Ponytale

Chapters

Chapter 0 - The Fallen
Chapter 1 - Into the Ruins
Chapter 2 - Puzzles, Fights, and a BOX?
Chapter 3 - FIGHT for the right to give MERCY
Chapter 4 - Surviving Heartbreak
kindness.corrupt
Chapter 5 - The Skeleton Sisters
Chapter 6 - Uwaa!! So Chilly♪
Chapter 7 - Dogs and Tiles
Chapter 8 - Getting Snowdin
honesty.corrupt
Chapter 9 - Four Simple Rules on how to date a Skeleton
Chapter 10 - Where Water Falls and Spears Fly
Chapter 11 - Uwaa!! So Mild♪

Chapter 0 - The Fallen

All it took was a few seconds. Just one mistake going up the mountain and running into the cave. Down, down, down, they fell into the dark abyss below.

For another moment... all that was there was pain. Pain... and then a voice.

"It sounds like it came from over there!"

They couldn't move their body, everything hurt. Not even to lift their head to find where the voice came from. Not even enough to open their eyes.

"Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you?"

Something is lifting them up, supporting them.

"Are you okay?"

You can't find your voice. It is as if being stricken with blindness and muteness. You stumble a little and feel that you are still being held up.

"Here, get up."

Both of you start moving, but you don't know where you are. You don't even realize that you've said anything.

"Midnight, huh? That's a nice name."

You crack a smile through the pain.

"My name is-"

Before you can hear the name... you black out.

Ponytale

Chapter 1 - Into the Ruins

Suddenly awakening, there is a feeling of... confusion. You remember falling. You remember being picked up. But when your eyes open, all you see is inky blackness and the light from the hole you had fallen through up above. You decide to check yourself if you are hurt and pat yourself down. Your fur is a little messy, but that's nothing a quick swipe with a hoof won't fix. It's the mane that's a problem though. Still, you try to use what little magic you have with your horn and straighten it out.

You look at where you've fallen and see that its a bed of golden flowers. They look so... peaceful where they are. Still, you look back up where you've fallen and tell yourself that you need to get back home. You can make out a path to something resembling a gateway and muster up a little courage to step from the sunlight and through the gate.

Stepping through you see a flower on the ground. It's also golden... but at its center is a white face. "That's rather odd." You think to yourself, "Flowers don't have faces." At first you press on before suddenly you hear a friendly and cheerful voice call out.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey!"

You jump back a bit, trying to find the source of the voice. It continues.

"Flowey the Flower! Hmmm... You seem new to the UNDERGROUND, aren' tcha?"

You blink once and look down at the flower with a face. There's no way...

"Golly, you must be so confused." Flowey speaks, his smile still persistent and inviting. You certainly do feel confused... maybe that fall hit you harder in the head than you thought. "Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do!"

You pat your head and check for any injuries.

"Ready? Here we go!"

Without warning, something happens as the world turns to black and white and a glowing red heart floats in front of you. You look around you and the heart follows where you are peering at. However, the heart appears to be surrounded by a box that keeps it from whizzing about every which way. Flowey continues to talk as you question just how this is possible.

"You see that heart? That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being!"

Something tells you that you'd rather have a different color heart than red, but it seems you're stuck with this color for the time being. This time ruminating also allows you to see below the box and its display on something called LV. You wonder what-

"Your SOUL starts off weak," Flowey presses on, interrupting your thoughts. "but it can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV. LV stands for LOVE, of course! You want some LOVE don't you?"

The flower winks at you and sticks its little tongue out. It's... oddly making you like this little plant a little more.

"Down here, LOVE is shared through..." Flowey starts and reveals spinning white pellets from behind him. "Little white... friendliness pellets. Are you ready? Be sure to catch them all!"

You panic, seeing these pellets come at you makes you nervous and you mistakenly weave through the pellets and scrunch up your face. You apologize profusely and try to catch your breath as the smile of Flowey tries to stay on. "Hey, buddy, you missed them."

Once more you apologize, trying to explain that you are having a hard time trying to remain calm at the sight of those pellets coming for your SOUL. Flowey just seems to shrug off your apology, "Let's try again, okay?"

You brace yourself and wait for the pellets to come before you once more avoid the pellets and let out a yelp. You again start to apologize before Flowey stops you. "Is this a joke? Are you braindead?" You keep trying to apologize before you hear-

"RUN."

"INTO."

"THE."

"BULLETS!!!"

A second passes before Flowey shakes his head and puts up his smile again, "I meant friendliness pellets! Run into the friendliness pellets."

That one second is enough for you to have made up your decision. This time, you avoid the 'pellets' and stare right into the flower, almost daring him to make a move.

This makes Flowey VERY upset with you. Its face shifts into something monstrous and stares right back, murderous intent in its eyes. "You know what's going on here, don't you? You just wanted to see me suffer."

The box is suddenly surrounded by hundreds, no thousands of bullets and you feel stuck at its center. Flowey can see the fear in your eyes as you realize that there's no escape.

"Die."

Flowey cackles maniacally as you keep looking around at the circle as it starts closing in. You keep your SOUL at the center and then look back at Flowey, betrayal in your eyes. This thing didn't want to help you from the very beginning, it wanted to kill you from the start. The circle keeps closing in, but you stay determined. You'll live until the last second, even if it means just clutching on to life.

Still, you shut your eyes, fearing for what it to come.

It feels like an eternity, but you hear the sound of someone yelping out in pain.

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth."

The new voice makes your eyes open wide and you're greeted by what looks to be a... caretaker of some kind. She's not a pony, that's for sure. She more resembles a yellow goat with pink horns... albeit a goat that stands on its hind legs. You ask her what just happened.

"Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am TORIEL caretaker of the RUINS. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down."

That... didn't answer your question.

"You are the first pony to come here in a long time."

Suddenly, you remember the tales you were told as a foal. The tale of MONSTERS and PONIES. Could you have...? A look of shock crosses your face.

"Come! I will guide you through the catacombs," Toriel offers and waves for you to follow. "This way."

You look around you for another second, still unsure as to what has happened over the last few minutes. Still... if she is willing to guide you through the catacombs of this RUIN, then maybe... maybe you can get home! You follow after Toriel, passing into the catacombs and reaching its entrance.

You are filled with determination.

Chapter 2 - Puzzles, Fights, and a BOX?

You keep following Toriel, still looking over her yellow fur and pink horns. It seems like such an odd choice for a monster to have such features. Then you giggle to yourself. You have a horn and use magic. It may be just as odd if you were looking at this from the other side. You climb up some stairs and continue forward. Entering a room with several buttons on the floor and a switch at the other side, you cock your head. Why would these be here? Then you see the door by the switch and you excitedly let out a sqee of glee. It's a puzzle!

"Welcome to your new home, innocent one. Allow me to educate you in the operation of the RUINS."

Toriel walks over some of the buttons on the floor and then flips the switch, opening the door. You can't help but feel a little disappointed you weren't offered a chance to solve this puzzle.

"The RUINS are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys."

You never thought such a description could fit the term puzzle so well before. Toriel explains things further about puzzles for another moment and then offers for you to look about the room to get an idea of what a puzzle will present itself to you. You find a sign that gave you a clue to what the puzzle is meant to be interpreted as and find the question itself intriguing.

Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road.

Looking at the buttons again, you notice the middle path is lighter than the other buttons around it and get how Toriel solved the puzzle. "Kind of smart. Hope I can do some later," You think to yourself.

You didn't notice the Toriel moved into the other room while you were thinking on the room and quickly go after her to the next room.

While she is at your side, she leads you through more puzzles, explaining switches in a puzzle... that she labeled for you to already press. A part of you thinks that these are not giving you much of a challenge at all. Still, you keep calm and allow Toriel to keep guiding you. In a weird way, she reminds you of a mother caring for a child and trying to teach them how to go through life, albeit a bit too cautiously. This comforts you somewhat.

You go into the next room and see a dressing dummy on the other side and a pretty useful stick by it. You pick up the stick with your magic and then wonder how you may need to carry it when you don't need a stick. You simply shrug and put the stick on your back. It'll have to do for now until you find pockets of some kind.

Toriel looks to the dummy and then back to you. "As a pony living in the UNDERGROUND, monsters may attack you."

You give Toriel an 'Oh, really? I couldn't have guessed,' expression.

"You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not! The process is simple. When you encounter a monster you will enter a FIGHT. While you are in a FIGHT, strike up a friendly conversation."

Your jaw hits the floor. Before you can question as to how this could help you, Toriel explains as she moves to the dummy, carefully checking its stitching. "Stall for time. I will come to resolve the conflict."

You nod your head. It makes sense, after all, she did save you from that flower. If violence can be avoided, then maybe this can work out well.

Toriel steps away from the dummy, "Practice talking to the dummy."

You approach the dummy and then look over at Toriel. She motions for you to go on. Sighing, you take one more step to the dummy and then feel the world shift like it did when you encountered Flowey. At first, you panic, not wanting to get caught off guard again. You then realize nothing has happened and relax. You look ready to fight and pick up your stick. You then remember what Toriel says and think better than to smack a dummy with a stick. You give a weak smile to the dummy and start talking to it, asking how its day has been. You then give quick glances to Toriel, almost wondering if there isn't something else that may happen. Toriel does give you a smile though, pleased that you chat with the dummy.

"Ah, very good! You're very good!" Toriel cheers in a soft voice. With the battle seemingly ended, Toriel moves into the next room.

You can't help but feel like this is the weirdest experience you've had in a long time. You keep moving on, hoping that eventually the next room will lead home.

"There is another puzzle in this room, I wonder if you can solve it?" Toriel questions you. You let out that excited gleeful squee sound again.

You start looking around the room, trying to find any hint to what you need to do, checking each wall and watching for hints of some kind. You are then startled by something bounding in your path. It looks to be a frog... Though this box says that its called a 'Froggit'. You see Toriel is looking away and once more reach for your stick. You then stop yourself a second time. "When you are in a FIGHT, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time. I will come to resolve the conflict."

You grit your teeth and hope Toriel was right. You lower the stick and then compliment the Froggit on its beautiful... uh... eyes?

It may not have understood what you said, but it appears flattered about it. You give a small smile of your own.

Toriel comes into sight and stares down the Froggit. Strangely, it appears to be a little frightful and then sulks away. You watch Toriel's expression, seeing such... conviction behind them. It's really strange but... you think that you've seen something like what she just did before. Or have you? Once more you rub at your head, still wondering if its hurt from the fall.

With the battle won, you find a sign saying the west room is a blueprint to the east room. You go back to the west room and look around once more. You don't understand. It's totally empty.

You shrug and decide to move to the east room, gasping at seeing the floor is covered in sharp spikes. You give a look to Toriel, showing your uncertainty of what you're supposed to do.

"This is the puzzle, but..." Toriel sees your uncertainty and gives you a calm smile, making you feel safe. She then offers a hand to you, "Here, take my hand."

You give Toriel your hoof and she walks toward the spikes. You feel scared as she goes to step on them. They retract and she starts to guide you through the spikes, weaving around them until they both reach the end. "Puzzles seem a little too dangerous for now."

You look back at the spikes and wonder what you did wrong. The west room was supposed to be a blueprint to this room, so what did you miss? You think a second and then realize the one mistake you did. The floor. You never looked at the floor. You tell yourself that you need to be more assure of yourself.

You look at Toriel, ready for the next challenge as you enter the next room.

"You've done excellently thus far, my child. However... I have a difficult request to ask of you." Toriel speaks and then takes a calm breath to ease her nerves. "I would like for you to walk to the end of the room by yourself."

You nod and put on a brave face.

"Forgive me for this."

Your brave face cracks as you question as to why she just said that last sentence. Before you know it, you see Toriel already speeding away. You rush after her, but can't seem to catch up! "It's because she's got longer legs! I can't keep up!" You tell yourself and only push harder. Eventually, you can't even see Toriel where you are and slow down a little. This room, no, this hallway is a lot longer than you initially thought it was going to be. You just keep pressing forward, unsure if this is leading to a trap or a monster will jump out and attack.

"Was Flowey right?" you begin to question. "Is this a world where... it's killed or be killed?" The questions make you stop where you are. Doubt now hangs over you. Has Toriel been lying to you? Attempting to keep you weak? Trying to trick you from escaping and only going deeper into her domain?"

You look ahead of you, and you look behind you. Behind you, you know that there is no other exit and no other path you could have taken. You would be forced right back to where you were from the beginning. You can't doubt yourself now, not this far. You look ahead and keep moving forward, head held high, and fear in your stomach. You were going to be brave. You were going to face the danger. It's just like that first puzzle said, Only the fearless may proceed.

At its end, a large column rests at the side and you attempt to peek around it, checking if something is going to jump out. You then smile as you see Toriel let out a small EEP and try to hide herself on the other side where you are looking. You smile and tell her to come out.

She steps out, her head a little bent as she seems a little ashamed about what she did. "I... uh... I didn't actually leave you, my child. I was... behind the pillar this whole time." She lifts her head and gives an apologetic smile, "Thank you for trusting me."

You feel the questions of doubt you had lift from you. You ask her why she did this exercise still, just for clarification.

"It was to test your independence. You see, I have something important to attend to and you need to be alone for awhile," Toriel explains. "Can you, um, please stay here? It's dangerous to explore by yourself." She then realizes something, "I have an idea." She takes out what looks to be a clean saddle with an ample pack to store many things. Just what you need! "Inside this saddle is a CELL PHONE. If you need anything, you can just call."

You seem really confused at what this BOX looking thing is you're holding with your magic is. It has numbers... a screen... and that's it.

"Be good, alright?" Toriel asks you before she leaves.

You continue to look at the BOX, no, the CELL PHONE in confusion. How would you call anyone with this? Is it like a megaphone? Do you need to yell into it?

Erm. This is going to need investigation.

Chapter 3 - FIGHT for the right to give MERCY

You sit there with the CELL PHONE and start messing with it. You've managed to get the screen to show you TORIEL's number but you're still confused at what it can do. You press a button and it starts ringing out, causing you to nearly drop it and let it hit the ground. Suddenly, you hear TORIEL's voice on the other line. You put the phone next to your ear.

"Hello, this is TORIEL," you hear. You reflexively yammer out and ask her if heaven was missing an angel. You then promptly facehoof and let out an embarrassed groan.

There is a few moments of silence before you hear Toriel laugh. "How adorable. I could pinch your cheek. You could certainly find better than an old woman like me."

You apologize to Toriel and explain that you're still figuring out how the phone works. You then bring the topic around and ask what she can tell about herself. "I'm afraid I don't have much to say... I'm just a silly little lady who worries too much."

You sit on the floor and chuckle. Hearing her voice makes you feel happy. You ask if she can be called 'Mom'. You then try to explain that if that's not fine then you can just... well, you don't know how to stop talking on this CELL PHONE, but you'll try anyway.

You can almost picture Toriel on the phone, trying to find an answer. "I... suppose... Would that make you happy? To call me 'Mother'? Well... you can just call me whatever you like!"

Hearing this makes you smile and you thank her. You promise to hang up now before either one can embarrass the other further.

The conversation ends and you remain seated on the floor. That was a silly little diversion. Still, to stay in this room... what did that yellow furred goat-mom have in mind?

You stand and go to find out, leaving the room.

The moment you leave, the ringing sound happens again. You get the CELL PHONE out again and try to make the ringing stop by pressing buttons.

"This is Toriel, erm... you haven't left the room have you? There are still a few puzzles ahead I still have to explain. It would be dangerous for you to try and solve them by yourself. Please, be good, alright?"

You promise 'Mom' that you will be good and both of you hang up the phone. You take this danger into account and step into a pile of leaves. With a look that says you are ready to traverse an unknown frontier and hearing the crunch of the leaves beneath your hoof, you are filled with determination. In the room, you see a Froggit on his own and cautiously approach it.

It starts to ribbit at you, leaving you confused. You then have an idea and translated the ribbits to something you understand through your magic. "I have some advice about battling monsters if you wish to listen," it croaks. "If you ACT a certain way or FIGHT until they are almost defeated, they may not want to battle you anymore. If that happens, please... use MERCY, little pony."

You think on the other battles and how you simply spoke with the dummy and Froggit. You can surmise that even with Toriel gone, this is how you can still 'win' against the monsters now. "Mercy... I'll keep that in mind."

You decided to look around and admire the RUINS. The purple bricks, various leaves, and vines in this room makes you question as to what happened to this place and where other monsters like Toriel could be. It can't just be her and these frogs. You do admire that it is well-lit as well, despite being completely sealed off from the sun.

You have enough of admiring the RUINS and move to a room in the North to find a candy bowl on a pedestal. On the pedestal is an etching that reads 'Take One.' Well, you've never been one to not take up a free piece of candy, even if its Monster Candy. You then grin as you CHECK the wrapper. It's not licorice flavor and that's good enough for you. You throw it into your saddle bag and leave, deciding to take the other path.

It looks like things are just simple right now. What puzzles did Toriel even have to worry ab-

As you say this, the floor beneath you cracks and you tumble down. You let out a scream and then flop into a pile of leaves. You sit up and attempt to calm down. You've already fell from a high place, so you tell yourself to not let this be a recurring problem. You see two doors to either side of the pile and go through one. You feel it leading you upwards until you climb out at the top. You step off the exit and are surprised by a monster! Or did you surprise the monster? According to the box that appears in this black and white realm, this monster, Whimsun, looks awfully shy. You go to say something and it spooks the Whimsun into running.

You press on. These monsters you've been encountering are rather shy or harmless. You feel confident as you climb back up through the other door and press on.

The CELL PHONE goes off and you answer it, hey, you're getting better. The phone only rang 5 times this time!

"This is TORIEL. For, uhm, no reason in particular... do you prefer butterscotch or cinnamon?"

This is a life-altering question. Not once did you have the thought to encounter such a choice so early in life. The delectable and lovable butterscotch? Or the sweet-spicy cinnamon? You falter, trying to say one or the other. You scream out your answer as butterscotch and feel a part of you has betrayed a long-standing relationship with cinnamon.

Toriel thanks you for the answer and you feel dejected as she hangs up. You try pleading with cinnamon that you could only save one, but you so desperately wanted to have both.

After your soul-crushing decision you go to take your next step and hear the CELL PHONE ring again.

"Erm, This is TORIEL. Y-You don't dislike cinnamon, do you? Wh-What I mean is, I know what you prefer but..." Her voice gets even quieter, like she's not wanting to offend you. "Would you turn up your nose if you found it on your plate?"

You get down on your hindquarters and praise the sun above the ground that you have been spared in your choice... before you realize that you may not get butterscotch.

"Thank you for being patient, by the way," Toriel continues as you have your mild bout of sorrow over losing butterscotch.

You bring yourself back together and go to move past this tough choice, which leads you to another puzzle... well, its not so much a puzzle as it is a pushing exercise. On a path, you push a rock over a button and it holds it down. The spikes that were impeding your progress retract and you press on.

Being surprised by a Froggit, you offer a wonderful compliment. It blushes and lets out a ribbit. This time, unlike last time, the box that keeps your heart from floating away reappears, making you have memories of the encounter with Flowey. Suddenly, the Froggit starts raining down flies. You try to avoid the flies as they go toward your SOUL . Eventually, it stops, but you are ready to strike out vengefully. Reflexively you swing your stick at the Froggit and watch it take the shot and letting out a pained noise.

In response, the Froggit seems do to nothing to the box... until you see something resembling a frog in the corner. Curiously your SOUL moves close to it and get hurt by the frog jumping into it. You feel were the pain came from and find a cut along your cheek. This Froggit wasn't messing around. You see no other option but to run.

You sprint through the room, passing some puzzles without thought, not even realizing it. Taking a breath, you wipe the cut at your cheek and tears well up in your eyes. You go for the Monster Candy in your pack to calm your nerves. You don't normally lash out like that, and it scares you a little knowing what you did.

Another part of you does tell you that you could've stood your ground and beat that little punk that hurt you. It would've been worth it.

You leave the Monster Candy in your mouth as you just keep going on, savoring its taste.

Reaching another button puzzle where you would need to push rocks, you attempt to move past the bad experience. You absentmindedly take hold of a rock and hear a loud harumph come from it. "WHOA, there pardner! Who said you could push me around?" This southern-sounding rock takes you by surprise. Not even the rocks are normal here. You apologize and step back, not sure how to explain what you want from it. You find enough words to explain that you would like for it (him? her?) to move to the button that is in front of it.

"So yer ASKIN' for me to move to that there button?" The rock answers and gives a somber sigh. "Hey, anythin' for ya, pumpkin."

The rock starts moving on its own, eventually settling on the button as the spikes from across the room retract to the ground. You pass the rock and thank it for helping you on your way. Suddenly, your front hoof strikes something gelatinous and look down. It's a line of small molds... Moldsmals.

You see them wiggle at you and in response you shake your own hips in response. Huh... what a pleasant conversation. You step over the Moldsmals and try to ignore one of them attempting to pull you back in with a sexy wiggle. You pass by a mouse and a piece of cheese that has fused itself to the table on top of it.

You then reach a spot where there is clearly a ghost lying on a patch of leaves right in front of you. You hear a buzzing sound coming from it for some reason. You poke at the ghost and ask for it to move. From its expression, it is somber and sad. You attempt to cheer it up by giving it a smile, but all it does is start to cry. You try to make your SOUL avoid the incoming water droplets.

This doesn't deter you from attempting to make this Napstablook character feel a little better and decide that maybe giving it (her? him?) a small joke will at least stop it from hanging its head. This gets the ghost to let out a weak chuckle and the box suddenly comes up with shaking text that reads "Really not feelin' up to it right now. Sorry." Well, at least you weren't hurt in this, if you could call it, attack. Maybe one more shot at cheering up this spirit will do the trick. It looks (relatively) much happier and says that it wants to show you something.

You think this is an incoming attack and go to start avoiding any attacks when you see Napstablook's tears go...up...what? The tears start shaping a hat on top of its head. "I call it, dapperblook. Do you like it?"

You tell Napstablook that you do, remarking that tears shouldn't normally create a hat at all and it pulls it off so well.

"I usually come to the RUINS because there is nobody around," Napstablook eerily drones out in its ghostly voice. "But it's today that I met somebody nice."

A pause occurs between you and the fake sleeping ghost.

"Oh. I'm rambling, aren't I? I better just move out of your way..." Napstablook phases through the bed of leaves it was lying on and leaves you free to go on your way once more.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. Spiders holding bake sales and Froggits talking about boring topics were the only things that occurred before you reached the next area. Overall, you are one Spider Cider richer. You see a dead tree with red leaves surrounding it in front of you when you hear the sound of TORIEL nearby.

"Oh no, that trip took longer than I wanted, that pony is probably bored to tears right now," Toriel starts and goes to ring you on her CELL PHONE. She then notices your presence and the cut on your cheek. "Oh, dear! You're hurt! How did you manage to get here?" She keeps asking on how you are as you feel her press something against your cheek, a lovely patterned bandage. "Ooh, I'm so terrible, it was irresponsible for me to leave you like that just to try and surprise you with-"

She stops from talking and leads you around the tree to what looks to be a quaint home. Its so tidy and cute in the middle of these RUINS. The sight of it fills you with determination.

"I guess I can't hide it, can I?" Toriel murmurs. Your nose picks up the scent of something sweet and spicy alongside the delectable and loveable smell of something else alongside it. "Come inside, small one. I want to help celebrate your arrival with a nice treat."

Your mouth waters. Toriel has really gotten in good with your dessert side with what must be a pie of some sort.

You enter Home.

Chapter 4 - Surviving Heartbreak

The smell emanating from the house draws you in and Toriel lets you observe her small home. "I, uh, hope that this isn't too much of an intrusion to you at all. After all, falling from such a height and having that cut, you may need to stay a while to get your bearings. Until then, I decided to make some butterscotch-cinnamon pie for you."

She holds you close and the comforting smell of her fur makes you think of home once more. You don't have the heart to tell her this.

"Oh! I have another surprise for you while you are living here," Toriel reacts and brings you to a room with a bed, toys and a small chest with various horseshoes. "A room of your very own." She lovingly rubs your mane and your heart continues to ache, not wanting to let loose that you must continue on. The smell of something burnt starts to waft through the home and Toriel tells you to make yourself at home before she rushes off to keep the pie from becoming scorched.

This gives you time to look around. Toriel's home has a lot of different plants in it, including those plants you've seen in the swamps. You don't know what they're called, but you like to call them 'water sausages'. Entering a different room, you quickly realize that it is Toriel's room. The bed is much larger than the one in your room, which is no surprise to you at all. A diary lays open on the desk and you see a passage circled. Why did the skeleton want a friend? Because she was feeling bonely.

The diary itself is filled with many more of these pun-based jokes and you simply decide to step away from it and look for something else. Your eyes go to Toriel's drawer and think on what may be inside. You boldly open the drawer and let out a gasp of pure shock. She has socks. Promptly, you shut the drawer and decide not to think further into the scandalous things you've seen.

Leaving the room, you find a mirror and check yourself out. That bandage seems to be doing its job as it is keeping the cut covered, but beyond the minor change to your normal look, that's most certainly you looking back at you. You let out a yawn and think on the bed that is now in your room. Without much thought, you go to it and climb on top of it. Your eyelids droop and eventually shut.

The once bright room that the lamp in the corner gave is now darkened as you find yourself properly tucked in. Toriel must have done this. You fear how she will react when you ask her that you need to keep moving forward. That's when you smell that same smell that drew you in and roll your head to look at where its coming from. A single slice of pie is waiting for you on a clean plate.

Taking the pie you sit at the edge of the bed and take a bite of it. You chew slowly and deliberately. The taste is heavenly. The one bite is all you can handle before you wrap the pie in a magic seal and place it in your saddle bag. You take in a breath and tell yourself that you must press on. Exiting your room, you find Toriel in another room reading a book by a healthy fire coming from the fireplace. You try to go up to her, but you can't just confront her. You instead take up a history book which has a symbol much like the one Toriel has on her robes. Flipping open a page it talks of the MONSTERS that were driven back after the barrier was created. It is a long trail they walked until they reached the end. You wonder if these RUINs are part of the original settlement they made. Shutting the book you finally go to speak with Toriel.

The pink-horned monster gives you a loving smile, "It's good that you're up. I can't tell you how happy I am that I now have someone here." You try to speak up, but Toriel keeps on. "I have a lot to share with you. Like these books, my favorite spot to hunt for bugs, maybe even teach you things you don't know just yet." She sees you trying to say something and lowers her book.

You ask her where you must go to get home.

Her expression of pained-surprise makes you feel crummy. "Oh, no. You can't leave just yet. What if you trip and twist your ankle? How will you be able to protect yourself out there? It's better for you to stay here. Trust me."

You look dejected and so does she. The book in her hands shifts out and is set to the side. "I... I must do something. Wait here."

Toriel shuffles away. You follow her, watching her keep her head low and descend a set of stairs you had initially never paid attention to. She stops, but doesn't turn as she speaks with you as you reach a path underneath the home. "You want to go home... At the end of this path, there is a door that will lead out of the RUINS. I don't want you to leave, little pony. Please, just go back upstairs."

She continues her walk and you continue to follow. Toriel's steps get slower and slower with each turn on the path. Her voice gets softer and sadder with every step she now takes. "I've seen it too many times. Ponies that have fallen down that same hole you have and when they go through the door, they don't get back to the surface. They die. I'm trying to warn you that out there is too dangerous for someone like you." She's attempting to repress tears. "Just... turn back."

You keep going. Not wanting to give up. You reach the final turn and Toriel is now focused on the door. "I can't... can't let you go. I'm trying to protect you, don't you understand? If you go now, you will be hounded and hunted by other monsters. If I have to stop you, I must-!" Toriel's paws ignite with fire. "I know what's best for you, so please. Don't make me do this."

You take in a breath and try to keep your lip from quivering as you approach.

You are forced into the black and white realm as Toriel turns to look at you, fire still clutched in her paws. You attempt to talk her out of the battle, to try and convince her that neither one of you want this. As you try to say this, your voice is caught in your throat, unable to escape. She raises her hands up and fire now rains over your SOUL. Attempting to dodge the fire, you are stuck by a few stray embers, scorching your fur.

Once more, your stick is raised up, ready to strike at Toriel. But you can't bring yourself to take the shot. You watch Toriel attempt to keep her focus on you as she continues to light up the room with her fire. The flames keep coming as you are hit over and over. You feel something shatter in you and you fall into a dark abyss.

It hurts to move or breathe. Is this how it's meant to end?

You open your eyes and find yourself at the top of the stairs of Toriel's home. Your heartbeat pounds in your ear. Did Toriel bring you up here? Cautiously, you descend the stairs, not sure as to what has happened. You see Toriel already walking down and she starts speaking about you wanting home again. It is eerily similar to what she was saying before you reached the door.

Before you know it, you're back in a fight with Toriel again and now confused at what you need to do. Moreover, why was she saying the same things as before? You can't question it as you lower your stick, wanting to show Toriel you don't want to fight. She only bores her stare into you, saying nothing and staying in front of the door. Fire rains down once more and swirls around you and your SOUL. You are scorched time and again, but you find no heart to attack Toriel.

You keep dodging and not making a move to strike her, wanting her to know that you don't have it in you to harm her. She seems confused as you keep raising your stick and then lowering it. "You have to FIGHT or RUN!" Toriel yells at you. "If you can't do either, then you will be hurt out there!" The flames lick at your hooves, but you remain steady. You can't just make yourself attack her.

"What have you got to prove in doing this?" Toriel says in a wavering voice, the fire around you starting to dim. "You must FIGHT!"

The stick wavers in your magical grip and once more, you can't do it. Even as she is screaming at you to strike her down, you just can't.

"I know you want to leave for your home, but I promise to take care of you," Toriel starts to plea with you. "I can heal your burns and we... we can live together. Just the two of us in these RUINS." The flames die down a little more and you are able to breathe a little easier. The flames let you see the fear in her eyes, not of you... but of you leaving her. Your heart aches and wants to make her stop feeling sad, but you can't turn back now. You suppress the tears building in your eyes and remain firm against Toriel.

"Little pony... Can't you see I want to give you a good life here?" Toriel asks you, her light blue eyes looking right through you. "I've seen it in your eyes; the same pain. I want to help you with it. Just, go upstairs and... stop looking at me like that..."

The fire dies out and Toriel looks ready to burst into tears. You do the one thing that you have yet to do to someone so kind. You wrap your hooves around her waist and she kneels down to embrace you as well, the tears now falling from her eyes and yours as well. Both of you cry.

It seems like the battle is over. "Why? Why must it be so difficult?" Toriel whispers through her sorrowful tears. "I don't want to be alone again," she sniffles.

You can't find anything to say, her little heart must be breaking as she holds you tight. You want to say you can come back; to say that you can just fall back down all over again. But you know that can't happen.

"Just keep walking," Toriel speaks with you. "When you do, you'll pass through the gate and out of the RUINS. When you do... don't come back." She stands, leaving you with the memory of her soft fur against you as she only looks back once before leaving.

You wipe the remaining tears from your eyes and exit. The path is long enough and you trot through another gate. You pause at the sight that greets you. The empty room you had seen Flowey before is also here, and Flowey is right in your path.

The flower only snickers and turns to look at you, "How clever of you. You must think that you're the smartest and most wonderful individual in the world right now. But, I know the truth." Flowey's face shifts and swirls before it turns into Toriel's, even mimicking her voice. "You murdered her. And you went BACK because you regretted it."

You look confused. You didn't do anything of the sort! You're ready to tell Flowey off but he stops his taunting and recognizes your confusion. "Waaaait a second... You... you don't believe you did, did ya?" His little laugh turns into outright sinister howls of joy. "Oh! So the rules have changed, have they?! What did you do, you little sneak? Hide your SAVE away?" Flowey's face shifts again, this time expressing his anger at you. "Do you think that you're the only one with this gift?! To SAVE and be able to reshape all of existence through your determination? Well, you are not the goody-good that you think you are!" His sickly smile grows a little wider, "In fact... why don't I try and find this SAVE and prove what a terrible pony you really are!"

kindness.corrupt

You didn't even pay attention to what the flower says to you. It tells you things you already know. Of course it is kill or be killed. Would it have been any other way? You know exactly what needs to be done.

You keep your ears shut to Toriel's speech and grip on to the stick beside the dummy after the dull explanation of puzzles. "Mercy, what a joke," you think before you destroy the dummy with one strong swing. She tells you that its not what you're meant to do. She's attempting to hold you back from your LOVE and EXP. You only smirk. It's going to be a pleasure to end her existence.

Not a single monster will get in your way as one by one they are obliterated into dust. Already you feel the power build in you with each monster fell by your hoof. You don't pay attention to Toriel over the phone, even when she is being passive-aggressive with you. If she had any courage, she would have stopped you before you even began.

Coward.

Finally, the RUINS go quiet and you start shouting out for anything to give you a challenge. But nobody came.

Exploring the RUINS you find and now carry a Toy Knife that will never be sharp enough for what you want it to really do. The home of Toriel stands in front of you and her kindness as she leads you inside makes you sick to your stomach. You continue to not pay attention to her as she shows a room to you. You don't bother going inside it just yet as you move to the mirror at the end of the hallway. You practice looking like the happy little pony that Toriel believes you are. This is you, Midnight. You brush off a little leftover dust that is sticking to your fur and mane.

You force yourself to lie on the bed, and hear every step Toriel makes in this cramped home. She steps into your room and places something down on the floor. You make no movement, noting that if you were truly fearful, the Toy Knife hidden underneath the covers can fly out and strike her in the back.

When you awaken from your sleep, the pie on the floor that Toriel has told you is cinnamon-butterscotch is merely wrapped in magic and tucked away. You walk past Toriel and enter the kitchen, sifting through the drawers for one item in particular. Where are the knives.

You have no choice but to speak with Toriel and you demand her to tell you how to get out of these RUINS. She attempts to stall for time listing you a fact about slugs. You see her fear and you can't suppress your smile. She knows that she must perish. She runs. The RUINS are already emptied of life, does she think that she can cry out for help from the exit?

You follow her as she tries to once more convince you to turn away, that the world is dangerous beyond the exit.

Ha. Only disbelievers would think that you can be stopped.

She's now blocking the way and your Toy Knife should be enough to tear her apart.

All it took was one slice.

She stands only by willpower alone as she realize who she was trying to protect. It wasn't you. It was the world outside. Toriel fades into yellow dust and you collect her SOUL. "Kindness?" You question, holding the SOUL in your hoof. "Being kind only holds you back from your true potential. And I have only just started."

You exit the ruins and find that stupid flower that tried to kill you from before. It's laughing. "You're not really a pony, are you? No... you're empty inside, just like me." The flower's smile matches your own. "We're still inseparable after all this time, aren't we, Midnight? I have a plan to share with you, a plan that will make me all-powerful, even more powerful than you and your stolen soul. Together, let's destroy everyone and everything in this wretched world. All of them, turned into dust."

You stumble back in fear, having now seen yourself acting completely different than you ever have before. Being visibly shaken, Flowey cackles at your fear. "You see? It is you. You tore her body apart and all that was left was dust. And now, here we both are, one of us having a greater will to change the world, and the other forced to watch." Flowey's face continues to shift and mold as his anger and madness increases. "In this world it is kill or BE killed! And when you go against a ruthless killer, you WILL be the real Midnight that I know you are!" His voice goes softer as you keep stepping back, "And the best part? I'll be watching you. I'll be in every shadow and every darkened room you pass. So when you finally let loose and become the true creature you are, I will be there. Your best friend. Then. Now. Forever."

You run from Flowey as his evil laughter echos throughout the chamber. You cry out for Toriel as you burst through the doors and back up into the home. You search every room and keep crying out for her. You even use the CELL PHONE to try and call her and you get no response. You fall at the front door, replaying the image of Toriel turned to dust as you stand over her with a sickened smile on your face.

You keep running and shouting out for Toriel, not wanting to believe that she is gone. You collapse in sorrow and exhaustion, your heart beating in your ears and the laughter of Flowey ringing in your mind. As you curl into a ball on the floor, you feel a paw rub against your mane in a loving manner. "Were you that worried about me?" Your cries stop and you see Toriel through wet eyes. You can't express that you are overjoyed to see her as you clutch her close. She tries to shush you and holds you in her arms. "I'm here. And I'm scared too. You just need to be strong of heart and soul. I believe in you."

You tell your name to Toriel and she smiles. "That is a wonderful name."

Three pink butterflies flutter around the both of you and you look back in Toriel's light-blue eyes and yellow furred face; the sunlight above you as the two of you are embraced over a bed of golden flowers. You promise to be your best and will never harm a single monster. She nods, "I know you won't." She then lets you go and stands. "Now, please. Don't worry anymore about me. After all, someone will need to care for the flowers and the other monsters here."

You calm yourself once more and give one last goodbye to Toriel before you leave. This was your tale. No one else's. Even if that corrupt flower was now haunting you, you will stay strong. You will push through and make it home.

At the doors below Home, you give them a hard push and shield your eyes from the brightness of the outside. You check behind yourself one last time... and you step into the white snow.

You are filled with determination.

Chapter 5 - The Skeleton Sisters

The cold wind outside makes you shiver as the doors shut behind you. Maybe you should've checked the drawers in your room for some sort of clothing, a scarf, or maybe a hat. You turn to the door and find it sealed behind you, no way of getting back now. You hope that this long stretch of dark forest will lead to a town or a place to keep out of the cold. You take cautious steps down the path, occasionally checking around you for anyone or anything following you. You do find it ridiculous that the feeling of being followed in such a quiet place is absurd and you try to go into a more pleasant trot.

You pass over a large stick in the path, thinking nothing of it as you press on.

*SNAP!*

The sound came from behind you and you turn around to see the large stick now snapped in two. You gulp and think that you hear something out there. You keep moving, feeling the presence get closer. You even stop and shout at what you thought was it but find that you were only trying to surprise shadows. The pressure keeps welling up in your gut as you see a wide gate hang over a suspended rope bridge. You go to step over the bridge, but an overwhelming sense of dread and fear forces your hoof down and unable to move further.

The sound of snow crunching behind you makes you terrified. Something had been following you. Could it have been-?

"PoooOooonyyyYyy..." The voice at your ear wails. "Don't you know how to greet a new bud?" Your teeth start chattering as the voice continues, "Turn around and bump hooves with meeeee."

You feel compelled to turn, unable to resist. You can only see shadow and darkness as you see something resembling a hoof stretch out. Your own hoof shakes and slowly presses against it.

The sound of a whoopie cushion fills the still forest and you can see a skeleton standing before you, in its eyes are far away pink lights and it appears to be trying to hold back laughter behind its smiling... face. The skeleton is wearing a rather comfortable pink jacket as the sound slowly fades away. Finally, you hear the laughter that had been held back. "Oh, oh hold on a moment. Ha ha ha ha! I finally got someone with the whoopie cushion in the hoof trick!"

The skeleton keeps laughing as she removes the strapped on whoopie cushion and puts it away into a pocket. "Wow. That's going to be ALWAYS funny every time I think about it now. Hee hee hee!" The skeleton finally stops laughing and waves at you, "Hiya! I'm Sans. Well, it's Sans with the first letter not capitalized, but you can't really tell the difference unless I mention it. Anyways, look at you! A pony, right?"

She puts a hoof around your neck and hangs on you like an old friend would, "It's good to meet ya! Always nice to meet a new friend right? Should let you know that I'm meant to keep watch for ponies just walking by, but I'm not feeling up for it right now. Too much effort for something so boooooring!" She leads you over the ropebridge, getting caught up in her energy and personality.

"But to make you aware, my sister is another tale," sans continues to explain, briefly shaking her rump at 'tale'. "That'd have been funnier if I had a tail to match the pun, darn it! Anyways, Papyrus, right? She's my sister and she's a pony-hunting fanatic, she would absolutely go head over heels just seeing you, and then reattach her head afterwards."

You can't find anything to say as you reach the other side of the bridge, "She's gonna be coming soon, so I have a plan. You gotta trust me on this." Sans sets you beside a guard station and then nails something like a cartoon speech bubble on the station beside you. "Now, don't move. This is gonna be good." Sans moves away and then leans against her station as another skeleton bounds in.

This skeleton is wearing a heroic outfit with a sweeping cape that goes to its shoulders and tops it off with a stetson. "Sans, what're ya doin'?! I asked ya to recalibrate yer puzzles and I find ya here loitering instead of doin' what I asked of ya!"

Sans seems to shrug it off, "I've been plenty busy. Have you seen the new warning sign I have posted?"

Papyrus seems rather energetic as she stomps a hoof and the snow lifts off the ground for the smallest moment. "Consarn it, I don't have time for readin'! What if while you were putting up that ridiculous, and might I add awful lookin' sign, that a pony just galloped through?! I've got to be ready for this, because I want to be the one to capture a pony!" Papyrus tries hard to maintain her composure as she poses and lets the wind blow her cape. "Then, everything can be right in the world! Me, Papyrus, Royal Guard member, friend to all, and deserver of all the great things, up to and including pasta master!"

You nearly break composure as the skeleton continues to declare her hopes and dreams. Papyrus seems to be one to overblow expectations, but you can oddly respect that she wants to prove to be the greatest in some way or fashion.

"So, try ta help me out, alright sans?" Papyrus asks, seemingly calming down.

Sans points to the sign again, "C'mon, maybe the sign will help you with what you need."

Papyrus slams her hoof down again, "You ain't helpin'! Lazybones, is this all you do? Just sit and lollygag? You've been gettin' lazier and lazier each day!"

Sans sighs and pushes off the station to approach Papyrus. "Aww, c'mon. I've been doing a ton of work..."

Papyrus' expression turns a little angry, "Sans, don't you dare finish-"

"A SKELE-ton!" sans finishes and starts giggling again.

Papyrus' expression gets angrier. "SANS, why?!"

Sans hugs Papyrus and pokes at Papyrus' cheekbone, "Aw, come on. I see you smiling..."

"And I hate it," Papyrus groans. "I'm doin' all I can and I still haven't gotten a lick of recognition. Can't you just help me in doing this for me?"

Sans shakes Papyrus lovingly and pulls back. "Yeah, sure. But, it seems like you've been working really hard. Almost like you've worked yourself-"

"SANS, PLEASE!" Papyrus screeches out.

"-down to the bone!" Sans finishes, now rolling in the snow in laughter.

Papyrus lowers her hat over her 'eyes' and shakes her head. "I'm going to attend to my puzzles. And while I do that, I expect you to put more backbone in YOUR work." Papyrus rushes off, a mix of a whinny and laughter as she laughs at her own bad pun.

Sans nods and looks where you are, "Alrighty, you can move around if you want."

You look back at the posted sign and find nothing written on it. Well, you wouldn't have expected a lot of effort to have been done, but how'd that fool Papyrus? Was Papyrus just too focused on Sans, sorry, sans, to notice you? As you question this, the sign falls off the station. Sans looks toward the fallen sign. "Err... maybe I should've put more than one stick of tape? Nah, I wasn't going to use it for much longer."

Sans then points you down the path, "So, get yourself going in that direction. If not, Papyrus could come back and you'll be forced to listen to more of my jokes."

You thank sans and turn to leave before she calls for you again, "Hang on. I've... got a favor to ask." Sans moves to you and looks at you with her far-away pink eyes. Wait, has she even moved her teeth when talking with you? "The thing is... my sister's been down. I wasn't lying when I said she'd go head over heels when she'd see you. Her day might get better if she sees you, and don't even worry about her being dangerous or nothing. She tries, but I promise she's not a threat."

Sans then winks you, "I'll be keeping an eyesocket out for you." She then walks in the other direction that you were pointed to.

You give a small smile. The skeletons aren't so bad after all, but you can't shake the feeling that sans is more than she's letting on. You press on regardless and find a box in the crossroads ahead. You look around for an owner and then open the chest, finding a pair of gloves inside. You excitedly put them on and feel just a little warmer.

Along with being a little warmer, you feel determination fill you as you are looking forward to future meetings between you and the two skeleton sisters.

Chapter 6 - Uwaa!! So Chilly♪

You continue on the path, keeping ready for any surprises. Papyrus seemed confident in the puzzles ahead, so you also needed to be set for anything. You hear voices ahead and go to greet them when you stop and see Papyrus and sans speaking with one another.

"Well, Undyne is fine and all, but don't you think she's a little too stressful on your bones?" sans asks Papyrus.

"I can handle her trainin', you don't have to worry over me," Papyrus calmly speaks with her sister. "Besides, I'm supposed to worry about you."

"Heh, you're patelling me that it's going tibia okay?" sans asks with a chuckle.

Papyrus grits her teeth loudly and looks over sans' shoulder and toward you. Her angered expression turns to surprise.

Sans turns to where Papyrus is looking and then back at Papyrus. The exchanges between Papyrus and sans looking in your direction becomes so fevered that you could see them spin for a moment. Papyrus stops her skull from rotating and lets out a gasp, "Is-! Is that a pony?!"

Sans looks past you and then bumps her sister, "That's actually a rock you're looking at."

Papyrus looks deflated after sans tells her about her discovery. "Oh..."

Sans gives a look to her sister, and bumps her again, "But, uhh, what is that in front of the rock?"

Papyrus raises her head and then gasps again before spinning sans around and whispering to her. You hear her excited chatter. "Is THAT a pony?!"

Sans nods once, "Yeah."

Papyrus does a flip, her head going over her heels and lands on the ground before quickly attempting to retrieve her skull. "Wahoo! I've done it! Undyne-! and the-! with the Royal Guard-! I'm gonna be popular!" Papyrus looks ready to burst from the sheer excitement and then realizes she's causing a scene. She clears her throat(?) and points a hoof to you, "Alright, little pony! You ain't gettin' past here! I, The Great Papyrus, will stop you from even taking another step!" She points to sans, "Preliminary puzzles, go!"

Sans stares blankly for a moment, "Err... what?"

"SANS! You didn't bring the first line of puzzles?!" Papyrus screeches.

"You didn't ask until now," sans argues. "And they're still in my station past the pony, so I can't go back."

"OoooOOooh, you crafty and sneaky pony, utilizing my sister's laziness!" Papyrus heroically states with a shaking hoof. "No matter! You will fall to my puzzles ahead! We'll see how well you get snagged in my trap and then brought to the capital!" She rushes away, letting out her whinny-laughter.

Sans sighs and looks at you, "Yeah, I think that went well, don't you? So, see you ahead, right?"

Your head is still buzzing at the activity that occurred. Papyrus could talk a big game at least, but now you're concerned about how well she could back it up. Sans only nods and walks away, leading you further down the path. You still needed to get to a warmer area, and if it was past Papyrus' deadly and dangerous puzzles, you'd need to go through them.

You suck in a breath and continue on as your CELL PHONE starts ringing. For a moment, you get really excited. Maybe it's Toriel! Answering your phone you hear a nervous voice on the other end. "Oh! I uhhh... h-hold on..." You raise an eyebrow in confusion as you hear the voice whispering to herself a moment. "I'd like to- ahh! Wait, no, yes! A pizza...? Toppings! Right! Can't have plain pizza! Ha, ha..."

You ask who this individual is on the other side and you hear the voice clear its throat and give more nervous laughter. "Not important! Just... I... I'll just text you the order right now!"

The CELL PHONE starts screeching out letters and you end the call. You don't know who that was on the other end, but it does allow you to try and call Toriel yourself. You call her number and hear it ring for a few moments. With no answer, the call ends and you feel left alone again. However, the time it took you to speak with the stranger and attempt to call Toriel was not a lost effort as you see another sentry station ahead. You get excited again, thinking that there could be more of those silly skeletons around.

The station looks a little different, like it is a miniature house with the front wall missing, an emblem of a dog's head hanging above. You go to look inside when a black masked dog rises up slowly and shifts his eyes around.

"Was somethin' moving out there?" The dog asks as you are frozen in place. "Because if there was something moving, a pony as an example... I will make sure it doesn't move again..."

The black and white realm appears as you see this dog is able to stand upright and is scanning for any motion. "Don't move an inch..." The dog growls, a blue sword moving toward your SOUL. You freeze and try to think of any way to avoid the shot, but find your SOUL cornered, you cringe as you see the sword move through. You then look around you and realize that you weren't harmed. What must have happened for that to happen? Did this dog miss?

You don't know how to resolve this mess, but a dog can't say no to being pet right? You rub your hoof through the dog's fur and it reacts in total surprise. "AHHHH! I've been pet! Pot? Pit? Pet? Pat? Put?" It waves its blue sword again and you once more freeze in place, watching the blue sword move through again without harming you. Was the color the trick?

Regardless of what the solution was, the dog is shifting his eyes more wildly than before as the realm falls away again. "I-I couldn't have been pet by something not moving! That's-! That's just-! I can't handle the pressure! Where are my dog treats?!" The masked dog slips back down in its station and you feel a little concerned about its reaction. You didn't mean to surprise it. With the path clear you keep going on your way, occasionally looking back at the dog station with a little worry.

You see sans once more up ahead and greet her with a wave. She remains chill in her toasty coat and only nods to you. "I have something important to tell you about my sister. Super secret stuff, really."

You ask sans about this super secret and she looks around for anyone listening in before continuing. "Alright, so she has this special attack, right? If you see a blue attack, don't move. It won't harm you if you remain still." She starts making an octagon shape in the snow in front of her. "Here's an easy way for you to remember. See that shape? Pretend it's a stop sign. The sign is red, right? Means you should stop. So, instead of red, make it blue. So, if you see the attack, just think about a blue stop sign, got it?"

You open your mouth to say something, but can't really understand how sans has managed to make her language so colorful. You merely give a nod and step away, only to find yourself sailing across a large patch of ice toward a sign. You hastily make a grab for the sign to stop you and successfully stop in the middle of this ice patch. The sign reads out that to the North, West, East, and South are ice, but East is also the direction of a town called Snowdin. You look for a direction that signifies East, and just hope where you're going is the right way as you push from the sign and slide the rest of the way across the ice.

Stepping onto snow again, you find sans and Papyrus once more waiting for you across a square area. They're in another conversational bout.

"Yer gettin' lazier and lazier each day! First the puzzles, and then napping during the night! What is wrong with you?" Papyrus questions sans.

Sans remains unaffected by the questions, "Nap at night? That's sleeping, isn't it?"

Papyrus shakes her head, "Don't try to outwit me by askin' questions when I'm supposed to be askin' questions here! Yer just lookin' for an excuse to fall back on." Her head rotates enough to catch sight of you and Papyrus begins to address you. "So, you're takin' the challenge? Well, in order to put a stop to you, my sister and I have devised puzzles throughout this area! This one in front of you will be mighty shocking."

Papyrus reveals a glass orb and holds it out, "Behold! The invisible electricity maze! By touching the walls of the maze, you will be forced to feel an unpleasant shock! Unless you're pleased by getting zapped, to which I may not have an appropriate backup plan." Papyrus, having found out this small issue looks nervous again, but sees your cautionary attitude as evidence you don't like getting shocked at all. "Alright, whenever you're ready, just step right through, if you dare."

You nervously take small steps, not wanting to trigger anything. There is a difference in the air and your mane is starting to frizz at the ends. You take another step and hear the sound of coursing electricity. This sound is coming from Papyrus as she is getting scorched by the heat of the electricity running through her bones. You step back and see the skeleton stop jittering in place before she starts yelling at sans.

"Sans! What did you do to this maze?!" Papyrus angrily accuses her sister. "I'm not the one that should be lightin' up like a tree for holiday purposes!"

Sans points to the orb, "The pony should be the one holding that."

Papyrus blinks and looks at the orb, "I... I knew that... Just wanted to... show how deadly the maze was... heh heh." Papyrus moves through the square in a deliberate manner, occasionally stopping herself and turning before continuing on. Finally, she stands in front of you and places the orb on top of your head. "Hold it there. Don't let it fall off." Papyrus explains before rushing through the maze again, not realizing that she's left a trail in the snow. "Alright, now. Give it yer best!"

You sheepishly partake in the balance act with the glass orb and pretend to get lucky at certain turns in the maze before reaching the other side, much to Papyrus' disbelief. "You are one sneaky and slippery snake. The way you solved that maze like it was nothing... Then you will be in the unfortunate position of the next puzzle being harder than you can ever believe! As it was conceived through the mind of sans, I reckon that you will be stumped, stopped, and stashed away!"

Papyrus dashes away once more, her neighing laughter fading into the distance. Sans seems more relaxed as Papyrus leaves and looks at you again. "Thanks again. This has been a while since Papyrus has had this much fun, even moreso than that costume party we had a few week ago. Ever since, she's been wearing that outfit and hat. She likes to think of it as her 'working gear' whenever she goes out with it." She lets out a weak chuckle, "She's the coolest sister." She readjusts herself and her pink coat again. "If you're looking for clues on the next puzzle, I'm not telling. Trust me, it's gonna be a lot more fun for you if you don't know where you're going."

You only shrug and move on, passing by more strange monsters and keeping calm through each encounter, including the one with the hat. The hat was a glorious one, but you had to restrain yourself from getting too caught up with it. You also had a heck of a time pushing a snowball around an area and placing it into a hole. It passed the time at least. Until once more you are met with the sight of sans and Papyrus.

"A-ha! The pony arrives again!" Papyrus exclaims. "Are you ready...for...?" Papyrus looks around the area and then back at sans. "Sans... where is your puzzle?"

Sans points to a sheet of paper on the ground, "Right there. Believe me, they aren't getting past this one so easily."

You approach the paper and balk at it's contents. It's... a word search! And here you are without a quill or ink to go with it! You briefly consider your options. Going back for supplies is not going to be a viable action and you also can't stay here either. You look up to the skeletons and approach them, ready to ask for something to write with.

This proves too much for Papyrus as she stomps the ground in frustration. "Sans! That thing didn't do anything! What were you thinkin'?!"

Sans looks a little ashamed, "Uh-oh, maybe I should've used the crossword instead..."

Papyrus rolls her eyes, "Like that would've helped! Even if it did work, it's far too easy. Now somethin' like that section called Junior Jumble, now that's a hefty challenge!"

Sans seems surprised by this, "Are you kidding? There's no way the crossword is less challenging in comparison to that baby bones mind exercise!"

Papyrus looks to you, "Alright, you solve this. Which one's the harder of the two, Crossword or Junior Jumble?" How you got roped into this question is beyond you. You don't want to come off as a poor mediator anyway and you force yourself to choose between the two. You reluctantly let Papyrus know that you believe Junior Jumble is more difficult.

Papyrus seems to rattle in joy, "I knew it! All ponies MUST be incredibly intelligent if they have the same problems with those puzzles as I do!" Papyrus goes off, letting off her usual laugh with an added kip of happiness in her gallop away.

Sans shrugs and smiles again at you, "You're doing a lot of nice things for my sister, especially with the Junior Jumble debacle just now. She got herself stumped trying to solve the horoscope once, ya know?"

You smile back at sans, letting her know that if you can do more to let you be aware. She says nothing in response, but keeps her smile up as you continue down the path.

You stop at a table with a plate of spaghetti at the side of the trail and find a note underneath it. Reading it, it says-

Pony, I want you to appreciate and enjoy this spaghetti placed before you now. (However, what you won't realize is that by consuming it, you will have fallen into a perilous trap! While you slurp up the noodles and taste the savory sauce, you will slowly forget about the fact that you are not progressing and therefore are more susceptible to getting captured! A victim to this gag played by The Great Papyrus!

Neigh-Heh-Heh,

Papyrus

You lower the letter and roll your eyes. You suspect that you weren't meant to read the words in parenthesis. This plate of spaghetti and the unplugged microwave beside it are at least conscious efforts to hinder you, so you can kind of respect that? You look at the plate and attempt to lift it from the table, finding it frozen stuck where it is. Guess there's no spaghetti for you in the near future. But one day, you can see that little mouse come out from its hole in the wall and heat that spaghetti up with the microwave. Just the thought of this hopeful future fills you with determination.

Chapter 7 - Dogs and Tiles

A casual trot is all that you need as you reach a large and open area. It looks empty with only a few trees standing. As you start looking for the next section to go you find a sign. You lean in and read the careful writing on it. You repeat the sign with a raised eyebrow, "Warning: Dog Marriage". The sign doesn't prove useful in telling you where you are or where to go so you take the conscious effort to start roaming the area and hoping that a clear path will reveal itself.

You check your saddle for items and see only the magically sealed pie and a small stash of golden coins in the corner of the bag. Admittedly, the gold coins were just on the ground when you've confronted monsters, so you just decided to pick them up after showing mercy to them. If they didn't want them, maybe you could find use for them later.

You think you hear something bounding around in the snow and stop where you are to look around you. With no sign of movement you take one more step, only to be surprised by another dog that can stand on its hind legs. Unlike the last dog that wore the mask and carried a blue sword, this dog wears metal armor and holds a sword with one paw; the other paw holding a shield bearing an emblem that you've seen before.

Despite being surprised, you only have one action in mind that springs from your mind. Pet. Just pet. Pet the dog and pet it many times. You barely even lift your hoof to stroke its fur and it already gets excited. You keep your SOUL from the onslaught of blue and white attacks along with a miniature dog that leaps up to try and hit it as well. You keep petting and think that nothing can stop you, until you see this Lesser Dog's neck start... inching upwards each time you pet it. Your curiosity gets the better of you as you watch the head go higher and higher, soon reaching beyond the black and white realm of conflict.

You don't want to go any further and just end it with some mercy. You don't see the dog come back... or leave for that matter. Maybe your petting it had made it reach such levels of excitement that it was able to teleport away? You try not to think too hard on this conundrum. Eventually you reach an area blocked off by a wall of spikes and a lot of loose snow nearby covering stone.

With a bit of clever thinking, you start kicking the snow around, watching it fly up and hitting back down on the ground. You do this for a moment and then stop when you see a large red 'X' on the ground. You press against it, but you don't really know what it means. You look at the vague shape that the snow had once covered and then make a snapping noise with your magic, an a-ha moment running in your mind. This is a map of this area and the 'X' on it must be hiding something.

Your mind races as you go to where the map tells you to go. Could it be treasure? A key? A secret passageway around the spikes and through to Snowdin? You get to the square between two trees and use your magic to sift through the snow, finding a switch on the ground. You don't know if it goes to the spikes, but if it does, this means you could pass through the place you were blocked. Flipping the switch you go back to where the spikes should be and see that they're gone.

You move through, now finding the path again and going to continue on your way. That sign before must've been old or wasn't written right. You stop as two dogs wielding axes and wearing hooded black robes approach you. They both take a side next to you and start sniffing.

"What's that smell?" asks one. The other asks, "Where's that smell?"

The male voice gives a low growl, "If you are a smell-"

The female voice finishes, "-identify yoursmellf!"

The both of them circle you, continuously sniffing. When they finish, they pull back. "This smell, makes me want to eliminate," the male dog continues to growl. The female voice joins in on the growling, "Eliminate YOU."

You're thrust into a conflict with Dogamy and Dogaressa, both having removed their hoods and taking a battle position. You don't know what to do and have once more readied your stick. You think on your options. They are able to smell you, so what would it take to remove your smell? How would an action hero from the books handle a situation like that?

You flop onto the snow and start rolling like a mad pony, wanting to rid yourself of smell. This makes you a little colder, but the confusion in both Dogamy and Dogaressa's eyes as they start sniffing again appears to have proven that your smell is now indistinguishable from before.

Your SOUL starts weaving around axes as they rise and move. Your SOUL is able to stop for a second and is then forced into the middle of two dogs and one is barking blue and white hearts at the other.

"You smell... like a..." Dogamy is now really confused on what he's smelling. Dogaressa finishes his thought, "Are you actually a puppy?"

This is a different situation. Now you're not smelling like a pony, but a puppy. Does that mean you can get in close and pet them? So far the petting strategy has worked out for every dog you've come across. You reach out and pet Dogamy. His eyes light up as if he's experienced something mystical. "I've been pet by another pup..." Dogaressa seems eager for you to do the same with her, "Don't leave me out! I want to know what it's like too!"

You also pet Dogaressa and the same wide-eyed look of amazement crosses her face. "A dog that pets... dogs. Amazing!"

Both of them lower their axes and you show mercy to them both. "Our world has been opened to the revelation of dogs being able to pet other dogs," Dogamy speaks in a calm manner.

"Thank you so much for this gift, small puppy," Dogaressa graciously adds before tugging at Dogamy's robes and motioning for the both of them to run off someplace. They both rush off, barking happily through the snow.

You walk on the path and are stopped by another puzzle. The sign next to it tells you to turn every X in the puzzle to an O before hitting a switch. You look at the puzzle and shake your head, this had to be a creation of Papyrus, or course. The two X's were left open and you only needed to step on them for their shape to change into an O. Finding the switch, you hit it and a row of spikes go down, revealing Papyrus on the other end.

"Well, I'll be a june bug in December! How'd you get by my trap AND... did you leave any for me?" Papyrus asks you.

At first, you seem confused. She wasn't talking about this puzzle you completed, so what could it have been? The image of the frozen spaghetti plate fills your mind and you realize what she was talking about. You don't feel like lying to Papyrus about eating it, so you admit that you left it behind.

Papyrus seems rather shocked by this, "Really? You resisted the flavor and aroma of my homecooked pasta?" She looks to be blushing a little, "To share it with me?" A glint in her eye returns her to the high-energy skeleton that has been 'challenging' you as her chest puffs out. "Well, you better believe that I, Master Chef Papyrus will make you the highest and most delectable pasta you could wish for! Heh heh heh neigh!"

She rushes off again, but this time you're right behind her as she actually slows down and trots alongside you. At first, there is a silence and then Papyrus speaks up. "My sister's been startin' a collection of socks. It's not the most wholesome activity she could be doing, but I can't imagine how she would be without such a hard-workin' and tough gal to take care of her."

You say nothing, not wanting to let your inner snark get the better of you.

Both of you get to another puzzle and Papyrus seems like she's wanting to say something. "Pony! I need you to be aware that since you were taking a little longer than I initially planned, I made improvements to this puzzle."

You look over the Papyrus face puzzle on the ground with its multiple X's needing to be made into O's.

"You like it? I did too," Papyrus continues, still in speech mode. "Problem is, the dang snow is now stuck in place and the solution is totally different! Sans is also nowhere to be found, as usual; lazy sister. But, don't you worry 'bout a thing, pony! I, The Great Papyrus, will solve this here issue with no problem! You can try it if you'd like, being a fellow puzzle thinker yourself."

You do decide to give it a try and on a few attempts you mistakenly touch an O and make it into a triangle. Those few attempts did help you find a solution and you breeze through it before hitting the switch and lowering the wall blocking the way.

Papyrus seems genuinely impressed by your effort. "You were able to solve it on your own, and without my help! You really do care about puzzles like I do!" She starts hopping in place, "Oh, I can barely contain myself in seeing how you'll get past the next puzzle! See ya there!" With the sound of rushing wind and a fading whinny-laugh, you could tell Papyrus must be eager to see how this next challenge is going to go for you.

You meet with sans again as she is waiting past the lowered wall. "Good job on solving that puzzle so quickly. For a short moment, I thought you'd need my help, but you didn't. And that's great for me because I like doing absolutely nothing." At first you think nothing on her comment, but a little shine in her eye makes you question if what she said was true. She did seem the rather comfortable type... maybe it's nothing.

You move on and see both sans and Papyrus standing across the way from what looks to be a grey square... thing on the ground. You quickly check behind you and don't see sans, but you also didn't see any way she could've moved around you without you seeing her.

Papyrus waves to you across the square, "Hey! You're gonna love this puzzle, pony, I just know it! It was made by the Great Dr. Alphys!" Before you could ask who exactly this Alphys individual is, Papyrus pulls out sheets of paper and starts reading from them. "These tiles will change color once the switch is thrown. Each color has their own function. The red tiles can not be stepped on. Yellow tiles are electric and will shock you if you try and step on them. Green tiles sound an alarm when they are stepped on and the stepper will be forced to fight a monster. Orange tiles are apple-scented and will make you smell delicious."

Papyrus takes in a breath before continuing to read, "Blue tiles are water tiles that house deadly piranhas that will eat anything apple-scented. If the blue tile is next to a yellow tile, the electricity will zap the stepper as well. Purple tiles are slippery and you will slide into the next tile, the soap that covers this tile is lemon-scented and piranhas hate lemons. Yes, piranhas hate lemons, shut up this is science." She flips a page and mumbles, "Yeah, sure, science. Where was I? Yeah, right here." Clearing her throat(?) she again continues, "Pink tiles do nothing and you can step on them all you like."

She throws the papers to the ground and starts congratulating herself before looking at you again. "How was that? Got everything?"

You only let out the sound that you make when you're completely lost in what to remember. Papyrus assumes this means 'Yes.'

"Very good!" Papyrus declares as she flips the switch and the tiles light up and start switching colors, "Just one last thing. This puzzle is entirely random! It's going to make a puzzle that has never been seen ever before! Not even I, a creator of puzzles will know its solution!"

The tiles switch faster and faster, while the machine that controls it starts beeping louder and louder. The colors start bleeding into one another and you can't keep up with anything going on until finally, the tiles stop. An impending silence fills the cold winter area as you see a strip of pink tiles leading straight to the other side. Papyrus seems to have hypnotized herself with the flashing colors and stumbles away. You give a look to sans and ask if Papyrus is going to be alright.

"She's not usually all right. She can also go left from time to time," sans answers you. "You want to know about that spaghetti she made?" She asks you. "Honestly, it's not all bad. She's been taking cooking lessons and improving a lot. Heck, who knows? Maybe next year she'll have managed to get to a point where she'll make something that won't make a stomach cringe."

You give a small laugh and move on. You move a little slower as you see a wide array of snowdogs and their fallen heads alongside the path you are on. You wonder what must've happened when you see a monster passing by. "That dog just rushed through and did all of this. I could see it in his eyes; pure inspiration. It kept making snowdogs, wanting to capture its emotion and it kept happening. The dog kept adding more and more snow, the neck kept getting longer and longer."

You take a wild guess and assume it was the dog that had it's head sail into the clouds a while ago. If that dog is any indicator to you, you know it will never stop trying to recapture that wild moment in the perfect snowdog.

While a wild sight to have seen and imagine, it fills you with determination.

Chapter 8 - Getting Snowdin

The walk you've been on is starting to get long as you find yourself sliding on another large patch of ice. You only let out a defeated sigh as you don't find a way to stop yourself from going through a thick patch of forest. The dense wood doesn't allow you to see anywhere around you and something just landed on your back. You continue to slide, despite attempts to change direction. You hit the edge of the ice and stumble a few more steps before looking behind you at what landed on your back. Impressively, the snow that landed on your back is in the shape of a small dog.

Shaking the snow off, you move on seeing a small doghouse and multiple poffs of snow on the ground. You inspect each one, remarking on their poff-ness to yourself. You reach one more and a little dog's head bursts from the poff, letting out a small and adorable yip. You react accordingly.

The poff breaks apart and the small dog turns out to be maybe a little larger than you thought? It now stands in full body armor and carries a spear, looking down at you at three times your own height. You panic accordingly.

The conflict starts and you wonder how you're going to handle this situation with the Greater Dog. You reach out to pet the dog, but find out that it's not only height that's an issue, but distance as well. Not wanting to look foolish, you just pet the air in front of you. In the meantime, your SOUL is intently watching a sleeping dog that is lying in the box.

You finish petting the air and then call the Greater Dog to you. It's large frame bounds toward you getting up close to your face. For such a small dog head, its slobber manages to still hit your face. You pet the dog and it starts to curl into you, forcing you to sit and allow it to also lie in front of you. You keep going and only stop when you hear the soft sound of snoring coming from the dog. Thinking the fight is over, you ready yourself to stand up and leave before the Greater Dog suddenly stands again and starts patting the ground with its front paws in an excited manner. Part of you hopes this dog also doesn't start having its neck stretch out like the other one.

You look around you for things to play with and look over at your stick. An idea forms and you hurl the stick for the Greater Dog to fetch. The two of you do this for a short moment before it once more lays on you, looking tired. You go back to petting the dog, but find yourself getting buried underneath the weight of the dog. You try to both pet and redirect the dog to get off of you. It works as the dog flops over on its back and hangs its legs in the air. You react accordingly.

You know that the battle is over and the both of you now stand up to look at each other. The Greater Dog jumps from its armor and lands in front of you in its small and cute fashion. His white fur and tail shake in appreciation for what you've done. It then gives a small lick to your face and jumps back into its armor headlong. You watch the armored dog walk off with its tail swishing from the neck. All of those dogs had to be protecting something in order to try and stop you. Were they working with Papyrus? If they were, Papyrus was either really lucky or was a more elegant speaker than she let on.

You think on this as you reach a rope bridge, cautiously taking steps and not wanting to look at what was below you. Eventually you see both sans and Papyrus blocking the way off the bridge. Papyrus points her hoof at you, a light of desperation and confidence in her eye. "Pony! This is where the final and most dangerous challenge of your entire existence will take place! This is the Gauntlet of Deadly Terror!"

Slowly, cannons, fire, spears, spiked balls on chains, even a small dog tied with rope around its chest, reveal themselves. They all seem aimed at you.

Papyrus takes a stoic pose and looks directly at you. "When the word is given, it activates! Cannons firin'! Spikes swingin'! Blades slicin'! Each one swinging up and down violently! Victory for you will become so tiny you'd have better luck counting every snowflake in Snowdin! Are you ready?"

You shake your head, but Papyrus already has revealed a controller and a big red button. "Because. I! Am about! To do it!" Papyrus raises her arm to smash the button, but it starts rattling as it remains up there.

Sans gives a look to Papyrus, "It's not activated. Or if it is, it doesn't look it."

Papyrus looks to be sweating. Wait, that was just a few wet snowflakes slowly falling from the side of her skull. "It's comin'! Just... hang on!" Her arm continues to shake, more violently this time as she looks conflicted about something.

"Papyrus, are you stuck? This is why hanging out with the dogs is dangerous," sans sighs and gives a look to you. "You know what I mean, right?" She asks you, "Arf-ritis."

Papyrus smashes her hoof to the ground, "This-! This challenge is far too easy to defeat the pony with!" She feigns frustration, "We can't use this one! I have standards and I want to be fair with my puzzles! I cook each trap with the level of expertise worthy of recognition! What this is, is just too direct and no standards along with it!" She waves her hoof, "Out! Out!" And with that, the gauntlet goes away and Papyrus seems relieved over it.

Papyrus lets out a sigh and holds her hat over her chest a moment. She looks back up to you and puts her hat back on. "What're you so gung-ho about? This was a decisive victory for Papyrus!" She lets out her whinny-laugh, but it trails off near the end. She just rushes off, leaving the bridge open again. You are able to step off the bridge and find solid ground again, taking in a breath of relief.

"I'm lost on what my sister is going to do," sans tell you. She shuffles into her pink coat a little more and continues, "You'd better remember what I told you about blue stop signs." You only nod and try to repeat to yourself that blue means that you stop.

Before you know it, you see a big sign decorated in multiple lights. You brighten up and read it aloud. "Welcome to Snowdin." You've made it and just in time to enter the first building to get out of the cold. Shutting the door, you feel the warmth of this place fill you with determination and its a comfortable area to just rest a little. You sit by a wall when you suddenly feel something else fill you, exhaustion. That journey in the cold and having to deal with the dogs and skeletons really made you weary. Your eyelids grow heavy and you let out a yawn before falling asleep.

You awaken suddenly, like you had just experienced a nightmare. You try to recollect what it was that shook you so badly, but you can't... or maybe you just don't want to. You want to think further but see a bunny monster behind a counter looking at you curiously. "I did wonder if you were a toy left behind or not," the bunny shopkeep says aloud as you pull yourself back up on your hooves. "You're a traveler, right? Must've been a while since you found a bed. I'd have carried you next door to the inn, but you seemed real peaceful on the floor."

You continue to wake yourself and accidentally drop some of the gold coins in your saddle. You pick them up and the shopkeep seems more interested in the gold that you're putting back in. "You know, I sell some nice things here. That bag looks really empty and with just those gloves, you're under dressed for this kind of weather. I mean, unless your light coat of fur is enough to keep you warm."

You see something that looks like a scarf and point at it. The shopkeep tells you the price and you put out that much gold on her counter. She hands you the... wait that's not a scarf, its a kerchief! Or were they called bandannas? Either way, you feel a little cheated and then stop at the painted abs on it. You may wear it around your neck, but you feel like the design alone makes you tougher AND that you've gotten the better end of the deal.

Smelling the room, you know that something cinnamon was baking. She seems to pick up on your intent and reveals baked treats in the shape of rabbits. Your stomach gives a little growl and you waste little time in plonking down your coin and nabbing one of those cute critters and eating them. You then look up at the shopkeep and at first feel guilty, what with her being a bunny monster and all. Her laughter tells you that you that you didn't need to worry.

You relax and start talking with the shopkeep, asking her about Snowdin and just what you can do here. She thinks for a moment, "You don't look like someone from the capital, and you must not be too into your history classes to know about this place." She relaxes and pulls back a bit. "Snowdin was one of the first towns to be settled by the monsters able to handle the cold. Ever since we left the RUINS, we've just... expanded throughout this underground. We all used to live in the RUINS and..." She stops. She seems sad about something, but quickly pushes on. "It's all boring details anyway. The only thing you need to know is that in Snowdin, Grillby's is where you can get an actual meal, the library has any information you may want to look for, and as I've said, the inn is next door if you want to nap there instead of my floor." She then realizes something and starts chuckling to herself, "Of course. You may just want to only see those skeleton sisters rush around out here. Everything in town has livened up since their appearance. They just appeared one day and they... err... asserted themselves."

You thank the shopkeep and step out of her store and into the town. It is rather festive as some of these monsters are decorating a tree and setting presents around it. You go up to one and ask what this is about. "Well, some awful teens were tormenting a monster with tree-like horns. They were throwing on multiple decorations and generally being a nuisance. We all came together and decided to bring gifts to this monster to make it feel better. Now we uphold this tradition by putting gifts underneath a decorated tree."

You make mention that you have a similar holiday like this, but the story about it is very different. One of the younger monsters grins at you, "Guess it doesn't matter how either one started, as long as it reaches the same ending. You're a kid, right?" This question seems to come out of nowhere and before you can answer, the kid continues. "I can tell because of those stripes on you." You look down at your fur and then back at the kid. He seems rather proud at his conclusion and decide to leave him with it, not wanting to look confrontational.

Grillby's comes up and you stop at its door. You're not sure if you want to come in or not. It wouldn't hurt to look inside. You push through the door and see Grillby's as it is, a literal hole in the wall known as life. The lone bartender, a fire that will listen and never speak. The patrons, either completely unaware of themselves or their surroundings or just allowing themselves to be carried by the flow of the drink in their cups.

There is one group that catches your attention and you feel unprepared for this situation. It's the dogs. All five of them. One is at a separate table, dealing cards to an unseen opponent. The others are gathered at a table, the Greater Dog taking up a full side all on his own. Are they going to act up with you around?

You choose not to find out as you go back outside.

The next building you see is the library and go to enter when you stop yourself. You step back and look at the sign again, confirming that you weren't reading wrong. That sign above the door reads 'Librarby'. You want to cry a little.

Entering you go to speak with the monster that runs this library that the sign is wrong. Before you get a word out, he puts a hand up, "Yes... We know... its misspelled." Well now you have nothing to really complain about, so you instead do some grumble reading with some of the books inside. You keep seeing the symbol you've noticed in Toriel's own collection through many of the tomes you just flip through. You stop at one and read a passage. "Love, hope, compassion. This is what many say monsters SOULs are made of. However, the absolute nature of a SOUL is unknown. After all, ponies have proven that their SOULs don't need these things to exist."

You feel a little hurt by that and put the book back. The other books are more informative about monsters and the war. For example, when a monster dies it fades to dust and its dust is spread over the one thing they love to 'keep its essence'. Monsters are also made of magic while ponies aren't. Ponies can control magic and are technically stronger, but monsters are able to have more control and freedom with magic that ponies just cannot. Monsters are attuned to their SOULs and as such, their power lies in their will against other forces. If the force against them is malicious and dark, Monsters are weaker.

You feel a little more understanding of the monsters around you. They aren't bad, just... eccentric, you suppose. There is only one other book you look through. "The fear of ponykind was finally weak enough for us to leave HOME. We went through the harsh cold, the damp swampland, and the searing heat to get to where the capital would now stand. This capital was called NEW HOME. And once more the king had shown his lack of naming prowess."

You chuckle and put the book back. You think this is more than enough knowledge to have right now. You go to leave the library and stop once more. That knowledge of SOULs resonates again and you think on your nightmare from before. The few seconds it takes for you to try and move again is torture. You exit the library and keep going. You have no need to fear false dark visions like that. You are stronger than that. And that hope fills you with determination.

honesty.corrupt

The doors of the RUINS shut behind you forever. This cold weather is meant to chill you to your core, but Midnight has a tougher skin than that. Nothing fazes you as you walk through the thick forest, not even the snapping of a branch behind you. If something is following, let them try to strike. The snow crunching behind you confirms the thought that you are being followed and you wait for the steps to stop behind you.

The voice behind Midnight tells you to turn and bump hooves with her. You turn and push hard against the extended hoof, not even showing a little surprise at the sound of a whoopie cushion slowly losing air. This skeleton creature expects you to laugh at its less than substantial humor, but you only look directly at the pinpricks of pink lights in its eyes. Just fight me.

It only tries to move on like it is unaffected by your dead stare as it introduces itself as Sans. This skeleton is meant to be on duty looking for ponies and she mentions a sister that is a pony hunting freak. Your mouth twitches upwards at the thought of confronting this new opponent. Being told that this new opponent was nearby, you are led by Sans across a bridge and then she tries to lead you into hiding. You don't budge, only waiting for her sister, ready to take your Toy Knife and jam it through the skeleton's empty eye socket.

The taller skeleton rushes in and asks her sister if she's found a pony to which the other says she has. You can hardly contain yourself and then see the other skeleton just... rush away. Frustration builds within. Is this some kind of joke? You turn to sans and demand to know why her sister didn't attack, but she doesn't budge. You so desperately want to strangle this bag of bones in front of you, but you must become stronger.

"Hey. I'm going to be straight-forward about this," the skeleton starts as you go to leave. "Papyrus would really like to see a pony. So how about trying to pretend to be one?"

These words echo within you and something inside stirs. It makes you want to beat and destroy every monster in your way. The box along the road has gloves. They make you stronger so you hurl the stick and fake knife away, their usefulness over. You take pleasure in smashing other monsters with your hooves, seeing them burst into dust and your strength growing even more. You even take down a monster dog that holds a shield and sword, feeling even more powerful as it lets out a pained yelp before fading away.

You do meet with the skeletons from time to time, but this Papyrus seems to still be under the impression that you're NOT a pony. Oh, its going to be a joy to destroy her expectations and wipe that smile from her face. You watch them both walk off and go after them, only stopping at the dog with a black mask revealing itself to you. It's shivering. That's good, it understands its place. You beat the dog guard and keep moving.

The skeletons stand across a square of ground and the hunter is going on a long spiel on something. You don't care as you move up and get in distance with her. You want to make this fight happen. Midnight needs to be stronger. That skeleton seems to ignore you as she leaves. Sans only looks at you, "Hey. Play along, won't you? It'd make my sister happy."

You ignore Sans. Who cares about that other one's happiness? You want to be happy and to do that you need to get stronger.

Two more dogs, both with axes. They will have to do for the moment to satisfy your need for combat. Nothing is stopping you, not even the puzzles. It is as if they were never activated. Once more, you feel something stir inside. You are far too strong to be stopped. They fear you. This makes you smile as you walk toward the two skeleton sisters again. They both blabber before you see Papyrus simply lay down her sheets and lowers her hat before calmly walking away. You once more glare at Sans.

"Puzzles can be fun, if you'd try them," Sans only tells Midnight. Her look hasn't changed, but you can tell that Sans is suppressing something. You dare her to try something to stop you and then go to follow Papyrus. You are instead blocked by a small dog in large armor. It doesn't take long to beat down the beast and press forward. On a rope bridge, you see Papyrus setting up an elaborate deathtrap and something in you feels excited. This is what you want. You want a fight. You want to see them try and stop Midnight. And they never will.

Seeing Papyrus be hesitant in activating it makes you realize that she also doesn't have the courage to try and stop you. She is just as cowardly and weak as Toriel. She talks about having a friend that she can appreciate using this trap and you are ready to make Papyrus suffer. Sans only shrugs at you as you reach the ground. "We didn't need your help to have a great time after all." She sounds defeated. Good.

You go to leave again, but Sans starts speaking again. "I've been thinking. You're gonna fight my sister real soon. Here's some friendly advice, if you want to hear it through your own thick skull." Sans' eyes shut and she takes in a breath, "If you're going to keep going the way you are..." Sans' eyes open, showing no light within as she speaks with conviction against you. "You will have a bad time."

You raise a hoof to strike at her face, but you seem to black out and then find yourself raising a hoof to strike against nothing. A real opponent.

You hardly notice the town you are in. All you do is swipe all of the coin in shops and stores, stopping when you see a kid on the street. You approach it and it tells you that the whole town ran away. It also makes mention of Papyrus' 'friend', Undyne. If she is as good as this thing tells she is, then maybe you don't need to wait for long for a challenge.

The town is useless to you and you leave it behind, getting caught in a blinding snow. You can see Papyrus' outline as she tries to put on some spiel about how you're acting so strangely, about how you are heading down a dangerous path. You go to raise up a hoof and shatter those bones when she says something. "I know there is greatness in everyone. And there's somehin' in you too, I can see it in your eyes. Maybe I'll never understand why you're acting like this, and I won't really try. But I can at least try to show you what being a good individual is. I won't harm you."

You stop for only a moment. No other monster you've come across has merely let themselves be so open. It's... It's...an absolute joke. You crack a hoof against the body of Papyrus and her head just falls to the ground, her body falling to the ground and fading away.

"I... I still believe in you," Papyrus' voice tells you. "You can do better! Even if you don't believe or think you can! I... promise..." You watch the skull let out some tears before it too fades away. You ready yourself to take Papyrus' SOUL but find nothing. Midnight feels disappointed, but knows that it is still out there. You can bet on who has it too... "They can tell you as many comments they want and claim it's honest," you tell yourself. "But I already know the truth. They are pathetic and weak. And those who are weak, will never survive."

You shiver again. That nightmare is just not leaving you as you walk into a rather thick and heavy snow. You try to hold up a magic shield to block the snow from hitting your eyes. This helps you see a figure in the distance.

"I've been meaning to say some things about us," Papyrus speaks out. "Feelin's for one. Like joy over finding another lover of pasta or admiration over another's puzzle-solving skills." She shuffles in place, "Or the desire to have someone cool and smart also think that you are cool. These must be the feelings that... YOU are thinking about right now."

You give a smirk, knowing she also meant someone else.

"It must be hard to imagine someone like that," Papyrus continues. "I'm pretty great and don't have to... wonder what it's like having lots of friends." She goes quiet, like she's wondering what to say next. "Don't you worry! That loneliness you're feelin' can be fixed! Because I, The Great Papyrus will..." Once more she goes silent. "I... I just can't. I mean, you're a pony, I'm a skeleton, it just wouldn't... And I have to capture you too, its the only way I can fulfill my dream of being in the Royal Guard. I can finally become powerful, prestigious, and popular." Her hoof hits the ground and her resolve strengthens again, "That is who Papyrus is! The newest member of the Royal Guard!"

The battle begins and you open up your first action with a small compliment about Papyrus' mane. You then realize that skeletons don't have hair at all. Her cheekbones turn red, "W-What? You're unveiling your ultimate feelings for me now?!" She looks really nervous. "I- I have you know that I have real high standards as a skeleton!"

You offer up that you can make spaghetti and she pulls her hat with both hooves deeper onto her skull, now even more nervous. "Oh no! You're meetin' my standards!" She tries to hide her face with her hat, "Should I go on a date with you? We'll date later... after I capture you!"

She throws out some bone attacks from behind her hat. They drag along the ground over your floating SOUL. With Papyrus feeling flustered, you willingly let your stick down and show that you won't fight Papyrus. Papyrus raises her hat back over her head and sets it back. "You ain't fightin'? Alright... then I'll get you with my BLUE ATTACK!"

You suddenly have your SOUL thrown through an onslaught of blue bones of various sizes. You don't move and the attack seems to end. That wasn't as bad as-

Your SOUL feels heavy and it falls from the air and onto the ground. It then gets struck by one of the bones sliding on the ground, hurting you. It feels so odd, like your SOUL can only jump. It's not red anymore either its-

"You're blue now," Papyrus tells you, a shimmer in her eye as she flicks her hat. "And now I have to worry about what to wear."

The attacks start coming, each one testing your patience and skill. While you do this, Papyrus is dabbing some things behind her ears and remarking on a certain special attack. Even while she is daydreaming on her hopes of becoming a member of the Royal Guard, the attacks are literal leaps of faith for your SOUL. It gets so ridiculous that by the time Papyrus realizes that she doesn't have ears, the bones are going into wild patterns.

"Undyne is gonna be proud of me," Papyrus remarks aloud. "My sister is... gonna... well, she's not gonna change a lot, but she'd have a better me." Her next attack looks to be non-bone related but she stops and looks back at you. "Give me a second, I messed somethin' up."

You wait patiently until Papyrus returns, now with a proper bone related attack. "Sorry about that. Guess I made a mistake on the order I had set up. Gave me time to think about the others that would admire me and question if they would have the same level of admiration as yourself."

The attacks resume as Papyrus continues to ponder on things. "Dating would be difficult if you were captured and sent away too... Now this is gettin' complicated." She's not lying, those bones are starting to extend and move more erratically and your SOUL is trying to do the vertical leap over 13 bones... on fire. "It doesn't matter, if you ain't quittin' then you'll face the wrath of my special attack!"

You have already been running off high femurs ever since Papyrus has been giving out these bare bones. It makes you more than aware that you'll never be hip at the rate this is going. Papyrus unveils her special attack and you scrunch up for what comes. For a few moments, you don't know what is happening and you open up an eye to catch sight of Papyrus chasing after a dog.

"Consarn it! Get back here with my special attack!" She yells out, now rushing back and forth. "No! Don't chew on it more! Stop that!" The dog escapes and Papyrus just stands there looking off into the distance. "M...my special attack..." She looks absolutely devastated. "I guess I have to... use a normal... cool attack..." She looks back at you, almost too hurt about not getting able to show off that attack which escaped with the dog. She sighs and removes her hat, putting it down in front of her. "Here's the absolutely normal attack."

This 'normal' attack is accented with a lengthy portion of bones moving up and down AND sliding around AND there's the dog with the bone AND the bones are reading out 'Cool Chick'? AND why is that bone on a skateboard with a hula hoop around it?! You can hardly keep yourself up but an all out army of bones come for your SOUL. With one mighty and slow-mo action jump, the SOUL goes over all of them. It lands back on the ground and with it, so do you and Papyrus. Everyone can agree that everyone else is tired.

"I... told you... that you can't... beat me..." Papyrus wheezes out to you. "You're shakin'... right now... in disbelief... And so am I. So, I'm gonna spare you. You're gonna have to accept my mercy."

You can't argue and you only let out a noise of confirmation. The two of you rest there for a second and then get up. Papyrus looks at her hat and brushes off some snow that got on it. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't stop ya, even if you were weak. Undyne won't be too happy with the news." She keeps the hat in her hoof, lost in her thoughts. "I won't make it as a member of the Royal Guard and I won't get no friends."

You wonder what you should do and instead use your magic to lift up Papyrus' hat and place it back on her head. Papyrus looks touched by your actions. "You want to be friends? With me?" She looks misty eyed and hides her expression behind her hat again, "I suppose I could make an allowance for you." She readjusts her hat to fit on her skull again and looks confident again. "We ain't even got on the date and I'm in the friend zone! I couldn't have guessed that in order to make friends was to have them go through horrible puzzles and then get in a fight with them!" She then thinks on something, "Well, Undyne also went through that as well and she's my friend too. I'm 2 for 2, honestly."

She places a hoof on your shoulder, "I got to learn a lot from you... Err... What was your name?"

You tell Papyrus your name and she nods. "Okay, I'm glad I got to hear it. But will you be alright with me calling you pony? I don't want to look foolish in the event I forget your actual name in front of my many other friends."

You laugh and tell Papyrus that its fine. "Excellent! So, from here on forward, I grant you permissions through and I'll tell you how to reach the surface. Pay attention, I don't like repeatin' myself very much. Payin' attention? Okay. Continue forward until you reach the end of the cavern. You'll reach the capital and from there you can cross the barrier. That there barrier is what seals us monsters from the surface, you see. It can let others in, but there ain't no exit through, exceptin' if you have a powerful SOUL."

She starts back to Snowdin, "The king wants powerful SOULs like yours. He wants to open the barrier with pony SOUL power. You will need to get through the king's castle to reach the barrier. 'Taint nothin' to worry about if you meet him, he's a fuzzy fluffball. We all love him down here because he's the helpful type. Just ask Mr. Dreemurr to lead you to where you need to go to reach home and he'll take you to the barrier himself."

She turns back to look at you, "And listen, when you're ready for the date, I'll be at my home in Snowdin being the cool and tough gal that I am. Hope to see you soon! Niegh Heh Heh!"

With a new friend's encouragement you feel some accomplishment. This victory fills you with determination.

Chapter 9 - Four Simple Rules on how to date a Skeleton

You look forward and see the snow stopping up ahead. This is good since you've been needing to get to some place a little warmer. You follow the river next to you and see large chunks of ice floating down it's path. You follow the river until it ends, only to be surprised at seeing sans and her station up ahead with a few other monsters just loafing about near it. You go up to sans and speak with her.

Sans at first seems to be looking off somewhere before realizing you're starting at her. "Oh, I get it. You're wondering how I'm here and not at the other station, right? I use short cuts, ya know, like the salon types." Bless her, she's trying. "But, yeah, this is my second job. The bonus to a second job is twice as many legally-required breaks." She stretches a little and you hear her spine adjusting underneath the coat. "I'm thinking of going to grillby's, want to come?"

You remember seeing inside Grillby's and think you'll be a little safer with company if you want to go. After a bit of thought, you nod and tell sans you're ready if she is. Sans gets a little louder as if she's wanting someone else to hear her, maybe her boss. "Oh~! If you so truly insist on going, then I guess I must pry myself away from work~!" She then winks at you as if to say, "We're okay now, let's beat it." Leaving her station, she starts going in the wrong direction of Grillby's and you tell her this. She shakes her head, "I know a shortcut, trust me it's gonna get us there in no time."

You walk with sans for a few steps and then find yourself with her inside Grillby's. You look behind you to make sure there wasn't something weird like a portal or magical anomaly. You find only the door back outside. Sans only bumps your shoulder, "Told ya I knew shortcuts. Let's find a spot to sit down." Sans starts greeting everyone, including the dog guards who remain ever the constant professionals and not drool at the bones ripe for the gnawing in front of them.

Both you and sans find seats at the bar where the firey bartender only gives you a lookover and then returns to wiping down a glass. A patron at the other side of the bar wearily points to sans. "Hey sans... didn't I see you come in for breakfast a few minutes ago?"

Sans waves a hoof dismissively at the accusation, "I have not had breakfast in at least a half hour, but you may be thinking about brunch." Some of the patrons laugh at sans' brand of comedy and she motions you to the bar stool. "Have a seat, bud. Make yourself comfy."

The two of you seat yourselves and the sound of a whoopie cushion going off alerts you that some hooligan set it underneath you. Sans snickers in her seat, "Forgot to mention that you needed to be careful where you sit. There are weirdos who put whoopie cushions on the seats sometimes."

You sigh and give sans a patient smile. With both of you seated you ask Grillby to get a hayburger for you and recheck your gold coinage. It should be enough, you hope. Sans nods and makes it a double order of burgy goodness. As Grillby leaves to get your order, out of the corner of your eye you see sans running a comb over her skull. You don't want to make mention the lack of a mane out of respect.

"So whatcha think of my sis?" Sans suddenly asks you, still focused on getting the right curl out of her brushing. You tell sans that you think Papyrus is cool and hope that she didn't notice the little shift in your eyes as you say it. Sans doesn't act it as she puts the comb away, "She is pretty cool. Anyone would if they wore the outfit she did everyday. I think she'd only take it off if it was absolutely necessary. Don't worry about it getting too dirty, she does wash it while she's in the shower."

The small talk ends as the burgers are presented to you and sans. She rubs her hooves and whips out a bottle of ketchup, "Hey, you want some ketchup for your burger?" You go to reach the bottle and stop yourself, you give sans a knowing look and refuse. She smirks and unscrews the cap, "More for me then." You then watch as sans drinks the entirety of the bottle to your utter shock. She is good. You focus back on your burger, not wanting to acknowledge that sans is scratching at her ear with a rear hoof. "Even if Papyrus wasn't cool, you can agree that she tries her best in everything she sets herself to. She's been doing everything she can to be a member of the royal guard, y'know?"

Sans leans back a little in her seat, "She went right up to the door of the head of the royal guard's house and was begging to be let in. Problem was that it was midnight and the head guard just wanted to sleep. When the head guard woke up though, they saw Papyrus still standing there. She was just eyeballing the door and didn't move a muscle from her spot." You joke that it must be easy for a skeleton to not move a muscle since they don't usually have one. Sans nods, "You beat me to it, well done. Back on topic, the head decided from there that Papyrus was going to get warrior's training. Considering you're still standing, you can tell that it's a work in progress."

Her head lowers and her hooves move into her coat, "I've... been meaning to ask you about something." You don't know how, but you feel the rest of the room go away with just you and sans in that one place. "Have you ever heard of a talking flower?"

Your heart sinks into the pit of your body. There's only one kind of talking flower you know of and if its threats were true, it was still watching. You grow paranoid and scoot closer to sans, trying to get the message that you are aware of Flowey without that creature knowing that you're letting sans know. Sans sinks a little deeper into her seat, "So, you already know...about the echo flower." You really hope that sans was trying to keep things secret with not mentioning the flower's name.

"They're all over the marsh and will repeat what was said to them over and over and over once more," Sans continues in her serious tone. "Papyrus was saying something about it, the talking flower part. She told me that when no one else is around a flower will appear and whisper words of encouragement, flattery, advice, even predictions to her." She looks up from the bar and her burger, "I think someone is playing tricks with her using an echo flower. Just want you to keep an eye open for anyone suspicious, okay?"

The bar comes back and sans pushes her plate away, "This was a long break, can't believe you pulled me away from work for so long." You can tell sans is trying to change her mood again to her usual playfulness, but you know that she's rather shaken with what she has told you. "I'm flat broke, would you mind paying the bill? It's just... 10,000Gs."

You feel light-headed and your body starts shutting down in protest. Before you become comatose, sans starts laughing again. "I was just joking! No need to get a heart attack, bud!" You try to calm down as sans tells Grillby to put this on her tab and hops off her seat. She stretches a little and then turns back to you. "By the way," she begins and then goes silent. She looks like she really wants to tell you something, but then shrugs and gives a sigh. "I forgot what I wanted to say to you." She happily leaves Grillby's and you take a bite out of your hayburger, finding it rather cold and bland for being left alone for so long.

Putting the burger down, you just ease off your seat and exit Grillby's. Yep, you're back in Snowdin. No shortcut from where you stand. Giving a small grumble you start back when you see Papyrus standing outside a home. It couldn't hurt to say hello, so you approach her.

Seeing you again, Papyrus gets excited. "You have come back for the date! That must mean you're takin' this seriously, so I am gonna as well!" Her eyes seem to shine as she gets into her usual daydreaming like you've seen in her fights, "Yes! I'll take you someplace special! Someplace I spend a lot of time!" She sprints away in a direction and you try to catch her, wherever she's going it is probably a unique location that you may not have seen before. The running stops and Papyrus points to her special place to take you on a date... the house she was just in front of. "My house!"

She leads you inside and then stands by a wall, allowing you to explore the place to your leisure. It's a... unique home. There's a kitchen in front of you, the living room is where you stand now, and a staircase leads to the second floor which you have yet to check out. The first thing you look at is a rock on a plate; it is covered in sprinkles. "My sister sans is meant to care for that pet rock, and she still can't get around to feedin' the poor thing. I've been takin' up the responsibility for it, but I'm hoping to talk with her about the problem."

You go to check the kitchen but freeze at the oddity beside the entrance to the kitchen, namely a sock and multiple sticky notes around it.

"Sans! Pick up your dadgum sock!"

"Okie Dokie."

"Why'd you put it back down?! Move it!"

"Okie Dokie."

"You moved it two inches! Quit messin' and move it to YOUR ROOM!

"Okie Dokie."

"AND DON'T BRING IT BACK!"

"Okie Dokie."

"IT'S. STILL. HERE!!!!"

"Wait, didn't you tell me to not bring it back to my room?"

"forget it."

You try your best to ignore the sock and move into the kitchen. The sink is placed WAY too high in here, not even Papyrus can reach up and turn a faucet without the use of a ladder. Papyrus seems proud of you taking notice of the sink. "Glad your takin' notice of the sink. Made the cabinet bigger underneath it so I can stash more bones. Go ahead, open it up and take a look inside!"

You go to open the door, but instead it opens by itself. The inside reveals that same white dog from before gnawing on another bone. Papyrus grabs for some rope and quickly makes a lasso, "You ain't gettin' away this time, meddlesome canine!" The dog runs out and Papyrus throws her lasso. She misses the dog and manages to rope you instead. The dog escapes through the front door with its bone and Papyrus throws down her hat in frustration. "Dagnabbit!"

From the second floor, you see sans and a trombone. She gives out a 'Wah-Wah-Waaaah' and then promptly disappears. This makes Papyrus jump up and down in frustration. "SANS! I told you not to plague my life with your incidental music!"

You remove the lasso from yourself and hang the rope back where it was. Now if Papyrus used that kind of technique in her attempts to capture you, then you could see yourself getting into more trouble than you had initially encountered. Moving from the kitchen, you step in front of the television and press the power button. You are awash with colors and a fast-paced energetic music. You can't bring yourself to shut it off.

Papyrus seems excited and moves next to you. "Heck yeah! My favorite game-show is on!" She then gives a little frown, "Oh. It's the Stay Tuned for a New Program show, nevermind. The channel is usually better than this..." She gives a look to you, "Don't judge me based on this."

You will yourself to shut the television off and blink to clear your mind and vision. You move to a joke book on a table beside a couch and open it up. You get confused at finding another book inside. You open the quantum physics book within the joke book to find another joke book inside. You spend the next few moments opening the quantum physics and joke books until you give up and just shut it altogether.

You've seen enough of the first floor and head upstairs. The door on the opposite side of the stairs is radiating some colors underneath it. This was where sans had appeared above you so you assume this must be her room. You give a tug at the door and find it locked. What sort of secret projects could be inside? You may never know.

The other door you passed is pasted with multiple warnings and tape that reads 'CAUTION!'. There's also a note posted on the door noting that 'No girls are allowed! No boys are allowed! Papyrus allowed!'" Papyrus moves upstairs with you and gives you a sideways glance, "If ya finished lookin' around, we could go in my room and do... whatever it is others do on a date." You give Papyrus the door and she leads you into her room.

The room has a rustic farm feel, except the truck...bed...apple... what exactly is that thing? Papyrus pats the trusty bed of the apple truck. "This here is my bed. If I were to get a moment to reach the surface above, I'd drive through the dirt roads. The wind runnin' through my mane.... the sun on my coat..." She gives a hopeful sigh. "It's just a dream, but when I get under the covers and go to sleep.. I can cruise while I take a snooze." Papyrus rocks on her hooves, "So, uhh... You want to start the date?"

You shrug and tell Papyrus when she wants to start, go for it. Papyrus pumps a hoof, "Alright! Dating Start!" You are brought into the black and white realm where you have fought before, but this time you don't see your normal options show up. Papyrus is looking through her uniform for something. "I haven't actually done this date thing before, but no one can't spell prepared without usin' several letters from my name!" She reveals what was hidden in her uniform, a small book. "A-ha! The official datin' rulebook, courtesy of the local library!"

Opening it she flips through a few pages, "Step One: Press the 'C' Key to activate the dating HUD." She looks around for a second and then plops a keyboard on the ground; its unplugged. She finds the 'C' on the keyboard and bashes a hoof into it. HUD shows up, filling up with information about nearby population, a radar, even a weather report that reads out the next few hours. "That takes care of that," Papyrus mumbles and sweeps the keyboard from the floor. "Step Two: Ask them out on a date. Well, that one's gonna be easy, just need to back up a bit."

Papyrus steps back and takes in a breath or two. "Pony! I, The Great Papyrus am requesting that you go on a date with me!" You tell Papyrus that you are actually still being serious about the date, this has been about the fourth time she's requested it. Papyrus blushes slightly and lowers her hate to try and cover her face, "Ain't I the lucky one?" Her blush quickly ends as she reads from the book again, "Step Three: Put on nice clothes to show how much you care!"

Papyrus lowers the book a little and then puts it down on the floor, intently looking at you. "Hold on a second, sugarcube... that there bandana around your neck..." She gasps, "You're wearin' clothing right now! Before that, I saw you wear another piece of clothing while we were fightin'! Those gloves!" She looks woozy, "That can't- No... Can it? Have you been meaning to date me from the start?!"

You decide to tease Papyrus and tell her that it was indeed your intentions. Her eyeballs come to her sockets, a bright green as they look askew in total disbelief. "You planned it! You planned it all from the beginning! You're way better at dating than I am!"

Above Papyrus you see a new meter measuring your current dating power. It's filled up about a third of the way. Papyrus pushes her eyeballs back and nervously starts laughing again, trying to put on her usual confidence. "Don't you think that I've been bested just yet! I ain't been beaten by no one else in datin' and I ain't planning to start! I have my own clothing!"

Papyrus zooms to her closet and shuts herself in. There's an audible sound of rummaging and the occasional thud from inside. She then rushes back out and slides back where she was. What was once heroic clothing was now replaced with a red checkered button shirt with 'Cool Chick' stitched on the front and her flank is covered in short denim shorts. "Neigh Heh Heh! What do you think of this; my secret style!"

You admit to her that she looks rather cool in her new outfit and once more she balks underneath your genuine compliment. She tries to right herself as your dating power meter rises slowly. She finally stands straight and points a hoof at you, "But you have yet to understand the hidden power of my outfit! Your compliment is invalid and this date will not proceed until you find the secret. That won't happen while I'm standin'!"

You carefully observe Papyrus' outfit, wondering what must be different. You first point to Papyrus' hind legs and the denim jeans. Papyrus laughs, "There's no secret to my legs! It's all built on hard work and perseverance!" You point to her button shirt and she looks down at it. "The shirt didn't have 'Cool' or 'Chick' on it originally, I had to get some help to improve it." You are stumped and just point to her hat.

Papyrus tries to play coy, "My.. hat..." She raises it and unveils a gifted present balanced on her skull. "Yeah... there's the secret. It's a present meant for you." You open it while it remains on Papyrus' head and see the wet noodles and the oregano spread out ever so minimally just to accent the tomato sauce. This is... no...

"Spaghetti... This is what you're thinking isn't it?" Papyrus continues to play coy as you step back. "But you would be wrong!" She takes a hoof and sweeps the plate of hot and steamy noodle from her head and puts it under your nose. "This is my most fanciful work! Silken spaghetti, aged in an oaken cask. The noodles then cooked and handled by the master chef, Papyrus!" A fork jams into the food and Papyrus seems more confident than anything she has been in before. Not even during her attacks has she seemed so certain. "It's time to end this, pony! You can never get any further than-!"

You spin the fork and float the bite into your mouth, using your magic. Just biting down into it, your face starts scrunching in out of reflex. You can't tell if you've eaten the worst possible thing that you can think of OR it is the best and most wondrous experience that your tastes are unable to get a proper description. Papyrus sees the tears welling up in your eyes as you swallow the bite. "That expression on your face... that level of passion." She steps back, unable to hold back your dating power. "You love my cooking, by doin' so you must also love me! That face reveals that you love me more than I love myself!"

She looks so burnt out in shock that she seems to hang in place. "Pony... it's so clear to me now. Everything that you've done. Everything that has been said. It's all because you're madly in love with me. I want you to be happy too. I, Papyrus..."

She wobbles for a second and starts to sweat... wait that's water condensate from the rising steam of the spaghetti on her head. "Is- Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" She seems dejected, "Aw, horseshoes. I can't lie to you, pony. I don't like you the same way that you like me. Romantically, I mean. I wanted this to work since you flirted with me and I tried my hardest but... I couldn't get those feelings to come through."

She sets the plate from her head to a side table and puts her hat over her face. "I failed. By dating you I've only drawn you in further down the path of your intense love for me." She goes quiet and then puts her hat back on, "No! I won't let this happen to my friend! I got you into that mess and I'm takin' you out of it! I'd never forgive myself if I lost your friendship, so don't start weeping over the fact that you and I won't kiss. I don't have lips."

She puts a hoof on your shoulder, "You keep that chin up and you'll find someone that's only second-best to me!" She brushes past your pack and throws in a small piece of paper, "There's my phone number if you need to reach me. Call me any time. Platonically. No romance. Have to go."

Papyrus rushes out of her room and you are left in her room to try and get over your wave of emotions running through your gut. Your attempts to keep everything together fills you with determination.

Chapter 10 - Where Water Falls and Spears Fly

You wind out of Snowdin a second time and move past Sans' station. The rushing waters as it falls from above let you know that the cold snow and weather is no more. The monster kid is walking with you now and you ask what he's doing here. "Am I ruining your sneaking? Yo, sorry. I tend to utilize the group tactic when trying to find her, at least at the start. Don't worry, I'll split up ahead. She's one of the coolest monsters ever and I want to grow up to be just like her."

You cautiously ask who he's talking about but see him veer away quickly as you reach a shallow runoff of water and large boulders falling from the side. The wall of water seems to be split in the middle and you curiously walk to it. The water is running so smoothly that you can see your reflection. You then see some dust in the reflection and brush where the dust is with a hoof. You check yourself and you're a lot cleaner than the reflection reveals.

Looking back up you are surprised by your reflection smiling evilly back at you, prompting you jump and defend yourself from it. You take in rapid breaths as your heart beats loudly in your ears. One last look at the water's reflection and you see yourself. It's you and nothing else. That meant that whatever made that reflection was on the other side of the water. You muster up courage and yell as you jump through the water and look for anyone behind the waterfall. Your hunt led you into a small area and a dusty tutu placed in the corner of the place.

You take up the tutu and brush some of the dust away. If you could wash it, you would. For now, you decide to put the tutu in your saddlebag and give it a small heft. It's filling up with a few things. The cinnamon-butterscotch pie has remained in tact, the spider cider has also been kept to itself, and your CELL PHONE remains silent. You dial Toriel's number again, just to see if she answers. The phone rings a few times and Toriel doesn't answer.

Sighing, you put the CELL PHONE away and continue past the falling rocks. The light gets darker and you take slower steps to not trip over things. The grass ahead of you is higher than your head and you don't find another way around it so you step in. Your slow steps stop as you hear a familiar voice above you.

"Hey, Undyne... I have the daily report for you." Papyrus nervously starts.

The other voice is too soft or too far away for you to hear it, but its clear that whoever is speaking is stern and serious.

"The pony? Right, the one I... called... you... about." Papyrus is really starting to shake out there. "Of course I fought them! I wasn't backin' down for nothin'!" The other voice is speaking with Papyrus as calmly as they can, but you almost sense disappointment in the tone.

"Capture? W-Well- I- I- I... No. I didn't capture them. Even with my best efforts I failed." Papyrus' honesty shines again, but the amount of regret in her tone is well regarded as the voice gets a little louder.

"You're going to-?! No! You can't take the pony's soul! There's no need for them to be destroyed, they are-!"

Papyrus' voice is cut off, leaving you in silence for a long while in the grass you try to peek over to catch a sight of Undyne or Papyrus.

"I... understand," Papyrus reluctantly sighs. "I'll help you in any way I can..."

You feel betrayed. After the date, the silly antics, and getting to know Papyrus for the skeleton she is, you feel alone again. You haven't noticed that you've rustled some of the grass and made a noise. The loud clanging of metal armor forces you to stop in place and you can see Undyne looking from above. It is a towering figure that holds a glowing spear of magic in its hand. You shrink down, feeling the absolute power of her presence despite being that far away.

You see Undyne stay there for a few seconds and see her back away slowly. You can't move as the mere aura around Undyne hangs over you. She's absolutely terrifying.

"Yo, she was just looking at you, man!"

You look beside you and its the little monster kid again. How'd they come back to you?

"I'm jealous of you, man, that was AWESOME! What have you done to get her attention, eh? Heh heh." The monster kid leads you out of the grass. "C'mon! Let's see her beat up some bad guys!" You see the monster kid sprint for a few steps before it falls flat on its face. It doesn't cry, but instead peels itself from the ground and then continues running forward.

Monsters are weird.

So are the puzzle sections in this damp area. The bridge seeds are as they say, but having to line up four of them to create the bridge is complex. You work at it enough and you hear your phone go off. Someone is calling you! You excitedly pick up the phone and hear the sound of bone rattling.

"This is Papyrus! Before you ask how I got yer number, let me just ask about what you're wearing."

That was rather forward. You question Papyrus as to what that question was going to achieve. "It's a question from a friend. She was talking about the fact you were wearing a bandanna. Is that right?" You know Papyrus is attempting to try and give information to Undyne and check the tutu in your bag. You'd feel ridiculous wearing something that old, but you feel like you have no choice. You tell Papyrus that you are wearing the bandanna.

Papyrus seems to be a little antsy at your answer, "Bandanna, right. Gotcha. Wink, wink, and nudge, nudge. Thanks for the info!" She hangs up and you fit yourself into the tutu. If Undyne was searching for somepony with a bandanna, she'd not find it. The bandanna is hidden in your saddlebag and Operation: Don't Get Caught By The Terrifying Armored Monster begins. You'd have thought of a better answer, but being pressed for time, this was all you can get.

The place has plenty of blue flowers and going near them you can hear voices from it. Just looking up and around, you can see shimmering far away lights above. A flower next to you sounds somber as you remain focused on the lights above. "Monsters would wish their wishes to the stars in the sky. By hoping with all of your heart, that wish came true. Now we only have these sparkling stones on the ceiling to act as our stars."

It seems sad as you hear the echos of wishes past call up that they will one day see the real stars on the surface. They have set up the room with a telescope like they would in seeing the stars from far away too! Peering inside, the lights of the stones read a message that is written on the lens. It reads, "Check Wall," and points upwards. You don't fully understand what this means, but if there is some kind of secret to be found on the wall, you would at least try to find it.

You knock along the walls and finally find something that sounds hollow. Swiftly turning in place, you give a swift buck against the wall and reveal more of this cavern. It leads to something of a dock and faded words on the wall. You walk with the wall, attempting to pick out what you can read.

"Why had the ponies attacked? It had seemed they had nothing to fear. They are unbelievably strong and almost unbeatable, so much so that it would take the SOULs of nearly every monster to match the single SOUL of a pony. It is not to say that ponies have no weakness, they have a flaw with their SOULs that makes them last longer even after physical death. If a monster can defeat a human, then that monster can claim the human's SOUL and with it, the untameable power."

You stop at an illustration of what the original writers must have seen as the monster they described. It is absolutely disturbing to even look at for longer than a few seconds and you turn from it. There's nowhere to go so you sit on a piece of wood on the water and think on what to do next. You don't realize that the loose wood you are now riding on is now floating across this dark water and you're on your way to another dock on the other side.

You make it across, but the darkness makes it hard to see where you are. You are then stopped by the forceful impalement of a shining blue spear that fades away. Seeing where it came from, you see Undyne staring you down and holding another one of those spears. You scream and run for your life as volley after volley of spears come for your SOUL. That look of unbridled will that Undyne has as you weave and duck from getting hit keeps on you. How did she know it was you? You have a tutu on! How could she have seen through your disguise?

Running into the tall grass ahead, you curl and make yourself as small as possible to not get found by Undyne. Her armored footsteps get louder and louder until she is right on top of you. She raises her gauntleted hand and snaps forward to grip at you. This was it, you weren't going to escape now.

"What the-? Hey!"

You open a single eye and see Undyne is gripping the monster kid that has been around by its face. Undyne seems unimpressed by her catch and sets the kid back down. You can practically smell the frustrations emanating from the armor. It smells like cooked fish. You watch as Undyne walks away and you let out your held breath.

The monster kid starts hopping up and down excitedly as it moves with you out of the grass. "Yo! Did you just see that? Undyne touched me! I'm freaking out, man! I'm not going to wash my face ever, ever, ever!" The kid then bumps you, "If you were just a little more lucky that'd have been you. Don't feel bad about it, there's other chances that she'll be around for." The kid runs off again and you are left with your feelings of dread.

Still, you pass the crystallized cheese and raise your head enough to see sans by a telescope. Seeing the familiar face you trot up to her and give sans a nervous smile, not yet wanting to let loose to her that if you faced against Undyne that you may just faint out of sheer terror.

Sans gives a few quick adjustments to her telescope, "How's it been, bud? I've been busy about this telescope business. Hear it pays the big ones, we're talking 50kG. So, I thought if it pays that much for big ones, then why not try something for the small ones, namely me." She motions you to the telescope, "Go ahead, have a peek inside, I want to make sure its working right."

You give a shrug and peek in, but all you see is a red dot. You move and adjust it for a few moments, but the red dot remains. It is right then you hear sans snickering as you pull back. You explain about the dot and she nods, still snickering. What was she so giggly about?

As you walk your CELL PHONE goes off and you answer. "Hello again, it's Papyrus. Uhhh, listen, about that question about what you were wearin'. That friend who wanted to know has a rather... unfavorable opinion of you. I couldn't betray you to her, so I stood in a mirror and attempted to rehearse my answer. So, when she asked, I answered her with complete confidence that you were not wearing a bandanna and instead you were wearing a dusty tutu! The plan covers you as I knew that you told me you WERE wearing a bandanna."

She sounds uncomfortable for a moment, "I felt bad that I had to lie like that to Undyne and to paint you in that kind of light as the kind to wear tutu's. But I made the commitment to myself that your safety was more important than your personal image."

Your winding trail leads you to more ancient writing and you read it carefully. "The power to take SOULs, this is what ponies feared. It wasn't much, but now you could understand why there were so many monsters that you've encountered along the way. Despite being weaker, they want your SOUL and they all want it for the same cause as you do. They want it to get past the barrier and to the surface above.

You take that thought with you as you pass clear water and see something off about your face. Actually, it's not your face, it's your eye, the eye that was on sans' telescope.

You can hear sans' snickering again despite her not being where you are and cry out her name in playful frustration. After howling her name to the ceiling above you, you wipe the ink from around your eye and feel filled with determination.

Chapter 11 - Uwaa!! So Mild♪

You finish dabbing around your eye and feel confident that the ink is gone. You stand up and go to step forward when you see rippling in the water. There must be fish in the water, nothing to be alarmed about. Even as you hear something move out of the water behind you, you keep your head forward. That long looking tentacle appendage? Trick of the eyes, just move faster. Don't mind that its moving, just run. Run. Run!

The water around you moves more and more and out from the water comes a giant sea monster. You prepare to scream out and sprint away until you hear its voice. "Hey... just noticed you were... here." The sea monster looks unimposing with its bright-eyed expression and its rosy cheeks. "I'm Onionsan! Onionsan, y'hear?" It seems to float there as you stare at it and try to find a topic to talk about. Finding nothing you get back on your way. As you do, Onionsan follows you along the water. "So you're visiting Waterfall, huh? It's great here, huh! You love it, huh?"

You honestly don't know how to answer Onionsan and keep moving. "It's my Big Favorite... Even though the water's getting shallow. I have to sit down all the time, but... it's okay! It still beats moving to the city!" You start feeling bad for the sea monster and begin to question on how it would even get around if the water were to go away. "All my friends managed to get to the aquarium and now it's filled, so even if I wanted to... It's fine! Undyne is gonna fix everything, y'hear?"

You take in a sharp breath and try not to show off your uneasiness to Onionsan about Undyne. "Then, I'm gonna go out and be in the ocean, y'hear!" It's not long until you reach the end and Onionsan slows down. "That's the... end of the room there. I hope to see you around! Have a good time!" Onionsan starts lowering itself into the water and waves its noodley appendage to you. "Have a good time in Waterfalllllllll-!" It continues to cry out, even as it burbles into the water below.

You try not to dwell on the large sea monster behind you and continue forward. With every flex, every request to be clean, and that one time where you may have accidentally started a concert with a singing Shyren, you are stopped by a room with a piano and a new puzzle.

"A haunting song echos down the corridor, won't you play along?" you read off the sign. This makes you try to perk your ears to hear anything that sounds like a melody or some kind of tune. Hearing nothing, you exit the piano room and go further down the hall. You pass a lone statue that is getting rained on. You stop at an umbrella can and wonder if you're missing something. If there was a song, then could there be something that you overlooked?

You go to the umbrella can and look in it for any sign of a music box or something that can hint at what you must do. The rain outside makes you think on the statue again and how the water seemed to only land on the shoulders and head. This makes you wonder if an umbrella is exactly what you need.

Taking an umbrella and opening it, you go back to the statue in the hallway and place it above where the rain is falling. As you do this, you hear the sound of a music box cranking up. Stepping back, you hear the music that you need to play. Going back to the piano room and then going back again and again, you finally play enough correct notes to reveal a hidden room. Going in, you see an orb set on a pedestal. You approach it and hover your hooves to grab it when you feel something rustle in your pack.

Setting down your pack, you look inside to see a little white dog sleeping. Setting down your pack however wakes it up, and it shuffles to the orb. It vibrate intensely! You are left horrified as the dog has absorbed this orb of power and is now flying away. You can't stop it as it phases through the walls, never to be seen again. You feel like you could have really benefited from having that orb.

With a sour taste in your mouth and a fresh umbrella from the umbrella can, you grumble through the falling rain and instead look at the writings on the wall. "It must be said that a pony cannot take a monster's SOUL. When a monster dies... it's SOUL disappears. Even if a pony could take these SOULs, they would need an even greater power to take a living monster's SOUL. Saying this, only one kind of monster is the exception. They are called 'boss monsters' and their SOULs are able to persist for only a few moments after death."

You go to move on and find yourself face-to-face with the monster kid again. It looks soaked and this small section is the only place it could find to stay dry. "Yo, you got an umbrella? Awesome!" It slips underneath the cover and its only now you realize that this monster kid has no arms, hands, or an ability to use magic to levitate objects to hold anything. You move carefully and occasionally step into a wet puddle that has formed along your path. "Undyne is soooo cool!" The kid starts speaking aloud, "She's beaten up every bad guy in her way and hasn't lost in any fight! If a pony were to face her, they'd be too busy wetting the bed and worrying about how badly they're gonna get whipped by her."

You try not to shake in both knowing fear and rage. You just keep moving, not knowing that the monster kid had stopped to look at something as you kept going. You stop and look back at distracted monster kid, going back and putting the umbrella over it again. "One time, we had a school project to take care of a flower. The king, Mr. Dreemur, donated his own flowers and came to the school to teach about responsibility and things."

You can almost relate to this monster, getting images of seeing firefighters or scientists coming in to talk about what they do and how important it is for you and your classmates to learn. "It got me to think about just how COOL and AWESOME it would be for Undyne to come to school! She'd beat up all the teachers and teach us on how to beat everyone!" You motion the monster kid to come with you and the both of you walk on. "Maybe she wouldn't beat the teachers up, she's much too cool to harm someone innocent!"

The light gets lower as you walk, making it hard to see where you're stepping. Going a little further, you stop and look out to the horizon. Underneath the many shining stones in the ceiling, you can see a far away castle. This sight makes you remain still for some time, as if you are wanting to keep this image with you. That is where you are going. Part of you doesn't want to go any further, maybe even turn back. Papyrus and sans could keep you in their home, right? You may just have the couch, but this far is good enough...right?

You stop trying to doubt yourself and move on. You needed to get to that castle and if it meant facing Undyne and your fears, then you had to. The rest of your trip is in silence as both you and the monster kid reach a high ledge. You look at each other and wonder how either one of you are going to go forward from here. "You wanna see Undyne, right?" The monster kid positions itself to let you climb up on it. "Put the umbrella away and climb on my shoulders." You ask the kid how they are going to get up there once you're up there. "Don't worry about me, I always find a way through."

Assured that the kid will continue on, you climb up as gingerly as you can. The rain above you seems to stop and the lights go dim again. There's more writing on the walls and you have to light your horn to read it. "The ponies declared war on monsters for fear of the ability we had to absorb their SOULs. Attacking suddenly, with no mercy, this 'war' ended. The ponies united were too powerful against monsters. No SOUL was taken, monsters too numerous to count were left to dust."

The more you learn on this war, the more you feel like you've missed something. Nowhere have you learned about such an event happening but in tales of heroism and fiction. Even then, those stories never spoke of ponies being so violent as these glyphs are saying about them. You are so lost in thought that you nearly step on a glowing blue circle in front of you. You just barely get stabbed by a magical spear thrusting up from the circle and then fading away. You know Undyne is near and start running again.

Wherever you run, more of those circles and spears appear. It becomes a panic-inducing situation as you find yourself getting lost and cornered while the magic spears start appearing faster than before. You have to keep stopping and weaving around just to not get impaled. It all comes to a dead end and the spears have stopped appearing. You may be trapped, but if you're fast enough, perhaps you can run back. Swiftly turning and going back you can only hope that Undyne hasn't beaten you to the only exit you have. Seeing her darkened outline ahead of you, you skid along the wooden planks and try to think on what to do now.

Undyne says nothing as she only stares at you. The sound of cutting wind gets louder as multiple spears pierce and slice along the wooden bridge between the both of you. The sound of weakened lumber crying out that it is not going to hold up this weight is heard and the now broken bridge falls down along with you. Panic sets in your stomach as you re-experience a long fall like what you had to encounter when you first fell down. Your hooves keep reaching out for anything to grab or slow your decent, but they find only air. This fall makes your consciousness wane and you soon pass out in mid-air with no sight of what is below you or above.