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Chapter 4

Author's Note:

So this took longer to do in part because didn't have as much easy oppurtunity to work on writing stuff during my trip to Utah as I thought I would, but this chapter is finally done and now I can work/focus more on Chapter 5 for the Asriel Dreemurr story.

Hope folks enjoy, if anyone sees anything needing fixed let me know, especially in regards to Frisk and if I miss a usage of they/them/their

It wasn’t exactly easy convincing Toriel that they should take the strange girl to Alphys’s place. But when Frisk was determined to do something, they generally managed to overcome whatever obstacle was in their way.

Frisk had to make a strong point that before they’d heard the sound, the courtyard had been completely empty save for them. On top of that, the strange contents of the girls bag drew their own questions, though Toriel hadn’t been all that happy with Frisk rifling through the girl’s belongings.

What had mostly done it was the strange shimmering and rippling that seemed to be coming from the statue base. A quick check by Toriel had confirmed that some sort of magic was present. And given that until the Monsters had been freed, most humans believed magic to be nothing more than make-believe and fantasy…

“Alright, I suppose this does warrant a trip to Alphys.”

Toriel had helped Frisk bring the girl into the car, setting her gently in the backseat. Then they were heading off into the city core, with Frisk shooting Alphys and Sans a series of texts explaining the situation. Alphys to let her know they were on their way with the strange girl, and Sans to try and see if he could check out the statue.

Alphys replied readily enough just three minutes after Frisk sent a text. She was confused, but more than happy to help however she could. Sans simply sent a bony thumbs up emoji.

Every so often, Frisk would glance back to take a look and check on their strange guest. She remained rather out of it, the soft jostling of the car not seeming to rouse her in the slightest. Though every so often Frisk could have sworn they heard her muttering something in a language she didn’t understand.

Fortunately, by the time they had reached Alphys’s place, the girl hadn’t woken up. As they pulled into the garage, they found Undyne waiting for them in her police academy uniform.

“This the girl?” Undyne asked as she opened the door and hefted her over her shoulder with ease. Frisk nodded, carrying the girl’s bag with them.

“We’re heading up to Alphys’s study. That’s where she’s set up her equipment.”

The pair nodded, following the former Captain of the Royal Guard as they headed upstairs. Frisk couldn’t help but smile, seeing just how swiftly and deeply both Undyne and Alphys had already left their mark on their new home.

Arriving in the study, Undyne went ahead and set the strange girl in a cozy recliner situated in the room, while Frisk walked on over to a table nearby and let the contents of the bag spill out. They then got to work organizing them as Alphys walked in from another room, a magical scanner in hand.

“A-Are you sure this is necessary, Frisk?” Alphys asked, even as she approached, giving the objects and the girl a once over. “S-She looks like any other human to me…”

“She appeared out of nowhere, Alphys. One second there was no one else outside the front of the school except Toriel and myself. Next moment, I heard her crying out as she stumbled. And it looked like she came from the statue.” Frisk replied, glancing to Toriel as they added, “Toriel and I both saw that there was something weird and magical going on with the statue.”

“Frisk speaks the truth. There is some form of magic present in the statue that wasn’t there before.” Toriel said, looking to the girl with concern and confusion in equal measure.

“Well, I-I uh suppose checking her and her things out with this couldn’t hurt…” Alphys mumbled as she walked over with the scanner. She flicked it on and started running it over the girl, her eyes growing wide almost instantly as she started to mutter something to herself.

Frisk, Toriel, and Undyne all quirked their eyebrows as Alphys’s fingers started to rapidly move across various dials and switches on her scanner. After about a minute, she started shaking her head as she said,

“T-This is, or well, as f-far as I know, should be impossible!”

Alphys quickly moved over to the items from the girl’s bag, shaking her head in disbelief as the three of them looked at each other. After a moment, Undyne was the one that spoke up.

“Care to share what’s so impossible, Alphys?”

Alphys jumped a bit, then rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “O-Oh, uh well… so, well, you all know how Humans, and basically everything up here on the surface, is made up almost entirely of physical matter right?” After getting nods from all of them, Alphys looked towards the girl and her belongings.

“W-Well, for this girl and her things… that’s not the case.”

All their eyes went wide, before Frisk frowned and cocked their head to the side. “So wait, is she a Monster?”

“O-Oh no, n-not at all. She’s definitely not a Monster. T-Though what she is… I-I can’t say exactly.” She looks back over to the girl, who is still out of it, and begins to explain.

“Humans have almost no Magic making up their form. On the area of like, ninety-nine percent being nothing but physical matter. But this girl… a solid quarter of her body is made up of magic. The remaining seventy-five percent is physical matter.”

Alphys turns towards the objects that had been in her bag. “The same applies more or less to all of these. Their composition is at least a quarter magic, three quarters matter. Some of those g-gemstones are a bit more varied, but the books and those coins are the same.”

Frisk and the others frowned, now all turning their gazes to the strange girl. Undyne was the first to speak up.

“Think she's a threat of some kind?”

“I got slightly weird vibes from her before she konked out after seeing Toriel, but didn’t get anything truly… bad from her.” Frisk remarked, quickly adding, “Nothing on par with like, Flowey at least.”

All save Frisk shivered at the mention of him, though Alphys quickly spoke up.

“E-Even if she was, I-I don’t think she’d be much trouble right now.” She ran the scanner over the girl again. “Her magical energy is rather drained. I don’t know what magic she’d be able to do right now. And it’ll probably have left her tired physically too.”

At that point, there was a soft sound from behind Frisk, and they turned to see Sans standing there. His face was still spread in the usual grin it trended towards, but there was a firm, serious air to the lights in his sockets.

“alphys, i need to borrow some equipment, just to double check some things.”

“What’d ya find Sans?” Frisk asked, while Alphys replied,

“S-Sure, b-borrow whatever you need to.”

Sans gave a thankful look to Alphys, then glanced at Frisk and shrugged as he said, “not entirely sure kiddo. got some ideas and theories, but i need to check them first.” He strode on by them into a neighboring room, then Frisk heard the strange sound as he made use of one of his shortcuts.

“What action should we take Dr. Alphys?” Toriel asked after a moment, now giving the young lady an uncertain look. Alphys herself hemmed and hawwed a bit at that before giving an answer.

“S-Since she’s not really a danger at the moment… I-I’d just say we could keep an eye on her until she wakes up?” She wrung her hands together a bit as she glanced to the floor. “T-Though that might not work, w-we have the formal dinner tonight, a-and it could be a while before she wakes up, o-or it could be in the next hour or two.”

They all seemed to ponder that, with Frisk snapping their fingers as they said, “What about Papyruis? I don’t think he’s got anything going on right now. He should be able to keep an eye on her.”

“T-That could work. A-And if needed, Sans could take over o-once he finishes checking that statue out.” Alphys remarked, earning a nod from Frisk and Undyne.

“I feel a bit wary just leaving Papyrus alone with some strange girl from who knows where that we don’t know much about…” Undyne admitted as she rubbed the back of her head. “I might see if one of the Dogs can come over as backup as well, at least til Sans is finished.”

Frisk had already pulled their phone out and was shooting some messages Papyrus’s way. “He’ll be over as fast as he can. He’s asked if he’ll be allowed to try and set up puzzles and japes to befuddle her should the need arise.”

This drew chuckles from all of them, even as Alphys shook her head. “S-Sorry, but no. I still don’t want to see any puzzle that isn’t just a jigsaw puzzle for quite a while yet.” Frisk simply nodded at that, typing out a quick reply as Toriel reached down and ruffled their hair.

“With Papyrus, Sans, and some of the Royal Guard keeping an eye on her, there should be nothing to worry about for the time being, perhaps we should head home and get ready for the dinner.”

Frisk gave a nod. “Yeah, though hopefully she doesn’t wake up til we’re done. Especially if she is some kind of trouble.”

“Sans will be able to tell us. Assuming he doesn’t slack off.” Undyne remarks with a snort as she rolls her eye. She then looks to Alphys and smirks as she says, “On a different note, you gonna be wearing that new dress I got ya for tonight?”

Alphys’s only response was a squeak and some sputtering as she went bright red, toppling to the side after a few seconds. Frisk could have sworn they heard a soft, sheep-like noise come from her as it happened, but chalked it up to their imagination.

Undyne let out a roar of laughter, then pat Toriel on the shoulder as she said, “Go on ahead, I’ll keep an eye on Mystery Girl here while we wait for Papyrus.”

Frisk and Toriel both nodded, heading back out to the car. As they climbed in and drove off, Frisk couldn’t help but glance back towards Alphys’s home as they pondered the strange girl and her strange arrival. They couldn’t help but have a feeling of trepidation, something that Toriel was able to pick up on rather quickly.

“Do not worry my child. We’ll learn the answers to our questions in time. Just be patient.” She reached over and ruffled Frisk’s head, helping to distract the young teen’s thoughts, if only for a moment.

“Yeah, you’re right. Worrying about that won’t get me anywhere at all. Besides, I should worry about whether or not the formal dinner will be boring or not.”

That drew a mixture of chortles and giggles out of Toriel, which Frisk was happy to join in. Still, as the two of them got home and started readying for the dinner, Frisk couldn’t help but ponder the strange feeling they’d gotten from the girl.

-*-

A rush of anger. Fury at being denied. A surge of adrenaline as she took desperate action to take what was being denied to her. A brief pulse of magic stunned one blocking her path, a wave of fire sent another reeling back. A quick stop by her own quarters and she was ready.

She’d done her research. Knew that there was a world on the other side of the mirror. That it was a world where she could find the power to become what she desired most. The books had spoken of untapped potential, of secrets waiting to be unlocked. There had been a warning to be prepared, for it was a world seemingly lacking, or devoid of magic. And that the only intelligent race was one of two legged bipeds.

She had not considered these facts much. She was the prodigy of the Princess of the Sun, the best in the entire School for Gifted Unicorns. She was destined for greatness, she could see it, feel it. She would not be barred or held back.

That had been the thought, at least, before stepping through the Mirror and being whisked away.

The process had been strange and tumultuous. She’d felt her magic, her body, being tugged at and strained to its limits as she went spiraling through a seemingly endless tunnel of ever shifting colors and hues. It felt like she was being stretched and remolded, her body like clay as it tumbled over and over through the chromatic channel linking her world to this other one.

Then, finally, it had ended and she had come spinning out. And landed rather unceremoniously on a hard surface that took her by surprise as her body worked to adjust to all that had just happened. Her head hurt, a throbbing sensation from where it had met the ground but a second ago as she could already feel the beginning of a bump forming on it.

It took a moment for her to get back up, her thoughts sluggish as she found everything feeling familiar, yet not at the same time. A sensation she very much could have done without.

She also could have done with a bit more time before seeing someone of this world, as she wasn’t prepared for it… or for the changes the portal had made to her own form. The form she now possessed, and the one the figure before her had, was not one that she recognized beyond that it was bipedal.

But she was Sunset Shimmer, a phenomenal magician and sorceress who was destined for greatness. A little change in form wasn’t going to trip her up.

… Though after her head nearly collided with the ground beneath her again, she had accepted the help from the person who had appeared. She couldn’t discern much from the individual at a glance… not yet enough information to do so, but she could see the concern on the person’s face, even as a glimmer of wary curiosity shone in their eyes.

She saw that the person had her bag in hand and was offering it to her. She took it without a second thought, hands feeling it to make sure everything was still inside. Good, nothing was missing. At least this person had the decency to-

Then another person came around the corner. Only, they were different, yet familiar to her. The figure may have been coated in white fur, and her horns may have been on her head, but instantly Sunset tensed as she saw what she could only describe as a minotaur.

Minotaurs were renown for being aggressive, violent, physically strong and hardy, and above all, resistant to magic. And as Sunset reached into her mana pool, she made a horrible discovery.

She was almost completely drained of magic. She’d be lucky if she could do a basic levitation spell.

Sunset was not like many mages. She knew that being physically fit helped with using ones magic and improving it. But she was still, at the end of the day, a mage. Fighting close quarters was not her forte, while for Minotaurs, it most certainly was.

Perhaps if she’d been steadier, and didn’t have a throbbing headache, she might have been better able to see that the Minotaur’s posture was gentle and motherly. That there was only concern on her face, no hint or sign of malice.

But Sunset noticed none of that. She only felt fear surge through her, and let loose a frightened whinny as she fell to the ground. Terror and magical exhaustion worked hand in hand, and soon she was utterly unconscious.

The world around her went dark, and for quite a bit of time, she floated in an black void. She could feel her magic slowly restoring, but it was taking far, far longer than it should have done. When she finally had enough that she could regain consciousness and open her eyes, she was not where she had been. The room was dark, save for silvery light streaming in from a window nearby that revealed night had fallen at some point.

Her mind raced, as quickly as it could as the magical exhaustion still left her feeling sluggish and tired. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness and began to make use of the moonlight, she quickly deduced she was in some kind of study, laid out on a couch of some sort. There was no sign of the strange person or the Minotaur, but that didn’t mean anything. Her bag and its contents was lying nearby on a table, right next to some strange device.

“Ugh… where, where am I?” She muttered aloud as she sat up. The throbbing in her head was less intense than before, and as she reached up, she found that the bump that had been there had shrunk. Which, provided she hadn’t been out of it for too long, seemed a bit odd.

Alright, I’m in a strange place, different world. My magic is still drained, enough that anything beyond the most basic of cantrips would be too demanding. Cautiously and slowly, she focused on her magic to try and conjure an orb of light, to better see the room around her. She could feel the magic gathering in her and…

Nothing. No orb of light. Not even a glow from somewhere to signify her spell had done anything.

Her brow furrowed at that. She felt her forehead, and shuddered as she found there was no sign of her horn. Nightmare spit, without my horn… damnations, I have my magic, but without my horn, how do I channel it?

She glanced at her hands with uncertainty. She knew from her studies there were some races in Equinica that could use their hands to channel magic. But it took quite a bit of time and effort. The horn of a unicorn meanwhile, was a natural conduit for magic usage.

She went ahead and tried the spell again, routing her magic to her hands. All she got for her trouble was a brief tingle in her hands, and the barest hint of a glimmer of her arcane aura.

For the first time in a very long time, Sunset Shimmer found herself feeling… doubt. Being the student of the Princess meant she received education in a wide variety of fields, and she had her own interest in some outside of magic. But magic was her greatest talent. It was what had earned her her Cutie Mark, and made it possible for her to become the personal student of sole ruler of Equestria.

Without her magic, or at least, without the ability to cast and use it with ease, she was at a disadvantage. It would be so much harder for her to claim her destiny.

I’ve never backed down from a challenge. She thought to herself. But this… I… I might have acted hastily.

She pushed that thought aside though. Right now, she needed to try and learn more about this place, learn more about her form. There were already things that were either wrong, or hadn’t been described clearly from the research she had been doing. If she was going to be here and accomplish her goal, she needed knowledge.

Something she wasn’t going to get just sitting around on a couch in the dark.

Standing up, Sunset wobbled a bit on her legs, but using a nearby bookshelf as support, she began to make her way around the room. She stopped by the window, getting a glance outside and whistling a bit as she saw the lights of the core of a city nearby, alongside those of this part of town.

Has to run on electricity… since there’s not much magic here. She thought to herself, reminded of a trip to Manehatten she’d taken with the Princess. She quickly pushed such memories aside. She didn’t want to think about Celestia right now.

By her third lap around the room, Sunset had managed to walk with some degree of confidence, and had noticed the strange switch by the door. It hadn’t taken much guesswork for her to figure out the switch's purpose. Though the bright light from the ceiling of the room did leave her briefly blinded and she swore quite a bit.

As she tried to blink and let her vision clear, a door on the opposite end of the room opened up and a rather cheerful voice called out,

“I must say, those are quite novel and creative swears young miss. Though I’ll have you know that we try to keep the use of such naughty language to a minimum around here!”

As the spots in her vision cleared, Sunset turned around and found herself caught off guard once again, the color draining from her face just a bit as she stared at the skeletal figure that was smiling at her.

“Greetings! I, the Great Papyrus, welcome you back to the realm of the waking!”

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