> Twilight in the Ruins > by Stelsun Darkstar > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 01 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everything was dark. Until the purple alicorn opened her eyes. Her entire world got filled with the light of the surface. But.. She couldn't open her wings and fly away, and go back home.. to Equestria, to her friends and family.. Does that mean that she's staying in there..? . . . "No.. I can't just stand here and wonder around!" The mare said to herself. "I have magic. That means that i'm getting out of here! Even if it somehow costs my life!" She used her telekenesis spell, so she can lift herself and go back home. Then.. for some reason her lungs felt empty. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't break the spell and she couldn't move any part of her body. And all of a sudden.. there was this purple heart infront of the alicorn's eyes. It shatered like a wine glass. Twilight was shocked, terrified and confused, because she didn't know what was actually going on right now. She couldn't use magic or move in general. Her body was like frozen. After this, darkness and silence rulled the atmosphere for hours. Until she heard a voice. An unfamiliar one. The voice told her to stay determined and to not give up. That kinda broke the sudden despair forming in Twilight's mind. Everything was back to normal once again. But this time, the alicorn decided to look around the place she was in. She noticed the pile of golden flowers that she was laying on for the whole time. "Maybe if i can't exit thrue here, i'll need to find another exit." Then she found an open gate, leading to another complete darkness. Sence it was the only way going to somewhere else, Twilight entered in. Out of nowhere, she saw a lighten up space, exactly where a tiny flower was planted in. It looked like the ordinary gold flower like the ones she found herself earlier. Twilight had the weird feeling that someone was here before her. Then she heard footsteps. Someone was coming. Out of fear, the purple pony's body froze and she prepared her horn to shoot a magic beam of light and energy. "Is anyone there?" A gentle, feminine voice called. This voice made Twilight less scared than before. She toned down her magic, switching to a simple spell for lighting up the dark parts of the room she was in. "I.. am here!" Twilight answered. She noticed the tall figure slowly walking towards her. The figure was one head taller than her, which made Twilight question many things in her mind. The tall, mysterious figure stopped walking, once she stepped under the light. It had this long, purple robe, with white sleeves and a strange symbol drawn on the chest area. Her face was covered in white fur, with two long droopy ears and a pair of little horns. Her dark red eyes, that gave a motherly yet still mysterious vibe to the purple pony. "Oh," Confused, the monster lady raised an eyebrow, once she noticed Twilight in the more darker area in the room. "i thought that there's another fallen child in here.. But it's just you.. a purple.. and little magical horse." "My name is Twilight Sparkle, ma'am." Twilight looked at the monster from head to toe. "And, i would feel completely happy if you can show me a possible way out of this place!" The monster lady got interested by the pony's words. "You're not a human, but you're also not from here?" She slightly tilted her head down. "I'm surprised." Twilight stepped up and continued asking questions. "Ma'am, i would really love to use some information about this place, if i want to go home! Also, what and who exactly are you? Ma'am..?" The big monster was ready to answer her questions right away, like she always was. "Oh, i'm very glad you ask, Twilight. First, my name is Toriel, the caretaker of the RUINS, and i'm just an old goat lady who loves passing thrue this place everyday. Most of the time is for checking for falled humans, but i guess today i met a new.. horse monster, i guess you are? Because i have never really seen you before." "Exactly! Because i'm NOT from here!" Twilight started to get a little angry. "Listen, Toriel, all i wanna do right now is to find a way to get out of this place and go back to my home!!" Toriel was surprised by the pony's attitude. "Alright, alright. Calm down, Twilight. Why don't we finish our conversation in my home?" Toriel recommended to the confused mare. The monster lady's words calmed Twilight a little and she agreed on coming to her home. . . . Toriel leaded Twilight to the next room. It had two staircases made out of gray stones and red leaves in the middle. Infront of the leaves was a small, shiny star, just twinkling in one place. The walls were made with purple bricks that covered 90% of the whole room, which made it look so beautiful and few green vines were hanging from the ceiling. And on top of the big, gray door, right after the two staircases was a sign that said 'The RUINS'. "Woah, what was this place again, Toriel?" Asked curiously Twilight. The goat lady looked at the pony who was walking beside her. "It's called the RUINS, Twilight. It is the home of many other monsters and.. well, me. The other rooms are filled with many different puzzles, but we'll skip them, because you just want to talk, which is more important than the puzzles." "Are you sure? It kinda seems interesting!" "Heheh," Toriel let out a giggle. "they ARE interesting, but when i see how impatient you can be, i think that it's better if we get straight to the point. Right, Twilight?" Twilight looked away from Toriel then she looked at her again to answer her. "Yeah, i guess so.." After passing some rooms and puzzle explaining by Toriel, they entered the froggit room, a long room that had three little white frog-like monsters. Twilight looked at them and asked Toriel. "Who are they?" "They are froggits, Twilight. They won't harm you, unless you're a danger to us, but luckily, you're not. You're just a.." Toriel paused. "What were you again? Sorry, i forgot." "I'm an 'alicorn'." "Oh yes. Ahem, as i was saying, you're just an alicorn who wants to know more about this place! And how to get out of here, of course." The purple pony smiled as both of them continued on walking. The three froggits looked at them with curiousity. They exited the froggit room and continued on to Toriel's home. The pony and the monster found themselfs in a crossroad with two paths, one that leads north and the other, east. "If you get lost here, remember to take the north path, where my home is." Toriel informed Twilight. "Right, i understand." Twilight answered. "But, what's on the east path?" Toriel stopped walking. She thought for a second then she told her. "It's the way to Home." "Home?" Twilight interrupted. "Yes, it's the old home of all the monsters that got sealed underground. Most of them moved to New Home, but i and few other monsters decided to stay. It can be pretty lonely sometimes, but still, i can talk to them if i need to." "Alright, i get that, but why exactly is called 'Home'?" "I will tell you when we get to my house." When they walked on the north way, they got to their destination, which was Toriel's house. It was small, cute and tidy house covered with the same purple bricks as the walls of the RUINS. It had two small windows, fallen red leaves on the ground infront of them and a sign on top of the open door that said 'Toriel's Home'. But the thing that caught Twilight's attention other than the house was the small, shiny star, the same one as the one she saw at the begining of the RUINS. "Well, Tori, your house sure looks great, but what's with those stars? I saw like three more back at the RUINS, like what's the deal with them?" "I'm not really sure about them, Twilight. All i know is that they're magical and that they can be somehow useful." She said with the same heartwarming smile. "Okay.." When they entered the house, Toriel showed Twilight around. Frist she showed her the guest room. It was a small room with orange palette. There was a big, orange wardrobe, an orange drawer with an empty photo frame, books and crayons. On the right side of the room was a small bed, perfect for a child's size. "This is the guest room, Twilight. If you want to stay, you can sleep here." After that, Toriel showed her, her room. It was blue room, with a bed, that was perfect for Toriel, a big book-shelf and a table with a diary on it. And finally, Toriel showed her the living room and the kitchen. They were very cozy looking and with a warm color palette. "Did you like the tour, Twilight?" Asked the goat lady. "Of course! You sure have a pretty nice home, Tori." Toriel decided to take a book from the bookshelf and to sit on her favorite couch. "Oh, what are you gonna read, Toriel?" Twilight asked once she noticed the book. Toriel looked at the purple alicorn, then she looked at the book she picked. "It's one of my favorite books called.. '72 Uses for Snails'. Would you like to hear a fact about snails, Twilight?" Twilight sat on the ground, preparing herself to listen. "Sure, go ahead!" She said while smiling. Toriel was happy that her new friend was interested in hearing facts about snails, because normally when she asked if someone wants to hear a snail fact, they would just ask to go home and ignore her question. "Did you know that snails sometimes flip their digestive systems as they mature?" Twilight looked even more interested after she heard about that. Surprisingly enough, she didn't know that one fact because she wasn't really paying attention on snails and slugs. Just other things that were more interesting to her. Both creatures decided to have a talk about their favorite things. It felt like they spent hours on only talking about favorite books and teaching, when Twilight remembered why she was here in the first place. "Hey, Toriel?" "Yes? What is it, Twilight?" "Where's the exit from this place? If it's okay to ask?" Toriel didn't answer right away. She tried on thinking of a different answer than just tell her the truth. "Weren't you gonna take a break, Twi? You already look a little tired." The goat smiled. Twilight was quiet. She was feeling a little confused to why didn't her new friend told her about the exit, if there's even one? Still, the purple pony sure felt tired. She felt like her body was gonna colapse on the ground and fall asleep, like nothing, so she agreed with Tori to go to the guest room and take a break. Toriel tucked in the little pony in the orange bed. It fitted perfectly with Twilight's size. She felt like she could sleep forever on this little bed. "Would you like me to read you a story, Twilight?" Asked Toriel. Twilight looked at her friend. "No thanks." She answered while smiling. Toriel smiled back and slowly closed the guest room door, letting her purple friend to rest. > Chapter 02 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight's dream wasn't anything special. Infact, it was kind of unnerving. It was a still image of her best friends, just staring at her, while a familiar, quiet melody was playing in the background. Because of this, the purple pony woke up. Her face and front legs were covered in a cold sweat. The mare decided to tell Toriel about it and to calm herself infront of the warm fire in the living room, but quickly dropped out that idea when she turned the lights on with her magic and noticed a piece of pie on the ground. It reminded her on how would Pinkie Pie sometimes bring pies to her friends, or how would Applejack or even Granny Smith would both make those amazing apple pies. Those little details about her friends made Twilight tear up a little. She really missed all of her friends so much. She got up from the bed and took the piece of pie with her magic. She placed it on the drawer so she could peacefuly choose something to wear. Normally Twilight wouldn't really wear anything, but this time she felt like she have to. The purple pony choose to wear a turtleneck sweater colored in black and pale green stripes. It wasn't really the best looking sweater in the world, but still, it was something. Twilight entered the living room, where Toriel was just about to start on reading a history book about the monsters and how they got here. She had this habit of sometimes re-reading already read books from her bookshelf. Twilight stepped closer and asked her friend a question. "Tori," The monster lady stopped reading and looked Twilight in the eyes. "can you tell me about the exit of this place?" Toriel wasn't really in the mood of answering this question. So she changed the topic again, like she did yesterday. Twilight had enough of this, so she asked her again. Then, Toriel dropped her book and removed her reading glasses. "Twilight, stay here," Toriel commanded with a stoic expression. "i need to do something alone." And so, she left the room, leaving Twilight alone as she commanded to her. Twilight waited and waited, until she became even more curious and impatient. She decided to follow Toriel and ask her again. She checked every room, including the room under renovations, but Toriel was nowhere to be seen. She checked every room.. except the basement. Twilight was ready for everything when she took the first step on the purple stairs. Down there, it was quiet, it was like nobody stepped here before, even Toriel herself. The ceiling of the long basement hallway was covered in spider webs. The webs, some of the outdated cracked purple bricks on the walls and overall, the silence and the atmosphere of this hallway gave Twilight such an eerie vibe. Until she noticed Toriel's back. She was walking slowly, so the purple mare could easily catch up with her. "Twilight, i know that you're here, behind me right now. There's no use of trying to escape this place. We tried everything we can long ago!" Toriel simply said as she continued walking foward. Twilight continued walking with her. "If you're wondering, the end of the RUINS is right after the next hallway, so for everyone's good, including you, i'm going to destroy it." Twilight was shocked by her friend's words. The Ruins's exit? Destroying it?! No escape?! The purple mare still had to continue and possibly even fight for an answer of her question. And suddenly, there they were, at the first door for the RUINS's exit, where this caring and gentle monster lady was going to unleash her overprotectiveness and magical power into the bricks and stones, to destroy this place, where nobody could enter or exit anymore. But before Toriel could even produce a single spark out of her paws, she was stopped by Twilight. "You don't even have to do this, Toriel! You can just tell me and we'll hopefully find another way!" Toriel wasn't very pleased with this sentence. She turned around and the sound of forming flames could be heard from the monster's paws. "You really wanna leave so badly?" Twilight nerviously nodded. "Then, prove yourself. Prove to me that you're strong enough to survive out there!" Toriel's face wasn't showing any emotion now. Just the stoic, cold and serious expression that Twilight wasn't really used on seeing. Now, she had to fight her. But since she wasn't equipted with weapons, she used magic. It was Twilight's turn right now. She jumped right into her friend and used a magical spell that could slice things like a kitchen knife. Toriel wasn't down yet, which meant that it was her turn to fight. She raised her paws and formed a short fire wall that floated right at the alicorn mare. She dodged half of the attack, but she was still left with a little damage. Half of her dark purple tail was burned off. It was now her turn. But.. this time.. Twilight felt like she didn't want to attack her.. and probably kill her friend. She saw with the corner of her purple eye the option of sparing those who fight her. She choose the option 'mercy'. Toriel was a little confused, but she continued her turn to attack. She unleashed another beam of fire balls at the pony. With few jumps and acrobatics, she dodged them again, this time with no damage. The next few turns were risky. Twilight continued on choosing 'mercy' towards the goat monster, and her, repeatedly choosing 'fight'. And then, here they were again. Fighting just because Twilight needs to prove to her friend that she can survive on her own, to prove that she can pass the entry to the outside world without getting burned and killed by the magical fire of Toriel. "AAUGH!!" Twilight shouted once her body got accidentaly burned. This time she failed on dodging the attack properly, so she got burned. It was Twilight's turn now. She had to attack and kill Toriel, since her slicing magic was stronger than a regular knife. But no.. she took the risk and choose 'mercy' once again. Toriel didn't say anything again and prepared her next attack, while Twilight layed on the ground in quiet agony from her burned body. She was ready to get fully burned and turned into a pile of dust that probably no one will remember. . . . "What? I don't see that heart from earlier.. Am i even dead?! Or.. i'm just fallen asleep.." From dead silence, Twilight started to hear muffled cries. She slowly opened her eyes, only to see Toriel fallen on her knees and crying. "Why are you crying, Tori?" Twilight wasn't strong enough to speak, so she just though of saying that. "I can't kill you, Twilight.. Why did even bringed myself to this?! You're no harm to us.. But still.. i can't let you go because of... them.. ASGORE.. I noticed your SOUL, Twilight." Before she could finish talking, she touched Twilight's almost burned and dead body with her white, fluffy paw and made the wounds disappear. She healed her and the little mare could no longer feel the agony. Now, when Twilight could hear and listen with no problem, Toriel continued on talking. "Monsters are going to take your SOUL, Twilight. They need it shatter the barrier. A force made from the spell casted by humans, who trapped us here for.. god knows how long exactly." Toriel held Twilight in her arms and before she could realize it, she pt her back in the little, orange bed. She gave her a new sweater to wear, sence the old one got burned. And like yesterday, she tucked her in with the warmest and comfortable sheets she had. The toys that were placed close the bed were giving this innocent vibe to Twilight, like the battle she had earlier never happend. "Twilight, would you like me to read you a story?" "..." Twilight thought. "Yes, i would love to hear one." "Once upon a time, there were two races, HUMANS and MONSTERS. One day, a war broke between the two races. The humans were victorious, so they banished the monsters underground with a magical spell and created the barrier. The king of the monsters, ASGORE, had to make his people somehow feel like home again, so they found this new place to live which they called.. 'Home'." Toriel stopped talking once she heard the quiet sobbing of Twilight. "Hey, are you alright, Twilight?" She leaned over to see Twilight's face. She looked sad, as the day she first saw her. "I really wanna go home, Tori. I want to go back to my real home, to Equestria, where my family and friends are!" Toriel was still thinking if she could really let Twilight go outside the RUINS. Where all posible dangers are.. Yes, she was going to let her even if she was going to regret her decision. If Twilight really wanted to go out, she wasn't gonna force her anymore. Twilight Sparkle is going home! "Twilight," "Huh?" "You can go thrue the exit of the Ruins tommorow. I'm letting you go. I won't force you into staying here anymore.." Twilight hugged her friend tightly. Feeling a little surprised, Toriel still returned the hug. "Goodnight, Twilight." "Night, Toriel." > Chapter 03 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today was the day. Twilight was going home. Toriel gave her a backpack where she could storage her items, like the piece of pie that she made for her. After Twilight was ready, she thought about one last thing before she entered the exit. To see the parts of the Ruins that she didn't get to see. First was Home itself. She had to walk thrue the east path to get there. The first room she saw first was a little room with an open door. Right beside the door was a little froggit, just sitting there, looking at the walls. Then, it noticed that Twilight has entered the room. "Ribbit, ribbit (Ah hello there, friend. You look new here, maybe the queen invited you over or something else. If you're wondering, this is the way to Home, which is my home. It'll be great to check it out if you want to!). Ribbit." Twilight had absolutely NO idea how she understood the little frog monster, but she just simply ignored that and walked into the open door. The view was amazing. The purple buildings that slowly getting darker and darker as far as the get, the fact that all of this was not just a random picture of the wall, but an actual place where you can enter.. it just amazed Twilight. "This place sure is amazing.. All those buildings, the color palette.. the overall atmosphere of this town!" "Yeah yeah, sure it is.." Twilight almost jumped when she heard an unfamiliar voice. She turned around to see who was talking. Her eyebrows raised up when she saw a little, golden flower, just staring right at her eyes. "Who..? How..? Huh?" Twilight asked in a confusingly-nervous manner. She has never seen a real, talking flower before. "How did you got here, and who are you?" The flower frowned a bit, then it's face shined with a big, happy grin. "I'm Flowey, Flowey the flower. Let's simply say that i was just fledding around this place when i saw you out of nowhere! In all seriousness, i saw you back at that little, dark room." Twilight's mind clicked when she remembered that one little flower. "WAIT!! Wait! Are you saying that you were that little faceless flower from earlier?!" "Yes, you're correct. I pretended to be an 'ordinary' flower, since you're not.." The flower paused for a second. "..A human, and i didn't want to bother you, since there's nothing that you really did to me." Twilight looked around her for no reason, then continued on talking with the mysterious flower. "Okay..? But what would you do.. if i WAS a human? Would you try to hurt me or something else?" Flowey almost laughed, but stopped himself in time. "No. I would simply become their friend and guide them thrue the entire Underground with no problem!" Said Flowey with a slightly sarcastic tone. "In all seriousness, if you were a human, i would just give you some.. 'friendliness pellets'." As he said that, a ring of little white bullets appeared around Twilight. "Woah!" Twilight gasped. "Are those the pellets you were just talking about?" "Yes of course!" Flowey was smilling again. "They are made to heal you--" "But i'm already healed..?" Twilight interrupted. Flowey was about to lose it when the mare interrupted him, but he had to hold his temper at least for now. "Oh, i'm sorry!" Twilight apologized after she realized that she interrupted the flower. "What were you saying about the uh.. 'pellets'?" "As i said, they're ment to heal you or.. in a rare case, escape from them!" Twilight slowly started to have this feeling that the talking flower was hiding something from her. Something that probably wasn't even good. When the pellets started to come closer to her, she jumped right before they could hit her. Flowey wasn't really happy about this. "Hey buddy. I think you missed the--" "I know that you're planning something bad behind my back, Flowery! Or whatever your name was!" Flowey gritted his teeth from anger. This time he was an inch away from losing his temper. Then, the white bullets dropped down. "You stupid, idiot, horse thing! You sure have no idea how things REALLY work here, do you?!" Twilight sat on the ground from shock. She didn't expect that agressive tone from the strange, talking flower. But still, he was still a little right. Toriel told her so few things about the Underground, so it was true that Twilight didn't know most things. "Well, yeah, i do not know most stuff, but that doesn't give you the right to act like that!" Flowey frowned again and turned away. "I saw you fighting the old goat back there. You almost died, huh?" "Yeah, i almost did. But Toriel was good enough to spare me!" "If i was her, i would have just taken your SOUL." Flowey pointed out. Twilight looked confused. "What soul..? What exactly do you mean?" Flowey sighed, then he continued talking. "A SOUL is something that everybody has. Monster or human, it doesn't matter. However, a human SOUL is stronger than a monster's, but the thing about you is.. that i noticed that yours is a little different than a normal monster SOUL.. The power of a SOUL increases when you get more LV, and that power is called.. Determination." "Alright, i think i get it, but what's 'LV'..?" "It's an acronym for LOVE of course!" Flowey smiled then winked afterwords. Then, he fled away with no trace. Twilight didn't even notice on when exactly he left. One second the flower was there, another second, he's gone, just like that. "And remember. In this world, it's KILL or BE KILLED." Twilight heard Flowey's voice for the last time, and then, there was silence. She knew that it was time to enter the exit for the Ruins and find the other way to her home. When the purple mare got back to Toriel's home, she was surprised to see that the house was empty. Toriel was nowhere to be seen. But that didn't really matter to Twilight, even though she wanted to tell her a last goodbye before she go. And then, here she was, right infront of the gate that led to the outside part of the Underground. She opened it, and walked thrue an long hallway, then.. she saw another door, with that same symbol that Toriel had on her robe. "Now this must be the exit for this place!" Twilight thought as she entered the door. A blinding light flashed infront of her, leaving her questioning on what will be the next thing that she'll see.