Twilight has been theorizing about alternate universes for a while now. One day, she finishes developing a spell to send her to a different world. She decides on a particular universe, based off of a video game she's been hearing a lot about. When she gets there, she manages to strike up the most unlikely friendship she's ever attempted.
Twilight looked up from a spellbook. There was nothing stopping her from using the spell right then. She sighed.
“Okay,” the princess said, getting up, “It’s a simple spell, if you think about it. Just a teleportation spell.” She lowered her head in preparation to cast the spell. Her horn was surrounded in a pink aura, crackling and sparking like it had never used magic before. That made sense, considering the stress the spell was putting her under. She squeezed her eyes shut. Finally, in a blinding flash of light, she disappeared with a loud snap.
When Twilight opened her eyes again, she was laying on her side, grass under her and the slightest hint of sunlight above her. She looked up and saw she was in a cave. A hole was directly above her, leading into a higher part of the cave that was probably open to the outside. She then looked around at the surprisingly dark room that she was in.
It was obviously carved on the walls and floor in some manner to make it more square-shaped, but the ceiling was natural. There was a hallway several feet away that led into near pitch black shadow. Finally, Twilight decided to get up. Her head was spinning slightly, but she got up anyway and spread her wings to maintain balance. As she stood up, she looked down and realized she had been crushing a bed of beautiful yellow flowers. She sighed.
“I’m sorry, flowers,” she whispered, “I didn’t realize you were there. Then again, I kind of just woke up here. Hmm… I must have passed out while using the spell. I hope I teleported to the right place. That hallway looks like a way out of here. Well, other than the ceiling hole, but...” She fluttered her wings slightly and winced. There was an ache in them as if she had fallen on them, but she could still fly. The hole was small, however. She wouldn’t be able to fit through it with her wings extended. “I can’t teleport up there either. There’s no way for me to envision it. Horsefeathers. Okay, hallway it is.”
Twilight began walking towards the hallway, lighting up her horn with a glowing spell so she could see past the darkness.
The hallway went on for a little while before it turned left into a large stone door. The door was painted purple with a strange white symbol on it. Maybe the spell had been successful. Twilight pushed the door open with her hoof, causing a loud scraping sound to echo through the caves. She cringed at the sound of stone against stone, then walked through the doors and into a new room.
In the room, there was a single flower facing her. It smiled slightly. “Oh wow. I didn’t know people came here anymore. How did you get in here? Did you fall?”
“I… don’t know,” Twilight admitted. Now she knew the spell worked, at least partially. “Probably. My wings hurt.” She flared the aforementioned appendages, wincing as if to prove her point.
“Golly. Well, I don’t know when Frisk’s coming back with more pie,” the flower said, feigning sadness unsurprisingly well. “But until then, I’ll show you the way to Home. Oh, where are my manners? I’m Flowey. Flowey the Flower.”
“I am Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said kindly. “Princess of Friendship, Magic, and a portion of Equestria.”
Flowey raised an eyebrow at her. “What.”
“You’re probably very confused right now,” Twilight nodded. “That’s okay. I’m from a different universe- no, multiverse. You are familiar with the concept of the multiverse, right?”
“Of course I am,” Flowey sassed. “You’re from a place where everything is drastically different. Including, it seems, the dominant species.”
“Dominant is a strong word,” Twilight said with a wave of her hoof. “Ponies are more common in my world than we are in yours, is all. In fact, we may not exist in your world, and you may not exist in my world. I believe that despite the differences between us and our world, we can still be friends.” She held out her hoof. “So, friends?”
Flowey eyed the appendage skeptically. “I can’t speak for everyone here,” he sighed, “As it is, the humans and monsters are only beginning to repair relations. I’m not even a monster or really part of the politics of the nation. However… I have some connections. I can try to get you a meeting with the Ambassador.”
“I don’t mean to be disrespectful,” Twilight said slowly and decisively, “but I would prefer to talk to an adult in charge, not a 14 year old little girl. May I meet with the King instead?”
“I can’t promise you anything,” Flowey replied. “I will talk with Frisk, see what I can do to get you a meeting. In the meantime, I’m still available to bring you to Home. It would be more comfortable to wait there.”
Twilight nodded gratefully. “Thank you very much, Flowey! I do want to ask, though. Can we be friends? Just us?”
Flowey narrowed his eyes, thinking. He hummed for a little bit, probably weighing the pros and cons. Finally, he answered, “Yes.”
“Wonderful! Well then, we should get going,” Twilight cheered, already starting down the hallway. “Lead the way, my floral friend!”
It took a long walk and the explaining of many puzzles to get there, but Twilight and Flowey found themselves at the door to Home. Flowey sighed both in relief and exasperation as he popped out of the ground next to the tree. Once again, the purple princess pony wouldn’t stop gushing about the caves, the architecture, the strange creatures, the foliage that grew without the sun. He was getting a headache.
“Okay!” He yelled over Twilight’s ongoing commentary, stopping the mare in her tracks. “I get it! You like the caves, you like the plants, whatever! Just please! Stop! Talking!!”
Twilight blushed, realizing she had been rambling. “Oh, sorry,” she laughed sheepishly. “I, um, ramble sometimes. Especially about books. Oh! Speaking of books, did I tell you about the new book I started reading? It’s about a-”
“Stop!!” Flowey yelled at her. “You’re rambling again! Let me get some aspirin to overdose on before you start talking, please!”
“I see what you did there,” Twilight said, catching the dark humor. “Okay, I’ll stop talking. Is this where you live?”
Flowey nodded, opening the door with a vine. “This used to be my mom’s house, but she moved to the Surface after Frisk broke the Barrier. I stay here to take care of mom’s flowers and guide fallen people out. People like you, actually. Come inside.”
“Okay. So, why do you want to take care of the flowers?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t want to live with the others. I’m… not like them,” Flowey sighed. “If I try to live with them, I’ll just bring them down. Besides, I don’t want their pity. I don’t want their kindness, either. I just want some peace and quiet. Time to mull things over, work out my life. It was too stressful before, so I just wanted to put down roots, so to speak. I like it here; it’s quiet. But it… it gets lonely sometimes. And it’s a small world, you know? But there’s comfort in the routine. It’s clean, not hectic like it is on the Surface.”
“Yeah, I understand. But don’t you hate the feeling? Being in such a big house all by yourself must be depressing.”
“It’s lonely sometimes, but Frisk and the other humans visit me sometimes.” Flowey smiled. “I think I’m remembering how to feel. I’m putting my broken soul back together, shard by shard. There’s a sweet, warm feeling that I get whenever I see Frisk and the others. I think it’s love.”
Twilight sniffled. “That’s beautiful, Flowey.”
“Oh, no no no. None of that. Stop it,” Flowey groaned, putting a vine right over the mare’s face and looking away. “None of these waterworks. Oh god, please stop.”
“I-I’m sorry,” Twilight mumbled, tears rolling down her cheeks, “I just get worked up easily. Your story is beautiful, Flowey. I hope you can be happy here.”
“Yeah yeah, sure kid,” Flowey said. “Okay, can you please stop? Why don’t you tell me more about yourself? How about that?”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Twilight smiled.
“We’re more alike than you think, Flowey,” Twilight said, now sitting in a sofa chair by Flowey’s fireplace. The little plant had allowed her to transfer him into a flowerpot so he could more easily hear what she was saying. She had her surprisingly flexible body curled around the pot, hooves almost completing the circle. “I have a big, cold, mostly empty house and plenty of friends who love and care for me, too. And, just like you, I’m… sometimes hesitant to get close to them.”
“You’re the Princess of Friendship,” Flowey said dryly. “How in the world can you be hesitant to have friends? Doesn’t that go against your entire philosophy?”
“You see this?” Twilight asked, pointing at her horn with her hoof. “And these?” She fluttered her wings. “I’m not just a unicorn or a pegasus. I’m an alicorn. I have unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony magic all in one. I’m extremely powerful, though not as powerful without the Elements of Harmony. As an alicorn, I will live forever-”
Flowey cackled wildly, cutting the princess off. “Forever?” he asked incredulously. “Ha! You idiot… Nothing lasts forever. Not even your godlike power or your supposedly everlasting life. We will all fall to the relentless flow of time. Even death itself, time’s only companion, will run out its course eventually. No no, you will die, princess. But before then, you will suffer. Pain, loss, grief. You will suffer like no being ever has or ever will.”
“I know,” Twilight laughed sadly. “It’s ironic, isn’t it? I, the Princess of Friendship, will lose all of my friends to time. No matter how many I make, I will always outlive them. Chances are, even the Royal Sisters and Princess Cadence, my sister-in-law, will die before me. They are at higher risk of assassination, after all. It’s… quite a happy thought, no?” she finished sarcastically, voice cracking.
Flowey watched, insides churning with a discomfort he couldn’t quite place, as the princess broke down. Twilight covered her face with her wings, but that didn’t hide her sobs. He reached out a vine hesitantly, face changing subconsciously to match his lost goat form.
Twilight peeked out of her wings when she felt the comforting plant on her shoulder. “F-Flowey? Your face is…”
“What?” the flower said quickly. “What is it?”
Twilight’s horn glowed with its pink aura and a mirror levitated in front of Flowey. His eyes widened.
“Oh no. No no no no…” Flowey turned his face away, trying to control the form it took. “No no no… scary face… do a scary face… oh god please no… no no no no…” He began to cry, memories flooding back to him, emotion overtaking his small body.
“Flowey? Are you okay?” Twilight asked. Her queries didn’t last long, however, because when she saw his tears and remembered the last couple minutes of their conversation, she couldn’t stop her own breakdown.
The two lonely royals sat curled in a cozy sofa chair, no words further exchanged, crying their hearts out for their own reasons. It got late quickly, but even after they stopped, they stayed by the fireplace. They watched the flames curl around the logs, somehow still living but never eating its fuel. And finally, when the day was young, they fell asleep together, sitting curled in a single chair, silently aware of each other and their doubts.
Twilight woke up with a start. She looked around for her new friend, but he was nowhere to be found. “Flowey?” she called.
“In here.” Flowey’s voice drifted to her ears through a doorway a little ways away.
Twilight got up and made her way through the doorway. “What smells so good?” she asked, mouth watering from a sweet scent. The room looked like a small, cozy kitchen.
“Frisk stopped by earlier and dropped off some pie,” Flowey explained. “I’m heating it up. I was going to wake you up when the pie was ready, but…”
“Yeah, I’m already awake. What flavor is it?”
“Snail.”
“What?”
Flowey rolled his eyes. “It’s snail pie. Pie that is snail flavored. It still has shells, too!” He sighed, looking at the pie. “Mom knows my favorite. Oh, there’s also some cinnamon butterscotch pie over there. It’s already warm.”
“That… sounds a little more appetizing,” Twilight said.
“Whatever,” Flowey shrugged. “You weirdos don’t know what’s good. Snail pie is the best. You shouldn’t judge it before you’ve tried it.”
“You’re right,” Twilight said with a nod. “I will try a slice before I assume its tastiness.”
“Finally, someone who gives it a try! See, Frisk’s refused snail pie every time someone offers it. She seems to think it’ll make her sick or something.”
“Maybe it’s harmful to non-monsters?” Twilight suggested. She picked up the cinnamon butterscotch pie with her magic, preparing to bring it out to the dining table. “I suppose we’ll have to see. If I get sick from the pie, my advanced metabolism should be able to sort itself out.”
“Uh, yeah, I guess…” Flowey said. “Anyways! The snail pie is warm now. Should we set the table?”
“Yes, let’s!”
They sat down at the dining table in the living room, Twilight carrying both pies, Flowey, and plates in her magic.
“Gee, Twilight,” Flowey said, “that magic of yours is pretty useful, huh? So, what do you do in your world?”
“There’s a lot to sort out,” Twilight sighed. “I’m mayor of a small farming town known as Ponyville. I have to look through the taxes, respond to resident complaints, pass local laws, that type of thing. That’s all in addition to my magic practice with my mentor and predecessor, Princess Celestia.”
“What kind of magic do you practice?” Flowey asked, now cutting the pie with a precariously held knife in his vine.
“Princess Celestia and her sister, Princess Luna, raise and lower the sun and moon every day,” Twilight explained. “The thought is to get me accustomed to moving large objects with magic already, so I’m ready to take Princess Celestia’s place raising and lowering the sun by the time she’s ready to retire.”
“But who will deal with the moon, if not you?”
“Probably my sister-in-law, Cadence. Then again, she’s the Princess of Love and the Crystal Empire. She might not have time to help with the celestial bodies. Come to think of it, I might have to crown another pony to help me. Maybe I can get a protege of my own? I’ll ask Celestia about it when I get home.”
“Oh, speaking of which,” Flowey interjected, “when are you going home?”
“As soon as possible,” Twilight said. “I’m sorry to leave you here alone again, but I have responsibilities as a princess. There’s always a lot for me to do. I’m cutting it close with this stunt alone, leaving Spike and Starlight to deal with the taxes and people. I need to get back soon, actually. Maybe today.”
“Today? Oh… okay.”
Twilight took a bite of snail pie. “This is really good, Flowey!” she gushed. “I quite like it. More to the point, I should ask: did you have something to show me before I go?”
“Well, yeah, but I wouldn’t want to keep you here,” Flowey said with a fake smile. “You have your job to get back to. It’s okay, you can go. I’ll tell my mom you liked the pie. Bye. See you around, ‘friend’.”
“I’m not leaving just this second!” Twilight laughed. “If you want to show me something, I’m happy to see it with you. I just need to get going within the day, that’s all.”
“Mmhmm.” Flowey poked at the pie with a vine, avoiding eye contact. “Yeah, okay. I should… call Frisk. She’s probably wondering how the pie tastes. Or something.”
“Is everything okay?” Twilight asked, leaning forward in her seat. “What’s wrong, Flowey?”
Flowey glanced up at her. “Nothing is wrong,” he said, his expression changing to one of sarcasm. “No no, everything is just peachy. As a matter of fact, I’m excited to be all alone again. It’ll be nice to be with my regretful thoughts. It’s not like I have trouble sleeping because of my fourth wall-breaking nightmares; it’s not like last night- or this morning, rather- was the first time I woke up feeling like I didn’t get run over by a train all because I had someone next to me. No, I’m just fine. Don’t bother trying to stick around, ‘friend’. I’m sure the couple of conscious hours we spent together will hold me over until Frisk and her pals come around again, since you won’t be coming back.”
“Well, whoever told you I wasn’t coming back?” Twilight said defensively. “Of course I’ll come back! I always make time for my friends.”
“Always? As if,” Flowey scoffed. “That’s exactly what Frisk told me. That’s what they all told me. But you know what? They don’t come back often or regularly. Chances are, Frisk will only ‘have the time’ to visit again in a month. Just because you have a crown that points out your domain over the concept of friendship doesn’t mean you’re any better at it than anyone else.”
“I’m sorry you feel this way, Flowey,” Twilight said, bowing her head. “If you don’t want me to come back, I won’t. But, please, tell me to my face. That way, I’ll know for sure you don’t want me around. Just this once, at least, can you be honest with me?”
Flowey’s eyes widened. He was being given a choice this time. Basically, should she stay or should she go? There was a long pause.
“I… don’t want you to go at all,” he said, surprising even himself with his honesty.
“I have to go soon,” Twilight said, “but let’s make a compromise. I will stay for today and tonight, but after that, I will go home. And I’ll make an honest effort to visit as often as I can. Is that okay?”
Flowey nodded.
“Wonderful! Now, what is it that you wanted to show me?” Twilight asked. “Let’s have a fun day so you can be happy while I’m gone.”
Flowey nodded again, this time with a genuine smile and genuine glee. “I want to show you a couple of things,” he said. “So first, I want you to see Snowdin. It’s really cold, so you can borrow a scarf and maybe some of the clothes left in the dressers. And we can go for some NiceCream while we’re there. After that, I think we should go to Waterfall. There’s a place there that I really like. Oh, and we can look through the trash zone to see if we can score some free stuff, if you want. Maybe we can hitch a ride from the Riverperson past Hotland and straight to the Capitol. Then we can meet up with my family!”
“Oh my,” Twilight chuckled, “this is quite the itinerary. Hold on a minute.” She transfigured the slice of pie in front of her into a notebook and quill, then picked them up with her magic and started writing. “First is Snowdin, then NiceCream, then Waterfall, then the trash zone, then the Riverperson to the Capitol to meet your family,” she recited, looking up at each item to get confirmation. “Okay! This looks like a solid plan. When are we going?”
“Soon-ish,” Flowey said with a shrug. “As soon as you’re ready, I guess.”
“Well then, I’ll clean up the table and get dressed so we can get going,” Twilight said, already getting up. “You get yourself ready for the most fun you’ve had in years!”
It wasn’t long before Twilight was standing in the basement of the cozy house, wrapped in scarves and with several old robes on, carrying Flowey on her back. In front of her, there was a large stone door, painted purple with the same weird symbol as the one on the first door she saw and the one on her robes. She pushed it open with her magic.
A rush of frigid air hit her across the face, startling her to the point where she almost dropped Flowey and his flowerpot on the floor. Luckily, she caught the plant and pot with her magic before they hit the ground. “Sorry,” she laughed. Flowey forgave her and they stepped out into the snow.
Surprisingly, the snow glittered despite there being no illumination in the pinewood forest. Twilight walked slowly, gasping at the sheer beauty of it all. “This place is magical,” she said, blinking rapidly in disbelief. “Oh wow…”
“And to think I live a door away from this,” Flowey said. “After most of the monsters left the Underground, all has been quiet around here. Few come back, but when they do, it’s usually in the summer to play in the snow or just cool off. I like coming out here in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep but I feel like I’m fighting to stay awake. It pulls me right out of that limbo.”
Twilight didn’t respond verbally, but nodded and smiled at him. She took a deep breath of the snowy air and sighed, humming in agreement.
“There’s something about having a friend by your side that makes everything a little more comfortable,” Flowey said thoughtfully. “Have you ever figured out why, princess? Have you thought about it enough?”
“I’ve thought about such things far too much for it to be healthy,” Twilight laughed. “But in all seriousness, I think it’s about trust. The thing about friendship is you need mutual trust and understanding of each other. I think it’s about time ponies, monsters, and humans alike started trying to be more friendly with each other. But we all have to understand that some people won’t be friends. Not ever and not truly.”
“For the longest time, I was convinced I would never have a real friend,” Flowey said. “Back when I was soulless. I couldn’t feel emotions. I thought I would never feel emotions again, and therefore I couldn’t be a genuine friend to anyone, but… the seven humans were kind to me.”
“How so?”
“They broke their own souls for mine. They gave me an equal part of each of their souls. I have a mismatched, broken, crooked heart, but it’s a heart nonetheless. And you know what? I love it. I love Frisk and the other humans for doing this for me. It’s nice to feel emotions, even if they’re only partial for now.”
“You know, Flowey,” Twilight said quietly, “I’ve never heard of someone with a story like yours. I’ve heard of intertwined fates, jealousy that can- and did- split a family, chaotic beings with domain over reality whose only weakness was friendship, but never this. You have a beautiful, magical tale. I think you could write a book-” She was cut off by being hit on the cheek with a snowball.
Flowey snickered from her back. Twilight craned her neck to glare at him, but as soon as her face was towards the tiny flower, it was smothered in more snow.
“Flowey! You jerk.” Twilight spat out the snow she had in her mouth. “What was that for?” she asked.
“It’s a perfectly good snow day and you’re out here talking all emotional like,” Flowey shrugged, smirking. “Thought I’d make this fun day a little bit more, y’know, fun?”
“You started it!” Twilight said, forming a snowball with her magic. “But you picked the wrong alicorn to start a snowball fight with!”
Twilight chucked a snowball at the flower, but he simply bent his stem to dodge it. “Gonna have to do better than that to hit me,” Flowey taunted.
The princess reared up in response, shaking out the snow from her mane and also throwing Flowey and his flowerpot off of her back. Before the flower or pot could hit the ground, she caught them in her magic. She set the pot down carefully and extracted Flowey from it, planting him in the ground again. “Maybe that will make this a fair fight,” Twilight said. Immediately, she teleported out of the way of a snowball from Flowey and gathered snow up into another ball a couple feet away.
Flowey cackled, dodging the snowball by burrowing, and popped up next to Twilight. Before the mare could react, he wrapped several vines around her ankles, forcing her to the ground. After a little while, Twilight was buried in snow up to her neck. They were both laughing.
Twilight stood up, easily shaking the light, fluffy snow off of her back. “O-okay, it’s a little c-cold out here,” she shivered, teeth chattering. She grabbed Flowey’s flowerpot and replanted him in it, putting the pot back on her back. “Sh-should we go into t-town?”
“Oh, yeah! You’d love it there,” Flowey said. “I think some monsters actually stayed there because they weren’t accustomed to the perpetual warmth of the Surface.”
“S-sounds like a plan.”
When the duo got into town, there was snow falling from the ceiling of the cave. It was very light, not enough to obscure their vision, but still very noticeable. Twilight smiled at the humble town. There was light coming from the windows of the buildings and street lights lining the roads, making the snow shimmer in beautiful but occasionally blinding patterns. In the center of the town, there was a large pine tree with presents all around it.
“Is this where you lived before Home?” Twilight asked, marveling at the pretty lighting effects caused by the falling snow and flickering street lights. “It’s beautiful.”
“I didn’t really live anywhere before Home,” Flowey said. “It’s complicated, to be honest.”
Twilight nodded. “I understand. So, now what?”
“Look over yonder.” Flowey pointed with a vine at a blue-furred rabbit monster leaning on an ice cream stand. “I’ve got some change on me. Let’s grab some NiceCream.”
“You got it!” Twilight laughed, trotting towards the ice cream stand. “Excuse me, sir,” she said to the rabbit, “may my friend and I buy some of your ice cream?”
“Customers?” the rabbit asked eagerly. “Of course! That will be 5G each.”
Flowey held out a vine with ten gold coins resting precariously on it. The rabbit took the coins and handed them two ice cream cones.
“Thank you, sir!” Twilight said, walking away. She took out the notebook she had and started reading over the itinerary. “Let’s see… Snowdin, check! NiceCream, check! Next on the list is Waterfall.” She licked her ice cream cone and looked at Flowey. “Which way?”
Flowey pointed down the road. “Just keep going straight until the snow stops and the marsh starts. I’ll show you the way after that.”
“Okay!” Twilight set off at a half gallop, eager to get out of the cold, but careful not to drop Flowey on the ground.
Soon, they were in a sort of wetland. Twilight used a spell to dry herself off from the melting snow, then looked around. “Well, it’s going to be a wet walk, isn’t it? I can summon a shield for us so we don’t get wet,” she said, pawing at the ground with one of her hooves. It came back muddy. “Rarity would despise it here,” she added with a laugh.
Flowey pointed out the right way to go, showing Twilight around the cave system and teaching her how to solve each of the puzzles. It wasn’t long before they got to an area where it was fully raining. Twilight summoned a shield like she said and walked out into the rain.
“I like the rain,” Twilight said idly. “It calms me down when I’m stressed. And it's a nice ambience for reading.”
“You really like your books, huh?” Flowey asked, leaning on the back of Twilight’s neck to rest his stem. “Heh. My mom had lots of books when I was growing up. Mostly cookbooks and fun fact books, but some of them had decent stories too. Chara loved puzzle books.”
Twilight thought hard for a minute. She really should’ve asked Sunset to tell her about all of the routes before coming here. “Who is Chara?” she asked sheepishly.
“She used to be my sister, before…” Flowey trailed off, looking at the ground. “Before we died. Ah, don’t worry about it. It all worked out in the end, right? Haha…”
“Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize,” Twilight said. “Um, do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really,” Flowey mumbled, pressing the back of his head onto Twilight’s neck and trying to bury himself in her navy mane. “Let’s just get to Castleview. It’s really cool.”
“Right.” Twilight trotted a little faster, hoping to get to this cool place before Flowey got any more depressed. Eventually, she just started galloping, holding Flowey and his flower pot on her back with her magic.
Twilight saw an opening in the cave ahead. It got much larger quickly, she figured. “Are we almost there?” she asked, turning to look at Flowey.
“Mmhmm, just a little further. It’s right up here,” Flowey nodded. The cave widened into a full cavern and he turned Twilight’s head to the left. The mare gasped.
“Oh my goodness,” Twilight said. “It’s so pretty.” She allowed herself to fall back onto her haunches and admire the view, ignoring the puddles under her. The shield above them flickered temporarily, but it recovered from Twilight’s surprise and continued protecting them from the pouring rain.
From what she could see, it was a large cavern with some kind of chasm into abyssal depths. In the distance, there were rocks jutting out from the darkness, a castle standing proud upon the mini mountain. She could distantly hear the sound of rain falling into a lake echoing from the chasm. But the thing that tied it all together was the ceiling. Blue twinkling gems were growing from the naturally contoured top of the cave, creating a star-like effect.
An unfamiliar voice to Twilight’s right said, “Hey A- Flowey. Did you make a new friend?”
“Yeah, this is Twilight,” Flowey replied, catching himself with his vines before he hit the ground. “She’s a princess from a different world. Twilight, this is my sister, Chara.”
The princess looked up and saw a bipedal creature floating several inches off the ground, smiling at her and glowing dimly in an ethereal manner much like Celestia and Luna’s manes. Her voice was feminine but somewhat scratchy at the same time, making it sound more androgynous than she thought.
“Greetings, Princess Twilight,” Chara said. “I am Chara, the Princess of the Monsters.”
Twilight opened and closed her mouth in confusion, then whispered to Flowey, “I thought you said she died?”
Chara laughed, the sound echoing slightly either from the cave walls or her incorporeal existence. “I did,” she answered, “but a friend of mine brought me back using a thing we call determination. The will to live, as it were. Of course, I am not the same as I was. I am now a ghost, without a physical body to inhabit. My old one is… decayed. Or in a state of decay, rather.”
“Oh. Um, sorry, I… I don’t really know what to say,” Twilight mumbled sheepishly. “Are you a human? I’ve only ever heard of Frisk.”
“Yes,” Chara said simply. “But, if you do not mind me asking, what are you? I have never seen a monster quite like you.”
“That’s because I’m not a monster,” Twilight said. “I’m not just from a different world, I’m from an entirely different multiverse. I am a pony.”
“I see,” Chara nodded. “Well, it is nice to meet you, princess. You know, I think Frisk would like to meet you sometime.”
“Is she here with you?” Flowey asked, raising a vine to get the ghost’s attention.
“No, I am here by myself.” Chara looked at the distant castle on the rocks, a strange look of recognition on her face, as if the castle was a long lost friend. “I just wanted to see the rain again. It is… nice, even if I cannot feel it anymore.” Her entire body seemed to glow a little brighter, casting a dim red light over the wet rocks around her. The smile on her face widened slightly, her eyes suddenly misty. Flowey had the same expression of recognition on his features as he stared into the distance.
“Uh, anyway,” the flower said, shaking his head, “we should get going. There’s a lot that I wanted to show Twi before she has to go home.”
“Okay,” Chara nodded as she snapped out of the trance as well. “Have fun, I suppose. See you later. I will try to stop by Home later today.”
Flowey nodded, Twilight picking him and his flower pot up with her magic and setting them on her back. “Next on the list,” Twilight said, reading the notebook again, “is… the trash zone. Which way?”
Flowey waved to Chara, then pointed down the cave to show Twilight the way. “There’s a shortcut through some caves that I know about,” Flowey said proudly. “I’ll show you.”
Twilight found herself wading through shallow water, garbage floating around her. Surprisingly, it was fairly comfortable, with little to no stench and only the distant roar of a waterfall for ambient noise. It was a soothing experience for sure.
“So, what are we looking for?” the princess asked, looking at a pile of trash from a distance and wondering what hidden treasures were waiting for her to uncover. “Books?”
Flowey shrugged, out of his flower pot and planted in the marshy ground. “I don’t really know,” he admitted. “Sometimes there’s books here, but they get soggy quickly. I usually come here and find some discarded human anime or video games. And there’s always a chance you could find weird devices and electronics around here. I give them to Alphys for repairing or general usage, since she’s the one and only techie in the Underground.”
“Oh. How does one go about finding the good stuff?” Twilight asked. She pawed at the pile of trash she had been looking at. There was an unsurprising amount of mud in the pile, coating the front of her hoof in the thick goop. She groaned, placing her hoof back into the water and shaking it clean.
“I just look around until something catches my eye,” Flowey said. “But everything new is usually not on the piles. Ooh, take a look at this!” He held up a strange plastic rectangle with his vine. “I wonder what it is.”
“There’s a picture on the front,” Twilight said, walking to him and examining the shallow plastic container. “It looks like… me.”
“No way,” Flowey gasped as he flipped the thing around and held it up next to Twilight’s face. “You’re right, it does look like you! There’s words here. ‘My Little Pony: The Movie’? Did you star in any movies recently?”
“I’ve never even seen a filming set in real life before,” Twilight answered, trying to make out what the text on the back said. “It looks like the back card is falling apart. I can’t read anything on it. But the other creatures all over the front are familiar too. That’s Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack. In the background, it looks like… Tempest? The Storm King, Celano, Capper… and that’s definitely Queen Novo and Princess Skystar.”
“Jeez, there’s a lot of people here,” Flowey said. “And you know all of them? You really do have a lot of friends.”
“Friends is a strong term for some of them,” Twilight laughed. “Especially the Storm King. He’s more of an enemy. You know, I should introduce you to my friends. I think you’d like them.”
Flowey popped the plastic case open to reveal a disc of some kind. “What’s this?” he said, looking down at the disc.
“Do you hear something?” Twilight asked suddenly, leaning down to Flowey as her ears fell flat against her head.
“Huh?” Flowey paused and listened. Sure enough, there was talking coming from farther down the cave. It sounded like a lot of people. “Yeah, I hear it. We should check it out.” He tucked the plastic case into his flowerpot, which was on Twilight's back, and followed Twilight as she moved to see what the noise was.
Twilight rounded a corner, Flowey popping up next to her, and came face to face with a short yellow lizard.
“O-oh, um, hello there,” the lizard stuttered in an incredibly nasally voice. “S-s-sorry. I d-didn’t mean to bump into you…”
“It’s quite alright!” Twilight said kindly. “I don’t believe we’ve met before. I’m Twilight.”
“A-Alphys,” the lizard responded. “I’m the royal s-scientist. M-my wife is over there showing our ch-children around.”
Twilight looked at where Alphys was pointing. There she saw a tall, scarred fish lady wearing a black sleeveless tee, ripped jeans, and red rain boots to match her vibrant red hair. The lady was surrounded by six children of varying sizes and ages, though they all looked human.
“Hello!” Twilight called.
“Hey.” The fish lady waved to her and walked over, crouching next to Alphys. “What’s up, kid? You need a hand?”
“Oh no, I just wanted to say hi,” Twilight said. “I’m from a different multiverse, so I’m new here. My name is Twilight, Princess of Friendship amongst other things.”
“Call me Undyne,” the fish said, a wide smile stretching across her heavily scarred face that showed off her sharp, yellowish teeth. “Former Captain of the Royal Guard, before the king disbanded it. Looks like you’ve already met my wife.”
“Yes, she’s very nice,” Twilight nodded. “You have beautiful children. Are they human? They don’t look like monsters.”
“Yeah, we adopted the little tykes from Queen Toriel since she didn’t have the room to take in any more traumatized children,” Undyne explained, only somewhat joking. “These two are Christopher and Clyde, that’s Anita, over there is Nicolas, here is Elizabeth, and on my shoulder here is Percival.”
“I died once!” Clyde yelled with glee, running around Twilight’s legs and splashing in the water, Christopher following his example.
“We all did, actually,” Percival said matter of factly, glancing up from his notebook to look at Twilight. “Pretty.” He reached out and stroked her muzzle with his free hand.
“Oh, thank you, Percival,” Twilight smiled. “How old are you?”
“9 years,” the child said. “Momma says I’m really smart because I’m good at math at such a young age. I like thinking about logical problems.”
“Do you like to read?” Twilight asked.
“Yes.” He turned to Undyne. “Mom, are all horses purple?”
“No, hun, this one is special,” Undyne responded in a surprisingly soft, patient voice. “She’s got a horn and wings, so she’s not just a normal horse. She’s magical… probably.”
“That’s right!” Twilight said. “I’m the Princess of Magic, actually. My mentor took me under her wing at a very young age after I passed a test that was designed to be failed. It’s complicated.”
Undyne paused. “And your mentor was…?”
“Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun and diarch of Equestria,” Twilight said proudly. “Equestria is the nation I’m from.”
“So you were also taken in by the ruler of your nation to be taught a skill that would end up being one of your main strong suits today?” Undyne asked.
“Well, I suppose you could put it like that, yes.”
“Huh. Same thing happened to me,” Undyne said. “King Asgore taught me how to fight. Now I’m the former Captain of the Royal Guard.”
A new person jumped out from behind some piles of trash, asking in a very excited but not forceful voice, “DID YOU LOOK UP TO THIS ‘PRINCESS CELESTIA’ BEFORE SHE TOOK YOU IN?”
Twilight flinched, startled by the new person, a tall skeletal monster wearing very strange clothes that she didn’t want to ask about. “Yes. Who doesn’t?” Twilight answered. “From my world, I mean. You probably wouldn’t look up to her if you’ve never heard of her before.”
“SO YOU MEAN TO SAY THAT ALL THREE OF US HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON,” the tall skeleton said. “THIS THING BEING WE WERE ALL TAUGHT BY SOMEONE WE REALLY LOOKED UP TO!”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right, Papyrus,” Undyne nodded thoughtfully. “Oh, this is Papyrus. I’ve been training him to fight and cook. Even though I… kinda suck at cooking.”
“YOU DON’T SUCK, YOU JUST NEED MORE PRACTICE!” Papyrus said, patting the fish on the back.
“U-unfortunately,” Alphys interjected, “her ‘practice’ usually ends up burning the h-house down. Which is why I’ve b-banned her from my lab for the t-time being, so she d-doesn’t blow it up like l-last time.”
“That’s… kind of relatable,” Twilight said. “I’m terrible at cooking, myself. I usually have to get my friend Starlight to cook for me or I have to order something from Whinny’s. That’s a restaurant in my world,” she added quickly, seeing the puzzled faces staring back at her.
“Anyway,” Flowey said, putting himself back into his plant pot, “we’d better get going if we want to get to the Capitol any time today. It’s nice seeing you, Undyne, Alphys. Take care.”
“Wait, you need to get to the Capitol?” Undyne asked.
Twilight nodded. “Flowey was going to introduce me to his family there,” she said. “Why?”
“Need a lift?” Undyne gave Percival to Alphys, who was standing nearby. “I can get you to the docks in no time.”
“Oh! Uh, sure. If you don’t mind, that is,” Twilight said. “I don’t want to interrupt your family outing.”
“It’s alright. I’ll be back before they know I was gone,” Undyne smiled. “Ready?”
Twilight nodded again. Suddenly, she left the ground and was moving ridiculously fast. She squeaked in surprise, trying once to catch Flowey before realizing Undyne had him in her other arm. How this fish was lifting her with one arm, carrying her like a bag of potatoes, she didn’t know. The strange, scary sensation of being moved without actually moving her limbs passed within seconds as Undyne placed her on the ground.
“W-where are we?” Twilight asked, spreading her wings to balance herself.
“The docks,” Undyne said. She rubbed the back of her neck while placing Flowey on the ground. “Sorry, I should’ve given you more warning than that. I’m used to running around carrying Alphy without really needing to explain.”
“It’s okay,” Twilight said. “Thank you for bringing us here. I hope you have a nice day!”
“See you around, princess,” Undyne called back, already sprinting in the direction she came from.
Twilight laughed for a minute, then placed Flowey on her back. “That was eventful,” she sighed. She turned to a cloaked figure riding a boat on the nearby river. “Excuse me, are you the Riverperson?”
“Yes, I am,” the figure answered. “Care for a ride?”
Twilight nodded and stepped onto the boat carefully.
“Where are we going today?”
“The Capitol, please!”
The Riverperson sat down and patted the figurehead on the front of the boat, which was shaped like a dog’s head. The entire boat raised out of the water and galloped away, barking.
Twilight knew to expect something like this; Sunset told her about the strange boat that ran on water. She was surprised at how smooth the ride was. The Riverperson said something strange and cryptic, but she wasn’t really listening. Instead, she was thinking about all the wacky adventures she would probably end up going on in this new world.
The boat ride was short, so it wasn’t long before they were in a city that wasn’t as inactive as Twilight was expecting. “I thought you said most monsters left the Underground,” Twilight said.
“Yes, they did. There’s more monsters than you think,” Flowey answered. “Most of these people are preparing to leave, but waiting for more housing to be built on the Surface. The castle is that way.”
Twilight nodded and took off, flying over the crowded streets and expertly dodging fellow flyers while holding Flowey in her magic. She saw a large building that could only be the castle, standing proud on a rocky ledge that was raised higher than the rest of the city. As she flew towards it, she could see the dark ceiling and shimmering gems embedded in the stone past it and hear water rushing and falling. Was this the castle she saw from Castleview?
“Is your family there?” she asked, pointing towards the castle.
“Yeah, they live in the castle. I wonder how they’re doing.” Flowey hummed, then shook his head. “We’ll find out.”
Twilight landed at the front doors of the castle, walking up to the guards. “Hello! I’m here with Flowey,” she said, turning 90 degrees to show them the flower on her back.
The guards bowed, either to her or Flowey, then pushed the large wooden doors open. Twilight walked inside, nodding to both guards as thanks. She looked around. “Which way?” she asked.
“We just wait here for a minute,” Flowey said. “The guards will tell my family that I’m here.” A door opened in the distance, followed by quick, heavy footsteps and laughter. Two monsters and a human came out of a hallway to Twilight’s right. Twilight recognized them as Toriel, Asgore, and Frisk.
“Flowey!” Toriel sang, holding Frisk’s hand and smiling at the flower. “How have you been, my dear?”
“M’alright,” Flowey said, blushing a bit as Toriel gave him a peck on the forehead. “Toriel, you’re embarrassing me.”
“Howdy, Flowey,” Asgore waved. “Do you need a bigger pot already? I have plenty, you know.”
Frisk ran up, letting go of Toriel and wrapping her arms around Flowey’s pot, crossing neck and stem in something akin to a hug. She didn’t say anything, just smiled as they released.
“Howdy, Frisk, Asgore,” Flowey smiled back at them. “I just wanted to visit and introduce you to my new friend. This is Princess Twilight. She’s from a different multiverse.”
“Hello, Your Majesty,” Twilight said, bowing to Asgore. She turned to Toriel and Frisk. “Miss Toriel, Ambassador. It’s very nice to meet you all. I’m Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Magic, Friendship, and a portion of Equestria.”
“Oh, please stop with the formalities,” Toriel laughed. “Any friend of Flowey’s is a friend of mine. Call me Toriel. This is Frisk.” She gestured to the human.
Frisk’s eyes widened upon seeing Twilight, showing off her hazel-colored eyes as she whisked around the mare as if admiring her.
“I am happy to call you friends, then,” Twilight said cheerfully. “Toriel, I have a quick question, if you don't mind.”
“Go right ahead, dear,” Toriel said.
“Are you… Flowey’s mom?” As soon as she asked, she felt Flowey glare at her. Twilight glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and saw him looking back with a poorly hidden scowl.
“No, I am not,” Toriel said with a laugh. “But I would be proud to have him as a son. He is a wonderful person. But we all treat him like family; he is close enough to Frisk, he could be her brother. And I would believe you if you said he was!” Twilight laughed with Toriel for a little bit, then Toriel spoke again, “I do have a question for you, though.”
“Ask away!”
“Forgive my bluntness, but… are you his girlfriend?”
Twilight blushed, more embarrassed that she’d never had a boyfriend than at the suggestion of Flowey filling that spot. “O-oh, no. I… I’ve never thought about that kind of stuff much, haha…” She broke eye contact to glance again at Flowey, who was now making an angry face at Toriel and blushing furiously. “Which is funny,” Twilight continued, trying to find something to switch the subject to, “because my sister-in-law is the Princess of Love. She has a husband- my brother, of course- and a filly already.”
“It sounds like you have quite the family,” Asgore said in a gentle voice that didn’t seem to fit his enormity- it actually reminded Twilight of how she felt when Celestia tutored her. “Oh, would you like a cup of tea?”
Twilight glanced at Flowey, who met her gaze then turned away quickly, probably still embarrassed by Toriel’s question. “Hmm… if you don’t mind, yes please,” Twilight nodded. “Flowey, do you want some?”
“No thank you, I’m not thirsty right now,” Flowey said quickly, refusing to make eye contact with anyone but Toriel. Even then, all he was doing was glaring at her anyway. He rested his stem on the back of Twilight’s neck again, half hiding in her mane.
“Flowey, that tickles,” Twilight giggled, shaking her head gently to reposition the tiny flower.
“Shut up,” Flowey muttered to Toriel, who was snickering quietly at him. He raised his voice a little to talk to Twilight and spoke in a nicer tone. “Sorry, didn’t mean to. I tried to lie where I had been before.”
“It’s okay,” Twilight said kindly, “I know you don’t mean any harm.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, “But maybe you shouldn’t bring up the fact that you were laying in my mane before, if you don’t want Toriel to assume feelings.”
Flowey made a sound of surprise, offense, and disappointment all in one that sounded straight out of an anime and removed himself from her mane quickly. “W-well, it was ‘cause I was tired!” he retorted. “Jeez, you guys need to chill out. Nothing’s going on between us!”
“I understand, Flowey,” Toriel smiled.
“Besides, her hair is soft,” Flowey grumbled, almost too low for anyone to hear. Emphasis on the almost.
“Aw, thank you!” Twilight said happily. “I try to keep it in good shape. It’s a habit from back when Spike- my younger brother, not the married one- used to ride on my back. He liked to rest his head on my mane whenever he got sleepy, just like you, Flowey.”
“That sounds adorable,” Toriel gushed, probably imagining it despite never having seen Spike.
“I had to wash my mane often because he kept drooling on it when he fell asleep,” Twilight said, faking an upset tone of voice. “And because I wanted to keep it soft to make for a perfect pillow. That’s also why I didn’t get my mane thinned. Since pony necks are relatively muscular as compared to most non-equine creatures in my world, my neck is too firm to act as a pillow. So, I refrained from thinning my mane so it could pad my neck and be more comfortable for him.”
“Anyway!” Flowey yelled desperately. “Can we talk about something else now? Jeez… you guys are weird.”
“Flowey, don’t say that,” Twilight said teasingly, looking back at him. “They’re just interested in your love life. It’s a perfectly normal thing for a family to pry into.” She bounced a little, making the flower pot shake precariously on her back.
Flowey didn’t respond, but his features relaxed as he stared at her face. There was a long pause where they just looked at each other, Twilight getting a little uncomfortable as Flowey’s unintentional glare seemed to pierce through her eyes straight into her soul.
“Flowey?” Twilight asked after a full minute, tilting her head. “You’re staring.”
“What? No, I… I wasn’t staring at you,” Flowey said quickly. “I just spaced out. There’s a lot on my mind, okay? D-don’t look into it.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m…” Flowey paused as he registered the concern in Twilight’s eyes. They seemed to sparkle in the most captivating way, like amethyst windows into her inner workings. And yet, like with Frisk and Chara, she was so unpredictable. He couldn’t place what she wanted or needed from him, but somehow, he knew he had to provide it for her. He didn’t know how or why, but he just… knew. Suddenly, he shook his head and looked away, breaking eye contact. “…fine. My mind is in a weird place right now. Can we go home now?”
“So soon?” Toriel asked. “You never had your tea, Twilight.”
“Oh, my tea! I’m so sorry, I forgot!” Twilight said, laughing sheepishly. “But I think Flowey is tired. I should get him home. Can I take the tea to-go? I’ll send the cup back as soon as I can.”
“Of course,” Asgore said. “You don’t have to return the cup, really. We have plenty here.”
“Thank you.” Twilight nodded to Asgore, taking the tea cup in her magic and sipping the tea. It tasted floral and sweet. Did he add honey? “We’d better get going. I can just teleport us home with my magic. Have a nice day!”
The monsters and human waved at her until she used the teleportation spell and disappeared with a snap.
When they got home, Twilight immediately went to the armchair she had been sitting in the night before. She sat down, curling up around Flowey like she had been.
“Flowey, are you sure you’re okay?” she asked, idly tracing the edge of his flower pot with the tip of her hoof. “You were distant earlier.”
“I’m fine, Twi.” Flowey paused, then pressed his cheek against her hoof to reassure her. “I promise, I really am fine. Aren’t you sleepy? You should get some rest. It’s been a long day.”
Twilight frowned at him, knowing he was probably lying. “Okay, fine,” she sighed. “Good night. Sweet dreams. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”
“Okay,” Flowey said, nuzzling her hoof and using it as a pillow. “L… love you…” he whispered sheepishly, as if it was the first time he had ever told anyone something like that.
Twilight chuckled, a content smile on her lips. “Love you too, Flowey.” She rested her head on the side of the flower pot, allowing Flowey to lean against it and feel her soft mane.
As he buried himself in Twilight’s mane, Flowey just so happened to very naturally get a sniff. She smelled nice. It wasn’t a strong scent; as a matter of fact, it was very soft on his non-existent nostrils. A distinct vanilla smell, mixed with the much weaker, passive scent of… books. “Who’d have guessed Twilight, of all people, would smell like books?” he thought, smiling to himself.
Flowey was close enough to Twilight that he could easily hear her breathing. The mare had fallen asleep fairly quickly, which was to be expected after such an eventful day. Ah, and the day they had. Flowey used to have trouble picking favorite experiences, but now? It was easy for him to say that day was the most fun he had since he tricked Chara into smiling for no reason using a stupid camera lens cap, and that had been many years ago.
He glanced at Twilight’s face. Her eyes were closed, lashes barely touching her cheeks, the exact picture of content. A light smile was on her face, left over from the fun day she had. Her bangs, cut perfectly straight, rested just between her brow line and where the top of her eyes would be if they were open. He could still picture her amethyst eyes, sparkling with otherworldly kindness and never-ending hope.
Flowey sighed. He was already familiar with this feeling; he had felt it when Chara first fell and was new to everything. Back then, he learned to treat her as his sister and nothing more, because that made sense. He got over her before they died. But the overwhelming warmth, the unmistakable pleasure he used to feel when he was near Chara, was the same as what he felt in the present day for Twilight. It was love- it just had to be.
There was still a big problem for him, though. He had never confessed to Chara. To that day, she had probably assumed he loved her like a brother would, not a crush. Ever since they died, Flowey had been regretting his decision to not tell her. When she came back, he told himself he would talk to her, but he never did. All this to say, he didn’t know what he was supposed to say to Twilight. He needed advice.
For now, he had time. Twilight would leave in the morning, but she was going to come back soon. He didn’t know why he trusted her on that, but something about her voice and the look she gave him when she said it just… convinced him. There was no point trying to reason with his emotions, so he took it as another sign of his love. After Twilight left, he would have to find someone to talk with. Someone he could trust, someone who actually knew what he needed. He needed someone experienced in romancing a person like Twilight. Actually, it was easy to think of who to go to. He nodded, settling on a plan for the next day, then finally allowed himself to drift off to sleep.
Welcome to Act Two! Here’s a quick recap for you before we begin.
Fallen Down: Twilight uses a spell to teleport into the video game Undertale. She meets Flowey, discusses diplomacy, and befriends him. At the end of the day, they share some things they have in common, cry for a little bit, and fall asleep together.
Snow Day: Twilight and Flowey eat some pie together. They discuss Twilight going home, have an emotional moment over it, then compromise and say that Twilight will stay for the day and through the night. They then decide to have a fun day together, starting with a snowball fight and NiceCream in Snowdin.
Stargazing: Continuing the fun day, the duo goes to Castleview and admires the view of the castle. Twilight meets Chara for the first time. It is also revealed that Twilight knows about Undertale through Sunset Shimmer.
Of Undying Fish and Fallen Humans: The duo goes to the trash zone in Waterfall and finds a DVD of MLP: The Movie. They also meet Undyne and Alphys, who introduce them to the fallen humans, aka their adopted children.
New Home: The duo makes it to the Capitol, then to New Home. Twilight is introduced to Flowey’s family. The duo is teased about romance, then Flowey asks to go home.
Silent Sentiments: The duo make it back home and prepare to fall asleep again. Twilight goes to sleep, leaving Flowey to contemplate his feelings for her.
This time, Twilight woke up first. Flowey was still leaning on her, fast asleep. She looked around and saw that she never finished her tea. Knowing it was cold by then, she pouted and picked it up with her magic, using a heating spell on it. She sipped the tea, disappointed that it didn’t taste quite as good as when it was fresh.
She looked back at Flowey. His face showed a strange mix of joy and concern, as if something both good and confusing was happening in his dreams. She couldn’t help but smile at him. She had always found it comforting when her friends were happy. It made her feel better.
There was a strange feeling in her chest, she realized just then. It wasn’t quite joy or excitement; no, it was more than that. She couldn’t really place what it was. It was unfamiliar to her. What she knew was that it made her sad. Sad that she had to go, sad that she had to leave Flowey all alone again. He said he had trouble sleeping without her. She had to help him sort that out so he could be comfortable without her. They couldn’t be together every night, after all.
Despite this, Twilight knew she had to go. It wouldn’t be right if she just ran off. In a way, it would be like eloping. She’d be running away to chase a feeling, and in this case, she wasn’t even sure what the feeling was. It was silly for her to consider it. She looked down at Flowey, unwilling to leave without waking him up and saying bye.
Twilight shook her head a little, hoping the jostling would wake him up, but also feeling guilty for interrupting his wonderful dreams. “Flowey?” she said quietly, as if there were other people in the room she was trying not to wake up.
Flowey mumbled something as his eyes tightened and his breathing became slightly more erratic. Twilight sucked her teeth, wondering if she made his dream bad. “All or nothing,” she said. “Flowey! Flowey, wake up please!”
Flowey opened his eyes. “Huh? T-Twilight?” He looked around, eyes wide. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry, but I really do need to go home,” Twilight said, her face softening into one of sympathy. “I didn’t want to leave without saying bye.”
“O-oh… right. You have to go,” Flowey smiled at her, though the smile was obviously fake. “Yeah, okay. Well, bye I guess. See you soon?”
There was a pause where they looked at each other silently, unmoving.
“You’re still laying on my neck,” Twilight said.
Flowey practically threw himself out of Twilight’s mane. “Sorry,” he squeaked, trying to keep his voice from failing.
“It’s alright,” Twilight laughed. She held Flowey up with her magic and slid out of the chair, placing Flowey back where he was. “I’d better get going then. Um, I’ll… I’ll try to visit soon. Oh, and Flowey?”
“Yes?”
Twilight smiled at him. “I had a lot of fun yesterday. I’ll miss you,” she said, placing her hoof by his head for a nuzzle.
“I’ll miss you too, Twi,” Flowey said. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it right after, looking away with his face flushed.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, leaning in to see his face.
“N-nothing! It’s nothing…” Flowey turned back to look at her and saw she was very close to him. Taking his chance, he gave her a kiss on the cheek. “St-stay safe, okay?”
Twilight backed up, nodding slowly. “Of course,” she smiled. “You too. I’ll try to come here tonight. You might need me to sleep.”
“Pfft, don’t flatter yourself,” Flowey scoffed jokingly. His expression changed to one of embarrassment. “But… I wouldn’t mind it if you came. That is to say-!”
“Okay, okay,” Twilight laughed, putting her hoof to his mouth. “I get it, tsundere.”
Flowey licked her hoof, causing her to retract it. “How do you even know what a tsundere is?” he asked, blushing. “I’m not a tsundere.”
“A friend of mine watches anime sometimes,” Twilight said, wiping her hoof on a cloth she summoned. “She explained it to me. Anyways, I should go. Thank you for having me.”
Flowey nodded, smiling nervously. He got out of his flower pot in record time and followed her to the door. “Thank you for staying with me,” he said.
“It’s what friends are for, right?” Twilight laughed. “I’ll see you later.”
“See you,” Flowey sighed, watching her walk down the path. His tongue caught despite him wanting to say more. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say. For some reason, his future seemed bleaker. “I… I love you!” he called desperately after her retreating figure.
Twilight turned back to look at him, standing in front of the leafless tree. “I love you too.” She teleported away in a bright flash of raspberry light and a snap.
Flowey blinked once at where Twilight used to be. He frowned, knowing she wouldn’t be back until that night at the earliest. Then again, now was his chance to get advice. He burrowed into the ground, heading towards Waterfall.
Twilight appeared back in her basement. She looked around. The lights were still on, everything just the way she left it, except the door was very slightly open. Spike probably came down yesterday to see if she was back yet.
“Spike! I’m home!” she called, both trying to get Spike’s attention and practicing her Royal Canterlot Voice.
There was the soft pitter-patter of Spike running down the stairs, almost drowned out by the clops of hooves against the stairs. The door was pushed open to reveal Starlight and Spike. The latter rushed to Twilight.
“Twilight! You were gone for so long,” he said, hugging Twilight. “What happened? We were worried.”
“Sorry, guys,” Twilight chuckled. She patted Spike on the head idly while saying, “I just made a new friend. He was very lonely, so I stayed the day with him yesterday.”
“He?” Starlight asked with a smirk.
Twilight blushed. “It’s not like that! I mean, we’re just friends,” she said, pouting. “I had to stay the night with him because he has nightmares. Apparently, it calms him down if there’s someone next to him. I’m… going to go back tonight, hopefully.”
Starlight nodded as if she understood, but the smirk remained. “Well, what are you doing now?” she asked.
“I’m going to write a letter first,” Twilight said. “Then, I’ll do all my paperwork and practice magic. I’ll try to go back to the other world before dinner time so I can eat with him. Have you already had breakfast?”
“Not yet,” Starlight said. “I’m going to make pancakes.”
“Then I will write my letter now,” Twilight nodded. “Please call me when breakfast is ready.” With that, she left for her study.
A couple minutes later, Twilight was sitting in her study, writing the letter she was talking about with Starlight. “Dear Cadence,” Twilight said out loud, “I think we should talk. I did something a couple of days ago and I need you to tell me what’s wrong. It’s about friendship. Can we meet today? With love, Twilight.” She re-read the letter, then sealed it and sent it off with her magic.
She then turned her attention to the stack of paperwork on her desk, sighing.
Meanwhile, Flowey popped out of the ground in Waterfall, in front of Undyne and Alphys’ house. He raised a long vine and rang the doorbell. Undyne came to the door.
“Hey, Flowey,” Undyne said. “What’s up?”
“I need advice,” Flowey mumbled. “Can we talk for a little bit?”
“Sure. You want something to drink?” Undyne asked, letting the flower in. She put a flower pot in front of him so he didn’t break the floorboards. “I’ve got some tea.”
“No thank you.”
Undyne placed Flowey, now in his flower pot, on the table and sat down in front of him. “So, what’s up?”
“I need to know I can trust you,” Flowey said in a low voice. “I’m telling you this in confidence. Nothing leaves this room.”
“Got it.”
“Your wife… She’s admittedly a lot like Twilight,” Flowey started, already cringing at everything he was saying. “How… how did you confess your feelings to her?”
Undyne spit her tea out in surprise, covering her mouth so she didn’t spray Flowey with it. “What?” she asked shakily.
“How did you tell Alphys you love her?” Flowey asked again. “Just answer the question. What did you say to her?”
“Are you asking me for dating advice?” Undyne said incredulously as she dried her hand on the pant leg of her sweatpants.
“No. I’m asking you for confession advice,” Flowey growled, breaking eye contact to look at the floor, his face flushing. “Answer the question.”
Undyne laughed loudly, covering her eyes. “Oh my god. No way,” she said, gasping for breath in between laughs. “What makes you think you’re going to like my answer? You already know what I’m gonna say, don’t you?”
“I… don’t know,” Flowey admitted. “You have experience with people like Twilight. I just thought… you might help me.”
“Okay, listen,” Undyne said, suddenly serious as she leaned over the table and looked him in the eyes. “You have a lady problem. Obviously, you have a unique situation here. The big problem with your relationship being more than friends is that she lives in an entirely different world. Just because Alphys and Princess Twilight are both nerds doesn’t mean I’ll have the best advice for you, but I’ll try.” She leaned back in her chair, looking at the ceiling as she thought.
“You want my honest advice?” she asked finally.
“Yes.”
“Just tell her,” Undyne said. “Stop being afraid. Tell her you love her.”
“I have done that at least twice in the past twelve hours,” Flowey deadpanned. “She said it back, but… I don’t think she understood what I meant.”
“Then make her understand!” Undyne yelled, her classic fighting energy coming back to her. “Beat it into her skull if you have to!”
“…How?” Flowey said.
“I dunno, kiss her.”
“I did that this morning.”
“Wait, what?”
“Granted, it was on the cheek, but still.”
“Oh my god,” Undyne said, her single uncovered eye sparkling. “You actually kissed her? What did she say?”
“She just… smiled at me.” Flowey closed his eyes and remembered the moment. “I don’t think my message came across.”
“A kiss on the cheek didn’t work,” Undyne said thoughtfully. “Well, then amp it up! Kiss her on the mouth! Or the neck. Or the nose. Or the forehead, though that one might come across as more of a caretaker thing than a lover.”
“I’m not gonna kiss her on the neck! That’s so…” Flowey blushed at the thought of kissing Twilight on the neck. He could almost hear her voice asking him what he was doing. It would probably seem like something out of an anime. He shook his head. “…suggestive.”
“Then the mouth,” Undyne said proudly.
“What?! N-no! That’s intrusive!”
“Then be cute and kiss her on the nose.”
“But…”
“Dude! Stop making excuses for yourself and take some initiative already!” Undyne yelled. “Don’t force her to make the first move on you! She’s too sweet for something like that! Just. Kiss. Her.”
“C-can I at least ask for permission first?” Flowey asked nervously. “It seems wrong to just do that. I want her to be okay with it.”
“See, now we’re getting somewhere,” Undyne said. “But asking first kinda… ruins it.”
“Okay… what if I get really close like I’m about to kiss her, then ask her permission before actually doing it?” Flowey offered.
“You know what?” Undyne said, leaning forward and putting a hand on the flower pot as if it was Flowey’s shoulder. “That’ll probably work. When are you talking to her next?”
“She said she’ll try to be back tonight to help me sleep,” Flowey said. “I can talk to her then.”
“That sounds like you have a plan!”
After accepting some tea and finishing it, Flowey decided it was time for him to go. “Thank you for your help, Undyne,” he said. “Can you put me outside please? I’ll be heading home now.”
“No problem!” Undyne put the pot outside and transferred Flowey to the ground. “Go get ‘em, tiger!”
Flowey nodded and burrowed into the ground, now heading back home.
Twilight paced around, being unable to sit still on a park bench nearby. In a flash of sky blue magic, a slightly taller than average alicorn mare appeared.
“Twily!” Cadence called, walking over.
“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clop your hooves and do a little shake!” the two princesses recited, laughing.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” Cadence asked, following Twilight as they took a slow walk through Ponyville’s local park.
“Two days ago, I used a spell to teleport myself into a… different world,” Twilight explained. “When I was there, I met and befriended somebody. I stayed there two nights and yesterday because he had trouble sleeping on his own. I’m… going back tonight.”
“So you’re wondering how ethical it is to keep going back every night despite your duties here?” Cadence guessed.
“No, it’s not that,” Twilight said. “Yesterday, before we went to sleep, he… he said he loved me. Which is fine. We’re friends, and there’s a certain amount of love that friends have for each other. This morning, right before I left, he said it again. There was a kind of… desperation in his voice when he said it. And he… Well, he kissed me on the cheek once. He likes resting his head in my mane sometimes, and he’s nuzzled my hoof twice now. Both times were to comfort me, but still!”
Cadence thought for a minute. “Okay, so he wants to be with you,” she nodded. “Do you feel the same way?”
“I… I don’t know,” Twilight sighed. “There’s this feeling that I get. I woke up before him this morning and I saw how happy he looked. I was really happy because he was happy. And when I had to leave, my heart sank. Is that love? Do I feel the same way with my friends here? Maybe I’m just pitying him because he’s so lonely. Maybe that’s why I miss him right now, but… I’m not sure. I’m confused about it and I don’t want to act before I’m sure.”
“Well, that’s the fun thing about love, Twily,” Cadence said with a smile. “Sometimes you have to accept that you may never be sure. Sometimes you can’t predict what will happen, and that’s okay!”
“Cadence, I just met him,” Twilight said. “I don’t think I should bring it up yet.”
“Then don’t bring it up.” Cadence put a wing around Twilight’s shoulders. “Wait for a little bit. Get to know him better. If you don’t fully trust yourself to make the right decision without putting it off, then put it off.”
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Cady. I don’t think I would have come to a decision by tonight without that. I-”
“Tonight?!” Cadence asked.
“Well, yes. He has trouble sleeping if he’s alone,” Twilight said sheepishly. “So I’m going back tonight to calm him down. I promised I would visit as often as I could. He’s really lonely.”
“I see. Okay, just try not to steer the conversation towards romance for now,” Cadence said. “And make an effort to not lead him on.”
Twilight nodded. “Oh yeah, I was going to have dinner with him. I just thought he’d appreciate the company.”
Cadence stared at her blankly. “Does he… know you’re having dinner with him?” she asked slowly.
“I didn’t tell him I was coming so early, no.”
“Okay… Well, just be careful. I believe in you!” Cadence said. “Anyways, I should get back to the Crystal Empire. Shiny was upset that I left him with Flurry, so I’d better hurry back.”
Twilight nodded and watched as Cadence teleported away. She turned back to her castle. “I probably have more paperwork to do already,” she said to herself as she walked back.
The day flew past. Twilight walked down to her basement at around 5 pm and used the spell, this time taking some food with her, including cupcakes that Pinkie insisted she gave to her new friend. She appeared in front of the leafless tree, now more familiar with the area.
“Flowey?” she called, wondering if he was even home.
“Twi?”
Twilight spun around and saw Flowey planted there. “Hello, Flowey! One of my friends made some cupcakes for you,” she said.
“Oh, okay. You’re here early, huh?” Flowey asked nervously.
“Yeah… I was kinda hoping to have dinner with you tonight,” Twilight said. “Should we go inside? I can get your pot.”
“Sure.”
Twilight levitated the flower pot next to Flowey and helped him get in, then carried him inside with her magic. She sat him down on the table, putting the cupcakes next to him.
“How was your day?” Twilight asked as she got food out of her saddlebags and set the table.
“It was good,” Flowey said. “I… talked to Undyne. I just needed a favor from her. Some advice is all. How about you?”
“I had a chat with my sister-in-law.” Twilight levitated some plates onto the table from the cabinets and served some spaghetti that Starlight made. “Coincidentally, I needed advice too. There was a problem that I was having.”
“Is it sorted out now?”
“Oh, yeah. I came to a decision just in time. How much pasta do you want? Star made a lot.”
“I’m not very hungry… I’ll just have a little bit,” Flowey said, looking away. “Um, so… what kind of things do you do for fun?”
“Reading.”
“Oh. I should have known.”
They both laughed awkwardly, Twilight being unsure of why there was so much tension in the air. “Yeah, I like books a lot. Did I tell you I used to live in a library?”
“That explains why you smell like books,” Flowey commented mindlessly. He realized what he said immediately after he finished. “It’s hard not to smell you when I’m sleeping with you.”
“You what?” Twilight asked, tilting her head at him.
“Sleeping with you as in sleeping in the same area, of course!” Flowey said quickly, avoiding eye contact and mentally cursing at himself. “Sorry, I… I worded that badly.”
Twilight leaned over, kindness unfaltering, and turned his face towards hers with her hoof. “It’s okay, Flowey. It was a mistake. You don’t have to be embarrassed. Just a slip of the tongue, right?”
“Right.” There was a long moment of silence where they held the look. Finally, Flowey half-closed his eyes in an expression of disapproval. “If you start singing right now, I’m going to scream,” he said dryly.
“I was only thinking about it,” Twilight laughed as she dropped her hoof from his face onto the flower pot, tracing the edges like she had been the night before. Her expression relaxed, a smile spreading onto her face. Eventually, she finished her food and started putting everything away. When she was done, she picked up Flowey and sat in the armchair again.
“Twilight?” Flowey said, turning to the mare. He fidgeted nervously as Twilight turned her head to face him. She was smiling softly.
“Yes, Flowey?” she asked.
Unable to think of anything else to do before making his move, Flowey shot forward and stopped right in front of Twilight’s face. The mare seemed surprised. His head down, eyes shaded but still visible and looking at the fireplace, Flowey spoke. “Can I… do something weird?” He cringed at the way he worded it, but it was the only way he could think of.
“I…” Twilight paused. She nodded slowly, though nervously. “Of course.”
Hearing this, Flowey felt a wave of emotions course through him. They were only partial, his soul not fully healed yet, but he felt them and knew exactly what they meant. There was so much he wanted to do right then. The anticipation welled up inside his soul, the hesitation holding him back breaking under the pressure. But there was still time. He could stop right then, back up laughing, saying it was a joke. He could back out of it just as easily as he walked into it. But something was stopping him from doing anything. His indecision had him stuck in a state of inaction. This was the make or break of his relationship with Twilight. He didn’t know how he would mess it up, but if he did… if she rejected him… he didn’t want to think about the possibility.
He looked up at her briefly, then closed his eyes and pressed his lips to hers with a little more force than he intended. Come to think of it, the sight was probably very silly looking, considering the difference in the sizes of their heads. He pushed the thought away before he could dwell on it.
Twilight, on the other hand, was startled and surprised. She had the immediate urge to pull away, her eyes wide as she would ask what he was doing, what was wrong with him. And then there was the slight emotional ecstasy she was experiencing. She didn’t want to separate, nor did she want to let go of him, because he would be so defeated. He would be heartbroken.
Twilight mentally sighed, giving in to her logic. There was a certain amount of pleasure she was getting from the kiss, but… She remembered her discussion with Cadence earlier. Twilight raised her hoof to Flowey’s cheek, first lightly touching his face as if she wanted to lean into it. But she couldn’t hold it for long, so she pushed him away gently. There was a long pause, neither of them sure what to say.
There was a sort of dread in Flowey’s eyes, as if he knew what she was going to say. It was hard for her to maintain eye contact, her heart dropping at the sadness he wasn’t doing well to hide. She had so wanted to hold the kiss longer, maybe even allow it to progress them farther than friends, but the risk in it could destroy them… even more than this would.
Finally, Twilight opened her mouth. “Wait, Flowey,” she said, some kind of strange pain clear in her voice, “I don’t think… I don’t think this is right.”
“W-what?” Flowey asked hoarsely.
“I understand your feelings for me, but-” Twilight paused again, longer this time, so she could find the words to explain it. “-we just met. I’m sorry, Flowey. I’m not sure I can… reciprocate these feelings. Not yet, at least.”
Flowey didn’t respond, instead turning his head away from her hoof and her face. He nodded silently. His breathing was erratic, Twilight could hear the shakiness in the short gasps he was taking.
“I’m sorry,” Twilight offered desperately. “I really am. But I think… I think I should go. You won’t be able to sleep next to me anymore.” She made a motion to get up, but a vine wrapped itself loosely around one of her front hooves.
“I-it’s fine. Stay.” Flowey looked up at her with tired eyes. “Please stay.”
Twilight looked back at him. The vine on her hoof gave a light tug, constricting just a little bit around her. She moved back into the chair, but hugged Flowey this time. “Okay. I’ll stay,” she whispered. “I’ll stay. I promise.” As she repositioned herself to be both comfortable and hugging the flower at the same time, she spoke again. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes. Just please don’t go,” Flowey mumbled. “I can’t be alone right now. Please stay with me.”
Twilight backed up a little, the removal of her warmth making Flowey tense up, and put her hoof on Flowey’s cheek again. She realized, with only a little bit of surprise, that he was crying.
When Flowey woke up the next morning, Twilight was still there, curled up around him and fast asleep. Without waking her up, Flowey managed to get out of his pot and into the ground beneath the floorboards. He burrowed into the ground, New Home- and a certain human- in his mind.
As he burrowed, Flowey tried to push the details of the night before out of his mind, risking breaking down in the middle of his trip. He finally popped out of the ground in front of the castle. The guards immediately recognized him and were about to send someone inside to get his family and a flower pot for him when he stopped the messenger.
“Leave out the pot,” Flowey grumbled. “I want to talk with Princess Chara. Outside.”
The messenger bowed and rushed into the castle, not wasting any time to give the details of the flower’s visit. Only a few minutes later, Chara floated out wearing some kind of dress-robe hybrid that was definitely meant for royalty. How she got a ghost tailor, Flowey could never guess, but at least she looked pretty.
Chara looked annoyed, probably at the fact she had to wear the dress thing. As soon as she saw Flowey, though, her face relaxed into a smile. “Greetings, As- Flowey,” she said, floating over as if she were standing, hands clasped behind her back, rather than her usual lounging position. “You wanted to speak with me?”
“Yes. Can we talk someplace else?” Flowey asked. “Castleview, maybe.”
“Sounds good to me. I will meet you there.”
“What happened to you?” Chara asked after a long time without talking. “You look like you were run over by a train.” She floated next to Flowey, looking out into the rain and trying to see the castle past it.
“I feel that way too,” Flowey said.
“Why? What happened?” Chara tensed up, a look of disdain on her face. “Was it… Twilight? I had a bad feeling about her…”
Flowey flinched. “No! No… it’s not her fault,” he said quietly, looking at the wet ground. “It’s not her fault, it’s… mine, actually. But that’s not what I wanted to tell you about.”
“Then what is it?” Chara leaned down to him to hear better against the crashing water.
“Do you remember back when you first fell?” Flowey asked. “When I came running in, asking if you were okay.”
“I remember. Why?”
“When you… answered me, finally, I was so relieved. You asked me, ‘Am I dead? Are you an angel?’” Flowey interrupted himself with a bitter laugh. “And I answered, ‘No?’ Do you want to know a secret, Chara? Something I’ve never told anyone before.”
“Okay…?”
“I was in love back then.”
“Wait, what? With who?”
Flowey smiled. “You.” He shook his head, chuckling as if he made a joke. Suddenly, he was staring ahead again, a concentrated look on his face, talking quickly. “And I know I should have told you sooner, but… I couldn’t, you know? There was too much politics in the way. It made more sense for you to just be my sister back then. It’s funny, though… I honestly got over you before we even died. You see, the thing about love is you can’t really control it. Well, I controlled it anyway. I didn’t care about what was impossible, because it made sense. Isn’t that amazing? I pushed you away because it ‘made sense’!”
“Oh… I am very sorry, A- Flowey, I never even considered something like… that.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s the other reason why I didn’t bring it up,” Flowey sighed. “Back then, we were just kids. Little, stupid kids who thought they could just free the monsters all on their own. Really, love didn’t mean anything to us! If I had said something, it would have fallen apart anyway. But this time…”
“This time…?” Chara moved her hand in a circular motion, as if telling him to go on.
“This time I did what I thought I should have done all those years ago.” He struggled to keep his voice from cracking, eyes glazed over with tears. “And you know… it didn’t really work out. Ha… ha… ha…”
“Flowey? Are you okay?”
The flower was silent for a long time, staring at the castle with a detached expression. “Hey, you know what?” He shook his head slowly. “Nah.”
“‘Nah?’”
“I’m not okay. It’s not fine. I guess I’m just an idiot. I should have kept it to myself, you know? I acted on an impulse and… now I’m just sad. I’m just a stupid, idiotic little flower who thought he could have love if he just spoke up, and now I can finally see that it’s not that easy. You can’t just say you love somebody and expect them to understand, and you sure as Hotland can’t kiss them and expect them to actually like it! So, no! I’m not okay! I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again!”
“I… I would hug you, but I am incorporeal…”
“And whose fault is that?!” Flowey screamed, looking up into the rain, eyes squeezed shut as tears ran down his face and mixed with the falling water. “Everything I’ve ever done has ended in failure! Disappointment! Rejection! Even if there was someone out there who loved me, I wouldn’t deserve it!”
“Now, Flowey,” Chara said softly, floating down in front of him, “you and I both know that is not true. You deserve just as much love as anyone else does. It is not your fault that I am a ghost. I made the decision to tell you my plan, so it is more my fault than yours. Not everything you do ends in failure, okay? Do you remember the time I asked you to cut my hair?”
“Th-the time with the knife?” Flowey asked, now looking at her, drenched in rain and tears.
“Yes, that time. When you finished, did I say you failed?”
“You said it looked terrible.”
“I said that I liked it. I said it fit me. Do you know why I said it fit me, Asriel?”
“W-why?”
“Because it was messy. It was not perfect. And I was messy and imperfect- I still am, too! So are you, Asriel. You are messy and imperfect, you always have been, but does that mean I love you any less? No, no it does not. Everyone has their flaws, their little slip-ups and mistakes. It would not be fair or just if I judged you based solely on your flaws. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Flowey sniffled in response.
“Asriel, you are a wonderful person. You are not perfect in every way, no, but who told you that you had to be? Nobody. Whoever has told you that is wrong. In many ways, you are a better person than me. There is no possible way you can tell me that you are on either extreme. You are not the best, you are not the worst, but do you know what you are?”
“What?”
“You are you. That is what matters to me, at the very least. You think you made a mistake the last time you had a run-in with love. This time you tried something different. It is perfectly fine to be upset about it, but try not to blame yourself for something you could not control. It was her decision to say no, it was yours to ask in the first place. You are both responsible for the outcome you are experiencing now, in two very separate ways. I want you to understand the difference between your decisions and hers.”
“I… understand.”
Without much warning, Flowey felt a strange, but by now familiar feeling in his soul. It was growing- or repairing, rather. And then, there was a different feeling. A new feeling. He couldn’t quite place it. The sensation spread through his entire, tiny body, filling him with… determination… at an alarming rate.
“C-Chara?” he groaned, doubling over. “Something’s wrong.”
“What? What do you mean?” Chara scanned over his face, guiding it towards her with the motions of her hand. “What is wrong?”
“My soul… it’s…” Flowey felt a sudden urge to just… scatter. His body was consumed into mind-numbing warmth as the raw soul power coursed through his inadequate veins, up and down his stem, through each of his petals, down to the very tip of his vines. He was just barely holding onto consciousness.
Chara, slightly perturbed at the sight, tried to get his attention back on her. The realization of what exactly was happening hit her like a train: Flowey’s soul was complete.
Twilight had woken up several hours ago. Now she was sitting at the breakfast table, poking at the perfectly cooked waffles Starlight had saved for her, bleary-eyed and depressed. She took a reluctant bite, then leaned back in her chair with a deep sigh.
“What’s wrong, Twi?” Spike asked, jumping up onto a chair next to her, holding a ceramic bowl of gems.
“I… had a rough night, that’s all,” Twilight mumbled. “It’s nothing to be worried about. I just… probably destroyed a friendship and ruined the chances of it growing into anything more than broken hearts and shattered trust. No, it’s fine.” Her voice was sad, but it dripped with sarcasm.
“Oh. Do you… want to talk about it?” Spike leaned over and put a hand on Twilight’s shoulder, stroking up and down to comfort her.
“I mean, we met two days ago,” Twilight said, holding her hooves out in front of her as if something was obvious. “If you’re going to fall in love with me, can’t you at least wait a couple weeks before making a move? But even if he was going a little too fast, I can’t help but feel bad for him. He was so lonely before I came there. I don’t know if… I don’t know if I…” She held back a sob, pressing on if only to vent. “I don’t know if I can face him anymore, after what I did- what I said last night. I just… I want him to understand that it’s not his fault.”
“It’s okay, Twi,” Spike said soothingly. “There’s still time to fix this, right? You can go back tonight and explain everything.”
“It’s not that, though! I think he understands, but… I don’t think he wants to accept it. He’s already gone through enough as is, and I just put him through more heartache. Even now, I don’t want to accept it because… he’s in so much pain right now. He has been for years and I made it worse. What kind of friend makes your pain worse?!”
“A perfectly normal one,” Spike said. “Think about it: It wasn’t intentional, was it? You didn’t say whatever you said with his suffering in mind, did you? Of course you didn’t. That’s not the Twilight I know. The Twilight I know would tell him the truth, without trying to sugarcoat it, so that he could understand what was happening. She would be as friendly as she could, despite their differences. And she wouldn’t avoid him just because she’s afraid of facing him after telling him exactly what she thought of him and his badly timed confessions.”
“Spike, no, you don’t understand…” Twilight sighed, resting her hooves on the table. “I don’t even know if that is really what I think of him. Is it love if I just… like being around him? Is it love if I like talking to him? If I’m okay with falling asleep with him in my hooves-?”
“Woah, what?”
“What?”
“Is that something you’re fine with? Just… falling asleep with him?”
“I mean, yeah… That’s what I’ve been doing the past three days. He can’t sleep without someone next to him- he has nightmares.”
“Oh.”
“Is that a bad thing? Is it unacceptable to do that with friends? I’ve fallen asleep with Princess Celestia sometimes, when we stay up late studying and practicing magic together. Do you think I’m leading her on? Wait, Spike, take a letter. I need to make sure she doesn’t think I’m interested in her like that.”
“Twi, stop! It’s fine! Just a little… intimate for friends for three days. I think…? I’m not really an expert on the classifications of relationships ranging from platonic to romantic, so I couldn’t be sure.”
“Have you been reading a lot lately?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess. Why?”
“That was just… a lot of long words that I never thought I would hear you say. Like, ever. Anyways! Back to the problem at hoof. I don’t know what to do, Spike. I’m not sure how I feel about him.”
“Well, what kind of a move did he make on you?”
“He got really close and asked if he could do something weird,” Twilight explained. “And I thought, ‘I’ve met Pinkie, so it can’t be that bad, right?’ So I said that he could and then… he kissed me.”
“He kissed you?”
“Yes. He had already kissed me once before, on the cheek, but this time it was on the lips. I… I’m not sure how I was supposed to react, but I pushed him away and reminded him that we just met. I was going to come home… he asked- practically begged, actually- me to stay with him, so I did. In the spirit of friendship.”
“How did you feel during the kiss?”
“It was… nice, I guess. I’ve never kissed anyone before, but it was a… good first time. I just wish I could’ve kept it there longer. He looked so sad when I pushed him away.”
“Twilight, I think you love him.”
“Wait, what?”
“For one, you’re concerned about him a lot. You’re worried that he’ll be lonely without you and that you broke him even worse than he was before. Second, you fall asleep with him and you think it’s fine. While friends can do both of these things, it’s a little strange to see it in two people who have known each other for three days. Third, he kissed you and you liked it. Not only that, but you’re still worried about how he felt rather than yourself.”
“That’s just what I would do for my friends! Right…?”
“Would you find it weird if you fell asleep with Rainbow Dash?”
Twilight thought for a moment. “You have a point there.”
“Exactly. I think you love him.”
“Well, what am I supposed to do?” Twilight asked. “I pushed him away last night! He probably won’t want to see me again… Not only that, he’s very small. Not that that’s a problem in itself, it’s just that… it would be weird, right? And need I get into the logistics of having a relationship over two different worlds? That would be like a long distance relationship but worse! The entire concept is illogical and irrational.” She sighed. “This is why I hate being an overthinker. I wish I could be comfortable acting on impulse like he does. Speaking of which, is that a bad thing? To act on impulse, I mean. It could end up tearing us apart if we can’t agree on a course of action.”
“I don’t think, if you got in a relationship, that would be too much of a problem,” Spike said. “Before he actually kissed you, he asked, didn’t he? He respected your decision there. Kind of. It was a very vague question, to be fair.”
“So what side are you on, Spike?” Twilight asked, frustration clear in her tone. “Do you think I should try to mend it or not?”
“I think you should talk to him,” Spike said. “Work out all the details, agree on something. I think you should give him a chance and ask him to give you a second chance. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out and that’s that. But first, you should have some food.”
“Fair enough,” Twilight groaned. She leaned forward onto the table again and started eating her food. “When do you think I should go? Tonight?”
“As soon as you can, I’d say,” Spike said, munching on a gem.
Twilight exhaled through her mouth. “I’ll go after I finish my waffles.”
In a bright flash of light and a loud snap, Twilight appeared in front of the leafless tree. She took a deep breath. “F…Flowey?” she called. But nobody came.
Flowey probably wasn’t home. That was fine, Twilight could just wait for him to come home. She shook her head and took a nervous step forward. Flowey would probably be fine with her waiting inside, right? She walked up to the door and, realizing it was slightly ajar, put her hoof on it. It drifted open, creaking loudly. As she stepped in, she heard noise from down a hallway to her right. She hadn’t been down there before, let alone really registered it as existing. She turned to walk down it reluctantly, already feeling like she was invading Flowey’s privacy, and approached the first door she saw.
The noise seemed to be coming from the door she was in front of. She pressed her ear to the door to hear a little better, holding her breath. There was… some kind of talking- arguing, it seemed- and a sound she could only describe as whimpering. She was extremely hesitant to open the door, so she pressed her ear slightly harder against the door to hear what was being said. The door, not fully latched, came open and she fell to the floor.
“What?!” Chara yelled irritably as she spun around.
Twilight pushed herself up and looked around the room, tail tucked in shame and fear. “S-sorry, I just thought I heard shouting…” she mumbled meekly, not unlike Fluttershy.
Frisk, standing next to Chara, held up a hand to silence the ghost and walked to Twilight, stroking her mane. The girl didn’t say anything, but guided Twilight to the bed, pointing at the person laying there.
Twilight realized with a pang that it was Flowey who was making the whimpering noises. He was in his flower pot, sitting on the bed, doubled over, squirming very slightly, and sweating profusely. “What’s… happening?” she asked quietly. She made a movement to touch him, but Frisk held her hoof back, shaking her head.
“His soul,” Chara said, floating beside her. “It is finally complete, but… I think he has too much determination for his body. Doctor Alphys is on her way.”
“Is this… my fault…?” Twilight asked. Her eyes were welling up with tears already, legs shaking beneath her weight.
“Probably not,” Chara answered. “No, I think it was mine, actually. I… talked to him this morning. The emotions he was feeling might have forced the soul to push for completion before it really should have. Either the trauma of having his soul back too early or the overload of determination caused him to be… like this. But we cannot know for sure until Doctor Alphys gets here.”
As if on cue, Undyne burst into the room, carrying Alphys on her shoulder. The latter jumped down and rushed to Flowey. “O-oh… oh no…” she mumbled, already extremely nervous.
“Speak of the devil,” Chara said. “What do you think, Doctor?”
“He… he h-has too much determination i-in his b-b-body,” Alphys stuttered. “H-his soul must h-have st-started producing determination while he h-had the determination I g-gave him y-years ago… His s-soul doesn’t r-register the foreign DT, s-so it’s overloading him.”
“How do we stop it from doing that?” Chara asked.
“W-well… I’m not s-sure. B-but! If we c-can get him to m-my DT Extractor, I m-might be able to take the excess DT o-out of him. W-we need to hurry, th-though. I-I’m impressed he’s h-held on for this long.”
“I can get him there in no time!” Undyne yelled.
“I can get him there faster,” Twilight said, already charging her horn. “With everyone else.” She envisioned Alphys’ lab from what Sunset had shown her, then approximated the height and finally teleported everyone in the room there.
“Get him to the True Lab!” Chara ordered, pointing to what appeared to be a bathroom. Undyne gladly obliged and grabbed Flowey by the pot, dashing through the door without waiting for it to open.
Alphys led the way, her tiny legs carrying her body surprisingly fast, filling the dark, dirty hallways with the rapid pitter-patter of her padded feet hitting the metal floor.
She turned a corner and almost slipped on some kind of white goop on the floor, but recovered quickly and showed them a strange looking device that seemed to be supported by several thick pipes attached to the ceiling. “Th-this is the DT Extractor!” she said, rushing to a tablet on the wall and pressing several buttons.
A voice, probably coming from the tablet or some kind of PA system, said, “DT Extraction Machine, Status: Inactive. Requesting activation code.” Alphys tapped something in and a ding sounded out. “Welcome, Doctor Alphys. Status update: On Stand-by.”
Alphys ran in front of the Extractor, a bridge to it extending as she stepped over the hole it was placed over. The two sides of the strange deer skull-like machine opened at her touch. Alphys grabbed a cylindrical glass container and put it under her arm. “Okay, put Flowey in the seat there,” she said, voice surprisingly stable under the pressure.
As soon as Undyne put Flowey into the machine and moved out of the way, Alphys tapped a button on the tablet and the sides closed, obscuring Flowey from view. As she switched back to the main screen of the tablet, it said, “DT Extraction Machine, Status…” It paused for a minute as the data came back to it, causing a wave of anxious silence to fall over the small group, then, “Active.”
Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. “That’s… a good thing, right?” Twilight asked.
“Yes! As long as I can stop the extraction within a certain window,” Alphys said, “he will live. If I don’t, he might have a temporary DT deficiency. At the very worst- which, I can assure you, will not come to pass- it will take several years for him to fully regain his determination. The window is being calculated right now.”
There was a silence that fell over them for a little while, then Alphys laughed. “Ah-ha! The window is calculated. If I stop the extraction in about… five minutes, he will have as close to perfect DT levels as we can hope for. I will set a timer.”
Five minutes later, Alphys’ timer went off and she stopped the extraction. After warning everyone to stay a respectable distance away from the Extractor due to possible burns, she pressed the button to open the machine. The sides of the DT Extractor opened with a loud hiss, releasing billowing clouds of steam that were too thick to see through and a wave of scalding hot air.
“Flowey?” Twilight called into the machine, leaning forward slightly and squinting at the steam as if that would help her see through it.
Whatever response there was, if there was one, was drowned out by a loud, metallic crash as the pipes disconnected from the machine and hung limply by the sides. How the machine itself was being held up without the pipes, none of them- except maybe Alphys- knew. More steam came out of the disconnected pipes and the slots they went into.
“Is that supposed to happen?” Chara asked nervously.
“H-hold on a minute,” Alphys said, checking the tablet again. “Under the c-current circumstances, that shouldn’t have n-needed to happen. It m-might be fine, but… I’ll have to check a l-lot of other stuff.”
“Flowey?” Twilight called again. She approached the machine slowly, ignoring Frisk’s hand on her wing trying to hold her in place. “Flowey, are you okay in there?”
“D-don’t be too worried,” Alphys said. “It w-would be perfectly n-normal if he blacked out from t-the extraction. But p-please, st-stay away from the Extractor! It’s still cooling off. The sudden removal of his determination could have caused him to go into a… slightly less active, drowsy, or unconscious state. To be fair, I’ve never used the Extractor on a person like this, only souls.”
“You what?!” Chara yelled, turning to Alphys with a look of terror and anger.
“I-I’m sorry, I should have t-told you…” Alphys stuttered. “H-he’ll be fine! Probably.”
“‘Probably’?” Twilight asked as she turned to face the lizard. “What do you mean ‘probably’? You mean this could have… could have killed him…?”
“Th-that’s a little extreme, but… maybe,” Alphys said, wringing her hands. “It’s a v-very slight chance! J-just give me a m-minute to retrieve him f-from the Extractor a-and we’ll see if he’s okay.”
Alphys pressed several more buttons on the tablet and the voice spoke again, “Status update: Cooldown. Connection severed.”
“Oh… o-okay…”
“What’s happening?” Undyne asked, crouching behind Alphys and massaging her shoulders gently. “Talk to me, babe.”
“T-the connection- that’s, um, the pipes- is disconnected from the machine,” Alphys explained. “I-it’s not necessarily bad, so to sp-speak. It j-just didn’t need to do that. The Extractor sh-shouldn’t be that heated after such a… short extraction. Th-then again, I’ve n-never used the Extractor on a person before.”
“How can we help?”
“Uhh… I just need to get into the m-maintenance shafts for it. M-maybe the entrance underneath it is still serviceable?” Alphys thought for a second, then nodded with a determined smile. “Y-yeah! I need to get underneath the machine. It sh-should be simple.”
She walked next to the Extractor and crouched down by the hole it was over, then turned and climbed down a short ladder onto the floor below. She looked around and found the maintenance shaft entrance for it. Pressing one finger to a pad next to the closed door, she waited for it to open, then climbed in.
“How is it looking?” Undyne called after a couple of minutes.
“I-it’s fine! I don’t kn-know what happened, but whatever i-it was, it’s g-gone now,” Alphys responded. “I’m going t-to come back up a-and open the Extractor.” She made her way back out of the shafts and up the ladder again.
“What are you doing now?” Twilight asked nervously.
“I’m g-going to open the machine,” Alphys said. “Flowey should be fine, b-but we need to prepare for the worst, okay?”
“I thought the machine was open,” Chara butted in.
“It is. Partially,” Alphys said. “Its outer shell is open, but the inner layers are still sealed. Be ready for anything.” She inhaled shakily and pressed a button. There was a loud clunk as the inner layers opened. This time they didn’t release any steam, instead immediately revealing the flowerpot wrapped in a bulging cocoon of vines.
“W-what… in the name of Dog… is that t-thing,” Alphys said, eyes wide. “I-it’s… not Flowey. I think? Hello? F-Flowey? Are you okay there?”
A white, furry fist punched out of the cocoon, covered in plant juices. The arm retracted and a head burst out in its place, enlarging the hole. Asriel blinked several times, hissing as he tried to blink the plant juice out of his eyes.
“H-hey, can someone get me some clothes?” he asked with a nervous laugh. “And maybe a towel or two?”
Chapter 8 - Of Promised Pairs and Flourishing Friendships
“Oh my Celestia, Flowey!” Twilight cried, ignoring Alphys’ warnings about the heat and rushing towards him. “Are you okay?!”
“I-I’m fine, Twi,” Flowey said. “I’m fine, just… Can I get some clothes, please? I’m… kind of naked in here.”
“Oh, right, yeah!” Alphys walked up, removing her lab coat and handing it to him. “D-don’t worry about staining it. I did a little bit of engineering to- um, nevermind,” she said. “Um, everyone t-turn away.”
Flowey accepted the coat and broke out of his cocoon fully, putting the coat on and buttoning it up. “I think I need a shower.”
There was a long wait before Twilight got to talk to Flowey again. Chara and Alphys reasoned with her, saying that the flower turned goat-thing really wanted to get cleaned up before facing them. Twilight accepted it readily, not entirely sure about confronting him anyway.
“O-okay, he’s ready,” Alphys said, walking into the lab, where Twilight had been waiting. “Do y-you want to see him right now?”
Twilight looked up at Alphys with tired eyes, worn out from all the excitement earlier. “I… Yes. If he wants to. If he doesn’t…”
“N-no, he made it clear he wanted to see you as soon as possible,” Alphys interrupted. “Follow me. He’s downstairs.”
Twilight followed Alphys onto a fast conveyor belt that brought them to the other side of the room, then onto a different belt that acted more like an escalator. She stepped off of the escalator as soon as she could, then followed Alphys a little farther.
Flowey, now not a flower, was sitting at Alphys’ desk with a regretful look on his face. He looked up when he heard hoofsteps. “Oh. Um, hi, Twilight,” he said quietly, his voice much softer than when he was a flower. It was jarring.
“Flowey, I’m so-”
“Stop.”
Twilight pursed her lips quickly, allowing Flowey to speak first.
“I’m not Flowey anymore, okay? That’s not my name. It’s a pseudonym I made for myself so nobody would know who I really was. My real name is-”
“Asriel,” Twilight blurted. “I know.”
“What? How?”
“It’s a long story,” Twilight said. “Which might include some overly meta pieces of information. But that’s off track! I need to tell you something, okay?”
Asriel frowned at her, eyes narrowing suspiciously. ”What?”
“I’m sorry for what happened last night,” Twilight said, trying to decide at that moment whether she wanted to make eye contact or not. “I understand if you don’t want anything to do with me after… all that. Even so, I want to give it a shot. And I completely understand if you don’t want to, but please, can you give me a second chance?”
“What changed your mind?” Asriel asked. His tone was almost cold, voice dropping into something closer to Flowey’s as he glared at her. At that point, Alphys seemed to recognize something was up and left before she intruded on their supposedly private conversation.
“I got advice from a trusted source,” Twilight said truthfully and proudly.
“And what source was that? A dating manual?”
“My brother.”
“The married one?”
“No.”
Asriel covered his mouth, snorting in a very unbecoming manner. He returned to his previous expression as if he had scoffed instead of snorted. “What makes you think he’d know anything about this? About me?”
“He doesn’t know a lot about you, but… he knows me better than anyone,” Twilight said. “I explained everything I could to him. Everything you did, everything I felt, all of it. He said… he said I probably loved you. I probably still do, as a matter of fact.”
“Probably?”
“I don’t know what love feels like, Fl- Asriel. I’m sorry that I can’t be more certain about it, but that comes with being an overthinker like me. If you don’t want to, I’ll go. I’ll leave- forever, if you want. But if you do love me, if you do want to give me a second chance, please tell me.”
Asriel opened his mouth to respond, but closed it again, frowning deeply. He turned his head away, contemplating his options. On the one hand, she had rejected him the night before. It was definitely a fast-moving relationship, considering they had met three days ago. On the other hand, he was sure he could roll with something like that. He was good at making decisions on the fly.
He looked back at Twilight, emotion going wild in his newly complete soul. Even though it was obvious she was nervous, something about her eyes was so captivating and reassuring. Everything clicked into place suddenly, his answer coming to his head, but never leaving his mouth. At a loss for words, he leaned in and gave Twilight a kiss on the lips, completely ignoring his concerns from the night before, now knowing she was probably okay with it.
Twilight happily leaned into the kiss. She felt Asriel’s arms go around her, pulling her into a hug, which she accepted with literally open arms.
“We should get going,” Chara said wearily. “I am very sorry to have bothered you, Doctor Alphys.”
“O-oh, it’s nothing, really!” Alphys shook her head, her entire body seeming to shake with her voice. “It w-was a matter of life o-or death for Flowey. A-and you can c-call anytime you want.”
“In any case, I thank you,” Chara smiled. “Frisk and I should go home now. Frisk, be a dear and get A- Flowey, will you?”
Frisk nodded and speed walked away, heading towards the main lab. She turned a corner and walked down the stairs. When she entered the lab, she saw Asriel and Twilight hugging. She walked over silently, but soon realized they weren’t just hugging. A small gasp escaped her lips.
Twilight looked up and saw Frisk, then pushed Asriel away with a panicked shove. “H-hey, Frisk!” she squeaked nervously, eyes darting around the room as her face flushed a deep red.
“Frisk, I can explain,” Asriel said, standing up and raising his hands defensively. “It’s not what it looks like, okay? Just let me explain.”
Frisk stayed silent for a long time, looking into Asriel’s eyes skeptically. “It’s okay,” she said finally. Her voice was soft, like a child’s, but it sounded as if she was five years old and not fourteen. There was a sweet, comforting quality to it- quite reminiscent of Toriel’s voice.
“Twilight and I are…” Asriel glanced at the mare behind him, then turned back to Frisk, speechless. He blinked several times, but didn’t say anything.
“Are you together?” Frisk asked.
“I don’t know,” Asriel admitted. He turned to Twilight. “Are we together?”
Twilight smiled. “Why not? After all, I do really think I love you.”
“I guess… yeah.” The goat looked at Frisk again. “Yeah. Twilight and I are together.”
Frisk blinked a couple of times, then gave a thumbs up. She turned away with a wave of her hand to indicate that they could continue what they were doing, beginning to walk away when Asriel stopped her with a vine.
“Wait, Frisk,” Asriel said quickly. “Can you get Chara? I want to talk to her… and you. It’s important.”
Frisk nodded and ran back to Chara as soon as Asriel released her.
