Equestriatale: The Other Side

by neonpalette93

Rating: everyone
Tags: Other, Starlight Glimmer, Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, Random, Crossover, Alternate Universe, Human, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Bon-Bon
Length: 10472

The monsters of the Underground team with the ponies of Equestria to locate and remove the source of many world breaking glitches.

Deep in the Ever free Forest, a cave can be found. In that cave, a bright barrier prevents any progress forward. Beyond that barrier is an entire civilization of monsters. When the human Frisk helps shatter the barrier, the monsters emerge and eventually become friends with the ponies of Equestria. Soon after, weird glitches begin, eventually escalating to the point of causing ponies and monsters alike to vanish. A group of ponies and monsters, led by Twilight Sparkle, King Asgore, and Frisk, attempt to locate the source of the glitches and restore the world.

Published 2016-10-09 20:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-11-15 11:55:22 UTC

Prologue: When The Barrier Fell

A bright flash suddenly envelopes the entirety of the room. When the light subsides, in its place stands a female human child and a young goat boy.

"I'm so sorry Chara. I just wanted to go back. Back to where I could FEEL again. Before I was a flower." The goat boy says.

The human frowns. "Asriel. You know I'm not..."

"I know you're not actually Chara. Chara's been gone for a long time." He pauses. "What IS you're name?"

"My name is Frisk."

"Hmm. Frisk. That... that's a nice name." Asriel begins to tear up, and turns away. "I don't expect you to forgive me."

"I do forgive you." Frisk says. "I don't know you very well, but I know that you weren't yourself. You seem like you're better than Flowey."

Asriel turns back toward Frisk and smiles. "You're right. I am better than Flowey." He pauses. "When I absorbed the souls of every monster in the Underground, I didn't just regain the ability to feel again. I can feel the emotions and Determination of everyone else. How much they care about you. How much they want you to succeed. Even though they barely know you, they are still rooting for you to pull through." He sighs. "I can't keep these souls inside of me. They deserve to be free. But first, I need to do something."

Asriel closes his eyes tightly and slowly lifts his arms, raising off of the ground as he did so. The six human souls that Asriel had absorbed emerged from his body, along with hundreds of monster souls, and another flash occurred, followed by a sound similar to the shattering of glass.

--The barrier was destroyed--

The light subsides one more, and Asriel slowly lowers to the ground in front of Frisk.

"Without the souls of everyone, I'm gonna turn back into a flower soon." He pauses. "Please. Just remember me as I am now." Asriel begins to cry. "Please."

Suddenly, Frisk wraps him in a hug. Asriel soon returns the hug, and lets out all of his tears. After their brief embrace, Asriel suddenly pulls himself away from Frisk.

"What's the matter Asriel?" Frisk asks. She notices Asriel beginning to glow, and gasps.

"It's already starting." He begins to walk away, but stops and turns back towards Frisk. "Promise me one thing. Don't tell my parents what happened. I don't want them to worry." He continues walking, and over his shoulder, he says, "Goodbye Frisk."

"Goodbye Asriel." Frisk says back. As he walks away, Asriel glows brighter and brighter, until the room is enveloped in light. Soon after, Frisk begins to hear distant voices, and makes her way toward them.

She awakens with a loud gasp on the floor of the back room of King Asgore's castle in the Underground. She is surrounded by a variety of monsters she had befriended during her time underground. Asgore, a cloaked goat monster, sits back in relief as Frisk awakens. Undyne, a fish monster, helps Alphys, a lizard-like monster, wipe away her sweat. Papyrus, a tall skeleton in "armor", hugs Toriel, another goat monster, in relief. Papyrus's short smiling brother, Sans, merely winks.

"hey kid. next time don't pass out on us like that." Sans says.

"Yeah!" Undyne adds. "Poor Alphys was sweating bullets." Alphys blushes and looks away.

"and papyrus was over here crying."

"SANS! I WAS NOT CRYING. I JUST... CAUGHT SOMETHING IN MY EYE."

"what'd ya catch?"

"TEARS!!!" Everyone begins to laugh, and Papyrus looks away and pouts.

Toriel helps Frisk up off of the ground and hugs her. "Please don't scare me like that again, my child."

Frisk just smiles. "I'll try not to." Asgore then approaches Frisk.

"I don't know what happened, or what you did, but you managed to destroy the barrier."

"I... don't exactly remember how or what happened." Frisk responds. She feels bad for lying. Asgore simply shrugs.

"All that matters is we can now return to the surface. We'll follow you out Frisk."

"Okay. I'm ready to go." Frisk says. She turns and makes her way outside, the monsters close behind. As she reaches the end, she simply freezes in her tracks.

"what's the holdup, bucko?" Sans asks.

"This... isn't right. This isn't the surface that I came from. We're supposed to be on a cliff, not in a forest." She turns around and looks at the cave they exited. "Even Mount Ebbot is gone."

Asgore examines the area. "Hmm. You're right. This isn't our world. We should be careful. We don't know how friendly the natives are."

"I'M GOING TO GREET THEM! THEY WILL BE SO SURPRISED." Papyrus runs off into the woods.

"Papyrus!?!" Undyne reaches out to grab him, but he just slips out of her way.

"well. someone has to keep an eye on him." Sans says, before walking back into the cave.

"Ugh. Do we have to do everything ourselves?" Undyne says in frustration, before Frisk and the other monsters begin running after Papyrus.

What Are Those!?

Frisk and the monsters finally emerge from the forest to see Sans and Papyrus standing at the edge of the ridge. Undyne is the first to step forward.

"What are you two looking at, and how'd you beat us Sans?"

Sans shrugs. "i took a shortcut."

"TO ANSWER YOUR OTHER QUESTION, WE ARE LOOKING AT A SMALL TOWN. I WAS GOING TO WALK IN AND INTRODUCE MYSELF, BUT SANS STOPPED ME." Papyrus summarizes the view from the ridge.

"E-everything looks so n-nice and friendly." Alphys says.

"We should introduce ourselves. I'm sure they'll welcome us with open arms." Asgore announces

"I doubt it." Toriel adds under her breath.

"lead the way, kiddo." Sans motions for Frisk to lead. Frisk slowly climbs down the ridge and walks towards the town. The monsters follow close behind. As they approach, Undyne notices some inhabitants of the town.

"The town is run by... horses?" She says in surprise.

"W-well technically, they're ponies. Too small to be horses."

"Whatever, Alphys."

Frisk and the monsters enter the town surprisingly unnoticed, until they reach town square. There, every single pony in the square stares at them in shock. Seizing the opportunity, Papyrus steps forward to announce his arrival.

"PONIES!" He says. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, EXTEND HIS ARMS IN FRIENDSHIP TO YOU!"

In response, the ponies scream and run.

"What ARE those?!" One says.

"The horror! The horror!" Another says.

"Hmm. I thought we'd get a warmer welcome than that." Asgore ponders aloud.

~Castle Of Friendship~

In the throne room of Ponyville's Castle of Friendship, Princess Twilight sits in her chair and reads a book. Shortly after, her dragon assistant, Spike, enters the room.

"Hey Twilight. Roseluck is at the door. She wants to speak with you. Says it's urgent."

"Let her in."

Spike nods, and leaves the room. A few moments later, a yellow mare with a red mane runs into the room and skids to a stop, just short of hitting one of the thrones.

"Princess Twilight! We have a huge problem!" She says frantically.

"What's wrong Roseluck?" Twilight says as she gets up.

"There are monsters in town!"

"Monsters?!"

"Yeah! Seven of them!"

"Really? What Are they doing? Are they hurting any ponies?"

Roseluck smiles sheepishly. "Well, no... but." Twilight frowns at her.

"What ARE they doing then?"

""Uhhh... they're just standing in the town square."

"Did they do anything to menace anypony?"

"No... but one of the skeletons approached us."

"What did the skeleton say?"

"He said he... opened his arms in friendship to us."

"Really? That's it? Did you not consider that maybe they are friendly monsters?"

"No. I was too busy panicking to think about it. Can you please do something?"

Twilight moans. "Fine. I'll take a look." With that, Twilight leaves the castle and flys toward town square to greet their new guests.

~Ponyville Town Square~

By the time Twilight arrives, the monsters (and human) had begun to relax. Sans was sitting against the fountain sleeping. Frisk was sitting on a bench with Toriel admiring the scenery, while Asgore solemnly watched on a different bench. Alphys was trying to take pictures of the town, but Undyne was trying to get in every shot. Papyrus was knocking on the doors of every house attempting to interact with the residents, to no avail. Surprisingly, Sans is the first to notice the princess's approach.

"pony princess incoming." He announces to his friends, without even opening his eyes. When Twilight lands, Asgore is the first to greet her.

"Howdy. I am Asgore, king of the monsters. We have just reached the surface and decided to meet the populace, but they were less than well receiving of us."

"They tend to freak out when they see something that is not a pony. I'm Twilight Sparkle, princess of friendship. Nice to meet you." She extends her hoof. Asgore shakes it. Suddenly, Papyrus jumps up between them.

"GREETINGS, PONY! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS AND I EXTEND MY ARMS IN FRIENDSHIP TO YOU!"

"I accept you friendship Papyrus." Twilight giggles.

"WOWIE!! I JUST GOT HERE 10 MINUTES AGO AND I ALREADY MADE FRIENDS WITH A PONY!" Papyrus begins to jump around in glee. Toriel then approaches Twilight.

"Greetings. I am Toriel, FORMER queen of the Underground." She shoots a nasty glance at Asgore, who cringes in response. The other monsters (except Sans, who is sleeping) gather around.

"I'm Undyne, captain of the royal guard."

"I-i'm Alphys, the royal scientist."

"I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT. THAT LAZYBONES SKELETON OVER THERE IS MY BROTHER, SANS."

"heya." Sans says, waving his hand.

"And who's this?" Twilight asks, motioning towards Frisk.

"I'm Frisk."

"Well nice to meet you Frisk." Twilight turns to access all of the visitors. "I'm going to call Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, then we can discuss why you're here. Until then, you're welcome to stay at my castle. Follow me."

Introductions

King Asgore paces back and forth outside the doors to Twilight's dining hall. Twilight had called the rulers of Equestria, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, about the monster's appearance, and was speaking with them in the dining hall. Asgore was waiting for them to call him in. Frisk and the other monsters were sitting in the throne room relaxing. Spike was there to talk to them, and Twilight's pupil, Starlight Glimmer, had just returned home. Upon entering the throne room, she shrieked.

"Why are there monsters in the castle?!" She yells to Spike. Spike just chuckles at her.

"Don't worry, they're harmless." He says. At that moment, Papyrus sees her and runs over to introduce himself.

"GREETINGS, PONY. I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS. WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"

"Uhh... Starlight."

"NICE TO MEET YOU STARLIGHT."

Sans looks up from his nap in one of the thrones. "alright paps, leave her alone. can't you see she's terrified?" Papyrus glares at Sans, then looks at Starlight. Upon seeing her scared face, he backs off.

"MY APOLOGIES STARLIGHT. I AM SIMPLY TOO EAGER TO MAKE NEW FRIENDS." Papyrus looks at Sans. "SANS. WHEN CAN WE GO MAKE FRIENDS?"

"ask tori." Sans responds. He points to Toriel, who is sitting with Frisk in one of the thrones. Papyrus runs over to her.

"CAN WE GO MAKE FRIENDS NOW TORIEL?" He asks.

Toriel sets Frisk on the ground and stands up. "Very well. It would be nice to get to know the other ponies. Spike, Starlight. Would you care to accompany us? The ponies are more likely to trust us if you are with us." Spike nods, and Starlight smiles.

"W-we should tell Asgore where we're going." Alphys says.

"I'll do it." Frisk says.

"I'll go with her. She'll need help finding the dining hall." Starlight volunteers to go with her. Starlight leads her down a separate hallway.

"Sooo... " Starlight attempts to make conversation. "What are you? You seem so different from the other monsters. I don't think you're a monster, are you?"

"Nope. I'm a human." Frisk replies.

"Are there other humans?"

"Not where me and my friends came from. I was the only human in the Underground."

"You came from underground?"

"I fell down a cave inside of Mt. Ebbot and landed in the Underground. I met all of the monsters and made friends with them."

"Mt. Ebbot? Doesn't sound familiar."

"Something happened. Somehow, the Underground isn't where it used to be. The cave to the Underground is in that big forest instead of the side of Mt. Ebbot. Mt. Ebbot isn't even there anymore."

"You don't care, do you? Did you have any family before you... uhh... fell?"

"Yeah, but they weren't very nice. They always beat me, and worked me to the bone. I couldn't handle it, so I went to Mt. Ebbot to..."

"No need to continue. Everything turned out for the better though, right?"

"Absolutely. I have a lot of loving friends now, and a caring family."

"Family?"

"The Dreemurrs. Toriel and Asgore."

"From what I heard, they don't get along very well."

"It's a long story. They once had a son who had died at the hands of the humans. Asgore was enraged, and made some... bad choices. Toriel hated the choices he made, and left him. Asgore still misses her, but she resents him."

"We're here." Starlight says. Asgore stops his pacing to greet the new arrivals.

"Howdy Frisk. Who is your friend?"

"This is Starlight."

"Hi, Mr. Dreemurr." Starlight smiles at him.

"Please, just call me Asgore."

"We came to tell you that we're going to go out and try to make friends." Frisk tells him.

"Alright. Try not to scare the residents."

~Ponyville town square~

Starlight and Spike lead Frisk and the monsters into town square. Upon seeing the monsters, the ponies begin to run back into their homes, but Starlight uses a spell to freeze them in place.

"No running. The monsters are friendly and want to be friends."

One of the mares in the crowd looks toward another. "What if they're controlling her mind?!" This prompts a gasp from the other mare. Starlight rolls her eyes.

"MIND CONTROL? THAT WOULD BE VERY HANDY! I COULD GET SANS TO FINALLY PICK UP HIS DIRTY SOCKS!" Papyrus says, before glaring at his brother. Sans simply shrugs.

"ehh. don't count on it bro."

"SANS! YOU LAZYBONES!"

"hey, i'm not lazy. iv'e gotten a TON of work done today."

"SANS, DON'T YOU DARE."

"a SKELE-TON."

"SANS! YOU'VE USED THAT PUN BEFORE! MULTIPLE TIMES!"

"an oldie but a goodie."

"NO IT IS NOT! YOUR PUNS ARE IRRITATING!"

"they don't seem to think so." Sans points to the frozen crowd of ponies. Many are attempting to keep in giggles. Papyrus just looks confused.

"THE PONIES LIKE YOUR PUNS? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM?"

"if the crowd loves 'em, i'll keep 'em coming. starlight, if you would." As he says that, Starlight nods and drops her spell. Some of the ponies leave, while others come and sit near the monsters.

Asgore walks in to town square and stops suddenly at what he sees. The ponies are spread around between the different monsters discussing various topics. He approaches Sans, who is standing to the side against a tree.

"It seems the ponies are more welcoming to us monsters. Good work Sans."

"oh i can't take all the credit. tibia honest, it was a group effort."

"Oh ho." Asgore laughs at Sans's pun. "In any case, I've gotten permission to bring the rest of the monsters to the surface. Would you be so kind as to go retrieve them for me? You would get them much faster than I, considering your, ahem, 'shortcuts'."

"i'll be back in two shake, ol' fluffybuns." With that, he vanishes. Asgore walks toward the other monsters, and is soon joined by Twilight.

"Greetings, ponies. I am Asgore, king of the monsters. I have been in discussion with Princess Twilight, Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia."

"We have decided to allow the remaining monsters of the Underground to remain here in Ponyville. Please show them as much kindness as you have shown these monsters." Twilight concludes. Sans suddenly appears from behind a tree.

"the monsters are now topside." He says, as every monster from the underground climbs to the top of Ponyville hill, to gaze in awe at their new home.

Glitches

One month after the arrival of the monsters, their new city was built. A portion of the Everfree forest, between Fluttershy's cottage and the path to Zecora's hut, was cut down to make room for it. Asgore, being bad with names, decided to gather his closet friend to help pick a name. Papyrus suggested "Papyrusland", and was saddened when the others voted against it. Asgore suggested "New New Home", but that too was voted down. Eventually they settled on "Monsterville", like the similarly named town nearby, Ponyville.

Despite having a whole town to themselves, the monsters tended to hang around in Ponyville. The ponies don't mind; they enjoy the monster's company. The spider baker, Muffet, even had half of Ponyville's bakery, Sugarcube Corner, into her own. The Undergrounds flamboyant robot star, Mettaton, had his MTT Resort rebuilt on the surface. The cat monster known as Burgerpants thought that he had finally been free of a life of flipping burgers, but he was quickly tracked down and rehired by Mettaton. The Nice Cream rabbit pulls his cart around Ponyville, selling nice cream to the foals in Ponyville. The fire monster, Grillby, reopened his bar and grill on the surface. Asgore spends much of his time with the three flower ponies, watering and caring for the flowers. Toriel works with Cheerilee as a teacher at Ponyville Schoolhouse. Undyne briefly worked at the Hayburger, but was fired for her unethical means of preparing food. Papyrus also works at the Hayburger, "cooking" spaghetti. Alphys assists Princess Twilight with lab experiments. Sans just hangs around in different places, typically found sleeping. A small cave next to Monsterville is now known as Temmie Village, home of the Tems. Even Flowey decided to come along too. Overall, the monsters had very nicely adapted to their new home.

On this particular night, a lone Froggit hopped along a dark Ponyville street. He liked to hop around at night, and was on his nightly hop when he was startled by a dark figure shooting around a corner. The Froggit shivers, but chooses to investigate. Upon reaching the corner, a shadowed hand grabs his leg. He pulls free, and looks around the corner. The figure was gone. The Froggit sighs and begins to continue his walk only to fall over. Once back up, the Froggit looks down to see that his entire arm had faded away. The rest of his body was also rapidly fading away in a mess of numbers, and black and white boxes. Before the Froggit can croak for help, the glitching reaches his head. A second later, the Froggit completely vanished, leaving behind only his carrying bag.

The next morning, Asgore awakens in his Monsterville home. He dresses himself and eats his breakfast. As he prepares to make some tea, he hears a knock at the door. When he answers, he is met by a very frantic Froggit.

"Ribbit ribbit! My friend is missing!" The Froggit says.

"Oh my. What has happened?"

"Ribbit ribbit! My fellow Froggit was on his nightly hop, and he just disappeared, ribbit ribbit! He left his bag on the ground, ribbit ribbit!"

"Where at?"

"In Ponyville, ribbit ribbit." A shriek interrupts them. Asgore runs to the source, the cave called Tem Village. Inside, several of the Temmies were crying and rolling around in sadness. One Tem walks over to greet the king.

"Hello King Asgore." The Tem says.

"Howdy Bob. What has happened here?"

"iS Awfl!" One Tem shouts.

"SaD neWs!" Another says.

"tEm sHoP tEm GoN!" They all cry in unison.

"The mushroom Ragel was witness to what happened. He'll tell you more." Bob points to the mushroom standing by the back wall.

"Thank you, Bob." Asgore walks to the far side of the room to the mushroom; the Tem returns to the other Tems.

"Ragel? I was told you saw what happened." The mushroom slowly lifts his head to reveal depressing looking eyes.

"That is correct. I was forced to bear witness to the terrible tragedy." Ragel says.

"What happened? How did the shop owner vanish?"

"A mysterious shadow slipped through the cave. It tapped the Tem and disappeared. The Tem began to fade away in a haze of numbers. Oh the numbers." Ragel looks directly at Asgore. "The numbers Asgore. What do they mean?" He slowly lowers his head and becomes silent. Asgore returns to his home and gathers his friends together.

"It has been reported to me that there have been two disappearances last night. A Froggit vanished while on his hop in Ponyville, and the owner of the Tem Shop disappeared while sleeping. The mushroom Ragel told me that the Tem had been tapped by a shadow, and they faded away in a mass of numbers." Asgore informs them.

"I heard that a Pyrope and a Moldsmal disappeared too." Frisk reports.

"I was told that a Whimsun had disappeared. A Vulkin had witnessed it." Toriel says.

"What did he say?" Asgore asks.

"The Whimsun was hit by a sudden shadow, and disappeared in a haze of numbers."

A sudden and loud shriek from Ponyville interrupts their discussion. The Monsters run into town to find three different ponies lying in the street, slowly fading into a fog of numbers. The various ponies nearby were screaming and running. Sans teleports over to a mare and grabs them.

"mind telling us what happened here?" He asks.

"Shadow. Numbers. Heeelllp!" The mare pulls out of his grasp and runs.

"This looks like computer glitches." Alphys points out. Suddenly, Toriel is struck from behind by a mysterious shadow. Sans teleports over in an attempt to catch the shadow, but it escapes his reach and flees into the forest. Asgore grabs Toriel before she hits the ground, and eases her down. She begins to fade into numbers.

"Tori! Don't worry! We will save you!" Asgore assures her.

"Shush Dreemurr. There is nothing you can do and you know it." She says coldly. She cracks a small smile. "But despite how much I despise you, I thank you for your concern."

"What does it feel like Ms. Dre... Toriel?" Alphys asks.

"It feels... oddly relaxing. I can feel myself... falling into the void." Upon mention of the void, Sans's expression shifts to one of worry. He teleports to Toriel's side.

"can you see the void? can you?" He asks.

"It is blurry... but yes." Toriel is dangerously close to disappearing.

"can you see anybody there? can you see ... him? " Sans asks frantically.

"I see... a black figure, with a white face, and hands with... holes in them." Sans suddenly falls backward.

"oh no." He simply states.

Toriel then fades away completely. Asgore clutches the air where she once lay, tears forming in his eyes. Frisk and Papyrus hug each other, tears dripping down their faces. Everyone sits silently for a moment, mourning their loss. Sans is the one who breaks the silence.

"i know who did this. we need to tell twilight now. i have a lot of explaining to do." The monsters all rise and run towards Twilight's Castle.

W.D. Who?

Sans leads the monsters towards Twilight's castle. As they run towards the castle, strings of numbers float vertically out of he ground. Trees and buildings begin to fade away the same way Toriel did. Once they reach the castle, the front door fades away. In the throne room, Twilight is attempting to restrain the numbers. Spike is swatting at them with a broom. Upon seeing the monsters, Twilight teleports over to them.

"Do you guys know what's happening? Where's Toriel?" She says frantically. Asgore fights back tears.

"Toriel is gone. She was taken by the glitches."

"i know what's happening." Sans says. "it's an old pal of mine: w.d. gaster."

"W.D. who?" They all say in unison.

"the old royal scientist, before alphys. he designed and issued the construction of the core."

Recollection flashes in Asgore's eyes. "Aw yes. Dr. Gaster. I had forgotten about him and his... unfortunate fate."

"everyone forgot he existed. except me."

"Wait, 'unfortunate fate'?" Twilight asks.

"As Sans already mentioned, Dr. Gaster created the Core." Alphys answers. "Using ice blocks supplied from Snowdin, the Core created the power for the entire underground. One day, Gaster was looking over his creation when someone pushed him. He fell into the heart of the Core, and... died."

"that's not how the story ends."Sans sighs. "after he fell into the core, he didn't die. he was technically erased from existence, but he was actually banished to what is called the void. everybody completely forgot he existed. that is, except me and his followers."

"His followers? Who are they Sans?" Asgore asks.

"you wouldn't know them. a real mysterious bunch. all grey and black. they're very elusive. one of 'em even looks monster kid. but now back to G. i don't know how he's able to leave the void. i would guess he's making his way around town creating the glitches, but he can't fully materialize because of being in the void and can only show up as a fleeting shadow. since he shouldn't exist, his touch is causing everything to be erased like he was. there's a chance that stopping him and banishing him for good would reset the damage done, but we won't know until then."

"How is he able to turn people into glitches like that?" Asgore asks.

"More like how can he turn EVERYTHING into glitches like that." Undyne adds.

"probably some weird void powers."

"MISS TORIEL SAID HE WAS COMPLETELY WHITE. IS HE A SKELETON, SANS? LIKE US?" Papyrus asks.

"i dunno pap. maybe. what we need to do is gather some people together and find the g-man."

Asgore steps forward. "I will go. As king of the monsters, it is my responsibility to stop one of my own from harming others."

"I'll stay here." Alphys says. "I can communicate with you through your phones. I can update you on what's happening here." Twilight steps forward.

"I'll go too. I can't stand by and let this happen."

"No Twilight." Starlight enters the room. "Stay here and keep the peace. They'd be more likely to listen to you than me. I'll go."

Twilight tries to counter with, "But..." but a firm look from Starlight makes her back down.

"I'll go." The voice of a new visitor echoes through the room.

"Bon Bon?" Twilight and Starlight both say in unison.

"I'm a former secret agent, remember? I'll be a valuable asset to the team.

"I'll go too!" Undyne announces. "It's been too long since I got to kick some-"

"I WANT TO GO TOO!" Papyrus interrupts.

"no pap. it's dangerous." Sans responds.

"I AM NOT AFRAID OF DANGER! NYEH HEH HEH!"

"this is a whole other level of danger. i don't want to lose you. if you disappeared, i'm... not even sure beating gaster will bring anything back."

"BUT SANS..."

"Sans is right Papyrus." Asgore cuts in. "It is very dangerous. The more people who come with us, the more chances of someone... not coming back. We can't have that." Papyrus frowns and looks at Sans, then solemnly walks out of the room.

Into The Everfree

"Is everyone here?"

The monster/pony team gathered together on Ponyville hill and was preparing to march in in search of Gaster. The team consists of Asgore, Frisk, Undyne, Sans, Bon Bon, and Starlight. Sans sees something shift behind a tree, and uses his magic to grab a hold of them. He pulls Twilight Sparkle out from behind the tree, along with a very unhappy yellow flower.

"What are you doing?! Put me down, Smiley Trashbag!" Flowey yells.

"ok." Sans pulls Flowey into the ground with his magic, but keeps a hold of him.

"I meant let go!"

"ok." Sans lets go of Frisk's sleeve, which he had grabbed for no reason.

"LET GO OF ME!!"

"ok." Sans releases his magical grip on Flowey. The flower attempts to retreat into the ground, but Sans grabs him again. "before you go, why are you following us?"

"I'm not." Flowey snaps.

"yeah you are. why else would you be here? you want to see him to, don'tcha?"

"Mmmaybee."

"alright. you can hang out with frisk."

"Wait, what?" Flowey is suddenly dropped into a flower pot that is conjured up by Starlight.

"as for you..." Sans turns to the princess of friendship. "why are you here?"

"I a... wanted to go on a walk and..." Twilight stammers.

Starlight shakes her head. "Twilight. With all due respect, you absolutely suck at lying."

"You're right." The princess says. "I just couldn't resist the chance to see what the empty void looks like."

"uhhh... empty?" Sans says.

"Then I guess I'll settle for seeing this who this Doctor Gaster is."

"alright. come on then." Sans leads the group into the forest. About 10 minutes of walking later, Sans stops them.

"i'm lost."

"Are you serious?!" Everyone yells in unison. Suddenly, Frisk's phone begins to ring. Alphys in on the other end.

"I know where the glitches are coming from. " She says. "They're concentrated around the Royal Sister's old castle. I can tell you which way to go. From your current position, go east until you reach a large boulder. Then head northeast untill you reach a large tree stump. Then go east again until you reach a clearing. You should be able to see the castle from there."

"thanks alphys." Sans says. "hold on to each other. you don't want to be left behind." Everyone holds each other's hands (or hooves), and with a snap of Sans' fingers, they were gone. They instantly reappeared in the clearing mentioned by Alphys. The ruins of the castle can be seen nearby.

"i should be able to teleport us there real quick." Sans snaps his fingers, but nothing happens. "what the-"

"The glitches are stopping you from using your magic." Alphys is still on the other line. "You have *fizz* fro- *fizz* here. *fizz*" The phone line disconnects.

"It appears that the glitches are stopping both magic and phone lines." Asgore points out.

"Hey." Flowey call their attention. "Who's that over there?" Using his petal, he points to a lone figure standing at the edge of the clearing, facing the castle.

"hey you!" Sans calls out. The group approaches the figure. "who are you?"

"My name does not matter." The figure turns to reveal a grey, emotionless version of the ficus licking monster.

"You look... familiar. I recall you being red or orange." Asgore says.

"You are thinking of my brother. I am an apprentice scientist for Doctor W.D. Gaster."

"what is he up to?"

"The good Doctor does not wish for his work to be disturbed." The figure spawns several venus fly trap plants behind him, and enters a fighting stance. "I will not allow you to interfere."

"whatever bud. fluffybuns, do your thing."

"I would ask that you refrain from calling me that." Asgore draws his trident. With a single swing, he cuts down the fly traps. He then hits Gaster's follower over the head with it.

"You will not stop the good Doctor. He will prevail." Suddenly, the follower disappears.

"that was odd. welp, let's keep going." Sans takes them down the path that Gaster's follower was guarding. They soon come across a grey monster child that looks similar to Monster Kid, but with no pupils.

"Is that... Kid?" Frisk asks.

"I am known as Goner Kid." The child says. "The Kid that you refer to is my brother. I was taken in as Gaster's protege."

"Will you tell us what he's up to?" Asks Undyne.

"I will not, but I will not fight you either. Just forget about me." The child sits down and stares blankly at the ground in front of him. The group passes him, and he suddenly vanishes. They are soon confronted by a large grey face sticking out of the ground, unlike any monster anyone had seen.

"what are you supposed to be?" Sans asks it.

"It does not matter. Even if I were to tell you, your knowledge of it would be short lived. Doctor Gaster will save us all."

"what is gaster planning?"

"I can't say." The monster curls it's mouth into a twisted smile. "After all, it's rude to talk about someone who's listening."

"Huh?" Sans looks behind him in time to see a fast paced shadow heading straight for the princess of friendship.

"twilight, look out!" The shadow makes contact in a puff of smoke, much to everyone's horror. When the smoke dissipates, they see that it is not Twilight who has taken the hit, but Bon Bon.

"Bon Bon? You saved me?"

Bon Bon smirks. "Of course I did. In S.M.I.L.E., they taught us that there may eventually... be a time when we must sacrifice our lives to protect someone important. I figured... this was my time."

"Thank you."

"No problem. Just... doing my job." With that, Bon Bon fades into the void. Sans searches for the face monster, but it is nowhere to be seen.

Sans ushers the group forward. The group walks out into a clearing to see the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters looming overhead.

"Hey. Look over there." Flowey calls their attention to a lone figure approaching them from the castle. The figure looks like a grey version of the cat monster who hangs around at Muffet's shop, except with a blacked out face. It stops in front of the group briefly, holding up a small white object. The object suddenly sprouts a face.

"It is not long now." The object says. "Doctor Gaster will free us all. He will purge this world of its filth and reshape it into a utopia." The figure then brushes past them, walking silently into the darkened woods.

"welp." Sans says. "here we are." The group gazes at the ruins, now half gone with strings of numbers flowing out. They gaze back towards Ponyville and see several large strings of numbers flowing overhead.

"you know what we need to do."

Beware The Man Who Speaks In Hands

"you know what we need to do." Sans leads the group inside and begins pointing to different areas for searching.

"we need to find g's way of gettin' out of the void. twilight and starlight, go search the library." Twilight shoots up in excitement, and flies down an adjacent hall. Starlight rolls her eyes and follows.

"undyne, head down that hallway over there."

"Ngaaaaaah!" Undyne breaks a lamppost and runs down the hall.

"fluffybuns, head up them stairs there."

"I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me that." Asgore goes up the stairs to the left.

"frisk and flowey, I heard there is organ in this place. go search there."

"We don't know where that is Trashbag." Flowey says.

"go find it."

Flowey mumbles something under his breath as Frisk carries him away.

"and i'll search here." Sans says to himself, as he collapses into a chair and dozes off.

~Library~

"Yes!" Twilight shouts. "It's been too long since I was able to read these books! You'll love some of these books, Starlight. There's works from Meadowbrook, Coltfucious, Gallopleo, Starswirl the Bearded..." She stops once she realizes her pupil isn't there to listen. She flies back down the hall she had come from, flying (and crashing) into Starlight.

"Owwwww." Starlight moans and rubs her head.

"Sorry." Twilight helps her up. "I was so excited to go to the library, I forgot you've never been here before.

"So you had to abandon your reading to come find me? It only took a couple minutes this time. That's a new record."

"You're funny." Twilight leads Starlight to the expansive castle library, and she immediately becomes engrossed in the one of the books.

"Twilight!" Starlight slams her hoof down on the table, scaring her teacher. "We have a portal thingy to find."

"Right." Twilight quickly surveys the room. "Nothing out of the ordinary here."

"Really? You gathered that from just a quick glance?"

"Yup. I have good vision and a photographic memory. I would know if anything was different. Let's check the inner chamber."

"Wait, there's another room?" Starlight follows Twilight to a specific bookshelf. Twilight pulls one of the books, opening the bookshelf to a whole different room. Twilight immediately notices a key laying on a table in the middle of the room.

"This wasn't here before. Maybe it's a clue?"

"Let's take it to Sans."

~Hall of Hooves~

Undyne wanders down the dim hallway. Hearing a creak, she draws her busted lamppost and prepares to fight.

"Must have been some creaky floorboards or something." She then notices the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Who's there?! I have a broken lamppost and I'm not afraid to use it!" Suddenly, a humanoid shaped robot stumbles into the corridor.

"Mettaton?!" Undyne yells, catching the bot's attention.

"Why, hello Undyne. I've been sent by Alphys to accompany you. Where are the others?"

"Spread throughout the castle. Didn't you see Sans in the main hall?"

"I did, but he was asleep. I tried to wake him but he wouldn't budge."

"That bonehead! When I get back there, I'm gonna kick his-"

"Now now Undyne. Quell your anger."

"You're right." She pauses. "WHY did Alphys send you?"

He flashes a nervous smile. "She seemed a bit agitated with me. I guess my fabulousness was too much for her to handle."

"Your always too much to handle."

"In all seriousness, she sent me after Princess Twilight. She figured the princess followed you and told me to come here."

"Well since you're here, help me find the portal." The two search the hall for a bit, before Mettaton notices something.

"What's that over there?" He pulls a key off of one of the hooves. "A key? Perhaps we should take it to Sans?"

"Yeah, and I'll give him a piece of my mind."

~Throne Room~

Asgore wanders aimlessly through the room, searching for any sign of Gaster's portal. Seeing nothing, he prepares to leave, but the doors slam shut. A shadowy figure materializes in front of him and begins to circle him.

"Hello, Dear King Asgore." The shadow says.

"Gaster." Asgore responds. "I do not wish to fight you. I only want-"

"It is too late. Soon, both Ponyville and Monsterville will be forced into the void. I'll be able to harness the energy from the monsters and ponies to escape the void, and reshape the world to my liking."

"Gaster, please. This will only cause harm. Everyone will be miserable. The Gaster I knew wouldn't-"

"The Gaster you knew is gone. He disappeared when he fell into the Core. This Gaster wants to escape the emptiness that is the void, and will do anything in his power to do so."

"Gaster-"

"I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have a human to talk to." The shadow then vanishes, leaving a key in it's place.

"Frisk." Asgore quickly retrieves the key and runs towards the main hall.

~Main Hall~

Sans lounges in a chair. He relaxes, untill a loud roar startles him.

"SANS!"

He very quickly gets up and starts moving books around, as if searching for something. Undyne storms into the hall, straight for Sans, and picks him up by the collar of his jacket.

"sup undyne. find anything good?"

"Why would you send everyone away searching, and then fall asleep?!"

"i didn't fall asleep. i was searching the whole time."

"That's not what Mettaton said." Sans looks past Undyne at the Bot behind her.

"sup mtt. find anything?"

"Hello Sans. We found a strange key."

"So did we." Twilight interrupts. Starlight follows her into the hall, levitating the key with her magic. Sans teleports out of Undyne's grasp to Mettaton, swipes the key, then teleports to Starlight and takes her key.

"maybe these have something to do with the door I found." He points to a strange glowing door set on the side of the staircase.

"But you were sleeping when I got here. How did you know that was there?"

"well mtt, i "metta" interesting character in my dream by the name of princess luna. she told me."

"Princess Luna spoke to you in your dream? What did she say?" Twilight asks.

"she said that the door was right there. that's about it, at least what was relevant to our situation. the rest was just moon related puns."

"Of course." Mettaton says.

"the door takes four keys. we have two, so that means asgore and frisk'll find the other two."

"I have a key." Asgore interrupts as he runs into the room. "But we must find Frisk. She is in trouble."

"the g-man, i take it?"

"I know the way to the organ room." Twilight says. "Follow me."

The group follows Twilight through the castle to the organ room, where Frisk and Flowey are sitting by the organ.

"Frisk!" Everyone shouts, startling both the child and the flower.

"What the hell do you want?!" Flowey yells.

"Gaster said that he was on his way here." Asgore explains.

"He was here." Frisk says. "He left me a key."

"what did he say to you?" Sans asks.

"Nothing. He just kind of... showed up. He dropped a key in my hand and left. Flowey yelled at him, but he ignored him."

"Well we have all four keys. Let's open the door." Starlight gets everyone back on track.

They return to the main hall, where Sans puts the keys into the door. With a click, he opens it and they all enter. The inside is a dark grey color, apart from a lone figure in the center. The figure wears a greyish-purple robe that covers their face.

"River Person?" Asgore recognizes the figure.

"Beware the man who speaks in hands." River Person says ominously.

"What?" Undyne can't make sense of it.

"Beware the man who came from the other side." River Person turns to them.

"River Person, what is going on?" Asgore demands.

"Beware the man who was denied his existance." River Person removes their robe, revealing a pale black figure with a white skeletal face. He has two floating skeletal hands with holes through the palms. With a snap of his fingers, the entire group, apart from Sans, is knocked out and secured with black tentacles.

"Hello Sans."

"heya pops. you've been busy."

"Yes. Banishing an entire town into the void is exhausting, but will be well worth it."

"so i hear."

"But first, I must defeat you. You cannot stand in my way."

"sorry pops. can't do that."

"You WILL move aside."

"nope."

"YES."

"nope"

"YES!!"

"nope. i'd tell a pun, but i would rather 'a-void' the jokes for right now."

"STOP STALLING!!"

"alright. i just have one question for ya before we fight."

"do you wanna have a bad time?"

Beware The Man Who Came From The Other Side

"do you wanna have a bad time?" Sans asks his foe threateningly. Gaster does not respond. Instead, he lashes out at Sans with a black tentacle. Sans teleports out of the way, then ducks to dodge another swipe.

"alright. i warned ya." Sans' eye suddenly glowed blue, and several beast skulls appear behind him. The skulls blast lasers toward the former royal scientist, but his melting body simply morphs to dodge. "like em? i named 'em gaster blasters, after you."

"I know. I have some of my own." Gaster summons blasters of his own, aiming towards Sans. Sans teleports out of the way, and the blasts strike the door, destroying it. Sans teleports out of the void, and Gaster follows. Three glowing orbs appear from thin air and fly into Gaster's body. His melting form becomes whole, giving him the form of a tall skeleton. He summons four more floating hands, in addition to the two he already had. All of them have a different color in the center.

"Finally. I've escaped the void. But now you are in my way." The hands form a circle between Gaster and Sans. "And you must be DESTROYED!!" The hand circle fires a massive beam. Sans teleports out of the way, but the beam stops and follows him. It strikes him, but he protects himself from the blast with some bones he summons. He retaliates with a gaster blaster, but the purple hand moves forward and duplicates the attack, blocking it. The hands all turn red and fire several blasts that form together into another massive beam that Sans narrowly dodges. The hands then return to their previous colors.

"i've gotta HAND it to ya, that's a pretty cool trick. let's see more of it."

"As you wish." Gaster sends the dark and light blue hands forward. The light blue hand fires tentacles from its fingers that wrap around Sans' wrists. The dark blue hand fires two saw blade-like attacks towards him. Sans ducks, and the blades cut his wrists free. He uses his magic to take over the blades, then sends them towards Gaster. The green hand conjures up a shield which blocks one of the attacks, while the dark blue hand hits the second blade with one of its own. The yellow hand fires energy balls towards Sans like a machine gun. He sends some bones to meet them. "You WILL fall."

"nope." Sans effortlessly dodges a swipe of a black tentacle, then summons some bones to shield against a shot from the red hand.

The hands all turn yellow and fire at Sans like an army of gatling guns. He teleports out of the way, then destroys the remaining bullets with a gaster blaster. The hands return to normal, and the orange hand flies ahead. It flashes, and in response several small white orbs appear around Sans. Another flash prompts them to turn orange, and a third makes them explode. Sans teleports away in time. The green hand forms a force field around him, then the orange hand summons bomb orbs inside. Sans extends two bones to break the shield and narrowly avoids a shot from the red hand, which activates the bomb orbs prematurely. Sans escapes unharmed, but the blast singes his jacket.

"hey pal. this jacket ain't cheap." Sans sends several bones and a gaster blaster beam towards Gaster, but a shield and blades from the dark blue hand stop the attack. The hands all turn dark blue and fire a barrage of saw blades at him. Sans manages to dodge them all, then sends out some bones in response. The hands all turn purple and stop the bone with larger and faster variations. Sans teleports to dodge them. Suddenly, the hands all turn light blue and wrap tentacles around him. The pull him into the ground with enough force to cause him to black out for a second. When his vision returns, he sees that then entire castle and surrounding landscape had been reduced to a grey scape. He wipes sweat from his head, but is caught in the back of the head by a sweep of a black tentacle. The green hand forms a shield around him, then the remaining hands turn light blue and hold him to the ground with their tentacles.

"I have had ENOUGH!!!" Gaster yells. "You have evaded my attacks for the final time. Now you will die, and my plan can proceed without interference." Sans notices something behind his opponent, and glances around. What Sans sees is everyone who had been turned into glitches by Gaster. They were hanging from above by their arms, unconscious. Sans could see Toriel and Bon Bon in one group, while he saw the group he arrived with there too. Then he saw Papyrus. Rage filled his body, along with another familiar feeling. Gaster dissipates the shield and tentacles, and prepares to strike down Sans with a blast from the red hand, but Sans teleports out of the way.

"What?! How?!"

"easy. you hurt my bro, so now i'm mad." He turns towards the unconscious form of Frisk. "what was it you always said before a fight, kid? oh yeah."

"i'm filled with determination."

Author's Note

Gaster's attacks are inspired/ originally used in Camila Cuevas' Glitchtale episode 2. Check it out here.

Beware The Man Who Was Denied His Existence

"Determination." Gaster repeats. "That is the name of the human's power. Extracted from the souls of the children who fell. I remember."

"i know g."

"I extracted Determination from the soul of the first fallen, Chara, then injected it into you."

Sans gasps at his sudden realization. " you... gave me these powers?"

"Yes. And now you are trying to kill me with them. I believe you can see the irony in that, can't you?"

"yep, but back to the matter at hand. you hurt pap, so now i'm gonna hurt you. go ahead g. show me what you've got."

"Of course." Gaster sends forth the red hand, which fires a beam. Sans easily dodges, then retaliates with one of his own. The green hand creates a shield to protect Gaster, then forms a shield around Sans. Sans sends a bone sraight through the green hand, shattering it. The shield around him dissipates.

"What?! How did you do that?!" Gaster is shocked. Sans just shrugs.

"i hit it with a bone. it was easy."

Gaster retaliates with a combination of the remaining six hands. Sans dodges the beam from the red hand, and has the saw blades cut the light blue strings wrapped around his wrists. He redirects the saw blades toward the small orange spheres and sends sends everything towards Gaster. The purple hand duplicates the assault to hold it off, but is too slow and is destroyed. The crack in Gaster's head gets deeper. The light blue hand wraps strings around Sans, but Sans grabs a hold of the strings and swings the hand down, smashing it into pieces on the floor. The crack grows deeper. Gaster clenches his fists and muffles a yell.

"what's the matter g? you getting 'bone' tired yet?" Gaster only yells in response.

The yellow hand attacks with a series of shots that Sans effortlessly dodges. He sends a round of bones toward the second volley and destroys them all. One lone extra bone flies past and straight into the yellow hand. The dark blue hand sends two more saw blades towards Sans. One aims directly toward Sans, while the other loops around behind him. Sans catches the first and takes control of it, but narrowly avoids being sliced in half by the second one.Gaster attempts the same trick again, but Sans steps aside, allowing the two blades to meet and destroy each other. He sends the blade he took towards the dark blue hand, shattering it. The crack becomes deeper, and forms several smaller cracks from it.

"havin' a little trouble? i'd give you a 'hand' but i'm fresh out. could you spare me one?"

"ENOUGH!!" Gaster turns the red hand orange and fills half of the room with small white orbs. Sans grabs one. When they turn orange, Sans teleports to one of the orange hands and throws the orb on it. The orbs explode, including the one on the hand. The crack becomes very deep, and Gaster drops to his knee. The red hand fires a beam at Sans, but he blocks it with a bone. The hand fires again, but it's blocked by a gaster blaster. Sans fires the blaster at the hand, destroying it. Gaster sweats and pants heavily in defeat.

"sorry g. this is what has to happen."

Beware The Man Who Can Never Come Back

"i'm sorry g." Sans kneels next to his fallen opponent.

"Impossible! How did you-" Gaster groans in agony. "-defeat me? This should not have happened!"

"it happened bro. just let it go. you can come back with us. please." Gaster sighs.

"It is impossible. You were not meant to defeat me. The only way to escape would have been to kill you. I have failed." He sighs again. "You can't understand how this feels. This pain. This torment. This... emptyness. I just want to come back."

"destroying everything and killing everyone is not the right way g."

Gaster's face grows angry. "I'll use ANY means necessary!" A black tentacle appears behind Sans. It points straight towards his head, ready to strike.

999999

The tentacle fades into dust. Gaster, too, begins to fade. He now has two bones through his chest. He frowns.

"sorry." Sans says.

"It doesn't matter." Gaster laughs. "I'll only return to the void. I'm permanently bound to it. There's nothing that can be done. This defeat has probably severed any link I have with this world." He laughs even harder, and continues to do so until he disappears entirely.

"sorry dad." Sans repeats. Suddenly, the room begins to reform into the old castle. In a haze of numbers, everything begins to return. The monsters and ponies who had been captured by Gaster materialize in front of Sans and drop to the floor. They all awaken in confusion. Frisk hugs Toriel with tears in her eyes. So does Asgore, but one glare from Toriel prompts him to leave. Undyne and Alphys hug each other, then are swept into a hug by Mettaton. Papyrus runs over and lifts Sans into a hug, while crying.

"I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT BROTHER! I NEVER DOUBTED YOU FOR A SECOND." When Papyrus leaves to mingle, Sans notices Flowey sitting alone in the corner of the room. Frisk notices too, and the two of them walk over.

"What do you two want?" Flowey snaps at them.

"just wanted to say hi. hi." He then abruptly leaves.

"What about you?" He says to Frisk.

"How are you feeling? About all this?" She responds.

"Weird. I don't like it. If i could still SAVE and LOAD, I'd reset in a heartbeat." He thinks for a moment. "Say, why haven't you reset yet? You usually do by this point."

"This world is different. The Underground always opened up in the same place for so long. This is new. I'd never met Gaster like that. He was always... quiet, and left whenever I reached his room. This is the first time he's ever tried to escape."

"Please. If I had the six souls, I would have whooped him in a heartbeat."

"Plus, this world has pretty colorful ponies." Frisk smiles at Flowey, who gags in response. "Come on. It's time to head home." Frisk lifts Flowey's pot and joins the group. Twilight and Starlight lead them out of the forest. What greets them on that hill is a beautiful view of Ponyville.

Author's Note

Sorry about the short last chapters. There's only so much I can put into a fight sequence. I'll make it up to you in the epilogue, coming soon. After that, I'll be starting an episodic story series for Equestriatale.

Epilogue: As Normal As It Gets

Once Gaster was defeated and the world returned to normal, the ponies and monsters returned to their daily lives. A museum was built to showcase the history of monsters, from their banishment to the Underground to the deaths of Asriel and Chara to their emergence in Equestria. Sans refused to tell about what had happened during his fight with Gaster, so it was briefly glossed over. Simiarly, Frisk wouldn't speak of how she destroyed the barrier, or the circumstances surrounding Flowey's takeover of the timeline. Unfortunately, the sign for the building was misspelled, so now it reads "Monster Museeum."

Frisk lives with Toriel in her home, but often stays in Twilight's castle, due to its roominess. Sans lazes around anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes he goes to Grillby's, but only for a bit. Papyrus went back to cooking spaghetti, and was finally successful in making it edible. It still didn't taste very good, but that didn't dishearten him in the slightest. Undyne Joined Celestia's royal guard and convinced the princess to station her in Monsterville. Papyrus pesters her about getting him into the guard as well, but she always finds excuses for not mentioning it. Alphys began working with Ponyville's only scientist, a stallion known as Time Turner. They're very secretive about their work, but they assure everyone that it will benefit the area significantly. Toriel continues to teach at the Ponyville Schoolhouse, and with her magic, learned that ponies possess souls similar to the souls Asgore had collected. Asgore works with the flower sisters with gardening and the like.

"HUMAN!" Papyrus pulls Frisk from her daydream. She was sitting in Ponyville town square.

"paps. she's got a name y'know." Sans is standing there with his brother.

"I KNOW. I JUST... GOT USED TO CALLING THEM HUMAN. IT IS A BAD HABIT."

"no kiddin'."

"OKAY. FRISK! I HAVE BEEN SENT TO RETRIEVE YOU FOR AN IMPORTANT MEETING WITH KING ASGORE AND THE PRINCESSES."

"i have to go to that meeting too, but i thought tagging along with paps was more fun."

"I wonder what they want." Frisk says. She gets up and follows the skeleton brothers towards Twilight's castle.

"I HAVE NO IDEA, BUT I KNOW IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE BARRIER AND GASTER."

Frisk stammers. "I... I'm hungry. I want to eat first."

Sans winks at her. "sounds good to me. how 'bout you, paps?"

"VERY WELL, BUT I DON"T KNOW WHERE TO GO."

"how 'bout grillby's?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT! I DO NOT LIKE GREASE."

"ahh come on bro. frisk really wants to go." Papyrus turns to Frisk, who looks at him with sad, puppy dog eyes. He tries to look away, but he eventually relents.

"ALRIGHT, BUT IF I GET GREASE ON ME, IT IS YOUR FAULT."

"whatever bro."

Sans leads them to the bar. Grillby had relocated his establishment to the edge of Ponyville, and had the building expanded to accommodate both ponies and monsters. They sit down at the bar, and are soon served by the bartender, a fire monster named Grillby.

"hey grillbz. three orders of burg." Grillby simply nods and heads to the back. he soon returns with three burgers and a bottle of ketchup. Sans pours some on his burger and offers it to his companions. Papyrus refuses to even touch his burger because of grease. Frisk takes the bottle and tries to use it, but the cap falls off and the entire bottle empties onto her food.

"ha ha ha! i can't believe you fell for that again."

"SANS! DON'T BE RUDE."

"you're right paps. let's head out."

"BUT WHAT ABOUT THE FOOD?"

"grillby'll take care of it." Grillby nods in response and throws the sandwiches in a trashcan.

"THAT DIDN'T WORK OUT IN THE SLIGHTEST. WHERE SHALL WE EAT NOW?"

"how 'bout muffet's?" Sans grabs Frisk and Papyrus's hands and teleports to Sugarcube Corner, where Muffet set up her bakery. Both Frisk and Papyrus are briefly delirious upon arrival.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? I'M DIZZY NOW."

"sorry paps. it was the quickest way here." They begin to head in, but Papyrus stops. "what's the matter bro?"

"I DON'T LIKE SPIDERS. I'LL WAIT OUTSIDE."

"alright." Sans and Frisk enter Sugarcube corner and cross the imaginary line down the center to Muffet's Bakery. There are a bunch of monsters there.

"Why hello dearies. I haven't seen you here for a while." The spider owner, Muffet, greets them.

"me an' the kid were felling a bit peckish and wanted to see if you'd hook us up with some donuts."

"Of course." Muffet goes around back, and soon returns with two donuts. "Enjoy your meal dearies."

The two leave the bakery and meet with Papyrus outside. He squirms a bit as Frisk and Sans prepare to eat their food. Frisk breaks the donut in half to find several live spiders crawling around inside. She quickly throws it away.

"I think we should eat somewhere else."

"what's the matter kid, afraid of a few spiders?" Sans says as he tosses his donut into his mouth. Both Frisk and Papyrus nod. Sans sighs. "alright. this is the last place we're going." Sans teleports them to the new MTT Resort. The sole food vendor, an eccentric cat monster nicknamed Burgerpants, smokes a cigarette behind the counter. When the group teleports in, he shrieks and falls out of his chair.

"W-welcome to MTT-Brand Burger Emporium, home of the Glamburger. Sparkle up your day (TM)." Burgerpants says when he returns to his seat.

"heya bpants. do ya really need to say that every time i come in here?" Sans says.

"I don't want the boss to yell at me for not doing my job right, so yeah."

"HAS HE EVER TOLD YOU TO SAY THAT?" Papyrus asks.

"Well... no, but-"

"Better to play it safe, huh?" Frisk replies.

"You know it, little buddy. So what can I get ya?"

"i'll take a glamburger."

"I WILL TAKE THE LEGENDARY HERO."

"I'll have a starfait."

"Coming right up." Burgerpants lazily gets off of his chair and drags his feet as he heads into the kitchen. A few moments later, he returns with a tray containing a glamburger, a starfait, and a legendary hero sandwich. As they leave Burgerpants shouts to them. "Have a FABU-FUL day!"

After eating, Sans teleports them to Twilight's castle for the meeting.

"THIS IS WHERE I MUST DEPART. HAVE FUN IN THE MEETING YOU TWO!"

"sure bro." They enter the castle in relative silence before Frisk speaks up.

"What do you think the meeting is about?"

"who knows. i know they want to talk to me about beating gaster. you, probably something about breaking the barrier."

"That's what I was afraid of."

"don't worry. i'm not too keen on talking either, but it's asgore and the princesses we're talking to. i even heard that they called in the fourth princess for this."

"There's a fourth princess?"

"five, actually. the fifth is a baby, so you can see why she couldn't come." At that moment, they reach the doors of the castle meeting hall.

"whatever happens in there, don't be nervous. just tell the truth."

"That goes for you too. I know how you like to keep secrets."

"i'll try my best."

With that, they open the doors to meet with the princesses (and Asgore), to finally lay down the truth as to what lead to their circumstances.

Author's Note

And that's a wrap on The Other Side. Keep watch for the Equestriatale series 2-part premiere sometime soon.