Gulping a bit, I cautiously trotted inside. I attempted to say hello, only for my voice to give out at the last second, rendering me a squeaking mess. In my mind I was screaming silently at Pinkie Sans for shoving me in here, although I soon realized the room was completely empty. I had obviously seen another skeleton in this house, so there was somebody else here, as evidenced by the neat bed and the toys on the table. I went over to inspect them. Dust. A fine layer of it, not the thick, silky dust I felt in my dream, the normal kind that accumulated on drawers over the course of time.
“Hmm.” I hummed, looking over the room. The bed itself was very strange, depicting a contraption of some sort that looked a bit like a horse-drawn carriage but without the horses to draw it. “How would it move?” I asked nobody, suddenly enraptured by the machine. How would it move? Maybe this was a bed on wheels for someone like Pinkie Sans, but they weren’t particularly sleepy all the time. Would somebody push it, and if so wouldn’t that just defeat the purpose of having a bed there to fall on when you’re tired? Wouldn’t you have to carry it around everywhere, therefore making you more tired and more prone to sleeping on it? But wouldn’t that also be part of the marketer’s plan to sell it to you, so their product gets more use?
Focus, Frisk! I yelled at myself mentally. Back to the task at hand. My fear had almost completely disappeared in light of the strange bed carriage, and I strolled around the room without fear. “Hello?” I called out. “Anybody here?” I checked under the bed. No skeleton. I think I would’ve been spooked if there was a skeleton under there anyhow. “Oh come on, I know you’re here! I just saw you on the balcony!”
“I’m not in the closet!” A nasally voice answered me.
“Oh really now?” I asked, walking over to the only closet in the room. “Are you sure?”
“No!” The voice paused. “I mean yes!”
Mischievously, I whistled a cheery tune as I tapped out the beat on the closet. “You know what I think?”
“…What?”
With a huge grin on my face, I stood up tall and proud and posed. “That you’re afraid to see me! My magnificence knows no bounds! Only those worthy enough can even lay eyes on me!”
The voice wasn’t even curious now, just incredulous. “What.”
“I have claimed this room for myself, the most… uh… fantastic… fun… and… oh dear.” Heat rushed to my cheeks as I soon realized exactly how bad I was at alliteration. “B-but, um, I’m super great. And I like your room. So it’s mine now.”
“What?! You can’t have my room, it’s mine. Not to mention you’d have to be truly great to take The Great and Powerful Pa... Pa… What even is my name now?” He sounded so confused. “I mean, I’m not really… me anymore. But at the same time, I am myself. And she is also me, but herself too.” A sigh was heaved.
“Papyrus doesn’t sound like my name anymore.”
This was my chance! “You could come out here and-“
“No, no, no! I couldn’t! We couldn’t! I didn’t know my own strength back then, now that I have a pony soul, who knows how powerful I am! I could hurt you… You would be… I couldn’t! I just couldn’t do that again!” The voice began to get more and more scared, more frustrated, more terrified.
In a desperate attempt to calm him down, I yelled, “Alright! Alright. Everything is gonna be just fine. I’ll stay out here protected by this door. You can’t hurt me out here, the door will protect me.” Inspecting the door closer, my face scrunched up. “It’s made out of plywood.”
“The finest plywood!” Maybe he was just being silly, like I was before, or maybe he was trying to reassure himself. Either way, I made a noise of agreement while scuttling back away from the plywood door.
“Uh, my name is Frisk!” I said conversationally. “A-and I’m gonna save Equestria!”
A large, overly dramatic gasp, and soon Papyrus’s voice changed to be more melodic while still keeping to the nasally undertones. “Equestria?! Save? What happened? Is it alright? Did you lose the war against Sombra? What happened!?”
“Hold on for one second!” The effect of the words was immediate, silencing whoever this was. I began to get my suspicions. Why else would Papyrus’s voice change so suddenly and so dramatically? Why else would he be uncomfortable with his own name? “Tell me, before I tell you anything, tell me what your name is.”
She (?) got choked up for a second, not expecting that response. “T-Trixie. Trixie Lullamoon.”
The name reminded me of something, something from years and years ago, something from before King Sombra. “Trixie… Trixie. Trixie! You’re Trixie!” My excitement bubbled over into my speech, soon infecting my words.
“…Yes, I assume I am Trixie. Why?”
“No, no, I mean you’re The Great and Powerful Trixie! I saw a show of yours once years ago!” I could still remember the day, lights all a sparkle, fireworks exploding in the air, and everypony with a huge smile on their face. “You’re really good at what you do!”
“Oh.” She wasn’t upset, only surprised at the compliment. “That’s high praise. Thank you. But you still didn’t answer my question. Trixie demands to know what happened to Equestria!”
I paused, giving me time to gather my thoughts. “We lost. Badly. Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadence have all disappeared. Half of Equus is burning and the other half is freezing. I’m surprised that anything is still alive. He has an army of slaves, and the death toll is huge. Everyone’s dying. If something doesn’t happen soon…” I left the rest to her – or rather, their – imagination. “That’s why I’m going to find the Elements of Harmony and their holders!”
A pause. “WHAT?!” The yell was huge, making the plywood doors rattle on their hinges.
Pinkie Sans appeared next to me, staring with wide eyes at the doors. “Uh, is everything okay over here?”
I gave them a strained smile. “Y-yup! Everything’s just great! I’m not doing terribly at making your bro-sister happy!” To emphasize the point, I stretched my grin as far as it would go. I am the most convincing.
“Pinkie here. Hmmm…” She squinted her eyes at me suspiciously. “That looks like the most fakiest fake grin in all of fake grin history!”
“Lies and slander, this is a real smile!” It didn’t help my case that Papyrus/Trixie burst out of the closet and wrapped me in a hug.
“You can’t go! You could get hurt! So many bad things could happen! I’m one of the weaker monsters, what happens when you encounter a stronger one?” My hooves left the ground as the distraught creature picked me up and squeezed me. I let out a little ‘Oomph’ of surprise, and the grin on Pinkie Sans’ face was huge.
“Don’t. You. Dare.” I hissed.
“You squeaked! That’s so cute we don’t even.” They held out their arms. “We want a turn.”
“No!” Both I and Patrixus yelled. He swung me out of the way of Pinkie Sans’ encroaching arms. I heaved a sigh of relief. No doubt had I been given to them, I would be squished nonstop. “Thanks Patri-“ Patrixus squished me, eliciting another squeak. “Noooo! I’m not a toy!”
Pinkie Sans appeared from above, somehow grabbing me from Patrixus’s skeletal arms. “Thanks bro-sis. We’ll take good care of the lil’ squeaker.” To emphasize his point, he squished me, making me squeak again.
Before I could protest, Patrixus’s eyes narrowed, and they ground out, “Oh. It. Is. On.” They flew backwards into the closet, and in a burst of smoke they were out again, a purple hat with stars and a matching cape around their neck. Also changed were their clothes. Instead of a light blue t-shirt, a white cover made up their rib-cage. Black felt covering shielded their bones from sight, and bright red boots topped off the entire outfit. “Fear, brother-sister, for I… we… hmm…”
“We, the Great and Powerful Patrixus?” I offered helpfully from Pinkie Sans’ arms.
Patrixus seemed to really like that name. “Yes! We, the Great and Powerful Patrixus will save little Frisk from being squished for all eternity! Nyeheheh!”
A bead of sweat appeared on Pinkie Sans’ brow. “Welp, they’ve got out the Battle Body, time to go.”
“Wha- Hey!” I shouted as Pinkie Sans ran out the door and onto the landing. “Stop abducting me!”
“Can’t, kiddo.” The deeper voice told me Sans was talking. “As much as I’d love to keep and squish you for all eternity, my bro-sis is in a much better shape than I am. I could probably squish you for maybe thirty minutes straight, but Patrixus – nice name by the way – could probably literally squish you for all eternity.” He did an amazing slide down the bannister of the stairs. “Besides, you’re absolutely adorable, and you squeak. Do I need any other reason to abduct you?”
I screamed, “Yes!” as we slid around the corner and into the kitchen. Quickly he jumped into the overly large sink with me and shut the door behind him. He made a ‘Shh’ motion, then put his eyesocket against the cupboard door.
Pinkie Pie spoke up. “Oh, I see them, I see the-“ They clapped a hand over their own mouth and held me tightly.
See, the thing about me is that I have a tendency to squeak when held tightly.
“Pinkie Sans!” I whispered urgently, holding in the squeak as best I could.
“Shh, kiddo, we’re supposed to be hiding!”
“Guys, I’m gonna-“ In the split second before it happened and when it did, I saw their eyes widen in horror as they realized what I was trying to say.
And then it happened.
The squeak was huge, gargantuan even for a colt as small as myself. Needless to say, Patrixus heard the squeak, and in a split second was upon us. “Nyeheheh! We got you now!”
With a shrug and a grin, they dropped me. “Yup. Guess we just gotta give up now. What a shame.”
“Wait, what?” I asked, frustration growing inside me. “You’re gonna drag me through the freakin’ house and shove me in the cupboard while squeaking me like a toy just to give up?”
They thought for a second. “Uh-huh.”
“Oh come o- Oomph!” I got sweeped up by Patrixus giving me a hug. “Am I ever going to get a break?” I asked rhetorically. Both answered me anyway.
"Nope!"
“Dinner is served!”
The smell was honestly awful, and I was terrified of taking the first bite. But Pinkie Sans and Patrixus looked at me, both with growing smiles that meant something completely different. Patrixus was smiling because he was excited for me to try their cooking. Pinkie Sans was smiling because they were excited to see my face after trying their bro-sis’s cooking.
With my body begging me ‘Oh, for Celestia’s sake, please no.’, I leaned down, and took the first bite.
“So?” Papyrus, for the nasally voice had returned in full force, asked. “How is it? Great? Amazing? Delicious?”
Repressing my gag reflex wasn’t easy, but I managed. “It’s…” I couldn’t lie to him, could I? I shuddered. “It’s indescribable.” Perfect. Go, Frisk! An answer that is neither positive nor negative! Judging by the thumbs up Pinkie Sans is giving me, that was the perfect answer.
"Wonderful!" They sat down decisively, grinning as they dug into their own creation.
"Eh, I'm sure if you like it that much kid, it shouldn't be too hard to eat the rest." I glared at Sans as he grinned and twirled his fork. "Come on, kid. Don't wanna make Patrixus sad, right?"
With me glaring daggers at Pinkie Sans, I leaned down and ate another bite. And another. And another. The urge to gag at the taste was very strong, but I managed to avoid it. Soon the entire plate was gone, as were my taste-buds. "I... I'm done..." I croaked out, my stomach roiling.
"I'm certain the kid would like a bit more, right Patrixus?" Pinkie Sans asked, mischief glinting in their eyes.
As a fresh new plate of spaghetti appeared before me, I sent a look towards the shorter skeleton. 'You owe me.'
Bed time. I fluffed the couch pillow, and snuggled down into the cushions. I drifted down into slumber, my mind on that precipice between clarity and unconsciousness.
"Kid."
It was quiet, hardly meriting me getting up. The cushions were so soft and inviting...
"Kid! Come on, get up, it's past my bed-time too, Frisky." The tapping began, thoroughly driving me into wakefulness.
"Whaddya want?" I mumbled sleepily, staring at the face of Pinkie Sans.
Shuffling their feet, they looked down at the floor. "Just wanted to say... thanks, kiddo. You've really made them happy. More happy than they've been in a long time."
"N'problem." Muttering the words, I could already feel myself slipping away to dreamland.
"Can't wait until tomorrow. We'll all have so much fun! Anyways, night, kiddo. Thanks."
And that's when I knew I couldn't stay.