Underworld Frisk

by Darkonshadows


19 - Date: Napstablook

“So that’s your home, it looks all wobbly.” Pinkie tilted her head at the oddly shaped houses, one was grayish white and leaning to the left and the other one was a light red and leaning to the right. Each house kind of looked like a large sock wearing a paper hat that had a single visible window.

“Well come on in and make yourself at home in my cobbled together pile of junk I call a home.” Nasptablook was a bit of a downer, he always felt like garbage and he figured he may as well live in close proximity to garbage. “I hope you don’t mind the mess.”

“If you don’t mind that I ask, who’s your next door neighbor Nappy?” Pinkie was let into the home of a friendly if depressing ghost. There was a spider web in the corner right of the door past three books that were lying around, so he likely had friends who were spiders. He had a refrigerator despite the fact that ghosts shouldn’t need food, so it was probably for visiting friends to use. He had a television and Pinkie hadn’t seen much of one, but she had it explained to her as being a miniature movie screen. Then there was one of those computer things in the corner along with a set of headphones.

“Oh I don’t mind you asking at all, I’m just surprised that anyone as neat as you would continue to pay that much attention to me.” Napstablook was being a bit down on himself, even then the ghost floated over with a box of bandages he promised Pinkie Pie. The pony quickly went to work on patching her injuries after taking the proffered medical supplies. “Anyway, my next door neighbor is my cousin. He’s become rather famous actor in the Underworld, one of the only ones really. He goes by the name of Mettaton nowadays.”

“Well I bet he’ll be a meta-ton of fun! Hey a friend of mine talked about how much he enjoyed watching Mettaton do things, of course I didn’t get to date that friend because he was trying to figure out his sexuality.” At that thought Pinkie realized she forgot to say good bye to The Temmie Covered Papyrus after the top of the pirate ship exploded. She figured it was okay; Papyrus was a nice guy and seemed to be a very forgiving individual. “Anyway, if you forgot I’m Pinkie Pie and I thank you for letting me into your home to rest Nappy. I wonder how my goat-friend is doing; I hope she not too worried about me.”

-

“I think we may be lost…” It was an understatement of the century for Toriel as she looked around at the festive colorful area. “Oh I hope Pinkie is safe wherever she is.”

“Gee, what was your first clue, the giant trumpet playing chickens or the strange skeletons everywhere?” Gyftrot turned to a nearby skeleton with a mariachi band to ask for help. “Excuse me, have any of you seen a pink pony come through here?”

“Si, I am seeing your little pink caballo, she is falling down into the garbage filled area below after being chased by Undyne. Undyne is muy enfadado at not catching that loco caballo.” The skeleton looked to the left and saw what looked like a strange feminine looking zombie wearing a pink mask walking up to them wearing a chicken themed suit.

“Do you two need some help? I definitely have nothing better to do at this point and time whatsoever!” The chicken suit wearing zombie struck a wide pose that caused her to float into the air and a fanfare to be played by the mariachi band. “I am Tostada, guardian of a powerful mask! I am in this world looking for a fugitive who keeps stealing tequila from everyone.”

“Yes, we would like some help and we might be able to help you as well. I recently ran across a guy named Flame Face while at Grillby’s, which is a restaurant in Snowdin. He tried to shoot at my mare friend, but he forgot to reload his guns. Then he tried to apologize for trying, but he was too drunk to do so. I remember that he was holding some bottles of tequila before he left the restaurant.” The reaction Toriel got was a sudden look of fierceness in Tostada’s eyes as soon as she said Flame Face’s name, she liked this person already. “I take it you know him?”

-

The relationship between Pinkie and Toriel was something to think about. They really cared about each other, they both loved baking, they shared a love of jokes and they were both highly snuggly in nature. They even easily got lonely if they were ignored for too long.

Toriel seemed a whole level better at dealing with loneliness and depression than Pinkie ever could, given that she was still functioning pretty well despite all the stuff that has happened to her. On the other side of things Pinkie was better at staying social and not closing herself off from others, but she was easily broken if she didn’t have friends to keep her together.

The relationship of pony and goat was completely adorable from an outsider’s point of view, plus they were getting more and more comfortable about being intimate. Cuddling, petting and kissing was about as far as they were willing to go. The biggest thing they had in common was a love of laughter.

These were the things Pinkie was thinking of in her relationship with Toriel, it was like the two of them could share their lives together in endless misadventures and they’d never be bored of one another. They were a veritable duo of both childishness and intelligence mixing together brilliantly; only with Toriel being the more mature one of the two of them.

“No problem, it’s nice to know that you’ve met some of my cousin’s fans and that they were friendly. They usually are anyway; don’t like them when they aren’t.” Napstablook set down the orange cooler near the refrigerator, while Pinkie continued to bandage the wounds that she could see on her body. She eventually got to the knife wound marring her face and hoped that it didn’t scar, then again it would add authenticity to a pirate costume for Nightmare Night if it did.

“Say, are you male or female… you sound kind of between them at times.” Pinkie went over to the refrigerator as she waited for Napstablook to respond. It was easy to question whether or not Napstablook actually had a gender and was just referred to as a ‘he’ like Kid was a ‘he’ despite being a hermaphrodite. It was mostly about association to which gender you preferred to be labeled under. Napstablook for all intents and purposes was a genderless Pac-Man ghost and his mouth was seldom seen unless he opened it.

“I’m actually a ‘they’ or ‘them’, but you can call me a ‘he’ or even a ‘she’ if you want to.” Nonplussed about pronouns, Napstablook still sounded more masculine than feminine anyway and he was okay with that. Taking notice of Pinkie’s position Nasptablook made an offer as an amiable host to his pink pony friend. “Do you want some food; here let me get something for you.”

Napstablook took out a sandwich that looked transparent and held it out to Pinkie; she tried to take it only for her hoof to pass through it.

“Oh… I guess you can’t eat a ghost sandwich then. Never had this problem before, I guess I’ll eat it then.” Napstablook took a bite of the sandwich and slowly chewed it. “Sorry I couldn’t be of much help there.”

“Don’t worry about it Nappy, there’s food in the cooler I wanted to try anyway.” Pinkie opened the cooler that Napstablook helped to drag out of the waterlogged area.

Inside the cooler Pinkie found a packet of space food she wanted to try, it was strawberry, vanilla and chocolate flavors of freeze dried ice cream. It sounded odd to her and when she opened it up she saw three colors, all in conjoined rectangles that made the shape of a block together. She bit into it and hummed as she chewed the soft food that seemed a tad brittle. It wasn’t quite nice cream, but it tasted good and somewhat sugary. She missed the ‘Home Ruins’ and having access to an oven to make baked goods with.

The two continued to eat in silence, Pinkie was sure that being friends with Napstablook was easy for anyone. She noted he didn’t seem to be like all the other monsters in the underworld, unlike other monsters he seemed to operate to different rules. Of course this led to an awkward question on her mind that Pinkie really wanted to ask of him and she did so without tact.

“Um… if you’re a ghost monster, does that mean you can’t die like all the other monsters whose bodies are a bit more fragile?” It had been a bit awkward to think of, but from all the sad knowledge Pinkie had picked up it seemed as if ghost monsters were technically invincible and couldn’t be killed. “I mean, does that mean you’ll never be turned into a pile of dust like all the other monsters that die and can live on into eternity?”

“Yes, I suppose that’s the truth of my situation. Being intangible to harm or most things isn’t as great as it sounds. I can be physically hugged and enjoy things like everyone else, it’s just that the world is a bit muted to me. I like music though, it’s something that can touch you, but you can never touch it or at least I don’t think you can. You can probably touch on it I guess… ” The bed sheet styled ghost just continued to eat his sandwich after that thought in peace. After a few more moments of just chewing and swallowing parts of his ectoplasm sandwich, he decided to put the sandwich down to go put on some music. He picked up his earphones placed them upon his round head. “Here, listen to some music I made by myself.”

“That sounds like you’re theme music only simpler, so are you a DJ or a composer?” They were almost done eating peacefully together, if Pinkie didn’t know any better she’d swear this was a date. After a moment she decided to just consider it a date outright, being pansexual meant that she dated freely even if her heart kind of belonged to a beautiful goat lady. Well her heart had actually at one point belonged to the goat lady, Toriel just gave it back and worried about Pinkie’s health afterwards.

The thing with staying over at Papyrus’s house for some sleep wasn’t a date to Pinkie; it was more of a social gathering where the Font family was hosting a batch of weary travelers. Napstablook was trying his best to be accommodating despite his obvious problems of being a mostly ethereal existence; he offered her food and gave her a gift of medical aid. In her mind Pinkie found Nappy to be a cute guy and this time they were sharing together was definitively a date since it was one on one bonding. The only thing she didn’t like about him was his strangely depressive attitude and that repeatedly pressed her ‘need to make happy’ button.

“Yes, I’ve done some composing and I’m trying to get into DJ work. I haven’t really much use for the money I’ve earned really; I guess I could spend it on my friends.” It took a while for Napstablook to consider just how many friends he actually had; it was actually a heartwarming thought for him which was odd considering he didn’t usually dwell on the positives in his life. He would definitely count Pinkie among those friends now. “So, what do you do for a living? It’s been a while since I’ve used that phrase.”

“Well, I throw parties, bake baked goods, put up decorations, play party games and happen to be a decent party magician. I know I can’t do that forever, but I’m going to plan and enjoy parties for as long as I’m able. Making other smile is my special talent as much as it is planning parties.” Licking her lips of the crumbly bits of space food that tasted out of this world, Pinkie watched as Napstablook flopped onto his back having finished his food. “Um, what are you doing?”

“Well it’s kind of a tradition of my family. After eating a good meal we would lie down on the floor and feel like garbage for a while.” Sitting up and looking at his guess Napstablook thought it would be polite to address her. “Do you want to join me? I promise that it’ll be an interesting experience.”

“Sure, I need more rest anyway.” Pinkie crumpled up her empty food packet and tossed it in the cooler. She moved over to Napstablook’s side and rolled onto her back and snuggled up against him, the poor ghost started blushing at her fur brushing up against his odd body.

“So what are we looking for?” Pinkie asked as she stared at the warped ceiling.

“We’re not looking for anything in particular, just please follow my lead and don’t move very much.” Napstablook shifted slightly into Pinkie’s warmth. He couldn’t understand why he did it; all he knew was that Pinkie was rather pleasant to be next to. “I guess you can move when you’re ready to get up, but for now just stay still and breath. Maybe you’ll even see what I can.”

Nodding to his words, Pinkie snuggled comfortably against her ghostly rescuer and then stared blankly at the ceiling. She had to blink every once in a while and one time her large eyes slowly closed and she inhaled softly.

Slowly opening her eyes she tried not to make a sound as she was experiencing something wonderful, she almost let out a soft gasp in surprise. She slowly turned her eyes to Napstablook’s form next to her.

It looked to the pony that they were floating in the middle of space. There were hundreds of galaxies and stars, a shining comet flew by and there were asteroids forming smiles in this void. Through it all Pinkie stayed quiet and introspective trying not to break the illusion of what she was exactly seeing. Oddly out of all the objects in the room, the television was the only thing that had seemingly vanished aside from the building. Did that object even exist? Did space or time even exist here with Napstablook, is this why he was seemingly staring blankly at the ceiling?

“It’s something isn’t it? I really should do this with all of my friends; it’s been a while since Mettaton left to become a star out there. They used to do this with me all the time. Now I only do it with my closest friend, the spider that lives here. It’s been a while since I worked with Ms. Muffet, she likes baking too. She never spends much time around here though, but I’m sure you would have been good friends with her.” The illusion didn’t dispel at Napsta’s voice and Pinkie took that as a sign that it was okay to talk; moving right now was another thing entirely. “Do you think all my other friends would like this if I could talk them into it?”

“I’m sure they would love it Nappy. This is really quite beautiful. To think if I were less patient, I would have missed seeing such a wonderful sight as this.” Pinkie stared out into the beautiful expanse that looked like the universe shifting and moving to an unknown wind around them.

“Funny thing about you’re nickname for me. Metal Tonnage used to call me that all the time, either that or Blooky. I actually go to the ruins to be near nicer monsters as the ones throughout the underworld are losing their hearts to their anger, but your changing things as I’ve been hearing so much about you Pinkie.” This was a moment Napstablook was beginning to enjoy a lot, since he was spending it with someone who was taking their time to enjoy it with him. “Anyway, Mettaton is a nickname that became something my cousin made famous. They are always so busy, but I don’t dislike that they are. I’m actually happy that they are trying to keep spirits alive in all the other monsters who aren’t ghosts like us, Mettaton is a ghost in the machine and his heart is a lot stronger that most monsters. Some even say that he can separate his soul from his body as what happens with a human when a pull field is used.”

“You must be a pretty bad introvert, then again so is Tori. I realize that introverts need alone time, but I can’t help but want to make them smile. I want to show them that I’m always willing to be there for them, if they’d only ask like you did. Ask to just share a nice fleeting moment like this one.” A morose feeling overcame Pinkie until the ghost cuddled her making her feel a bit brighter and she turned to him to see that he was smiling at her. He was letting her know that everything was alright. “I wonder how my friends back home are doing. Goodness knows Twilight and Fluttershy are two ponies I’m always worrying about more than Rainbow, Rarity and Applejack. Even then Rainbow and Rarity have their moments of being shy too.”

“It sounds like you have a lot of friends that care about you. I can’t say I feel the same thing you do considering mine don’t visit me often enough, but my friends will always have me around if they need me. It comes with the territory of being a ghost. Sometimes the quiet and solitude lets us introverts see things that nobody else can, stopping to reflect on things will help just about anyone when they’re feeling down.” Happy to be relaxing with a friend by his side, Napstablook considered this to be one of the best times he’s ever had just staring into space. He felt Pinkie press her lips to his cheek and he blushed slightly.

“Thanks for showing me this Nappy, this makes for a wonderful date. You may seem like a sad ghost, but then people aren’t really looking at the real you are they? You always seem sad and depressed, what’s really going on is that you’re just a bit lonely. Maybe if you talked to your friends more often and told them how you feel, well, you wouldn’t appear so depressed all the time. You have a nice smile by the way.” A knocking at the door sounded and Pinkie almost didn’t want leave this wondrous sight. Sighing she decided to break the illusion and sat up the wondrous painted universe slowly disappeared from her vision as Napstablook also got up and moved over to the door to see who could be visiting him.

“Hello, can I help you?” Napstablook floated at the door and saw several more visitors to his humble abode.

“Yes, have you seen a pink little four legged being? I heard she was hurt and I heard that Undyne lived around here. I’m just worried that… Pinkie, you’re here! Oh and you’re… hurt.” Toriel got down on a knee and received a hug and nuzzle from the pony, she had tears in her eyes which were wiped away by a gentle hoof.

“I’m okay Tori, I told you I can take care of myself. So please don’t cry, they’re only flesh wounds. It’s nothing that a little time won’t fix. Hey I got something to show you, come on you have got to see this!” Pinkie went to lie down on the floor on her back and a curious Toriel looked at her as she motioned for her to lay down by patting a hoof next to her.

Soon there were four beings lying next to each other, Toriel was cuddling Pinkie as she stared at the vibrant expanse with wide eyes and an awed smile.

“I am seeing so many new things because of you Pinkie.” The wonder in Toriel’s eyes as she stared at the vibrant stars and nebulae’s around them was matched by her companions.

“I didn’t think I would ever be able to witness anything quite like this.” The snow in the jar commented as it started counting all the pulsars it could see in this strange contemplative place.

“Tori… you don’t mind that I like Nappy right? I mean I kissed him and we were having a good date until you arrived, not that I’m not happy to see you.” Feeling a familiar hand rubbing her tummy, Pinkie squealed slightly in joy.

Apparently Toriel wasn’t upset at all. If she hadn’t been upset with Shyren, why should she be upset now? She wasn’t going to get angry over the feelings of others and it was hard to do when the one you cared about was as lovable as Pinkie Pie was.

“I know what you mean Pinkie. Remember that I understand the meaning of Pansexual. Just being attracted to all kinds of people doesn’t mean you can’t be faithful or that you’ll stop being my friend.” Toriel leaned her head again Pinkie’s and then whispered into the pony’s left ear before flicking at it with her tongue. “And this is a rather romantic sight.”

Pinkie’s face became bright red and her whole body shivered; she nuzzled her nose into Toriel’s ear causing her goat friend to giggle as she returned the favor.

“It’s so nice to have guests around the house again.” Napstablook commented aimlessly staring into the vast expanse of space around him and the others.