L.O.V.E.

by VeryEpic

4 - Unnatural

Sans awoke, sat in the same purple chair that he had fallen asleep in. Raindrops from the storm the night before still continued to patter against the window, however the intensity of the storm seemed to have subsided almost entirely.

"Guess it wasn't a dream, huh..." Sans said to himself, looking around the empty room.

Well, empty aside from a small sleeping crocodile laying in the bed.

Part of him had hoped that the whole thing was a bad dream, and that he'd wake up in his bed, Papyrus yelling at him to wake up like he usually did. It wasn't all bad though, since even if this was a dream, he'd still have to deal with the kid and their ability to reset. God knows he wouldn't be able to live a normal life with them around.

"Pinkie?" Sans called, only to be met with no response.

With a yawn, he rolled out of the chair and onto his hoofs, trying his best not to wake up Gummy. He knew better than anyone that you don't interrupt something when it's sleeping. Usually the roles would've been reversed however, with Sans being the one sleeping.

He slowly opened the door to the bedroom and looked down the staircase. Sure enough, it was empty, but he could hear some movement from the floor below.

Groggily, he made his way down the staircase and past the bathroom, proceeding down the next set of stairs until he eventually reached the shop below. Pinkie Pie was already down there, hurriedly moving tables around the room and scrubbing away the last of the mud that was left behind from the night before.

"Need a hand?" Sans asked. Usually, he wouldn't be the first to offer help with chores, but since he was the one who caused the mess, it was only fair.

"Oh, hi Sans!" Pinkie exclaimed, scrubbing vigorously at the final patch of dirt, "What's a hand?"

He lifted one of his front legs and stared at his hoof, confused. It was at that moment when he realised that ponies didn't have hands, and therefore wouldn't understand any phrases that used the word hand in them. Maybe the correct terminology would've been: 'need a hoof'.

"Never mind," Sans said, lowering his leg back down to the ground, "Looks like you've got it covered."

Within the few seconds that they had been talking, Pinkie had somehow managed to clean away all of the dirt that covered the tables.

"So you wanted to go see Twilight today, right?" Pinkie asked, enthusiastically.

While he did plan on going to the library today, he first felt like going out and doing some reconnaissance of his own. That, or he just wanted an excuse to be lazy, even if he couldn't really afford to be right now. Sans had never really been a fan of studying either, and if Ponyville's library was anything like the one in Snowdin, it would almost certainly put a damper on his mood.

"Yeah, but I think I might go for a walk on my own first," Sans replied, glancing out the window. It was still raining, but by now it was only a light drizzle, "Just wanna clear my head first, y'know?"

"Oh, yeah! I get that too!" Pinkie replied, confusing Sans a little, "Sometimes my head fills up with all kinds of junk!"

Sans laughed, "You must have quite a lot of space in that mind of yours to be able to carry junk."

"Not that kind of junk, silly!" Pinkie replied, feigning insult. To be honest, it wouldn't have been that surprising if Pinkie somehow managed to find a way to carry literal trash inside of her head. Anything seemed to be possible when it came to Pinkie Pie.

"Well, what kind of junk are we talking here?" Sans asked, an amused smile on his face, "Empty bottles, torn sheets of paper, cringy childhood photos you'd rather not remember-"

"Metaphorical junk," Pinkie said, interrupting Sans, "Thoughts that don't have any real reason for existing, so I go for a walk to clear my head and dispose of them like junk!"

Sans' smile faded, replaced by one of surprise. That got surprisingly dark.

"Are you okay, Pinkie?" he asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

Pinkie Pie nodded her head, smiling, "Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Heh, just checking," Sans replied. Even if a surprisingly deep comment from Pinkie Pie seemed strange to him, it was probably a pretty normal occurrence for everyone else, "I'll meet you at the library in a few hours."

Sans began making his way towards the door, before suddenly remembering that he didn't actually know what the library looked like. The library in Snowdin could be identified easily enough, thanks to the sign above it saying 'Librarby', however he doubted he'd have such luck here. Almost every building he had seen looked the exact same, aside from the one he was currently in and the giant tree that stood proudly in the centre of it all. None of them seemed to show any sign of being a library.

"Sans, wait!" Pinkie called, seemingly reading his mind. Strange. She had done something similar the night before, somehow knowing things that she shouldn't have known, only to find a perfectly reasonable excuse for it moments later, "You do know where the library is, right?"

"Uh..." Sans said, blankly.

Pinkie Pie let out a giggle, covering her mouth to supress it. Despite the fact that he may have gotten lost if she didn't stop him, he was still glad that his forgetfulness had managed to make her laugh.

"It's inside the big tree, you can't miss it!" she explained, pointing out of the window. Even from here, the tree was still visible standing tall over every other building.

"Heh, that's kinda ironic," Sans joked to himself.

Seeing as how trees needed to be cut down in order to create the paper needed for books, it was pretty ironic that a library, a place filled to the brim with books, was built inside of one.

"Don't take too long, and try not to get lost, okay?" Pinkie said, assuming that there was a very high chance of Sans getting lost.

Truthfully, the chances of him getting lost were pretty high. He had no idea about the lay of the land, aside from the field he had woken up in, yet even then it probably looked almost identical to every other field. Long stretches of grass weren't exactly good landmarks.
That being said however, the library itself was tall enough to be visible from practically anywhere in Ponyville. Sans had no idea how to navigate the village, but as long as he could see the library, he could find out where he was.

"I'll try. See ya soon, Pinkie," he said, opening the door and stepping out into the rain.

The air outside wasn't quite as cold as Sans expected, at least not compared to how it was last night. Being his first experience of the cold, waking up in the midst of a thunder storm wasn't exactly a great first impression. At least having experienced extreme cold already, a typical morning chill now felt like nothing to him. It was almost like he was a skeleton again, only now he had four legs and a pair of wings.

Even the light drizzle of the rain was barely noticeable now, the only thing that was felt being the dampening of his coat and mane.

He'd began walking through the small town, and soon found himself in a market unlike any he had seen in the underground. Colourful stalls formed strips of shops, each selling different forms of food and merchandise. Large crowds of ponies gathered around, attempting to purchase their share of the goods before they ran out of stock.

It was quite a change in pace compared to the quite shop and inn back in the Underground, that was for sure.

Soon, he had approached the library, however he didn't have the intention to enter just yet. The area around it formed an empty circle void of buildings, almost like a town centre. It would make sense, considering the majority of the market stalls stood in the area around it.

Sans glanced up at the many branches and leaves of the tree, and sure enough, several windows were placed on each of them. There was even a balcony hanging from the top of the trunk, partially shrouded in a mass of vibrant, green leaves. It felt incredibly magical, more magical than anything Sans had seen in his home world. Surprising, considering his entire race was built from magic, and without it they would cease to exist.

Thinking back to his home world, he felt his mind begin to wander. It wasn't a problem though, since that was the main reason he had went for a walk to begin with.

Sans couldn't understand what had happened.

Even with the amount of timeline knowledge he had, still he couldn't wrap his head around it. No amount of resets should cause anything this drastic to occur.

If the entirety of the Underground was brought to this world with him, then sure, that would make a little more sense, but this wasn't the case. From what he had seen, he was the only monster around. No Papyrus, no Undyne. Hell, it didn't even seem like Flowey was around.

He could hear their voices repeating in his head. Papyrus calling out to him, his own voice talking aloud, and... G's...

Since he had fallen into the CORE, Sans hadn't really heard much from him. He had his occasional run in with that strange door in waterfall but never built up the courage to enter, then when he'd come back the door would be gone. It almost certainly was G's doing, but did he have that much power that he could send Sans to a completely different world?

It seemed plausible, but even then, Gaster was only a monster like the rest of them. Sure, he had been scattered across time and space, but that doesn't necessarily mean he gained the ability to control it.

Speaking of abilities, his sudden memory of all the previous timelines may have had something to do with it. He wasn't sure how, but it definitely wasn't natural.

Not to mention that kid, Chara.

They've had the ability to control time and reset for a while now, but surely they couldn't do so on this scale. From his knowledge, not even seven human souls combined could grant that much power, so the idea that Chara could do it with only one was out of the picture.

It just didn't make any sense.

How could Sans focus on finding a way back home when he didn't even know how he got here in the first place?

The only thing he could hear through his own thoughts was the sound of raindrops hitting the ground, but they seemed to be growing less and less frequent. Maybe the sun would come out soon? It had been a while since he had seen that. Since he had last had that happy ending.

It seemed like he'd been lost in thought for so long that he hadn't even noticed that he had reached the edge of Ponyville. Strange how thoughts can completely override the real world if you let them.

-

The rain had completely came to a halt, and the only sounds to be heard were the birds chirping and water flowing. Nearby, there was small stream that flowed under a bridge, overlooked by a small cottage that was elevated just slightly higher up.

"It's kinda nice here," Sans thought to himself as the sun began to peak from behind the clouds, but then he glanced a little to his left and saw the hulking mass of dark trees, a sudden contrast to the vibrant greenery that surrounded the cottage. It almost looked a little unnatural.

Thought of entering the forest played on his mind, casting its unusually eerie appearance aside. It would be the first time that he had seen a forest that wasn't covered in snow each and every day of the year.

Step by step he got closer to the forest, passing by the cottage, until he suddenly stopped without explanation. He hadn't chosen to stop, he just suddenly felt like he had to. Staring at the treeline, a feeling of unease washed over him. It felt like the forest was controlling itself, separate from the rest of the world, and it felt incredibly off-putting.

"Sans, wait!" a quiet voice called out from behind him. Immediately, he turned around to see Fluttershy quickly hovering towards him, "You shouldn't go in there."

"You're telling me. Something about it feels off," Sans explained, turning back to the dark green trees.

"It's actually the Everfree Forest, but you might not have realised because of how close by my house is," Fluttershy said, pointing towards the cottage that Sans had previously walked by.

"The Everfree what?" Sans asked, confused.

Fluttershy suddenly looked just as confused as he did. Everypony knew about the Everfree Forest, whether you were from Ponyville or not. Even as a foal ponies are taught to stay away at all costs.

"You... Don't know about the Everfree Forest?" Fluttershy asked, to which Sans shook his head.

"Well I'm guessing it's a forest," Sans joked, earning a smile out of her. Technically he was entirely correct, even if it was a joke.

"Do you... Wanna come in?" Fluttershy asked, the two beginning to walk back up towards her house, "You don't have too of course, I just thought I'd ask..."

Sans laughed faintly to himself, "Heh, I'd love too."

Fluttershy gently opened the door to her cottage, and Sans was immediately fond of the interior. The room within had several old-style elements, like the grey brick fireplace against the wall. It almost reminded him of the Ruins when it was still populated, only this time the entire room wasn't purple.

The best word to describe it was cosy, and it was enhanced by the small rabbit slouching on the couch.

"You've got a rabbit, huh?" Sans asked, making eye contact with the animal, "Sure hope it's not as bitey as Pinkie's crocodile."

"Oh, don't worry. Angel wouldn't hurt a fly," Fluttershy replied, smiling sweetly at the rabbit. Angel suddenly stood up and gestured towards his mouth, indicating that he was hungry.

Seemingly unfazed by Angel's bossiness, she trotted over to the kitchen and brought back some food, which the rabbit proceeded to shred down into nothing but a few crumbs.

"I don't know, he seems kinda bossy," Sans said, looking down at the rabbit with an uncertain expression on his face. Pleased with his meal, Angel flopped back down onto the couch with a wide smile on his face.

"It's just his way of showing affection," Fluttershy explained, "Have you ever had any pets, Sans?"

"Yeah, I have actually, heh," Sans laughed to himself, thinking back to the pet that he used to keep in his house, "I had a pet rock. Best animal there is if you ask me; all it needs is some sprinkles every now and then and it won't bother you."

Fluttershy gave him a confused stare, before her sweet smile returned to her face.

"Well, I have a lot of animals but I don't think I have any rocks. I do know one pony that loves rocks though," Fluttershy explained, causing Sans' ears to inadvertently perk up, "Pinkie Pie's sister likes eating them..."

Sans' smile drained from his face in an instant.

"That's evil," he said blankly. He thought that Chara was evil, but this was on a whole other level. If only he could see the LV of this pony, it would've been through the roof.

"Don't worry! She eats the non-animal ones!" Fluttershy exclaimed, realising what she had said and quickly making an effort to save the situation.

"Good, because if she dared eat a live rock, then, well..." Sans said ominously, eyes blacked out. Fluttershy took a single step back nervously, feeling slightly afraid, "Then she'd have a very bad time."

Fluttershy didn't dare to talk. Clearly the idea of a rock being consumed was enough to tip Sans over the edge. Sensing her fear slowly increasing, Angel perked his head up, ready to protect her at a moments notice.

"Heh, I'm just messing with ya Flutters," Sans said with a wink, sliding alongside her and nudging her leg.

Immediately, all of the fear that Fluttershy felt vanished and was replaced with a feeling of confusion, "D-did you just call me-"

"Yep. Looks like I found your nickname already," Sans explained, happily.

With that being said though, he couldn't help but feel like he'd used that trick in a previous timeline. He remembered saying something along the lines of 'you'd be dead where you stand' or something like, only to diffuse the tension immediately after in almost the exact same way. It was with the kid, but... Not that kid. A different kid.

"I... I like it," Fluttershy said, timidly. She almost seemed to be blushing slightly.

"Well, I was once known as the legendary nickname master. And the legendary fart master. And the legendary insert verb here master," Sans joked, referencing his once elusive secret secret codeword.

Those codewords were no joke, by the way. Enough timelines had eventually passed that Sans had somehow managed to become the legendary master of everything. By become, it means he used 'The Legendary Everything Master' as his username on UnderNet.

"Anyway, I'll be seeing ya around, Flutters. There's somewhere I need to be," Sans said with a smile as he began making his way towards the door.

"Wait!" Fluttershy called, stopping him in his tracks, "I thought you wanted to know about the Everfree Forest?"

"Nah. Honestly, something tells me I'll probably find out all about it pretty soon anyway," Sans said, turning back around towards the door, "See ya."

"Oh, okay. Bye, Sans!" Fluttershy replied happily, waving. She closed the door behind him and smiled to herself, "Well, Angel, what do you think?"

Angel leapt up and crossed his arms, a sign of disapproval.

"You don't like that he scared me?" Fluttershy replied, somehow understanding what the rabbit was saying, "I know, but... He was only joking..."

Angel opened one eye, before uncrossing his arms and falling back down onto his back.

"I don't know, I just feel like I can trust him... He reminds me of Rainbow Dash, very confident," she continued, only to be met with a faint grumbling, "Unnatural? Angel, I... I don't know what you're talking about..."

This time, she was met with only silence. The rabbit lay turned to the back of the couch, eyes closed.

"Get some sleep, okay?" Fluttershy said, patting the rabbit's head, "Maybe you're just a bit grouchy today."

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I recently left school so I took a 2 week break from writing, but thankfully I already had some of this chapter written so I had a point to start from.
I also know that I said I was aiming for 1-2 chapters per week, but I think I'm gonna scrap that. For me, the main cause of a burnout is having a schedule to stick to, so I think I'll just upload each chapter as I finish it.

This chapter probably seems like the start of a Fluttershy romance, but I promise it's not. I can't say much about romance without spoiling some of my future plans, but I can say that there won't be any romance in this story. There may be the occasional flirting, but other than that there won't be anything, and it can just be written off as Sans being Sans (Like in this chapter).

Credits:

Megalovania But It's Lofi by Case

Comments

[Eversong]

Hey you can say that the bunny is a guardian ANGEL

[zhunter]

10844430
god dame it take a like😄

[badjokesbyjeff]

Does everyone just really not question his eyes and mane changing color or no?-