"Where am I?"
It wasn't the most original thing to say when waking up in unfamiliar surroundings, but Sunset couldn't think of anything better. Sitting up with a loud yawn, she rubbed her eyes clean and took a better look around. The bed she was lying on was propped up against the wall with a lamp directly behind it. Beyond the bed's foot was a box of toys that didn't really interest her. A clothes closet sat next to the bed, and a bookshelf sat next to that. To her left were a pair of teddy bears, both so cute and fluffy. And on the floor next to the bed sat a dinner plate holding two slices of pie.
Leaning down, she picked up the plate and placed it beside her on the bed. She could still see tiny wisps of steam rising from the pastry. The outer golden-brown pie crust made a nice contrast to the darker pallet of the slice and dollops of whipped cream on top. Moving her face closer, she felt her mouth begin to water. Her stomach, deprived of sustenance for days, grumbled in anticipation of the food. She took a whiff to confirm the flavor and found her nose's attention divided.
"Is that butterscotch? No wait, cinnamon. A butterscotch-cinnamon pie?" Whichever it was, it looked delicious. She couldn't wait any longer. Carefully, so it wouldn't fall apart, she picked up one of the pieces, slowly slide it into her mouth, and bit down.
It tasted just...just like....
Sunset stood in an empty washroom, rubbing streaks of mud off of her face while unsuccessfully trying not to cry. If she'd known that becoming the Princess's protege meant dealing with prejudiced unicorns, she would have had second thoughts about applying. Every insult, prank, or punch they threw at her sank into her spirit and soiled her day. She wished she wasn't so weak, wanting more than anything to see them made humble. Oftentimes, she'd construct fantasies of paying them back fourfold for every moment of her suffering. But for now, all she could do was seek solstice in her mentor's presence.
Speaking of the Princess, the low hum of the kitchen's oven indicated that she was preparing something scrumptious. Yes, despite the insistence of the palace cooks on doing everything themselves, Equestria's ruler had secretly learned how to cook for herself. It had taken some time and several bunt dishes; but at last, she had mastered that skill as she had with her others. It was there she stood now, waiting for Sunset to join her. Once the latter had finished cleaning herself, she walked to the kitchen and opened the door.
Celestia smiled upon seeing her and beckoned Sunset closer. On the table before her sat a delicious looking pie. One whiff and a smile told Sunset all she needed to know.
"Apple-cinnamon. You remembered."
"Of course I remembered." Celestia carefully cut a slice for Sunset and one for herself. "The last time we had it was when we opened presents on Hearth's Warming Day. It was right after you passed your first test as my pupil."
"Uh-huh." Sunset mumbled, her mouth full of pie. Sweet cinnamon and crisp apple slices slide across her tongue. How good it felt. Warm, sweet, and comforting. Moments like these made the hardships worth it. Just her, Celestia, and a nice meal at--
"Home." That was it. The pie tasted like home.
After finishing the first piece, she decided to save the second one for later. Something that special couldn't be eaten all at once. Besides, she wasn't hungry anymore anyway. More than that, all of her injuries were gone too. How one slice of pie was able to heal her completely, she didn't know, but she still needed to figure out where she was. Taking the plate with her, she pushed down the covers and stood up.
The bedroom door creaked at her touch, complaining loudly as it struck its hinges. She paid it no mind as she moved through its mouth. To the left of her room was another one, and a third door sat at the end of the hall. She thought about tiptoeing, but the lights being on kinda made stealth pointless.
Her first stop was the second room. In contrast to the orange hue of hers, this one was blue. The bed was bigger too, possibly queen-sized. A bookshelf sat in the back full of encyclopedias.
I'll bet Twilight would love those. She thought with a sigh. On the desk next to her was an open book. One quick skim later, she groaned from an onslaught of incredibly lame puns. A dresser stood next to the shelf. And on top of that-
"Aaaaah-CHOO!" was another gold flower.
So my injuries are gone, but now I'm allergic. Just great. Though I suppose sneezing beats getting killed. Perhaps falling onto the flowerbed before had been the catalyst. Maybe it was Flowey, she didn't know. With nothing else to see there, she left the room.
The last room in the hall was closed for renovations, and the only other object of note was a mirror at the very end of the hall. Upon seeing her reflection, she become uncomfortably aware of her lack of recent hygiene. Her hair was unkempt, her clothes were blood-stained, and her mouth felt like a slug had taken up residence within it. Leaning closer to the mirror, she examined herself in more detail.
It's me. Chara.
"Huh?" A shake of her head brought her back to her senses. For a moment, she'd seen herself with red eyes and brown hair. Was she hallucinating thanks to her near-death experience? Well if that was the case, then maybe it was time for a little more sleep. Without another word, she returned to her room and slipped back under the covers.
"Wake up, my child."
The bothersome intrusion into slumberland only elicited a grunt of annoyance.
"Wake up please." This one came with a small shake.
A few rays of light filtered into her field of vision. Groaning, she tried to turn away. "Gluuuugh. Comeonmom. Idon'twannagotoschool. Justfivemoreminutes."
"'Mom'? Uh yes 'Mom.' Come on little one. Wake up for 'Mom.'"
"Noooooo," she moaned. "Idon'twanna."
"All right then, you leave me no choice." The cozy warmth of the covers gave way to a cool rush of air as Sunset's feet were exposed.
Her eyes snapped open. "Oh no."
"Tickle tickle tickle."
"Wait stop! AH-HA HA HA HA HA! PLEASE! HAH HAH HAH HAH! MERCY! HA HA HA HA! I CAN'T TAKE IT!"
After thirty agonizing seconds of torment, whoever it was let her go. "Are you awake now?"
"YES! Uh, yes I'm awake." Sunset sat up, curling her knees up, and looked into the eyes of her caretaker.
Or rather caregoat. Although her appearance was mostly humanoid, she had a pair of horns atop her head. Her ears too were long and droopy, stretching all the way to her chin. Her nose also extended slightly out of her face.
Sunset was about to comment on such an oddity; but then, she remembered that a pony-turned-human that could grow pony ears and a tail probably looked just as weird. So instead, she decided to go for a simple--
"Who are you?"
The goat-woman smiled. "I am Toriel, the caretaker of the Ruins."
"The Ruins?" Sunset scratched her head. "Is that where I landed?"
"Yes, it is. And it is also where you are now."
"Did you save me from that Flower?"
Toriel nodded. "I did. And might I just say, what a horrible creature to torment such an innocent youth."
She didn't know why, but for some reason, Sunset felt warmth spread through her chest at those words. "Thank you. So was the butterscotch pie you too?"
This time her smile held a trace of sadness. "It was. Butterscotch was my son's favorite flavor while he was growing up. Cinnamon was his best friend's. So, I decided to combine them together. Did you like it?"
"'Like it'? That's a massive understatement. It was delicious. It was so good, I couldn't bring myself to eat the second piece."
Then came a chuckle. "Well, food doesn't go stale down here, so feel free to eat it whenever you want. Is there anything else you need?"
"Um, yes actually." Sunset stared down at her dirty outfit. "Do you have a change of clothes I could borrow?"
"As a matter of fact, I do." Toriel opened the dresser and pulled out an outfit. There was a blue shirt with pink stripes and a black pair of pants. "These belonged to my son's closest friend; hopefully, they should fit you too."
"Huh. Out of curiosity, what was this friend's name?"
"Their name was Frisk."
Toriel's house and Asgore's castle are identical because it represented their marriage. Also, nice nod to Frisk and Asriel. Another thing, Celestia in Toriel's robes scares me a bit.
... Wait a minute...
If that's intentional then it's sneaky.
Because Asgore is just as lousy with original architectural design as he is with names.
Ookay... we know that Chara is up to his Genocide self, that Frisk must've gone through before and pulled off Pacifist, and yet Toriel is still underground? And Flowey is still acting like... Flowey? I'm not sure I'll like the explanation for THAT set of circumstances...
Great job with the pacing.
6910034
You know what they say about assuming things, right? It makes an ass out of you and me. Maybe not everything is as it seems.
6910197 True, but the only non troubling possibility I can imagine is Azzy being called Frisk here... which seems like a rather pointless change, so it's probably something else. I DID think of it taking place DURING Frisk's journey, but then how'd Toriel connect him to her son?
6910213
Maybe after a genocide run, when Chara says to move on to the next world, they do move on to the next world but with Frisks body, since Chara long lost its own, and assumed Frisks name as its own? Or maybe all those resets and time shenanigans or some incident made a timey-wimey error and rewrote the past so that Frisk was the first child or even Chara itself made that rewrite happen... Of course those are only theories, a few of many, but there are many ways to explain the Chara replaced by Frisk bussiness. After all it IS a fanfic, things will be different.
Tl;dr It's a fanfic, things will be different
6910306
6910034 Ah, theorists at work. That's what I like to see.
6910316
All in a days work!
Well from a narrative standpoint I think Asgore's and Toriel's house are identical to remind the player of where they started and have them consider how far they've come. Something of note: when you check the mirror in Asgore's house during a pacifist playthrough it says: "Despite everything, its still you." which I think adds some amount of credence to my hypothesis.
I have never played Undertake despite that the story is good so far.
I want to see where Twilight and the Main 6 are?
Because it shows that Asgore can't move on from the past and wants nothing more then things to be back to the way it was before.
6910744 I agree with that.
Aww yiss, update
6912347 What'd you think?
6909893 Yeah, it was intentional. Though I'm probably going to end up picking genders for both Frisk and Chara just because constantly using they/them pronouns gets rather awkward in dialogue and might undermine the story.
great pacing, i won't lie
6912794 I thought it was a good chapter, worth the wait :)
6910462 That's not a narrative standpoint. That's a gameplay standpoint. Narrative relates to the story, not the game. Why would they do that inside the story.
6916659 I guess I misunderstood. I think showing how far a character has progressed IS part of the narrative (from the author's and the reader's point of view) standpoint, but I can see how it could be said that it isn't (if you are looking from the character's perspective). In which case there could be any number of theories as to why the two houses are the same; Toriel could have been the one overseeing their construction or She could have built a house similar to her previous one to try and keep her experiences with Asriel and the original human child close in mind (either for comfort or for a reminder of the monstrosities that she believes Asgore has commited).
Edit: In short as long as you can find the words to justify it, you could have the fact that the two houses are near identical attributed to whatever you want.
Great chapter ^^. Also I like the new cover art. Sunset Frisk and Torielestia are cute ^_^
This story has the potential to become your magnum opus. Just saying.
6933102 How do you figure?
6933217 Just by how much obvious careful planning you make with each chapter of this, and considering how well each chapter is being received, this has the potential to be a masterpiece from the Great Zero!
6933472 You ain't seen nothing yet.
what about twilight and other?
6942515
6910724 Fear not, my children. Your cravings will be satisfied. But be warned, the taste might not be to your liking.
6943791
They're dead, aren't they? Flowey stole their souls... Nuuuuu!
So, is Frisk going to be the original human in the legend and Sunset Shimmer the new Frisk? Because if so, I would very much like to see that.
6964464 Not quite. That would mean removing Chara from the story altogether.
6963106 If Flowey had taken their souls, he would already be Photoshop Flowey since there are six of them.
6965572 And remind me again who Chara is.All I know about that name is that it's a YouTube username.
6966288 Chara is the "True Name" of the first child to fall into the Underground.
6964464 No, Frisk is noted as being Toriel's child in this, therefore taking Asriel's place. They thus became Flowey. Chara is still Chara.
6999751 *buzzer noise* Wrong. Frisk isn't Flowey.
6999751 Uh. I'm not so sure they are cutting asriel out of this completely.
6999876 Really? So... Is it still Asriel? But then where does Frisk fit into this?
7000612 When it comes to the Undertale characters, Chara's role couldn't be changed because she's responsible for why the Underground is how it is. Frisk's role on the other hand, could. And they're not the only one either. Part of the fun of writing this is playing on your expectations. Some things are the same as the canon while others are different. And sometimes I lure you into a sense of false security only to spring something completely different.
I will say though that Frisk's role is the most altered.
AKA: THE PLOT TWIST!!!!!
Perfect Music for this chapter:
Perfect theme for this fic:
Frisk is canon! Your story is great, but I'm currently lost.
I actually leaned back and said, 'OH SHIT' in surprise.
Just gonna hazard a guess here, fuck me if I'm wrong, but Twi and Set will fight.
Butterscotch was Asriels favorite flavor? And cinnamon was Chara's? Pffffft, that's adorable for a Genocidal, NO MERCY maniac.
Food doesn't go stale? Then how do you know what that word means?
*insert ILLUMINATE theme here*
*sounds of brain screeching to halt, failing, and crashing into a tree*
...What the fuck.
What the actual fu-
Oh. I get it. It's an AU. Got it.
7102259 Actually, it's not AU. There's a different explanation for this change that you'll find out later.
i havnt really paid attention to undertale, but i liking this story a lot right now
Whaaaaaaaaat? The only thing I can think of is a temporary swap for saves (like what happens in "dogs from future past" or when Frisk from Glichtale swaps herself for chara from her universe, but here it was the other way around.