Chara’s new home
Part 3

“Not to be rude, but why am I with you guys again?” I ask, looking out the window of the moving train with a bored expression.

“Well, a few hours after I had sent a letter to Princess Celestia about you, I got one back from her. She has some sort of test for me to do, which is why we’re here. Due to the convenience, she decided to have you come to Canterlot to meet with her instead of waiting for a latter date.” Twilight replied, going through her bags of studying and test supplies.

‘Killing two birds with one stone huh?’ I thought, making sure to not actually say it because of the fact that Fluttershy was sitting right next to me. Across from me in the other set of seats were Twilight and Dash. Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack were in another set of seats across the aisle from us. Also with them was Spike, an actual dragon! Even if he was a baby one, I had to admit that that was pretty cool. Apparently he was Twilight’s assistant/sort of brother.

For the next 30 minutes, I continued to look outside the window, looking at the landscape passing by us. To be honest, it was quite beautiful. We were passing by large, open plains that stretched very far away, only broken by forests, rivers, or the occasional building. However, seeing that we were about to start going up the mountain to Canterlot and therefore lose that sight, I decided to turn my attention to my attention to something else that had been bothering me.

Opening my right hand, I took a moment to focus before bringing out my soul. It looked just the same as it did when I arrived to this world. It was a bright red and healthy soul, pulsing with life and determination. Surrounding it at the edges was a layer of black as dark as a shadow, likely a scar from when I was a spirit. From what I was able to figure out, due to this layer and the natural magical field that surrounded the planet, I was able to manifest my determination into a magical form. I had practiced what I could at the hospital before I was released, and it did showed me something very interesting

Like my brief encounter with the controller at the abyss, I could channel my magic for combat purposes through my knife. When I did, the gray steel turned into a bright crimson. Not only would this make physical attacks with the knife more powerful, but it also allowed me to make magical attacks in the form of either magical slashes or a shot of pure energy. It also allowed me to conjure up to about a couple dozen red, magical knifes at one time, similar to Undyne’s spears.

‘And that’s only what I know.’

It was then when I noticed that all conversation in the train car had stopped. Looking around, I saw that everypony was staring at me with expressions of shock, confusion, and intriguement. I followed their gaze to my hand, where my soul was floating right on the palm of my hand.

“Uh Chara, what is that heart?” Rainbow Dash asked, suspicion starting to creep into her voice.

‘Oh right, forgot to show them that. Well, now's a good time, so I might as well.’

I stare up at them, looking at them for a moment before saying “It’s my soul.”

“H-How?!?” At this I look at Twilight, who is staring at my soul intensely. “There’s only a couple spells that can show a soul even remotely to the simplicity that you did it, and those are in the Royal archives in Canterlot! How are you able to do that?”

After a moment of thinking, I replied. “I dunno.” I say, shrugging my shoulders and making my soul disappear. The train car returns to normal as the girls continue their discussions, although Twilight continued to cast glances at me every now and then.

20 minutes later

“Finally, that train ride took way too long!” I said in happiness as the train slowed itself to a stop by a fancy looking train station.

“Come on Chara, it wasn’t that long!” Twilight said as she levitated a few bags over, likely carrying all of the supplies she had brought with her.

“She’s got a point Twilight. The ride takes three hours!” Rainbow Dash said as she lazily glided above us. Twilight only huffed in annoyance as she headed for the door, being followed shortly by the rest of us. Stepping out onto the deck of the train station, I got my first close up view of the city itself.

I was both impressed and disappointed.

On one hand, the city itself was made beautifully. The buildings had a nice renaissance look to it, with perfect mixes of purple and white and gold making elegant buildings. The streets were paved with a smooth cobblestone surface, and in the distance I could see the rising towers of the castle itself. On the other hand was what inhabited the city. Most of the ponies in sight were wearing a rich clothing and jewelry and had a snobbish look on their faces. Granted, some of them didn’t have that look on their face, but those were unfortunately in the minority.

Looking back at our group, I was surprised to see a group of five guards approaching us. I eyed them cautiously until I saw the leader of the group, a pegasus stallion, hug Twilight, a wide smile on both of their faces. After a minute of talking, Twilight waved us over and introduced us.

“High, these are my friends, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie pie, Chara, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. Everyone, this is Sergant High Strike of the Royal guard. He’s a friend of Shining and will be escorting us to the castle.”

“Twilight darling, why do we need an escort? We’ve been fine without one the last few visits here.” Rarity inquired.

“I’m not too sure myself Rarity. However, Celestia’s probably still on edge after the changeling invasion and doesn’t want to take chances. That and the fact that no one has ever seen a human before probably means that she’s being extra cautious.” Twilight responded as we started to walk down the street towards the castle.

For the most part, the trip to the castle was actually okay. There were a few ponies who gave us disgusted or snobbish looks and whispered to one another when they saw me, but besides that, it was easy. The castle was a bit of a different story however. Here we, or more specifically I, got stared at by many of the nobles, guards, and servants inside the castle grounds. And then we had to run into who I learned was the worst of them all.

“Well well, if it isn’t auntie’s pet and her followers.”

From one of the corridors up ahead came the most stuck up and snobbish pony I had seen yet. The idiotic unicorn had a white coat and royal yellow mane and tail, a compass rose cutie mark, and was staring at us with blue eyes that stunk of over confidence and pride. He was wearing a small suit piece that didn’t match him at all.

Twilight narrowed her eyes before replying. “Leave us be Blueblood, we have no business with you.”

“Ha ha, miss Sparkle, I’m afraid you’re wrong, it IS my business ever since the Grand Galloping Gala. Then again, I suppose that it went as far back as when auntie took you in, heavens knows why she decided to pick up a filthy runt like you when she could’ve chosen somepony more excellent and talented like me.”

He then noticed me and somehow put on a face of disgustment. “I see that you’ve attracted even more filth since we last met. A dressed up hairless monkey at that. Not even worthy of being a peasant! Why did auntie even decide to let it in? Then again, that little lizard slave of yours lived here for years, so it shouldn’t be too surprising I suppose.”

I gritted my teeth as I listened to this bastard’s mockery. I knew that my trip here would result in taunting like this, but it still made me angry none the less. What really got me however was how he was insulting my friends. I’ve learned to take punishment from several years of abuse and danger before I went underground. Many of the bruises and injuries I sustained when I was there were actually from me protecting or helping others. I couldn’t stand and watch while they were put through the same pain that I dealt with.I then paused what I was thinking and realized was I just thought.

‘Are these ponies really my friends?’

While I had usually been kind enough, I had a hard time trusting people and making friends. I had only made a few while on the surface, and did little better during my time with the monsters. Even then, those both covered several years. Yet I trusted these ponies not even a day in, a trust that usually took months or years. ‘Maybe it’s because they took me to the hospital and helped me. I did trust Mom, dad, and Asriel pretty quickly after all.’

I got brought back into the present when I heard High Strike respond with an impatient tone. “Prince Blueblood, we need to go to Celestia now, so if you don’t mind moving out of the way, we’ll be leaving now.”

High Strike then started to step forward, until to be blocked by Blueblood’s hoof. “Don’t worry sergeant, I think auntie won’t mind if you arrived late. I bet she wouldn’t even mind if you didn’t come at all.”

At this I realized three things. A chilly, hostile feeling had settled over the group.There were also no guards here besides High Strike and the escort. There should’ve been at least a few others guarding the halls or patroling them, but I didn’t even hear anyone else besides us. The third thing was the look that Blueblood had in his eyes. Hidden behind his cockiness and pride, there was something much more sinister, something that I recognized as soon as I saw it. After all, Frisk and I had been a victim of it.

Another presence.

I whipped out my knife just as two ponies came out of the hall ahead of us, both wielding swords and galloping straight towards us. One of them went for High strike as the other charged at me, bringing his telekinetically held sword down in an arc towards me. Reacting quickly, I parried the blow and sent one of my own, causing him to block it with his sword. I then used my other hand and threw a punch at his face, catching him off guard and sending him to the ground. Before he could do anything else, I hit him again with a couple more punches and a kick, knocking him out.

Hearing a whoosh behind me, I bring my knife up in a defensive position as I turned around. Good thing I did, because not a moment afterwards another sword clashed against my knife. This sword was more fancy, being closer to a rapier then a full sword. Smirking, Blueblood sent a couple more slashes at me, causing me to take a couple steps back.

Looking to my left, I saw High Strike hold off two more ponies as a third was beaten back by another guard just behind him. Beyond them, I saw the remaining guards and Applejack hold off another half dozen ponies, while a couple pegasi were fighting above them with Rainbow Dash. I also thought I saw Pinkie blast a couple of ponies with a party cannon of all things.

Behind Blue Blood, I caught sight of Twilight conjuring up a shield as the final few ponies sent spells at her or the rest of our friends behind her, keeping them from being harmed.

“Guess it’s just me and you Blueblood. Just what I wanted.” I said with an evil smile on my face as I charged. He responded with a yell as he sent his sword down, intercepting my knife before he tried to get another hit on me. I dodged this as I conjured up four magic knifes, sending them straight towards this. Surprised, he barely got out of the way before they flew past him, one of them nicking his suit.

Growling, he fired off a few blasts of magic before leaping at me with his sword. In response, I shot several energy blasts at the spells, destroying them. I then proceeded to block his strike, leaving as at a stalemate as we pushed our weapons against each other, neither of us willing to back down.

“I got to admit, I’m surprised a filthy animal like you has lasted this long with a kitchen knife, although that will soon end.” Blueblood said, grinning like a madman, or pony, as he tried pushing even further, which made little progress as I pushed back just as hard, putting us back into the same position as before yet not strong enough to go past that point.

“I can say the same for you, spoiled brat.” I took advantage of his shock and anger by kneeing him in the chest, causing him to flinch in pain as he slightly lessened up his push. Seeing this opportunity, I pushed his blade back before sending a series of slashes and jabs at him. While he dodged or blocked all of them, they steadily wore away at him, exhaustion already seeable on his face. His sword wasn’t holding up any better, as it was scratched and dented in multiple places along the blade and one of the cross guards was broken.

I made a final push as I forced him back, using a boost of determination to send him back several feet. We used the distance to stare at each other for a few moments, evaluating each other. While I was sweating and panting, I was barely tired and ready to keep going. Even so, while Blueblood still looked exhausted, he was still in fighting condition. I crouched down slightly, ready to charge at him to end the fight, when something unexpected happened.

One of his ponies crashed down right next to them, Rainbow Dash on top of them as she sent several punches at the pony, breaking his nose and knocking him out. Before she could do anything else however, she got lifted up in Blueblood’s telekinetic field. With a look of anger and annoyance on his face, he smashed Dash into a nearby statue before magically throwing her against the nearby wall. Seeing that she was dealt with, he released her from his magical grasp and turned back around towards me, only to receive a punch from me that sent him against the wall as well.

Blueblood’s pov

‘That horrible welp! I’ll have it hang from that!’ I looked up with a hateful glare as I readied one of my most powerful spells, only to have it dissipate in shock and fear as I saw the creature. Or what was left of it. A black and red mist was surrounding it, giving off a feeling of almost pure horror. It’s knife had a red glow on it as if it was both enhanced and nearly at melting point, sending shivers down my spine. What was the most horrifying however was its face. It had a smile that matched with a psychopathic murderers. Meanwhile, their eyes had drastically changed, with their brown pupils being replaced by a bright red while the white’s of their eyes were filled with black, looking like a demon. Some sort of black liquid was even starting to spill out of their eyes and mouth. It then spoke.

“This is going to be fun.”

Chara’s pov

The battle only lasted a couple more minutes after I apparently became a ‘hell spawn’. Just as I attacked Blueblood again, royal guard reinforcements finally arrived, defeating Blueblood’s ponies as I beat the pony himself into a bloody mess. Luckily, everypony was pretty alright, with the worst injury on our side being a cracked rib from one of our escort. Surprisingly, Rainbow Dash was also quite alright, with just a few extra bruises then everypony else and a mild concussion. Out of everypony in the battle, Blueblood was the one who was injured the most. Besides multiple cuts, bruises, and a couple major lacerations, he had a broken leg and two broken bones in his front right foreleg. He also had a black eye, was missing half a dozen teeth, a broken nose, and displaced shoulder. The worst however was his horn, which had a large crack in the middle that extended almost to the tip.

It would’ve been worse too if Twilight and a few of the guards hadn’t managed to pull me off and calm me down. To say that they were shocked and scared when they saw my face was an understatement. Heck, I was too when I saw my reflection in one of the nearby mirrors. Luckily, I went back to normal almost immediately. After the fight, we got ourselves cleaned up and rested for a bit before going to see the princesses.

Now, I was waiting outside the entrance to the throne room with Spike while the others were waiting somewhere else, a curious and amazed expression on my face as I looked at the views available. Off to the left was a view of the city itself, while to the right showed a view that stretched on for dozens and possibly even a hundred miles, showing a large swatch of plains and forests, with the occasional settlement, road, body of water, or mountain breaking it.

The sound of walking draws me to the nearby stairs, where Twilight was looking down with a sad and concerned expression. ‘Did the test go that bad?’

Spike, who was sitting at the bottom of the steps, also noticed her. Unlike me however, he somehow didn’t notice her face. “Ah, Twilight! That was fast! Let me guess, you got a perfect score!” Twilight gave Spike a surprised look before returning to her previous expression and continued walking, with Spike noticing this time.

She only stopped when she was next to me, saying that ‘it was time for me to go in’, before being semi-comforted by Spike. I say semi-comforted because he looked like he was trying to help Twilight but wasn’t doing much except for guessing scores that she got. With a reluctant pause, I wave goodbye to Twilight and walk up to the throne room. As the doors closed behind me, I could’ve sworn I heard singing.

Throne room

“Wow.”

That was all I had to say as I looked at the giant room before me. The throne room itself looked like it was from the renaissance era, with a red carpet leading to a throne. On the walls were multiple colored windows and banners depicting the night and day. I walked up to one of the nearest ones, looking at the majestic masterpiece that was in front of me. I then noticed that the one next to it had a few very familiar ponies in it. Six in fact.

“Hello, Chara.”

I looked over and saw that there were two very regal looking ponies watching me with curiosity as they waited. I immediately realized that they were the princesses, dropping into a bow, only to be confused when I heard the white one, who must’ve been Celestia, chuckle.

“Don’t worry, my little po-human, there’s no need for such formalities here. Besides, your not even a subject of mine, although for the foreseeable future you will be treated as such. I am Princess Celestia by the way, and this is my sister Luna.”

“Um, thank you Prin-”

“Just call me Celestia, like I said you don’t need to be formal here.”

“Sorry Celestia. So, what did you and Luna want to talk to me about?” I asked, even though I already had a good idea as to what they were going to ask.

“Well, many of the original questions have already been answered by Twilight and her letter, but not all of them. My first one would be this, are you willing to harm anypony or anything?”

I raised an eyebrow at this, since I had fought Blueblood about an hour ago, but decided not to mention it yet anyway. “Unless they threaten me, my friends, or anyone who didn’t do anything bad or evil or they have bad motives themselves, then I won’t be hurting anyone unless a notable exception is made, but overall I won’t be harming anyone innocent.

Content with my answer, Celestia asked a few more questions before getting to Blueblood. “What happened with your fight with Blueblood. We have heard of what happened from Twilight and various guards that participated, but we’d like your perspective as well.”

I gave a deep breath and a moment to clear and organize my thoughts before I began.

“Well, we were originally walking in one of the halls heading to the throne room when Blueblood appeared from one of the corridors up ahead. He stopped us and taunted and insulted us for a good few minutes. To be honest, I was half tempted just to knock him out right there.” I chuckled at the thought before becoming serious again and returning to the story.

“After a bit, High Strike tried to get us past him when he blocked him off, trying to use Strike’s lower rank to keep him from moving past him. At that moment, I realized the situation we were in and saw something that made it much worse. He was being influenced.”

At this, both Celestia and Luna looked surprised and looked at each other before looking back at me and halting the story. “Hold your story for a moment, how were you able to tell that he was being mind controlled?” Celestia said, her surprise gone and replaced with a calm and stony look, only laced with a bit of curiosity and what might have been dread.

“No, not mind control. There’s a difference between being mind controlled and influenced. Trust me, I know. I’ve been on both ends of it before. And before you say anything, no I don’t have the intent or ability to do either anymore.” This caught their question before it was spoken, letting me return to the story.

“We were then ambushed from the front and behind by ponies that were with Blueblood. After I knocked one out, he and I fought for a little bit, leading to somewhat a stalemate. We were about to clash again when Dash crashed one of his ponies down next to him. He then took Dash in his magic and slammed her into a couple of objects and a wall before knocking her unconscious. I then lost my temper and it was all a blur until Twilight and some guards stopped me after the fight was over. I had apparently went demonic on him and beat him to a pulp.That’s what happened.”

As I finished I looked at both of the princesses, judging their reactions. Celestia’s face was still neutral and hard to judge. Luna however, had a more seeable reaction. She was concerned and in thought, with a few traces of shock leaving her face. I waited a full minute for them to say anything, and I was just about to say something when Luna spoke for the first time.

“Your story matches and fits with the others and seems to be accurate. Although nopony else mentioned something influencing Blueblood, even if we had our suspicions. Pray tell, how did you know and experience all of this.” At that, I then proceeded to tell them about my life in the underground. From my arrival, to my death, to when I confronted the controller.

“-then I blacked out. When I woke up, I was in the forest near Ponyville. That’s much of my life, and afterlife, in a nutshell.”

After the princesses finished processing what I said, they stood their with shock, amazement, concern, and slight confusion. “To think that a child like you could go through so much.” Celestia mumbled, before she focused and looked at me. “Well then, I think now we should get down t-”

“Wait, I have one more thing to ask, my dear sister.”

Luna looked at her before gesturing to proceed. After taking a deep breath, Luna said something that surprised me. “I would like to see thy ‘demonic’ face, if you wouldn’t mind Chara.”

After thinking about it for a moment, I agreed to show them. I spent the next few minutes focusing. Using my determination to focus my powers so that my demonic face was on. After making sure, I opened my eyes and looked at them, deciding to go the extra mile and give them a murderous yet gleeful smile. Celestia backed up a step, horn giving off a slight glow for just a second before dissipating, clearly shocked and alarmed at my looks. Luna however, wasn’t shocked. At most, she was curious and a little concerned. Looking at my face as if she was a scientist for a full minute before backing off. “Alright Chara, you can stop now.” I happily ended the power and used a handkerchief I had to wipe off any of the goo that dripped out.

With that out of the way, Celestia started off on where she was earlier. “Alright, so Chara. I’d like to show you something important.” At that she levitated a crystal over and activating it, showing a vast city that had the roads shaped into a snowflake, the center dominated by a crystal palace. It looked like something straight out of a fairy tail.

“This Chara, is the Crystal empire. A thousand years ago, the empire was ruled by an evil unicorn king who went by the name of King Sombra. He ruled with an iron fist, and used slavery, fear, and dark magic to rule over the citizens. Together, Luna and I successfully banished him, but not before he placed a curse on the empire and caused it to disappear. The empire has recently reappeared, and it’s likely that Sombra has too. You will accompany Twilight and her friends there, where you will all try to find a way to counter this evil and protect the empire.

I will admit that I had doubts about sending you. However, seeing that you are not only loyal and smart but also good in combat, Luna and I have decided that it was for the best to let you join them. You can of course decline though, as it will be a dangerous task.”

I thought about it for a full minute before responding. “If it’ll be dangerous with me, then it could be even more dangerous to them without me. Besides, I’m not leaving my friends, so I’ll come with.”

Celestia gave a warm smile before nodding. “Then it is settled. You will meet with the others at the train station and head to the empire with them. Sergeant High Strike and a contingent of guards will join you to help bolster the defences. While you’re gone, we’ll try to find a way to let you go back to your home world if you wish.”

Surprised at this offer, I nodded. “Thank you Celestia and Luna. I’m not too sure if I will want to go back, but it’s nice to have the option. I’ll see you two once we’re finished at the empire.”

With that, I walked back outside, hearing a farewell and good luck from the princesses as I made my way to the train station.

Meanwhile

Interesting. This new addition is… promising.

Author's Note

AND I DID IT. Finally got around to finishing up this chapter. Next up is going to be a new chapter for 'Tales of Littlepip', so don't expect another chapter for this soon. Like usual, leave your questions, opinions, and such down in the comments section, and don't forget to Like, favorite, and share this story with others!

Stay determined folks!