This is how my own Undertale began.
I was falling, that much was certain. However, even as I couldn't help but scream in fear, I couldn't help but feel like this felt... familiar, somehow. Like I had a dream exactly like this before.
My thoughts were broken in the same way as my fall, by a patch of flowers. Shortly after my landing, there was a squeal of surprise nearby, but before I could see what it was, I heard hoofsteps running away.
Hoofsteps... For some reason, that's what my mind jumped to, and... well, it didn't feel wrong, in any case.
"What is it?" I heard a voice ask nearby. It was shrill with surprise, and sounded female.
Slowly, I cracked open my eyes, and was met with the sight of the bright blue sky. I felt a twinge of uncertainty, but it was crushed by another odd feeling of familiarity. Slowly, I sat up, and was met with a myriad of brightly colored, crystalized buildings. This, too, did not surprise me, which in itself shocked me to my core. I certainly don't remember any places like this, so why did it feel like I've been here before?
Another thought came to me: This was a city full of monsters.
There was a hazy memory of... something in the back of my mind, but it was pushed aside as I heard the flapping of wings. A horse... no, a 'pony', my subconscious insisted, landed in front of me, holding a spear in its mouth, which didn't impede his ability to speak. "Stop right there."
I felt myself entering a conflict, and that, too, felt familiar. Different words appeared around the guard: 'Acquiesce', 'Challenge', 'Compliment', 'Fight', 'Check', and 'Mercy'.
For some reason, I had the feeling that physically reaching for the buttons wouldn't do anything, so I simply tried to decide which to do. Even then, I had some vague feeling that I already knew what a lot of the options did.
That is, except for Fight.
I didn't want to use violence, but... it felt like something pushed me towards it.
Looking around, I spotted a small stick next to my foot. I picked it up, and the guard assumed a loose battle stance.
"Please put down the stick, and we can talk this out."
I saw Fight flash briefly, but I couldn't quite bring myself to strike. At the same time, I couldn't bring myself to listen to the guard and handle things peacefully, so we just stood there, at a standoff. I could see some nearby ponies watching the events uneasily.
The guard took a slow step forward. "Please, we can discuss this peacefully."
The moment they moved forward, I reacted, and swung the stick wildly at him. It made its mark, but only barely, only giving him a small scratch. He still winced and clutched where he was struck, though, and when he took his hoof away I could see a faint trickle of blood.
This seemed to enrage him more than anything. "Why you little-!"
He was about to swing the blunt end of his spear at me, but suddenly I felt something walk into my side.
Turning, I saw that it was a bright blue pony, with a horn on top of her head. She had the remnants of a cocky smile on her snout, now replaced with a small glare. "What is the meaning of this?! Who dares-"
Her words were directed at me, but she faltered when she spotted the guard, who had stopped his attack mid-swing, likely out of confusion.
The mare looked back and forth between us, her brow furrowing. Her gaze lingered on me for a moment, before she turned to the guard. "What exactly is going on here?"
The guard quickly dropped his battle stance. "I was sent to investigate reports of a strange creature falling from the sky." He nodded towards me. "They attacked me, so I was about to use a small amount of force."
"Did it ever occur to you that they might simply be lost and afraid?"
The guard faltered. "W-Well, I-"
"And look." She motions at me. "They look no older than a child!"
The guard seemed at a loss for what to say. The mare just sighed.
"Why not let The Great and Powerful Trixie handle this? Wouldn't want word to get out that you attacked a child, right?"
Still speechless, the guard just nodded, before flying off. I could feel my pockets getting a bit heavier.
Trixie- I noted that her name felt expected- walked up to me. Her gaze was a mildly suspicious one, though. "Trixie does not know why, but she feels like she... knows you, from somewhere."
I felt the same way, though I didn't say so. I was almost certain I had seen that combination of purple hat and cape, as well as her silvery mane and tail, before.
This left me at a loss for what to say, but thankfully Trixie was more than capable of filling in both sides of the conversation. "No matter. Clearly, fate has seen fit to present you to Trixie, so you shall accompany her for some important business. Is this alright?"
It was a simple choice, and I felt as if there was no other answer. "Yes, it is."
She nodded. "Good."
She began walking, and I followed. I looked at the scenery of the town, but I found myself unable to muster any sort of awe or surprise for it.
"Have you been to many pony cities?" Trixie asked me after a while. I couldn't think of anything to say, and for some reason I didn't even want to answer her negatively, so I just stayed silent.
"I see you are not much for conversations." I didn't comment on her slipping into first-person. "Trixie understands."
The rest of the walk went in silence, and soon we reached a tall, sparkling building. It looked like a castle of some description. Again, I could only treat this as a fairly mundane sight, as I was unable to feel any sort of awe.
There were a pair of guards at the doors, and they nodded at Trixie as we walked inside. They looked at me oddly, but didn't make any move to stop us. I had a feeling that one of the guards would have something to say, but a part of me felt like it wasn't important.
We continued down the halls of the castle, the sights and sounds becoming unimportant background details as I just focused on walking forward, staying just behind Trixie. Eventually, we reached a set of double doors, manned by another two guards, who looked back and forth between the two of us.
"Business?"
Trixie struck a pose. "The Princess has requested the presence of the Great and Powerful Trixie. Kindly let us in at once."
They looked to me, then back at Trixie, one of them arching an eyebrow.
She put a hoof around my shoulders. "This is my familiar."
The guards seemed pleased with this explanation, before one of them went inside. Shortly after, he came back out. "The Princess will see you now."
Trixie nodded and walked through the now-open double doors, and I followed right behind her. A pink mare with wings and a horn sat on a throne, with a white stallion with just a horn sitting right beside her, looking just as important.
Trixie bowed before them. "Trixie has arrived as requested, and she has brought something to help." She gestured over her shoulder with her horn, pointing to me. "Behold!"
When their eyes fell on me, the ponies at the front held unreadable expressions. The princess was the first to speak. "Is that the being that injured one of our guards?"
The other pony rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, it was just a scratch. The guards get even worse just from training."
The matter seemed to die at that, though the princess still looked at me uneasily. "Anyway, Trixie, are you aware of the purpose of the Crystal Fair, and the Crystal Heart it empowers?"
"Trixie has thoroughly reviewed the history."
I felt like I had heard this exact conversation before, and even though I started tuning it out, I still understood the gist of it: The princess, Cadance, wanted Trixie to investigate, and likely get rid of, several "shadow nests". I simply stood in place during the conversation.
After that, we were dismissed. Something Cadance said stuck out to me, though. Something about how there was little hope of finding a peaceful solution to this problem.
I couldn't pinpoint exactly why, but for some reason, her saying that made me feel...
Determination.
As we walked back down the halls, Trixie looked over at me. "You are certainly a curious being. I can feel some kind of magic ebb and flow within you, and no doubt the Princess did as well."
I stayed silent.
An awkward silence fell over us, only to be broken by my stomach growling. Trixie failed to suppress a small giggle. "Is my familiar hungry?"
I nodded. "Can we get something at the castle, here?" For some reason, the idea of food fit for royalty really appealed to me.
Trixie put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Trixie doesn't see why not. After all, we are directly helping the crown."
It didn't take long to find a guard and request some food, and shortly after we were in a small dining room, right next to the kitchen. Apparently, this was the smaller dining room, for small parties such as our own.
Trixie ordered her food from the waiter, and I did the same- yet, for some reason, I found myself instantly forgetting what we ordered. I suppose part of me didn't consider it important.
After a few minutes of awkwardly brief conversation, the waiter reappeared at our table. "Your food is nearly ready. However, we are mildly understaffed at the moment, so you will have to help yourselves to your silverware. Apologies."
He disappeared into the deeper part of the kitchen again, and Trixie pouted. "Hmmph, I suppose Trixie will be forced to help herself, like a-"
"I can get your silverware for you." I wasn't sure why I said that, but I had an uncontrollable urge to do so.
Trixie seemed surprised, then nodded, smiling gently. "How generous of you. Trixie truly chose correctly for a familiar."
With that, I left the table and headed over to the kitchen drawers. I had no idea which one held the silverware, so I just kept looking.
At some point, I was vaguely aware that I had found the forks and spoons, but something compelled me to keep looking. I didn't know what I was looking for, but...
I reached the final drawer, and felt a small twinge of anger. Why did...? What was...
...
Where are the knives.
The meal was a blur, and before I knew it we were walking back down the halls, my stomach now full. For some reason, something felt... off about the past hour, but I couldn't quite place why.
Trixie seemed to confuse my silence for nervousness. "Do not worry, familiar, I am sure that you will prove to be a valuable asset in my quest!" We stopped outside a library. "Now, Trixie has to do some research on this subject. Do you want to help me?"
While I was agreeable before, I suddenly felt something urging me the other way. "I'd rather go and look around the town."
Trixie tilted her head in confusion, but quickly shrugged it off. "If you insist. Just be sure to come back before it gets dark, or if you find anything, understand?"
I nodded, and she went into the library, while I walked to the front of the castle. Once back in the open air, I surveyed my surroundings. The castle was a bit bigger than it looked before, but I brushed it aside as I focused on my next destination.
There was a shopping plaza ahead, which I strode into, my expression blank. The ponies tried to be friendly, but for some reason I could detect a hint of nervousness in their eyes. Maybe they knew something I didn't...?
I dismissed the thought quickly. After all, I was a brand new species here, it would make sense if they were nervous around me.
The sky flickered for a second, but I ignored it.
I came to a stand selling crystal corn, and the pony manning the booth smiled down at me. "Hey there, kid. Want to try one?"
Wordlessly, I accepted the offer, taking a bite as I walked off. I could hear him grumble to himself as I walked away, but at that point something in my mind screamed at me.
Something was happening.
Suddenly, a stand next to me exploded as a swarm of solid black beetles burst out of the ground. I could feel the conflict spring forward, and I felt myself working on autopilot.
I effortlessly dodged through their bites and strikes, as if I knew where they were going to attack before they actually did. Soon, I ended up dodging right into a stand selling pony-sized armor. The owner had fled, so I simply grabbed a set that was somehow perfectly shaped for me and put it on as quickly as I could.
I dodged more attacks, before I realized that I would need to be armed at some point if I wanted to survive this. I scrambled to another stand, which was apparently selling toys of some kind. Most of it was useless, but one thing stood out to me.
A lone plastic knife, scattered in the midst of the other toys.
Good enough.
I rolled out of the way of another swarm of jaws, then made a beeline for the knife, taking it into my grasp. Now armed, I whirled around at the swarm of beetles, striking with as much force as I could.
I hit one of them straight in its face, causing it to cry out before falling on the ground and fading away in a flash of light. The others looked at their fallen comrade, before charging at me.
I saw it coming, though, and I was able to dodge right between the two of them, before striking one of them from behind. He, too, shouted in pain, before fading out.
The last beetle let out a series of frantic clicks, and more beetles flew in to oppose me.
I just stood my ground and tightened my grip on the knife. It wasn't long before they attacked me, and I made sure to return the favor.
One by one, the beetles tried in vain to hit me with mandibles or energy beams, only to fall to my imitation blade, and with every fallen bug, I could feel... something swell within me. It felt...
...good.
One of the beetles managed to land a strike on me, but I was surprised at how little it hurt. In fact, I couldn't help but chuckle at how little pain the attack caused me, which made the beetles start to back away, shaking slightly.
Seeing this, I pressed my advantage. Jumping forward, I stabbed into the beetle at the front of the group, almost blinding myself with the ensuing flash of light. I immediately swung to the left to take out another beetle, and as I got back to my feet, I noticed a couple of odd things.
One, there were a lot less beetles than there were before.
Two, those that were left were running away from me.
I wanted to go after them, but at the same time I didn't feel like I was in any real hurry.
So I walked.
The marketplace was a wreck, now, and all the ponies had fled long ago. Oddly, there didn't seem to be any guards deployed here, yet.
I managed to stumble into a hiding beetle during my thoughts, and I cut it down without effort.
As I did that, I heard another pair of beetles scuttle behind me, but I was too fast for them, and I cut both their lives short.
If my mental count was correct, then there should only be two beetles left.
Suddenly, the ground below me started to rumble, and I jumped out of the way just in time for a massive beetle to burst through the ground. It was quickly joined by the last two stragglers, who started frantically clicking at it, motioning to me. I said nothing as the giant beetle faced me, and clicked angrily and loudly in my direction.
Looks like it was a fight, then.
Likely due to their apparent leader's appearance, the two smaller beetles decided to rush me, a decision which resulted in both of them being struck down with little effort.
As I felt power surge within me again, the large beetle just looked on, dumbstruck.
And then he roared, and charged at me.
I jumped out of the way at the last possible second, letting him plow into a nearby house. As he sat in the rubble, dazed, I charged, toy knife forward.
With all of my strength, I plunged my knife into his carapace, piercing it flawlessly. The beetle seized up, and his body slowly started to be engulfed by light. He cried out and writhed, no doubt in a last ditch attempt to kill me, but I had already stepped back, and watched as he vanished, just the same as his underlings.
Once again, I felt my power grow, and I looked around the smashed marketplace.
That was certainly the last of the beetles, as the place was now completely empty.
Well, almost.
"Familiar!" Trixie shouted, trotting up to me. "There you are. Trixie heard about the commotion happening here, and she would be very upset if..." Slowly, she looked around, and I saw her eyes glance at my knife. "Trixie is too late, perhaps? Are you alright, then?"
Her horn glowed, and I could feel some of my bruises disappear, as well as the dirt sliding off my body. "Hardly a scratch. You are as clever as Trixie thought. Although..." Her gaze scanned our surroundings. "What did you do during that vicious attack?"
I didn't say anything.
She glanced at my knife again. "...well, I suppose the important thing is that nopony was hurt." She shook her head. "Anyway, Trixie has managed to develop a darkness detecting spell, and she knows where we need to go. There are six main sources of darkness in and around the city, and we need to deal with them all."
I nodded.
"Well then, we'll start with the one closest to us." She began walking, and I followed. I had pocketed the knife for now, though it was still within easy reach if I needed it.
As we walked, she looked over at me. "Where did you get the armor and toy, familiar?"
"Found them."
She looked uneasy at my answer, but we kept walking. By now, we were starting to see ponies out in the streets again, and while they greeted Trixie with smiles, they looked at me with suspicion.
Eventually, though, the streets became abandoned again, and Trixie turned to me. "We're getting close. We should split up, but be ready to call for Trixie if you encounter any trouble."
I didn't even give her a nod as we walked our separate ways. I had a hunch that what I was looking for was...
Ahead of me was an alleyway that was entirely devoid of light. Seeing my destination, I walked into it.
Soon, the darkness enveloped me completely, and after taking a few more steps in the dark, a purple cloud of smoke with a green face appeared and smiled at me.
It chuckled. "It's different this time, isn't it?"
His words confused me, but I stayed silent, curious.
"Yeah, it's very different, I can tell." He laughed. "You don't remember this time, either, do you?"
That got my attention. "Remember what?"
He sighed. "Remember that this isn't your first time doing this. Don't you remember? You've done this before..."
Suddenly, the memories were flooding back. I...
I had done this before, countless times. All because...
He laughed again. "You never did find that perfect happy ending, after all. I suppose no one could blame you for trying again." He got closer to me. "Even if I was pulled back every time, forced to live through this countless times along with you."
He suddenly pulled away. "But now, now you've changed. In fact..."
He smiled wide. "You're not yourself, are you?"
I... I wasn't sure what to say.
He laughed. "Oh, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough. But, regardless," he winked, "welcome back. I bet the darkness feels good, doesn't it?"
With that, he disappeared, leaving me alone in the pitch black alleyway. Soon after, Trixie appeared, her horn lighting up the surroundings. "Familiar! Are you alright?"
I nodded.
She let out a sigh. "Good. In any case, I see you have found the source."
I looked to the end of the alley, and saw a single blob of darkness that avoided any and all attempts at being lit up by her horn.
"Just one little spell and we'll be on our way."
I just watched as she fired a purple beam into it, only for it to rebound and hit her back, causing her to fall off her feet. I ignored her rant until she called out, "Familiar!"
I just took a step towards her.
She extended a hoof to me. "Let us try a combined attack, using your esoteric and my magical mastery. Surely we can defeat it then!"
I hesitated a moment, before offering my hand to her. She smiled, and once again powered her horn to fire at the blob. This time, the beam had bits of blue and green in it, and the blob vanished with an audible squeal. Once again, there was that swelling of power, and... something else.
Trixie shivered and shook her head as I let go of her hoof. "Huh, that was... more power than I was expecting." She shivered again. "S- Still! Another job well done by the Great and Powerful Trixie! And her familiar. Perhaps we should get a treat to celebrate this! How do you feel about oat shakes?"
"That sounds fine."
"Excellent! Then let us go!"
Trixie trotted out of the alleyway, and you followed.
