It's been a long time since the Elements of Harmony have gone missing.
I pulled on my lost-mother's blue and purple sweater, taking a single moment to shed a tear for her life.
They went up a mountain to solve a dragon problem. They never came down.
Poking my tan nose outside, I quickly checked to see if there were any guards patrolling the area, or perhaps slaves who thought they were loyal to Sombra. Luckily there weren't. I did a mad dash to the next building, working my way around the old town of Ponyville, the new town of Lost Hope. My goal? The mountain.
A friend of theirs went after them. She was a travelling performer, always looking for a show. This time she came back to Ponyville, willing to put on a show for everyone. When she heard about her friends, she climbed the mountain in search. She never came down either.
I did a quick check at my cutie-mark, a single red heart. My classmates used to make fun of that cutie-mark. It's power has kept me alive these past six months. Determination was a strong thing after all.
A rescue party went up the mountain and came down, excluding one strange member. He was a dear friend to the Element Bearers, and while quite mischievous, he still cared about them all, very, very much. He was gone as well.
Finally finishing my long loop, I looked back at the black, dark spire that dominated Lost Hope. I turned and began my walk up the mountain. Whatever was up there was better than what's down here.
When the Elements left, everything was hopeless. Yet in the fall of heroes comes the birth of an empire. The Crystal Empire had returned to join Equestria. It was an Empire filled with love, and the princess to rule it was given accordingly. Everyone adored her. But something was horribly wrong.
"Stop! You are violating the law! Pay King Sombra a fine, or serve your sentence! Your life is now forfeit!" The dreaded call of the guard snapped my head around, wondering who could've followed me. I was nearly certain I hadn't been followed! Yet there it was, green smoke coming out of where it's eyes should've been. The armor covered all of it, masking it from view, making it impossible to tell who it used to be. But somehow from the voice, I knew. I knew that that was my mother.
"M-mom?" I squeaked out, fearing the response. It seemed to be fighting with itself. It was trying to skewer me with it's spear, but one hoof was holding the spear back. The green smoked seemed to falter for a second. "M-mom, it's me. It's Frisk! Please, Mom, I don't want to fight!"
The smoke faltered completely, ending with a sputter. "Frisk?" She was in obvious pain. Sombra was impressing upon her mind, trying to force her to do his evil bidding. "I want to hug you, but..." She coughed out a dry laugh. "I don't think I'll be able to hold out much longer." She grinned at my terrified expression, the type of grin she used to have when she sang me to sleep. It was calming and reminded me of all the times we had spent together, listening to music, singing songs, reading stories. "Listen, honey, leave. Go up the mountain-STOP!" The green smoke had returned, attempting to take over her mind. "Leave, Frisk! Remember, never fi-YOU MUST STAY HERE!"
I turned and ran, never looking back, attempting to block my ears when I heard my mother's scream as she impaled herself with her own spear.
She always did have strong determination.
Yet the Empire held a dark secret. An evil King had been laying in wait for a thousand years.
I pushed myself, tears streaming down my face as I continued running. I was in pain, both mentally and physically. My hooves ached, and my legs screamed at me to stop, but I couldn't stop. I just couldn't. I was numb all over, but supposedly when you're numb you can't feel anything. I'm here to say it's not true.
With the Elements of Harmony gone, there was no one to hold back the storm. One day, the creatures of Equus woke up to a world covered in black crystals and smoke. The war against King Sombra was lost, as was all hope.
Finally my legs gave out under me. Stumbling to a halt, I fell and looked up at the sky. It was a grim sight, all the stars from before gone, and the moon constantly over our heads. I turned and coughed, the cold air and smoke trying to be expelled from my lungs.
With no alicorns to rule, the sun and moon stayed in a constant position. One side of Equus froze, the other burned.
Sometimes seeing things from a different angle helps situations. From my position on the ground with my dark brown hair covering my face, I found a cave. Frozen vines covered the entrance, but it was still there. Unsteadily standing up, I hobbled towards the cave. I moved the vines, hoping for somewhere warmer than the mountain top. Instead I found the floor covered in frozen vines with a giant hole sitting in the middle. Warm air was coming out of it, and it was better than nothing.
Snuggling more into my mother's - my - sweater, I tried to get close to the hole. I got a little too close. Tripping on a vine, I fell headfirst into the hole, feeling for the first time in months warm air, although it was whipping by me as I fell to my doom.
I woke up, pain flaring through my skull. Clenching my eyes tight, I realized that no matter how many times I told myself in my head, I was still quite alive, much to my dismay. Through my eyelids I could feel light nearby to what I perceived the ground with darkness surrounding.
I decided it was time to wake up.
Cracking open my eyes, I found myself laying on a bed of flowers. It was probably what saved me in the long run. I tried to stand, but my legs were so stiff and so sore, I collapsed the second I stood. Instead I took a look around where I was. There really wasn't much to see. The room I had fallen in was completely pitch black, excepting the bed of yellow flowers I had fallen on and the hole at the top.
I then noticed something.
I was warm.
Not burning hot, not freezing cold, warm. Temperate.
This gave me determination.
I forced myself to stand, groaning as my legs protested to being used after my mad dash up a mountain. Remember that perspective thing? I noticed a hallway that was barely visible in the low light. There was nothing else to do, and I doubted anypony would come looking for me, so off I went down the hallway, determined to find some food or some water.
Some light came from a doorway off to the left. I shrugged and entered. The room was very much like the one I had left, excepting a few small details, like a doorway at the back and a... flower with a face?
And then part of the impossible happened. It spoke. "Howdy friend! My name's Flowey. Flowey the Flower!"
"That's really unimaginative." In my defense, I was in a brain-lock from seeing a talking flower.
Its face morphed into something. Annoyance, perhaps? "Well geez, you sure know how to greet a new friend."
"S-sorry..." This flower scared me, and I'm not sure why.
"Golly. You must be new to the underground if you've never seen something like me before!" It chirped.
"And what exactly are you? I-if you don't mind me asking." My manners that Mom taught me all those months ago cropped up again.
"Me?" Its face morphed into something terrifying and its voice went a few octaves deeper. "I'm a monster."
My heart stopped for a second, but continued beating as its face went back to its normal, overly-happy countenance. "Someone oughta teach you how things work around here."
I lowered my head. A common sign of respect. I figured it would help me in the long run. After all, getting a grip where I am and what just happened would be nice, and Flowey didn't seem aggressive. "Would you mind if you did so?" I asked.
He thought about it for a little bit, then shrugged his weird, flower shoulders. "Sure, why not!" He grinned a predatory smile. "Are you ready?" A nod from me. "Here we go!" He pointed towards my cutie-mark. "Ya see that?"
"My cutie-mark?"
"Your soul! It's the very culmination of your being!"
Perhaps he like jokes. "So you could say I'm always wearing my heart on my sleeve?" It was an attempt to lighten the tension, but all it did was make Flowey mutter something about a 'Smiley-Trashbag'. I had my answer.
"Moving on!" A polite cough. "Your soul starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV."
"What's LV?" I asked, confused. Did it mean Level? Love? Lymphatic Veritosis?
"Why, love, of course!" He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. So my second assumption was correct. "You want some love, don'tcha?"
"I'm not su-"
"Don't worry, I'll share some with you!" This was my first warning. He was rushed when I was having doubts, and made the choice for me. A knot began to form in my stomach. "Down here, love is shared through little white 'friendliness pellets'." A ring of afore mentioned friendliness pellets surrounded him. Another warning was present. I noticed the ring was wide and he was keeping clear of all of them. If they were really friendliness pellets, wouldn't the ring be a little smaller? Wouldn't he not be worried if he touched them? "Move around! Catch as many as you can!"
They flew towards me. An alarm went off in my brain. 'If he was really my friend, he wouldn't be trying to force me to touch these.' I dodged them, swinging myself to the right.
"Hey, buddy, ya missed them." The annoyed face from earlier had made its return. Chills began to crawl down my spine.
"I didn't miss them." I stated quietly. "I dodged them."
His face then morphed into something truly terrifying. "You know what's going on here.... Don't you?" I didn't respond. "You just wanted to see me suffer." A sphere of the bullets surrounded me on all sides. I frantically searched for an escape, but there was nothing. "You think that you can get by me without fighting?" He ground out, then laughed manically. "Down here, it's kill or be killed. Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this?"
"Because it's the right thing to do."
"'Because it's the right thing to do.'" He mimicked my face and my voice. My brain locked up. "DIE."
The sphere of bullets began to close in on me. I curled into a ball in the center, to hopefully prolong my life just a little bit longer.
Flowey's crazy grin was still there, but he suddenly seemed a lot less sure of himself. The sphere had disappeared, and was replaced by a wonderful feeling that washed all my sores away. I stood up, and stared him right in the eye.
"I think it's time you left."
I think he agreed. He somehow melted back into the landscape after giving me a death glare that made me forget the wonderful feeling for a second.
I looked around, trying to find my savior. Nobody appeared. This put a small frown on my muzzle for an instant. "Hello?" I called out. "Is anybody there?"
A creamy white... goat woman thing? came from the shadows. She was wearing a purple dress with a strange design on it. I might have recognized the design if her long pink hair didn't mostly cover it. Whoever she was, she was gigantic, topping out at just under seven feet tall. She looked like she was fighting with herself. Part of her wanted to go back into the shadows, and part of her wanted to come meet me. The latter part won.
"G-greetings my-my child." She stuttered. I took a defensive step back. The last time I trusted something down here, it betrayed me. "Ahh! Do not be afraid." And now her feelings were hurt and I felt horrible. Great. "My name is T-Toriel, caretaker of the ruins." Toriel seemed really nervous. Like not normal run-of-the-mill I'm-meeting-a-new-pony nervous, like super ultra mega nervous.
"Hi." Simplicity is best.
"So, um...."
An awkward silence pervaded the room.
Okay, maybe simplicity isn't best. I was gonna have to start a conversation. "My name is Frisk." As good a start as any I supposed.
She seemed genuinely happy to know my name. "Hello, Frisk!" For some reason, her confidence soared. I didn't know what happened. "Come, let me guide you through the catacombs." She beckoned me to follow her, then walked toward the doorway.
I shrugged and followed. What else could happen?
When I took my first step into the Ruins, I was amazed. Huge purple pillars soared above my head, impressing me. Some steps led up to another room, which I wasn't interested in exploring at the moment. I was content to just sit and stare.
Toriel seemed to understand, as she giggled slightly behind her hand. "It is quite an impressive sight, is it not?" I just nodded dumbly.
The shadow of the ruins....
It filled me with DETERMINATION.
With renewed vigor I followed Toriel through the doorway, opening up into a room with six pressure plates off to the side. She began to explain. "Welcome to your new home, Frisk." She said with a warm smile. "Allow me to educate you in the operation of the Ruins." That said, she pressed four pressure plates, completely avoiding the ones in the middle, then went and flipped a golden lever attached to the wall. "The Ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys." Then the odd happened. I mean, other than following a strange goat lady around with pink hair. "I-I find them quite difficult." The stutter and nervousness had returned in full force, and her voice had turned very melodic. Toriel shushed herself, and continued confidently, like nothing happened. "Please adjust yourself to the si-"
"Excuse me." I interrupted. "What happened there?"
She smiled, but a touch of fear hit her teal eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You shushed yourself and began stuttering. And you seemed really nervous." I'll admit, she had grown on me. Toriel reminded me of my own mother. "Are you okay?"
"Oh? Oh!" She smiled a genuine smile. "Of course I am. Pay no attention to it. Let's continue." She obviously wanted to drop the subject, so I dropped it like a flaming potato.
We continued into the next area. A small stream flowed through here, and there were several signs dotting the purple landscape. Further on, I saw three golden switches, two of which had writing next to it. Wicked looking spikes blocked the way to the next room. "To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches. Do not worry, I have labeled the ones you need to flip." She indicated the switches with writing next to it.
I couldn't help it. "This seems very... well thought out." I observed, looking at her nervously. While I liked her, I was still a bit cautious from my run in with Flowey.
"Ye-yes, well, let's just say I've done this before."
That scared me. I don't know why, but that frightened me. "O-okay." I walked over with Toriel by my side and flipped the two switches. A resounding CHUNK rumbled the ground beneath me, and I saw the spikes retreat.
"Splendid!" She grinned. "I am proud of you, little one. Let us move to the next room." When we did so, the room was completely blank, excepting for a dummy in the middle of the room. "As a pony living in the Underground..." I got the feeling she was trying to deliver the news gently. "...Monsters may attack you."
This didn't particularly shock me. "Oh really?" I said in a sarcastic voice. "I really did think that Flowey was just trying to be friends."
"Y-yes, w-well..." I immediately felt bad. Here Toriel was, the nicest creature I had met for six months and I was already being a jerk.
"I-it was just a j-joke!" I struggled to amend my previous words. "I-I..." I sighed deeply. "Sorry, Mom."
There was a thick silence. "What did you just call me?" Toriel asked, wonder in her voice.
"Mom." I said unwittingly. I then blinked. "W-wait a second! I-It's... uh..." My voice petered off. Did I just offend her?
I felt thick, fuzzy arms wrapping around me. "It's perfect." She whispered.
My heart melted.
Flutoriel A.K.A WHY IS PUBLISH SO CLOSE TO EDIT?!?!
Holding Torie- No, Mom's hand, I was led over to the dummy. "As I was saying, as a pony living in the Underground, monsters may attack you. In this situation, strike up a friendly conversation." I looked up at her, a bit confused. "I will come to resolve the conflict." That explains things. "Go ahead." She urged me, pushing me gently towards the dummy.
"Uh," I rubbed the back of my head with a hoof. "Hi."
...It didn't seem much for conversation.
I walked up and gently booped it's nose. When I turned back around to face Mom, however, I heard a whisper. Just a whisper, but it was still there.
"Boo."
I swung to face the dummy, but it was staring as stoic faced as ever. Mom looked happy though, so I guess it was worth it. "Excellent, Frisk!" She gave me the motherly glance of pride. "Let us continue into the next room." Leading me with that fuzzy paw of hers, we delved deeper into this strange place I was prepared to call home. This room had a path that was made out of a lighter purple than the surrounding stone. Mom looked at me. "I wonder if you can solve this..."
Shrugging, I inspected the sign on the far side of the room. "The west room is the east room's blueprint." I read aloud. That was confusing. "The west room is the east room's blueprint? What does that mean?"
Toriel had a musical laugh. "C-come, Frisk, and you'll see!" Welcome back, stutter! Did you enjoy your vacation?
"Moooooom!" I drew out the words, trying to show my mock displeasure at her mystery.
Dang, Mom has a beautiful laugh. "My name's not Mom, it's Flut-" She paused and looked shocked. I was right alongside her in that boat. Did she almost say what I think she almost said? She then attempted to hastily amend that statement. "-oriel. It's Flutoriel."
I was - still am - no fool. There is only one pony in the entirety of Equus who's name starts with a f, an l, an a u. King Sombra wanted nothing to do with the Elements of Harmony and their bearers. The first thing he did when he got in control was ban all names that started with the first three letters of their names and put the rest of the population unlucky enough to have names in that harsh criteria to death. There's only one....
I stared at the newly dubbed Flutoriel. A bead of sweat rolled down her face, and as she tried to hide behind her hair the seven-foot goat mother seemed a lot less intimidating. “L-let’s move t-to the-the puzzle. Please.” Her whole demeanor had flopped again to somebody completely unsure of herself.
I opened my mouth to pursue the subject, but Flutoriel had already moved on. I hesitated only a second before following her. If this was who I thought it was, no matter how impossible, she would never lay a… hand? Hoof? I wearily shook my head. Too much had happened that day for me to be thinking about that.
When I took a few steps towards her, I heard a weird hopping sound. Strange. It kinda sounded like a…
A giant frog stood in front of me, staring at me warily. I didn’t know what to call it, but the name Froggit popped to mind. It was as good a name as any, I supposed, and decided to address it. Yet again, however, my mouth ran before my brain, and instead of me saying “Hi.” I said, “Wow, you’re cute!”
Froggit didn’t understand what I said, but was flattered anyway.
Mom came over, and with a glare that would set water on fire, the Froggit quickly hopped away. Oh well. Maybe another friend would make an appearance. Beckoning to me, Flutoriel stared out at the next puzzle. My eyes followed hers, and a gasp escaped from my mouth.
The entire floor was covered in spikes.
Mom was debating something with herself, and she eventually came to a decision.”Oh my… this is a bit more… dangerous than I thought it was.” She offered a hand over to me. “Here. Take my hand for a moment.”
I hesitated, then placed my hoof in her capable paws. Then, to my horror, she stepped on a spike. I winced, and shut my eyes tight against the world, unwelcome images and memories resurfacing themselves.
The lack of pain-filled screams confused me.
Cracking open my eyes again, I saw Mom’s confused, worried face watching me. “Are you alright, my child?”
“Y-your foot! It’s-It’s-”
“Oh!” Flutoriel seemed to understand, and then laughed a bit. “It’s alright, Frisk! Look!” She lifted her foot off the spikes, and they came back up. She dropped it again, and I noticed the spikes stayed at least two inches away from her foot at all times. “Come! It’s safe. I promise.” Her voice took on a buttery smooth voice. It was very calming.
I sighed, mentally preparing myself. I then nodded, full of DETERMINATION.
I took a step, then another, and another, my heart beat spiraling out of control. Flutoriel smiled at my bravery. “Take a left here.” She said. I pivoted, then continued. She continued giving me directions while holding my hoof, and before I knew what happened, we were at the end of the puzzle. “We can take a break here if you need to.” She mentioned, looking at me with a sideways glance.
“No.” I breathed out, my heart rate returning to normal. “No, I’m good.”
“Alright then.” Flutoriel smiled at me. “Are you ready to continue?” I gave a firm nod, and we went into the next room.
It was a long hallway that went so far back I couldn’t see the end. “I’m going to ask something difficult of you.” Mom looked at me seriously. “I need you to walk to the end of this hallway by yourself.” It was regret that I saw in her eyes. “Forgive me for this.”
I was so bewildered as she sped with inpony speeds to the other end of the hallway and out of sight. “U-um… okay…” Maybe this was a test? Whatever the case was, I needed to get over there. So, with tired sigh, I began to trot. And I trotted. And trotted. Jeez, how long was that hallway? “Flutoriel?” I called out, feeling a tad nervous. “Fluto- Mom?!” No response. My heart rate began to speed up. Instead of trotting I began galloping, hopefully getting to the end. Or maybe this hallway was endless? Thankfully it wasn’t. “Oh sweet Celest- I mean Sombra, the door!”
I leaned against a pillar that was conveniently placed, and practically jumped out of my skin when Mom walked out from behind the very same pillar. I noted with a touch of satisfaction that she jumped back too.”O-oh, greetings my child. I did not expect…” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, this was to test your independence. I must leave for a while, and you will be alone. Will you be alright staying here?” Leaning down to my level, she looked at me dead in the eyes. I simply nodded. Mom sighed in relief. “Be good, alright?” She turned to leave, seemed to consider something, and turned on her heel and approached me again. “Here.” I got… something. It was a black box with a hinge on it. “This is a cell phone. You can contact me if you need anything.” With a wink and a kiss on the forehead, she left.
I looked at the cell phone. It did nothing. I poked it. Still nothing. I remembered the hinge on it, and nosed it open. It came to life! I’m not joking, it literally lit up. After I got over my shock of this insane device, I hid my eyes and pushed a button. A beep sounded, and suddenly I heard Mom as clear as day! “Hello Frisk! Did you need anything?”
“Mom?” I asked, apprehensive. “Mom, why are you in the cell phone?”
A few seconds of silence. I could practically hear the confusion. “Huh?” The laughing started. Loud peals of beautiful laughter filtered through the device. “Oh Frisk, I’m not in the cell phone! I’m talking at the end of another device like it!”
“Really?”
“Really.” She said reasurringly. “Call me if you need anything!” With that, I heard a click, and the screen dimmed.
Nearly forty minutes passed but there was still no sign of Mom. I sighed and looked at the drawings I had made in the dust on the floor. Dust? Wait a second, this place was immaculate before!
I raised my head from my drawings, and looked around. The hallway had gotten longer, if that was possible. Before I realized there was dust everywhere, the Ruins were full of sounds. Laughing, talking, creatures moving around. But now…
I sat back down, and waited. Something had happened. Something bad. I shivered involuntarily. With shaky hooves I opened up my cell phone and called Mom. Thankfully someone picked up.
“Mom?!” I nearly shouted into the receiver.
But instead of a single voice, I heard two. Two voices, interlaced into one. Toriel’s and the buttery smooth one. “D-do you really hate us…. that much….?”
“Mom, what are you talking about. It’s me Frisk!”
“Now I know who I was protecting by keeping you here…. Not you… but them!” Shaky laughter followed, and the sound of the cell phone hitting the floor and dust being blown away was the response.
“M-mom!” I actually did shout this time, hoping somebody, anybody would pick up the phone and reassure me.
But nobody came.
“It’s a real shame.” A voice came from behind me, it’s tone mocking. I whipped around, only to find somepony that looked exactly like me, except for a few minute details, like this pony was filthy! He was covered in… dust…
I sat up, screaming, my heart pounding away like there was no tomorrow. I quickly whipped out my phone and immediately called Mom. “Mom?!” I demanded into the receiver.
“Oh hello Frisk!” She cheerily sang. I was so relieved I didn’t respond. I only breathed deeply in and out for several seconds. “Frisk? Are you alright?”
“Y-yeah. I just had a… a nightmare. That’s all.” I forced out a laugh.
“You did? Oh Frisk! I’ll be there in just a second.”
I really wanted her to be there, but… well… “No!” I was surprised at how forceful that was. “No, it’s fine. Really! It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“Well, if you’re sure…”
“Yes, Mom. I am absolutely 100% positive that you shouldn’t get ne- I mean get backtracked. Or anything.” I chuckled awkwardly. She shouldn’t get anywhere near this room. “Just, uh, just stay safe, okay?”
“Alright, Frisk. Stay there. Be good!” The call ended with a click, and I breathed out a sigh of relief.
I groaned as I stood up. Contrary to popular belief, stone floors make for painful napping areas. Stretching, I walked into the next room without hesitation. I was not staying another second in that hallway.
In the next room there was three piles of leaves, a sleeping Froggit, and two doors. Of course, the item to do on my priorities list was to play in the leaves. I didn’t know where the leaves came from as there was no trees down here, but it was fun none the less, and definitely helped to relieve some stress left over from that nightmare.
When I stepped out of the leaf pile, I felt something I hadn’t felt for a while.
I felt DETERMINED.
I confidently walked up towards the the doorway where the path didn’t lead. Inside, there was a bowl of candy on a pedestal. There was a note that said to take one. I took one of course. I love candy! But then, I looked towards the candy bowl again.
With slight apprehension, I quickly snatched another one.
Wow.
I felt disgusting.
I stepped out before I could have second thoughts about what a terrible pony I was. I then hurried down towards the second door.
A few more puzzles came after this, including one with talking rocks and one where I fell through the floor. Multiple times. To say my bum was in pain was an extreme understatement. I hobbled towards another leaf-pile with what looked to be a ghost laying on it.
“Um. Hi?” I ventured towards the ghost.
“ZZZZZZZZ.”
“Hello?”
“ZZZZZZZ.”
“I can tell you’re awake.” I said in my most deadpan voice.
“ZZZZ (is he gone yet?) ZZZZ.”
I sighed and put a hoof to the bridge of my nose. I decided to try and move him by force. I walked forward with determination until I was almost on top of him. He flew away, and faced me, looking extremely down.
I decided to try and cheer him up. “I really like your, um, your… shape! Your shape. Yes. It’s very… shapely.”
I got a small laugh in response. But he was crying! My heart went out to him. I reached up a hoof, and-
“Yow!” I yelled in shock and pain. A burn mark was on my hoof, from presumably a tear that had fallen on it. “Your tears are acid!”
That got another small laugh, though I’m not quite sure why. I puffed out my lip in anger. “That really hurt!” I stomped my hoof on the ground, and a resounding thud reverberated through the room. I pricked up an ear and stomped again. Then twice in a row. The ghost seemed to be humming a tune and together we both made some impromptu music!
“....Let me show you something….” He began crying again, and I instinctively jumped back, but instead of falling down, they flew up! A fabulous looking top hat adorned the ghost’s head, made completely from his tears. “What do you think…..? I call it Dapperblook.”
“It’s amazing!” I grinned at him.
“....Do you really think so?” He asked, hopeful.
“Of course! Look at it! You really do look dapper with it!”
“....Oh nooo….” He leaned back from me. “Usually I go to the Ruins because nobody’s around…. but today I met somebody nice…. Oh, I’m rambling again…. I’ll get out of your way….”
“Wait!” I called out. He turned before disappearing. “What’s your name?”
Flutoriel sighed as they mixed the batter to the Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie. They knew what would happen. Frisk would come, stay, and then want to leave. They knew all too well.
Yet they both had differing opinions on what to do.
“Toriel, we can’t just force him to stay.”
“I’m not going to let him leave.”
“Torie-”
“Don’t you ‘Toriel’ me, Fluttershy! How many have died? How many have died because we let them go?!” She flung her stirring spoon out like a sword, attempting to point dramatically at the voice she was arguing with. All Toriel accomplished was sending a glob of batter flying towards a wall. She stared for a second, then huffed and got back to stirring.
Fluttershy’s voice resonated at the back of Toriel’s mind, quiet yet deafeningly loud. “What about me?”
“You… You were different.” Toriel sighed again.
Fluttershy didn’t respond. Toriel put the pie batter in the pie tin, and threw it in the oven, perhaps more roughly than necessary. After that, she went and flopped on her reading chair. Finally Fluttershy spoke.
“You know that isn’t true.” Kindness was in her voice, telling Toriel that she wasn’t blamed for the pegasus’ death, but it still felt like someone had ripped off the bandaid that was covering a nasty wound.
Toriel shuddered as tears threatened to overwhelm her. “If Frisk leaves, he will die. Not could. Not maybe. Will.”
Fluttershy was quiet again. Even though quiet was her default state, this was the type of silence that told about deep thought.
Unfortunately that deep thought was broken up with a telephone call.
Frisk waited for his new mother to pick up the phone. “I don’t like this guys!” He whispered to the three monsters sitting next to him, giggling.
“Hello?” Flutoriel answered, sounding a bit hoarse.
Quickly Frisk put his hoof in front of the receiver. “What should I say?” He hissed.
“Tell her that her eyes look pretty.” Migosp chuckled.
“You want me to flirt with my own mom?!” Frisk said, much louder than intended.
The trio rolled their eyes. “Just do it!”
Pulling his hoof of the receiver, Frisk leaned down near the phone. “H-has anyone, uh, ever told you that my eyes are beautiful?” Then with a finality he shut the phone, ending the call.
With a deep sigh, Vegetoid hopped over to him. “You’re a failure.”
Frisk’s eyes could’ve melted steel.
Flutoriel looked at the phone, their jaw firmly planted on the floor. It started out as a giggle at first. The chuckle followed quickly afterward. Soon they were rolling on the floor laughing, the tears previously being used for anger and fear now being used for happiness.
Toriel’s happiness dissipated though, when she realized who just called. “We’re going to have to come up with a decision, Fluttershy.” Sometimes she truly hated having to share a body.
Fluttershy continued mulling over her thoughts. After a few minutes of careful deliberation, she spoke up. “If Frisk wants to leave, you can try to convince him to stay here. But if he really wants to leave, we will not block his path. Does that sound good?”
Toriel mused over it for a second. “Deal.” The warmth in the back of her mind grew warmer. Fluttershy was happy.
“Now that that’s over with.” Flutoriel stood up, stretched, and walked out the door. Pulling out their cellphone while walking, they dialed Frisk’s number. To their surprise, they heard his phone ringing in the same room! “Frisk!” They hurried over to him.
“Hi, Mom.” He said, cheeks turning the brightest red.
“Are you still embarrassed over complimenting yourself?” They asked, barely containing the chuckle that threatened to overtake them.
Frisk’s cheeks were practically glowing. “N-no! I mean, yes! But not! Can we stop talking about this please?”
They laughed heartily, and smiled fondly down at Frisk. That’s when they noticed the various cuts, scrapes, and bruises forming on his face and legs. “What happened to you, my child?” They began the healing process.
“Well…” Frisk then proceeded to tell Flutoriel about how he got hit in the face with magic vegetables, got burned by acid tears, fell through floors, and got hit in the face with more magic vegetables.
Flutoriel clicked their tongue. “We told you to stay in the hallway. Please listen to us next time.”
“Us?”
Flutoriel seemed to realise her mistake slightly too late. She then chuckled. “You are a smart child, Frisk. Tell me, why do you think I say the things I say?”
“Like, with the ‘we’, and with the whole Flutoriel bit?”
“Yes.” They began to lead Frisk towards their house and brought them inside. The smell of Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie filled the air.
“I think… Woah.” He had stopped in his tracks, pausing to take a deep breath of the air. “That smells… amazing!”
“Surprise!” Flutoriel held their arms wide. “I baked you a pie!”
He thought for a second. “What flavor?”
They laughed. “Pie flavor.”
“Moooom!” Frisk made to stomp his hoof, but instead wobbled slightly and ended up falling over. Flutoriel was by his side in an instant.
“Are you alright?” They said, face full of worry.
“Yeah. I-I’m fine. Just a bit tired.”
“I guess now would be a good time to show you my surprise then!” They smiled and pulled Frisk up. Flutoriel held her hand out, and Frisk put his hoof in it. Together, they walked off down a hallway to the right. “Your own room! I hope you like it.” They hesitated, then gently rubbed his mane.
Frisk stumbled in and closed the door. Flutoriel stared at it, and leaned back against the wall. “I love you, Chara.” A paw went up to her mouth, and she lowered her head, as if in shame. A trail of tears led back to the living room.
I shot up, sweat coating my fur, my breath coming in ragged gasps. “It was just a dream.” I muttered. “Just a dream.” The dream had too much dust. Way too much dust. There was some walking, and it was…. cold. Very cold.
I remember striking down someone.
Shaking, I got out of bed, vaguely remembering I was in Mom’s house. A slice of pie sat on the floor, and my previous question before I went to bed came to mind. What flavor is it? I kneeled down, and took a quick nibble.
Oh…
My…
Celestia…
The flavors in my mouth were heaven, and I was an angel. It had been so long since I had tasted something sweet, and this pie was like magic. With no further ado, I faceplanted into the delicious concoction and began eating it extremely messily.
I must have made a lot of noise, because Mom came in. The look on her face was priceless. I think her eyes popped out of her skull from the size of the mess. “Frisk?”
“Mmph- Hi Mom.” I swallowed my bite of pie, trying to get every piece of deliciousness into my mouth.
“Honey, you have a little something…” She gestured to my general being.
“You just pointed to all of me.”
Mom nodded, and took a look around the room. “Who knew one slice of pie could create such a mess.”
I wiped a bit of pie from my mane. “Sorry.”
She giggled slightly. “Come on, Frisk, let’s get you cleaned up.”
I walked out of Mom’s bathroom, freshly washed and feeling great. The nightmare still persisted in my mind, but Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie made it easy to forget. I stretched my legs and headed towards the west wing of her home. A soft chair that was currently occupied by my Mom sat next to a merrily crackling fire. Two Froggits and a Whimsum sat on her table, and it looked like they were healing from an injury of some sort. The Froggits waved while the Whimsum used the Froggits as shelter. Mom finally realized I was awake, putting down the book that had taken her attention.
“Finally out of the shower I see.” She got a silly glare in response. “Okay, okay, I understand. Cleaning pie from your mane is not the easiest of tasks.” I looked up into her eyes. “I want you to know how happy I am to have someone else here. No offense to you three.” She nodded to the monsters sitting on the table.
“None taken.”
“You know, I’ve always wanted to be a teacher.” Her personality flipped again. “I haven’t.” She put a paw to her head. “He wasn’t talking to you!”
“Um, Mo-”
“He might’ve been.”
“Mo-”
“I was the one talking!”
“M-”
“St-”
“Mom!” Frisk shouted, stopping the strange tirade that was happening.
A guilty look crossed her face. “Uh, y-yes Frisk?”
“Remember what you asked me last night?” I asked, determined to get an answer.
“W-why you thought I say what I do…”
“Exactly.” I stared deeply at her. “I think… that you aren’t one monster. I think that you are two. And I think that the other one isn’t a monster at all.”
Mom seemed surprised, then put a paw to her chest and laughed deeply. “Oh Frisk, you are so smart.” She grinned. “You are correct my child. Or should I say, our child.” I stayed silent as she explained. “The monster part of us, in other words the goat part, is a creature called Toriel. The other part is a pony who fell down long, long ago. Her name is Fluttershy.”
At this I gasped. I was right! It was one of the great heroes who disappeared! “F-fluttershy!”
“Yes?” Mom- well, I wasn’t really sure what to call her then. I guessed I would call her Flutoriel when I wanted to address both of them, and their respective names when I wanted to talk to that specific person.
“Yo-you’re THE Fluttershy?” I’m fairly certain that my jaw had fallen off at some point.
“U-um I think so, unless there is any other Fluttershy.” She thought for a second. “Please let there be another Fluttershy!”
“S-s-so, if you’re down here, the-then…” A brilliant idea came to me. “What about the others?”
“The others?”
“The other Elements of Harmony!” I placed my hooves on her lap, trying to make me seem bigger.
I had said the wrong thing. Fluttershy looked down. “Oh. Yes. The others.” She looked deep into my eyes. “I-I think… I…” An unspoken agreement happened. Toriel took over.
“Fluttershy doesn’t think they are… alive.”
My brain began whirring a million miles a minute. “But-But they can’t be!”
Toriel looked at me curiously. “Why not?”
“Because… because they just can’t! In fact…” I bit my lip. “In fact I’m going to find them!”
Flutoriel seemed to be taken aback. “But why?” They asked. “Why do you need to find them? Can’t you just stay here with us? Have we not been a good enough mother?”
“You’ve been a brilliant mother.” I spoke. “Just… Equestria is now depending on me. I’m a colt on a mission, and I’m determined to stop Sombra!”
“Sombra?” Flutoriel stared at me.”Has something happened to Equestria?”
So I recapped. I told them about the war. I told them about how the princesses fell. I told them about the endless night and day. I told them about… I told them about the death of my biological mom. I told them about my desperate flight. I told them “that I have to do this.”
Their eyes were watering when I finished my story. “Frisk... “ They began, then faltered. “Frisk, we… we understand now. We won’t stop you.”
“Can’t you, I dunno, come with me?” As much bravado I had put on, I was still uncertain about traipsing through a giant cave with tons of monsters by myself.
“We can’t.” They said. “We need to stay here, and take care of the Ruins. And if any other ponies fall down, who will be there to help them?”
“I guess I understand. I still wish you could come with me though.”
Flutoriel rubbed my mane soothingly, then stood up suddenly. They made for their bedroom, and when they came out again, they had saddlebags with what I could only assume was Fluttershy’s cutie-mark on it. They began bustling around their home, grabbing knick-knacks, a few pieces of gold, a slice of Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie, a ribbon, and a band-aid. “What are you doing?” I asked as they continued grabbing the afore-mentioned items.
“We may not be able to come with you, but we will not send our child out into the world unprepared.” Finally finished with collecting the many items, they plopped the saddle-bags on my back, and gave me a hug. “Go now, before I change my mind.” I could tell Toriel was speaking.
“Can’t I stay another day?” I practically begged. I loved Flutoriel. They were the closest thing I’ve had for a mother for six months. I didn’t want to leave. They sighed and knelt down to my level. “If things are really as bad you say they are, the ponies on the surface may not have time to stay another day.”
“O-okay.” I turned, but right before I figured out I didn’t know where to go, they stopped me with some parting advice.
“Listen, Frisk. Watch out for Asgore, King of the Monsters. He is looking for seven pony souls to open the barrier. You are the ninth pony to fall down here, but… for all we know, he is still collecting.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I headed out into the hallway. “Love you.”
“I love you too, Frisk. Head down the stairs in the main hallway. It should be fairly straight-forward from there." They paused, and when I was half-way down the stairs, I heard their voice wafting down.
It was cold. Very cold. That was the first thing I noticed. The second thing I noticed was that it felt exactly like my nightmare. The dream was beginning to feel less of a dream and more of deja-vu. I shivered, and it wasn’t from the cold.
SNAP
I whirled around, looking at the stick that I had passed by earlier. It was very sturdy, yet it had just been snapped like a child’s toy. My throat suddenly turned dry. I reached into the woods and grabbed a stick in my mouth, ready to defend myself if necessary. Hesitantly, I turned back around and started heading towards a bridge in the distance, while looking behind me.
FWUMP
“H-Hey!” I shouted, turning just in time to see a shadowy figure disappear. Gulping, I began to trot to the bridge, feeling unsafe and in danger. My thoughts turned towards Flutoriel for a second. Oh how I wished I could go back to them at that moment.
When I reached the bridge and nothing further happened, I decided to face this… shadowy… figure thing head on. I wasn’t going to be stalked my entire journey! “C-come out. Come on, don’t be shy!” I yelled.
“All three of us know we haven’t been shy.” A voice said calmly from behind me. I yelped and jumped back, not wanting to face the voice. “Come on, bud. Don’t you know how to greet a new pal?” I shook my head violently. “You don’t? Guess we’ll just have to teach you. Turn around, and shake our haof.” The voice paused then. “Haof? We meant hond.”
It then seemed to get frustrated with itself, it’s voice taking a deeper tone. “See, this is exactly why this wouldn’t work. I told you we should have practiced this.”
“Practiced?” A more bubbly voice emerged. “Last time I tried to get you to practice anything you napped all day!”
“What can I say? I was bone-tired.” Then they both laughed, a mixture of giggles and snorts.
When I finally turned around, what I saw was not what I expected.
A bipedal skeleton of some sort wearing a cotton-candy pink coat and light blue sweat shorts stared back at me, its eyes (somehow?) uplifted in mirth. And that wasn’t the funniest part. No, this skeleton had a huge grin on it’s face, probably from the beagle-puss glasses on its face and the googly eyes in its sockets.
I smirked, trying my best to not laugh, which instead of making me seem composed, made me look like I was trying my best to hold my breath. “Jeez, kid.” The skeleton leaned down to me, and shook its head. The googly eyes shook all over the place, making it harder to not laugh. “Tough crowd huh? At least shake my hand.” I gave it my hoof, and a farting noise was heard.
That did it. I died laughing. My belly hurt, and tears sprang from my eyes. Through my tears, I could see a little fist-pump from the skeleton. It was still wearing the glasses and the googly eyes.
Finally, after a few minutes of me just laying on the snow covered ground laughing, I stood up, still giggling. “That was good.”
“I know right?” The skeleton said. “My name’s Sans. Sans the skeleton.”
“And I’m Pinkie Pie!” The bubbly voice resurfaced itself. “We haven’t seen a pony around for months! Or has it been years? I don’t know anymore. What’s your name? Nice sweater! Do I smell pie? Why are you holding a stick? How are you even holding a stick? Wh-”
Sans interrupted Pinkie by flicking himself in the skull. His googly eyes fell out, revealing light blue pinpricks in the empty eye-sockets. The beagle-puss glasses soon followed the googly eyes. Apparently the tape on them had worn out. “Pinks, I think the kid’s a bit overwhelmed. Just look at… uh… Sorry, we sort of Frisk-ed past introductions didn’t we?” His grin tripled if that was possible.
“H-how did you know my name?” I asked, apprehensive.
“It was on your saddlebags.” Sans said, raising a bony eyebrow (HOW?!) and pointing to the bags. Huh. Flutoriel must have sewed my name in them at some point.
“Speaking of which,” Pinkie was in control again. “where did you get ‘em?” I sat, with my mouth open. So much was happening so quickly. I left one Element Bearer, only to bump into another one in the next ten minutes! “Uh, hello?” She waved a skeletal hand in front of my face. “Earth to Frisk!”
“I, uh, I got it in the Ruins.” I finally said, snapping to attention.
“Cool!” Pinkie said, closing the conversation.
Wait a second, what? “Um, it was from another Element of Harmony?” No reaction, but the smile lessened slightly. “One of your friends?” Now the skeleton was completely confused, but the smile was still there. Always the smile.
“Listen kid,” There was a weird mix between bubbly and deep voices. I guessed that this is when they both were talking, kind of like Flutoriel. I would call this Pinkie Sans. “We have no idea what you’re talking about. But hey!” They grinned wider. Why couldn’t they just drop the grin? “We got burgers and so much more back at Snowdin!” They paused, waiting for a response. I didn’t understand why bu-
Snowdin.
Snowd-in
Snowed in.
I groaned good naturedly and gave them a rueful grin. “That was horrible.”
“That means that it was a good pun.” Pinkie Sans said, winking. “Come on, let’s head to Snowdin.” I nodded, but instead of moving forward, they headed back on the path.
“Where are you going?” I asked, confused.
“We know a shortcut! Follow us!” I heard them cry. I shrugged and followed, not quite sure what else to do. They had stopped nearby a tree. “Grab our hand.”
“Why?”
“Just do it. Trust us, you’ll be fine.” Pinkie spoke this time, and managed to pull off a reassuring smile. I’m still not sure how.
With a deep gulp, I grabbed their hand and closed my eyes. Through my eye-lids I could see the light change and the air suddenly turned warm.
“You can open your eyes now, kiddo.” They laughed. I cracked my eyes open, and found myself in a cozy house. “Welcome to our home! Hey, uh, make yourself comfortable. We're gonna go get our brother… sister… skeleton.” Pinkie Sans walked over to the stairs and just stood staring at them for a second.
“What’s wrong, Pinkie Sans?” I asked.
“Pinkie Sans?” They said. “Hehehe… We like it. But as to why we're stopped here… We just don’t trust stairs.” They shuddered.
“Why not?”
“Because,” I groaned preemptively. “They’re always UP to something.” I groaned louder, burying my face into the pillows on their couch. They chuckled some more at my pain, walked upstairs, and walked into the first room on that landing.
Sans closed the door to his brother’s room, and looked around for his bro. “Papyrus?” He looked under the bed and in the sheets of the bed, under his brother’s desk and under his brother’s table. “Come on, bro, I need to talk to you.”
I think he’s in the closet. Pinkie said in the back of his mind.
Sans had long ago decided to listen to that pink pony. She was very sensitive to where monsters and ponies were. With a flick of his hand the closet doors sprang open, and true to Pinkie’s word there Papyrus was, curled into a ball on the floor. “Heya Paps.” Sans sat down next to him.
“Papyrus isn’t in right now.” A more melodic voice filtered through.
“Oh.” Sans stared at her for a while. “How is he?”
She grimaced, somehow making that work on a skeleton’s face. “Still depressed.”
“Ah.” Sans and she sat in an awkward silence. “Hey, uh, did you know there’s another pony downstairs?”
Papyrus’ head snapped towards him so quickly Sans swore he heard a crack.
“Yeah, it’s just a kid too. Pinkie keeps calling it a filly, but… ya know… kid has a better ring to it.”
“Did you capture it?” They quickly asked.
“Eh… well…” Sans began, not quite sure how to explain that he had not even tried and just took Frisk directly to their house. He felt Pinkie pushing in the back of his mind, begging him to let her handle this. Sans gladly let her take control.
“Hi, Pa-!” It was an odd feeling, to feel himself talking but not actually trying to talk. He still hadn’t gotten used to it, even after all this time and the random switches between the two.
“You didn’t answer our question.” It hurt Sans to see them like this. Depressed and focused.
“Yup! We captured him alright!” Pinkie said cheerfully. “He’s currently sitting downstairs watching the T.V. just waiting for you to finish capturing him!”
Papyrus sank back down, putting his head in his hands. “I can’t.” He croaked out. “I killed… I…”
Sans immediately took over, shoving Pinkie to the back and ignoring her protests. “Hey, hey, bro! That was an accident. You didn’t mean to. Heck, even SHE tells you it isn’t your fault! I mean, during your fight, you… you…” Sans trailed off, realizing with a start that there was a gap in his memory. A big gap with tons of little chasms all over the place. What did Pinkie Pie even look like? What was having nopony in your mind like? Why couldn’t he remember anything before he and Pinkie co-existed in the same body?
He shakily stood up, surprising both his brother and Pinkie. What are you doing?! He needs our help! Pinkie was still ignored. With stiff steps, Sans walked out of the room and onto the landing, where he had a good view of Frisk napping peacefully away on the couch.
He finally managed to make it into his room and flopped on his bed right as Pinkie managed to take control back. “What was that?! Go back, Papy and T need our help!”
“Pinkie. Do you remember what you looked like?” He asked, heedless of her urgings.
Pinkie snorted. “Of course! I was pink!”
“Do you remember what I looked like?” Sans waved his hand, throwing another sock into the self-sustaining tornado. “You know… before,” He gestured to his general body. “this.”
Pinkie grinned. “Yeah, you were… you… I… don’t know?” She stopped grinning to the best of her ability what with being stuck in a skeleton’s body. “You were… yellow. I think.” She sat up. “Something’s wrong.”
“You can say that again, P.” Sans scratched his skull and looked towards the door.
“Somethin-“
“Didn’t mean literally.” They both stood up, took a step, but then felt tired. Yawn. “You know what? A nap sounds pretty good right now. We’ll rest a little while.” Both of them preformed an about-face and fell on their bed again. Soon they were out.
“Don’t ya know how to greet new pals?”
“(Jeez lady you sure know how to pick ‘em.)”
“If you fight our bro… well, let’s just say we won’t welcome you with a party.”
“Paps! Oh come on, buddy, come on! This… This isn’t funny anymore! Come on, this was just a prank pulled by you right? You’re so good at show biz now, this is fake dust right?! It’s just a prank! Right? Right?!”
“Heh, you’ve been busy, ki-“
“Guess that’s it then, huh?”
I awoke with a shout, and by the sound coming from upstairs I wasn’t the only one. A thump came from upstairs and Pinkie Sans burst from the door on the far right. Their face was truly disturbing, the small light blue lights always in their eyes gone. One of their arms shot out towards me, and suddenly my limbs felt like lead and I was pressed into the couch very firmly. With great effort, I managed to push my head up, only just avoiding impalement by a row of bones that appeared under my chin. My eyes flitted to Pinkie Sans as I struggled to keep myself up. “Uh, guys? Help? Please?”
Slowly the bones sunk down and disappeared and the crushing pressure was released. I sighed and turned only to come face to face with them. “We need to have a little chat.” They growled, scarily calm. I could only nod, hoping that I didn’t do anything else to inspire their ire. Jerking me up from the couch, they both stomped out towards the kitchen and rounded the corner with me in tow. A gut wrenching moment later, we were in a much warmer place. A small bench was in the middle of the room, and they forcibly sat me down on it. “Stay.” They said, then bended back under the bench and disappeared.
My mouth dangled open at the turn of events. What had happened to make them so angry with me? I looked up, trying to figure out the answer to my question. Thousands of tiny twinkling stones in the ceiling winked back. “I’m not in Snowdin anymore.” I whispered to myself. As I stared into the dark cave ‘sky’, I found myself wanting to make a wish. With all my heart and soul poured into this one sentence, I said, “I wish…” Of course, I could wish for the nightmares to go away, but that would be selfish. Wishing to get out of here was a wish that I neither wanted nor needed. I walked over to the water’s edge and splashed my face. It was cool and refreshing, giving me determination and reminding me why I left Flutoriel in the first place. Back to the bench. “I wish that I can save Equestria.”
“Really? Pretty noble, kiddo.” Pinkie Sans appeared next to me, causing me to shout and fall prone to the ground. Honestly they looked terrible. One of their eyes was flickering worryingly and various strong-smelling beverages and food decorated their figure. “We might have to throw you a party afterwards.” They sat down on the bench, pulling out a greasy bag. “From Grillby’s. Want some?” I hesitated. “Aw, come on kid. It might not be as good as cupcakes, but it’s still pretty good.” As slowly as ponily possible I sat down on the bench, looking warily at Pinkie Sans as they offered me a burger. I pulled it out and unwrapped it, looking at the compressed veggie burger framed by wilted lettuce.
Wincing, I gently put it down. “Fries?” I asked, trying to use as little words as possible. Shrugging, they gave me a box of greasy fries. Happily I grabbed them and began munching on them. We sat in an uncomfortable silence as he drank ketchup and I ate fries. I decided to break it. “Uh, why do you look like…” I gestured to all of him.
“Heh, funny story, and not in the ‘ha ha’ sort of way.” They began. “Turns out that monsters don’t particularly like it when one of the weakest monsters in the Underground steals a pony soul.”
I stared, confused. “Huh?”
“Eh, we’ll tell you about it later. It’s a gem of a story, you’d like it.”
More silence.
“So…” Sans suddenly said. “How you been sleeping?”
The question took me completely off guard and soon all the fries that were in my mouth were all over the floor of the cave. I coughed as Sans looked on impassively. “G-good.” I stuttered out.
“Come on. We both know that’s not true.” His eyes went dark, chilling me down to the bone. “You were screaming just as much as me this morning.”
“Y-yeah, bu-but it was jus-just a… uh… really… happy… dream?” I tried. I considered telling him I may or may not have killed him in this dream, but that would’ve just been creepy.
“Heh, oh how I wish that was the case.” He laughed bitterly, tucking the nearly empty ketchup bottle back into the bag. “Frisk, how often have you seen it happen?”
“Seen what?” I asked, completely nonplussed, or at least trying to convince myself that I was. Instead a black ball of dread began nesting into my stomach.
He smiled, except his smile was cold. “You know what I’m talking about.”
“No, I don’t!” I yelled, launching myself off the bench. I stood, shivering as Sans stared at me with blank eye-sockets. “I have… no possible idea. Nothing’s been… bothering me. Nothing… nothing…” I trailed off as tears filled my eyes. Inexplicable sadness, followed by guilt, shame, anger, and disappointment ran through my small frame in quick succession. I sat back down on the floor, sobbing.
“Hey! Calm down!” Pinkie had taken control and had quickly gotten down to my level. She comforted me, and the smile on her face was now genuine, the lights in her eyes returning. “Frisk, I know Sans might have scared you a little bit. But… well… he’s scared too.” She lifted my head, and gently rubbed her hand through my mane. “He’s really scared. We’ve been having nightmares too, and they’ve been pretty scary. We have a feeling you’re having these nightmares, maybe even the same ones! After we solve this nightmare problem, we can be dreaming buddies!” She paused for just a second. “That sounds so familiar… Anyway! Sans really does care about you, and so do I! We’re doing this for everyone’s benefit.” She gave one last comforting smile before Sans stood up suddenly.
He rubbed the back of skull. “Heh, sorry kiddo. I, uh, didn’t mean to freak you out so much.” He picked me up insanely easily, dried my tears on his jacket, then plopped me back down on the bench. “Tibia good friend, will you forgive me?”
I answered him with a hug, ignoring the various condiments he was dressed in.
“Best forgiveness there is.” The grin this time was completely genuine, different from all the others I’d seen from him. “But still, would you mind telling me about these dreams?”
I stared at my hooves for a while, before finally speaking up. “You’re right. They’re not dreams. They’re nightmares.” I fell silent. “It’s… like deja-vu, I guess. I feel like I’ve met you and Flutoriel before, just under… less happy circumstance-“
“Wait, stop for a second.” Pinkie Sans interrupted. “Flutoriel?”
“Um, Fluttershy and Toriel.”
They blinked, and turned to stare at the water. “Those names…” They muttered something else, then motioned for me to continue.
“The nightmares started when I fell down here. First it was with Flutoriel. The feeling of… dust.” I felt Sans stiffen.
“W-what, kiddo? Did I hear you say dust?”
I nodded, and he stood up suddenly, staring me right in the eyes. “Have you ever killed a monster, kid?” I shook my head vehemently. “When a monster dies, they turn into dust.”
“Why?”
“Pony souls are strong, Frisk. Really strong. Strong enough to persist even after death. Monster souls though…” He shook his head. “You’re planning on moving forward right?”
“Most definitely.” I said, putting on my most serious face.
He waved his hand. “You’ll figure it out later then.” He pulled back his wrist, showing a very battered watch. “Wow. Time sure has flown, huh? Pinkie’s getting antsy, so I better let her take control for a bit.” He winked at me. “Oh yeah, and a tip about fighting my bro.” He leaned over me. “Don’t.”
His mood seemed to flip, turning from serious to happy. “Wow! That was some talk huh? Hey, what ever happened to that Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie you had, Frisky?”
“It’s still in the bags back at your house.” I said, suddenly feeling hungry despite the fries I had earlier.
She gasped loudly, then grabbed my hoof and then we were at her house. I’m not sure how else to describe it. She just grabbed my hoof and we were there. She dashed over to my saddle-bags and started rooting through them. “H-hey! That’s my pie!” I yelled.
She looked up, with the desperate look of someone who loves sweets. In other words, I was powerless to resist the puppy eyes. Still not sure how she pulled that off with a skeleton. I sighed. “…Fine, you can have it.” Pinkie cheered loudly, and dug in with all the ferocity that I did when I first tried Flutoriel’s pie.
A slam echoed from the top floor, and a loud voice carried through the house. “Sans? Pinkie? Who are you talking t-“
Both our heads snapped towards the sound, mine with curiosity, and Pinkie Sans with slight horror and happiness. “Oh, uh, heya Paps. Now I know how this must look, but-“
Another skeleton, who must’ve been Pinkie Sans’ brother, was watching us from the top of the staircase. He was watching us from the top of the stairs clad in a plain light blue t-shirt and sweat shorts. Being about a head taller than Pinkie Sans definitely made him seem a bit more intimidating, but not too much so. With jerky movements, he turned around and headed back into his room.
Pinkie Sans put down the empty plate sadly. “Kiddo, can I ask you a favor?”
“Of course! I’d be telling a fib-ula if I said you weren’t my friend.” I punned, trying to make them smile a bit more than what they were doing.
It worked. Sort of. “Good.” They stood up, and shuffled off towards the upstairs. “Can you please go inside and talk to them? I think that they would like that. Besides,” They pointed to the multiple stains still on them. “I need to take a shower.”
“Uh, sure.” I walked inside until exactly what Pinkie Sans said clicked with me. “Wait, they?” But they were already gone.
Gulping a bit, I cautiously trotted inside. I attempted to say hello, only for my voice to give out at the last second, rendering me a squeaking mess. In my mind I was screaming silently at Pinkie Sans for shoving me in here, although I soon realized the room was completely empty. I had obviously seen another skeleton in this house, so there was somebody else here, as evidenced by the neat bed and the toys on the table. I went over to inspect them. Dust. A fine layer of it, not the thick, silky dust I felt in my dream, the normal kind that accumulated on drawers over the course of time.
“Hmm.” I hummed, looking over the room. The bed itself was very strange, depicting a contraption of some sort that looked a bit like a horse-drawn carriage but without the horses to draw it. “How would it move?” I asked nobody, suddenly enraptured by the machine. How would it move? Maybe this was a bed on wheels for someone like Pinkie Sans, but they weren’t particularly sleepy all the time. Would somebody push it, and if so wouldn’t that just defeat the purpose of having a bed there to fall on when you’re tired? Wouldn’t you have to carry it around everywhere, therefore making you more tired and more prone to sleeping on it? But wouldn’t that also be part of the marketer’s plan to sell it to you, so their product gets more use?
Focus, Frisk! I yelled at myself mentally. Back to the task at hand. My fear had almost completely disappeared in light of the strange bed carriage, and I strolled around the room without fear. “Hello?” I called out. “Anybody here?” I checked under the bed. No skeleton. I think I would’ve been spooked if there was a skeleton under there anyhow. “Oh come on, I know you’re here! I just saw you on the balcony!”
“I’m not in the closet!” A nasally voice answered me.
“Oh really now?” I asked, walking over to the only closet in the room. “Are you sure?”
“No!” The voice paused. “I mean yes!”
Mischievously, I whistled a cheery tune as I tapped out the beat on the closet. “You know what I think?”
“…What?”
With a huge grin on my face, I stood up tall and proud and posed. “That you’re afraid to see me! My magnificence knows no bounds! Only those worthy enough can even lay eyes on me!”
The voice wasn’t even curious now, just incredulous. “What.”
“I have claimed this room for myself, the most… uh… fantastic… fun… and… oh dear.” Heat rushed to my cheeks as I soon realized exactly how bad I was at alliteration. “B-but, um, I’m super great. And I like your room. So it’s mine now.”
“What?! You can’t have my room, it’s mine. Not to mention you’d have to be truly great to take The Great and Powerful Pa... Pa… What even is my name now?” He sounded so confused. “I mean, I’m not really… me anymore. But at the same time, I am myself. And she is also me, but herself too.” A sigh was heaved. “Papyrus doesn’t sound like my name anymore.”
This was my chance! “You could come out here and-“
“No, no, no! I couldn’t! We couldn’t! I didn’t know my own strength back then, now that I have a pony soul, who knows how powerful I am! I could hurt you… You would be… I couldn’t! I just couldn’t do that again!” The voice began to get more and more scared, more frustrated, more terrified.
In a desperate attempt to calm him down, I yelled, “Alright! Alright. Everything is gonna be just fine. I’ll stay out here protected by this door. You can’t hurt me out here, the door will protect me.” Inspecting the door closer, my face scrunched up. “It’s made out of plywood.”
“The finest plywood!” Maybe he was just being silly, like I was before, or maybe he was trying to reassure himself. Either way, I made a noise of agreement while scuttling back away from the plywood door.
“Uh, my name is Frisk!” I said conversationally. “A-and I’m gonna save Equestria!”
A large, overly dramatic gasp, and soon Papyrus’s voice changed to be more melodic while still keeping to the nasally undertones. “Equestria?! Save? What happened? Is it alright? Did you lose the war against Sombra? What happened!?”
“Hold on for one second!” The effect of the words was immediate, silencing whoever this was. I began to get my suspicions. Why else would Papyrus’s voice change so suddenly and so dramatically? Why else would he be uncomfortable with his own name? “Tell me, before I tell you anything, tell me what your name is.”
She (?) got choked up for a second, not expecting that response. “T-Trixie. Trixie Lullamoon.” The name reminded me of something, something from years and years ago, something from before King Sombra. “Trixie… Trixie. Trixie! You’re Trixie!” My excitement bubbled over into my speech, soon infecting my words.
“…Yes, I assume I am Trixie. Why?”
“No, no, I mean you’re The Great and Powerful Trixie! I saw a show of yours once years ago!” I could still remember the day, lights all a sparkle, fireworks exploding in the air, and everypony with a huge smile on their face. “You’re really good at what you do!”
“Oh.” She wasn’t upset, only surprised at the compliment. “That’s high praise. Thank you. But you still didn’t answer my question. Trixie demands to know what happened to Equestria!”
I paused, giving me time to gather my thoughts. “We lost. Badly. Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadence have all disappeared. Half of Equus is burning and the other half is freezing. I’m surprised that anything is still alive. He has an army of slaves, and the death toll is huge. Everyone’s dying. If something doesn’t happen soon…” I left the rest to her – or rather, their – imagination. “That’s why I’m going to find the Elements of Harmony and their holders!”
A pause. “WHAT?!” The yell was huge, making the plywood doors rattle on their hinges.
Pinkie Sans appeared next to me, staring with wide eyes at the doors. “Uh, is everything okay over here?” I gave them a strained smile. “Y-yup! Everything’s just great! I’m not doing terribly at making your bro-sister happy!” To emphasize the point, I stretched my grin as far as it would go. I am the most convincing.
“Pinkie here. Hmmm…” She squinted her eyes at me suspiciously. “That looks like the most fakiest fake grin in all of fake grin history!”
“Lies and slander, this is a real smile!” It didn’t help my case that Papyrus/Trixie burst out of the closet and wrapped me in a hug.
“You can’t go! You could get hurt! So many bad things could happen! I’m one of the weaker monsters, what happens when you encounter a stronger one?” My hooves left the ground as the distraught creature picked me up and squeezed me. I let out a little ‘Oomph’ of surprise, and the grin on Pinkie Sans’ face was huge.
“Don’t. You. Dare.” I hissed.
“You squeaked! That’s so cute we don’t even.” They held out their arms. “We want a turn.”
“No!” Both I and Patrixus yelled. He swung me out of the way of Pinkie Sans’ encroaching arms. I heaved a sigh of relief. No doubt had I been given to them, I would be squished nonstop. “Thanks Patri-“ Patrixus squished me, eliciting another squeak. “Noooo! I’m not a toy!”
Pinkie Sans appeared from above, somehow grabbing me from Patrixus’s skeletal arms. “Thanks bro-sis. We’ll take good care of the lil’ squeaker.” To emphasize his point, he squished me, making me squeak again.
Before I could protest, Patrixus’s eyes narrowed, and they ground out, “Oh. It. Is. On.” They flew backwards into the closet, and in a burst of smoke they were out again, a purple hat with stars and a matching cape around their neck. Also changed were their clothes. Instead of a light blue t-shirt, a white cover made up their rib-cage. Black felt covering shielded their bones from sight, and bright red boots topped off the entire outfit. “Fear, brother-sister, for I… we… hmm…”
“We, the Great and Powerful Patrixus?” I offered helpfully from Pinkie Sans’ arms.
Patrixus seemed to really like that name. “Yes! We, the Great and Powerful Patrixus will save little Frisk from being squished for all eternity! Nyeheheh!”
A bead of sweat appeared on Pinkie Sans’ brow. “Welp, they’ve got out the Battle Body, time to go.”
“Wha- Hey!” I shouted as Pinkie Sans ran out the door and onto the landing. “Stop abducting me!”
“Can’t, kiddo.” The deeper voice told me Sans was talking. “As much as I’d love to keep and squish you for all eternity, my bro-sis is in a much better shape than I am. I could probably squish you for maybe thirty minutes straight, but Patrixus – nice name by the way – could probably literally squish you for all eternity.” He did an amazing slide down the bannister of the stairs. “Besides, you’re absolutely adorable, and you squeak. Do I need any other reason to abduct you?”
I screamed, “Yes!” as we slid around the corner and into the kitchen. Quickly he jumped into the overly large sink with me and shut the door behind him. He made a ‘Shh’ motion, then put his eyesocket against the cupboard door.
Pinkie Pie spoke up. “Oh, I see them, I see the-“ They clapped a hand over their own mouth and held me tightly.
See, the thing about me is that I have a tendency to squeak when held tightly.
“Pinkie Sans!” I whispered urgently, holding in the squeak as best I could.
“Shh, kiddo, we’re supposed to be hiding!”
“Guys, I’m gonna-“ In the split second before it happened and when it did, I saw their eyes widen in horror as they realized what I was trying to say.
And then it happened.
The squeak was huge, gargantuan even for a colt as small as myself. Needless to say, Patrixus heard the squeak, and in a split second was upon us. “Nyeheheh! We got you now!”
With a shrug and a grin, they dropped me. “Yup. Guess we just gotta give up now. What a shame.”
“Wait, what?” I asked, frustration growing inside me. “You’re gonna drag me through the freakin’ house and shove me in the cupboard while squeaking me like a toy just to give up?”
They thought for a second. “Uh-huh.”
“Oh come o- Oomph!” I got sweeped up by Patrixus giving me a hug. “Am I ever going to get a break?” I asked rhetorically. Both answered me anyway.
"Nope!"
“Dinner is served!”
The smell was honestly awful, and I was terrified of taking the first bite. But Pinkie Sans and Patrixus looked at me, both with growing smiles that meant something completely different. Patrixus was smiling because he was excited for me to try their cooking. Pinkie Sans was smiling because they were excited to see my face after trying their bro-sis’s cooking.
With my body begging me ‘Oh, for Celestia’s sake, please no.’, I leaned down, and took the first bite.
“So?” Papyrus, for the nasally voice had returned in full force, asked. “How is it? Great? Amazing? Delicious?”
Repressing my gag reflex wasn’t easy, but I managed. “It’s…” I couldn’t lie to him, could I? I shuddered. “It’s indescribable.” Perfect. Go, Frisk! An answer that is neither positive nor negative! Judging by the thumbs up Pinkie Sans is giving me, that was the perfect answer.
"Wonderful!" They sat down decisively, grinning as they dug into their own creation.
"Eh, I'm sure if you like it that much kid, it shouldn't be too hard to eat the rest." I glared at Sans as he grinned and twirled his fork. "Come on, kid. Don't wanna make Patrixus sad, right?"
With me glaring daggers at Pinkie Sans, I leaned down and ate another bite. And another. And another. The urge to gag at the taste was very strong, but I managed to avoid it. Soon the entire plate was gone, as were my taste-buds. "I... I'm done..." I croaked out, my stomach roiling.
"I'm certain the kid would like a bit more, right Patrixus?" Pinkie Sans asked, mischief glinting in their eyes. As a fresh new plate of spaghetti appeared before me, I sent a look towards the shorter skeleton. 'You owe me.'
Bed time. I fluffed the couch pillow, and snuggled down into the cushions. I drifted down into slumber, my mind on that precipice between clarity and unconsciousness.
"Kid."
It was quiet, hardly meriting me getting up. The cushions were so soft and inviting...
"Kid! Come on, get up, it's past my bed-time too, Frisky." The tapping began, thoroughly driving me into wakefulness.
"Whaddya want?" I mumbled sleepily, staring at the face of Pinkie Sans.
Shuffling their feet, they looked down at the floor. "Just wanted to say... thanks, kiddo. You've really made them happy. More happy than they've been in a long time."
"N'problem." Muttering the words, I could already feel myself slipping away to dreamland.
"Can't wait until tomorrow. We'll all have so much fun! Anyways, night, kiddo. Thanks."
