Beyond the Barrierby SirDeeviantChaptersPrologue: The Mysterious StrangerPrologue: A Visitor Nopony Would Believe! Prologue: Fiery TempersPrologue: Meet and GreetPrologue: The Mysterious Stranger <<<<<<===================================================================================>>>>>> message received opening… translating please wait… message 93.24% translated THE BARRIER WAS CREATED TO PREVENT MONSTERS FROM REACHING THE SURFACE WHERE HUMANS RESIDED. IN A WAY, IT SUCCEEDED. HUMANS ARE A STRANGE BUNCH, DETERMINATION DRIVING THEM TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE. I MUST MORE IN THE FUTURE... THIS LAND IS INTRIGUING, I WONDER IF ITS LAWS WILL AFFECT THE SAVE FILES. ONLY ONE WILL BE ABLE TO GIVE ME THE DATA FOR THE … KEEP AN EYE ON WON’T YOU? end message <<<<<<===================================================================================>>>>>> Meditation is the strongest way to relax the body and clear the mind; it was a practice that Zecora integrated into her daily life. She envisioned wide open plains flat enough to see the other side of the globe. Grasses that extended well past her fetlocks were stroked with a darkened yellow hue and flowed in the breeze all the way to the ever extending horizon. A single tree in the distance provided shade for a small watering hole. The only sounds to be heard were the slow deep breaths taken by the lone zebra that matched in time with the winds in synchronized respiration with the forces of nature, and the sound of… SNAP! The trance broke, Zecora’s ears shot up and eyes popped open as she returned to the Everfree forest. She was not alone. Zecora stood up, head turned to the left, looking for movement, listening for the sounds of approaching danger. Nothing was out of the ordinary, maybe it was just some animal running through…SNAP! This time from behind, she turned around to face the sound yet nothing appeared in her vision. Then there were the sound of steps, coming from behind again, but as she turned to face them they shifted with her, always staying to her back. A small bead of sweat formed on her brow, the darkness of the forest provided perfect cover for this intruder, and she was out in the open. She could make a beeline for her hut, it’s not too far from here… She felt it, whatever it was, she could feel it right behind her. The steps had stopped, and her heart raced. Zecora knew it was right there, and she was prepared for whatever it would try to do. She began to mutter a prayer in her native tongue, but was interrupted by a stark voice, “Behind you.” So it was intelligent. Then maybe she could reason with it. “You trespass on my property, I ask you to please leave me be. I wish not for any harm to come, but I will not hesitate to give you some!” Silence... dead silence... Zecora dared not to turn around to face this presence. It radiated an alien aura, even if she couldn’t see it. “That’s no way to greet someone, why not just look me in the eye and say ‘hi’?” It was so calm while it spoke; so calm it was terrifying. However, she couldn’t detect any malice in it's hauntingly low voice. Swallowing her fear, Zecora slowly turned to face this mysterious creature. The darkness of the Everfree made it difficult to see clearly, but it was a bipedal being, about as tall as her, and seemed quite wide in girth. The only other details visible were two glowing white eyes and a wide smile that pierced through the darkness like a spear. It raised an appendage towards her as it spoke again, “Put her there, pal.” It looked like a friendly gesture, but it felt like a trick, like somehow the being would instantly whisk her out of existence at a single touch. But she tossed the thought aside, remembering a past lesson she taught a friend about not judging books by their covers. Slowly she raised a hoof to meet its…paw? Zecora’s eyes met the being's, and firmly accepted the gesture. PPPPFFFFFFFFfffffftttttt… “Ha, never get tired of the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick.” There goes the feeling of overwhelming feeling of dread, as well as any sense of formality. After 'shaking' with the creature the details of it's form came into greater focus. It was wearing a rather casual looking outfit: a blue hooded jacket with a white shirt underneath, a darker article that was called…what was it? Pants? And for some reason it was wandering in the forest with slippers. “So I take it you're one of the natives here huh?” Its voice sounded less threatening; much more lax in its tone than before. If she were to guess, this creature would likely be a male. ‘He’ spoke but there was no mouth movement to indicate it; he just kept that goofy grin on his…face? No need to be rude to a friendly ‘face’ though; she responded, “Yes, I live here in the Everfree. Do you need some assistance from me?” Always try to be hospitable to others, one of her oldest values in life. “Actually yeah, I do. Me and my friends are kind of lost here. You know of a way out of these freaky woods? Maybe to a place we can stay the night?” With one hoof, Zecora pointed down a small path that headed east. She knew a friend nearby who'd be more than happy to oblige, and more than capable to help. “Ah, thanks Miss...” "Zecora" "Right, Zecora. I'l remember that." With that he turned to leave where she directed, but before he took a step Zecora asked him, “Before you go what is your name? And from where, pray tell, have you came?” He turned his head slightly then pointed towards himself, “The name’s Sans, and I come from the world down under.” Her eyes widened at the sight of his ‘paw’, it was pale white in color, and bony in form. From the land down under? Was he from Tartarus?! “And as to why I’m here…” he added “that is something I also wonder.” The stranger named ‘Sans’ got quite a chuckle at her surprise. Nopony ever used her own cryptic rhyming on her like that, much less learn it that quickly. With his arms in the pockets of his jacket, Sans returned to the darkness of the Everfree; he called out to someone as he walked, the words inaudible yet his gestures looked directive. Everything about this stranger was seemingly alien, but his actions more relaxed and mischievous in nature. Zecora’s attempts to return to her state of Zen proved difficult; her mind buzzing with countless questions like a wasp’s nest disturbed from its peace. Once the stranger disappeared from sight, she spoke to herself, trying to ease her nerves. She reassured herself; he did not seem evil, and they would know what to do with him and his friends... whoever or whatever they were. Author's Note And so it begins... Prologue: A Visitor Nopony Would Believe! Prologue: A Visitor Nopony Would Believe! “Now Angel, I know you don’t like them, but these dietary meals are much better for your health.” Angel was being a tad disobedient... again. Fluttershy had given into quite a bit of his demands of a carrot crème brûlée with a turnip cake side, as well as sneaking one of Pinkie’s leftover cupcakes from the last party. He was gaining a few noticeable pounds, well noticeable to Fluttershy, and she couldn’t let it continue this way; the poor thing needs to stay in good health after all! Angel was not having any of it though, and threw the light salad dish he was given straight out of the window. At least his throwing strength has improved; he certainly isn’t low on protein. She cast him a look of disapproval “Angel! We do not throw our meals out of the window like that. It could hit somepony!” She sighed, Angel was a sweetheart but sometimes she wishes he would be less cranky. “I know they aren’t as tasty as those fancy dishes but you have put on a few pounds from just the past few! I can’t let you get out of shape now can I.” After a moment of slight offense, Angel reassessed his body mass; a quick gut check confirmed her statement and he pouted in defeat. “Good, now I’m going to prepare another batch of salad, you just wait–” Knock, knock, knock! A visitor at the door? She wasn’t expecting company. Maybe it was Rarity coming to offer a trip to the spa? Or Twilight wanting to have a nice chat? Fluttershy walked quickly to her door, can’t keep whoever is there waiting. She opened the door with a smile, “Hello? Who is–” Oh sweet Celestia, what was at her doorstep?! It was tall, much taller than her! It was wearing some kind of cheap metal armor and a tangelo colored scarf. It looked like it was made of, oh goodness are those bones?! “Why hello there adorable creature! My friends and I were just leaving that horrible forest when we saw this salad fly straight out of your window!” It pulled out the salad that angel threw, now in tatters and missing some of its pieces. “Now it may not be what I’d call ‘fine cuisine dining’ or ‘in good condition’ but how could I, the great Papyrus, not offer a kind gesture to the poor, starving creatures of this new world?” Shock, confusion, fear, denial, hilarity, nausea, and back to fear again; that completed the cycle of emotions present on Fluttershy’s face, right before screaming and slamming the door on this bony monster that called itself ‘Papyrus’. What was that thing?! Why did it look like it was made of bones?! Sweet Celestia, was that some kind of bipedal, talking, skeleton?! Fluttershy’s breaths were rapid; she just stared death in the face, so to prevent hyperventilation she took deep breaths and tried to rationalize what she just saw. Some kind of skeletal creature was at her doorstep; that' not too reassuring. It had a name right? Papyrus? What a strange name… Why was it here? Did it come for her animal friends? Was she too late to save Angel from the reaper?! If only he had eaten that… salad...the one that the skeleton was… trying to return. Fluttershy’s head drooped, her ears fell flat, and her eyes slightly watered; that wasn’t some monster, was it? It wasn’t here for Angel or any of here animals, it was just trying to be nice and return something, albeit a destroyed meal, and she went and slammed the door in its face. Didn’t she learn her lesson from Zecora about not to judge anypony by their appearance? Hesitantly, she returned to her front door still trembling a bit, but otherwise more confident. She opened the door slowly; only part of the way so her head could stick out, “H-hello?” She squeaked. The skeleton was still there, smiling. “Hello…again!” It said. “The salad fell on the ground again so I saved as much of it as I could!” The more it spoke, the more it sounded less like an ‘it’ and more like a ‘he’. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to slam the door in your, uh, face.” “No need to apologize” Fluttershy relaxed; at least he had qualities of a gentlestallion, “For you see…I know exactly why you ran off.” His eye sockets narrowed, she felt her heartbeat pickup. “You were so utterly amazed at the sight of someone so great that you needed to run back inside to find a way to get my autograph!” “Umm…excuse me?” Fluttershy said utterly perplexed. “Autograph?” “Why of course you can have my autograph! The great Papyrus wouldn’t be so great if he didn’t care for his fans, would he?” Why Fluttershy had flashbacks to a certain cerulean coated unicorn would forever be a mystery. “But alas! You poor thing! There was nothing you could find! Don’t worry; the great Papyrus is always prepared!” The skeleton whose name was confirmed to be Papyrus reached behind him and pulled out a small ink pen and a batch of sticky notes. He clicked the pen and asked, “To whom is this being made out for?” After a brief pause Fluttershy realized that this was the perfect opportunity for formal introductions. “O-Oh, my name is… F-Fl-Fluttershy…” “I see!” He spoke as he wrote, “To my adoring fan: F-Fl-Fluttershy signed: Papyrus, The great.” He took the note off of the stack and stuck right onto Fluttershy’s snout, causing her to let out a slight “Eeep!” “Now that I have helped you, maybe you can help me, hmm?” He asked. “As I said, my friends found our way out of that dreadful forest after escaping the underground and are trying to find a place to settle down in.” Underground? What did that mean? Was he really from Tartarus?! He didn’t act like it though. “Is there any place the seven of us could stay for a while as we get used to our new lives up on the surface?” Now she really was confused. On one hoof, from what the skeleton was saying it sounded like he came from Tartarus, but if he was he wouldn’t just say it outright like that would he? And his demeanor was rather… strange but nothing one would call evil. “Please could you help us? We barely made it out of that forest alive, Undyne had to fight off some new kind of manticore we’ve never seen without armor, and we’re all tired and dirty and…” Her heart reached out to the poor thing. There was no mistaking genuine emotion like that. One of them even had to fight off a manitcore?! How horrible! She offered her home as a place for them to stay, if it was okay with them, and decided she would later take them to Ponyville to see what her friends could do. “Really? Wowie! Thank you so much Ms. F-Fl-Fluttershy! You have no idea how much this means to us!” “It’s no problem at all! Oh, but it’s just Fluttershy… sir.” “Right just Fluttershy! I’ll go get my friends, they’ll be so happy to hear this!” And with that he ran off towards where his friends were. As he ran, Fluttershy couldn't help but wonder, what were they like? Were they skeletons like him? Were they just as nice? Were they…scarier? Celestia knows what they could be like, but if one of them could fight off a manticore then they must be strong. All of these questions buzzed around in Fluttershy’s head before being interrupted with a carrot to the head. Angel was not happy with what he had just heard. “Angel I know it might be a bit crowded, but it will only be for one night. Besides they need help, how could I turn down somepony in need?” Angel merely pouted in frustration, and his stomach gave a slight growl. In all of the confusion of talking to a skeleton, she forgot to feed Angel... and to take the sticky note off her snout. The hand writing was scrawled and the letters were all capitalized, she set the autograph on a nearby table. Before she could make her way back to the kitchen, there was another knock on the door. She guessed it was the skeleton’s friends. She opened the door, and her eyes widened at the truly bizarre sight. Two horned goats, two skeletons, a lizard wearing glasses, and a grinning fish-like creature; all of which were bipedal; stood before the butter colored pegasus. Only after a second run across each of the six creatures did she notice the seventh one, an absolutely adorable creature that looked like some kind of hairless monkey wearing a striped shirt, it was holding one of the goat’s hands. Papyrus banished the awkward silence, “These are my friends! And this is your salad that I forgot to give back!” The fish barked back at him, “Is that what that is? I thought you were carrying a plate full of leaves or something.” “Why would I be carrying around a plate full of leaves?” “I don’t know that’s why I’m asking!” The much shorter skeleton spoke up, “Hey come on Undyne, leaf him alone.” One of the goats chuckled, but Papyrus wasn’t having the same amount of fun. “Sans!” was all he managed to say before a small fit of laughter erupted from everyone. <<<<<<===================================================================================>>>>>> message received opening… translating please wait… message 80.49% translated A POWER FUELED BY , QUITE INTERESTING. MY THEORY IS A TAD OFF BUT NOT COMPLETELY WRONG I WONDER WHAT ELSE IS . … WILL IT BE THE ANGEL OF OR ? I BELIEVE THAT THE . end message <<<<<<===================================================================================>>>>>> Prologue: Fiery TempersIt was a typical, normal, and completely average morning in Ponyville. The sun was shining, and the birds were singing; it was perfect weather for a game of catch. Ponies of different shapes, sizes, colors, ages and genders went about their days shopping, working, playing, or relaxing in the blissful spring breeze. It couldn’t have been a more perfect day. And it was so boring! What was a poor, inactive and completely bored Rainbow Dash to do on such a day as this? She had already spent plenty of hours practicing tricks and napping, she had no weather responsibilities today, and Daring Do’s next book doesn’t come out until next month! What else was there to do? All of friends were busy with work, Applejack was running her stand in the market all day, Rarity had dress orders up to her neck, Twilight was caught in a mixture of princess paperwork and how-to-be-a-princess homework (the latter she assigned herself), even Pinkie Pie was away on her day off no less; something about her Pinkie Sense warning her of a huge amount of visitors in need of a welcoming party. Whatever, it still meant that there was nopony to spend time with. Well there was Fluttershy, but the only thing that Dash could think they’d do together was drink tea; no thanks! The cyan pegasus looked towards her friend’s cottage over by the Everfree forest. Was she that desperate? She didn’t dislike spending time with her; it’s just that hardly anything interesting happens to her on days like these. She lazily gazed towards her friend’s home, watching the pillar of smoke rise into the air without a care in the… wait, smoke?! Rainbow Dash immediately rose to her hooves atop her cloudy perch fully awakened, Fluttershy’s house was on fire! “Oh my gosh! Hang on Fluttershy, I’m coming!” She yelled. A Rainbow trail followed behind her as she sped to her friend’s rescue. Only two questions on her mind as she flew: Was Fluttershy okay? And who could have caused this? Earlier… “Oh no, I couldn’t just have you make everything; you’re my guests, and–” “Which is precisely why I will be happy to prepare brunch! Everyone is still hungry from breakfast and you have yet to experience the full culinary experience of Master Chef Papyrus's cooking!” There was a slight impasse over what would be served to everyone this time. Papyrus continued to insist on cooking meals for everypony, and while Fluttershy would hate to argue; she just couldn’t allow him to cook anything, both out of courtesy of being a good host, and mercy from repeating the events of breakfast. Papyrus was sweet, but his cooking wasn’t even eaten by any of her animals. She only knew this because she found the remains of his spaghetti outside on the ground not too long after breakfast. She cleaned up the mess quickly soon after the discovery to prevent Papyrus from baring witness to such a crime against cuisine. “I understand that, and I really appreciate the help, I just… um, don’t think it would be fair if I didn’t get to show you some of my own…um, exotic dishes.” She smiled meekly. His expression was blank. “I-I mean if that’s okay with you.” “Hmm…” Papyrus pondered, “You make a fair point, I actually am curious to try more surface food.” Fluttershy sighed in relief which was unsurprisingly short lived when he exclaimed, “However! I will make sure that lunchtime is prepared by none other than I, and it will be an even more delectable dish than before. I guarantee it! Nyeh heh heh heh heh!” Papyrus ran right out of the kitchen, heading straight outdoors to meet with his friends, cackling the whole way. In his haste, he nearly slammed into the walking, talking, navy blue colored salmon creature as she was entering the house. “Whoa! Watch out!” Undyne yelled, narrowly dodging the sprinting skeleton. She chuckled, and headed for the kitchen. Fluttershy noticed that the small ‘human’ as they were called entered behind her. “Oh, hello Undyne, hello Frisk! I was just getting ready to make us something.” “Hey!” Undyne greeted, “I need another glass of water; it’s so hot on the surface!” The human behind her waved and took a seat a on a nearby chair. Angel poked his head from behind that chair looking right at the human, he seemed unpleased. “So you actually convinced Papyrus not to cook this time?” Fluttershy nodded “Wow I’m impressed, ever since I started giving him cooking lessons nothing’s been able to tear him from the kitchen! Well almost nothing.” She glanced towards Frisk. “You were giving him cooking lessons?” Fluttershy asked. “Still am, and boy has he improved! Feels like just yesterday when he burned his first spaghetti. Good times. I even once gave a special lesson to Frisk here.” Fluttershy looked to see the scene of an upset Angel bunny trying to pick a fight with Frisk. The human was seated in Angel’s favorite chair and they didn’t even know it. “Now that kid,” Undyne said, briefly stealing the pegasus’s attention, “that kid had a spark like no other!” Even this child had cooking lessons with Undyne? She was unsure how to feel about that. Fluttershy moved to intervene before Angel got too upset, but in the brief moment where she looked away not only had the child calmed him down, but had even somehow managed to get the bunny to lay in their lap, smiling blissfully as he was pet by the humans hand. Oh, goodness it was just too cute! Fluttershy could hardly hide her smile behind her hooves. The fish patted the back of the pegasus quite roughly, causing her to squeak like a little yellow chew toy, “If you want I can even give you your own lesson!” She grinned widely showing her incredibly sharp teeth, Fluttershy shook slightly. While she was friendly, Undyne had a certain… assertiveness that was intimidating for more than one reason. That and she had been able to fight off a manticore all alone, somehow suplexing the beast supposedly, the poor thing. She didn’t know what to respond with. On one hoof, she was afraid of what might happen should Undyne get her hands on the stove, on the other she was more afraid of making Undyne upset. “Um… well you don’t have to but… I g-guess you could at least help me in the kitchen a little… if you want to.” “Awesome! C’mon I’ll show you Undyne’s way of making the meanest brunch you’ll ever taste!” Said the fish as she leaped into the kitchen. Frisk’s face turned to worry, as if to say ‘You shouldn’t have done that’. “R-Right so I was thinking we could make a… um sweet potato soufflé with a salad… and–” “Sweet popatoes?! No thank you, I hate those things!” “Um, ok if you don’t want any sweet… p-popatoes…? Th-Then we could still make the salad.” Undyne wore a slight scowl of displeasure, “Flutter, I said that I was going to show you Undyne’s way of cooking. You know what that means?” Fluttershy’s heartbeat picked up, she didn’t like where this was going and could only form the answer in a few nervous mumbles. Her anxiety soared to new heights at the sight of Undyne’s enormous grin and the swords in her mouth one mistakenly would call teeth. “That means we’re going to make the biggest, juiciest, spiciest, most amazing thing that anyone will ever taste.” The puny pegasus found herself suddenly caught in the shark’s grasp. “And we’re going to make it TOGETHER!” Undyne bellowed the last word with such a force it likely shook the entire world; the slightest peep could have shattered the ground beneath them. One would have to be mad to utter another word after such a display of force, unfortunately for all of existence, Undyne was mad enough to speak those next earth-shattering words, “So let’s get started!” She chirped with innocence and childish glee. Fluttershy’s heart rate returned to healthy levels; Undyne’s vicious gaze had suddenly vanished and in its place was a warm smile. She was practically glowing with optimism; her smile could have even made Pinkie just a tad jealous. Yet for some reason, Frisk was shaking their head rapidly, a look of absolute terror ever present. But who could distrust a sincere smile like that? Fluttershy perked up at Undyne’s sudden spark of warmness, “Ok, let’s do this, together.” She smiled back to her new cooking buddy, “So what’s first?” “How about some tea?” Undyne somehow managed to find the teapot and eagerly awaited her buddy’s response. “Tea sounds perfect! You go boil the water and I’ll get started on preparing the food.” Fluttershy decided to forgo the sweet potatoes in favor of a nice soup, maybe even something spicy just for Undyne. She diced the vegetables slowly and carefully, taking extra care to ensure that they were just the right size. Undyne joined in, attempting to match Fluttershy’s speed yet still outpacing her by a large margin smiling all the while. One by one the ingredients went into the pot: onions, carrots, celery, cilantro, and peppers. The concoction was covered in sauces, spices, and oils of many exotic types, and filled with water. “Now we just have to stir it, I just have to find us a spoon somewhere…” “I GOT IT!” Undyne suddenly yelled as she raised an arm in the air. Out of nowhere a large spear materialized into her grasp pointed directly at the soup, ready to strike at any moment. Fluttershy gasped, where did she get that spear from?! The shark’s face was contorted into a large vicious grin yet again as she was poised to smite down her nutritious adversary. However before she could move, she must have realized what she was doing, as her grin suddenly dissipated. As quickly as it appeared the spear faded out of existence, “Uh…I mean…” Undyne quickly grabbed the nearest object, which just so happened to be a spatula. “I got it, Flutterbuddy! No problem… Whoops silly me, that’s a spatula! Ha ha... ha.” The spatula was thrown over her shoulder, Celestia know where it went. She attempted to return to her warm smile, it looked like it caused physical pain to hold, a few nervous sweats were visible on her brow. As strange as her actions were, it was clear Undyne still wanted to sincerely help, and she was doing such a fine job, so her small outburst was met with a supportive smile and a supportive wooden spoon. Undyne let out a relieved breath. Fluttershy took the steaming teapot off of the stove and finished making the tea; Undyne frantically stirred the soup, smiling the whole time. “Okay, that’s good enough. Now you just need to boil it. You might want to make the flames a teensy bit hotter. I’ll go serve the tea.” The pegasus fluttered towards Frisk, who had found a carrot somewhere and was feeding it to Angel. “You two are just the most adorable things!” Angel tried to counter with an angry pout, but it only served to make him look silly. “Don’t worry Angel, I won’t interrupt you for too long, I’m just here to give you both some nice herbal tea, the food is almost ready so–” BANG! “HUNK OF JUNK!!” Fluttershy jumped at the sudden burst of anger that erupted from her kitchen; she would have dropped her teapot, were it not for a fast acting Frisk who caught it before it struck the ground. Fluttershy went to the kitchen to check on Undyne. “Is everything alright?” She peeped. Undyne was so wrapped up in her battle against the kitchen stove she almost failed to notice the yellow presence entering the kitchen. “Everything’s alright!” she said sheepishly. “It just that this stove is kind of uh… different from what I’m used to. I can’t…quite…make it…hot enough!” Undyne's true battle against the stove began. The inevitable ensued, just as Frisk predicted. “Oh um… that’s perfectly fine where it is.” Fluttershy said. “But the flame is so tiny! It’ll be ages before this is done! Don’t worry about me I’ve got this!” Undyne responded while lodging a spear in the stove. “No, No it’s quite alright! You don’t need to do that!” Frisk merely sipped a cup of tea, knowing all too well there was nothing that could be done. “I’ve got everything under control!” Undyne said as she wrestled with the hissing stove. “I’m just worried you might do something that could hurt you!” Said the mare in response to the escalating madness. “Relax! I won’t make the same mistake twice I swear–” A piece of the stove suddenly came loose, launching into the air like a rocket. Sounds a stove should never make rumbled through the kitchen. The flame heating the soup increased in size; it became bigger and bigger with each passing second. Before Fluttershy could react, an arm reached out, grabbed her, and pulled her out of the kitchen with lightning speed. Another arm shot out and grabbed Frisk, who was holding a panicking Angel bunny. The four of them just managed to make it outside before Fluttershy’s cottage erupted in fire. The inside was engulfed with flames, smoke and embers poured out of the windows and door. The heat of the flames was intense enough to be felt from where the four were thrown. Fluttershy could only gawk at the disaster unfolding before her. Her house just, exploded! And she was almost roasted alive! Undyne rose slightly from her laid down position, “You okay?” She asked. Fluttershy’s mouth was stuck open, unable to respond. Undyne looked at the new record for world’s largest torch, then back to the world’s most stunned pegasus and smiled sheepishly. “Heh…My bad!” Was all she could think to say. Rainbow Dash didn’t even bother to look back at the two peeved pegasi behind her. They can find another storm cloud somewhere else, this was an emergency! Fluttershy’s house was quickly coming into focus. Holy hay! Those flames were huge! There was no sight of Fluttershy anywhere which wasn't a good sign, so she picked up the speed. Using the secret fire-dousing-cloudy-niner technique (patent pending), Rainbow Dash made the cloud unleash its rain, split the pouring cloud in half, took one of the two halves in her hooves, and dived into the burning house leaving the other half to put out the outer flames. She circled the inside of the house with blinding speeds, creating a miniature cyclone that simultaneously robbed the flames of their precious oxygen and flung rainwater in all directions. To the inexperienced, the maneuver was incredibly dangerous, but the rainbow blur executed it flawlessly and within a few minutes the flames were snuffed out. With the inferno extinguished, Rainbow began the search for her missing friend, hopefully still breathing. She searched every nook and cranny, every singed room and closet, but there was no sign of her. That either meant that she was able to get outside of the house just in time, or… Rainbow Dash’s heartbeat raced at the thought; she yelled out her name in desperation trying to find a trace of her, anything! Hopefully not… A soft yell echoed through the building, “Rainbow Dash, I’m outside!” That was Fluttershy’s voice! She was alright! Rainbow dashed out of a nearby window, there she was! “Fluttershy! You’re okay!” Rainbow said while racing to her friend. “I mean, I knew you were okay the whole time.” “Of course.” The yellow one assured. “I’m glad you came by to check on me though.” “Yeah, you sure you’re not too hurt though?” The cyan one asked, lifting her friend in the air to observe her closely. “Oh yes, I’m just fine.” “No burns on your wings?” Fluttershy shook her head. “No scratches on your legs?” Another shake. “Not even a bruise?” It was unbelievable, but Fluttershy somehow was completely unharmed! Once she made sure her friend was okay, Rainbow Dash decided to find out how this happened, “Alright then, who’s the no-good, house burning, jerk face that did this to you?” “Uh…you see.” An unfamiliar voice said. Rainbow turned her head and came face to face with some kind of freaky fish monster thing. How'd she miss that? It was tall, had sharp teeth, and an admittedly cool eye-patch. It also wore a sheepish smile on its face, “That was… kind of my bad.” Freaky fish monster, sharp teeth, really big, said it caused the fire, almost hurt friend, close to friend. Defensive maneuvers engaged. Rainbow flew right up to the fish’s face. “You did this?! You almost hurt my friend you overgrown tuna!” That made it mad. “Hey! It was an accident!” It retorted “I still saved her life! If it wasn’t for me your friend would be fried chicken!” “If it wasn’t for you my friend’s house wouldn’t have turned into the largest bonfire in Equestria!” “Well I'm sorry! I was just trying to make a good impression!” “You sure made a good impression ON HER HOUSE!” “I’LL MAKE A GOOD IMPRESSION ON YOUR FACE YOU FLYING LOLLIPOP!” “I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY BARNACLE BREATH!” There was nothing Fluttershy could do to ease the situation. Her soft voice was lost in the ever rising voices and heated anger. Her voice was so lost that not even the narration could hear what it was she was trying to say. Fortunately for everyone, a stronger, more firm voice announced from behind the pair, “That’s enough you two!” Another unfamiliar voice… Rainbow turned to look towards it. Some kind of two legged goat thing was there, arms crossed and foot tapping. It looked like a she, she also looked peeved. Mrs. Goat walked over to the two pointing a scolding finger at both of them, “This petty fighting isn’t going to solve anything! Undyne, you said you were going try to make a better impression instead of being so aggressive.” The fish hung its head. “And you, I don’t know who you are but there’s no reason to go picking fights over an accident.” “But…I…” Rainbow choked out, she hovered a bit lower. “I saw what you did, both of you. Without you two this situation could have been much worse.” The goat’s face turned to one of visible worry, it doubled Rainbow’s shame. “So I'll ask you two to please stop fighting over it." The two combatants heads hung in shame (instead of on each other's walls thankfully). "Now if you’ll excuse me.” The goat then rushed to Fluttershy kneeling to meet her face. “Are you alright dear? Anything burned or broken?” This goat thing knew Fluttershy? Was it some kind of animal Rainbow didn’t know about? And hold the phone, what the hay was that fish with legs?! “OHMYGOD!!! Undyne!!! Are you alright?!?!” Another new voice shrieked, this one sounded rather squirrelly. Some two legged lizard was hugging the fish and crying. First a walking fish, then a walking goat, now a walking lizard? What's next the walking dead? “Hey, how’s the weather up there?” Said yet another voice. Rainbow Dash looked down to see a short skeleton smiling at her. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” she said, “I am.” said the skeleton. Another much taller skeleton came up behind the first one. “You have the worst timing for jokes Sans.” The tall one said. Another goat, this one with a beard, ran up and asked, “Is everyone alright? We heard the explosion all the way from the Zecora’s hut!” Even Zecora knew them? What was going on?! “Okay hold on a second.” Every...thing turned to the cyan pegasus. Rainbow pointed a hoof at the strangers, “You all know Fluttershy, AND Zecora?” They nodded simultaneously. “Who and what in Equestria are you anyways? After a brief pause, the bearded goat spoke up first. “We are…hmm how can I put this?” “We're monsters from underground!” said the tall skeleton. The fish facepalmed. Monsters?! Friends with Fluttershy?! Rainbow Dash’s jaw hit the ground; she couldn’t believe her eyes or her ears. She was having trouble staying afloat. Fluttershy finally managed to get up and speak, “I think now would be a good time for you all to meet my friends. And Rainbow, can you tell the girls that I’d like them to meet some...um…new friends?” Rainbow's mind was still processing information when she felt a light tug on her hind leg. She looked down from her floating position to see a small hairless monkey with a brown mane looking up at her. It smiled and waved hello. Author's Note New chapter, FINALLY!!! Sorry this took so long, I was going to upload it earlier but a combination of life and perfectionism led to many delays. But I never forgot about you guys and checked up frequently. I'm so happy that this got such good reception, thank you so much for all the feedback! Now you get not only a new chapter but a longer one! What do you guys think? Should I stick with the longer ones or do two short ones at a time? Or mix it up with both? Also a few things: 1. I meant the description to say that this was set before the season 4 finale not 3, this has been fixed. Sorry for any confusion. 2. "Popatoes" is NOT a typo, it's an intentional reference! 3. Has anyone tried to decipher the missing part of the messages yet? Prologue: Meet and GreetIt was a while before Rarity came to. And when she awoke she nearly fainted again once she found out that she had not been dreaming. Could anypony blame her? It’s not often that monsters come to Ponyville. Well actually it’s quite ordinary, but this time was quite different! For once the monsters had the decency to politely walk into town and say hello, rather than storm in roaring and smashing everything around them. They also had the ability to speak fluently and for some, quite eloquently (though others were not so proper). Perhaps it was the shock of seeing actually civil monsters this time that caused her to faint, but the truth still stands strong as a stone minotaur: six monsters and a hairless monkey were now standing before Rarity and her five friends in Golden Oaks Library. Once she returned to her senses, Rarity was able to give these new visitors a proper inspection. She had already been briefly introduced before her trip to her subconscious she merely struggled with a few of their names. First, there was Toriel: Large, cream colored, goat-like in appearance but with small fangs and short horns. A large violet robe draped over her body, with a mysterious crest bearing a circle with two wings hovering above three triangles. The robe seemed to be very old, perhaps it was significant in some way to her? Hopefully it wasn’t the only thing she had to wear; Nopony should have to suffer such torture. Maybe she could make her a new one, adorned with some complimentary topaz to and finer stitching to really draw the eye. Secondly, there was Sans: second smallest of the bunch, one who could meet most ponies eye to eye without having to kneel or bend down. A skeleton like his brother but with much more girth, or was he just big boned? He sported an atrocious combo of a baby blue hoodie, a white undershirt stained beyond measure, black gym shorts, and morning slippers of all things. It was like he didn’t even try! There was little hope for this one. Third was his brother, Papyrus: Sporting a tangerine cape over his silver armor (which seemed to be of the same quality as a Nightmare Night costume) orange gloves and blue tights. The complementary color scheme suited him well. He was tall, slender and seemed to carry something resembling prim and posture, but it lacked any sign of formal training. While he constantly called himself great, Rarity knew that he could be even greater. He oozed potential, there were so many possibilities for him; all he needed was the right polish. There was Undyne, an athlete by the way she looked. Her designs could be similar to Rainbow Dash’s, anything to get her out of that black tang top; Alphys, a lizard creature, wore a pair of spectacles and a lab coat, possibly somelizard for Twilight to get acquainted with, she clung to Undyne like she was her lifeline, possible lovers perhaps? Asgore was similar to Toriel, though he was more male in appearance (siblings?) and was decorated with a more royal attire: A violet cloak draped over golden armor. A few gems here and there and he’d be worthy of a dance with the nobles. Last of all was Frisk, who was… different. For one he/she (nopony knew for sure) was not a monster like all the rest of his/her companions. For one, his/her appearance was actually quite suiting, a striped shirt was an abomination amongst fashion normally, but somehow it fit him/her perfectly. Another thing was that Frisk was something called a “human” this nearly gave Twilight her own fainting spell, apparently humans were some sort of mythological cryptid. As soon as she said this the human seemed distraught. Most striking of all were the human’s eyes. They were paper thin; one could even say they weren’t even open; they however didn’t need to be to convey their messages. The human’s eyes spoke of one who had gone to Tartarus and back, yet still retained that childlike innocence and an air of warmness. Frisk was the smallest and the youngest of the group, but the human was likely much wiser than his/her age would suggest. This being emanated an aura unlike anything she had ever seen. It was as if he/she had stared death in the face, gave it a hug, and managed to walk away. Rarity managed to return her thoughts to reality, and focused on a conversation between a short skeleton and a pink pony. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! I’m so super happy to meet you Mr. Sans!” Pinkie chirped. “Really? I was worried you weren’t happy to see me, what with the long face.” Sans said. He bopped her on the nose for emphasis. She chuckled. Rarity groaned on the inside. “You’re funny! Are you really a skeleton? Do skeletons like to eat cake? I hope they like cake and cookies and muffins and donuts and pie! I could bake you and your friends a whole mountain of yummy treats!” She stopped to gasp for a comically long period of time. If Sans had eyebrows, he would have raised one at that moment, “You okay? That gasp lasted a comically long period of time.” “I still haven’t finished preparing your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party yet! Maybe it should be a ‘Congratulations on getting out of underground AND Welcome to Ponyville’ party? Eh, I’ll figure it out.” Sans seemed to be unfazed by Pinkie’s antics, which was… odd. She continued, “What kind of games do you like to play? Do you like pin-the-tail-on-the-pony? What about horseshoes? Do you guys like jokes?” “Jokes?” “Yeah! I have tons of jokes! I’ve got knock-knock jokes and practical jokes and punny jokes, I’ve got so many jokes it’ll…” Rarity hoped that this wasn’t going where she thought “Rattle your funny bone!” That gave Sans a chuckle, as well as Rarity’s hoof a chance to become close friends with her face. Sans had his own comedic retort prepared, “I can tell I’ll like you already; you’re quite the humerus gal.” That gave Pinkie her own chuckle, and both of Rarity’s hooves entered a competition to be her face’s best friend. “Welcome to my life sister.” A stark voice announced. Rarity looked up to see a much taller skeleton. “Imagine having to live with him.” Rarity regained her composure, “Oh please darling, I can survive a few puns here and there. That’s nothing compared to what Pinkie does on a daily basis.” Rarity took a moment to check if anypony was listening in on her. She whispered, “You have no idea how unpredictable she can be, the first time I saw her pull out a trombone from her mane I thought I had lost my sanity.” Papyrus whispered back, “I know that feeling. Sans though… he likes to just pop in and out wherever he pleases, he manages to find his way into the most peculiar of places. Tracking him down when he needs to recalibrate puzzles can be more of chore than it needs to be.” “I understand completely, in fact…” Something clicked in Rarity’s mind. “Wait a moment…your brother can do that too?” “Too? What do you mean ‘too’?!” “Does he also like to play practical jokes on others?” “The worst ones are when he pranks me across the time-space continuum, I really hate it when he…” Rarity turned Papyrus’s head towards their targets of gossip. Pinkie and Sans had found trombones somewhere and were currently having a duet. It then clicked in Papyrus’s head, “Oh god! THEY’RE MULTIPLYING!” Twilight was completely absorbed by this new piece of technology called a ‘cell phone’. It worked similarly to dragonfire: one could send messages to another no matter how far the distance, however it was also capable of taking and sending pictures, playing music, one could even have a complete conversation in real time! And all WITHOUT magic?! This must be the work of a genius! “And with this button you can take videos, and this one you can access the Undernet, which is this…” Alphys paused for a moment “Uhh… would we actually have any Undernet connection up here? There was always a connection in the underground but uh…I-I don’t know if it’ll work here.” Twilight pressed the icon labeled ‘Undernet’ with her nose, after a short period a white box popped up with the words ‘No connection’ inside. “Oh darn it.” While her experience of this ‘Undernet’ was rather disappointing Twilight continued to fiddle with this new contraption endlessly. She wanted to know what every button did and how it did it and why it did. She wanted to find out how this was created and how it worked without magic and… “NOWAITDON’TPRESSTHAT!!” Alphys screamed, but it was too late. Twilight couldn’t make heads or tails of what she was looking at, was it some kind of monster from their underground? It looked similar to a human like Frisk but it had…really big eyes and cat-like ears. It was happily playing volleyball at the beach. How did they have beaches if they were underground? Or sunlight that intense? Why was it wearing clothes that didn’t even look like they fit? Alphys’s face managed to change colors from yellow to tomato red; she was trying to hide her face behind her claws; her nervous mumbling was completely incomprehensible. “I never did get a chance to watch those cartoons with you Alphys.” Asgore came up behind Alphys and startled her, returning her color back to its proper yellow. “Say if you ever figure out how to get that fancy technology working you think you could show me and the ponies this ‘anime’ you keep going on about?” “Anime? What’s that?” Twilight asked. Alphys turned red again. “Oh it’s this wonderful sounding show with swords, and kissing robots and battles against evil. I’ve yet to see it but boy it sounds neato!” Asgore said. “Uh…huh… It does sound… interesting. Once Princess Celestia sends me a response letter I’ll see what I can schedule.” Twilight said. Alphys perked up, “R-Really? You actually w-want to? Thank you! I-I mean, sure, I m-mean, I’m sure you’ll love it! It’s way more than kissing robots though! There’s friendships and history and mythology AND ROMANCE AND¬–! ” Her claws covered her mouth in an attempt to keep her dignity alive. Twilight’s smirk was evidence enough to know that she failed. A nearby Fluttershy appeared; she didn’t overhear much of the outburst, but managed to get the gist of it. “That um… that doesn’t actually sound so bad, but how will we watch it?” “Oh! Well then it’s a good thing I carry with me some of my favorite DVD’s!” Alphys said. She pulled out a few small cases; they had pictures of the same cat-human creature in various outfits, and a few visible claw marks. “Once I put this in the DVD player we can watch three whole seasons, it’s the best way to spend an afternoon.” She turned her head, looking for something, “Where’s your TV?” Two ponies stood dumbfounded at the lizard, wearing only blank stares on their faces. “What’s a TV?” asked the pegasus. “And what are DVD’s?” asked the alicorn. The lizard’s claw met her face. “You two ‘r just gonna keep this up ain’t ya?” Applejack asked. “Yup” was the simultaneous response from Undyne and Rainbow Dash, both in each other’s face locked in a stare down. “Yer not gonna at least look at me when I’m tryin’ to talk to ya?” She asked. “Nope” They responded; and they called Applejack stubborn. The two had been staring each other down ever since they stepped into Twilight’s home. They didn’t move, but they looked madder than bull with a red sheet stuck on its head. One might think they were just about to tear each other apart, but that would mean that one of them would have to lose the stare down. Toriel looked worried as she watched them, “They’ve been eyeing each other like that this whole time. I understand the tensions were high but, there is no need to have that much anger for a misunderstanding.” Applejack tried to reassure her, “Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, Rainbow won’t try nothin’–” but was cut off by Rainbow Dash when she exclaimed, “I’m just waiting for barnacle breath here to try something, so then I have an alibi once I pound her!” Undyne barked back, “That’s not what an alibi is airhead! And why do you need one? Why don’t you just fight me right now?! Unless of course… you’re scared?” “ME?! Scared of YOU?! That’s a joke right? I’ve fought things twice the monster you are!” Rainbow yelled. “I could take down anything you fought with both hands tied behind my back WHILE blindfolded!” Undyne yelled back. “I bet you could, couldn’t you?!” “Yeah I could!” “OH YEAH?!” “YEAH!!!!” Their faces were pressed into each other, snout to…face. How did Undyne smell without a nose? Toriel massaged her temples, “I am sorry, young pony.” Applejack reassured her, “Naw, don’t worry ‘bout it much. ‘s just Rainbow being Rainbow, and I’m guessin’ that you’re friend‘s all the same.” Toriel nodded. Applejack looked at the two. “To be honest, I think they should just kiss already.” Both Undyne and Rainbow recoiled from that statement, blinking in shock. “HEY!” They shouted at Applejack, she merely chuckled. The two enemies glared back at each other one last time, before turning away and pouting. “Just so you know, I’m spoken for.” Undyne grumbled. “ ‘Though she was defeated, the evil Mane-iac managed to escaped, and she swore she would have her revenge.’ ” Spike read aloud, “See, I told you these were cool!” Frisk nodded in agreement. The two were digging through Spike’s comics, going through each and every page with childish fascination. “Do you have anything like this were you guys are from?” Frisk told him about the various comics they knew of, as well as the only one they knew were in the underground. “Man-ga? Is that like, a code for something?” Spike suddenly felt a pressure build in his gut. With a loud belch, emerald dragonfire erupted from his mouth, and a scroll materialized from the embers. From the other side of the room, Papyrus yelled, “Gesundheit!” “Oh, she wrote back already!” Twilight said. Using her magic she opened the scroll; everypony, monster and human turned to face her as she read aloud. My fellow princess Twilight, Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I believe you are correct, the massive surge of unknown magical energy you detected is most likely linked your new visitors. My sister and I sensed it as well and were on our way to investigate, thankfully though we know that there is likely no danger. I’ll be glad to meet these mysterious new visitors myself, as well as speak to this ‘King Asgore’. We should arrive into Ponyville within the next couple of days. I still believe it is best if you head towards the source of this surge, and gather more information. We still do not know the nature of this magic or if it is dangerous, but I have a good feeling we are safe for now. Report your findings whenever you can, and tell our guests I said ‘hello’. Best regards, Princess Celestia P.S. I’ll see what I can do to help your friend Fluttershy. There was a brief moment before a voice broke the silence. “So she is on her way.” Asgore announced. “Yes, and by the looks of it she was already heading in this direction to assess the surge of magic from that night” Twilight said. “Whoa there sugarcube, what’s this about a surge ‘a magic?” Applejack asked. “Oh that’s right, I haven’t told you girls yet.” Twilight responded, smiling sheepishly. “A couple nights ago right before sunrise, there was a massive surge of magical energy coming from the Everfree Forest, it wasn’t like any other magic source I had ever felt before.” Rainbow interrupted, “Whoa whoa whoa, backup! You’re saying there was a giant magic explosion in the Everfree forest? Then how was it that nopony saw it themselves, or even heard it?” “And how is it that only you felt it darling?” Rarity added. “I had slept just fine the entire night and hadn’t felt any magical surge.” “Which is why it took me a while to tell you all,” Twilight added, “when I went to ask other ponies about it nopony said they felt anything. Plus, even though I felt it, I didn’t see or even hear anything. I thought it must have been my imagination at first but…I could still feel the energy around me.” “What does this have to do with us?” Undyne asked. “I’m not too sure, but not too long after the surge you all suddenly appeared. It’s just a hunch, but I think there’s a connection between that surge and why you’re all here.” “Do you think that it might have just been the barrier shattering?” Alphys said. “That’s what I want to know, and I also need to know more about this ‘barrier’ you keep mentioning.” Twilight said “I’m going try to find the source of this, but I can’t go in the forest alone. Rainbow Dash, I need you to accompany me.” “No problem!” Rainbow saluted. “If we run into anything out there, I’ll knock ‘em into next week!” Alphys stepped forward, “Can I come too? I-I think I remember the way there and I’d like to gather my own data too.” She pulled out a strange device, it was shaped like her cell phone, but it had a small cone on it and made small beeps every now and then. Twilight nodded, “Whatever help you can offer will be great.” Alphys smiled. “Spike, I need you to watch the library while I’m gone.” Spike gave his own salute, “You can count on me boss!” He was secretly thinking of how much ice cream he could eat before she got back. Twilight began packing her usual supply of travelling parchment, traveling quills, traveling ink, and books about various known and mythological creatures, magical essences and (of course) traveling. Meanwhile the others were making their own preparations. Pinkie was bouncing her way out of the Library as she sang, “Well, while you two are out doing your adventuring, I’ve got a party to plan. Come on Sansy!” “Sans? Where are you going?” Papyrus asked. “Over to her place, she’s got a whole bunch of stuff to do and I’m gonna help.” Sans responded. “YOU’RE actually going to HELP her DO something?” “Yeah, she’ll need the moral support. And me eating a couple of cupcakes or will really give her the drive she needs.” “Oh. Wait! How is eating sweet treats supposed to give moral support?” “I’ll be telling her how delicious they are the whole time. She’ll feel so appreciated that she’ll work twice as fast.” Sans walked after Pinkie out of the library. “What?! That doesn’t even make sense! You’re just using that as an excuse to boondoggle again aren’t you?” Papyrus yelled. Pinkie stuck her head back into the library and said, “Don’t you mean he’s trying to bonedoggle?” The door shut, laughter could be heard behind it. Papyrus tried to hold in his internal meltdown… he failed. Rarity intervened before he could get too angry. “Now now Papyrus darling, there’s no need to be so livid. Let the two of them have their fun.” She began to walk to the door herself, but used her magic to tug at Papyrus’s cape to pull him with her. “After all we have our own work to do.” “We do?” Papyrus asked. “Why yes, we do darling. I have many designs planned for you all and I must get to work post haste. I’ll need you to come with me so I can get you measurements.” “What about everyone else?” “I’ll take care of them later; you however are in dire need of a fashion intervention immediately. I simply cannot allow you to walk about with such a battered outfit. Come along now!” “Wowie! Am I getting some kind of special new battle body deal? I mean, yes of course! Why wouldn’t I get such a deal? I deserve it most of all.” “Quite right, now if you would please follow me.” The two them made their way out of the library, Rarity tugging at Papyrus’s cape all the while. Papyrus shouted back at the remaining few, “Bye bye everyone! I’ll be back after I do whatever it is I am about to do. Undyne you’re in charge of watching my collection of–” The door shut behind him before he could finish his sentence. Spike felt a small pang of jealousy. “You didn’t bring your collection with you!” Undyne yelled back. “He’s doomed.” She chuckled to herself, and made for the exit herself, “Welp, I’m not just going to sit here and collect dust, I’m heading out too!” “Right behind ya!” Applejack barked; she gave a quick look back to Asgore, Toriel and Fluttershy, “Ya’ll comin’ too?” “It’s probably best if I get ready for the meeting with the princess,” Asgore said “Tori would you like to–” Toriel cut him off with a ‘humph’, she turned away and pouted. “Right.” Asgore croaked out, his voice contained a hint of sadness in it. He left with naught but a somber “farewell”. Suddenly, Fluttershy’s eyes went wide, as if she just realized something. “Oh no!” She gasped “I forgot to check on the animals back home! I’m sorry I have to go too, I hope they’re all okay.” She trotted out the door in a panic, heading straight for the charred remains of her own home. Only Toriel, Frisk and Spike remained in the library; Frisk was still absorbed in Spike’s comic books. “Now that that’s over, I’m going to go get a snack.” Spike said. He ran into the kitchen and swiped a large tub of vanilla ice cream. He pulled out a spoon and dug in, savoring in the sweet taste. Frisk was looking up from the comic, eyeing the ice cream. “Want some?” Spike offered with his mouth still full. Frisk dropped the book they were holding and grabbed the first spoon they could find. At the first bite the human gave a satisfied “mmm”. Suddenly, the tub of deliciousness was ripped from their grasp by an unknown force. “Oh no you don’t”, Toriel said. She lifted the ice cream high to where the two couldn’t reach it. “This isn’t very good for you now is it? I can’t just let you eat the whole tub!” Spike looked up at the stolen snack desperately. “But… Yes you can! You can just give it back and I’ll…I mean we’ll enjoy the whole thing no problem!” Toriel merely shook her head, “I don’t think so, little one. Your Twilight would probably not want to walk in and see you with a bellyache,” she cast a glance on Frisk “and I wouldn’t want to see you get one either, my child.” Both Frisk and Spike pouted, cheeks puffed up in annoyance. Toriel put the ice cream back into the fridge and said, “Now let me see what I can whip up for you.” Spike moved to protest, but Toriel cut him off. “Do not worry little one, I am quite experienced with cooking, I will not burn down your home.” Frisk nodded in agreement and ran into the kitchen. Spike merely shrugged and assumed nothing would go wrong. Whatever Toriel made, he hoped that it could make up for the lost frozen treat. “Are we close?” Twilight asked. “Y-Yeah, almost there, j-just a bit further.” Alphys responded, clearly nervous. “Well we better get there soon, I’m getting bored.” Rainbow pouted. The three of them were fortunate enough to have virtually no run-ins with dangerous creatures in the Everfree, save for a close call with a wandering cockatrice. Alphys’s machine made more and more strange beeps as they walked. Twilight was scanning the air for, something. Rainbow just didn’t know what. They approached a small cavern. “There, that’s the cave we came out of.” Alphys said. It was likely one of the smallest caves Rainbow had ever seen; how any kind of ‘underground’ existed here was beyond her. “Now the opening should be around here somewhere…” They walked on and on but found nothing, Alphys’s machine made stranger and stranger noises as they went deeper. There were no twists, turns, or forks; it was just a straight path. Rainbow didn’t know how she felt about that. Eventually they came to a dead end. “W-W-What?!” Alphys shrieked, she ran to the wall and looked at in in disbelief. “That doesn’t make any sense! We… we came out form here I know it! I recognize this cave for sure, there was a HUGE opening here a-and the entire underground…” Rainbow flew up into Alphys’s and glared at her. “Okay, what gives? First you said there was this underground and now there isn’t? Are you playing some kind of game here? Where are you REALLY from?!” “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight scolded. Alphys could barely choke out her next words, “I-I-I…N-No, there is an u-underground, there w-was an entrance here! I-I’m not lying this time I swear!” “THIS TIME?! What do you mean THIS TIME?!” Rainbow yelled. “N-No I mean, It was, I wasn’t, I was just–” Alphys was cut off by her machine beeping loudly. “What the?” The screen flashed and showed at ton of symbols that didn’t make any sense to Rainbow Dash. “This thing is going crazy! There’s some kind of strange energy here!” Twilight spoke up, “I know, I can feel it.” She cast a quick glare at Rainbow before looking back at Alphys apologetically. “I’m sorry, she can be a bit… aggressive at times. I believe you though.” Rainbow thought she heard that wrong, why would Twilight believe anything that these weird monsters said? She continued, “I can feel two types of magic in this area, both of which are completely foreign to me. The first one feels just like the type of the large surge, but it looks like the residue is dissipating, it’s not as strong as yesterday’s. The other is a totally new type magic.” She put of hoof to her chin “Hmmm, I wonder…” She looked directly at Alphys. “Hold still for a moment.” Twilight’s horn glowed with a magenta aura, and Alphys’s body was surrounded in the same aura. “W-What are you doing?” She asked nervously. The aura seemed to focus in on every detail of her body one by one, meticulously observing her essence. She suddenly glowed a faint white from within Twilight’s magic, she looked like she was about to panic. “Just as I thought” Twilight announced as the aura faded, “There’s residual magic on you that’s the same type as the second, newer magic. If I were to guess, it might be on your friends too. It’s just a hypothesis, but with enough tests I think I can confirm this.” Twilight rescanned the area, but her expression changed to one of confusion, “That’s odd…” “What is it?” Alphys asked “The second magic’s residue is quite strong here, like it was recently cast…” Twilight said. “So what?” Rainbow interrupted “These guys showed up yesterday, that magic’s probably just from them.” “No Rainbow, that’s what I mean. If the last time that the second unknown spell was cast was when Alphys and her friends arrived, the residue here would be just as strong as the one on her, but it’s much stronger here.” She looked towards the cave wall. “There are two possible explanations for this. One: the magical residue is dissipating much more slowly in here, which is highly unlikely. Or two…” She turned to face Alphys and Rainbow, a look of worry present on her face, “something else has just arrived in Ponyville!” <<<<<<===================================================================================>>>>>> message received opening… translating please wait… message 76.92% translated THE PRINCESS OF THE SUN IS DO NOT ALERT HER OR ANYONE THE FATE OF DEPENDS ON THIS THEY CANNOT . end message <<<<<<===================================================================================>>>>>> Author's Note Sorry this one took so long, college classes have started back up so I'm starved for free time, but I won't let this story die!
Prologue: The Mysterious Stranger <<<<<<===================================================================================>>>>>> message received opening… translating please wait… message 93.24% translated THE BARRIER WAS CREATED TO PREVENT MONSTERS FROM REACHING THE SURFACE WHERE HUMANS RESIDED. IN A WAY, IT SUCCEEDED. HUMANS ARE A STRANGE BUNCH, DETERMINATION DRIVING THEM TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE. I MUST MORE IN THE FUTURE... THIS LAND IS INTRIGUING, I WONDER IF ITS LAWS WILL AFFECT THE SAVE FILES. ONLY ONE WILL BE ABLE TO GIVE ME THE DATA FOR THE … KEEP AN EYE ON WON’T YOU? end message <<<<<<===================================================================================>>>>>> Meditation is the strongest way to relax the body and clear the mind; it was a practice that Zecora integrated into her daily life. She envisioned wide open plains flat enough to see the other side of the globe. Grasses that extended well past her fetlocks were stroked with a darkened yellow hue and flowed in the breeze all the way to the ever extending horizon. A single tree in the distance provided shade for a small watering hole. The only sounds to be heard were the slow deep breaths taken by the lone zebra that matched in time with the winds in synchronized respiration with the forces of nature, and the sound of… SNAP! The trance broke, Zecora’s ears shot up and eyes popped open as she returned to the Everfree forest. She was not alone. Zecora stood up, head turned to the left, looking for movement, listening for the sounds of approaching danger. Nothing was out of the ordinary, maybe it was just some animal running through…SNAP! This time from behind, she turned around to face the sound yet nothing appeared in her vision. Then there were the sound of steps, coming from behind again, but as she turned to face them they shifted with her, always staying to her back. A small bead of sweat formed on her brow, the darkness of the forest provided perfect cover for this intruder, and she was out in the open. She could make a beeline for her hut, it’s not too far from here… She felt it, whatever it was, she could feel it right behind her. The steps had stopped, and her heart raced. Zecora knew it was right there, and she was prepared for whatever it would try to do. She began to mutter a prayer in her native tongue, but was interrupted by a stark voice, “Behind you.” So it was intelligent. Then maybe she could reason with it. “You trespass on my property, I ask you to please leave me be. I wish not for any harm to come, but I will not hesitate to give you some!” Silence... dead silence... Zecora dared not to turn around to face this presence. It radiated an alien aura, even if she couldn’t see it. “That’s no way to greet someone, why not just look me in the eye and say ‘hi’?” It was so calm while it spoke; so calm it was terrifying. However, she couldn’t detect any malice in it's hauntingly low voice. Swallowing her fear, Zecora slowly turned to face this mysterious creature. The darkness of the Everfree made it difficult to see clearly, but it was a bipedal being, about as tall as her, and seemed quite wide in girth. The only other details visible were two glowing white eyes and a wide smile that pierced through the darkness like a spear. It raised an appendage towards her as it spoke again, “Put her there, pal.” It looked like a friendly gesture, but it felt like a trick, like somehow the being would instantly whisk her out of existence at a single touch. But she tossed the thought aside, remembering a past lesson she taught a friend about not judging books by their covers. Slowly she raised a hoof to meet its…paw? Zecora’s eyes met the being's, and firmly accepted the gesture. PPPPFFFFFFFFfffffftttttt… “Ha, never get tired of the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick.” There goes the feeling of overwhelming feeling of dread, as well as any sense of formality. After 'shaking' with the creature the details of it's form came into greater focus. It was wearing a rather casual looking outfit: a blue hooded jacket with a white shirt underneath, a darker article that was called…what was it? Pants? And for some reason it was wandering in the forest with slippers. “So I take it you're one of the natives here huh?” Its voice sounded less threatening; much more lax in its tone than before. If she were to guess, this creature would likely be a male. ‘He’ spoke but there was no mouth movement to indicate it; he just kept that goofy grin on his…face? No need to be rude to a friendly ‘face’ though; she responded, “Yes, I live here in the Everfree. Do you need some assistance from me?” Always try to be hospitable to others, one of her oldest values in life. “Actually yeah, I do. Me and my friends are kind of lost here. You know of a way out of these freaky woods? Maybe to a place we can stay the night?” With one hoof, Zecora pointed down a small path that headed east. She knew a friend nearby who'd be more than happy to oblige, and more than capable to help. “Ah, thanks Miss...” "Zecora" "Right, Zecora. I'l remember that." With that he turned to leave where she directed, but before he took a step Zecora asked him, “Before you go what is your name? And from where, pray tell, have you came?” He turned his head slightly then pointed towards himself, “The name’s Sans, and I come from the world down under.” Her eyes widened at the sight of his ‘paw’, it was pale white in color, and bony in form. From the land down under? Was he from Tartarus?! “And as to why I’m here…” he added “that is something I also wonder.” The stranger named ‘Sans’ got quite a chuckle at her surprise. Nopony ever used her own cryptic rhyming on her like that, much less learn it that quickly. With his arms in the pockets of his jacket, Sans returned to the darkness of the Everfree; he called out to someone as he walked, the words inaudible yet his gestures looked directive. Everything about this stranger was seemingly alien, but his actions more relaxed and mischievous in nature. Zecora’s attempts to return to her state of Zen proved difficult; her mind buzzing with countless questions like a wasp’s nest disturbed from its peace. Once the stranger disappeared from sight, she spoke to herself, trying to ease her nerves. She reassured herself; he did not seem evil, and they would know what to do with him and his friends... whoever or whatever they were. Author's Note And so it begins...
Prologue: A Visitor Nopony Would Believe! Prologue: A Visitor Nopony Would Believe! “Now Angel, I know you don’t like them, but these dietary meals are much better for your health.” Angel was being a tad disobedient... again. Fluttershy had given into quite a bit of his demands of a carrot crème brûlée with a turnip cake side, as well as sneaking one of Pinkie’s leftover cupcakes from the last party. He was gaining a few noticeable pounds, well noticeable to Fluttershy, and she couldn’t let it continue this way; the poor thing needs to stay in good health after all! Angel was not having any of it though, and threw the light salad dish he was given straight out of the window. At least his throwing strength has improved; he certainly isn’t low on protein. She cast him a look of disapproval “Angel! We do not throw our meals out of the window like that. It could hit somepony!” She sighed, Angel was a sweetheart but sometimes she wishes he would be less cranky. “I know they aren’t as tasty as those fancy dishes but you have put on a few pounds from just the past few! I can’t let you get out of shape now can I.” After a moment of slight offense, Angel reassessed his body mass; a quick gut check confirmed her statement and he pouted in defeat. “Good, now I’m going to prepare another batch of salad, you just wait–” Knock, knock, knock! A visitor at the door? She wasn’t expecting company. Maybe it was Rarity coming to offer a trip to the spa? Or Twilight wanting to have a nice chat? Fluttershy walked quickly to her door, can’t keep whoever is there waiting. She opened the door with a smile, “Hello? Who is–” Oh sweet Celestia, what was at her doorstep?! It was tall, much taller than her! It was wearing some kind of cheap metal armor and a tangelo colored scarf. It looked like it was made of, oh goodness are those bones?! “Why hello there adorable creature! My friends and I were just leaving that horrible forest when we saw this salad fly straight out of your window!” It pulled out the salad that angel threw, now in tatters and missing some of its pieces. “Now it may not be what I’d call ‘fine cuisine dining’ or ‘in good condition’ but how could I, the great Papyrus, not offer a kind gesture to the poor, starving creatures of this new world?” Shock, confusion, fear, denial, hilarity, nausea, and back to fear again; that completed the cycle of emotions present on Fluttershy’s face, right before screaming and slamming the door on this bony monster that called itself ‘Papyrus’. What was that thing?! Why did it look like it was made of bones?! Sweet Celestia, was that some kind of bipedal, talking, skeleton?! Fluttershy’s breaths were rapid; she just stared death in the face, so to prevent hyperventilation she took deep breaths and tried to rationalize what she just saw. Some kind of skeletal creature was at her doorstep; that' not too reassuring. It had a name right? Papyrus? What a strange name… Why was it here? Did it come for her animal friends? Was she too late to save Angel from the reaper?! If only he had eaten that… salad...the one that the skeleton was… trying to return. Fluttershy’s head drooped, her ears fell flat, and her eyes slightly watered; that wasn’t some monster, was it? It wasn’t here for Angel or any of here animals, it was just trying to be nice and return something, albeit a destroyed meal, and she went and slammed the door in its face. Didn’t she learn her lesson from Zecora about not to judge anypony by their appearance? Hesitantly, she returned to her front door still trembling a bit, but otherwise more confident. She opened the door slowly; only part of the way so her head could stick out, “H-hello?” She squeaked. The skeleton was still there, smiling. “Hello…again!” It said. “The salad fell on the ground again so I saved as much of it as I could!” The more it spoke, the more it sounded less like an ‘it’ and more like a ‘he’. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to slam the door in your, uh, face.” “No need to apologize” Fluttershy relaxed; at least he had qualities of a gentlestallion, “For you see…I know exactly why you ran off.” His eye sockets narrowed, she felt her heartbeat pickup. “You were so utterly amazed at the sight of someone so great that you needed to run back inside to find a way to get my autograph!” “Umm…excuse me?” Fluttershy said utterly perplexed. “Autograph?” “Why of course you can have my autograph! The great Papyrus wouldn’t be so great if he didn’t care for his fans, would he?” Why Fluttershy had flashbacks to a certain cerulean coated unicorn would forever be a mystery. “But alas! You poor thing! There was nothing you could find! Don’t worry; the great Papyrus is always prepared!” The skeleton whose name was confirmed to be Papyrus reached behind him and pulled out a small ink pen and a batch of sticky notes. He clicked the pen and asked, “To whom is this being made out for?” After a brief pause Fluttershy realized that this was the perfect opportunity for formal introductions. “O-Oh, my name is… F-Fl-Fluttershy…” “I see!” He spoke as he wrote, “To my adoring fan: F-Fl-Fluttershy signed: Papyrus, The great.” He took the note off of the stack and stuck right onto Fluttershy’s snout, causing her to let out a slight “Eeep!” “Now that I have helped you, maybe you can help me, hmm?” He asked. “As I said, my friends found our way out of that dreadful forest after escaping the underground and are trying to find a place to settle down in.” Underground? What did that mean? Was he really from Tartarus?! He didn’t act like it though. “Is there any place the seven of us could stay for a while as we get used to our new lives up on the surface?” Now she really was confused. On one hoof, from what the skeleton was saying it sounded like he came from Tartarus, but if he was he wouldn’t just say it outright like that would he? And his demeanor was rather… strange but nothing one would call evil. “Please could you help us? We barely made it out of that forest alive, Undyne had to fight off some new kind of manticore we’ve never seen without armor, and we’re all tired and dirty and…” Her heart reached out to the poor thing. There was no mistaking genuine emotion like that. One of them even had to fight off a manitcore?! How horrible! She offered her home as a place for them to stay, if it was okay with them, and decided she would later take them to Ponyville to see what her friends could do. “Really? Wowie! Thank you so much Ms. F-Fl-Fluttershy! You have no idea how much this means to us!” “It’s no problem at all! Oh, but it’s just Fluttershy… sir.” “Right just Fluttershy! I’ll go get my friends, they’ll be so happy to hear this!” And with that he ran off towards where his friends were. As he ran, Fluttershy couldn't help but wonder, what were they like? Were they skeletons like him? Were they just as nice? Were they…scarier? Celestia knows what they could be like, but if one of them could fight off a manticore then they must be strong. All of these questions buzzed around in Fluttershy’s head before being interrupted with a carrot to the head. Angel was not happy with what he had just heard. “Angel I know it might be a bit crowded, but it will only be for one night. Besides they need help, how could I turn down somepony in need?” Angel merely pouted in frustration, and his stomach gave a slight growl. In all of the confusion of talking to a skeleton, she forgot to feed Angel... and to take the sticky note off her snout. The hand writing was scrawled and the letters were all capitalized, she set the autograph on a nearby table. Before she could make her way back to the kitchen, there was another knock on the door. She guessed it was the skeleton’s friends. She opened the door, and her eyes widened at the truly bizarre sight. Two horned goats, two skeletons, a lizard wearing glasses, and a grinning fish-like creature; all of which were bipedal; stood before the butter colored pegasus. Only after a second run across each of the six creatures did she notice the seventh one, an absolutely adorable creature that looked like some kind of hairless monkey wearing a striped shirt, it was holding one of the goat’s hands. Papyrus banished the awkward silence, “These are my friends! And this is your salad that I forgot to give back!” The fish barked back at him, “Is that what that is? I thought you were carrying a plate full of leaves or something.” “Why would I be carrying around a plate full of leaves?” “I don’t know that’s why I’m asking!” The much shorter skeleton spoke up, “Hey come on Undyne, leaf him alone.” One of the goats chuckled, but Papyrus wasn’t having the same amount of fun. “Sans!” was all he managed to say before a small fit of laughter erupted from everyone. <<<<<<===================================================================================>>>>>> message received opening… translating please wait… message 80.49% translated A POWER FUELED BY , QUITE INTERESTING. MY THEORY IS A TAD OFF BUT NOT COMPLETELY WRONG I WONDER WHAT ELSE IS . … WILL IT BE THE ANGEL OF OR ? I BELIEVE THAT THE . end message <<<<<<===================================================================================>>>>>>
Prologue: Fiery TempersIt was a typical, normal, and completely average morning in Ponyville. The sun was shining, and the birds were singing; it was perfect weather for a game of catch. Ponies of different shapes, sizes, colors, ages and genders went about their days shopping, working, playing, or relaxing in the blissful spring breeze. It couldn’t have been a more perfect day. And it was so boring! What was a poor, inactive and completely bored Rainbow Dash to do on such a day as this? She had already spent plenty of hours practicing tricks and napping, she had no weather responsibilities today, and Daring Do’s next book doesn’t come out until next month! What else was there to do? All of friends were busy with work, Applejack was running her stand in the market all day, Rarity had dress orders up to her neck, Twilight was caught in a mixture of princess paperwork and how-to-be-a-princess homework (the latter she assigned herself), even Pinkie Pie was away on her day off no less; something about her Pinkie Sense warning her of a huge amount of visitors in need of a welcoming party. Whatever, it still meant that there was nopony to spend time with. Well there was Fluttershy, but the only thing that Dash could think they’d do together was drink tea; no thanks! The cyan pegasus looked towards her friend’s cottage over by the Everfree forest. Was she that desperate? She didn’t dislike spending time with her; it’s just that hardly anything interesting happens to her on days like these. She lazily gazed towards her friend’s home, watching the pillar of smoke rise into the air without a care in the… wait, smoke?! Rainbow Dash immediately rose to her hooves atop her cloudy perch fully awakened, Fluttershy’s house was on fire! “Oh my gosh! Hang on Fluttershy, I’m coming!” She yelled. A Rainbow trail followed behind her as she sped to her friend’s rescue. Only two questions on her mind as she flew: Was Fluttershy okay? And who could have caused this? Earlier… “Oh no, I couldn’t just have you make everything; you’re my guests, and–” “Which is precisely why I will be happy to prepare brunch! Everyone is still hungry from breakfast and you have yet to experience the full culinary experience of Master Chef Papyrus's cooking!” There was a slight impasse over what would be served to everyone this time. Papyrus continued to insist on cooking meals for everypony, and while Fluttershy would hate to argue; she just couldn’t allow him to cook anything, both out of courtesy of being a good host, and mercy from repeating the events of breakfast. Papyrus was sweet, but his cooking wasn’t even eaten by any of her animals. She only knew this because she found the remains of his spaghetti outside on the ground not too long after breakfast. She cleaned up the mess quickly soon after the discovery to prevent Papyrus from baring witness to such a crime against cuisine. “I understand that, and I really appreciate the help, I just… um, don’t think it would be fair if I didn’t get to show you some of my own…um, exotic dishes.” She smiled meekly. His expression was blank. “I-I mean if that’s okay with you.” “Hmm…” Papyrus pondered, “You make a fair point, I actually am curious to try more surface food.” Fluttershy sighed in relief which was unsurprisingly short lived when he exclaimed, “However! I will make sure that lunchtime is prepared by none other than I, and it will be an even more delectable dish than before. I guarantee it! Nyeh heh heh heh heh!” Papyrus ran right out of the kitchen, heading straight outdoors to meet with his friends, cackling the whole way. In his haste, he nearly slammed into the walking, talking, navy blue colored salmon creature as she was entering the house. “Whoa! Watch out!” Undyne yelled, narrowly dodging the sprinting skeleton. She chuckled, and headed for the kitchen. Fluttershy noticed that the small ‘human’ as they were called entered behind her. “Oh, hello Undyne, hello Frisk! I was just getting ready to make us something.” “Hey!” Undyne greeted, “I need another glass of water; it’s so hot on the surface!” The human behind her waved and took a seat a on a nearby chair. Angel poked his head from behind that chair looking right at the human, he seemed unpleased. “So you actually convinced Papyrus not to cook this time?” Fluttershy nodded “Wow I’m impressed, ever since I started giving him cooking lessons nothing’s been able to tear him from the kitchen! Well almost nothing.” She glanced towards Frisk. “You were giving him cooking lessons?” Fluttershy asked. “Still am, and boy has he improved! Feels like just yesterday when he burned his first spaghetti. Good times. I even once gave a special lesson to Frisk here.” Fluttershy looked to see the scene of an upset Angel bunny trying to pick a fight with Frisk. The human was seated in Angel’s favorite chair and they didn’t even know it. “Now that kid,” Undyne said, briefly stealing the pegasus’s attention, “that kid had a spark like no other!” Even this child had cooking lessons with Undyne? She was unsure how to feel about that. Fluttershy moved to intervene before Angel got too upset, but in the brief moment where she looked away not only had the child calmed him down, but had even somehow managed to get the bunny to lay in their lap, smiling blissfully as he was pet by the humans hand. Oh, goodness it was just too cute! Fluttershy could hardly hide her smile behind her hooves. The fish patted the back of the pegasus quite roughly, causing her to squeak like a little yellow chew toy, “If you want I can even give you your own lesson!” She grinned widely showing her incredibly sharp teeth, Fluttershy shook slightly. While she was friendly, Undyne had a certain… assertiveness that was intimidating for more than one reason. That and she had been able to fight off a manticore all alone, somehow suplexing the beast supposedly, the poor thing. She didn’t know what to respond with. On one hoof, she was afraid of what might happen should Undyne get her hands on the stove, on the other she was more afraid of making Undyne upset. “Um… well you don’t have to but… I g-guess you could at least help me in the kitchen a little… if you want to.” “Awesome! C’mon I’ll show you Undyne’s way of making the meanest brunch you’ll ever taste!” Said the fish as she leaped into the kitchen. Frisk’s face turned to worry, as if to say ‘You shouldn’t have done that’. “R-Right so I was thinking we could make a… um sweet potato soufflé with a salad… and–” “Sweet popatoes?! No thank you, I hate those things!” “Um, ok if you don’t want any sweet… p-popatoes…? Th-Then we could still make the salad.” Undyne wore a slight scowl of displeasure, “Flutter, I said that I was going to show you Undyne’s way of cooking. You know what that means?” Fluttershy’s heartbeat picked up, she didn’t like where this was going and could only form the answer in a few nervous mumbles. Her anxiety soared to new heights at the sight of Undyne’s enormous grin and the swords in her mouth one mistakenly would call teeth. “That means we’re going to make the biggest, juiciest, spiciest, most amazing thing that anyone will ever taste.” The puny pegasus found herself suddenly caught in the shark’s grasp. “And we’re going to make it TOGETHER!” Undyne bellowed the last word with such a force it likely shook the entire world; the slightest peep could have shattered the ground beneath them. One would have to be mad to utter another word after such a display of force, unfortunately for all of existence, Undyne was mad enough to speak those next earth-shattering words, “So let’s get started!” She chirped with innocence and childish glee. Fluttershy’s heart rate returned to healthy levels; Undyne’s vicious gaze had suddenly vanished and in its place was a warm smile. She was practically glowing with optimism; her smile could have even made Pinkie just a tad jealous. Yet for some reason, Frisk was shaking their head rapidly, a look of absolute terror ever present. But who could distrust a sincere smile like that? Fluttershy perked up at Undyne’s sudden spark of warmness, “Ok, let’s do this, together.” She smiled back to her new cooking buddy, “So what’s first?” “How about some tea?” Undyne somehow managed to find the teapot and eagerly awaited her buddy’s response. “Tea sounds perfect! You go boil the water and I’ll get started on preparing the food.” Fluttershy decided to forgo the sweet potatoes in favor of a nice soup, maybe even something spicy just for Undyne. She diced the vegetables slowly and carefully, taking extra care to ensure that they were just the right size. Undyne joined in, attempting to match Fluttershy’s speed yet still outpacing her by a large margin smiling all the while. One by one the ingredients went into the pot: onions, carrots, celery, cilantro, and peppers. The concoction was covered in sauces, spices, and oils of many exotic types, and filled with water. “Now we just have to stir it, I just have to find us a spoon somewhere…” “I GOT IT!” Undyne suddenly yelled as she raised an arm in the air. Out of nowhere a large spear materialized into her grasp pointed directly at the soup, ready to strike at any moment. Fluttershy gasped, where did she get that spear from?! The shark’s face was contorted into a large vicious grin yet again as she was poised to smite down her nutritious adversary. However before she could move, she must have realized what she was doing, as her grin suddenly dissipated. As quickly as it appeared the spear faded out of existence, “Uh…I mean…” Undyne quickly grabbed the nearest object, which just so happened to be a spatula. “I got it, Flutterbuddy! No problem… Whoops silly me, that’s a spatula! Ha ha... ha.” The spatula was thrown over her shoulder, Celestia know where it went. She attempted to return to her warm smile, it looked like it caused physical pain to hold, a few nervous sweats were visible on her brow. As strange as her actions were, it was clear Undyne still wanted to sincerely help, and she was doing such a fine job, so her small outburst was met with a supportive smile and a supportive wooden spoon. Undyne let out a relieved breath. Fluttershy took the steaming teapot off of the stove and finished making the tea; Undyne frantically stirred the soup, smiling the whole time. “Okay, that’s good enough. Now you just need to boil it. You might want to make the flames a teensy bit hotter. I’ll go serve the tea.” The pegasus fluttered towards Frisk, who had found a carrot somewhere and was feeding it to Angel. “You two are just the most adorable things!” Angel tried to counter with an angry pout, but it only served to make him look silly. “Don’t worry Angel, I won’t interrupt you for too long, I’m just here to give you both some nice herbal tea, the food is almost ready so–” BANG! “HUNK OF JUNK!!” Fluttershy jumped at the sudden burst of anger that erupted from her kitchen; she would have dropped her teapot, were it not for a fast acting Frisk who caught it before it struck the ground. Fluttershy went to the kitchen to check on Undyne. “Is everything alright?” She peeped. Undyne was so wrapped up in her battle against the kitchen stove she almost failed to notice the yellow presence entering the kitchen. “Everything’s alright!” she said sheepishly. “It just that this stove is kind of uh… different from what I’m used to. I can’t…quite…make it…hot enough!” Undyne's true battle against the stove began. The inevitable ensued, just as Frisk predicted. “Oh um… that’s perfectly fine where it is.” Fluttershy said. “But the flame is so tiny! It’ll be ages before this is done! Don’t worry about me I’ve got this!” Undyne responded while lodging a spear in the stove. “No, No it’s quite alright! You don’t need to do that!” Frisk merely sipped a cup of tea, knowing all too well there was nothing that could be done. “I’ve got everything under control!” Undyne said as she wrestled with the hissing stove. “I’m just worried you might do something that could hurt you!” Said the mare in response to the escalating madness. “Relax! I won’t make the same mistake twice I swear–” A piece of the stove suddenly came loose, launching into the air like a rocket. Sounds a stove should never make rumbled through the kitchen. The flame heating the soup increased in size; it became bigger and bigger with each passing second. Before Fluttershy could react, an arm reached out, grabbed her, and pulled her out of the kitchen with lightning speed. Another arm shot out and grabbed Frisk, who was holding a panicking Angel bunny. The four of them just managed to make it outside before Fluttershy’s cottage erupted in fire. The inside was engulfed with flames, smoke and embers poured out of the windows and door. The heat of the flames was intense enough to be felt from where the four were thrown. Fluttershy could only gawk at the disaster unfolding before her. Her house just, exploded! And she was almost roasted alive! Undyne rose slightly from her laid down position, “You okay?” She asked. Fluttershy’s mouth was stuck open, unable to respond. Undyne looked at the new record for world’s largest torch, then back to the world’s most stunned pegasus and smiled sheepishly. “Heh…My bad!” Was all she could think to say. Rainbow Dash didn’t even bother to look back at the two peeved pegasi behind her. They can find another storm cloud somewhere else, this was an emergency! Fluttershy’s house was quickly coming into focus. Holy hay! Those flames were huge! There was no sight of Fluttershy anywhere which wasn't a good sign, so she picked up the speed. Using the secret fire-dousing-cloudy-niner technique (patent pending), Rainbow Dash made the cloud unleash its rain, split the pouring cloud in half, took one of the two halves in her hooves, and dived into the burning house leaving the other half to put out the outer flames. She circled the inside of the house with blinding speeds, creating a miniature cyclone that simultaneously robbed the flames of their precious oxygen and flung rainwater in all directions. To the inexperienced, the maneuver was incredibly dangerous, but the rainbow blur executed it flawlessly and within a few minutes the flames were snuffed out. With the inferno extinguished, Rainbow began the search for her missing friend, hopefully still breathing. She searched every nook and cranny, every singed room and closet, but there was no sign of her. That either meant that she was able to get outside of the house just in time, or… Rainbow Dash’s heartbeat raced at the thought; she yelled out her name in desperation trying to find a trace of her, anything! Hopefully not… A soft yell echoed through the building, “Rainbow Dash, I’m outside!” That was Fluttershy’s voice! She was alright! Rainbow dashed out of a nearby window, there she was! “Fluttershy! You’re okay!” Rainbow said while racing to her friend. “I mean, I knew you were okay the whole time.” “Of course.” The yellow one assured. “I’m glad you came by to check on me though.” “Yeah, you sure you’re not too hurt though?” The cyan one asked, lifting her friend in the air to observe her closely. “Oh yes, I’m just fine.” “No burns on your wings?” Fluttershy shook her head. “No scratches on your legs?” Another shake. “Not even a bruise?” It was unbelievable, but Fluttershy somehow was completely unharmed! Once she made sure her friend was okay, Rainbow Dash decided to find out how this happened, “Alright then, who’s the no-good, house burning, jerk face that did this to you?” “Uh…you see.” An unfamiliar voice said. Rainbow turned her head and came face to face with some kind of freaky fish monster thing. How'd she miss that? It was tall, had sharp teeth, and an admittedly cool eye-patch. It also wore a sheepish smile on its face, “That was… kind of my bad.” Freaky fish monster, sharp teeth, really big, said it caused the fire, almost hurt friend, close to friend. Defensive maneuvers engaged. Rainbow flew right up to the fish’s face. “You did this?! You almost hurt my friend you overgrown tuna!” That made it mad. “Hey! It was an accident!” It retorted “I still saved her life! If it wasn’t for me your friend would be fried chicken!” “If it wasn’t for you my friend’s house wouldn’t have turned into the largest bonfire in Equestria!” “Well I'm sorry! I was just trying to make a good impression!” “You sure made a good impression ON HER HOUSE!” “I’LL MAKE A GOOD IMPRESSION ON YOUR FACE YOU FLYING LOLLIPOP!” “I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY BARNACLE BREATH!” There was nothing Fluttershy could do to ease the situation. Her soft voice was lost in the ever rising voices and heated anger. Her voice was so lost that not even the narration could hear what it was she was trying to say. Fortunately for everyone, a stronger, more firm voice announced from behind the pair, “That’s enough you two!” Another unfamiliar voice… Rainbow turned to look towards it. Some kind of two legged goat thing was there, arms crossed and foot tapping. It looked like a she, she also looked peeved. Mrs. Goat walked over to the two pointing a scolding finger at both of them, “This petty fighting isn’t going to solve anything! Undyne, you said you were going try to make a better impression instead of being so aggressive.” The fish hung its head. “And you, I don’t know who you are but there’s no reason to go picking fights over an accident.” “But…I…” Rainbow choked out, she hovered a bit lower. “I saw what you did, both of you. Without you two this situation could have been much worse.” The goat’s face turned to one of visible worry, it doubled Rainbow’s shame. “So I'll ask you two to please stop fighting over it." The two combatants heads hung in shame (instead of on each other's walls thankfully). "Now if you’ll excuse me.” The goat then rushed to Fluttershy kneeling to meet her face. “Are you alright dear? Anything burned or broken?” This goat thing knew Fluttershy? Was it some kind of animal Rainbow didn’t know about? And hold the phone, what the hay was that fish with legs?! “OHMYGOD!!! Undyne!!! Are you alright?!?!” Another new voice shrieked, this one sounded rather squirrelly. Some two legged lizard was hugging the fish and crying. First a walking fish, then a walking goat, now a walking lizard? What's next the walking dead? “Hey, how’s the weather up there?” Said yet another voice. Rainbow Dash looked down to see a short skeleton smiling at her. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” she said, “I am.” said the skeleton. Another much taller skeleton came up behind the first one. “You have the worst timing for jokes Sans.” The tall one said. Another goat, this one with a beard, ran up and asked, “Is everyone alright? We heard the explosion all the way from the Zecora’s hut!” Even Zecora knew them? What was going on?! “Okay hold on a second.” Every...thing turned to the cyan pegasus. Rainbow pointed a hoof at the strangers, “You all know Fluttershy, AND Zecora?” They nodded simultaneously. “Who and what in Equestria are you anyways? After a brief pause, the bearded goat spoke up first. “We are…hmm how can I put this?” “We're monsters from underground!” said the tall skeleton. The fish facepalmed. Monsters?! Friends with Fluttershy?! Rainbow Dash’s jaw hit the ground; she couldn’t believe her eyes or her ears. She was having trouble staying afloat. Fluttershy finally managed to get up and speak, “I think now would be a good time for you all to meet my friends. And Rainbow, can you tell the girls that I’d like them to meet some...um…new friends?” Rainbow's mind was still processing information when she felt a light tug on her hind leg. She looked down from her floating position to see a small hairless monkey with a brown mane looking up at her. It smiled and waved hello. Author's Note New chapter, FINALLY!!! Sorry this took so long, I was going to upload it earlier but a combination of life and perfectionism led to many delays. But I never forgot about you guys and checked up frequently. I'm so happy that this got such good reception, thank you so much for all the feedback! Now you get not only a new chapter but a longer one! What do you guys think? Should I stick with the longer ones or do two short ones at a time? Or mix it up with both? Also a few things: 1. I meant the description to say that this was set before the season 4 finale not 3, this has been fixed. Sorry for any confusion. 2. "Popatoes" is NOT a typo, it's an intentional reference! 3. Has anyone tried to decipher the missing part of the messages yet?
Prologue: Meet and GreetIt was a while before Rarity came to. And when she awoke she nearly fainted again once she found out that she had not been dreaming. Could anypony blame her? It’s not often that monsters come to Ponyville. Well actually it’s quite ordinary, but this time was quite different! For once the monsters had the decency to politely walk into town and say hello, rather than storm in roaring and smashing everything around them. They also had the ability to speak fluently and for some, quite eloquently (though others were not so proper). Perhaps it was the shock of seeing actually civil monsters this time that caused her to faint, but the truth still stands strong as a stone minotaur: six monsters and a hairless monkey were now standing before Rarity and her five friends in Golden Oaks Library. Once she returned to her senses, Rarity was able to give these new visitors a proper inspection. She had already been briefly introduced before her trip to her subconscious she merely struggled with a few of their names. First, there was Toriel: Large, cream colored, goat-like in appearance but with small fangs and short horns. A large violet robe draped over her body, with a mysterious crest bearing a circle with two wings hovering above three triangles. The robe seemed to be very old, perhaps it was significant in some way to her? Hopefully it wasn’t the only thing she had to wear; Nopony should have to suffer such torture. Maybe she could make her a new one, adorned with some complimentary topaz to and finer stitching to really draw the eye. Secondly, there was Sans: second smallest of the bunch, one who could meet most ponies eye to eye without having to kneel or bend down. A skeleton like his brother but with much more girth, or was he just big boned? He sported an atrocious combo of a baby blue hoodie, a white undershirt stained beyond measure, black gym shorts, and morning slippers of all things. It was like he didn’t even try! There was little hope for this one. Third was his brother, Papyrus: Sporting a tangerine cape over his silver armor (which seemed to be of the same quality as a Nightmare Night costume) orange gloves and blue tights. The complementary color scheme suited him well. He was tall, slender and seemed to carry something resembling prim and posture, but it lacked any sign of formal training. While he constantly called himself great, Rarity knew that he could be even greater. He oozed potential, there were so many possibilities for him; all he needed was the right polish. There was Undyne, an athlete by the way she looked. Her designs could be similar to Rainbow Dash’s, anything to get her out of that black tang top; Alphys, a lizard creature, wore a pair of spectacles and a lab coat, possibly somelizard for Twilight to get acquainted with, she clung to Undyne like she was her lifeline, possible lovers perhaps? Asgore was similar to Toriel, though he was more male in appearance (siblings?) and was decorated with a more royal attire: A violet cloak draped over golden armor. A few gems here and there and he’d be worthy of a dance with the nobles. Last of all was Frisk, who was… different. For one he/she (nopony knew for sure) was not a monster like all the rest of his/her companions. For one, his/her appearance was actually quite suiting, a striped shirt was an abomination amongst fashion normally, but somehow it fit him/her perfectly. Another thing was that Frisk was something called a “human” this nearly gave Twilight her own fainting spell, apparently humans were some sort of mythological cryptid. As soon as she said this the human seemed distraught. Most striking of all were the human’s eyes. They were paper thin; one could even say they weren’t even open; they however didn’t need to be to convey their messages. The human’s eyes spoke of one who had gone to Tartarus and back, yet still retained that childlike innocence and an air of warmness. Frisk was the smallest and the youngest of the group, but the human was likely much wiser than his/her age would suggest. This being emanated an aura unlike anything she had ever seen. It was as if he/she had stared death in the face, gave it a hug, and managed to walk away. Rarity managed to return her thoughts to reality, and focused on a conversation between a short skeleton and a pink pony. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! I’m so super happy to meet you Mr. Sans!” Pinkie chirped. “Really? I was worried you weren’t happy to see me, what with the long face.” Sans said. He bopped her on the nose for emphasis. She chuckled. Rarity groaned on the inside. “You’re funny! Are you really a skeleton? Do skeletons like to eat cake? I hope they like cake and cookies and muffins and donuts and pie! I could bake you and your friends a whole mountain of yummy treats!” She stopped to gasp for a comically long period of time. If Sans had eyebrows, he would have raised one at that moment, “You okay? That gasp lasted a comically long period of time.” “I still haven’t finished preparing your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party yet! Maybe it should be a ‘Congratulations on getting out of underground AND Welcome to Ponyville’ party? Eh, I’ll figure it out.” Sans seemed to be unfazed by Pinkie’s antics, which was… odd. She continued, “What kind of games do you like to play? Do you like pin-the-tail-on-the-pony? What about horseshoes? Do you guys like jokes?” “Jokes?” “Yeah! I have tons of jokes! I’ve got knock-knock jokes and practical jokes and punny jokes, I’ve got so many jokes it’ll…” Rarity hoped that this wasn’t going where she thought “Rattle your funny bone!” That gave Sans a chuckle, as well as Rarity’s hoof a chance to become close friends with her face. Sans had his own comedic retort prepared, “I can tell I’ll like you already; you’re quite the humerus gal.” That gave Pinkie her own chuckle, and both of Rarity’s hooves entered a competition to be her face’s best friend. “Welcome to my life sister.” A stark voice announced. Rarity looked up to see a much taller skeleton. “Imagine having to live with him.” Rarity regained her composure, “Oh please darling, I can survive a few puns here and there. That’s nothing compared to what Pinkie does on a daily basis.” Rarity took a moment to check if anypony was listening in on her. She whispered, “You have no idea how unpredictable she can be, the first time I saw her pull out a trombone from her mane I thought I had lost my sanity.” Papyrus whispered back, “I know that feeling. Sans though… he likes to just pop in and out wherever he pleases, he manages to find his way into the most peculiar of places. Tracking him down when he needs to recalibrate puzzles can be more of chore than it needs to be.” “I understand completely, in fact…” Something clicked in Rarity’s mind. “Wait a moment…your brother can do that too?” “Too? What do you mean ‘too’?!” “Does he also like to play practical jokes on others?” “The worst ones are when he pranks me across the time-space continuum, I really hate it when he…” Rarity turned Papyrus’s head towards their targets of gossip. Pinkie and Sans had found trombones somewhere and were currently having a duet. It then clicked in Papyrus’s head, “Oh god! THEY’RE MULTIPLYING!” Twilight was completely absorbed by this new piece of technology called a ‘cell phone’. It worked similarly to dragonfire: one could send messages to another no matter how far the distance, however it was also capable of taking and sending pictures, playing music, one could even have a complete conversation in real time! And all WITHOUT magic?! This must be the work of a genius! “And with this button you can take videos, and this one you can access the Undernet, which is this…” Alphys paused for a moment “Uhh… would we actually have any Undernet connection up here? There was always a connection in the underground but uh…I-I don’t know if it’ll work here.” Twilight pressed the icon labeled ‘Undernet’ with her nose, after a short period a white box popped up with the words ‘No connection’ inside. “Oh darn it.” While her experience of this ‘Undernet’ was rather disappointing Twilight continued to fiddle with this new contraption endlessly. She wanted to know what every button did and how it did it and why it did. She wanted to find out how this was created and how it worked without magic and… “NOWAITDON’TPRESSTHAT!!” Alphys screamed, but it was too late. Twilight couldn’t make heads or tails of what she was looking at, was it some kind of monster from their underground? It looked similar to a human like Frisk but it had…really big eyes and cat-like ears. It was happily playing volleyball at the beach. How did they have beaches if they were underground? Or sunlight that intense? Why was it wearing clothes that didn’t even look like they fit? Alphys’s face managed to change colors from yellow to tomato red; she was trying to hide her face behind her claws; her nervous mumbling was completely incomprehensible. “I never did get a chance to watch those cartoons with you Alphys.” Asgore came up behind Alphys and startled her, returning her color back to its proper yellow. “Say if you ever figure out how to get that fancy technology working you think you could show me and the ponies this ‘anime’ you keep going on about?” “Anime? What’s that?” Twilight asked. Alphys turned red again. “Oh it’s this wonderful sounding show with swords, and kissing robots and battles against evil. I’ve yet to see it but boy it sounds neato!” Asgore said. “Uh…huh… It does sound… interesting. Once Princess Celestia sends me a response letter I’ll see what I can schedule.” Twilight said. Alphys perked up, “R-Really? You actually w-want to? Thank you! I-I mean, sure, I m-mean, I’m sure you’ll love it! It’s way more than kissing robots though! There’s friendships and history and mythology AND ROMANCE AND¬–! ” Her claws covered her mouth in an attempt to keep her dignity alive. Twilight’s smirk was evidence enough to know that she failed. A nearby Fluttershy appeared; she didn’t overhear much of the outburst, but managed to get the gist of it. “That um… that doesn’t actually sound so bad, but how will we watch it?” “Oh! Well then it’s a good thing I carry with me some of my favorite DVD’s!” Alphys said. She pulled out a few small cases; they had pictures of the same cat-human creature in various outfits, and a few visible claw marks. “Once I put this in the DVD player we can watch three whole seasons, it’s the best way to spend an afternoon.” She turned her head, looking for something, “Where’s your TV?” Two ponies stood dumbfounded at the lizard, wearing only blank stares on their faces. “What’s a TV?” asked the pegasus. “And what are DVD’s?” asked the alicorn. The lizard’s claw met her face. “You two ‘r just gonna keep this up ain’t ya?” Applejack asked. “Yup” was the simultaneous response from Undyne and Rainbow Dash, both in each other’s face locked in a stare down. “Yer not gonna at least look at me when I’m tryin’ to talk to ya?” She asked. “Nope” They responded; and they called Applejack stubborn. The two had been staring each other down ever since they stepped into Twilight’s home. They didn’t move, but they looked madder than bull with a red sheet stuck on its head. One might think they were just about to tear each other apart, but that would mean that one of them would have to lose the stare down. Toriel looked worried as she watched them, “They’ve been eyeing each other like that this whole time. I understand the tensions were high but, there is no need to have that much anger for a misunderstanding.” Applejack tried to reassure her, “Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, Rainbow won’t try nothin’–” but was cut off by Rainbow Dash when she exclaimed, “I’m just waiting for barnacle breath here to try something, so then I have an alibi once I pound her!” Undyne barked back, “That’s not what an alibi is airhead! And why do you need one? Why don’t you just fight me right now?! Unless of course… you’re scared?” “ME?! Scared of YOU?! That’s a joke right? I’ve fought things twice the monster you are!” Rainbow yelled. “I could take down anything you fought with both hands tied behind my back WHILE blindfolded!” Undyne yelled back. “I bet you could, couldn’t you?!” “Yeah I could!” “OH YEAH?!” “YEAH!!!!” Their faces were pressed into each other, snout to…face. How did Undyne smell without a nose? Toriel massaged her temples, “I am sorry, young pony.” Applejack reassured her, “Naw, don’t worry ‘bout it much. ‘s just Rainbow being Rainbow, and I’m guessin’ that you’re friend‘s all the same.” Toriel nodded. Applejack looked at the two. “To be honest, I think they should just kiss already.” Both Undyne and Rainbow recoiled from that statement, blinking in shock. “HEY!” They shouted at Applejack, she merely chuckled. The two enemies glared back at each other one last time, before turning away and pouting. “Just so you know, I’m spoken for.” Undyne grumbled. “ ‘Though she was defeated, the evil Mane-iac managed to escaped, and she swore she would have her revenge.’ ” Spike read aloud, “See, I told you these were cool!” Frisk nodded in agreement. The two were digging through Spike’s comics, going through each and every page with childish fascination. “Do you have anything like this were you guys are from?” Frisk told him about the various comics they knew of, as well as the only one they knew were in the underground. “Man-ga? Is that like, a code for something?” Spike suddenly felt a pressure build in his gut. With a loud belch, emerald dragonfire erupted from his mouth, and a scroll materialized from the embers. From the other side of the room, Papyrus yelled, “Gesundheit!” “Oh, she wrote back already!” Twilight said. Using her magic she opened the scroll; everypony, monster and human turned to face her as she read aloud. My fellow princess Twilight, Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I believe you are correct, the massive surge of unknown magical energy you detected is most likely linked your new visitors. My sister and I sensed it as well and were on our way to investigate, thankfully though we know that there is likely no danger. I’ll be glad to meet these mysterious new visitors myself, as well as speak to this ‘King Asgore’. We should arrive into Ponyville within the next couple of days. I still believe it is best if you head towards the source of this surge, and gather more information. We still do not know the nature of this magic or if it is dangerous, but I have a good feeling we are safe for now. Report your findings whenever you can, and tell our guests I said ‘hello’. Best regards, Princess Celestia P.S. I’ll see what I can do to help your friend Fluttershy. There was a brief moment before a voice broke the silence. “So she is on her way.” Asgore announced. “Yes, and by the looks of it she was already heading in this direction to assess the surge of magic from that night” Twilight said. “Whoa there sugarcube, what’s this about a surge ‘a magic?” Applejack asked. “Oh that’s right, I haven’t told you girls yet.” Twilight responded, smiling sheepishly. “A couple nights ago right before sunrise, there was a massive surge of magical energy coming from the Everfree Forest, it wasn’t like any other magic source I had ever felt before.” Rainbow interrupted, “Whoa whoa whoa, backup! You’re saying there was a giant magic explosion in the Everfree forest? Then how was it that nopony saw it themselves, or even heard it?” “And how is it that only you felt it darling?” Rarity added. “I had slept just fine the entire night and hadn’t felt any magical surge.” “Which is why it took me a while to tell you all,” Twilight added, “when I went to ask other ponies about it nopony said they felt anything. Plus, even though I felt it, I didn’t see or even hear anything. I thought it must have been my imagination at first but…I could still feel the energy around me.” “What does this have to do with us?” Undyne asked. “I’m not too sure, but not too long after the surge you all suddenly appeared. It’s just a hunch, but I think there’s a connection between that surge and why you’re all here.” “Do you think that it might have just been the barrier shattering?” Alphys said. “That’s what I want to know, and I also need to know more about this ‘barrier’ you keep mentioning.” Twilight said “I’m going try to find the source of this, but I can’t go in the forest alone. Rainbow Dash, I need you to accompany me.” “No problem!” Rainbow saluted. “If we run into anything out there, I’ll knock ‘em into next week!” Alphys stepped forward, “Can I come too? I-I think I remember the way there and I’d like to gather my own data too.” She pulled out a strange device, it was shaped like her cell phone, but it had a small cone on it and made small beeps every now and then. Twilight nodded, “Whatever help you can offer will be great.” Alphys smiled. “Spike, I need you to watch the library while I’m gone.” Spike gave his own salute, “You can count on me boss!” He was secretly thinking of how much ice cream he could eat before she got back. Twilight began packing her usual supply of travelling parchment, traveling quills, traveling ink, and books about various known and mythological creatures, magical essences and (of course) traveling. Meanwhile the others were making their own preparations. Pinkie was bouncing her way out of the Library as she sang, “Well, while you two are out doing your adventuring, I’ve got a party to plan. Come on Sansy!” “Sans? Where are you going?” Papyrus asked. “Over to her place, she’s got a whole bunch of stuff to do and I’m gonna help.” Sans responded. “YOU’RE actually going to HELP her DO something?” “Yeah, she’ll need the moral support. And me eating a couple of cupcakes or will really give her the drive she needs.” “Oh. Wait! How is eating sweet treats supposed to give moral support?” “I’ll be telling her how delicious they are the whole time. She’ll feel so appreciated that she’ll work twice as fast.” Sans walked after Pinkie out of the library. “What?! That doesn’t even make sense! You’re just using that as an excuse to boondoggle again aren’t you?” Papyrus yelled. Pinkie stuck her head back into the library and said, “Don’t you mean he’s trying to bonedoggle?” The door shut, laughter could be heard behind it. Papyrus tried to hold in his internal meltdown… he failed. Rarity intervened before he could get too angry. “Now now Papyrus darling, there’s no need to be so livid. Let the two of them have their fun.” She began to walk to the door herself, but used her magic to tug at Papyrus’s cape to pull him with her. “After all we have our own work to do.” “We do?” Papyrus asked. “Why yes, we do darling. I have many designs planned for you all and I must get to work post haste. I’ll need you to come with me so I can get you measurements.” “What about everyone else?” “I’ll take care of them later; you however are in dire need of a fashion intervention immediately. I simply cannot allow you to walk about with such a battered outfit. Come along now!” “Wowie! Am I getting some kind of special new battle body deal? I mean, yes of course! Why wouldn’t I get such a deal? I deserve it most of all.” “Quite right, now if you would please follow me.” The two them made their way out of the library, Rarity tugging at Papyrus’s cape all the while. Papyrus shouted back at the remaining few, “Bye bye everyone! I’ll be back after I do whatever it is I am about to do. Undyne you’re in charge of watching my collection of–” The door shut behind him before he could finish his sentence. Spike felt a small pang of jealousy. “You didn’t bring your collection with you!” Undyne yelled back. “He’s doomed.” She chuckled to herself, and made for the exit herself, “Welp, I’m not just going to sit here and collect dust, I’m heading out too!” “Right behind ya!” Applejack barked; she gave a quick look back to Asgore, Toriel and Fluttershy, “Ya’ll comin’ too?” “It’s probably best if I get ready for the meeting with the princess,” Asgore said “Tori would you like to–” Toriel cut him off with a ‘humph’, she turned away and pouted. “Right.” Asgore croaked out, his voice contained a hint of sadness in it. He left with naught but a somber “farewell”. Suddenly, Fluttershy’s eyes went wide, as if she just realized something. “Oh no!” She gasped “I forgot to check on the animals back home! I’m sorry I have to go too, I hope they’re all okay.” She trotted out the door in a panic, heading straight for the charred remains of her own home. Only Toriel, Frisk and Spike remained in the library; Frisk was still absorbed in Spike’s comic books. “Now that that’s over, I’m going to go get a snack.” Spike said. He ran into the kitchen and swiped a large tub of vanilla ice cream. He pulled out a spoon and dug in, savoring in the sweet taste. Frisk was looking up from the comic, eyeing the ice cream. “Want some?” Spike offered with his mouth still full. Frisk dropped the book they were holding and grabbed the first spoon they could find. At the first bite the human gave a satisfied “mmm”. Suddenly, the tub of deliciousness was ripped from their grasp by an unknown force. “Oh no you don’t”, Toriel said. She lifted the ice cream high to where the two couldn’t reach it. “This isn’t very good for you now is it? I can’t just let you eat the whole tub!” Spike looked up at the stolen snack desperately. “But… Yes you can! You can just give it back and I’ll…I mean we’ll enjoy the whole thing no problem!” Toriel merely shook her head, “I don’t think so, little one. Your Twilight would probably not want to walk in and see you with a bellyache,” she cast a glance on Frisk “and I wouldn’t want to see you get one either, my child.” Both Frisk and Spike pouted, cheeks puffed up in annoyance. Toriel put the ice cream back into the fridge and said, “Now let me see what I can whip up for you.” Spike moved to protest, but Toriel cut him off. “Do not worry little one, I am quite experienced with cooking, I will not burn down your home.” Frisk nodded in agreement and ran into the kitchen. Spike merely shrugged and assumed nothing would go wrong. Whatever Toriel made, he hoped that it could make up for the lost frozen treat. “Are we close?” Twilight asked. “Y-Yeah, almost there, j-just a bit further.” Alphys responded, clearly nervous. “Well we better get there soon, I’m getting bored.” Rainbow pouted. The three of them were fortunate enough to have virtually no run-ins with dangerous creatures in the Everfree, save for a close call with a wandering cockatrice. Alphys’s machine made more and more strange beeps as they walked. Twilight was scanning the air for, something. Rainbow just didn’t know what. They approached a small cavern. “There, that’s the cave we came out of.” Alphys said. It was likely one of the smallest caves Rainbow had ever seen; how any kind of ‘underground’ existed here was beyond her. “Now the opening should be around here somewhere…” They walked on and on but found nothing, Alphys’s machine made stranger and stranger noises as they went deeper. There were no twists, turns, or forks; it was just a straight path. Rainbow didn’t know how she felt about that. Eventually they came to a dead end. “W-W-What?!” Alphys shrieked, she ran to the wall and looked at in in disbelief. “That doesn’t make any sense! We… we came out form here I know it! I recognize this cave for sure, there was a HUGE opening here a-and the entire underground…” Rainbow flew up into Alphys’s and glared at her. “Okay, what gives? First you said there was this underground and now there isn’t? Are you playing some kind of game here? Where are you REALLY from?!” “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight scolded. Alphys could barely choke out her next words, “I-I-I…N-No, there is an u-underground, there w-was an entrance here! I-I’m not lying this time I swear!” “THIS TIME?! What do you mean THIS TIME?!” Rainbow yelled. “N-No I mean, It was, I wasn’t, I was just–” Alphys was cut off by her machine beeping loudly. “What the?” The screen flashed and showed at ton of symbols that didn’t make any sense to Rainbow Dash. “This thing is going crazy! There’s some kind of strange energy here!” Twilight spoke up, “I know, I can feel it.” She cast a quick glare at Rainbow before looking back at Alphys apologetically. “I’m sorry, she can be a bit… aggressive at times. I believe you though.” Rainbow thought she heard that wrong, why would Twilight believe anything that these weird monsters said? She continued, “I can feel two types of magic in this area, both of which are completely foreign to me. The first one feels just like the type of the large surge, but it looks like the residue is dissipating, it’s not as strong as yesterday’s. The other is a totally new type magic.” She put of hoof to her chin “Hmmm, I wonder…” She looked directly at Alphys. “Hold still for a moment.” Twilight’s horn glowed with a magenta aura, and Alphys’s body was surrounded in the same aura. “W-What are you doing?” She asked nervously. The aura seemed to focus in on every detail of her body one by one, meticulously observing her essence. She suddenly glowed a faint white from within Twilight’s magic, she looked like she was about to panic. “Just as I thought” Twilight announced as the aura faded, “There’s residual magic on you that’s the same type as the second, newer magic. If I were to guess, it might be on your friends too. It’s just a hypothesis, but with enough tests I think I can confirm this.” Twilight rescanned the area, but her expression changed to one of confusion, “That’s odd…” “What is it?” Alphys asked “The second magic’s residue is quite strong here, like it was recently cast…” Twilight said. “So what?” Rainbow interrupted “These guys showed up yesterday, that magic’s probably just from them.” “No Rainbow, that’s what I mean. If the last time that the second unknown spell was cast was when Alphys and her friends arrived, the residue here would be just as strong as the one on her, but it’s much stronger here.” She looked towards the cave wall. “There are two possible explanations for this. One: the magical residue is dissipating much more slowly in here, which is highly unlikely. Or two…” She turned to face Alphys and Rainbow, a look of worry present on her face, “something else has just arrived in Ponyville!” <<<<<<===================================================================================>>>>>> message received opening… translating please wait… message 76.92% translated THE PRINCESS OF THE SUN IS DO NOT ALERT HER OR ANYONE THE FATE OF DEPENDS ON THIS THEY CANNOT . end message <<<<<<===================================================================================>>>>>> Author's Note Sorry this one took so long, college classes have started back up so I'm starved for free time, but I won't let this story die!
