Crimson Heart

by Starkeeper_Ponyfic

Arc 2, Part 3: Magic Crash Course

Author's Note:

Didn't realize how hard writer's block was gonna hit me so have this short chapter for an update this week so I can get the longer chapter in next. Next time, we'll be seeing the return of Twilight, the Mirror Pool incident, The Great and Powerful Trrrrrixie's CH debut, the sister camping trip that'll be a sibling camping trip with Frisk and Asriel, and potentially some Equestria Games shenanigans! Chapter after will be Twilight's ascension and the consequences that has for Frisk and co. before we get into the Rainbow Connection Arc! Super excited, and I just wanted to thank you all again for your support <3

Frisk blinked awake, in Fluttershy's house as Luna had informed them, with Asriel snoring on the couch and Thorax glaring at the monster prince.

*I forgot how much he snored, Chara commented dryly.

"Mornin', Thorax," Frisk murmured.

"Hey, Frisk... Did you know that Asriel snores? Because he does. So much," Thorax groaned. "I barely got any sleep last night... though... yesterday, uh... didn't help. I was really scared for you, Frisk..."

"Heh, not the first time I've passed out after reversing my own death... Fighting Asriel was. Brutal," Frisk replied, rubbing their sore chest.

"You had to fight him?" Thorax asked.

Frisk nodded. "He, uh... wasn't always Asriel. He was born Asriel, but... then he died. I'm sure you heard Chara's speech toward Chrysalis in Canterlot."

"Oh, yeah... If he died, then how...?" Thorax gazed over at Asriel. "Well, how is he here now?"

Frisk paused, considering the question. "Well... Many years after Asriel died, the Royal Scientist Dr. Alphys was experimenting with human DETERMINATION- the power that let me reverse my death- and injected it into a golden flower. The special thing about that flower was that Asriel's dust, which is what monsters become at death, had fallen on it when he died and basically, the flower came to life, becoming a soulless shell of Asriel with his memories and some of his personality, but... little ability to feel positive emotion. And he also had a really, really dangerous power, the power to RESET time to the moment he woke up. To save at specific points and turn back to them."

"So... he... I'm guessing that he started abusing it?" Thorax asked.

"Yep... Asriel, or rather Flowey, as he began calling himself, began RESETing over and over again, testing every outcome. At first he used it for good, but... eventually he started killing just to see what might happen, and without permanent consequences or a moral compass... he fell into, or at least presented, a 'kill or be killed' mindset," Frisk explained. "Then when I fell, he insisted to himself that I was Chara, his best friend... and began toying with me. Taunted me, tortured me... and then when I faced Dad, he killed him, stole the human SOULs Dad had collected, and became a horrible abomination of plant matter and human parts. Promised that only the first million deaths would hurt, but the SOULs began rebelling against him and I managed to strike him down... but then I was back to before facing Dad and some time shenanigans happened until I went back to Dad, who was stopped from fighting me by Mom, and then Flowey absorbed the human SOULs and the SOULs of almost every monster in the underground, making him basically a god, but I managed to stay determined enough to push through the multiple deaths and save Asriel from... well, himself, I guess... I couldn't guess how Asriel got here, or how he's a monster and not a flower, but... well, I'm just really happy about it."

"Wow..." Thorax chuckled. "Man, you're really strong... if you-"

A sharp ringing noise cut Thorax off. It repeated twice before Frisk found the source. "My phone's ringing?" they realized. "That hasn't happened in... well, since I got here..." They answered the phone with a tentative "Hello... this is Frisk Dreemurr speaking..."

A soft, tearful voice responded, "Hello, my child... It is I, Toriel... your... your mother."

"Mom?" Frisk gasped, waking Asriel. "I... I... It feels so good to hear your voice..." they murmured. "Is Dad there?"

"Yes, Frisk," Asgore answered. "I was, ah, the one who had the idea to have Alphys make a way to properly call you rather than just texts. We were going to call you late yesterday, but Toriel suggested waiting until today as a birthday present."

"Birthday present?" Frisk murmured before they realized how long they'd been in Equestria. "Huh... happy birthday to me, I guess..."

"It's your birthday?" Asriel asked excitedly. "That's great! We-"

"So it really is Asriel," Toriel sobbed on the other end. "Not to detract from finally getting to-"

"C'mon, fluffy boy, your mom wants to talk," Frisk interrupted. "You deserve the phone time more than me."

Asriel spent a full hour on the phone, teary-eyed beyond comprehension. Fluttershy ended up making Asriel a bib out of towels after she woke up and made breakfast for her houseguests. When Frisk eventually got their phone back, Toriel was still unstable and Asgore's very manly sniffles crackled through the receiver.

"I... Frisk... do you know how?" Toriel asked.

"Not really..." Frisk admitted. "We went north to this place called the Crystal Empire and he was just... there..."

"Well... I suppose, regardless of how he got there, he is there, and alive..." Asgore murmured. "I look forward to the day you can come home so we can wrap you in our arms again."

"I look forward to it to," Frisk agreed. "I miss you all... How is everyone doing?"

Frisk could hear Toriel's beaming smile as she replied, "Sans has gone to college to get a... I believe a science degree? It was very surprising to Papyrus and I, certainly..."

Frisk spent another hour hearing about the shenanigans their friends and acquaintances had gotten up to. Mettaton was quickly rising in popularity with each new performance, managing to score a season of a reality TV show from one of the largest human producers in the world. His fame had done a lot to help Napstablook, who'd gotten a track featured on the year's big multicultural album, and Toriel played a short sample of the music for Frisk's enjoyment. Alphys and Undyne had gotten engaged, setting the date for whenever Frisk and Sans returned, and Alphys was busy helping normalize the use of the monsters' magitech. Papyrus had joined the staff at Toriel's school as the "UNDENIABLY COOL COACH PAPYRUS!" and was working to outpace each of the jocks who thought they were cool enough to bully or harass the weaker students.

In return, Frisk shared some of their shenanigans in Equestria, carefully leaving out the more deadly bits, and described their new friends. Asgore expressed his desire to one day meet Fluttershy and Toriel commented on how well Twilight and Alphys would get along as total shameless nerds, and how well Papyrus and Undyne would mesh with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, all of them being good-hearted people with undeniable competitive streaks.

The phone call ended in high, if slightly bittersweet, spirits. The only reason it ended at all was that the connection was beginning to turn to static and Frisk heard Alphys on the other side of the line explaining that the CORE really hadn't been optimized for phone signals and that she'd need to work on it some more before the next phone call. The Dreemurrs said their goodbyes and Frisk set the phone down. They rubbed their eyes and murmured to Fluttershy that they were going for a walk.

Asriel quickly offered to join Frisk and without much to talk about, the two entered a companionable silence rivaled only by the serenity of the clearing housing Fluttershy's cottage. The warm spring sunlight kissed their faces and Asriel began playing with his magic and seeing what he could do. Shocker Breaker and Hyper Goner were inaccessible, but he was free to mess around with Chaos Buster, Chaos Saber, and Star Blazing as much as he wanted. The memory of Star Blazing's use as a shield caused him to wonder if it could have other uses he'd not thought of before, and soon Asriel and Frisk were zipping through the air on the attacks. They had to force themselves to stay quiet so Fluttershy didn't hear and chastise them, but they had a great deal of fun regardless. Eventually they went to lay down on one of the open hills just in view of Fluttershy's house to relax. Frisk suddenly sat up and nudged Asriel.

"What's up, Frisk?" he murmured.

"The sky," Frisk quipped teasingly, "but I wanted to ask if... maybe you'd... teach me how to do magic? Or at least try?"

"I mean, I can certainly try, but why do you ask?" Asriel wondered. "It... just seems kinda sudden."

"The phone call," Frisk explained. "I just... I dunno. Hearing them... I just want something cool to show them when we get back."

"Reasonable motivation!" Asriel decided before hopping up. "Alright, I... guess I'll try teaching you the way Dad taught me."

Frisk beamed eagerly as they hopped up.

"Alright, first you're gonna want to draw out your SOUL," Asriel instructed.

*Huh. This'll be fun, Chara snickered.

❤︎

After some brief mishaps. Frisk had managed to figure out that while they weren't able to pull any magic from within, their SOUL could be used as a conduit for the world's ambient magic, and from there they figured out how to shape that magic into their desired forms. At first they blanked and defaulted to crimson-tinted versions of the weapons they'd seen on their journey- spears, knives, and frying pans, mostly- but eventually, as they got into a groove with pulling the magic through their SOUL, they settled on a short kodachi and a gleaming red shield emblazoned with the Delta Rune. Asriel grinned and brought out the Chaos Sabers before the siblings engaged in a quick spar that was interrupted by Fluttershy's squeal of dismay. Frisk then figured out their main issue with magic- they couldn't figure out how to stop using it. With a sheepish grin, they stuffed the sword behind them and held up the shield with a mumbled "Ta-da!"

*That's. The best you could come up with. Really? Chara snarked.

NOT HELPING, PARTNER! Frisk retorted.

Fluttershy sighed and just shook her head at Frisk while Asriel frantically tried to explain the situation.

All in all, a good morning, though, Frisk commented mentally.

*Can't say I disagree, partner.