//------------------------------// // 1 - Tutorial // Story: Underworld Frisk // by Darkonshadows //------------------------------// Pinkie moved up the stairs in what looked to be a courtyard full of leaves after Toriel, who waited patiently for her to look around at the ancient walls. She wondered where all the light was coming from for this place made of stone. Before she could ask Toriel about it, the goat lady moved on and into the next room where there were several round spots on the floor to the right and a lever on the far wall behind those grey circular spots forming two V’s. “Welcome to your new home Pinkie. Allow me to educate you in the operation of the ruins.” Toriel sounded rather presumptuous about Pinkie wanting to call this place a home. After stating this Toriel turned to her left and moved across four of the six circle spots on the floor which pressed downwards at the beautiful bipedal goat’s weight, which was normal in comparison to the pony that needed to exercise some more, then she moved to the lever at the back wall and pulled it down with a good strong yank. Pinkie glared at the air again for no reason whatsoever, while trying to remember what switches to hit of the six switches that were in a pattern of two V’s sitting on top of each other. She’d remember that she’d need to press the ones that formed a square if for whatever reason the door locks her out. The pony was kind of stuck in the underworld at the moment and didn’t know her way around at all, so Pinkie had little in the ways of actually making her own assumptions about what Toriel meant. In all likelihood Toriel meant that the way she came in was not exactly a way she could get out. If there was a way out, it probably wasn’t easy for her to reach so she was stuck here and this would be her new home. “The ruins are full of puzzles; we monsters tend to like building mechanisms like this all over the place. They are both ancient diversions and door keys. One must solve them when they are active to move to another room. Please, adjust yourself to the sight of them while you are around.” Toriel then smiles serenely at Pinkie Pie’s curious face as she turned on her heels and walked off to the next room leaving Pinkie to look at the puzzle in question. Moving around and looking at the buttons and the lever, Pinkie nodded at the fact that they were obviously buttons and levers. Toriel was a bit strange, but her voice sounded heavenly to Pinkie. Moving over to the entrance to the next room Pinkie stopped when she saw a plaque on the wall to the left. “Only the fearless may proceed? Brave ones, foolish one, both walk not the middle road.” Looking over to the puzzle in question she noticed the slight discoloration that created a road that surrounded two of the switched that intersected the middle of the two V’s. “Oh, so this is how you figure the puzzle out!” After stating the obvious Pinkie realized that Toriel had reset and solved it for her just to teach her how things worked around here. It was really nice of the friendly goat lady who didn’t seem frustrated with having to solve it again after resetting it. Walking into the next room she saw some aqueducts and Toriel waiting patiently next to a sign. For some reason Toriel seemed excited and even giddy to show her more things. “To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches. Do not worry I have labeled the levers that you need to pull.” A smiling Toriel then walks across the bridge and out of sight as Pinkie walked up to the sign to read it. “This is a sign… you read them to get information. Well that’s informative.” Pinkie said flatly, before going up to the wall covered in small vines behind it to read the writing there. “Please stay on the path... right.” Trotting back to the pathway and over the first aqueduct on a small wooden bridge, she saw Toriel waiting eagerly with her hands held up to her mouth almost squealing as she stood at the start of the second small bridge. She watched Pinkie move up to the switch on the wall, that was still on a narrow extension of the colored path that was slightly different from the surrounding colors of the ruins. Looking up at the switch she saw three yellow arrows drawn in chalk including a message by Toriel telling her the obvious. The message read ‘Please pull the switch. -Toriel’ and Pinkie smiled a bit at Toriel’s happy reaction when she finally did and the goat lady ran off. She seemed rather easy to please and quite eager to help Pinkie. She moved on over the next bridge where she saw Toriel waiting at some spikes jutting up from the floor and saw another message on the wall and two switches, one that was connected to the path and one that wasn’t. The puzzle was obvious, but Pinkie humored the beautiful lady because she was a childish mare that liked childish things and so did Toriel apparently. The second message read ‘Please pull this switch too. -Toriel’, after a moment Pinkie started giggling because she gave it a second glance and put ‘too’ and ‘Torial’ together . She pulled the switch and shook her head; Toriel’s messages were just so adorable. “Splendid, I worked hard to make these puzzles just a little more understandable for anyone younger who gets stuck in the Underworld. I still need to work on the entrance one though.” Toriel said brightly and Pinkie just had to make a comment on it by making a joke, the pony wanted to strike up a friendship with her after all. “You’re really being so nice to me. So I just have to ask, if your name was synonymous with nice, is there such a thing as being too Toriel for you?” Pinkie smiled and waggled her eyebrows and Toriel held a hand up to her smiling mouth in shock. They both started laughing at the joke; it seems that the goat lady can enjoy a good pun. “Oh my goodness, that was a cute pun. I feel like we will become great friends Pinkie. Now come along with me to the next room.” It seems Toriel understood Pinkie’s pun just fine when it came to leading her through the puzzles while solving them. She led Pinkie into the next room with a comment of her own. “You’re really sweet Ms. Pie; why I could just eat you all up.” Pinkie laughed along with Toriel giggling at that. At least Pinkie didn’t take it the wrong way, which was a thing Toriel was worried about. Since Pinkie wasn’t upset by the joke, Toriel didn’t have to bring up that it was one and that she’d never eat anything that was truly sentient. For some reason Pinkie sighed in relief after looking at the air, she had just apparently remembered that goats could eat just about anything. She turned her head back to Toriel who pointed at a strange object with a claw. “As a being with a soul like that of a human, only apparently more powerful in your case, monsters will definitely attack you to try and steal it. You will need to be prepared for this Pinkie.” It was in Toriel’s best interest to be serious to the pony. She would not sugar coat this as Pinkie wasn’t a little child, though she was quite childish. Saying that other monsters will outright attack her was letting Pinkie know that not all in the underworld were friendly or had her best interests at heart like Toriel currently did. Pinkie smiled at the air and nodded to Toriel to continue, letting her know that she was paying attention to the wonderful lady that had a laugh that chimed wonderfully in her ears. Pinkie would eventually start telling Toriel jokes, just to hear it. Even if she didn’t have her cutie mark, she still knew what her special talent was and she wanted to make Toriel happy. “Worry not; the process to this is simple. When you encounter a monster and they get too close, you may enter the range in which they will create an energy field to pull your soul out and attack it. When you are being attacked, try to strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time and allow me to come and resolve the issue if they start becoming too rough with you.” In other words Toriel was basically saying she would protect Pinkie while she was around to do so. She liked Pinkie that much and would probably come to love her if she played her cards right. “Now go up to the dummy and talk to it.” “Quick question, what will I do when you aren’t around?” A curious Pinkie asked, while she looked at the air again while marching up to the strange dummy. It didn’t look anything like a pony mannequin that her fashion conscious friend Rarity had in her shop; Rarity was a white unicorn with an elegantly styled royal purple mane and tail. Rarity’s cutie mark was the three blue jewels marking her soft white flank that Pinkie had managed nuzzle multiple times without her friend being aware of it. “Stop telling them things like that, I’ve only done it sixty three times. It’s not like I have a problem with the soap scents she uses on her flanks and how well it mixes with a freshly shampooed tail.” Murmured Pinkie randomly to the air as her face became slightly red; she seemed to be going a little crazy since she kept addressing the air as if she expected it to mean anything. “If you can befriend them, I’m sure they will be stop trying to hurt you. The monsters down here are rather… desperate… I don’t think there are many of them that are truly evil. So please be good and try not to hurt them too much.” These were some of the most important things Toriel could have ever said that Pinkie should really pay attention to, she was basically pleading with the pony to not do any harm to others which was another important to having everything end in sunshine and rainbows. “If it helps you any, if you can actually get your body far enough outside the range of the soul pulling energy field your soul will quickly come back to you. Of course that will only work if you have enough room to run away and can actually get outside the field, there are some soul pulling fields you can’t escape from. Also while you’re running you might incidentally leave your heart exposed to attacks.” “Well, okay… hello there Mr. Dummy!” The pony said this to the dummy as soon as she was done looking at the air again. She felt a wave of energy wash over her and her soul popped right on out of her body; surprisingly something was off about the dummy as she didn’t think Toriel was the one to cause her soul to pop out. “Please don’t take this the wrong way Mr. Dummy, but I got to run now.” Turning around the pony started running away. The dummy had a short ranged field and she could feel it as she passed through it a few feet later. Her large pink heart miraculously grew four legs and galloped after until it hit the edge of the field and shot straight into her body like a rocket, Pinkie was a little fearful that she would get used to the sensation of having her soul forcibly pulled out of her body. “Well now that that’s done, let us continue on then. Good day to you good sir and thanks for helping us out with this demonstration.” Toriel nodded at the dummy before leading Pinkie into the next room. As Toriel led Pinkie along, she seemed pleased with the pony’s friendly countenance. “I hope you can figure out the next puzzle.” “I know I can Tori.” Aw, it was so cute of Pinkie to Give Toriel a nickname already and Toriel was already noticeably smiling brighter for it. The pony should probably watch out for that upcoming ambush instead of getting distracted by the pretty smile. Pinkie turned the corner following Toriel and just had to ask to the rather warm air of the ruins. “There’s going to be an ambush?” After asking that, her soul was quickly pulled from her body as a frog monster had jumped at her from around the corner. Before it could really do anything serious, Toriel moved over and glared at it. It cowered in fear of her, it stopped generating the energy field and Pinkie’s soul went back into her body. Looking at the scared frog monster cowering against the wall Pinkie decided to forgive it. “It’s okay Tori; I forgive it for attacking me, whatever it is. Is it two separate beings? Do they even have genders if it is? I have got to know if they like to eat cupcakes!” Pinkie came face to face with the frog creature which seemed less scared now and seemed to croak slightly in amazement that she wasn’t afraid of him. Toriel cleared her throat bringing Pinkie’s attention away from the frog monster. “Oh right we were going somewhere weren’t we? Do you want to come along with us?” The cowed frog just tilted its head at Pinkie and couldn’t actually understand what she was saying, though it could understand what she was feeling; Toriel will promptly explain what the creature is. “Pinkie, that is a monster called a Froggit. He has eyes on his belly as well as his head; they are a very common sight around the ruins, only this one looks to be a bit feral.” Toriel watched as Pinkie hugged the frog and started to pat it on the head. “Um… what are cupcakes?” “You don’t know what cupcakes are!” Pinkie was rather horrified that Toriel hasn’t tasted a cupcake before; she would get Toriel a cupcake come hell or high water. Considering where Pinkie was… we’re going to go with the high water. “No, but I know what pies are. Is a pie like a cupcake?” Toriel asked pleasantly while clasping her hands together. “Well no, but I’ll get back to you about that later. Can he come with us Tori? I mean if there are others like him that are not feral, then he can learn to not be feral and make new friends at the same time! It’s got to be so lonely this far away from others like him, I haven’t seen much aside from that deranged flower and Mr. Dummy.” Pinkie’s idea surprised Toriel, but she nodded nonetheless. Placing the frog on her back, Pinkie moved forward. The large four eyed frog rested in Pinkie’s comfortable pink fur while looking wearily at Toriel, after a moment it realized it was safe and stopped worrying about the powerful monster that had scared it. Pinkie’s warmth made it cuddle down and slowly nod off. Coming up to the next sign Pinkie read it; it wasn’t hard to figure out the puzzle. “The western room is the eastern room’s blueprint? Oh I get it; the pathway on the floor to my left is mimicked in the puzzle on my right!” Turning to the right, Pinkie moved up to Toriel and saw something behind her. It was a lot of raised spikes in the middle of a room past another little wooden bridge that went over a circular aqueduct. On the other side of the spikes was another bridge leading to the next room. “This is the puzzle, but… can I hold your hoof and lead you through it? I don’t want you stepping on any of the spikes by accident nor would I want the Froggit to get hurt.” At a guess, Toriel was just using this as an excuse to get closer to Pinkie Pie for some physical contact. Either that or Toriel was just really worried about Pinkie and the sleeping four eyed frog possibly getting hurt. The goat lady was a real sweetheart despite the underlying tones of loneliness that Pinkie had only just begun to notice once before in her background music. The possibility that Toriel hasn’t known the touch of another in a very long time was quite high. Toriel hasn’t exactly had the opportunity to rub Pinkie’s belly or scratch her behind the ears yet, which were the two main weaknesses of ponies to handed individuals. As such Pinkie should really look into having Toriel do one or the other and possibly both at the same time. Also more fluffy hugs would be good as the goat lady could use a little loving contact. Only a really cruel and heartless pony wouldn’t take this opportunity to make Toriel’s day. “I’ll do it, but not just because your guilt tripping me into this so I’ll fall in love with her faster alright? Not that I’m falling in love with her now either… I would have to get to know her better first and then bake something to see if she likes it. Maybe go on a few dates with her as well…. wait no… I’m not going on any dates with Tori. No matter how beautiful and adorable I may think she is!” Pinkie quietly whispered, so as not to be heard by Toriel or the sleeping frog that she actually found Toriel attractive. She had said it herself personally and could never take it back now, she was just simply protesting too much over nothing. Shaking her head in an aggravated manner while staring off into space, Pinkie raised her front left hoof to the gorgeous lady and nodded in acceptance. Pinkie finally admitting that she was attracted to the goat lady and she hasn’t even been in the Underworld for longer than an hour or two, it was hard to tell time down here without a watch or the ability to see the sun and moon. Toriel gently took the hoof into her soft supple grasp with her right hand and she smiled back at Pinkie as she led her through the maze of spikes. After they were on the other side of all the pointy dangerous metal spikes and across the other bridge, the smiling Toriel looked rather reluctant to let go of Pinkie’s hoof. After taking in a short breath she finally did so with a wan smile. “I sometimes forget that these puzzles can truly be dangerous.” Said an emotional Toriel, who seemed to be hiding the fact that she really enjoyed holding Pinkie’s hoof, the pony would probably never know that since she’s being really stubborn about her own feelings. In any case Pinkie could try telling a few more jokes as there was quite a long straight tunnel ahead of them, it was going to be a long walk so she may as well start with a classic knock knock joke. In fact she should ask Toriel if she likes jokes and puns. “Okay, I guess you do have good suggestions from time to time. Just stop trying to force her on me and I’ll eventually make an honest attempt to ask her on a date alright? Hey Toriel, do you like jokes, because I got quite a few good ones.” The two started walking slowly down the hallways look to each other. “Oh I really do enjoy a good joke and I positively love puns, even bad ones. Maybe even especially the bad ones.” This admission from Toriel seemed to excite the joke telling ability in a very big portion of Pinkie’s brain. “Okay I got one; did you hear about what happened to the frog that kicked the bucket?” Pinkie started off. “No, what happened?” Toriel followed along. “He croaked!” They both started laughing at the joke, Pinkie then decided to start off another one. “It’s hard to explain puns to a kleptomaniac, do you know why?” “No, why is it so hard to explain puns to a kleptomaniac?” Toriel tilted her head to look down at the pony; she was obviously enjoying her presence more and more by the passing second. “It’s because they always take things literally!” That got them chortling and Pinkie already had another one coming. “I got another one, knock knock!” “Who’s there?” Toriel was smiling so hard, it would be nearly impossible to wipe that kind of grin off. “Owls.” Pinkie stated simply. “Owls who?” Toriel asked wondering where this joke was going. “Well of course they do!” It took a moment for her to figure it out, but Pinkie got Toriel laughing once more. The goat lady probably had some jokes to tell so Pinkie decided to let her get in on the fun as well. “I think it’s your turn now.” “Oh… well… knock knock.” Toriel had her own jokes to tell and they weren’t that bad. “Who’s there?” Pinkie answered amiably hoping Toriel had a good side splitting joke. “A herd.” Toriel always though topical jokes were always a good way to go and Pinkie was a pony. “A herd who?” Pinkie hasn’t actually heard this one before. “A herd you were home, so I came over!” Now it was Toriel’s turn to hear Pinkie’s laughter, yep they were already good friends. “Why did the skeleton set out to make a friend?” “I don’t know, why did the skeleton want to make a friend?” It was getting harder for Pinkie to contain the laughter and yet her hair was still straight, even if it didn’t curl up it didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy a good time with her new friend. “Because he was feeling rather bonely!” They were both giggling in excess now and it wouldn’t matter now if Toriel told a bad joke. It took them a moment to get themselves under control; they were near the end of the long corridor. “Okay last one; what do you call a snail on a boat?” “Well I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?” It was so nice to see Pinkie and her new friend enjoying their time together. “A snailor!” They were both guffawing off that last joke where Toriel had to wipe some tears out of her eyes, when she looked to her left to see the stone pillar marking the end of this room. She suddenly had an idea and what that idea was would be completely unknown to Pinkie, because she reads between the lines way too often for the idea to appear there and thus spoiling it for her entirely. “Excuse me, but I must run ahead. Take this phone, it will allow me to talk to you. Stay safe alright?” “Um… okay?” A confused Pinkie Pie had no clue what a phone was, all she needed to know was that it was used to reach out and figuratively touch someone. She was handed a banana shaped plastic device, before Toriel ran off ahead leaving Pinkie with the sleeping Froggit. A light hearted Pinkie stood there for a moment thinking of Toriel. Thinking of how much fun they were going to have together in the future and then she thought about introducing the goat lady to all her friends. While she was ruminating on that she heard a strange noise, she looked at the object she was holding in her hoof. Curiously she tapped the button on it that says ‘talk’ with the tip of her hoof. “Hello Pinkie, I’m just calling to make sure that phone was working. I also have a question for; do you like butterscotch or cinnamon?” That was a easy question asked by Toriel for Pinkie to answer; she liked both flavors and decided to ‘speak into the device’. Pinkie stared off into the void for a moment before nodding. “I like both of them equally Toriel.” Pinkie had never used a phone before, telling Toriel that face to face later on would help immensely in understanding what the device was and how it worked. Ponies had random technology thanks to magic; it was advanced in some place and far behind in others. Telecommunications was one of the ones that was nonexistent, yet high grade film projectors existed. “Okay, that’s all I needed to know. Don’t get into too much trouble Pinkie.” And with that Pinkie was left to her own devices, one of which she was already putting away into her saddlebag.