> Shadow of the Underground > by KDS-Writingindustries > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- There it was, the bottomless hole. Although, the word 'hole' may not be the best to describe it. It looked more like a wide chasm, descending into darkness. But enough on descriptions. A small young unicorn blankly looked down into the pit, he had a dark grey coat and pitch black mane with vibrant green eyes. 'This is it, time to end this' He thought coldly, he took one last look at the sun, rising up from the horizon. He sighed, and looked back at the deep chasm. While most ponies would shudder at the mere sight, he was not scared, he was ready. 'Goodbye' The foal closed his eyes and leaned forward, losing his balance and feeling gravity take hold. He felt the wind rushing around his body and nothing below his hooves. The unicorn opened his eyes a little to see the light that was once all around him drastically becoming smaller and farther up. He reclosed his eyes and continued to feel the wind rush past him. Until... *CRACK* .................... .................... .................... "...uuuggghhh..." Somehow, the foal was still alive. 'Ow...hurts...so...bad...' He tried to move around even if his muscles screamed in protest. He cautiously opened his eyes, the foal saw that he was lying on a patch of grass, not the comfy kind. He was certain of it, he was still alive, although injured. The pony heard a voice. "I think it came from over here" The unicorn tried to look around but he saw nobody, 'Where'd that come from?' the foal heard footsteps, coming closer to him. He looked up and couldn't believe what he was seeing. A small bipedal goat like creature with short snow-white fur and black eyes wearing a green and yellow-striped woolly jumper and simple dark blue trousers, "Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you?" The creature asked concerned, he wore a kind smile. The unicorn still started star-struck at him, 'There's a...goat thing standing infront of me. That settles it, I'm dead' The goat creature shifted uncomfortably at the gaze of the pony, "Um...Are you okay?" The foal blinked and snapped out of his trance, he tried to get up but one of his forelimbs protested. The foal winced and collapsed, he shook his head at the goat creature. "Here, get up...but try to limp instead" The creature suggested. The foal got up again, more carefully this time. He wobbled a bit, but the goat helped him keep his balance. "Th...thank you" The goat grinned in delight, showing his fangs. "My name's... Sombra" The foal, Sombra, introduced. "Sombra, huh?" The goat smiled, "That's a nice name. My name is Asriel, Asriel dreemurr" Asriel introduced, "Come on, I know a place where you can get fixed up" Asriel helped Sombra make his way out of the area, and on their way to get the foal fixed. > Chapter 1: A new place > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Sombra and Asriel continued to walk, the pony noticed other creatures. Some looked like animals, others looked like mismatched animals, and some just looked weird. But they must've thought Sombra was weirder because when they took one glance at him they kept staring, occasionally whispering to one another. The unicorn decided to talk about it to Asriel, "Um, Asriel?" "Hm?" "Why are those... creatures looking at me like that?" Sombra asked, uncomfortable at the attention he was getting. "Creatures? Oh, you mean the monsters?" The goat corrected. Sombra's eyes widened in fear as he looked around frantically, "Monsters! Where!?" "Right here" Asriel pointed to himself with a childish grin, "The underground is where all monsters live, like me". Sombra scanned Asriel, then raised a brow, "So this underground place is filled with non-threatening, not scary, fluffy marshmallows like you?" The little monster pouted, "Hey, I can be scary" Sombra chuckled under his breath, "I can! Okay, maybe not. But my mom can be scary. This one time, she found out I ate all of her butterscotch-cinnamon pie, the look on her face" Asriel stopped to shudder with fear, "Not a good sight... But hey! Learned my lesson, never eat mom's pie without her permission" They continued walking again. After Asriel finished his story, Sombra replied, "Your mom seems nice, but you still didn't answer my question" Asriel raised a brow, "I asked why all the monsters were looking at me, you still haven't answered". The goat monster let out an 'oh' of understanding, "That's probably because you're the first pony to come down here in the underground". The unicorn scoffed, "Probably because the entrance to this place is a giant dark hole that looks pretty much bottomless, heck, the only thing missing from the entrance is a sign saying 'CAUTION: Giant hole that will lead to your doom; STAY AWAY'". Asriel laughed at the description Sombra gave, "Heheh, you're funny." Although Asriel didn't see it, the pony grew a tiny smile, it wiped away before the monster could see it, "Hey, you said you know a place where I can fix my hoof. Where exactly is this place?" The goat monster smiled, "Actually, it's right around the corner" Asriel helped Sombra make the turn, ahead of them was a purple brick house with a small sapling in front of it. That wasn't what Sombra noticed first, what he first noticed was the giant monster with two gigantic horns sprouting from his forehead, and wearing a pink sweater with golden flower imprinted on it. He was water the tree sapling, not taking notice to the young monster and pony. Asriel smiled, "That's my dad" "That's your dad!?" Sombra whispered loud enough to get the goat monsters attention, he looked at Asriel with kind eyes. The big monster drew a soft smile, "Ahh, Asriel. You are done exploring the RUINs one last time I see. And who is..." His eyes widened when he turned his gaze to Sombra, "Who is your friend?" The unicorn gulped, but Asriel didn't seem to notice his anxiousness, "Dad, this is Sombra. He fell down, I think he broke his leg. Do you think mom can fix him?" The giant goat monster came closer to the boys, Sombra grew more anxious, but the monster gave him an assuring smile. "I am sure your mother can help Sombra out. Can you get her Asriel?" He asked in a deep voice. "Okay" The little monster ran into the house, leaving his father and Sombra alone. The unicorn almost lost his balance if it weren't for the boss monster to steady him. "Well, it is nice to meet you, Sombra. I am Asgore, King of the monsters" Asgore greeted, shaking the pony's non-broken hoof. Sombra laughed awkwardly, "Nice to meet you too, King of the monsters" Asgore bellowed a laugh, "There is no reason to be scared pony. Come, you must meet my wife, she can check out your hoof" Asgore helped Sombra into the house. When the foal walked in, he was bombarded with the smell of freshly baked cookies and pie. His mouth watered, 'What is making that smell, and when can I eat it?' Asgore emitted a deep chuckle, "I see you already like Toriel's cooking. You can have some when she's finished helping you out" the boss monster helped Sombra make his way to the living room, where he heard Asriel and presumably Toriel chatting. "Asriel, for the last time, you can not have a cookie you must wait until desert" A gentle female voice spoke. "Aww come on mom, can't I have a nibble?" The voice of Asriel asked. The unicorn finally made his way into the room and saw two figures. One was unmistakably Asriel, the other was a tall female goat with a blue robe and small pearly white horns sprouting from her head. They both caught the sight of Sombra, Toriel gasped, "Oh my". Asriel ran up to the unicorn "Oh right! I forgot to tell you. This is Sombra, he fell down and I think he broke his hoof. Mom can you heal it?" Sombra half expected Toriel to disagree, but the boss monster rushed up to him in worry, "Oh dear, you look tired. Quickly now, sit down here" Toriel guided him near the fire place and sat down on the chair while Sombra carefully sat down infront of her. "Now child, let me see your hoof" Sombra lifted his limb up to let Toriel examine its condition, while she was examining, Sombra listened to the conversation with Asriel and Asgore. "-and why can I not have any cookies?" Asgore spoke. "Because I am the cookie guard! I will guard those cookies with my life for 'no reason' beacasue I'm just such a 'great' son. And I don't expect to get 'anything'." Asriel emphasised. "You are still having any cookies before desert Asriel" Toriel inferred. "Dang it!" The little monster muttered under his breath, "I mean, what!? Why would you think that I, your 'loving' son, would ever think of wanting a cookie-" "You are still not getting cookies Asriel" Toriel retorted in a stern tone. It shut the small goat up, but Asriel was still muttering under his breath. The foal shifted his other hoof nervously "Um... Mrs Dreemurr? Could I have a cookie?" He asked shyly. Toriel smiled kindly, "Of course you can dear, right after I heal you up ok?" Sombra nodded in agreement while Asriel stared star struck. "Wha!? Why does Sombra get a cookie and not me?!" She let out a small sigh and turned towards the small monster, "Remember when I gave you a slice of snail pie when your arm was broken, do you know why?" "Because I was hurt" The monster answered blatantly. "Exactly" Toriel shifted back towards Sombra, "Do not worry, my child, it is just a sprain. I can get this healed up in a jiffy" She waved her hand, to the pony's surprise, green flames appeared, the green flames dancing on her hand. "Hold still please" Suddenly a pitch black heart emerged from the unicorn's chest, saying he was surprise was an understatement. Sombra shifted around uncontrollably, he got more anxious when Toriel tried to move the flames near the black heart. "Wh-what is that?! What's with the fire?!" "My child, stay calm. It will not hurt, quite the opposite in fact, now hold still" She reassured. Sombra took a deep breath and waited, the boss monster let the flames dance around the black heart, the heart seemed to absorb the fire and then disseaper into his chest. He felt a wave a relief flowing through his body and around his sprained hoof. In a matter of second, the pain was gone. The unicorn cautiously moved his hoof around, then carefully stood up. "Well, does your hoof feel better?" Toriel asked, curious about the outcome. Sombra felt better than even, his sprained hoof had completely healed, "It feels great, thank you. But, I was wondering, what was that black heart that came out of my chest? And what did you do with that weird fire?" The goat monster chuckled in amusement, "There will be time to explain, but that time is not now. What it is time for is your cookie reward, come on now" Right as Toriel got out of the chair, there was a shout in the kitchen. "Mom! Mom!" Asriel shouted, running up to his mother, "Dad ate the cookies!" "Oh my- Gorey!" Toriel shouted sternly, "What is this about you eating the cookies?" Asgore walked out of the kitchen with a plate of cookies and crumbs in his beard. "So, Tori, how about a cup of tea?" Toriel pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "How many cookies are left?" Asgore smiled sheepishly, "There's uh... one two three four... Twelve! Twelve cookies." Toriel sighed "I made 36 more than that" Asriel pointed at his dad accusingly, "Hah! Busted! Eating cookies is a crime punishable by... dish washing duty!" A smile grew on Asgore's face, "But you ate those cookies as well, did you not?" "Dad! You weren't suppose to tell!" The little monster whined. "I thought we had a deal! Don't tell mom we ate the cookies" "You broke that deal, did you not?" He remarked. "But you ate two more cookies than me and didn't let me have any more!" Asriel retorted. Toriel cleared her throat to get the boy's attention. "So you 'both' ate the cookies I made" Asgore and Asriel glance at each other, then both took one cookie off the plate. "Cookie?" They sheepishly asked in unison. Toriel's expression changed from stern, to smug. "I will take these" she yanked both cookies from out of their hands, "As for your punishment, I do like that 'dish washing duty' you have thought of Asriel. Why not after dinner, you both can wash the dishes. Sound good?" They nodded, "Good. Oh, and Gorey, put the cookies back where you left them". Asgore quickly walked out of the room with Asriel in pursuit, probably to find a way to let his dad to all the work. Tories took a bite out of a cookie and turned to Sombra, who was silent the whole time. "Here you go dear, eat up". She handed him the non-bitten cookie. Sombra smiled and used his own magic to lift the cookie up and gave it a vicious chomps. The foal beamed, "It's gud!" He muffled with his mouth full of food. Toriel smiled, "I'm glad you like it. Well, I should make sure Asriel and Gorey aren't eating anymore of those cookies. Make yourself at home child, if you need me, just call" With that, Toriel walked off into the kitchen, leaving the pony to himself. Sombra looked around the living room, he lied down on the chair next to the fire place and thought about the what to do next. 'This place is nice. I guess I can stay here for a while'. "Sombra! Sombra!" Asriel yelled to the pony as he ran out of the kitchen. "I forgot to show you around the house! You gotta see my room first, it's the coolest!" The unicorn smiled, "OK, sure" With that said, Asriel grabbed the pony's hoof and raced towards his bed room, determined to give Sombra the best tour. > Chapter 2: Moving out > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The last few day Sombra had spent with the dreemurrs were fantastic. Asriel, his new best friend, would always wake him up for breakfast. Toriel would answer the many questions he had, like the time he asked about the black heart, Toriel explained that it was a SOUL, the very culmination of someone's being. Asgore would tell him a joke or bad pun now and then, Sombra wouldn't admit it, but the puns were hilarious to him. It was amazing to say the least, everything Sombra had wanted and more. One day though, it appeared that the dreemurrs were packing their clothes in suitcases, ready to go to who knows where. Sombra was sitting on the little goat's bed, watching him pack all his clothes up. He decided to ask about it. "Hey, Asriel." "Yeah?" "I was wondering, why are you guys packing up?" The small monster put on a pair of mittens and a beanie, both having the same pattern as his sweater. "Oh, it's because we're leaving" The pony cocked his head, still in confusion, "But 'why' are you leaving?" Asriel finished packing and zipped up the suitcase, "Well, I heard that the monsters had finished building our new home! We would've gone earlier, but dad said that we needed one more bed. You know, for you to have" He answered. Sombra smiled gratefully, "You guys gave me a bed?" Asriel was about to say something else, but his mother called out to them. "That's our que. Come on Sombra!" The boss monster grabbed the handle on his suitcase and rushed outside, with the pony in pursuit. Outside the room, waited Toriel and Asgore, also having suitcases of their own. "Asriel are you ready? Is everything packed?" Asriel nodded, Toriel smiled "Okay, everyone say 'Goodbye house'". "Bye house!" "Goodbye house" "Bye" As everyone said their goodbyes, Toriel went down the stairs into the basement, Asgore following. Asriel was about to go down, but he stopped, "Wait! I almost forgot! Sombra stay there!" He rushed back to his room, moments later he reappeared with a small camera. He shoved it into one of the pockets and grabbed his suitcase. "Let's go, I don't want to keep mom waiting" He walked down the stairs, Sombra following. The young pony found out that the downstairs basement was in fact, not a basement. Rather a long purple pathway leading to a huge purple door. Sombra stared in awe while Asriel fidgeted with excitement. Toriel turned to the both of them, "Ready boys?" "You bet!" "I guess" Asgore pushed the door open, a chilled wind flowed inside. On the other side was a snowy winter forest, with tall thin trees stretching as far as the eye could see. "Come on now, let's get going" The monsters and pony began to walk through the snowy path. As they walked, Toriel and Asgore started up a conversation, Sombra wasn't bothered to listen. Said pony heard a 'psst' to his left, Asriel. "Hey, Sombra! Do you like the snow?" Asriel asked holding the black camera, pointing it in the unicorn's direction. Sombra shrugged, "Sombra that's not an answer!" The little got whined, the pony held in laughter. "Well um, I'm wondering, how are you not cold? It's like, freezing right now, I'd be a Popsicle if if it weren't for my sweater." Sombra shrugged again, waiting for a priceless reaction from Asriel. Said monster rewarded him by groaning loudly, "Sombra this isn't funny. Hmm..." Asriel pursed his lips and thought of ideas to make him talk, he snapped his fingers, " I know your weakness~" Asriel reached into his pocket and showed the half eaten bar of chocolate, "I'll give you some chocolate if you answer my question". Sombra's eyes widened as he grinned, the unicorn yanked the bar from the little goat and took a massive bite. "Good, now that you'll talk, I got a question. How do you not feel the cold?" The boss monster asked, camera pointed right at the foal. "Hmm... I guess I don't feel it since there's its always cold in my home town" Sombra answered honestly. "Ohhhh... That makes sense. Can you answer my other questions too?" Sombra grinned smugly when he shrugged. "I thought you stopped with the shrugging!?" The goat exclaimed loudly. "I don't want the video to be just you shrugging!" Sombra looked at the camera and chuckled, "Then it's a good thing that the lens cap is still on". "What!?" Asriel checked the camera lense, it was covered by the cap lense. "Aww... Oh well" he turned it off and put it back in his pocket. He looked up and gasped, "We're here! That was fast". Sombra raised a brow and looked where his friend was looking, they were now in a town, it looked small, but brand new, like it was just built a few weeks ago. He caught sight of a sign, it also looked brand new. 'WELCOME TO SNOWDIN TOWN' The pony followed Asriel and his parents to a large cottage. Sombra stared in awe, he leaned over and whispered to Asriel "Is this the new house?" "No, it's Dr. W.D Gaster's house" He whispered back. Sombra was now more confused, "Who's W.D Gaster?" His question stayed unanswered when Asgore knocked on the door. A rather strange monster had opened the door, the monster had a bipedal skeleton for a body, wearing a grey turtle neck and black trousers. The strangest thing about him to Sombra was that he had no eyeballs, only white pinpricks in each eye socket. The monster smiled when he saw Asgore and Toriel, "Ah, King Asgore, Queen Toriel. Good to see you." He greeted kindly, shaking the hands of said monsters. "Uncle Gaster!" Asriel pushed past his mother and father to hug the skeleton. The skeleton, Gaster, merely chuckled and lifted up his nephew. "Good to see you too, Prince Asriel. Come in, come in." Gaster walked back inside, gesturing that the others should follow. Toriel looked back at the unicorn, who looked anxious to enter the house, Toriel put her hand on Asgore's shoulder, "You do not need to wait for me dear, I will be in there in a moment" Asgore nodded and entered the house. Meanwhile Toriel crouched down to Sombra's eye level. "Are you alright, my child?" "I'm okay, I'm confused, that's all." "About what?" The unicorn took a second to answer, "How can a skeleton be a goat's uncle?" Toriel giggled, "It is a long story. How about I tell it to you when we are inside?" Toriel walked entered the skeleton's house, with Sombra in pursuit. The cottage was warm and cozy, Asgore had Gaster were having a nice chat while Asriel was happily petting a snoozing cat, presumably the doctor's pet. On a closer inspection though, Sombra saw that the cat had...dragon wings. The foal decided to sit next to the King and listen in on their conversation. "-possible that he could not pass through the barrier. Have you consider that?" "Yes, but the his kind did create it, it wouldn't be a stretch if he could pass though easily." The foal realised that they were taking about him, it made him a bit uncomfortable. "Um, Asgore?" The King turned and smiled, "Ahh! Young pony, good timing. I would like you to meet my good friend Doctor W.D Gaster. The Royal scientist" Asgore introduced to the unicorn. Gaster shook the pony's hood with his bony hand, "A pleasure to meet you..." "Sombra" The goat monster inferred. "A pleasure to meet you Sombra" Right as the scientist said the foal's name, the winged cat that was snoozing away shot up and looked directly at the pony. She purred and nudged his hind legs. "Don't mind her, she does that to people she likes" "Oh" Sombra looked at the cat, the cat looked back. Sombra noticed the black collar, it had the initials 'K.D.#' the last letter was scratched beyond recognition. The winged feline flew over to Toriel, not giving him or Asriel a second glance. The latter whimpering, heartbroken that the cat had left him so quickly. The pony looked back at Gaster, "So... Um... If this is your home Doctor, where's our's?" "Well young pony, our house is farther ahead at the end of the underground, but my dear friend does know, 'shortcuts' as he says it" Asgore explained. "We can depart soon, but first I'd like to learn about that new recipe you've know Gaster. What did you say it was called again?" "Spaghetti" Gaster answer. The King and scientist went on talking about spaghetti, the pony grew bored and trotted to Toriel and Asriel. "Toriel? I'd like to hear that story now" The tall goat raised a brow at first, then understood what he meant, Asriel however, did not "Story? Story about what?" "Sombra would like to know why you call Dr. Gaster, 'Uncle' Gaster" she explained. Asriel's eyes widened, "No! Not that story, it's too embarrassing" he covered his face in embarrassment. Sombra could've sworn the cat let out a 'meow' of laughter. Said pony was grinning wickedly, "It's embarrassing? Well I 'guess' you should.... not leave any details untold". The small monster pouted, "No..." Toriel chuckled at their shenanigans, "I will do a quick summary Asriel, nothing else." She assured. "It all began when Asriel was a kid. When he first met Gaster, Asgore told him that he and Gaster were like brothers. It made Asriel think that Gatser was his Uncle. He's been calling Gaster uncle ever since." Sombra deflated, "You left out the embarrassing part" "No she didn't" Asriel inferred, "The embarrassing part was.... ThatIthoughtUncleGasterwasactuallymyUncle." Sombra tried to hold in his laughter, he failed miserably, "Heheheheh...okay that makes more sense". "Tori, Asriel, get your suitcases, we will be leaving soon" Asgore announced to the others. "Already!" The young monster whined, making Toriel chuckle. "Come on Asriel, you want to see the new house, do you not?" "I do" Asriel grabbed his suitcase as did his parents. Sombra noticed that the winged cat had flew up onto the scientist shoulder, casually purring. Although it seemed to be something more than that. The pony and the dreemurr's walked up to the skeleton, "Ready to see your house?" Asriel nodded eagerly while his parents smiled in agreement. Gaster opened the door walked out, with the others following. Instead of seeing the rest of Snowdin town, Sombra saw the front of a house, looking relatively the same as their old one. 'How did he do that?' "Welcome to your new home." The doctor said, giving them a small tour around the house. "Fairly similar to your old home. Your new house is also connected to your throne's." Gaster implied to Toriel and Asgore. "Psst, Sombra. I'm gonna check out our room, wanna come?" Asriel whispered to his pony friend. Sombra glanced at the adults, then back to Asriel, he grinned, "What're we waiting for?" Asriel fist pumped and ran off with Sombra in hot pursuit, they reached a door, "Okay, by what uncle Gaster said about this being exactly like our old home... This should be it." The two friend held their breath and walked in. Asriel was right, the room appeared exactly like his old one, only difference was that their was another bed, Sombra was sure that it was suppose to be a guest bed for himself, but he felt like a guest room should be in another room entirely. "Geronimo!" The little goat shouted as he flung himself onto the bed on the right, giggling and rolling around the bed. "It's so soft~ I call dibs on this one!" The unicorn merely rolled his eyes playfully as he walked over and jumped on the guest bed, it too felt soft. "Then I'll call dibs on this one... Say, why do you have a guest bed in your room Asriel? Shouldn't a guest bed be in a guest room?" "That's not a guest bed, it's your bed." Asriel inferred, then strangely look up in shock and covered his mouth. Sombra shifted a bit, "What's with the look?" The boss monster looked around but not daring to meet the pony's eye, "Uh..Well...um.. What's that Mom!? Okay I'm coming!" Asriel ran out of the room at top speed. Leaving a confused foal. 'What was that all about?' Sombra though back on what Asriel had said before, 'It's my bed...? Wouldn't that mean...' His eyes widened a bit, the unicorn rushed out of the room, looking for his friend. Sombra found Asriel in the lounge room, taking to his parents, "-to say it!! It just slipped out, honest!" "What do you mean' 'slipped out'?" The unicorn asked, although he had an idea of what Asriel was taking about. The goat family looked at each other, then Toriel looked at the foal kindly, "Well dear, we were thinking that maybe you could be apart of our family." Sombra stared in shock, "You...you want to adopt me?" Asgore smiled gently, "Of course we do! Although we wanted to announce it a bit later, when you would feel happy here with us. It appears that 'someone' had spilled the beans a bit early though." He glanced at Asriel when he emphasised 'someone'. Said monster sheepishly grinned, "I can't really keep secrets...but still, We want you to be in our family, soooo...what do ya say?" Sombra slowly smiled with gratitude, he rushed up to the dreemurr's and gave them all hugs, "Yes, yes, yes! I want to stay here! I want to be a family!" Asriel, Toriel, and Asgore hugged him back. "Welcome to the family brother! Say, would that make you my... Sombro?" Asriel joked, with a playful grin on his face. The pony looked away from Asriel, trying to hide his own grin. "Well, this is all very heartwarming. But I think it's time that we leave." Gaster said, making himself known again. Asgore was the first to reply, "Oh right, of course Gaster. We shall see each other soon I hope?" "Aww.... Can't Uncle Gaster stay for a while?" The little monster whined. Sombra heard that cat meow again, he hadn't noticed it until now, but the feline was sitting quietly on the skeleton's shoulders, looking straight at him. Gaster chuckled at Asriel's protest, "We will see each other again, prince Asriel." The skeleton walked to the door, but took one last look at Sombra, "We hope to see you again, my friends" With that, he was gone. Sombra felt that there was something strange about the skeleton and the cat, but it didn't matter to him now. He was in a family now,na family with a loving mother, father, and brother. Sombra was as happy as he could be. But he didn't know how long it would last.