Of Monsters and Girls

Chapters

Chapter 1 [Edited]
Chapter 2 [Edited]
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
chapter five
Frisk
Me
Erase
A Bad Time
Don't Kill. Don't Be Killed
siX ch1pterrrrrrrr

Chapter 1 [Edited]

“... and the bear is just one of many reasons I’d rather never go camping again,” Rarity huffed.

A few snickers made Rarity blush. She grumbled and shoved a large piece of peach cobbler into her mouth.

“I’ll make a note to not go camping when we visit Equestria,” Sunset chuckled. “Aside from Rarity though, it sounds like everyone had a lot of fun.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash smiled at her from across the table.

“Yep, couldn’t have asked for a better weekend,” said Applejack.

“I could have asked for some more marshmallows,” Dash added.

“How do you and Pinkie manage to consume so much sugar?” Twilight asked.

Feeling the girls’ gaze on her, Twilight flinched and tucked her chin. “Sorry, sorry, it just slipped out!”

“Twilight, the world isn’t going to end because you asked a rather obvious question.” Rarity glanced over at Pinkie and Dash. “Heavens know I’ve asked it myself a few times.”

“Oh…” Twilight chewed on her bottom lip. “Sorry.”

“Dear, fretting like this isn't good for your complexion.” Rarity’s eyes brightened. “That’s it! We should do a nice spa day! Ooooh, it will be the perfect way for you to relax and for me to get whatever mud is still on me from last weekend!

“Yeah that mud is real awful.” Dash raised and hand to her forehead and tilted her head back. “Now excuse me dears, I simply must exfoliate my pores with this delightful mud mask!”

“Rainbow Dash…” Rarity growled.

“Alright, sorry, sorry.” Dash grinned at Rarity. “Consider that payback for messing up our campfire story.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?”

“You’re version of the story did seem a bit too dainty,” said Applejack. “No offense, but having the child be a ballerina didn’t really seem to add much… save for my sis and her friends getting a few laughs out of it.”

Sunset leaned a little closer and looked over her friends. “Um, what story is this?”

“The Legend of the Goat-man.” Dash crossed her arms and flared her nostrils. “It’s a classic.”

A chorus of agreement sprouted up across the table. Sunset was still leaning forward.

“That’s a new one to me.” She clasped her chin. “Strange, most folklore has some Equestrian equivalent, even down to the name.”

“It might be because it’s just a local legend.” Twilight pushed up her glasses and smiled. “When I was young, I had quite a fun time looking up all the different versions of it. I even made a map showing all the probable locations of events in the story!”

Twilight paused, feeling something lukewarm oozing between her fingers. She looked down and saw that she’d planted her hand into what was left of her mashed potatoes. Blushing deeply, she sank into her seat.

“So magical mystery stuff always interested you?” Pinkie chirped.

“Every recorded occurrence of the supernatural has to have some grounding in reality,” Twilight murmured while she wiped her hand with a napkin. “It’s my duty as a scientist to investigate and record such phenomena so that they can be properly rationalized.”

Five blank faces stared back her. Twilight sunk lower, but an amber hand reached out and pulled her back up. Sunset smiled at her and then turned to the rest of the group.

“That was a ‘yes,’ Pinkie,” she said. Sunset then furrowed her brow. “I’m still a little out of the loop on this whole goat-man thing though. Is it some sort of satyr?”

“You really don’t know?” Dash asked.

Sunset shook her head. A giddy grin stretched across Dash’s face. She rose up from the table and spread her arms out wide.

Pinkie pulled out a steaming bucket of popcorn from her backpack and chucked a handful into her mouth. “Oooh, this’ll be good!”

Dash coughed into her hand.

“A long long time ago,” she said in a deep voice,” a young child did something very very naughty. Afraid of what their parents would do when they found out, the child ran away and hid in the nearby mountain. For many days and nights, the parents searched for their lost child. The whole town joined in to help. Yet, it was as if the child had vanished off the face of the earth.”

“One night, a villager saw something in the woods near the mountain.” Dash leaned over the table and pressed her face up close to Sunset’s. “Something so terrifying that he ran screaming all the way back to the center of town where everyone gathered at night to say if they’d found anything.”

“Uh-huh.” Sunset gave Dash a small flick on the nose. “So what kind of big scary monster did the villager see?”

Dash pulled back and planted her hands on her hips. “I thought you said you hadn’t heard this story!”

“I haven’t, but I have an idea of where it’s going.”

“Well maybe I’ll just stop the story here,” Dash pouted. “The monster ate everyone. The end.”

Crossing her arms, Dash slammed back into her seat. Lowering her face towards her tray, she dug into what was left of her lunch.

Applejack shook her head. “Sorry about this. Probably shoulda warned ya that Dash really hates having her stories interrupted. I think I can take it from here though.”

After taking a swig of her milk, Applejack hunched her shoulders and tilted her head, hiding her face in the shadow and the brim of her hat.

“The villager ran back to center of town,” Applejack continued with a slight warble to her voice. “They say back then it was the huge field of buttercup flowers you can still visit at the park. The other townspeople asked him what happened, but the poor fella could barely even breathe. He was just regaining his voice when they all heard a noise.”

Fluttershy jumped at the the sharp crack of plastic snapping. A few heads across the cafeteria turned toward her. With reddened cheeks, Fluttershy sank back into her seat.

“Uh, sorry, ‘Shy.” A bit of red was on Applejack’s face too while she collected the broken pieces of her fork. Shaking her head, she raised her shoulders again. “Upon hearing the noise, the townspeople called out to ask who was there, but no one answered.”

Applejack slanted her eyes to the right. “Something ran across the street!”

She glanced to the left. “‘Did ya see that?’ someone cried.”

Throwing a glare at Sunset, Applejack leaned forward. “Then, it appeared.”

“There stood a huge beast.” Straightening her back, Applejack held one of her hands high. She then spread her arms wide and curled her fingers. “It had fur as white as bones, horns like massive hooks, and blood-red eyes that pierced into your very soul! And in its claws was the child’s cold body.”

Dash tilted her head at Applejack.

“The monster began to walk towards them. The townspeople were terrified, but they realized that if the monster had its way, no one would be safe from it.” Applejack gave her hat a tug, allowing more of her lean upper arm to show. “So, they got their torches and whatever else they could find and hurled them at the monster. But it kept getting closer and closer. Just as it took its first step onto the buttercups, the townspeople managed hit it hard enough that it went to its knees. The varmint let out a roar that chilled the townspeople to the bone but then scurried off.”

Applejack leaned back in her seat and flashed a sharp grin. “On some nights, they say you can still hear the monster prowling across the mountain looking for more naughty children.”

A few claps sounded from the nearby tables, making Applejack blush. Across the table, Pinkie brought her hands together at a slower pace. She soon stopped and clasped her chin.

“You’ve definitely got some storytelling skills,” she mused. “But you and Dashie lose points for changing the backstory and skipping the really juicy parts.”

“Hey,” Dash huffed. “Applejack was the one that said the monster killed the kid, not me. Everyone knows the real scary part is when the townspeople find out the monster was the kid.”

“Well, to be fair, your version is number four on my list.” Pinkie flashed Applejack and Rarity a tiny frown. “Sorry girls, you’re five and six. Still pretty high up on the list though! Can’t beat the ‘cowboy and indian’ and the ‘training student’ versions though.”

Pinkie shot up from her seat and jabbed her index finger up high.

“The number one best version though is the one where a young chef wanted to make the perfect dish, so he went up the mountain to find a super rare mushroom. When he tried it though, he became the monster!” Pinkie clasped her milk and gulped it down. With a contented sigh, she floated back down to her seat. “And that’s why you don’t eat strange mushrooms or climb a mountain that might be cursed.”

“Um… uh…” Fluttershy murmured.

“Something the matter, ‘Shy?” Applejack asked.

“Well…” Fluttershy gulped. “I also heard a different version of the story. It’s not really scary though. It’s actually a little sad.”

“I’m all ears,” said Sunset. “It’s not the most original story, but it’s pretty fun hearing all the different ways it’s told. So go ahead, Fluttershy. I’d like to hear your version too.”

“Oh, okay.” Fluttershy thumped her hand against her chest a few times and cleared her throat. “In the story I heard, the monster wasn’t evil at all. In fact, it was trying to take care of the child after it fell into the monster’s home. The monster tried everything it could to make the child better, but the child only got weaker and weaker. When the monster realized there was nothing else it could do, it decided to take the child to see the flowers it always talked about one last time. Its fight with the townspeople was just a big misunderstanding. I was told that if you’re ever lost on that mountain, the monster will appear and guide you back home.”

“I’d almost forgotten about that version,” said Twilight. “It doesn’t get brought up that much. As for me, the first version I heard was about a young researcher that wanted to study the mountain and instead disturbed the monster that lived there… maybe I should’ve taken the story’s moral to heart a little more.”

“Don’t sweat it, sugarcube.” Applejack glanced over to one of the large clocks on the wall. “I’d be more worried about your steak and cobbler.”

Twilight glanced down at her half-eaten entrée and untouched dessert. “Ack!”

Everyone shared a good laugh while Twilight gulped down her food. While that was going on, Sunset started down at her plate and balanced a knife on the back of her ring finger.

“You know, it wouldn’t be too crazy to say that the monster from that story came from Equestria.”

“They have killer goat men there too?” Dash asked, her eyes glistening bright. “I mean, aside from that Tirek jerk Twilight told us about.”

“I’m not sure.” Sunset shrugged. “The portal has an odd effect on anything that passes through it. If a creature from Equestria came through and retained enough of their original traits, they could potentially be misidentified as a monster.”

Sunset snapped her fingers. “Hey, what if we went to explore the mountain sometime? Who knows, maybe there’s even a second portal up there. That’d be important to keep track of.”

“I think I’ve had enough exploration for a while,” Rarity sighed. “Besides, if anything came out of Equestria at that mountain, they’d probably turn back immediately.”

“Why’s that?” Sunset asked.

“The mountain ain’t exactly in the nicest area,” Applejack answered. “It’s right by a trash dump and all sorts of nasty critters and people gather there. Not quite the place for high school girls.”

“Really?” Sunset chuckled. “You beat nigh-undefeatable sirens and two all-powerful out of control magic users and you’re worried about some trash, vermin, and petty thugs?”

Everyone glanced away from Sunset. With a sigh, she picked up her tray and stood up. “Alright, it’s not that big a deal. I’m sure if there actually were another portal, it’d provide a bit more substance than just a few campfire stories.”

The chime signaling the end of lunch rang out from the PA system. A wave of trays flew off the tables and lines formed near the collection stations and trash bins.

“Well this has been another delightful lunch.” Rarity dabbed her lips with a napkin and stood up. “I hope all your classes go well.”

“Same to ya.” Applejack followed after Rarity but stopped beside Sunset. “I’m still not big on going up that mountain but next time we go camping, how about you and Twi join us?”

“Count me in!” said Dash. “Your faces will be priceless!”

Sunset crossed one arm across her chest. “Do you even want to know what my sleeping conditions were like when I first got here?”

“Camping’s totally different.” Dash smiled. “Especially when you’ve got friends to hang out around the campfire with.”

“Thanks, Dash. Hope classes go well.”

“So do I.” Dash darted away. “See ya!”

Applejack and Pinkie followed after Dash. Fluttershy slipped past Sunset and gave her a small wave. Sunset watched her friends head off in different directions before she turned back to the table. Twilight was in the middle of chugging her milk. She slammed the empty carton down and gasped for air.

“If you don’t hurry up and put your tray back, you’re gonna be late,” said Sunset.

“I know, I know.” Twilight jumped to her feet and raced off but came to a screeching halt and ran back. Setting her tray back on the table, she crouched down and strapped her backpack over her left shoulder. “I’m usually much better with my timing. By now, I should be in class reviewing my notes from last night’s reading.”

“Yeah, friends add a lot of different variables to your life.” Sunset gave Twilight a smile.

“It’s definitely better than eating lunch alone though.”

“I’ve been there before.” Sunset placed her free hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “For now though, let’s hurry and get out of here.”

“Right!”

~~~

A few rays of early dawn managed to peek through the gaps in the curtains to Fluttershy’s room. They shimmered off a few of the metal birdcages Fluttershy kept in her room.

A tiny melodic snore escaped past Fluttershy’s lips. She rolled onto her side, revealing that her hair now stretched down almost to her knees. A few strands of it streamed over and under the bright yellow wings that poked out through the back of her pajamas.

A string of loud knocks plunged the room into a storm hisses, barks, and crows. Fluttershy bolted upward, launching herself into the air. She spun around and took in the chaos enfolding all around her. A bump on the head jolted her attention up to the ceiling. Its plaster pressed against her scalp.

The open air flowed between her toes for a second before her wings disappeared in a flash. She landed on the bed with a fwump. It was silent for a moment. When Fluttershy raised up her head, the ruckus resumed.

There was still a knocking at the door.

“Oh dear! Oh dear, oh dear!” Fluttershy exclaimed as she jumped out of bed and threw on some slippers. “I knew I should have checked my alarm last night!”

Fluttershy rushed out in the hall but soon screeched to a halt. Spinning back around, she raced back to her room and stuck her head in. “I am so sorry, everyone! I’ll get mother to feed you! Let me just invite Applejack inside and then we can get everything in order!”

Without another word, she sped through her house and nearly slammed herself into the front door. She latched onto the knob,flung it open, and bowed.

“Applejack, I’ll be ready in a minute!” she panted. “Please come inside!”

As she caught her breath, she noticed the shoes in front of her were unfamiliar red boots that were at least five sizes bigger than Applejack’s feet.

“OH WOW! I’M ALREADY GETTING INVITED INTO OTHER HUMANS’ HOMES!” boomed an unfamiliar voice. “ANYWAY, I A—”

Fluttershy let out a tiny huff and raised her head. “I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in whatever you’re se—”

Fluttershy’s heart caught in her throat. Two hollow sockets stared back at her from where there should have been eyes. She took a step back. While a scream built up in her lungs, a cold sweat erupted across her body.

Like his eyes, the stranger’s nose was only a black abyss. Somehow, even without any muscles or flesh, his teeth were pulled back into a massive twisted grin. Armor, bent and chipped, hid his upper torso while a tattered red scarf blew behind him, highlighting the void around his abdomen where there should have been a stomach, but only a spine remained. The faint scent of dust and decay swirled around him.

OH, WHERE ARE MY MANNERS? I SHOULD AT LEAST INTRODUCE MYSELF! WOULDN’T WANT YOU CALLING ME APPLEJACK… UNLESS THAT IS A THING HUMANS DO ON THE SURFACE!” The skeleton placed a gloved hand on its breastplate. “ANYWAY, I AM THE GREAT PAPY—”

Fluttershy’s eyes rolled upwards and she crashed to the ground.

Author's Note

❆♒♏❒♏ ♓♦ ⚫♓♑♒⬥

Chapter 2 [Edited]

Twilight’s hair frizzled out in every direction, obscuring the pillow beneath her head. Spike nuzzled deep into his own bed at the foot of Twilight’s. The low hums and clinks of various scientific equipment filled the room.

A steady beeping peeled away Twilight’s dream of devouring a literal tower of pancakes. Then, a loud whirring forced her to open her eyes. Spike scratched one of his ears and curled up tighter.

When a blaring alarm with a flashing red light went off, Twilight shot up. Her hand jolted around her nightstand for her glasses. More alarms joined the first one. Flashing lights colored her room red and orange.

“What in the name of Starswirl!?”

~~~

Ghosts floated through the sky, living fire lounged around heating units, and an airplane wearing some sort of cap with a ribbon atop it zoomed between buildings. The streets teemed with what appeared to be human-sized lizards, turtles, and dogs. Walking eyeballs that closed to reveal faces wandered alongside translucent blobs that sucked up anything they oozed over.

Every now and then a terrified face would appear from behind a curtain or an unsteady eye would gaze through a peephole before they quickly vanished back behind shuttered windows and locked doors.

A lone homeless man wearing a mismatch of rags twirled through the streets alongside the monsters. He hefted a sign up high that read: “Change for a phone because I called it!”

Monsters filled the sky and the courtyard around Canterlot High as well. The few staff and students that had arrived early that day were now barricaded in whatever spaces they could secure.

A combination of chairs, desks, and whatever else could be found were crowded around the research lab’s door. Both Sunset and Twilight raced around the room and peered at the screens and printouts of various machines. Their hastily pulled back ponytails bounced up and down with each word they scribbled on their notepads.

“Portal readings still negative?” Sunset asked.

“Y-yes,” Twilight stuttered. She turned a shade paler when a mouth with wings flew by the window.

“Darn it!” Sunset slammed a fist onto a table, shaking the instruments around her. “I swear if Discord decided to go evil on this dimension, I—”

A ding drew both Twilight and Sunset’s attention. They rushed over to a table in the middle of the lab where a lone circular locket sat. A steady white glow glistened off the glassy sphere in the center of it. Twilight’s pupils shrank as the locket’s light reflected off of them.

“That’s an unrecorded reaction,” she said, voice low and shaky.

“Meaning we’re in the dark.” Sunset fell into a nearby chair and massaged her forehead. “Twilight is gonna love this.”

“Wait, wait.” Twilight came over to Sunset with the locket in tow. She gave the middle of it a tap. “It’s a hypothesis, but every encounter with Equestrian magic produced a purple hue, and before that, radiation would give me gray. So, maybe this has nothing to do with the portal.”

“Okay.” Sunset took a few deep breaths before her body grew even tighter and her face pulled back into a look of absolute panic. Her hands reached out and clasped onto Twilight. “In that case, all our knowledge is useless and there is still a swarm of monsters outside!”

“Omigosh! Everything is so clean!"

Twilight and Sunset spun around to see a chubby reptilian creature hunched beside the table opposite of them. One its hands was extended out toward the instruments with a single clawed digit pressed up against a vacuum tube filled with a glistening blue vapor. A few beads of sweat appeared on its oily brow as it stared back at Twilight and Sunset. It slowly pulled its hand away from the tube and gave a feeble wave.

“Uh, hi?”

Twilight screamed, flew past the monster, and dove into the supply closet. The door slammed shut with enough force to shake the frame, muffling the sound of the lock tumbling into place.

“That’s it!” Aura erupted off of Sunset. Her ears elongated while her hair extend down to her knees. She then threw a shimmering palm out at the monster. “I don’t know who you are, or where you came from, but you are not hurting my fri—”

Sunset paused when she saw that the monster had curled up into a ball on the ground. Its claws partially covered up its face but tears were still visible. The glow around Sunset vanished and her body reverted to fully human.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the monster sniffled.

“guess i didn’t fully think this through.”

Sunset spun towards the door and froze. Lounging atop part of the barricade was a stout creature about as big as the other monster. A light blue jacket and baggy shorts obscured most of his body, but the bare skull that was his head was on full display. His jaw appeared fused to his skull, making his teeth appear as a cheerful grin. Overall, his appearance reminded Sunset of a lazy trick-or-treater save for the ethereal dots of light that floated in the middle of his eye sockets. The tiny dots glanced over at the other monster.

“sorry about that, alphys. let me just explain things to the humans and then I’m sure they’ll be happy to show you around the lab.” The skeletal monster looked back at Sunset. “anyway, human, it’s probably been a bit of a hectic morning for you. those are the worst. you can relax though, our king is speaking with the highest authority he could find to assure everyone we don’t have any bones to pick with you.”

One of Sunset’s eyes twitched. “D-did you just…”

~~~

Principal Celestia sat straight in her chair, hands clasped tightly in front of her on her desk. Vice-principal Luna stood at her side as stiff as a board. Every couple of seconds, they would glance at each other, but a creak always brought them back to their guest.

Across the room, a giant of a creature had stuffed himself into one of the chairs. His faded purple cape flowed over the armrests and the rest of him threatened to follow. Both administrators tried as hard as they could to look away from the massive horns that curled around his small crown.

The monster shifted a little in his seat, producing a series of creaks and groans. The shaky smile on his bearded face grew more unsteady as did the ones on Luna and Celestia’s.

“Well...” Celestia said, steadying herself with the knowledge that she’d had more than her fair share of odd experiences as of late. “It is a relief to hear that this isn’t a massive invasion of the surface. Though perhaps the mayor might find all this a bit more useful?”

The monster blinked. “Do ‘mayors’ now hold higher authority than archmage regents?”

Celestia and Luna blinked back.

“Oh dear...” The monster hung his head low. “It seems more has changed on the surface than just the buildings.”

“Is there perhaps a way you could explain the situation to your people?” asked Luna.

Celestia glanced up at Luna. “Or perhaps give us something to assure humans of your intentions?”

The monster’s eyes leveled onto the microphone that sat upon Celestia’s desk. “I think there may be a way to handle both problems… at least here.”

~~~

Rainbow Dash whipped a shovel through the air. The small gust sent a collection of small winged creatures crying off into the sky. Bringing the shovel back down, Dash jabbed it at the crowds of monsters shuffling around her, driving them away from the large equine statue behind her.

While she continued to swing the shovel around, Dash pulled out her phone and quickly glanced at the blank screen. With a snarl, she shoved it back in her pocket.

“Darn it! Someone answer me!”

Dash brought her shovel down with a loud bang. The monsters around her jumped back, but more flowed forward.

“Heh, already found a human that looks pretty good with weapons.”

Dash spun around and looked up. Standing atop the head of the statue was a lithe blue monster. Her scales glinted in the morning sun in contrast to her wavy crimson ponytail.

“Get off of there!” Dash yelled as she angled her shovel up at the monster.

“Was about to.”

The monster crouched low and flipped into the air. Inches before the ground, she uncurled and slammed into it, feet cracking the concrete. Up close, Dash saw that despite the monster’s skinny frame, her limbs rippled with muscle. Her uncovered eye looked toward Dash and she walked over to her.

“As much as I’d like to see what you can really do, I’m actually looking for someone. Have you seen a tiny yellow nerd around he—”

Dash held the metal end of the shovel up to the monster’s neck.

“How about you call off your goon army first?” Dash demanded.

“Wow, that how you treat someone just asking a question?” The monster scrunched up her face. “Plus, I was gonna let it go since you had some decent moves, but I don’t take kindly to you trying to smack other monsters around.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Dash pushed the shovel a little closer. “It’s just I ‘don’t take kindly’ to a bunch of monsters invading my home!”

“Invading?” the monster snarled, revealing her fangs. “Human, if we were invading, this conversation wouldn’t be happening. You’d be knocked flat on your butt and I’d be laughing.”

“Let’s see you laugh at this!” Wings sprung out of Dash’s back and her ears shifted to the top of her head. She swung the shovel with all her might and it dented against the ground.

The monster bared her fangs at Dash from a few feet away. The slits that made up her nose flared out, hot breath fogging up around her face. The other nearby monsters came to a halt.

“You wanna go?” the monster asked with a huff. “Asgore’ll be mad if I rough you up too much, so I, Undyne, will play nice and only strike you down into next week!”

With a snort, Undyne summoned a shimmering cyan sphere into her hand and crouched low. Tightening her grip on the shovel, Dash did the same, her wings flat against her back.

Silence fell upon the courtyard. Not even the giant frog monsters let out a croak. No one noticed a tiny orb ornament slowly slipping from one monster’s antlers until it fully came off and crashed against the ground.

Both Dash and Undyne exploded off the ground, sending up clouds of dust in their wake. Undyne bounded across the courtyard while Dash pushed her wings as hard as the could. Their battle cries echoed across the school. Their weapons were raised high when the PA system screeched to life causing them both to swerve and tumble across the ground.

“Attention students and anyone else… er, any humans outside, please take refuge in the gymnasium,” Celestia’s voice sounded from the speakers.

A deep burly voice then replaced Celestia’s, making the fins on the sides of Undyne’s head perk up. “Monsters, please calmly wait outside.” The PA hummed with white noise for a second. “Oh, and please stay far away from the large horse statue at the front of the school.”

Dash and Undyne stared at the nearest PA speakers before glaring back at each other. Dash’s wings faded away as did Undyne’s spear.

“This isn’t over, punk.” Undyne jabbed a webbed finger at Dash. “I’ll keep my eye on you.”

Dash leveled the shovel at Undyne. “Same to you, fish-head.”

Both of them turned away with a huff, the crowd of monsters parting to allow them through. Just before Undyne disappeared into the crowd, she twisted her head back to glare at Dash, only for Dash to already be glaring back at her.

“Darn it, I need to focus on finding Alphys,” Undyne muttered as she pulled out a cellphone. Its tiny scratched screen was still blank, making her scowl.

“Darn it,” Dash muttered as she typed out a text. “Had to retreat to gym. Get there if you can.” Dash pounded the send button. The harsh frown on her face shrank before she typed out another text. “Please be safe, everyone.”

~~~

The air in the gymnasium was abuzz. Due to the early hours, the crowd was mainly composed of jocks who had shown up for morning practice, but a variety of other students and a small collection of teachers were present as well. Regardless of clique, all of them huddled close together amongst the bleachers.

Dash stood by one of the doors, shovel still in hand. Every time the door opened, she bent it back, but would then lower it as soon as a human stuck their head into the gym.

Her shovel clanged to the floor when a Rarity tumbled into the room. Her boots were scuffed up and her jacket was damp with sweat. Shr groaned and fell onto her knees, completely out of breath, ears and hair shrinking back to their normal sizes.

Sweetie Belle gasped for air besides Rarity. Her left arm flopped to her side but her hand remained locked with Rarity's right.

Dash rushed between them and hefted their entwined arms across her back. The strength of their grip surprised her while she struggled to lift them both up. With a grunt, she planted one foot in front of her and managed to raise them up. “C’mon, let’s sit you down and get you some water.”

“I never want to run that fast ever again,” Rarity rasped.

“You got here and kept your sister safe, that’s what matters,” said Dash.

Dash sat Rarity and Sweetie down on the closest seats. Both of them fell back onto the bleachers behind them. Dash spun and bumped into one of the larger football players looming over her with two cups in his hands.

“Thanks, Bulk,” Dash said as she took the cups.

Bulk gave a silent nod before returning to a seat beside his fellow teammates. Dash couldn’t help but notice the slight tremor in each step he took. Turning back to Rarity and Sweetie, she handed them the water. While they gulped it down, Dash looked over them, lingering on their reddened knees and disheveled clothes.

Letting the empty cup fall to her side, Rarity leaned back and put a hand across her eyes. “What a nightmare.”

“Tell me about it.” Dash gave a small snort. “Those monsters didn’t hurt you or Sweetie, did they?”

“Aside from giving us the scare of our lives, no.” Rarity managed to raise her head to look straight at Dash. “There was one thing though. I think I may of hallucinated it, but while I was running here, a giant talking calculator accosted us and said that while my mascara was good, his brand was far superior.”

Dash raised an eyebrow. “Okay, even for today, that sounds a little too strange. Look, you and your sister just sit back and rest for now. Sunset and Twilight are trying to work things out and hopefully Twilight will be able to come over and help.”

Dash pinched the bridge of her nose and took a breath. “We really need to find a way to tell the two of them apart when all this is sorted out.”

The doors Dash had been guarding opened up again. Both Rarity and Dash blanched at the sight of Applejack and Pinkie Pie leading a blindfolded and shaking Fluttershy into the gymnasium. Applejack herself was covered in a mix of dirt and dust. Pinkie still somehow had a bounce in her step and a small smile on her face.

Dash was upon them in an instant. “Applejack! Fluttershy! What happened?”

“Woah, woah, easy there, RD.” Applejack reached out and put her free hand on Dash’s shoulder. “I’m betting it’s been a pretty nasty morning for you too, but we’re okay.”

“But you look like you stumbled out of a war zone!” After a brief glance at Pinkie, Dash focused back on Applejack. “Well, you and Fluttershy at least.”

“R-really, Rainbow D-dash, I’m f-f-fine,” Fluttershy stuttered. “There are no m-monsters here. No skeletons. J-just friends. I’m with friends and I’m safe.”

“Yep!” Pinkie chirped while giving Fluttershy a gentle pat on the shoulder. “Everything's a-okay, Fluttershy. You just keep that blindfold on until you think it’s safe to take it off.”

“Yes. I’m with friends and I’m safe.” Fluttershy’s voice shrank to a mumble as she repeated the sentence to herself.

Dash looked back at Applejack. “So what’s your story then?”

“Well,” Applejack said as she and Pinkie led Fluttershy over to where Rarity was sitting, “Apple Bloom and I were heading off to school when hell decided to open up. I got Apple Bloom back to the house, but we had to make our way past these giant carrot things that were tearing through the farm. I swear it was like something out of a fever dream till I gave one a good kick. Varmint threw up a bunch of dust and clods and scurried off with its pals. Didn’t have much trouble on the farm after that.”

Applejack and Pinkie set Fluttershy down on the bleachers. All the girls then huddled close together. Fluttershy even ventured to lift one end of the blindfold but kept her head lower than the others.

“I saw the texts from you and Sunset after that and was gonna reply when I remembered Fluttershy. Poor girl, she’d probably opened her door hearing the commotion outside and got the fright of her life.”

Fluttershy let out a small whimper.

“Luckily, I got there to help!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I mean, her parents were obviously there too, but this seems like a ‘get the girls together and see if awesome friendship magic can help’ problem.”

“How did you manage to get there before me?” Applejack scratched her head, loosing a small shower of dust and dirt from her hair. “I know you have a good sense of things, but this is pushing it.”

“Oh, I would have never known if I hadn’t gotten a text from Fluttershy’s phone.” Pinkie raised her phone up to the group. “It said, ‘your friend had a bit of bone-chilling encounter. sorry about that. you should probably come and make sure she’s okay.’”

Pinkie put her phone away and giggled a little. When silence greeted her, she blushed and pulled her head back. “Sorry, it’s just that I haven’t seen puns that cheesy since that foreign student visited.”

Dash narrowed her eyes at Pinkie. “Taking people’s phones, scaring Fluttershy half to death, causing problems all around town? These guys are really asking for it.”

“I’m with you on that.” Applejack nodded at Dash. “But I don’t want to get in over our heads, especially if there’s an easier way to solve this mess.”

“W-what about Sunset and Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“They’ve been at in in the science lab even before I got here,” Dash explained. “Twilight’s machines went on the fritz this morning, so she got Sunset over to her place. When monsters started appearing, they booked it to school about the same time I got here for morning practice. I’ve been keeping the portal safe ever since while they’ve been off in the lab.”

“Oh dear.” Rarity bit her lip. “Will they be safe there?”

Dash pursed her lips. “Sunset could probably handle things on her own, but if she’s looking out for Twilight…”

All five of the girls felt knots grow in their stomachs. They vanished a moment later though when both Sunset and Twilight entered the gymnasium through the doors that led into the school. Catching sight of the other girls, Sunset rushed over to them while Twilight trailed behind her. They all pulled into a big hug with Twilight lingering on the outside, but Pinkie managed to stretch around and brought her next to the rest of them.

“Girls!” Sunset said, tightening her hold. “Thank Equestria you’re okay!”

“‘Course we are.” Applejack flashed Sunset a grin. “Glad you two are safe as well.”

Sunset focused on Fluttershy and the uneven blindfold that still covered one of her eyes. “I’m guessing today hit you a bit harder than the rest of us.”

“I’m with f-friends and it’s safe,” Fluttershy repeated.

“Give her some time,” Dash said. “What about you two? Did you find a way to magic these monsters back to wherever they came from?”

Sunset broke away from her friends. She swept off a bit of dirt and dust that had gotten on her from Applejack and took a deep breath.

“This is a lot more complex than just magicking away things.” Seeing her friends’ faces pale and grow tight, Sunset threw up her arms and waved them frantically. “No, no! It’s not complex in a bad way!” With a sigh, she slumped her shoulders. “Look, let’s all just sit down. Things will hopefully make a little more sense in a second.”

Dash opened her mouth wide to shout something, but was cut off by Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna entering the gymnasium. All eyes went to them as they marched up to the center of the bleachers. Scanning over the sparse yet densely packed group, Celestia turned to Luna. Her eyes focused on the bundle of cables and the microphone Luna had brought in with them.

“I don’t think we’ll need the mike with these numbers, Luna,” said Celestia.

Luna nodded and put the mike and the cables off to the side.

“I’m sure this has been a trying morning for all of you,” Celestia said, voice reverberating throughout the gym. “First, I want to assure everyone that I’ve spoken with the authorities and they are acting to take control the situation right now.”

A few people’s ears perked up. From beyond the doors that led to the courtyard, they could make out something sounding over the PA speakers. Their attention went back to Celestia as the she continued talking.

“As you are well aware, a large number of creatures have appeared outside and are making their way through the city.” Celestia took a deep breath. Both Sunset and Twilight tensed up, the latter bringing her hands up to her ears. “I want it to be known that despite their appearance, these creatures mean no harm and are just acclimating to life back on the surface. So please remain calm a—”

Celestia was cut off by the bleachers exploding into a maelstrom of shouts and cries. Everyone was now yelling, some grabbing each other, many pointing fingers at Celestia. Some could only blankly stare at her.

“Darn it!” Dash tried to get up but Sunset restrained her. “Let go of me! Can’t you see Principal Celestia’s been brainwashed again? We’ve got to do something!”

“Just calm down!” Sunset huffed while trying to hold Dash down. “She’s telling the truth!”

Dash reached out and grabbed the collar of Sunset’s jacket. “Did they get to you too?”

“Rainbow Dash, stop it!” Twilight placed a hand on Dash’s left arm. She opened her mouth to say something, but the intense glare Dash shot her forced the words to catch in her throat.

The shrill tone of a whistle sounded through the auditorium. While everyone’s hands went to their ears, their eyes went to Pinkie. She continued to blow her whistle until her cheeks turned blue. Releasing it with a gasp, she sucked in fresh air for a few seconds. After a few coughs, she bounded over to Celestia.

“Mind if I say a few words?” she asked with wide eyes and grin.

“I’ll accept anything that will help today,” Celestia sighed.

“Oki-doki then!” Pinkie spun towards the bleachers. “Okay, everyone, I have a question to start things off with. Did anyone here actually try talking with the monsters?”

“What?” a collective shout went up.

“They’re monsters!”

“They’re destroying the city!”

Pinkie blew into her whistle again. It was quiet again, but Pinkie kept the whistle pressed to her lips. Only after a good few seconds did she she let it dangle around her neck. Placing her hands on her hips, she pouted at the bleachers.

“Well, I talked with a few of them. I even gave some of them the soda I keep on hand for cases just like this.” Pinkie reached into her purse and produced a frosty can of soda. Her brow furrowed when she put the can back. “Some monsters asked me where they could learn about human history. Some wanted to see where we all hung out. Some even asked where the best food was.”

Pinkie’s lips curled into a grin. “It’s Sugarcube Corner, by the way. My point is, does that sound like something an invading army would do?”

“You mean gathering intelligence?” Dash called out.

Pinkie shot her a glare. “It’s not. That’s not what invading armies do. That’s what clueless tourists do! Now, if you still have a problem with that, please feel free to panic about your local hangouts being overrun by the hordes of the unassuming that, while good for business, will cause lines to spring out the doors!”

Pinkie wiped some sweat off her face and chugged the soda from earlier. Grumbles and dissatisfied mutters started rising from the bleachers. While Pinkie finished off her drink, Sunset came up beside her with Twilight in tow.

“Well, um, leave it to Pinkie Pie to make a discovery none of us would have come by.” Sunset let out a nervous chuckle the echoed across the gym. Sighing, Sunset sharpened her glare at the crowd. “Okay, I know this is a total mess, but this isn’t Canterlot High’s first tussle with monsters. I should know and so should all of you.”

A few faces in the crowd glanced down.

“Aside from what Pinkie said, Twilight and I have been working all morning at sorting this out too,” Sunset continued. “There is a lot we don’t know right now and the situation outside is one everyone, and I mean everyone, wants resolved. What we need to do now is take some calm breaths and analyze the situation. Think about what Pinkie said, has anyone here actually been attacked by these monsters?”

Bulk Biceps raised a hand. “Does a walking washing machine trying to clean up your dirty jersey count if you’re still wearing it?”

“How about a giant dog knight stretching its head out to lick your face?” asked a wall-eyed girl.

People began muttering again, though not with the earlier intensity. When the talk began to get louder, Sunset tapped Pinkie on the shoulder and the party girl blew her whistle again.

“I think you’re all beginning to see a pattern here,” said Sunset. “Pinkie said it best: we’re dealing with a wave of tourists… they’re just a bit more on the unusual side of things. From what I’ve just overheard, you can bet both I and Twilight…” Sunset glanced over at Twilight. “Er, other Twilight, did a lot of the same things when we first got here. You were willing to give us a chance, so why don’t we just let cooler heads prevail and take things one step at a time?”

A knock at the doors that led to the courtyard rang through the gym.

“I think we’ll have a good step right now.” Celestia faced the crowd again. “Now, everyone, given what you’ve just heard and shared amongst yourselves, I want you to remember that we are not under attack and that we should try and understand as much of the situation as we can.”

Celestia then strode over to the doors and inched one of them open. From the angle, it was impossible to see who Celestia was speaking with and their hushed tones made their conversation hard to make out. After a moment, Celestia gave a nod and backed away from the door.

Everyone sucked in their breath when the doors opened. From the courtyard came a massive monster that vastly dwarfed his kin. His cape billowed around him, its purple hue highlighting his snow white fur and horns alongside the gold of his regalia and hair.

Twilight, Sunset, and Pinkie stepped away from the giant monster as he approached where they’d spoken. Up close, they saw that they barely reached up to the base of his rattling breastplate.

No one let out a sound. Fluttershy shook while Rarity held her in her seat, though she too was quivering. Even Rainbow Dash and Applejack felt goosebumps crawling up their legs and arms. Finally, the monster opened his mouth, his voice such a deep baritone that it seemed to carry its own echo.

“Um… good morning? Nice weather today, isn’t it?” Everyone continued to stare at him with no one daring to even take a breath. The monster tucked his bearded chin and shook his head. “Oh, that’s not right. None of this is. I knew I should have asked Tori for help.”

After a moment, the monster sighed deeply and managed to raise his head up. “Humans, I should first apologize on behalf of my people. If I had known we would cause such trouble, I would have made sure our departure from the Underground was much more controlled.”

The monster bowed his head again. “The least I can do now is tell you that we mean no harm. I do not even know where to begin after that though. So much has changed since we were cast behind the Barrier.”

Pinkie waved a hand through the air. “Why don’t you tell us your name first, so we’re not just calling you ‘big boss monster guy’?”

“I suppose this will be one of many introductions today.” Folding an arm across his breastplate, the monster gave a courteous bow. “I am Asgore Dreemurr, former king of the Underground and monsterkind.”

“I got a question.” Dash raised up and pointed a finger at Asgore. “What’s your big idea coming here?”

A few gasps went up through the crowd. Asgore’s baggy eyes met Dash’s fiery ones.

“Monsters have long dreamed of returning to the surface,” Asgore said, his back bending slightly. “Long ago, so long ago it seems that humans have forgotten, there was a terrible war between our two races. In the end, monsters were sealed behind a great barrier. Countless years passed but we managed to hold out hope that we would one day shatter the Barrier, not to retake the surface but to just see the sunlight again.”

Asgore lowered his head, allowing some of his hair to fall over his face. “That is what I would like to say. Many years ago, a personal tragedy befell my family and in my rage I redeclared war on humanity. Yet, as the years went on and we grew closer and closer to taking down the Barrier, I realized I could never inflict the same horrific loss on humanity that had struck my own family. If things had continued on that path, my foolish actions would have damned humans and monsters to another senseless war.”

By the time Asgore paused and put a hand to his chest, his voice was little more than a shaky whisper. The sound of his armor rattling was the only noise in the whole gym. Even Rainbow Dash— now back in her seat— was left in silence. Taking a deep breath, Asgore raised his slightly dampened eyes to the crowd.

“But a lone human, the final sacrifice we needed to bring down the Barrier, fell into the Underground some days ago,” Asgore said, his voice regaining strength. “They were given every opportunity and excuse to defend themselves, yet they made it all the way to me without harming a single monster. They had even befriended some of them, my captain of the guard in particular wound up… ‘besties’ as she puts it, with the human. Whether it be through their magnanimity or some other miracle, upon reaching me, the Barrier was destroyed. Now monsters only seek to live upon the surface once more.”

It was Applejack’s turn to stand up and face Asgore. “That’s all well and good for the monsters, but what about us humans? The monsters outside are causing a whole mess of problems even if they don’t mean to.”

“I’m well aware,” Asgore sighed. “Luckily, with the help of your administrators and my top scientist, we’re working on a solution even as we speak.”

~~~

“Uh, everyone, please just take a form and fill out your name and what you’d like to do on the surface!” Alphys called out. “Just like King Asgore said, the faster you fill them out, the faster you get your free signs or t-shirts!”

Monsters swiped up forms from the stack of papers clasped in her claws. As she struggled to make her way through the courtyard with the teetering stack, she bumped into something as solid as a rock. Shifting the forms to the side, she was met with Undyne staring down at her.

“U-u-undyne, you’re here!” Sweat trickled down Alphys’s face. “Y-you’re probably mad about me up and vanishing like that, b-but Sans promised to show me a really cool la—”

Undyne darted around Alphys and pulled her into a headlock. Reaching down with her other hand, she gave the scaly scientist a noogie. “You bet your butt I’m mad at you! Plus I’m all fired up now because some human decided to get fresh with me! What if they’d taken that piece of junk shovel of theirs and hit that big brain of yours?”

Before Alphys could reply, she felt Undyne’s hands loosen. Her sleek chest pressed up against her hunched back. Any nearby monsters took a step back and looked the other way.

“We’re gonna have a whole lot of new challenges and dangers on the surface,” Undyne said, her voice losing its grittier tones. “A guard can’t be good if they don’t ensure their people’s safety.”

“Undyne…”

The papers flew out of Alphys’s claws. Undyne lifted them high with a smirk. “Not bad, nerd, Papyrus is gonna love that you can already lift this much. Now he won’t need to start you off with benching marshmallows. What are you doing with these things anyway?”

“D-did you not hear what King Asgore said?” Alphys stammered. Undyne cocked her head to the side. “W-well, he asked me and Sans to hand these all out. If everyone fills out these forms, then we can make t-shirts and signs explaining who we are and, uh, then the humans won’t panic… maybe.”

“Free t-shirts, eh?” Undyne grinned. “That’s a great idea! You need more clothes than just lab coats and that one nice dress, Papyrus needs to ditch that costume since it's got too many stains and burns from our cooking classes, and I’m just sick of Sans always wearing that stupid jacket!”

Undyne launched off the ground and onto the top of the school’s front entrance. With reckless abandon, she threw the stack of papers high into the air, scattering them across the courtyard.

“Ahahaha! This is way faster than just letting everyone take them one at a time!” she bellowed. “Alright, everyone! You heard Alphys, get these forms to every monster you know!”

~~~

“Okay,” Applejack said after hearing Asgore’s plan. Her gaze went over to Celestia. "Taking a big assumption this all works out, where does that leave us?”

“I suggest you return home and inform your families about the situation, but the school is also open to all that seek it as a refuge,” Celestia replied. “King Asgore has promised to keep monsters a good distance away once all the t-shirt and sign forms have been passed out save for higher ranking monsters that may have business here.”

Dash’s eyes narrowed and she stood back up. “What could they want here?”

“Information, for one,” said Sunset. “Our library and labs are some of the better ones in town that anyone can access.”

“Plus sharing histories and sciences will help make monsters’ transition to the surface go smoother.” Twilight flinched when Dash crossed her arms and hardened her glare.

Dash opened her mouth to say something. A hand clasped her shoulder before she could get a word out.

Fluttershy’s leg wobbled underneath her. She tightened her grip on Dash. “Rainbow Dash, I… I think that sounds okay.”

“But…”

“You heard what K-king Asgore said.” Fluttershy clenched her hand further. “I’m still really scared, b-but if what he says is true, then there’s no reason to fight these monsters.”

“As traumatic as this morning has been, I have to agree with Fluttershy,” said Rarity. “There’s nothing gained from causing a fight where there needn’t be one.”

“And why have a fight when you can have parties instead?” A spray of confetti exploded behind Pinkie as she stuck her head in between Dash and Fluttershy. Her lips curled into a sheepish grin. “Okay, maybe the confetti was a bit much.”

“Still Pinkie and Fluttershy have a point.” With a gulp, Sunset stepped forward once more and stood beside Asgore. “It’s been a very long morning, but we’re now at least a little closer to getting things back to normal… well, stable. It’s probably gonna take a bit for things to truly settle down, but I know everyone here has been accepting of strangers before. So, can we at least give these people a chance too?”

Pinkie let out a string of claps, which was followed by Fluttershy and Rarity. Soon, others joined in as well. With sighs and then smiles, Applejack and Rainbow Dash added to the applause. A few people kept their arms crossed or at their sides with their wary eyes on Asgore.

When the applause died down, Asgore looked at Sunset and smiled. “Human, I do not even know your name, but I sense from you and those that appear to be your friends a great Determination.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Why do you say it like th—”

One of the windows near the gym’s ceiling exploded inward. Everyone snapped their heads up to see an armored skeleton tumbling through the air. Despite careening straight for the ground, his skull still displayed a wide grin. His eye sockets shifted like wet clay to give the appearance of him glancing over at Asgore.

“OH GOOD!” Papyrus called out while still racing towards the floor. “KING ASGORE, I HEARD WE WERE GETTING FREE T-SHIRTS AND I WANTED T—”

The waxed floor cratered under Papyrus, sending up a small plume of dust and bits of splintered wood. In a fit of coughing, Papyrus waved a hand through the dust, clearing the air. He was a little scratched up from the fall, but still wore a wide grin on his face.

“WHOOPSY DOOPSY! I ACCIDENTALLY DEFEATED THE GROUND!” Papyrus’s sockets narrowed. “HMMM, SOMETHING FEELS A BIT OFF ABOUT THIS VICTORY THOUGH.”

He tapped a foot and reached up to stroke his chin, but clasped nothing. Glancing down to his right, he saw that his arm had disappeared. “OH, THAT WOULD EXPLAIN IT. BEST FIND MY ARM BEFORE I NEED A REPLACEMENT!”

Nearby, Fluttershy dared not to move or even breath. Her eyes faced straight forward, but weren’t focused on anything in particular. Not her friends rushing to her side, nor Asgore running over to Papyrus, not even Papyrus himself as he turned and began sprinting towards her.

Every part of her screamed to just keep looking forward even as she felt a newly acquired weight on her shift lower to the ground. What started as a small tremble grew into a frenzied shaking as her eyes looked down for the briefest of seconds.

They froze as did the rest of her at the sight of a bones sliding down her torso. Their descent was slowed by the gloved hand being draped over Fluttershy’s shoulder. She could feel the bumpy ends of its wrist dragging against her clavicle.

Her friends were saying something to her, but their voices were overtaken by Papyrus’s. Wasting no time, he pulled his arm off of her and shoved it back into its socket. Giving it a few rotations, his smile widened. He then used his freshly reattached arm to wipe his forehead despite the lack of sweat.

“WHEW, CLOSE ONE. A FEW MORE SECONDS AND I’D BE OUT AN ARM AND YOU’D BE…” Papyrus squinted and then beamed at Fluttershy. “HEY, YOU’RE THAT NICE HUMAN FROM EARLIER! DID YOU MAKE THE PASTA I LEFT YOU? IT’S GREAT FOR RECOVERING AFTER A HARD ROYAL GUARD TRAINING SESSION OR SEEING THE GLORY THAT IS PAPYRUS FOR THE FIRST TIME!”

Fluttershy fell back like a chopped pine tree. At least this time, her friends were there to catch her.

Papyrus glanced to the side. “I’LL TAKE THAT AS A NO AND A SIGN FOR ME TO USE THE BATHROOM.”

Author's Note

❄♒♏ ◆♋✡ ♓♦ ♌⚫⬜♍????♏♎

Chapter 3

“Fascinating.” Alphys scribbled onto her notepad and flipped to a new page. “But you’re still unsure how your magic is channeled?”

“I’ve barely even grasped the catalysts for it here,” Sunset sighed. “Back home, the theories are much more sound and the biology adds up.”

Alphys clasped her chin. “Hmmm, it’d be easier if your magic were purely based in acoustics. A few monsters have magic like that. The recent displays have more in common with the old human variants though.”

Twilight tapped a pen to her lips. Her eyes widened and she leveled the pen at Alphys. “Could it possibly be a derivative of Determination?”

“That’s…” Alphys twisted to the left and swiped a bunch of papers from the teetering stack at her side. Her eyes raced over the lines. Her pupils shrank. “Ohmigosh! I’ll need to actually write out the formulas and proof them, but that could work!”

Alphys then glanced down. “We’d need a constant to test it against though and I’m not sure where we’d get the Determination from.”

A skull pressed up nears Alphys’ ear. “forgetting someone?”

Alphys rocketed out of her chair and cartwheeled into a nearby bookshelf. A few book wobbled out of their shelves and slammed into the ground. One flew open and flopped onto Papyrus’s head. He threw down the coloring book in his hands and stood up, stomping at the ground.

“DARN IT, SANS!” he yelled. “THE LIBRARY IS NO PLACE FOR SPATIAL JOKES!”

“Also not a place for your volume,” Undyne chuckled. “Now I know why they gave you looks in Snowdin.”

Setting her comic book down, Undyne leapt off the shelf she was perched on and strode over to Alphys. She extended out a hand which Alphys grasped with a smile. Undyne then glanced at Sans.

“Don’t think I’m not ticked at you too, lazy bones,” she said. “Popping in like you own the place.”

Sans’ fingers clacked against his phone. Undyne flared her nostrils.

“Hey!” she shouted. “Pay attention when I’m talking!”

“sorry, just thought i’d help out a bit.” Sans flopped into Alphy’s seat and leaned back. He glanced over at Sunset and Twilight. “hope you don’t mind. i asked a friend to swing by later.”

“Why don’t we take a break for lunch then?” Sunset suggested. She reached below her chair and pulled out a small paper bag and a larger more ornate one with streams of colorful ribbons flowing out of the top. “We can finally try whatever Pinkie dropped off.”

“I can do without that pink whirlwind’s sugary masses,” Undyne said. “I’ve had too much human food as it is lately. The royal guard must maintain a strict diet!”

“YES!” Papyrus proclaimed. “SPAGHETTI FOREVER!”

Sunset shrugged and opened up Pinkie’s gift bag. She tossed out a few bunches of the ribbons, which Papyrus watched closely. Buried under the decoration was a letter and an array of cupcakes with mountains of frosting atop them. A thin grin came to her lips while she read the letter. Undyne squinted her eye at Sunset.

“I guess we’ll just have to try her new ‘monster-approved’ cupcakes then,” Sunset teased.

“So this is how the Royal Guard was truly defeated,” Undyne sighed. A big smile then spread across her face. “Oh well, now it shall be a quest to keep my body in shape!”

~~~

“Hmmm.” Rarity stroked her chin. She raised up the string of sequins in her right hand. Then, she lowered them and brought up the pile of small gems in her left hand. “Fluttershy, dear, I simply can’t decide. You have a bit more experience with scales, which do you think looks better on them?”

“T-they’re both nice,” Fluttershy squeaked. She drew arms a little tighter across her stomach.

Rarity frowned. “Dear, no one is forcing you to stay here. Four of us is more than enough to keep tabs on things.”

“No no!” Fluttershy threw her hands in front of her faces. “That’s fine, Rarity! I ju—”

The door jingled and Fluttershy seized up. She threw herself to the side and crouched behind a rack of costumes. Rarity shook her head and then turned toward the door. She planted a smile on face.

The painted on grin and cross-shaped eyes of a mask looked at Rarity from across the room. The monster’s cloak flowed over its feet while it made its way over to Rarity’s desk.

“Greetings…” Rarity looked the creature up and down. “Sir?”

“Hello,” said the monster. “I heard you take gold.”

“Indeed!” Rarity’s smile widened. “Now what can I do for you today?”

The monster lifted up its right side. The cloak still engulfed its body, but now the cloak’s frayed edges glistened under the light. “I could use some new clothes. The t-shirts aren’t really my thing. Do you do masks as well?”

“But of course!” Rarity pulled open a drawer and slid a sheet and a pen onto the desk. “If I could just get your measurements.”

The monster bowed, its horns skimming past Rarity’s nose. It clasped the pen through its cloak and scribbled into boxes that divided up the sheet. After a moment, it slid the sheet back over to Rarity.

“How much will this all be?” it asked.

“Oh, how about five gold for the cloak and two for each mask?”

The monster tilted its head to the side. “Huh, the others really weren’t kidding about how easy clothing is to get here.”

“Now it may take a bit to get done though.” Rarity glanced at the stack of sheets to her right. “I’ve had quite the influx of business lately. I can give you an estimate of around Saturday. Does that work?”

“No problem.” The monster placed nine thick, scratched up coins on the table. “You’re sure this is enough?”

“Quite,” Rarity said while trying to keep her eyes up on the monster.

“Then thanks.” The monster turned around and shuffled out of the room.

When the door closed, Rarity’s smile widened to a giddy grin and she scooped the gold into the a drawer already heavy with coins.

“I’ll be able to finance graduate school too at this rate,” she giggled.

She left her seat and went over to the nearby rack. Fluttershy looked up at her with a deep blush on her face. Rarity extended out a hand but Fluttershy turned her head away and whimpered.

“It’s okay, Fluttershy.” Rarity crouched down and gently placed a hand on Fluttershy’s back.. “Just another happy customer.”

“But the horns, Rarity,” Fluttershy muttered. “A-and what was under its cloak?”

“Nothing I need concern myself with as long as I know its measurements.”

Fluttershy tucked her head and stared at the ground. Rarity gave her a pat on the back.

“If you’re more comfortable back here, that’s fine. And if you just want to go home, I’d be happy to take you.”

“It’s fine.” Fluttershy hugged her knees. “I’m with friends and I’m safe.”

Rarity frowned and gave Fluttershy another pat. “Of course, dear.”

Rarity pulled back and sat back down at her desk. She lifted up the sequins and the gems again and watched them glisten. Biting her lower lip, her vision narrowed down to the small space in front of her.

Fluttershy sniffled. With a deep breath, she placed her knees beneath her and closed her eyes. With each inhale, the monster’s mask and its ethereal cloak faded and were replaced by the vision of a clam stream. The chirps of a golden warbler sounded from some nearby trees. The sun shimmered off the water and produced a pale blue glow.

Fluttershy’s eyes flared open.

The glow slipped between the racks of costumes and props. It grew stronger amongst a thick stack of boxes that walled off a corner of the room. Ice flooded Fluttershy’s veins.

She twisted her head toward Rarity. A few sheets from the towering stack on Rarity’s right were now in front of her. A pen tapped against her tight lips.

Fluttershy sucked in the air through her nose and balled up her fingers. When she exhaled, her eyes glistened.

One of her hands traveled out toward the glow and trembled to ground. She lifted up the opposite knee and crawled a little closer. She inched toward the glow until she was right beside the boxes.

She peaked past the boxes. Her breath caught in her throat.

A translucent blob floated near the corner. Upright, it might have stood as tall as Fluttershy. A pair of pupiless eyes attached to it gazed upwards. A thick set of headphones clamped against the sides of what appeared to be its head. Their wire curved around the monster’s body and disappeared behind it.

Fluttershy’s ears perked up. The headphones were vibrating a bit. A faint electronic beat could be heard every few seconds.

I should get Rarity. Fluttershy spun and bumped into box.

The stack shuddered. Pieces of plastic and wooden props clattered and bounced across the floor. Fluttershy’s hair stood on end. She dared not breathe.

A whispy moan chilled her to the bone. “I should have know this spot was taken.”

The glow coming of the monster shifted a little.

“Sorry for the trouble. I’ll go feel awful elsewhere.”

“W-wait!”

Fluttershy shot up from behind the boxes. With her head peering over the stack, she could see that the monster was floating upright. The headphones had vanished, eliminating any discrepancy between the monster and a very convincing bedsheet ghost costume. It was slightly hunched so that its eyes faced the ground. Fluttershy could also now make out a small gap below its eyes that resembled a dreary frown.

“S-sorry if I d-disturbed y-you,” Fluttershy stuttered. Her heart pounded in her chest. “Y-you d-don’t need to l-leave or feel b-bad.”

“I like feeling bad,” the ghost sighed. “All these old costumes reminded me of the dump… but cleaner. I thought it was a good place to feel like trash.”

“W-why would you do that?” Fluttershy asked. “I t-thought monsters were happy to be on the surface.”

“We are, but sometimes I just need to lie down and feel like garbage.”

“Oh…” Fluttershy glanced down. “Have you ever tried lying down and feeling happy?”

The ghost corked to the side. “Why would I do that?”

“W-well.” Fluttershy gulped. “I… I’ve been very scared lately, b-but I feel better if I lie down and think of happy things.”

“That sounds nice,” the ghost moaned. “Oh… but this is still your space. I’ll go now.”

“You don’t ha—”

Fluttershy was left with only dust motes floating in front of her. She stared at the empty space for a second, but then smiled.

I guess monsters are nervous about meeting people too.

~~~

“Ha!”

Dash’s foot collided with the soccer ball. It blasted off the ground, flew across the courtyard, and ricocheted off the oak tree that marked the divide between the front of the school and the sports field. The ball rolled away from the trunk with a few tiny splinters clinging to it.

An orange and purple blur darted through the falling leaves and scooped up the ball. Scootaloo raced back to Rainbow Dash and presented it to her with a grin.

“Here you go, Rainbow Dash!” she huffed. “You’ve gotta be up to a hundred kicks now!”

“Eighty-four, squirt.” Dash hefted the ball out of Scootaloo’s hands and bounced it on her knee. “Think I’ll switch to doing some upper body stuff to end my shift out here.”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened. “Oh! Can I train too?”

“Course you can. Can’t be too careful with how things are going.” Dash let the ball fall to the ground and placed her foot on top of it. “You wanna get a few kicks in?”

Scootaloo paled. “I think I’m good. Don’t want a repeat of that time with the mascot.”

“Fair.” Dash shrugged and kicked the ball again. Scootaloo raced out to retrieve it, but a blue hand clamped onto her shoulder. “I can get this one. Why don’t you take a seat and grab something to drink. You’re looking a little red.”

Scootaloo wiped some sweat from her brow and nodded. Dash grinned at her and then sped off towards the ball. Scootaloo turned to the bench. She then froze.

Right beside her and Dash’s bags sat a monster with a bulbous, scaly head. Its legs kicked back and forth in the air. Three teeth glistened in the center of its gaping grin, giving it a doofy but ecstatic look. Scootaloo scrunched up her face at the way the monster’s t-shirt flapped in the wind where is should have brushed against arms.

Scootaloo couldn’t quite pronounce the name printed onto the white shirt, but the rest of the text was readable.

I wanna meet heroes!, it read.

“Uh, Dash?” Scootaloo called out.

“Yeah, squirt?” Dash shoved the ball between her arm and her side and turned around. “Wh—”

The ball dropped and rolled across the grass. Dash flung herself between Scootaloo and bench. She widened her stance and glared at the monster. Its grin widened.

“This area’s off limits,” Dash said. “No monsters allowed.”

“I know!” the monster beemed. “Everyone says there’s a really strong human defending this place!”

Dash’s muscles slackened.

“You’re the one right?” The monster jumped off the bench. It teetered on its legs and crashed to the ground. Scootaloo winced watching it scrape itself off the ground. The scales disguised the scrapes and bruises, but Scootaloo now realized the monster’s blackened eyes probably weren’t natural.

Dash stooped low and got near the monster’s eye level. It squinted past its swollen eyes and smiled at her with the same doofy grin. Dash’s lips curved down.

“You should go get your face checked out, kid,” she said. One of her eyebrows raised up. “You are a kid, right?”

“Well, that’s what everyone calls me.” It glanced down at its shirt. “My name’s kinda hard to pronounce.”

“Okay, then go back to your parents or whoever and get some ice or something.” Dash furrowed her brow. “Like now.”

“Oh, got it.” The monster kid’s grin widened. “It was super cool to meet you though, Ms. Human Defender!”

“Name’s Rainbow Dash, kid.” Dash stood back up and pressed her hands against her hips. “Now scram.”

“Right!” The monster kid turned and scampered away. A few yards away, it fell again, but picked itself up.

Dash shook her head it at it while it got further and further away. “Sheesh, they can’t even watch over their kids.”

Scootaloo glanced at the ground. “I mean, it just wanted to see how awesome you are.”

Dash clasped her chin. “Well, you got me there. Plus it’s gotta be worth some cred for an actual monster to be a fan of yours.”

Dash’s eyes sharpened. “Don’t go getting the wrong idea though, squirt. Monsters could still be dangerous.”

~~~

The monster kid skipped down the street. Despite how much it stung, they couldn’t help but smile. They’d met a hero. A real one. This one was a brave and courageous defender of the human’s gathering spot. She had fans too. From what the kid had heard, she’d even stood up to Undyne.

The kid’s head was filled with visions of Dash and Undyne squaring off while they hopped down the street. Even when a towering figure appeared before them, they were so lost in their thoughts that they just kept springing forward.

Their whole body rattled when they slammed into the figure. They slowly slipped down its side, they scratched scales brushing against a smooth and flowing fabric.

“My goodness!” a voice cried out.

Something reached around the kid and held them up. They bristled when a warmth flowed over them and stung their face. The collision had blurred their vision but they could feel the heat radiating out from something right in front of their face.

“My child, hold them steady just a moment longer,” said the voice. “Poor thing, I wish I could do more, but we mustn’t be late!”

“Hmmm?” the voice asked even though the kid had said nothing. “Oh, yes, I know Sans wouldn’t mind, but the others will. And what would the humans think?”

“Uh, I don’t really know, ma’am.” The kid's vision cleared and their face no longer stung as badly. Yet now their sight was dominated by a large furry hand as white as snow.

The hand pulled back to reveal a monster with a large smile that stretched to each of her floppy ears.

“Oh young one, I was not talking to you,” she chucked and looked down to her left. “My child was merely reassuring me that our meeting is not in jeopardy.”

A small hand tugged at the monster’s flowing dress. The monster then blushed deeply. “My child, do not look at me that way. You know today’s meeting is not like that.”

The monster kid looked away to their right. Their eyes widened as did their smile.

“Yo, dude! It feels like it’s been forever!”

Author's Note

❄♓❍♏ ????⯀❒♏ ♓❒❒♏♑⬥●♋❒ ✡♏♦ ⬩♦❒♋♓♑♒♦

Chapter 4

The trophy gleamed even in the dim light of the office. Like its neighbors on the shelves above and below it, not a speck of dust marred it. When all this madness with monsters had started, a oversized frog had hopped too close to the trophies and gotten a swift kick to the face for its troubles. The vile thing had burst like an overstuffed hoover. The thin veneer of glass was the only thing that had preserved the trophies in a presentable state.

Principal Cinch shuddered recalling the ordeal. She labored back over to her chair and rested her head on the desk. Over the past few days, both had become quite comfortable replacements for her bed. Her new sleeping arrangements ensured someone always had an eye on the school’s treasured collection. Being on the second floor with only a window and a door as a way in also had advantages when the apocalypse was going on outside.

Cinch glared at the barricaded door. No shadows had passed by today and the number had dwindled ever since the first day this nightmare had started. Cinch shifted her attention to her computer screen. Tab after tab on her browser showed headline after headline, many featuring the goat-like beast that was apparently king of the monsters. For as many tabs there were of him, there were much more that featured pictures and scenes of Canterlot High.

As the days had gone on, the articles about the school had shrunken in length and it was little more than a footnote in the major news articles now, but Cinch knew better. The way a calm seemed to flow out of school. The way the monsters described their abilities as magic. The way that king praised the youth of humanity. There was only one logical conclusion: Twilight Sparkle had unleashed this pandemonium on the world just like she had at the Equestria Games.

Cinch ground her teeth and pulled out a notepad with page filled with ink driven deep into the paper. Twilight Sparkle and those brats from Canterlot High were involved in this and she was determined to get to the bottom of this mess.

~~~

Sunset waved the baton-like end of the measuring device over the child in front of her. She pressed her lips together and felt the knot in her stomach grow when the child tightened their grip on their guardian’s dress. Sunset took a breath and watched the arrow swing back and forth on her device and emit varying frequencies of beeps. When she brought it close to the child’s chest, the arrow remained firmly to the right and the device gave a steady beep.

The monster that had brought the child in laid a paw on their back. “It is okay, my child, we’re almost done.”

Sunset scribbled down some notes and then looked to Twilight. They nodded at each other and Sunset stood back up. She gave the child a smile but they backed away and hid behind the monster.

“I’m sorry,” the monster sighed. “Ever since we returned to the surface, Frisk has been quite shy.”

Sunset waved a hand back and forth. “No, no. They did great. Thank you again for bringing them, Ms. Toriel. You’ve both helped out a lot.”

Toriel smiled and looked behind her at Frisk. “Did you hear that, my child?”

Frisk gave a small nod.

“How about you go see your friend Papyrus?” Toriel suggested.

Papyrus popped up from between the bookshelves. “I HAVE ALL SORTS OF NEW PUZZLES TO CHALLENGE YOU, HUMAN! DARE YOU ENTER THE REALM OF THE DEWEY DEATHCIMAL SYSTEM?”

Frisk managed a small grin and wandered over to where Papyrus was. Toriel smiled watching them go.

Twilight set her notepad down beside the stacks of other documents and glanced over them. “We’ll have to redo a lot of our hypotheses, but I think this new information is the missing link we’ve been looking for. To think, two new thaumic frequencies.”

While stars glistened in Twilight’s eyes, Sunset brought a thumb up to her lip and bit the tip of it. “It’s the differences that bother me though. The lack of a proper conductive organ now makes even less sense if magic is naturally occurring in humans.”

Alphys pawed through some papers and scanned over them. “Perhaps high enough exposure to DETERMINATION is all that’s required? Or maybe contact with monster magic?”

“Hmmm, the Crown of Magic seems to have worked as a catalyst for Equestrian magic, so you may be onto something there” Sunset mused. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though without sorting all this data out first.”

Toriel peered over everyone and looked over the notes. “Strange. From what I’ve heard and the notes you made on this FRIENDSHIP ability you have, my child should have displayed something like it.”

“T-that’s right. Frisk was very agile to dodge all those attacks in the Underground.” Alphys’s cheeks reddened a little. “But the only time they ever used magic was when Undyne gave it to them.”

Sunset furrowed her brow. “It feels like with every new piece of information we get, the more confusing this all becomes.”

“I know, isn’t research wonderful?” Twilight beemed. She then turned to Toriel. “That was pretty impressive that you were able to grasp the gist of our findings so far from just a glance and whatever Mr. Sans told you on the phone.”

“You didn’t think Asgore ran all the Underground’s research on his own, did you?” said Toriel.

Twilight corked her head to the side. “I thought Dr. Alphys was the head of research.”

“I am.” Alphys glanced at Toriel and then lowered her head. “Toriel… I mean, Ms. Toriel! No, wait! I mean Qu—”

“Just Toriel is fine, Alphys.” Toriel gave her head a shake and sighed. “It seems Sans didn’t tell you much about myself. I guess he didn’t want to drop a skeleton of information on you.”

Sunset groaned and Papyrus could be heard doing the same from beyond the shelves.

“It sounds like you have some connections with King Asgore though,” said Twilight. “With him being so busy and us being so focussed on magic, we haven’t really gotten a chance to talk with him about how monster politics or history worked out.”

“Well…” Toriel bit her lip. She took in the library around her, breathed deeply, and smiled. “I suppose this is as good a place as any to start. What would you like to know about monsters?”

Twilight’s smile widened. “Everything.”

“Oh my, this is going to be quite the first lesson for me.”

Sunset and Twilight took seats near Toriel and listened closely. Alphys smiled, pushed out of her own seat, and made her way over to the graphic novels section of the library. She peered around one shelf and then the other. The smile faded from her face. She hustled down one aisle and then the other. Sweat sprouted up on her brow. With her heart beating faster, Alphys sped over to the children’s section. Frisk and Papyrus looked up from their coloring books at her.

“Uh, um,” she huffed. “Have you seen Undyne? She’s not by the comics.”

“OH RIGHT,” Papyrus exclaimed. “SHE MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT GETTING BORED AND THAT’D SHE’D ‘BEAT THE EVERLOVING SNOT OUT OF HER LUNCH,’ SO I THINK SHE WENT TO WORK OUT.”

~~~

Dash launched the ball into the air. Scootaloo’s eyes widened and her smile grew when Dash sprung up after the ball, wings extending out of her back and propelling her into a loop. Dash brought all her momentum down on the ball and it went sailing back down to ground. It crashed into the tree Dash had been practicing on and shook a wave of leaves and a few twigs onto the ground. Dash swooped back to the ground with sweat streaking down her face. In a flash, her wings vanished and her ears shifted back to their normal location. She managed to smile between her heavy breaths.

“That was awesome!” Scootaloo sped over to Dash and handed her a water bottle. “What else can you do like that?”

Dash gulped down the water and then wiped a hand across her mouth. “That’s about it for now. I mean, it looks awesome, but I’m pretty sure wings are illegal. Plus, they kill your back.”

“But it’s so cool!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “I’m sure the pros will love them no matter what!”

Dash grinned. “Maybe. But I’ve got a long way to go before they’re practical to use. Anyway, I think it’s time you live up to your end of the agreement. Situps, pushups, and squats. One hundred each. We’ll swing by the library to tell Sunset our shift is up and then we’re on a run to Sugarcube Corner for a recovery snack.”

Scootaloo puffed up her chest and nodded. She then went to the ground and threw herself into the workout routine. Dash smiled while Scootaloo pounded out the first ten pushups and then gasped for breath. Scootaloo’s pace slowed and sweat beaded up on her brow. Dash squatted low but a small tremor kept her from offering some words of encouragement. Scootaloo rested her knees on the ground and Dash stood back up.

“Uh, was that an earthquake?” Scootaloo asked.

“I don’t know.” Dash looked over to the sports field where she thought she saw a shadow flash by. Her brow furrowed when a figure appeared from that direction and came rushing toward them. “But I don’t think it is.”

Scootaloo got up and brushed herself off while the figure grew closer, revealing itself as the Monster Kid. It fell a few times as it rushed over to them. Despite its blackened eyes and scrapes, concern was still visible on their face.

“You’re still here!” it huffed. “Good. You gotta come help! Undyne i—”

Dash took off and left the kid and Scootaloo in her dust. She darted across the courtyard and vaulted onto the sports field, only for a set of bleachers to go flying over her. They crashed to the ground and shook the field. Dash stared at the collapsed mass of metal and then at the other bleachers strewn around the field. Her eyes blazed when she locked onto Undyne resting a hand against a goalpost at one end of the field.

“Man,” Undyne huffed while hunched over with her hands on her thighs. “Humans sure know how to use all this space for training.”

“You!” came a shout.

Undyne looked up to see Dash barreling across the field at her. She flared her nostrils and stood tall. Dash came to a halt beside her, kicking up a fair bit of turf, and glared at her.

“Human,” Undyne spat. “What is it? I haven’t gone near your dinky little statue or anything.”

“You think that gives you an excuse to tear up our sports field?” Dash yelled.

“What’s wrong with me using your training area?” Undyne shot back. “No one else is here and your weights were just gathering rust otherwise. You should actually be thanking me!”

“Weights?” Dash glanced back at the bleachers spread across the field and ground her teeth. “That’s where people sit, you idiot! And what if you’d been throwing those and hit someone?”

“But I didn’t.” Undyne snorted in Dash’s face. “You think a Royal Guard Captain wouldn’t take precautions before starting a training session?”

“Like you even know what training is.” Dash muttered.

Undyne bared her fangs at Dash. “Excuse me, human? My training is of the strictest regiment! You probably couldn’t even complete a single part of it! Let’s see you chuck your weights as far!”

“They’re not weights!” Dash stomped a foot to the ground. “And I’m not ruining even more of the field!”

“You tell her, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo cheered from nearby.

“Yeah!” said the Monster Kid.

“Stay out of this!” both Dash and Undyne snapped.

Scootaloo and the Monster Kid jumped back at the two’s shouts and fled. Both tucked themselves behind one of the bleachers and kept watch from afar. Dash and Undyne sighed, shook their heads, and then glared back at each other.

“You’re gonna put all these bleachers back where they belong and then clean up the rest of the field,” said Dash.

“Was gonna do that at the end of my workout anyway, dweeb,” Undyne snorted.

“Now,” Dash ordered.

Undyne’s body shook. After a moment though, she sighed and her back drooped. “Fine, human. I’ll put your stuff back so that it can keep collecting rust. It’s a shame, if you actually used them, maybe you’d match up to me.”

The fire in Dash’s eyes swelled. “That a challenge?”

Undyne spread her fangs into a wide grin. “If you want it to be. Since Asgore’s working hard to make peace with all of you, I’d rather not beat you black and even more blue than you already are, even if you fully deserve it. Still, beating you some other way is fine too!”

“So you think you’re hot stuff cause you throw some bleachers around? My friends have done worse at dances.” Dash planted her hands at her hips. “But since that’s apparently what you think a ‘workout’ is, guess I’ll have to keep it simple. Don’t wanna say ‘arm wrestle’ and you uproot the school.”

“The only thing I’d uproot would be your arm from its socket.” Undyne crossed her arms. “If that’s how you want it to be though, you decide, Miss Know-How-It’s-Done human.”

Dash glanced around. While the field was trashed, the track around it was unmarred save for a corner of a bleacher digging into its inner ring. Dash looked back at Undyne and jabbed a finger at her.

“Alright, fish-head. We’re gonna have a little race: three laps around the track. It’ll be a good warmup for when I win and you have to clean up this mess and then scram.”

“Ha! A race?” Undyne sneered. “You’d make the snail races look like lightning, but I’ll humor you.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

Dash marched over to the starting line. Undyne followed and the two crouched and readied themselves. While the sweat dripped from their brows, they traded glances with each other and the track ahead of them.

Dash took a deep breath and squeezed her muscles tight. “Ready…”

Scootaloo and the Monster Kid climbed atop the bleachers they had hidden behind. Each stared in silence at Dash and Undyne. The wind whistled through the sports field.

“Go!” Dash’s voice rang like thunder.

She and Undyne took off in a blur of blue. Their arms pumped at their sides while they reigned in their breath. Both kept their eyes on the track until Dash saw Undyne break forward out of the corner of her vision. The gap lengthened as they passed halfway around the track even while Dash drove her legs faster against the ground.

“Haha!” Undyne cackled. “Looking a little doughy there, human! All that mass is weighing you down!”

“You cheater!” Dash huffed.

“Can’t cheat biology, dweeb!” Undyne gave another chuckle then sped ahead.

Dash’s gut dropped when Undyne widened the gap further and tore over the starting line. Dash gritted her teeth watching Undyne run further and further. Sweat poured down her scales and her breaths came in rapid gasps, but so did Dash’s.

Dash’s foot brushed against the bleacher intruding into the track. She lurched forward but slammed her other foot in front of her and resumed her pace. She darted over the three-quarters point but Undyne was already nearing the starting line again. Dash took her eyes off the track and toward the field again.

She then glared back at Undyne. Her back and ears glowed. With a deep breath, she sent out her wings and kicked off the ground. Undyne felt the air churn around her before Dash blew past her.

“Using magic?” Undyne snarled. “Now who’s a cheater?”

“I’m winning this race!” Dash shouted back to her. “No matter what!”

“Have it your way then!” Undyne roared.

She plowed her legs down, breaking through the cushiony track a second before she launched herself into the air. Once more, the gap between her and Dash closed. Dash flapped her wings harder, kicking up miniature whirlwinds while Undyne drove her feet through the track with each bound she took.

“Go, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo shouted.

“You can do it!” yelled the Monster Kid.

Scootaloo broke away from her cheers to stare at the Kid. “Shouldn’t you be rooting for the monster?”

“Oh, I don’t really like Undyne that much anymore. My parents said Undyne just had to be mean because it’s her job, but the things she wanted to do…” The Kid shuddered. It then looked at Dash and smiled. “Rainbow Dash is more like a real hero.”

Scootaloo smiled. “Yeah. So let’s give her that final push. Go, Dash, go!”

The cheers were muffled by the wind whipping around Dash. Her eyes stung and it felt as if two massive blades were digging into her back. The air to her right warped and she glimpsed Undyne bound up beside her. The goal was only a few yards ahead of them. Dash dug deep and felt magic course through her. Sparks whizzed off her.

A small bolt zapped Undyne just as she lept off the ground. Her leg twitched back mid-bound, sending her into a tilt. Closer to the ground, Dash sped forward and lowered her feet back to the track. Undyne’s shadow loomed over when she planted herself back on the ground and burst through the finish line. A second later, Undyne crashed down on her.

~~~

Dash groaned when she next opened her eyes. Her shoulder blades felt like lead weights and the stiff metal bleacher they were pressed up against didn’t help. A tingle of cold ran up her left leg and she looked down to see an ice pack resting over her ankle. Scootaloo and the Monster Kid stared back at her.

“Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo murmured.

“Yeah, squirt?”

Scootaloo clamped onto her. “Thank goodness! I was so scared!”

Dash gave her a pat on the back. “Easy there. Looks like I went a little too hard at the end but seems someone knew just what to do. Thanks, Scootaloo.”

Scootaloo pulled back. “I… I wasn’t the one that helped. I mean, I would have but…”

“But luckily Dr. Alphys showed up!” the Monster Kid chirped. “What a race though! Way better than the snail races back in the Underground! You were neck and neck with Undyne and then you sent out all that lightning right at the last second! You’re awesome, Ms. Dash!”

“Just go with Rainbow Dash, kid. Miss isn’t really my style.” Dash blinked. “What lightning?”

“Right by the finish line, it looked like that monster was gonna beat you but you started sending out all these sparks,” Scootaloo explained. “It was pretty cool until that monster crashed on you.”

“Where is she, anyway?” Dash asked.

Scootaloo pointed to her left. Dash looked over and saw Undyne lying against the bleachers a few feet away. A smaller lizard-like monster was sitting beside her with a large white box at her side that had bottles and packages of various sizes sticking out of it.

Feeling three pairs of eyes on her, Alphys looked up. She crouched down and whispered something to Undyne that made her scrunch up her face and then she waddled over to Dash. “Um… hi. You’re, uh, not feeling any pain in your head, are you?”

“Just about everywhere else,” Dash sighed and glanced down at her injured ankle. “I guess I should say thanks for the ice pack.”

“I’m really sorry about this.” Alphys bowed her head. “Undyne is just a very competitive monster… Uh, anyway, if your head is okay, you should be good to get up whenever you’re feeling better. Just make sure to keep some ice on your ankle.”

Dash nodded and kept her chin tucked. “Right. Guess we’ll have to settle this some other time then.”

“What?” Scootaloo gasped. “But you totally won!”

“Yeah, we saw!” the Monster Kid exclaimed.

Dash shook her head. “Not a win if I tripped that jerk up like you said. If I’m gonna win, it’s gonna be a fair one.”

Alphys took a step back. “Well, maybe not do another challenge for the next few days. I’ll tell Undyne too.”

Alphys scuttled back across the bleachers. Undyne glared at her throughout the short trek and gave a snort when she came to a stop beside her.

“That dweeb run her mouth off at you?” Undyne growled.

“N-no, Undyne,” Alphys murmured.

“Tch,” Undyne huffed. “Stupid human, thinking she could trip me up with that weird magic of hers. Serves her right that I delivered that killer blow to her.”

“She looked a little upset about it.”

“Good,” Undyne spat.

Alphys stared at the ground through the bleachers. “The magic, I mean. It sounds like when she’s better she wants to try and beat you again.”

“Yeah, I bet she’ll be…” Undyne squinted her eyes. “She’s upset? But that attack let her win!”

“She didn’t think it was fair,” Alphys explained.

Undyne tensed up for a second. With a great sigh, she deflated and sank back against the bleachers. “Alphys, help me up.”

“U-undyne, don’t d-do anything st—”

“Alphys,” Undyne said with an added softness to her voice, “please.”

Alphys took a breath and then draped Undyne’s left arm across her back. With a huff, she managed to give Undyne the boost she needed to get up onto her feet. Together, the two limped over to Dash. Scootaloo and the Monster Kid rose up between the two and glared at Undyne. Her lips curled closer to her fangs and she glanced down.

“You’re not getting near Rainbow Dash while she’s hurt,” Scootaloo declared.

“Yeah!” said the Monster Kid.

“Scoots, Kid,” said Dash, making them both twist their heads back at her. She flexed her wrist back and forth. “I can handle this.”

Scootaloo opened her mouth to say something but a glare from Dash shut it. Both she and the Monster Kid backed away and descended from the bleachers. With a huff, Dash sat up straight. A wind blew across the field, whipping both her and Undyne’s ponytails around.

“If you think for a second that crap you pulled counts as a win, you’re dead wrong,” Undyne growled.

Sweat broke out across Alphys’s brow.

“When I beat you, you’ll know I’ve beat you,” Dash shot back. “And I also don’t keep secrets like being way lighter than I look.”

“Not my fault you don’t know basic monster biology,” Undyne replied.

“Doesn’t matter,” Dash shot back. “I do now. And next time, I’m gonna really trounce you! No questions asked!”

“Bring it, punk!” Undyne bent down and bared her fangs in Dash’s face. Her eye briefly glanced at Dash’s ankle. “Don’t get cocky and think you can beat me with that lame leg of yours. Next time, I’ll smash you full force! Your face will be priceless!”

“Same to you, fish-head!”

Both of them glared at each other for a second and then Undyne pulled back. “C’mon, Alphys. I’ve dealt with enough humans for the day.”

When Undyne and Alphys had limped off the bleachers, Scootaloo and the Monster Kid returned to Dash’s side.

“That was awesome!” said Scootaloo. “You totally showed that monster what’s what.”

“Yeah!” the Monster Kid added. “I’ve never seen anyone get Undyne so fired up!”

“Well no one messes with me or my school.” Dash smiled and then leaned back. “I’m just glad she’s the only monster that’s causing trouble. If other monsters were as strong as her…”

Dash shook her head. “Guh, what I am saying? I’d take them all on too!”

Stars glistened in Scootaloo and the Monster Kid’s eyes. To them, Dash appeared radiant at that moment. The moment was vanquished when Dash jerked up and looked past them at the sports field. She blinked and then rubbed her eyes staring at the solid sea of low-cut grass and the unbroken track. Not a bleacher in sight save for the ones she was resting on.

“What the heck?” she yelped. “How’s everything back to normal?”

Scootaloo looked to the field and then at Dash. “Well, after she treated both of you, Dr. Alphys used one of her machines to zap everything back to normal. It was pretty cool.”

“Huh.” Dash took a look at her ankle and pulled off the ice pack. There was a small purple blotch beside where her bone curved under the skin, but a small flex produced only a very dull jab of pain. She brought her attention back to Scootaloo. “Well, guess we’ll have to cut training short for today. I think you’ve done enough already today helping out.”

“If you say so, Rainbow Dash.” Scootaloo turned to the Monster Kid. “Guess I got time after all. One of my friends is busy at her home, but why don’t we go see the other one? She’s been dying of boredom anyway.”

“Sure!” the Monster Kid replied with a grin.

~~~

“Next time, Alphys,” Undyne muttered. “Next time…”

“Just be careful,” Alphys murmured.

“I will be. I swear, that human is nothing like Frisk.” Undyne’s clenched teeth spread out into a grin. “She takes my challenges straight on. She can even fly and send out lightning strikes! It’s just like anime said it would be!”

“Yeah…” Alphys stooped her head. From her angle, Undyne couldn’t see her frown. “Right.”

~~~

“This sucks,” Adagio growled. “It’s like being stuck at one of Sombra’s parties.”

She drained what was left of her soda and slammed the cup onto the table. A ray from the setting sun caught her eye and she sunk into her seat. The scene outside deepened her scowl. Monsters of all shapes and sizes stared out to the west, watching the horizon slowly shift through yellows, reds, and purples.

Sonata tilted her head to the side. “Weren’t you always the one dragging us to those?”

“And helping yourself to way too many crystal ponies,” Aria added.

“Oh yeah,” Sonata chuckled. “You must have put on at least twenty po—”

“Shut up!” Adagio snapped.

She slammed her fist down on the table.The bag of potato chips in the middle went flying and flopped onto the ground. Sonata stared at the chips scattered across the floor and grew teary.

“Our snack,” she whimpered.

“You call that a snack? Last I checked, a snack for us was someone having an off day,” Adagio hissed. She flung a hand out towards the window. “Now this whole town is having a meltdown and we can’t even taste a scrap of it because of those stupid Rainbooms!”

“Well, we’re not dying, so there’s that,” Aria stated.

A vein throbbed on Adagio’s head. “Oh yes. Having to eat slop for the rest of our lives is such a better alternative. You know, I’m beginning to question why I even bother hanging out with you two anymore! I might as we—”

A faint tune drifted into the empty cafe. The Dazzlings turned their head towards the sound and stared at a translucent cleft note floating beside the kitchen door. Another note drifted out of the kitchen and stopped beside the other one. Adagio squinted her eyes and shuffled out of her seat. Sonata and Aria followed after her. More notes that matched the tune drifted out of the kitchen. Adagio came to a stop in front of them and held out her hand.

“Wait!” Sonata whispered when Adagio’s hand was inches from a note. “It could be dangerous!”

“Please. Everyone else may be scared of these ‘monsters’ but they have nothing on m—”

Adagio laid a hand on the note which popped like a bubble and sent a tremor up Adagio’s arm. Her whole body spasmed and her knees buckled but Sonata caught her arm. She dangled limply for a second while smoke rose off her. Sonata scrunched up her nose from being so close to the burnt tips of Adagio’s hair. Adagio groaned and then glared at Sonata and Aria.

“Not a word,” she rasped.

“That was scary!” Sonata cried.

“Well, we tried to warn you,” said Aria.

The door to the kitchen creaked open. The Dazzlings stared at the fishy monster peeking at them through the small crack in the door. Looking it up and down, all three of them felt their hearbeats quicken.

“S-sorry,” the monster murmured. “I… I thought no one was here.”

“No worries,” Sonata chirped. “Haven’t seen a diddy pack a wallop like that in a while.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the monster sniffled. “I’m still working on my magic so that humans can enjoy it too.”

Something flashed in Adagio’s eyes. A grin spread across her face. “Maybe we could help. Tell us more about this magic of yours.”

Author's Note

❄♒♏❒♏ ♓♦ ♦????m◆♒♓◼♑

⇥⇰△▶↔⇰↑⇥

chapter five

Fluttershy cast out her hand and spread seeds across the nearby grass. Birds flocked from all across the courtyard and descended on the snack. A few birds flew out of the flock after getting their meal, landed beside Fluttershy and chirped at her. She smiled and pet them on the head. She then turned to her right and stared down at the ghost gazing up at the reddening sky.

“Are you doing okay, Mr. Napstablook?”

“Yeah,” Napstablook moaned. “It’s not like the family tradition, but staring up at the sky and contemplating your insignificance in the infinite cosmos is nice.”

“Well…” Fluttershy glanced away from Napstablook and over at the statue. “I’m happy you’re enjoying it at least.”

Napstablook vibrated in response. Fluttershy flinched at the display, but relaxed when he pulled out a cellphone from within his translucent form. He turned onto his side and muttered a few words then stuffed the cellphone back into wherever he kept it. Lifting upwards, he turned to Fluttershy.

“Sorry, my cousin called asking for a favor,”* he sighed. “He’s usually too busy to notice me, so it’s probably important.”

“Oh, that’s fine.” Fluttershy heard the distant sound of a door opening and spotted Rarity emerging from the the backstage exit of the theater department. “It looks like my friend is ready to head home too. I hope things go well with your cousin.”

“Maybe they will.”

A draft caught Napstablook and he floated a few feet into the sky and then vanished. Fluttershy scattered the rest of the birdseed she had on her and then got up. After brushing off her skirt, she made her way over to Rarity.

~~~

“This is gonna be so super duper amazing!” Pinkie exclaimed with a wide grin. “Thank you so much for agreeing to this!”

Across the table, a girl bedecked in large headphones and tinted glasses smiled at Pinkie and gave her the thumbs up. She appeared unaffected by the large-slab like figure sharing that side of the booth with her. Tube-like appendages extended out of its sides and ended in cartoonish gloves that rested on the table. A series of dials and screens dominated the front of it and were constantly lighting up either red or yellow.

“It’s a pleasure,” the figure beeped. “King Asgore has been working hard to get monsters accustomed to the surface, but the lack of entertainment venues is killing me!”

“Well, don’t worry about a thing, Mr. Mettaton,” Pinkie sang. “It may not be as amazing as your own TV program, but I’m sure everyone will love seeing you perform!”

A few of Mettaton’s screens turned red. “Oh, how wonderful.”

Pinkie clasped her chin and narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure you’re gonna be able to do all those moves though? They look kinda… impossible to do on a wheel.”

“Ooohhhh yessss,” Mettaton said in an alien and smooth voice that perked Pinkie’s ears.

Something whirled within Mettaton and he shook violently. Vinyl scooted back a few inches. A bright light erupted out of Mettaton, illuminating the dimmed dining area of Sugarcube Corner for a brief moment. A electric guitar strummed from somewhere. Pinkie and Vinyl’s recovering eyes were drawn to the lone light that now shined down on the counter that divided the kitchen from the rest of the Corner.

The light glistened off the shimmering metal chalice that made up the torso of the figure standing on top of the counter. The heart around his waist glowed with neon. Even inside the Corner, his luxurious hair flowed over his right side and glowed from the circuitry underneath.

“Pinkie?” Mrs. Cake called as she rushed out of the kitchen. “There was a flash, is everything o— Oh my…”

“I’m glad to see my appeal in this form isn’t lost on humans either,” Mettaton mused. He raised a more intricate hand up to his perfectly dimpled chin. “Though Frisk seemed quite shocked as well… then again, I was trying to get their so—”

Pinkie shoved her face right up to Mettaton’s. “That’s amazing! Wow, Mr. Mettaton, if you do that with everyone there, they’ll be talking about you forever!”

“And this is only the start,” Mettaton chuckled. “With the modifications Alphys has made since we got to the surface, I’m sure I can make your plan a shining success!”

A knock at the door drew everyone’s attention. Mrs. Cake bussed over to it and then turned back to Pinkie. “Dear, were you having any more monsters over?”

“Yup!” Pinkie replied. “Let them in! Let them in!”

Mrs. Cake undid the lock and smiled while a ghost and a what appeared to be some sort of mermaid monster came in. The past few days had worn on her and Carrot Cake, but after some talks with Pinkie and assurances that the monsters outside wouldn’t devour their children's’ souls, they’d managed to reopen the Corner to a flood of business. The first two days had been nerve racking, but the Cakes had persevered and professionalism had won out. Now Mrs. Cake had no problem greeting monsters with the warm and practiced smile that was a signature part of Sugarcube Corner’s charm.

Her smile shrank when the third monster sloshed into the Corner. It was a bone white thing with a bottom like a slug that burbled and hissed as bubbles rose up along it. It left a slimy trail behind it that made it seem like a glue factory had just exploded. Its torso somewhat resembled the mermaid monster’s but it pulsated and twitched in a way that roiled Mrs. Cake’s stomach. What truly made the muffin she’d taste tested earlier crawl up the back of her throat though was the amorphous mass of clay-like flesh that composed the monster’s head. It constantly quivered and shifted around with massive fangs jutting out in all directions. Mrs. Cake let out a sigh when it finally passed, but turned white as a sheet when an eye appeared out of the goop and glared at her.

Napstablook floated up to Mettaton and sighed. “Sorry we’re late.”

“Oh, Blooky, I’m just glad you came.” Mettaton snapped his fingers and in a flash returned to his slab-like form. He then beeped, “Anyway, I’d like you to meet Pinkie Pie and Vinyl Scratch. They’ve given me quite the event to perform at and Ms. Scratch would love to have another DJ to play off of.”

“Okay,” Napstablook moaned.

“Wonderful!” Mettaton exclaimed. “Glad to see you’re up for it. Now, if she’s willing, I think this would be a good chance for Shyren to perform too.”

“I don’t know…” Shyren bowed her head. “Are humans really interested in singing?”

“Of course we are!” Pinkie exclaimed. She sunk back into her seat when Shyren shied away from her. In a lower voice she said, “I mean, I bet everyone would love to hear you sing.”

“But those girls…” Shyren murmured.

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. “Girls?”

“Girls only care about magic,”“Girls only care about magic,”“Girls only care about magic,”“Girls only care about magic,”“Girls only care about magic,”“Girls only care about magic,” Lemon Bread bellowed with the voice of several monsters. “I didn’t like them.”“I didn’t like them.”“I didn’t like them.”“I didn’t like them.”

“Woah, woah.” Pinkie waved a hand. “Sorry, I’m still learning a whole bunch about monsters, but it’s a little hard to understand all of that.”

“It was really nothing,” said Shyren.

Mettaton turned toward Napstablook. “What’s this all about? I wouldn’t want there to be a problem.”

“Shyren’s been meeting with some girls the past few days,” Napstablook explained. “They said they really liked to sing but didn’t have the voices for it anymore so they kept asking Shyren about her magic too. Sounds like they had an argument today… and then Lemon Bread stepped in.”

“No one hurts Shyren,”“No one hurts Shyren,”“No one hurts Shyren,”“No one hurts Shyren,” Lemon Bread muttered.

“Huh, weird,” said Pinkie. She then smiled at the group. “Well, I know how important it is to be comfortable when you do something you like, so if you don’t feel like singing that’s a-okay! We’ve got plenty of events planned, so no worries!”

Napstablook drifted close to Pinkie. “What is this ‘plan’?”

Pinkie’s grin widened. “Only the greatest thing I’ve ever come up with yet. It’s gonna be the most awesomest way to get monsters and humans together but we’re gonna have to work fast to get it all set up!”

~~~

“And you think this Coco girl could help?” Rarity asked while she and Fluttershy walked home.

“I mean, I’m not entirely sure, but Twilight said the work she does at Crystal Prep is really good, and well…” Fluttershy tucked her chin. “Because of everything that’s happened lately, maybe she won’t be near that scary girl.”

“Oh Fluttershy,” Rarity chuckled. “I can see why Suri might scare you. Heavens knows she gives everyone a death glare at fashion shows. If Coco is as skilled as you say though, that certainly explains how Suri’s been able to do so much business on top of schoolwork.”

Something pressed against Rarity’s head. She raised and hand and seized up, feeling spide webs clutching to her hair and finger. She shot her hands up to her head and swatted the web out while trying not to disturb her hair too much.. Fluttershy frowned as Rarity wiped the ruined web off off on a nearby wall. Another web hung in front of her, but she ducked, leaving the web untouched.

“Oh, I hope my hair is okay,” Rarity whined.

“I hope the spider is okay,” Fluttershy murmured.

They moved along, but after a few steps, the ground started sucking at their shoes. With the sun little more than a sliver on the horizon, the street was dark enough to obscure whatever was tugging at Rarity and Fluttershy’s feet. A bit of sweat covered their foreheads as they kept moving along.

After a few more steps, it felt as if weights were wrapped around their ankles. They could feel something pressing against their boots as they trudged forward, their breath growing quickening. More and more of the unseen substance crept up their legs, further slowing them.

“R-rarity,” Fluttershy gasped. “I-I think we should take a different way back. S-something’s not right.”

“G-good idea,” Rarity huffed. She twisted her torso around, but her legs remained locked in place. The spin sent off her balance and she fell to the ground. Instead of asphalt or cement, she landed on a springy substance. She sighed in relief at not getting scraped up, but she froze when she found herself unable to get back up. “Fluttershy, I’m stuck!”

“I’m coming, Rarity!” Fluttershy trudged forward, but she was caught mid-stride and couldn’t move her legs another inch. She felt something pressing against her arms as well. “Okay, I’m not coming… help.”

Both girls opened their mouths to scream, but froze when they felt something crawling up their bodies. As the road darkened, the streetlights came on, revealing that the small side street was completely covered in spider webs. Goosebumps erupted across Rarity’s skin seeing that she was stuck to a web that covered the ground and spiders were crawling all over both her and Fluttershy.

“Well, well,” came a voice from up above, “looks like we have guests.”

A monster descended down from the shadows and came to rest on the a large spider web that hung between Rarity and Fluttershy. Her five eyes scanned over the scene and she crossed her uppermost pair of arms across her chest.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve barging in here,” she huffed.

“W-we take this way home every day!” Rarity yelped. “Now please, get these spiders off of me!”

“And that give you the right to break up a spider’s web?” asked the monster. “It’s going to take at least two hours to fix all the damage you’ve done. And we’re going to be hungry afterwards”

“We’re s-sorry!” Fluttershy pleaded. She glanced over and saw a lone spider clutching the remains of a web with its frontmost legs. Its thorax glinted like a diamond under the streetlights. Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Oh my, a jeweled zipper spider.”

“Yes,” the monster grumbled. “And she was just getting ready for dinner to fly by.”

“Oh…” Fluttershy managed to lower her head an inch. “Their webs are said to be some of the thinnest but also incredibly intricate. In the dark, they’re almost impossible to see. I’m sorry.”

“Hmmm, it’d be a shame to waste a human spider enthusiast and at least you avoided the webs.” The monster blinked its eyes in a counterclockwise manner and then grinned. She then crawled across the webs and neared Fluttershy. She stretched out her middle set and lower set of arms and sliced through the webs binding Fluttershy. “You’re free to go.”

Fluttershy rubbed wrists and looked up at the monster. “What about Rarity?”

“I don’t tolerate spider-haters.”

“It was an accident!” Rarity shouted.

The monster’s eyes gleamed and her fanged smile widened. A jug of liquid and a large orange donut dropped down on strings beside her. “Prove it. I’ve been struggling on the surface to establish my own cafe, so the spider cause needs all the help it can get. If you’re not really a vile web smasher, I’m sure you won’t mind supporting our bake sale.”

“Yes! Yes!” Rarity gasped. “I’ll buy whatever it is, no matter how many calories it has!”

“Excellent.” The monster crawled down to the Rarity and sliced her out of the webs. “That’ll be seven thousand two hundred and thirty two gold.”

Rarity thrust her hand into her purse and pulled out piece after piece of gold. After some time her pace slowed and she looked up at the monster. Her brow furrowed. “Does your king approve of riffling through humans’ bags and getting them to ‘contribute’ to your cause?”

The monster shrank back, a few pieces of gold spilling from her arms. “Well, I did get a rather nasty prank pulled on me after I had two other customers… but that’s beside the point. Life on the surface is a lot harder now with no hits to take or spiders to free. Plus, that giggly pink human is stealing all my business. Oh, how I hate her!”

The monster stomped it feet. The spiders nearby crawled back a few feet, but Rarity and Fluttershy remained where they were.

“You know,” Rarity said, “instead of competing with Pinkie, I’m sure she’d love to have a few extra pairs of hands helping her out with all the new customers.”

“Or maybe sharing recipes,” Fluttershy suggested.

“But I do—” the monster paused when it felt something poking at her leg. She looked down to see a spider clutching a note. With a raised eyebrow, she picked it up and read over the contents. She seemed to deflate and let out a sigh. “It seems even the spiders agree with you. So much for starting my own cafe.”

“Well, maybe you could save up and learn what humans like,” said Fluttershy. “Then, you can open up your cafe.”

The monster pressed a finger to her chin. “I suppose that could work… I guess I should be letting you go now.”

“Not quite,” said Rarity. Both the monster and Fluttershy corked their heads at her. “Now that I have my wits back, I can’t help but notice you have quite the ensemble, Miss…”

“Oh, where are my manners?” The monster extended out two right hands and clasped Rarity and Fluttershy’s. Both of them shuddered from the hands’ hairy sticky texture. “Muffet. Pleasure to meet you dearies.”

Rarity withdrew her hand but felt web dangling from it. “Rarity.”

Fluttershy was pulled forward by the web, but some fresh webbing on her legs kept her from falling. She glanced down to see a few spiders supporting her and then cleaning off the webbing. She looked back at Muffet. “Fluttershy. Nice to meet you too.”

“Oh, you’re the fashion designer and the animal lover all the local spiders have been talking about.” Muffet leveled her gaze on Rarity. “I guess they were right about you if you noticed the hard work my spiders and I spent on making my clothes. Actually, I tried selling a few in the Underground, but then I got accused of all these false charges of ‘extortion’ and ‘public indecency.’”

“Perhaps a little chat is in order about finances,” said Rarity.

Muffet glanced down at the gold in her hands. “The spiders have been saying just keeping gold in webs isn’t the best investment.”

“Why don’t we have a get-together at Sugarcube Corner sometime to talk about this?” Rarity suggested.

Muffet smiled at them. “I think that could work. I’ll send a spider whenever I’m free or you can just find one to tell me when’s a good time…” Muffet pushed the gold back to Rarity. “Consider our future meeting pay for all of this. You can have a donut too.”

Rarity took back her gold and glanced away from the donut. “Right.”

While Rarity tepidly grasped the donut off of the webbing it hung from, Muffet turned to Fluttershy. “And if you ever want to talk about spiders, you’re always welcome back, dearie.”

Fluttershy’s eyes sparkled. “I’d love to hear about all the kinds of spiders that were in the Underground… if that’s okay.”

“Of course!” Muffet grabbed onto some webbing and ascended back into the shadows. Her voice rang out, “Take care, dearies.”

Rarity and Fluttershy walked away with Fluttershy giving a wave back. Both took extra time to avoid any of the webs until they came out onto the larger main street. Rarity let out a deep sigh and then stared at the donut in her hand. It was unglazed at least but it resembled the kind that was usually stuffed with jelly or cream. A chuckle drew her attention over to Fluttershy.

“Is something funny?” Rarity’s pupils shrank. “Please tell me there isn’t a giant spider on my head.”

“No,” said Fluttershy. “It’s just… well, a few days ago, that probably would have been too much for me to handle.”

“I think you’ve done a great job handling this,” Rarity said with a smile. “Why, I think you’re even doing better than me. I may have a lot of new clients but you’ve actually made a friend with that ghost fellow.”

“I just hope Mr. Napstablook starts feeling better.” Fluttershy then peered at the donut. “So what are you gonna do with that?”

“Having the life scared out of me probably shaved off a few calories too.” Rarity placed another hand on the donut and clasped its edges. “How about we split it?”

Fluttershy nodded. Rarity smiled and pulled the donut apart. An army of tiny spiders erupted out of the center. Rarity’s scream rang throughout town.

~~~

Sonata’s ears perked up. “You hear that?”

Adagio glared down the cliffside at her. “Just shut up and keep climb—”

The rock Adagio was holding onto gave way. A light magenta hand clasped her wrist and Aria pulled her up to safety. Adagio laid prone on her back, gasping for air. Sonata clambered up and came to rest with the other two Dazzlings.

“Nice catch, Aria!” she said with a smile. She then tilted her head to the side. “I thought you were totally bailing on us though back at the bottom.”

“No.” Aria jerked a thumb back at the winding trail behind her. “I just wanted to take the easy way up.”

Adagio jerked upright. “There was a path!?”

“Well, duh,” Sonata chuckled. “I just thought you were really into a barehanded night rock climbing expedition.”

Adagio clasped the bridge of her nose. “Just stop talking.”

A hot wind kicked up and blew some dust around the Dazzlings. The looked toward its source and were greeted with a massive cave mouth that loomed over them. Sonata got goosebumps looking into its black depths and Adagio shuddered. Aria blinked.

“This looks like the place,” Aria stated.

“It does feel pretty creepy-magicy,” said Sonata. “Oooh like that time we had that awesome dance party in Tartarus and managed to get past the guards… I miss cerberus.”

“Then maybe you should have stuck around with that freak back in town and let it bite off your head,” Adagio scowled. “Not that it’d get much nutrition from it.”

“Hey!” Sonata huffed. “I’m not the one that was bullying its sister. We probably wouldn’t even have had to come up here if you’d just been nice.”

“I don’t do nice!” Adagio hissed. She fished a flashlight out of her bag and stormed over to the cave. She then glared back at Aria and Sonata. “Well, are you coming?”

“Fine,” Aria sighed. She helped Sonata up and the two followed after Adagio. “Just try not to tick off everything we run into while we’re here.”

~~~

Three tiny beams of light cut through the shadows. They offered a glimpse at building upon building as white as snow. Save for the small little chamber and the brilliant golden flowers that had filled it near the cave’s entrance, the world the Dazzlings entered into was devoid of color.

The silence was wearing thin on them as they climbed up a massive shaft, the elevator at its bottom having lost its power. When they emerged at the top, a wave of steam greeted them along with a churning and bubbling of something far below them. Having another sound to go along with their breaths and heartbeats was a relief to the Dazzlings at first as was a color other than black or white.

The relief evaporated as the temperature climbed higher and higher until the Dazzlings had to shed their jackets. The path grew rockier and lost the metallic plating that had dominated the area near the elevator. They could now see deep down to the lava they had heard roiling earlier. With its crimson glow, they were able to turn off their flashlights at least.

Soon the glow faded and the temperature dropped again. The Dazzlings trudged forward with parched lips, having drained what water they brought back while navigating the rocky ledges and rusted conveyor belts of the previous area. When water glinted from their lights, they fell upon the it and buried their heads in it.

“Leave.”

All three of them jerked up from the pond and flailed their lights around.

“Leave,” the voice repeated.

The Dazzlings brought their flashlights down on where the voice had come from: a bright blue flower that held a glow to it.

“Leave,” the flower said once more.

Adagio stood up and plodded over to the flower. “What sort of joke is this?”

“What sort of joke is this?” the flower said in Adagio’s exact tone.

“Huh, weird,” Sonata giggled.

“Let’s just keep moving,” Adagio huffed.

“And maybe keep our voices down,” Aria commented. “I don’t need to hear more than three of us.”

The Dazzlings continued on and welcomed the cooler temperatures as well as more of the flowers that lit up the path. Every now and then they would jump from a flower echoing the words of some long gone monster, but they continued on until the temperature dropped further and the put their jackets back on.

“W-we must be close,” Sonata chattered. She blinked when a snowflake fell near her eye. “T-the siren said t-the library was in the s-snow place, r-right?”

Aria took slow breaths out her nose that fogged up around her face. “How is it even snowing down here?”

“It must be the magic,” said Adagio. Her flashlight cut through the falling snow and the dim cave, illuminating a collection of what looked like log cabins. “Looks like we’re close.”

After a bit more walking, the trio shined their lights on a building with a misspelled sign. They stumbled in with the cold wind howling around them. Empty shelves lined the room. Adagio ground her teeth.

“She lied,” she scowled.

“Wait, look!” Sonata lept forward and crouched by a corner. She then stood up and held a book high over her head. “Found one!”

Adagio snatched the book out of Sonata’s hands and slammed it onto a dusty table. “Finally.”

The grin slipped from her face when she opened the book and found its pages in shreds. She lost more and more color flipping through the ruined book until she reached near the middle and froze. Aria and Sonata peaked over Adagio’s shoulders and felt their blood curdle. Green crusty letters were scrawled across the pages.

“Come join the fun,” read the message. “It’s just a little further.”

Sonata pulled her arms tight across her chest. “Adagio, I don’t like this.”

Adagio glared at her. “Please. This is amateur stuff. Next you’re going to tell me you really believe in windigos.”

“Says the emotion draining siren that breeds and feeds off hatred,” Aria quipped.

Adagio growled and stomped back out into the snow. Sonata and Aria sighed and followed after her. As they walked through a snowy forest, their footsteps echoed around them. Loosened snow would fall from the branches every now and then. Adagio trudged onwards while Sonata grew closer to Aria. With the way the snow fell, it almost sounded like something was prowling through the woods.

A faint scent slowly filled the air. It was similar to the air that had blown out of the cave at the start, but was so heavy with the smell of dust that it almost completely blocked out the hint of buttercups.

The Dazzlings soon stood before a great stone door that stretched far over their heads. The wind whipped around them and made it seem as if the massive entrance was letting out a haunting moan. Adagio snorted and marched inside.

When all three of them were fully inside, they turned on their flashlights once more. Crumbling columns, sagging roofs, and aging stone littered the area. As they walked, Sonata kept raising her eyebrows at the the abandoned buildings and the worn pillars. When made their way out into the courtyard of a house, she clasped Aria and Adagio.

“We have problem,” she said.

“What?” Adagio grumbled.

“We’re going in circles!” Sonata jabbed a finger at the building they’d just left. “This house, the buildings, and a whole bunch of other stuff is all the same as the entrance!”

Adagio tensed up. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Aria slowly blinked. “Actually, she is. I noticed it too, but things just look similar, the layout isn’t exact and this place is way older.”

Adagio and Sonata stared at her.

“What? You thought I wouldn’t take note of things so we don’t get lost?” Aria shook her head. “You two really are i—”

“Idiots,” something hissed.

The Dazzlings waved their flashlights around. The only other things in the area were a gnarled tree and some dead leaves.

“Must be another one of those stupid flowers,” said Adagio.

“Y-yeah.” Sonata clutched Aria tightly around the arm. “Probably.”

All of the Dazzlings felt goosebumps crawling up their legs and arms while they walked now. A bit of a crumbling rock would clatter in the darkness or water would drip and echo throughout the cave. These were just the sounds a cave made. Yet, no matter how much the trio reassured themselves, the feeling of being watched hammered away at the back of their minds.

They all nearly fell on each other when they rounded a corner and were blinded by the light of dawn streaming down from far up above. When their sight readjusted, they found themselves looking at a mound of buttercups in full bloom.

In the center of the mound was a flower far larger than the rest. When Adagio took a step forward, it turned towards her. In place of seeds and pollen, it had a face about as detailed as an emoji with simple black dots for eyes and a grin like an orange slice.

“So, you actually made it all the way,” it said with a jovial tone. “That’s some DETERMINATION you’ve got there… but that’s not all is it?”

“And what exactly are you?” Adagio asked.

“I’m Flowey,” the flower answered. “Flowey the flower. You’re new here so why don’t I explain how things work in the Underground.”

Adagio smirked. “Sure. We’d love to learn how your magic works.”

“Sure, I’ll show you in a sec.” Flowey’s grin thinned and he furrowed his brow, giving him an exasperated look. “You should know though it won’t matter to you. Whatever you are, that magic you lost is gone.”

Adagio backed away. “What?”

Flowey twisted his head to the side while his grin widened to an unsettling degree. “You think I haven’t heard you ranting while you bumbled through here? You idiot. You should have left when I told you to, but since you’ve got so much DETERMINATION, you’re probably important. But if you’re not, well, as I used to say...”

A ring of white dots encircled Adagio as well as Aria and Sonata. Flowey’s mouth grew fanged and tiny white pupils appeared within his eyes.

“It’s kill or be killed,” Flowey cackled.

The bullets zoomed in on Adagio. They pierced her arms and legs first before tearing through her torso. A guttural scream rose up in her throat, but it was cut off with a bullet blew through her chest and another ripped through her skull. She collapsed onto the ground beside Flowey, a bit of her blood splattering across his petals. Aria and Sonata screeched at the top of their lungs when he turned his deranged sights at them. Sonata flailed around without thinking and ran straight into the wall of bullets. Blood went flying everywhere and splashed onto Aria.

Sonata’s glazed eyes stared back at Aria while a red puddle formed underneath her. Aria brought her hands to her head and shook back and forth, wailing like an infant. She sunk to her knees in complete hysterics while the bullets closed in on her. Flowey frowned at the display and then sent his bullets crashing down on rehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 01100101 01110010 01110010 01101111 01110010 01100101 01110010 01110010 01101111 01110010 01100101 01110010 01110010 01101111 01110010 01100101 01110010 01110010 01101111 01110010 01011001 01101111 01011001 01101111 01011001 01101111 01011001 01101111 01011001 01101111 01011001 01101111 01011001 01101111 01011001 01101111 01010011 01100101 0110010101010011 01100101 0110010101010011 01100101 0110010101010011 01100101 0110010101010011 01100101 0110010101010011 01100101 01100101 01001001 01001001 01001001 01001001 01001001 01001001 01001001 01001001 01001001 01001001 01001001 01001001 01001001 01001001

01001001 00100000 01110011 01100101 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101

“We’re going in circles!” Sonata jabbed a finger at the building they’d just left. “This house, the buildings, and a whole bunch of other stuff is all the same as the entrance!”

Adagio tensed up. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Aria slowly blinked. “Actually, she is. I noticed it too, but things just look similar, the layout isn’t exact and this place is way older.”

Adagio and Sonata stared at her.

“What? You thought I wouldn’t take note of things so we don’t get lost?” Aria shook her head. “You two really are i—”

“Idiots.” The ground in front of the gnarled tree near the Dazzlings trembled and rose up. A flower spouted out of it and stared at them with a broken grin and white eyes rimmed in shadow. “Hee. Hee. Hee. So that’s how it is, eh?”

Sonata flinched back and hid behind Aria. “I knew this was a bad idea.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Flowey giggled, making the Dazzlings’ skin crawl. “But thank you for the help. Now I’m sure of it. Now I know!”

“W-what?” Sonata asked.

“Of course you idiots don’t get it, but now I’ve seen it!” Flowey’s grin widened even further. “All the changes, all the anomalies, all the edits! They weren’t satisfied, but they didn’t want to RESET, so they brought us into this. This is no longer a game, is it? This is a story!”

Author's Note

✋➐❍ ◼⬜♦ ♋●⬜ ◼♏

Frisk

Sunset watched the steam rise up from the tea Asgore had set in front of her. He held the kettle with just his thumb and index finger. Sunset blinked and envisioned Celestia pouring her a cup with the same magic she used to life the sun. She rubbed her eyes and took a sip. Her head shot back when the tea scorched the tip of her tongue.

The tea kettle’s handle crumpled in Asgore’s grasp. While Sunset fanned her mouth, he looked down at the dented metal and sighed. “Sorry, I always prefer my tea a little hot.”

Sunset put her hands on the table and looked straight at Asgore. “No, it’s my fault. Getting through all the research wasn’t easy.”

“I see.” Asgore reached out and pulled the first journal from the stack sitting in the middle of the table. “Well, I know I’ve been quite busy lately, so perhaps I can schedule a time to meet with you la—”

“No.” Sunset clenched her hands. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need to hear everything about this from you now.”

Asgore stared across the table at Sunset and saw the spark behind her baggy eyes. “Of course. I do owe you a great deal for calming the other humans down, and your work with Alphys is a great first step for human-monster relations.” Asgore looked down at the journal. “Can you just give me a few minutes to look over this? This project took so long and Frisk’s arrival drew all my attention away from it, so the details are a bit fuzzy.”

Sunset furrowed her brow. “They are?”

Asgore stroked his beard. “Well, I remember asking Alphys quite a bit what had happened, but there must have been some science language mishaps or whatnot.”

“Okay.” Sunset bit her lip. “There’s a bit of that, but the thing I wanted to talk with you about won’t be hard to understand.”

“Would you care for a blanket?” Asgore asked. “You look a little cold.”

“I’m…” Sunset glanced at her arms and saw they were covered in goosebumps. “I’ll be fine.”

She then picked up her cup, made sure to blow on it, and then took a sip. The flavor reminded her a bit of oolong, but less robust and earthy and more flowery. Asgore downed his cup in one sip and poured himself another and then he brought his attention down on the journal.

At first, the dinning room was filled with the sound of Sunset and Asgore having their tea while her read. Soon though, Asgore’s drinking pace slowed to Sunset’s level. Eventually, the only sound in the room were the faint ticks of a clock from somewhere in the apartment. Sunset stared at her glossy reflection stretched across the kettle and then at the tepid cup of tea at Asgore’s side.

When he finally finished perusing the research, he set the last journal to the side but kept his eyes down. Sunset felt the table quiver a little from his breathing. “I’d known there was an accident, but with everything else going on, I’d just put it off as another failure to reach the surface. Oh, Alphys, that poor girl.”

Asgore buried his face in his hands.

“It may be reversible.”

Asgore’s head shot up and he looked over at Sunset.

“I made a similar mistake to Alphys in the past…” Sunset pulled her arms tight across her chest. “But thanks to an application of the correct mixture of different magics, the imbalance was corrected. It will take time and a greater understanding of monster magic and DETERMINATION, but it should be possible to separate out the bodies and souls from the DETERMINATION.”

Asgore said nothing for moment. He then bowed his head to the table. “I owe you almost as great a debt as I owe Frisk now.”

“Then I have a question to ask.” Sunset bit her lip and then steeled herself. “I need to know what happened with your sons.”

“Oh…” Asgore turned his head to the side and stared out the window at the setting moon. “I’m not sure I understand. Asriel’s and my other child’s passing brought about this research, but they had long since passed by the time it started.”

“That’s what I thought too,” said Sunset. “But reading about Alphy’s experiments with the flowers made me notice something. Nothing came about from those experiments it seems, but that left me with a question: where had your other child’s soul gone? There being only dust for Alphys to work with doesn’t fit with how human souls are supposed to work. It may be crucial to understanding the effects of DETERMINATION on monsters.”

Asgore took a deep breath and clasped his hands in front of him. “It was just one mistake. My other child had been sick for some time, but we thought if they could just stay determined, they’d make it through. There was a crisis in the Core and I had to go and help. Toriel must have done everything she could have for our child in their last moments, but it wasn’t enough. Asriel and their body were already gone by the time I got back.”

“We searched everywhere in the Underground for them,” Asgore continued, his voice growing strained. “We both tried to put it off as long as we could, but we eventually accepted they had gone beyond the Barrier. We were just going to see if we could see something, anything beyond it, when he appeared back at our home. I can still remember the power that radiated off him, how his body could barely contain all that DETERMINATION. But there were all those wounds. Not a scratch on my other child’s body though. We tried to get to him as fast as we could. The field in front of our house wasn’t that big, but seeing us one last time must have been all he could withstand. I can’t remember how far away he was when he turned to dust. If… if there was a soul, it was lost by the time Toriel and I came to our senses.”

Asgore was choking on his tears by the time he finished. Sunset moved out of her seat and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I can understand why you did what you did afterwards. I’ve done worse for pettier reasons… I’m sorry, I should go now.”

Sunset backed away, scooped up the journals, and made her way to the door.

“Wait,” Asgore called out.

Sunset spun around. Asgore had managed to raise his head and clean up his face with a few wipes of his hand.

“Please tell Alphys what you’ve told me,” he said. “I’ll get Undyne to find her as quickly as possible.”

“I promise, I will.” Sunset smiled. “Thank you.”

Sunset turned and left that apartment. The cold air night air bit at her face while she walked through the mostly deserted streets. A monster could be spotted sleeping beside a garbage can or resting up on a fire escape. Eventually, Sunset came upon an alley, ducked into it, and checked one last time to make sure no one else was around. Then she put an trembling hand to her face and allowed the void in her stomach to spread across her whole body as a shudder.

They did it on purpose. How could a child…

Sunset felt the world spinning around her and bile clawed up her throat. She braced herself against a wall and sank to the ground. Her breathing came out in uneven phlegmy gasps for some time until a glint of dawn caught her eye.

“Celestia…” she coughed. “Twilight, what should I do?”

~~~

A rapid string of notes from an electric guitar forced Undyne to open her eye. She leapt off her bed and over to the dresser where her phone rested. Her pupil widened seeing Asgore’s number attached to the text. She clasped her phone and read through the message. As soon as she was finished, she threw on her clothes and bolted outside.

A few stars still twinkled in the western sky while she jumped up the alleyway by her apartment to the rooftop. She paused to catch her breath and massage her ribs and then looked out across the city. Taking a big gulp of air, she darted over to the edge of the roof and vaulted onto the building next door. While she jumped from roof to roof, she scanned over the empty streets. In the midst of a jump, she pounded out a number into her phone and jammed it up to her ear.

“C’mon, you stupid nerd,” she huffed.

After a minute of listening to some digitized Japanese lyrics, the anime theme tune cut out and Alphy’s voice came through. “Uh, this is Alphy’s…”

“Hey, where are you?” asked Undyne. “Asgore just left me a message and yo-“

“Um, I’m probably doing research right now, so can you ca-“

Undyne crushed the phone and landed on another roof. Bits of metal and plastic tumbled out of her hand and clinked against the ground. She gritted her fangs. “Crap.”

Undyne stood up and pounced off the roof. A burning sensation was spreading down her left side and her arm was tingling a bit. The bandaged areas around her shoulder and ribs felt like someone was holding a flame next to them. She continued to plow through the city while her breath quickened and sweat poured down her face. The pavement cracked underneath her when she landed back on the street and looked up at the horse statue in front of Canterlot High.

She bolted over to the library, but a jolt of pain running up her side sent her into a tumble. She thrust out her right arm and caught herself, leaving a basketball-sized crater in the pavement. Gasping for air, she wobbled to her feet. Placing a hand over her aching ribs, she limped across the courtyard and over to the library’s door. She tugged at it, but it wouldn’t budge. Her muscles tensed up and she planted her feet, but then she stopped and let out a sigh.

“Gotta respect their property,” Undyne muttered.

Undyne shuffled over to one of the library’s windows and peered inside the darkened room. The desk, chairs, and shelves were all in proper order with not a notebook or even a scrap of paper out of place. A wind howled around Undyne that chilled her sweat and made her blood run cold.

The faint echo of something clattering perked up Undyne’s ears. She backed away from the window and moved as fast as she could in the sound’s direction. A few minutes later, she rounded a corner and she found herself staring out at the sports field.

Rainbow Dash stared back at her while in the middle of a crunch. She flared her nostrils and flipped into a sitting position while taking care to avoid putting pressure on her bandaged foot. “Is it too much to get a little private training in?”

Undyne clenched her fist. “Not here for training, dweeb. I’m looking for Alphys.”

“The doctor?” Dash blinked and noticed how heavily Undyne was breathing and the sweat that soaked through her shirt. “You feeling okay?”

“Of course I am,” Undyne snapped. “I’d probably have even found Alphys by now if someone hadn’t electrocuted and rammed into me!”

“I…” Dash clenched her teeth and shook her head. “Alright, Fishhead, you may be a jerk, but I owe that doc for fixing up the field and my foot. Plus, I can’t have you tearing up town looking for her.”

“Fine,” Undyne grunted. She looked away from Dash and held out her hand. “Can I try calling her again first… please?”

“Where’s your own phone?” Dash asked.

“I…” A bit of red crept up Undyne’s. “I got a little mad when she didn’t pick up.”

“Well, hopefully, they’ll pick up if I call.” Dash got on her knees and crawled over to where her sports bag rested beside a pair of crutches. Pulling the phone out, she looked up at Undyne. “What’s her number?”

“Can I just call her?”

“And who just said they destroyed their own phone?”

“Fine,” Undyne grumbled. “Her number is 555-234-7119.”

Dash typed in the digits and held the phone up to her ear. When Undyne squatted down and brought her head close, Dash shot her a glare while the ringtone continued to play. Both of them suddenly looked up when an echo of the same tone carried over on the wind. Then the voice mail started and the tone died away.

Undyne clasped Dash by the collar of her shirt. “Call them again!”

Dash grabbed Undyne’s arm and tried to pull her off. “Woah! Easy!”

Undyne looked down and saw her fingers tearing through Dash’s shirt. She’d also lifted Dash a bit up as well. She let her arm flop to her side and Dash plopped back onto the ground. “Just call them again… please.”

Dash took a deep breath and then pushed the call icon again. Undyne stood up and looked around. Her fins twitched back and forth. When the faint ringtone whistled through the air, she spun back over to the school. A fresh wave of pain washed over her side and back, forcing a pained grunt out of her. Resting a hand over her ribs, she trudged forward. Her fins perked up when the click-clack of crutches sounded behind her.

“For a fish, you sure are a hothead,” Dash quipped while she hobbled over to Undyne.

“I don't have time for your crap, human,” Undyne hissed.

“And I don't wanna wait longer until I finally show you how awesome I am because you beat yourself up.” Dash eyed the bandages poking out of Undyne’ shirt. “If your friend’s in trouble, how are they gonna feel seeing you look like that?”

“Alphys is…” Undyne pressed her lips tight. “Alphys is such a nervous nerd. Can't have her thinking a ‘tore up town’ just looking for her.”

“Hey, looks like you can think ahead.”

Undyne flashed her fangs at Dash. “Don't push it, Crash.”

“It’s Rainbow Dash.”

“My back and ribs say otherwise.”

Dash lowered her head to hide the fresh blush on her cheeks. “Let's just find your friend, okay?”

The pair limped their way across the field and came to a stop by one for the doors that led into the school. Dash pulled out her phone and called again. This time, the other end of the ringtone came in clear for few seconds but then cut off. Dash and Undyne both looked up.

“There a way up?” asked Undyne.

“There is,” Dash answered, “but we need the key and the door is on the other side of school.”

Undyne clenched a fist. “We don't have time looking around for a stupid key! I can just tear the door off!”

A fit of coughing seized Undyne. Dash managed to balance herself on one crutch and gave Undyne some pats on the back. When the coughs died down, she helped Undyne stand up straight again and looked at her.

“Tearing off the door is out of the question for more reasons than I can think of,” said Dash. She then glanced at her back. “How are your legs doing?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Undyne grumbled.

“You may be a jerk…” Dash closed her eyes and took a breath. A glow formed around her back and ears. Undyne brought a hand to her face when the light grew stronger and then faded away. Dash gave her wings a flap and grinned. “... buf I'd be an even bigger jerk to not get you up to your friend. So, think you can manage a jump?”

“Heh.” Undyne spun around and crouched in front of Dash. “You humans and your DETERMINATION are always a surprise. Well, hop on before I realize how stupid we both are.”

Dash leapt over on her good foot and clasped on Undyne. Undyne locked her arms around Dash’s legs and the looked up at the sky.

“If we don't make this, I blame you.”

“Same to you.” Dash fessed her wings tight against her sides. “So let's not mess up.”

Undyne took a huge breath and pressed into the ground with all her strength. The cement cracked underneath her and she rocketed into the air. Just as gravity snapped back on her and Dash, Dash flapped her wings and lifted them higher. She tilted left and right while Undyne swung underneath her, but they managed to crest over the roof and tumbled onto it, gasping for breath.

While Dash’s wings faded away and her ears shifted back to normal, Undyne grunted, planted her feet, and stood up. She wobbled a little, but managed to stay upright. Her pupil shrank when she spotted Alphys slumped against the side of the roof with her phone strewn beside her. Undyne rushed up and grabbed her by her lab coat.

“Alphys! Wake up!” she shouted. “C’mon! Don’t mess around with m—”

Alphys’s eyes flew open and she decked Undyne across the face with a right hook. “The dub of Mew Mew doesn’t count!”

Undyne’s eye spun and then she smacked onto the ground. Alphys landed on her tail and let out a yelp and then swung her head back and forth. “I… Oh, um… what?”

“Damn, Alphys.” Undyne snorted and rubbed her jaw. “Remind me to incorporate ‘insult anime’ into your training.”

“Oh my gosh, Undyne!” Alphys shrieked. Her claws darted across her body and sweat coated her face. “I didn’t mean to! Let me just find my phone and I’ll fix you right up!”

Undyne swung her fist into Alphy’s shoulder. The blow sent shocks running up Alphy’s arm and she rubbed the stricken area to return feeling to it. A smile stretched across Undyne’s face. “You stupid nerd. That was a good punch, but it’ll take a bit more than that to hurt me.” Before Alphys could reply, Undyne shot her arm out again and pulled her close. “Heh, and to think I was worried about you.”

“Worried about me?” Alphys looked around for a second and then her vision focused and her pupils shrank. “Oh… that.”

“Yeah, whatever you did with Twilight and Sunset.” Undyne tapped Alphys on the head. “I knew you’d short out. There’s too much nerdiness between the three of you.”

“But Undyne, I had to tell them.” Alphys brought her head lower. “They deserved to know. Oh, I promised I’d help them with so much but now they probably just wanna stay as far away from me as they can.”

“Then they’re even bigger jerks than I thought candy-head was,” said Undyne.

“I heard that!” Dash shouted from the other side of the roof.

“I said thought!” Undyne shouted back. She shook her head and the looked straight at Alphys. “Besides, did you talk with them after you gave them all that stuff about your work or did you run off like that time with Frisk?”

“Well, I mean…” Alphys let out a sigh. “You didn’t see their faces when Reaper Bird showed up.”

“And remember how you told me how scared Frisk was of them too until you saved them?” Undyne glared to the side. “Tch, I still can’t believe a few monsters was enough to get to them but there was nothing wrong with me. But that’s beside the point, Alphys, you may have the best brain in the whole world, but sometimes you let it go crazy.”

“I… I know.”

Undyne slapped Alphys on the back and grinned. “Which is why I need to punch it back into place. The others can do it too, just not as good as I can.”

“Undyne, you really mean that?” Alphys sniffled and glanced over at Dash. “I mean, you’ve been busy since we’ve gotten to the surface and if I slow you down…”

“Then I’ll get you up to speed. You know I’d never leave you in the dust, Alphys. I’d be a disgrace as the royal guard.” A little red dotted Undyne’s cheeks. “And, you know, as a bit more that that.”

Alphys leaned forward and hugged Undyne. The wide grin on Undyne’s face faded to a soft smile and she bent down and gave Alphys a smack on the lips. She pulled back with a renewed grin while Alphy’s eyes spun across her reddened face.

“Just be sure to pick up your phone next time.”

Alphys eyes cleared. “Pick up my… oh my gosh!”

Alphys flopped out of Undyne’s grasp and scurried over to her phone. Her face went white looking over the screen. “Gah, what was I thinking? I thought it was my alarm!”

Undyne raised an eyebrow. “Your alarm?”

“Yes, well…” Some sweat dripped down Alphys’s face. She turned so that she wasn’t directly facing Undyne. “Back Underground, the only ones that really called me were Mettaton and Asgore, so I just thought it would be easier to have the theme from Pop Pop Cutie be both my ringtone and my alarm. I didn’t know where else to go after I gave Sunset and Twilight all my research, so I came up here and just looked at the moon for a while… I guess I must’ve fallen asleep.”

Dash had managed to limp over and put a hand against her waist. “Who falls asleep on a roof?”

“You’re talking to someone that fell asleep at garbage dumps,” Undyne chuckled.

“Only a few times,” Alphys murmured.

“I guess everything is okay now then?” Dash asked and then blinked and looked at Alphys. “Wait, how’d you get up here in the first place?”

Alphys blushed and typed a few numbers into her phone. The screen glowed and a key shot out of it. “It wasn’t hard to duplicate, so I, uh, just… did.”

“Man,” Dash chuckled. “It’s a good thing you’re an egghead or I might be worried about someone having something like that.”

“Yeah, Alphys,” said Undyne. “Imagine all the cool stuff you could do! I need a new phone anyway so add that to it.”

“No!” Alphys and Dash both shrieked.

Undyne let out a roar of laughter and then clasped her side and wheezed, “K-kidding. Worth it, f-for the looks on your f-faces.”

“Undyne, you’ve been pushing yourself,” said Alphys. “You need to rest more.”

“Just… just had to make sure you’d didn’t do something stupid,” Undyne coughed. “I’m ready to sleep for days now.”

Alphys tapped on her phone again and a floating slab popped out of it. “Then let’s get you home.”

“Think I could get a ride down too?” asked Dash.

“Oh, right, let me just…” Alphys entered a few more numbers and extensions shot out of the slab. “There.”

“Heh, this isn’t exactly what the movies promised,” Dach chuckled as she climbed onto it.

Undyne got on from the other side. “What are you babbling about?”

“Nothing,” said Dash. “Just a silly kids movie that had something like this.”

“Really?” asked Alphys. “I haven’t seen any levitation technology up here yet.”

“No it’s…” Dash shook her head. “Nevermind, it’s just a movie. It’d be like if the girls in Mew Mew actually could turn into ca—”

Dash shot her hands up to her mouth and turned bright red. A gleam came to Alphys and Undyne’s eyes.

“Heh,” Undyne chuckled. “Says the human that grows wings and horse ears. Alphys, you may need to check her again to make sure I didn’t hit her head too hard.”

“I didn’t know it was still popular on the surface!” Alphys exclaimed. “Please tell me they managed to finally collect all the shards of the Mewtarian Crystal!”

“I mean they did but then…” Dash clenched her jaw and shook her head. “I wouldn’t know! I mean, only little kids watch that stuff! I just have a good memory is all!”

“Sure,” Undyne said with a grin. “You owe me for spoiling that plot point though.”

“I don’t owe you any—” Dash cut herself off as the group neared the ground and she caught sight of a hooded figure creeping over to the library. Her heart rate fell when she noticed swirls of gold and crimson hair poking out of the hoodie. “Hey, Sunset!”

Sunset jolted up and turned towards the group. She pulled her hood up a bit more and then made her way over to them. “Uh, hey…”

“Hitting books early?” said Dash. She peered a little closer at Sunset and noticed the bags under her reddened eyes. “Maybe a little too early?”

“Oh…” Alphys lowered her head. “Sorry about tonight. I mean, if you’re upset, I understand.”

Sunset sighed. “It’s a lot to process, but you aren’t a Princess’s former personal student without tackling some heavy issues. With our research, we might even find a way to reverse the condition.”

Alphys’s eyes went wide. “Really?! That’s amazing! When can we start?”

Sunset shut her eyes for moment, causing her face to scrunch up. “Later. I just… just need to read a little.”

Dash frowned. “You sure? Maybe get some coffee at Sugarcube Corner first?”

“No.” Sunset felt some sweat beading up on her brow and she turned toward the library. “Look, I’ll be fine, you just have fun with Undyne and Alphys. I’m sure you’ve got at least five anime to talk about.”

“Oooh! We should compare series!” Alphys gushed.

Undyne glared at Dash. “You better hope you don’t watch the crappy ones though.”

“Me?” Dash pressed her face up to Undyne. “I bet you just watch those cheap OVAs cause they’ve got lots of violence and swearing.”

“But the stories are awful,” Alphys whined.

“Are you kidding?” Undyne growled. “Angry Cow 43 is awesome!”

Alphys and Dash both groaned.

“Well, have fun.” Sunset smiled and then sped off to the library.

Dash broke from her arguments to wave goodbye and shouted something about Pinkie’s party but it came out blurred to Sunset. She leaned against the library door and fumbled for the key Principal Celestia had loaned to her. Stumbling into the library, she made her way to a nook amongst the shelves and collapsed into the reading chair placed there.

Her stomach still roiled thinking about what had transpired with the fallen human. Every time she closed her eyes, she imagined what they could have done with all the power. Sunset pulled her arms tight across her chest and took some breaths. Her thoughts kept getting pulled back to it though: the desire for power and the abuse of magic. She forced herself to sink deeper into the chair’s confines and recalled the many nights she had spent here at first, alone and bitter. Even while the night’s revelations haunted her mind, she managed to think of how she now sat in the library with her friends and drifted off to sleep.

~~~

And you were doing so well.

The voice chilled Sunset to the bone. She looked out but saw only darkness. The wind roared around her as if she were in the middle of a storm.

But you’re letting your feelings get to you. I can help with that.

Sunset pressed her hands against her head and shook it back and forth. “No, you can’t. Twilight and everyone else will understand.”

They might, but that won’t change what you know… or what you’ll do.

Sunset lowered her hands and balled them up into fists. “Yes it will. I’m better now.”

My, such DETERMINATION.

A laugh that made Sunset’s skin crawl rang in her ears. She felt her heart drop into the pit of her gut when fiery pupils flared out from the darkness. A blood red face formed around them and showed off its fanged grin. Sunset spun around and sprinted away from the demon but a clawed hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back, forcing her to stare right at her corrupted double.

“But you made one mistake.” The demon’s black sclera flooded out of her eye sockets and dripped down onto Sunset. “Since when were you the one in control?”

Sunset screamed and jolted up from her chair. She gasped breath and then collapsed back into her seat. A glance out the window showed the sun had already crossed into the western sky. Sunset massaged her forehead and then felt something bundled around her feat. She looked down and saw that a blanket was wrapped around her legs with a card lying beside it. Bending over, she picked it up and read it.

Hey,

We were a bit worried about you, so we came back after breakfast. Ms. Dash says you do this sometimes and to just leave you be, but I still feel bad about what I did and I didn’t want you to get cold. I’m sorry about dumping all that on you and I understand if you don’t forgive me for what I did.

A bit of the letter was scratched out. The rest was scrawled in larger characters.

But if you don’t forgive Alphys, you’ll have me to deal with!

Sunset smiled at the letter and let her head fall back.

“They’re nice, right?”

Sunset jumped up and spun around. Frisk ducked behind the chair, only daring to show a little bit of their face, but Sunset’s height made it easy to peer over the chair at them. One of their elbows was a bit red and their eyes were a little wet.

“Sorry,” they said in a low voice. “I probably shouldn’t have woken you up.”

Sunset squatted down so that she was at Frisk’s level. “It’s… it’s fine, Frisk. I was having a bad dream anyway. What are you doing here though?”

Frisk said nothing. Instead, they shivered. A few tears tumbled down their face. In a flash, their hand shot out and pulled out something from their backpack. They pressed it up to Sunset and she gently pulled it away from them. It was a thick stack of bound black construction paper with an illustration of a heart on the front of it.

“Please don’t tell my mom,” Frisk whimpered.

Sunset looked up and down between Frisk and the papers. She then reached out and laid a hand on Frisk’s shoulder. “I promise, but you’re sure you don’t need something? If you’re hurt, I can help.”

“Just… just read,” Frisk sniffled. “That’ll help… I’m sorry, I can’t say it right.”

“Okay.” Sunset sat down and crossed her legs. Frisk did the same and hunched over so that their hair covered up their face. Taking a breath, Sunset opened the book.

In place of a heart on the cover was a yellow figure in the rough shape of a person with a block of brown hair. Words in white crayon filled the top of the page.

When I first fell down, I was so scared. It was dark, I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t even talk.

Sunset turned the page. It was almost identical to the last, but now with rays of light shooting down from the top.

Then something moved me. I thought it was a monster at first. Like a real monster, not like mom, Mr. Papyrus, or anyone else underground. It made me say things and do what it wanted.”

The yellow figure now stood before a large white figure in a purple dress. Orange blobs floated around it.

But it also helped me through the Underground. It must have had more DETERMINATION than anything else in the world.

A heart split in two graced the next page.

Sometimes that wasn’t enough though.

Sunset looked up from the book. Frisk was shaking like a leaf, but they managed to lift a hand and turned the page. Now the heart was reformed and glowing.

It must have hurt whatever moved me, too, but it didn’t give up.

The next page was filled with multiple yellow figures. Each one stood before a differently colored monster: one bone white and surrounded by blue femurs, another blue and clad in armor, a third purple with several arms, a fourth made of glistening silver crayon and magenta, and a final one far bigger than all the other monsters and wreathed in golden armor.

It fought so many monsters, but it never hurt them too badly, even if they hurt us a lot. I could never talk to it, but the further we got, the more I felt a feeling growing inside me. If it could be that brave…

Unlike the rest of the book, both the left and right pages were illustrated this time. It appeared that Frisk had taken every crayon they could find and used it to transform the top of the left page into a nightmare mash of thorny plants, eyes, and what Sunset assumed were teeth and flesh. In contrast, the right page featured a rather complex rainbow design with a horned white creature in the center. In both though, the tiny yellow figure stood before the creatures with a heart radiating light out of their core. Words were written in thick white across the bottom of the page.

So could I.

The next page was only illustrated on the right and showed the figure being held up by all the monsters from two pages ago. A crack ran through their heart and a frown and some blue tears marked their face.

But when we reached the surface, it made one last choice for me and gave me a new home. And then, it was gone. Everyone said I was a hero, but all I’d done was help out a little right at the end. I want to help monsters and humans get along, but I don’t know what to do.

Sunset reached the last page and felt her heart pang. The final illustration was that off a taller figure the same color as the other one but with gold and red hair. The yellow figure from before was hunched in front of it with its hands clasped together.

You’re brave Ms. Shimmer, braver than I’ve ever been.

“Please help,” Frisk sniffled.

Sunset set the book down and pulled Frisk into a hug. They sobbed into Sunset’s shoulder and she patted them on the back. “Sounds like we’ve both had a rough time lately. I’m sorry though, Frisk, I’m not sure I’m the best person to help you.”

Frisk seized up and pulled back. “Why?”

“Because I’ve seen how Papyrus, Sans, and Undyne treat you. I barely even know you.” Sunset glanced at the book. “I know you’ve been through a lot, but if you can trust me with the truth, you can trust your friends too.”

Frisk sniffled and wiped their nose with their sleeve. Their lips shook, but they managed to lift them up and form a smile.

Sunset smiled too. Then a ring of pellets materialized around her neck. Frisk spun around and was met with a trio of girls standing outside of the nook in the shelves. One stood in the back with a grin that made goosebumps creep up their arms. The other two stood at the front with one laying a hand on the other’s shoulder. Both were trembling, causing the flower in one of the girl’s hands to scowl.

“You didn’t say Frisk would be here,” Flowey hissed.

Sonata gulped. “W-we didn’t know.”

“Whatever,” Flowey sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Author's Note

◆♒♋♦ ♎⬜ ✡⬜⬥ ◆♋◼♦

△↓→↑◀ ↔↕▷ ▽↕↘➬ ↘↕△➬ ▲↕▲➫↕△↔

^↑↓↔→▽ ➪△➬ →➬◀◀↓↔ → →↕↕⇆

A lot of my views on Frisk come from this one comic I saw when I started playing Undertale. "In spite of everything it's still you." "You" just happens to be a lost and scared child controlled by an unseen force and made to confront a literal den of monsters and elderitch abominations. At best, you're coming out of that with a decent stack of therapy bills.

Me

Look, the animation was okay, but the story just didn’t sell it to me after the Spirit Community arc.” Dash slurped up that last bits of her smoothie. “I mean, what was even up with that final villain?”

“Who cares?” Undyne huffed upwards, blowing back a few strands of her hair. “Seeing all those ultimate moves is what really mattered!”

Alphys fidgeted in her seat. “But, I mean, there was so much we didn’t see. We don’t even know if Momiji and Miki got together.”

“Who?” Dash and Undyne both asked.

“You know…” Alphys tucked in her chin and blushed. “They hung out with Posco’s group all the time and then… I guess the author just forgot about them.”

“Sounds about right.” Dash rested her hands against the back of her head and leaned back. “Shame, she really had a good series going for a bit.”

Undyne crossed her arms. “You’re both dweebs. The series was awesome start to finish.”

“Oooh!” Pinkie leaned over the booth shoved her head in between Alphys and Undyne. “Are you girls still talking about all those cool anime?”

“Pinkie!” Dash blushed deeply. “Not so loud!”

Undyne grinned. “This might be your greatest weakness.”

“Gah!” Dash groaned and slumped over the table. She then noticed that Pinkie was still staring at her. She pulled back and straightened up. “There something you need, Pinkie?”

Pinkie lifted a hand up to her hair and wrapped one of her curls around a finger. “Well, I didn’t want to interrupt you all being friends—or is it still frienemies?— but I can’t seem to reach Applejack or Mrs. Smith. I tried calling Big Mac and Applebloom too, but no one is picking up. Mrs. Smith said she could provide the drinks for tonight and it’s getting a little close on time.”

“You want me to go out and check?” Dash asked.

Pinkie’s eyes lit up and her smile widened. She zipped across the booth, clasped Dash’s hands and fell to her knees. “Could you? Could you, could you, could you? I’d go, but I’ve gotta work with Metty and Naptsy on the final touches!”

“Easy, Pinkie.” Dash pulled her hands out of Pinkie’s grasp and laid one on Pinkie’s shoulder. “I wanted to check in on AJ anyway since she’s been so busy at her farm dealing with stray monsters. Just leave it to me.”

Pinkie sprung up from the ground and let out a cheerful squee. A snort from Undyne made her sink back to the floor.

“It okay if I tag along?” Undyne asked. The rigidness of her face and the ferocity in her eye made everyone tense up. She then smiled. “If some monsters are misbehaving, I’ll put them in their place.”

“Not gonna challenge AJ to an arm wrestling match or something?” Dash chuckled.

“Depends. She as much of a hothead as you?” Undyne snickered.

“Ha, you wish. I might beat AJ at most stuff, but right now I bet she could kick both our injured butts.”

“Maybe no butt kicking until everyone is fully recovered?” Alphys suggested.

Undyne gave Alphys a hearty slap on the back. “We’re just playing around, Alphys. Think I’ve had enough of feeling like my back is stuck in Hotland anyway.” Undyne then turned to Dash. “So, when are we headed out?”

Dash glanced out the window at the sun hanging over the western sky. She then scootched out of the booth, grabbed her crutches, and balanced onto her good foot. “Best we get going now. Tonight’s gonna rock, so we let’s make sure it rocks hard!”

“Uh…” Alphys raised a claw but kept her head bowed. “S-speaking of rocking, would it be okay if I stuck around here?”

“No one is stopping you,” said Undyne. She saddled up close to Alphys, causing her blush to deepen. “What’s got you interested down here?”

“W-well,” Alphys gulped. “Mettaton and Napstablook h-have both been talking a lot about all these new performance and music devices, b-but I’ve been so busy with Twilight and Sunset and… stuff, that I haven’t really had time to look at any of it.”

“You silly nerd.” Undyne leaned in and gave Alphys a kiss on the cheek. Whatever yellow remained on Alphys’s face turned a heavy red. “Have fun.”

“Sheesh.” Dash shook her head. “Haven’t seen someone blush that much since Twilight asked what a—”

“Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie shot out a hand at blinding speed and pulled Dash’s mouth shut. “We promised never to mention that to anyone else!”

~~~

“Get out of here, Frisk,” Flowey growled.

Frisk was quivering so much it looked like they would fall over, but they managed to shake their head.

“Guh, you idiot, you don’t even know what’s going on,” Flowey huffed. He then turned his attention to Sunset. Sunset gulped and felt her skin crawl when Flowey’s eyes widened and gained beedy white pupils while his mouth grew fangs. “Neither do you, but I can see why these stooges were so obsessed with you. You’re different, aren’t you? That power of yours… something close to DETERMINATION yet not. I wonder what will happen…”

The bullets inched a little close to Sunset. “W-what do you want?”

“What do I want?” Flowey hummed. He then pressed the bullets right up against Sunset’s neck. “I want to pay THEM back for what THEY’VE done! And to do that, I’m going to tear through this sick joke!”

Sonata slumped her head forward. “M-mr. Flowey, w-what about us?”

“Shut up!” Flowey snapped and summoned more pellets around the Siren’s necks. “No one cares about your stupid magic anymore! You’re all just pawns, so you might as well be pawns to me instead o—”

A fireball flickered into existence and smashed into Flowey, knocking him out of Sonata’s hands and throwing him across the room. The bullets vanished. Sunset fell to her knees, gasping for air, and the Sirens shrieked and fled from the library.

Toriel lowered her hand, rushed over, and scooped Frisk. “Oh, my child, forgive me!”

Frisk reached up and gently placed a hand over Toriel’s mouth. They then shook their head.

“Oh… Yes, Frisk, I know you are a strong child, but I still worry about you, especially when you leave so suddenly and without telling me.” Toriel then looked over to Sunset, who was still on her knees but had managed to reign in her breathing. “Ms. Sunset, please forgive me, I have no ideas what those girls wanted, but that flower has caused some problems in the past. Please don’t hold it against him though, Frisk has told me he’s… not well.”

“maybe we just need to plant him outside.” Everyone twisted their heads upwards to see Sans laying atop a bookcase with Flowey floating beside him and snarling. Sans glanced at him with the slightest hint of a flicker in his left eye. Flowey froze, glared at Sans, and then snorted. “give him a sunnier disposition.”

Sunset glared up at Sans. “How long have you been there?”

“eh, long enough to know you really shouldn’t work yourself to the bone so much.” Sunset blinked and then Sans was on the ground. He then looked over to Toriel. “nice to see my door buddy, too. surface life going well?”

“Oh yes, Mr. Sans, Frisk has really been enjoying it being back and there’s been so many good books up here.”

“yeah, just look around us, you could say there’s a skeleton.”

Flowey groaned. “I’ll get THEM for this, I swear it.”

Sans floated Flowey closer to him. “what was that?”

Something tugged at Sans’ jacket and he looked down to see Frisk at his side.

“Don’t bother, Frisk,” Flowey spat. “I know what this guy’s really like. Oh, well, just get it over with.”

“well, I could, but that’s a lot of effort.” Sans sunk down and leaned against a bookcase. Flowey floated over to Frisk and the tinge of light blue that surrounded him vanished. “besides, i trust frisk on these sorts of things.”

Frisk smiled and bowed their head to Sans. They then looked at Flowey.

Flowey turned his head. Frisk mirrored his movements. This continued until Flowey had gone in a full circle in is pot. At this point, he snarled and bared his fangs at Frisk.

“Frisk,” he growled. “THEY’RE just using you. It’s even worse than before. It’s not just you this time, it’s everyone.”

Frisk drew back but then tightened their jaw.

The pupils returned to Flowey’s eyes. “Don’t be that stupid, Frisk. You think they actually care about you? I know they don’t.”

Frisk bit their lip.

“THEY didn’t tell you, did they?” Flowey glanced at Toriel, who had her hand raised at him. “Fine, come closer, so only you’ll hear this. I’ll show you what this is really all about.”

Frisk pressed their head close to Flowey and he whispered in their ear. Even from afar, Sunset could see the goosebumps racing up Frisk’s arms. The color drained from their face and Flowey pulled back wearing a demented grin.

“So what do you think now?” Flowey asked.

Frisk’s hands shook. Then, the shaking stopped and they stared straight at Flowey. “THEY made it better though.”

“You idiot!” Flowey snapped. “You’re smarter than that, Frisk! You know THEY can do it again!”

“But THEY haven’t!” Frisk yelled back. They then lowered their head and sniffled. A few tears dropped onto the floor. “Please, you’re here now. That’s what matters.”

“I’m not him, Frisk.” Flowey turned his back to Frisk. “He already told you that.”

“But he’s still there,” Frisk said with a cracking voice. “If you were like before, you would’ve tried to hit me too.”

“I…”

“M-ms. Pinkie is throwing a big party soon,” Frisk continued. “You should come too. You… you only get scary when you’re alone.”

Flowey turned and yelled, “I don’t want to be with these pawns! I want… I want…”

Frisk was staring straight at Flowey despite their puffy eyes and quivering chin.

“Damn it.” Flowey wilted a little. “Fine. THEY want to make you sad if I don’t go, then I’m not given them that satisfaction at least.”

A small smile formed on Frisk’s face.

“But,” Flowey said in a grave tone that made Frisk and everyone else in the room shiver, “If THEY try anything, I will make them pay.”

Frisk took a breath and then nodded. They then marched over to Toriel and looked up at her.

“Well, my child,” said Toriel, “I do not fully understand what just happened, but I know you are trying to do what is best for everyone, and it seems this flower doesn’t want you to get hurt at least. I am here to help you with anything if you need me.”

Frisk turned their head and looked over to Sunset.

“I see.” Toriel nodded. “You’re right, Ms. Shimmer has done a lot for us, so I can stay here and help. You just call me if you need anything.”

Frisk smiled up at Toriel and then took Flowey to another corner of the library. Toriel made her way over to Sunset and knelt beside her.

“Mr. Sans?” She looked over to the bookcase Sans was resting, but he was sound asleep. Toriel shook her head and looked back over to Sunset, taking in the deep bags under her eyes. “I don’t know how he does it, but perhaps take a page from his book.”

Sunset opened her mouth to reply, but stopped when she felt a warmth wash over her. She looked down and saw Toriel’s paws encased in a crackling glow as they glided over her torso. The weight on her eyes and the ache from her neck down to her feet lightened and her heartbeat slowed.

In a blink, she was staring down at a small cut on a her furred leg. There had been shards of glass and the burnt remains of spellbooks all around her. She had sniffled as the warm glow of magic told hold her. She had not dared to look up.

“Sunset,” Celestia had said in the softest tone she could muster. “Are you…”

“...okay?”

Sunset opened her eyes and was back in the library. Toriel was still beside her, but had retracted her paws.

“Ms. Shimmer?” she asked. “Are you okay?”

“Yes…” Sunset placed a hand on her forehead and took a breath. “Still just a little out of it.”

“And yet you seem so DETERMINED. That magic of yours is quite interesting.”

“My…” Sunset drew her hand back a little through her hair and felt an ear poking up through it. Her brow raised and she looked back to see that her hair now extended across the floor. A little bit of red rose up to her cheeks. “Oh.”

“Is there something wrong?” Toriel asked.

“No, I guess.” Sunset took a breath and her ears and hair reverted to their normal state. “It’s been a long time since somepony used a healing spell on me and it made me think back to… a different time.”

“I see.” Toriel took a breath and smiled. “It’s nice to see that DETERMINATION and magic have developed like that on the Surface.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Sunset smiled. Her pocket then buzzed. Pulling her phone out, she looked at the text. A bit of sweat formed on her brow. “Oh geez, it’s this late already? I’m not gonna have enough time to get ready.”

Sans hopped off the ground and mosied over to Sunset. “don’t worry. i know a shortcut.”

Sunset pursed her lips. “To my house?”

“i got shortcuts everywhere. i couldn’t stand actually having to walk the whole way.” Sans shrugged and bent his skull close to Sunset’s ear. “I owe you for helping Frisk, too.”

Before Sunset could say anything, Sans lifted her off the ground. For a moment, it felt like Sunset was weightless before she found herself back on her feet. Sans pulled her along, and Toriel waved them off.

“oh, and door buddy, you should check out this party too,” Sans said while he continued to lead Sunset deeper into the library. “this one girl may have even us beat in puns, and I hear she’s might get some accordion sandwich guy to come too. worth checking out.”

“Uh, Sans?” Sunset asked. “We’re going the wrong w—”

The world bent and pressed around Sans and Sunset and then popped like a balloon. There was a great roar of a vacuum. Then, with another pop, Sunset found herself in her small, spartan apartment.

Sans released his grip on Sunset and plopped himself on the old, shedding couch in the middle of the room. “mind if just rest up here ‘till you’re ready?”

Sunset crossed her arms. “Mind if I ask you what’s up with the lazybones act?”

“Heh-heh,” Sans chuckled and shook his head. When he looked back up at Sunset, his pupils were gone. “I’m just doing my part and keeping an eye out for trouble”

Sunset shivered when San’s lit up with an ethereal pupil and a golden iris.

Sans lowered his head and leaned back. “luckily, you and your friends seem to have everything under control. so, like i said when we met, I have no bones to pick with you. oh, and props for the pun. best hurry up now. I’m gonna catch a quick nap.”

Sunset kept her arms crossed and stared at Sans for a few moments, but he appeared to nod off instantly. With a deep breath, she made her way over to her bedroom.

~~~

Undyne’s fingers dug into the door handle.

“Come on,” said Dash. “Watch the upholstery.”

“How can I be sure you won’t use this damn thing against me?”

Outside the car, a stop sign whizzed by. Ahead, the road narrowed and grew a bit more rugged, with some rocks, dirt, and dust marking the edges of it.

“Heh, now who knows whose ultimate weakness?” Dash’s lips curled into a grin. “Can’t wait ‘till I make pro, then I’ll get a real monster to drive in.”

Undyne brought her free hand up to her mouth and let out a sickly cough. “I don’t know how Papyrus can like these things.”

“Aw,” Dash groaned. “This is just a thing that gets to you? Darn, I was hoping to pay that bag of bones back for scaring Fluttershy.” Dash shrugged. “Oh well, I’ll just have to come up with a different prank for him.”

A little ways down the road, Dash slowed down as a pair of gates came into view. They were both open with one hinging back and forth in the wind. Dash gripped the wheel and pulled forward.

Undyne glanced out the window. The orchards were marred with piles of upturned earth. Tunnels criss crossed the fields.

“Sheesh, no wonder Applejack’s been so busy,” said Dash. “This place looks like a warzone.”

Undyne snapped the door handle into pieces. Dash slammed on the breaks. Before Dash could say anything, Undyne tore off her seatbelt and bolted out of the car.

“What the heck!?” Dash shouted. She put the car in park and limped after Undyne.

“No, no, no,” Undyne said in rapid succession as she knelt nearby.

Her arm shook when she stretched it out into a thick pile of dust. It was coarse in her hands. A light breeze kicked up and sent the upper layer of dust into the wind. Undyne watched the dust scatter out of her hand. More piles lay around her and further out in the fields and by the orchards.

By now, Dash had managed to hobble close by. “The heck got into you?”

“No,” Undyne muttered.

Dash raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“No!” Undyne roared and slammed a fist into the earth. A sizeable crater formed beside her. She raised her arm and brought it down again and again while screaming, “No! No! No!”

She launched onto her feet and summoned her spear. With a snarl, she tore off toward the farmhouse.

“Wh-wait!” Dash called out. Her wings exploded out of her back and she gave chase to Undyne.

Adrenaline coursed through Undyne’s veins and kept the fire roaring up her back at bay. She plowed up the farmhouse steps and barreled inside. Dash zoomed in after her and nearly plowed right into her. Both stood frozen taking in the room. The scent of dust was thick in the air. The walls and furniture were covered in it. Thick piles of it were strewn across the floor.

The only area inside not marked with dust was where the Apples laid across the ground.

Dash rushed over to Applejack and lifted her torso onto her knees. “Applejack! C’mon! Say something.”

Applejack let out a low groan. Her head then flopped to the side.

“Bastard!” Undyne hissed. Spears materialized around her. “I’ll make whoever did this pay!”

“Wait!” Dash shouted, but Undyne had already stormed off into another section of the house. Dash looked at Applejack and then the rest of her family. She clenched her teeth. “Damn it!”

Summoning all the strength she could, Dash slung Applejack over her shoulder and pumped her wings. She managed to maintain a hover while bobbing up and down. Sweat streaked down her face.

“Just hold tight, Applejack,” she huffed. “Just gotta get you to the car an—”

Dash’s world exploded into a blinding white flash of pain. Gravity took hold of her again when her wings faded away. Everything was ringing. Her whole head shook from the force of whatever had struck her. She was out before she hit the floor.

Her assailant looked down at her limp body and smiled. “Time for the fun to start.”

Author's Note

Made it in time for the anniversary!
Sorry for the delay in chapters, but IRL issues are IRL issues and take precedence.
Seems I'm not the only one that got in on the anniversary if Steven Universe is anything to go by.

Erase

The shimmering light of dusk sifted through the crowd gathered in the Canterlot High courtyard. The only spot in it not filled with people or monsters was a thin ring around the Canterlot statue, though some students were closer to it than any monster dared to go. Students and monsters mostly kept to themselves, but a here and there human and monster intermingled. A chubby cat monster and an alligator girl in clothing so bright it strained the eyes to look at it were chatting about the latest gossip with a group of similarly dressed students. Near the edge of the crowd, some bug-like monsters were sweating a little taking in the scene beside some equally nervous nerds. A wall-eyed girl stared off into space while what appeared to be a hybrid of a dog and a cat wearing a light blue shirt vibrated on top of her head.

The twin doors into the gymnasium flew open. Music filled the air. Two spotlights atop the gymnasium lit up and so did everyone’s faces. Two figures stood on the roof, one in a scintillating gown and the other in a matching tux that conformed around his square chalice.

“Gooooood evening, everyone!” Pinkie cheered into her mike.

“Who’s ready for the tonight?” Mettaton beeped.

The crowd gave a roar of approval.

“That’s the Wondercolt spirit I love to hear!” Pinkie’s smile widened. “But it’s not just Wondercolts bringing the excitement tonight!”

“I certainly isn’t,” Mettaton clicked. “Even my best shows could never bring out crowds like this though!”

“Well, let’s not keep them waiting any longer!” Pinkie exclaimed.

Mettaton extended a hand out into the air and Pinkie did the same. They then swooped them back in a welcoming gesture.

“Let’s get this party started!” they both shouted.

The crowd exploded in cheers and then streamed into the gymnasium. Where only a few days before, panic-stricken students had piled inside while monsters roamed the courtyard, now both stepped through the door side by side.

There were lines of tables filled with drinks and food. The signature pastries of Sugarcube Corner rested beside trays of sandwiches in the shape of swords, bisicles, and steaks in the shape Mettaton’s faces. There were also hot dogs scattered throughout the room, and donuts and jugs of cider hung from spiderwebs.

A monster floated in one corner of the room with two glowing orbs floating around it. It grinned when a sizable group had formed around it. The orbs flashed and turned into a spray of confetti that rained down on the group. The monster tipped its hat and bowed while the group cheered.

Trixie stood atop a roughly crafted stage in the opposite corner of the gym. She glared at the monster and then straightened her hat. She flourished her hand and a line of cards appeared as she did so. In the dimmed lights of the gym, it would have taken a skilled eye to see the strings keeping them afloat. The crowd gathered around Trixie ooed and awed.

“Pick a card!” Trixie smirked. “Pick any card!”

While partygoers eyed the food, and others eyed the dueling magicians, most of them looked to the center stage. Massive speakers rimmed the stage and blasted out energizing beats. A girl with neon blue hair and magenta glasses manned one decked out spin table, and a ghost manned an equally impressive rig beside her. Both jammed out to the music through the headphones, and the ghost even managed to crack a small grin.

A collection of student and monsters was hidden behind the DJs and their setup. All of the students were doing some last minute checks on their instruments while Shyren was warming up her voice. Lemon Bread gurgled, producing a sound similar to a synthesizer. The students all glanced at each other, smiled, and silently thanked Pinkie for getting them acquainted with Lemon Bread before the party. None of them put it past her to pull a surprise on them, and all the monsters had given Pinkie more than enough prank ammo. Then again, the night had only just begun.

Back by the doors, a few heads turned when Rarity strutted into the gym. Her light purple dress was that stunning quality everyone had come to expect from her work, but the way the gems meshed with the web-like ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the dress was a step up for her. Gems sparkled, and the sleeves and the bottom of the dress glowed liked silver.

“Well, it looks like I’ve hit another winner. Just imagine what I’ll be able to do with a proper timeframe.” Rarity turned back. “Everything still fitting you well, Fluttershy?”

“Oh yes, Rarity.” Fluttershy looked out at the crowd staring at her and her dress. It was a simple, light green gown, but it was embroidered with the same material as the parts of Rarity’s dress that glowed silver. She bowed her head and rubbed her arm. “It… it’d be nice if the others were here too though.”

“I know, dear,” Rarity sighed. “An entire entire ensemble would be a dream come true, but a little glimpse goes a long way.”

“You think so?” Muffet muttered into Rarity’s ear.

“Oh, defi— Eeeee!” Rarity jumped back.

Muffet swung around upside down on a web strand and giggled.

Fluttershy tapped her on the shoulder. “Uh, Ms. Muffet, you really shouldn’t sneak up on people like that. They might get scared.”

Rarity collected herself and shook her head. “No offense, Fluttershy, but you were one of the last people I ever expected to say that.”

“Well, it’s tr—”

“PINK HAIRED, ANIMAL LOVER HUMAN!” a voice cried out. Papyrus sprung up from the crowd and vaulted over to Fluttershy. He loomed over her and reached behind his back. Fluttershy gulped. “I REALIZE THE LAST FEW TIMES WE’VE MET HAVE BEEN A BIT… AWKWARD. I’D HATE TO MAKE A BAD IMPRESSION ON THE SURFACE, SO I HAVE CONSULTED HUMAN BOOKS AND THE HELP OF YOUR FRIENDS TWEELIP AND SUNNY TO FIND THE PERFECT APOLOGY GIFT!”

Papyrus brought his arm forward and produced a small white dog. Papyrus’s smile went lopsided.

“Oh… um…” Fluttershy glanced to the side. “It’s a very nice dog, Mr. Papyrus, but I’m not sure if I can house another animal right now, I really do appreciate the effort though.”

“NO!” Papyrus stamped the ground. “THIS MUTT ISN’T THE GIFT! I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW IT COULD HAVE GOTTEN TO IT! I HAD IT TUCKED RIGHT INSIDE MY ARMOR!”

The dog leapt off Papyrus’s arm and disappeared into the crowd. Papyrus sank to his knees.

“I’M A FAILURE AT ESTABLISHING GOOD RELATIONS WITH HUMANS,” he sniffled.

“What happened? Did something go wrong with the plan?” Twilight called out from the crowd. Everyone parted to let her through. Her face sank at the sight of Papyrus looking heartbroken. “Something went wrong with the plan.”

Fluttershy laid a hand on Papyrus’s shoulder and knelt beside him. “There, there, Mr. Papyrus. I know you’ve only been trying to make friends. I should apologize too, I’m a bit nervous, so I may have made given you the wrong impression of humans on the surface. I’d still like to be your friend though.”

Papyrus’s smile returned in full force when Fluttershy smiled back at him and extended a hand. “THANK YOU, HUMAN! I PROMISE, I’LL DO MY BEST TO BE THE BEST FR—”

As soon as Papyrus clasped Fluttershy’s hand, a shock ran up his arm and jolted his whole body.

Fluttershy retracted her hand, revealing a joy buzzer attached to it. She let out a small giggle. “Plus, I heard you have a funny bone.”

Papyrus shook his arm to return feeling to it. “My brother has gotten to you, hasn’t he?”

Pinkie popped up beside him. “You betcha, but it took the both of us to convince Fluttershy to actually go through with it.” Pinkie jumped over to Fluttershy and gave her a strong pat on the back. “Great job, Fluttershy! Your second successful prank!”

Fluttershy blushed. “Pinkie, you’re not really counting what we did to Rainbow Dash, are you?”

“Of course I am, silly,” Pinkie giggled. “That was a classic.”

“I’m confused,” said Twilight.

“i know, trying to figure your pink friend is way too much work,” Sans commented.

Everyone spun around to where Sans had appeared.

Papyrus launched onto his feet and rushed over to Sans. “BROTHER, WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN? I HAD TO GET READY ALL BY MYSELF! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO POLISH THE BACK OF ARMOR ON YOUR OWN?”

“did you consider taking off the armor?” San asked.

Papyrus was silent for a moment and glanced to the side. “THAT’S BESIDE THE POINT. AT LEAST I TRIED TO LOOK MY BEST. DID YOU DO ANYTHING AT ALL TO PREPARE FOR TONIGHT?”

“yeah, lots of stuff,” San answered. He lifted up one leg, revealing black slippers. “see? i put on my dress shoes.”

“THOSE ARE EXACTLY THE SAME AS YOUR OTHER SLIPPERS!”

“Oh, please don’t fight,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight tapped Fluttershy on the back. “Don’t worry, this is just how they get along.”

“I can relate,” Rarity sighed. She then glanced across the crowd. “I should check to make sure she and her friends made it here alright.”

“Speaking of friends, have either of you seen Sunset?” Twilight asked.

“her?” said Sans. “i dropped her off right before i got here.”

~~~

Flowey glared up at Sunset. “Go away, human. Just because you’ve got a walking graveyard watching your back doesn’t mean I have to play nice with you.”

“I’m not asking for that,” Sunset sighed. She looked down that hall. The distant echo of music resonated against the lockers. “I won’t even pretend like I know what this is all about.”

“Then you should keep your mouth shut and go off like a good little pawn to your stupid get together,” Flowey hissed.

Frisk looked down at Flowey and frowned.

“I may not know what this is about…” Sunset tightened her jaw. “But I know Frisk is a good friend and they just want you to be happy.”

“Tch, good luck with that,” Flowey spat. “All the DETERMINATION in the world couldn’t make me happy, or sad, or anything else. Don’t you get it, you idiot? I don’t have a SOUL. So waste your breath on someone else. One dumb party isn’t going to change that.”

Sunset took a breath and sat down. “Maybe not, but FRIENDSHIP might.”

Flowey titled his head at Sunset. “‘FRIENDSHIP?’”

“We’re still working out the details, but it’s a unique magic my friends and I can use. It’s not quite the human magic used in the past, but it’s not exactly the magic from my home either. I can’t make any promises, but I was in a place similar you once. I didn’t care about anyone else. I just wanted to make everything mine, no matter who got hurt along the way. But, I found people— people like Frisk— that were willing to forgive me and help me remember what it meant to care about others. That’s the power of FRIENDSHIP.”

Frisk smiled.

“Sounds like a bunch of corny writing to me,” said Flowey. He looked up at Frisk and sighed. “But at this point, I don’t have much a choice in the matter. Although, figuring out just what you are might help me in my own ways.”

Sunset got back on her feet. She extended a hand out to Frisk and Flowey. “I think a little give and take at the start is a good beginning point. Trust me, I’ve been there too. Tonight though, let’s just have some fun.”

Frisk took Sunset’s hand. The trio walked down the hall as the music got louder until they reached a pair of doors. They shook a bit from the force of the music inside.

Flowey bristled. “I don’t like this. All these people. All these monsters. Frisk said almost everyone is here. THEY won’t be happy I’m here too.”

“Now you’re sounding like Fluttershy on a bad day,” said Sunset. She put a hand on the door. “Just take a breath. It’ll be okay.”

Flowey grumbled. Sunset opened the doors.

A few heads turned when the trio walked in. A hush fell over the monsters the spread to the students until the entire gym was quiet. Sunset bit her lip. Frisk looked to the ground.

“FRISK!” Papyrus yelled, shattering the veil of silence. He bounded over and giddily bent down to Frisk’s eye level. “IT’S ONLY BEEN A LITTLE WHILE BUT IT FEELS IT’S BEEN FOREVER SINCE WE LAST TALKED! OH, AND YOU BROUGHT MY FLOWER FRIEND TOO!”

“Great, I get to deal with this idiot too,” Flowey muttered.

“Sunset!” Pinkie popped out the crowd. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight followed after her. Pinkie gestured like she was wiping some sweat of her brow. “I was getting a little worried with only half of us here.” Pinkie bent down and smiled and Frisk. “And you made it too, Frisk! That’s a nifty flower you got there.”

“I already despise you,” said Flowey.

“Oooh, a party pooper.” Pinkie grinned. “I’m always up for a challenge, so do your worst.”

A demented sneer stretched across Flowey’s face. “You sure about that?”

Frisk slapped Flowey on the back.

Flowey glared back at him. “Don’t test me, Frisk.”

“Just try,” Frisk pleaded. “Please.”

“I hate this. I absolutely hate all of this this.” Flowey gritted his teeth, took a breath, and sighed. “But he might have like this.”

Frisk smiled.

“Well, I don’t know who he but if he likes to party, then consider him a friend of mine!” Pinkie spun around and point to the main stage. “DJs, hit it!”

The DJs smiled and brought the music back full blast.

Celestia watched the party reignite from the announcer’s booth. Luna and Toriel stood to her right while Asgore stood a little ways away on her left.

“Seems those girls have done it again,” Luna mused.

Celestia glanced over at Asgore. “With help from some new friends.”

“I’m thankful to the bottom of my heart from what your students have done,” said Asgore. “I could only dream of getting as much done as they have.”

“Please, Mr. Asgore,” said Celestia, “don’t discredit your own efforts. Without your work, the long term infrastructure monsters need to assimilate to the surface would take forever.”

“And it takes the patience of a monarch to get anything done at city hall,” Luna quipped.

“Let’s hope Superintendent Faust never hears that,” Celestia chuckled.

“She honestly doesn’t seem that bad once you talk with her a bit,” said Asgore. “Reminds me a bit of one of my royal guards actually.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “I realize education is important, but it seems a little early to be talking that side of government.”

“Oh…” Asgore diverted his eyes to the ground. “Well, I suppose it is a bit odd, but she was willing to make time in her schedule. We may be able to get approval by the start of next year.”

“Really?” Celestia’s face lit up. “Wonderful!”

“What’s all this about?” asked Toriel.

“Didn’t you’re hus—” Celestia cut herself off when Luna made a slicing motion across her neck. Celestia coughed into her hand and cleared her throat. “What I mean to say, is that Mr. Asgore had a part of his assimilation proposal be a monster culture and history class. I imagined it would be a later stage of assimilation once things have settled down some more, but Faust always knows how to throw a curveball.”

Toriel crossed her arms. “And sadly Asgore isn’t the best catcher.”

“You’ve got me there, Tori,” Asgore signed. He then looked at Toriel. “But if things work out, maybe you’ll get that job you always wanted.”

Toriel’s arms fell to her side. “What?”

Asgore turned to the side. “You always mentioned how much you wanted to teach, so I made sure you were on the list of potential teachers. If you’d like for me to change it I c—”

“No,” Toriels flatly stated. Asgore clenched his muscles and braced for a rebuke, but Toriel smiled at him. “You have a long way to go, Asgore, but you’re on the right path.”

“Tori…” Asgore placed a hand on his chest and took a breath. “Thank you.”

Toriel planted her hand on her hips. “I don’t recall telling you it was okay to call me ‘Tori’ yet though.”

“gee,” said Sans. “haven’t seen a burn that bad or so cold since vulkin tried a nicecream.”

“Mr. Sans…” Celestia wagged a finger at him. “You really must stop popping in like that. Ms. Pie might think you’re issuing a challenge.”

“Nope!” Pinkie appeared in the room from out of Asgore’s cape with five drinks balanced on her arms. She moved by Asgore, Celestia, Luna, and Toriel, who each took the drink and smiled upon realizing it was their favorite kinds. “Sansy here has got me beat fair and square. I may be the party queen of Canterlot High, but even I couldn’t get around to all the monsters like Sansy can.”

“hey, thought we were keeping my end of the deal on the down low,” said Sans. “i might need make some additional conditions to our agreement now.”

Pinkie bit her fingernails. “Oooh, but if I give anymore pranks, I’ll be digging into my premium material.”

Sans grinned. “maybe some more ketchup flavors?”

“Gah, you are one demanding skeleton, Sansy!” Pinkie then started buzzing. She pulled her phone out from somewhere and her pupils shrank. “Oh my gosh! It’s almost time for the main event. Oooh, I hope Dashy and AJ get make it on time!”

Pinkie darted off in a puff of smoke.

Sans took a seat and leaned back. “see, that’s the kind of energy I could never deal with. think I’ll just sit the rest of this out here.”

~~~

Twilight squeezed her way through the crowd and made it over to where the drinks were. She reached out to grab the serving spoon from the punch bowl. Her hand bumped into Alphys’ and the both pulled their arms back.

“T-twilight,” Alphys murmured.

Twilight looked to the floor. “Alphys…”

“About yesterday,” they both said and then paused. “I…”

They were silent again.

Twilight chewed on her lower lip. “Should I go first?”

“I… I don’t know,” Alphys stammered. “I mean, I already sort of apologized to Sunset earlier and I don’t want you to worry and I…”

Twilight put a hand on Alphys’ shoulder. “Breathe, Alphys. I can at least tell you that much thanks to my old babysitter.”

Alphys followed along with Twilight. She took a breath and mimicked the rolling gesture Twilight made with her arm towards and away from her chest. “Thanks, Twilight. Guess I’m a bit nervous without Undyne here. I’m not used to being around this many people either.”

“I know, right?” Twilight looked over the party. Trixie was juggling flaming horseshoes. The magician monster was turning drinks into bouquets of flowers. Most eyes were on the main stage where the DJs had moved their rigs to the side so the band could play, and Shyren and Lemon Bread could sing. “It’s nice to know not everyone is watching every move you make.”

“Yeah.” Alphys scratched the back of her head. “I’m still worried about Undyne though. I know it’s silly, but the way she talks with Rainbow Dash is different from how she talks to me. Now she’s off picking up another strong human. It’s like how those love dodecahedrons in Betsusei and Nekoken form. Oh geez, I hadn’t even thought of what Undyne thinks of me hanging out with you and Sunset all the time. This could be a worse catastrophe tha—”

“Alphys,” Twilight interjected. “This isn’t an anime. Not everyone is falling head over heals for each other, so there’s no need to worry. Has Undyne done anything to make you not trust her?”

“Well, no…”

“Then things are okay.” Twilight scanned the party and spotted Sunset chatting with Rarity and Fluttershy. “I don’t know that much about those kinds of relationships yet, but I know Undyne is your friend, and you can always trust your friends.”

“Yeah, and it gets you so far in life,” Flowey spat.

Alphys and Twilight turned to see Frisk had come up behind them with Flowey in tow.

“Oh, nice to see you again, Frisk.” Twilight smiled, but the smile quickly faded when Flowey glared at her. “Guess your friend is still having trouble enjoying the party.”

“I’m going to be saying this the entire damn night,” Flowey grumbled, “it doesn’t matter how ‘super duper extra spectacularly cool’ this party is as that pink idiot barfed up.”

“Sounds like you’re not too big on the whole ‘being social’ thing. Maybe we can start a club… even though we don’t like being… social.” Twilight let out a nervous chuckle and grabbed a cup. “How about some punch?”

Frisk smiled and nodded.

The lights then went out. When a lone stagelight flashed on, everyone’s attention went to the main stage. The band had vanished. Pinkie and Mettaton stood in their place.

“Wowee! What a night so far,” said Pinkie. “Is everyone having fun?”

“Yeah!” the crowd answered in a deafening unity.

“Well, I hope you’re all ready for the big event of the night,” Mettaton beeped. “I know the monsters in the audience have gotten a hint of what’s to come from my final episode, but with Dr. Alphys’ help and the great contributions of Ms. Pie, the school band, the lovely siren sisters, and our talented DJs, it’s time to give you all a show like you’ve never seen before!”

A cheer went up through the crowd, but a loud screech and the sounds of a crash halted it before it could reach its peak. The doors leading out to the courtyard burst open. Their hinges were nearly torn off from the force of the push. Undyne stumbled in with Rainbow Dash and Applejack slung over her back.

Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Papyrus, Twilight, Sunset, Frisk, and Alphys all rushed through the crowd and over to her.

“Undyne!” Alphys shook and knelt beside her. She reached out and put a hand on Undyne. She shuddered when she felt the thick layer of dust covering Undyne. “W-what happened?”

Undyne shook. A few tears spilled out of her eye and onto floor. “I couldn’t save them, Alphys. All of them, just dust. All of them.”

“W-what?” Fluttershy gasped.

Undyne slammed a fist into the ground, shattering the wooden boards. “I wanted to find whoever did it, but when I heard Dash get hit, I wasn’t going to let whoever it was hurt humans too.”

The crowd around them parted and Celestia, Luna, Toriel, and Asgore made there way over.

“This seems serious,” said Celestia. “First, let’s get you all some first aid.”

“There’s three more outside,” Undyne huffed. “I tried to be careful, but it wasn’t easy driving here.”

“Thank you, Undyne,” said Asgore. “Rest now, we’ll handle it from he—”

“No!” Undyne roared. “Whoever did this is still out there! I’ll rest after I’ve made them pay for what the—”

Undyne gasped in pain. She looked down and spotted the sharp end of a knife stabbing through her side. A glance back revealed that the knife was buried up to its hilt in her back. She turned her head up and snarled at the figure standing outside. Her pupil shrank. “You!?”

Apple Bloom flipped a second knife into the air and caught it by its hilt. She then turned to Undyne, displaying cheeks and irises as red as her hair. “Yes, it’s ME.”

Frisk shivered and ducked behind Papyrus.

“No.” Flowey shook. “How? You’re supposed to be dead!”

“Oh?” Apple Bloom titled her head to the side and grinned at Flowey. “Aren’t you one to talk, Asriel? So, how about we finish up that plan of ours?”

Author's Note

"Hmmm? Odd, someone really messed things up."

W♒♋t ♋r♏ you ♦♋●king about? ✞⬜♓♍♏... my voice is different.

"Fun isn't it? Always nice to see someone dealing with chaos after they've bit off more than they can chew. Luckily, I've lightened up a bit, so as a good friend of mine usually asks, care for some tea?"

Tea?

"Oh yes, I just finished scouring Neighpal for the finest china. The tea really brings out the flavor of the porcelain."

You... eat the cup?

"You mean this entire time you've been here you didn't try to have a little fun with the whole 'trapped in an eternal maelstrom of energy?' Not even conjuring up a few cups?"

I wouldn't consider it... fun.

"Oh, then I have work to do."

A Bad Time

“Undyne!” Alphys cried. She pressed her claws up against Undyne’s wound. The flesh around the knife spasmed and wavered. “Hold on!”

“Don’t worry,” Apple Bloom hummed. She slid another knife out from under her shirt and rushed at Alphys. “You shouldn’t take too long to deal with!”

Papyrus leapt into Apple Bloom’s path. “HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, HUMAN! YOU’RE BEING VERY RU—”

Apple Bloom slashed at Papyrus’s skull. A blue glow overtook her arm, and it jolted down. The blow slammed into Papyrus’s chest instead. Papyrus launched off his feet and barreled into the crowd. Apple Bloom stared down at her shaking hand. Her grin widened.

“Still not enough for those monsters.” She cricked her neck back and looked over the crowd. She then burst forward towards Undyne again. A few feet from Undyne, she veered left and raised her knife at Sunset. “Let’s give humans another shot.”

“No!” Twilight screamed and threw herself at Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom aimed for Twilight’s neck and brought her knife down. A ruby red trident caught the blade in its prongs. Asgore lifted up his weapon and Apple Bloom along with it and threw it with all his might. The trident dug deep into the adjacent wall with Apple Bloom hanging below it.

“That should hold her for n—”

A rock smashed into Asgore’s head. He tittered backwards and then fell to his knees. His trident dematerialized and Apple Bloom fell back to the ground. She chucked one of the stones in her hand up into the air and then slashed it in two.

“Heh, like that would be enough.” Apple Bloom giggled. “It’s never enough.”

“Stop!”

Frisk emerged out of the crowd and stood before Apple Bloom. Their eyes were brimming with tears and they shook like a leaf.

“S-stop it,” Frisk said. “You don’t have to do this.”

Apple Bloom’s grin widened and she leveled her knife at Frisk. “You’re right, I don’t have to do this, but I want to do this… and so do THEY.”

“I knew it,” Flowey growled. He glared up at Frisk. “Frisk, I’ve got a little power left, so I can get us out of here.”

“Oh,” Apple Bloom mused. “Things really have changed for you. Underground, that weakling was as good to you as they were to me.”

Flowey wilted a little.

“I was always there, Asriel.” Apple Bloom gave her knife a flip. “Even longer than you were. All those weaklings… none of them with enough DETERMINATION to let me have the fun I wanted.” Apple Bloom pointed her knife at Frisk again. “I thought I’d finally found the one with them, but THEY went and changed that.”

“The RESET,” Flowey muttered.

“Yes. It was going so well until dear old mom stepped in.” Apple Bloom grimaced, jerked her hand up, and cleaved through the air. Anyone nearby not fleeing for the exit jumped back. “Then I was back to being nothing! I just watched while THEY didn’t fight, didn’t earn LOVE, didn’t earn EXP! Nothing! Then you took down the Barrier. I felt myself drifting away. You’d broken your end of the deal. That hurt.”

Flowey shrunk back.

Apple Bloom bowed her head and huffed. When she raised herself up, the smile was back on face, but her eyes appeared slightly darkened, bringing out more of the red in them. “Just when I thought it was over though, I felt it: DETERMINATION. It was strange, not like the DETERMINATION Underground. No Gold, No EXP, no LOVE. THEY drew me back though. THEY wanted me back. THEY asked where I was. THEY got excited and gave me more power: the power of COMMENTS, VIEWS, and LIKES.”

Apple Bloom flipped her knife around so it was pointed at her chest. “Enough power to find someone new to help with the plan. It was actually hard to choose at first. The right DETERMINATION wasn’t easy to come by.”

Apple Bloom swiped her knife to the side and pointed it at Sunset and her friends, who were helping support Twilight while Toriel helped keep Asgore on his feet.“Something prevented me from taking one of them, even the one that’s almost as much of a monster as we were, Asriel.”

Sunset felt a chill go down her spine.

“So I tried other places with strong DETERMINATION, but the right fit didn’t come until I found this one.” Apple Bloom traced a smile across her face with the knife. “Such an energetic one, doing whatever she could to help her poor family out but not being strong enough. Poor thing didn’t even mean to kill the first monster, so I made sure she didn’t feel too bad about that. I taught her that a little DETERMINATION can go a long way, and look where we are.”

Apple Bloom held out her hand. “I still need more though. I’ve felt it. More LIKES, more COMMENTS, more VIEWS. If I get more, I can finally finish the plan.”

“N-no,” Flowey said. “It should have ended then. Let’s… let’s rest.”

“Such a shame,” Apple Bloom hummed, raised her knife, and raced at Frisk and Flowey. “Since when did you think you were in control!?”

A spear shot through from the crowd and ripped across Apple Bloom’s side. She crumpled to the ground, clenching the wound.

The arm Undyne has used to support herself slipped from underneath her and she fell back onto Alphys. Alphys continued to apply pressure to her wound, but her eyes were locked on the swirling void that had replaced Undyne’s eyepatch. A faint glimmer of magic, like an ethereal pupil, shined deep within it.

“Brat,” Undyne huffed. “Like I’d let you hurt anyone else.”

“Really!?” Apple Bloom raised her head, revealing that her that her eyes were now pitch black and her irises lit up with a glow that sent a chill down everyone’s spine. She pulled her clenched teeth back into a smile and brought the knife up to her throat. “There’s more than enough DETERMINATION to find someone else, but I have grown to like this one. Oh well, not as good as a RESET, b—”

“But it sounds like you wanna have a bad time.”

Icy blue magic erupted over Apple Bloom’s knife and flung it across the gym. Sans tightened his left hand into a fist and the magic overtook Apple Bloom as well. It rocketed her up and into the ceiling and then slammed her into the floor. Sans then flipped his palm up, summoning a cage of bones around Apple Bloom.

In the blink of an eye, Sans went from over by Apple Bloom to Papyrus’s side. He glanced down and noted the dent in Papyrus’s armor and the sharp crack in his knee. “you’re looking a little broken up there, bro.”

“WHAT…” Papyrus coughed. “WHAT A ROYAL GUARD SHOULD BE READY FOR.”

“Don’t worry,” said Sans. “We’ll get you and Undyne help. Sorry I didn’t get here fast enough. Guess I really am a lazy bones.”

“NOT AT ALL, SANS.” Despite the ache in his side and his leg, Papyrus managed to smile. “THOSE WAS THE BEST HUMAN CATCHING SKILLS I’VE EVER SEEN.”

“just take it easy.” Sans lifted Papyrus up with his magic. In a blink, he and Papyrus materialized in front of Sunset and her friends. “was hoping this wouldn’t happen, but i’m going to need you to hit that thing with a concentrated blast of FRIENDSHIP.”

Sunset looked over at Sans’ cage. Apple Bloom glared up at her with black liquid leaking down her eyes. A chill went through Sunset and she turned over to Applejack and Dash. Both were still slumped over beside Undyne and Alphys and taking small breaths. Applejack had a few bruises running up her arms and legs while Dash had a bump on the back of her head.

Alphys scrambled her claws over a device in her right hand while she kept left on Undyne’s wound. Undyne lied limp under her, the last attack having taken the last bits of her consciousness with it. Alphys took rapid breaths as she raced through her device.

“Alphys,” Sunset called out.

Alphys jerked her head up and her breathing further quickened. Her eyes started to roll around in their sockets. “I… I…”

Sunset grabbed Alphys by the shoulders and looked her straight in the face. “Alphys, breath. I need you with us.”

Alphys looked back and forth at Sunset and Undyne. She closed her eyes, gulped, and then stared straight at Sunset. “Okay, it doesn’t look like that thing roughed up your friends too badly. I just have t—”

A string of sharp cracks rang through the gym. Apple Bloom crunched some of the shattered bone scattered around her underneath her foot. It and the remains of the cage wavered and burst into blue particles.

Sunset moved to get into a fighting stance, but Sans shot a hand out in front of her.

“You get your friends up. I can hold it back,” he said with his back toward Sunset.

“And don’t think I’m not getting in on this either!” Mettaton lept out of the crowd and stood at Sans’ side. In a flash of light his form shifted from a blocky oversized calculator on a unicycle to a cybernetic humanoid. He brushed the luscious hair that now flowed over half his face and pointed at Apple Bloom. “You’re quite the show stealer, my dear, but in all the wrong ways. Not an ounce of charisma to you!”

Sunset took a breath, glanced at her friends, and then looked back to Sans and Mettaton. “We just need a few minutes.”

“Y-yeah!” Alphys said, trying as hard as she could to quell the tremor in both her voice and her claws.

Sunset picked herself up off the ground and slung Undyne’s arm over her shoulder. She made a beeline for the exit. The air split behind her and then the sharp crack of metal on bone echoed through the gym. Everyone sped up and made it out of the gym.

Apple Bloom glared at Sans and Mettaton. It was just the three of them now. Sans stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. The light in his sockets had shifted so it looked like his eyes were closed.

“This was a nice party,” he sighed. “People and monsters were having fun together. New friendships were forming. At parties like this, kids like you…”

Sans looked up, his sockets were now black voids. “...should be burning in hell.”

A bright flame erupted from Sans’ left eye as he and Mettaton raced toward Apple Bloom.

Don't Kill. Don't Be Killed

Blue and yellow light flashed through the gym’s windows. Inside, Apple Bloom flipped backwards when a field of bones shot up through the ground. She raised her blade as she flew through the air, blocking a kick from Mettaton.

Mettaton grinned and sent out his other leg while he and Apple Bloom were still airborne. Apple Bloom met the kick with another knife. Sparks sprung off of where the blade met steel. Apple Bloom smirked and raised her first knife up and away from Mettaton’s leg and straight for his chest.

A blue glow took hold her and threw her to the ground. Mettaton brought a boot down on Apple Bloom, but she managed to roll out of the way. The floor cratered and wood splintered into the air. A knife cut through the dust thrown up by the attack and cleaved Mettaton’s right arm from his should. It fell to the ground in a shower of sparks.

Mettaton spun sent out a flurry of yellow bolts from his chest. Apple Bloom fizzled with electricity and flew back. Mettaton looked down at his limb and sighed. “Oh dear, and right after Alphys made improvements.”

“eh, show business does cost you an arm and and a leg.” Sans appeared at Mettaton’s side with his left eye glowing bright. With a sweep of his hand, he cleared the dust around them. Apple Bloom struggled to her feet a few yards away. Black liquid dripped from her eyes and from the wound on her side. “kid, you ain’t looking so hot. my advice? give up.”

“That’s the one thing I can’t do.” Apple Bloom grinned and then charged at Sans and Mettaton.

~~~

Rainbow Dash shifted around and then opened her eyes. The throbbing pressure on the back of her head forced her to close them again.

“Hold her still!” a voice called out. “I… I just need another few seconds here.”

A cooling sensation washed over Dash’s head and she felt the pressure on it go down. She took a few breaths and then opened her eyes. Her friends and Alphys looked down on her, with faces stretched tight and lips bitten.

“Guys? I thought I was Appleja—” She bolted upright, which sent her vision spining. She clasped her face with a hand. She focused her uncovered eye on Sunset’s blurred visage. “Applejack is in trouble! We gotta get back to the farm!”

“Whole lotta good that will do ya,” came Applejack’s voice to Dash’s right.

Dash’s vision refocused. She twisted and saw Applejack propped up against the Canterlot statue’s base looking a bit pale.
Applejack shifted her attention over to Sunset. “Sunset, we got Dash up, so what’s the plan? Because if you ain’t got one, I’m getting up and saving my sister myself.”

“Whatever is possessing Apple Bloom should be purgeable, like what happened to me and Twilight,” Sunset explained. “That thing is essentially corrupted DETERMINATION, so we just need to hit it with a blast of FRIENDSHIP.”

“I like this plan.” Dash pounded a fist into her hand. “So do we like play a song or something?”

“I… “ Sunset looked down. “I’m not sure, and that thing knows we’re a threat, so we may only get one chance.”

“And you already wasted it!”

Everyone spun around as a knife plunged down at Sunset.

Flowey leapt out of Frisk’s hands and grew bright.

~~~

Sans and Mettaton gasped for breath. Sweat poured down San’s skull and a shrill beeping came from Mettaton’s chest. Apple Bloom lay on the floor ahead of them, unmoving save for some shallow breaths.

“What happened?” Mettaton huffed.

“that thing feeds on DETERMINATION. maybe it couldn’t sustain itself any longer.” Sans caught his breath and stared at Apple Bloom. Her earlier words then rang in his head and he spun towards where Sunset and her friends had fled. “Oh Hell.”

Sans vanished and reappeared a few feet away and then fell to the ground. He tried to pull himself forward with an arm, but his body refused to listen.

“Mettaton!” he called out. “It’s still out there!”

“On i—” Mettaton launched off the ground, but then its chest went dark and it crashed to the floor. His eyes fizzled and then went dark. His next words were still and crackled as if coming from an intercom. “S-sorry… darling… Battery… low.”

“Sunset!” Sans cried out.

Pause

A spray of flower petals erupted in front of Sunset. Cinch, with blackened eyes and reddened pupils, stared at the hilt of her broken knife and then jumped back.

Flowey fell to the ground. The remains of his pot crashed around him. Most of his petals were gone and a gash ran across his face. A sickly grey liquid bubbled up from the wound.

“No!” Frisk screamed and rushed over to Flowey. “Asriel!”

“Hee… hee…You idiot,” Flowey coughed and wilted. “Who am I kidding? I-I’m the idiot.”

Flowey’s face then morphed until it resembled Toriel’s but younger and with a more defined chin. “Frisk. D-don’t let them hurt mom and dad. D-don’t let them hurt anyone else. Don’t k-kill or be killed…”

Flowey then went lip and its face shifted to a just a regular flower.

Frisk stared at the wilted flower. Tears spilled down their face.

“Fool,” Cinch huffed as she drew another blade. “Oh well, not like I needed him at this point anyway.”

She raised her blade and rushed at Frisk and brought her knife down. The girls all screamed as aura raced over their bodies. They transformed just as the knife jabbed into Frisk’s neck.

But it refused.

The blade didn’t meet flesh and instead rebounded off a shimmering barrier. Cinch’s blood ran cold. She looked down at the radiant heart that had emerged from Frisk’s chest. Each beat sent out a wave of rainbow light.

“Now!” Sunset screamed.

She and her friends rushed forward and placed their hands at Frisk’s back. The glow coming from their heart grew brighter. Cinch tried to jump back, but found herself bound by the prismatic light.

“No!” she roared, black bile pouring out her eyes and mouth. “You can’t do this! I have power here! This is my story! My Story!”

“And that’s why you lose!” Sunset shot back.

“It’s never just about you!” said Twilight.

Dash glared at Cinch. “Now it’s time to taste the rainbow!”

A beam of chromatic light exploded out of Frisk’s heart. Cinch’s limbs were thrown back by the blast and then she was consumed by beam. She let out a blood curdling scream that turned into a demonic bellow as the bile pouring out of her coalesced into a figure the mimicked Frisk’s. The beam stripped away chunks of it, leaving blocky gaps instead. The thing devolved from a humanoid shape to graphics that glitched and spassmed. Yet, it still tried to reach out with a crumbling hand.

Frisk stared up at it and frowned. “We… we could have been friends, you know.”

The thing roared even as half its face decayed into pixels.

“Goodbye.”

Another burst of light surged out of Frisk’s heart and slammed into the thing. All it could do was scream. Then, the light engulfed it.

~~~

It was dark.

Flowey remembered this feeling. Rather, he remembered this lack of feeling. He had come to this spot many times, by either his own hand or through others. Yet, this time, instead of feeling himself drifting away, he felt his chest grow tight.

“Frisk,” he said.

He then turned his attention inward. The process was familiar to him. In the darkness, he always found the spot, the thread, the DETERMINATION that pulled him back. He poured through his deaths and his memories to find it.

The DETERMINATION didn’t appear.

“Heh, so this is it then,” he sighed. “I used it all up protecting that idiot.”

He floated in the void for some time. A cold slowly took hold of him. The isolation and darkness forced a memory to rear up from the deepest confines of Flowey’s mind.

“N-no,” he stuttered. “Not again. S-somebody will come. Somebody will have to come. It can’t just be this.”

His breathing quickened. The memory of waking up alone repeated again and again in his head until he cried out.

“Somone? Anyone?”

But nobody came.

“Please!” he wailed. “I don’t want to be alone anymore!”

His sobbed into the void.

Then, there was a flash. Flowey sniffled and looked up. There was a speck of light in the void now, a pinprick in the darkness. He tried to move forward, but the light remained stationary. He was about to cry again when another light sparked into existence. Then another one. And another one.

Countless lights popped into the space. Many were white, but some glowed blue, red, purple, and countless other colors. As more lights filled the space, they gathered into dazzling constellations, swirling galaxies, and vast nebulae.

“A close call there,” came a voice from behind Flowey.

He turned. Before him stood a mare that glowed with the luster of a full moon. Her mane glided by her horn and sparkled like the galaxies around them. The mare drew closer and Flowey tensed up.

The mare stopped. “Fear not, young one. I mean you no harm. You may feel a little disoriented though, I am not used to performing my duties at this time, especially for one close to the void, but it is the least I can do for Twilight and her friends.”

“Huh?”

“Yes, a bit chaotic for me too, but you come to expect these things as a Princess.” The mare peared a little closer at Flowey. “Hmm, you seem stable now, so I will leave the rest of your recovery up to Twilight and her friends. Pardon the quick exit, but I must rest myself now, this has taken a bit out of me.”

“Wait!” Flowey cried out. “I don’t…”

~~~

“I don’t want to be alone!” Flowey bolted upright.

He flinched from the sunlight stinging his eyes. He instinctively snatched up the covers and shielded himself. Then, he realized he was holding covers and let them drop. He looked around.

He was on a bed. Its mattress and covers were the only thing in the room wasn’t glistening in the morning light. The walls, the floor, and the furniture were all crystal. Flowey blinked.

“You okay?”

Flowey spun to his right but a claw sprung out and held him in place. It was attached to a short purple creature that resembled a large lizard.

“Woah, woah,” the creature said. “You were just having a bad dream is all.”

Flowey leaned back and took a breath. It stung a little to do so though. “Where am I? Where are all the girls? Where’s Frisk?”

The creature counted down his answers with his claws. “Twilight’s palace, but that probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to you; the girls that are my friends but aren’t my friends here are back on the other side of the portal, and that probably makes even less sense; and well, I think Frisk was the other person with them. Does that last one make sense at least?”

The creature was sweating by the end of its explanation. It scratched at the fins drooping along its head. “Uh, I’m Spike by the way.”

“Spike?” a voice called from outside the room. “Is he finally up? I’m coming down. Make sure he doesn’t move too much!”

Something about the voice was familiar to Flowey.

A violet glow surround part of the room’s door and pushed it open. A violet mare stepped into the room. Her coat wasn’t as dark as the mare from Flowey’s dream, but she had a horn and wings like her. For some reason, he couldn’t stop thinking of one of the girls Frisk had been with.

The mare smiled and moved over to the bed. “How are you feeling? You gave us all a scare when Sunset brought you here, but it looks like whatever Luna did helped a lot. You were crying so much until she came.”

“Crying?” Flowey blinked. “No, it was probably just some sap. I got slashed pretty bad, but I’m tough for a flower.”

The mare raised an eyebrow. “A flower? Oh, that injury did leave a pretty bad wound, so you may have some head trauma. I want to say you’re something in the Caprinae subfamily, but your anatomy suggests something more like a minotaur.”

“What?” Flowey asked.

The mare blushed. “Oh, where are my manners? Sorry, sorry. I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle, but you can just call me Twilight.”

Flowey stared down at the leg Twilight had thrust at him. He sighed and leaned back. “I guess you helped save me then?”

Twilight looked at her leg and then retracted it. The blush remained on her face. “It was mostly Sunset and her friends, I mean they’re also my friends, but it’s a little confusing to explain.”

“Heh,” said Flowey, “guess you have my gratitude, if I could give it.”

Twilight corked her head. “What do you mean?”

“I’m…” Flowey lowered his eyes. “I’m not right. No matter what people do for me, I never feel anything back.”

“Hmm.” Twilight tapped her chin with a hoof. “Head injuries have been known to affect our emotional centers. Well, you just take it easy for a few days and then we can run a few tests, okay?”

“Whatever,” Flowey sighed. His bloom itched a bit so he reached up a leaf to scratch at it.

A furry paw rose up from under the covers instead. Flowey’s eyes widened. They shifted from his arm to a mirror glinting nearby. Spike yelped when Flowey threw the covers onto him and rushed for the mirror. He slipped when he landed on the floor. Instead of roots, knees stung from the impact, as did his elbows instead of branches. Twilight was yelling and hyperventilating but Flowey made it to his feet and barreled over to the mirror.

He gasped for breath when he reached it. Something pounded in his chest— a sensation he had only felt for a few minutes back Underground. A reflection of Asriel Dreemurr panted within the mirror in front of him. He looked just as Flowey remembered save for the bandages over his chest and head. He fell to his knees.

Twilight raced to his side. “It’s too early for you to be moving like this! You need to rest!”

Tears spilled down Asriel’s face. “Frisk, you did it!”

“Oh no, oh no!” Twilight lit up her horn. A box with a cross on it flew over to her. “Just… just take some deep breaths then tell me where it hurts!”

“I don’t think he’s hurt, Twilight.” Spike came over and stooped down beside Asriel. “You okay?”

“I… I think,” Asriel sniffled. He put a paw to his chest and felt his heartbeat. “It’s been so long, and last time…”

Asriel teared up again. Spike gave him a pat on the back.

“Spike, can you keep him company?” Twilight asked. “I’m going to get him that pie Sunset sent. She said it would help.”
“Sure thing, Twi.”

Twilight made her way out of the room. Spike remained at Asriel’s side. Soon, his cries died down. He hiccuped a bit, but managed to wipe his face. He looked at Spike with puffy eyes. “Thanks for staying. That… that must have been a little weird.”

“Eh, ain’t the craziest thing I’ve done here.” Spike shrugged. “So… you mind me asking your name?”

Asriel smiled.

~~~

Students made their way between classes at Canterlot High. No one batted an eye at the teenage monsters interspersed among the human, unless they had caught one another’s fancy.

“Now, can anyone tell me when construction on New Home was finished?” Toriel looked over the classroom, spotted a purple hand sticking up and tried not to sigh. “Anyone?”

A look from Sunset made Twilight blush and she lowered her hand.

A grey hand shot up.

Toriel raised an eyebrow. “Ms. Hooves?”

Derpy grinned. “About thirty years after you dumped Mr. Asgore!”

Everyone nearly fell out of their seats.

~~~

Snips and Snails gulped. They watched a webbed hand grasp a dodgeball.

Undyne grinned. “Losing team has to face me in a match.”

Canterlot High annihilated Crystal Prep at the next Friendship Games.

~~~

Sans napped under a tree.

Nearby, Papyrus spread his arms wide over the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Frisk.

“... SO THEN THAT FISH CAUGHT ANOTHER EVEN BIGGER FISH!” he exclaimed. “I’M LUCKY THOSE FISHERMEN WERE SO STRONG. EVEN THE ROYAL GUARD MAY HAVE HAD A PROBLEM WITH THAT BEAST!”

“Your stories are the best!” said Scootaloo. She then blushed. “Well, I mean, second best, I’m sure Rainbow Dash has got some pretty good stories too.”

“YES!” Papyrus pumped a fist. “I HAVE HEARD MANY TALES OF HOW SHE HAS SLAUGHTERED SCORES OF OPPONENTS IN YOUR SAVAGE TESTS OF STRENGTH!”

Sweetie Belle leaned over to Frisk. “He means that last soccer game, right?”

Frisk nodded.

“Frisk!” Pinkie called out. She rushed over to the group and caught her breath. “You have to come quick!”

Frisk jumped to their feet. Pinkie took their hand and they raced off. Papyrus and the Crusaders followed after them. Sans watched them go and then drifted back to sleep.

The rest of the girls were waiting in the library. When Frisk arrived, Sunset waited a second for them to catch their breath and then held out a scroll.

“We just got this from Twilight,” she said. “But it’s addressed to you and it's definitely too neat to be Twilight’s hoofwriting.”

“You’d think she’d have better writing as a Princess,” Dash quipped.

Applejack elbowed her and then looked at Frisk. “Go along, sugarcube… guess it might be something private though, so if you need to read it somewhere else that’s fine too.”

Frisk undid the scroll’s seal and opened it up. Their eyes widened and then grew damp. By the time they finished reading, tears flowed down their face.

“Oh dear.” Rarity bit a nail. “Is everything okay?”

Frisk lowered the scroll and smiled. They then handed the scroll over to Sunset.

“It’s okay if I read this?” she asked.

Frisk nodded.

Sunset started to read.

Dear Frisk,

I woke up a few days ago, but wanted to make sure I was a little healthier before I wrote this so you wouldn’t worry. I’m sure I must have made a really crazy face when I found out I wasn’t a flower. It still hurts a bit to move too much, so Ms. Sparkle (She doesn’t really like being called a princess and we thought calling your Twilight “Ms. Twilight” would be a little less confusing. I hope it is because it’s still confusing to me.) is keeping me in bed. She has a lot of neat books though. Do you have Daring Do books over there? You should totally read them! Or Power Pony comics.

A bunch of Ms. Sparkle’s friends also came by. It’s kinda weird meeting them since Flowey kinda already saw some of them. It’s confusing, but they’re all super nice. Ms. Applejack and Pinkie (she won’t let me call her anything else) gave me a lot of tasty treats. They both looked at me funny when I asked if they knew how to make snail pie.

Ms. Rarity showed off some clothes she’s making for me when I’m fully healed. That made Spike (he’s a purple talking dog where you are but a dragon here. Neat, right?) glare at me like I’d stolen one of his gems. By the way, he eats gems. He got better later when I mentioned how awesome the latest issue of Power Ponies was.

I haven’t really talked with Ms. Dash that much, but she, Ms. Applejack, and Ms. Rarity said they’d introduce me to some ponies my age when I’m a little better.

I like seeing Fluttershy (she turns as red as a Pyrope if I call her Ms. Fluttershy) the most though. She reminds me a lot of mom. I’d like to see where she keeps all her animal friends someday.

There’s also two Princesses that rule this place like Dad. I wonder if they like tea too. Ms. Sparkle would only say that it’s a long story and that it would be better if Princess Celestia explained. Oh, right. Princess Celestia is a big white alicorn (a pony that has wings and a horn) that raises the sun and Princess Luna is a slightly smaller big blue alicorn that raises the moon. Isn’t that cool?

Actually, Princess Luna was the first pony I met. Then, I saw her again a few nights later. I had a bad dream that my old friend had taken control of you and was hurting everyone again. But, Princess Luna showed up and stopped them like it was nothing. She says it’s part of her job to safeguard dreams. It’s been a very long time since I had dreams. Now I even have somepony to protect them.

Everypony here is so nice. It’s so great to be able to feel thankful for all the kindness they’ve shown me.

That’s the reason why I’d like to wait a little until we meet again. It’s been so long since I’ve felt anything for anyone or anything for more than a few minutes. Even before that, I didn’t have many friends. So, I’d like to learn how to make friends again and become a better person. I’m sure you’ll make even more friends too. So, one day, let’s all get together and have a party!

-Asriel

P.S. Ms. Applejack says she’ll cater.

P.P.S. (Pinkie Pie says) she’ll plan it.

Fin

Author's Note

Gaster sighed in relief. "Well, I suppose it all worked. I still don't quite understand why you didn't interfere though."

"Haven't you realized inter-dimensional tampering can cause quite a mess?" Discord chomped down on the last scrap of his popcorn bag and then threw the untouched popcorn into the void behind him. "Besides, I trust Fluttershy, even if it's not my Fluttershy, to handle anything that comes her way."

"So..." Gaster looked around. "What now?"

Discord grinned. "I have been looking for a travel buddy."

siX ch1pterrrrrrrr

“Um, Alphys?” Sunset pointed out towards the window behind Alphys. “Is that a friend of yours?”

Alphys turned her head and froze. Sweat flooded her brow and dampened her lab coat. A spindly monster resembling a giant malnourished bird stared back at her with a massive eye. Twilight felt her stomach roil a little watching some sort of goop drip off its skeletal wings like the whole thing were made of wax.

“I’ll, uh, be right back!” Alphys yelped and took off with a speed neither Twilight nor Sunset had seen from her before

A second later, Alphys was outside by the monster and conversing with it. The way its beak flapped like rubber combined with the erratic ways its wings twitched and its torso convulsed tinted Sunset’s cheeks green and Twilight had to look away.

“Has Alphys mentioned unique monster diseases?” Twilight coughed.

“No, but maybe it’s ju—”

Sunset’s phone buzzed. She pressed the answer icon while keeping her eyes on the monster outside.

They’re coming.

Sunset shrieked and dropped the phone. She froze when a second ringtone echoed through the library. Both she and Twilight slowly looked down to the vibrating pocket of Twilight’s lab coat and gulped. Steeling herself, Twilight managed to pick the phone up like it was a diseased lab sample and looked at the caller ID.

She let out her held breath. “It’s Pinkie.”

“Wait!” Sunset called out when Twilight pressed on the call icon. “It might b—”

“Hey, Twilight!” Pinkie’s voice sang through the phone. “I tried calling Sunset but all I got was this noise that kinda sounded like a seashell. Weird, right? Anyway, are you two still with Alphys at the school?”

“Y-yeah, Pinkie,” said Twilight.

“Hmmm, you sound a little winded, don’t stay up too late doing sciency stuff! Especially because we’ve got quite the day ahead of us tomorrow!”

Sunset tapped Twilight on the shoulder and pointed toward the door. Alphys had shuffled in with the other monster trailing behind it. It walked with an uneven gait, with each step looking like it would make it fall over and collapse into the goop it was dripping onto the floor.

“Pinkie, I’ll call you back, we have some issues here to deal with.” Pinkie started to blab about something but Twilight pulled the phone back and pounded down on the end call icon, belting out, “Just send us a text or something. Bye!”

The monster loomed over them and flipped its head back and forth like it was screwed onto its body. It never kept its head facing forward, so Twilight and Sunset were forced to gaze into the massive void of its pupil. Alphys stood beneath it, looking smaller than usual and haunching her back to the point her snout was pointing to the ground. Sweat poured down her face.

“S-sorry,” she muttered. “T-they really wanted to talk to you… p-probably because of your magic.”

“Okay.” Sunset took a breath. With a straight face, she looked right at the monster. “What seems to be the problem?”

“SiOfMeElTtHIdNiGsFtEuErLbSaWnRcOeNIGyWoAcNaTnEdDeTtOeScEtEmDaRgAiLcPrHiYgSht,” the monster gargled and gasped in several different voices.

Twilight and Sunset flinched hearing the monster’s gabbled speech. Twilight was now looking quite green and Sunset had gone pale.

Alphys took a step forward. “It’s, uh, a little hard to understand them, but they’ve been saying they and the others have been feeling odd for the past hour or so. I told them nothing strange had been detected, but they wouldn’t listen.”

‘Is it…” Sunset chewed her lip when the monster peered closer at her. The scent of burning rubber and ash invaded her nose. “Are they known for this sort of thing?”

“EwVeEcRaSnIhNeCaErTtHhEiAnCgCsCoItDhEeNrTM, ONYSETSERoSdCdAeNhT?”

“I’m not sure.” Alphys lowered her head and sighed. “Ever since they wound up like this, they’ve said they’ve heard and seen things. I’ve checked before though, and nothing was wrong.” In a lower voice she whispered, “Maybe it’s the DETERMINATION.”

“DETERMINATION?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “But I thought monsters couldn’t manifest it on their own.”

The monster started convulsing again and making pained gasps and grunts. Its movements flung off some of its goop which landed on Twilight’s shoe. She shuddered and then clasped a hand to her mouth and bolted for the bathroom.

The monster watched Twilight run off and then let out a croak. “SoOhRnRoY.”

Sunset took a breath and steeled herself. “Sorry about that, Twilight’s a little less used to monsters than I am. I don’t want you or…” Sunset glanced at her phone, still resting on the ground. “... whoever else felt something to be concerned though. We’ve been carefully monitoring any variances in magic and haven’t noticed anything serious.”

The monster peered closer at her and blinked. The chilling thought struck Sunset that the monster’s head resembled another monster’s entire body as if it had been partially melted and mounted on a half-formed torso.

“But we’ll keep you in touch if anything comes up,” Sunset gulped.

“JtUhSaTnTkHyOoUuGgHoToYdObUySeHtOhUeLnDKNOW.”

Sunset blinked and the monster was gone, but its burning scent lingered. Alphys collapsed into a chair and Sunset did the same. Alphys stiffened when she felt Sunset’s glare on her.

“What in Equestria was that!?”

“I’m sorry.” Alphys twisted her torso and buried her head in the desk. “I thought it was better but…”

A sniffle followed by a few soft sobs followed. Sunset raise up a hand, held it out for a second and then laid it over Alphys’ back. “Guess that thing rattled you too. Look, I’m just a little on edge and it’s late, but it’s fine, sounds like it was just a concerned monster.” Alphys kept her face buried in her claws. “You want me to call Undyne?”

“No!” Alphys shot her head up and looked at Sunset like a spooked horse. She deflated back into her chair and kept her reddened eyes to the ground. “I’m sorry, I just got comfortable talking with other monsters about them. I didn’t want to bother them anymore and I knew you’d ask questions.”

Alphys whipped out her phone and pressed a few buttons. A beam of light shot out of its screen and a collection of journals and cassette tapes materialized onto the desk.

“You and Twilight were so open with me. I should have said something after you told me about your incidents.” Alphys paused, waiting for Sunset to reply but she waited on her word, leaning forward in her seat with a concerned look on her face. “The Underground… no, I have a precedent for mixing magic as well. This is all my data and… I’m sorry!”

Before Sunset could say something, Alphys fled from her seat and tore out of the library, sending loose papers flying. By the time Sunset recovered enough of her wits, Alphys was long gone. She glanced over at the documents Alphys had left and read the title of journal at the top of the stack: Harnessing DETERMINATION for Monster Use.

She peeled back the cover and looked to the first words when the floor near her rumbled. She glanced down and saw that her entire backpack was vibrating. With one hand she shut the journal and with the other, she pulled out the enchanted tome from her bag. Setting it on the table, she opened it and read the message.

“Dear Sunset,

Apologies again for the delay in getting over to help with your Monster situation, though it has been a relief seeing your letters grow more and more relaxed. We’re still cleaning up the last bit of the mess Discord made trying to ‘teach’ Chrysalis about friendship, but hopefully, I’ll be over to help in a day or two.

Sincerely,

Twilight”

Sunset made a mental note to write back later and then turned her attention to the documents. Taking a deep breath, she loaded them all into her backpack. She was just finishing up cramming them all in when she heard a door creak open. Hastily zipping it shut, she looked up and saw Twilight wobbling back over to the desk. She dropped down into a chair by Sunset and then looked around.

“Where’s Alphys…” Her pupils shrank a little. “... and that monster?”

“They, uh, both left.” Sunset glanced to the side. “I explained that nothing was wrong and Alphys went to help it back to its home.”

“What could make a thing like that?” Twilight gulped.

“An… an accident, nothing to worry about though.” Sunset sucked in her lower lip. She gave a sigh and rubbed her left temple. “Look, Twilight, it’s late and I think that was the sign for us to call it a night.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” Twilight jolted her head up and then pulled out her phone. A bit of color returned to her face along with a smile. “Oh, looks like Pinkie’s got quite the plan coming up. It’s cutting it a little close, but if anyone can do it, it’s her.”

Sunset glanced at her phone and then raised her hand over her mouth like she was yawning. “I’ll be sure to check it out later. Why don’t you head back home? I can clean up.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight spotted the book on the table. “Did Princess Twilight send a message?”

“Just that she’ll be here in a day or two.” Sunset put on her most practiced smile. “As for cleaning up, trust me, I have experience in making the library look tidy.”

“Okay.” Twilight got out of her chair and picked up her bag. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Will do.”

Twilight made her way over to the door, gave Sunset a small wave, and then left. Sunset let out the breath she’d been holding in and frowned. She looked over to her bag and leaned over to pull out the documents, when her phone buzzed across the floor. She picked it up and lost a bit of color seeing that the caller ID only displayed a chaotic mash of letters and numbers. She gulped and pressed the answer icon.

Why?

The voices chilled Sunset to the bone, but she tightened her jaw. “Twilight is still getting used to a lot of things and all this monster stuff probably hasn’t helped. We both may have gone over our heads with magic, but I’ve had longer to deal with it. So if you and the others wanna talk, talk to me.”

The line was quiet for a moment. The next words from whatever was on the other end came out like a haunting whisper carried on the wind.

Good… friend.

The line then cut out. Sunset took a breath and then marched back over to the desk. She still had work to do.

~~~

“A story?” Sonata corked her head to the side. “Like a movie?”

“I can’t be sure,” Flowey spat. He then looked over all Dazzlings with a grin that made their skin crawl. “Does it matter what sort of sick form of entertainment we’ve been sucked into? Agency, fate, choice, whatever you call it, all meaningless.”

“The why bother having us meet you?” asked Aria. “Sounds like a lame plot twist if you ask me.”

“I’m… different.” Flowey’s smile thinned into a razor sharp grin. “I’ve had to power to control things before. I even pleaded with Them with almost all my strength to just leave us alone.” His expression soured and fangs poked out of her mouth. The ground rumbled under the Dazzlings and thorns poked up around Flowey. “But They just couldn’t be satisfied! This is even worse than a RESET, you sick bastard!”

Flowey panted and glared off into the darkened ruins. Sonata stepped back and hid behind Aria. She paled feeling how tense Aria was. Adagio kept her jaw tight and took a step forward.

“Not getting into how you’d prove your little theory, it sounds like you’re a little ticked at someone.” Adagio let a grin slither up the sides of her face. “I’m sure we could work out an arrangement to deal with them.”

“Ha!” Flowey cackled. “You idiot, bet you’re thinking I’m just some insane abomination.” Flowey’s eye narrowed and his lips flattened out into a subdued sneer. “With what I’ve seen and done, you’re not far off. Oh, and as for how I know this…”

Flowey’s eyes widened out so that they went from beady dots to hollow voids. Bullets materialized around the Dazzlings. The smile Flowey flashed them chilled them to their core.

“This isn’t our first time meeting.”

The bullets edged closer to the Dazzlings. Aria and Sonata hugged each other tight and closed their eyes. Adagia gasped when a bullet pressed up against her jugular. Tears tumbled down her face while her eyes remained locked on Flowey. Then, with a blip, the bullets vanished. Thanks to holding each other, Aria and Sonata were able to stay upright on shaky knees. Adagio collapsed to the ground gasping for air.

“Pathetic,” Flowey sighed and then glanced back off into the shadows. “This is the best You could send?”

“L-let’s go,” Sonata stuttered.

Aria rapidly nodded.

“Not so fast,” said Flowey, causing Sonata and Aria to freeze. “Since you’ve been so helpful and They don’t want me to kill you, I think I will help you out.”

Adagio managed to raise her head and coughed out, “Why?”

“Because what else could They want you for? Besides, if I have to listen to the three of you bumbling around the Underground again, I really will go insane.” Flowey vanished under the soil and then poked up right beside Sonata and Aria. A vine shot out and wrapped around Aria’s leg. Despite being covered in thorns, it didn’t break her skin. Flowey glanced over at Sonata, who stood shaking like a leaf but refused to let go of Aria. “You, there should be some pots back in that house. Get one and I’ll handle the rest from there.” He then turned his head up to Aria. “Going back through the Underground will take too much energy, so you’ll carry me.”

“I…” Aria gulped. “I don’t…”

Flowey summoned a ring of bullets around her neck. “That’s not a request.”

~~~

Aria tried to keep her hands as steady as possible. Flowey kept his eyes forward while the Dazzlings carried him through the ponds and streams of Waterfall. Sonata bowed down so that her head was level with Flowey’s.

“What?” he snorted.

“Well, you’re still really scary, but I was just wondering why you’re not out conquering the world, destroying the world, or doing other evil things to it? I mean you’re like super strong, even stronger than some of the mo—”

“Shut up,” Flowey snarled. Sonata backed away but remained within reach of Aria. Flowey shook his head and then glared back at Adagio, who quivered under his gaze and fell even further behind the rest of the group. “I swear, I can’t tell who is worse, you or Miss Glam back there.”

Flowey turned around and looked forward again with a sour look on his face. “As for why I’m not showing you idiots the real meaning of this world, one, I barely have any power left. It may be enough to deal with you idiots, but against the massive DETERMINATION I’ve been feeling outside, it’d be useless. Two, They won’t let me, but even if they did, I probably wouldn’t bother anyway.”

“You mind me asking why?” said Aria.

“No, since there’s at least a smidgen of something resembling a brain in your head at least.” Flowey continued to stare forward and sighed. “At a certain time, there was a person I would have called precious, but let’s just go with important for now. They certainly were useful to me.”

The Dazzlings all shuddered at the way Flowey mused over the last sentence.

“Anyway,” Flowey continued. “That person just wanted to live their life and I still want that too. They’re an idiot, but they’re a special kind of idiot.”

“So you don’t want to bother them?” asked Aria. “You don’t seem the kind to really care for others.”

“Hit that nail on the head, but we made a promise and they can't fulfill it if They are calling all the shots. After all they went through, they deserve to be left alone.” Flowey’s expression darkened and his pot shook in Aria’s grasp. “But now they’ve be thrown into this. They must have something planned for them too. Well, They are in for a surprise them. My power is still that of a god, and They will feel my wrath.”

Flowey let out a small chuckle which grew in volume to a cackle that rang through Waterfall. When the Echo flowers started imitating him, Sonata forced her hands against her ears and Adagio broke out into a cold sweat. Aria’s steps grew jittery but she continue walking forward even as her stomach tried to claw up her throat.

In the swell of his own maddened laughter, the tiny voice buried deep within Flowey’s mind barely registered with him.

“Frisk, I won’t let Them hurt you.”

~~~

The moon had long since hit its peak and was cresting to the west by the time Asgore made it back to his apartment. His undone tie draped over his neck and he savored breathing in the cool night air without it or the top button of his shirt constraining his throat. While he did appreciate the work Ms. Rarity had done in crafting him the suit, it still baffled him how humans had developed a fashion sense of partially asphyxiating themselves with all these tight collars and colorful ties.

He blinked to stave off the exhaustion that bent his back and looked up at the descending moon. It was as grand as the sun itself and the way it changed every night captivated him. Every night upon his return home, he had spotted other monsters gazing at it just as they watched sunsets and dawns. At first, he had greeted them, but he soon came to realize that there were far too many monsters to say hello to if he wished to get any sleep before he awoke once more at dawn to another day meetings, negotiations, and planning.

He looked away from the moon when the apartment buildings came into sight. He plodded through the puddles that dripped through the outer hallways that led to the rooms and turned a corner to get to his own one.

Sunset Shimmer was slumped against the wall by his apartment. Asgore’s face grew tight and he quickly drew close to her.

“Ms. Shimmer?”

She looked up at him with baggy eyes that resembled his own. “We need to talk.”

Author's Note

♦♒◻ ♋❒♏ ????◻⬥

⇉ ➩↘ ➫↑➩↕▽