the impact ending the spell.
"Ugh..." He clutched his forehead, "Sss... ah." This was not turning out to be a good day. He opened up an eye to see his mess in the distance. The smoke hit his nose, and heat began to rise. It would not be a good idea to stay here longer than need be, as it appeared that this fire was going to spread into his general area. Luckily the way out of the forest was the opposite direction of the fire, and due to his achievement in redirecting the cloud, all seemed as if he were to exit the forest peacefully. He took his first step snapping a twig, Uh oh, a bunch of yellow green eyes that resided in the surrounding dark underbrush opened and glared.
His yells could be heard miles wide, disturbing the birds and other small creatures that were not yet affected by the fire. He huffed as he ran as fast as his feet would take him away from the wooden wolves who were chasing him hungrily. Asriel did not get the time to explain to them why he would not make a good meal; he was much more preoccupied with keeping ahold of his life to worry about that.
Asriel started tearing up as the chase continued, fighting desperately for dear life. Why fight so hard to keep going...? He thought. What's the point in running anymore...?
He began to slow minutes later as exhaustion from the excessive amount of magic caught up with him, tears were streaming from his eyes as he felt oblivion and loneliness crept over him. Memories began to pop up, of his mother and father, how he betrayed them, tried to kill them in his feverish ideals of “Kill or be killed.” He had hurt them all.
Asriel ran until he met a cliff side.Turning around, he stared at the beings who were going to tear at him soon, but he didn't care anymore. He had no place in life, everyone thought he was dead anyway, so no one would wonder where he was, the only person who might have even cared for his absence would be...
Frisk, He thought. "Frisk, he would care!" Determination suddenly filled him as he remembered the friend who forgave him, the friend who had saved him from himself, the friend who had reset the world multiple times just to find a way to save him.
Asriel turned, grasping ahold of his magic and taking a stance, held out his claw with his renewed strength. He brought forth a spell, "Chrome Blitz!" he yelled. His voice echoed and resonated with strength as his hand glowed brightly. Rainbow projectiles of energy shot out at the beasts. The wolves stopped in surprise as the the creature they were hunting fought back. The blitz suddenly collided in midair, bursting into bright light that blinded the assailants long enough to give the little monster a chance to escape.
In an instant, Asriel's legs took him far away from the beasts that he had spared. As soon as he was sure that he was in the clear, Asriel stopped to take a breath. He was exhausted beyond belief, but determination still filled him. I will not falter; I will continue, for Frisk, for my family, and for all other monsters. A fire burned in his eyes. With breath now caught, Asriel continued on, away from the forest fire and towards that of which he hoped led out of this forsaken place.
~ ::: ~
Walking for three hours in the dense forest, Asriel quickly perked as he stumbled upon a path, Yes! This ought to lead out of this place. He stopped for a second before shivering. Paths imply civilization, Hope whoever made this is friendly to monsters, he wondered. He began to walk a small distance from the road in fear of a passersby who might see him, only walking on it when he couldn't maneuver around it.
Asriel’s mind drifted into thought of his current predicament. So, I fell from the sky from the Underground, I can for some reason walk on clouds, my magic is stronger than it really should be, caused a Forest fire because of it, and I fought off wooden wolves. He sighed, What the heck is going on? Why aren't I a flower yet? What was that in the cavern? Asriel hushed his mental questions for they were beginning to hurt. It had appeared that fate had given him a new chapter to venture onto; one that could lead anywhere by this point.
Now that I think about it, there was a voice before everything fell apart, what did the voices say? He didn't remember, only that it had sounded deeply saddened.
The path began to widen as the tree line thinned. The Monster gasped at what was revealed besides the path. A beautiful cottage surrounded with all kinds of plant life along with that of small scampering and flying critters. Asriel was filled with hope at the first signs of civilization, but immediate doubt clouded him. He knew he was above the surface, and that humans... well, didn't always interact very well with monsters, a fact he particularly knew very well.
Gingerly he walked over the small bridge that led right to the house's door. Maybe they're nice? About to knock, Asriel stopped at the last second, taking another deep breath, "Okay Asriel you can do this, of course a human who probably doesn't know about monsters will let you in." He sighed at those not so words of self inspiration he told himself.
He was a second from knocking again, but just as his fist was about to meet the door, the knob turned and revealed... a yellow pony?
They had both stood there for a moment staring at each other in confusion. The yellow pony had dropped the basket she was holding and squeed. She had moved so quickly all around him before she looked directly into his eyes, "Oh my, You are such an adorable thing, I have never seen anything like you before, What are you? Where do you come from?" she said in a low sweet excited voice.
Asriel had blinked several times before waking from his stupor, Well this is unexpected, "Oh, uh... well…”
She gasped, “Oh my, you're hurt! Please, come on in and make yourself at home while I get my first aid.” She darted back inside leaving the door open with a stunned Asriel waiting. Something of her nature was… Familiar. Asriel took a cautious step inside the house to find it completely inhabited by small animals. The small pony returned with a white bag with the image of a red cross. “You can sit on my couch over there if you want, I just need to get a few more things ready. She sat the bag on a nearby table before flying back upstairs. Most of the animals were staring at Asriel by this point, most with curiosity, couple with mistrusting expressions but one seemed to glare at him with distaste.
The cream pony came back down, “Sorry I was so gone long, let me take care of those wounds of yours.”
Asriel sat on the low green couch as the Pegasus grabbed his arm.
“Oh my, these are burn marks,” She looked him over, “ Oh! and there is soot all over you.” She gasped, “Oh no, you were caught in that fire miles back weren’t you?”
“Y-yes ma’am, I-I was.” He bit his lip, guilt creeping down his back. Asriel’s mind suddenly locked up as sweat beaded on his skin. Things were making less and less sense as things continued to progress.
She began to wrap the wounds on his hands and arms, “You're the sixth one today to come in from that fire. I was just about to leave to warn the town of it.” She frowned, “It doesn't make much sense to me though, the town elders once said that the Everfree cannot simply be set on fire like any normal forest because its magical aura prevents it from ever catching flame. That's what I heard at least.” She looked into Asriel’s eyes, “I should probably introduce myself, my name is Fluttershy, Ponyville Veterinarian.”
The little monster nodded, “Asriel Dreemurr, Prince of the...” He bit his tongue, “Former, Prince of the Underground.” He finished.
Fluttershy cooly smiled, “Well, it’s certainly nice to meet you Asriel.” She decided to let the ‘Prince’ part be, as it seemed to have pain written on it. Poor thing, She thought. She changed the subject, “So what exactly are you Asriel? If you don't mind me asking that is?”
“I don’t mind,” Asriel replied, “My kind isn’t particularly common where i’m from, we’re quite rare nowadays.” He pondered for a moment, “Anyway, i’m what’s called a Boss Monster, we’re generally a higher class of monster that watches over and protectorate all the other kind of monsters.”
Fluttershy nodded, “Is Boss Monster the actual name of your kind?” She asked.
Asriel internally sighed, “Yeah, that's what everyone calls us.” Unoriginality runs in the family I guess. Asriel grew slightly flustered.
Fluttershy giggled.
Suddenly a frantic hawk swooped down from a window and cawed loudly as it flew and circled Fluttershy three times before perching in a nearby hoof crafted bird perch.
Fluttershy perked her ears as she walked right over to the bird, "Come by that again? You know what caused it?”
The bird cawed once more as Fluttershy's face turned into that of disbelief, "What?!" She quietly yelled, before apologizing to the bird of her outburst, "How?"
As the bird tweeted on, Asriel felt a weight in his stomach. What would this small gentle seeming winged pony do if she found that he had actually started the fire?
Fluttershy listened to the ranting bird before shaking her head in disbelief, "A purple fire breathing cloud? Are you sure?"
The bird nodded, and the stress flooded from Asriel, knowing that he had not gotten caught in the act of his moment of magical instability gave him a bit of peace. However, lying to this pony he did not want to do, not after her kindness and willingness to help him. He looked up to the pony's face with guilt, stress beginning to relapse in him. Mom did always say to face the consequences of my actions. "Fluttershy,” He started, “well, it wasn't actually a cloud that started the fire."
The bird cocked its head and gave him a rather odd stare while Fluttershy remained content and unwavering other than the fact that she was rather confused by the birds statement. "Continue."
"Well you see..." He twiddled his claws as he explained the whole event of him falling out of the sky, the rocketing cloud, and his attempt to move it in the opposite direction with his fire magic, resulting in the forest fire that now ravaged the Everfree.
Fluttershy closed her eyes as she nodded.
Asriel looked down, knowing that it hadn’t been the first time he’s made a muck of things, "Please, I'm sorry about this chaos I caused, I was deeply confused, I had no idea that my magic was stronger in this place."
Fluttershy stood there a moment thinking.
The seconds that passed felt unbearable to Asriel. Fluttershy open her eyes and sighed, "Are you really sorry about what you did?" she had asked him.
Asriel looked into her eyes, “I am, I never meant for it to happen.”
Fluttershy nodded, "Very well, I'll send you to my friend Twilight Sparkle's castle. She can help you, but first you should get cleaned up.
Hope had entered Asriel's eyes, "You're not mad or upset?"
Fluttershy coughed as she looked him over, "Well, I didn't say that, many animals are going to get hurt because of that fire.” A worried look crossed her face. “However, I don't blame you for being terrified and acting the way you did, after all, what you’ve been through does sound really terrifying. Besides, I had my suspicions as soon as you came here.” She finished her healing and smiled, “One of my friends once said that two coincidences on the same day are no coincidence at all… I think.”
Asriel stood dumbfounded.
“But, I do appreciate your honesty.” She warmly smiled until the smell of smoke grew to the point that it was now noticeable inside the house. Fluttershy turned, "Oh, this is not good." She flew around her cottage to gather equipment, "This area will have to be evacuated immediately, I'll have to get as many animals as I can out of the range of the fire." She quietly said to herself before turned to face Asriel, "Before that, we must get to town quickly, I'm sure that the fire is noticeable by now and..." she was cut off by the sudden bursting of the front door, revealing a heavily breathing neon blue winged pony.
"Fluttershy! you have to get out of... What in Tartarus is that!" She exclaimed as she pointed to Asriel.
Fluttershy unfazed by the pony’s brashness cleared her throat to get her attention, "Please don't be rude Rainbow, this is Asriel, and Asriel, this is my friend Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow scratched her chin with her hoof, "Sorry Shy." she apologized for her outburst, squinting and staring Asriel up and down as if she did not like his taste in striped shirts.
Asriel, hesitant for a moment, walked over to the pony and held out his hand, "Um... pleasure to meet you Miss Dash?"
Rainbow placed her hoof into his hand and shook, "... right..." She withdrew and looked back to Fluttershy, "Anyway where was I, ah yes, the Everfree is on fire and everypony in Ponyville gone haywire over it! Twilight is just about to put a barrier over Ponyville to protect it from the smoke and beasts that might come through, so she has told me to go get you and Zecora out of here before she does, so let's get the hay out of here now."
Fluttershy shook her head in disbelief, "The weather ponies aren't going to try to put it out!" She said as she held a gaze of true distress.
Rainbow shook her head, "We can't, you know the magic in that place, it would only destabilize our Weathermancy. It's practically impossible to stop it without getting the whole of Cloudsdale over here, and it still might not be a go even if it could get here."
Fluttershy sat down on her couch, momentarily putting down her equipment as she quietly vented before looking up with a glint of determination in her eyes, "I'm not going, Dash." she stated.
Rainbow's wings stiffened and ears flattened at the sound of Fluttershy's reply, "Shy, you know you can't stay here right? The smoke will be much more toxic than the breath of a sleeping dragon with halitosis, you could actually die if you stay here." Rainbow pleaded for her friend to reconsider, but Fluttershy would not have it.
"Somepony needs to help all of those animals to escape the fire's clutches Dash, and you need not worry about me, I'll most likely have Discord's aid, maybe even Zecora's too if she decides to stay."
Dash was about to attempt to persuade her friend once more, but one look from Fluttershy made her momentarily reconsider.
Her face suddenly went red, "I'll stay with you too then if that's the case Fluttershy." She began, "I can help you with saving animals in the forest, clear the smoke with my speed and stuff."
Fluttershy shook her head, "You are needed in Ponyville Dash, ponies there need you to help them with this situation, you can't abandon them, Scootaloo, Twilight and the others."
Rainbow grew even redder to the point where she looked like she was about to burst, "Fluttershy! They need you just as much as they need me! I would much rather stick my head in Tartarus than to leave you here, you know that! I refuse to leave you to burn in this place. Now you are leaving even if I have to tie you up and drag you to Ponyville myself, and don't you think I won't!"
her hoof pounded the ground.
Fluttershy looked deep into her friend's eyes and teared up, "Dashie, I... I can't go. Too many here need me, I can...can't just leave them, " she sniffed, " just as much as you can't leave me. I love all of my animals, I.. I am just... unable to just leave them. You of all ponies should know that I can't leave them behind."
She slumped as tears streamed down her face.
A mouse tapped on the pony's foot holding up a tissue, which she gingerly took from and thanked afterward.
Dash began to recoil from her friends tears, the dilemma much clearer to her. "Shy..." She trailed not knowing what else to say. She understood the conflict the yellow mare faced. She couldn't simply just leave without having her heart torn apart in the process, she would hate herself for life if she just ran.
Dash felt tears well up in her eyes, but she refused to cry, "W...will you... promise to be safe?"She near gritted her teeth.
Flutter looked up to her and nodded, "I cross my heart, and hope to fly."
"Stick a cupcake in my eye." Dash finished. She sadly giggled a little bit, "You do know that Pinkie will get you if don't keep that promise now right?"
Fluttershy smiled and nodded before giving Dash a hug. She then turned to Asriel, who had just stood around awkwardly watching, then back to Dash, "Rainbow, can you take him to Twilight for me, he needs help and I would most appreciate it."
Dash nodded, wiping her eye.
"Good, protect him,” She pointed to Asriel who just stood awkwardly while the ponies argued, “this is my last request before we meet again. Remember, I guarantee to you and the others that I'm going to be fine."
Fluttershy turned to face Asriel and smiled, "You don't worry either little Asriel, I'm sure we'll meet again, hopefully during better circumstances though."
Asriel nodded and thanked the pony for her kindness.
Rainbow sighed, "On my back kid, we have one stop before we head to town.”
Asriel waved to Fluttershy as he climbed onto Rainbow's back once outside.
In a second, Rainbow said her farewells to the animal lover, and to Asriel's dismay, she immediately took off into the air with him on her.