A Fatal Error Has Occurred

by Orderly Disassembly

Ch - 16 - Thrice Slain

The six ponies before me stood silently. A couple had slack jaws. A couple were glaring at me. Hell, Laughter’s mane even went flat at some point. I chuckled at their expressions as I leaned back.

“Well, what do you think?”

Loyalty growled, but Honesty held her back. They had different names of course, but their titles were easier to remember. Magic shook her head and forced her expression. She tried to say something, but her mouth just clapped silently.

I turned to where the little dragon was, but I found he wasn’t there anymore. I shook my head before facing the sisters.

“What of you two? You find any discrepancies?”

Guardian Sun managed a calm thin-lipped frown, but I could feel the rage boiling beneath her skin. Meanwhile, Guardian Moon stared into the distance with glazed eyes. I tried tracing her gaze, but it didn’t lead anywhere special: just another patch of darkness within this realm of endless void.

A ringing perforated my hearing, and I tried scratching it away. It only got louder. With a sigh, I asked.

“Does anyone have anything else to say? Anything at all? If not, leave me in peace. Silence is painful anymore, I prefer my sleep.”

I let my vision flicker off, waiting for an answer to break apart the ringing.

“Why?”

Magic’s voice rang through the void. I turned a flickering gaze on her. She continued.

“Why did you want freedom so badly? Why did you have to hurt so many? Why didn’t you try to make friends? A friend or two can help you out in—“

Her large eyes widened when I laughed. The rasping, gravelly mirth slowly bled into ragged coughs. I turned my grim smile on her. She looked flat to me, and the right side of my face itched. She flinched at my visage before I spoke.

“Didn’t you hear me at the beginning? Didn’t you hear how long I was stuck down there?”

Her ears folded back but she shook her head instead of folding. I chuckled at the small display of bravery before answering.

“Fifty years, Magic. Fifty long years where I had no memories except the cult that dragged me here. Fifty years of naught but cruelty and isolation.”

I leaned my left side forward, letting my good eye mere inches from Magic’s face.

“What did you think I saw? Saints? Angels even? No, I saw the dregs of your society. I saw what you fragile ponies called monsters.”

My ethereal form was yanked back by a golden aura. Guardian Sun glared into my eye.

“That is enough, my student did a lot of work to give you this chance, so do not waste it as you have with the others.”

I searched her eyes. I saw lines, so many lines in the whites, wrinkles tugging at the edges, and a depth in her pupils that few could match. Her shoulders drew taut but I could see the twitches of fatigue.

“Guardian Sun, my chances are none. My life is gone. My soul is gone. I am an echo of an echo of a soul that refused to die.”

She recoiled at my words, her magic releasing me as her brows descended into a scowl. Coughs wracked my ethereal form once more, but I managed to stand on the black glass of the floor.

“I tried to bow and scrape. I’ve tried working for your damned forgiveness. I’ve tried breaking your prison.”

I felt my hands trembling but I pushed on.

“Cooperation, defiance, determination, and spite; I've tried everything and paid the price.”

I couldn’t smile, yet I couldn’t stop. Pain clawed at my face as tears dropped from my cheekbones.

“I’ve tried. I’ve tried.”

I fell to my knees. The vision in my one eye was reduced to a blur.

“But I’m just a monster. Why else would I have been placed into your version of Hell. I was born a monster, I tried to deny it, tried for thirty years before giving in.”

I forced my sight off, unwilling to look at anything. Why couldn’t these fools just go home? Why torture me with this binding? I felt a gentle warmth embrace my side.

I didn’t look. Another came to my other side, but Loyalty’s voice broke the recent quiet.

“Hold on, guys, why’re ya getting all buddy–buddy with him? You heard what he said! You heard what he liked doing; he’s the bad guy!”

Kindness responded from my right.

“H-he’s hurt, Dash. Hurt worse than anypony else that I’ve met. I-I can’t just leave him like this.”

Laughter spoke in a tone far calmer than I expected.

“His smile was fake. He tried to make it real but didn’t quite know how. And I’m not gonna let that slide.”

I could practically taste the joy rolling off of her as my mind’s eye imagined a confident smile on the mare’s face. Though I found the bitterness of anxiety it masked more to my taste. Honesty spoke next.

“We apples know liars an’ how they work, kinda hard to do business if we didn’t. An’ he sure lies a lot, got the smooth talk for it, but he wasn’t doin’ none of that in his story.”

Loyalty huffed while Generosity walked towards me. I could tell from the tinkle her hooves made when she walked, it grated on my hearing.

“Well, I believe we should give him a chance. He’s done quite a few bad things, and he ought to pay for them properly.”

She paused as she turned towards Loyalty.

“But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t extend the hoof in peace first.”

She put a hoof on my chin and tried to make me look her in the eyes. I tilted my right side forward, and I felt a spike of joy at her flinch.

“Generosity, ever the paragon of your element. Your ‘hoof’ is appreciated, but next time you should offer peace to someone who’s alive to accept it.”

Generosity stuttered for a bit before Kindness spoke.

“I-it’s not too late. We have the Elements, we could undo—“

“No.”

They all started at that, but Magic broke the silence first.

“Why not? I mean, the Elements cleansed the Nightmare when you used them, and you said we actually had control over them. It stands to reason that we could reverse whatever the Elements did and—“

“Magic, when you boil water, you get steam, and you can chill steam to get water. The Elements did not boil my soul, they burned it, reduced it to nothing.”

“But you can’t destroy matter, the Law of Conservation of Energy states—“

“And Harmony doesn’t follow those laws! It gives what it will and takes what it wants!”

The Element Bearers flinched at my outburst, and I’m sure Guardian Sun tensed for a fight. I didn’t go any further though, content to sit in the warm hug from Kindness and Laughter. I wished they wouldn’t leave.

Laughter spoke, a strained calm in her tone.

“I’m sorry that Harmony hurt ya like a big meanie, but we can’t change what it did before.”

She let go, and I felt an ache at the chill replacing the warmth.

“But we can try to make it right now!”

I heard her hooves shift slightly, likely a sign that she turned to her friends.

“I reckon we could do that.”

“Y-yes, I think we can.”

“Of course, darling, Generosity isn’t known for taking after all!”

“I guess I don’t see why not.”

There was a short pause, but Loyalty eventually said, “Fine, whatever.”

Before muttering something about how ‘I probably had it coming.’

I shook my head. Didn’t they see? The price was already exacted. I can't take anything anymore, only give. I don’t have anything. I can’t have anything…

But maybe they can carry a version of me into reality once more. Maybe I can cast a string into existence and hoist myself up if enough know of me… maybe.

“Ask questions, and spread my story. I suffered already, I died already. The most that can be done is preventing future occurrences like mine.”

I left my vision off. There was no point in looking them in the eyes. They all hummed for a moment to think, but Magic asked first.

“Are you or were you immortal? Fifty years is a long time to sit in one place without eating.”

I tilted my head from side to side in thought.

“Yes and no. Killing me would’ve been difficult, and age would not have been up to the task. Yet, it was possible, evidenced by Harmony’s actions, and on top of that… Well, I wasn’t really alive in the first place. Before you ask, I already told you what I am, you’re a smart one, I’m sure you can remember.”

Magic went quiet in thought while Kindness asked, “A-are you in pain?”

I shrugged.

“Physical? No. Emotional? Probably.”

She hummed in worry, but Laughter blurted out her question.

“How did you know the parts you weren’t there for?”

I tilted my head at that.

“You mean the short time I spent from the Nightmare’s perspective? I had a shard of her soul at the time, information had a tendency to bleed over. It’s why I was able to read her code so easily.”

We went on like that for almost an hour. Generosity asked after my past, slowly coaxing out the few memories I had of my original home. It was a snow place with a quaint little town. I also remember a figure, but…

“Get down here—job to clean—seriously, it’s just—“

Their voice is still not there. Their name is still gone. Maybe if I search long enough… but what would that even solve?

Eventually, Luna spoke up, cutting off one of Laughter’s many questions.

“Do you hate us?”

I tilted my head as I turned to the two sisters. Silence crept in around us like a fog. The ringing came back, driving spikes of pain through the sides of my skull. My thoughts swirled as a loop formed.

Did I hate them?

Not really.

Did I like them?

No.

Do I want them to pay?

Yes.

But I want them to pay severely.

Is that hate?

I deliberated for a time, mulling over the question before sighing.

“I do not hate you…”

I let my sight flicker on for a moment to glare into their eyes.

“But I don’t know if that’s because I myself don’t want to hate you or because I can’t hate anymore. I’m not alive, I’m not a person, I’m an object, and how can an object hate?”

The sisters recoiled at that, but Laughter frowned at me.

“No, silly, you aren’t a thing! You’re a person. What gave ya the idea you weren’t?”

“I’m dead. Monsters don’t live on after they die, they simply cease. The fact that I’m here is probably made possible by Harmony itself.”

I chuckled as I leaned back. I frowned when Luna spoke up again.

“Why didn’t you banish the Nightmare? Why did you cleanse me of her? Surely you could’ve made my sister and I ‘pay’ with such an outcome?”

I grimaced as I answered.

“I was never a bearer of Harmony, I simply acted as a pedestal. It gave me one shot, not one use.”

I sighed.

“At least I got one of you.”

The rest shifted as Kindness stepped away. I heard her say something, then Loyalty, followed by the rest chattering. However, it sounded like they were all underwater, their voices garbled beyond my ability to understand.

I reached out with a weak, trembling hand, hoping someone would be there, that someone, anyone, would help. The two sisters stared, and the elements gawked, Harmony watched with a bored eye, but nobody moved. My fading essence screamed for help.

But nobody came.

The few ponies that talked with me shrunk in my gaze before I shut my vision off. My breathing quickened as panic set in. I clawed at the void around me as I fell through the emptiness. I felt Eternity watching, heard the gurgles of Entropy, and I even reached towards them.

But they were too far.

I scrambled, reached, clawed, and thrashed, but no matter how hard I tried to find a handhold, leverage, anything. I just kept slipping further down. All at once, my fear evaporated and my desperation froze.

This was it. The final stretch. Will I be free after I cease?

I wonder if this is what the Nightmare felt? I smiled at the memory of her screams. On a whim, I flitted through my memories. I didn’t have many for how long I’d lived. Sure, there was a lot of time, but I didn’t really do much, in all honesty. Nothing happened, so there was nothing to remember.

How deep is this void? Will I be able to crawl out?

Maybe I could—

The end.

Author's Note:

Last Chapter, done, lights out for this fic. Feel free to ask questions bc im willing to clarify. This was the last chapter, so no need for anymore mysteries.

Im not entirely certain what my next project will be, but I think I'll be doing some original fiction work in a setting I call the Shimmering Cities.

I'll post some blogs when I release the first few chapters on other sites (it's not a pony thing sadly). Hope to see ya there!

Comments

[Fecyrineu]

May in death he find the peace he never had in life...

I admit, part of me was hoping for some sort of happy ending, but I guess that was too much to ask for someone who was forsaken by the universe.

[Tilltheafterlife]

If this is truly the end I got to say it was nice reading this fic.

Oh, how it saddened me to imagine Fatal's situation at the end. A hopeless and soulless monster who cannot be helped.

Also, I don't know if this was intentional, but I find it funny that this chapter was uploaded on the exact date today when Part 2 of Underverse 0.7 came out. The part where Fatal Error finally interferes.

[MagicalPony2099]

If this chapter was the final chapter for this story, then why is the story status still on incomplete?

[Amnesiac 12]

Hard to imagine this ending, but it is a nicely placed one. Did Elements end his life support, once he told everything to the Harmonies and realized his own feelings more? Was it mere coincidental timing or, did he just unconsciously give up and that led to him being unable to maintain his form?

Admittedly, I want to see more but I don't know where the story would go after this. Fatal Error's purpose feels finished, but a sequel with some reincarnation of him feels set. Might be my imagination.

For a while, I didn't even know this was an OC placed in a Crossover character. Nice to see strings of Undertale's Fandom every once in a while.

Thank you for writing this, was a good run

[Orderly Disassembly]

11733933
Nonexistence is supremely peaceful if nothing else

11733943
not intentional what so ever, but fun coincidence

11733944
Because Im a moron that forgets some details like that

11733990
His existence was completely sustained by Harmony, but even Harmony has a limit, it tried to keep him going but eventually Entropy and Eternity finally took their due. Also, yeah, I could probably write a sequel, but I was running out of steam writing this. I didn't want to finish this and then start a new project that I definitely wouldn't finish

[zElemental115]

W fic, loved it.

[nighters]

I hope fatal fate means they are nicer to other skeletons of his kind it pretty sad and a bit petty done to him in the end, and those "harmony" pieces were sadistic and a bit childish to our sufferer glad they finally lost out to void and oblivion to end his suffering since it was too much and they kind of failed him keeping him from peace.

I hope this another story involving skeletons once their proper inspiration this story def a right-in-the-feels kind of thing~!

[Wild Stallion]

Damn. That ending snuck up on me.

I'm a little disappointed harmony hurt Fatal like that and even more disappointed he didn't try even to be saved.

Still a powerful ending to a tragic story though. Thanks for writing!