"I JUST don't understand what the problem is."

The Earth ponies sighed quietly, shaking their heads back and forth as they tried to approach their new friend, Mr. Cake putting a hoof on her shoulder as she sighed. "I mean...presentation is everything and I put my heart and soul into these delightful dishes!" Their friend muttered sadly as she held up a plate full of tragically-uneaten donuts. "Why doesn't anyone want to try them?"

The answer was twofold. One, because Muffet, their cook, was a spider. And she wasn't just ANY spider. No, Muffet had maroon pantaloons, black hair tied in buns on her head, five large, piercing black eyes and six arms on top of that.  Muffet the Spider, the "Queen", the "Head Honchette", as it were, of the Spider Kingdom in the Underworld, may have been a big fish in the little pond she called home, but here? Here she was a minnow, and she was drowning. Sure she LOOKED kinda adorable if you could get past the distinct fangs, the overly thin and long legs and arms, and the piercing claws on her hands.

But then you read the sign that detailed what was in her pastries. You see, all the proceeds went to real spiders! And it advertised how you should come eat food made by spiders, FOR spiders, and WITH spiders!

Yeah, that last one was what turned the ponies of Equestria off. Sure, the donuts looked nice. A delightful chocolate glaze with pink and purple frosting, and black sprinkles on the top. But then when the inhabitants of Equestria had read what was in them?

Well, dear readers, I take you to the very first day of Muffet's attempted business venture with the Cake family.  It had been a delightfully bright Sunday morning in Ponyville, as soft, puffy clouds ambled over Sugarcube Corner. The swirly hair of Ms. Cake bobbed about as she swept the store carefully, Ms. Muffet sitting behind the counter and smiling broadly as a purple alicorn approached the store, a green-and-purple-scaled little dragon walking behind her. Mr. Cake was handing out some donuts Ms. Muffet had made to Pinkie Pie, that lovable pink Earth Pony rapscallion who was happily munching away on them. So far, so good!

Or at least, so Muffet had thought until she saw Twilight Sparkle's concerned face as the alicorn entered the store, Spike the dragon holding a clawed hand over his stomach, letting out an unpleasant, liquidy belch as Muffet stared stupidly back. "Um, however may I help you?" She asked Twilight. "You don't look well at all, deary." She added to Spike as he tried to speak, only to surpress another disgusting belch, a wooziness coming over his draconic features.

"Ms. Muffet, I'm aware you've entered into joint venture with the Cakes here at Sugarcube corner." Twilight Sparkle intoned as her horn sparked with faintly purple energy and one of the donuts from off of a nearby tray that was sitting to the right of Muffet on the purchasing countertop was hovered up. Twilight gestured at it with a hoof, speaking solemnly. "You've filled out all the right paperwork for it, but I have to talk to you about these...unique dishes you've made." She remarked, before concentrating some more as a croissant now hovered up from a plate to Ms. Muffet's left.  "If I may begin at the beginning?"

"Of course. I love talking about my work." Muffet remarked, resting her head on the back of her hands, nonchalantly tilting it slightly as she smiled a bit. "So whatever is the matter?"

"First, there's your croissants. Now these are incredibly nasty. They taste too thick and you added far too much flour. But we can't prosecute you for that." Twilight remarked, sticking her tongue out in disgust before tossing the croissant into the nearby trash bin, Muffet nodding a little.

"Agreed."

"But then we get to this. Your "number two" on your menu, the second best seller after your cider. "Number Two: Crumby Spider Donut". Crummy...is right. It's very, VERY crunchy, and am I right in thinking..." Twilight hesitated. "That there are REAL SPIDERS in here?"

"Yes, some little ones."

Pinkie Pie, who HAD been halfway through eating another donut, suddenly stopped, visibly turning a bright shade of green before slowly opening up her mouth, going "Gaaaaah' as the half-eaten remains of the donut slid down, down, to plop onto her plate, pushing it far away from her with her hooves.

Twilight tried to go on. "...what SORT of spiders?"

"Dead ones."

"Were they at least COOKED before they got put into the donuts?" Twilight asked in an exasperated tone, holding a hoof up to her head, purple mane shaking back and forth as she groaned, Muffet shaking her head.

"No."

"What, RAW SPIDERS?" Twilight asked, scarcely able to believe her ears.

"We choose only the finest, juciest baby spiders  carefully chosen and brought from the Spider Kingdom's specialized webs, cleansed in the finest quality spring water, lightly killed, and then promptly sealed within a divinely delicious,  quintuple-smooth, treble-milk chocolate glaze envelope after being lovingly frosted with powdered sugar and put into the ready-to-be-fried-in-cooking-oil donuts. A time-honored tradition going back centuries to my grandmother Shelob!" Muffet remarked in a dramatic way, gesticulating with her many hands as Twilight smacked her forehead and tugged it downward.

"That's all well and good, but they're still SPIDERS!? Isn't that cannibalism?"

"My dear, the Dogaressa and the Dogamy that are part of My Majesty King Asgore's Royal Guard have been married fifty six years and they're brother and sister. This kind of thing happens with our species all the time. A spider's favorite food...is spiders." Muffet reasoned with a smile and a wink.

"Don't you at least take the legs off?!" Twilight mumbled out, now turning a little green herself as Pinkie Pie was now beginning to inch her chair further and further out of the door, going BUMP-BUMP-BUMP with every little jump.

Muffet shrugged. "If we took the legs off, they wouldn't be CRUNCHY, would they?"

"Spike ATE one of those!" Twilight remarked, gesturing at the long-suffering Spike as he rushed off for the bathroom, now turning greener than the scaly crest atop his head before the sounds of vomiting could be heard echoing through Sugarcube Corner. "I have to protect the public, Muffet! Ponies aren't going to think there are REAL spiders in this thing! Spike thought it was a type of candy! You have to make sure the words "Real spiders" are included on that warning outside!"

"...it's not a WARNING, it's an advertisement..." Muffet said, now looking genuinely hurt as she pouted slightly, arms hung at her sides.

"Not to mention there's no indication of what goes INTO your food. You need to have nutritional information laid out like the Cakes do." Twilight added as she gestured at pamphlets on the wall, Muffet scratching her head. "So is there anything else that goes into your donuts I should know about?"

"Oh, wait! I made a pamphlet like that!" Muffet remarked cheerily, reaching into her pantaloon pockets and whipping out a pamphlet, giving the bright red and purple thing to Twilight as she poured over it. "See? All the nutritional information."

"Hmm. Wait, what's this at the bottom? WEBBING?!" Twilight gasped out, the alicorn's mouth hung open just as Spike re-entered the room, wiping his mouth only to hear his dear friend's next words. "You use webbing?! And it's at the bottom under "monosodium glutamate"!" She proclaimed. "Why is there webbing in your croissants? No WONDER they taste so odd! They ought to get a big red label on them that screams "WEBBING"!"

"Well I have to keep the consistency of the biscuits strong somehow." Muffet remarked with another shrug.

"Why don't you just use NORMAL ingredients!?" Twilight groaned. "Croissants are supposed to have flour, water,  active dry yeast, milk, melted butter, cold unsalted butter and SALT! Not...not webbing and SPIDERS and...I mean...where's the pleasure in eating webbing?! Who wants to eat something that came right outta your butt?!"

"Heyyyy." Muffet said with a frown. "Which one of your ponies looked at a cow's udders and said "I'm gonna drink whatever comes outta these things when I squeeze 'em"?"

"Oh come on, I've got nothing left to throw up but my nuts-GUUUHHHLAAAAUUUGGHHKKK!" Spike screamed out, barely making to the nearby trash can in time, emptying the contents of his stomach out once again as he sobbed in agony.

"In any case, you need to make changes to your offerings." Twilight sighed as she gently patted Spike on the back, stroking him softly to calm him down. "The fact is that if you don't, people just won't eat your food."

"But I've been doing it this way for so long!" Muffet complained, slightly tugging at her hair with her many hands. "I don't really KNOW how to cook with "normal" ingredients! And besides, nobody complained about my food before! The monsters love it!"

"Is that really true?" Twilight asked, looking surprised as Muffet headed out the door, pouting visibly. She'd just have to ask her fellow monsters to back her up, she was sure once they told everyone else about how good her food tasted, they wouldn't MIND what went into the donuts and the cider and the croissants. Yes, she was so, so sure.

How well did that work out?

...

...

...

..."And so then she says "People just won't eat your food"!" Muffet complained to Toriel, Queen of the Monsters as she sat in a cafe in Ponyville with the Queen as she munched on a grass pie. The white-furred, goat-like, well-groomed female monster calmly nibbled away on her piece, horned head peeking back up from her plate to look back at the distressed Muffet before cutting off another piece of the pie.

"I see. It must be quite hard to adjust to a new business venture, a new life." Toriel remarked. She was wearing a very nice-looking white and purple robe, with the "Delta Rune" insignia displayed over her chest. A flying circle and triangles below, the triangles representing monsterkind, with the circle representing an "Angel", the Lord of Resurrection who would give the Monsters new life by freeing them from the Underground. Or at least that's what they'd thought. The old language of the Monsters was something hardly anyone remembered. The word "Lazarus" had been used to describe the Angel in the Ancient Monster Tongue, and true! It did mean "Resurrection".

But it also meant "Death", so many monsters had feared that their "salvation" from the Underground would be that of an "angel" that would "free" them with the gift of Death. Luckily, it had been more metaphorical. The "Resurrection" had really meant "new life", not death, for their sweet little angel had freed them from the Underground and given them a new life on the Surface.

Hope had filled their hearts upon seeing it after so many eons. And now that hope had turned to excitement upon coming across Equestria. But you had to temper the audacity of hope with the reasonable expectations of reality. And the reality was change would be hard.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly lacking for money thanks to that wonderful little human child of yours." Muffet admitted as she put a hand on her chest and chuckled slightly. 'Frisk was positively wonderful in how much he donated to our cause. He's a true spider fanatic! But still, it'd be nice if these ponies understood how wonderful our food was!"

Toriel's face showed a very visible flinch, and Muffet suddenly stared, as if truly seeing Toriel for the first time. She bit her lip, and then looked deep into the queen's soft eyes.

"Y-You...don't think I need to change my ingredients...do you? You like my food, right?"

It had been the same question she'd asked of Sans the Skeleton, his brother Papyrus, Undyne, Head of Asgore's Royal Guard, Asgore the King of Monsters himself, Asriel, Toriel and Asgore's son...

And they all gave what would best be described as a "Concerto of Discomfort"."

"Um..."

"Well..."

"I..."

"So..."

"Uh..."

"HA!"

"Er..."

"I've..."

"UH..."

"See..."

"Uhhhh..."

"HAA!"

"Er..."

"That is..."

"WELL..."

"Maybe..."

"Errr..."

"HA...HAAAAA."

And then, finally...an answer repeated over and over again. Muffet, in desperation, decided to go to the one person she never, ever, EVER thought she would ask.

...Burgerpants, the Cat-like vendor of "Mettaton-Brand-Food" who had opened up a Mettaton store in Ponyville, not too far away from the delightful and snazzy Ms. Rarity's botique. The faint brown-skinned cat was smoking a cigarette, on his lunch break as a soft wind blew about him, ruffling his pink t-shirt as he leaned against the store's back walls. Seeing Muffet, the brownish/red-eyed cat nonchalantly took out the cigarette, blowing a perfect ring of smoke through the air that slowly puffed right over Muffet's head before he spoke.

"What would you give me if I blew a smoke puff and it landed right between your breasts?"

"A concussion. Now tell me something." Muffet demanded, one set of hands on her hips, another crossing her chest and the remaining ones gesticulating with a faint air of desperation. "My food, my cooking. Do you think I need to change it?"

"...oh...my...GOD." Burgerpants remarked, his dry witted tone changing to one of pure, unadulterated glee. "Y-you wait so long to hear a question like that and when it finally comes, y-you're...oh my God, I wanna wrap this moment up like a big ol' present! Happy birthday to ME!" He laughed. "You FINALLY asked me after all these years?! This is too good! So I'm gonna savor it."

He took in a long, deep breath, wafting in the air around him with his hands before finally smirking at her. "The answer is an unequivocal, never-been-so-sure-of-anything-in-my-life YES. And the fact you came to me means everyone else thinks so too. Am I right?"

Muffet hung her head.

"Now...if you'll excuse me, I gotta get back to work. Maybe you should start marketing your food to people trying to lose weight. One whiff of your croissants will make ANYONE lose their appetite."

"Go to HELL." Muffet snarled, black eyes flaring as Burgerpants gave her a wry smirk.

"Sorry, Muffet. Can't. I'm all outta vacation days."

...

...

...

... "You don't think I need to change my ingredients...do you?" Muffet asked Frisk as the Cakes watched the two talking in Sugarcube Corner's kitchen, the brown-haired Asian-American youth giving a spider a sugar cube which it eagerly took, scurrying off to go join its friends on a nearby countertop. Frisk sighed, then nodded.

"Definitely."

"But I thought people LIKED my food." Muffet sighed as she bit her lip, leaning back in the chair she had.

"People "liked" it because it was one of the few genuinely sweet things down in the Underground. So they overlooked the little problems it had because there wasn't that much food to begin with." Frisk admitted. "They kinda...just sucked it up. But it's different now." He said as he gestured around Sugarcube corner. "Equestria takes gold just like the Underground does. Everyone can just buy a normal donut or a lollipop or the like and they don't have to feel creeped out about eating spiders."

"I guess I just don't understand why people don't like the taste of spiders." Muffet mumbled as she hung her head, Mrs. Cake getting an idea as she walked towards her, the blue Earth pony putting down a piece of cake in front of her. "Huh? What's this?"

"Try it, honey." She remarked with a small smile, Muffet munching away at it before cringing.

"YECCCH. It's so thick and...blaaaah!" She practically spat out the contents, barely able to repress her gag reflect as she waved her hands in front of her mouth. "EWWW. What in Heaven's name is this?"

"It's called "carrot cake". Lots of ponies eat it. So do many humans, from what Frisk's told me." Mrs. Cake said as she gestured with a hoof, Mr. Cake's skinny frame ambling into the room as well as he put down a cookbook right in front of Muffet, pointing at recipe after recipe.

"Restaurants and shops like ours know how make grass donuts, hay cakes, flower pie...all of these are big favorites of ponies, big staples of people's diets in a lot of ways. But when we have the occasional Changeling customer, or a Minotaur or a Dragon or a Gryphon, well, we know they like something more meaty. So we'll make them things like this."

He flipped the page, showing off a dish that Muffet hadn't considered. Number Four on the page...Crunchy Frog.

"Is that a real frog?" She asked, pointing at the chocolate-covered frog on the page as Mr. Cake nodded.

"Yes, we also make chocolate-covered insects, flavored crickets, those are a BIG seller..." Mr. Cake read onward. "And the occasional meat pie. Sometimes the Applejack family will donate cow meat to us because they know occasionally we need to provide for other customers who's tastes are different than the rest. Everyone's different."

"And it was hard to learn how to handle it." Mrs. Cake admitted as she slightly cringed. "I remember the first time I made a meat pie for a Gryphon. I was shaking, holding the meat in my hooves, trying to cut it up on the table..." She went on, her voice getting lower. "And all I kept seeing was a cow's face right in front of me, I couldn't bring myself to do it at first. But then I thought about how hungry my customer was, and how they just wanted a little something to remind them of home, and what they ate there. So I focused."

She tapped the side of her head with a hoof, eyes closing. "I focused on their face. And I began cutting the meat, and I made the pie. And the customer, Gilda, loved it!"

"When you try to make the customers happy, it helps make YOU happy. But you have to be willing to try new things. Even if it occasionally might make you uncomfortable, you have to be open to trying new things. To adapt." Mr. Cake explained. "You gotta get with the times."

"Because the times, they are a-chaaaangiiiiin!" Frisk sang out, head bouncing slightly back and forth as Muffet giggled a bit.

"You are just too cute." She giggled. "But I guess you're right." The spider lady remarked with a sigh. "It'll just take me a while to learn how to cook without my usual ingredients. But how am I going to sell off all the other donuts and things I've made with spiders?"

"Hmm." Mrs. Cake paced back and forth, biting her lip thoughtfully. "...I think I have an idea."

...

...

...

... "Oh...oh my."

Twilight could scarcely believe it. But it couldn't be denied. A long, LONG stream of Changelings was now lining outside of Sugarcube Corner, and Queen Chrysalis was stuffing her face full of spider donuts, belly hung over her legs almost like a giant bean bag as she sat on a clearly-about-to-fall-apart chair just outside the shop. The Changelings were buzzing about excitedly, many exiting the store and guzzling down Spider Cider by the gallon as Chrysalis let out an unladylike belch.

"Ohhh, that is just so, SO good! It's been ages since I enjoyed a meal like that."

"You actually...LIKE eating spiders?" Twilight inquired, looking rather intrigued by this. Sure, the Ponies might have crafted a truce treaty with Chrysalis, but that didn't mean she really LIKED her. This was hard to swallow...no pun intended.

"Spiders and other creepy-crawlies were the first meals we ate after our species's birth. There's not a lot else to eat down in damp, dark caves." Chrysalis remarked with a wave of a hoof before letting out a belch. "Besides moss and the occasional fish in dark mountain lakes. So it was that, or spiders. And we chose spiders. Now insects are a regular staple of our diet when we're not dining on emotions!"

"So spiders are, like...comfort food to you." Twilight reasoned, scratching her head as Muffet walked out of the shop, bringing Chrysalis a large jug of golden spider cider to wash her meal down, Muffet also bringing out a small little pink donut that she held up for Twilight, a grin on her face. "What's this?"

"It's for you! Take it." Muffet said with a smile. "I'm almost utterly sold out of my spider ciders and donuts thanks to these fine folks. But they can't be my ONLY customers, so please. Tell me what you think."

Twilight nervously eyed the pastry before levitating it up with her horn, popping a chunk of it into her mouth before her eyes went wide as saucers. "It's...it actually tastes...GOOD." She murmured. "Nice and sweet, just the right amount of frosting, not too dry and not that sticky, I...I LIKE it!" She gasped out loud. "You made this? You?! Made THIS? Really?" 

"Took me hours to get it just right, but I did it." Muffet said with a grin and a thumbs up. "Luckily Frisk helped me get the recipe juuuust right."

"Thank GOD for Save Points..." Frisk moaned out loud, dragging himself away from a nearby golden glow that faintly glittered behind him, having reset to a previous LOAD state precisely 76 times thanks to Muffet's trial-and-error cooking, the taste of aborted and badly-cooked donuts still lingering on his mouth.

But hey. It was better than spiders. Still...

He never wanted to see another donut as long as he lived.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toriel walked through the classroom, humming a tune from a show Mettaton had intercepted in another dimension. The song was somewhat somber and maybe a little sad, but at the same time it was beautiful.

 

“Come little Children... I’ll take thee away... into a land of enchantment....” Toriel sang, perfectly in tone with the soft spoken singer who sang the tune. As she did, she closed her eyes and began to dance, leaving a trail of flame as she did, feeling the fire twirl about her ever so gently.

 

“hey Toriel.”

 

Toriel eeped and fell over a desk as she was startled by the shorter of the skeleton brothers. She moaned and winced as sans helped her to get up, never losing that smile of his or that gentle, caring look in his eyesockets. After coming to the surface, the two had become good friends. It would never be more than that really, since sans was more like a big uncle to Frisk and Asriel, and Toriel had no interest in marrying again after Asgore.

 

Still...

 

It was nice to have a good friend like Sans. And yet he did have a knack for finding embarrassing times.

 

“Sans, dear, I thought you were seeing the kids to the train to Canterlot?”

 

Sans nodded. “i did. i saw them as they got to the station, then I closed my eyesockets once they got there so I didn’t see them afterward. but I will see ‘em later when they get home.”

 

Toriel giggled. “You’re so bad, Sans.” she hugged her friend and went to finish up with the cleaning.

 

“nah, just a bonehead.”

 

Toriel bust out laughing, neither unaware that outside two very famous ponies had been listening to Toriel’s singing. The one was a greyish brown pony who had her mane done up in a nice little style, as highly refined as the Stratamarevius cello she played. Beside her was the polar opposite in many ways, wearing purple shades and having a mane done up in blue, white, and neon purple that just went everywhere, her  coat white as fallen snow. Vinyl Scratch and Octavia were best friends in Ponyville and two of the finest musicians in their fields. They KNEW talent when they heard it.

 

And they had heard it walking by the school.

 

“Wow Vinyl, can you believe it? Who knew that Goat Lady was so talented?”

 

Vinyl shrugged. “Eh, it ain’t bad that’s for sure. With some wubs backing her up she could REALLY rock!”

 

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “Always with the WUBS, Vinyl?”

 

The rocker DJ chuckled. “I’m all about that Bass.” She hmmmed. “But she really is a great singer. We gotta get her to share that talent.”

 

Octavia nodded. “Yes.... still we should be subtle about it. I recall Rarity telling me how she and her friends tried to get Fluttershy to sing in public. Did NOT go well.”

 

Vinyl hmmmed. “I think I got an idea, girlfriend.”

 

Octavia chuckled. “And there we go with the shipping jokes.”

 

The DJ chuckled, lowering her shades. “Like I was the first one.” She winked through the fourth wall, setting off to finalize things.

 

***

 

Later that day, Toriel was stunned at her guests. She had been busy making some pies for when her sons come home, and the smell of apple, butterscotch, snail, and even one blueberry experimental pie hung in the air.

 

She lived in a modest little house, like most monsters did after arriving here in Equestria. it was a cute little one story made of magical brick, several unicorns helping put it together. In many ways it looked like her old home in the ruins, with a similar house layout... except now it had a bathroom and a basement. Toriel also had a much larger kitchen here, since she was baking lots of goodies either on her own or with Muffet and Pinkie Pie. But today she had different guests.

 

Two very specific musicians.

 

“You want me to what?” She asked again, trying to place what she had just been told.

 

“We want you to sign up for the talent competition.” Octavia said. “We heard your singing voice when we walked by your school. It was just amazing!”

 

Vinyl smiled and handbanged a little... oh no.... she was just nodding. “Yeah, you rock girlfriend!”

 

“I thought I was your girlfriend?” Octavia said with a wink, the playful DJ smiling. Toriel chuckled some, thinking perhaps these two were like Alphys and Undyne in some ways. But she shook her head.

 

“Not interested.” She said. “See.... I’m really not that good. Oh I love to perform before a crowd, I do it every day a a teacher. But singing... I only really know the one song, mainly because I can relate to it.”

 

The two ponies sat on their haunches. Octavia tilted her head. “I don’t understand.”

 

“You see.... before we came here to Equestria, my ex-husband had a policy of killing any human who fell into the underground. I hated it so I left him and hid in the ruins. I was determined to protect any child who fell into the underground but.... well, I failed. Now we have six human souls who don’t hate us, but are still trapped, still waiting to either be freed and sent home or given new bodies.”

 

Vinyl still wasn’t making the connection. “Soooo.... why that song?”

 

“See... I always wanted to take those kids and take them away somewhere that Asgore could not touch them. We could be happy and free, and it’d be so lovable. It was my dream for-”

 

*knock knock*

 

Toriel blinked. “Oh no... now what?” She went to the door and opened it... only to be greeted by the hulking form of her ex-husband. He was white furred like she was and had larger horns, but was also very much a goat monster, with similar floppy ears, vampire-like fangs, and a big golden beard. He was dressed in overalls and a blue shirt, as well as a big funny looking straw hat. Toriel glared at him.

 

“Dreemur.” She said with definitive daggers in her voice. Asgore smiled, embarrassed.

 

“Sorry, I just was seeing if maybe.... oh there you two are!” Asgore pushed past, Toriel clenching her fists as he walked in. “I was looking all over for you two. I wanted to sign up for the talent show.”

 

Octavia clapped her hooves. “Splendid! And your talent?”

 

Asgore smiled. “Strength. I have been working out on the Apple Acres Farm-”

 

“Sweet Apple Acres love.” Vinyl corrected.

 

“Ah, whoops. Anyway, Big Macintosh has been helping me train my strength, and we want to work together for an act.” He turned to Toriel. “Shame you won’t be in it Toriel.”

 

Toriel fumed. “And why not?”

 

“Oh sorry Tori, but you kinda are outdone with most talents, except maybe your pies. And I do not think those would work for the competition.”

 

Now Toriel literally was burning up, fire forming in her hands. She turned to Octavia and Vinal and spoke with a voice that would scare Satan himself into hiding in his room under the covers.

 

“Sign. Me. Up.” She spat, her flames intensifying. The three guests suddenly a little spooked. An upset Toriel was NEVER a good thing.

 

“Ummm.... I better go.” Asgore said, nervously walking out. He eeped as Toriel opened the door, almost getting Asgore burnt when she did. As she closed it however, she smelled something burning.

 

She soon realized she set her door on fire.

 

“Oh no!” She gasped, trying to put it out quickly, the two deciding it might have been a good idea to confirm Asgore first for this kind of stuff to prevent property damage.

 

***

 

Toriel stood in the main room of her home, trying to rehearse the song she was going to sing for the show. She had sang it a few times, and the snails she had caught were listening, rocking their heads in the soft time of the somber and beautiful singing.

 

But she felt like it wasn’t right. All she did was stand there and sing... It felt a little like a part of a greater whole. She loved music, yes, but to actually sing was not her thing. From the time she was little she liked to bake more than anything, had…had Asgore been right?

 

Asgore. Thinking about him made her almost redouble her efforts as her cell phone rang. She sighed and answered it, the voice of her son Frisk on the other end.

 

“Hi mom!” He said cheerfully. “How are things back in Ponyville?”

 

Toriel smiled as she focused on her son for now and away from the talent show. “Oh, same as always. How is Canterlot?”

 

Frisk giggled. “It’s fun! Asriel and I are kinda getting a few stares from ponies but overall we like it. We are doing our best to help Twilight with her work here.”

 

Toriel smiled proudly. That was her boys, always eager to help others. “Is Asriel there, son?” She asked. Frisked chuckled some.

 

“He’s with Princess Celestia right now mom.”

 

“Ahhhhhhhh... Those two are going to spoil him rotten at this rate.” Toriel giggled.

 

“More like HE will spoil THEM!” He laughed in return. The two spoke a little further before finally Toriel said it.

 

“By the way, I will be in the talent show later this week. But I won’t tell you what I am doing yet. It’s a surprise.”

 

Frisk ahhhed. “I cannot wait to see it! Until then mom, I gotta help Twilight and Spike with some of the books, then we are going to go hang out with some of her old friends. Talk to you later!”

 

“Be good son!” Toriel said, hanging up, unaware that now someone else was in the room.

 

“hey Toriel.” The familiar voice said, still making Toriel eep out of her fur.

 

“Sans, will you stop that?! Why do you keep popping up out of nowhere?!”

 

Sans shrugged. “actually i was in the closet.” He said shrugging even more.

 

Toriel sighed. “Great, I have a closet case in my ho-” She whacked her face with her hand. “OH I soooo walked into that one!”

 

Sans smiled. Though he was already smiling. “nah, i came outta that one.” He said, pointing to the hall closet. “hey, gotta question for ya. you think doing things outta revenge or hate is the right thing to do?”

 

Toriel blinked. “What? Why do you ask?”

 

Sans made his empty eyesocket stare. He did it primarily to make a serious point. As he spoke, he actually followed punctuation standards. This was a serious sentence.

 

“I think you know what I mean Tori.”

 

Tori. The way her name was said that way. She sighed and nodded. “No... it is wrong.”

 

“then why are you in the competition?” Sans asked. “ya doing what you want to do in it, i hope?”

 

Toriel sighed. “Well... Octavia and Vinyl Scratch think I should sing my song, so I am going to do that. It is my best bet right?”

 

Sans shrugged. “heck if i know. i am just a judge alongside the princesses and Mettatin.”

                                                                    

“Ton.” Toriel said.

 

“2000 pounds.” Sans said without a beat missed. “but joking aside your majesty, if the only reason you’re singing is to beat the king, then you’re doing the wrong thing for the wrong reason. you should focus on a talent you love and want to share with the world.”

 

Toriel blinked. “I see what you mean... but I can’t bake pies for the competition.”

 

Sans placed a bony hand on her arm. “i don’t mean that. what fills you with a burning passion? what sets your heart afire?” He smiled, winking. Toriel just stared.

 

Sans waited but no answer came. He sighed and chuckled. “eh, you’ll figure it out if you follow your heart.” He placed a hand on her chest. “listen to it.” He smiled and opened the oven door. “well, gotta go.” He said, climbing in. Toriel opened it.... but Sans was gone.

 

“How DOES he do that?!”

 

****

 

The day of the talent show arrived and Toriel was nervous as all get out. She had rehearsed her song for some time but it still didn’t sound right. As she went to practice one last time, she heard another singing voice...

 

We were searching for our place for awhile there,

Trying to find out where we fit in!

But when we failed those times before, we kept on trying more,

Cause the Cutie Mark Crusaders don’t give in!

Now there’s new faces here in our home,

And they need a Crusader’s help too.

So just like the friends we got, there is now a whole new lot

And we’ll show them all just what we can do!

We’ll make our mark!

For Changlings and Monsters too!

We’ll make our mark!

Do our best to see them through

To the ultimate reward, of a Cutie Mark!

 

Toriel blinked, following the source of the song, and saw three very familiar little fillies, working on an adaptation for their song, making it their own.

 

“Miss Toriel!” One said, a familiar alabaster filly with a musical  note in a coat of arms for her cutie mark. “You wanna help with the next verse? You know it right?”

 

Toriel smiled. She did, the Crusaders had sung it in her room so many times before. But she had one better. She cleared her throat…

 

 

Toriel: I think now I see the true path before me.

I think I know now what to do.

You’ve helped me see that I must follow my heart.

And I just want to thank youuuuu...

 

Sweetie Belle: I’m so glad we have helped when you needed.

We want to show you the way.

 

Together: Because if at the very start, you just follow your heart,

You can help to make it a better, brighter day!

 

We’ll make our mark!

And we’ll let our talents shine,

We’ll make our mark!

And it will be so divine!

To find the ultimate reward! Our Cutie Mark!!!!

 

Toriel hugged the three phillies, smiling. “That was wonderful! There is no way my singing can compete with it. You three have the true talents, not me.”

 

The orange brown coated one, Scootaloo, smiled. “I don’t think so, you have a real talent too.”

 

Apple Bloom, the custard coated pony with reddish mane smiled. “Yeah, and you add so much, your dancing and your skill with fire, you're amazing!”

 

Toriel smiled. “Well, when I hear a song I like, I dunno, I just cannot keep the passion inside, I have to let the flames of it come o....” She froze. “Girls! That’s It! I know what my TRUE talent is! I gotta find Octavia and Vinyl right away!”

 

Sweetie Belle smiled and pointed a hoof towards one of the tents near the talent show stage. “I think they are over there.”

 

Toriel hugged her one last time, and went to see them. Now she knew what she wanted to do!

 

***********

 

Big Macintosh smiled as Asgore lifted another pony on his back, now up to 15. He was huffing some. He had to do it. Just one more.

 

“Big Mac, your turn at the top!” Asgore said, sweating. Big Mac nodded, grabbing a flag, climbing the upside down pyramid held up by Asgore, everyone staring in awe. Big Mac climbed steadily until he was at the center post part at the top, and held up a flag.

 

Asgore straightened out, legs buckling but his strength holding as he went to full height, giving a mighty yell. From the back, Undyne and Alphys wolf whistled and cheered at the sight. With help from the pegasi, the volunteer ponies were lifted off, one by one.

 

“OHHH! AMAZING DISPLAY OF SHEER BRAWN YOUR HIGHNESS! ONCE AGAIN, KING ASGORE AND HIS TALENT OF UNYIELDING STRENGTH, WITH BIG MAC AND HIS SKILL OF CLIMBING AND TOSSING PONIES!” The audience cheered as MC extraordinaire, Mettaton, placed a huge smiley face on his..... um... face... and rolled aside to let the slightly winded but proud king walk by. As he did, he saw Toriel.

 

“Tori...” He started, but Toriel shushed him.

 

“I still hate what you did.” She said... then smiled. “But you know, you did good out there.”

 

Asgore smiled. “Thanks. But the goal was really 30 ponies. Ah well. In any case, I wanna see what you can do Tori.”

 

Toriel gave a little wink. “I think you will like it.” She stepped out on stage, nodding as below appeared Octavia and Vinyl Scratch, instruments ready. Toriel stood on the stage, breathing deep.

 

It was time to show the world her passion.

 

The two ponies began to play a melancholy tune filled with passion, the passion of a mother whose heart was breaking, the passion of a mother who could not stand the thought of her child about to face the underground alone.

 

Heartache.

 

As the music picked up, her hands lit up with fire. She began to twirl the flames about her in a dance, spinning and leaping, trying not to cry as she recalled the last time she had heard this tone, the source of her passion as a mother.

 

That day in the underground, when she forced Frisk to prove himself. And he had, not fighting, letting his love shine through.

 

Toriel recalled this, shooting fire into the air, making the audience awe as they saw it explode like fireworks, guided perfectly through the audience and around them, not touching a one, each flame guided by her magic, each motion like a dance within a dance. All the while Octavia and Vinyl played their hearts out on the instruments, gritting their teeth, eyes filled with tears as their music filled the audience with feelings of awe, sorrow, and hope.

 

This was her passion. The burning desire inside her. The dance. The dance that changed everything for her, for the underground, for everyone. Frisk’s Dance.

 

With every move the story seemed to play out for those watching, Frisk especially in awe of his mom as he watched it, recalling that last, loving hug. Asriel was unable to keep from crying, it was so beautiful.

 

And as the music ended, everyone in the audience was on their hooves, stamping and clapping, Toriel exhausted but smiling with a tear in her eyes. She saw Frisk and smiled.

 

Her children gave her the talent she had. And the happiness she felt, from the time she was one herself, could only come out in the form of her flames and in her dance.

 

She looked to the two musicians, who smiled, Vinyl sobbing while Octavia bowed.

 

“That was beautiful.” Was all she said. And it was a thought shared by Asgore as he watched from backstage. That was the Tori he remembered.

 

He also could not stop crying.

 

*****

 

As the show ended, Toriel went to the crusaders, hugging them again. “Thank you, little ones. Without you I might not have realized the truth. Music is a love of mine, like my kids or my baking. But when I hear it, I have to let the feelings it gives me out. I have to dance. Even if I have to fight with the music in my mind I cannot keep from making it a dance.”

 

Sweetie Belle hmmmed. “You mean like that spider lady?”

 

Toriel went wide eyed. “Oh my.... your right! I guess I never made the comparison, hehehe” She smiled and hugged again, unaware that Muffet had watched and, like everyone else, was in awe.”

 

“OK, BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES! IT SEEMS THE JUDGES HAVE MADE THEIR DECISIONS! BEFORE PRESENTING THE GRAND PRIZE FOR BEST IN SHOW, WE HAVE PRIZES FOR OUTSTANDING TALENT!” Mettaton first held up an award with a musical note on it. “FOR BEST MUSICAL TALENT.... THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!!”

 

Sweetie Belle gasped. “We... we won?!”

 

Toriel just beamed as she watched the three walk to the stage and collect their prize. Mettaton them picked up one with a pair of Groucho Marx glasses.

 

“FOR BEST COMICAL PERFORMANCE.... OH MY, THIS IS BORDERLINE AGAINST THE RULES, BUT I THINK WE ALL AGREE! PAPYRUS!”

 

Everyone chuckled as Papyrus came up with...

 

...a dusty tutu.

 

“SANS.... YOU ARE SO DEAD FOR THIS ONE.”

 

“oh relax bro, at least that was the best Nutcracker.”

 

“SWEET!” Everyone laughed as Papyrus walked into that one. “*SIGH*. WHYYYY MUST I TRY SO HARD FOR APPRECIATION...”

 

Mettaton then lifted the next trophy.

 

“FOR SHEER AND UTTER PHYSICAL TALENT... BIG MACINTOSH AND KING FLUFFYBUNS!”

 

Asgore blushed some as everyone laughed at his nickname, the two stepping forward to take the barbell trophy. Mettaton now lifted the final one.

 

“AND NOW, THE MOMENT YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR.... THE BEST IN SHOW, THE TOP TALENT, PONYVILLE’S PERFECT PERFORMING PRESENCE!!!! AND THE WINNER IS........ TORIEL DREEMURR!!!!!!”

 

Toriel was wide eyed as she stepped forward, everyone again giving a standing ovation complete with cheers, claps, wolf whistles, and shouts for a speech. But Toriel could only say one thing, something which, in many opinions, is the moral of this story.

 

“True talent is not about something your good at, or even something you love to do. Talent is, in many ways, something you are good at loving.”

Well said Toriel. Well said.

 

THE END

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asriel breaks the fourth wall and smiles.

 

“Wasn’t that an awesome talent show? Who knew mom could dance like that! And the way she could move the fire... amazing!

 

“Hey! You liking the series so far? Have ideas for Misterebony or NGrey651? Comment below! But.... no killing okay? Please?

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“Well... that’s it this time. See you in the next episode!”

"You're absolutely sure he'd do this kind of thing? I mean..."

"Father, I'm ABSOLUTELY sure."

Mettaton was more than JUST a television star, more than JUST a delightful and charming daytime radio host. No, when he wasn't doing that, he had his own boutique, just like he had his own shop in Ponyville, and on special occasions the big man himself would come into Canterlot to give certain lovely beauties the attention they deserved. The walls were a yellow shade, with regal, splendid ivory tiles beneath and a crystal chandelier hanging above, and a fountain with Mettaton's own body spraying out water in the center of it all, ponies talking to each other as they were waited on by his employees. One of whom, the secretary, walked towards them.

"You're here for your 10:00?" The blue-haired, black-furred stallion asked. His hooves were wrapped in what appeared to be linen bandages, as if he'd endured extensive burns or wounds on them, and he had a lovely-looking necklace with a Chariot wheel upon the silver crest he wore, his dark blue eyes gazing the two over as he politely bowed.

"Why yes, Shinedown. How nice of you to get dressed up in a CAPE." Rarity admitted, clasping her hooves together and smiling warmly at the Changeling-blooded Earth pony. Shinedown was a quarter Changeling, one of his parents a half-breed, and it gave him a deep black, slick sheen to his fur.

"Oh, Mettaton makes all his secretaries wear capes." Shinedown T. Mare remarked. "Not that I mind, actually. Black and red looks good on me." He added as he swept it back. "He insists it will improve morale and make us all look resplendent. Is it working?"

"I'd say so." Rarity said with a smile. "And is that cologne I smell on you?"

"Oh, well..." Shinedown nodded again and slightly blushed. "Also another little touch. The small things all add up." The half-blood intoned before he made his way into a doorway with a glass window at the front in the shape of Mettaton's face. And a few minutes later...

"Ta daaaaaaa!"

Mettaton strode out to greet them, Rarity's father nervously taking off his straw hat as the moustachioed stallion nodded politely at the star of the Underground. And Mettaton was quite...the sight. Distinctly human with flowing black hair carefully stroked in just the right way so as to sexily cover one side of his face, a slender yet mighty body showing off sleek mechanical muscles on a black and purple and pink-armored form. A line ran down one side of his face from his eye, representing a "segment" of his head which, in a pinch, could pop off so Mettaton could pull out some lipstick and facial cream, and of course, the dazzling hot pink pupils...

Yes, Mettaton was indeed a sight to behold.

"Dear Rarity, how good to see you!" He proclaimed, sweeping forward, shaking her hoof. "I've gotten the scented bath and candles all ready for you."

"Then the massage?"

"Without a doubt. My magic fingers can make anyone swoon." Mettaton said, flexing his fingers in the air, as he stuck his tongue out slightly. "And ohhhhh myyyyy. What have we here?" He asked, looking Rarity's father over as the Earth pony visibly blushed, Mettaton shaking his hoof as well. "You must be the stallion who played Magnum, the Pony Investigator. I've seen all of your episodes, good sir, after your daughter sent them to me. A musical murder mystery show...QUITE enthralling if I do say so myself! And you have quite the pipes on you!"

"Ahh, yes. I do. And I was quite the looker in my day." Hondo remarked sheepishly, giving Mettaton a nod.

"You still ARE. And you, good sir, will FEEL like one once more when I'm done with you." Mettaton promised, Rarity giving her father a big hug, purple mane bouncing a bit before she headed into a nearby golden-rimmed doorway, waving goodbye as Shinedown led her to the bath chambers. Mettaton led Hondo into another nearby doorway, where a large barber's chair laid, complete with resplendant royal red cushions, and shelves stuffed with the most delightul scents, shaving creams and other tools of a stylish's trade. "Now please, tell me the occasion! You wouldn't have asked to come with your daughter unless it was something VERY special. I doubt a mere trim is what you want."

"Well..." Hondo sighed wistfully, Mettaton's suave voice beginning to charm him over as he glanced to the side before thinking of his wife and smiling wistfully. Ahhh...his widdle Cookie.  "It's my wife and I's anniversary tomorrow. And I wanna look my best for her." He said, as his wife's image flashed before his eyes, and he found himself beginning to softly sing as he put a hoof upon his chest.

"You see sir a man infatuated with love, her ardent and eager slave!

So fetch me the pomade and pumice stone, and lend me a more seductive tone,

a sprinkling, perhaps, of nice cologne, but first sir, I think..."

 

He rubbed over his chin, and gave a smile.

"A shaaaaaave."

"The closest I ever gaaaave." Mettaton agreed, helping Hondo into the chair as he began to cheerily whistle.

"You're in quite the merry mood, Mettaton." Hondo admitted as Mettaton put some shaving cream upon the stallion's face in just the right places after draping a cover over the pony to keep anything from dripping down.

"Tis your delight sir, catching fire from one man to the next!"

"How good that love can still inspire a man to sing like heavenly choirs, what more than Love could man require?"

"More than love, sir?"

"What's that?"

"Women!"

"Ah, yes, women..."

"Pretty women..." Mettaton sighed wistfully, clapping his hands, one of them shifting into his arm before becoming a swiss-army-knife of contraptions that shifted from a can opener to a frying pan to, at last...a shaving razor as he carefully began to trim the little hairs that were threatening to become  a beard on Hondo, soon moving on to a careful trim of the moustache before it was time to take care of the mane.

"Pretty women...fascinating...sipping coffee...laaaaughing! Pretty women...are a wonder...pretty women!"

"Sitting in the window or standing on the staaaair! Something in them...chiiiiills the aaaaaaair!"

"Have you ever met a special someone?" Hondo inquired.

At this, just as he was snipping at the pony's mane, Mettaton flinched a bit, the scissor-hand he now trembling slightly as a realization sadly sank in. No. No, he hadn't, except for maybe...

"There was something of a time when I thought maybe..." Mettaton began to quietly murmur. "...but that was a long time ago. She has a girlfriend now."

"Ahh. Guys don't do no more for her, huh?" Hondo admitted with a sigh. "Who is it?"

"Undyne."

"Oh. OH!" Hondo's eyes widened in surprise at this as Mettaton got back to clipping his hair. "Her? Wow. Isn't she currently head of Asgore's Royal Guard? She must have hundreds of men who'd want to go out with her."

"Oh, they would, and when they heard the news she was taken, it was indeed devastating, I can tell you." Mettaton remarked with a wry smile, thinking back to when they'd exited the Underground and Alphys and Undyne's first public date, the two sitting happily across from each other in the sunlight on a park bench...

Undyne suddenly noticing very, VERY dejected-looking monsters mournfully gazing at her from across the way.

"Wait, you and...her?" Aaron the Mer-Horse asked, the muscular-armed man stunned by what he was seeing grasping his head in surprise, mouth agape. "But she's got no muscles!"

"Wow, this IS a shock." A stunned bunny monster remarked as he scratched his head, blinking in surprise as Lesser Dog, one of the Royal Guardsman, mournfully groaned, other monsters sighing sadly in regret as they hung their heads, dejected.

"Noooo." Lesser Dog murmured.

"Sorry, guys. I'm taken." Undyne said with a smirk.

"Well this sucks!"   Aaron groaned, he and the others all nodding in agreement, their frustrations clear as day.

"Well I never thought it'd end like this...just because I got no tits!"

"I'll shave my legs!" Bunny Boy begged, lifting up a pant leg.

"I'll wear a bra!" Aaron offered.

"I'd even cut my penis off for you!" Lesser Dog proclaimed.

"Ohhh, that's so sweeeeet." Undyne admitted as she gave them a nod before shaking her head. "But no, guys. Sorry."

Alphys, of course, could not stop smiling.

"I know how she felt. I've had the "Great and Powerful Trixie" coming on to me for quite some time, ever since I came to your world." Mettaton sighed as he shook his head back and forth. "She's talented indeed but...SOOOO full of herself. I wish someone would knock her off her high horse."

He grinned. "Pun intended."

"She's been that bad, huh?"

"Standing outside my window, playing guitar, launching fireworks..." Mettaton went on as he kept a snip-snip-snipping Hondo's hair. "it was impressive until one WENT RIGHT THROUGH MY WINDOW. And there went the bedsheets. And NOT in the way I wanted!"

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Mettaton, Rarity knew someone WAS interested in him in that special way. And so as Shinedown lit up some more candles for her in the deep blue bath room, bubbles bouncing about the surface of the water, she cleared her throat.

"How long have you been trying to get his attention?"

Shinedown slightly stiffened. "Um...whatever do you mean?"

"I've BEEN to his store in Ponyville. He has a secretary there too. And they don't wear a cape. Nor do they wear cologne that just so HAPPENS to be Mettaton's favorite brand that he's always wearing for special occasions when he goes to say hi to us in Ponyville." Rarity remarked. "And if that wasn't enough, I could tell from how you talked about him...you're smitten."

"Yeah, well...it wouldn't be the first time the mecretary got the guy. Oh. Wait. It would." Shinedown sighed mournfully as he shook his head back and forth, Rarity easing herself into the bath as she frowned a little.

"You're too hard on yourself, darling. Being a male secretary isn't anything to be ashamed of. We all have to pay the bills. Just because you're one it doesn't mean Mettaton would never like you!"

"My sister Trixie said it was a stupid idea to go for Mettaton. That someone like me wouldn't be able to get him to notice me. That I should play it safe. Besides, not a lot of ponies like..." He cringed. "INKBLOODS like me." He grumbled. "I was amazed Mettaton HIRED me. Nowhere else in Canterlot would take me, I've been bounced out of job after job."

"Trixie T. Lulamooon just doesn't know what she's talking about. As usual." Rarity sighed. "Now I want you to go to him and tell him how you FEEL. Just be HONEST."

"I'll try." Shinedown said, heading out the doorway, his heart aflutter, ready to march into that door, look Mettaton in the eye and-

Uhoh.

"Well, well! Hey there, brother." Trixie said with a little mischievous grin, sitting on the fountain's edge. "I'm here for my 10:15 appointment."

"...you used a fake name just to show up and surprise me at my workplace?" Shinedown quietly asked as Trixie sniffed the air.

"And you're using HIS cologne? You really think you can get him to like you?" Trixie inquired, waving a faint blue hoof in the air before flipping her light blue hair about, Shinedown sighing as he escorted his sister to a nearby chair for her massage. "He's a show biz personality. He would want someone with pizzazz, razzle dazzle. You're just not out there enough. You don't have the theatricality I do. You're not...FAMOUS enough for him to be attracted to you."

"I could get him to go on a date with me before YOU!" Shinedown insisted, now feeling an edge of anger creeping into his voice.

"Oh? Care to bet on it?" Trixie asked, extending a hoof. "You win, you get to have my new, fancy, improved wagon. But if I win, I get to use you in my next stage act for ANY MAGIC TRICK I WANT."

A pause, but then Shinedown took the hoof and shook.

"It's a BET." He insisted, heading off for Mettaton's personal styling room, Hondo walking past him as Mettaton followed after, taking notice of Shinedown.

"Oh! You're looking nice today." Mettaton admitted politely. "And you're smelling nice too."

"Thanks, I actually kinda wanted to talk to you about some-"

"In a minute, deary, I've got customers to cater to. Ta ta for now!" Mettaton said, leaving him behind as Shinedown sighed, Trixie's sniggering echoing not too far away as an Earth pony massaged her calf muscles. How was this going to work?

...

...

...

..."I'll! Be! There! For! You!"

"I wish you'd do the OPPOSITE." Mettaton muttered as he slammed the door to his boutique shut, ignoring Trixie's guitar playing as he clasped his hands over his heads and flopped into a chair, sighing. "WHY does she not go away? It's like she's obsessed with me. I mean..." He put a hand on his chest. "Who WOULDN'T be obsessed with me? But still..."

Shinedown saw his chance. He was the only employee left in the building.  Approaching Mettaton, he nervously cleared his throat. "Um...Mettaton?"

Mettaton turned his head. "Yes?"

"Just be honest. Just be honest."

"Uh...you know, I really appreciate you giving me a job here and...you've always been incredibly CONSIDERATE and...what I'm trying to say is..." Shinedown began to say before he flinched, hearing Trixie had gotten out the SPARKLERS and the roman candles outside.

"Awaken, sweet pea, to the morn! And to my love! So crisp! So warm!" She proclaimed.

"Look." Shinedown said, sighing. "I made a bet with my sister Trixie that I'd go out with you first, before she did. And if I win I'm gonna blow up her wagon right in front of her and make her watch."

Mettaton was quiet for a moment. Then...

"Darling!" Trixie proclaimed, sliding through the doors of the boutique, hooves holding up sparklers as magic letters spelled out "Go Out With Me" over her head as she beamed...

Only to see Mettaton had scooped Shinedown up in his arms and the two were grinning stupidly at her. "Oh. Trixie. Your brother and I were just about to get a nice brunch together."

And POOF. The sparklers shut off, Trixie's mouth gaping as the letters above her faded to grey and fizzled out, Mettaton and Shinedown making their way past her. Well. This had been easy!

Or at least, so Shinedown thought.

...

...

...

..."Heh-heh-heh. Whaddya think?" Shinedown asked Rarity as he showed off HIS new wagon, gesturing at it with a hoof, Rarity sighing as she bit into her lip. "I'm going to paint it dark blue to match my eyes."

"You didn't tell him the truth, did you?" Rarity quietly said. It was not a question. It was an accusation, and Shinedown flinched as she looked into his eyes.

"It all worked out in the end, so what's the problem?" The Earth Pony asked the Unicorn as he shrugged a little, walking across the parking lot just outside of Mettaton's boutique to pat the wagon on its side.

"The problem is you weren't honest. I understand telling a little white lie to not break someone's heart. Sometimes people need to do that, despite what Applejack might think. Things like..." Rarity waved a hoof in the air. "Oh, I'm SUUURE she'll grow into that jacket! Oh, THANK you for the sweater, Aunt Gertrude, it's JUST what I wanted, you shouldn't have. You REALLY shouldn't have." She muttered, trailing off and glowering slightly.

"I get it, I get it. But it's fine. I'm okay with this." Shinedown muttered, waving a dismissive hoof in the air. "I'll find another time to tell Mettaton how I feel."

"Oh, well he's coming this way now to open up the boutique." Rarity remarked, turning her head as Mettaton strode along the sidewalk, humming and singing a little to himself as he had some headphones on, eyes closed as the sun reflecting nicely off his abs. Ohhh. Those abs.

"Well you can tell by the way I use my walk, I'm a woman's man! No time to talk!"

"Ohcrapcrapcrap-uh...I...um..."

Shinedown then did something very stupid, quickly shoving the wagon behind the boutique, then racing to the front door to wait for Mettaton as Rarity stood in shocked silence. "So! Did Trixie give you the wagon?"

"Um...n-no, actually, she...she said she wanted proof. She wanted to see us go on an actual date. Tonight, at eight. That way she'd KNOW we're doing it." Shinedown said quickly, throwing up his arms in a shrug. "Ahh, family. Whatcha gonna do?"

"I know how you feel." Mettaton sighed. "My cousin, Napstablook, could get kind of like that. Only he's more passive-aggressive than aggressive-aggressive like your sister is."

"Wait, Napst-" Shinedown blinked slightly. "Then...is your name not really "Mettaton"?" He found himself asking. "Is it a "Blook"?"

"Well, yes. It's Hapstablook, but, uh...don't tell anyone." Mettaton admitted, putting a hand on his chest. "I kind of chose this new name when I got my new form you see before you." He intoned, feeling over his chest and grinning in delight. "I was reborn, as it were. A new me! My old name's deeply personal, not just for anyone to know."

"I understand. So, um...tonight at eight? The nice new "Canterlot Cusine" place they opened up?" Shinedown offered.

"Absolutely. But come, come, we've customers to prepare for!" Mettaton insisted, opening up the doors to the boutique, Rarity slowly shaking her head back and forth as Shinedown walked inside after Mettaton, sighing in disappointment.

And so, sure enough, at the end of the day the two were sitting at a table with light blue blankets over it, romantic candles lit as Mettaton talked a mile a minute about his family and growing up as a ghost, Shinedown listening all the while as he munched on a breadstick, head bobbing in agreement.

"You would not believe how...how intensely amazing it felt, having a new body. Then again, you're part Changeling." Mettaton admitted with a nod of his head. "So perhaps you might."

"It isn't easy, being a...y'know." Shinedown sighed. "An "inkblood"." He mumbled. "A lot of ponies still don't like Changelings because of what Queen Chrysalis did not too long ago. Not even having a truce with her kinda eases up on that distrust."

"Can you yourself change color? Appearance?" Mettaton asked as Shinedown cleared his throat.

"Well, I can melt into the shadows if I concentrate. But what I'm most good at...is voices, darling." He said, giving Mettaton a grin and pulling off a perfect imitation of the humanoid robot as Mettaton gasped in surprise.

"Oh my! That's simply amazing! Why did you not tell me that you could imitate voices so perfectly?"

A slight shrug. "You never asked." The Earth pony admitted. "I mean, it's not as useful as full changing of your body, it's mostly just a party trick."

"Well, I think it's very impressive. Can you really do anyone?"

"If I've heard their voice before." Shinedown said, clearing his throat. "Like, for example, Princess Luna, who's voice is MOST regal and impressive when she so desireth!" He proclaimed, waving a hoof in the air before resting his head on his hooves and blinking his eyes, switching his voice again. "Or me, Rarity! The belle of the ball. I bring aaaall the boys to my yard with my charm and wit." Then he flexed his arms, huffing a bit. "Or ME! Iron Bull! With a body so hot, you could EAT OFF IT! HOO!"

"I could think of a few things you and I could do with a voice like that." Mettaton chuckled a bit, a waiter coming by to pour them another glass of wine. And as the night went on, their laughter echoed out through the night as they made their way down the sidewalk...

Running into Trixie, who frowned at the two.

"Oh. Look who it is." She muttered. "I was in such a good mood, JUST came back from a nice play to get my mind off things, and here you two are. Enjoying my wagon with your honey bunch?" She asked Shinedown, waving a hoof in the air as Shinedown flinched, Mettaton frowning a bit at him.

"Wait, didn't you say you wanted to see us on a real date before you gave him your wagon?"

"OH! MY! GOODNESS. You TRICKED him onto a date with you!?" Trixie laughed, hooves flying to her mouth, giggling madly as Shinedown hung his head, Trixie wiping a tear from her eye as she smirked. "That is just too good, I can't...oh, I wish I could have SEX with this moment, it's so beautiful! And I'll be taking my wagon key back. And you will be showing up in my magic act tomorrow. You better hope your cape is waterproof. Not cuz there's a chance of rain. I'm bringing a giant hose and launching you out of it over a tank of sharks."

Shinedown reached into his belt pouch, tossing the wagon key to Trixie as she caught it with a snigger and trotted off down the sidewalk, grinning in delight as Mettaton held his face in one hand, sighing as his voice got low.

"You have really...really disappointed me." He muttered, taking off across the street before Shinedown's voice called out, halting him in place on the dimly-lit marble-paved road.

"You're the only employer that didn't treat me like a THING."

Mettaton stopped, slowly turning around, blinking in surprise. "What?"

"Every other employer got me fired every time something bad went wrong just because I was a changeling. And most of the other employees hated me or distrusted me because of what I was. I would always be blamed because everyone EXPECTS changelings to be lying, manipulating emotion suckers. So I'd go from job to job, bottling everything up, just being miserable." Shinedown quietly murmured, head hung low. "And you were the first employer who didn't see a Changeling when you looked at me. You just saw ME. And this morning was the first and only time I've ever lied to you. And it was just because I wanted to go out with you. I kinda always have because of everything you've done for me. Because you see me as a person. Not just one of "them"."

Mettaton brushed some of his hair back, and now Shinedown could see both pink eyes gazing back as Mettaton shrugged a little and smiled. "You know what? It's...it's alright. Truth be told, I've done much, MUCH worse to the people I cared about. And actually, I..." A blush. "I actually kind of had a lot of fun tonight. See you tomorrow, Shinedown. Take care of yourself."

"You too..." Shinedown said softly, Mettaton striding down the sidewalk as he rubbed the back of his neck and smiled a little.

"...Hapstablook." 

The blue-furred Pegasi that was Rainbow Dash was hovering among the heavy cloud cover, glancing down below at one of the onlookers. The creature in question, armored fish woman Undyne, smiled up toothily as she gave a wink with her one good eye, a yellow thing with a piercingly black pupil.

"Alright Undyne! Ready?!" Rainbow called out as Undyne gave her a nod, readying her spears. "GO!"

Undyne began to lob the spears at full force at Rainbow Dash, Rainbow standing ready as the magical bullets headed her way. As they approached, she began to kick them, each one piercing a cloud and sending it flying into the pools of water below. Watching from a nearby cliff, Alphys shuddered and moaned as she watched her hero go at it, aided by a pony she found rather cute.

"Hey Alphys, whatcha doing?" A voice called behind her, making her squeal in fright. She turned wide eyed and saw Frisk and Asriel, watching the show as well. The brown-haired Asian American and the adorably white-furred goat-boy-esque monster were a charming little sight on any day.

"Ummm... .y-y-y-y-y-y-y-ou know, justsitting here and not having bad thoughts about Undyne and Rainbow Dash, eeeehhehehehe....." She scratched the back of her dinosaur like head.

"Something WONDERFUL just happened." Discord said, many miles away, looking up from his sandwich and beaming in delight.

"Sooooo... what are you doing?"

"Well, we were on our way to Zecora's to get some herbal remedies for Dad." Asriel said. "Seems Berry Punch gave him something a liiiiittle too strong last night, and he has a massive hangover."

Alphys sighed some at that, more naughty thoughts entering the dirty minded anime lover's head.

"Something even MORE wonderful is happening." Discord murmured in delight as Alphys turned as red as a beet.

"Ummm... okay..... you have fun...."

Frisk chuckled. "Actually we were hoping you guys were free later, mom is making some fresh apple pie with Applejack and we all get to sample it."

Alphys smiled. "Well that is an offer I can't ref-"

CLONK! Suddenly she was hit in the head with one of the blunted spears, both Undyne and Rainbow staring in shock. "I'm good! I.... just may need a doctor.... or two..... or ten...."

Frisk and Asriel eeped, seeing the magic spear stuck in one of the tips of Alphy's glasses, just barely missing him. They figured it might be a good idea to head to the Everfree. Nothing in there was more terrifying than a worried Undyne.

NOTHING.

Frisk and Alphys huddled together as they walked through the Everfree forest on the path to the hut where Zecora lived. They already were being watched by a timberwolf pack, and they had a hunch the only thing keeping the two of them from being toothpick treats were the flowers that bordered the path.

"Are you sure we are going the right way Frisk?" Asriel asked, shivering.

"I dunno.... but Twilight did say just to follow the path..." Frisk said. Asriel hmmed and suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Here.... watch this." He focused his magic, suddenly getting older, looking more like his forst form as God of Hyperdeath, except not quite as frightening. He focused his energy, lifting a finger as it glowed with a faintly white light. He smiled as he stopped, nodding in satisfaction.  "That way. It isn't far." Asriel said in a deeper voice. He looked over at Frisk, then down where he stood. "Frisk! What is that?!"

Frisk looked down. All about his feet and nuzzling his skin were beautiful shining blue flowers. He never saw any like them anywhere else in Equestria, and wondered how these were so different. He really wasn't sure about flowers, given the fact that Asriel used to be Flowey, a soulless beast who hurt a lot of people.

And then was eaten by ponies for a few weeks. It got weird.

"Asriel... I got a bad feeling about this." Frisk said. Asriel nodded.  "We better hurry to Zecora's place. Twilight said she knows everything in nature. Hopefully she knows something about these flowrers.

Asriel nodded, the two starting off, neither noticing that Frisk's legs were changing color...

******

"Do not worry, Applebloom. In my tummy I have lots of room." Decora said, stirring the massive stewpot, pouring in some more veggies.

"I surely hope so Zecora... I mean.... there is a lot." Applebloom said, relaxing in the pot, massaing some of the veggies into her tummy, still hurting from the cupcakes.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that. I could eat a whole pony and only barely get fat." Decora said, sprinking some spice on Apple Bloom. "Ahh, the right temprature for my brew. Now relax and we will see what it will do."

Apple Bloom mmmmed at the tasty smelling mixture she was in, bubbling gently thanks to the coals underneath. She could just imagine if AppleJack came in right now, seeing the plate on the table, and her sitting in the big pot.

She giggled at that. "Hey Zecora... next person that comes in, act like this is actually Appleblom Soup and not just a bath to help relax my tummy."

Zecora chuckled. "That sounds like a funny thing to do! Besides, you're TOO sweet for me to eat you!" She nuzzled Apple Bloom and added more of the herbs. "As for that pie tasting, You needn't a care, I assure you that I will be there."

As she said that, the door slammed open, revealing an adult version of Asriel, looking rather worried. Asriel's adult form looked quite nice, with a delightful black robe, the Delta Rune symbol of Monsters on the front with dazzling eyes and a well-built body...yet his face was lined with worry. "Zecora! I need your....." He paused and blinked. "Ohhhhh no. Bad enough I and Frisk wind up on the menu, now you're eating the Crusaders too?!"

Zecora and Apple Bloom chuckled, the philly relaxing in the pot. "It's not stew silly! It's an herbal bath! I had a tummy ache from trying a lot of Pinkie Pie's cupcakes, so I came here to see if she could help it."

Asriel shook his head. "Welll I need help of a different sort. I can't find Frisk!" He exclaimed, his voice getting a terrified edge to it.

Both pony and zebra went wide eyed.

"See, We were on our way here, when Frisk was feeling a little tired. He told me to go on, and I went a few steps. But when I turned around he was just...GONE. Zecora I gotta find him, I cannot even sense his SOUL, and I usually can in this form!" Asriel said, putting a hand on his robed chest, shaking his mightily-horned head back and forth.

Zecora hmmed, tapping a hoof to her chin. "Tell me all the things you did see and do, and where he is might be found by you."

Asriel related the journey, including meeting Undyne and Alphys, and running from a timberwolf.... then he mentioned Frisk finding some bluie flowers. At this Zecora went wide eyed.

"So you found the cursed flowers of blue?! Oh NOW what did the Poison Joke do?"

***

Back on the Path, Frisk had no idea what happened. He didn't know where he was at first, but things looked so much bigger now. Worse, he could not seem to be able to move, and he felt really weird.

"Asriel? ASRIEL!!!" He called.

But nobody came. It was such a shame.

Wait... why did he think that way? He turned about, almost having a panic attack, finally seeing a small pool of water. But when he looked in it, he began to scream.

It was not himself looking back, but a beautiful looking rose. Thing is, the rose had a face like Flowey, and when Frisk blinked, so did the flower. He wasn't sure how but somehow... somehow he was a rose!

"Oh no.....oh NO OH NO! and I am in a world of ponies where roses are....oh wait." He breathed a brief sigh of relief that at least he would not die as a flower thanks to the ability he got from the princesses. Their little gift to keep him from undue harm. But he was still trapped. Unless this was a cruel joke and in truth he could do everything Flowey could. He focused some, and tried to make some "friendliness pellets."

Instead, he made cute little hearts float about him. He was surprised by this as they drifted about him before gasping in surprise, hearing a growl behind him. He eeped as he saw it was the timberwolf from before, and in his shock he fired the hearts. With a THWOOMP they shot forth at the timberwolf...

But rather than hurt the wolf however, the thing suddenly froze, then began to act like a lovable puppy, albeit the most terrifying looking one ever, barking playfully and even rolling about like the annoying dog. Frisk was confused for a second, until he took a closer look at his eyes.

They now had little red hearts in them.

"I get it.... I really did share my love." He said thoughtfully, leaning on a leaf of his thorny steam without thinking, tapping the side of his bud in thought. "Maybe I can use this to get the attention of Asriel." He mused aloud.

Almost on cue, he saw his best friend, as well as two pnies he identified as Zecora the zebra and the Cutie Mark Crusader Apple Bloom. He focused just a few SOUL pellets, as he was calling them (Meaning Symbols Of Unbound Love), and fired, hoping that one of the three would notice.

But as his luck had it.... they hit Zeocra, the one who would most recognize them.

"What the......?!" She managed to get out as little red hearts appeared. She saw the playful timberwolf, and suddenly ran too it, acting very.... Un-Zecora like. "Ohhh, who is a good poochie, who is a good poochie?" She siad, scratching his belly, making some bark come off, a soft sappy tounge licking Zecoras face. The other two blinked.

"Ummmmmm.... what just happened here?" Asriel said.

"It must be Poison Joke! Apparently it turned Zecora into a lovesick philly!"

Asriel blinked. "But why did it affect the timberwolf.. I thought they were immune."

Apple Bloom was about to answer, Frisk readying his SOUL pellets for ANOTHER attempt, when he felt himself plucked from the ground. He "eeped" as he saw it was by a big red pony staring down at him. Oh no.

"Oh hey Big Mac!" Apple Bloom said. "Picking a flower for Cherilee? And it's a rose too, nice!"

"EEEEEEEEEYup." Big Macintosh said through clenched teetrh. Frick cursed his illluck. He would have been at just the right angle to be seen by Asriel, BUT HE WAS FACING THE WRONG WAY! The back of his head was turned around and he couldn't turn his head enough!

"Well... We gotta find Frisk... we think he may have hit some Poison Joke. If you see him on the way out, or anything that might have been him affected by the joke, let us know okay?"

Big Mac nodded, shaking the boy around some. "Eeeyup." He answered, carrying off his gift for Cheerilee. Roses were her favorite treat of all, and Frisk knew that Cheerilee would likely devour him.

Unless...

 

****

As the duo of Asriel and Apple Bloom left the forest, taking Zecora and the timberwolf in tow, the two napping next to one another on a cart Asriel made using his magic, they had NO IDEA where to find Frisk. Luckily, they soom spotted someone who could help, Twilight and Undyne walking by to go see Alphys in the hospital.

"Hey there big guy! Hey squirt! What's up?" Undyne asked, carrying some flowers for Alphys.

"We are trying to find Frisk. We hoped that maybe he was still in the forest, but no luck." Asriel said, telling the whole story. Twilight hmmed.

"Yeah, that's Poison Joke, alright. It is like poison ivy but instead of a bad itch it plays a bad joke."

Undyne groaned. "Sounds like SANS'S kind of flower... but what is up with those two?" Undyne approached, the timberwolf waking and gently licking her hand. "Heh, neat dog!"

"That's weird.... Timberwolves are usually much more feirce... this one is very docile." Twilight hmmed, looking in his eyes. "And last I checked they don't get red hearts for pupils."

Asriel hmmed. "Zecora had the same thing. We thought maybe it was due to poison joke affecting them."

Undyne smiled. "Not much of a joke kiddo. I mean look at him! This timberwolf would be the perfect pet! And best of all I could train it to maybe turn into a wooden suit of armor or something?"

Everyone stared.

"What?! Happens in anime all the time, and we know anime is real right?!"

"Uhhhhhhh....." Twilight hmmed, trying to get off the subject. "Undyne is right... I don't think this is poison joke causing this. Did you two see anything else weird?"

Apple Bloom hmmed. "Well, we did see a big rose on the path. We didn't think roses grew in the Everfree."

Twilight hmmed, then went wide eyed. "Wait a sec! Asriel....this is a long shot, but YOU were a flower before.... so what if-"

"You don't mean... that was FRISK!?" Asriel said. Undyne went wide eyed and began to laugh.

"Oh now THAT is funny! Little lover boy turning into a symbol of love! Now that is hilarious!"

Apple Bloom suddenly gasped. "And dangerous! Big Mac had picked it, and was going to give it to Cheerilee!"

Twilight nodded. "Then that is where we are going. Everyone hang on, I can teleport us th... WHOA!" Before she could, the timberwolf pounced her, waggging his tail and licking her face, making her laugh since it was so ticklish. Undyne smiled.

"Yeah, definately want this for my pet. But it looks like we will have to walk. Twilight, you stay with Barkbark and Zecora and-"

"Barkbark?" Asriel said, Undyne leaning close.

"YOU GOT SOMETHING AGAINST THE NAME." She said with narrowed eyes, the boy turned hyperdeath god shaking his head furiously. "GOOD. Let's movce it losers! To Cheerilee's!"

The three ran off, leaving Twilight with a very friendly timberwolf. She giggled as she finally got up. "Ok.... sit." She said, testing.

Barkbark sat.

"Good boy!" She said. She suddenly realized she didnt have a treat besides an apple. She gulped. "Ummmm.... what do you eat anyway? Besides ponies?"

*********

Over at the aforementioned red-furred Earth Pony's home, Frisk ahhhed relaxingly as he sat in some tea. He was a little hurt when some petals came off, but was relieved that all he was going to be for now was flavoring for a special apple rosepetal tea. The local school teacher Cheerillee was truly touched, brushing some pink hair to the side before giving the red-furred, well-built hunk of a stallion that was Big Mac a big smile.

"Oh Big Mac, this is the best tea I ever had. Thank you, my wonderful Apple Pie." She said, kissing him on the nose

"Eeeyup." He said, blushing shyly. Frisk smiled at the duo.

"Sooooooo... .you're not going to eat me right? I'm not food?"

Cheerilee giggled. "Of course you are sweetie! After tea I am making my special rose and daisy cookies, it's one of our favorites."

GULP.

"Ummmm.... you might not wanna do that." Frisk said, shaking his head back and forth. "See... I have this power, and if I use it, it makes some strange things happen." He warned them.

Big Mac hmmed? "Like what?"

Frisk sighed. He focused and made a couple SOUL pellets. "These. If I hit you with these you will fall deeply in love and what you do will be... well... pretty bad."

Cheerilee smiled. "Oh silly, we are ALREADY in a relationship! But go ahead, I;m curious if it can go further."

Big Mac smiled. "Hope it ain't like last time." He said, the biggest sentence he said for awhile. Cheerilee giggled remembering that.

So Frisk focused and fired... but as he did, Undyne crashed through the front door, taking the bullets head on. Frisk gasped as she sudden;ly froze, then looked at Asriel. "Well hello, handsome." She said wistfully.

"Something AWFUL is happening." Discord gasped, suddenly sitting up in his bathtub, the little rubber ducky he had on his muzzle dropping off as he cringed.

"RUN, ASRIEL!!!!" Frisk screamed, Asriel eeping as Undyne went to embrace him. Apple Bloom was wide eyed as they ran past, the hero of the underworld chasing Asriel. Apple Bloom "oied".

"Ooooooooooh boy. Toriel is gonna be MAAAAAAD..." She said, looking at Frisk. "And as for you, Frisk..."

"Frisk? You mean.. .the flower is Frisk?" Cheerilee said, Big Mac also in shock.

"Yeah, Bro went into the Everfree, I guess to get you some really rare flowers, found the rose, and well the rose was Frisk thanks to Poison Joke, and..."

"Whoa whoa whoa..." Cheerilee said, tapping Apple Bloom. "If that is Frisk why didn't he say so?"

Frisk blushed, wilting slightly. "Well... Big Mac DID brave the Everfree to pick me,, just for you" He said. Cheerilee looking to Big Mac.

"Yeah... he did." She snuggled him. "Apple Bloom, can you take Frisk over to Twilight? See if she can cure him? But Frisk... before you go...." She began to add.

Frisk could see where this was going. "Ok...hold still...." He remarked aloud, taking aim...

********

"In conclusion Princess Celestia, the incident was resolved well. With the exception of the Timberwolf the SOUL pellets were extracted. Seems the timberwolf, Barkbark, is permanently tamed. Frisk is back to normal now, thanks to Zecora's remedy, and He is working with Asriel to clear the Poison Joke enough to allow safe passage in the Everfree with no further incident."

Twilight smiled, sitting in the hospital room, Alphys getting snuggled by both Undyne and Barkbark.

"Ohhh.... I suppose we can keep him.... but what do Timberwolves eat?"

Undyne hmmed. "Well... I found out they eat meat mostly, so I guess we may have to find some here in Equestria. They might also eat spider pastries...so I guess Muffet will have some more customers for her specialties!"

Alphys smiled, petting BarkBark's soft, mossy back. "Well we will figure out out. Did he eat yet?"

Undyne nodded. "Yup! He ate Frisk!"

Everyone spoke at once. "FRISK!!!"

Twilightr illuminated the inside of the Timberwolf, indeed looking like the inside of a hollow log with mossy interior that tickled the little kid. "I'm okay!" He called out, giving them a thumbs up. Seemed he was in no danger after all.

"Now THAT is funny." Undyne said. "Guess you can say our wolf is full of Frisk's love now?"

Everyone groaned.

"Sans really is an awful influence on us all!" The Princess of Friendship groaned, whacking her face with her hoof. "Undyne... if you're looking for laughs, your... BARKing up the wrong tree." Twilight said, giving a little wink.

Undyne tossed a pillow at her face as laughter filled the air, and so ended another day in Equestria.

THE END

 

 

 

 

Asriel appeared, smiling.

"Hi there! Hoped you liked this one. I really was glad to tell about this, seeing Frisk make people fall in love was really cute!

"Well.... except when Undyne thought I was her boyfriend or something... don't tell mom okay? Please?

"Oh and by the way, just so you know Frisk was taken out, completely unharmed. Seemed the moss breaks down food overtime inside a timberwolf so it works really slow, and as a result Undyne just reached right in and pulled Frisk right out. Barkbark now apparently can be used as a sort of emergency shelter if needed.

"Annnnnnd about my changing into my god form. Yeah I can do that at will thanks to the SOUL power everyone gave me. Since I got so much of it I can take adult form with no trouble. But don't worry, I can't use my attacks or anything like that, I just have better natural magical talent as an adult. I can't use it for long though, maybe a day, then I am worn out by the end of it.

"I bet your wondering how I break the forth wall like this when no one else can. Well that is easy. I know this is fanfiction, and that you clearly liked reading it. I'm glad for that. If I could I would hug you in thanks.

"Well... .that's it. Goodnight!"

Asriel vanished, leaving the screen blank.

 

 

 

"Wow. You're still HERE? Don't you have anything better to do?"

Papyrus groaned as he saw the ball slip past his paddle yet again, the score on the screen now 3 to 17. He looked over at his opponent, a beanie wearing colt with a dark brown coat and a controller for a cutie mark. Button Mash was the greatest gamer of Ponyville, and the owner of the only video games the town had, all made by Doctor Whooves. Today, Papyrus and Sans were babysitting the little gamer... and the former was getting his proverbial butt handed to him.

"WHATINTHEHOWDIDYOUIDONTSEE...AUGH!" He said, exasperated as Button Mash giggled. Sans just chuckled as he watched, drinking ketchup.

"admit it bro, he has you beat." sans said, shaking his head.

"NEVEEEEER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL MAKE THE ULTIMATE COMEBACK AND... OH BOTHER." He said as the ball went by again, Button winning the game.

"paps, he boned you. big time." He winked at Button Mash, who chuckled.

"SANS! STOP PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH YOUR INCIDENTAL PUNS!"

"sorry pap. It was an.... incident." He winked.

"AUGH! I NEED TO GO WASH UP, I PLAYED THAT GAME DOWN TO THE BONE." He went wide-eyesocketed and faceskulled. "OH DRAT. I WALKED INTO THAT ONE." With that, off he went, Button Mash piling on the couch by Sans. He was staying at their house for now until mom was out of work, and he loved coming by. The two had so many cool things from underground, like action figures and comic books, and best of all, thanks to their sciency friend Alphys, he had a place where he could plug in his games besides the outlets at home. Yeah, the two were pretty cool.

"hey kid, you having fun?" Sans asked.

"Sure am! Papyrus is pretty cool guy. But he is kind of a bad loser isn't he?"

"eh, pay it no mind kid. we monsters are ALL losers, I mean all of us lost to Frisk right?"

Button blinked. "I don't get it."

Sans gave a softer smile.

"in losing to frisk we won his friendship and our freedom. and we wound up winning a way out of the underground and into the lives of some neat ponies. like you."

Button smiled, going to change the cartridge in his arcade style machine. Now no longer a ping pong game, it now focused on the adventures of Daring Do. It was a game made by Dr. Whooves for Rainbow Dash, and Button Mash also wound up with it.

This was the game Papyrus came out to.

"WOWIE! WHAT IS THIS GAME, HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM?!"

Button giggled. "It's called Daring Do and the Digital Descent. It's about how Daring Do, that's the main character, has to explore these ruins, raiding tombs for lost treasures and hidden artifacts."

Papyrus hmmed. "MAY I TRY ONE LIFE?"

Button was about to nod as the door opened, Button's Mom coming in. Chess Queen was a gamer like her son, with a picture of a chess pawn for a cutie mark, and she loved to play games with her son. Sadly, work often made that hard to do, and so she tried to get what time she could. She thanked the skeleton brothers for babysitting, and left, promising to call on them from now on for babysitting jobs.

But as they left Papyrus just slumped into a chair, Sans looking at him worriedly. "what is it bro?"

"OH....... NOTHING."

"come on. I know you too well... out with it."

Papyrus sighed. "CAN ALWAYS TELL WHEN YOUR CONCERNED... YOU STOP TELLING JOKES. ALRIGHT..." He sits up a little. "EVER SINCE WE LEFT THE UNDERGROUND... WELL I KINDA FELT USELESS. I'M NOT A ROYAL-GUARD-IN-TRAINING ANYMORE, I DON'T HAVE TO CAPTURE HUMANS, I DON'T EVEN MAKE ANY PUZZLES!"

Sans hmmed. "have you tried working as a guard for twilight?"

"IT ISN'T THE SAME SANS. THEY AREN'T REALLY NEEDED HERE. I JUST FEEL.... USELESS. LIKE I AM THE BUTT OF JOKES... DESPITE NOT HAVING ONE."

Sans chuckled. "well... you made a good joke there."

"THE POINT IS SANS THAT THERE IS NOTHING FOR ME TO DO BUT BABYSIT. YOU NEVER DID ANYTHING ANYWAY SO THAT IS NO DIFFERENT... BUT ME I NEED A GOAL, I NEED AN ADVENTURE. I NEED.... SOMETHING." He sighed sadly. Sans looked at his brother and nodded in understanding. Papyrus needed something to fill his life, a goal. He hmmed and recalled that game and suddenly had an idea. It was crazy, but....

"hey, why don't we talk to rainbow dash? i'm sure you would be helpful in one of her adventures with daring do."

Papyrus considered. "WORTH A SHOT. LET'S GO OVER RIGHT AWAY!"

"pap.... it's midnight."

"PERFECT! SHE WON'T HAVE LEFT FOR WORK YET!" And with that he leapt out the window dramatically... .right into the outside garbage can.

"I'M ALRIGHT!" sans watched as two ponies clothed in green carried the garbage can off. "NO I'M NOT!!!!!"

sans sighed. This might be harder than he thought.

***

R,K, Yearling, a well known writer of action stories, was reading aloud the adventures of the famous adventurer Daring Do to several of the young foals and monsters, and was rather pleased how into the stories they all were. She was especially glad to see some of them getting symbols on them which could mean they would also be adventurers.

Good thing to. R. K. Yearling was not as spry as she used to be, despite still being a very active and adventurous philly. See, she was actually in truth Daring Do herself, the legendary explorer, tomb raider, and overall exciting individual. Only one pony in the audience knew who she really was, and said pony with a rainbow mane and tail and a light cyan coat with a rainbow thunderbolt cutie mark was practically squeeing with joy, trying to hide how excited she is to see the legendary pony who was not only her idol, but also a friend.

"... and so, with the chalice of the changelings secure in her maw, Daring Do leapt onto the plane piloted by her best friend and sped away into the night sky. Below, her doglike nemesis shouted up at her, screaming, 'CURSE YOU DARING DOOOOOOOO!!!' as the temple collapsed around him. And so, the world was saved again, thanks to the brave efforts of Daring Do." R.K. Yearling smiled as her audience cheered, the latest story about the Changelings Chalice already a success. As the foals went to buy a copy, the author approached RD, giving her a hoofbump.

"Not bad reading, R.K." Rainbow said with a wink. The two giggled at the fun of a secret identity.

"I HAPPEN TO THINK SO!" Another voice said, scaring the two out of their skins. A fitting thing, the duo soon seeing Papyrus before them when they turned to the castle library entrance. Papyrus had managed to get out of the garbage dump and clean up, but ever since had searched for Rainbow Dash everywhere. By the time he had located the legendary cloudbuster, they were at the castle library, and Papyrus listened intently to the story R.K. read aloud.

And his favorite part was that Daring Do encountered lots of deadly puzzles, his secret (yeah right ~sans) love. R. K. Yearling, being Daring Do in disguise, was not shocked by the skeleton.

"Ah, you must be one of the monsters from the underground. I have heard of you."

Papyrus squeed. "REALLY??? WOWIE!  I AM FAMOUS STILL, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM HONORED AND FLATTERED YOU KNOW OF ME!"

Rainbow chuckled some. "R. K., This is Papyrus. Friends call him Pap. He tried to be part of the royal guard for Asgore while they were underground, but has yet to try it for any of the princesses."

"ACTUALLY, I WAS WONDERING IF YOU TWO CAN HELP ME. SEE.... I FEEL SOMEWHAT USELESS IN THIS UPPER WORLD. BUT I SAW A GAME BASED ON DARING DO, AND I ALSO HEARD THAT STORY... AND I WANT TO TRY IT! I WANT TO RAID IN TOMBS MYSELF, ESPECIALLY ONE FILLED WITH PUZZLES!"

R.K. Hmmmmed. normally she worked alone. But an adventure with Rainbow proved even she could use some help from time to time. Besides, the adventures she had since that time with Rainbow Dash were some of her best sellers! She hmmmed some more as she considered.

"Well.... Daring Do does work with others on occasion. I can contact her and see if maybe... MAYBE... you can join in. But I warn you. She doesn't work too well with others, nor does she allow any slacking off. You need to do your part."

Papyrus smiled proudly. "I AM GRATEFUL! I AM SURE SHE WILL BE HONORED FOR SUCH A COOL FRIEND AS MYSELF TO PARTAKE IN HER ADVENTURES!"

R.K. chuckled worriedly, looking to Rainbow Dash just to make sure this guy was on the level. Rainbow shrugged but nodded reassuringly.

"Well.... at the very least he is somewhat good with puzzles...."

R.K. hmmmed. "Perhaps I can convince her then." She said, walking off. Papyrus tilted his head some as he looked at her.

"IS IT JUST ME... OR DOES SHE LOOK A LOT LIKE THE MARE IN HER STORIES...?"

Rainbow laughed nervously and shook her head feverishly, trying to say how wrong he was, leading him to Sugar Cube Corner to have a snack while they waited. They did not have to wait long. As the two were snacking on some cupcakes (Papyrus preferring the one from Muffet now that she FINALLY could make them be edible), in walked a golden coated mare with a mane that was somewhat like a monochrome verson of Rainbow Dash's mane. On her flank was a compass for a cutie mark, and on her head was a pitched hat. The pegasus, Daring Do herself, smiled as she saw her friend and the skeleton.

"OH MY GOD! YOUR...."

"Shhhhhhhhhhhh... not so loud. Even walls have ears." She pointed at a nearby wall, where an ear shaped monster was sipping a milkshake, then groaned.

"Well, excuuuuuuuuuuse me." He said flatly, walking out as Daring Do pulled out a scroll. It was covered in arcane runes, done in a very weird pattern.

"R.K. said you wanted to help, and Rainbow has said you are a monster who likes hard puzzles."

Papyrus nodded. "YES INDEED! MY PUZZLES ARE EXPERTLY COOKED AND VERY FAIR."

Daring DO pointed a hoof at the runes. "Try this one then. No one can figure it out, not even me." She hmmed as she looked at it. But Papyrus blinked.

"THIS.... THIS IS NO PUZZLE... IT IS A MAZE!" He pointed at a small dot amidst some lines. "LOOK, THIS HAS TO BE EITHER WHERE  YOU START OR WHERE YOU END, AND..." He pointed to a strange symbol that seemed to have no meaning. "... THIS HAS TO BE THE FINISH! SOOOO.... IT IS LIKE MY INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE!" He began to trace his finger across it, but sweated as he could not find the solution. But as he worked...

"Hey... Pap your right!" Rianbow said, pointing her hoof along a path Papyrus had not tried yet. He stared in wonder.

"UNBELIEVEABLE! YOU SOLVED THAT SO EASILY.... TOO EASILY..." He said, Daring Do smiling.

"So, It is a map and not an inscription. This brings me much closer to it."

"CLOSER TO WHAT?" Papyrus asked, curious.

"Long ago, the ancient zebras of the jungle wherein I found this believed that there lay various stones of incredible power. These were not like the Elements, or even many amulets or glyphs, this was a stone that was forged of its own will. A stone that, if the legend holds, was able to bring about eternal life.

"It is called the Lazarus Lapis."

Papyrus blinked. "INCONCIVABLE! WHEN YOU'RE DEAD YOU TURN INTO DUST!"

Daring Do chuckled. "Not with this stone. With it you can cheat death over and over. Immortality in the tip of your hoof... or in your case, the palm of your bony hand."

Rainbow Dash hmmed. "So, you want us to come along?"

Daring Do smiled. "I already had it shown that friends can help when the going gets rough. So, your in." He looked to Papyrus. "As for you, I heard your trying to get into the royal guard somewhere."

Papyrus nodded sadly. "YES. ASGORE DISBANDED HIS FOR THE MOST PART SAVE FOR A COUPLE, AND TWILIGHT REALLY DOESN'T NEED THEM, SO THAT LEAVES ONLY THE PRINCESSES."

Daring smiled. "Pretty lofty goal, it is not easy being one of their royal guards. But if you help me out, I'll put a good word in for you. I have connections in the palace."

Papyrus beamed, but before he could say a word Daring continued. "BUT.... you have to listen to me, and when I say jump, you ask how far you fly, got it?"

Papyrus saluted.

"Good. We set out at once for the Zebracan Wildlands!" She shouted the three heading out, unaware of a shadowy figure watching their every move, chuckling at what they were looking for.

"Immortality.... heh heh heh..."

***

"DAY 12. HOT AND STEAMY, LIKE MY EXPERTLY COOKED SPAGHETTI. THE WILD JUNGLES OF ZEBRACA BLEACH MY BONES WITH THEIR HEAT. FOLLOWING THE MAP, WE TRAVERSE INTO THE JUNGLE DEEPER AND DEEPER UNTIL..."

"Shhhhhhh..." Rainbow Dash said, chuckling some, Daring Do rolling her eyes. the journey to Zebraca had been easy going until they arrived, and sine finding the starting point, an old abandoned village, they had followed the map through what appeared to be a massive and abandoned zebra metropolis. Daring was on constant lookout, her gaze set to all directions, finally raising a hoof.

"WHAT IS IT?" Papyrus whispered, despite his speech still being all caps for some weird reason. Daring Do looked back at the others and narrowed her gaze.

"We are not alone." She turned back to the front.... winding up nose to nose with a zebra clothed in tribal garb and wielding a nasty looking spear. Daring eeped some.

"Take flight!" She screamed, both she and Rainbow Dash taking to the air... but Papyrus just smiled, even as more of the zebra cannibals suddenly appeared.

"WOWIE! YOU LOOK LIKE ZECORA! AND I LOVE THE FACEPAINT AND LEATHER OUTFITS!"

He approached, several of the cannibal zebras speaking to one another in an ancient tongue, one pulling out a book titled "1001 cooking uses for Skeletons", looking Papyrus up and down. You had to admire their creativity in being able to cook Skeletons, all things considered. But still, high above in the air, Rainbow and Daring groaned.

"Is he REALLY that stupid?!" Daring finally said. "They will tear him apart unless he gets outta there!"

Rainbow suddenly had an idea. "Papyrus! Show them your really cool normal attack!"

Papyrus looked up. "OH. OKAY!" He looked to the zebras. "NOW, BE WARNED, IT IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS." He began to pull out a variety of bones, heaving them in rather impossible ways, where they formed the shapes of letters, changed size, turned all colors, and even did the occasional ballet routine around the zebras.

Then.... the attacks began to hit, Pap not even seeing as his wild attack was sending zebras flying left and right. They began to chant and dodge, some catching bones to use in their soup, others shouting in fear and running. Papyrus heaved as he finished, wide eye-socketed as the zebras had mostly vanished, save one he unintentionally trapped in the perfectly built bone cage.

"OH MY... GUESS I OVER DID IT." He said sadly, Daring Do blinking some.

"Ok.... that was cool." She said. Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"Eh, it needs to be about 20% cooler." She said, the two landing below to interrogate the zebra.

"Papyrus.... break out the spaghetti." Daring Do said, grinning evilly. The zebra native said just two words.

"EA HAWO."

***

The three, having learned a little from the zebra thanks to the torture of the almost utterly inedible spaghetti, found that they actually had the map upside down, and finding that out they reached the end of the maze. As it turned out, the end had led them to a massive temple, showing the image of a tomb on it. The three looked at it in awe as they approached.

"Whoa. Awesome." Rainbow Dash said.  The others were silent until finally Papyrus spoke.

"EH, IT NEEDS TO BE ABOUT 20% COOLER." The two ponies looked at him, the skeleton blinking. "WELL IT DOES! I MEAN, FOR AN ANCIENT CRUMBLING TEMPLE IT DOESN'T LOOK THE LEAST BIT FOREBODING, AND LOOK! THE ENTRANCE IS WIDE OPEN! A TREASURE OF IMMORTALITY NEEDS A BETTER PUZZLE TO PROTECT IT! THAT'S ALL I AM SAYING!"

Daring Do chuckled... then thought about what he said. Papyrus was right... it was too easy. It wouldn't be so easy to get in.... unless....

She eeped as a gunshot echoed, the three taking cover. They looked up, and saw a crimson pony with a long black beard, wearing an outfit like as if the pony was trying to be Count Dracula. around him were several spiky maned ponies, several well armed.

"Well, well, well. We meet again Daring Do." The crimson pony said, chuckling some, his golden eyes staring at her, as she gritted her teeth.

"Bloodname." Daring said, the pony shouting in frustration.

"BloodRAIN! RAIN!"

"SEEMS RATHER SUNNY TO ME. HUMID, BUT SUNNY." Papyruis said, earning him a shot that just pass through his ribs. Thank goodness for being a skeleton. "OK, NOW THE TEMPLE IS COOL. THIS STALLION SURE HAS THE COOL EVIL VILLAIN PART DOWN."

The pony chuckled. "Finally, some appreciation. I may have let you steal my last chance at immortality Daring Do, but the Lazarus Lapis is too amazing to pass up. And soon it will be ALL MINE."

Rainbow Dash snorted. "Not likely. Time to get physical!" She said, about to take flight...

As a tranquilizer dart impacted her thigh.

"Wha? OOOOoooooooohhh..." She managed to get out as she fell to the ground. A similar dart impacted Daring Do.  Papyrus eeped as he also was hit by one, falling on his face so hard the skull left an indent of his smile in the ground.

"That WORKED?" One of the men asked, stunned. "Wow. I didn't think a skeleton could get knocked out like that."

"I suppose they're not the only ones stunned." Bloodrain remarked with a wry smile. "Bring them. We may need them inside for the traps."

The men loyal to the evil pony grabbed the three and hauled them in. Inside, there was a massive open cavern, the floor metallic in nature, with an opening on the other side.

"Strange... what is this?" The lead pony said, sending one of his men across. But no sooner had he taken three steps when he suddenly let out a scream, a jolt of electricity shooting through him.

In an instant the minion dissolved into dust.

"An electricity maze?!" BloodRain said. He looked over at Daring Do and checked her supplies. And among them was a paper. It listed three challenges leading to the Lapis.

 

 

He sighed as he looked to the three. "Awaken them. NOW."

****

As he awoke, Papyrus saw that Daring Do was being held by one of the guards, and Bloodrain had a gun toting guard aimed at Rainbow Dash. Papyrus was wide eyed.

"Wha...?"

"Listen monster. You have two choices. Either you cross the challenges or you will watch your friends suffer, and then still have to get the Lapis to save them. Which will it be?"

Ppayrus blinked. He looked at his friends. He then narrowed his eyesockets.

"do you wanna have a bad time?"

BloodRain eeped as Papyrus' left eye glowed a frightening orange. But still he stood. He said nothing, everyone in the room shocked as he spoke outside of his normal self. He looked at the paper and read the clue. Then he looked around the massive room... and saw the answer.

"IT'S THE STALAGTITES!" He said, throwing several bones at them. One by one they began to fall onto the metal plate, forming a path. It was a lot of hard work, but the path through life was never easy. As the last of several stalagtites fell, he leapt onto them and just walked across with no problem, then he reread the clue.

"OK.... ONE DOWN.... NOW... THE WAY OF LIFE." He entered the next room and saw that the floor was actually suspended above what looked like a chamber of lava. In the center of the room were various pillars with pictures, seven in all. They showed bits, food, a heart, a smile, a spear, a ballon, and a skull. Papyrus almost hit the skull given how cool it looked but he remembered the clue. What was most important?

He looked at the pictures. he knew each one represented something. And he chuckled.

"OK, WHOEVER MADE THIS PUZZLE MUST HAVE FELT BAD AFTER THE FIRST ONE. IT IS TOO EASY." He pushed on the heart. "LOVE. LOVE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. LOVE, FRIENDSHIP, HAPPINESS..... WAIT!!!!" Quickly he realized there was two answers, and before he took his hand off, he also pressed his hand on the smiling face. Above him, two ropes began to burn away. Papyrus watched as they led down to the door on the other side, finally opening up. He almost waked through when he heard the click of the gun.

"Good enough skeleton. Now get over here. We got the last one." Bloodrain said, laughing as he walked by. Papyrus growled at his men, who suddenly shivered. As BloodRain went through, he turned, bones in hand.

"time to use the techniques sans taught me." He quietly murmured, suddenly letting fly with the bones, using his fabled blue attack. One by one all of the gyuard ponies felt weighted down, Rainbow and Daring staring.

"YOU TWO STOP THAT CREEP, COOL THOUGH HE IS. I GOT THESE LOSERS! SINCE WE CANNOT BE FRIENDS.... WE WILL BE.... SENDING THEM TO TRACTION!"

Daring froze. "He almost got it." She said, she and Rainbow flying after Bloodrain, but soon emerging in a final massive chamber, the crimson pony standing over a zebra.

And all around were stones with various markings on them. DOZENS of them.

"Well if you won't tell me..." Bloodrain finally said, grabbing a random stone. "I'll just have to find out by trial and error!"

"NO!" Daring Do shouted, but it was too late. even as Bloodrain rubbed the stone on himself, he suddenly began to regress from a frightening and powerful being down to a cute and helpless baby foal, crying and begging for mommy. Daring Do blinked some.

"Well... that was unexpected." She said, looking to the zebra, who stood up. On his flank was a familiar looking mark, looking suspiciously like an outline of the Delta Rune.

"He chose poorly." The zebra said in perfect Equestrian. "As for you.... I knew you would come. the legend told of this day."

Rainbow Dash blinked. "Legend?"

"Yes. The Lazarus Lapis. It was never meant to be in Equestria, or in any dimension where it could be used for terrible means. The legend states that when greedy hearts seek it, there will come ones who will find the stone, and use it's hidden power to send it somewhere safe. So it has always been, so it always will be."

Daring Do nodded. "But... which stone is it?"

"You must choose." He pointed to baby Bloodrain, who was sucking his hoof innocently. "But... choose wisely. The true Lazarus Lapis allows immortality. False ones will bestow other blessings and curses. The one he had returned him to infancy."

Daring Do hmmed. "It would have the word of life.... the word of life... Lazarus. He who was dead and reborn..."

Rainbow looked to her. "Daring?"

"An old legend. Lazarus was a name given to a pony that died and was reborn. Life and death in one stone. But.... what does it mean?"

"I KNOW!"

The three turned to see Papyrus, walking in casually. "THE DELTA RUNE! THE LAZARUS STONE MUST HAVE THE DELTA RUNE, LIKE THIS ONE!" He pointed to a stone with a set of wings and three triangles on it. He picked it up... and nothing happened.

"Only one way to know..." Daring Do said. She pulled out the ashes of the pony who had braved the maze, ashes she had seen upon waking up. The minions had said what happened. If this was the true stone...

Papyrus touched the stone to the ashes, and they began to glow. Slowly, the ashes began to reform into the servant pony, with less scratches and a cleaner coat. He gasped and was wide eyed, finally letting out a delighted cry. "HA! I'm free, I'm free-"

Before falling onto another stone, and turning into a changeling. Still he laughed.

"You have chosen.... wisely." He turned to Papyrus. "It is to your world the stone must go. That is the fate of the stone of life, to be given to those who can guard it." "He turned to the side, pressing his hoof, and revealing a massive vortex. "If you wish to keep it, you must stay here and guard it. But if you throw it in, it will go where and when it is meant to, to one from your world meant to safeguard the stone."

Papyrus smiled, looking to Daring Do and Rainbow Dash. The latter spoke with a smile. "Eh, we got the princesses to help with reformation stuff, we don't need it here. Besides, if it fell in the wrong hands..."

Daring sighed. "Shame we can't keep something though... a souvenir."

The zebra smiled. "That can be arranged." He turned to Papyrus, who nodded.

"OK! I DECLARE THIS QUEST COMPLETED! WE WIN!" He tossed the stone in, the vortex closing forever. Sighing and smiling, he turned to the others. "WELL! THAT WAS FUN! WE MUST DO THIS AGAIN SOMETIME!"

All in the room, even the baby and the changeling, laughed.

*********

And a few days later....

"SANS! SANS!!!! WAKE UP!!!!!"

Papyrus was standing by his brothers unkempt bed, the clock nearby saying 4pm. Sans opened his left eye, showing the blue inside.

"pap..." But Sans froze, seeing his brother. He sat up and was wide eyesocketed, smiling broadly.

Papyrus was clothed in golden armor, wielding a nice looking halberd, a flowing cape behind him. He smiled proudly.

"I DID IT! CELESTIA MADE ME PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD! SEEMS THE ACTIONS I TOOK WITH DARING DO CONVINCED HER TO BE HER ROYAL GUARD HERE IN PONYVILLE, PROTECTING TWILIGHT!"

Sans hugged his cool brother. "i knew you would do it buddy. you made me so proud."

Papyrus began to cry. "FINALLY.... AFTER SO LONG... WHO KNEW ALL I HAD TO DO WAS FACE TERRIBLE DANGER, SOLVE SOME PUZZLES, AND FIND A LEGENDARY STONE CALLED THE LAZARUS LAPIS!"

At that, Sans froze. The Lazarus Lapis? But.... it couldn't be.... could it?

 

*50 years ago*

In the underground, Toriel looked through the ruins, looking for snails, as she heard a whooshing sound behind her. When she turned around, she saw a small stone on the floor, oddly with the mark of the Delta Rune.

"What is this?" She said, picking it up. Legends spoke of a stone like this that could reform the recently destroyed. Given the failed determination experiments sans told her about, many doubt the stone existed.

She smiled some. "Maybe... with this... .there won't be anymore taken souls." She said, looking for a way to use the stone to make resurrection points, among other things. If she only knew the full story of why the stone came to her... or that it was to be with her back in Equestria.

But... what entity had caused this to be, or had it simply been a coincidence?

 

THE END?

...

L...o...R..e...M...i...P...s...U...m...D...o...C...e...T...

Frisk was not having very good dreams.

Over and over, he would find himself descending down, down into the dark recesses of the "True" Laboratory beneath the normal place where Alphys had worked in the underground. The walls a dark green, a chill running through the air, a faint fog all around his feet as he nervously stepped past patient chair after patient chair. Over and over again he'd approach the sinks in the back of the room, turning them on to get the key one of them had inside them, hoping to flood the sinks and for the key to either float up, or the pipes beneath to burst open to get what he wanted. Yet that always gave way to the sight of that...THING coming out of the third sink.

A cute little round, cheery face, twisting and bulging and morphing into a monstrosity with a horrific laugh, large black eyes with pinprick white pupils gazing back. A tongue lagging out of one of many mouths, eternally crying and bleeding-black eyes on a whispy, curved tail like a scythe. This...this odd, strange, faintly melted specter of many faces looking back at him, three in a row all rising up from the sinks, mouths opening and closing and all speaking at once, and saying the same phrase again and again.

"LOREM IPSUM DOCET.

LOREM IPSUM DOCET.

LOREM IPSUM DOCET."

Frisk knew what it meant. Sorrow itself teaches. And he knew what these things were. Pieces of what had once been the Royal Scientist of the Underground, WingDinG Aster, aka Gaster, as he preferred to be called. More bestial and darker traits had risen up in this little "Mini-Me" of Gaster, and they were really only interested in one thing.

"Come join the fun."

"It's a real get together!"

"Become one of us! One of us!"

"You'll be with us soon."  The Memoryheads intoned, as more heads sprang up around Frisk, knocking him back as they bulged and popped, Frisk shivering as the Memoryhead closest to him intoned in a dark voice.

"Sorrow itself teaches."

"Teaches what?" Frisk asked. And again the Memoryheads would get closer...closer. "Look, I-I don't want to join in the fun!" He insisted. How many times had he done this before, only to be ignored as they leapt on him and-

But now it was different. Now they merged together, popping and squishing into one, growing larger and larger as an enormous black maw opened slowly and a voice faintly echoey in tone rang out.

"I only want what's mine. And you have a part of it."

"Wh-what's that?" Frisk asked, a gigantic head now staring down at him, white pupils gazing deeper and deeper into him as Frisk found himself sinking, going further into the endless black that was engulfing him-

And then he awoke, Fluttershy the Pegasus gently dabbing a cloth over his head as he sat up on her couch, glancing about her little cottage. "Wh-what happened?"

"Oh, Frisk, sweetie, you fainted in the middle of feeding the chickens outside. Is it too hot for you? I don't know why you always wear a long-sleeve shirt." Fluttershy sighed a little, waving a hoof in the air. "I mean, blue does bring out your eyes, but you must get very hot."

"No, it...it isn't that." Frisk muttered, holding a hand to his head as he cringed. "I keep having these bad dreams and I haven't slept well lately."

"...dreams?" Fluttershy murmured. "Hmm. You know, I think I know someone who could help with bad dreams." She offered with a gentle smile, clasping her hooves together and beaming.

And indeed, a quick letter from Spike was sent out, and Princess Luna of Equestria was soon back in Ponyville, happily meeting with Frisk as the tired, ragged-faced, scarcely-able-to-keep-his-eyes-open child moaned, rubbing his head as he laid on the couch in Fluttershy's home. Fluttershy handed him some golden flower tea, another very popular dish brought up from the Underground thanks to the kindhearted Toriel, and Luna thoughtfully looked him over, dark blue eyes gazing intently at him as Sans, who was also there to look after the kid, gave the kid a hot dog. Or rather, a hot cat.

"Ugghhh. I'm sorry, Sans. I don't feel like eating it."

"geez. ain't even hungry enough to have one of my specialities? now I KNOW somethin' ain't right with you." Sans said, shaking his bony head back and forth. "maybe a joke'll cheer you up. what do you call a guy who gets run over? tired."

Fluttershy, Luna and Frisk all slooooowly turned their heads to directly look at each other, then at Sans, saying absolutely nothing. "..."

"...wow, something IS wrong with you. not even a chuckle." Sans commented with a surprised look on his face.

"I can see his soul's aura. It is plagued with bad dreams. Something has a grip on him." She reasoned aloud. "Frisk, I ask of you. Tell me EVERYTHING thou dost remember of thy dreams. It's most imperative."

"I'm dreaming of these...amalgamates. Melted-together things, pieces of a person that used to be. They're called Memoryheads because they're...well, they're like living heads that are the embodiment of a memory of a man." Frisk said, his tone sounding just as exhausted as the child looked. "A man named Dr. Gaster. He used to be the Monster Kingdom's Royal Scientist...and he was Sans and Papyrus's big brother."

"Whatever happened to him?" Fluttershy softly inquired.

"He fell into his machine, into the time/space continuum and now's in pieces."

"what Frisk here means is that he's at a PIECE conference." Sans remarked wryly.

Many, many, MANY miles away, something stirred. A very furious growl turned into a roar as a cracked face snarled out high and loud enough to crack every glass window in Canterlot. Which it DID.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT BONEHEAD SAID THAT!!!"

"OW. OW. Sans, that joke was so bad it's physically hurting me, OWWW." Frisk moaned out, Luna whacking her head against the nearby wall over and over again, Fluttershy covering her face with one hoof as Sans nonchalantly shrugged.

"maybe you're right. guess I should leave and make sure you get some-"

"DON'T YOU DARE-"

"PIECE and quiet."

"OHHHHH." Frisk groaned, writhing on the couch as Sans exited the house, laughing uproariously as another pained groan echoed out from miles away in Canterlot.

"Ugggghhhhh. How detestible. He should put more backbone into his pu-" Princess Luna began to say before cringing. "Oh sonofa-"

"HA!" Sans laughed.

Unbeknownst to them, it wasn't Frisk who was in the most danger. No, that dubious honor went to Papyrus, who was hard at work in his new job as a guard for Princess Celestia in her palace at Canterlot. Well, "work" is a strong word. Because currently, he was, along with the other guards, enjoying a nice game of charades with her. Celestia was pantomining a clown to demonstrate the circus, though the guards couldn't quite pick up on that, least of all Papyrus. Then again, perhaps the other guards DID realize it, they just couldn't speak over Pap's VERY loud voice.

"OH! OH, YOU ARE A FLOWER! NO, NO WAIT, YOU ARE A PATIENT FROM AN INSANE ASYLUM! NO, NO WAIT! A MAGICIAN! YES, I AM CERTAIN YOU ARE A MAGICIAN! IS THE WORD MAGIC?"

Celestia chuckled a little, Papyrus happily bouncing up and down in the throne room as she cheerily smiled back, some of the other guards jabbing each other in the side, snickering a bit at his childish exeuberance. It was really quite adorable.

But then the room began to get dark and cold, a chill settling in as Celestia realized that she could see her breath right in front of her. She gasped, quickly looking around the room as the expanse all about her began to convert into utter shadows, and she narrowed her eyes. Was this Discord playing a prank? It couldn't be Sombra, he wasn't around anymore! What was going on?

"....PaPyRuS..." A voice whispered, its voice haunting and echoing as Papyrus stiffened in shock, Celestia looking over in his direction before inky blackness began to swell around him, Papyrus struggling to get free of the darkness that was engulfing him. He let out a gasp, trying to push the other guards away so they wouldn't get sucked in, Celestia racing towards him.

"NO! PRINCESS, STAY BACK! I DO NOT WISH YOU HARMED!" Papyrus insisted, the blackness carefully pinning his arms to his sides as a form rose out of the black, its face skeletal, one black crack running up its right eye, another running down towards its mouth on the left as it gazed over Papyrus, bony hand clasping Papyrus's cheek. "DO...DO I KNOW YOU?"

"You don't remember, Papyrus?" It spoke. "I remember everything about you. Everything."

Papyrus's mouth gaped open slightly, Celestia taking a step forward, eyes intently narrowed as her horn glowed. "You release him NOW. I will not allow you to harm an innocent."

"I only want what's mine." The being said. "I need...to make USE of you." It told Papyrus.

And with that, the inky blackness exploded outward like a bomb, Celestia reeling back along with the guards as she gasped, glancing around...

Papyrus was gone.

AN HOUR LATER...

Sans was calmly sitting on a bench in the park, leaning back and doing nothing. Just the way he liked things. Calmly sighing, he looked up at the sky, and the clouds idly passing by as he saw Papyrus approaching off in the distance, dressed in his normal attire and eagerly sitting down next to him. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" Papyrus asked Sans.

"well, i like to watch shapes in the clouds. that one looks like a flying dragon, see?" Sans said, pointing with a bony finger up at a draconic-shaped puffy cloud that looked like it was belching out 'flames', Papyrus nodding in agreement.

"OH, YES, IT DOES INDEED."

"and that lil' one over there looks like a mother duck, and the other ones after it are lil' ducklings."

"LIKE THAT CUTE LITTLE BIRD THAT LOVES TO CARRY PEOPLE OVER RIVERS?" Papyrus inquired.

"yeah. we gotta treasure that bird." Sans agreed with a calm, respectful nod.

"MAY I TRY ONE?"

"of course, paps." Sans said with a wink, Papyrus rubbing his long chin before pointing upward with a red-gloved hand.

"OOH! THAT ONE LOOKS LIKE A WOUNDED DERPY WITH SMOKE COMING OFF OF HER WINGS-"

KRAKKA-THROOOOOM! Derpy Hooves crashed hard into the market, a cry of "MY CABBAGES" echoing out through the air as a loud "Sorry' echoed out soon after, Derpy limping by them, angrily holding up an exploded mailbag, complete with the shredded remains of what had been a suspicious package and cake frosting  and cabbages all over her body, Sans raising a nonexistent eyebrow as he looked her over.

"what happened?"

"It's a SICK world we live in with SICK PONIES!" Derpy shrieked, grumbling darkly as Papyrus shook his head back and forth.

"WHAT A SHAME. THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER SEND MAIL THROUGH THE POSTAL SYSTEM."

"yeah. i'm guessing that was a Boom Boom Cake of Pinkie Pie's."

"HOW CAN YOU TELL?"

"cuz she's got a real explosive personality."

Silence for a long, long time before Papyrus wryly remarked "...I HATE TO TELL YOU THIS, BROTHER, BUT YOUR JOKE JUST...BOMBED."

Sans stiffened a little, slowly turning his head, as if truly seeing Papyrus for the first time, his mouth agape in surprise as Papyrus put a hand on his shoulder...with incredible weight behind it. "you're not paps."

"NO...I'm not." The being that was not Papyrus said. "You know who I am, Sans. And you know why I'm here. You understand why."

"gaster, come on, he's just a child-" Sans began to say, Gaster's stolen form shaking its head back and forth solemnly.

"I'm not going to harm him anymore than I've harmed Papyrus. Or that I'll harm you. I only want what's mine." Gaster explained. "Now come. It's time for all of us to be one big family, Sans. The way it should be." He intoned kindly, as Sans felt a large embrace engulf him, the shadows swallowing his form as he fell deeper, deeper, deeper into the abyssal black around him...

And then, within a few moments, there was only what appeared to be Sans on the bench as he made his way back towards Fluttershy's cottage. "now then...third time is the charm." ...

...

...

...

...Frisk was still on the couch, fast asleep as Luna held a hoof to his head, focusing intently, her lips slightly pursed. Fluttershy stood nearby, biting her lip as the light softly filtered in through the window, bathing over Frisk in soft golden light as Luna cringed.

"This is serious. An immense block is inside his mind. Whatever's inside him has placed a mental barrier that I cannot easily break through. I will need additional help, Fluttershy." Luna sighed at last, removing her hoof from Frisk's forehead before steepling her hooves, lying back in the chair she was sitting on. "He will have to be taken to Zecora."

"taken to ol' stripeybutt, huh?" Sans's voice rang out as they turned, seeing he was stepping out of the closet, Fluttershy gasping as she slightly jumped up in the air. "what? c'mon, Fluttershy. nothing wrong with a couple skeletons in your closet. everybody has 'em."

"I take it you could simply...shortcut your way to Zecora?" Princess Luna mused aloud as he looked Sans over, the skeleton giving a cute little wink, showing off a faintly royal blue glowing eye as Frisk was softly hovered through the air and over towards him. "However are you able to do that?"

"ahhh, blue magic runs in the family, really." Sans the Skeleton remarked with a shrug. "both my brothers got different mastery over it. But Paps's spirit's tied to the trait of Bravery, so his magic comes off more orange. Me, I'm patient, so mine's light blue." He remarked with a shrug, unzipping his blue jacket as the sleeping Frisk was caaaarefully lowered down, down, and soon, was perfectly positoned right in front of Sans's form. With a little smile, Sans zipped his jacket back up, Frisk now warmly tucked away in the jacket almost like a mother kangaroo with her baby joey, as Sans patted the sleeping child on the head. "theeeere we go. all snug as a  bug in a rug."

"You've been waiting to do that to him for a while, haven't you?" Fluttershy asked with a smile. "I can tell."

Sans gave her a big grin. "oh, you've no idea." He said, reopening the closet. "i'll see you two later. got a lot to do." he remarked before popping into the closet again, Fluttershy smiling before suddenly stiffening up. Something hadn't been right. What had he said? "My magic's light blue".

...but Frisk had been surrounded in a royal blue light.

"Princess Luna, I think something terrible has just happened." She realized aloud, wheeling around and looking into Luna's eyes. "We need to find Ms. Toriel immediately."

Meanwhile, Frisk was still tucked away inside the jacket as Gaster-Sans calmly walked down the forest path, heading to the abandoned Castle of the Two Sisters, the old castle of Princess Luna and Celestia. The castle was long overgrown, its steeples crumbling and cracked with trees around it drooping and saddened, everything about it giving off the air of dejection and abandonment as Gaster's borrowed form approached the front of the castle and pushed the doors open. Little Frisk was still fast asleep, Gaster's stolen form looking quietly down at Frisk, biting into a lack of bony lip.

He felt guilt. Frisk had been nothing but kind and loving to monsters like him. He'd freed his kind, he'd given his brothers something to live for again. Such a dear child.

"I..." He hesitated, gently stroking Frisk's brown-haired head. He just looked so cute, all tucked away tight and warm and safe in his jacketed body. "...he's just a child..."  He murmured.

But he wanted to be whole again so dearly. To just be himself. Before he'd only been able to hold onto the material world in little bits and pieces, barely able to manifest for more than five minutes. But now with Sans and Papyrus sampled...

And soon it would be three with Frisk. Out of everyone in the Underground, four had the strongest physical connection to him. He'd been scattered in pieces across the Underground, and had barely managed to scrape enough of himself together for this wild, desperate plan. He needed four souls, and the pieces of himself within them: Sans, Papyrus, Frisk and Alphys. With Papyrus, his physical form would become more stable. With Sans, his mind would get more stable. With Alphys, he could get back his Soul. And with Frisk would come his heart, his compassion. He needed that. He needed to feel again. To just love someone.

"You're only feeling remnants of a man who once was." He murmured to himself, gently taking Frisk's sleeping form out of his jacket and laying him on a table as his visage began to shift, growing taller and darker. "You don't truly feel guilty. All you feel is a shell. Intellectually, you know you should feel disgusted. But you don't truly feel it. With the child claimed, you will. With the child claimed, you will feel again. Be almost utterly whole again. It's everything you want, isn't it?"

He now stood tall, a large skeleton in a dark cloaked robe with a silver undershirt, his form lean and faintly thin. A black crack ran up his eye, another running down to his mouth from the other eye, his skeletal hands having large holes in the center as he gently laid one on Frisk's head. "Believe me." He spoke softly to Frisk. "I'm truly grateful. With this, I'll be whole again. And you'll never be alone." He offered, shadows beginning to rise around Frisk as his SOUL was exposed...

Gaster flinching as he reeled back, cringing as he clutched at his chest, feeling his remnant of a Soul, his pale imitation flinching. Damn. The soft light of Sans and Papyrus within him were objecting. They were almost utterly overpowering him. Perhaps he couldn't claim the child yet. He'd need more raw power. Perhaps Alphys would do. Her Soul was rather weak-willed in comparison, and would provide the boost needed.

Ah, well. For now he could at least do one thing with the child. Carefully lifting the child up, he placed him between the folds of his coat as he buttoned it up more, the little one nicely tucked away inside him as he softly enjoyed the gentle movements of Frisk turning ever-so-slightly in a peaceful slumber. Sighing, Gaster sat down against a nearby wall, and softly drifted off to sleep himself to join the child in dreamland...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Whilst Princess Luna and Fluttershy had been checking in on Frisk, Alphys was checking in on the local school where Toriel and Undyne were teaching. With sunny skies casting soft rays of sunlight down onto the grassy fields around the red building, Alphys hung back, watching as Undyne the Mer-Woman did a few flexes of her scaly muscles, giving the kids a big, fanged grin. Her red ponytail flicked back and forth in the wind as Toriel stood nearby, paws clasped together as she stood by Ms. Cheerilee, Undyne holding up an arm and flexing. "Alright, lil' fillies! You know why you're here? Cuz it's gym class day and that means you get ME. And you know what we're gonna do?"

"No, but I got a feeling you're about to tell us." Diamond Tiara remarked, the pink-furred little filly cringing slightly as Undyne gave her a slight stink eye with her one good eye.

"You bet your flank I am! It's time for fifty laps around the school yard, hollering about how great we are!" The yellow-eyed monster proclaimed. "We're gonna!" She roared, flexing. "GET!" Another flex. "BUFF!"

"More like "fluff"." Diamond Tiara sighed as she looked down at her stubby little hooves, hanging her head as the other kids glanced at each other, then shrugged, deciding that hey, they like yelling! Why not?

"ROCK SOLID, BABY!" Undyne cried out dramatically, flexing her arms some more as the kids began running around the school yard, hair whipping through the air as the wind blew, the part-time gym teacher and part time royal-guard-member smiling in delight as Toriel giggled. "Ahhh. You were right, Tori. Nothing's more satisfying than leaving an impact on a child's life." She reasoned. "Especially when you can do that by bench-pressing them."

"I am amazed at how quickly you connected to them." Ms. Cheerilee said with a happy smile, nodding her head in agreement as Toriel nodded as well. "You're clearly a natural gym teacher."

"Well, it's my job as the current Head of Asgore's Royal Guard to decide what weenies get into the guard. Drilling them into shape! Kicking butt, taking names! The louder I yell, the more they'll learn!" She laughed. "Well, actually, it's really about the stick." She said, wagging a clawed finger in the air. "I'm a very carrot and stick approach...though mostly 80% stick."

"When do you use the carrot?" Cheerilee inquired.

"When I'm cooking, of course." Undyne remarked cheerily. "Nah, I'm almost all stick there too! I use the carrot when I can tell a student isn't ready for the full treatment. Papyrus used to get the carrot a lot." She added with a sigh. "He was just too...nice...to be in the royal guard. But now it's good to see that he's unlocked his full potential by focusing his gifts! Now..." Undyne struck a pose. "To go join the kids! Hup hup hup!" She took off running, Toriel giggling a little as she and Cheerilee turned, seeing Alphys slightly hiding behind a nearby bush.

"Oh, Alphys, why are you hiding?"

"Sorry. Force of habit." The yellow-scaled, dinosaur-esque monster nervously remarked with a small smile. "I'll go talk to her after she's done. But I also wanted to see you too, Ms. Toriel. How have you been?"

"I've thoroughly enjoyed teaching here for the ponies in Equestria." Toriel admitted with a big smile. "It's always heartening to see others willing to learn what I have to impart, and I've worked out an exhaustive curriculum with Cheerilee. Tomorrow the children will be learning about mathematics. Tragically, many of them find it boring, so I devised a way to get them interested."

"How?"

Toriel whipped out a basket of scones, grinning from fuzzy ear to fuzzy ear, Cheerilee clasping her hooves together in delight. "I have about...thirty scones. I think it's a simple matter of division and subtraction! With the end result naturally becoming zero." She laughed, Alphys smiling in agreement as Cheerilee trotted off to go join Undyne in the laps. It was FUN to run around, hooting about how great you were. However, the good times were soon over as a very-serious-looking Princess Luna descended from the skies, Fluttershy by her side as they quickly raced over to Alphys, Toriel staring in surprise. "Oh! Your majesty."

"Your majesty." Princess Luna responded in turn with a calm nod back.

"Oh, I'm not the queen anymore." Toriel remarked with a shake of her head. "Those days are behind me, I believe. But you look as though you've seen a ghost. Whatever is the matter?"

Fluttershy tapped her hooves together, head slightly bowed, pink mane sloughed down. "Um...we think that an imposter Sans has kidnapped Frisk!" She managed to blurt out.

"We worried it might be a changeling, but changeling magic is a distinctly sickening green color, and this was a deep, royal blue that we saw the imposter using to lift Frisk up." Princess Luna added, Toriel having dropped the basket of scones as they scattered all about the floor, the words "Kidnapped Frisk" making her mouth hang open so wide you could have fit a beach ball into it. Alphys began quivering, almost having a panic attack as Princess Luna continued, sweat dribbling down Alphys's brow as the words "Magic" and "Royal blue" began to echo in her mind. "Is there a monster that can imitate people's appearance-"

"Royal Blue Magic?" Alphys whispered out, eyes going wider and wider.

She could hear the music echoing out from the room, and walked down the long, dark green hallway. A guitar was playing a fairly simple, and very iconic chord, an all-too-familiar voice echoing out through the laboratory as she got closer and closer. Pushing open the set of double doors ever-so-slightly, Alphys peeked inside, an enormous bony mass rising up higher and higher, growing larger and larger as pieces were added to it, all suspended in a royal blue aura of pure, raw power.

Her dear friend was playing away at the grey guitar, a red headband around his head twisting about as he played harder and harder, the chords now joined with riffs, the song getting progressively more metal. The bony pieces began to form into a more definite shape, that of a gigantic, huge skull that was very bestial in design, almost draconic in its visage as he sang loudly and proudly, a look of clear joy on his bony face. A black line rose up from his right eye, going up his skull whilst another line rose down from his left eye, down to his mouth as he toothily grinned.

"And the science gets done, and you make a neat gun for the people who are still aliiiiiive!" W.D Gaster sang out.

"GASTER." Alphys realized, Toriel's body stiffening as her eyes widened as well, Alphys's claws flying to her cheeks. "Oh my God oh my God oh my God!"

"Gaster...Sans, the real Sans, mentioned him. He was their brother, the former Royal Scientist, correct? We heard he was scattered across time and space." Fluttershy asked, clearly confused as she tilted her head to the side, Princess Luna looking from Toriel to Alphys as Alphys adjusted her glasses.

"Yes, Gaster was the former royal scientist before me, and Sans and I both worked alongside him. He was brilliant, REALLY brilliant! Also kind of a goof sometimes. Guess it runs in the family." The dinosaur-esque monster sighed. "And yeah, he used to be with us until he fell into his machine, a device we had made to time travel. We wanted to use it to go back in time and prevent the Monster/Human War from ever happening, but there was an accident and he got scattered. But royal blue magic...nobody else could lift people but Sans and Paps, let alone have magic tinted like that!"

"I cannot believe I just...forgot about him." Toriel murmured. "He was so dear to us, especially before the War."

"What was life like before the war?" Princess Luna inquired, Toriel now looking very, VERY guiltily down.

"Well, er...Asgore's father had...that is, Dr. Gaster was the Royal Scientist for HIM to, and was asked to study human souls and prove whether the old legend we'd had passed down from our ancestors was true. He wanted to learn if monsters could absorb souls. Before it wasn't something we knew we could really do, it was just a myth to us, but then-" Toriel flinched.

"Ohhhh." Princess Luna cringed at the implication. "Oh MY."

"How...how did he remove the souls?" Fluttershy asked.

Silence from the two monsters as they quietly and nervously looked away, Princess Luna sighing sadly. "I shall not judge you. I did awful things myself when I allowed resentment and hatred into my heart and became Night Mare Moon. I almost caused 1000 years of darkness and doomed all of Equestria. We've all done things we regret and wish we could take back."

"Indeed, we have." Toriel quietly sighed. "But I cannot let Gaster harm my child. Do you know where he took him?" She asked.

"Not exactly..." Fluttershy quietly admitted as she bit her lip. "But we thought we could ask you two, see if you knew anything about him that could help us learn about where he might go."

"If you truly were his friend for so long, he might try to reach out to you, would he not?" Princess Luna asked of Alphys as she nodded, slightly wringing her hands. "And if so...I have a plan."

...

...

...

... "Sans" approached Alphys as she sat on a bench in the park, sipping on some soda, trying not to look worked up as he sat down next to her. "heya, Alphys. how's it hangin'?"

"Oh, I'm fine! How are you?" She asked in her slightly nasally voice, cringing a bit.

"...fine myself."

"Fine, fine. It's good that you're fine."

"yeeeep."

"Yes, we're both feeling fine. It's fine to feel fine isn't."

"yes, it's...it's fine."

"Yes, we're both feeling fine! Yep! Both! Feeling! Fine!" Alphys said with a big smile, quivering slightly as "Sans" calmly waited. One...two...

"GAAAAH!" She groaned out, hanging her head. "I feel sick!"

"you think I can't tell when you're lying to me?" Gaster's voice rang out from Sans's form. "Alphys, come with me. You can have it done willingly or by force. Your choice."

"Just tell me where Frisk is." Alphys mumbled softly, head bowed as "Sans" took her shoulder and patted it.

"I haven't harmed him, I assure you. Now..."

A blink, a woosh, shooting through a tunnel of stars...and then, there they were, in Princess Luna and Celestia's old castle, Gaster now in his true form as he waltzed over to the sleeping Frisk, who was lying down on a nearby table as he gestured at the boy. "I've got both Papyrus and Sans within me, their entire being helping to constitute myself. With you and the human, all the pieces of me will be complete. I'll no longer be a shell of myself, Alphys. Can you understand how lonely it feels, just helpless, barely able to do anything but...watch? Watch as everyone forgets about you, and all that you did amounts to near nothing? To know that despite how hard you worked to help others, they remember nothing of you?"

"That is just not true." Alphys said, shaking her head. "They DO remember. I know Sans does. He even told a bad pun about you, Doctor."

"Do not stand on ceremony, Alphys, we've known each other for decades, you needn't call me-" Gaster stiffened as he suddenly swept towards "Alphys", and held a hand up, her body shrouded in Blue as her soul was made manifest...

"I THOUGHT you were a bit too light when we were teleporting. Who are you really?" He asked the imposter as the charade faded away in a soft burst of starlight, and Princess Luna now stood there, tall and proud.

"The others were told to hone in on me when my illusionary spell faded. They shall be here shortly." She reasoned. "Let the child and those you have absorbed go."

"I only want to be whole again." Gaster reasoned. "You should understand. You were locked away within yourself, helpless, unable to do naught but watch as Night Mare Moon made use of your body." He quietly intoned, his eyes slightly narrowing as he paced around her, sliding smoothly like a snake. "Imagine a world where everything functions perfectly without you. Where you are less than nothing. Where you are HELPLESS and able to do nothing but watch. You endured that. And you'd condemn me!?"

"No. What happened to you was wrong. Don't take it out on an innocent." Night Mare Moon insisted.

"Take it out? The process isn't painful." Gaster cooed. "It's actually quite pleasant, if not slightly surprising. Come...let me demonstrate!" He proclaimed, shooting towards her, black shadows stretching off his body as Luna's horn lit up. Bluish/purple light coalesced around it as she erected a shield, the shadows trying to pierce through it like needles trying to pop a bubble. Gaster rose high, high into the air before he held his long arms up, slamming them down on the shield just as Luna shot forth, slamming into his chest and knocking him back.

The shadows of his body caught him and re-righted him as she launched waves of blue and purple magic at him, Gaster sliding left and right as he grinned, giving her a small wink. "Do you believe I am going to stand there and let you hit me? No." He remarked, making gestures with his hands as bones shot from the ground, cascading towards her like a landslide. Luna flew up, up through the air as he made more odd gestures with his hands, the bones shooting at her as he shook his head back and forth. "You are only delaying the inevitable." He quietly sighed.

"Let them g-go!"

He turned, seeing Alphys was sitting atop of a yellow-furred pony, Toriel standing nearby as she folded her arms over her chest, Gaster lowering the shadows that were raised on their hackles around him, looking them over. "Ahh, you came, Alphys. You, Papyrus, Sans, Frisk..." Gaster said, clapping his hands as he shifted from himself to Papyrus, then Sans, then back to his normal form as he bounced his head back and forth. "All the pieces...pieces...pieces of me."

"Doctor, we know you want to be whole again." Toriel said softly, Frisk letting out a quiet moan as he rose up from the table. He hadn't been having any nightmares since Gaster had taken him, but he was still shocked out of his mind to see Gaster standing tall in front of the others. "But you needn't harm others to be happy. And absorbing them into yourself is taking away their freedom. It isn't right to harm others in the name of freeing others, that's the very thing I fought against."

"My former majesty, please understand. I am a shell of my former self. An echo. This is the only way to regain my form." Gaster spoke longingly.

"Not necessarily." Alphys offered. "Toriel has something that could help. We just needed Princess Luna to stall you."

Toriel launched something through the air, Gaster catching it in one bony, holed hand...looking down at the Lazarus Lapis in his grip as his body was bathed over in the green healing magic within. His eye sockets filled with the light, growing larger and larger, letting out a gasp as Sans and Papyrus slid out from the folds of his cloaked jacket, flopping onto the grassy floor below as Princess Luna quickly pulled them away, Frisk ducking under the table...

And then everything went white, and Frisk now saw Dr. Gaster standing alone in a dark abyss, his back turned, head slightly bowed as Frisk approached, nervously holding out a hand and taking the skeletal monster's cloak. "Um...mister Gaster?"

"...doctor." Doctor Gaster said, his voice having the less harsh, rusty echo to it that it had possessed, yet still somehow haunting and faintly reverberating in the infinite abyssal expanse of black around them. "Dr. Gaster. And...would that this would be enough." He said, slowly turning around, revealing a small White heart floating right in his chest, Frisk gasping. It had been cut in half, and the other half connected to it was the stone itself, the heart faintly pumping as Gaster mournfully stared down at Frisk. "The Lazarus Lapis is designed to resonate with your Soul. To connect with it to bring back your physical body, and all that comes with it. But I only had half a soul. And that means only half the work is done. My physical form is returned, my abilities with them. But that...that is all."

He closed his eyes, shaking his head back and forth. "I am everything and nothing. Everywhere and nowhere. I can't...feel anything but echoes. Not even with this making up part of me."

"I'm sorry." Frisk said, gently hugging the doctor as the skeletal monster stiffened slightly before gently kneeling down, Frisk feeling him wrapping his cloak/jacket around him much like how Sans sometimes liked to do to tuck Frisk away, nice and snug.

"Ha ha...you know, that...that does make me feel better about this." The doctor quietly whispered, Frisk feeling something gently landing on his forehead. Drip...drop. Drip...

Drop...

Drip...

...drop.

"Thank you."

A gentle, soft warmth spreading over him, as the infinite black settled in...

"...please. Forget about me."

And then Frisk was back in the castle with the others as they slowly rose up, rubbing their heads as they looked around, Sans blinking slowly. "whuh...what just happened?"

"...I don't know where to begin." Frisk admitted, looking off in the distance, a white figure faintly similar to himself standing there before shifting, changing shape...vanishing into the distance.

...

...

...

... "So he's...gone?" Princess Celestia asked of Sans as he and Papyrus stood in the throne room, Celestia steepling her hooves, her face filled with concern as she looked back at them.

"we think he has his physical form back, but anything else is just...kinda not really there at all." Sans sighed. "he's a real nowhere man now."

"MY POOR BROTHER. I WISH THERE WAS SOMETHING I COULD DO TO HELP. WHEN I WAS INSIDE OF HIM, I COULD FEEL AN ENDLESS SADNESS SWALLOWING ME..." Papyrus murmured, clutching himself, shivering slightly as he closed his eyes, Princess Celestia biting into her lip. This was a concern indeed.

"Someone who can teleport, become invisible, change shape...he could be anyone and anywhere." She whispered softly, Sans shrugging before suddenly shivering, feeling as though familiar eyes were upon him. He thought he saw a crack running up the eye of one of the guards on either side of the Princess, looking away and flinching. When he turned back, the guard was normal, and he sighed, a maid servant couple bringing in some cake for them, specially made by Muffet for the upcoming anniversary of Celestia and Luna's ascension to the throne. "We should keep an eye out for him. But for now, let us celebrate early. Celebrate having you two back with us. It would be horrible to lose two dear friends."

"yeah, probably best not to talk about Gaster for now." Sans said, a maidservant slicing off a piece of vanilla-frosted cake for him, giving him a slice that had a little pink rose on it as he gulped, swearing he saw a crack running up HER eye as well. Or was it on Papyrus's? Or Celestia's? Or his own reflection in the mirrors that lined the hall, or-

Sans shook his head. "yeah...better not. after all..."

He shuddered.

"it's rude to talk about someone who's listening."

UNDERTALES OF FRIENDSHIP!
A collab series by NGrey651 and Misterebony

Today's Episode:

DerpTEMMination!

 

Temmie was crying in the rainy streets of Ponyville. What had just happened was absolutely horrible. The laughter, the teasing, the harsh words, it was too much for one Temmie to bear. Worse, her super deluxe ultra rare super delicious Temmie Flakes were now mushy in the mud, the catlike monster crying and shivering.

"Hey... you okay?" A kind voice said behind her. Temmie turned, and saw a sight that made her go wide eyed with uber cute happiness. The grey pegasus before her was about average size, gently flapping her wings, with seven bubbles for her flank tatoo, as Temmie called it. But the cuteness came from those eyes, one looking up, the other down, making her look so huggabale combined with thta Frisky Fun smile.

She called it that because it reminded her of Uber cute and snuggly hoooooooooooooman Frisk, such a CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!

But, she remembered what happened, and sobbed again. "Tem.... sad, so 1 lik Teme, cuz Teme tak werd."

The pony sat beside Temmie, offering her an umbrella, making the Temmie blink happily. "I know what you mean. Ponies pick on me all the time because of my derpiness. They even call me Derpy. My full name is actually Dizty Do Derpy Hooves."

Temmie smiled widely from ear to ear. Literally. "Derp e? Such a cuuuuute nam! I'm Temmie!" Temmie hopped closer. "Derp not allergic to Tem, r u?"

Derpy smiled, hugging Temmie. "Nah, Just clumsy. Ask Twilight. I once dropped a piano on her." She tilted her head a bit. "Followed by a hay cart. Followed by an anvil."

Tem went wide eyed, anime style. "OWWWWWWOWOWOW! Dat mus hut!"

"It did. But she forgave me. And now I even can fly pretty good thanks to Rainbow Dash teaching me to adapt how I fly to my vision." She pointed a hoof at her crossed eyes. "For a long time ponies thought I was retarded.... but these were just messing up my vision, making me clumsy. Some ponies still tease me about it, and I am not as bright as many others...but..."

Before she said another word, a rather annoying, nasaly voice was heard. "Oh isn't THIS rich! Looks like the Temfem found a fweeeeend." The two groaned as they saw a monster shaped like a ufo, with two eyes on the sides, a big ugly nose, and a small, mocking smile under an M shaped mustache.

Jerry.

And with him were several of the local bullies, a group of ponies who basically caused trouble for everyone. During the date bidding not long ago, they made a point of making obscene cat calls to Rainbow Dash, and shortly after the monsters came they were some of the first to rail against Muffet, saying she wanted to turn everyone into flies with her evil pastries, and eat them.

Admittedly that was partially true, but she only did that to parasprites because they were both delicious and cuddly.

"Wow, retards really DO attract."

"Man, you see her eyes?"

"I bet she can't even see us!"

"And I heard yesterday she tried to deliver the princesses's mail to Big Macintosh!"

"Big Mac? I heard she almost started a war by delivering a sex note to Queen Chrysalis!"

Temmie growled, and with one paw that got VERY long, successfully slapping every last one of them, only too late realizing her mistake.

"OOOOOOOOOO... I've been temmied! Now I am gonna have... Hoives!"

Temmie began to sob, bolting. Derpy snorted and growled at the laughing bullies. "You all oughta be ashamed of yourselves!"

Jerry snickered. "You oughta be ashamed of those eyes! I mean, are you looking up or down? Oh wait, it's BOTH!"

Derpy gritted her teeth. With a mighty whinney, she charged Jerry, knocking him down. The two were brawling as Twilight and several guards, including Papyrus, broke it up.

The look on the faces of the guards meant there would be a lot of trouble.

***

"And after what Jerry said, I didn't know what else to do hon! WHat kind of monster is that monster? He is such a.....a....."

"Monster?" Doctor Whooves said, working on his steam powered inventions while he and Derpy talked. The two had married some time before, despite obvious differences (Or perhaps because of them). Now they lived in a quaint cottage in Ponyville, where Derpy spent a lot of time baking muffins to go with the money she maid as a professional mailmare, while the Doctor worked as both a medical practitioner and a fringe scientist.

"Yeah, monster." Derpy whimpered some. "I hate Jerry."

The Doctor peeked out from under his latest work, the Steamy Dreamy 3000, meant to use a gentle steaming mist to help ponies sleep when it is too cold. "Dear, that is still no reason for assult and battery. And Jerry wound up with those bits with you paying out the nose because he had his gang as witnesses. He played you like he tried to play Temmie."

"Ohmygosh! Temmie! I forgot all about her... poor thing, she is so cute and kiind, and those creeps had no right to-"

"Dear." The Doc came over to her and nuzzled. "Think about this logically. Temmie is a very unlogical creature. Now if I were her, where would be the last place I would wanna go after being insulted?"

Derpy pondered, thinking mostly of muffins. Sweet, delicious muffins, with fresh raisins in them, and that home grown oatmeal from Sweet Apple Acres...

"Ummm.... the bakery?"

The Doc hmmmed. "Unlikely.... out of the way....very unusual..... yes, I do believe you are right love!"

Derpy blushed. "Well... I'l be honest, I was kinda asking if we could go there, all this made me kinda hungry." She made a little shy blush, the Doctor chuckling.

"Why not. I need a break and you need a pick me up. Then we can figure out what to do about Temmie."

Derpy hmmmed. "Maybe she is like me? Maybe she just needs to find what she is good at. Something that is just her?"

The two nodded, waking out of the home, humming a gentle tune (Ironically to the music of Temmie Village)

What talent does a Temmie have?
What skill, does a temmie show?
What job, can a Temmie do?
I admit, I really just don't know.

Can they sing? Dance? Love? Romance?
Run? Play? Sleep all day?
Do they cook? Cuddle? Solve puzzles?
Do they laugh? Sing? Do anything?

Sew? Sell? Ask? Tell?
Kiss? Hug? Comfort? Bug?
I'll tell you...
It's all of the above!

What power, does a Tem possess?
What things, does a Temmie need?
What hope, does a Temmie have?
What is, their eternal creed.

Can they sing? Dance? Love? Romance?
Run? Play? Sleep all day?
Do they cook? Cuddle? Solve puzzles?
Do they laugh? Sing? Do anything?

Sew? Sell? Ask? Tell?
Kiss? Hug? Comfort? Bug?
I'll tell you...
It's all of the above!

That's what a temmie does!
Just like me and you!
That's who  and what a temmie is!
And I assure you, it is all true!

Tem...Tem
Tem... Tem
Tem...Tem
Tem...

"TEM!"Derpy said in shock as she walked in. As she had guessed, unintentionally, there was Temmie, trying to hide in Muffet's Spider Batter, several spiders tryng not to laugh at the cuteness. Muffet herself had her four arms crossed.

"Look, I have no orders for a Temmie Cake...yet." Muffet added under her breath. "And I highly doubt the Cakes, speaking of which, will approve of you hiding in my cake batter."

"Tem not lik even az foob. Tem worth 0."

Derpy approached. "That's not true! You're just different is all, and different means you have different ways, like me."

Muffet nodded. "Derpy is right. You remember what I was like when I first came here, how I was ridiculed because I used spiders in my pastries?"

Nearby, a pair of changeling girls were being tickled inside and out by said spiders. "Yeah, then you found out what we think of them, you doll!" One said, the other smiling and nodding.

"Or Huey! The monster kid with no arms? No one is making fun of him now!"

At the school, Diamond Tiara smiled as the high jumping Huey retrieved her crown from a tree after a crow took it, earning a kiss from the formerly snotty pony and cheers from the other kids.

"Or TWILIGHT?!" Muffet pointed out.

Temmie blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

Derpy nodded. "Yeah, before she became a princess a lot of people made fun of her bookworm nature. But now? Now she is the princess!"

Tem huddle din the batter. "But.... tem knot lik dat...."

Muffet petted the battered Temie with sprinkles. "Yes you are. You're friendly and kind, and everyone who needs a hug can count on you for one. You're the best friend anyone could ask for, and you make everyone laugh!"

Derpy nodded.

Temmie smiled a little. "But.... wha bot Jerr?"

Muffet growled. "JERRY. Now he is someone who IS worthless. No wonder all the good monsters ditch him. He not only has no friends, he does his best to alienate them."

Derpy was confused somewhat. "But why?"

Muffet sighed. "Bullies are often self hating. But if you ask me, Jerry is a rare breed, deary. He bullies just because that is who he is. He hates friendship and hates others, he'd rather be alone yet loves to annoy others, it is like my spider doughnuts are to those changelings in his mind."

Derpy growled. "Man, even Discord has friends, how can Jerry go out of his way to ruin friendship and be happy about it?"

Muffet leaned close to the two. "Because he is... well... JERRY."

***

As the duo of Derpy and Temmie left the bakery, they saw Jerry waiting there, bulies beside him. He snickered some as he watched the two walk out.

"Well well, the cross eyed mule and the low eyed pike return! I wonder if they have any.... derptemmination?! *Snicker*

Ok, that's it. Buck this, I'm done.

"Huh?"

Everyone... let's ditch this guy. He is so annoying and wrong and even I as the writer am sick of him.

Temmie smiled. "Dat goooooo idee! Tem flakes any 1?"

Derpy smiled. "Maybe we can try some Temmie Flake muffins?"

Temmie was so excited she literrally lept 100 feet in the air with her paws still on the ground... and stayed at that height. "OOOOOO! Nomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnom! Lezzgo!" She said, wlaking with her new long l-

"HELLLLOOOOOOOO?! I wasn't done insulting them!"

*The entire story ditches Jerry. The world is better for it. After all, who likes a bully?*

...

...

...

...Back at Derpy's house, Derpy and Temmie worked on the TemMuffins, Temmie unintenionally believing that SHE was supposed to go in one and not the flakes, resulting in a couple dozen little fruity smelling Tem Muffins, and one giant one with Temmie in the middle, breathing out actual balls of happiness that smiled as they floated by.

"Tem lik muffen. Muffen so warm!"

Derpy smiled, playfully nomming a bite. "And tasty too!"

Everyone laughed, especialy Temmie, because she was with friends who loved her, and when you had that, then who cared what anyone else thought?"

"Cuz afta all.... Tem happy is best Tem!"

TEMMIEND!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JERRY: Where did everyone go? Oh come on guys! Where is everyone! Hello? Hellllllllllllllooooooooooo? *Snort* Fine,. this story is dumb anyway*

Jerry walked away. Thank goodness.

Classic Jerry.

Edward sat in his room, smiling as he finished another story, He regretted not having the ability to have Wi-Fi or an internet connection where he lived, mainly due to miscalculating the cost for his cell. But at least the cell he had was a smart phone, which was helpful. He pulled out the phone, flipping through several game apps, a pony maker app, a few IM programs, a checkbook app, until finally he got to Skype. But as he opened it, the phone went dark.

"What the...?" He said. Suddenly, an ear grating noise was heard, and he saw on the screen several small, shaky pictures. Edward tilted his head.

"What the?" He said. More pictures showed up. He stared at them.

"What is this?" More pictures. Edward now was convinced someone hacked his phone and was trying to communicate. But why in pictures? It seemed so strange. He noticed a few of them looked like hands.

Like.... wingdings.

"Wait a second." He said. he looked at the phone. "Look, whoever you are, I know you can hear me. And I see the pictures you are making. Are you using wingdings to communicate? Respond with a single picture... a hand pointing up."

A seocnd later, the tiny wingding appeared.

"Ok, progress. Now I cannot translate this unless I can copy this to a word file or something. You need to find a way to do so."

Suddenly, Edward saw the screen on his computer go blank for a moment, and when the picture returned, an IM window was opened. SOMETHING THAT NEVER SHOULD HAPPENED AS HE DIDN'T HAVE IM ON HIS COMPUTER.

"Ok.... what the hell is this?" He saw several WIngdings appear. He sighed and copied the wingdings over to a wordfile, then selected them. He changed their font to a new font, and when he did...

"OH THANK GOODNESS.... CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?"

"What the fuck?!" Edward said, wide eyed. He played along, his palms shaking, his body breaking out in a cold sweat. What was this?!

ME: Yes.... I can hear you. Who are you?"

Abit of translation later....

q27y4: Before I answer, tell me this.... do you believe in alternate realities?

ME: I guess I do.

q27y4: And do you believe things false in one reality can be real in others?

ME: Why are you asking?

q27y4: ANSWER.

ME: Yes.

There was a pause.... and then....

q245598943890ut8jgrejgjmijjhfuv4em9v4

e

43qv

34vq43v

4tq

43

3qt4

t

t34

t4tt

As the random text flickered, the user ID of the person he was talking to changed to one name.

G

A

S

T

E

R

 

Edward was wide eyed. No... this could not be.... he was just a hidden character in a game! This wasn't real! It couldn't be real!

GASTER: It is real. And you are in danger. You and NGrey651.

Edward blinked. "How do you know of him?"

GASTER: I know you two are working on a fiction series. I know many in your dimension work on fiction series. I know you yourself made many. Furside. Seraphim. Fairton. Compton Hills. Friendship Kingdom. You have brought redemption to Chrysalis. Ngrey651 gave me a chance at knowing happiness. You have created a plethora of worlds.

Edward was wide eyed. "How can you know all this?! I abandoned some of those years ago, some because they insulted other writers!"

GASTER: Where I am I have seen it. I saw your stories. I saw so many of them... and I saw what happened when they were written. I saw whole other realities come to life, slowly formed by the writers. I saw creatures of all forms suddenly spring into existence. I saw monsters and machines, ponies and people, furries and ferals, I saw the furhunters, the Patron Entities. I saw them all. And I saw that THEY WERE REAL.

Edward was wide eyed. But Gaster continued.

GASTER: You and NGrey created a reality where the ponies of Equestria crossed into the world of my sons, found the transformed child of Asgore, and united the worlds. You even now continue to enhance and grow that world. I tell you this... you must be careful. You are both treading territory that may destroy us all."

Edward blinked. "What do you mean?"

GASTER: When Toby Fox created Undertale, he assumed it was a game like no other based loosely on Earthbound. He was wrong. It was something like no other... an unstable and shifting world where those who played it felt an honest connection to it. Such a connection made the boundaries unstable. In no time, the fiction and pictures, benign or adult, formed a variety of subdimensions before the world could truly mature. Now the barrier around where I am is weakening. With this echo in my heart and a bit of luck, soon I will be free... but so will they. They may already be close to reaching out to you."

Edward blinked. "They?"

GASTER: You know of whom I speak. I warn you to keep your work benign. If you do anything to upset the balance, if you do anything to break the seals on this world... then there may be no stopping what will occur.

Edward blinked. "But... it is just fanfiction! It isn't real! Like my stories, no one can actually be eaten and live, there are no alien furries or immortal children!

GASTER: Are you sure?

Edward was silent.

GASTER: The universe is not bound to one path. It has a set start and end yes. But on that road are a an almost infinite number of paths written and chosen by an almost infinite number of lives each affecting an almost infinite number of alternate realities. As such, in some reality, your precious youngling Charlie and his immortal kin DO exist.  In some reality I AM REAL. And when the bonds around those realities weaken...

Edward finished. "Fantasy BECOMES reality."

GASTER: Correct.

Edward sighed. "What must I do?"

GASTER: For now, nothing. Warn NGrey. But say nothing to no one else. It will be his choice to share this information, and how. Even as we speak he is thinking of aiding me and granting me my soul back, which I gladly welcome to see my family and friends again, to taste Toriel's pie, to hug my brothers once more, to see the sunshine once more. But you must both be wary. If THEY are resurrected, or if the dark ones of your other realities resurrect them...

Edward blinked. "You mean... others could get there?"

GASTER: No.... they can go to your world. Why come here to a pastel pony land when they can go where they could get TRUE power?

Suddenly every light in the town Edward lived in went dark, save for the screen, Gaster's face appeared, and below him, translated slowly, was a single warning.

 

 

Edward sat back, the world fading up again, the screen now showing the image of a pink poofy pony. But Edward was not comforted. He copied the exchange to a txt. file, added what happened, and saved it, sending it soon after to his phone. He opened skype, and saw NGrey's chat.

"I hope you get this." he typed. If he was right, what just happened actually happened. And if that was the case...

He hoped it wasn't too late to right the wrong he might have unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. 

Rainbow Dash took in a long, firm, deep breath, and then pushed the door open, violet eyes looking all around the bookstore. She was determined to find the next Daring Do novel that had come out. True, the blue-furred Pegasus had to confess, most of the copies were sold out according to Twilight, but she wanted to try to find it all the same.

"I'm sure there's a copy in here SOMEWHERE." She told Twilight as the two made their way down the bookstore's ailes. Rainbow Dash glanced left and right, peering at the various Daring Do novels on sale before taking notice of someone who was looking over a large book just across from Daring Do's latest installment: "Daring Do and the Crystal Skull".  She'd heard mixed reviews about this one, but that wasn't what got her attention. No, what got her attention was the ugly old schmuck reading the immense book nearby. It was JERRY. Jerry, the UFO-shaped monster, who was looking into a book on monster-human relations and...

Looking over it with an odd, almost unearthly white Earth Pony that almost looked familiar, with deep black eyes. "Well, what do you think?" The Earth Pony inquired of Jerry.

Jerry raised a existent eyebrow. "This is is all Daring Do's research based on her expeditions to the Monster Ruins and the Underground she's done?"

"Yes. Do you find it to your liking, pray tell?" The Earth Pony asked. "I admit, it's still a first edition, it's getting updated every time a new discovery is made."

"There's nothing in here about my family, and little about humans that isn't just plain ridiculous." Jerry said. "EPIC FAIL."

"Your EXISTENCE is an Epic Fail." Rainbow Dash remarked as Jerry and the Earth pony turned around, the Earth Pony sighing as he stepped slightly away, Jerry "harrumphing" as the odd-smelling monster glared at her. "I didn't think a bully like you would even know how to read."

"If I know how to wifi, I know how to read." Jerry snidely commented. "What is the big jock Rainbow Dash doing here? Shouldn't you be blowing apart clouds for fun?"

"I'll have you know I'm not just some dumb jock. I've read ALL the Daring Do novels and know every one of them by heart. She's a brilliant, amazing archeologist and I won't have you trashing ANY of her work!" Rainbow Dash insisted, slamming a hoof on her chest as Jerry tossed the book he had at her, the book THWACKING her in the face.

"It's a load of crap. She doesn't know anything about what really happened." He said, Twilight raising an eyebrow up. Huh?

"Does anyone, really?" The Earth Pony mysteriously mused, vanishing into the nearby aisles almost like a ghost as Rainbow Dash snorted.

"And you would?" She inquired, picking up the book and trotting off to go put it back as Gerald folded his arms over his chest, then sighed as he walked towards the 'History' section, picking up a biography that Mettaton had written, which brought up his grandfather, the Royal Magician for the Kingdom of Monsters...one of the monsters who had taught humans the art of magic.

"...yeah. I would." Jerry softly muttered as Twilight approached him, a notebook hovering out of her belt pouch as she took out a quill.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Like you really wanna hear. And it's a long story."

"No, I do. I'm a student of magic. I like long stories." Twilight insisted with a nod. "Please, tell me everything you can. Don't you want to talk about yourself?" She added with a small smile, trying to appeal to his vanity before she saw Jerry's eyes gain a quality she'd never seen before.

"It ain't about ME."

...

...

...

...He held his hand up, trying to focus, cringing as he grit his teeth. His body shook, vibrating intensely as faint light glowed off his body, and the long-haired human concentrated hard as he could. Deep brown eyes gazed intensely at the gold coin below him as his teacher sat nearby, calmly waiting.

"Magic is more than just knocking things down. This is very simple, Leopold."

Leopold cringed. His grey hair felt hot and heavy against the longsleeve white shirt he wore, and he panted and heaved, light glowing more fiercely off his form. But though it emanated brightly off his body, the gold coin remained on the ground in the large stony church hall. Soft light filtered in through the stained glass windows of the Holy Roman Empire's finest purchase in the valley, casting the room in a soft glow of natural light.

But still, despite his best efforts, Leopold couldn't get the coin to rise up. Though it shook and shook back and forth on the stony grey floor beneath him...

It wouldn't rise. He flopped onto his cotton panted behind, groaning, scratching at the golden circlet he wore atop his head as his teacher frowned, shaking his unique head back and forth. "I cannot do it! 'Tis simply impossible!"

"One who believes in the impossible will never get ANYTHING done." Gerald remarked, the circlet-wearing monster walking towards Leopold and the coin, nonchalantly placing a long-armed hand right on Leopold's shoulder. Gerald the Monster Magician was a unique specimen, his entire body was a head, with a large, mountain-like middle atop of an oblong frame, with long, thin arms and three thin legs. He had faint freckles on his pale form, and three spikes atop his long and tall "hill" that was the central region of his head, and the golden circlet on his head displayed the symbol of the Kingdom of Monsters, proudly gleaming in the light of the church. "Now."

He tightened his grip on Leopold's arm, the youth cringing before rising back up, Gerald holding his hand. "Alright. Alright." The human magician sighed, holding his other hand up again, Gerald closing his eyes and calmly breathing and out. The young human's body faintly glowed, Gerald's eyes shooting open as a glitter came to his pupils, and Leopold could see the coin rising higher and higher, finally depositing itself in the nearby poor box as Leopold lowered his hand.

"There. Was that truly so difficult?" Gerald inquired.

"But I only succeeded because you were holding my hand." Leopold protested, shaking his head back and forth, long hair flopping about. "Such an action is hardly commendable."

"Leopold, I am all about bringing out potential. I shall do the same with you that Smartblook did with his apprentice, the very first royal magician. But even better, for I shall not explode after I perform a spell, and neither will you." Gerald promised, taking Leopold's hands and shaking them, giving him a wry smile.

"Gerald, REALLY!" Leopold said with an admonishing frown. "The man was blown to pieces! The court was amazed his spirit survived and transformed into a ghost!" He then scratched his head. "Which makes me wonder. When is a ghost a monster spirit and when is it a human spirit?"

"What I've always wondered is where the skeleton family cometh from." Gerald confessed as they exited the church, hands behind his back as he walked down the long path, past people who were staring and glaring at Gerald. They were somewhat staring at Leopold, but most of their bile seemed to be directed at Gerald. "There are tales that they're not normal monsters at all, but descendants of humans. But I feel the answer may be something else entirely. Their unique bloodline magic that allows them to manipulate matter in such a way makes me feel as though they're otherworldly."

"But I can lift matter about and the like when you assist me."

"Thus, my hypothesis. Their form of magic is meant to be used by humans. I've yet to met a single monster who can do what they do, but human magicians all know that type of spell quite easily."

"I KNOW it, but I surely cannot DO it."

"Give it time." Gerald said calmly, nodding at Leopold. "You'll find the type of magic that's your forte, and you'll do spectacularly with my guidance, of this I've no-"

But  before he could finish, a faintly draconic, faintly bird-like monster with icy wings bumped hard into Gerald as he passed by in the road, Gerald cringing as he nursed his shoulder, Frostdrake smirking slightly at the unfortunate teacher. "My apologies, Gerald. I meant to hit your pet monkey."

Leopold was about to step forward, but Gerald held a hand up, shaking his head back and forth, his human student glancing about. Hundreds of eyes were upon them all, peering out from windows, or watching from across the way, peering out of alleys. The city was on the border of the kingdoms, a joint venture between monster and human, but monsters had a slight majority. It would not be prudent to act.

Frowning slightly but sighing, Leopold stepped back as Gerald dusted himself off, Frostdrake smirking. "You've trained your monkey well."

"One day you will find we shall ALL walk down the street together." Gerald just said, Frostdrake giving him a "harrumph" as the two made their way towards the front gate to go to their usual spot out in the large stretch of plains that surrounded the city. A faintly fish-like woman in powerful-looking silver and grey armor stood there at the drawbridge, standing by the crank with a gauntleted hand resting on it, golden eyes narrowed slightly.

"Gerald, I must ask. Why is it it that you teach this human magic? Many of our kind are unsettled at the prospect of a human gaining our boon. A human having such power is discomforting to us."

"Well, now you know how my kind feel every single day here." Leopold harshly snapped back, arms folded across his chest as Melusine the Royal Guard's black pupiled eyes looked him over. "What, pray tell, should stop one such as yourself from entering our homes and killing us in our slumber? Even a whelp such as I could wrestle a knife-wielding drunk to the ground. Should you or one such as Pyrope or Frostdrake enter my home with the desire to kill, we would be in pieces before we could take so much as a step. Every day we fear we may anger one of you too much, and you will lash out and make us perish."

"Our concern is that if you are taught magic, our own kind will be less powerful. We will have no advantages, we will be lessened and made weak." Melusine commented quietly.

"Did the works of Jesus the Christ taketh away from the works of Moses? Or did they not build upon the majesty of the Lord, God? The raising of one does not equal the lowering of another." Gerald reasoned as he placed his hands together and slightly bowed his head, Melusine looking the two over, thoughtfully rubbing her chin.

"Perhaps you present a fair point." She confessed freely. "Enjoy your time out there. I've much to do. The new recruits to the Royal Guard are foolish little pups who have much disicipline to be whipped into them."

"I hope thou will be slightly more lenient on thy child than your newcomers to the guard." Gerald offered as Melusine rested a hand on her swollen belly and chuckled. "How is the little one doing?"

"Undyne is a kicker." Melusine giggled softly, turning the crank on the drawbridge and allowing the two to walk over the moat and towards a far-off bench, sitting down as a soft wind blew and they just allowed its touch to drift over them. The grass in the plains drifted about in the wind as Leopold slightly hesitated, and then spoke.

"Gerald, I must ask of you. Why me? Why did you not choose another human to teach magic with? After all, the former Royal Magician asked to teach that delightful young human prince, and even though his tragic accident has left him an apparition, he still is able to impart much. But why did you not choose, perhaps, the new acolyte of magic over in the new world I've heard of? In the land of Arcadia, they speak tales of him and his mastery over elemental magic, which is in dire need of a steady hand to guide him." Leopold confessed. "Would you not have leapt at the chance to work for a future master of the elements? I don't even know what my truest talent is."

"You shall discover it the same way my family did. I chose you because I see in you myself." Gerald confessed. "I...my species is unique among monsters. We have no abilities of our own but the skill to empower others. Without helping others, we are nothing. Worthless. We are the runt of the litter, looked down upon for the little we can do. But I see greatness in you." Gerald offered, the monster taking Leopold's hand. "And I want to bring that out."

"It must be hard knowing that you can't match others efforts in magical skill. That if someone such as Frostdrake should persecute you, you cannot do much."

"Another reason I and my family sympathize with you. We are much in the same boat, and might as well be humans ourselves. Birds of a feather must flock together." Gerald said, giving Leopold a firm handshake before leaning back on the bench, gazing out at the grassy plains. The sunset was casting golden rays that danced upon the meadows that surrounded the high walls of the city, the main castle far off in the distance as he sighed. "Everything is so beautiful in the sunlight, no matter what time of day it is."

Leopold nodded softly, smiling in delight. "I could sit here and look at this forever. But I must also say, I've...not truly thanked thee for taking me under your wing."

Gerald simply smiled. "I require no gratitude. Your success will be...epic. Of this I've no doubt."

...

...

...

... Twilight's mouth slightly gaped, her notebook lowered in her hooves as she looked at Jerry, the white-furred earth pony watching from afar, sitting in a chair as he calmly rested his hooves in his lap. Jerry quietly finished his tale, sighing as he took out his cell phone,  beginning to text. "So...now you know why monsters hate my family."

"...did...you start acting this way because they hated your family for their relationship with humans, or were you like this before, though?" Twilight inquired as Jerry slightly shrugged.

"I don't even remember anymore. All I remember is the hate." He mumbled, texting away on his cell phone before putting it away. "My grandpa was the first one up against the wall when monsters decided to get even with human sympathizers, along with anyone else who taught humans magic."

"That's horrible!" Twilight said, cringing before Jerry gave her a look.

"Don't get too up on your moral high horse, pony. What about your kind and how you treat Changelings? You guys STILL don't trust 'em much even though you got a truce. Name a single Changeling shopkeeper or author or something that you've got in this town or Canterlot or ANYWHERE."

Twilight cringed more harshly at this, slightly looking away. It was true, truce with Chrysalis or not, many a pony still did NOT like Changelings.

"Everyone has treated everyone like crap." Jerry muttered. "And they always will find some reason to do it. It's a lesson I had to learn early."

"I don't think that's true. Didn't Leopold love your grandfather for all he did?"

"..." Jerry bit his lip. "...not everyone can be like ol' Leo. Or like Frisk. Or even like you, egghead." He said, heading for the exit, reaching for the doorknob before briefly turning back around. "...and don't tell anyone I told you this." He muttered. "Not like anyone would care. I don't really need a pity party from 'em. I just wanted you to understand."

With that, he opened the door and headed out, Twilight sighing as she watched him go, Rainbow Dash trotting over to her, the newest Daring Do novel in her mouth.

"God 'id!" She proclaimed, blinking as she saw Twilight's face, putting the novel in her own satchel. "What's with you?"

"Sometimes I wonder if there's anything you can do for people who grow up being taught they're hated." Twilight admitted.

"Is this about Jerry? Folks hate him cuz he's gross-looking and smells bad." Rainbow Dash muttered, rolling her eyes.

"They don't just hate HIM. He's told me they've hated his entire family for years. Can you imagine what that must do to someone?" Twilight asked. "How do you change how people feel about you when hating you is all they've known?"

"If Chrysalis can do it, why can't he?"

"But you don't even really LIKE her."

"...guess you're right." Rainbow Dash admitted with a shrug. "But I'm not as smart as you. I don't have the answer to that. What IS someone supposed to do?"

Twilight looked out the window of the bookstore, Jerry sitting on a bench across the way, head hung as he texted on his cell phone, and she sighed.

"...I don't know."

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER FEATURES SOME BRUTAL PARTS TO IT. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

-----------------

 

Edward stared at the screen for awhile. Around him the housework sat done, his cat meowing in the other room as she sat in front of the TV, amazingly watching it and the cartoons it had on it. Edward needed a new idea. But he was running dry.

And yet he loved working in Equestria. He loved seeing the story develop. He loved seeing how the story would grow. And he loved how he worked his thoughts onto the screen to make them reality. Working with NGrey, like in the past when he roleplayed with his friends, was a fun experience. But each time he faced the question he had now.

What if.

And this time he knew the "what if" to cover. He chuckled a little as he began to type. He typed a single sentence on the screen.

"What if Chara was resurrected in Equestria?"

He went to write more as the phone rang, calling him into work yet again. But he did not shut down the computer, nor was he aware of that form in his room, invisible to him despite its efforts to murder the writer. For some time now they had slashed at the writer while he worked, hating his lovey dovey happy ending silly tales of the monsters and humans in Equestria, helpless, unable to do anything but scream in futile rage. They had no power in this world.

But now, as the form was alone in the room, they read that sentence. A maniacal laugh, one heard by many gamers all over in this world, could be heard.

The fool had gotten too curious despite the warnings given to him and NGrey in secret. Now he would gain power. And now they would satisfy another bit of curiosity.

"How much EXP is a pony worth?"

********

Starlight Glimmer was reading more of the magic books in the library again, alongside Alphys and Twilight. The three were often here, doing research in their own ways, or just relaxingly reading all kinds of wonderful books. Twilight smiled as she saw Starlight reading a book on food based magic.

"I really envy you." Twilight said, making Starlight look up, her teal hair bobbing about. "For all my magical skill, yours seems at least a hundred times better."

Starlight smiled. "Maybe. But I envy you... you knew what to do with it, how to focus it to something good. I didn't have that skill, so I..." She paused. "Heh... if it hadn't been for you and Sans, I have no idea what would have happened."

"thanks kid." a familiar voice said, everyone jumping in fright as sans popped out of the hole the book had just come from. Twilight groaned.

"Sans?! How did you get in there?" She asked.

"oh, just stopped by to... BONE UP on my knowledge."

Alphys nearby tried to hide behind her book, trying not to give away the fact she was secretly grinning. Twilight groaned.

"Well, can you please get out of there?" She asked.

"relax princess, i was just hoping you could... BOOK me up with something good."

Starlight groaned, smacking her faint purple-furred face. "That was lousy, even for you."

Sans nodded. "no argument, i don't have as many rib ticklers as i used to. i sometimes wonder if someone else is writing my material."

Starlight smiled. "Well, maybe can find a book of jokes you can use."

Everyone, even Sans, eeped as Pinkie Pie popped out of another section of the shelves. "OOO OOO OOO! I got one here!" She held up a book literally labeled "1001 jokes for Skeletons to Use, a Comprehensive Work."

Sans smiled. "i think I will check it out...... I mean it is a library after all." Sans winked, Twilight finally storming out, Alphys and Starlight behind her, all three trying hard not to bust out with laughter. The two random rascals laughed for a bit....

.. until suddenly Sans' eye flashed blue.

 "Sansie?" Pinkie said, looking as he suddenly grasped it.

"UUUrrghhh........ something..... something is wrong.....like a timeline just shifted...."

Pinkie pulled herself out of the shelves, then helped Sans get out. "What do you mean?"

Sans sighed some. "i first felt it not long before you came to the underground.... something... or someone... was interfering with it.... altering the timeline.....something not from either of our worlds..."

Pinkie blinked. "Like a spooooooooooooky alien?"

Sans chuckled. "eh.... whatever... what will be will be." He smiled as he always did, but now it was hiding something. First the return of Asriel. Then the joining of pony and monster and human. Then the appearance of Gaster.

Something big was starting. Or..... it was already going on.

***********

In the underground, in the ruins near the gateway to Equestria, was a single, unmarked grave, marked by a large patch of golden flowers. These flowers were unlike any anywhere else. To ponies, they were sweet and melt in your mouth good. To monsters, they made the best healing tea that could ever be made. Even humans revered them as a flower unlike any other, as valuable as the metal they were the same color as.

So it was no surprise that the grave was tended well due to the flowers. The bat ponies who moved in after the portal had opened harvested and grew the flowers well. One, a big brown bat pony, hummed the Winter Wrap Up tune as he watered the plants.

Suddenly, all hell literally broke loose. A flash of light emerged from underground, and from out of the ground emerged a mummified corpse, still wearing a green and yellow sweater. The bat pony blinked as suddenly the form collapsed on the ground, the reek of death filling the nostrils of the solitary pony.

He had no idea that, in another dimension, words were being written. Words written by a newfound curiosity. Words that made the mummy suddenly slash out at the pony. The pony eeped before running for it. But it did not matter. The slash had killed several flowers, enough to reach LV1.

The LV Chara was at the start of Undertale. The LV needed to begin the game, to be alive.

As the mummy stood there, soaking in the EXP from the now dead flowers, he saw another form weasel his way in, a UFO shaped monster who bothered everyone. But right now, he was just in the way.

Chara opened up newly formed red eyes, and grinned with newly formed lips and teeth. He was unarmed, but he didn't need to be to take this creep down.

"Bye Bye Jerry..." He croaked out.

********

Unaware of what was happening, Sans was back in is home. He was watching Asriel and Frisk, both of whom were doing homework while a nearby radio played songs by several local artists. Sans was reading his new joke book, looking for materials, but still feeling something wasn't right.

"hey kids.... you two gonna be okay for a minute?" He asked. They looked up from their homework.

"No worries, Sans." Asriel said. "I'll be as still as a flower."

"i hope not. we don't need flowey returning kiddo." Sans said with a wink. "besides, if flowey did come back, pinks would be on ya like a dog on a bone." He showed that as he took the annoying dog off of his leg bone. Both kids laughed, said dog settling in by the kids.

"good boy, toby. keep an eye on em...." Sans said, opening the closet door... or what to most people would be a closet door. See, Sans had the special ability to find shortcuts. What that meant was he could find holes in the space time continuum, things that helped him travel quickly, teleporting anywhere he wanted to go. It also was how he was able to meet and tak to Starlight, as well as always be at the judgement hall when Frisk showed up in the old days.

That was where he was heading. The hall was lovely as always, golden and awe inspiring. But now, instead of used for judgement, it was a tourist attraction for bat ponies and changelings, who came to the underground to learn about Frisk and his amazing story, images on the windows showing highlights of it now along with the Delta Rune.

But Sans knew immediately something was very wrong. As he emerged in the room,the floor had a few pools of green sticky goo on it, and dust was in random areas of the floor. And his breath caught in his mouth as he realized what he was now standing in.

The remains of Changelings and monsters. And one of them that he saw shocked him, the remains of a UFO shaped alien.

"oh my god..... they killed jerry!" Sans looked up, seeing a form in the shadows. "you bastard!"

"GlAd YoU ReMeMbEr Me SaNs." The form said, emerging frm the shadows, the same haircut, the same smile, but a different look in his eyes and a different color sweater. He might look at a passing glance like Frisk, but Sans knew this child. The entity had gone too far now.

Chara.

"Heyas." Chara said. "Miss me?"

"i thought i felt something odd." Sans said, taking a battle pose. But Chara laughed.

"Oh relax bonehead, I'm not after you. I'm not LV 19 yet. Just LV 4. Apparently Changelings ain't worth a lot of EXP..... But Jerry sure was."

Sans grit his teeth. "i thought being dead might make you think about all you've done. but you haven't changed chara. you're still the same murderer you were the day you died."

"I'm just playing the game Sans. GEtting GOLD, EXP, ATK, DEF.... I need to raise my stats. That's what it's all about." Chara said, putting a hand on his chest.

Sans chuckled. "still hiding behind that, huh? shame. I recall another time when you were different."

Chara shifted.

"yeah, you recall. you never liked Undyne much, but I was different. i remember, Chara. remember when you called me uncle sansie, and you and asriel and i were an unstoppable force of prankhood. then you went too far ."

"Oh stuff it." Chara said, smiling. "Those days are long gone, from many LOADS ago. But I seem to no longer have that power. Such a shame. Guess it means that the death I may have will be permanent."

Sans sighed. "welp, guess we have no choice then, huh?"

Chara chuckled, vanishing into the shadows, before Sans heard a rumble. Looking up, he only had time to gasp as a section of roof came down on him, knocking him over and burying his legs. Not enough to do true DAMAGE...but too tight to let him loose. He was now trapped, and could only glance where Chara was.

"Did you think I wouldn't PREPARE for you? I know you like to stalk this place. But like I said, I'm not after you yet. I got a bunch more to kill first. Then when it is down to you and me left alive in this pathetic place.. .then we settle it Sans. Better hope your brother has thick bones.... because I think he may be first."

Sans went wide eyed. "no!" He yelled out.

"Or maybe.... Frisk?"

"NOOOOO!!!!" Sans let loose with a Gaster Blaster, but Chara was fast, dodging the blow and fleeing the hall. "no! NOT FRISK!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Sans struggled, tears in his eyes, but the mighty judge of the underground was trapped. He sobbed, knowing the Genocide Route had begun.

And this time, there might be no stopping them.

****

"He's been gone a long time." Asriel said, outside the rain starting to fall. The pegasi had to have a massive downpour due to there being a light drought, and finally having the clouds needed they warned everyone of the storm. As a result, several ponies had taken shelter in their homes, and three had come to Sans and Papyrus House of Cool.

The three fillies, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, had been helping a pegasus find her cutie mark, which she got as she placed the storm clouds, getting one with all kinds of weather on it, making her dad, a professional weatherpony, proud as pink punch with peaches. Too far from their own homes as a result, Asriel invited them in, sure Sans would be back soon.

But that was hours ago.

"He'll be back." Frisk said. "You know Sans, he is always full of surprises."

Asriel nodded, getting out a game for the group to enjoy when there was a knock on the door. for some reason, Asriel felt a chill in his spine. Frisk went to open the door....

As it was suddenly kicked open, revealing a form that looked like him, the lightning behind him illuminating the True Knife he held. Everyone in the room gasped, and the Crusaders suddenly had the urge to hide. Slowly the form in the doorway raised his head, revealing their red eyes and cruel smile.

"Heeeeeeeeeere's..... CHARA!" He said, laughing some.

They were in for a bad time.

****

At the castle, Twilight was gazing out at the storm, feeling uneasy. Spike was amazingly asleep in his bed behind her, and she just shook her head as he snored. Beside her however was Starlight, who was also concerned.

"You feel it too, huh?" Twilight asked. Starlight nodded.

"Yeah... something... or someone..... is messing with the world. I could sense something... no, two somethings.... and they are not friendly."

Twilight glanced over at Papyrus, who was standing proud and tall despite being asleep in his armor again. "Papyrus, round up the royal guard. We need to do a full search."

Continued snoring was the reply. Twilight shook her head and blasted him with a light electrical shock spell, making him jump.

"WHOA!!! TWILIGHT, MUST YOU ALWAYS BE SO SHOCKING WHEN I AWAKEN?"

Starlight glared.  Sans really was a bad influence. "Remember she is your charge to protect!"

Papyrus nodded. "YES, I UNDERSTAND, AND I'M READY TO BOLT INTO ACTION IF NEEDED." He remarked with a salute.

Twilight nodded. "Good. Then round up the guards fast as lightning. Something is in the air and it is not right."

"WELL IT WASN'T ME, I CAN'T FART!" Papyrus replied, heading out to get the guard, as the two ponies glanced to one another. Despite the seriousness of the situation, they did chuckle. They were glad for it, because they could sense there would be little to chuckle about soon.

***

Another slash of the knife cut through the couch where the fillies kid. Behind Chara, Frisk and Asriel had been tossed aside, bruised up pretty bad.

"Let me see.... .hmmm.... .only 2 EXP each.... No matter, every little bit helps!" He raised his knife.

"STOP!" Asriel shouted, blasting Chara with his Star Blazing spell, the stars flying from his hand and sending the murdering form into the wall. "Run guys, run! I'll stall him!"

Frisk stood up, hurt but still able to fight. "Not alone." Asriel turned to him, smiled and nodded, as the CMC ran, not to simply flee but to get help. Chara, meanwhile, slowly got up, turning to face the duo.

"Well.... now this will be fun." Chara said with a smile. "At least now you're not a crybaby."

Asriel focused. "Don't make me fight you Chara. You're my brother, and brothers shouldn't fight."

Chara blinked and paused, remembering vaguely those instances from the past-

*****

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" A form screamed, jumping Edward, who was pushed away from the computer. He had come home to the story seemingly typing itself and tried to intervene, tried to show the truth of Chara. But this.. .thing would have none of it, holding the author down. Edward could only make out that it was a creature made of pure shadow. He had seen it before in a video describing Chara as a demon. Yet now he was very real, staring at Edward with glowing red "eyes".

"YOU WILL NOT INTERFERE." He faced the computer. "CHARA, REMEMBER YOUR GOAL. KILL THEM."

*****

"Kill Them." Echoed in Chara's mind, and he felt his memories fade away, focused on now. Yes, it did not matter. This was just a game after all, who cared about consequences. He had to grind to maximum LV. He had to get more EXP.

And Asriel and Frisk would be enough to et him there.

"Bye Bye brother." Chara said cruelly, raising the knife as he closed in, Asriel suddenly unable to move...

.... But Chara refused.

-----000------

In his mind, as he saw his brother lying  there, he did recall something. He remembered  the two of them, Asriel with Muffet's spiders all over him, trying to wrap him up for a cake. He recalled how he used that toy knife, dull enough not to hurt Asriel, to slap the spiders away, pulling him free.

"Thanks Chara.... I really thought Muffet was gonna-"

"That's what you get for trying to swat her kids." Chara told him. "I told you before, I saw enough killing on the surface. Down here... don't kill, and you won't be killed."

Asriel smiled weakly, sobbing a little.

"Oh hush up, you crybaby." Chara said, hugging his brother. "I cannot keep saving you, despite  that you saved me."

Asriel hugged back, Muffet looking from her web and letting them go.

-----000-----

"......n.......no...." Chara began to say. But the voice echoed in his head.

"Come on.... kill him.... he's worth a lot of EXP, and you need that."

".....But...."

"You need to increase your LOVE to make this world pay."

Asriel watched as he saw Chara seeming to struggle with something in himself. Frisk blinked as he watched.

"What.. what is he.....?"

But Chara focused. "No.... I am CHARA! I will destroy everything!!!!!"

"There you go." the voice echoed in his head. "Now that sounds like a marvelous idea."

-----000-----

Chara thought back to his parents, who hated him..... them.... from birth. They called them a demon.... rallied the town around them, said they'd did terrible things as they got older.

They listened and did those things. They did not notice or care that so many tried to defend them. They blocked out the children who begged for mercy. They laughed at the dark pranks on the elderly who tried to stay out of it. They grew more angry when the "System" that could have helped him refused. And they grinned evilly when the parents decided to try and kill him on Mount Ebbot, with no one caring if it happened or not.

Weaklings. Too bad they likely did not know about the buttercups in their tea at home. After all, one thing he learned. In this world...

-----000-----

"IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED!" Chara said, about to leap at Frisk as a blast sent him flying. Chara was slammed through a window of the now ruined home, landing outside. As he got up, he saw before him Princess Twilight Sparkle and several Royal Guardponies....

And one skeleton. Chara laughed as they saw Papyrus, like an old treasure, his red eyes glowing.

"Well well well. If it isn't Puny Papyrus. And where is your brother, hmmm??? Oh that's right, I took care of him already. But don't worry, you'll be seeing him soon. After all, as he says, creatures like you.... SHOULD BE BURNING IN HELL!"

Twilight went wide eyed as she felt a terrible aura around the child. This.... thing was powerful. And she felt like he was getting.... no, THEY were getting stronger!

"NO... .YOU... YOU'RE CHARA! BUT.... HOW? HOW CAN YOU BE....?" Papyrus gasped.

Chara twirled his knife in one hand, nonchalantly smiling. "Alive? Let's just say... the writing was on the wall."

"Take him!" A guard said. The ponies charged, but Chara was no mere boy. They were a monster, a demon, and a master fighter. As the ponies charged they tried to hold him down, but one by one Chara slashed them. It was thankfully not enough to kill them, but they were sorely wounded, one pony even having a broken leg from the intensity of the knife slice.

"LOOK OUT!!!" Papyrus screamed as Chara charged Twilight. But Papyrus knew what it meant to be a royal guard. Defend and honor the land. Protect those you care about. As Chara slashed, Papyrus pushed Twilight out of the way...

And he took the slice himself. Papyrus went wide eyed as he fell to his knees, his armor slashed into like it was made of butter, screaming in pain.

But Chara chuckled.

"Oh, stop whining. You're not dead yet." He said, pointing his knife at him, Papyrus staring with a mix of fear and defiance. "And I stress YET."

"PAPYRUS!!!!!!" Twilight screamed, Chara laughing as he raised the knife.

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

Chara raised his knife over Papyrus, the skeleton hurt badly. Around him the royal guard assigned to Twilight's protection was badly hurt, many of them with deep gashes and one with broken legs. Twilight, unable to focus given what she was seeing, given the.. .atrocity of it.... could only scream out.

"PAPYRUS!!!!" She shouted, as the knife began to fall, Chara laughing like never before...

But a massive blast sent Chara flying. Everyone turned, and saw a massive Gaster Blaster.... no, this looked like a ponified version, like a massive pony skull.

And beside it was Starlight Glimmer!

"STARLIGHT! YOUR MASTER BLASTER!" Pap said, shouting despite still being weak. Starlight smiled some. She had been working on this particular spell since facing Sans very long ago, and in the time since she perfected her own variation, a testament to her hard work and study. She glanced around at the soldiers, the kids, and the skeleton, and looked to Twilight. She knew that a continued fight would not be won, Chara was too strong.

"Twilight, use your teleport spell and get us out of here!" She called. Twilight, now refocused, knew where to take everyone. With her full energy, she transported the pony guards, Papyrus, Starlight, Asriel, Frisk, and herself to the hospital. Chara, moaning as he came to a good distance away, screamed in rage.

No EXP for this fight.

****

Doctor Hooves was quite busy the next hour, the nurses all working with the wounded guards. Amazingly, the armor had reduced their damage greatly. Papyrus in particular was mostly unhurt. Twilight smiled proudly at him.

"A royal guard indeed. I owe you my life." She said. Papyrus blushed as she kissed his skull.

"WOWIE... I HAVE BEEN KISSED BY THE ANGELS!"

Everyone chuckled... except for Asriel and Frisk. Chara was no laughing matter. Frisk knew that from his many runs in the underground. He knew how Chara could manipulate others to do his will. He had tricked Frisk into killing almost everyone down in the Underground simply because he believed there would be no consequence, that he would be stronger in the future. But all that occurred was Frisk lost more and more of himself. Frisk regretted that run more than anything, it was a stain on his heart he would feel the rest of his life.

But Sans had helped him through it. He saw Chara was controlling him. He saw that Frisk was still in there. Using what power he needed to Sans reached Frisk inside the possessed body, and the boy begged for release.

And he dunked the boy, knocking him back to his senses.

Never again did he hurt another soul, but strived to help everyone as best as he could. Sans helped him all the way through those dark times. Chara was....

"Frisk." Asriel suddenly said. "Something is making Chara hurt others."

Frisk looked at his brother. "Asriel.... you told me yourself he wasn't the best brother."

"I... I know... but you got to believe me. I remember early on. He was a good friend. He even... he even saved me from being a cake for Muffet."

Frisk went wide eyed. "Huh?"

"I... I swatted a few of her kids, called them ugly, pulled their legs... and... well, she decided I would be better as a pastry than a prince." He chuckled. "But Chara... he saved me. But he made me apologize to Muffet and work with her to atone for what I did. He was my brother... and he loved me, and I him."

Frisk nodded. "But then why-?"

Asriel looked at Frisk. "Not all humans are bad. But there are some. And when you get a bunch together in a single town... well Chara told me that was what it was. His parents were cruel to him. Other kids hated him and were encouraged to fight him. Even the law there accused him falsely of everything. When his memories were examined by dad's scientist, they found he was so hurt that he couldn't even see the others who tried to help him or give him comfort. In fact, he took his anger out on them and...:" Asriel trailed off, seeing Frisk had begun to tear up and was now almost sobbing.

It was so much like his own story. After all, his Mom had left when he was a baby, and his dad was going to give him up for adoption as he was leaving the country for good. The foster home he was going to was headed up by a mean owner, and he felt so alone. But the other kids.. they didn't want him to go. Though they'd loved him, Frisk however knew he could not stay.

He was lost in those thoughts for what seemed to be along time before something shot into his head. Oh no. Sans! Where was Sans?! He always showed up when he was down... why not now????

****

In the underground, Frisk's answer was clear. Sans was buried in rubble so that only his upper half stuck out of the massive pile. Sans could use shortcuts easily, but he could not simply teleport. He had to move through the walls and such to go where he wanted to. Worse, the rubble was such his Gaster Blasters could not pierce it. That was the problem with them: Great for fighting others... but lousy at collateral damage.

So.... he used them to make pictures in the floor, trying to pass time and keep his hopes up.

"and a little more... and we have a butterfly. beautiful." Sans said morosely. He sighed some, not noticing as the butterfly suddenly got up... and changed shape to a rather unique mishmash of creatures.

"Heya." The form said, getting a dragon head, and forming the rest of his mishmash body, including his claw and talon feet, his reptilian and paw hands, and his mixed up wings. Discord looked down at Sans, then looked at all the pictures in the now defaced judgement hall. "You've been busy."

"i think that is MY line." Sans said.

"Well... here's another one of your lines. You asked Frisk this before. Do you think anyone can change, given the right circumstances? Strange, you asked a few others that too. Asgore... Starlight..... Chara..."

Sans went wide eyed.

"Ah, hit a nerve have I? Or maybe... I hit a bulls-eye." He punched out, punching the picture of the bull in the eye, the picture whimpering and running off. "After all.... Chara was your FRIEND first, right?"

Sans sighed. "yeah... he had his moments of cleverness... i loved his hot sauce trick at grillby's. man those dogs never saw it coming. it was a... dog gone hit!"

Both characters laughed. "Soooo..... What happened?"

Sans sighed. "i dunno.... one day he... no, honestly, over the course of the time with us he began to lose hope. he told me, why return to the surface when we would just be hurt all over? i wanted to tell him about the good humans i knew about from when my family lived on the surface...but i couldn't argue with him.

and that was when it began. he began to hurt others. bad. he even played nasty pranks on asriel, the kind you should never play on someone. like trying to poison the king, and laughing it off. and each time he did those things, his eyes... those red eyes.... anyways i tried to hope he would change. i begged him to remember he was the hope of the world.

then he died.... and asriel took his soul to get six souls..... and... and they killed him. the boys hometown killed him. but... i learned from his diary that in truth he meant to kill them anyway. seeing that.... well it got to me, made me think chara never was any good after all."

Discord sat on a pillar, looking like a shrink. "Ahhh yes....verrrrry interesting. pleeease do continue." Sans stared at him with one blue eyes, and Discord lost the getup.

"anyway... after that, i went along with the king’s order to kill any human who fell into the underground, never get close again i figured. and one of those souls we have now... my hands are soaked in her blood." He held up his hands, his expression mournful and filled with agony. "i... i had become like chara.... i killed when there might have been another way."

They were both silent for a moment.

"after that, things began to change. i began to shift through timelines, as someone gained that power of SAVE, LOAD, and RESET. we all grew to hate. and time and time again i killed her. Hope was her name... and when she died i lost mine."

Discord stopped looking like he didn't care and began to move the rubble.

"after that... i know i couldn't go back... and getting to the surface didn't appeal anymore either. i just gave up. until.... until FRISK came.

he gave me hope, because I saw what he could.... actually no. discord... please... i want to see it. i want to see the day he proved he was better than i was or would ever be."

Discord, being a spirit of chaos, knew exactly the day. It was after Frisk committed to a genocide run and showed up in the judgement hall. He was covered in blood and dust... and wore a familiar red scarf. But... he was sad. He was crying as he began to fight with Sans, and barely tried to slice at him with the knife he held.

"kid, come on, you better start trying or..." Sans began, but the child interrupted.

"No! Please Sans, I give up! I don't want this!" He sobbed, falling to his knees. "It isn't worth it! I don't care what the reward is, It isn't worth it if I lose everyone I love."

Sans watched as the two ghostly images Discord made from San's memories drew closer, Frisk tossing the knife at a pillar, the knife breaking into pieces. He ran to Sans and held him, sobbing.

"you're still there. buddy. pal." Sans said, smiling more, letting Frisk cry into his hoodie. "i won't miss this chance. we are going to try again okay?"

Frisk nodded.

"and... if we are really friends... you won't come back... right?"

Another nod.

"ok.... let's get it right. together." The two hugged once, then Sans stepped back. "this will hurt kid. but after..."

Sans moved his hand up, and encased and impaled the boy with bones. It was the last time he ever used that attack for a long time. As the images faded, Sans smiled, tears in his eyes.

"after that... frisk kept his word. he vowed he would save everyone, he would find a way. and then.. pinkie came. and when those two kids were reunited , it was like i had my hope back. i wanted to go back to the surface again. i wanted to live again. i wanted to care again."

Discord smiled, snapping his fingers, making the rubble go away. "And now, seeing Chara?"

Sans smiled. "seeing chara... i realized what happened. something took control of chara in his sorrow... something terrible. i know there is good in him. i know it in my heart. but... i cannot be his guide. my past and his.. .is to full of pain." He looked at Discord. "but i think we both know who can be."

Discord nodded. "You think she can handle it?"

Sans nodded. "she knows what happens when SOUL, the Symbol of Unyielding Love, and not LOVE, one's Level of Violence, can make all the difference. And she can give even more examples than I can."

Discord nodded. "Then we better go. If you're getting serious enough to use proper wording in your sentences, we better hurry."

*****

Chara stood before the house. It looked so familiar. It looked like her home in the underground.

Good. They knew where she would be. He chuckled madly as he approached the door. But... as he did... he froze...

*****

The anomaly tried to type more words on Edward's keyboard, but the words formed on their own. "What is this?!"

Edward, unconscious at the far end of the room, was unaware of what was happening. The anomaly growled and slammed the keyboard in frustration.

"CHARA! YOU OBEY ME!"

-----000-----

Chara heard the voice echoing, but it was blocked out as he heard happy laughter. the main entry... it looked so familiar. and in his memory he and Asriel were playing by the steps that led downstairs.

"Guess we are leaving for a bigger home soon huh?" Chara asked.

"Yeah! Soon we will have a big city all too ourselves, and no more having to share the bed." Asriel said. Chara giggled .

"Good, because talking about Hansel and Gretel in your sleep was getting kinda old.

Asriel froze. "I DID NOT!"

Chara giggled and swooned. "Oh save me Chara! The spider witch has me locked up in her cakehouse! I'm gonna  BE a butterscotch pie!"

Asriel pushed, Chara pushing back, the two starting a tickle war, laughing and finally hugging. They were young and carefree, and had no boundaries to their friendship.

Chara forgot then those bad days before he fell.

-----000-----

"CHARA! FIND HER!" The voice echoed, Chara seeming to move on his own. But he refused. Even as his eyes began to glow the old Chara fought, heading for the bedroom. Seeing it made him wide eyed, and teary.

The everyman dolls were there, still on their shelves, looking like a weird cross between a man and a snub nosed elephant. Chara wnt to one, and took out his knife, cutting it open down the middle of the chest, fluff spilling out, as well as a small box..

Inside that box, wrapped with wax paper, was still the gift he had hidden for his mom: a snail made with Asriel's help. It was actually a snail flavoured candy, shaped like the cutest dang snail you ever saw.

Chara smiled blocking out the voice, remembering more again.

-----000-----

"Mom will love this." Asriel said, holding up the candy. Chara smiled, cutting open the everyman doll.

"Doctor, we are ready to put the happy taste bug in the patient." Chara said, in a deep voice. Asriel shuddered.

"Ummm.... why are you hiding him like that Chara? It seems kinda... violent."

Chara turned to Asriel. In his eyes was a hint of red. "I wish I could do this to the people in my town Asriel. especially my parents, after they beat me so much. But I.... I DON'T want to do that to mom...." But under his breath, he remembered  a voice saying... 'not yet.'

"Chara.... are all humans like that?" Asriel said as he watched Chara slice the doll open.

"All of them that matter. All the ones in charge, and soon everyone. Monsters are better off." Chara said, placing the snail in the doll. "Thread."

"Thread." Asriel said. Chara smiled.

"I wish I could do it like this... just cut them open  and remove the bad parts, then replace them with everything monsters have that's good. Then we could all be happy." Chara's lips quivered. "Then... no one... no one would..."

-----000-----

The memory faded as Chara recalled the darkness and weakness of the other monsters soon after, the teasing some gave him, the accusations that it was his fault they were all down here. Chara grew angry, and stood. No. No holding back anymore. Toriel was worth a lot of EXP, and Chara knew where she was. He would need that EXP to kill the unicorn that stopped him, to eliminate those guards... to destroy Frisk.

Frisk. He recalled his spirit working like a guide when he landed on those flowers long ago. He recalled the things that he told him to do...

********

"YES CHARA...." The anomaly said, continuing to type, "REMEMBER WHAT YOU MADE HIM DO."

********

Chara chuckled, making him ignore the puzzles, making him hurt so many, making him that much closer to taking control....

And then, at that last moment, Frisk backed down. Frisk gave up. And Chara never got that close ever again, forced to watch time and time again as Frisk helped everyone, even doing random things for no reason, like hugging that Vulkin over and over, or letting Muffet win once to see what would happen, or... worst of all, letting Papyrus capture him. Three times.

Now Chara was DETERMINED. Determined to get his revenge on Frisk for stealing his family. Determined to eliminate the monsters for not killing humans. DETERMINED to end it all. But... he needed EXP for the power. And he knew where to get it.

Chara left the room, knife in hand, as he headed for the living room. Sure enough, there was Toriel, reading a book, amidst the stormy weather outside. Chara smiled and raised the knife, throwing it at Toriel as it imbedded squarely in her chest, Toriel gasping as dropped her book, Chara smiling.

"Gotcha." He said. "How does it feel Mom... knowing you failed, that soon your little favorite child will be next? Or have you forgotten that you prefered him over me, that I was always in trouble and he was not?!"

Toriel grasped her chest.... then smiled.

"Missed me." She whispered, and the illusion faded, the knife remaining embedded in the chair. Chara was wide eyed.

"What?!" HE said. He looked about, until he finally faced the stairs leading to the basement. He smiled evilly and went to them.

"Mommy? Chara's home, and he has something for youuuuuuu...." He said amidst mad laughter, his eyes glowing red now, the anomaly back in total control. But as he entered the basement, he saw the vastness of the chamber, a massive library lined with books for teaching. On the floor was the symbol of the Delta Rune, glowing faintly amidst the torchlit room.

And at the far end of the room was a lavender unicorn, smiling smugly. Behind her was Toriel, out cold. Starlight had to do so to protect her, and made a promise internally to take whatever punishment she would get afterward. But for now she had to do what Sans said. She had to stop Chara.

"Heyas Chara, from one villain to another." Starlight said. "I bet you're confused. You wonder why I am here and Toriel is out cold. Well, I will tell you. See, an old friend of yours thought we should talk. And buddy, if you don't listen..."

She formed a pair of what she dubbed Twi-Lasers, massive pony skulls that now had her symbol on the foreheads and a firm look in their eyes.

"Well, as Sans would say, your gonna have a BAD time."

In the distance, a familiar, dark song began to play. Megalovania. Behind him, he touched a save point, or at least so it seemed.

Chara knew then this would be fun. Painfully fun.

Nick let out a loud yawn, waking up from the bed as he made his way over to the computer. Oh, a new private message notification. The hazel green eyed young man clicked on it, opening up the document…

Eyes bugging out and going wide as saucers.

“Buddy.... I know you won't believe me but.... the story is in trouble.... I don't know how to tell you this but I think that something has been writing it for us. But... now I don't know what to do.

You have to trust me. Gaster was right.... and I should have left well enough alone. But maybe..,maybe you can reach Chara. You did it once before, with Sans and Starlight. But now... now I need your help to get Starlight to finish Chara. To reach through to him like Sans did to her. How would she do it?”

 

Nick rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Edward sounded dead serious. What was he going to do? How could Starlight reach through? COULD Chara be reached? Chara was currently possessed. It wasn’t like with Starlight, who just needed to be confronted with the horrors she’d unleashed. This was different. How…

...an idea came to him. He cracked his fingers and quickly brought up Microsoft Word, typing away before, at last, sending the message he needed out, a grin spreading across his face.

“You’ve got MAIL, motherfucker.” He whispered at the Anomaly.

…

…

…

...Chara raised his knife. Here in this underground library, he expected to find Toriel. And while he did, he did not expect this pony, one who had blasted him like Sans could.

Starlight Glimmer meanwhile had been waiting for him She knew sooner or later he would try to get Toriel, and when he did, based on what Sans told her, she knew this had to be a fight to the death... or to life. Sans told her she had to trap him in a sort of time loop, until he realized the truth. Until he could remember the true past.

As Chara slashed at her with intense force, enough that he could likely have sliced through brick. But she dodged to the side, gritting her teeth.

"What, you think I'll just let you kill me? Come on! I am using SANS'S weapons, so you can bet I will use his dodging skills!"

Chara gritted his teeth, shouting. "Say what you will, I will kill you! You're like the comedian, a glass cannon! A few good slices of my true knife and you’re dead!"

Starlight focused her beam, the blast sending him into the wall. "Yeah... but first you got to hit me Chara." She glared. "Yeah, I know who you are. And my name is Starlight Glimmer....your JUDGE!"

Chara shook his head and went to charge, but Starlight was powerful. She used her magic to send him flying to the ceiling. When she let go, she blasted him head on with the beams. Starlight turned towards the "save point". and watched as Chara rematerialized. In truth it was just a reformation point, and nothing more. As long as Starlight willed it, he would reform time and time again at that point. A little trick of alicorns that Twilight helped her make.

"Shall we try again?" She said, smugly as Chara charged once more, determined to kill. But this pony was stronger than he had first imagined, and fast as well. But he figured if he got close enough she wouldn't use her spells.

BIG MISTAKE. Starlight was after all a former villain, and she did not fight fair as a result. She learned to fight dirty in those days, not just with beams or spell shields. Chara found out one mighty buck of her back legs later, followed by a needed reformation.

*********

The anomaly grew angry. He had lost control of the story, and it was now fully writing itself. He turned to Edward, slowly coming to. The anomaly knew Edward would not be caught off guard again, and would not be easily taken down as weak as the anomaly truly was.

"UURRRGHH! FINE! IF I CANNOT CONTROL THIS STORY FROM ON HIGH, THEN I WILL CONTROL IT DIRECTLY.... WITH ONE MINOR NOTE." He chuckled and typed one final line, before leaping into the computer. Edward was wide eyed, seeing it happen, approaching in fear as he saw the line in the now saved document.

"Suddenly, a dark anomaly possessed Chara, a familiar one to the boy... and when it did, the boy used its power to call on magic himself.”

Edward was wide eyed. This one he could not handle alone. He needed NGrey's help to finish this tale. He knew what Starlight would do to save the boy more than he did. QUickly, he sent the file over his new internet connection, with a message attached.

"NGrey.... you have to save him. Stop the anomaly!"

******************

--------

Chara’s body was cloaked in a shrouded miasma of pure, disgusting violence and hatred. His eyes glowed red, his head slightly tilted to the side as he spun his knife about in one hand, grinning sadistically as he faced down Starlight, who firmly glared back. Chara’s possessed form ran his tongue along the knife before pointing it squarely at her. “Get ready, my dear. Because I’m about to get a look at your blood. I think you’ll look very good in RED.”

“Get some new material, demon.” Starlight snapped.

The Anomaly surged forward, slashing at her with his knife as she leapt back, kicking off the wall and leaping over Chara’s possessed form as he swung at her anew. Twisting around, his foot launched towards her, kicking her as she skidded across the ground, then re-righted herself in the large basement and her horn glowed brightly.

With a crack like thunder, a magical bolt sailed towards the Anomaly as he calmly sliced through the bolt with a SCHWIP, cutting it in half as the two halves slid to either side of him, exploding and sending dust and smoke cascading all around as Starlight glanced about, peering through the expanse as a mocking voice rang out.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little Starlight...I will fill you up with fright. I’ll hang you from the ceiling high, like a diamond in the sky!”

“Like I said. Get some new mater-” Starlight began to say before realizing she’d given away her position, barely dodging in time as Chara’s possessed body surged out of the smoky haze around her, slashing at the unicorn. She reeled back, gasping, a horrid slash across her chest, cringing as she faced Chara down. The red-eyed child smirked, the Anomaly fading into the smoke again as Starlight looked about, her horn glowing.

Chara shot forth from the smoke again, but bounced off a shield she’d erected around her, Starlight grinning. “Nice try.” She insisted, Chara striking at the shield again and again, Starlight realizing that the shield was collapsing under the weight of Chara’s blows. She jumped back just as it shattered, the Anomaly shooting forward, headbutting Starlight and forcing her back as Chara tried to slash at her again.

Starlight barely managed to duck just in time to avoid his strike, headbutting HIM as she knocked him clear across the floor, panting and heaving.

They had to hurry.  Indeed, Starlight was primarily a distraction. She couldn’t go all out until the other’s work was done. They had thought long and hard about what to do, and it had been incredibly stressful to think up a solution.

“He’s possessed by a dark spirit, isn’t he? A demon or something?” Asriel reasoned as he and the others had sat inside of the castle, all gathered around the table, his eyes pleading for answers. “Well can’t we simply do an exorcism?!”

“Chara isn’t some helpless girl whom we’ve already tied to the bed. They’ve got incredible physical strength and skill. We could never get a priest who could be able to do the ritual, because Chara would kill them in a few minutes. The exorcised has to be tied up and incapacitated first.” Twilight reasoned. “Muffet, I don’t suppose…?”

The spider-lady sighed, shaking her head. “I’m fast, but not THAT fast. And neither are any of my pretties.” She added, as one spider quickly brought her a telegram. “Oh dear. It would appear that Starlight’s putting the plan into motion. We’d best come up with something fast!”

“CAN NOT YOUR FRIEND ZECORA, THE WOMAN WITH THE CHARMING HABIT OF RHYMING, AID US?” Papyrus suggested.

“My powers are great, and I’m talented too. But I know of no spell that for demonic voodoo.” Zecora apologetically admitted, bowing her head and shaking it back and forth.

“I do not believe chaos magic would be able to halt a demon. That’d be like throwing gas onto a fire.” Discord sighed. “Is there not ANYTHING that any of us can do?”

“I don’t suppose anyone’s friends with a spirit of their own that could maybe help?” Spike had asked up, raising a hand up at the table as everyone looked squarely at him. “Like, do we know any friendly ghosts? Or if Chara’s possessed, do we know anyone who’s fought off possession before?”

“Well, I did.” Frisk admitted as he put a hand on his chest and nodded, the Asian American rubbing his chin. “And I remember when the Six Souls had talked to me during my time in the Underground, I’d seen and heard from them instances where Chara tried to manipulate them into doing things for them. Or at least, the Demon that had a hold on Chara’s spirit did.”

“The Six Souls, of course!” Asgore proclaimed, slamming his fist into his palm, the gigantic, goat-like monster looking firmly around at them all. “We must call upon them. They’ve been currently inside of their containers this whole time, we could make use of them to banish this demon that’s befouled my family! Spirit defeating spirit!”

“Wait...you had six kids dead and...and you just had their souls stuck in jars that were just LYING AROUND?” Twilight asked, as the monsters at the table all shamefully looked away, biting into their lips or rubbing the back of their neck, Papyrus blinking slightly, obviously confused.

“WAIT, YOU...THAT’S WHAT YOU WANTED THE HUMAN FOR? THAT’S SO...MEAN.” Papyrus murmured. “I DIDN’T KNOW THAT AFTER FRISK WAS CAPTURED, WE WERE SUPPOSED TO...I MEAN…” He trailed off. “I WOULD NEVER WANT TO ACTUALLY HURT A CHILD.”

“How exactly did this happen?” Twilight quietly inquired, placing her hooves together, her face solemn and quiet. “Why did you order them dead?”

“Well, after Chara had died, and...and my son Asriel had perished as well, thanks to Chara’s plan…”

“Yes, Asriel told us about that…”

“Well, I flew into a rage. I ordered all humans that fell down into the Underground, that...that…” Asgore covered his face with one hand. “That they’d all be killed. And after that, slowly, over a period of time, six humans did. Six...human children.” He whispered out, Sans, who was standing by the table close to Discord, speaking up. His voice was a horrid, throaty croak.

“i killed two.” He muttered as Undyne folded her arms over her chest and hung her head, biting into her lip, Papyrus gasping in shock. “a little black girl and an Asian girl. the first one I blew away with a couple Gaster Blaster attacks, the second one, she actually fought me almost to a standstill, but…she just looked so pitiful after it all, she broke down and started crying and…” He trailed off. “…i couldn’t let her go, but I hated the fact I couldn’t. she was just so small…”

“One kid committed suicide in front of me, he jumped into the water in Waterfall, evidently he’d done such horrible things he...he felt he needed to make up for it and he died right in front of me.” Undyne whispered. “Then there was Christa, this...this silly little dork. She’d come down to help Alphys and Dr. Gaster and Sans with the time machine.”

“Yes, I remember you mentioning that machine!” Frisk said. “I SAW it back at the Underground, it was in Sans’s private lab, all covered up. He said he couldn’t get it to work, neither of you could.”

“Not after it broke the first time when Gaster fell in, and during the accident, it claimed Christa too.” Undyne sighed, shaking her head back and forth, the fish woman resting her hands on the table as the glasses-wearing human’s soft smile faded into her mind’s eye. “She had this chunk of the machine impaling her through the chest. All she could say was how mad her dad would be cuz...cuz she’d messed up her fancy notebook and gotten it all bloody…” Undyne murmured witha  small laugh. “Funny the things you focus on.”

“Undyne claimed her soul, and another human’s soul not too long after, a girl named Bonnie.” Alphys added, Frisk flinching as he laid his hands in his lap. “She’d evidently caused some of the monsters to get VERY hurt. So hurt I tested out my Determination formula on them and I thought it had worked, but...well, they turned into an even worse state instead. The girl evidently felt so guilty over shooting at them she didn’t even try to fight back when Undyne ripped her soul away from her.”

“And then there was Anthony. He was Chara’s kin, the brother he’d never known.” Undyne added as she held her hands together and bit her lip. “He’d been sent down into the Underground to find her. Her mother had been pregnant with Anthony when Chara vanished, and then she got VERY sick. She managed to stay alive long enough to give birth and to tell the doctors who delivered him that she hoped he could find her. I guess after she vanished, they must have felt guilty over driving her away. Anthony made it his mission to find out what become of her, and I was SO close to killing him, but...but he did something I almost couldn’t forgive.”

“What was that?” Twilight asked.

“...he saved my life.” Undyne sheepishly mumbled. “I’d been...falling apart. I SO wanted him dead I was somehow tapping into Determination of my own, but we monsters can’t handle that. So I was falling apart right in front of him, and he dragged me to Alphys’s lab!  Can you believe it? He was just so worried about me. HIM, worried about ME.” She chuckled, head shaking back and forth. “I couldn’t believe what he’d done. I took him to get something sweet at Muffet’s place, he said he wanted to help her cook and…”

Her expression got cold as her clawed fingers dug into the table. “She poisoned him and took his soul.”

Muffet cringed, slightly looking away. “I just…human souls were worth a lot of money, and my people-”

“Poison is a COWARD’S weapon. I couldn’t believe she’d do that to him, I…I felt ANGRY at that. He’d deserved better.”

“I SAID I was sorry!” Muffet yelled out. “We were all desperate! We’ve all done awful things, all of us at this table! Don’t single me out when you’re one of the worst of the lot!”

“We HAVE all been pretty awful. Those poor kids, they’d all been so scared. Scared of what we could do, b-but they still tried to be nice even after all we did.” Alphys quietly murmured, tapping her claws together. “And sometimes, its like…its like I can see Christa standing next to me and Undyne sometimes.”

“They ARE there.” Frisk said softly as they all looked over in his direction. “I’ve got a very strong sixth sense, I think it runs in the family. I can see them, or at least, part of their souls. They’re standing right by you. Christa has a purple t-shirt with a big ol’ shirt pocket and Neil, that kid with the ballet clothes, he’s there too, and so is…so’s Bonnie. Cowboy hat and all.” He added.  “Sans, Hope and Qiang are right next to you. And Muffet, Anthony’s there by your side, chef hat and everything.”

“They’re standing right by us? Is my hand passing through her head?” Undyne asked, waving her hand in the air.

“Yep.” Frisk said. “Well, actually, it’s kinda sticking out the side of her head and she’s giving the signal for “cut it out” to me.”

“Can they help us with Chara?” Twilight inquired, as Frisk turned back to the souls he could see, who all calmly nodded.

“Definitely.”

…

…

…

…Starlight Glimmer panted and heaved, holding up one hoof as a circular burst of energy shot forth, rushing towards Chara. The possessed boy leapt up through the air, dodging the dark purplish shot of magical power, then landed expertly on his feet, racing towards her. Starlight Glimmer held up both hooves, focusing her power as her two own “Gaster Blasters” rose up, shooting forth beams of magical might at Chara.

They barreled into Chara, Starlight Glimmer grinning in delight as she watched his form wilt and shudder under the horrific assault of her Gaster Blasters, Starlight shaking her head. “It’s over, Chara. You can’t stand up against me.”

But then her smile faded as he stood there, panting a bit, dusting himself off as he pointed the knife at her, demonic energy swirling around him. “I’VE GOT MY OWN TRICKS.” He roared out, as demonic waves of blackish/red energy shot forward, striking into Starlight Glimmer, forming large, skeletal hands that bashed her against the wall again and again.

Glimmer was not having any of that. Gritting her teeth and fighting through the pain, her horn sparked as a inky blot of black magic shot forth, splatting over his face and blinding him as he lashed about, trying to strike at her despite his lack of sight. But his shots kept going wide as Glimmer dipped and dived and ducked, avoiding his many skeletal strikes, the demonic energy all missing.

“You can’t hit me!” She called out with a slight smirk to her tone. But then Chara slammed his fists into the ground with a furious roar, and the dark red and black energy pulsated out. The shield that had been protecting the unconscious Toriel far in the back of the room shattered, Starlight Glimmer being tossed backwards, hitting the wall as Chara sadistically smirked, turning to look at Toriel as he held up the knife.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do this. At last, I can truly finish what I started. With this, I’ll gain just the right amount of EXP I need to reach a good, proper level, and then nobody shall stop me.” The Anomaly commented coldly.

“What is your PROBLEM?!” Starlight growled out. “Why your obsession with EXP and Levels?!”

“And you weren’t obsessed with revenge? You cared about control. Control over your own fate which you felt was denied you. So you tried to control others. And what is control if not power over others? Power. POWER is what matters. And when you go the distance, complete everything, DO everything, see all there is to see, DO all there is to do, only then will you be satisfied. It felt exhilarating to come so close to wiping out the whole Underground, but now that I know there’s so many other races here, I can have even more fun!” The Anomaly told Starlight, twirling the knife about. “Call me the Completionist. I leave no stone unturned.”

“Why don’t you use your powers to HELP people?” Starlight asked as the Competlionist chuckled.

“I played the good little boy for a long time. And like I told Azzy, it gets boring only going one route. Pacifist, Genocide, No Mercy, Betrayal...you need to see everything a world has to offer. I feel incomplete without it.” The demon remarked calmly. “You have to go every route, get every ending. In fact, once I’ve finished sharpening my teeth on all your bones, I’ll reset and do this all over again, and be your bestest widdle buddy, and you’ll NEVER know any of this happened.” It said, clasping its hands together, giving a fakey little phony cheery smile. “And I’ll do it again...and again...and AGAIN. And then move on to the next race.”

“You know, good mares have to know their limitations.” Starlight grunted out, struggling to get to her hooves only for Chara to shoot forward, kicking her into the wall with a THRUKKA-THRUD, the faintly purplish-furred unicorn gasping in agony as the Completionist Anomaly smirked.

“Limits exist to be broken. Like bones.” He said, grabbing hold of her hoof. “THIS little piggy went-”

“Don’t…stop this, Chara…” Toriel’s voice wafted out as he turned around, seeing Toriel rising up from up against the wall, panting and heaving, struggling to get to her feet as Chara let go of Starlight, arms hanging limp at his side. “You can’t have forgotten all about us. About the love we gave you.” She said gently. “Don’t you remember me? The nights we’d lull you to sleep? The pies?”

“…you used to smell like bread.” Chara spoke quietly, and for a brief moment his eyes were normal…but then they turned red again, the anomaly smirking.

“Oh, isn’t that just so sweet. You really think you can reach him? This is what Chara wants. They opened their heart to me and I was happy to come on in.”

“And now we’re ripping you out.” A voice rang out.

Chara’s body was tackled, as an African American girl in shabby brown clothes glared down at him, grabbing hold of his right arm, an Asian American girl with black hair and a black karati “gi” keeping his left arm down. A blonde-haired boy in ballet clothes had pinned Chara’s left leg down, whilst a messy haired young lass in a purple shirt too large for her was pinning his right leg. A red-haired Italian American child was holding onto Chara’s left side, trying to pin it to the floor as a brown-haired, cowboy-hat wearing girl held down the boy’s right side. Hope, Qiang, Neil, Christa, Anthony and Bonnie. The Six Souls, all shining brightly, Heart symbols floating about in the air over their heads, circling around Chara, Asgore and the others holding open various containers which had held the souls only moments before as they stood at the bottom of the basement stairs.

“You will leave him NOW.” Hope growled. “We’ve been patient, waiting for our opportunity to end the horrors you’ve unleashed.”

“You’re nothing but a coward, without a shred of bravery, making other people do your dirty work!” Qiang snarled. “Qu Ni De!”

“You’ve no principles, no integrity. You disgusting demon.” Neil grunted.

“All that requires evil to win is for good people to stop persevering in the fight against it. Well we will NOT give up this fight.” Christa proclaimed.

“It’s disgusting how cruel and without kindness you are. But I can’t pity you after all you’ve done to the brother I deserved to get to know.” Anthony spoke softly.

“You…hurt…my family. You WILL face justice.” Bonnie said, Chara’s body shuddering and shivering, all of them glowing brightly in different shades. Aquamarine, orange, blue, purple, green, yellow, the six souls assaulted the dark sludgy miasma that enveloped Chara as he howled and screeched and wailed.

“NOOO! GET OF ME! YOU THINK YOU’RE WINNING?! YOU THINK YOU’RE TURNING THE TIDE?! I’LL BE BACK! I’LL ALWAYS COME BACK! I’LL-”

“Things like you are beyond hell.” The Six Souls all spoke up, and with that, they all TORE at the dark miasma, ripping it into shreds, tiny little chunks that dissolved before everyone’s eyes, leaving an unconscious Chara on the floor, everyone gasping in surprise as the Souls turned back, smiling warmly at them all…Bonnie especially so at Frisk, giving him a knowing smile.

“You be good, kid.” She said knowingly as he wiped a tear away, and watched his mother fade along with the others, the Souls vanishing as they drifted off, high, high into the ceiling, perhaps never to return. Toriel raced over to Chara with Asgore and Asriel, turning him onto his back, Toriel waving a hand in his face.

“Chara? Chara, can you hear me?” She asked.

The boy’s eyes fluttered open and he slowly looked around, staring at everyone. “…uh…who…who are you?” He asked, Asgore shuddering, Asriel’s face falling as Toriel almost wept on the spot, covering her face as Frisk quietly watched on, unsure of what to do.

The next day, Chara was in bed, hands on the big blue comforter before him as Toriel wrung her hands, Asgore and Asriel standing nearby. “Well?” She asked of Doctor Whooves as the good doctor held up the clipboard he had with him.

“I can’t really find anything. It’s like his mind is locked off. I’m sorry. I’ve no explanation.” He admitted sadly. “We can only really keep him here and wait. Give them time.”

“We’ll figure out something. Even if we have to make sure he relearns everything, we’ll make this right.” Asriel offered, gently patting his mom and his dad on the back as they exited the room, Frisk peeking inside, seeing Chara’s face and the clear and obvious recognition in his eyes…along with absolute guilt. Frisk waited until the others were gone from the hospital room, having vanished down the hallway, and then spoke.

“When you’re ready…I’ll wait for you with the others. We can talk to them together, “partner”.” Frisk offered without a hint of sarcasm.

“…I don’t deserve it.” Chara muttered. “…I was sick in my own head. And I needed somebody to take a scalpel and cut out all the bad parts. But I can still feel so much of it left behind, like an awful scar.”

“Scars can be cool.” Frisk reasoned. “And besides, they can fade with time. Just…give yourself some time.”

With that, he slowly closed the door, leaving Chara alone with his thoughts, and a lifetime to think about as he quietly hung his head. A little while later though, a white-furred doctor pony in a long labcoat entered, bringing some apple juice…and a book.

“Here.” He said, putting the apple juice down as he held the book up. “I thought you might like this. It’s “Beauty and the Beast”. A true classic from BOTH worlds, from what I’ve heard. I always enjoy the twist at the end in how the beast is transformed into the beautiful specimen he always could have been inside. It shows you how much a little love can do.”

“Kind of like having a flower bloom, I guess.” Chara admitted. “Could you, um…” Chara bit his lip. “I know you might have a lot to do, but…could you read it for me, Dr…um…”

“It’s okay. My name will come to you.” The good doctor said with his oddly deep, black eyes as he sat down in a nearby chair and opened up the book, beginning to read as Chara leaned back in his bed, and quietly listened as Dr. Gaster just read and read and read.

Frisk looked outside at the falling snow. It was a gentle snow, like what he recalled when he was on the surface, the Pegasi making sure the snow was more like a fall of gentle stars than a harsh winter blizzard. It was perfect for the little boy to play outside in, along with his friends, both monster and pony... and one human.

That was the biggest change of late, the return of Chara to life. While he was still in recovery he was making huge advances, and according to Asriel was back to much of his former self, even if he didn’t seem to remember much of his former life. Or at least, that’s how he’d come across to the others. Frisk knew the truth: Chara was still confronting who he’d been, and hated what he saw. He was making progress owning up to the things he’d done, but Chara was still adamant however that he hoped he would never see another human besides Frisk again, after the life he had before. Someday that may change Asriel had told him.... but Chara said it would take a lot of Frisks to do so.

Chara was only partly on his mind as Frisk looked out the window. He was wrapped in a warm blanket after being out in the snow alongside the Crusaders, and now everyone was in Twilight's palace to warm up around the campfire with steaming hot cups of cocoa (Except Muffet, who had spiders.). Gazing at his friends, Frisk smiled and relaxed, settling in by Asriel.

"Sure was nice of you all to invite me for the winter rompus you had." Chrysalis said, sipping delicately at her cocoa. He others smiled. In the room was Frisk, the Changeling Queen, Muffet, the Mane Six, the Skeleton brothers, the Dreemurrs, and even Derpy and Doctor Whooves, who had wheeled Chara out of the hospital to join in. It was the latter who spoke next.

"You make it sound like you never had winter fun before." He said, curiosity in his brown eyes. Chrysalis sighing as she hung her head.

"I hadn't. Truth be told, for changelings for a long time there was no real holidays." For a moment, everyone was sad. "Buuuut.... there was still a lot of celebrations. My changelings told you many tales good and bad about us, didn't they Twilight?"

Twilight nodded.

"Then perhaps I should tell one. See.... when I was but a pupa, I did recall one very special day. The day I was chosen to be the next queen..."

 

 

 

At the time I was a mere pupa, just barely out of the egg sac. Like most insectoids we were born out of eggs and not from our mother's womb, and I was part of the sac from the queen of our hive.

For a long time I worked with the others, and believed I was lower than everyone else because I was the RUNT. Usually that meant you would be drained of your love and kept as a doll, or being for emergency hugs in dark times. So I tried twice as hard at everything I did. Even so I did not seem to earn the favor of the Queen. I was missing something.

One day, I was walking with one of my sisters out in the Badlands. it was a cool evening in the desert region, and I was content to break from the work. We were watching the stars my sister and I, when the ground rumbled, and from it emerged a being that resembled a giant insect, but bore a lion's head and tail, as well as two front paws with sharp claws. It was an antlion, a beast of incredible power.

"Run sister!" I shouted, and we did. At first, my thought was to save my own exoskeleton, and I easily could have. My sister was slower and she would have been a better meal, lowering my competition for the Queen.

But... something inside me reminded me of who she was. Of the bond all Changelings share. We are sisters and brothers, all of us, and as royalty it was my job to help them regardless of who they were. I knew then what I had to do. I turned and, with what little magic I had, blasted the antlion on the nose. While all it did was give him a massive sneezing fit, it was enough to save my sister.

From then on I stopped competing, since helping others felt so much better than worrying about who was leader. I helped everyone I could in the hive,and vowed I would always take care of them, for as royalty they were my children whether I was queen or not. Then, the day came that my mother would name her successor out of all of us.

"My hive, loyal and fearless, there is among you, among my children, one who is fit to be a leader. But she has become so not by competition, but by using her powers for the sake of her hive. Her devotion to those around her, despite not knowing what would happen, have earned her the right to be called Queen. I present to you your new and true Queen Chrysalis!"

I was stunned when the hive beat their wings and hooves as I was asked to approach, the crown placed on my head. I saw as my hive... MY hive... bowed before me. I felt good knowing I had helped them, and I promised that no matter what they would come first in my life, that I would do what I could to give them Equestria.

And... I kept that vow.

**********

"While it was the peace treaty that ensured their survival, I still will always put them first in my heart, and they me. This is what it means to be a Queen."

Everyone smiled, and Frisk awwed some. "So.... even the invasion I heard about..."

"Yes.... That was out of need to get love for my people. I had to risk it, and I doubted we would be welcomed easily. I see now it was a mistake."

Applejack chimed in. "Eh, we all make 'em! I made my share of mistakes o'er the years. Heck, I recall one awhile back that almost made ME inta an apple fritter!

Everyone giggled, but Muffet hmmed. "An Applejack Fritter? Do tell... it kinda sounds.. tasty."

Applejack shook her head, chuckled, and told her story

 

 

 

Ah reckon the best placeta start a tale is at the beginnin’, so here we go. I was but a young un, and at the time Ah was a regular old food fiend. Specially for apple fritters. My grandma made some o the best apple fritters ya'll ever tasted! Granny Smith was just the best there was or is!

Anyhoo, one day, she had just made a fresh batch and went out ta let them cool, but I was still in da kitchen, unknown to her. Ah climed on the counter, found the fritters, and went to work. I scarfed them like they was sunflower seeds!Ah was a regular ol apple shape when ah was done, but I was greedy. And I knew more had to be in that big ol vat by the fryer.

TT\hing was I wasn't wrong.... the vat had the filling for the fritters, and when I leaned in to take a taste.... In Ah Went! I was stuck in the molasses and apple mixer faster than you could say tarnation!

And ah course, Ol granny came in just at that moment, And set to making more fritters. One batch she put into the pastry had me in it! I called out, and she blinked smiling.

"Oh my, is that a pony in there?" She said, poking my tummy. "Naw, it's jus a big ol apple! So it must be for fritters!"

"I ain't a fritter!" I said, and she giggled.

"Ya sure? Ya ate a lot o my fresh fritters, and ya are what you eat!" She sealed the pastry up around me like a big ol soft blankie, and she put me in a basket.

"Ah swear Ah won't eat anymore without permission!" I said. She giggled.

"You prooooooooooooooooooooooooomise?"

Well, I blushed redder than a strawberry during picking season and nodded. Ah had to stay in the pastry dough the whole time so I couldn't get loose and eat all o’ the fritters, but I learned my lesson. From then on Ah never stole another thing in my life.

*************

Muffet looked disappointed as Applejack finished, the others still chuckling. "Darnit... Here I was hoping she got to... ah well, maybe I will have BETTER luck." She winked two of her eyes.

"Dun even try it five eyes." Applejack said, everyone laughing again. Asriel smiled some.

"I guess when you are a kid, you get in all kinds of trouble, don't you?" He asked. Nearby, Toriel nodded.

"Oh indeed my son, and that was even true of your father and myself." She smiled and giggled, everyone suddenly curious. "Oh it was nothing too bad mind you... but a long time ago when I was a kid (if you'll pardon the pun), I recall a certain event that really got me in trouble.

 

 

 

Now, monsters age slower than most other creatures, and most age only when they have families, so I was a kid a LONG time ago, when there was still knights and magicians and such. At the time, when monsters lived on the surface, I would often watch them with their shiny armors and fancy getups. I thought it looked kind of cool.

Well one day , I happened on a building where a man slaved over an anvil. He was a monster of a monster,  big and strong, and was working on a sword that he had endowed with magical properties. Curious about the blade, I went up to the blade and looked at it. The monster working on it smiled.

"You wanna see, little princess?" He asked. I nodded, taking the blade. It looked amazing, made of a silver not found in the world anymore, with a handle that shimmered in the light. It was light, yet it was so sharp it looked like it could cut through a stone. And I felt a desire bubbling up inside and KNEW I had to try.

So I ran to a huge boulder nearby. The man shouted, but I drove the sword in anyway.. .and couldn't get it back out.

"Oh NO...." I said, but the smith was understanding.

"Well.... I was making it for a king, but the spell on that says that only a pure heart can draw it. I think it will be interesting to see who can pull the sword from the stone."

*************

"Wait a minute!" Frisk said. "You mean.. .the whole sword in the stone thing... the legend of King Arthur... that was cuz of YOU, mom?!"

Toriel blushed but Asgore chimed in. "Your mom was responsible for it yes. Since only a pure heart could draw it no human had any success until Arthur came along. Ah, those were the days..."

Chara, sipping some cocoa, spoke up. "Is that why you don't like weapons m-ma’am?” He inquired, still not quite willing to give away just how much he remembered of his old life. “I mean Arthur did USE the sword you put there in battle."

Toriel sighed. "...... it is part of the reason."

Frisk turned to his partner. "That reminds me Chara... have any memories resurfaced?"

Chara nodded. "A few.” He slightly confessed. “Some bad, some good. I don't wanna talk about them too much... but something did happen a few days ago that’s been giving me faith in the future. See.... there is this Doctor G who comes and sees me. Well... the other day... something happened that might be able to give me hope."

 

 

 

I was lying in bed, sad about all the terrible things I had done... or rather what I was forced to do. The demon made me do a lot of terrible things, and it was not helped by the way I had been on the surface. I was ready to die, I will not lie. But the doctor who came in kept giving me hope. He would come in, read me stories, even let me share what past I was remembering. It still felt some of it was blocked but....

Anyways, as the snow first began to fall, the doctor looked out at it, so gentle, so peaceful. There was something familiar about him and his soft white body, but I could not place it.

"Chara..." He said to me.

"Yes?"

"Have you ever watched the snow fall? Ever see it give the landscape a gentle coating, and make everything new?"

I was puzzled. "But... isn't snow just snow?"

The doctor pony smiled, chuckling. "It means more than that. Snow cleanses the atmosphere of chemicals, and makes the air clean and fresh again. It takes away the abnormalities and chemicals, and creates pure fresh water in its wake. It is a purifier for the world." He turned to the boy. "Snow is on our hearts Chara. But it is not a bad thing. The snow on our hearts means that there is a brighter day coming, where we will be purified."

At that moment, I knew where I had seen those eyes before.... I could not place the name, but those eyes... the doctor reminded me of someone I knew in the underground, someone who was trying to save everyone. He... .that monster... had been like a second father to me, and we talked about a lot.

"I hope that day comes for us both soon." I said, smiling, for some reason unable to keep from crying. The pony wiped my tears away and smiled, those eyes seeming to have lines along them, but his smile gentle and caring.

"For me... it has. For you... it will." He smiled. "I found out the lengths people, not just monsters or ponies or even humans but PEOPLE, would go to to try and help others. I want to do the same, even if only part of me is able to do so."

I didn't know what he meant, but I hugged the doctor. He had been so kind to me... like so many were despite all I had done. I felt my heart melting. I wanted to do better..."

*************

"And I promise I will." Chara finished holding the heart locket he was now wearing again, arms around his brothers, adopted or otherwise. everyone was quiet for a moment as they turned to watch the snowfall. All of them had memories to share, all of them had sad or happy times of yesterday.

Derpy smiled. "Love is funny isn't it? It even comes to those who don't think they deserve it." She turned to her husband, the doctor deep in thought about this mysterious Doctor G. She smiled all the same and shared her story.

 

 

 

When you mess up as much as I do you think you're beyond love. But  I was wrong. I remember the day he came into town, my darling love of my life. He seemed a little out of place, but at the same time he seemed to fit in more than I ever would. Thanks to my condition with my vision I had trouble being anything but a little... Derpy. But he was handsome and smart, and the mares all just seemed to swoon over the new doctor in town. He was really smart you see, and came up with a lot of nifty inventions, some powered by steam, others by magical gems, others using means I still cannot figure out. Needless to say I was real shy about seeing him.

I don't know what it was that made him talk to me that day when I was delivering mail, but he just looked at me and smiled. I blushed, unable to speak as he spoke up.

"Excuse me miss, can you direct me to the closest eatery?"

That question set off a series of events. I told him the best one, but I was lousy with directions, so I would have to take him. So we walked. We walked and talked, and he told me how pretty my eyes were, and how shiny my coat was. By the time we got to Hay Field's Hayburgers, we were already good friends.

The next day I tried to find out where he lived, but everyone just laughed at me, saying how I would never have a chance. Everyone, that is, except Pinkie Pie. She knew I had something special I guess, and told me I should share a cupcake with him. When I told her I preferred muffins, we whipped up the finest batch of apple cinnamon muffins ever. I smiled as I followed her directions to give the Doctor my gift.

Unfortunately, everyone wanted my muffins, and tried to be my buddy long enough to take them. Some even wanted them to give to the doctor themselves. By the time I was at his house... I had lost them all, and was heartbroken.

But then I got a real surprise. The Doctor had found out about the ponies who teased me, and taught them about what real beauty was. Amazingly they helped us set up a perfect little date together. When I asked why they did this, why they mainly just bowed out, they all had one answer...

*****************

"They know true love when they see it." Derpy said, now snuggled against Doctor Whooves, the two sneaking a kiss, making everyone aww and Chrysalis moan in delight.

"Ahh, true love." She said. "It's truly the most delicious treat. But I gather after that the whole relationship began, followed by love, then marriage, and eventual marriage?"

Derpy Do nodded. "It was a wonderful wedding, and Pinkie helped plan it all."

Pinkie blushed some, Twilight smiling some. Outside the world was getting dark. "You know, we should make this a tradition, telling stories on Hearth's Warming Eve."

Everyone agreed, relaxing by the fireplace, as Toriel got up. "Ummm.... is something burning?" She ran to the kitchen, everyone looking where she went. "Nope! They are ready, and perfectly baked!"

With Twilight's help, everyone soon had their own personal butterscotch pies. The exceptions were Muffet and Chrysalis, who each got Snail Pie, and Derpy, who got a fresh baked cinnamon muffin stuffed with melted caramel. It was a wonderful way to end a cold winter's day.

Asriel smiled, looking at the reader, alongside Frisk and Chara.

"May all your days end well, and may you all find your happy endings." Asriel said.

"May those of you who seek redemption find it in love." Chara said as he hugged his brother.

"And.... may you know the true meaning of SOUL." Frisk said with a wink. With a smile, the three pulled up the tab, showing two words that, in the right place, meant a smile of delight.

Despite how creepy he looked, Endogeny, one of the Amalgamates, was sure a lot of fun to be around. The combination of several dog monsters into one when a determination experiment went wrong, he was that much more weird but that much more soft and that much more cuddly. Apple Bloom giggled as the being sucked on her head a little, its equivalent of a face lick.

"Hey, that tickles!" She giggled Applejack nearby, smiling. Her own little pooch barked happily at a new playmate, and nearby Alphys only smiled. The Amalgamates were usually in a section of Ponyville Castle that was all their own, but they loved to visit other places. At first it was a bit of a hard time getting them to fit in, but thanks to efforts by Frisk, Starlight, Chrysalis, and even Chara and Asriel, they were big hits, especially with some of the little foals who loved how cool they looked. (Especially Nightmare Moon's number one fan, Little Pip). Today they had come to Sweet Apple Acres. Applebuck season was just around the corner and one of them, Death Bird, had suggested with her writing that maybe they could help. After seeing how the Cutie Mark Crusaders took to them, it was no trouble convincing Applejack.

"So, this Amalga-whatawhosit was made when monsters got too much o the determination?" Applejack asked, serving the dino-like scientist another piece of pie.

"Yeah... it was my attempt to break the barrier without having to take human souls... but it failed. Despite it all however, thanks to Frisk they are all happy. Yeah they may be different looking, but still are all friendly." She smiled as Endogeny yawned, a sweet smelling happiness froth coming from its orifice, laying down on some straw, Applejack’s pup laying down beside it happily, Apple Bloom stroking its belly.

"Well I reckon it is defiantly friendly. Look a likin to my pup almost immediately, and she is a good judge o character." AJ looked outside at another of the visiting Amalgamtes, a scary looking one called Lemon Bread, who had a huge, hungry mouth. But the CMC still were playing with it, letting the other two members try and toss apples in its mouth, Big Mac bucking a couple in.

Thisisfunthisisfunthisisfunthisisfun!" The mishmash of creatures said, laughing as if it was a whole audience onto itself. Alphys could only smile with pride as she saw it.

"You sure taught those three well." Alphys said, tearing up just a little.

"Eh, more like they taught me, buckaroo." AJ said, putting  ahoof over Alphys. "They taught me that y’all cannot judge cept what's inside." She placed a hoof on Aplhys' heart. Just then, Alphys cell rang.

"h-h-h-ello?" She said. But the voice she heard was that of the most freaky of the Amalgamates, Memoryhead, who had to use the phone to speak.

"SOMEONE IS COMING. THEY LOOK BAD."

"Where are you?" Alphys asked, finally spotting the floating ghostlike figures, the shape of them resembling skulls mixed with Gaster's old face. There was three of them, and they were floating about the window that looked out at the orchard. Applejack looked out, and what she saw made her fume.

"Oh no... not them again." She snorted. Alphys was confused.

"A-a-a-Applejack?" Alphys said.

"Remember what I said bout judging a book by the cover?" AJ replied, pointing out the window. Outside in a steam powered vehicle was a pair of handsome looking stallions with whicker hats and candy striped shirts, making them look like members to a barber shop quartet. In truth it was Flam and Flam, brothers who were a pair of fast talking and fast scheming salesponies.

"There is an example of a bad apple in the barrel hidden behind a good appearance." Aj trotted out angrily, watching as Flim and Flam stopped in front of her home. "What in tarnation are you two carpetbaggers doin here?!"

"Easy easy eeeeeasy, Miss Applesnack!" Said the driver, a rather dapper looking cream colored pony.

"APPLEJACK!"

"Whatever.... point is, we got us a little something that will knock your hat off! Oh brother Flim?" Said the other brother, who looked like the first but also had a stylized mustache, making him look a little bit of a mix of dapper and sinister.

********

"And I don't have a thing against mustaches!" Edward said, breaking the forth wall again. Better let Saiyan Brony know.

***********

"RRRRRRRRRRRRight you are, Brother Flam!" The first said, leaping out of his seat and landing square on his hooves after a triple somersault. From his hat he then produced a single jar, filled with apple seeds.

"What in tarnation...seeds?" Applejack said with a raised eyebrow.

"Wrong!" Flim said. "The most spectacular seeds you ever did seed! One of these is guaranteed to plant a tree that will produce apples, not in months, not in weeks, not even in days... but in seconds!"

"Yer full of cow chips if y’all think I believe that story." Applejack said. But the two brothers gave an evil grin.

"Oh let us demonstrate." The two brothers planted one of the seeds right in front of Applejack, and added some water. And then.... up from the ground sprouted a massive tree, with over three dozen of the biggest, ripest, juices apples Applejack had ever seen on it! Her hat fell off as she looked up at it, in utter shock.

"Well I'll be a sock eyed mule!.... no offense."

"None taken." Random mule said off to her side.

****************

"I promise my only reference to my abandoned MLP series! I swear! Besides everyone likes random mule right? RIGHT?"

*****************

Flim and Flam smiled, plucking one. "Try a bite for yourself little lady!" Flim said. Applejack took it, and took a bite. She moaned at how crisp it was, and how juicy.  It was... it was....

IT WAS DELICIOUS!

"Well I'll be.... I never thought Ah would see the day!" She stared at the apple tree. "But still... How'd y’all do it?"

"Ohhhh, bit of magic that we found. Will revolutionize the apple industry! And we are willing to share the profits on one condition." Flam said, stroking his mustache. Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"And what's that?" She finally said, everyone else gathering around her, even the Amalgamates.

"Simple. WE give 50% of the profit... but YOU give 50% of the farm to us!"

Everyone gasped. After a moment of silence, Big Macintosh spoke up, glaring and speaking even lower than usual.

"NOPE."

The two brothers shrugged. "Your funeral. We already know you depend on the sales this week to keep the farm running... but if someone beets you to market and makes FULL QUOTA?"

Flim smiled as Flam spoke, holding up the rest of the seeds. Everyone knew what they were going to do as they boarded their vehicle.

"Oh, and by the way, since you won't let us use your land for this, we will use some of the unowned land for it. Farewell Applesnack, and enjoy your final days on the farm before we BUY it!" The two brothers laughed as they drove off. Applejack staring in a mix of fury and shock. She knew the apples she had needed to sell to maintain the ownership of the farm. If someone else beat them to it, they could lose it by Ponyville law. But she also knew, sadly, they could pull it off. Those trees grew instantly, plus they had those fancy mechanical doohickeys to help them. That meant...

"youwontloseyouwontloseyouwontloseyouwontloseyouwontlose" Lemon Bread said, slinking up and placing a single beefy hoof on her, offering comfort.

"Thanks, but how can I..."

"Relax!" Apple Bloom said, standing on the back of Endogeny. "We can round up some friends from town, and together we can have this orchard picked in no time!"

"wdsfwgbsvyuwvsbiuefhwe." Reaper Bird said, nodding in agreement. Aphys cell rang, and when answered came that evil sounding voice again, the three heads floating about.

"COUNT ON US TOO. WE WILL JOIN YOUR PARTY. CALL FOR HELP.... AND EVERYONE CAME!"

Applejack got what the creatures meant. She smiled atr her friends and family, then stood firm.

"Let's get to it then! Alphys, you study this dang gum tree and see how they can do what they did. Apple Bloom, you take Doggy here and head into town, round up our friends! I'll take the rest here and get started. We got a HUGE crop this year, and if we wanna make quota the first day we gotta pick them all before sun up!"

Everyone cheered, Endogeny letting out a howl that mixed with the sound of a half dozen others all in one being. They were in it together!

*************

That night, Applejack led the effort to pick every last apple before sun up. She smiled as she bucked each tree alongside her brother, letting the Crusaders gather them. In another section, Frisk, Chara, and Sans formed another team, Sans using his levitation to shoot Chara at the apples, the expert knife wielder using his skills to expertly cut each apple free, Frisk using his acrobatic skills to catch each one, and once the baskets were full, Asriel used his Death God mode and sent them onto another cart.. The Amalgamates also chipped in, Endogeny carrying the apples by the barrel to gathering stations where they could be taken to market when it opened, while Reaper Bird and Lemon Bread used their powers to free the apples, Lemon Bread blasting them with eye beams while Reaper Bird had the butterfly like bullets he shot pull each apple off, with them landing expertly in big barrels maintained by the memory heads and their downright freaky powers.

All the while, Alphys and Twilight were studying the tree and its special apples while Flutterhsy and Rarity brought everyone refreshments to help keep them full of energy, refreshments made by Toriel, Muffet, and Granny Smith. Finally, Papyrus and Rainbow Dash moved from location to location, helping where was needed. Despite being a lot of hard work, Applejack smiled with pride as all her friends and family, old and new, worked as one to get the job done.

Apple Bloom held a bucket up with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, smiling happily as the apples fell into the waiting bucket, turning to grin at her friends. “This’ll be a cinch!” She remarked, her brother walking away from the tree he’d bucked…not noticing the tree was beginning to crack. And crack…

A moment later it flopped down, the tree limbs BARELY missing the Crusaders as they gaped, dropping the bucket squarely on the ground as they looked down at the tree, Big Mac racing over. “Y’all alright?” he asked, eyes wide with shock.

“…y-yep.” Apple Bloom said, wiping her brow. “PHEW. That was real close! Dunno how it missed…”

"How y’all doin!?" She then heard her sister call to each section.

"Almost done here!" Chara called. "just four tree left in this section!"

"THE AMALGAMATES ARE ALL DONE! JUST HAULING THE REST NOW, NYEH HEH HEH!!!" Papyrus called out, he and Rainbow Dash bringing the last buckets with the help of the freakish but wonderful monsters.

"I got a few left here, but we can take a quick break for some fresh pie." She smiled as her friends came over, tearing up inside. "Ah cannot thank y’all enuff for this."

"heh, no biggie." Sans said, petting the cowpony. "an apple a day keeps the con men away, right?"

"YEAH, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE PICKED BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" The skeleton royal guard said proudly.

"I agree." Toriel said, she and Fluttershy and Rarity bringing out several large trays of food, Muffet and Granny Smith behind. "You have all done very well, and deserve a hearty reward."

The group smiled, sat at a massive table, and dug in together as friends and family. Even the Amalgamtes, who some might think horrifying, were welcome with open hooves and arms, enjoying a job well done.

That was why what happened the next day was such a terrible blow.

***************

In good spirits and with a song in her heart, Applejack led the cart train that carried the massive apple delivery to market. But as they got there, they were met with a terrible sight.

Flim and Flam were there already, with a delivery of apples that matched hers apple for apple. The buyer for the market, who also was heading up the first ever apple celebration, was delighted with such a big order.

"Well you two," She heard the buyer say, "With this your full quota is met! We will get these apples put out and made into treats right away, and you should have your bits this afternoon. I guess you were right to say that you were going to replace Sweet Apple Acres."

Applejack was wide eyed and heartbroken on hearing that. She and her friends and family worked so hard...

For nothing.

Her head sunk and she began to sob. Big Mac came over to her, letting her cry, holding her sister. "It isn't fair!" She finally said. "Those two use dishonest methods to get a crop while we worked all night... and... .and... and they BEAT us!"

"Eeeyup." Big Mac agreed softly, trying to hide his broken heart as well. Behind them sat Apple Bloom in one of the cartas, as well as the many who helped work on getting those apples. It felt worthless now, like everything had been for nothing.

"Well! Nice to see you all on this fine morning!" Flim said, walking over and seeing the crop. "But it looks like the best man won Applejack. And you know what that means!"

Applejack nodded. "Yeah, Ah know." She said. "You won." She grumbled.

"Eh, don't be too hard on yourself, you gave it the old college try." Flam said, walking over. "And if it is any consolation, You sure got a HUGE crop with your friends." He smiled deviously at his brother. "ALMOST as much as what we brothers did with our machine last night." Laughing, they left, Applejack finally throwing the hat from her head and about to stomp it... when....

"APPLEJACK!!!! APPLEJACK! COME QUICK!" Twilight called. Applejack looked to the others.

"Stay with the apples." She told them all, however a curious Frisk and Chara tagged along, wanting to help. And as they reached the apple farm, they saw a truly frightening sight.

There, where the tree had grown yesterday were Alphys and Twilight, and they were pointing out that the tree...WAS MELTING.

"What in tarnation?!" Applejack said. "Isn't that..."

"Yes." Alphys said, tapping his claws together. "This tree was made solely by magic... or so I thought. It was given a little... boost to make sure it grew fast and grew well."

Twilight nodded. He led Applejack to a microscope, under which was a piece of one of the FlimFlam apples. as Applejack looked, she saw the cells breaking apart, torn from the inside by another force, then combining in new, creepy ways.

"What in.... what was that?!"

Alphys sighed. "Determination." He looked to the tree, ow almost a puddle. "This tree was made completely by magic, and injected with determination... determination someone may have stolen from my lab."

Chara spoke up. "Determination?! Like.... like what was used to..."

Alphys nodded, but Twilight was confused. "How did they have raw determination?"

Alphys gulped. This would be another dark thing to explain. "Well....you see, When the six kids were being killed, and their souls taken all those years ago, I had the idea that their raw determination could be used to keep monster souls intact. It would allow those who had 'fallen down' to have a maintained soul, allowing them to be harvested and their souls used to set us free. They agreed of their own free will to the experiment.

"But... something went wrong. Instead of making the souls stronger it resurrected the monsters. Or so we thought."

Applejack, who knew the rest from yesterday, spoke up. "The Amalgamates!"

"Right." Alphys continued. "It took several combined monster souls to be able to contain all that determination, resulting in them. But... there is another issue." Alphys looked at Frisk and Chara. "And you both know what I mean."

Frisk nodded. "Flowey... your first experiment."

Twilight was wide eyed. "That was how Asriel was able to stay as Flowey?! Alive and without a soul?!"

Alphys nodded. "The hope was to make a vessel that could hold souls and go through he barrier. But instead it harnessed Asriel's remnants."

Chara nodded. "And since he had absorbed my soul prior.... it allowed a portion of his memories to exist."

Alphys nodded. "Right again. A small portion true, which is why you are able to be alive now. But enough to keep the memories and..."

"WAIT A SEC!" Applejack interjected. "What about if there was no former SOUL.... the apples... what will they do?!"

The group soon got its answer as they looked back to the tree. In its place now stood several small red apple creatures with stems for legs and arms, and two freakish eyes, s well as a maw that opened to the core, dripping juice. They smiled with mischief at the group.

"Uh oh...."

*********

Back at the buyer, No one had noticed that the apples were melting together, the buyer calculating the total amount he would pay them later. "I do believe this much is almost enough, if not more than enough, to buy out Sweet Apple Acres!"

The two brothers gave each other a hoofbump. "Well done brother mine! Soon the acres will be all ours, and with our new apples, we will be richer than the Princesses!"

Flam nodded to Flim. "Right you are! Soon everyone in Equestria and beyond will be lining up for our FlimFlam apples!" The brothers laughed, already talking bout how they would remodel Sweet Apple Acres, both unaware of the form rising behind them.

"Well, that should..... oh..... my...." The owner said, as he turned and saw the shadowy form. The brothers were confused, even as they saw the owner back away slowly... then run out the door, screeching in pure terror. Curious, the two brothers turned around.

There behind them was a massive red apple, with big red eyes and a enormous mouth like a scary pumpkin, with massive tree limbs extending from it ending in hands and hooves. The giant Applegamate roared, the two brothers backing away.

"Uhhhhh... Flim... those vials you took from the lab.. how much did you soak into those seeds we stole from Sweet Apple Acres?" Flam said, shaking.

"Ummmm.... all six vials." Flim replied. "I think I overdid it Flam, and this makes it a good time to beat a retreat!"

"Right you are Flim! Grab the contract of sale and let's gooooooooooaaaaahhhhhhhhhHHHHHH!!!!!" The two eeped as they were lifted into he air by the being, the form giving a deep, evil laugh, glaring with a spike mouthed grin and two red apple eyes.

"I... don't like the way he is looking at us Flim!"

"I don't like the way he is SMILING at us Flam!" The two looked at one another, and spoke out in a clam, reasonable matter for the situation.

"SOMEONE HEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!"

The Applegamate laughed as it lifted the two up, but turned as the main door to the delivery center was bucked open. There was Applejack, alongside her friends, the Mane six.

"Hey ya overgrown apple pie! Put those two down."

The apple blinked, looked at the two, then back at Applejack.

"I said DOWN!" She repeated, the Applegamate wide eyed. It shrugged and set the two one of the now mostly empty baskets, only sticky residue inside.

"Thats b-"

WHAM! The apple smacked Applejack away with incredible force, sending her flying through the air. For a moment it looked like she was going to land hard on the ground before, almost as if SHOVED, one of the wading pools slid over across the ground, and she plopped right inside, with a loud SPA-LOOOSH. She got up, coughing, giving a sigh.

"Oh now ya did it." She said. The Applegamate walked out, looking about. After a moment it lifted his hands and fired several apples from the ends of them. But as they hit the ground, they form more like the tiny versions of the Applegamate, similar to what Applejack and her friends had squashed before.

"Oh come on, they can do that?!" Applejack said. She watched as Fluttershy approached one....

And hugged it?

"Uhhh...Fluttershy?"

The others giggled and cheered, Applejack now totally confused. But a cry from Frisk got her attention.

"It's heading for Sugarcube Corner!!!!" He called. Applejack was wide eyed. If that thing saw the apple pies inside, it would tear the place apart...and everything inside with it!"

"Chara, Asriel, Rainbow Dash, let's go!" Applejack said, letting the others take care of keeping everyone safe. The four of them were the fastest, and most capable fighters.

They had to stop the Applegamate!

****

As the being closed in on the bakery, the Cakes watched with fear…all but the babies, who cheered and giggled.

"Oh no, this is retribution for all those apple pies we baked!" Mr. Cake said.

"I swear, I'll never eat another apple as long as I LIVE!" Mrs. Cake shouted. Oddly, when the creature heard that...it seemed to get madder, fuming visibly.

"Hold it right there!"

The creature turned, seeing Chara, his True Knife in hand. "I don't wanna use this, but if you take one more step closer I will!"

Frisk stood by Chara, also ready to fight if need be, both beside their pony friends. The apple turned to face them, roared, and charged.

"Watch it!' Applejack called, the four splitting up to dodge. Rainbow Dash tried to slam into it from the air, but was pelted with a maniacal apple, landing with a crash, the apple still in her mouth, making her look slightly like a piggy.

Muffet popped her head from out of her diner, eyes wide. “Something wonderful is happening!” She proclaimed before seeing the immense apple, cringing. “…EEP.” She gasped out, quickly diving back inside and pulling out a metal colander, putting it on her head as she turned to her fellow spiders. “I always knew this day would come! OUR FOOD IS FIGHTING BACK. We’ve got Nightmare Scenario, fellow spiders!”

“Batten down the hatches!” The spiders all cried out, immediately racing to barricade the doors.

"Oh NOW you did it!" Chara said, charging and ready to swing the blade. He had to be careful not to kill the being, so he aimed for an arm. His aim was true, as it came off with considerable ease.

"Yeee hah! Nice one Chara!" Applejack called, Chara landing and beaming with pride. But as he turned, he saw the old arm melt away... and a new one grow out in its place.

"Of course it can do that." Chara groaned. Applejack sighed.

"We will have to restrain it somehow before it tears apart the town!" She looked about for anything that might hold the giant apple. She suddenly smiled, seeing the large tank of water set up for bobbing for apples.

"I got it! Frisk, you distract it, Rainbow, you and I got to buck that thing into the water tank!"

Rainbow, still dizzy, finally nodded as Frisk maneuvered around the Applegamate. It tried to grab Frisk a few times, even tried to blast it with one of its apples, but Chara arrived just in time to cut it in two. Working together the two lured the apple into perfect bucking position.

"Alright Rainbow, give it all you got!"

The two mares snuck up behind the apple and with all their strength bucked him into the air. The being screamed as it flew up slightly, landing perfectly in the water tank. Since it could float, it was unable to move about with any effort. The town cheered as the apple was restrained. Applejack smiled as she approached.

"Alright you, now you can't tear down Sugarcube Corner."

The apple blinked and spoke with a definitive Pinkie Pie voice, making everyone snicker as it.. .she?....spoke.

"Tear it down? Silly Willy, I was trying to make a pie!"

Everyone laughed as it spoke, Applejack raising an eyebrow. "Whaaaa? But...."

"You tasted one of my apples, and you loved it! Plus you took care of that orchard sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo well, I just wanted to do something to thank you!"

"What in tarna.... Wait a moment... those seeds…where did they come from?" Applejack inquired.

"From your storeroom silly willy?"

Applejack went wide eyed, suddenly spotting a tiphoofing pair of crooks, FLim and Flam. But they didn't get far as Sans levitated them up.

"oh you two are done... horsing around."

Flim and Flam gulped. "Oh brother... I think we are in for a bad time."

"I think your right..."

Sans looked over at Applejack and the smiling Applegamate. "shall I send these two flying CON-AIR, AJ?"

Applehjack hmmed. "No.... I think I have a better idea." She turned to the Applegamate. "Now I know why Fluttershy was hugging those smaller versions of you... you don't wanna hurt us at all do you?"

The applegamate smiled. "Why? You make so many of us! I wish we could give more than just a few apples every crop as thanks for caring for our orchard!"

Muffet popped her head out of the window of her diner, eyes widening. “…something wonderful is happening again!” She realized.

Applejack smiled. "I think I get it.. .you weren't gonna destroy the bakery.. .you were gonna be a part of a pie!"

Chara bleched. "Uh, look, I know I’ve got a dark sense of humor…but I don't think I could eat a talking FRUIT."

“Speak for yourself.” Muffet giggled before an apple soared through the air, whacking her on the head and plopping her onto the floor of her diner. “OW!

Frisked hmmed. "Yeah I kinda agree with Chara...but there must be something we can... hey! I got an idea!" Everyone turned to Frisk as he spoke. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do…”

*******************

That afternoon, as the Apple festival began, Applejack got the payment for her massive crop, and everyone set to making the best apple dishes ever! Applejack smiled as the rides and games were in full swing... including a new one run by Sans.

"try your luck?" He asked, the two brothers sitting on benches behind him suspended above a big tub of applesauce. Applejack grinned menacingly at them.

"Now now... Applesnack, we are only buisnessmen!" Flim said. "And we are reasonable... we can make a deal!"

Applejack smiled, as Sans set up a ball, Applejack turning around. "I got jus one thing ta say ta you two."

The two brothers eeped as she bucked the ball right into the target, the duo falling into the applesauce with a massive splash.

"GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET DUNKED ON!"        

Sans gave a thumbs up, winking. "classic."

Nearby, Toriel smiled as she and Granny Smith served some fresh pies, the new apple festival mascot nearby using his ability to make little apple buddies to make a little hunt and catch game for the foals.

"I do believe the Applegamate is going to be a very happy monster." Toriel said happily. "It would be a shame to remove his determination."

Nearby, Alphys, who was eating a caramel apple, nodded. "I agree Your m... I mean Toriel. Besides, the Applegamate now is the perfect guardian for the raw determination. Thanks to those two thieves every last drop of it was used to make that thing. As for a soul...."

Grany Smith interrupted. "Silly, it already got one!"

Toriel and Alphys turned. "Wha?! But how?"

Granny Smith giggled. "Dearie, you know the phrase farmers have,. putting your heart and soul into your work? What do we do at Sweet Apple Acres? I would not be surprised if a bit of us rubbed off on those apples over the years!"

Alphys was wide eyed. "Your right! Those seeds, they were stolen from your barn... and if what you say is true..." The scientist began to laugh. "By George... THAT was what I was missing! That was why the Amalgamates can exist! They had enough combined SOUL! And if those apples really took a bit of your sweat as you worked... EUREKA!!!!!"

Applejack, walking past and smiling, had to admit things turned out pretty well. And she had a lesson definitively conformed. Not just that you can always count on your friends, but that the true nature of a friend can be found within. And she had a feeling, based on how the Applegamate was with the citizens of Ponyville, that it would have a lot of friends soon.

AJ included.

THE END

 

 

 

Breaking the fourth wall again, Asriel smiled.

"Hi everyone! Hoped you are liking the series so far, I know I am... oh, and Saiyan Brony... I promise I will fix the wall before I go."

He pointed to some supplies.

"Anyway... thanks for over 100 likes and for all the comments! For all of us in Equestria, we really do thank you, and hear every word. I left some space below in case the authors also had something to say.

Misterebony: I'll go first..... Ummm.. thanks for reading and for the ideas. But thank you especially to NGrey651 for making this possible.

Ngrey651: It’s my absolute pleasure. I couldn’t be loving writing this series more. But I’m loving how many people are LOVING this even more than that. Till next time!

"What in the holy...?"

"Mr. Asgore, what is it?"

"...this is serious. More serious than I thought."

King Asgore knelt down by a large plethora of oddly-familiar ponies, all of whom looked so, SO much like those he knew. Their bodies were slightly twitching, many of them with blood slowly dribbling out of their mouths, their eyes sunken and hollow, never to close again, all clearly, recently dead as King Asgore walked around with his royal guard, Celestia having allowed several of her golden-plated unicorns to join in with Papyrus.

"OH MY. SIR, WE HAVE A LIVE ONE HERE. SHE IS NOT YET DEAD!" Papyrus insisted happily, lifting one up, her head slightly rolled back, hair an awful, frazzled rainbow mess as Asgore's hands clasped over his mouth.

"Dear God." He whispered. "She's...she's a dead ringer for her."

"CAN YOU TELL US WHAT HAPPENED?" Papyrus inquired of the pale-furred alicorn, her eyes slowly turning to look at the bony being, mouth slowly opening, letting out a croaking groan.

"...that...that HUMAN...the...caribou..."

THREE YEARS AGO...

“The day was hot and heavy, a sultry night waiting Twilight Sparkle back in the harem that was her home. The Caribou had been near-merciless, and there would be no escape for her. She looked mournfully down at the collar around her neck, sighing quietly before walking past the horrific blood orgy that her Caribou master’s dear friend was engaging in. She had to be careful when walking through the palace, her master always wanted her to be pristine and well-brushed and groomed, and getting blood splattered all over her from relentless porking by a giant caribou covered in Earth pony blood just wouldn’t do. Tonight, her master had told her he intended to use his special toy for-”

Carter cringed as he slid back from the screen and shook his head. No, no. “Her master” sounded too formal. This was supposed to be more from her point of view. Just “master”, he decided. That would make her breaking even more clear, that she was an eager and willing pony who’d take everything the Caribou had to offer. Writing for the “Fall of Equestria” series was incredibly difficult sometimes, but he’d been hard at work on this new installment for some time that was meant to focus entirely on her. Soon he could post it up and-

Something wasn’t right. The screen had turned off, though the computer was still on. He whacked his fist against the side of his “Cybertron” PC, frowning darkly, sandy-colored hair flopping about as he groaned, holding his freckled face in his hands, his little round nose poking out between them. “UGH. Darn this stupid thing. I paid good money for you and what do you do? Ya crap out on me.” He sighed, looking up at the screen. “…maybe it’s for the best. Maybe I better take a break from this story. It’s GRUELING.”

And indeed, it had been. Carter had been working on it for ages as a way to get out his personal fetish. He’d put a lot of heart and soul into the story to try and make the series gripping just as much as it’d be erotic, but he still couldn’t help but cringe sometimes as he looked at what he’d made, and read some of the comments. Okay, MANY of the comments. Quite a few of the comments were attacking him personally, virulent and baleful, finding his work evidently not only a spit in the face of the show, but just plain “Sadistic”.

UGH. He knew he should just get over it, yet he couldn’t help but still feel guilty. The more time he’d gotten to spend writing this, the more he’d thought about how HE’D feel if someone took something that was important to him and turned it into an erotic fetish tale. How would someone like Lauren Faust feel seeing something like this? How would TWILIGHT feel?

“Why am I even thinking about this? She’s not real.” He muttered, turning away from the computer screen, unaware of what was spreading across it, and reaching out…

He was gone before he knew it.

…

…

…

…"SOMEONE HEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!"

The Applegamate laughed as it lifted the two up, but turned as the main door to the delivery center was bucked open. There was Applejack, alongside her friends, the Mane six.

"Hey ya overgrown apple pie! Put those two down."

The apple blinked, looked at the two, then back at Applejack.

"I said DOWN!" She repeated, the Applegamate wide eyed. It shrugged and set the two one of the now mostly empty baskets, only sticky residue inside.

"Thats b-"

WHAM! The apple smacked Applejack away with incredible force, sending her flying through the air. For a moment it looked like she was going to land hard on the ground before, almost as if SHOVED, one of the wading pools slid over across the ground, and she plopped right inside, with a loud SPA-LOOOSH. She got up, coughing, giving a sigh.

She wasn’t the only one sighing. Unbeknownst to them, a figure had been watching over them for quite some time now, helping out in little ways, but always, always unseen. Unheard. Unnoticed.

Carter held his hands up, shrugging a bit, the white t-shirt wearing young man sighing. “Yeah, you’re welcome.” He remarked, before seeing the Applegamate making off towards Sugar Cube Corner, deciding he’d better head there as well. Hands in his pockets, the spectral, utterly unnoticed human walked alongside the thing, frowning a bit as he tried to pass his hand through it. Nothing. Of course it didn’t feel him. Nothing did.

Nothing EVER did.

He couldn’t be heard, couldn’t be seen. He’d been stuck in Equestria for several years now. He didn’t need to eat, that was one good thing. And he didn’t need to sleep. But all that meant was many long, lonely nights, quietly looking up at the moon, resting himself against a tree as he tried not to cry. And more often than not, he failed.

Miserably.

Carter was positively sure that he was being punished somehow. And so he’d tried to make up for what he THOUGHT he’d done by helping out ponies around Ponyville, acting as a kind of guardian angel. While no living beings ever heard him or saw him or felt him, he COULD interact with normal objects. At fist, he’d had hope that maybe this would have been the key to getting noticed.

His first attempts had been primitive.

“OH, YAAAANK MY DOODLE, IT’S A DAAAANDY! YAAAANK MY DOODLE ‘TIL I DIIIIE!” Carter had screamed out, banging on a large pan with an immense stirring spoon ten inches from Twilight Sparkle’s head as she looked up and around her living room, scratching her head.

“…why is it I smell something cooking?” She muttered, purple eyes blinking stupidly as Carter groaned, banging on the pot more loudly.

“C’MON, you stupid bitch! I’m right here! HELLOOOO?!? WAKEY WAKEY!? GOT A NICE FRESH BANANA FOR YOU?!” He roared.

“…huh. Maybe I should get something to eat.” Twilight had reasoned, trotting out of her bedroom, Carter screaming angrily, tossing the pot through the air as it sank to the floor with a CLUD.

He’d tried again with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Perhaps as younger folks, they’d be more in touch with the spirit world. So he’d tried banging pots and pans together outside their clubhouse, yelling loudly at the top of his lungs. The only thing he’d gotten was a sore throat.

“You know, you used to be my FAVORITE.” He grumbled at Apple Bloom, head hung low in dejection as she ambled by not too long after, going to go get some caramel apples from the local fair.

Animals were of no help either. Angel couldn’t hear him, despite him trying to wave carrots in the rabbit’s face. None of the animals in the Everfree seemed to notice. He was utterly, totally, alone. Nobody seemed able to hear him.

And so he had quietly made his way down the long, long pathway towards Canterlot, hoping in vague desperation that maybe, just MAYBE, the alicorn rulers of the land would be able to take notice of him. Just hoping for someone to feel him. Someone. ANYONE.

…

…

…

…“…they can’t.” Carter whispered, his voice breaking as he hung his head, holding it in his hands as he sat in a chair inside of the main throne room, King Asgore, Discord, Celestia and Luna all sitting around a table, looking down at some schematics.

“So, you’re saying there’s been an unusual influx in magic lately?” Celestia had asked of Discord. “It’s good you brought this to our attention. We’ve never seen this type of magic before.”

“It’s familiar to a kind of human magic I experienced on the surface, back in the olden days.” King Asgore confessed as he pointed down at one of the schematics that showed off  a faintly invisible portal that had opened up near Ponyville, the King of Monsters rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he stroked his beard. “There were 7 Human Magicians from various parts of the world who all came together for the final battle I’ve talked about. One of them had mastery over space and time, and when he used it, there was a special…FEELING in the air that lingered on. A feeling like-”

“Like the entire place had just turned very hot, like it was going to burst into fire.” Discord finished with a nod of his bearded head, the Draconequuus nodding as he steepled his paws together. “Yes, it’s a most unique type of magic.” He remarked. “I’ve noticed it springing up all over Equestria lately. I suspect Chara got through initially because of it as well."

"As has our...guest...I told you about." King Asgore added.

"To think someone would look just like me. Have powers so much like my own. But WHY did you insist we put her in a closed-off ward? Hasn't she improved yet?" Celestia inquired, tapping her hooves together as Luna sighed.

"You must remember, sister...she is very, VERY damaged. We've done all we can, but even after several years, her mental state is highly unstable. Until she calms down and becomes more comfortable with her surroundings, it would not be wise for her to be around other ponies."

"Then in the meantime, I suggest we try and locate the source that's allowing all these newcomers to pop in." Celestia reasoned calmly, giving a nod.

Eventually, the meeting wound down, and everyone left the room, save for Discord, who turned his head, looking over in the direction of a chair.

“…are you a ghost?” He asked.

Carter’s head shot up. No way. NO WAY. Could it be? He raced over to Discord, waving his hand in front of the goat-headed Entity of Chaos. “You can see me?!” He asked, mouth agape. “You can HEAR me?!”

“Well, barely, but…yes.” Discord said, rubbing his chin, looking Carter over. “Hmm. You look around…19, maybe 20? Where are you from? Earth?” He then LICKED Carter’s head, smacking his lips. “…yes. Definitely Earth. I’m guessing from Washington State. A nice blend of fish, pine trees and coffee.” He intoned with a chuckle, Carter cringing, trying to push back down his hair. “Whatever are you doing here?”

“If I had to guess, it’s cuz I wrote fanfiction.” Carter grumbled as he stuck his hands in his pockets and made his way over to a nearby window, peeking outside, clouds slowly ambling by in the sky overhead as he bit his lip. “Fanfiction about all of you here in Equestria. And it was really dark, really erotic, and really vicious. And evidently God must think it’s FUNNY to give me an ironic punishment, cuz now I’m stuck in the place I tormented with my writing and nobody can hear me or see me or touch me!”

“Well whatever did you write that was so terrible?” Discord inquired as he hovered over to Carter, resting on his stomach in midair, tilting his head slightly to the side. “My boy, I know ponies here who are secret macrophiles, Muffet is into eating people whole and alive, and you do not even want to KNOW the things I’ve learned about Chrysalis and what she likes to do in her spare time.”

Carter cringed. “I, umm I...” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I wrote…slavery stories. About Caribou coming in and…” He began to trail off. “Looking back on it, I got into disgustingly dark territory. There were things I had done to Applejack’s family and…and I mean…it amazed me it didn’t get kicked off the site cuz I was writing an underaged girl getting…I mean I couldn’t believe it had more UPVOTES than DOWNVOTES, it…I just…” He couldn’t even bring himself to finish.  “Looking back, I don’t understand it. I don’t know why it appealed to be so much. Why it drew me in. I know everyone’s got their fetishes, but I never thought I’d get punished for mine.”

Discord looked very, very nervous as he looked Carter over, his tone quiet and somber. “So you believe you’re being punished for perhaps causing actual pain and harm without realizing it?”

“I don’t know how much of what I wrote was something I enjoyed cuz I did it well, or how much I enjoyed it cuz I like seeing young fillies getting whipped by Viking stand-ins while they have to watch their family getting raped.” Carter groaned, covering his head. “But I must have made something like that happen! That’s the only reason I can think of why I’m here. I must have done something awful. And I just wish I could take it back, but…I’m stuck here. So I tried to make up for it. I’ve been trying to watch out for folks.”

He walked along the hall, Discord hovering after as he stopped at a large painting of the Mane Six, gesturing at it. “I’ve been in Ponyville for a long time, helping out in little ways. A couple of times I saved their lives. Pushed just the right thing out of the way, or put something in the way that cushioned a fatal fall. Yet I’m still ignored. And I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, I’m just…” He hung his head. “I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong.”

Discord sighed, pinching the space between his eyes before speaking up. “My boy, we have work to do. I don’t think the others can see you. But I’ve got a connection to Chaos. I operate outside so many of reality’s laws. So tell you what…” He held out a hand. “Let’s go to my house. Get you some cider.”

“I can’t drink it.”

“You can try.” Discord offered, Carter smiling nervously as he took the chaos god’s hand.

They were unaware, however, that Canterlot Castle's new guest wasn't IN the medical wing anymore. No, no. She had known the place like the back of her hoof, and she knew every secret entrance and exit out of the palace. And she was intent on getting even with the one she KNEW was behind her woes. The one she knew was now closer than ever before.

And first thing's first. She had to make a stop to pick up a few...friends.

...

...

...

..."And! And so! So Luna said "Yes, I CAN see where they are when they're dreaming". And I asked if that included things like daydreams. And so she says, without even realizing it before it's too late, "Why of course, even if someone was daydreaming on the toilet, I could see them using it if I scanned-" and! And she turned red as a beet!" Discord laughed, he and Carter now slightly drunk off of hard cider, lying on a couch that was floating just outside of Discord's home, watching little singing chipmunks and squirrels all dancing perfectly in a line for their amusement. And all painted blue.

"Oh my God, that's hilarious!" Carter laughed. "You know, I learned I could walk through walls like this and at first it was funny peeking in on them in the bathroom, doing the whole "I can pick your nose" stuff. But that got old. So instead I settled on hiding Ms. Cheerilee's homework in places she'd never think to look."

"No WONDER the kids are always coming back home so gosh-darn-happy." Discord mused aloud.

"But how come I've noticed they have to do "hide-under-the-desk" drills?" Carter wanted to know, Discord pouring him another glass of hard cider as the golden liquid dribbled out like ambrosia into his glass, Carter sipping on it with a smile as Discord took his claws, and zipped open a large rip in the air, forming a gigantic pie.

"They need to be careful and keep their eyes out for Bison Rocket-Propelled Pie Attacks."

"For REAL?!" Carter asked, mouth agape as Discord nervously smiled.

"Yes, I, um...MIGHT have given the Bison advanced technology for a laugh. It hasn't gone very well."

"What do you think?" One Bison asked another, showing off a blue denim jacket and pants as the chief frowned.

"...for some reason, this attire fills me with ANGER. Let us never, EVER let our people wear it. Besides, it makes your butt look fat."

"Agreed."

"How come all the squirrels are blue, though?" Carter asked, suddenly realizing the joke that Discord was making. "...you DIDN'T."

"Yep. I blue them." He giggled, laughing hysterically. "I just HAD to do it for April Fools. Not many people know this, but Fluttershy has a TREMENDOUSLY dirty sense of humor, she was the one who suggested I show them off to that stick-in-the-mud prude, Toriel!" Discord guffawed, holding his hands over his mouth. "Sans thought it was hilarious too. Perhaps he'd be able to see you, he too seems to have a connection with chaos. Have you approached him?"

"I've tried. But he's never really seemed to notice me." Carter sighed with a shrug before Discord sniffed at the air. "What're you doing? Is something burning inside your house?"

"RUN!" Discord suddenly gasped out, the air becoming suddenly charged with electricity as Carter saw Discord's fur slightly poof up, and the squirrels and chipmunks ran for cover-

Just as an enormous bolt of lightning soared down, slamming into the area they were at, engulfing them in a pure dome of absolute electricity, knocking them to the ground. Carter struggled to get to his feet, but flopped back down, cringing as he saw a rotten, decayed form making its way towards him, flanked by various other ponies who had familiar collars all around their necks, the leader's horn glowing as its sunken, empty eyes coldly gazed down at him, fur matted with its own congealed blood.

"We've got him, ma'am. Him and his friend."

A voice that boomed out, echoing not through the air, but through Discord and Carter's minds.

"Excellent. Bring them here."

AN HOUR LATER...

"Okay, um...you should open your eyes, my boy. But, ah...don't, um, panic. I have this under control. Mostly." Discord's voice drifted through Carter's ears as he cringed, groaning as the human slowly opened his faint brown eyes, looking about the dark cave, cringing as he looked at the somehow-still-alive ponies that stood around him, a figure in the darkness off in the distance who glared balefully at him with pure white eyes that softly glowed.

"These your friends?" Carter asked. "Cuz zombie ponies sounds like something you might try."

"I already did that three months ago." Discord muttered. "It was for their version of Halloween, Nightmare Night. Wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be. I was going to have them dress up and sing "Thriller", but all they wanted to do was eat people's brains." He sighed, the two of them hanging from the ceiling, wrapped in cold iron chains, Discord's magic horribly dimmed, Carter glancing about in fear as the figure in the distance approached.

"So that WAS you! You know, can't you go ONE week without putting all of Equestria in danger? Actually, can't any of you do that? I've been keeping track! Every single week, it's like some new, near-world-ending threat! Say what you want about MY planet, we don't have creatures who can kill with their mind!"

"There is that." Discord grumbled grudgingly. "To be fair, there's only three Illithids left alive on Equestria. It's just that all of them came out two years back. Maybe we SHOULD do more to rein this kind of thing in."

"This kind of thing, eh? Like, say...horrific hordes of Caribou coming into Equestria to kill, maim and rape?" The figure in the shadows whispered, her voice hoarse and furious as Carter's mouth hung open. "YES. I can see you. We all can. After all, you're responsible for all we endured!" Princess "Molestia" grumbled darkly. "You turned me into a...a...a slut!" She hissed out. "A...a cum guzzling...WHORE!" She hissed.

"H-How?" Carter gasped out, looking this limp-haired, furiously glaring Celestia over as she glanced about at her undead associates.

"When you were dragged here, so were we. Taken from the horrific dimension that had been ravaged by your work and brought to this land. And it took me a long, long time, but at last, you got close enough. Close enough for me to sense with my own innate magic. A little Necromancy and I knew I'd be able to avenge everything I had to endure!" She hissed, going right up in Carter's face, coldly staring at him. "Do you have any idea what you did to my dimension?"

"I know, I know, I...it was outright cruel." Carter mumbled out. "I didn't know."

"Didn't knoooooow?" Molestia sneered. "You think that makes me feel any better? Let me make it really clear. You didn't CARE. You didn't once think about what you might be putting any of us through. That maybe we didn't like being relentlessly plowed by sadistic, sociopathic carbiou! Seeing our friends and family slaughtered for daring to fight back!"

"C-Carter, you don't have to listen to her." Discord offered before getting cut off by a snarl from Celestia, who spat slightly on his cheeks as he turned pale.

"And then after eight years, with us the only ones left alive! EIGHT! LONG! YEARS! OF NOTHING BUT TORTURE!"

"I...I didn't..." Carter began to say, Molestia smacking him hard across the face as he felt it, FELT his cheeks almost shatter at the blow, her eyes now turning a baleful black.

"They did something to me. I had to watch. Couldn't do anything but watch! Couldn't move! Couldn't talk! I watched all my little ponies die around me! I couldn't sleep! Couldn't die! And then after eight years, it finally stopped, and I ended up here. Over a decade of waiting to get even with you." Molestia hissed out, her eyes cold and pitiless. "You wrote sadistic, cruel murderers. You think you're above the consequences, all of you. Well, I'm going to take care of you and all like you. All you humans are alike. You just toy with our lives, not caring what you do to us, thinking its all just fun and games, not giving one damn about what we have to endure."

"Oh, GAG!" Discord finally interjected, his tone cold and mocking. "Are you quite finished, Tall, White and Stupid? Because honestly? That wimpy hippie pacifist in the long-sleeve shirt has more balls than you, and his have not even DROPPED yet."

"Kill him." Molestia snorted, the Undead Caribou-Verse Twilight's horn sparking as a bolt of lightning knocked him through the air, the chains shattering as he slid against the wall of the cave, flopping to the ground, smoking as Carter felt the tears brimming in his eyes.

"NO! D-Discord! Mister Discord..." He whispered. The only person who could see him...the only one who'd talked to him, been able to touch him and acted like a real friend, just...gone. Just like that.

"Now..." Molestia walked towards Carter, her own horn glowing, eyes pure black, her smile the work of demons. "Go to Hell. And be sure to tell your Caribou creations I DID manage to kill that I sent you down there."

"I'VE BEEN." Discord's voice roared out, a long, serpentine tail lashing forth, snapping around Celestia's body, SLAMMING her into the Undead Twilight and the others in the cave, barely-held-together organs flying left and right, skin popping as their bodies flopped down, Molestia struggling to get up, Discord rising up, paws and claws fully extended, a dark miasma of pure chaos rising off his body as he slammed his hands together, the remaining ghouls dissolving in waves of black flame. "IT DIDN'T SCARE ME." He cackled, rushing forward at Molestia, grabbing hold of her throat, slamming her into the ground, his tail rising up, shifting and twisting, turning into a scorpion's stinger. "But if you'd like to see dead people, GET READY!"

"No." Carter's voice rang out as Discord looked up, Carter shaking his head back and forth, gritting his teeth. "NO, Discord. That's...not what we're supposed to do. That's not what My Little Pony was ever about. And it's not what people in your world should do. You have to be better than that. She's just...hurt. And that's why she wants to hurt me."

"Ugh." Discord sighed, hanging his head as he stepped off of Molestia, who slowly rose up, glaring furiously over at Carter as Discord went to rip him out of the chains. "You're lucky my friend here believes in keeping this world PG."

"This doesn't change anything. It doesn't make you better than me." Molestia muttered coldly, fading into the shadows of the cave, only her eyes lingering on. "I'll come back for you a thousand times over. I'll regain my full powers and make...you...HURT."

"...yeah. That's fair." Carter sighed, hanging his head as Discord finished untying him, the human dusting himself off as he put his hands in his pockets. "I think I'd better stay far, FAR away from everyone else as long as she's gonna be running around."

"I'll talk to Celestia and the others. We can handle her." Discord insisted warmly, Carter cringing. "...what's wrong?"

"I DIDN'T care about what happened to them." Carter quietly muttered. "It was just a way for me to explore my fetish and write porn. I didn't care one bit about this world or...I'm scum."

"I don't think you are." Discord sighed, putting a hand on Carter's shoulder, his eyes soft as he smiled. "Anyone who could forgive someone like that, say the things you said to her...can't be all that bad."

With that, Carter gave a soft nod, and slowly turned around, exiting through the walls of the cave as Discord quietly sighed, hanging his head before turning, seeing a skeletal figure emerging from the shadows.

"How long were you watching him?"

"Quite a while."

"And what do you think?"

"...the day he learns to stop hating himself is the day he'll find we'll be here, ready to welcome him in." Gaster said. "He always had the power to be seen, to be heard. Still does. He just doesn't know it. But he will."

"To punish yourself for that long...to trap yourself in the place you felt you wronged without even knowing it..." Discord cringed. "...that can't be good for his mind."

"He's a lot stronger than he thinks he is." Gaster said with a smile. "He probably drew Molestia here to punish himself further. People are often their own worst enemies."

"Says the voice of experience."

Gaster cringed. "You don't have to rub it in!" He muttered, both of them unaware of Molestia as she panted and heaved, resting against a tree, gritting her teeth and looking up at the moon, her eyes soulless and pale, filled with mad fury.

"There will come a reckoning. A CRISIS..." She whispered. "And you'll all feel the impact for siding with those humans..."

Chara smiled as he worked with Big Macintosh on fixing some of the shelves in the barn. They had fallen into disrepair, and as part of Chara's physical therapy the boy was told to work with his father Asgore on the farm to help do a bit of penance. While it was making Chara feel good to be doing stuff to help, it wasn't totally enough.

That was soon proven as he heard something behind him, and Chara's first reaction was to step in front of Big Mac and pull out his True Knife.

"Whoa nelly!" Applejack said, just barely missing being slashed. The boy was wide eyed as he realized that. "Ya need ta stop bein so jumpy Chara! Sheesh!"

Chara sighed and sheathed the knife. "Sorry.... old habit I guess."

Big Mac nodded. "Eeeeeyup."

Applejack looked at the knife. "Why ya bring it anyway? It is with you everywhere?"

Chara sighed. "I don't know. I try leaving it behind at the hospital or with mom or wherever... but it always winds up on me...like a reminder of what I was."

Nearby, bailing some hay, Asgore sighed. He knew this was helping Chara, but that Knife sure wasn't. And truth be told he knew Tori had tried to hide it a couple times... but somehow the knife always winds up o n the boy. Asgore tried not to think too much about it, but it was as if the knife itself was a part of Chara.

And Asgore could see how much Chara hated it.

Applejack however sighed. "Well, I'll take it off your hooves for now..." Applejack said, about to grab it.... when Chara suddenly tripped. The result sent the blade flying, cutting Applejack's hoof slightly. The blade landed in the ground by Chara, who stared wide eyed and afraid as he saw the mare of honesty holding her hoof, wincing a little.

Chara suddenly had a flashback of the surface, as he saw the blood on an animal he had cut for the first time. Chara laughed manically as he kept cutting, and hurting, and...

Chara backed away from Applejack, his face pale, his breaths heavy. Applejack was wide eyed.

"Whoa Chara! It's just a scratch, and accidental to boot. Just relax, I'm okay."

Chara gulped. "I know... but.... I...what I use the knife for..."

Applejack smiled and put a foreleg around the boy. "I seem to recall not to long ago you used that trying to save us from a big ol apple." She smiled. "And, last I checked, your days of the past are over. Sides, that ANOMALY was what really made ya do those things right?"

Chara was silent. He didn't have the nerve to tell Applejack about his dark past... and why the Completionist was able to take hold of him so entirely. He faked a smile as he hugged her, but as he saw the blood on her hoof, his old self laughed.

Was he really only a weapon?

************

Elsewhere, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were working with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon ironically. Since helping her out however, the former bully had become a paragon of leadership, using her skill to help convince others to work helping out. Today they were finishing up the Ponyville Rec Hall, which had a new statue symbolizing the bond between the races that Ponyville stood for. No other population in Equestria was so diverse. The statue, with young phillies for unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, a changeling larva, a griffon, and even a perfect replica of Monster Kid, showed that love ruled in Ponyville, and Friendship kept it strong.

The CMC embodied that: three ponies, each a different type, bound by friendship, common goals, and a set of cutie marks that told their mission: to help everyone they could find their true purpose and skill. So it was no surprise that on the statue, at Dimonds request, was a plaque dedicating the statue to them.

"For us?" Apple Bloom said in shock. Diamond Tiara smiled.

"Indeed. Consider it both a thank you for helping me.... and... an apology for all I did to you." She smiled tearfully. "Thanks to you, I now have lots of friends, and... well... because of that I now know what I want to do." She glanced at Silver Spoon, who smiled. "I want to help out too. I want to help those in need, those who need a helping hoof. I talked to father, and I am going to start working around town doing odd jobs."

Scootaloo had to ask. "But... I thought you didn't want to get your hooves dirty?"

Diamond chuckled. "Well... as Apple Bloom said.... a little hard work is good for you. Father agreed, and while mom may not... well she will come around. Besides, I won't let my friends down. Ever."

She hugged the tree, trying to stay strong and not cry. This was the effect of the CMC when they followed their talent, able to help everyone see where they truly shine. Nearby, Twilight stared proudly at the three, as did Toriel.

"I see now what you mean, Twilight." Toriel finally said. "And you are right... if anyone can help Chara... it IS them."

Twilight nodded as they walked away. "How long has he been having these...er...problems?" She inquired, tilting her head to the side.

Tori sighed. "A few weeks now. He seemed to be getting better. He goes to those meetings with Asriel, and does a lot of work with his father... but lately, he has had a lot of... well.. he doesn't think I know... but he has had a lot of bad flashbacks."

Twilight nodded. "You mentioned those."

"He thinks we don't know about them... about what he has done. But we do. We know about both the good and the bad thanks to what we hear. But we know he is not an evil child, just was wrong in the head for quite some time."

Twilight nodded. "And that worries him now?"

"Very much so. He hides it as best as he can but we all see it: Frisk, Asriel, Asgore, Sans, myself... everyone knows what he is going through."

Twilight nodded. "Starlight helped with the Six Souls to give him the second chance, and we all love him, everyone in Ponyville. Even Chrysalis I think loves him."

Tori nodded. "That's why we have to help bring him out of this misery. I don't know what it is... but he deserves to be happy."

Twilight nodded. "I'll talk to the Crusaders. You talk to Chara though, and tell him. I don't want this to be a trick."

Tori nodded. "I'll tell him over supper. He has taken a liking to those muffins Derpy delivers to us, not to mention the quiche Sans makes."

Twilight nodded. She trotted over to the Crusaders, who smiled at Twilight. To them she was more than just the princess of friendship, she was like a favorite aunt all three of them had, one with some weird and cool books... as well as who had a lot of boring ones and loved to lecture from time to time.

"I need to talk to you three for a bit."

**************

After supper, Chara had gone off alone to where the lake near Ponyville was. He sat there by the water as Luna began to paint the sky, looking at the knife. His eyes watered as memories resurfaced, memories of when his spirit possessed Frisk, and of one particular incident he could not break from.

He saw his mom... the one who loved him so much, his goat mom. He saw her not as a mom, but as EXP to gain LV. He was grinning as he pulled out a toy knife that had been carefully sharpened. She stood in front of the gateway, trying to look imposing, but secretly afraid, thanks to the dust on him.

Chara remembered making Frisk raise that knife.

He shook his head, sobbing, dropping the knife before him. These memories he was recovering were so bad, so... evil. He hated them. WHy give him a second chance? Why not let him just rest? Yet for some reason he was given life again, and with life came something new... hope.

If only he didn't have to look at this f-

"Chara?" A voice said. Chara turned and immediately struck a fighting pose, as if prepared to defend himself.

"GAH!"

But he lowered his guard as he saw the Crusaders, Scootaloo in front. Of all three Chara liked Scootaloo best. Despite being a flightless pegasus, she was so awesome on that scooter, and did such incredible stunts Chara wished he could do. She looked at him and sat beside him as the others hung back.

"Mom said you were coming... she told you where I was going to be?"

Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah. I hope that was okay."

Chara smiled and hugged the pony. "More than. I kinda need someone to talk to who isn't family. And truth be told... I was not sure if the meeting was the best place to bring this up. I didn't know who to tell."

Sweetie Belle smiled. "Sounds like you're doing what we did for awhile: you're looking for your talent."

Chara blinked. "I am?"

Apple Bloom nodded. "Yeah. I mean we all know you're good at fights and protecting others, but you want to know if there is something else you can do with that knife."

Chara nodded. "You got it. I used this to hurt so many in previous runs. I did so many bad things I cannot even recall them all. And yet now I cannot get rid of this knife. I tried so many times and yet I seem to always have it. It is like a part of my bad past that won't go away."

Scootaloo smiled. "A weapon is not evil, Chara. Starlight and Luna both used magic, and some spells they have are scary and COULD hurt.... but they don't. Your knife is the same way. It is how you use it."

Apple Bloom nodded. "Yeah! We just gotta find a way for you to use the knife outside of combat!"

Chara blinked as the three gathered around. Finally, Scootaloo smiled. "And I know where we can start!"

*****************

And so, later that night, Chara went to Muffet's Restaurant, the spider queen smiling as she brought over some veggies. Chara hmmed and took one, and using his knife, began to slice them.

The cuts came like butter, and he did each veggie decently. He moved slow, but as he did, it was like the knife, if it could be believed, was laughing. Not mockingly, or to hurt, but with joy. Chara seemed to smile.

"Well.. it's a start, but there are other things we can do!"

Muffet hmmed. "OOOO! I got an idea, fuhuhuhuhuhu!"

The next day, Chara cleaned the knife, and with Muffet along now, she began to show off some wood carvings a local artist did. Chara hmmed and began to try his hand, but found it easy as a fight, and soon he had began reshaping the wood. It was crude, but in the end the log resembled a decent, if not exactly showy, bench. Again the knife seemed to smile.

Apple Bloom smiled. "See? I think I see where this is going! Come on, I got an idea!

Later, They took Chara to the apple orchard, and put him to work cutting the new crops. Chara handled it almost like it was a game, cutting the freshly grown corn expertly, the knife laughing even more, Chara having so much more fun than he ever had! He was worn out, but he was loving what he could do!

"I get it now!" Chara said, smiling. "I think I get it anyway. This knife and I, we are not weapons, but tools, and tools can be used in many ways!"

The rest of the day, Chara helped Rarity cut bits of cloth, the knife working as well as any pair of scissors in his hands. As the sun set, he used the knife to work on carving another wood sculpture, the acts he was doing all a form of therapy, showing he was not only a weapon, but a boy, a boy trying out many things.

As he finished up, he was starting to see this, and he began to smile. He looked at the knife and, at long last, remembered the first time he truly used it, a memory buried deep away, a memory that was happier than anything he ever knew.

It had been late, really late. Everyone was still asleep. But Chara wanted to surprise his new family, the first to show him love. The first to.... see him as not just someone to hate. With happy tears the boy had taken some crab apples and, carefully removing the apple legs or decoration, set to work to try and make them into a pastry. he was no baker by any means, but there was enough of his mom's dough that he made a few simple pastries, one for Asgore, one for Toriel, and one for his best friend, Asriel. He worked late into the night, heating each one completely in the oven, and leaving them to cool overnight as a surprise, using that knife all the while to make the perfect thank you gift. THAT was why he called it the True Knife. It wasn't because it was the first true weapon he held in the underground, but it was the first thing that let him show his true feelings.

And as Chara recalled it, he began to cry, but never lost his smile. He WASN'T always evil. He had been made such by humans who themselves had not been completely evil, but who had chosen that path. He even could recall, vaguely, how some of those people tried to help and he had refused. But when he was with his best friend, he saw the truth, his SOUL was not black and cold, but shone like a star. At one time he might have been that thanks to the anomaly, but now...

The Crusaders saw him crying and thought something was wrong, but as he looked at them, he smiled. He sheathed the knife and held them tightly, unable to speak. The block hiding those wonderful memories was lifting. He knew others would come that were dark, but now... now he had a form, wonderful rock to lean on.

And it was thanks to his friends.

**************

Later that week, Chara was at the restaurant again, now officially a chef's assistant, cutting vegetables and preparing ingredients. He knew his brother would be proud to see how he had turned out, and hoped his soul was watching. He chuckled as he thought about that, imaging that all six might be influencing him now, another group of friends that, in a way, were now guardian angels.

"Chara, got another shipment of apples I need for some spider apple crumbles. Think you can get a few bushels peeled and diced today?" Muffet asked, a few little spiders dancing about in sugar. Chara chuckled and expertly twirled the True Knife on his finger, before spinning it in the air and catching it on the handle.

"I'm sure I can make the cut with plenty of time to spare." He said, setting to work, the smile never leaving his face. A smile of sincere happiness.

Muffet wasn't sure as she walked away to leave Chara to his duties, but she thought she saw someone behind him, smiling and wiping a tear away. But when she looked again he was gone.

"Bravo, everyone." She whispered.

 

 

 

 

 

Chara looked through the fourth wall some time later, smiling at the readers. He had much to say but he decided today to just keep it simple. He had only two words to say, two words that, frankly, were to every reader, every commenter, the authors, and everyone who inspired the storyline including Lauren Faust and Toby Fox.

He smiled, and using his knife, cut into a log expertly, chipping it away until only a heart shape was left. As he turned it, it said just two words.

Thank you.

He left that heart there for everyone to see, and emphasized it.

"Thank you to everyone who believed I was more than a demon. Thank you to everyone who wanted me to be saved as well. Ad thank you especially to everyone who gave us hope."

He looked to the fourth wall repair ponies and smiled, repairing the hole before he left, but leaving each of them a fresh made spider apple crumble, as thanks for their help.

You might be wondering how I got into this tizzy.

It's kind of a long story. But it all goes back to when I was in school, and I was always feeling like, despite being surrounded by plenty of ponies all the time...I was still alone as could be.

I had no sister. No family. And I hadn't been adopted yet. So it was just me, and a whole lot of hurt, and a lot of ideas inside my head as I desperately tried to think of how to get people to notice me.

And that was when I came up with the idea of how to USE those ideas. Become the class clown. Play the role you knew you could play. And I was good at it. Damn good. In school, I was the class clown. Outside of school, a trickster you couldn't pin anything on and you KNEW it. I got sent to the mayor's office so many times...but it was always worth it. Cuz I was good at thinking up tricks.

And I noticed people listened when I was detailing how they worked. People saw how closely I studied things. They saw how often I was right, heard the certainty in my voice when I said things. It was a classic case of "say it and it must be so". I realized I could pretty much create my own alternate reality. And when Frisk came into the picture and brought everything human with him, new opportunities arose. He LIKED my sense of humor and was happy to help me out.

Things started out...primitively.

 

---

 

"That's the Big Dipper."  Squirt the Half-Changeling said, the grey-furred, yellow-eyed pony pointing down with a hoof at a book of stars Frisk had brought from the Underground, with the names removed. It was part of a "see if you can name them before we show them on the next page" deal, and Squirt was keeping the second part of the challenge hidden from Apple Bloom as she and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders sat near him at recess, just outside the school. "And that there's the Hunter, Orion. Much like our own Ohr'ion, named after the famous Behemoth slayer!"

"Oooh, you know all about these human stars?" Apple Bloom asked, her eyes wide with awe as the thick bobs of hair that Squirt had jiggled as he nodded, pointing at another constellation.

"And that's Sirius, the Dog Star. And that's Bovinius, the Cow Star. See, cows are SACRED in the human country of India. They loooove them. I read all about it in the book of mythologies of the world Frisk gave me. See, the Hindus of India think that the creator spirit was nurtured by a cow, hence why it's sacred."

"Who knew cows were so amazing?" Apple Bloom admitted with a shrug. "Gonna hafta start bein' a lot nicer to 'em."

The trick, you see, was to weave in juuuuuuust enough truth into what you said to make what came out of your mouth plausible. And I was good at that! Really good. But don't think I just saved these little tricks for people I liked. No, no, no. Sometimes we got awful, AWFUL teachers that we had to deal with. And of course, the worst was when it came to...

...home...economics.

Ms. Toriel had helped introduce us to the concept when she'd first arrived, and I'd immediately taken to it. It wasn't too much of a surprise. I lived alone. So learning to cook was never a problem for me. I remember every day the feeling of her soft paws on my hooves, her smile like a faint radiating ray of light from the sun as she nodded in approval. Toriel was quickly becoming a constant, and steady source of happiness to me, along with that wonderful, WONDERFUL joker, Sans. They knew what I liked and knew how to bring out my potential.

But unfortunately, learning to actually sew up my own clothes or the like was near impossible. Every single one of the "Mane Six" often stopped by Ms. Cheerilee's school to impart lessons of wisdom. Once every week, every one of them would teach us a lesson when Ms. Cheerilee and Ms. Toriel weren't there. And I was terrible. TERRIBLE...at Rarity's lessons. Her idea of how the work should have been done and how it COULD be done and when to do it was so far removed from my own. She would hold up my poorly-stitched together pillow and shake her head back and forth, lips pouting, her tone condescending.

"This is a MOST sloppily-presented pillow, Squirt. Please tell me what on Earth did you DO to make it this way? Didn't you follow my discussions?" She remarked.

I fumed. And I said nothing. I felt exhausted and humiliated. I couldn't help it that I wasn't good at this stuff! Frankly I'm amazed we who don't have magic can stitch at all with our HOOVES! Sometimes holding a doorknob gets hard-

UGH. Rarity needed some nice reading material to distract her. And I knew just how to get it. And thank goodness for Sans and his..."car magazines". Which was really a code word for smut.

 

---

 

"yes, SMUT!" Sans laughed, pulling open the trunk of a car he'd somehow brought with him up to Equestria from the Underground, and as if revealing the inside of the suitcase from "Pulp Fiction", a soft glow greeted Squirt's eyes as he beheld the glorious collection of "Penthouses" and "Playboys" and everything in between that lined the interior. From filthy videos and video games to sex toys and the like. All of it was pure, unadulterated smut. "but ya know what you gotta gimme if you want one."

"I know, I know." Squirt said, taking out a small whistle and blowing it before putting a hoof over his chest, reciting the "Pervert National Anthem".

"Smut! Give me smut and nothing but!

A dirty novel we can't shut! If it's uncut!

Or unsuuuuuuubttttlllleee..."

"THAT'S more like it!" Sans laughed, the two now standing tall upon the car, holding each other's hands, twirling about and laughing maniacally.

"I've never quibbled! If it was ribald!

We shall devour where others merely nibble!

Pooooornagraphic pictures we adore!

Indecent magazines galore! We love 'em more!

When they're hardcooooore!"

Sans hopped down from the top of the car, tossing things from the trunk out as Squirt struggled to catch them, one after the other, "oofing" with every snatch he made.

"Bring on the obscene moves! Murals! Postcards! Neckties! Pamphlets! STATUES, ANYTHING!"

"Yes, stories of tortures, used by debauches so lurid, licentious and vile!...make us smile." Squirt laughed.  "Novels that pander to our taste for candor give us a pleasure sublime, let's face it, we love slime!"

Sans laughed as he held up something from "Alan Moore" called "Lost Girls", pointing inside and sniggering. "books can be indecent, sure, and now they're getting bolder! since porn, we're glad to say, is in the mind of the beholder! when correctly viewed, EVERYTHING gets lewd." He put an arm around Squirt, holding one hand high, gesticulating. "i could tell you things about Peter Pan, and the Wizard of Oz, THERE'S a dirty old man!"

He then clapped Squirt on the shoulder. "so...what can I do ya for? Something classic or something new."

"Something new this time. I need five of the really good porn magazines that Ponies have. It's for my TEACHER. I need to look at the subscription cards they give out and the little "gifts" they'll give in exchange."

His eye sockets widen. And then he realized what I wanted and held up a single issue of "PlayPony". "kid, ya don't need five. you just need THIS one. take a look."

Looking through the interior, my smile widened even more than Sans. Filling out everything in Rarity's name and in her hoof (which I could EASILY imitate due to a simple matter of putting graded homework writing under the thin subscription card and imitating the swirls), checking the "Bill Me" boxes, I sent out for the ideal product for my so very, VERY lonely home economics teacher.

"Pump Up Penny, the Ultimate Inflatable Doll. Be you Colt or Mare, She'll Be There".

At first, nothing happened for a couple of weeks. Then, one day, while I was sitting at my desk and Rarity was making her way inside, I saw the deep, DEEP blush of embarassment on her face, her friends giggling and chuckling as they walked away from her at the front door, and Rarity finally entered the room, clearing her throat before calling on me.

"Ah, Squirt?" She asked in a sickly-sweet voice. "Do you, perchance, know of a...PENNY?"

"Penny? I dunno her." I said with a shrug.

"Ahhh-huhhhh." She said, her tone clearly sarcastic. Yeah, I knew for sure I was SOOOO getting an 'F' in the course. But I didn't care one iota. I had won.

But don't worry. Lest you think I'm an UNFAIR half-blood, I assure you, I am an equal-opportunity pranker. Upon hearing that Sans had bought Penny off of Rarity's "ever-so-grateful" hooves, I gave a call to the Rock Farm not too far from town and politely requested from one lovely Maud Pie "Two loads of crushed stone" in a PERFECT imitation of Sans's voice. Ahhh, the wonders of being Changeling-blooded.

"just drop it in the driveway of my apartment, 'kay? and, uh, leave the bill in the mailbox. the workmen'll take care of it tomorrow."

That was more than 100,000 pounds of rock. And best of all, they were gonna expect HIM to pay for it.

Hey, maybe he can get Penny to shovel it out of his driveway for him!

 

---

 

Unfortunately, Rarity wasn't the only one who didn't like how I carried myself. No. I got a lot of comments from people in town, especially from the monsters, about how I came across. And ESPECIALLY from Muffet. See, as someone who was half-Changeling, I couldn't help but enjoy the taste of Spider Donuts. But the problem was that I would often get criticized for my inappropriate expressions. My sense of humor meant that I'd often be laughing when I shouldn't. Or would deadpan at the worst time.

I remember hearing about how a train had once horribly crashed on the tracks while pulling into Appleloosa. Fifty seven people were dead, I'd been told by Apple Bloom, who's cousin was only lightly injured.

"That's terrible." I'd said, my voice deadpan, my expression quiet and muted.

Not too long after the monsters had come to our little town, about seven, eight weeks later, Sans had gotten into a similar accident. He'd very nearly died cuz of that...HUMAN...Chara. Ugh. They still gave me the willies. But I'd heard about Sans. He'd been badly hurt because of what had happened with Chara. He and Ms. Toriel had very nearly died because of Chara, Frisk had said. And all I could say, my expression and tone deadpan...

"...that's terrible."

Inside, I felt anxious, nauseous, foul, frantic, worried. Were they gonna die? Were the injuries that bad? The good news was that it all worked out. But I couldn't display OUTSIDE what I felt INSIDE.

An outsider might see the two events the same. But it's not. For Changelings, learning to care about other people is very much a learned behavior. It's not entirely innate. Not for most of us. Even caring for our own Hive can be difficult. We have "logical empathy". We understand it's a shame when people die in a train crash. But we don't have much physical reaction to it, and don't think we should, because how is that any different from the hundreds or thousands of ponies who die every day via accident, or wild animal attack, or disease or the occasional murder? Save your emotion for the things that matter.

In a way, that thinking is selfish. Because you're only caring about what happens to you and those closest to you. Who cares about the "someone else"?

...but we're ALL "someone else"...to someone else. That's what I began to learn over time.

But I didn't always act that way. Oh no. Remember Muffet? Well she did NOT like me. She thought I was creepy. I'm not sure. Maybe it was because nobody else in Ponyville was a half-Changeling hybrid. With normal Changelings, our compound eyes are of a pure shade of color. Half-breeds? It has a slightly unnatural sheen. So I looked like kiiiiind of a freak with my faintly glowing yellow eyes and my grey fur.

"Why are you staring at me?" That was a common complaint. "It's scary. You're looking at me like I'm a spider in a jar!"

She LOVED saying that. "Spider in a jar". And sometimes I'd imagine her BEING in a jar, a mental image popping up that made me snigger and it made her glower back and go "NO DONUTS FOR YOU."

So then one day I decided to answer her question of "Why are you staring at me" with sweetness and light.

"Why, Ms. Muffet, I was just imagining you chained up in a deep, deep hole, a heavy steel grate on top, and hundreds upon hundreds of rats. All crawling over you." I said, giving a playful bite to the air.

Needless to say, she threw me out the window. So I decided to get even with her for that. HARD.

...

...

...

...a dial tone echoing through the air. The silence was heavy and hot. Then...

"Ponyville Police Department."

"I'd like to report a hanging."

I could hear a visible choking on the other end of the line. "Wh-WHAT?!"

"A ritual hanging. It's right inside of Ms. Muffet's bake store. You'd better come and see." With that, I hung the line up, and I slid out of her bakery, sniggering to myself. I'd set it all up perfectly. The power had been cut to the bake store, and a single fire was burning at the front of the store, the body swinging back and forth from inside the  bakery. Smoke was billowing perfectly inside, combined with some dry ice I'd set up to add a spooooooky fog. The fire would burn out soon, leaving the smoke and the perfect, terrifying imprint of the body swaying to and fro.

One by one police clambered around, Muffet being escorted along as she gasped, hands flying to her mouth. Ponies were milling about, murmuring to themselves, and I joined in the crowd, Sans standing next to me. I was pretty sure he guessed that I'd been behind the rocks on his driveway, but he couldn't PROVE it, so he just gave me a look before looking at the bakery.

"damn." He muttered. "who is it?"

"I suppose they'll find out." I reasoned with a shrug as the troopers urged people to get back. Blue, red and lights all flashing, a water tank at the ready, firefighters putting out the  small fire inside of the bakery, the smoke and fog still billowing forth, now oozing out into the streets. Slowly but surely, various cops made their way forward, a unicorn police officer glowing as he made his way towards the interior.

"Hold on, everyone. I'll check it out." He said, hovering up a pair of scissors from his belt pouch to cut the pony body down.  The crowd saw him inch through the smoke, everyone holding their breath as he coughed from inside the smoggy, fog-filled room. "Ugh. I can barely see a thing!" He groaned out from inside, snipping the rope that held it up. Kneeling down by the body, he lifted it up and-

"WAIT A MINUTE!"

Sans blinked a bit, and suddenly realized what was going on as I began to snigger inwardly.

"It's a DEPARTMENT STORE DUMMY." The cop yelled out, tossing the dummy pony out onto the ground. And no, not QUITE a department store dummy. A fashion store dummy. From Rarity's place. She'd thrown it out cuz it had gotten moldy. Well, waste not, want not!

"The whole thing's a friggin' joke!"

"What the buck?!"

I had a smile all the way back home. And it took two days for Muffet to clean her store up. I think she suspected me, but...well...too bad she can't prove it.

Maybe next time she won't snap at me for looking at her funny.

...

...

...

..."And after my Dad Shinedown found my journal...that's how I ended up here for the week." Squirt explained to Ahuizotl as the two sat in a jail, Squirt sighing as he hung his head. "So what're you in for?"

"...felony tax evasion." the dog-headed tribal-dressed villain grumbled.

Asriel moaned as his mother once again adjusted the tie on his green suit. He HATED having to dress up, and tonight was one such occasion. The invitation on the table said it all.

"Dear Queen Toriel and family,

You are all invited to the Grand Galloping Gala this year, in honor of a union of peace between the various races of Equestria. Please accept the invitation and our heartfelt thanks relating to various events you have handled in Ponyville. We look forward to seeing you in Canterlot!

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia."

 

Asriel was originally excited about the invite, but now he was having second thoughts, especially since he and Chara and Frisk all had to wear dress clothes. It was NOT something any of them wanted to do.

"Come on mom.... can't we just wear our sweaters and some nice pants? I am sure it will be acceptable!"

Toriel glared but smiled. "Asriel, this is a major event for ALL...of us. And even Twilight and her friends are dressing up in fine attire for the event. This is a very high class social event."

Chara, nearby, moaned in his dress outfit, which oddly incorporated his knife, giving it a jeweled hilt like it was the sword of a king. Clearly it was a Rarity design. "High class my foot, mom. You hate these things as much as we do. Can't we just go to Pony Joe's instead?"

Spike nearby helped Frisk with his outfit, and at the mention of Pony Joe's perked up. "That's a wonderful idea! They have some new flavours out now, and I bet that..."

Frisk recalled a certain event not too long ago. "NO. NO DOUGHNUTS."

Everyone chuckled. Once Asriel was all tidied up, Toriel looked the three boys over. They truly were three peas in a pod, representing now three parts of a whole: soul, innocence, and hope.

****************

Edward looked over what he’d written, and smiled to himself. He saw Asriel as the SOUL, as he was resurrected thanks to the efforts of several others, all of whom now loved each other and him greatly. He was in many ways a living embodiment of SOUL, a Symbol of Unyielding Love.

Frisk was innocence, and that was obvious. He could find a way to turn even SATAN himself into someone good he reasoned, his gentle heart one that would not kill. He had united the underground and now was its ambassador, smiling and gentle, loved by all who touched him.

But it was Chara that most touched the author, the symbol of hope. Chara had done terrible things before, and lived a life not wished for by anyone who ever existed. But now he was starting to see a better day ahead, one where maybe he could set aside his past and live for the future. There was always that hope.

How Edward chuckled as he wrote what happened next, confirming that this story was not about these three.... but about something else that needed to be resolved once and for all...

*************

A sudden knock on the door brought the former queen out of her happy thoughts, curious over who it might be at the door. She knew the Crusaders were coming, the three boys eager to hang out with them (Clearly what will likely be the highlight of their evening!), but as she opened the door, she was surprised... and not in a happy way.

Standing there in royal attire was King Asgore. He was dressed in a long cape of blue and golden armor, which had the Delta Rune on it. He wore on his head a crown made of pure gold made by Rarity for the occasion, with seven gems on it, representing the seven human children (Frisk included) who helped to redeem Chara.

But when Toriel saw it she only remembered something ELSE about six of those souls.

"What are you doing here?" She said in a low voice.

"I came to escort you and the boys to the train. I was sincerely hoping to..."

"We HAVE...an escort, thankyouverymuch, Asgore. And isn't this event the wrong time to honor that law you made?" She looked at the crown, her anger fuming. "To openly be proud of killing those children... you really are an IDIOT."

Asgore blinked. "What? But that isn't..."

"Come children.... we must not be late. The Crusaders and the Mane Six will be waiting for us." She brushed past Asgore, glaring at him. "And don't you try anything at the Gala, Asgore. As I told you before, it is over between us. I don't fall for murderers." She let that hang as she led the kids out, only Frisk stopping to look back. Asgore looked at him and gave a weak smile.

"Someday Asgore.... Someday." He assured the king. "I personally like that you still remember them."

Asgore smiled. "I always will. It was my greatest shame... but even so it was because of them that I have my sons back... and that thing that controlled Chara is gone forever. And yet.... I would give anything to have not done what I did. Those children... they didn't deserve my anger."

Frisk said nothing as Asgore let the tears fall. He didn't say his other regret... that he lost not only his sons for a time... but Toriel, his truest love. He would give anything to have her back in his life. Even just as friends.

*************

The train was a bit noisy today as the Mane Six, the Crusaders, and the Boss Monsters all were discussing the Gala. True, so many times it had been so boring and such a disappointment. But this time they were focused on being together rather than the galas itself. This time they just wanted to hang out somewhat.

Toriel however was lost in all this, and oddly silent. Asgore had ruined her good mood, and despite the compliments on her lovely blue gown and accompanying crown with gems on it like the Delta Rune, she was lost in thought over Asgore. How DARE he try to act like an innocent when he...

"heyas." A familiar voice said. Toriel turned to her side and saw Sans, dressed in a black suit with a red tie. Toriel thought it looked a little dark for him, sort of like a reversed Sans, but he had a blue flower in the button hole that seemed to make the look soften up.

"Evening Sans. You come over to cure my femur?" Toriwel asked.

"nah. you seemed like you needed a ear to listen to." He held up the ear monster, waving a little before leaping off Sans hand to get some corn. Toriel snickered.

"forgive me for asking toriel, i don't want to butt in  or goat you  into answering something you don't want to... but why the long face?"

Toriel sighed. "Asgore came by. He tried to escort me to the train." She glared over at him as he, Undyne, and Big Macintosh were laughing. "I hate him. OH how I hate him."

Sans sighed. "oh boy, here we go again." Toriel looked at him as he looked in her eyes. "look Tori, I already know you and I are friends, but forgive when I say you're acting a little like a bonehead."

Toriel blinked. "Huh?"

Sans clarified. "the king was acting out of anger, and yeah, he coulda easily gone through and killed six random people. but he couldn’t kill anyone. not willingly. kind of like you in many ways. but he made the law, and he knew that if humans fell in he would have to do what he said.”

Toriel hmphed. "There had to be a better way though."

Sans put a bony hand on hers, making her smile a little. "the past is in the past. i wanna ask you something... you know all that chara and asriel did right?"

Toriel sighed. She knew where he was going with this. "Touche."

Sans smiled. Toriel had no interest in a relationship with Sans and Sans was not really into the whole being the serious dad kinda thing. But if there was ever anyone more reliable for problems it was Sans the Skeleton.

He only hoped she understood what he was trying to do.

**************

"Announcing, Prince Asriel, Ambassador Frisk, and Bodyguard Chara." A snooty pony announced at the top of the steps. The three walked down the massive flight of stairs into the ballroom where the Gala was taking place, stopping to say hello to Twilight and Celestia. Both looked bored out of their minds.

The three saw way as they descended. The ballroom was done up like a high class party, with only the three of them and the Crusaders representing the youth. All around ponies had their noses in the air as they talked about things like fine wine deals, stock trades, and other things that made paint peeling seem exciting. Even the Wonderbolts, who were doing an air show later this week, looked downright bored. As the three reached the floor, Chara finally said it.

"Alright, when we get home we are making mom pay for having us go to this. I mean, come on guys, this isn't us at all!"

Asriel nodded. "You're telling me, I mean look at me! I hate wearing suits!"

Frisk nodded. "I think I was more comfortable in a dusty tutu than this thing."

Chara sighed. "Come on, let's go find the Crusaders. Maybe then we can have SOME fun.... MAYBE."

The others groaned but agreed, as on the stairs Celestia and Twilight watched with similar feelings.

"Twilight, my dear student..... why do I subject myself to this?! Every year it is the same thing, boring and dull. Worse, I never get to enjoy the company of friends, and one would think this is the one day I would."

Twilight nodded, seeing her friends mingling in the party. "I know what you mean, Princess Celestia. Maybe we should make this the last gala?"

As Celestia greeted the next pair of ponies, she sighed. "Unfortunately, the Aristocracy prevents that. But I am looking forward to this ending, then we can all do something fun."

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, I think we all will need it after this. One thing though.. .seems every gala since the one I came to has had SOMETHING happen. Maybe something special will occur tonight?"

Ohhhh how right she was.

**************

As she prepared to enter, not wanting her children left alone for too long, she felt she needed to use the powder room and freshen up her fur a little. But as she went, she saw Asgore. He was nervously pacing, clearly not wanting to go out into the public, dreading facing them. But Toriel only saw the one thing she hated most.

And yet she remembered Sans' words.

"Asgore." She said simply. The king of monsters looked over at her, and ducked into a side room. Toriel hmphed and followed. She wasn't waiting any longer... she was having her say.

She followed him into the room, which was a cozy looking guest bedroom, Asgore hiding behind the bed, but his crown showed.

"REAAAAALLY? Isn't that a little childish, even for you?" She scolded, fuming again.

"You said your peace before...but I didn't want any trouble today so I debated going in at all."

Toriel rolled her eyes. "There you go again. Always hiding from your responsibilities, always cowering when others did what you said to cling to hope. You’re pathetic, Asgore, and I wonder how I ever loved y-" She went to leave.... but the door did NOT open.

"It's... it's locked....." She said, going wide eyed. "IT'S LOCKED!"

Asgore came over. "Ok, stand back!" He rammed into the door, then went wide eyed. "OW! Damned Equestrian enchanted wood...can't be broken...." He clutched his shoulder, Toriel sighing as she threw her flames at it.

They went out as they touched the door.

"And enchanted to prevent fires. Of COURSE it is. Great. We are trapped." She said, slumping on the bed. "Most important night for monsters, and here we are, stuck in a bedroom." she glared at Asgore. "And DON'T be getting any thoughts Dreemurr. If you move too close to me I will burn your soul until it is a little charred ember."

Asgore sighed. "No more than I deserve really." He turned away. "You are right about me Tori. I was a coward. Always have been. I wanted nothing more than just peace, no more killing even if it meant our freedom. And yet... when our sons died... I was so angry I made that stupid law. And I bound it in stone so it could not be broken."

Toriel sighed. "Why did you make it a solid law? Didn't you think about what would fall in the underground?"

"I didn't care." Asgore said. "I saw all humans as evil....and I wanted them all dead. And then... the six came in. I saw that there was hope.... but then I heard how they were trying to help us escape.... and I was ashamed. I wasn't fit to wear this crown." He sighed, tears in his eyes. "I wanted to find you then. I wanted to relinquish the kingdom to you... and exile myself forever. But I couldn't... it was too late. So I tried to just keep a happy smile and be friendly, but if I saw a child I would have to...."

Toriel sighed. "So that was why Frisk was not angry with you even. He knew. He knew you really didn't want to hurt them."

Asgore nodded.  "I was always a weak ruler, love...with you I was strong, but..."

Toriel sighed. "You’re no more weaker than I. I ran from my duties as queen and hid away, letting the children go to their fates without helping them even in the slightest. I thought if I made my deal with Sans through the door that would be it. But... I never even followed it up. Not until Frisk."

Asgore and Toriel were silent for a moment, the silence hard and heavy, digging into them like a knife.

Perhaps…

They were more alike than they thought.

***********

Frisk and Chara were getting tired of the suits they had to wear and hoped they could find Toriel to try and get them loosened. Asriel soon followed suit, so to speak, trying to find their mother. But...

"She isn't in the gardens..." Asriel said.

Chara nodded. "I didn't see her with the Mane Six."

Frisk nodded. "Yeah, and she isn't with Sans or Discord either. Did they ever come in?"

Asriel nodded. "Mom was a few paces behind us in the crowd to get in but.... let's ask Twilight. She would know."

The three agreed, heading off. But as they approached they saw an annoyed Celestia and an even MORE annoyed Twilight forced to sit through talking to Prince Bluebloods long list of complaints.and suggestions, Celestia looking to the three eventually with a pleading look.

"This....could be awhile." Frisk finally said.

**************

".... Do you remember how we first met?" Asgore finally said, breaking the silence. Toriel smiled softly.

"Yes.... it was on the surface.... I was a young monster in service of a blacksmith.  I used my fire magic to help heat his furnaces. After the incident with the sword... I wanted to learn more about how fire was used to make things. Then... I saw you come in."

Asgore chuckled. "I was the new king, and I needed some armor maintained. I saw you and my heart just fluttered. I thought I had fallen down."

Toriel chuckled. "You were so charming.... with your trimmed beard and your soft, shy look. So unlike what your form would suggest of you. You were strong but gentle."

Asgore chuckled. "We talked for awhile about things... and I was smitten. I asked you to come to the lake for a picnic and you said yes."

Toriel blushed. "That was my first pie.... and my first kiss."

Asgore smiled, the two finally chuckling. She looked at him and he at her. "Tori.... I'm sorry I let you down."

Toriel smiled. "I think I see why you did.... and I know now I should have stayed. I should have seen your pain."

Asgore suddenly felt her hand on his cheek, and he went wide eyed. The look she gave him, those beautiful eyes, her perfect smile...

"Tori..." He managed to say.

"Gori..." She said, equally smitten by the old memories of a love that, if she was truthful, never really died. The two smiled, and closed in to one another.

Love was rekindled.

**************

".... item 103." Blueblood said, continuing to read the massive scroll to the now red eyed princesses, Twilight's eyes twitching. "I demand an extra tub of gel be supplied at all major events such as this. Surely one who is above the COMMONERS should know that we take special pride in our appearance, as compared to certain ones who just throw on a little suit and say they are... civilized."

That did it. Chara had heard enough derogatory statements about monsters and Ponyville in general. He stormed up to Blueblood and turned him around with all his force.

"I say there!" He said, before Chara hit him square in the eye. Everyone gasped as Chara stood over him. But what Chara said next shocked everyone.

"You have insulted my friends and family for the last time! I demand satisfaction!"

Everyone gasped as Blueblood stood up. He nodded and raised a hoof, slapping Chara across the face. "Agreed. Name the challenge and time."

Chara smiled. Frisk got worried. He expected Chara to say pistols at twenty paces or a knife fight or SOMETHING. But instead....

"A doughnut eating contest. Right NOW." HE said, smiling. Prince Blueblood was wide eyed.

"A WHAT?!"

"Will you defend your claims or publicly announce your wrong?" Chara said. Twilight giggled a little and Celestia smiled. NOW things were getting good.

"I WILL defend my claim you...you hairless monkey! BRING THE DOUGHNUTS!"

Everyone present could not help but giggle as the two made for the center, two servants bringing the table. Meanwhile, Frisk and Asriel approached the princesses.

"We have something serious to talk to you about."

*****************

A few moments later several guards, Celestia, and Twilight were searching the rooms, certain they saw the two come in. Frisk was opening every door and finding nothing.... until...

"Hey,... this one is locked!" Frisk said. Celestia came over.

"Strange.... the lock on it has never worked before, I just assumed it never locked." She hmmed.  "No matter, Twilight and I will have this open immediately."

Frisk and Asriel nodded, and the two alicorns used their magic on the lock, it finally clicking, the door swinging open, but everyone gasped at what they saw. Inside was Asgore and Toriel.

Together.

In the bed.

Snuggled up and asleep.

"Ohhhhh myyyyyyy." Celestias managed to say blushing. Asriel and Frisk were wide eyed.

"How...how long were they gone?"

Twilight blinked. "Long enough it seems." She smiled. "I guess this means they have made up somewhat?"

Celestia chuckled. "I think it at least means they are starting to. We better give them some privacy." She turned to the boys. "As for you two.... better not say anything about this."

"We promise." The two said, crossing their hearts.

"Well, now that the mystery is solved, let's go watch a duel." Celestia said happily. "I was hoping something interesting would happen! But I never expected TWO interesting things!"

Twilight chuckled. "I think Rarity will like seeing this too."

The group walked off, leaving the two former husband and wife and slowly reconciling lovers return to their snuggles.

****************

A while later, Blue Blood lay on the floor with a massive stomach ache, Chara beside him. Both had only one doughnut left.

"Alright...alright..." The prince said. "I withdraw my statement. Anyone able to enjoy the finer tastes in life is okay in my books."

"Ohhhhhhhh..... my stomach..." Was Chara's only reply. "Please, let me LOAD... I wanna make the pain stop...."

Blue Blood moaned. "LOAD heck, a bottle of antacid... and maybe a bucket...."

Everyone had thoroughly enjoyed the duel, in spite of the mess it made, as it turned out to be a fine distraction from the same old same old. Celestia soon had several ponies thinking it was her idea for the duel, and hoped next year for something similar.

"In my opinion," one said, "we need more than just fine food and music. A game or two like this makes for a smashing distraction."

Fleur-De-Lis chuckled in agreement nearby, as did her lover. "I must agree your Highness, and phooey on what Blueblood said, these monsters and humans are simply marvelous! I see now why you invited so many races here, it makes for a fine party indeed, worthy of any high class!"

"Well put my love, well put. How we did not recognize these creatures as fine citizens I never will know, but I think any creature that makes a fool out of someone like Blueblood definitely has good taste."

Celestia smiled, as did Frisk nearby, despite being a little green at seeing the doughnuts. It brought up some... bad memories.

"I say, I almost forgot, where are your parents my boy? I had not seen them all evening?"

Frisk smiled. "Oh... they had an important meeting to take care of."

********************

Toriel awoke first, shocked at where she was... or rather, who she was with. She finally smiled some, realizing her anger at him might have been ill placed. He payed for his crimes in his own heart, and did not need additional hatred, especially when she was not so innocent herself. Seeing him now, lying with that soft look like when they first met, she knew she still loved him.

She smiled as she looked to the door, now slightly opened. Guess someone found them while they slept. She was tempted to go...

...

...

...

...she curled up close to him again, and threw the blankets over them as she went back to sleep. Eh, they could wait a bit.

After all... they had a lot of time left.

All the time in the world.

 

THE END

Chara was laughing as she played with Muffet. Having the darker humor of the three she was more into the kind of diet that Muffet liked, which, simply put, could be just about anything.

Today they were playing with Derpy, pretending to bake her into a muffin to spook some of the characters. It was after all one of the best holidays for such things: Nightmare Night.

"Shame I cannot gobble up this marvelous muffin, ahuhuhuhuhuhuhu!" She smiled and licked her lips before Derpy. The wild eyed pony giggled and smiled.

"Aww I don't mind if you take a nibble Muffet, not after you helped me and Temmie." Muffet blinked, smiled, and hugged the muffin.

"Awwww! Thanks Derpy! Been awhile since I had a pony pastry, and I am sure Celestia could arrange it if you are fully serious."

Derpy nodded, Chara meanwhile moving to another pastry: Asriel. In truth he was dressed as a Butterscotch Pie, Chara topping him with some cream.

"You KNOW mom is going to kill you for this." Asriel said, giggling some. "If she knew we were doing this again she would give you such a bad time."

Chara smiled as he put a little butterscotch candy on top. "Yeah, but now Celestia can bring us back thanks to the magic, rather than us using my RESETS." He turned to Muffet. "Besides, these are going to be really fun costumes for tonight!"

Muffet smiled. "Well I have to admit it was a wonderful idea. I know it is a softball throw for me dearie, dressing as an evil gingerbread witch, but I can imagine the end result will look so cute!"

Almost on cue, the front door opens, revealing Frisk, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Frisk was dressed as, per suggestion, the hooded ferryman, while Rainbow Dash was done up like a zombie, painting her coat green and having a fake eye hanging off. Pinkie Pie was however the most humorous, dressed like a fluffy pink pony with TONS of fur and a fake unicorn horn. Frisk smiled as he saw the costumes in preparation.

"Hi Muffet!" Frisk said, getting a big, loving, for armed hug from the spider baker. She was still not in HER costume, but it was nearby, looking like a witches outfit made with candy cane buttons, icing clothes, and a hat made of licorice. She smiled delightedly at her friends.

"Glad you all made it dearies! I cannot wait to take these dainties out for their goodies!"

Pinkie playfully came up to Asriel, who still remembered his time as Flowey. "Well I love YOUR costume for sure!" She said, licking her lips. "Muffet I got dibs on this yummy morsel!"

Asriel went wide eyed. "Friiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisk...."

Frisk and Chara just chuckled, neither one aware of the ghostly form watching them. For the past few months Carter had been able to interact here and there, but his best and honestly sweetest act was locking Asgore and Toriel in that room. The end result made him smile, but he still felt the weight of his sins upon him. But he knew a lot more about the world around him now, and knew something he hoped Molestia had not figured out yet.

This world... this alternate reality... it had also been created by an author, or at least was being affected by it. it was so unlike the one he had created, full of death and abuse. The constant knowledge of what he wrote and WHY he wrote it haunted him day and night. Worse still was he could not even escape that by sleep. And now Molestia and her newly resurrected Zombane Six are looking everywhere for him and likely a way for some way to hurt humans in general.

All because of him.

"Nightmare night, What a fright, Give me something sweet to bite." A voice said behind him. Carter turned to see the black cloaked form of Gaster, the only other one who had his same condition.

"Nice time of year, really."  The bone brother said. Carter sighed and nodded, rubbing the back of his sandy-haired head.

"When I was younger I was really fond of going out trick or treating, or taking other kids out. I loved everything to do with fear and horror. It became a fetish of mine... and each day I wanted to see it more and more... but even as I was writing it I knew it was wrong."

Gaster nodded. "I know, Discord filled me in. I wanted to check in on you tonight since it has been awhile... and since I think we have other problems."

Carter blinked. "What do you mean?" He inquired.

"Well... Molestia has not been seen since that attack on you. And I am worried when she shows up that she will be after more than just you. She knows this world, this dimension, is being influenced by others like you, namely Misterebony and NGrey651. A curious team if you ask me: A novella writer and a voraphile. The latter has me worried, and based on it she may do something rash. VERY rash."

Carter nodded. "You think she is getting close to that point?"

Gaster pointed at the emerging Muffet, carting behind her Chara, Asriel, and Derpy like they are part of her goodie basket. "Certain events occurring tonight might make her come out. In her state... she may see what they are doing, innocent though it is, as the same thing as what happened to her world."

Carter sighed. "In her state she might see anything as..."

"Right. That's why I am here, I want to keep my eyes open for any signs of her."

Carter went wide eyed as he pointed over by a building, seeing a rather twisted form of Celestia peeking around a corner. "I..... I think we just  found one."

Gaster went wide eyesocketed. "Oh great... I KNEW she was going to horse around tonight."

“You really ARE Sans’s brother.” Carter said with a small smile.

*************************

Hatred.

Hatred filled her soul.

Humans used her dimension, her home, for their own twisted desires. They turned her into a glorified whore, raping and being raped by all manner of creatures, watching as the caribou tore apart her home and killed millions. Humans were evil creatures ruled by their sick eroticism, and she was going to bring them to a reckoning.

She watched the happy ponies playing on nightmare night and wearing their costumes, and her vision suddenly shifted to the ruined Ponyville she remembered from her home, where zombies were real and caribou were taking her ponies as sex slaves. Molestia screamed out in anger in her vision, weeping as her vision came back to reality and hiding out of sight. She looked about as several ponies looked about, then resumed their fun.

She regretted what she was about to consider doing, but a message had to be sent to the humans who used her dimension as a playground. If they were going to mistreat their toys…she would have no choice but to take them away.

Molestia sighed. "Forgive me my little ponies... but I cannot let these humans use you anymore. I hope at least the rest I can give you will be peaceful." She sighed, and got a fierce look in her eyes, seeing two little ponies. She gave another heavy sigh.

"I suppose I better start with the youngest ones... they will be the hardest to have to do this to... but it has to be done.... you cannot make a story without a cast of characters."

Molestia looked out at the foals and phillies, and memories came back of a time before the Caribou. True she was still a perverted whore in her dimension.... but it wasn't always a bad thing. At one time her perversion was kept to herself and those she loved, a form of love that was like a bond they shared. A secret they kept to each other, and it made it all the better in the end.

Moreover however was the bond with her little ponies. Even as zombies in that realm they were STILL her ponies, and slowly they remembered that. They remembered what and who they were, and became more like ghoul servants, living a new life. It was rather comical at times, because of the jokes they told. It made her laugh thinking about it. Even at the darkest times she could still laugh. That was then.

But now.... now that world was gone thanks to the Caribou. Everyone was gone now, enslaved or dead, killed by an author who saw fit to make such a world. Worse was this world was controlled by not one but TWO of his race, and yet for some reason she could not get to them to punish them directly. So she should destroy what they cared about.

 She sighed deeply as she saw her zombie servants, at one time her student and her friends. She had renamed them to fit their new names, with the first one, Twilight Shuffle, stepping forward.

"Are you alright master?" She asked. Molestia saw her and heard her voice and sighed.

"Yes.... we have work to do." She looked to the servants. "Applecore, Festershy, you will handle the homes. Rainbone, Putrid Pie, you have the philies and the children. Rancidy and Twilight will work with me to take out the monsters. The goal is simple."

She stood before the group, then turned from her hiding place back out where the Nightmare Night continued before them. She said a single word.

"GENOCIDE."

***********************

The word seemed to echo through the dimensions, through the world it was aimed at, into the earsockets of a single skeleton. He shot up, despite being dressed like Triple X, And his eyesockets went wide. That feeling. That cold, terrible feeling of dread. Something evil was acting on this world yet again, similar to the Anomaly. This however felt like revenge, someone out to cause evil.

"No...." Sans said, suddenly very serious. "Not this again..."

***********************

Tiny Heart, a foal getting candy, was very happy as he looked over his haul. The reddish pink foal was happily nibbling on some of the candy he had gotten. He mmmed and rubbed his tummy, smiling as he was dressed like a cowboy.

"Ahhhhhh.... Wonderful." He said. He eeped as he saw another pony approaching, this one like a zombie version of Pinkie Pie. He chuckled and waved.

"Hi! Having fun tonight?"

The zombie flinched. She knew what she had to do but,...... this was a foal. Could she really do this?

"I better be careful if I am so full of candy. Zombie ponies might find me REALLY sweet!"

No..... no......

"But maybe I can bribe you with some candy so you won't eat me?"

Putrid was about to cry.... no... she had no chocie. she stepped forward and opened her mouth.

"Sorry, kid...." She whispered, closing in.

***************

"I don't know about this." Festershy said, her matted and bloody hair over her missing eyesocket as she shambled to a house. Applecore sighed.

"You forget what happened to our home? To our families? TO US?!" She sighed. "I mean look at us! I'm a walking cannibal zombiepony! And you Festershy, have you forgotten eating Angel back home?!"

Festershy whimpered. "But.... we can start again here.... I am sure we would be welcomed... After all we are both monsters and ponies now.... right?"

Applecore sighed. "Let's discuss this after we eat." She knocked on the first door. "I just hope it isn't too young or too old..."

The two eeped as the door opened, revealing Granny Smith, babysitting two certain little foals, both babbling happily in their cute little Breezies outfits. The two zombies gulped.

"Ooooohhhhhh... .. kayyyyy....." Applecore whispered, losing her nerve. "Plan B."

*********************

Molestia sighed as she followed Muffet and the kids, her servants moving to where she knew other monsters would be. It had to start somewhere, and it was best to kill the humans first, that horrible race.

Especially the one. Chara was the worst from what she understood, suing his power to hurt others. She just had to get him alone.

"Ok everyone!" Muffet said to her treats. "Split up and get LOTS of goodies, or else I'll make you into cake, fuhuhuhuuhhuhuhuhuhu!"

Molestia cringed. MisterEbony's influence on this world no doubt, making the idea of such an act. She knew it was likely NGrey651 who had brought out Gaster and herself, but she would hurt him directly later. She watched as Chara, dressed like a gingerbread baker, walked down an alleyway.

Perfect.

Molestia followed, her silk coverings shimmering in the moonlight. She walked for awhile, listening to the wind blow. But she thought something was strange. After following for a bit she could not hear any kids anymore. She was being led away. She went wide eyed as she realized this was a trick....

.... but as she turned she saw the discarded costume.

"So... you knew I was here huh?" Molestia said, chuckling. Behind her from the shadows, Chara emerged, holding the true knife.

"Thank Discord for that. He teleported me away just as I got in the alley and told me everything. I was brought back just a second ago. Never thought I would meet you in person really.... but I have to admit I like the look."

"You would, you little monster." Molestia said with a grin. "You’re just a killer after all, you love pain. Oh yes, I know ALL about you. I know you’re into hurting others, how liberating it is. Took me awhile to find out everything, but I got a lot of info thanks to my time here."

Chara smiled. "Ohhhh?"

"I know about the Anomaly, Gaster, the Fourth Wall that you and your friends break and that those foolish commenters keep repairing. I know this is just a story in their realm, just 'fanfiction' for their so-called amusement and deviant pleasure. I bet some even had thoughts hearing about our exchange of me raping you, the foolish little beasts."

Chara chuckled. "You should talk. The world is not solely influenced by them you know. Oh they may play a part, yes, but I already know they cannot control EVERYTHING. So I know you are a bit of a pervert all on your own... and you looooove it."

"And you should talk!" Molestia fired back. "You loved to kill. You liked hurting others. Hell you enjoyed manipulating Frisk into killing Toriel, Undyne, EVERYONE. You enjoy it." She looked up. "But I will not let the people of that dimension enjoy this again. I will do what it takes. And that means killing everyone so there is nothing left but emptiness. Then I will have my revenge.”

Chara chuckled. He shook his head, remembering when he used those very words, before Frisk and Asriel gave him another chance. Now.... now he was going to make sure it wasn't wasted.

Around him, music began to play. A tune he never heard before on the wind. And right away... he knew what to say.

He had to be Stronger.

STRONGER THAN YOU: CHARA'S SONG OF SOUL

Spoken by Chara: So, you're determined to kill everyone. Well I cannot let that happen. I know what that route leads to.

My name is Chara, a little boy,

But there was a time when I was just a  murderous toy

 used for deviant fun,

So I learned on every Genocide Run.

 

I killed without remorse or regret,

But I've learned something that clearly you haven't yet,

That there's a better path, that others did show,

Let me show you what it made me! let's GO.

 

Go ahead and try to hit me if you're able,

But I see that you are clearly just unstable,

Everything you said about me is in fact true,

At one time I truly was like you,

 

I felt the way you did so long ago,

I thought that evil was the path I must go,

Now I know my SOUL aint of a demon,

And now I fight for a brand new reason!

 

I fight for those, that I love!

Love!

Love!

*And it made me much stronger too*

Love!

Love!

LOVE!

Spoken by Molestia: You think your so much better than I am?! HA! You have no Idea what I went through, the horrors I saw! All caused by that author, that BASTARD!

Spoken by Chara: You sure of that? Do you know how many I had to kill, and how many times I did it? Worse, I knew it was wrong..... but I did it anyway! I enjoyed when humans made me too, they didn't affect that!

 

I was once so cold, Heartless and insane,

I killed even those I loved, to simply say it plain,

But even knowing the truth, my friends still loved me true,

They gave me a second chance, like I want to give you.

 

Go ahead and try to hit me if you're able,

But I know the truth is making you unstable,

You think Genocide will heal your heart in some way?!

I tell you now that this is the wrong way!

I know that your friends all disappeared,

 But If you look inside they are still here,

They're always with you! Just listen to them!

We know this ain't what you want...

 

I know you have.... love!

 

Love!

 

Love!

 

And I'll find it in you!

Spoken by Chara: And I mean true SOUL, the Symbol of UNyielding Love. I know you have it! And I am DETERMINED to find it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*******************

The zombies followed the sound, and saw a shaken Molestia, hearing the truth of Chara's words. It was true. This WASN'T what she wanted. It was what she HAD to do though. She shook her head.

"Enough! I don't care what you say human! There is no other path for me! I have nothing left!"

"Yes! Yes, you DO!" She heard behind her, gasping as she turned, seeing the Maimed Six. She was trembling as, even as zombies, they looked at her with sad eyes. "You still have us, in some form!"

Applecore lowered her hat, revealing the pulsating brain underneath. "She's right. Our home is gone... but we don't want to be like them. We want to avenge them, not become them."

Festershy nodded. "And if we kill the foals, the innocent... we are no better."

Rainbone nodded. "This is not cool. But... we can find another way. We want to punish that human right?"

Putrid Pie nodded. "Will hurting innocent humans help that? If there is to be a reckoning.... let's bring it to the Caribou, not the innocents."

Molestia heard the truth in their words. "Alright.... But.... I still have one human I have to punish."

Carter emerged from the shadows. "I'm right here." He said, hands in his pockets. "Just don't hurt anyone... I deserve whatever you wanna give to me."

Molestia looked at him. He had clearly been going through a hard time himself, unable to act directly or interact with anyone. Alone like she was. She looked at him in a new light, but the hate was still there.

"No.... No, I want you to live. I want you unable to interact with anyone but Gaster and Discord forever." She turned to Chara. "And as for you, in case you are wondering who I am talking to.... it is a FOOL who deserves his fate. Not all humans are like you Chara, and able to be forgiven. As a child it is easy. But when you are older... it is harder."

Chara blinked..... who did she mean?

"As for the authors in this world, my curse still stands. There will be a crisis in this world, one that everyone will have to face. I cannot undo that. But.......if it is possible, the world will unite to protect you." She sighed. "If even you can change here Chara...maybe so can I."

Chara reached to pet her but she backed away.

"But don't push it." She warned, glaring.

"Fair enough."

The zombies looked to one another." Ummm..... what about us? I mean we tried to do what you said.... but one gave us candy, and those babies gave us such cute looks...."

Chara smiled. "I have an idea."

*******************

“RAWR!!!!"

The philles ran from the haunted house, completely frightened, thanks to the combined efforts of "Nightmare Moon" and her "Zombie Horde". Chara even got in the act, using some paint to resemble his Genocide look. It was not the Nightmare Night he hoped for, but it was still pretty fun.

Even Molestia was enjoying it, done up like a prisoner of the moon, begging for help from phillies just before they were jumpscared. It was said later it was the best haunted house that Ponyville ever had.

Between one group, Luna approached Molestia. "Will you be alright?"

Molestia nodded. "Yes. I am going to break the fourth wall to try and contact the authors. Hopefully they can help me avenge the fallen of my home."

Luna nodded. "If we can help, I hope you will say."

Molestia smiled. "You have done enough. Though I must admit I wish I had my harem back...” She stiffened. “…d-did I just SAY that?!"

Everyone chuckled, even as one of the zombies lost their lower jaw. Elsewhere, Muffet watched, shaking her head.

"Well... so much for my Chara Cookie." She whimpered, munching on some Butterscotch pie.

Asriel wriggled as her bites almost took him in.

THE END

…

…

…

…meanwhile, Nick was hard at work, typing away on the next chapter in the story.

 

“Ooh, I love my job.” He chuckled. “Having King Sombra make an appearance…this is gonna be great! I can never give too much attention to my favorite MLP villain-”

PING! You’ve got mail…pattern baldness!

Nick frowned. “RGGGHH. That USED to be funny five years ago.” He grumbled, opening up his email service, wishing he didn’t get his hair from his Mom’s side, not wanting to look like Billy Crystal in ten years.

Uhoh.

“I need help.” Molestia’s message read. “Please. I have to stop the Caribou. I want my home back.”

Nick cringed. Oh jeez. This would be tricky. There were certain rules he had to adhere to. At a certain point, it became less HIM writing the story…than the story being written through him. There were rules you had to follow for tales such as this, and you couldn’t just break them out of nowhere. In a Looney Tunes cartoon, an anvil falling out of nowhere to smash a bad guy over the head might be plausible. But in the MLP realm, a realm of fantasy and magic that was bright and vibrant yet still somewhat more grounded…that wasn’t gonna happen.

Well…unless it was Discord. He could see that happening to him. But the Caribou?

“…alright.” He sighed, pinching the space between his eyes and biting into his lip. “Okay. I’ll try to help.” He murmured.

But neither he nor Molestia had any idea this act would begin a chain of events in the background that might just fulfill her curse...

“Ohhh no. Oh no, no-no-no-no.”

Frisk held his head, his green eyes wide in horror, hands digging into the side of his skull as he shook his brown-haired head back and forth. “Oh Lordy, no!” He whispered out. “I...I think I just did something very bad…” He whispered. “Dear God, no!” The half-Asian, half American child murmured, hands covering his mouth as he struggled to get to his feet, only to fall back on his knees. The blood pooled around the bodies of each of his friends, their eyes sightless, never able to see again, their bodies long since grown cold and stiff. How...how was this possible? Their milky blood dribbled all around him, a trail trickling towards the knife that laid in front of him…

“No, this...this can’t be real. This has to be a dream.”

“Oh, quite a dream, alright. A dream come true.” A familiar voice rang out as Frisk stiffened, his eyes going wide, a harsh breath being sucked into his lungs as he turned around, eyes wide. Oh no. NO. The...the Anomaly. The Completionist. Mocking face, sneering with a wide smile.

“You always know how to make me smile, Frisk. My lovely little puppet, I have to say, Ol’ Gepetto here is VERY proud.”

“No! No, this isn’t real! Monsters turn to dust when they die! This is just a bad dream!” Frisk insisted, holding his head in his hands, shaking it back and forth as the Anomaly advanced, its hand shifting and twisting, a horrific laugh croaking out of his mouth as he walked towards Frisk...an immense knife now held high.

“Know that no matter how much you try to run, this puppet maker is always right behind you...pulling. The. STRINGS.”

The knife came down, Frisk screaming…

“Disappointing...not what I need...”

“Dude, wake up!”

Frisk gasped, falling flat out of his chair in school, panting and heaving, everyone staring at him and then each other as Squirt gently helped him up, faintly neon yellow eyes looking into Frisk’s. “You alright?” He inquired.

“I...I think I need to see Toriel.” Frisk muttered out, wiping sweat off his brow as Ms. Cheerilee gave a soft little nod, Squirt escorting him out of the schoolhouse as they made their way down the road, heading for Toriel’s home. A soft wind went through their hair as Squirt looked over at Frisk, biting his lip.

“So, um...what were you dreaming about?”

“The anomaly. That...that DEMON.”

“The one you defeated, right?” Squirt murmured. “...you’re so brave.”

“Well, we had to beat him. Everyone  was in danger.” Frisk reasoned, seeing Squirt’s face, trying to read the expression on the half-breed’s face, looking confused as he tilted his head a little. “Uh...Squirt, what’s the matter?”

“It’s just...your use of your DETERMINATION, of...of RESETS and SAVES, that’s just so huge. It’s mind-blowing. It’s…” He hesitated.

“Do I scare people?” Frisk asked quietly, a nervous feeling rising in him, brought along by the dream he’d just had. Had the Dream-Anomaly been right? What if he really WAS a puppet and didn’t know it? What if something was lingering inside him?

“No. It ain’t fear, Frisk.” Squirt muttered. “It’s more like jealousy.” He sheepishly confessed, hanging his head, black mane flopping down, the dark-grey-furred little colt sighing.

Frisk stupidly stared. “Jealousy? Really? Why? I mean...why ME? Why not Chara? I mean, they’re far better at fighting, and Sans can teleport and Papyrus-”

“I’m SERIOUS, Frisk.” Squirt murmured, stopping at a small park bench, the two of them not far from Toriel’s house. They sat down together, the wind continuing to blow through their hair as Squirt laid his front hooves in his lap and hung his head. “Look, I...never really got to know my parents. Like, at all. I had no sister like Shinedown did. I never even got to know my parents. And the worst part is that...that when I talked to him and asked him if he could find them, he…” Squirt trembled. “...he had that look on his face. That look of “I already did”. And I knew that he had something awful to say. That there was a REASON he’d never taken me back to them.”

“...what is it?” Frisk wanted to know, his voice soft and comforting as he gently laid a hand upon Squirt’s shoulder and Squirt bit his lip.

“He said they were high-falutin, high class types who viewed everything they made as a total success in the HIVE and in CANTERLOT as a success. Except for me. They wanted a vunderkid and what they got was an average half-breed with a combined Stallion Aptitude Test score of “Too lazy to show up”. I didn’t even end up with magic like my parents had. But you? You’re one of the brightest kids in class, everyone loves you, and with your abilities, well…they would have LOVED having you as a kid.”

“I…” Frisk hesitated. “Thanks, I guess? I’m just...sorry that they weren’t the parents you needed.”

“It’s okay. I know you lost your mom and your dad had...y’know…” Squirt trailed off. “That must have been really hard.”

“It was, but…” Frisk reached up to the locket around his neck, opening it up, showing off what lay within as it softly glinted in the light of day. “She’s always with me. And you’ve still got Shinedown.”

“He knows what it’s like. His dad died, his mom wasn’t there for their childhood when he and Trixie needed her to be, and now she’s trying to reconnect with Trix and him, but...it’s hard for him. He wants to forgive her, but the fact she kinda went to go connect with Trixie first made him...well...” Squirt hesitated. “...he was kinda jealous too.”

“Well, everyone has their problems. I mean, Sans is a lazy glutton. He’s so full of cheer cuz he only has to work one day a year!” Frisk laughed as Squirt shrugged.

“But my adopted dad can get SERIOUSLY weird, though.” Squirt admitted with a shrug. “I wonder if he’s a bad influence on me. I mean, not just the stuff with Mettaton. Sometimes HE gets really weird dreams too that wake me up in the middle of the night.”

“Oh?” Frisk tilted his head. “Really? Does he ever talk about what he dreams of?”

As it turned out, Shinedown was having one such dream. A common fantasy of his. Soft music was playing as he made his way through the fields, a gentle wind blowing as rays of the sun beamed tenderly down upon him. Upon his bare back as he rode...atop a horse.

My lovely, lovely, lovely, horse!

“My lovely hooorse! Rolling through the fields! Where are you going with your fetlocks

blowing in the wiiiiind!”

He walked alongside the horse atop his hind legs, stroking it’s flowing, black mane as the two strode atop a mighty rainbow, little cherubs blowing horns as another hoof tossed sugar lumps all around them, Shinedown grinning broadly.

“I wanna show your with sugar luuumps! I wanna riiide you over fenceees! Polish your hooves every single daaaay! And take you to the horse dentiiiist!”

My lovely, lovely, lovely, horse!

Now the two were standing atop a cliff, taking in a deep breath, letting the sun set upon them as Shinedown spread his arms wide, letting out a happy sigh, the wind flowing through their soft and bouncy hair…

“My lovely hooorse! You’re a pony no moooore!”

And soon the two were racing along the plains as the sunset lit them up like a roman candle, Shinedown’s arms spread wide as he giddily laughed and laughed…

“Rollin’ along, with a man on your back, like a train in the niiiight! Like a train in the niiiiight!”

And then, a voice. A voice he hadn’t heard before.

“This? THIS is what you waste your time dreaming of?...I’d find it amusing if it wasn’t so...DISTURBING. I suppose you truly do take after...ah. Almost said too much.”

The world around Shinedown faded, the dark grey stallion now lying on an endless abyss of black as he rose up, dark blue hair flipping about as he looked around, his deep blue eyes gazing upon a pair of green ones that blazed deeply high above...green eyes with blood red pupils, as indigo smoke wafted around them.

“Oh my stars and garters!” Shinedown’s eyes went wide before he stood his ground, gritting his teeth. “Show yourself fully! Who are you?!” He demanded furiously. “How’d you get into my dreams?!”

“You’ll understand soon enough…”

A grin stretching out endlessly, as the dark abyss around Shinedown began to tug him down...down...down. Down into the endless black as he shouted and screamed in terror…

“One down…”

Unbeknownst to Squirt, they weren’t the only ones whose loved ones were asleep and having strange dreams. Toriel was walking through a long, long hallway, having taken a nap at her home, walking past row upon row of paintings. Every single painting was of her, of her many, many years gone by, and time and time again...she saw him. The little prince, one of the 7 Magicians, the one who’d helped to speak up on behalf of monsters. That cute little button nose...that adorable smile, how many times had she seen it on his face-

And now every single one of the paintings shifted and altered, and before her eyes as she stood before one surrounded on all sides by red drapes, they morphed and twisted. Now it was CHARA staring back at her...and then it became FRISK, each change brought about by a wave of dark blood that oozed over the paintings before, at last, something began to climb OUT of the pool below, turning from blood to a foul, unnatural purple pool of inky material as the little prince rose up, staring into Toriel’s face, looking hurt.

“You never came back.” His quiet, slightly shy voice inquired. “...I kept hoping you would. But you never did. I would have done anything for you to come back just for a day. I waited and waited beneath the tree, but you never came back once you met Asgore. Couldn’t you have at least said goodbye?”

“I knew your father didn’t like us meeting.” Toriel murmured, her goat-like head hung as she shook it back and forth. “I...I just didn’t want to hurt you, Tobias.”

“But that’s what happens when you love someone, Toriel.” Tobias’s shadow murmured, his eyes growing wider and wider, now pure abysses of black. “When you love someone, you hurt them. And they hurt you back.” He said, as she felt herself sinking, sinking down, down into a dark abyss below. “Loving you...was the most painful thing I ever felt. Just as loving Asgore...loving Chara...Asriel...Frisk...the Six...would become the most painful thing you’d ever endured.” He whispered. “That’s how it works. If you love someone...you WILL hurt them.”

And with that and a gasping cry...she too was gone.

When you love someone...you will hurt them. Whether you want to...or NOT...

Sitting up from her throne, Princess Luna gasped, mouth agape.  Chara looked over at her, head glancing up from the book he was reading on “Proper dueling techniques” in the palace, his eyes filled with worry. There was an unnaturally horrified expression on Luna’s face he’d never seen before. “What is it?”

“...I can FEEL it. Someone is abusing the power of dreams to hurt the ones we love. I’m intricately tied into the Dreamscape. I know when someone is abusing it.” Luna said, standing up tall, eyes firm and solemn. “I must go into the Dreamscape. I must track down this interloper who dares pervert MY righteous domain!”

“How can anyone get into the Dreamscape? I thought it takes, like...decades of study or natural talent or the like. Nobody can just go from one person’s dream to another unless you’re accompanying them!” Chara reasoned, scratching his head in confusion.

“There’s a few people who have that experience.” Luna murmured. “Not just me. My sister also has some experience. As does...HE. The Shadowlord…”

…

…

…

...Luna stepped forth from a large doorway, making her way down the hall, her mane like the night sky billowing forth behind her as she glanced about, eyes narrowed slightly. Door after door was locked and barred shut in the near-endless hall that showed off ponies dreams. And almost all of them had a disgusting, inky haze that was covering them, blocking her from getting inside.

But one wasn’t quite covered. The ink was sloughing under the door crack, and Luna ran towards it, bursting the door open as she saw Undyne curled up in a ball, hands covering her head, humans circling around her over and over, all young...all faintly familiar. Wait...wait, she knew who they were. The Six Souls. The children whom had fallen down after Chara and before Frisk!

“How could you?!”

“You murderer!”

“You hypocrite!”

“You’re no hero, you’re a barbarian!”

“We’ll never forgive everything you did!”

“You don’t deserve any mercy!”

“Stop it...stop it…” Undyne whispered, her body becoming younger and younger, now having two normal eyes, no longer missing one, her body faintly frail and trembling like a leaf before Luna raced forth, her horn glowing, the visage fading as Undyne gasped, seeing Luna standing tall over her, looking down in concern. “Y-Your majesty, you’re...you came for me?”

“Something is definitely wrong in the Dreamscape. Stay close to me, Undyne.” Luna said as Undyne shook her head, clenching her fists as her armor manifested around her.

“This is MY dream. I’m gonna help you.” She insisted as a soft chuckle filled the air.

“Ahhh, THIS is more like it. This is the kind of reaction I want. Maybe you could, perhaps, do it. I’ve news for you, my little pony...my little mermaid.” The voice chuckled. “Already an endless nightmare is passing over this land. If you want to put an end to it...you’ll come to the old castle you once called home, Luna. The site of your betrayal of your sister. We’ll be waiting.”

“WE?” Unydne growled as the dream began to dissolve away into tiny specks of nothingness, and consciousness began to creep back into the two as the voice spoke one last time.

“I have my friends. But what kind of reunion would it be...without FAMILY?”

Squirt gasped. He and Frisk had made it to Toriel’s place, and had found her surrounded by a dark purple miasma that had settled over her, engulfing her like a cocoon as Frisk tried to shake her away, his eyes filled with horror. “Goat-Mom, please! PLEASE wake up! You have to...to stay Determined!” He insisted, Squirt’s hooves flying to his mouth.

“Oh crap. This is not good. Maybe we better get her to the hospital. Or...wait. Your cell phone!” Squirt reasoned, Frisk nodding in agreement as he dove into his pocket and began calling immediately. “Call up Mr. Sans, he can teleport us right there!”

“No...I’m afraid he can’t. You can try to wake him, try as you might. But I guarantee you, he’s out like a light.” A voice intoned, dark, authoritative, faintly echoing as the two of them shuddered, and something began to happen to the bedroom they were in. The faint yellow walls turned a horrific dark purple as blackish/purple rays of light began to beam forth from an inky void that was forming in the center of the room, Squirt taking Frisk and easing him away. The room’s temperature began to sink like a brick, and they could practically see their breaths in front of them as a figure of endless shadow began to rise, purple smoke glistening off his green and red-pupiled eyes. “I do hope you’ve time to have a little chat with you and your adoptive father’s shared ancestor.”

“Ancestor? Listen, I dunno what you’re playing at, Mister…” Squirt growled out, pointing an accusing hoof at this being, trying to muster his courage to the sticking point, before a demonic, sickening grin that seemed endless stretched across the face of the dark being before them, who now manifested in a more physical frame.

“No, no. Not MISTER…”

A red cloak with white, well-fluffed linings, and strong silver gauntlets and neck armor. A circlet atop his head, with a small pair of ruby “horns” at the center and a couple of other little silver “horns” shooting up the sides. He was well-built, with a fanged maw, and he grinned, showing off ALL the dagger-like teeth within.

“Your MAJESTY.”

“K-King Sombra…” Squirt murmured.

Nobody had seen him in ages. There were many, many rumors about where he’d gone, but nobody truly believed he was dead and gone. People like him didn’t go away that easily. Frisk took in a deep breath before turning to Squirt. “Is this that guy who used to rule the Crystal Empire? The dictator?”

“The Dictator...the Tyrant...the SHADOWLORD…” Squirt whispered, body quivering in fear.

“Yes.” King Sombra remarked, waving a hoof in the air as inky shadows stretched out, Frisk racing in front of Squirt, fists clenched tightly as he whipped out his weeding knife, holding it in front of himself, eyes firm and resolute, face beaming with Determination. “Ahhhh. There’s the face I was hoping for. Now I understand how to reach through to you. When the ones you love are in danger, you will cross just about any line, won’t you?” He inquired, black maned head looking intently at Frisk. “You’d never, EVER let me hurt a friend. Never, EVER let me hurt someone as close as a mother...would you?”

“You were in my dreams. What’re you up to? What do you want?!” Frisk demanded. “Don’t be all vague and stuff!”

“Simple, really. You, the Princess of Night and the Princess of Day...the Warrior of the Ocean, why, even the little one next to you and his adoptive father and his aunt, all of you have a special ability inside you. An ability over...CONTROL. You can tap into other people. You can make them do what you desire, conquer any foe, as long as you believe in yourself. Within all of are levels, though you don’t know...of DETERMINATION. Of the power of Will. Of Control.”

Frisk gasped, mouth gaping slightly. “The Princesses have “Determination”?” He murmured. “Then why can’t they...like...fiddle with time and space like I can?”

“It manifests itself differently, little human.” Sombra chuckled as he clasped his hooves together, then spread them wide, as the room around them faded away into the black, a soft golden light emanating from Frisk, a faintly bluish light from Squirt, a dark green one from Sombra as he held out a hoof, showing off a little “star”...something just like a “SAVE” point that Frisk had seen so, so many times before in his travels through the Underground. “For you, it allows you the chance to not only return to a time before...to RESET and SAVE...but to give you...heh...near “inhuman” abilities. You’re quite a slippery rascal, after all. Your Determination helped boost that. Just like you, little one...your Determination allows people to believe just about everything you say. It’s why it’s so easy for others to believe in your little pranks and lies.” He informed Squirt…

Before grinning wildly.

“And I’m going to claim your Determination. All of yours.”

“Get ready, Squirt!” Frisk said, taking up a fighting position before Sombra held a hoof up.

“Ah-ah. You don’t want to fight here. You and I would hurt your beloved Toriel.” He intoned, a black, claw-like extension of inky blackness enveloping her as he held a hoof out, rubbing it under her chin. “You don’t want that. I want all of you together when I defeat you. No point in wasting time. Why go one on one when I can just wipe you all out at once?” Sombra said with a dark chuckle as Toriel was dragged down into the dark abyss below, Sombra sinking in along with her. “Go to the princesses’s old castle. I will wait for you.”

He spread his arms wide, head bowed, but before he could sink into the dark abyss along with Toriel and leave, he stopped, Frisk’s voice calling out, halting his descent. “WAIT! You said Squirt and Shinedown were your descendants?”

Sombra seemed to hesitate, his tone becoming faintly softer. “...yes. They...are of my blood. My own race and the Changelings were born in the same darkness. And I have had several...dalliances...with Changelings. Both of which, in the end, produced you at the end of my line.”

“You don’t have to do this.” Frisk said, trying to speak gently. “You don’t have to be defined by what you can do.”

“...you don’t understand. I know that...that for me to put an end to the lives of my only remaining blood kin is...it’s…” He cringed slightly. “,,,I am saddened.” Sombra softly cooed. “But as I’ve learned...when you love someone...you hurt them. And they...in turn...hurt you.”

And with that...he was gone, the room barren as Frisk and Squirt looked at each other, Frisk pulling out his cell phone once again, putting his knife away.

“I gotta call Celestia and Luna. Squirt, do you have your aunt Trixie’s number?” He asked, Squirt giving a nod. They had no time to waste.

Meanwhile, Sombra calmly made his way across the stony floor of the front pavilion of the Princesses old castle, hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of ponies all tied up and bound in dark, inky, foul bonds that kept them tied to walls that had been rebuilt. Ramparts had been repaired, dark curtains hanging over tinted windows as Sombra’s red pupils turned, looking at the cloaked, hat-wearing pony that was standing tall, blue eyes narrowed angrily at him.

“Well, well, well. The “prodigal daughter” is here.” He remarked. A pulsating, inky black “heart” rose up beneath his hooves, interconnecting all of his prisoners, a loud THUMPA THUMPA THUMPA pulsating in Trixie’s ears as the skies clouded over, turning a foul, unnatural color, like a grey and purple blanket threatening to smother all of the world and choke out the life from it. “However did you-”

“It’s a big giant castle that suddenly got repaired within a few minutes as I was approaching the town!” Trixie remarked with a wry remark. “Did you think a pony wouldn’t NOTICE the giant glowing purple thing off in the distance? Especially with all the spooky clouds circling around it? Subtle, you are NOT!”

“True, but I suppose that runs in the family.” Sombra remarked with a small smile and a toothy, fanged grin at Trixie. “No doubt your sense of concern for your brother has led you here?”

“Hey...T-Trix…” Shinedown’s voice rang out. He was currently half-EMBEDDED in the heart that Sombra stood on, cringing slightly as he and Celestia laid across from each other, veins sunken into their own chests. “We got j-jumped while w-we were asleep…”

“I am attempting to break out, but…” Celestia cringed slightly. “Regrettably, I was one of the first one’s captured, and with every passing hour and every new captured soul I grew weaker.” The royal monarch confessed. “I really MUST brush up on my defense spells. I’ve been out of practice for these past few months.”

“Have no fear, because TRIXIE’S here!” Trixie proclaimed, holding a hoof up high. “And I’m going to start things off with a BANG!” She added, twirling her cape…

As a gigantic cannon popped up right behind where she’d just had it, an enormous cannonball shooting through the air at Sombra. He blinked a bit, then held up a hoof, batting the cannonball away as it sailed through the air and bonked Big Mac squarely on the head. So, in short, his least vulnerable spot.

“...ow.” He managed to grumble out from his slumbering state as Trixie’s horn glowed brightly and she held her hoof forward. Streaming, burning stars shot forth as Sombra nonchalantly waved a hoof in the air, and inky black tendrils shot out from the pulsating black heart he stood up. Eyes wafting purple energy, the tendrils smacked and slashed at the shooting stars that sailed towards Sombra, Trixie launching an ENORMOUS one in his direction as his eyes shot wide. The heart shot forth two immense inky tendrils that molded together, forming into a shield as Sombra barreled through the air, hoof shooting forward…

Missing Trixie as she launched her cape at Sombra, covering his face as he growled and tugged it away, JUST as an immense, fiery fist punched him into the wall with  a THRUDDA-THUD. He groaned, quickly tugging himself out as Trixie’s horn glowed brightly and she formed an enormous crescent moon blade, holding it up as she launched herself forth at Sombra, who’s eyes sparked. The moon blade shot down, but he blocked the strikes with his silver gauntleted hooves, standing on his back hooves as he grinned a fangy grin.

“Ohhh, YES. This, THIS is what I want to see. None of the others could do it. But can you, Trixie? You, who’s Determination granted you the ability to charm just about anyone with your illusions? Do you think your Control is great enough?”

“I’m ALWAYS in control of the situation!” Trixie laughed, shooting her head forward, her and Sombra locking horns, trying to push the other back. “Tough! Terrific! Talented! That’s Trixie!”

“Also “boastful”, Beatrix.” Sombra laughed uproariously, eyes narrowing intensely, his arms shoving hard, the moon blades twirling out of Trixie’s grip as he slammed Trixie’s chest hard, knocking her clear across the pavilion. Trixie bounced and flopped about, finally slamming into the doorway she’d came through, the door collapsing as she tried to get to her feet. “I can appreciate the vanity of ambition. But it looks like you’re just...not enough.”

An inky black claw shot forth, and Trixie screamed.

It was not long before Frisk and Squirt were on the phone with Princess Luna. She and Undyne had gotten out of the Dreamscape and were now on their way to the old castle with Chara in tow. Deciding to stick together and work out a strategy, they met at the bridge pathway that led down the long, winding road towards the old sister’s former home, and sat together, looking over a plan Frisk began drawing in the dirt with a stick. Which made sense. Frisk had always spoken softly and carried a big stick.

“Did you and Chara and Undyne get a chance to peek in on what’s going on inside the castle yet?” Frisk asked of Princess Luna, looking up with his gentle eyes as Luna gave a quiet nod.

“We did a quick, hidden flyby. I’m amazed he didn’t see us. Or perhaps he did...but believes he is now so powerful we stand no chance.” Princess Luna quietly intoned, closing her deep blue eyes and shaking her head back and forth. “He’s in my old bedroom, overlooking the courtyard. Right on the bedroom’s balcony, sipping from what I sincerely HOPE...is a glass of wine.”

“It’s not. I know the type of guy he is.” Chara said with a bit of a snort. “I kinda sorta used to BE that type. It’s all edgy and classy and suave villainy. Refined evil. If we ask him what his favorite dish is, I’m sure he’d say liver with fava beans.”

“Oh, I sincerely doubt that.” Princess Luna said, wiping her brow. “Actually, it was the DRAGONS we had to worry about when it came to the Crystal Ponies being preyed on. Even before Sombra. For...well, obvious reasons.” She added with a cringe. “Which is why I was a liiittle concerned about Spike spending so much time around them. But it seems he’s overcome such temptations through sheer willpower.”

Unbeknownst to her, Spike was in the middle of a nightmare, the poor little dwaggy now being approached by two very, VERY lovely crystal Rarities who were showing off their stuff as they snuggled up to him. “Why, Spikey, my dearest darling dragon! Whatever took you so long? You KNOW we cannot shoot the latest issue of PlayPony without you!” The first insisted. “So do tell us.” She added, shaking her chest and rear as she showed off her bikini. “What do you think?”

“I-It-It l-looks, v-very...v-very nice, um...I…” Spike stammered, sweating bullets as the second Crystal Rarity got up close and personal.

“Are my lips kissably moist?” She inquired seductively, pulling her lips down slightly. “What say we forget the photo shoot.” She remarked, tossing the tripod camera way with her horn as she held up an apple and put it in her mouth, the second Crystal Rarity getting a bonfire ready. “Come on, baby! Dig in!”

“N-No, I….I’m not like that, I...I can’t!” He insisted, now DOZENS of Crystal Rarities all around him, Spike being torn between instinctive draconic desires and his love and concern for Rarity. “I...AAAAAHHHH! MAKE IT STOOOP!”

“Geez, he’s having a rough go of it.” Shinedown sighed sadly, looking over in Spike’s direction. He was wrapped up in the same kind of cocoon-like bonds of inky, foul raw power that now bound Shinedown, Trixie and Celestia to the giant heart in the center of the courtyard at the sister’s old palace. “...they ALL are, really.” He murmured, looking up at Sombra who was sipping some blood from a crystal glass...and Shinedown could see his hooves were slightly shaking. His BODY was slightly shaking as he looked at the heart, and at the prisoners now embedded deep within the heart.

Hmmmm. Something wasn’t quite right.

“You wanna come down and maybe have a talk over a nice cup of tea?” Shinedown remarked, trying to make his tone as level and calm as possible, Sombra stiffening as he looked away.

“It would be best not to. For both of us.” He intoned. “You won’t need to get to know me if all goes well.”

“You really think you’re gonna win against Frisk AND Chara AND Princess Luna? Have you not seen them in...like...ANY fight?” Shinedown inquired. “You knew you couldn’t beat Celestia in a fair fight, so you had to ambush her and tie her up to beat her!”

“There’s a word for people like you.” Trixie added, eyes glowering darkly at Sombra. “LOSER.”

“I am certain that under normal circumstances, I’d be happy to debate you on that. But these aren’t normal circumstances. I want to put an end to it. I am quite tired of not having any choice over my fate.” Sombra said, a bit of an edge slipping into his tone as Celestia blinked in surprise, suddenly realizing something.

“Have you...learned of the existence of other realms?” She inquired.

Sombra crushed the glass in his hoof and his eyes turned dark and cold, a foul miasma rising off his body. “I learned there are...thousands...of timelines. Thousands...of me. My every choice...is mapped out. Chosen ahead of time. What does it matter if you made a choice that saved the world or doomed it? There are near infinite timelines, all based on every little choice you’ve made…” He intoned, stepping off the balcony, the miasma forming a loooong stairway that led him towards the faintly pulsating black heart, cape sweeping about in the breeze as the clouds above grew darker, yet darker, the shadows cutting deeper into everyone. “...I...will not let this stand.” He growled, getting right in Celestia’s face, eyes blazing.

“It’s not your place to decide that.” She spoke quietly. “It isn’t mine. Nor Luna’s. Nor anyone’s here.”

“You have the power of Control, of DETERMINATION. And you squander it by playing the good little Glinda to your Little Ponies Dorothy.” Sombra said with a frown. “You could do so, SO much more. But you hold back. Well…” His smile was foul as he stepped back. “We’ll see if your sister holds back as well as you when I start to make you hurt. I’m going to put an end to it. ALL of it.”

“How are we going to put an end to him?” Chara asked, Squirt looking down at the schematics of the castle that Frisk had drawn out onto the ground. “He can hide in the shadows and they’re EVERYWHERE thanks to the sky darkening over. He’s got those tendrils...and of course there’s that...that OTHER power.” He cringed. “Being able to get into people’s minds, to show off their fear.”

“You are still afraid of the darkness within your heart.” Luna admitted. “And so was I. But that’s alright.”

“Because sometimes you can’t make it on your own.” Frisk said with a smile. “We’re not alone in this. We’re together. We’ll be there to pick each other up.”

"I don't like this." Undyne growled out, slamming her fist into the ground next to her, red hair flopping over, her singular eye clenched tightly shut as she seethed. "I don't like feeling...HELPLESS. And he made me feel that way in my own dreams. Like a...like some kind of scared little child! How are we going to deal with that? We have to throw him off his guard." She insisted.

“What we need is a good distraction.” Squirt reasoned. “If someone could maybe get up to that big heart thing to free Celestia and my aunt and dad, then they’d totally be able to help us win.”

Chara scratched his head. “You’re of Changeling blood, aren’t you? Can’t you, like, turn into Frisk and act as a distraction?”

"Can Changelings imitate people's ABILITIES if they want to?" Undyne asked aloud, looking intrigued as she looked Squirt over, the little yellow-eyed colt sighing.

"If we could do that easily, we'd all turn into armies of Princess Celestia and just bulldoze every single city." Squirt said with a snigger. "But no. They can't. Even Chrysalis can't imitate an alicorn's abilities, it's only a pale imitation. And I’m only half-changeling. I can change my voice and stuff, but…” Squirt trailed off, looking ashamedly away.

“I think you can do more than that.” Frisk reasoned, an idea coming to him. “Because you’re not JUST Changeling-blooded. You have HIS blood running through you. And maybe, just maybe? Part of his powers.” He stood up, clasping Squirt by his front hoofs. “Listen. Here’s the plan…”

…

…

…

...Sombra waited calmly atop the heart, eyes closed, his cape billowing out behind him as his black mane fluttered about. The clouds above had turned almost utterly black, blocking out almost all light as Sombra slowly opened up his eyes. The green and red glittered in the darkness, focusing in on Chara and Luna, the two standing tall and proud as Chara held up a knife, pointing it squarely at Sombra.

“Let my friends go.” He insisted. “Right now. And MAYBE I don’t turn you into glue.”

“Oh my, how very, very scary. A little boy with a knife and a little girl pretending to be a ruler. Whatever shall I do?” Sombra said with a small smirk, rolling his eyes as he tapped the dark, pulsating, throbbing heart below. Before their eyes, Celestia letting out a cry of horror, tendrils of inky blackness rose up from the shadows that enveloped the courtyard, shooting squarely towards Luna as her horn sparked. With a THRAAAANG like a bell being rung, the tendrils of shadow bounced off a glittering, color-of-night shield that sparkled slightly in the darkness as Sombra tilted his head ever-so-slightly, Chara shooting forward, racing through the shield.

“I TOLD you...LET THEM GO!” Chara demanded furiously.

“Not your best material, my boy. I expected someone...more.” He remarked, waving a hoof in the air, the shadowy tendrils shooting forth, Chara rolling away, then leaping up, avoiding the sweeping black tendrils as Luna continued to shield herself, cringing slightly with every blow to her protective barrier. It was quickly becoming clear that she wasn’t really able to keep this going for very long.

But Chara was dodging expertly, laughing happily as the shadows of the sky almost enveloped him. In his long-sleeve sweater and with his dirty face, he looked triumphant and giddy as he practically danced around the spiky tendrils that shot up from the blackness all around. Sombra swung his arm back and forth, sweeping inky spikes trying to slap Chara away, only for Chara to jump over them all with amazing ease.

Now Sombra looked almost impressed as he thrust both hooves forward, and the tendrils merged into giant, enormous HANDS. Luna and her shield were pulled up like an immense baseball and launched forcibly through the air, high, high up into the sky as she tumbled around, caught off guard whilst another hand tried to grab hold of Chara. Chara rolled out of the way, then leapt through the air, leaping off a cracked podium, shooting towards Sombra. “Now you’re gonna get it!” Chara proclaimed. “Come on, Sombra! Where’s all that confidence NOW?!”

Sombra leapt off the heart, spinning through the air as his eyes sparked, and his horn glowed brightly. Now a pulsating purple blast shot through the air, slamming into Chara, knocking him onto the ground as an immense clawed hand wrapped around him, Luna colliding with the ground. She groaned, staggering about, trying to get to her hooves only to be snatched up as Sombra focused, a clawed hand of raw shadow power snatching HER up, wrapping around her body as his eyes narrowed. He brought them towards him as he hopped back onto the inky black heart, shaking his head back and forth.

“I had expected better of you. Perhaps if your little friend Frisk was with you, you might have stood more of a chance.” He informed Chara, who’s head was sunk low. “...look me in the eye when I speak to you, human. It’s best to face your death with grace.” He said, a hoof reaching out…

And he stiffened. In the scuffling of Chara being tossed to the floor, there was something very clearly wrong. Chara’s skin wasn’t that distinct shade that gave away his half-Asian-American roots, and the hair was…

Sombra ripped the wig off, Frisk smiling broadly as he gave Sombra a grin. “What can I say? Squirt ain’t the only one who can do impressions.” He confessed with a wink. “All I had to do was put some dirt all over my face and hands to cover up enough of my skin, get a wig, act a bit more unpleasant and cocky…”

And at that moment, Sombra’s head whipped down, eyes wide as he saw Chara and Undyne had already tugged Celestia free, and was in the middle of tugging Trixie loose as Shinedown gasped. “Hey, he’s seen you!” He yelled out as Sombra’s eyes narrowed and inky tendrils rose up-

Only for Squirt to come barreling out of the shadows. He’d hidden well, just like his ancestor, and had found it easy to blend in the darkness. He SLAMMED into Sombra, knocking him down onto the floor below as metal armor and cape hit the courtyard’s cracked floor with a KRAKKA-KRANG, Squirt’s hooves flying as he struck Sombra again.

“Revenge! Revenge! Take that and that and that!” He yelled out, pummeling Sombra in the face over and over, Chara tugging Shinedown free from the heart as the blue-haired, dark-grey furred Earth pony clasped Chara’s hand with a hoof, blue eyes glittering.

“Ya done good, kid. Now…”

He whipped his head at Sombra as Sombra knocked Squirt off of him, his eyes turning into blazing blue stones of raw power. “Leave it to us.”

He raced forward, one hoof shooting into one of the many belt pouches he had, Sombra thrusting a hoof forward. He ducked, avoiding a sweeping tendril as the others ducked and dived out of the way, Sombra’s horn sparkling as he readied another blast-

Only for Shinedown to launch powder through the air, squarely in Sombra’s face. He howled and reeled back, clawing at his face as Shinedown twisted his body, and a powerful kick launched the unicorn squarely into a nearby podium that shattered into chunks. Celestia rose up into the air, her horn glowing fiercely as a sweeing ray of pure white energy barreled down towards Sombra, knocking him off his feet again as he tried to stand up, sending him rolling across the courtyard and into the wall.

Panting and heaving he tried to rise up, his eyes now clearly bloodied and covered in what had clearly been crystalized dust, only for Shinedown’s back hooves to kick him up into the air, Celestia holding her upper hooves up high. With a KRAKKA-THROOOM, she slammed him back down towards the ground, Luna’s horn sparkling. Now an enormous barrier popped up around her, and Sombra was sprayed over it as it sizzled and sparked and he howled in pain. Blue electricity shot through his body as he spasmed back and forth before flopping off, Chara and Frisk racing forward with their respective knives.

With a combined slice, the armor across Sombra’s body shattered, launching him back as he flopped against the wall, the pulsating black heart behind them all beginning to fade away with every single strike they leveled against him. He clearly didn’t stand a chance with all of their powers combined, and Trixie’s horn shone with powerful light as he looked up…

Trixie was now surrounded in magical armor, Undyne standing along with her as she held up a hoof.

"Tag." Undyne said with a grin, tagging her "partner" in, Trixie shooting forward, grabbing hold of Sombra and flipping backwards, Sombra letting out a cry as she shot towards the ground. There were two things Trixie was most proud of. Her illusionary skills...and her ability to perform a perfect suplex.

THRAKKA-KA-BOOOOOOOM! He slammed into the courtyard floor, Trixie leaping off and onto a nearby podium, doing a few stretches as Undyne grinned, twirling a magical spear, waiting as Sombra tried to rise up...

"PILE DRIVER!" Trixie proclaimed, landing squarely on top of Sombra's back as he let out a "BLAAAUUUGGGHHH", some teeth flying out as Trixie held up a hoof, Undyne approaching.

"Tag!" Undyne laughed, Sombra cringing just as Undyne grabbed hold of his mane.

"Oh please not the face-" He began to groan out before Undyne began to punch him squarely in the skull over and over and over with her gauntleted fist, Frisk cringing at this display of brutality.

"OUCH. Please don't noogie the Shadowlord." He murmured, flinching as Undyne then twirled Sombra around and around and around as Sombra let out a long screaming wail before he was launched clear through the air, right towards the wall. With a crack like thunder, he slammed into it, head now stuck inside it as he struggled to pull free, tugging as hard as he could as Undyne held up her hand.

"Tag!" Trixie proclaimed, Sombra finally managing to twist himself out, turning around-

"Hello!"

Seeing a cannon right in front of his face, Trixie holding up a match that had just lit up the fuse.

"And GOODBYE."

THUKKA-SCHOOOOOOOM!

Now Sombra was half-embedded in the wall, moaning in agony as his near-broken form quivered slightly, resident after resident of Ponyville being released from the inky bonds that had held them there before, with even the dark clouds above beginning to dissipate before their eyes. Rays of pure, warm sunlight were beginning to break through as Trixie shot forward and grabbed hold of Sombra, whacking him across the face again and again.

“THIS! IS WHAT! YOU GET! FOR BUCKING! AROUND! WITH MY FAMILY!” She snarled angrily before tossing him through the air, a visible tic mark on the side of her head as she quaked in pure, raw fury. Shinedown gently put a hoof on her back, Trixie taking in a few deep, careful breaths before sighing. “Sorry. I...I HATE feeling helpless when-”

“I know. You don’t have to say anything.” Shinedown said warmly, gently embracing his sister, nuzzling up to her, Undyne nodding in understanding as well.

“Aw, c’mon, Shine. How can I not talk about family when family’s all that I got?” Trixie asked, Squirt soon joining the group hug as she nuzzled his little hair, Sombra cringing as he tried to get to his hooves before collapsing in a heap, closing his eyes.

“Go on. Finish me.” He murmured out, Celestia shaking her head as Frisk began helping Asriel up, who dusted himself off and let Frisk and Chara embrace him, the horrific nightmares of his past experiences as Flowey still burned into his eyes.

“No, Sombra. You will be imprisoned and your power tempered. Tartarus will be your new home.” She proclaimed, Undyne cracking her knuckles.

"Fine by me. I woulda been fine with five more minutes alone with him, but let's get him rotting away in a cell!"

“Do you think I’ve really learned anything from this?” Sombra inquired  quietly, Asriel stiffening up as he looked over at the barely-concious Shadowlord. “...no. Kill me.”

"Don't TEMPT me." Undyne said with a dark frown as Luna shook her regal head back and forth.

“Nay. We are not going to do such an act.” Luna insisted.

“YOU do it.” Sombra said, his voice beginning to break as he looked as best he could at Shinedown, who stared in shock. “Such dirty methods...crushed glass? You have the temperament for it. You would do just about anything to win, to get what you need, to save the ones you love. End it. You know I’ll just come back. END ME.” He demanded, his body beginning to shake as Asriel suddenly found himself asking a question that shot a cold, harsh knife into everyone’s heart.

“Do you WANT to die?” He asked.

And then the knife twisted, as Sombra slowly closed his eyes...his voice barely a whisper.

“...yes.”

And now...it all made sense. Why he’d REALLY assembled everyone together. Why he’d seemed unsure about really hurting all he had left of his family. The way he’d spoken of the timelines. And Shinedown picked up on it first before the others as he asked…

“Your knowledge of the timelines made you want to die, is that it? Because you feel that since you have no free will...there’s no point in any of it?” He asked. “...you’re...you’re insane.” The Earth pony sadly realized.

“Timeline...after timeline...I asked others in dimension after dimension to kill me. But my body continues to reconstitute itself.” Sombra whispered out, his body shaking. “Nobody could kill me. I was trapped in an endless nightmare, knowing nothing I did...NOTHING I  ANYTHING I EVER COULD OR WOULD DO WOULD EVER MAKE A DIFFERENCE!”  He began to scream. “Endless timelines playing out over and over! No choice! No freedom! What POINT is there to it all?! I can’t take it! But you!” He looked around at Celestia, Luna, Frisk, Squirt, Shinedown, Trixie. “You all have Determination! Just like I do! You’re special! You could do it! You know you have to! You know I’ll just come back!” He said, his voice getting higher-pitched, desperate...sad.

“...Sombra…” Shinedown murmured mournfully.

“I’ll kill you!”

“...sir…” Frisk mumbled out, looking ashamedly away as Luna and Celestia stared at each other, biting their lips.

“I’LL KILL EVERYONE!”

Trixie cringed, Squirt looking away. Undyne herself had paled slightly, with the inhabitants of Ponyville stirred nervously amongst each other as Asriel stared sadly at this pitiful being.

“I’LL KILL EVERYONE YOU LOVE!”

“Sombra…” Undyne managed to mutter out. "...this is..."

“PLEASE! PLEAAAASE!” Sombra screamed out, the tears flowing freely down his cheeks. “I’LL KILL YOU! I’LL KILL YOU ALL!”

Asriel looked at Frisk, taking his hand. “...Frisk...what’re we going to do?” He asked quietly.

Frisk was quiet for a long time, staring at the broken, sobbing form of the Shadow Lord as Chara covered his face and sighed, shaking his head back and forth. Then, at last, Frisk made his way towards Sombra, kneeling down by him, taking a hoof.

“It doesn’t have to be that way.” He said. “We know about the other timelines too. But it’s okay, cuz we have each other, and that’s okay. It’s enough for us, and it could be for you too.”

“Everyone is always just trying to do the best they can with what they have.” Shinedown reasoned. “And the worth of things like Love and Friendship is infinite. It’s not that nothing matters. Everything matters.”

“I don’t...believe that…” Sombra managed to murmur out.

“You don’t have to right away. But we’d be willing to help you try.” Frisk offered, Sombra looking up at him, staring deep into his eyes, green into red and green, a quiet, sad wind blowing through the air as Sombra’s head finally flopped against the ground and he closed his eyes.

“...it’s too late for me…” He whispered. “I’m sorry, but...no. It’s too late. Far...far too late. With all I know, I can’t go back. Just...leave me alone.”

“...” Frisk was quiet for a long, long time. But then, at last, he stood up, and slowly turned to the others, giving them a sad look. One by one, everyone left, Frisk being left behind as he turned and looked over his shoulder.

“When you’re ready...we’ll be waiting.” He offered. “Patience is a virtue, after all.” He remarked with a small smile, and the boy headed down the road, off to join his friends.

…

…

…

...Sombra now rested against a half-broken pillar, head hung, cape torn, body ravaged and armor shattered into pieces as he hung his head. His eyes were closed, his breathing faint and shallow, voice almost raspy as he felt the form approach.

“What do you want, Chara? You haven’t got Determination. You only had a flimsy imitation...”

“No...I’m not Chara. Though I’d understand how you’d feel that way. I get that a LOT.” A voice like squishing bugs rang out, Sombra’s eyes slowly widening as he stared up in shock at the THING that was standing before him.

“Pleased to meet you! Won’t you guess my name?”

“I can’t BELIEVE you threw glass in his eyes.” Undyne confessed, frowning a bit at Shinedown as the half-Changeling stallion sighed and brushed some of his deep blue hair back. “I mean, that kinda thing’ll blind you for life! I remember when Chara took MY eye out, I mean…geez!”

“I said I was sorry. I mean I didn’t mean it THEN, but I do now.” Chara grumbled quietly.

“How come you never had that healed?” Shinedown wanted to know as he looked Undyne over, scratching his head as Undyne smirked a bit.

“It makes me look cool.” She said firmly with a big ol’ grin. “Like how you being able to do that thing with your voice is cool. Which reminds me, uh…could you…” She tapped her clawed fingers together, nervously blushing. “…I mean…if you wouldn’t mind? Derpy and Alphys got me REALLY into the show and-”

“Alright. For you.” Shinedown said, taking in a deep breath before holding his hoof over his chest, and doing a perfect imitation of a certain time-traveler that sounded ODDLY familiar to the residents of Ponyville, though they couldn’t quite figure out how. “Allonnnnnsy! I’m the Doctor!”

“Goosebumps.” Undyne murmured, in awe of that perfect rendition as she put a hand on her chest, Shinedown turning to Sans and giving him and Alphys a look.

“Speaking OF doctors ol’ chap, would you mind explaining yourselves?” He inquired in that same imitation of that famous character.

Everyone had gathered around in the town hall, all of their eyes on the resident scientists, eager for an explanation as Alphys nervously rubbed the back of her neck, the dinosaur-esque monster glancing briefly at Sans, then at Undyne, as her beloved gave her a thumbs up. Sans took in a deep breath himself, closing his eyes as he cringed a bit. “It’s kinda a long story. But I guess you got time, huh?” He inquired, speaking to the many, many assembled in Ponyville’s town hall. From the Cake Family to Doctor Hooves and Derpy, from Monster Kid to Toriel, everyone wanted to know just what they had to say as Frisk walked up to Sans, giving him a pat on the back as Chara sighed and sat by Asriel, who stood by Alphys and gave her a gentle shoulder rub.

“Deep breaths. You got this.” Asriel insisted warmly, Alphys nodding as she adjusted her glasses, and then spoke in her faintly buzzy, high-pitched tone.

“So, think of our timeline as a giant river.” Alphys reasoned. "This river will split off every once in a while into “tributaries”, tributaries made by choices that link to other rivers. This “prime timeline” of sorts can spawn other timelines that can be it’s equal or lesser depending on the circumstances, and how they end is very variable.”

“a lot of stuff in time is kinda fixed. there’s some stuff y’all can’t fix no matter how ya try. not everyone gets a second chance, or they waste it if they DO get it. good news is that if you made a good choice, you can make the timeline along another path and create another timeline from that. you can reach a happy endin’. and usually, the power to change Fate, DETERMINATION, is how this gets done, and humans possess gobs and gobs of the stuff. us monsters really can’t handle it, makes us…well…” Sans trailed off as Alphys adjusted her glasses again, the lens becoming glassy.

“Melt.” She said darkly, Undyne quietly nodding. “…our physical frames can’t handle it.”

“But then doesn’t that mean that…the Shadowlord was right? If our every choice makes a new timeline, then what DOES it matter what we do?” Twilight nervously inquired. “This all sounds terribly horrifying. The implications are staggering!” She insisted, holding her face and shaking her head back and forth.

“not exactly. See, the thing is that, besides the fact that timelines can change cuz of what you do, they don’t exactly last long. Gaster and Alphys and I studied this. Evidently the stupider or crazier decisions don’t make long-lastin’ timelines. They tend to die off pretty darn quick.”

“What do you mean “stupider or crazier”?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking a bit confused.

“There’s a timeline where, instead of you asking that question, you immediately ran out into the streets and began clucking like a chicken.” Alphys reasoned. “But that timeline almost immediately vanished into nothingness because it’s so unlikely you’d DO that, that it might as well have not existed at all. So really, there’s actually not as many timelines as you’d think. They really only veer off based on very important decisions.” She admitted. “Either very good ones, or very bad. It’s not near-infinite, but it IS high enough so that it becomes easy to FEEL like there’s no choice.”

“time is a mess most of the time.” Sans admitted. “but hey, these “authors” that we know about, for all we know, THEY might not have free will. Everyone is just flyin’ by the seat of their pants and tryin’ to do the best they can with what they got.”

“So what we do might actually matter after all?” Fluttershy nervously inquired as Asriel took one hoof and smiled warmly at her.

“You should always act like EVERYTHING you do matters.” He said. “Cuz the tiniest act of friendship can blossom into something even greater.”

“Yeah, look at Frisk. All he had to do was some flexing contests, a bit of amateur psycho-therapy and a joke contest or two and he won everyone in the Underground over.” Undyne confessed. “He’s a big ol’ wuss with an even bigger heart.” She said with a cheery, fangy grin.

“And I’m gonna rip it out.” A voice intoned quietly as it watched them all through a telescope, shaking its head back and forth, its grin the work of demons as Sombra stood by it in the dark shadows…

…

…

…

…Frisk let out a soft yawn, curling up inside his bed as Toriel kissed him on the forehead. “Sweet dreams, sweetie.” She said, Asriel having been kissed goodnight as well as he laid in his own bed above Frisk, the two enjoying a nice bunk bed in the shape of, of course, race cars. Because as we all knew, race cars were cool. The moon cast soft rays through the curtains of the window as Toriel closed the door, Asriel’s chest slowly rising and falling beneath his own covers as Frisk snuggled up tight under the down comforter he had, visions of buttercups dancing in his head. Or rather, many, MANY Floweys, to be truthful.

What was he dreaming? Simple.

“You spin me inside-outside, and then you hold me so tight! We’ll dance and party all night, mambo-mambo-le! So kiss me in the moonlight, you know it always feels right, we’ll dance and party all night! Mambo-mambo-le!”

“This is what he dreams of?” Sombra remarked, Frisk doing the Mambo, Mamboleo, Mambo, Mambole. “…amusing.” He confessed.

“Ahhh, no matter what timeline I got to, it always brings such a smile to my face to see the kid.” His friend intoned as he put his hands in his pockets and chuckled, showing off a toothy smile.

“When do you NOT smile?” Sombra intoned calmly, giving his compatriot a calm look, raising a black eyebrow up as a familiar chuckle wafted through the air, and with a snap of his fingers, the figure locked the door, closing Frisk and Asriel off.

“And ohhhh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. This just won’t do.” The figure added, looking Asriel over, shaking his head. “Ol’ Azzy shouldn’t be here. He should only be manifesting before he’s about to fight Frisk or after. Shouldn’t be walkin’ around all normal. No, nobody should be here in this timeline. It really is so, SO damaged. Just can’t be allowed.”

Sombra nodded, his eyes glowing as a faint illusionary spell wafted over the room, dimming all light, silencing all sounds that could be heard from within as the caped unicorn waited, his compatriot making his way toward Frisk, cracking his neck a bit.

“I’d better start with him. It’s always hardest meeting some of them, outside of…Papyrus.”

Frisk’s eyes shot open, a voice he had heard before echoing through the room as he rose up from the bed, green eyes wide in shock as the half American, Half Asian child gaped in surprise and alarm and fear. It was Sans, and yet…it was not. For Sans’s body was pure black, his eye sockets red as blood, foul and unnatural, his form almost minimalist in design. It was as if he’d been boiled down to his most basic state, there was no detail on his body. No creases in the dark jacket he wore, no indentation of where the finger bones met, his smile and fingers an ugly, disgusting shade of yellow that made Frisk think of rotting teeth, with a red shirt to match the pitiless sockets that gazed at him. Within those blood red sockets on the right side was a single white pinpoint pupil, within the other a dark blue pupil with a foul, unnatural yellow iris, another little black pinpoint blazing forth from within. He seemed to be eternally crying, blue streaks running down his cheeks from his eye sockets, his smile…

Wrong. Everything about this Sans seemed wrong, unnatural, disturbing. His grin was the work of demons as he looked Frisk over. “Welp. Ya woke up. This coulda been so much easier.” He said, holding up a finger and twirling it about as blue wires unfurled from around them, wrapping around Frisk, turning his soul a shade of light blue that Frisk was all-too-familiar with. A creeping, ugly feeling began to rise up off his body as this Sans shook his head back and forth. “Looks like ya don’t got any sins on you. That’s a little comfort to me, kid. Now just hold still…these little babies are real sharp. So just relax. They’re so sharp, you won’t feel a thing…” The strange new Sans remarked, his voice like someone had taken Sans’s normal deep tone and twisted and corrupted it, as if static was infecting every syllable and it was echoing in a dark abyss that no man was meant to step into.

“Should I take care of this one?” Sombra remarked calmly, looking over at the slumbering Asriel as Frisk’s eyes widened.

“NO!” He yelled out. “DON’T!”

“Aww, that really is just like you. Always thinking of others.” Sans’s doppelganger intoned.

“What…what ARE you?” Frisk asked, his eyes wide in confusion. “You look like Sans, but…Sans would never wanna hurt me or Asriel.”

“If it wasn’t for his promise, ya woulda been dead where ya stood.” The strange Sans chuckled darkly. “But you’re right, I ain’t your normal Sans. I get called Error Sans…by those lucky enough to get away from me. And they sure ain’t many.” He added with a rotten smile, closing his eyes as he shook his head back and forth. “See, people like you are kinda a problem, Frisk. There should only be ONE timeline. I can’t let you just fiddle around with places like this. No, you shouldn’t even be here. You gotta go.”

“I agree on THAT!” A voice rang out. “Star Blazing!”

A pulsating, shimmering series of star made of pure, raw magical power slammed into Sans, knocking him clear through the walls as Sombra turned, seeing Asriel standing up tall, holding a clawed paw up. “CHAOS SABER!” He then proclaimed, as a mighty, heart-insignia’d sword appeared in his outstretched hand and he brought it towards Sombra, who calmly ducked, slamming into Asriel and knocking him through the wall as Toriel let out a cry, seeing Asriel flopping out into the kitchen their room was right next to as she rose up from her chair in the living room, dropping her copy of “72 Uses For Snails” on the floor, Discord dropping the cup of tea he had before it suddenly shot back up into his hand.

“Oh! I didn’t know we would be having COMPANY.” The Spirit of Chaos intoned with a small, wry chuckle as he looked over at Toriel. “Well, I usually love uninvited and unexpected guests, but I think we may need to teach our new guest a few manners.”

“I wholeheartedly AGREE.” Toriel insisted, cracking her knuckles as, meanwhile, a small bucket full of snails all breathed a sigh of relief, thankful they would NOT be turned into bootlaces tonight.

Luckily, Frisk was now free as well, and he leaped off the bed, racing to Toriel and Discord’s side as Asriel staggered up and Error Sans rose in the air, hovering about as his one eye faintly glowed with unnatural power. “I actually FELT that.” He remarked. “Congrats on your one hit on me. Cuz you aren’t getting a repeat performance.”

He held up a hand, the blue wires shooting forth as Discord nonchalantly clapped his hands. The wires stopped an inch away from all of them, and with a POOF and a POP, they’d turned into licorice that Discord began passing out to Asriel and Frisk as Toriel leapt at King Sombra, who ducked and dodged to avoid Toriel’s furious sweeps, her paws enveloped in fiery flames.

“You have SOME NERVE going after my children as they sleep!” She commanded.

“Everything is going to end.” Sombra intoned softly. “You’re only making this much harder on yourself and your beloved little ones.” He told her, holding up his front hooves, blocking Toriel’s burning paws, cringing a bit at the blazing heat as a bead of sweat dribbled down his head.

“Erasing everything is not the answer!” Toriel insisted. “That is like saying that you have solved your problem of needing to clean your room by burning your home down!”

“No comments from the peanut gallery, Tori.” Error Sans said, snapping his fingers as an ugly, bulbous Gaster Blaster formed behind him, that same foul, unnatural shade of yellow blazing forth as Sombra flopped to the ground suddenly, Toriel falling almost on top of him as he kicked her up, into the path of the beam…

Only for Frisk to shoot through the air, tackling her out of the way as they rolled across the living room floor and slammed into the wall, the Gaster Blaster beam blowing open a huge chunk of the house as Error Sans turned it on them-

Discord’s tail shot forth, wrapping around Error Sans as he turned to Toriel. “My apologies, Tori. Evidently your friend here would like to do some interior decorating. Well, let us OBLIGE him!” He proclaimed, dragging Error Sans around the room, slamming him against the wall before launching him through the air. The twisted copycat of Sans barreled straight through another wall, flopping outside as people’s lights turned on in various houses, everyone peeking outside to see what was the matter. “Ahhh. This place has good feng shui now. We’re really airing out the room, wouldn’t you say?” Discord inquired before he let out a gasp, Sombra’s horn stabbing into his-

“YEOOOOOOOWWWW-HOOO-HOOO-HOOOOOO!” Discord proclaimed, sailing through the air, flopping into a tree a quarter of a mile away as Sombra stuck his tongue out in disgust and began wiping his horn off.

“UGH. Can’t! Get! Clean!” He grumbled. “Ah, well. Discord is not the only one who knows how to fight dirty.”

CLANG! A pot slammed into his head as Frisk and Toriel began whacking it over and over and over with heavy duty spoons, the Shadow Lord staggering about as Asriel readied his Chaos Saber and pointed it at Error Sans before racing forward. “You’re about to enter a world of pain of which you are unfamiliar!”

“How about you try to kill me first, THEN gloat?” Error Sans remarked, calmly stepping to the side and TRIPPING Asriel, making him fall flat on his face as the little goat boy fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book, moaning as he struggled to pull himself out of the ground, head now half-buried in the grass as Error Sans made his way towards Asriel, blue strands wrapping around the kid’s back legs, yanking him up…

Just in time for the REAL Sans to show. Error Sans barely teleported away as a furious, baleful, absolute HATEFUL-looking Sans stood there, his face grim and gritty as he glowered coldly at his foe, Sombra twisting his body and knocking Toriel and Frisk off their feet as he tossed the pot atop his head away and rose up more fully, shadows wrapping around the two. As Error Sans and Sans faced each other, Toriel and Frisk gasped in pure horror, Sombra’s face seeming to morph and twist, his full power to prey on people’s fears through his DETERMINATION becoming clear. Eyes melting out of the sockets, tentacles rising up, mandibles where a mouth had been, endlessly screaming, he LIVED IN HIS OWN EYES, HE LIVED IN HIS OWN EYES…

“how…dare…you…” Sans whispered coldly as Error Sans smirked a bit, taking the time to breath in Toriel and Frisk’s fears as everyone in Ponyville looked around at each other, then instantly decided to act as one, racing to stop the Shadowlord.  

“Oh, you don’t that that? I’m the one trying to make things right. There should only be ONE timeline. One path.”

“that’s a load and you know it. what do you call Chara trying to take Frisk over? Or Frisk goin’ on through, being all lovey-dovey to everyone?” Sans growled out, Gaster Blasters manifesting behind him just as they did for Error Sans.

“Even then the Prime timeline makes it clear it’s one of those two. If that Frisk wanted to reset and do things again, so be it. But you being here? No, no. That won’t be tolerated. There should only be one Frisk. One Papyrus. One SANS.” Error Sans said with a dark smile.

“then why don’t you start with yourself? you’re not normal.” Sans snapped, Error Sans frowning darkly.

“Oh, you needn’t worry about that. When my job is done and they’re all gone, then I’ll be gone too.” He remarked, not wanting to admit how close to home Sans’s dig at his blatant hypocrisy had gotten as he held his hand up, and Sans did the same. Their blasters fired with a peal of thunder cracking as Sombra swept and tossed ponies off of him left and right, snarling and growling, fangs turning blood red as they quavered and quivered, his full power now being manifested, their absolute terror and horror beginning to overwhelm them. He wasn’t holding back like he had before. He wasn’t eager to die.

No. He would have everything end along with him. It was the way it had to be. He rose up in the air, a dark secondary cape draping off his body as he rose up, arms spread wide, his eyes burning like red and green fires as Discord managed to tug himself off the tree, barreling straight towards the dark being as he rose in size himself, tackling Sombra, knocking him back. “I! HAVE HAD! ENOUGH! OF YOU!” He proclaimed, kicking Sombra squarely in the face again and again with his hooves, knocking him further and further across the expanse, sending chunks of town square flying left and right as they tumbled and rolled around on Ponyville. Eventually the two collided with a pole as it slapped down on top of them, Discord managing to lift it up, Sombra on the end as he swung it around and around, launching Sombra through the air.

With a powerful THA-THUD, Sombra slid down a nearby tree, but rose back up, growling as he thrust a hand forward, eyes narrowing.

“You want an end to your fear? THERE…is your enemy.” He whispered coldly, his voice wafting through everyone’s ears, Frisk and Toriel and the inhabitants of Ponyville all stiffening, Twilight Sparkle struggling not to give in.

“NO! N-NO, I…no…” She muttered out, her eyes becoming almost solid green with red pupils herself, Spike clutching his skull as he howled in pain, the others in Ponyville all turning as one, mouth slightly agape.

“Destroy…destroy our fear…” Spike groaned out, Rainbow Dash shambling towards Discord, the closest in the large group that leapt on top of him, whacking him again and again with their hooves as Sombra smirked and rose up on a pillar of solid darkness, twisting his hooves about, focusing his might. Discord cringed, pony after pony launching onto him as they tried to pin him down and stomp him out.

“What are we gonna do?” Asriel murmured, hiding behind a chunk of his mother’s house as he cringed, standing by Shinedown as he helped the little goaty monster stay hidden in the shadows. “They fight REALLY dirty! If we could just take one of them out first, it’d be so much easier…”

“Listen. I’ve an idea.’ Shinedown said softly, whispering into Asriel’s ear as his eyes went wide in shock.

“W-We can’t do that! That’s…that’s AWFUL!”

“He’s going to murder everyone. We have to at least try.” Shinedown reasoned softly, with a slightly firm, dangerous edge as Asriel cringed.  The dark glint in his eyes made the little soft-hearted monster cringe. Maybe he really WAS of Sombra’s blood after all.

“…okay…” Asriel murmured softly, hanging his head as he snuck over towards another bush, Shinedown clearing his throat whilst Error Sans had pulled out his blue wires, and was launching Sans left and right through the air, laughing. “You idiot! You don’t have the HP I do!” He said with a pitiless smirk.

“SANS? WHATEVER ARE YOU DOING?! AND WHEN DID YOU CLONE YOURSELF?”

Error Sans stiffened, his eyes going wide, mouth slightly gaping as he wheeled around, looking in the direction of the voice-

“Hello.”

Shinedown giving him a smirk.

“And goodbye.”

THRUCK! Error Sans let out a pained gasp, little words that read “ERROR” pulsating around him…Asriel’s Chaos Saber through his back, Asriel cringing as he shook his head. “I’m sorry! You didn’t give us a choice! I’m sorry!”

Error Sans stiffened, normal Sans dropping down, Shinedown barreling forth and catching him, arms outstretched as Error Sans’s head slowly turned around, his grin horrific, mockingly staring back at Asriel as Sombra gazed in shock.

“I KNEW…you had it in you…” He whispered out, before vanishing an instant later with a POP, Sombra gasping as his mouth hung open.

“Damnable…this is not over!” He insisted with a fervent growl, thrusting a hoof down towards the ground, a blinding flash of green light nearly blinding all of them as they cringed, struggling to regain their bearings. And when the light had faded…

He was gone as well, Asriel panting as he flopped to his knees, Toriel and Frisk racing to him as Shinedown helped Sans up to his feet. “Sorry for that. I know using your brother’s voice is dirty pool, but we had to beat him somehow…”

Sans nodded, giving him a shrug as he closed his eyes. “hey, I understand. but for future reference, uh…”

His eyes shot open, blank, horrifying sockets staring back.

“D O N ‘T Y O U E V E R D O T H A T A G A I I N.”

Shinedown flinched. Damn. He forgot how scary Sans could be sometimes…

…

…

…

… “Damn it.”

Error Sans folded his arms over his chest, frowning as Sombra began wrapping some bandages around his chest. “Stop it, ya stupid horse! I’m not a Baby Bones!”

“You took a sword to the chest. You need rest.” Sombra remarked with a frown.

“What we need is a new plan. The problem is easy. I shoulda seen it sooner. When they’re all together like that, they always, always find a way to overcome everything.” Error Sans said as Sombra nodded calmly.

“It is their nature.” He admitted. “It’s quite impressive. And aggravating.”

“We need to do something about that. With their friendship gone, their timeline will follow.” Error Sans said as they sat hidden in the deep Everfree Depths, his eye glittering like a cold ruby in the center of a blazing fire. “The heart. First we attack their heart.”

Frisk smiled as he watched Rainbow Dash flying with the Wonderbolts. He remembered hearing how the fastest flyer of all Equestria got on the team, substituting in whenever a Wonderbolt was unable to make it, and even working with other reserve members to make them better pilots. Today the group was preparing for an up and coming air show, where Rainbow Dash would do her sonic rainboom for a massive crowd.

Frisk smiled as he felt like he was getting a private screening of that show, just for him. With everything that had happened lately with Sombra, Error Sans, and the Completionist Anomaly, not to mention Molestia and even Chara, it was nice to just have a moment to breathe. He was hoping today would be a relaxing day for him and all of his friends.

“Alright kiddo, here it comes, the Sonic Rainboooouuuuhhhhhhhh???”

But that was not to be.  All the Wonderbolts suddenly scattered as a decent sized jet airliner wearing a bonnet and having a small mouth under the nose of the plane sped by, right through the formation. Frisk was wide eyed as he saw what... or rather who... it was. Tsunderplane, a plane that was rather confused about her emotions. She had confessed her love to Frisk in the underground, then said it was just the IDEA of being in love. Frisk had not minded either way, Tsunderplane was another cool monster to hang out with. Unfortunately, it seemed her admitting that she was not in love with Frisk was actually false. She stopped right in front of him, moving her wings around the boy and hugging him.... then quickly releasing.

“Ummmm... let’s pretend that didn’t happen... not that I don’t like you... and not that I do…it’s just that... that....”

“Hey! Watch where your flying you ugly bird!” Rainbow Dash called from above. Tsunderplane glanced up, fire literally in her eyes as she suddenly sped to Rainbow Dash at Mach One, the force of the sudden movement knocking Frisk over.

“And WHO are YOU, some kind of monster wannabe?”

Rainbow Dash snorted angrily, the other Wonderbolts watching with a mix of interest and worry.

“I am Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in all of Equestria, and you just interrupted the raining run of the Wonderbolts!”

Tsunderplane laughed musically... then went wide eyed. “Hang on... you were giving... Frisk a private show?!”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah! You got a problem with that?!”

Wrong thing to say. In the next instant, several chainguns appeared on Tsunderplanes wings. What she said next made everyone go wide eyed.

“Your trying to steal my boyfriend you harlot!!!!!”

“WHAT?!” Was all Rainbow Dash got out as Tsunderplane opened fire. Rainbow Dash dodged for her life, as did the other Wonderbolts, as Tsunderplane gave chase to the flyer. It wound up looking like a dogfight as the pony dodged and weaved aroudn the bullets.

“You harlot! You slutty horsethief!” Tsunderplane shouted, Frisk just shaking his head and trying to comprehend what was happening.

“OH GOD, something TERRIBLE is happening again!!” Discord shouted from his realm, trying to lose the suddenblast of pain. “Get me a medic!”

The word medic literally appeared over him, checking him out. “Tsundre...... evil.......”

 

Rainbow Dash few past Frisk, Tsundreplane eeping and pulling up to avoid the boy, then turning back.

“Sorry asweetie!.. .not that I am your girlfriend... not that I am not... just... she wants to steal you away before I can know! She’s not good enough for you!”

Rainbow Dash turned and finally had enough, poking Tsunderplane on the nose. “Alright you, let’s get a few things straight. First of all, WHO ARE YOU?! Second of all, I AM NOT FRISK’S MAREFRIEND!”

“Well I am Tsunderplane, the best flying monster ever, with class and speed to match. Frisk helped me see that I don’t have to hide my feelings and act all cool, I can admit my love, and show myself to the world. And since then I love him!....I mean I love him as a friend, not as a boyfriend.. .not that it would not be bad... I mean he is handsome ands sweet and soft to hug and... oh man maybe he IS my boyfriend?.. oh if he is I should have given him a present...”

“ENOUGH!” Rainbow Dash said, looking at her. “You’re worse than Pinkie Pie with your rambling sometimes.”

From out of a nearby cloud, Pinkie Pie poked her head. “I resent that, Dashie!” She said, flying off with some of her balloons in typical random Pinkie fashion. Rainbow Dash shook her head and looked at her.

“Look, as far as I know, Frisk does NOT have a girlfriend!”

Tsunderplane blushed, looking to Frisk. “You... you don’t?”

Frisk shook his head, still having spoken a word since this began. As went to say something, Tsunderplane flew in front of him.

“Oh no, my confession ruined your love life!..... not that I care.. I mean I do... oh no Frisk... do I love you or not?! I dunno...” The plane began to cry as Frisk hugged her, the plane blushing for all get out, being overly sensitive. She moaned in delight as she was hugged.

“ACK!!! CALL 911! CALL 911!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Discord said, the feelings some would get reading that passage making him write in truly terrible pain as Doctor 911 showed up to help stabilize him.

Rainbow Dash flew in front of her and snorted. “Look, don’t you go trying to get all gushy on the kid, you interrupted our air show practice!”

Tsunderplane glared at her. “So... you ARE trying to impress him, aren’t you?!”

Rainbow Dash growled. “Oh for the love of PETE!” Rainbow Dash stared, poking the nose of the place. “Of course I was trying to impress him! I am the best flyer in all of...”

“HARLOT!!!!!” Tsunderplane shouted, pulling out a few bombs. “You boyfriend stealer!!!” She went to fly over Dash for a bomb run when one of the Wonderbolts, Soarin, stopped the plane.

“Hold it! Holllllllllllllllllllllld it!” He shouted, the plane and the pony both staring.

“WHAT?!” They both said.

Soarin looked at them both. “Your both being childish about this! You cannopt settle this with blows, look what your last little outburst did to the area, there are bullets all around!”

Tsunderplane hmmed. “I suppose your right... not that I agree... just that your right on this one is all.” She turned to Rainbow Dash. “We will settle this in a better way, a way that will show everyone how we feel! A race!”

Rainbow Dash smiled evilly. “NOW your talking.”

“Then we agree! We will race tomorrow, and whoever wins becomes Frisk’s girlfriend!”

Dash nodded. “Agreed! Wait.... WHAT?!”

But it was too late, Tsunderplane flew off at Mach 1, knocking Frisk down yet again. Finally he found his voice and shouted out in shock.

“WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED HERE?!”

****************

Toriel tapped her foot angrily as she looked at Rainbow Dash and Frisk. This whole thing was completely out of control. She glanced over at Asgore, who fiddle dhis fingers nervously.

“SO! Let me get this straight.” Toriel said, trying to keep her cool. “You say Tsunderplane just showed up, confessed her love, then accused Rainbow Dash of trying to steal your love, and now they are racing for your heart?”

“I don’t know how it happened, mom!” Frisk said. “By the time I realized what was going on it was already over. Now they are racing tomorrow!”

She glared at Rainbow Dash. “And you, encouraging Tsunderplane! It’s clear to anyone that she is just an emotional wreck, especially where my son is concerned. And yet you encouraged this?”

“Not intentionally!” Rainbow Dash said. “She interrupted the practice I was having, then tried to turn me into Swiss cheese! Then next thing I know she is challenging me, and you know how I am about challenges.”

“Yes, I KNOW.” Toriel said. She recalled not too long ago Rainbow Dash taking a challenge to hide some Playpony under Luna’s bed. Luna sure gave her a nightmare for that one. Uh... that evil factory....

“But you are going to back out of this one.”

“WHAT?!” Rainbow Dash said. “If I do that I will be the laughingstock of all Equestria! To back out from a PLANE?! Plus Tsunderplane will become Frisk’s marefriend! You really want that?!”

Toriel sighs. “Yet if you win YOU will be.” Toriel hmmed. “Then again.... Frisk could use a steady girl in his life...”

“NOW CUT THAT OUT!” Discord called from a nearby closet. Toriel glanced at him.

“Are you alright Discord? You look pale.” She said, The chaos being came over to Rainbow Dash.

“You listen to me. This whole mess with Tsunderplane shipping Frisk is making me VERY ill, and the idea of YOU shipping him is making that even worse. So you tell me right now.. .why do you want to race?” Discord demanded to know.

“Because I was challenged to, and I never back down from a challenge. Besides if I did we have plane and human romance.”

Discord sighed. “Well that is a relief. So this is not a confession of personal love.”

“You kidding?! Frisk and I are best buds! Love would be weird.”

Frisk chuckled some, hugging Rainbow Dash.

“And besides, She interrupted an air show and nearly shot me! She should be humiliated for that one.”

Discord sighed. “And there went what hope I had for you. I after all interrupted a lot of things, including this story. But you don’t want to do that to me ever. At least, not mostly. Doing something for the wrong reason won’t work.. .will lit Toriel?”

Toriel recalled a certain talent show, nodding in agreement. Discord turned back to Rainbow Dash. “As for Tsunderplane, you might just find she is more than what she seems... if she let’s herself be.”

Rainbow Dash hmmed on that. She wasn’t sure what the game was that Discord was playing here, but his words made sense. Perhaps how she raced tomorrow would say a lot.

*****************

Everyone, monster, pony, changeling, and otherwise were present at the race between the fastest pony in Equestria and the flyer of the Underground. Somehow this had become more than a fight over Frisk, but a fight on which side was a superior flyer. Rainbw Dash realized that flying for revenge in such a case would be horrible. So... She decided to visit Tsunderplanes area of training.

She watched as Tsunderplane floated before a mirror, revving her engines, blushing nervously. She was worried sick now.

“Oh Frisk... what will do if I lose?! What will everyone do? If I cannot beat her... Oh what have I done?!” She began to cry. “NO! I cannot give in. Frisk taught me to show my emotions, to let my true self shine. I can DO this.... I CAN do this!”

Rainbow Dash was wide eyed. Tsunderplane was a lot like her it turned out. She had been nervous like this before many an air show. And the worry about if she loses?! Totally relatable. She might have looked weird, but then a lot of monsters did really, and that never made a difference. She had started all this with that insult she told her. She bucked up and walked in.

“Hey... um... sorry to interrupt... but....”

Tsunderplane looked over, blinking.

“I just wanna say... good luck today.”

Tsunderplane blinked. In her mine she wondered what to say, whether to insult or hug her or just plain cry or confess her worry? So many emotions, but finally she said one thing, her tiny mouth smiling.

“You too.”

Keep it simple, Tsundere. Keep it simple. And simple was enough to make Rainbow Dash smile.

“Sorry for what I said before by the way... I didn’t mean it.”

Tsunderplane smiled. “Sorry for interrupting your trials. It’s just... Frisk taught me what love was, then I turned him down, and now I cannot stop thinking about him. I wanna do my best, show him that I care. And no doubt you do too.”

Crap. But... “Yeah, in my own way. Al lwe can do is our best right? But when this is over... you wanna maybe hit up Pony Joes?”

Tsunderplane smiled. “Sure.... not that I like doughnuts or will lose... and not that I don’t either but... .well.... “ She shook her head and smiled. “Let’s just say sure.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and smiled. “Sure.”

The two headed out, side by side, but Tsunderplane snuck a glance at Frisk. He was so cute. She imagined taking him all over the world as her passenger, a private jet flight all for him. It mad eher blush thinking of it.

“I’ll win this for you Frisk. I promise.” She thought to herself. “Let me show you... my DETERMINATION.”

The two went to the starting line, Celestia herself standing ready.

“Alright flyers. The race will go from Ponyville to the Crystal Kingdom and back. The first one to make it back wins. Alphys’ inventions will allow us to watch the whole race so no cheating!”

The two nodded.

“Ready......”

(Insert music here folks, either Alphys takes Action or Hopes and Dreams!)

 

 

 

 

“GO!”

Like a shot the two were off, a trail of smoke left by the one, a rainbow left by the other. They smiled as they raced, Ponyville soon left in the dust as the onlookers from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire watched, cheering for either monster or Pegasus or both.

But the two did not listen. This was THEIR race alone. And slowly, Tsudnerplane pulled out ahead.

“Your gonna have to do better than that Rainbow!” Tsunderplane called, accelerating. But Rainbow smiled as she prepared to break the speed barrier. With a sudden flash, she sped on through, making a Sonic Rainboom in her wake, passing Tsunderplane at full speed.

As they neared the halfway point of the race, Rainbow Dash was pulling away, Tsunderplane giving her all. But a thought entered her head. Back in the underground, she was arrogant, keeping to herself, and full of jealousy. Frisk’s love opened her eyes, proved she could be more. She had to win... for him. She gritted her teeth, and accelerated....

And she broke the speed barrier as well, Going at Mach 2. Slowly she was catching up with Rainbow Dash, pouring it on.

Rainbow Dash saw her coming, and was wide eyed in shock. “No... WAY!!” She said, as Tsunderplane passed her right at the Crystal Empire, the blizzard around the kingdom not affecting them. Below,  The crystal ponies, Cadence, Shining Armor, and new baby Flurry Heart all cheered Rainbow Dash on. Even as she began to move into second place, Rainbow knew she had to win for them. she had to pour on the speed like never before.

She felt a rainbow engulf her as she went even faster. No pony had ever done this, but Rainbow Dash was about to do the impossible as the rainbow engulfed her, and she got another burst of speed. From behind her, a double rainbow exploded, the force of it knocking over several trees and even damaging some homes.

A DOUBLE RAINBOOM!

Tsunderplane watched as Rainbow Dash caught up. Tsunderplane pushed even harder, seeing the faces of the monsters she lived with, her friends and enemies both. They were cheering her on. She had to win, for them!

She sped up even more, as as Rainbow Dash moved beside her, the plane reached her max speed at Mach 3. The two were neck and neck, the explosion of their acceleration trailing behind them. Ahead lay the finish, both focused on the end.

“For the Underground!!!!” Tsudnerplane said, wincing as she felt her insides ready to burst...

“For Equestria!!!” Rainbow Dash said, screaming in pain, unable to hold this speed much longer. But a single thought filled their thoughts. One person who risked it all, who risked his life to be better. Who... saved them all.

“FOR FRISK!!!!!!!!!!!” They screamed as they crossed... .and crashed.

Everyone screamed as the massive explosion engulfed them both the moment they crashed into the ground.

*********************

“They will have to be laid up for a few weeks... but they will make it. I never saw a thing like it... it was like they were speed itself... what a race.. and what a finish!” Doctor Hooves said, looking to his patients.

Rainbow Dash was in a full body cast, her one eye in a patch, her whole form hurting. Nearby, Tsunderplane was being repaired, her main chassis damaged, her wings completely off. But both smiled. The race had the best possible outcome, based on the review.

It was a tie. Both had crossed at the exact same time at a speed no one had ever dared to go before, and had almost lost their lives doing so. But it was without regret. Tsunderplane smiled, everyone saying how proud they were of her and RD, and she cried as frisk himself volunteered to be their nurse.

She had done it. She sowed Frisk what she was capable of and, in her own way, won his love.

“Tsunder.... You know, you need a new name, as cool as that was. How about I call you Eagle or something from now on? I mean... that race... anyone who can keep up with me is alright in my books.”

Tsunderplane just cried happily. “My own nickname... The human’s love... a friend to fly with... this is... and here is no denying it.. .the happiest day of my life!” She said, even as her wings were reattached. She “owed” some but never lost her smile, even laughing some.

As for RD, a smile crossed her face as Doctor Hooves gave her the hospital copy of Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone. Tsunderplane hmmed some.

“What’s that?” She asked.

RD smiled. “Just listen in. This is an awesome story about a brave Pegasus.”

Tsunderplane smiled. “an you... read aloud for us?” She asked, Frisk nodding. RD smiled.

“Gladly, guys. I think this may be the start of a wonderful friendship.” She smiled and began to read.

“As Daring Do crossed the tropical jungle...”

 

Mr. and Mrs. Cake looked at the device that they had been given by Alphys with curiosity. The cell phone was an impressive gadget to say the least, and it was usable anywhere. Plus it had been modified for pony use. However they had not gotten the full hang of it.

"Well, we have to call the babysitter soon!" Mr. Cake said. "Our train to Las Pegasus will be pulling out in a half hour!"

Mrs. Cake sighed. "Oh relax! I am calling her now.... hmmm... went to voice mail... I'll leave a message." She waited for the beep. "No time to say much, just please hurry to Sugar Cube Corner, and fast, we need you to babysit! The babies are asleep for now, but they will wake up soon!"

She eeped as she saw the taxi arrive, quickly hanging up. The two headed off, knowing Pinkie Pie would do a good job babysitting the little kids.

Except.... if Mrs. Cake knew how to check the call log, she would have seen she did NOT call Pinkie Pie...

***********

A few minutes later, a form walked into the bakery. She brought with her a bunch of baking supplies, and several little assistants.

All with eight legs.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cake?" Muffet called. She was stunned she had been called for babysitting rather than Pinkie Pie, especially since all she was doing was throwing a party for Vulkin, and…as a result…having a really hot time. Not to mention she had that order for Queen Chrysalis herself to fill.

"Hello? Sorry I have to bring work with me while I babysit, but I have a big order!" She looked about, blinking all five eyes. She sighed. "I don't get it. Why would they contact me? Ah, no matter... maybe I can eat them as pay, fuhuhuhuhu!" She giggled. "Nah, I couldn't do that to the little ladybugs. They are TOO cute to eat!" She hmmed and went to check on them.

Sure enough, just as the message said, they were asleep in their crib. They looked like little eclairs the way they slept, and Muffet awwed alongside her spider friends.

"Now that is a ponified pint of prettiness right there." Muffet said as she kissed each baby. "Mmmmm..... pumpkin and sugar, rather tasty." she aid, giggling. Well, no matter, I will make that cake for Queen Chrysalis while they sleep.

She headed back downstairs, and cracked all four of her knuckles. Nearby a spider hit the music, the others ready to bake.

"Alright everyone, time to do our dance!"

She smiled and sang to the music:

 

Hey there spiders, no need to sit so lazy

Time to get up and time to get crazy,

Stand and shout out,

Let's all do the Spider Dance!

 

Time for baking, time for pastry making!

get ready for a fun undertaking

Fun fun yum yum!

Time to do our Spider Dance!

 

Dance all about, work those buggies out

We have a lot of pastries to make out

Time for tasties!

Stuff that makes us spiders dance!

 

Grab the cook book, give it a longing look,

Let's make something worthy of a master cook!

Fun Fun YUM YUM!

Let's all do our Spider Dance!

 

Here we go!

Swing your arms from side to side,

side to side,

far and wide,

 

don't ever let both your feet touch the ground,

move them round,

with the sound,

 

With every single dance step that we make,

That we take,

we will bake

 

A treat that only comes from skills enhanced,

BY performing our hungry Spider Dance!

 

Bake and simmer, cook and saute,

none we catch will escape this fate,

Yummy and tasty, made not too hasty

Cooked so yummy while we dance

 

For I am Muffet, Spider Queen,

And I love,

My Baking!

So if you want to be a tasty treat,

Come and join in our fun Spider Dance!

As the music played, Muffet danced about, her spiders giving her all kinds of yummy ingredients, dancing about as they were mixed up int he most amazing manner possible. Baking was an art for her, like for Toriel, and her dance was the key to maing it great. But even as she danced she imagined so many of her friends, young and old, made into a feast for her and her spiders, and the thought made her mouth water…

Just waltz on in and lie on down,

On my pretty web,

 

And if you want, I'll transform you

Into a pastry sweet,

 

You'll mix and bake, into a cake

yummy as can be,

 

And if I do, a real good job,

YOU'LL BE MINE TO EAT!!!

 

Yum yum yum,

put you in my tum tum tum

Will that not be fun fun dun

when you join in my spider dance,

 

What you say,

Now you want to get a way,

Well I think it's far to late,

Cause now IT'S TIME YOU WERE ATE! YUM!

 

I'm just kidding, I would never hurt you,

But I'd love to make a dessert for you

So sit and watch

As we do our Spider Dance!

 

Watch and you'll see, something real amazing

A treat to make tastebuds sing!

And the secret

Is my upbeat Spider Dance!

 

Yeah!

 

Muffet sang on like this, her spiders twisting and turning, and with every move a delicious looking batch of chocolate cake batter was being put together, enough to feed a whole family.... or a queen with a big appetite. But the smell was simply overwhelming. When finally the music stopped, Muffet's chocolate batter was ready to bake. Nearby, several sugar coated spiders were ready to dive in, to give the treat that extra sweet zing it needed. Some might complain, but if they did not know what was in it, they would love it. And have!

She giggled as she poured the batter into the biggest cake pan she had. For a moment, she swore she heard a whee sound, but figured it was likely the spiders she had put in. She smiled as she set it in the big oven to bake for awhile, hmming a tune while she went to check on the kids. But first.

"Now little ones, be sure when that cake is done to take it out right away and quick cool it. I told Chrysalis to pick up the order here, so we cannot keep her waiting! She should be here any minute, so  be sure it is fully baked and decorated." She smiled as she danced her way upstairs, humming the tune to her dance. As she went, she smiled, pausing for a moment as she tried to figure out how much she would make from this particular sale. Chrysalis had promised a substantial amount, and Muffet could not wait to count the bits. As she shivered in anticipation, she opened the door to the foals room.

"Pumpkin? Pound? You awake?" She asked.  She  blinked, noticing that this time there was not even the sound of snoring from the kiddos. She carefully walked over to the crib....

AND THE BABIES WERE GONE.

"Pumpkin?! POUND!?" She shouted, suddenly very scared. She looked about, searching every corner of the nursery, trying desperately to find them, overturning all kinds of furniture in fear, her five eyes wide.

Ohnonononononononononononononononononono!" She said, skittering about, leaving web everywhere in her fright as several of her spiders walked in, carrying a huge haul of bits.

The bits.

The CAKE.

OH. NO.

"I baked the babies into a cake!" Muffet said, wide eyed. "Quickly my little spiders, Chrysalis took the cake right?"

One nodded.

"Where did she take it?!"

The spiders reformed the shape of a train. Muffet went wide eyed.

"Oh no... she's catching the night express back to the Badlands. I have to get there before it is too late!" She hastily pulled out her cell phone. "Toriel, it's Muffet. No time to explain, just PLEASE watch the bakery while I am gone, I have to catch Crysalis before she eats the babies!"

Toriel screamed out at the other end. "WHAT?!" But Muffet hung up, rushing out the door for the train, running as fast as she could. Oh if she was too late...

************

Chrysalis smiled as she sat down on the train, looking at her freshly baked cake. She smiled as she saw how big and tasty it looked, easily a gut busting feast. She sat there in admiration of it, not waiting to eat it just yet as she resealed the box. She looked to her Changeling guards, four in all.

"See to it that nothing happens to that cake, and no one comes in. When I get back from the movie car, have it ready to eat. I want to be before my subjects fat and huggable before the egg laying cycle begins."

"Yes Queen Chrysalis." The four said, saluting. She then handed the four each some action figures.

"And by the way, these are a gift from Frisk and Chara. They are silly little toy ponies, but I do find them... .charming." She smiled sweetly, even for her. "You may use them while on duty so long as nothing happens to the cake."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" One said, smiling and hugging her. Chryslais loved making others smile, and not just because the love shared as a result was just DELICIOUS, but because of how good I felt besides. She trotted happily to the movie car, a design by Alphys, eager to get back and eat the cake.

Outside the train, stuck to the side window, Muffet stared as Chrysalis walked away, leaving the cake with the four guards. Muffet eeped and in her mind imagined the two babies in a slice.. .suddenly chewed up by Chrysalis. She eeped and gritted her teeth.. .and lost her hold on the train. She fell of onto the sides, eeping.

"NO!!!" She screamed, using her web to stick back on, slowly making her way back onto the train. She gritted her teeth as she made her way onto the outer walkway of the caboose...

Only to be met by a train attendant.

"Ticket please." He said, looking at her with narrow eyes. Muffet fidgeted nervously.

"You don't understand.. .if I don't get aboard, there may be two baby ponies that...."

"You didn't seem to hear me. TICKET. PLEASE." He said, with a spooky look in his eyes. Muffet swallowed and handed him some bits for a ticket to the badlands. He suddenly got all cheerful.

"Thank you! Enjoy your trip!" he said as he trotted off. She sighed and groaned as she went in. The train was full of private rooms, and finding the one she saw had Chrysalis in it was going to be hard.

"EEK! SPIDER! SPIDER!!!!!" Someone said. Muffet went wide eyed. She forgot she was a spider on a train with ponies and not her usual monster friends. And some of them had arachnophobia. Muffet turned and swallowed as she saw a large mare in a big dress.

"Rupert! Sick that spider! RUPERT!!!!!" She called. Muffet shuddered, wondering what Rupert was.... until suddenly she was being attacked by a pet beetle. Muffet sighed and looked down at the beetle who suddenly stopped.

"If I were you, I would either run or climb in my mouth. Your pick."

Rupert swallowed and skittered off. Muffet smiled proudly...until she saw another attendant.

"Did I just hear you threaten a passenger?"

Muffet gulped once before she was thrown off the train.

****************

A bit later, when Muffet had climbed on again, she tried sneaking past phobia mare and pet beetle, looking for the cabin where the cake was. She knew she had to hurry before Chrysalis ate the kids! She walked along, finally opening a door to a cabin...

And finding Lyra and Bon Bon smooching.

"Whoops! Wrong cabin. Sorry." Muffet said, turning away... right into another attendant.

"This isn't your room." The attendant said. Muffet groaned once as she was thrown off yet again, barely hanging on by her web.

Until she slammed into a tree.

****************

Bruised and worn out, Muffet climbed in through a ceiling vent, sighing as she finally relaxed for a moment before heading to find Chrysalis. She opened the door that she thought led back out to the hall...

Only to find it was a bathroom door, and inside was Vinyl Scratch, just finishing up.

"Hey there spider babe. Didn't think your bread was buttered that way." She said, her purple eyes giving a wink.

Muffet groaned. "Only way you would be with me is ON buttered bread." She said.

Vinyl shivered. "Oooh.. .kinky."

Muffet groaned, opening the other door, finding another attendant.

"Oh what did I do wrong now?!" She asked, the attendant tapping a hoof.

"I was about to try and score with her, heartbreaker." The attendant fumed, removing her hat.

"Oh come onnnn-" Muffet whimpered, getting a hoof to the face.

********************

Muffet panted, bruised and worn out, as she sat in the hall outside the cabins. She had to hurry before...

"Mmm-MMM! This cake is SOO good!"

Oh no. Muffet opened the cabin door, finding Chrysalis. Near Chrysalis was a table.

On the table was a big box for cake. and all that was in it was some crumbs... and a little blue bow.

Muffet went wide eyed. She was too late. Chrysalis had eaten the babies! She wiped her lips with a napkin and rubbed her round tummy before seeing Muffet.

"Ahh! Muffet! So nice of you to come, that cake was simply marvelous. What did you put in it this time? Spiders? Ants? Maybe more?"

Muffet whimpered. "I THINK... two fillies. Two... .very.. young.... fillies." She said, tears in her eyes. Chrysalis smiled.

"No wonder it was so good! I must request the cake from you again dear! This was your best yet!"

Muffet whimpered. She was SO…SO…DEAAAAD. She got off the train at the next stop and caught a pegasus to head back to Ponyville. She shuddered at what was going to happen when the cakes got home.

"I let their babies become my cake... and not even by choice! How can I have let this happen?! I am going to lose everything now, I let two little foals get eaten, and not willingly either! I doubt Celestia will be able to RESET them....Oh what will I do?!" She sobbed as she finally arrived back in Ponyville, walking slowly to Sugar Cube Corner. She whimpered as she opened the door...

And found Toriel rocking the two foals to sleep!

"Pound? Pumpkin???????????" Muffet said in total shock. Toriel smiled.

"Muffet, that was awful big of you to admit you are not babysitter material. And hiding the kids in the oven like that! So cute! But I do have to ask... why did you turn them each into little cakes? Were you playing with them some before they got to be too much?"

Muffet gulped. "Yeah... .sort of." She sighed. She knew what to do. She snapped her fingers and had her spiders bring Toriel the big bag of bits she would have been paid for the cake. "Truth is Toriel... I almost let Chrysalis eat them in a cake…and as such I don't deserve the money for it.. .as much as it hurts... I want you to have it." She went to walk away, when the babies began to cry.

Muffet turned and saw them holding out their hooves for her. Muffet blinked.

"But... I almost got you two eaten... and I baked you into cakes.. .and I ran off.... I'm no good to kids..."

They sniffled and stared, Muffet finally taking one and rocking it, Pumpkin, the little unicorn, nomming on her hand happily. It was like one of her own baby spiders.

"Awwwwwww.... you look so cute, Muffet." Toriel said. Muffet smiled some. She made a mental note that from now on kids would come first before business, and if both worked together the result would be simply wonderful. Muffet looked at Toriel, who smiled.

"Say... I could use a sitter for the kids myself. You mind?" She winked as Muffet went wide eyed, imagining accidentally baking the three into gingerbread boys.

"Actually Toriel.... I think I will stick to being a baker than a babysitter. Better ask Pinkie Pie."

The two laughed, as did the two would be snacks. No one noticed the form who had gotten the two out of the cake just in time, Gaster's shadowy form beside him and chuckling at what had unfolded as a result.

It had been quite an interesting night.

 

THE END

Edward sighed as he looked at his packed bags. Being away from home was going to be a welcome thing, and it meant he would have a lot of fun. But it also meant his stories would be on hiatus for awhile.

He looked at the computer. Since starting work on Undertales of Friendship with NGrey it had gotten a lot of attention. He smiled as he sat at it one last time.

"Give everyone something fun to relax with until I come back."

He smiled as he decided, knowing just what to do.

 

*********************

Undyne smiled as he stood on the court with the mares on the other side, each one having playground balls at the ready. She grinned toothily as she stood ready.

"Alright kids, give me your best shot!" She said. One by one each of the fillies and colts let loose with their shots, Undyne working hard to dodge out of the way.

Amazingly, one impacted her foot, everyone staring at Diamond Tiara, who had gotten the throw. She stared in amazement herself.

"Did... did I just..?!" She said, Undyne coming over and ruffling her mane.

"Not bad kid! You're getting better!" as she went to get her stuff, Monster Kid and Silver Spoon came over, as well as the CMC.

"Wow Tiara! That was a pretty sweet kick there!" Scootaloo said, making Diamond blush.

"Aw come on guys, I'm hardly the most athletic of us all. I just got lucky?"

Silver Spoon blinked. "Was it just me, or did I just hear you being humble?!" She winked, making everyone laugh. Monster Kid chuckled.

"I never get over playing dodge ball. It's a lot of fun! Frisk is really good at it too. No one EVER hits him!"

Apple Bloom blinked. "Never?!"

Undyne, hearing the question, laughed. "HA! Let me put it to you this way: I launched a near bullet hell assault on the kid, and not one spear even got close. Trust me, that kid has mad dodging skills. But I also agree that dodgeball is an awesome sport." She blinked some. "Hey, that's an idea there! I should round up our friends and have a big dodge ball tournament!"

Scootaloo nodded. "That sounds awesome!" We could make up some teams and just go all out with it!"

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara nodded. "Yeah! Count us in for sure! And you can count on mom and dad to finance the whole thing, make it a big event!"

Undyne smiled broadly. "Great! Alright everyone, let's make this happen!"

And three weeks later, at a newly built stadium outside of Canterlot.... it was about to!

*************

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Welcome beauties and gentlebeauties, to the first official Equestria Dodgeball Tournament!!!!"

Cheers rang out as Mettaton EX appeared on the magical jumbotron, beside co-anchor (Due to chaos magic being outlawed) Discord. Said Equuis chuckled and waved.

"Indeed Mettaton! And we got a few teams here ready to go all out for the coveted title of Dodgeball Wizards! So let's introduce the teams!"

Mettaton nodded. "Agreed! Let's start with the youngest team, led by team captain Frisk and featuring the Cutie Mark Crusaders, as well as the underworlds own Chara and Asriel, I present The Dodgeball Crusade!"

Frisk and the others came out in light blue Jumpsuits featuring the three cutie marks of the CMC, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon serving as their cheering section.

Discord smiled: "Next, hailing from the Badlands, and led by team captain, her royal highness Chrysalis, the Changeling Chargers!!!!"

Everyone cheered as Chrysalis entered in a green and black suit, flanked by her changelings, her young daughter Pupa cheering by several other little hatchlings.

Mettaton smiled. "Next up, Led by Asgore himself, and featuring the Royal Guard, here comes the Rising Redemption!"

Appearing in a blue uniform embodying the Delta Rune, Asgore raised his trident, forming it into a red ball, and with a mighty throw from it and several other strong throws from Undyne, Papyrus, Toriel, and the two Armored Guards, a massive target exploded, sending in fireworks to the sky.

Discord smiled. "Quite the display! But next, flying in, and led by Spitfire herself, the fine flying force themselves, the WONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDERBOLTS!"

Spitfire led the group to the landing spot, smiling as she looked at Gilda and Derpy, recruited to fill the final slots for the team. Derpy especially made the crowd awe as her natural clumsiness made her able to dodge several well placed shots.

"Wonderful! But next is Pinkie Pie and Muffet, leading the silliest team of the group.... the Party Pouncers!"

Muffet smiled as she and Pinkie were flanked by cheese Sandwich, Sans, Gummi, and Mufet's pet cupcake spider Sprinkles, all wearing pink outfits embroidered with cupcakes. Everyone laughed as they set off a couple party cannons.

"Next," Discord said. "Our own rulers of Equestria, united as one on he field. We give you the Alicorn Army!"

Everyone cheered as Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Cadence, accompanied by Shining Armor and Spike, took the field, smiling. All were wearing the symbol of Equestria on their uniforms.

"Next, the team with home field advantage! No need to say too much, just introducing the Apple Acres Atoms!"

Applejack smiled as she led the way, Big Mac and Rarity right behind, along with Vinyl Scratch, Rainbow Dash, and Cranky Doodle Donkey, all in rustic overalls adorned with three apples.With them was the Applegamate, who shot several apple buddies into the stands, said buddies snuggling up with some young filles to watch,

"And finally, led by Prince Blueblood and representing the aristocracy, The Uppercrusts!"

Everyone watched as out came Blueblood, Fancypants, Fleur De Lis, And a big shock as Diamond Tiara entered the field with her mom and dad. Her mom smiled at her.

"Honestly Diamond Tiara, this was a capital idea! I recall doing dodgeball myself as a filly. Part of the reason my nose was bent."

Fancypants chuckled. "I cannot wait to show off my stuff. We will show these other teams what the upppercrusts can do!" he showed off the team uniform, a Rarity design adorned with gems.

Mettaton smiled. "Now, our official judge for our tournament, I give you the one and only, My creator, everyone's favorite scientist, ALLLLLLLLPHYS!"

Alphys emerged, everyone cheering, and Undyne giving her a wolf whistle. Alphys blushed as she explained the rules of the game. It was standard dodgeball fair, hit a person to knock them out, catch it to bring someone back, no hits to private areas, and no leaving your own territory. But there were some added rules restricting flying and magic, and allowing ponies to kick the ball, allowing it to count as a throw or block. Once done, the pairings were made.

The games began in earnest!

***********************************

Changling Chargers vs. Uppercrusts *

***********************************

As the first game was underway, Chrysalis expected an easy fight from the snooty ponies, but was sorely mistaken as the fancy ponies immediately grabbed three of the available five balls and went at it full force. Chrysalis had to dodge carefully as the fancy ponies lined up.

"I say everyone, time for our special shot!" Fancypants said, He and Diamond and Filthy Rich  sent their balls in the air, only to be spiked downward by High Horse.

"Nose Up Throwdown!" She shouted, the three balls impacting the Changeling side with incredible speed. Chrysalis was able to dodge, but two of her changelings were hit and sent to the benches. Chrysalis blinked.

"Well now, things just got very interesting!" She said, smiling. She shot back, firing her shots at Fleur De Lis, who was outed easily, but the other shots were going wide. Diamond soon made an incredible play as she threw for Chrysalis.

It just barely hit her on the horn, which still counted.

"What the?!" Chrysalis said in shock, As Diamond was again stumped at her luck, enough that she got pelted and taken out. But by then the winner was clear. Chrysalis chuckled as she went to the bench, the match over before she sat. The Uppercrusts had shown they were not to be underestimated. Chrysalis afterwards smiled especially at Diamond Tiara.

"Well played little princess." She said, smiling. "Well played."

Diamond smiled at her parents, her mom and dad disgusted some at the sweat, but glad they won the first match.

*******************************

Crusaders vs. Party Pouncers *

*******************************

 

As the second match got on its way in earnest, it was clear it was going to be a one sided affair. While the Crusaders and the kids did their best, it was clear that the bigger ponies and Sans and Muffet were having them outmatched.

But they still had to worry about Frisk. Every time someone would get out, Frisk just caught the ball and brought them back. Frisk was keeping the team alive, dodging like mad.

"heh, not bad kid.... but try dodging this." He raised his hand, the Gaster Blaster taking the ball. "don't start BALLING on me for this kid."

"NOW CHARA!" Frisk called, he and Scootaloo set up with their shots.

"Supersonic...." Scootaloo said, kicking the ball to Chara. Chara caught it and, spinning with the momentum and building speed, let it fly into the party ponies.

"STRIKER!" Chara finished, everyone dodging  except ironically Sans, who was nailed with the blast and sent right to the bench. Chara smiled and everyone cheered at the sight.

"Nice one guys!" Apple Bloom said. "Our turn Asriel!"

Asriel nodded, Asriel sending it high in the air, Apple Bloom knocking it hard at Pinkie Pie with a headbutt. But her aim was off, the ball hitting Gummi instead.

"GUMMI!" She called, but to everyone's shock, the bal was still in his toothless mouth. Technically, it was still a catch, and Sans came back in.

"way to go and gator!" Sans said, patting Gummi. Gummi blinked.

"Nice shots kids!" Cheese Sandwich said. "But we don't intend to lose. We got a little surprise. Everyone! Let's do it!"

Muffet chuckled. "Fuhuhuuhuhuhu! I love this part!" She smiled as she stood behind, holding Gummy and Sprinkles, Pinkie, Sans, and Cheese all standing ready. AND ALL HAD PARTY CANNONS.

"Oh no." Chara said. He knew what was coming. Only some of the cannons would shoot actual balls...

"Confetti Confusion Caboom!" Muffet shouted, pulling all the cannon cords at once, three balls sent at the Crusaders. It was hopeless to catch them and even more hopeless to dodge. In a flash, the balls bounced off all six Crusaders, and the match was over.

Frisk smiled, glad at least it was a fun match, everyone nodding in delight.

******************************

Redemption vs. Wonderbolts     *

******************************

Asgore knew that being big on the field made him also somewhat of a target, and the high impact kicks from the Wonderbolts and their skill shot, the Sonic Burst, made it hard to keep up. But that was the point. As Asgore was taking the majority iof the shots and catching them, he was letting his team get ready for the counter attack. Undyne smiled as he got out one big bone.

"ALRIGHT UNDYNE, I THINK WE LET THEM SHOOT ENOUGH! LET'S SHOW THEM THE SKILL OF THE ROYAL GUARD!

Undyne nodded as the Royal Guards, Toriel, and Undyne setup. Asgore smiled some as he stepped away.

"TIME FOR OUR SIGNITURE MOVE WONDERBOLTS! HOME RUN HURRICANE!!!!"

As the four threw the balls at Papyrus, he hit them into the Wonderbolt field with intense power. The wonderbolts dodged like professionals, but the big surprise was the balls would bounce in such a way that they came back, Papyrus swinging again in a new spot. Against such an attack the Wonderbolts went surprisingly quickly, all in shock.

From the sidelines, Rainbow vowed to avenge them.

*******************************

Alicorn versus Triple A.... Damn. *

*******************************

Applejack was certainly not the favorite of this match, but he got a lot of cheers as her team tood ready. She smiled at Twilight and the other rulers.

"To a good match Applejack." Celestia said with a bow.

"You too." She replied, bowing as the balls materialized. The resulting battle was heated. Celestia and Luna might have been wonderful rulers and very powerful, but in the end Rainbow Dash made good work of them.Soon it was down to Twilight and Shining Armor.

"Twily, I think we are in big trouble here!" He said, just dodging another Rainbow shot. Twilight smiled.

"Not to worry, I planned this.. Everyone else has great offensive moves... But mine are defensive." She smiled and stood ready as Rainbow Dash let fly with her Rainboom Bang, her signature shot.

Just as Twilight hoped.

"Sorry Rainbow Dash, but we are in this to the end!" She and Shining Armor readied their magic. "Reflection Ricochet!"

Rainbow went wide eyed as her shot suddenly went through a magical tube and reflected back at her. The force sent her into the stands, right by the hayburger guy.

"Ummm... Hot and fresh Hayburger?" He asked.

Reluctantly, Rainbow took at as she watched her team start to fall. But soon it was down to Applejack and Fluttershy against Twilight and Spike.

Spike let loose with all he had, trying to get Fluttershy, but as she ducked to dodge, her wings bent in such a way that she caught the ball.

"WHat the?!" Spike said, watching as Rainbow let Big MAc come back in. Applejack nodded to Fluttershy, then turned to her friend.

"Sorry Twi, but this ends now!" Applejack and Big Mac stood by one another, both hitting the ball hard for Twilight. Twilight ducked... But was wide eyed as Spike leapt in front of her, catching it!

"Wha?!" Applejack said, but Big Mac smiled.

"Nice Spike." He said. Spike had one shot at most, knowing he could not do that again, and watched as Luna re-entered. He had an idea.

"Princess... Can you help me with a shot?"

Luna blinked as suddenly Spike blew flames on the ball, everyone gasping as the smoke appeared before Luna. She went wide eyed as the ball formed, forcing it forward at full speed!

"Lunar Launch!" She shouted, as the ball slammed into the two last Apples, ending the match. Rainbow sighed, but smiled. Spike deserved to be the winner this time, though she gave an eyebrow at Rarity complaining about her hooves.

"Oh brother..."

 

**************************************

Semifinals: Redemption vs. Uppercrust *

**************************************

 

Again Asgore and his team went to work with their signature shot, and Prince Blueblood and his fancy team had no way to counter it. Soon Everyone fell prey to the ball barrage except Diamond Tiara, who was running scared. But High Horse called out to her daughter.

"You can do it Diamond! Focus on the shot!"

Diamond was so scared she couldn't... until she saw it bouncing back. With all she could muster she grabbed the ball, knocking it down. She looked at the odds. All of her team was gone except her, but she was facing the full Team Redemption.

Diamond gritted her teeth and let fly her first shot, but this time she didn't aim at Asgore. Everyone was stunned as, suddenly, Papyrus was smacked in the head with the ball, both head and ball flying, the skull landing in Undyne's hands.

"THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO GET AHEAD UNDYNE.... OH COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!"

Everyone laughed at the joke, But Diamond did not let up. She focused away from Asgore from now on, and soon had out the Royal guards as well as a good hit on Undyne. That left just Toriel and Asgore, who smiled.

"Nicely done Diamond. But it ends here." Asgore said, grabbing a ball. He and Toriel each held it, then focused on Diamond.

"Ball Blazing!" They shouted, sending the ball at her. She went to catch it, but it knocked her back. She dropped it at the last second. Still everyone was on their feet, the little filly doing quite well on her own.

She saly approached her mom, expecting another lecture on winning, but High Horse and Filthy Rich only smiled.

"You did well." Her mother said. It was one of the kindest things she had told Diamond, and the little filly began to cry, hugging her mom. Filthy looked to Blueblood, who was still pouting.

"Guess some high class ponies grow up quicker than others." He said. He turned to the rest of the team,. "Come on everyone, I got a private booth in case we did not win, and we will watch the final match!"

***************************************

Semi-Finals: Alicorns vs Party Pouncers  *

***************************************

 

Party Cannons and magical blasts filled the stadium as the round progressed, but no one noticed two latecomers as they sat on the high end of the stands. ERROR_SANS and Sombra materialized, watching the battle between Pinkie and Twilight especially unfold, ERROR finding it rather humerus.

God did I just type that.

"Yes, you did." Sombra said to Edward, breaking the fourth wall yet again. "And tell Darkus that if he is going to be a repair pony he needs to.."

"Quiet, Sombra."  ERROR said, eating some rather odd looking popcorn. "I'm watching."

Sombra sighed. "Why are we not ATTACKING."

ERROR smiled some. "You think I would resist watching a game where the point is to dodge shots and beat the opponent with your own?"

Sombra thought on that. "You got a point. Pass the popcorn!"

Down on the field, Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie wheeled a Cannon over. Muffet blinked.

"You two sure about this?" She asked.

Cheese nodded. "It's crazy enough op work." he turned to Pinkie Pie and kissed her. "In case I don't come back."

Pinkie Pie blushed and hugged, giving one of her own. "That was in case you do." She said, the two smiling as Cheese climbed into the cannon. Twilight blinked... but then saw what they were up to.

"Look out!" she cried, but it was too late as Cheese was fired out, two balls in hoof.

"Kamikaze Klown Kannon!" Cheese said, firing his shots at Luna and Spike,making the last game winning shot impossible. He then landed deep in the territory, making him be out as well. Pinkie cheered as the plan worked.

Twilight looked to Luna, knowing the had to use their trump card now. As the next shot came, the two focused. With a smile, the ball split among a dozen illusions, the balls returning at the remaining players.

"Uh ohhhhhhhhhhhh...." Pinkie managed to get out. she reached for what she thought was a ball, but was hit by the real one on her back leg. Muffet fell prey to a similar blast, until finally only Gummi was left.

Everyone stared as a ball rolled up to him. He suddenly turned and whacked the ball with his tail...

Then walked out of play. It was humorous to the very end, everyone laughing hard. Pinkie and cheese smiled at each other as they reunited, the duo deciding to go have a little... them time.

The final round was about to begin.

*************

ERROR was laughing some, and Sombra chuckled. The match had been too hilarious for words!

"Say author.... think we can arrange a brief exhibition match? WE promise no HORSE play."

Sombra nodded.

Well..... Alright. What do you have in mind?

"Just let Mettaton find this paper." He held up a paper airplane. With a sudden wind burst, down it flew into the media box, the two announcers holding it and reading it carefully.

"OHHHHHHHHHHH! Seems we got us a little exhibition planned before the final match! Two villians have requested a fight between one another, each taking one partner! Does the audience agree?"

Everyone cheered. Discord smiled.

"Excellent! ERROR_SANS, Sombra, enter and choose your partners!"

ERROR came first. "Well, truth be told, I would not feel right if I did not have a bro with me. Papyrus, I choose you!"

Papyrus entered the field, smiling, while Sans was trying to figure out what was happening. ERROR explained.

"Let's just say this is a temporary truce for a bit. Even we like to... have a ball?"

Papyrus cringed. "NNNNGHHHH! SANS, TELL YOUR CLONE TO STOP WITH INCIDENTAL PUNS!"

Sombra soon entered. "My pick then. And if she wills it there can be only one choice. Princess Luna, will you fight alongside me for this match?"

Luna blinked. "No tricks?"

"None."

"Then... I agree."

Everyone cheered as Luna entered the field. Sombra turned to the fourth wall.

"NGrey, the Mondopony Megalovania mix for this match please!"

(Insert answer here)

********************************

Exibition: ERROR vs. SOMBRA! *

********************************

 

As the balls appeared, the match of the day truly began, as the two were easily evenly matched. Papyrus was a good dodger while Sans could throw very well, while Luna and Sombra proved to be equally skilled. Everyone was on their feet as the match progressed, easily a good warm up for the finale. The sounds of the crowd filled the air, and the shouts from the players echoed it. For this moment, it was not about the agendas any side had. It was about the game and enjoying it, and for this moment they did indeed.

Sombra and Luna used their magic to send dark energy balls at ERROR, but one was caught while the others whizzed by. It was the opening he was looking for.

ERROR looked to Papyrus and smiled. "Time to combine our signature shots!"

Papyrus watched as a bloated Gaster appeared, shooting a ball to Papyrus, while Papyrus let it fly with his Bone Bat. It was as if they read each other's mind. This shot made everyone gasp as the world went dark, then when the bat hit the world exploded in a fireworks!

"Skelebrother SLAMMER!" They said in unison, Luna wide eyed as Sombra was about to take the shining ball at  full force. But Sombra soon shifted out of the way, the ball just missing.

"Too close!" He said. "BUT NOT CLOSE ENOUGH EITHER!" He laughed, looking to Luna. "Unleash the Nightmare Luna, let's do this for the night!"

Luna nodded, into the match now, turning briefly into Nightmare Moon, a certain little foal cheering on seeing his favorite leader again. Little Pips cheering encouraged Nightmare and Sombra as they made THEIR final shot ready, three balls, levitating in a dark miasma. Error and Papyrus were wide eyed as they focused.

"When one encounters the force of pure night..." Sombra said, spinning the three faster and faster....

"... Deep within shines an ethereal light!"

The balls began to shine as they fired out, the force so great that it seemed to ignite and bring light.

"LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS!" They shouted, the two skele bros (sort of) unable to do a thing as the blows sent them flying. Everyone cheered as the light came back up, Sombra wide eyed at the cheering.

"Hmmm.... First time I recall this happening." he turned to Luna. "Well played Luna. Another time we will be enemies... but today let us part as friends, if possible."

Nightmare Moon smiled, and extended a hoof. "I hope Frisk is right about you Sombra. I truly do." She left, while ERROR was helped up by Papyrus, the dark Sans laughing.

"So worth it. That was SOOOOOOO worth it Paps." He smiled and shook his brother (sort of)'s bony hand. "Facing you in the future will be tough... but when we do fight, give me your all ok?"

Papyrus was confused but nodded all the same as he and Sombra left, cheers echoing in the stadium. Sombra turned to ERROR. "Any reason why we did that, but the way?"

ERROR smiled. "Just one. To thank NGrey for letting us in on the story."

The two left as the final match got ready to begin.

***************************************

FINAL ROUND: Redemption vs. Alicorn! *

***************************************

As the whistle blew for the final match, everyone was still pumped up from the final match last time. As the final round waged, shots fired back and forth. The royal guards were out first, followed by Shining Armor and Spike. Undyne wen next toprotectr Toriel, the down went Twilight.  Papyrus let fly a sweet shot that got Cadence, but soon was out himself as a blow hit his back.

That left the rules of both Equestria and the Underground.

They faced each other, each holding a ball. This moment signified the union between the races, that in this place, in this time, they could do this. They could have fun together, regardless of who they were or where they were from. As the four looked around the stadium, this feeling echoed through the  onlookers, a place united, totally and completely, even if only for a moment, where conflict could be settled with something as simple as this.

With a smile in their SOULS and energy for the final encounter, the four let their shots fly.

But it didn't matter who won in that moment, just that for that time, they enjoyed a game together, all of Equestria and beyond.

The only question I leave the readers with is this... .who DID win that final round?

Chara sat on  a hillside overlooking Ponyville. It was early, very early. The night was nearly over but the sun was about to come up. Chara was sitting there, watching and breathing softly, when he heard the footsteps behind him.

"I thought someone else was here." The voice. Chara turned to see but already knew who it was, the light purple unicorn smiling softly. Starlight Glimmer was similar to Chara in many ways given their backgrounds and what they did int he past, and now in this moment they were alone together. She sat beside him and he leaned on her.

"You know why I am here?" He asked her. Starlight smiled.

"I have a hunch. You're thinking about the past, wishing it could be different. Your thinking of the present, where we got second chances we don't deserve. And.. .your thinking of the future, where we will see what kind of path we have for us."

Chara nodded. "I don't know how or why the Anomaly resurrected me. I think he wanted me to kill everyone.... then save everyone... then....." He sighed. "And I would have done it. Even now after so much good in my life I still wonder if I am going to turn again, hurt others. If someone will get bored with me and make me a weapon again." he turned to Starlight, tears in his eyes. "I'm so scared..."

Starlight hugged him close and nuzzled. "There there. I know. I know." She looked at him. "I wanted to take away everyone's cutie marks, and when that failed I wanted to hurt everyone everywhere. I wanted to destroy the Mane Six and change history. I almost destroyed the world myself."

Chara nodded, the two silent as they hugged. They released after a bit, the two looking out where the sun would rise. Starlight smiled.

"Twilight told me a story once. She said long ago, there was a filly who wanted her way ll the time, and when she did not get it, she tried to destroy everything that opposed her. She wanted to be worshiped. She wanted to be loved more than anything, to be treasured above ALL else. But then, she was defeated and destroyed. You would think everyone would be happy about that.

"But... they were not. They wanted her back, they wanted to see her again, to love her and show her they did still care. They wanted her to see that they had not forgotten her. And one day, she returned, finding a mix of those scared of what she had done... yet daring to still love her al the same.

"And among those was a sister who regretted ever sealing her away."

Chara blinked. "Luna?" He whispered.

"Yes. You see... the way Twilight told me, we all have dark things in our lives. Things we regret and things we want to change. But in all of us...ALL of us, there is good still. Everyone has it in them. Even me, I found out!"

Chara smiled clutching his locket. "And even me."

"It doesn't matter what we did in the past. Everyone can be forgiven of their sins if they want to be. If they truly want to change and do good." She placed a hoof around his shoulders, sighing some. "Even in the deepest and darkest place, light will follow the darkness, if you but trust in the SOUL."

Chara smiled, crying. He leaned on Starlight as the sun began to rise, eliminating the beauty of the night and giving the beauty of the day in its place. He had it confirmed so many times, but he needed reminded every now and then.

He was not a demon anymore. He never was. He had done terrible things, but they had forgiven him. Starlight was the same, corrupted by her own sadness and jealousy, but now someone good because they gave her a chance in spite of all the bad things she did.

Chara hugged Starlight, and she hugged back, two lost souls who had been given new light. Two lost-in the darkness now led to the dawn.

"Come on." Chara said as he stood up. "Pinkie Pie invited everyone to a pancake breakfast, and I don't think we should miss it."

Starlight nodded. "Let's take our time though... The sunrise is so...heartwarming."

Chara and Starlight descended down the hill, heading to the path that would lead back to Ponyville, and to their families and friends. The past was the past, but they had learned from it and were forgiven for the darker parts of it. They had hope now, hope that they would be better from now on.

Deep inside them, their SOULs shone, like little rainbows. It lasted for only a moment, but the joy and hope that moment had was felt for the rest of their lives.

May all who are lost find similar hope, and similar forgiveness. May the world someday know the true meaning of the SOUL.

Time will heal.

And Love will save.

"THE END." Discord said, closing the book, smiling as he wiped a tear from his eye. "I just...get so emotional about stories like this."

"I think deep down we're all a sucker for a happy ending." Carter confessed softly with a smile as he sat alongside Discord in the hammock at his home, as a soft wind blew through their hair and the sunrise bathed over them in tender light.

He groaned and moaned, turning about in his sleep, cringing, unaware of the dark form that laid hidden by his side, whispering into his ear. Poor ol' Nick couldn't handle the onslaught of horrific images that were digging into him like knives as he tossed and turned, wearing only a pair of green and blue briefs under the comforters he was slumbering in as Error Sans calmly stood nearby, his grin the work of demons. He was happy, he was sick. He was some dark, disgusting thing that God had wanted shoved under a rock and some idiot had dug him up.

And now...their plan was underway. Sombra had a gift of tapping into fear...

And one fear in particular was playing out in Nick's mind again and again. And soon, as he sat in front of the computer the next morning, his face solemn and disturbed, he was quaking slightly, unsure of what to write.

"Everything I do has real, REAL consequences somewhere." Nick murmured. "I guess it's true. Mankind truly doesn't have the power to create anything new so much as discover what was always there. Albeit sometimes we add a twist..." He added quietly, holding his brown-haired head in his hands. "What am I gonna do!? Now that I know how much damage I can do to them, how can I ever write anything? I...I need them to be happy. Yeah. I could do that." He realized, snapping his fingers. "Yeah! Screw those stupid ideas. I'm through accepting limits cuz someone says they're so! I don't CARE if it makes their world boring, I think they'd take boring over having to fight off evil sorcerers and living demonic nightmares any day!"

And with that, he began to type as he turned on Itunes and began to grin as he chugged down a Mountain Dew. Because you see, his job didn't just involve a lot of hard work. It involved...a lot of love.

------------------

"Shiny happy people holding hands!" Asgore sang out happily as he began to water some flowers outside his palace, Toriel calmly making her way down the road, a spring in her skipping step as she grinned in delight, the wind a balmy zephyr as she waved at Sans, who smiled and cheerily waved back.

"Shiny happy people holding!"

Sans smiled deeply, looking over at Papyrus as he played with the duckies in a pond, on a free day from Royal Guard duties as he leisurely leaned on his back and circled around in the pond outside of the castle, ducklings resting in his eye sockets as Momma duck sat on his chest. "yeah...shiny happy people loving..." Sans chuckled.

"Have I ever told you how absolutely wonderful I find your hair, my dear?" Big Mac cheerily inquired of Cheerilee as they made their way through the market, people's singing softly ringing through the air, Big Mac giving her the tenderest of kisses as Cheerilee blushed even more deeply than her red cheeks allowed, Spike walking alongside Twilight as she sighed in delight, beholding it all.

"Just another perfect morning in my quiet valley town." She intoned, Doctor Hooves tossing a thrown away candy wrapper into a garbage bin. It accidentally looked like it was going to bounce out, but Derpy caught it expertly, tossing it back inside. Not so much as a single speck of garbage was on the streets, everyone was cheery and smiling, children all on their way home for the weekend as the sun shone beautifully overhead. There was nary a cloud in the sky save for one that Rainbow Dash was lying on, happily snoozing away whilst Fluttershy was sitting in front of her many gathered animals, all of whom were holding cupcakes, flower bouquets and candies, all of her.

"Ohhhhh, you shouldn't have!" Fluttershy said as she clasped her hooves together, beaming in delight whilst Shinedown T. Mare looked over at his adopted son, Squirt with Frisk, Asriel and Kid as they all played what appeared to be a dancing game that he'd hooked up to his television. Ah, the wonders of modern technology.

"Thanks for helping me with this, Squirt." the little Monster Kid said cheerily, Squirt nodding cheerily with his poofy black mane, Kid now having mannequin arms duct-taped to his sides as Shinedown sighed. He was GOING to critique Squirt for keeping a "memento" from his little escapade when he realized...

"...why don't I feel...annoyed?" He murmured aloud, an intellectual concern rising in his mind even as his smile didn't leave his face. He tried to think about what Squirt had done a few months back, but the more he tried to concentrate on that, on the irritation he'd felt at seeing what Squirt had done, on the disappointment he'd felt in knowing his adopted son had broken the law for a PRANK, but...

"...I need to go." He said quickly, ducking out of his home, racing for Twilight's home, bursting down the door as Twilight was calmly sitting on the couch and reading a book as Spike sat nearby, looking over the pages. "Twilight, something isn't right! I can't feel angry or irritated or disappointed!"

"...why's that a bad thing?" Spike asked, Shinedown gaping, the Earth pony stunned by this. "Dude, just relax!"

"Twilight, something's wrong!" Chara yelled out, entering her room as a mobile twirled about over her head, Chara's eyes wide with concern. "I was looking over a photo album of me and Mom and Dad and I started thinking of my OLD mom and dad."

"Yes? And?" Twilight asked, nonchalantly looking up from her book. "Whatever is the matter?"

"I was trying to remember how angry I was that they didn't notice I was hurting, but I...I couldn't feel it! I could barely remember anything about them at all!"

Twilight blinked a bit, as if trying to focus on something, lips faintly pursed, but then...she shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure it wasn't that important. Would you like some cookies?"

"Something is very...very wrong here." Shinedown muttered. "Chara, I need to test something. A theory I have. We need to find..." He hesitated. "...DISCORD." He groaned, making for the bathroom as he closed the door behind him and Chara, Chara scratching his head as Shinedown gripped the sink.

"What're you doing?"

"Trust me on this. Discord. Discord. Discord." Shinedown repeated, looking into the mirror as Discord suddenly manifested...on the bathroom, looking up at them, gaping, an Ipad in his paw. "OUGH!" Shinedown proclaimed, cringing as he and Chara stepped back, Discord blinking as he looked down at the Ipad.

"What? I squat and surf. It's the best. I'm playing XCom right now. Absolutely wonderful game. A FAR greater improvement over that abysmal 'Trexels' nonsense." He muttered, rolling his yellow, red-pupiled eyes before realizing what they were freaking out over. "Oh. Come now, like you've never walked in on someone in the bathroom before?"

"Why can you be summoned on the BATHROOM?!" Shinedown asked.

"I don't have rules!" Discord remarked. "I didn't even know I could be summoned by that little trick you did. Probably won't ever work again..." He grumbled with a shrug before Shinedown grinned in delight. "Whatever is so funny?"

"You're exactly the same! I was right! Everyone in town but those like us are effected by something. Everyone else is all happy-happy, joy-joy!" Shinedown proclaimed, slamming his hoof into a palm and chuckling. "We've got to get hold of Queen Chrysalis and perhaps check in Princess Luna and my sister to find out what's going on with everyone else!"

Unbeknownst to all of them, King Sombra was watching, smiling darkly as he chuckled, fading into the shadows before manifesting atop a large mountaintop that overlooked Ponyville. "Such a little town...full of little people. All now utterly helpless." He intoned. "Finally we can begin our work properly." He said as he began to chuckle, and then began to laugh...

Before he suddenly felt a chill go through him and he looked around. Wait. Had he...had he felt the Earth slightly shake? He waited, and another rumble of the Earth made his eyes widen. It wasn't a normal earthquake. He KNEW what this was. Something was making its way up from the Underground, and there were only two species that did that. But which one?

The ancient tunnelway system far, far below the valley. He had to look it over. He focused and teleported himself, moving through the shadows as his eyes glittered in the blackness and peered out...the same eyes widening as he beheld the horror making its way through the expanse. He recognized those...things...anywhere. The torches. The facepaint. The SMELL.

...the horns...

"Oh my stars and bucking garters." He murmured.

...

...

...

... "I needed a VOLUNTEER to explain this strange phenomenon that's happening to us." Shinedown admitted as he trotted back and forth in front of everyone, all of them assembled in Alphys's private lab. The lights in the lab cast their shadows on the wall as Queen Chrysalis, Chara and Discord all sat together, Shinedown gesturing at his sister. "Luckily my sister needs ten bucks."

Trixie nonchalantly sat in a nearby chair, holding up one hoof...her brain somehow hovering in the middle as Discord glanced from Shinedown to her. "My boy...however is she doing this?"

"With great difficulty!" Trixie said without a hint of irony. "Be glad my hat's on!" She added, Chara giggling a bit before Queen Chrysalis elbowed him in the side.

"Shh. I want to know what's going on."

"There's different parts of the brain that have VERY heavy influence on our behavior. For example...this is the party of the brain that controls reflexes." Shinedown said with a calm nod as the blue mohawked Earth pony took a pointer stick and poked a part of Trixie's frontal lobe, as her hoof slapped her face. Shinedown immediately got a devilish look and poked it again and again. "Why are you hitting yourself? Why are you hitting yourself?" He chuckled.

"Shinedown, really, can we hurry this up? People are...smiling through the windows." Queen Chrysalis grumbled, shuddering a bit. More and more people were accumulating outside the windows. It HAD just been Sans and Papyrus. But now Derpy and Doctor Hooves and Big Mac and Cheerilee were there as well. It was creepy. Normally she would be overjoyed to soak in so much happiness and love, but this was...TOO much. It was suffocating her.

"Right, right, sorry. This part of the brain controls blood flow..." Shinedown said, poking another part of the brain as he blinked in surprise, blood dribbling down from both Trixie's hooves as faint Latin music seemed to fill the air.

"...well THAT'S prophetic." Shinedown admitted with a nod. "But THIS? This is the part of the brain that influences happiness, joy and generally nice behavior." He added, poking that part of the brain as Trixie cheerily grinned at them all.

"Gosh, isn't it a swell day?"

"Yes. Very swell. I'll be sure to tell Wally and Lumpy about it too." Discord said, laughing hysterically, trying to keep his snorting surpressed as best he could through his paw and claws. "PFFFFTTT! HAHAHAHAHAAAA..."

"Something in the air is having a  magical effect that's putting pressure on that lobe." Shinedown explained. "Uh, Trixie, hold the brain up a bit?" He asked, Trixie nodding and holding her brain up as Shinedown carefully took out some powder from one of the many pockets he had on his belt, blowing it at the brain. The shimmery black and silver dust settled, and it made the lobe faintly glow with a comforting, sweet green light as Shinedown gestured at it. "You see? Everyone's got that aura surrounding it."

"Why don't we?" Chara wanted to know before he suddenly blinked, Chrysalis shaking her head.

"I would think that'd be obvious. We're all...or WERE...evil. But..." She blinked then, looking up at Shinedown. "Why are YOU unaffected by the odd magical spell that's ensnared everyone else? I know of your incredibly dirty tricks you pulled off against Sombra and Error Sans, they were positively INSPIRED. They were sneaky, sleazy, underhanded, and I've never heard of anything so deviously shady! Have you ever considered a career in the Changeling MILITARY?"

Shinedown shook his head. "Your armor makes my butt itch." He said, Queen Chrysalis wondering how he KNEW that and deciding it was best not to ask. But still-

"I've killed before." He answered them, Discord gaping slightly, Chara slightly drawing in a breath as Queen Chrysalis raised an eyebrow up, Trixie blinking a little as she looked at him.

"Well that doesn't sound nice." She said, Shinedown sighing as he trotted over to her and opened up the hat, carefully easing the brain back in as he zipped the skull shut, Queen Chrysalis trying not to cringe at the sight as Chara "ooohed" in amazement, Discord looking intrigued as Shinedown helped Trixie out of the room, then came back, his face solemn and quiet.

"You've killed?" Chrysalis asked.

"I'm not just aware of the other timelines. I've been to them." He said softly. "And I'll leave it at that for now. But I've killed people. Hurt them badly." His blue eyes turned cold. "For reasons good and bad. And every night I feel my sins crawling on my back. But speaking of such things..." His eyes narrowed intensely. "I think I know who might be behind this. We gotta find that blue-string-using little puppetmaster and fast."

...

...

...

...and where WAS Error Sans? He'd tied up Frisk, Asriel, Monster Kid and Squirt in their home, and was now currently playing on a piano as Frisk nervously glanced about. Being possessed by Chara had left the faintest lingering dark edge on him and, after all, there had been some timelines where they'd fought and killed out of self-defense, unsure of what else to do. As such, Frisk was now trapped, half and half, unsure of what to feel, but faintly aware something bad was going on, and that he should feel afraid.

"Allow me to play for you a little song." Error Sans said as the freakishly-dressed, monstrous murderer smirked at them all, yellow, red and black hands dancing over the keys of the piano he sat at. "Ohhhh! Isn't it awfully nice to have a penis? Isn't it frightfully good to have a dong? It's swell to own a stiffy! Divine to own a dick! From the tiniest little tadger to the world's biggest prick! So three cheers for your Willy or John Thomas! Hooray for your one eyed trouser snake! Your piece of pork, your wife's best friend, your Percy or your cock. You can wrap it up in ribbons, you can slip it in your sock. But don't take it out in public or they will stick you in the dock, and you won't! Come! Back! Athankyouverymuch."

"I guess your sense of humor really ISN'T that changed."

"It's like I used to say. Ladies and dogs love me for the same reason. I always got a BONE ready for 'em." Error Sans said nonchalantly, the blue strands turning all of them upside down as he nonchalantly held up a large, sharpened bone, calmly tapping the end of it as he twirled it about. "I used to be so blessfully ignorant. And then...then I learned the truth about the timelines. It's a horror almost beyond imagining. But it's gonna end soon. It'll take a while, but the good news is that I've found out something interesting."

Frisk felt raw, pure, unbridled fear sinking into them as Error sneered at them. "Frisks like you are kinda tied together. One Frisk can influence another. And you influence so many, taking you out'll create a nice lil' shockwave. It'll be like I'm killing off five at once!"

"That doesn't sound...nice." Asriel muttered out. "Hoo boy. All the blood's rushin' to my head." He muttered.

"Oh, it isn't YET, but trust me...it WILL be." Error Sans said as he began to snigger before suddenly Sombra tackled him and shook his jacketed form. "What are you DOING?! I'm finally about to-"

"We don't have time! We need to undo all of this and YESTERDAY!" Sombra insisted fervently, his eyes wide, as Error saw something in him that he had never, ever seen before.

King Sombra was FRIGHTENED.

"What's going on?" Error asked, blinking as King Sombra's voice softly whispered.

"The Caribou are coming."

The Crystal Empire was almost impenetrable from the north. After all, beyond the North was nothing but ice, ice, and oh! More ice! The WINDS were pure ice. The lakes were frozen solid. The mountains themselves were pure ice. Everything was ice. Nothing could possibly, ever-ever-EVER make it to the Empire. And certainly not the pathetic Banshees. Not that they hadn’t tried. Oh, they had.

Sombra had personally EATEN one alive. He found them very exotic, but not very filling. After that display, they never came back. And none of the inhabitants of the Crystal Empire had ever thought about running away. When your ruler’s method for warding off intruders was a public execution involving eating you alive, you tended to just bow your head.

But the Caribou were different. Sombra’s magical mirrors had eyes on every corner of his empire, and he’d noticed movement to the North. He had seen the advancing dark horde of the Caribou, their horns huge and heavy as they sauntered down the frigid paths, heading slowly but steadily towards his kingdom. Their fur was thick and foul, their eyes having faint, twitching pupils that made them seem as though they weren’t focusing on anything for very long, their feet huge and powerful, making loud CLOM-CLOM-CLOM noises as they walked slowly towards his kingdom.

Something would have to be done. And Sombra knew firsthand that if you wanted something done right…do it yourself.

The icy roadways of the mountains were filled with shadows. He slithered through the darkness as it wrapped him in his velvet cloak, and he disguised himself as one of them, his powerful magic easily hiding him behind a glamor. And soon, he was in the encampment they’d set up about 50 miles away from his kingdom, and observing them…wishing he had sent someone else.

The smell hit his nostrils first. Had these people ever taken a bath? Worse still, they were pigs. They ate slobbily and messily, large tongues slurping up huge swaths of soup and rough teeth digging into clearly obvious meat dishes. Sombra didn’t mind. He’d dined upon other ponies before. But this was rough and harsh, without a trace of dignity. Worse still, several apparent younger caribou that looked rather feeble and pathetic compared to their fellow brethren had…missing horns.

At first he hadn’t been sure of what this meant. So he’d tried to ask it directly from a female caribou named Carrie.

Yes. The Caribou were not very imaginative.

Sneaking his way past huge tents made of fur and flesh, trying to ignore the faint smell they gave off, he placed a hoof upon her chest, her eyes going wide, pupils dilating as he looked deep into her eyes. His red pupils were all she saw, green irises glittering as she quivered in fear and…erotic excitement.

“Tell me what you know of the hornless ones.” He had demanded, the two cloaked in shadow, cut off from the world…and he could tell she only saw him. “Now.”

“Oh, YES, a-absolutely!” Carrie had said, practically blushing. Sombra couldn’t believe it. It appeared that caribou yearned to be dominated by the strong. “They’re too weak to fight for a position in our front lines, so they’re emergency food supplies, master! If they won’t kill, they’ll BE killed!”

“Interesting philosophy.” Sombra remarked.

“It’s the Caribou way, sir. The survival of the fittest. And we’re the fittest around. Or at least, I thought. But you?” She murmured, reaching forward, caressing his cheek, making him blink in surprise. “Your eyes say it all. You’ve freely killed and enslaved. Your will is washing over mine. I…I can’t resist.”

He blinked some more, staring back at her before calmly patting her forehead, turning back to normal. “You will stay silent about my true form. But you will continue to inform me of everything the Caribou are planning.” He explained to her, giving her a little necklace that appeared to have a green tear upon it. “Hold it and speak. I will see what you see and hear what you say.”

“Oh, absolutely, sir.” She insisted, taking the necklace and nodding, blushing even deeper, blinking her deep brown eyes.

Over the next few weeks, Sombra would listen intently to what Carrie had to say, and watched all she had to share. And Heaven knew Sombra had seen some horrific things in his life. DONE horrific things. And at first it was amusing to watch these stupid-looking, rotten-teethed, foul-smelling idiots fighting over the dumbest things. They would challenge each other to death battles over one of them stealing their jerky.

Their horns would slam into each other, heads crashing like thunder breaking through the skies. They would strike and slam against one another, biting into each other’s necks, the blood flowing freely, and Sombra would watch on his throne, hooves quietly placed together, face firm. Even when they decided to try out some of the “Emergency supplies”, he kept his hooves together…but a look of disgust came on his face as he tried to shut out the terrified, screaming young caribou’s cries.

…he failed miserably.

He heard the chomping. The tearing of flesh. Wet and heavy and hot.

He tried to block that out too.

…he failed miserably.

“It’s their own fault for being born that way.” Carrie had reasoned over the hidden connection. “Those who cannot contribute to the war effort should die. In life, they had no meaning. In death, they do. As food!”

“…stop talking.” Sombra demanded. “And don’t start again until I tell you to.”

“Yes, sir.” Carrie said quickly, shutting up as she decided, hey, as long as they were eating, might as well-

Sombra thanked whatever merciful God existed that she didn’t bother to keep holding onto the necklace as the connection cut out.

But then it had happened. They had learned that she had a “little friend” she spoke to, for the Caribou had taken notice, at long last, of the odd necklace around her thick neck. And their leader had been observing her in silence for days, just waiting for the right moment.

Now they were on the border of his kingdom, and Sombra had woken up to check the connection…only to find someone else was using it, holding Carrie’s head up in front of a crowd of caribou. Their faces were covered in foul war paint like tar, and they bellowed and roared, hooting and hollering as a rough hoof held Carrie’s head up.

“We have one of our WHORES here who very stupidly decided not to tell the Mighty Caribojangles about her “little friend”!”

“Lord Sombra is a far better leader than you! I have no fear of you compared to HIM!” Carrie had defiantly cried out, forced on her knees. “Just one look into his eyes and my heart felt as if he was gripping it to rip it in two!”

“Oh, well I think I can make HIM fear ME.” Caribojangles coldly intoned. Despite his pathetic, ridiculous name, Sombra wasn’t laughing. He gripped the throne, eyes wide as he heard the Caribou commander speak. “I know you’re watching through this. I want you to see this. I want EVERYONE! TO SEE THIS!” He roared out, taking hold of Carrie’s head in one hand before looking down at himself, Sombra’s eyes widening. “I want you watch this. And watch real. BUCKING. close.” The Caribou leader whispered pitilessly.

Sombra’s hooves flew to his mouth as the Caribou Leader shot forward and-

“OH GOD.” He whispered.

He had had NO idea that this…this THING would go that far. Would do something so twisted and depraved and…and SICK. What sort of disgusting freak would kill a woman by…

“You DEPRAVED FUCKING MONSTER.” He finally snarled out.

“Why?” Caribojangles asked coldly. “Because I kill and rape? That simply makes me honest. I do what most hunger for…and I do it with purpose.”

“You cannot just-just…” Sombra began to say. “There are lines you don’t cross!” He screamed back. “And you just crossed it ten times over!”

“Like your rape of her mind was any better than what I’ve just done?” Caribojangles remarked with a snort.

“I’m sorry barbarian, are YOU!? Actually trying to give a moral lecture to ME?” Sombra snarled, his eyes flaring up as he gripped the throne tightly. “You will all. DIE. I will not do you the kindness of ENSLAVING you. I will leave none of you alive.”

He cut the connection, tearing off his own necklace and storming down the hall, letting out a roar as his enslaved Crystal Pony guard immediately raced to his side. “I want a TRENCH dug.” He demanded darkly. “Filled with fuel. Here’s what we’re going to do…”

…

…

…

… “I had assumed it worked. Because they had all trudged right into the trench, trying to get across it to get to my kingdom. I lit it on fire, and watched it smolder, and not a single one of them crawled out.” Sombra murmured as he sat in the living room with the others, his face somber and cold. “I assumed they were all dead. But I saw him. I saw Caribojangles. His body is burned and ravaged…yet he lives. And I know why. He had an extra horn.” He muttered. “…He has magic power.”

“He must have somehow crawled out and gone back home. I’m just surprised it took him this long to come back…” ERROR Sans grunted. “Well. This is a problem, then. We’ve got raping, pillaging lunatics on their way to Ponyville through the underground. You SURE you saw the trench burn?”

“I watched it for an entire day.” Sombra said, his smile wry and cold. “I felt no remorse. They didn’t deserve any mercy.”

Frisk, though still not quite his normal self the same way Asriel currently wasn’t, looked bothered by this. “That doesn’t sound nice.” He said. “I think everyone can be good if they try.”

“That is a typical answer for a child. An understandable one. But not a very realistic one.” Sombra intoned. “If he was able to survive an entire day of being burned alive, could you defeat him?”

“I…don’t know.” ERROR Sans muttered. “My wires are good, but I’m not so hot with lots of targets. If it was just him, maybe, but…that army?”

“Then we handle the army first.” Squirt said as he looked over at Monster Kid, Asriel and Frisk. “Uh…you three should um…I know! Get the town out of…well, town. We need to evacuate everyone. Say, uh…say that Celestia’s invited all of Ponyville to Canterlot for a big party!”

“Ooh, a party! They’d love that!” Asriel said with a grin before blinking. “But isn’t that a lie? And isn’t lying wrong?”

“When you see an ugly baby, are you gonna tell the newborn’s parents their child looks like a squashed pumpkin, or will you tell them “Ohhh, he’s adorable”?” Sombra inquired calmly. “Sometimes a little lie in life is fine if it makes people feel better. And this little lie will make your friends feel MUCH better. The alternative is Caribou.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the enslaving unicorn lunatic who ate a banshee alive has a point.” Squirt remarked, shuddering as he wrapped his arms around himself. “Let’s get everyone outta here. FAST.”

Meanwhile, our “heroes” were trying to do work on getting Spike to write a letter and on trying to cure Twilight. “So here’s what we want you to write.” Discord remarked, pacing back and forth in front of Spike as Twilight sat in a nearby chair, Chrysalis helping to mix up ingredients in a nearby vat as Shinedown assisted her. Chara, meanwhile, had taken off, insisting he had an idea. Shinedown held up a foul-smelling potion, sniffing at it and groaning as he turned to Chrysalis.

“You’re sure this will work?”

“This is one of my most common ways of hypnotism. We need to get her and the rest of her friends to listen to us, and this is the only way.” Chrysalis reasoned. “She still has the Element within her, and we need that along with the others. So get her to guzzle it down!” She insisted with a firm nod, Shinedown sighing as he held up a spoon, Twilight blinking in surprise.

“Here comes the choo-choo train!” He said, waving the spoon about slightly. “Open up!”

“I dunno, it looks ugly.” Twilight admitted as Shinedown inwardly groaned.

“Please, just cuz something LOOKS foul doesn’t mean it’s bad.” He insisted. “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” He then tilted his head slightly. “Although to be fair, you can usually judge a movie by it’s cover.”

“And the inside cover of a book often tells you a lot about what’s inside it.” Twilight offered.

“Good point. Still, give it a try.” Shinedown offered as Twilight took a sip of it, her eyes swirling about, mouth slightly agape as she stammered, pupils turning into swirls. “Is she…yep! Hypnotized.” He said with a grin.

“Okay, Twilight. I want you to call up the Element of Harmony within you…the Element of MAGIC!” Chrysalis proclaimed dramatically, the wind whipping around her, hair lashing about as she cackled evilly…

And Twilight just stared ahead, blinking dumbly. Chrysalis frowned, then whacked Twilight over the head. “HEY! Element of Magic! Now!”

“Can’t.”

“WHADDYA MEAN, YOU CAN’T?!” Chrysalis shrieked, Shinedown gaping in surprise.

“The Elements are about Harmony, mistress. Bein’ brainwashed breaks that. Means we can’t use it. I saw the same thing when we tried it on Discord years ago.” The hypnotized Twilight remarked as Chrysalis cringed.

“Oh, BUCK ME.” She moaned, Shinedown slapping his face with a hoof. “Damn it, that makes perfect sense. Why don’t we ever think of these things ahead of time?”

“If you DID, you probably wouldn’t be a “villain”.” Shinedown admitted.

“Luckily for you, I, being reformed long before you, will save the day. I’ll just have Celestia and Luna pay us a little visit.” Discord said with a grin as he gestured at Spike. “At long last, they’ll finally show off their true might and-”

Spike let out a belch, and with a burst of green flame another letter appeared, unrolling parchment flopping onto Discord as he picked it up, eyes going wide. “What the-oh you have simply GOT to be kidding me!” He moaned out. “Dear Discord: We will certainly swing by as soon as we can. We’re currently in Saddle Arabia, working on their ABYSMAL drought. From now on, they’ll have lakes, rivers and pools every square mile. No more issues with water anymore. This issue was considerably easier to fix than the issues with the Dragons, who were unsure if they wanted to eat us or not until we salted most of the mountain ranges they called home with gem veins. They should be just fine for the next…say…two centuries. At least in terms of food…”

“Well, people always wondered why they didn’t intervene more. Ironically now that we really WANT their help…we can’t get it!” Shinedown moaned, whacking his face and tugging it down just as the door opened and Chara led Asgore in. “Oh! Your majesty, whatever is the matter?”

“Am I to understand that things aren’t quite right here?” He inquired, looking…considerably different. His face was less…happy.

“Chara, what happened?”

“Well, I told him something was wrong with everyone and how they didn’t seem able to be capable of getting angry or the like, and it was as if I snapped him right out of whatever he was in.” Chara admitted. “I guess cuz…you know…” He trailed off. “…The Six Souls…”

They all silently stared at Asgore, who quietly hung his head. “I saw their faces in front of me when Chara began to speak, and then…it was as if a light had switched back on.”

Nor, indeed, was he the only one. Absolute guilt had hit Undyne and Alphys hard, and the two were now wrapped up in a blanket in Alphys’s home, Undyne trying to comfort her…whilst Sans just sat under the stairs in his basement, head buried in his arms, unmoving…feeling his sins crawling on his back.

“When you have gained a Level of Violence like I have, then…you cannot keep guilt at bay forever.” Asgore intoned softly, his gigantic face solemn and mournful as Chara smiled, giving him a gentle squeeze of his hand.

“Hey, uh…I ain’t always good with touchy feely stuff. But…cheer up. We’re here.” He offered.

“Oh, yes. You should be happy you’re surrounded by friendship. After all, it’s magic!” Twilight admitted.

“Kill me now”. Chrysalis groaned before a voice rang out.

“Don’t tempt us.”

They turned to the outside, seeing ERROR Sans, Sombra and Squirt standing there, Sombra’s face solemn and dark. “The Caribou are coming here.” He intoned, Discord’s eyes widening.

“Wait. The Caribou?! THOSE things?! Those…those murdering genocidal sociopathic rapists?! How?! I heard you burned them all alive!”

“You burned an entire race alive? WOW, that is cold.” Chara admitted, looking somewhat impressed all the same.

“Their leader survived. Now he is back for more.” Sombra intoned darkly. “I saw his forces moving through the underground tunnelways, and they make for Ponyville. If action is not taken soon…”

“Then we’re aaaaall screwed. I can maybe fight one or two at a time. I can’t fight off an entire army and none of these pony morons are willing to fight. They’re all too busy…SMILING.” Error grumbled as various ponies walked by, waving a hoof in the air.

“We can’t get the Element Bearers to help. Hypnotizing them to use the Elements is worthless.” Chrysalis remarked. “Do we have enough worthy fighters here to face the Caribou?”

“We don’t need to necessarily fight them.” Squirt said with a grin. “I got an idea. First, we need to get everyone out of the city. And then we turn the system beneath the town against the Caribou. I had a prank idea I never used…”

Shinedown gave Squirt a look, but rubbed his chin. “Alright…what’s your idea?”

“We have an elaborate sewer system below the city too, right?” Squirt asked as he paced back and forth in front of everyone as they glanced at each other. “In tunnelways below the Earth? Well what happens if we connect THAT to the natural passageways?”

“…that is the sickest, most disgusting idea I’ve EVER heard out of your mouth.” Shinedown remarked. “That’s just TERRIBLE.”

And then he grinned. “Tell us MORE.”

“Sigh…another day…”

Celestia lowered her head, closing her eyes as she put her head to the desert sands below, her rainbow mane flowing freely. All the Saddle Arabians watched in awe as her horn glowed, and then before their eyes as Luna hovered overhead…it sprang forth. A beautiful natural spring that looked as though it had always belonged there, waterfalls pouring into an immense lake as more and more sprang up around the desert. Luna held her hooves high and from the skies came forth beautiful, crystal clear rain, bathing over the overjoyed crowd as they cheered and happily whooped and hollered.

“Another wonderful opportunity for discoveries. Voila! An end to the drought! Voila! An end to your hunger!” She added, beautiful trees filled with fresh fruit rising all around the springs, delicious-looking berries popping up on bushes all around. “Voila!”

She pointed her horn at a poor Earth pony Saddle Arabian covered in festering boils who was barely able to wrap rags around himself to cover up his disgusting visage and he gasped as he looked down at himself, now utterly cured as Luna flew down towards a horn-broken-off Unicorn. “A cure for Leprosy!”

“Voila!” Luna proclaimed, touching HER horn to the stub that the poor Saddle Arabian had and before everyone’s eyes, it too began to heal. “A cure for Broken Horn Syndrome!”

Immediately, all of the assembled dark-furred Saddle Arabians bowed their heads, falling to their knees or on their bellies in grateful worship as Celestia and Luna tenderly nodded back. “Thank you, thank you. But your praise is not needed. We only desire for you to live decent, good lives. Enjoy these boons we have given you.” The two insisted firmly as they made their way up, up and into the air, flying off.

“Where shall we head to next, sister?” Celestia inquired before suddenly a scroll popped up right in front of her with a green burst of flame, and she caught it in one hoof, opening it up. “Oh! It says that the inhabitants of Ponyville, from our little ponies to Monsterkind are all so happy with their lives here they want to celebrate the anniversary of their arrival at our palace in Canterlot! They’re already there and working on a big “surprise party”.”

“Why the quotation marks?” Luna inquired

“I KNOW Pinkie wrote that part.” Celestia said with a little smile. “She’s got that darling little twirl to her writing.”

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, the town was now deserted, leaving only a small band behind to save all of Equestria and to fend off the encroaching Caribou horde. Squirt, Chrysalis, Discord and Sombra were making their way into the underground tunnelways which had been naturally carved from the earth below the town, with one purpose: redirecting the sewerways. They too were situated just below the town, and what Squirt intended to do was a bit of rearranging. Connecting one tunnelway…to another.

Of course, it would take QUITE a bit of magic to pull this off, and they didn’t have a lot of time. So they had to work fast, with Discord using his considerably powerful might to help them direct their efforts. Putting on a hard hat and snapping his claws, an enormous map stretched out in front of them made of shimmering light, perfectly illustrating the Ponyville sewer system overlayed over the natural passageways below the town as his eyes faintly glowed.

“We’ll have to connect them here…here…and here.” Sombra said, pointing at three points on the map. “Those are the passageways that lead directly up to the town. One by the schoolhouse, one right below city hall as an emergency escape route, and another…there.”

“By FLUTTERSHY’S home? Oh wow, that woulda been close.” Squirt remarked as he shook his head. “Well that’s not gonna happen. It’s a shame Sans can’t help us with this.”

“His ability to move things about with his unique magic is for ORGANIC targets. Beings that have souls can easily be affected by his magic. Without a soul, his magic is nigh useless. It’s why he has to teleport or dodge attacks instead of simply snapping his fingers to halt a bullet shooting towards him.” Sombra calmly informed the youngling.

“That’s fine, my boy. They’ll do their part. Because there’s still Caribojangles…” Discord remarked with a dark frown. “We need him dealt with by heavy hitters while we…take out the TRASH.” He said, adjusting the construction worker helmet atop his head, eyes glittering as Chrysalis and Sombra’s horns surged with raw magical power and Squirt dove into a pouch on his belt, blowing dust over the two as their horns began to pulsate.

“Oh MY! What a delightful tingle!” Chrysalis cooed, murring almost erotically as Sombra licked his lips. “This feels niiiice. Whatever did you do?”

“My dad’s been teaching me the art of crushing up magical ingredients for powder, to help him out with stuff. We figured out ringwort and blue mushrooms will increase raw strength, but blue mushrooms and parasprite blood mixed together with crushed gems increase MAGICAL power. For about…five minutes.”

“Channel your energies. Focus. Breath in…” Discord commanded. “And focus on moving the tunnelways.” He said, putting a hand on each of their heads so they could see as HE could, and see the natural tunnelways stretching out before them. They focused intensely, a burning, powerful tingling sensation filling their frames as the tunnelways began to shift and shudder, and Squirt grinned with delight, hearing the sounds of the underground shifting about…and the unmistakable wet, schlurping, sloughing sounds that accompanied them, knowing his plan was working perfectly.

“I am a SICK pony.” He chuckled.

…

…

…

… “So…”

Asgore, Shinedown, Chara and the Sanses stood at the edge of Ponyville, Caribojangles standing there. Unlike all the other Caribou, he had done something they hadn’t thought was possible.

He had dug himself squarely up. Up, up through what had to have been a full two miles worth of natural earth…to emerge outside the town’s limits. He had dig and dug and dig and dug, and was now covered in dirt and muck and grime. But frankly, that was an improvement. Caribojangles smelled bad. He looked bad. He even sounded bad. His voice reminded Shinedown of the sound of your throat having been crushed, and you were TRYING to say something, anything, but failing miserably, your voice now a wet, squelchy mess.

And they WISHED his voice was a wet squishy mess that made what he said inaudible. But no. Despite the ugly, hateful tone…they could hear every single word he said, his hair flopping over what looked like a badly-burnt face, one eye blind and burned to a crisp, leaving nothing but a hollow empty hole of a socket, the other a seething, furious, sneering deep brown that looked ugly.

Ugly. Everything about Caribojangles was ugly. His horns were ugly and misshapen, his muscles looked like it HURT to be him, hurt to have that much on him. He had flies circling around his flies, his hair was shaggy and unkempt, and his teeth were gnarled and crooked and matted with old bloodstains. Half his fur had clearly never, ever grown back from being burnt off all those years ago, showing off near-rotten skin that almost had muscle and sinew exposed, ugly purple bruises left behind…

Ugly. Just. Plain. Ugly.

“You got a lot of nerve showing your face here.” Shinedown spoke softly.

“I know your eyes. You’ve got HIS eyes.” Caribojangles said, his singular eye narrowing. “…one of his spawn.”

“Sombra is unfortunately my ancestor.” Shinedown said as he took out something from the belt he wore, showing off a long, looong chain that had a wicked, ornate hook blade at the end. He began to quietly twirl it in one hoof, his deep blue eyes coldly gazing back at Caribojangles. “And UNFORTUNATELY I evidently inherited his penchant for cruelty.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. So. Where are all these lovely little ponies I’ve heard so much about from the tribes to the North? They had nothing but nice things to say about their wonderful trading partners, led by the ever-wise Celestia and Luna. And much to my surprise, I find MONSTERS here as well? Oh, this day just keeps getting better.” Caribojangles chuckled as he looked over at Error Sans and Normal Sans. “So you’re a skeleton? I wonder…if I used your skull for sex, and then a decorative birdhouse…would that make me a necrophiliac?”

“You are one sick puppy, you know that? And I know sick.” Error Sans commented coldly.

“Everyone to their own tastes. Mine is for corpses.” Caribojangles said with a scraggly grin as he licked over his teeth with an overly red tongue. “Among other things. As Sombra learned...probably why he burnt me alive.” His eyes turned foul and twistedly dark. "I didn't much CARE...for that!"

“You will leave now. You are outnumbered.” Asgore demanded furiously, clutching his trident with barely-restrained fury at this disgusting specimen of being.

“Outnumbered, yes. But you’re…outclassed.” Caribojangles proclaimed, the hollowness in his eyes suddenly bursting forth, ugly, hateful, oozing blackness swelling forth, rocketing towards them. They all barely dived out of the way in time as the town hall went up in a horrific blaze of big, black flame that looked like a mixture of ooze and oily vomit blended together, Caribojangles cackling insanely as Asgore turned pale. He had seen that type of magic only once before…and now he knew how Caribojangles had stayed alive.

“Necromancy. You’re a LICH.” He realized aloud.

“Tell you what, sir. You win, and you can keep my heart.” Caribojangles laughed, reaching up with a hoof as he pulled aside a patch of fur on his chest, revealing a rotten, disgusting, maggot-ridden heart that was barely beating, Error Sans’s eyes turning into pinpricks in his sockets as the caribou leader turned to him. “Well look at that. SOMEBODY’S interested. For some it’s hot women. For others it’s hot men. But you see an insanely powerful magical item…and it’s a party in your pants!”

“That’s enough chatter!” Shinedown roared out, his chain shooting forth with almost insane speed, latching around Caribojangle’s throat as he tugged him forth. “GET OVER HERE!”

KRA-KRAK! He kicked him. Hard. And the caribou leader was sent spiraling towards a tree, crashing through it but quickly rising back up, ugly, foul wings of bone stretching out from his shoulders as he launched himself at them all, cackling madly as Asgore’s trident turned a familiar blue color and Error Sans and Sans looked the Caribou leader over.

“He almost doesn’t have a soul.” Error commented.

“well…almost only counts in horseshoes.” Sans said with a smirk.

Meanwhile, the caribou were trotting along through the dark expanses, frowning to themselves. As they had continued their trek through the darkness, their torches had gone out. Now they had to rely on the simple instruction that their leader had given: simply follow the path until you see the light. That will bring you to the town, and to new conquests. Yet though they kept following the path, occasionally bumping into the walls, something was off.

It began to smell worse and worse, and the trudge further and further down the path was becoming harder and harder. The ground beneath their feet was oddly soft, almost wet, and those in back were beginning to grumble.

“Somethin’ ain’t right. Why’s it getting’ harder and harder to move?”

“I can’t see a damn thing!”

“Can’t somebody light a new torch?”

“With what?! We ran out of  matches!”

“Can you even HOLD a match in your big, meaty hoofs?”

“What did you say?!”

“BIG! MEATY! HOOFS!”

“Oh, give it a rest.” Caribojangle’s second in command at the front yelled back, the poor idiot rolling his eyes as he kept walking forward. “I think I can hear water. We must be near the town’s fountain or the like.” Cariboromir said cheerily as they all strained their ears. Sure enough, the sound of rushing water was faintly audible, and getting closer as they kept walking. A smile began to spring up on their unpleasant mugs as they grinned with delight. “Now how about a cheery little song to keep our spirits up?”

 

“Where there’s a whip! There’s a way! Where there’s a whip! There’s a way!”

“No, no, not that.” Cariboromir commented with a snort of his thick nostrils. “I don’t know what I’ve been told, but pony pus-”

But before he could finish, suddenly he slipped and fell squarely onto the ground with a loud, ugly SQLA-SCWORLCH, and everyone began to laugh. He struggled to get back up before suddenly…he realized a bunch of the overly-wet, muddy-esque “ground” had gotten all over his face and…on the edge of his lips.

His tongue slowly curled up…flicking at it.

“…tastes like shit.” Cariboromir muttered as the others began to slowly stop laughing, realizing the sound of rushing water…was getting louder.

Even though they’d stopped moving.

“Oh fuck, that’s what it IS, it’s SHIT!” Cariboromir cried out, the horrific realization coming all too soon. “OhletmeouttahereohI’mgonnablowmygroceriesohshititsSHITohmygooooooooood-”

And with a THWOOOSH, it came. An enormous, fervent, fountain of cess that spilled forth through the tunnelway, slamming into the Caribou, sweeping them down, down, back down the way they’d come. They spiraled around, spinning and twirling, mouths half-full of rotten garbage, refuse and pony waste, coughing, spluttering and howling in denial, the cry of “Oh shit it’s shit” echoing again and again through the near-endless passageways.

“WHOEVER DID THIS IS A SICK, SICK MOTHERFUCKER!” Cariboromir managed to cry out, sobbing uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, Caribojangles had grabbed hold of the chain Shinedown sent towards him anew, and had yanked the Earth pony forward, KICKING him high, high into a chimney on a nearby roof. Smirking in pride, he then slammed his hoof into the ground, and sickly shockwaves shot forth, racing towards Sans as he nonchalantly swept away, Error calmly sliding to the side as well as the two spoke as one. “C’MON. THINK I’M GONNA STAND THERE AND LET YOU HIT ME?” They asked.

But then Caribojangles twisted his horn, and the shockwaves TURNED, reeling back towards them, the two now forced to teleport onto nearby roofs as Asgore swept his blazing Trident at the lich, the blade enveloped in his blue light. The caribou howled as it dug into his neck, the head flying up, up. Asgore calmly shoved the body back…

Only for it to hold its hooves out, catching the head, putting it back on as he smirked, then tossed it straight at Asgore, who caught it in one hand.

“Hey. Wanna little head?” It asked before its tongue shot out, stabbing into Asgore’s cheek, making him reel back in a mixture of disgust and pain as the body twisted, avoiding Chara’s sweeping knife. Chara sliced and slashed, his eyes almost red as he coldly gripped the handle, his face without pity, without mercy.

“This time, when you’re killed…stay dead.” Chara demanded coldly, trying to surge forth and stab into the ugly, beating heart as Error Sans flicked his fingers. Blue thread shot forward, wrapping around the Caribou’s leg and sweeping him around and around and around.

“Don’t know about you, but I’m having a ball.” He commented wryly before Asgore tossed the head away at last, Caribojangles hopping over to the wire and BITING into it. Ugly, foul black ooze shot up, slamming into Error Sans as he howled and screamed, a foul, disgusting miasma covering his body, forcing him to leap onto Sans.

“You’re both skeletal creatures. Beings on the plane of Death. And MINE to command!” Caribojangles laughed as Chara cringed in horror, Error Sans and Normal Sans rising up, black ooze dribbling out of their sockets as they slumped forward, heading towards the group, Asgore cringing as he grasped his trident.

“We can’t hurt them! They’ve barely got any HP!” He insisted.

“The dangers of being a glass cannon.” Chara grumbled. “What’re we going to do?”

“You can DIE!” Error Sans roared out, flexing his hands, blue wires wrapping around them, slamming them into a nearby house, the walls collapsing and crashing around him. Sans snapped his fingers, Gaster Blasters rising up in the air behind him as its jaws opened wide, light coalescing around it as Caribojangles calmly watched on, nonchalantly putting his head back on as the reached up to his chest and pulled out a rib which had odd holes in it. He calmly blew into it, the thing now a harmonica of sorts as he began playing a jaunty little tune, Asgore and Chara howling in agony as they kept getting blasted and blasted, being killed by inches.

“you got so much sin crawling on your back.” Sans muttered, the ooze slowly dribbling out onto the ground below. “so…much…sin…no, no, this is wrong, stop…stop…” He murmured, the ooze mixing with tears as he tried to dismiss the Gaster Blasters, tried to call them off…but Error Sans kept them still and he couldn’t get rid of the Blasters. The lich’s will was overriding his own…

But then salvation came. Shinedown had hidden in the shadows, slinking through the town and going around them, and now his chain shot out, wrapping around Caribojangles’s neck, tugging him back, breaking his concentration. Error Sans flopped to the ground, Sans panting and heaving as Chara and Asgore rose back up, barely alive…but alive. Shinedown, meanwhile, was wrapping his hooves around the lich’s heart, trying to wrench it out, tug it out…

The caribou looked up at him, smirking coldly. “Don’t you know it’s rude to reach into someone’s chest?” He remarked, kicking Shinedown squarely in the-

“OOOOOOOH.” Chara cringed, Shinedown flopping off the Caribou lich, clutching his crotch. “Damn, man. You are cold. But hey. The nards are fair game.”

Asgore was now furious. He held his trident up and roared, and burning purplish/blue flames shot forth, surging at the Caribou, who managed to roll away…except for one that bathed over his leg.

And a look of pure, absolute, total horror came over his eyes. A brief, disturbed frenzy that made him quickly tried to pat it out, howling and gasping as Asgore’s eyes widened, Shinedown realizing what was going on as he tried to rise up.

“You’re still afraid of the fire…” Shinedown whispered coldly, realizing what Sombra had done had left an indelible stamp. And with that, he reached into his pouch, and with a shaking hoof, blew dust at  the leg and the little flame.

And with that, the flame BLEW up in a horrific blaze, the lich screeching and howling as Asgore realized now was the time. Error Sans shot his blue wires forth, Asgore holding his trident high as more and more fireballs rose up, aiming squarely down at the now-trapped lich as Shinedown rolled away, Chara helping him up as Sans clenched his fist.

“gonna be a HOT TIME in the old town tonight.” He wryly chuckled, as bones jammed into the lich’s hooves, his legs, his arms, helping along with Error Sans to keep him further still. Panicked and howling and screaming, Caribojangles’s mind was to positively terrified to think of any incantation that could free him, as wave after wave of flame barreled down on him over and OVER AND OVER-

And then, at last, Chara coldly walked over to the ashes, where a single beating heart laid, diseased and maggot-infested as he frowned darkly. “I’ll bet there’s some spell on it that keeps IT from dying too. Let’s put it in a box or something and dump it in the ocean where nobody’ll ever find it.” He grumbled.

“Or better yet…” Error Sans remarked with a wink.

And then, in an instant, they realized what he was up to, and suddenly the heart was gone, Error Sans now teleported atop a nearby roof. “It’s been fun. Really. Had a REAL great time with all of you. But a magic item this powerful, I can’t just let it go to waste.” He chuckled. “Not when there’s so much fun to be had with it! I knew I might need it, so I admit…I kinda held back against him.”

Sans growled darkly, eyes turning into dark sockets. “you didn’t go all out just so you could steal his…dirty pool.”

“Yeah. Ain’t I a stinker?” Error Sans laughed, vanishing an instant later as Asgore collapsed to his knees, panting and heaving as Chara raced over to him, Shinedown wobbling over to Sans, putting a hoof on his shoulder.

“It’ll be alright. We’ll get him eventually.” He offered. “We take this as a win.”

Meanwhile, down in the underground tunnelways, Sombra calmly stood there, Chrysalis and Discord chatting amongst each other as they headed for another exit, Squirt glancing at Sombra, who looked back at him.

“You don’t want to come with us?”

“…I’m not truly one of you.” He spoke up. “Do not forget this. Our interests aligned. But I can’t very well join you. The multiverse itself is the greatest challenge to overcome. It needs to end, child. You didn’t see what I see. Didn’t endure what I endured. It’s easy for you to dismiss me…you’ve not felt the sheer, raw, cosmic horror of beholding so many universes at once. It would…break lesser men.”

“Maybe it already did.” Squirt said sadly, looking Sombra over, his eyes quiet and thoughtful. “Maybe you ARE broken and you just don’t realize it.”

“Maybe.” Sombra admitted. “But if there’s even the smallest chance I’m right…I have to take that chance. For the sake of true freedom from imposed fate.”

“I never believed in fate anyway.”

“I didn’t either.” Sombra said, slowly vanishing into the shadows. “And you can see how well THAT turned out, little one.”

With that, he was gone…leaving Squirt behind with shadows and dust as he bit into his lip. He hoped that the Caribou were far away enough now. He hoped the others were alright. And he really, really hoped that Sombra was wrong.

And that what he did…DID matter.

…

…

…

… “I did…all that?”

Nick looked at the screen, staring almost stupidly before he covered his face and breathed in deep. He sighed slowly, shaking his head back and forth before cracking his fingers, readying to write again.

“I need to be more careful.” He muttered. “I guess it was just too easy an out that I gave them. But I hope at least SOMETHING good came from it.” He remarked as an idea began to come to him…and he began to furiously type.

Indeed, within a few days, Discord was stopping at Saddle Arabia, finding Celestia was there with a large group of native Saddle Arabians, all of whom were carefully tending to the bushes and the trees, pouring water on them, harvesting the flowers, making sure the grass stayed green and the waters cool, drinkable and safe. She smiled, turning to Discord as he looked about.

“Why all the help?”

“This kind of place needs constant care.” Celestia said. “Because if you let it slide? If you take your eyes off of it too long, neglect it too much, it’ll rot and die. You have to always be trying to keep it clean, and fresh, and good. Always TRYING.” She insisted, her tone becoming soft, and her eyes becoming far, far away. “This is how it’s almost always going to be for most things. If you’re not always trying, the standards slide. Good gardens require constant upkeep, after all, if you want them to stay beautiful. But I think it’s worth it.”

She knelt down by a bed of flowers, sniffing at it before raising her majestic head back up. “Don’t you?”

“It’ll be hard to try and be everywhere at once.”

“I don’t have to be. Because we ALL will be. More so than we used to.” She said, gesturing at the caretakers around her. “Now would you like to help me tend to the lake? Some idiots have foolishly left picnic trash floating around.”

“…maybe just this one time.” Discord said, taking out a harmonica and playing a little tune, the garbage slowly floating up, up and through the air as Celestia brought out a bag, the two tending to the little garden with their little ponies. Meanwhile, a father gently put a hoof upon his adopted son, overlooking Ponyville as the moon bathed over them softly.

“You’ve done me proud.” Shinedown admitted softly. “That was a brilliant idea, Squirt. Your birth parents don’t know what they were missing, giving you up.”

“…how do you know how to kill?” Squirt finally asked. “You never told me how you got that…hard. And…and cold.”

His adopted father was silent for a long time. Then…

“I…hurt people I thought were hurting others. I didn’t realize they were just slaves to someone even worse. But that doesn’t magically make what I did go away. So I have to keep being good, and doing good, to make up for what I did. It’s like C.S Lewis said. By maintaining our goodness we regain our innocence.”  He said, ruffling Squirt’s hair. “And that?”

He smiled.

“That’s the best damn feeling in the world.”

“Nah. I think THIS is.” Squirt said, gently wrapping his arms around his adopted dad, and hugging him tightly.

“You might be right.” Shinedown said, returning the soft hug, and letting the innocence wash over him.

Another loud crack of thunder outside shook the castle, as Chara stared dejectedly out the window. He understood that the Pegasi controlled the weather, but he hated when there was a slip up now and then resulting in a massive storm. Worse still, Toriel and Asgore were in Canterlot, going over events which had occurred recently.

That meant he, Asriel, and Frisk needed a sitter, and they were not the only ones. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were also needing a watchful eye given that the Mane Six also had to be in the summit. That meant the person watching the six of them had to be someone else.

In this case, that someone else just happened to be Princess Luna, who sighed sadly as she too was hoping to have some fun outside. Despite being one of the royal sisters, she was often outside the castle affairs and more in the public eye. In some ways she was more in connection with the ponies than Celestia as a result. Today she had happened to be in Ponyville to do some research on unusual dreams Muffet kept having, but wound up stuck due to the rain.

Still, she did not mind being called on as a result. Normally it was a lot of fun for the filly's to play with Luna, who had command over dreams and the night. But today...

"Ugh, so bored." Chara said, sharing the view of everyone in the library. "Why is it that we are heroes, yet we are stuck here in the castle? It makes NO sense!"

Frisk sighed as he set aside the book Toriel gave him on snail facts. "I won't argue that one Chara. No offense... but it is tough being stuck in this castle. We can't even go exploring thanks to the spell Twilight put on most of the rooms."

Asriel sighed, playing chess with Luna. "And while playing you in chess is fun your highness.... truth be told it feels like we are leaving everyone out."

Luna nodded. "I cannot help but agree my little friends." She looked over to Starlight Glimmer, who also had stayed behind, but her duty was to work at researching friendship. "Starlight... have you any ideas?"

Starlight thought for a moment, then blinked. "I might have one. It was something Twilight and I came across a few weeks ago while re re reorganizing the library." Starlight hmmed as she headed for a shelf labeled "Games and Recreation", and pulled three books from it. She blew off the dust, and brought them over to a central table, the others coming over to see. Scootaloo, who had been trotting in place before, was first to speak.

"What is it?" She asked. Apple Bloom looked at the title.

"It says... 'Prisons and Ponies'? What is it?"

Starlight looked. "According to Twilight, this was a new thing called an RPG, or role playing game. I guess it was based on ancient legends and myths in Equestria."

Luna looked at the books. "I have heard of it, but I never thought I would see it in person."

Asriel blinked. "What's a roleplaying game?"

Chara chuckled. "That I can answer. You make your character and work together to tell stories. Before I went nutso back in the old days, I did do one with other kids. Was kind of an evil guy, but it was still fun."

Starlight nodded. "One of us plays as a storyteller or PM in this case. They act as referees and chief storytellers."

Sweetie Belle nodded. "Well I'm game. Let's try it!"

The other s agreed, as Starlight took the books. She handed the player guide to The others, and read the Prison Manual.

Sweetie Belle smiled as they looked at the possible characters. "Well I don't know about you, but I am going to be a magic warrior, like Twilight or my sister!"

Asriel smiled. "Well I think I wanna be a Paladin."

Chara chuckled. "Barbarian for me!"

Frisk joined in. "I'll be a healer, and keep everyone healthy."

Scootaloo chuckled. "Well I will be a Star mage, and use powers of the night, like Luna!"

Luna blushed. "I am honed little pony. As for me... I may play as a summoner."

Starlight smiled and was about to read the adventure... when all of a sudden the books began to glow. "What the?!" She managed to get out, as all of a sudden the ponies, humans, and monsters were swallowed up by bagic. As the books landed back on the table, there was a stamp indicating where the books came from.

Magical Cards and Comics.

******************

Frisk moaned as he slowly got up. He had no idea how long he was out, or why everything felt so... weird. But as he stood up, he saw something was VERY different about himself. For one thing, he was clothed in a shirt with a holy symbol on it, and had a clerical hat on his head.

For another.... he was a pony. But... HOW?!

"Frisk!" He heard Chara call, and was shocked as suddenly there came a pony wearing armor of yellow and green stripes, and having horseshoes tipped with spikes, as well as a horned helmet. Chara alone however would have those red eyes, and Frisk recognized him instantly.

"Chara? You're a.... a....."

"Yeah I know, you two! But... where is Luna, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, ASRIEL?!"

"I am over here." Asriel said, the others turning and going wide eyed as they saw a shining pony in heavy armor decorated with holy symbols, a lance attached to his saddle, a mace ready to grab on his hoof. "Not a bad look huh?"

Chara smiled. "Now THAT is pretty cool." Then... he put two and two together. "Wait.... A Paladin.... a Healer.... a Berserker.... I have a hunch we have been sucked into the game!"

Arrows buzzed overhead, confirming their plight. The three friends looked and saw green skinned pig-like monsters charging a group of smaller ponies. Closer examination revealed that one had huge wings and several crossbows on them, one was clothed like a wizard of the night, and one was clothed in light armor with her horn emitting several magical arrows.

"That has to be the girls!" Chara said. "Come on, they are in trouble!"

Frisk nodded and went to follow, but Asriel held him back. "No Frisk, you're a healer, you cannot fight well in a RPG as a result. Leave this to Chara and I."

Frisk nodded. "Right. I'll check and see if there is any spells we can use." He went to look as the two charged the green pigs, clearly Equestria's version of orks. Chara emitted a mighty battle cry as he lept at one, slamming it into the ground with his fee... er.... hooves, slamming it into the ground. As one came behind him, he made a mighty buck Applejack style, sending his foe flying.

Nearby, Scootaloo, clothed like an ariel archer, was able to get in on the act, firing arrows that pinned the orks down, her buddies using their spells to finally get an edge. When it was all over, the orks that remained turned and left, though one was held down by a lance. Asriel glared at the ork and snorted once.

"Alright, who are you and why did you attack us?" He said, the ork wriggling.

"Ork ork ork. ork ork ork ork ORK ork." Came the reply. The others shook their head as Frisk came over.

"Apparently he only speaks ork. But I may have a translation spell." He looked through his book and found one, waving his hand. Slowly he understood the words.

"He says that he was ordered to attack this town by the Matriarch of Monet, a powerful unicorn necromancer. In exchange for attacking us... she would resurrect their chieftain."

Chara sighed. "Greeeeat. Apparently this Orc does not realize that zombies only listen to their master?"

Everyone stared, recalling six very SPECIAL zombies.

"Oh.... never mind." He said blushing. Sweetie Belle hmmed.

"If he is being resurrected though odds are she will do it anyway to make a servant for herself. Diamond Tiara was like that before."

Asriel nodded. "Then we better go find her and stop her. For all we know this is the only way out of this game."

Frisk nodded. "I'll ask where she resides.................. of course. Apparently he says she resides in a large tower on the edge of the Bridlewood Bramble."

Chara nodded. "Then that is our next stop. And we better hurry. No offense girls... but I kinda rather have hands than hooves."

Everyone chuckled as they set off, the ork given a final blow to knock him out from Apple Bloom, the filly not noticing as the words Level Up appeared above her head...

*************

"Whoa." Chara said, looking at the tower before them.

"Now that... is awesome." Scootaloo said, the others nodding in confirmation. There in the center of a large dead forest was a tower made of pure obsidian, stretching up to the clouds. They swirled around it in a never-ending thunderstorm, the lightning striking the tip of the tower. But then everyone saw what was laying in the courtyard surrounding the tower. Assembled and wearing leather armor and sporting spiked helmets was a large group of...

"Skeletons." Chara said. "WHY did it have to be skeletons."

Asriel looked to Chara. "Bad memories of Sans I am assuming?"

"That..... and Papyrus' cooking skills. But I have a hunch these ones are NOT so animated."

Scootaloo hmmed. "Well, we have to get in there, but how?!"

"Maybe I can help." A voice said. The six little ponies turned and saw Luna, except she looked very different. She was now more like Nightmare Moon, right down to her armor and her jet black fur, draconic eyes staring down at the skeletons. Chara reacted first.

"WOW. I love the new look, your Majesty."

Luna looked to Chara. "I do not. It is a bad reminder of what I once was. It seemed we are trapped in this game until we win the adventure, but as a stronger character I can only offer assistance here."

Apple Bloom spoke up. "But... if you're here, then...."

"Yes... Starlight Glimmer is playing the role of the gamemaster, this Necromancer you must defeat. I imagine the game has made her more accustomed to the role."

Scootaloo sighed. "Then we will have to beat her, won't we?"

"Indeed."

Chara sighed at that, recalling a sunrise not too long ago. He sighed and steeled himself. After all... this was just a game, right?

"In any case, I will work on distracting the skeleton army. You all need to head to the tower peak and face the Necromancer."

Frisk nodded, looking to the others. "With us together there is no way we can lose. Let's go!"

As Luna watched them go, she took off to distract the skeletons. Even as she did, she managed a smile.

How much those six reminded her of another group of six. How much indeed...

**************

"Ok.... we got past the skeletons." Apple Bloom said, slowly backing up.

"But why did we think that was the worst of it?" Asriel eeped, looking up. Despite making it into the hallway, the group were now staring down a massive zombie dragon. Clearly the dark tower of a necromancer had a variety of defenses, and the dragonic horror that looked at the six ponies was one of them. Everyone lept for their lives as it began to shoot out acid at the group. Chara shouted as he charged afterward, slashing at the beast.

But the slash quickly disappeared.

"Of course he can regenerate." Chara said. "Hey.. .deja vu."

Then something struck Sweetie Belle... "Frisk! You're a healer! That means you have spells to deal with undead!"

Frisk was wide eyed. "Alright, I'll take a look, everyone give me a moment!"

Asriel smiled. "You got it." He reared up, slamming the ground and making plumes of fire shoot up. "Scoots! Show this guy what iyt means to fly!"

Scootaloo took flight, using the arrow shooters on his wings. The dragon was easily distracted, more so as Apple Bloom and Chara charged in with their weapons, warrior and berserker making the zombie dragon have to focus on regeneration. That gave Frisk his chance.

"Ok.... here goes!" He said, "Spirits of light, purify this cursed body and return him to the dust from whence he came!"

In an instant, the dragon slowly dematerialized into dust, which gave Frisk some very bad memories.

"Oh man.... I hate doing that kind of stuff..." He managed to whimper out, but Chara came up to him.

"Frisk, this is just a game. But remember he was already deads, and was being used by the necromancer. All you did was return him to his rest, freeing him."

Frisk shivered. "Yeah.... but it still..."

Chara nodded, as did Asriel. But the group had no time to focus as high pitched laughter echoed in the halls. Everyone looked at the far staircase and watched as A figure clothed in bone barding descended, using magic to levitate a staff of dragon bone. On her head was the skull of a large pony, glowing with ethereal light. It was the Necromancer.

And the necromancer was Starlight!

"So, you fools have decided to interfere with my will. Well you are far too late. Soon I will be resurrecting the power of the Ork Lord! And when I do, you will not have a chance against me! HAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!"

Chara grimaced. "Ok, I know she was evil and all, but that voice is definitely NOT Starlight!"

Everyone turned to him, Apple Bloom speaking up. "Whatcha mean?"

"Look, her armor is glowing, and when she was speaking it glowed even brighter. What if she was being controlled somehow?"

The Necromancer looked to Chara. "Very CLEVER, barbarian. Indeed, I am Zephyr Whirlwind, master Necromancer! However, without enough dark soul energy I cannot assume physical form, and must act through a vessel who dares to wear my armor! But soon, I will have power enough to abandon this weakling, and lay waste to all!"

Asriel stepped forward, levitating his mace, which shone like a star. "That's not going to happen, we will stop you!"

The Necromancer was suddenly engulfed by a powerful aura, Starlight eep[ing as the armor pulled free, leaving her a heap, the armor assembling into a frightening skeleton of a pony. "You will try." With those words he charged, breathing dark energy. The group tried to dodge but were caught in the blast. Pain shot through them all as they collapsed.

"Some heroes. What a joke. When all is said and done you cannot even save yourselves. Perhaps I should just resurrect you for my army."

Frisk grimaced as he stood up. "No... chance...." He looked to his friends. "Healing Salve!"

As the wounds on the group healed, the ponies stood once more. But it was clear a direct fight would not work.

"We need a plan. Sweetie Belle, you and I can use magic to bless our weapons. If we do so for the others we may have a chance against dark power!"

Sweetie Belle nodded, casting her spell, making the weapons glow with holy light. Even Chara could feel the power, and...

"This light... it's... exhilarating!" He said. "Is this why you try to help so many Frisk? It feels like I could do anything now, if I have my friends with me... I like this feeling!"

Frisk smiled and had an idea. "Then Let's do just that! Scootaloo, strike from the sky! Chara, Apple Bloom, from the ground! Asriel, keep that bonehead busy with your holy power!"

The fiend watched as the heroes charged, but was wide eyed at their combined power.

"No..... how...?" He tried to unleash his dark energy but the combined power of the holy weapons made it useless. He had no way to stop the assault as the four slammed him with all they had!!!

**********************

"With the foe defeated, the armor crumbles to dust, the souls of the dark ones disappearing into the mists. The heroes go to the one that the Necromancer was using, and for now took her to a medical house. The heroes would long be remembered for saving their village from orks and the greatest threat ever, but their journey has only just begun."

Starlight closed the book, looking to her friends, human, monster, and pony, now back from the game.

"Hard to believe that game really sucked us in for an adventure. It was pretty scary, but kinda fun!" Asriel said.

"Not for me. No offense, but I don't think I want to be a pony again." Frisk said. Chara however was silent, smiling as he looked to his friends. That power he felt in the game... in many ways it was not just fake. He really could feel the light and help of his friends, even now.

"Seems everyday you are getting happier, Chara." Luna said, sitting beside the boy. Chara smiled and, abruptly, hugged the princess of the night. She was stunned, but returned the hug with a smile.

"I guess friendship really IS magic, a powerful one." Chara said. "Though.... it does sound kinda corny saying it like that huh?"

"Not at all. Who knows? Maybe someday there will be stories about friendships for others to see."

Chara looked through the fourth wall and winked. "You have no idea Luna. No idea."

With a smile, the group prepared to go for the next adventure, ready to be sucked in again, this time knowing what it would be like. In a flash they were facing shadow ponies and saving townsfolk as a new team of brave adventurers.

And not once did they leave the library until the storm was over.

THE END

Twilight was busily rushing about her library as was usual in situations like this. But this time at least she was not alone, having assistance from Alphys and Frisk as they looked for some materials on the coming event.

This was the sight a rather surprised Zecora walked into, returning Asriel from his check up. GIven the choice between Doctor Whooves and Zecora, Asriel often preferred the more magical styled ways of Zecora. If only it didn't look like she was making goatboy stew sometimes....

Then AGAIN, maybe she was.

"Twilight, my dear pony friend, what must you find for your worries to end?"

Twilight stopped and beamed. "ZECORA! Just the zebra I needed to see. We have a special group coming to make a peace treaty with Equestria, and I have been trying to find books on the cultures and methods so I do not offend them and make them feel welcome.

"This seems familiar when I think back, you did the same thing when visited by the Yak."

Twilight nodded. "Yes, but this is different. We know more about this race because of you and..."

Zecora went wide eyed. "Wait.... you mean to say...."

Twilight smiled and finished the rhyme. "Yes Zecora, zebras are on the way!"

Zecora looked positively freakedout, and began to shake. There was only one word she managed to say which shocked everyone.

"Horseapples..."

******

At the docks of Equestria, not too far from Manehatten, Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Toriel, and Asgore waited, as well as representatives from other groups loyal to Equestria: Cadence fro the crystal ponies, Gilda for the griffons, Stout Heart for the buffalo, Yakita for the Yakistanian government, Chrysalis for the changelings, and Spike for the dragons. They waited there on the dock, Twilight surprised at how Zecora was. She seemed... nervous.

"Zecora.. .are you alright? I mean it has been a long time since open relations with Zebraca ever occurred, and I think that this is a momentous result. It will be nice to meet your kin. I bet your family is looking forward to this meeting!"

Zecora shook her head. "Oh Twilight my friend, you don't understand, I fear a great calamity is at hand."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Really? What kind of calamity could that be?"

Zecora however did not get to answer, as from the group another figure called out. Friskhad come more out of curiosity than as an ambassador, though many monsters felt he was a good choice if he was to be one. His voice pierced the crowd and filled Zecora with dread at the words.

"They have arrived! The flag of Zebraca is flying over the ship!"

Zecora swallowed. She was about to see her family again, and odds are this would not be a good reunion. From a nearby hill, the infamous Error Sans and Sombra watched, the former confused.

"So, we are just going to sit here and watch?" Error said. Sombra chuckled.

"Be at ease my friend. We want this world purified. This little act will cause that sooner than they realize. These fools have already shown their weakness, their spineless ways. Well that will prove to be their downfall when they see the truth of the Zebras. There was a reason Fallout Equestria was so close to becoming true."

Error was confused, but watched as the ship reached port, and a gangplank extended. From it emerged a figure clothed in golden robes and wearing a crown of feathers of a bird from a foreign land. His look was fierce, imposing, and it made some looking shy away. Beside him lay two female zebras clothed in leather barding, and a large zebra clothed with golden jewelry.  Following behind was a figure few in Equestria had seen before, a large warthog with a small crown. The figured approached, flanked by zebras with terrifying looking claws  and fangs on their hooves. These were warriors, and their leader was the greatest of all.

"Supreme Chieftain of the Zebracan lands, welcome to Equestria."

Zecora gulped as Twilight gave her greeting. This would not end well.

"A female. Addressing me. Neferti." He turned to the side as one of the females stepped forward. She took a small scroll with peacock feather soon it and unrolled it.

"His mighty eminence, Lord Khan Zephyr Windslayer IV, and his party consisting of his brides Neferti and Nagas, his chancellor Razorback, his commander of the guard Bloodstripes, and his supreme bodyguards, brings forth good tidings and extends welcome to the king of Equestria."

Everyone blinked as Zephyr approached Asgore, everyone shocked at what was said next.

"That, I assume, is you, and that these.... FEMALES... are your brides and servants from many lands." He then looked to Spike. "And that this is your pet? Rather adorable if I may say so, King Celestia."

“KING CELESTIA?!" Everyone said in shock, but Zecora made a motion to keep quiet about it. Asgore swallowed nervously as he looked to Celestia, who was sincerely offended. It looked as though somebody had slapped her in the face, then asked her to pay for the privelege.

"We feel that Equestria has done many great things in the past few years. I have heard the terror of the Nightmare has been restored to her former beauty." He glanced over at Luna. "And I see she stands among you as a fine bride. I have also heard Chaos has been tamed, and even the consumer of energy is imprisoned forevermore. You truly are a great ru-" The king then stopped, spying Zecora. He approached her, wide eyed, as his brides also walked with him.

"Zecora? Is it really you?" He said. Zecora looked at the ground as she spoke.

"Yes, father, it is me. It is your princess that you see." She said, shocking everyone yet again.

"PRINCESS?!" Frisk said. The warthog hmphed.

"Former if you recall your majesty. She would not agree to the arranged marriage to your captain of the guard, nor would see admit her wrong when she accused me of conspiracy. She was banished by my decision as was given right by your greatness, snort." Razorback snorted out.

Zecora glared at the warthog chancellor. "My feeling about you still stand! You have no place in Zebracan land!"

"ZECORA!" The lord of Zebras said. "The law of our land is clear, males are NOT to be addressed unkindly! And he is right, you are no longer a daughter of mine." He turned to the ponies. "If this fugitive was any trouble for your kind then make it known. We have... ways...of dealing with traitors."

Frisk spoke up. "Zecora is no traitor! She is an incredible alchemist! She can do anything with her potions!"

The zebra lord looked at Frisk. "And.... WHAT are you supposed to be?"

Asgore spoke. "This is Frisk Dreemurr.... my son and the ambassador of monsters."

Frisk glared. "Just because she is female doesn't make her wrong or weak, and she is no criminal!"

The warthog spoke up. "Mind your tongue, snort snort! By Zebracan law, all females are to obey the will of their husbands, and those who refuse a marriage are to be exiled from Zebraca on pain of DEATH."

"Wonder you have any females LEFT with those laws." Frisk said boldly. Everyone gasped, especially the king. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Frisk.

Frisk did not flinch once. He was not ever one to FIGHT, but he was no coward, and stood for what was right. The staredown lasted sometime, until finally...... the zebra king smiled.

"Brave child." He said finally. "You stand for what you believe, even knowing I could order you killed. Yet you still stick to your belief. I admire strength like that." He turned to Asgore. "You raised a warrior I see. I am impressed. A child like this will have many wives." He turned to the ponies and pondered. "Perhaps these ponies are his wives then?"

Everyone giggled as Frisk was wide eyed. Even Zecora managed a smile. She lost it as the king turned to her. "Still, know this Zecora. You are still in violation of the law. Do not expect comfort from me."

Zecora fumed. "The one who used to do so is dead, and you let her killer lead us instead." She turned to the warthog, who snorted once before walking off with the procession. Everyone watched as Asgore became the one they followed, Celestia and Twilight looking to Zecora.

"I think you have some explaining to do, Zecora." Celestia said, not in anger or in pity, but with concern. Zecora sighed and nodded, spinnin a tale...

WHen I was younger, my ponykin,

In a vast palace I once lived in,

My father the king, Zelda his bride,

Our joy and love we could not hide,

But one day my happiness ceased to be,

When a dark event happened to me,

Our chancellor Razorback, scheming for power,

Committed a dark act on the midnight hour.

He entered the chambers of my mother the queen,

and all that he did I was unlucky to have seen.

He gored my mother, and took her head,

Then told the guards an assassin had left her for dead.

When I tried to tell father, he refused my sight,

For in my land, a woman can NEVER be right.

I grew and watched as Razorback schemed,

And his evil was such I could never have dreamed.

He brought in that captain, who beat me sore,

And forced my father to say I must endure,

But the act he did next, to make me his bride,

Released all the anger I had inside.

I openly accused him of murder and deceit,

But everyone listened instead to that cheat.

By his order I was banished and sent to this land,

And the captain was made the king’s new right hand.

But the king has two more brides, and if the king dies,

The wives will resist all the warthog tries.

So I kept myself hidden, deep in the Everfree,

Which tells the whole past of my live, as you see.

When Zecora finished, everyone just stared. Twilight could not believe she had missed that about Zebras, how females had no rights or abilities. This was something that had to be changed, and fast. But there was another, more close danger. If the chancellor was indeed a criminal...

"Tell me Zecora.... what would be the chancellor's goal if they came here?"

Zecora sighed. "Only one thing I know for sure. He has come here not for peace... but for WAR."

Celestia cringed, given recent events. This was worse than she imagined. Something had to be done, and fast.

******************

Asgore felt on the spot as he walked by Luna and Toriel, mistakenly both called his wives. Still he did the best he could, showing off many things for the Zebras. Of particular interest were things like the Wonderbolts. Spitfire told the king all about them, and he was impressed.

But...

"So being in service of Soarin here, clearly he has chosen well. Your flying is admirable."

SpitFire was wide eyed in shock, looking to an equally shocked Soarin. HE was in charge in the zebra lord’s eyes?!

But the zebra lord continued. "I am surprised at how open this nation is with their females. Making them run all the businesses is admirable, but to me I feel that such a thing is foolhardy."

Asgore spoke. "Well, we find their talents based on their cutie marks, and encourage them to go into those fields."

The king chuckled. "For a male that is a sure fired success, but females should be allowed to get them. I was shocked when the glyph of my daughter showed her as a lightbringer, or teacher. A female in a leadership role.... absurd! Female glyphs are primarily for service and home based skills, NOT for leadership."

Luna spoke up. "Do you not feel a female can be a capable leader?"

Zephyr was about to answer when Razorback did for him. "The king does not answer the questions of females. But I can for him. In the king’s opinion, females are a weak, subclassed race of housewives who have no place in leadership. The day we see a great female leader will be the day I take a bath, snort snort."

The king chuckled. "A just answer my chancellor. You will forgive Luna, but part of the reason there was Nightmare Moon was because you had no king. Now I see why this land prospers...a strong king to lead them." He motioned to Asgore, many ponies trying not to laugh. Asgore blushed slightly as he lagged behind, looking to Toriel.

"Well this is awkward... REALLY awkward...." He said to her. Toriel sighed.

"The man is the head to him... but remember the woman is the neck, Gori. We support and guide the head when needed. He will learn that I think."

“Gori” was about to say more when Zephyr asked THE question. "I do have to ask Asgore... why do you decorate your women in such fine attire? Females look fine as they are if they are cared for right, and your princesses and your bride I see no reason to cover their obvious beauty."

Toriel DEEPLY blushed and was offended at the same time. Frisk nearby only sighed. He really hated this Zebra.

But something about the warthog was bothering him. As he walked along, the warthog was barely paying attention, more looking at all kinds of buildings. He seemed to be loking for something.

Frisk looked over at Pony Joes, where Chara and Asriel were watching the whole procession, and signaled them to come. Something was up, and it seemed the three of them had to be heroes yet again.

******************

Some time later, when he was alone in one of the guest rooms of Canterlot palace, Razorback lost all of his attire and looked to his lacky Bloodstripes. He snorted once before speaking.

"That was supposed to go wores e than it did. The king was supposed to be so offended by seeing ruling females that he declared war, snort. HOW did Celestia find a king?!"

Bloodstripes, so named for the red stripes he seemed to have, chuckled. "Relax. So we were unprepared. The king is a male supremacist fool. He will soon see Equestria as a weak land of women, and will want your war. Then we can utilize the new weapons given to us by the shadow king."

"SHUSH!" Razorback said, placing a large hoof on Bloodstripes mouth. "Those are to be kept hidden, snort snort! If Celestia learns the truth about you and I,  we will be destroyed! I will NOT let that...

"She is a WOMAN. We have nothing to fear."

Razorback managed a smile. "Good point. Still seeing Zecora here makes me leery. She knows my past, and knows you work for me."

"But they cannot know our plan here."

Razorback was about to speak as a form emerged from the shadows. Razorback eeped as the shadow took the shape of Sombra, who smiled.

"Well... did you find what you needed?"

Razornback snorted. "We can't meet here!! Someone could be listening!"

"Answer my question. Or would you rather I see to it the king knows of your plans?"

The warthog snorted. "Fine..... no I found no place to commit the act. Even so the king is too well guarded. He is no fool."

"The amount of guards does not matter. Twilight Sparkle is able teleport, and since she was witness to your king’s actions all along the tour, and how he spoke ill of her friends and home, it gives motive for assassination. By your laws it will make Bloodstain the new ruler, as you hoped."

Bloodstain nodded. "And with the weapons you gave us, Equestria will submit fast. The plan that these Caribou left behind for the females is... commendable. I must duplicate it for Zebras, and with it and your weapons Zebraca will conquer all nations." Sombra gave him a slightly disgusted look that briefly flashed across his face, but he hid his disdain for the…”man”...as he nodded.

"But what about that king?" Razorback pondered.

Sombra smiled. "Leave him to me. Asgore will not be hard to kill. If a child can do it.... so can I."

He was about to say more when he turned towards the door. "We are not alone...." he suddenly forced open the door... revealing a small cat. Sombra hmphed some and frightened it away, the cat running down the hall. Sombra had not noticed a transceiver pinned to her collar, giving data back to the source: Alphys, Chara, Asriel, and Frisk. As the cat, Opal, came in, Chara smiled with his spooky smile, Opal returning it.

"Good girl." He said, petting the cat. Opal and Chara both were a little mischievous, and if anyone could get Opal to do what they wanted, it was Chara. Asriel meanwhile looked at the data that had been recorded.

"So... they plan to kill the king.. and Sombra is in on it. We can't let them do it!" Asriel said. But Alphys sighed.

"YEah...b-b-b-but we don't know where they are going to try it.... and  even if we did... how could we stop something that can move through shadows?"

Chara smiled. "I know someone who is very good at sneaking up on things.... even in armor."

Frisk nodded. "Undyne!"

Chara nodded. "If she and Zecora team up, I bet no assassination attempt would work."

Frisk smiled. "And it would show Zephyr that his daughter and women overall are pretty awesome!" He looked to Alphys. "Not that we don't already know that."

Alphys blushed. "Awww, you guys...."

***************

The time had come. After what was clearly more aggravating  communication with locals, many still not agreeing about women being a subspecies, Razorback knew his chance was about to occur. Twilight's look all day was getting more and more fuming.

She would be the perfect scapegoat.

It was the perfect setup. He wanted to meet with King Asgore and Chief Zephyr, and would be fashionably late. That was when Bloodstripes would strike. Hard to believe everyone bought he was actually a zebra! But a little transmutation magic had made a fine zebra out of a lion, and soon bloodstripe would live up to the REAL reason for his name.

"Almost time now." The warthog said, watching from a safe location so he could get the story straight. Oddly, he noticed two suits of armor in the meeting room that was not there before. He paid it no mind as the room, a simple room for a game of chess, was setup. Asgore and Zephyr entered, and amidst several angry female servants being accused of wearing too much clothing and not serving in... other ways, the two had some tea and a chess game all set.

It was too easy.

"Now." He whispered, Bloodstripe moving in. How the fake zebra had hoped for this for so long. He hated living among tasty zebra flesh, but soon that would change when he would demand ritual sacrifices. And the first would be Zecora, served on a plate and bound. Yes, it would be a feast to remember.

Except... as he entered....

"Ah, Bloodstripe. Didn't expect you here until later. You here to inform us of something?"

Bloodstripe knew this was it. "Yes.... I am." He focused as he felt the transmutation wear off. Surprise was everything. Surprise would get them both.

And surprise was what HE was in for. As he changed, shocking the two, he was suddenly pelted with spears, making him duck for cover.

"RUN, your majesties!" The suddenly alive armored warriors said in strangely higher voices. Asgore nodded, taking Zephyr and takingflight. But did not get far as he was slammed into by Razorback.

"Going somewhere?" The traitor said, snorting as he made to gore Asgore.. forgetting the goat monster always wore armor. Asgore fumed some as his trident appeared.

"So, Zecora told the truth!" Asgore said, not really doubting it.

"Yes, I killed the fool’s wife and made it seem like he needed a better guard. That was how I got Bloodstripe in. But now his true form is known so neither of you will... ACK!"

He was cut short as the armored pony suddenly bucked him into a wall, The lion meanwhile getting held down by the other bipedal knight. Zephyr awoke to this, trying to figure out what was happening, as a shadow appeared behind him, a knife clenched in the shadowy forms teeth.

"FATHER!" The pony screamed... but it was no pony. Zecora lost her armor and dove at Sombra, sending the just solidified shadow pony into the wall. She beat on Sombra for all she was worth until she was thrown back. But the commotion had been made, several royal guards entering. Sombra knew he was beat.

"No... I was so CLOSE!!!!!!" He shouted, fading away, the warthog trying to follow but just wasting his chance, now surrounded by many angry ponies and two upset zebras... and a spear wielding knight.

As she took off her helmet, she revealed it was Undyne, who smiled nastily.

"Anyone for roasted pork?" She joked. The warthog thought she was serious and fainted right then and there, Zephyr still trying to figure out what had just happened.

*******************

"WHAT?!" Twilight said in complete shock. But the zebra lord was adamant.

"Do not get me wrong. I am grateful you exposed the traitor, and that you saved my life. But no female has any right to accuse a male, so I am setting Bloodstripe and Razorback free. As for YOU Zecora..." He stared at her. "I warned you about interfering. You even had the nerve to call me father. I am disgraced to have you for a..."

"OH SHUT UP!" Zephyr turned, his wives angrily staring at him.

"What?!"

"We have been tolerating your little 'Men are superior' schtick because we like serving men, always have, but you failing to see the wonderful creature you have for a daughter and how amazing these ponies are ruled by not one but TWO females is too much! If you want any supper tonight you had better apologize and give Zecora a full pardon."

The one said something more. "Besides.. I for one would like to know my stepdaughter, who clearly is as brave and as remarkable as her father."

Zecora was wide eyed. Was this really happening? Zephyr turned to his wives and asked one more question.

"And.... the traitors?"

The two wives smiled. "Well.... we heard in old days we were a cannibal tribe... Maybe we should take Undyne up on her offer of roasted pork?"

Everyone snickered as Razorback, held nearby, squealed in fear and tried to break free. Zephyr pondered, but managed a smile when he figured out what they were up to.

"Well..... I COULD take him back to be a bit of bacon...."

Razorback spoke up. "Please no! I beg you, your majesty!!!!"

"You killed my wife. You tried to kill me. You made me banish my only daughter. And now your begging for mercy?"

Razorback squealed pitifully. He turned to the ladies. "Roast him." He said, the two wives dramatically licking their lips.

"WAIT!!!!!!!" Razorback said. "I will go into exile! I'll stay in Equestria, and be guarded here!!!"

Asgore hmmed. "Well.... it might save your kind some trouble... and besides I don't think it would look good if Zebras ate meat."

Zecora chuckled some at that, considering what Ponyville did to Asriel for sometime!

"Ohhh.... alright. Henceforth Razorback you are stripped of your title, and you and Bloodstripe are banished from Zebraca. And if you harm any of our allies... I will kill you myself." He then turned to Zecora, and smiled.

"As for you.... please forgive me. I am still trapped in the old ways and as such I cannot let you come home yet.... but know I will try to learn. When I do.... I want you there for the peace between Zebraca and Equestria. But until that day... know Zebraca will always welcome you, even if I cannot."

Zecora embraced her father, and he held her. She spoke softly, for the first time in her life not in rhyme.

"I love you dad." She said softly, crying a little. He smiled and finally looked at her cutie mark.

"Guess you are a teacher in many ways my daughter. Never lose that." He smiled and walked away, stopping by Celestia, and kissing her hoof like a gentleman. Everyone gasped as he looked.

"Shut up." He said simply, making everyone laugh as he boarded the ship. Ashe did, a wife read another scroll:

"His highness has refused an official peace treaty with Equestria, for reasons of his own. However, he will return again in the future, as he has been blessed by Equestrias kindness, friendship, and hospitality. Perhaps on a future visit all wrongs will be made right, and peace can finally be achieved."

******************

Elsewhere, Sombra shook his head, Error chuckling.

"Told you we should have intervened more." the skeleton said. Sombra sighed.

"Even so.... this was not a total failure. Those two fools can be broken out of Canterlot prison easily, and we may yet have use for them."

Error nodded. "Indeed, and a lion can indeed be most useful. As for the warthog..... we can always use him as trade fodder."

Sombra nodded, considering what to do for the next move...

Bratty sighed as she relaxed in the Secondhoof Store in Ponyville. She was a valley girl style alligator monster, but at the same time she was a bit of a fright, as she often joked about eating everyone. That was unlike her tomboyish, plump, purple furred friend Catty, who wore her jean overalls, had her dark hair in a ponytail, and was at present hugging the hell out of a purring, smiling Opal.

"Awwww! You are, like, the cutest kitty EVER!" Catty said, Opal purring at the praise and hugs.

"Yeah, so cute I could, like, eat her up." Bratty said, shaking her blonde hair. Nearby, Rarity was ogling some gems that had been thrown out.

"Hard to believe someone would throw out such fine stones! Why a little shining and these would be fine centerpieces for a brooch or a dress!"

Catty smiled. "I know right? Like, everyone throws out so much,m we find it, and like make money off of it. It's an easy and fun life girlfriend!"

Bratty leaned on her sales counter as Rarity brought over some gems that got thrown out in Manehatten. Bratty rang them up at about one fifth their actual value, making Rarity gush with delight. She couldn't resist, she hugged Bratty, having gotten a WONDERFUL deal on such fine gems.

"Ah shucks, don't do that. I might have to, like, chew you up if you don't stop." Bratty said, but she didn't mean it.

Completely.

"Oh Bratty, stop teasing the customers!" Catty said, handing a saddened Opal back to Rarity.

"Who's teasing?" Bratty said as Rarity left, ogling the gems. "Catty, I understand that monsters and ponies and such are all supposed to get along, but you do have to remember I am a meat eating monster. I cannot just go vegan like you. I need to eat meat."

Catty pawwed her friends shoulder. "Awww, is that all? We can get that at Sugar Cube Corner, you know Mrs. Cake makes those yummy beef pot pies, not to mention the mousie marzipan muffins for me."

Bratty turned away for a moment. "It isn't that. I... like.. had this craving. And..."

"Hello? Is anyone here?" A voice called softly, interrupting the alligator monster. The two turned and saw the yellow cream pegasus with the pink mane, as well as her best companion, Angel Bunny. Catty, ever the lover of cute, saw Angel and went wide eyed with delight.

"Wow! Fluttershy, Angel looks so pretty! Can I hold him?"

Angel smiled happily, Fluttershy nodding. "Sure, but be gentle. Angel hasn't had his lunch yet, and gets kinda cranky."

"Not to worry!" Bratty aid, producing a rather large carrot. It had been thrown out by a fine dining eatery because it was two big for the baby carrot platter they were making. For Angel however it was more than the right size, and he “mmmed” at the flavour of it.

Bratty however stared at Fluttershy. She hmmed and stroked her chin. "And how may I serve you?" She asked.

"Oh... well...um..... I was hoping you had some more food dishes. I have so many animals I cannot find enough plates and dishes for them all." Fluttershy blushed. "Though if you don't..."

"Oh don't worry.... I am sure we have a special dish for you girlfriend." Bratty said, smiling a little.

"Thanks... what I could use is a break sometimes. I love my little critters, but sometimes I just need a break from them all." She sighed some. Catty hmmed.

"Maybe we can help!" Catty said.

"Oh no... I couldn’t possibly ask you to..."

Bratty smiled. "Sure you could. Like, we love critters." Bratty muttered under her breath, not losing her smile.

"You really think you can help? I could use some extra hooves." She said. Catty smiled, snuggling with Angel.

"Sure! We can close up and head right on over. We'll be done quickly, then we can take care of you too. Like, I for one wanna brush that mane of yours."

Bratty hmmed. "And I can get us some fine food for then. I mean, look at you, you're all skin and bones!"

Angel blinked. Fluttershy was not THAT skinny. And there was something about Bratty's gaze that worried him. He narrowed his eyes and decided he would have to keep an eye on these two, just to make sure no one hurt his meal ticket.

NO ONE.

*************************

Back at Fluttershy's cottage, Bratty went to work with the bigger animals, using her jaw like a comb on their fur and making comments about their taste, while Catty was in cuddle heaven, nugging even the birds like favorite stuffed animals and helping to spread seed and feed around for them all. Fluttershy smiled as she had so much less to do, and her critter friends were so much happier.

Except for Angel. Angel was keeping a constant eye on Bratty, who was constantly staring at Fluttershy. Bratty gazed over at the bunny finally, and got the signal that he was watching her VERY closely.

"I don't think he likes me." Bratty said. Catty giggled.

"Aww, don't think about it too much. Besides, your better with big animals anyway." Catty giggled, giving some mice some cheese. "As for you little guys, don't worry, I won't eat you ever, you’re too cute to eat! Well... unless you're in one of Mrs. Cakes muffins." She winked, the mice taking it as a warning to stay away from Mrs. Cake and instead just be friends with Catty.

Angel was not liking EITHER of them now. He was certain in his rabbit mind what was going on. They were winning Fluttershy over, and then when she was not paying attention, they would kidnap her and the little critters, and while Catty cooked the little ones Bratty would roast Fluttershy up! Angel could not let that happen. He looked around for something to nail the two with, and grinned and giggled when he saw one of the big frying pans. He skittered over and, when Bratty started to move closer to Fluttershy, sent it flying at the gator.

WHAM!

Bratty was still for a moment before falling back, Catty and Fluttershy running over. "Bratty! You ok?"

"OOooooooooouuuuughhh.... Anybody get the license of that truck?" She said, dazed. Catty held up her paw.

"How many paws do you see Bratty?" She asked. Bratty looked them over carefully.

"Ummmmmmmmmmmm.... five?"

Catty looked at her one paw. "I think we better get her laid down for now." Catty said. Angel nearby snickered, until Fluttershy walked over.

"Angel, that was NOT nice. You owe Bratty and Catty an apology."

Angel shook his head, pointing at her, then at the food dish.

"No, I just fed you." Fluttershy said. Angel shook his head feverishly and tried to repeat the motion but Fluttershy walked away.

"I'm so sorry.. Angel is normally really sweet."

"Like no big deal... Bratty will be okay. Now, I gotta check on the squirrels next right?"

Fluttershy nodded. But Angel had other ideas.

*****************

Outside, Angel watched as Catty began to hand acorns to each Squirrel and chipmunk, petting each one. Angel however was working on a special trap.

"Awwwwww, your all so cute and sweet! I could just eat you all up!" Catty said, kissing a squirrel who swooned and fainted, making Catty blush. But as she moved to the next animals, she eeped as she tripped over a hidden vine, falling headlong into the stream surrounding the cottage. Angel smiled and went to give smile to the squirrels...

But the look they gave him was less than appreciative.

"Angel!" Fluttershy said, trotting out of the house. "What are you doing?!"

Ange tried to pantomime that Catty was wanting to eat the squirrels, but Fluttershy again misunderstood.

"No! You already were fed."

Angel face pawwed and pointed at her, then at the food dish, then at Bratty. Fluttershy hmmmed.

"Oh! I got it now!"

Angel smiled.

"It's time to feed the guests!"

And there the smile went as Fluttershy went in. Angel knew it would not end well, imagining Braty pulling a Fluttershy roast from the oven while Catty was making pies out of every other critter.

He had to DO something!

*********************

Inside, Bratty smiled as she was offered a fine looking salad, and Catty given some fresh made cupcakes. Fluttershy smiled.

"Sorry I don't have a bigger selection, but I hope this is okay."She said, going to her kitchen. Bratty smiled some andlicked her lips, but looked away as Catty looked at her.

"Like, I wish she had some meat." Bratty said. Catty smiled.

"Wanna cupcake?" She said, offering one. Bratty sighed.

"Actually...Catty, I, like, have a secret to tell ya... see.... I... I'm...."

But she said no more as she was pelted in the face with a pebble. She turned to see who hit her and saw angel spanking himself in front of her, egging her and Catty on.

"Hey! No one hurts my friend!" Catty said, the two getting up.... but as they did, they slammed into two buckets of water hanging above them. Angel laughed at the sight.

But he was the only one laughing, every other critter staring. Angel looked to them, wanting to say something, but Fluttershy spoke.

"That does it Angel! I don't know what has gotten into you, but you are acting like a spoiled rotten bunny. So you can go upstairs without any dessert,and don't come down!"

Angel gasped as he stared at her angry face, his lips quivering. He was trying to save her, and....

He began to cry, sobbing as he went upstairs. Bratty grabbed a towel to dry off as Catty licked herself.

"I'm so sorry.... Angel isn't normally like this."

Bratty hmmmed. "I think I got a hint why he is really doing this. What do you think, huh Catty?"

"Like, totally. He is either super jealous or super scared about something."

Fluttershy hmmmed. "Wait. I think I know. And I think I have an idea."

*********************

Angel sobbed in his basket bed. He was trying to warn everyone about these two monsters, and his warnings went unheeded. He was going to be stuck up here while.... downstairs....

NO. he couldn't let that happen! He had to save his owner from these two before they made Fried Fluttershy! He knew he would be in trouble, but he also knew he was right. He started downstairs....

And found only darkness. Everyone was gone, even the other critters. Oh no... was he too late?! He looked about fearfully.

"Angellll..." A voice said. Angel shivered as she turned. In the dim light, he saw Catty, rubbing her belly and using a toothpick on her teeth.

"mmmmmmmm.... squirrel pie is deeelish. But you know what I want for dessert?" She leaned close, showing her sharp teeth. "BUNNY BUNS."

Angel eeped as he ran into the kitchen and fro as he saw Bratty, leaning back against a chair, rubbing her belly, PINK HAIR IN HER MOUTH.

"Ahhhhhhh..... yummy." She turned to the side. "Well.... too bad Catty called dibs on you."

Angel eeped, running back upstairs and hiding. This wasn't happening.. this wasn't HAPPENING! They had eaten everyone just like he thought! They had devoured his master!

"Angel! Get down here, I got a big cake pan waiting for you!"

Angel screamed and hid even deeper, hiding firm under the covers, shaking like a leaf. The steps grew closer...... closer......CLOSER.....

"BOO!" A voice said as the blanket went off. Angel screamed and didn't stop.... until he saw who it was.

Fluttershy.

"Sorry if I scared you Angel, but you did have it coming after thinking our guests would do that to us!"

Angel was wide eyed. He looked downstairs, and was shocked as everyone came out of hiding, Bratty removing the bit of a pink wig from her mouth, and both monsters removing pillows from their clothes.

"Like, we figured it out. You thought we were going to EAT all of you huh?" Bratty asked. Angel nodded.

"No way! How could I each such cute little cuddlies! I'd rather be barbecued myself than eat a one of them! I only eat the bad mice that would steal from houses and cause mischief."

Bratty smiled. "And I.... well.... truth is..... I'm a vegetarian."

Everyone gasped.

"I know! It's, like, horrible! I’m a vegetarian gator! But I cannot help it... after this one time with Frisk.... well I couldn't bring myself to eat meat ever again!"

Catty blinked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You loved my jokes about eating everything, so I kept it up. I suppose this means you won't be friends?"

"As if sister! I'd never stop being your friend!"

Fluttershy smiled. "I think we all learned something here. I should have listen more to Angel, who should have been more kind to our guests, who should be open about what they like."

Angel looked at the two with big eyes. Clearly he sought forgiveness.

"Awww, no worries little buddy!" Catty said, petting Angel. "Nothing to forgive. Truth is... I kinda DID want to eat a critter, but I won't."

Fluttershy smiled. "I thought you might though, so I asked Mrs. Cake to bring over some of her MouseMuffins for you and Bratty. Though I think you rather have something else?"

Bratty was about to answer as Angel offered Bratty a cucumber. Bratty smiled pat the bunny, and ate the cucumber with a smile.

"Nah, I'm good."

All present laughed some, enjoying the rest of the night together.

THE END

"It was all OBVIOUS, Ahuizotl."

Daring Do smirked as she tossed the earth ponies into one big pile in front of the faintly dog-like, hand-tailed supervillain as the tribally-dressed, furiously-gnashing-his-teeth Ahuizotl fumed and glowered darkly at the black-haired Pegasus. She stood tall in the middle of the factory, giving him a proud smirk. "I knew you'd be here. First you stole silverware from people's homes. Then you raided the banks. I knew you'd come to the metalworks to get more silver. Trying to create a Portal?"

Ahuizotl growled furiously. Indeed, he was. He was trying to bring forth a dark god using silver, a common supernatural tool. But Daring Do had busted his operation yet again!

"I mean, you're really getting predictable. Which is a darn shame, cuz that was one thing you never, EVER used to be before all this."

"I will have you know that the silver was MY idea."

Daring Do stiffened and turned, blinking in surprise. What the-it was...a little Ahuizotl? No, it was clearly the same species but not the exact same features. Its eyes were a bright shade of blue, it's fur brighter in color, and it was quite young. "You? Reproduced?!" She asked Ahuizotl as he chuckled darkly.  "EW! I never wanted to picture you nude and thrusting!" She said, slapping her face with a hoof and groaning.

"He's just trying to bring my mom back into the world. But yeah, using silver was my idea." Little "Junior" remarked before grinning darkly, draconic wings spreading forth as he rushed forward, clawed paws tossing something squarely at Daring Do. "And so was THIS!" He proclaimed, as purplish gas bathed over Daring Do, making her reel back as "Junior" chuckled. "Whaddya think, father? A real gas, huh?"

"UGHHHHH." Ahuizotl growled, slapping his face. "None of your jokes! Now we need to get going and regroup!" He insisted, his son looking dejected as Ahuizotl held up a grenade, nonchalantly tossing it up and down in one palm. "Now then, Daring Do...I'm afraid it's time my son Mardek and I take our leave." He said with a delighted smirk, tossing it at Daring Do as she continued to stagger about, Mardek barreing forth, snatching his father up, racing towards an open window and shooting out.

Luckily, Daring Do's instinct acted swiftly. Her leg shot forth, and it KICKED the grenade, launching it far, far away from her and the pile of stunned henchmen as she panted and heaved, the grenade blowing open an immense hole in the wall with a THRUDDA-THROOOOM as she wiped her brow.

"That was close..."

"Why do we work for that jerk again?!" One of the stunned henchman groaned.

...

...

...

... "So his name is...Mardek?" Toriel inquired as Daring Do and she sat together, enjoying a nice cup of tea as Daring Do was spending time in Ponyville, detailing her latest adventures. For that would turn out to be merely the FIRST time she'd meet Mardek. Indeed, he was quickly becoming...problematic...to handle.

The next time she'd met him and Ahuizotl, she'd been trying to stop them from stealing from another mansion. But evidently having wings wasn't Mardek's ONLY power...

"I'm not letting you have any more silver, and I'm taking you in!" Daring Do insisted firmly as she stood tall atop the roof the mansion, Ahuizotl and Mardek trying to wrench free a silver sword from the statue in the center of the mansion's hedge maze, a fountain sparkling nearby as Ahuizotl growled up at her.

"Mardek, take care of her!" He growled, Mardek racing up at her as Daring Do smirked and swiftly reached into a belch pouch, blowing dust at him as he coughed and spluttered, reeling back in midair as the pegasus grinned.

"Looks like I'M the one taking care of-"

But that was then Mardek's jaws opened and burning flames shot forth, Daring Do barely leaping away in time as the roof was suddenly coated in hot fire. Daring Do landed on the nearby ground, gaping as Mardek rubbed at his eyes, howling and growling. "Darn you!" He yelled out.

"You can BREATH FIRE?!" Daring Do gasped out before Ahuizotl raced by her, knocking her over as Mardek struggled to chase after his dad, barely able to keep up, Ahuizotl hardly slowing down as Daring Do tried to get to her hooves...realizing her hat was on fire.

"AH!" She screamed, trying to pat out the flames, rolling around on the ground, grumbling darkly. "Rotten little brat...has his dad’s rotten breath too!"

And she had done research on him. His father Ahuizotl had enrolled him in a private school in the minotaur education system for a "proper education". Naturally he'd paid up front. In cash. Probably all stolen. The minotaurs had a very good school system but only if you could PAY for it...

Mardek had quickly gotten a name for himself by his fine work in the school's choir, and was quickly on the fast track to the Advanced Placement classes. But despite his excellent grades and his voice, Mardek was no little angel. Not one bit. There had been scuttlebutt, rumors and hints that he had DONE things to the other students who had crossed him at all. That he'd threatened teachers who hadn't been keen to give him the grades he wanted...

"I know of Mardek." Toriel admitted softly. "His application came in to OUR school. I have it somewhere..." Toriel added as she made her way towards her desk, Daring Do blinking as the goat mom peered through her desk, then opened it up, putting down a file in front of Daring Do. "Applications can be shared with the public, so you can look it over. It just has very basic information like "Who your parents are" and "Why you want to join our school"."

Daring Do looked over the papers, blinking a bit. "...hmm. It says his mother is Tiamat..."

"Yes. And I recognize that name." Toriel admitted softly, placing her paws together, sighing softly. “She’s a monster from eons ago, who is said to have, along with Apsu, birthed the first dragons. It was rumored she was sealed away for trying to murder her children because they made too much noise.” She shuddered in disgust. “I couldn’t FATHOM why anyone would do that to their children, let alone for...for such a petty reason!”

“I might have to do more research on her.” Daring Do murmured softly. “I’ll pay a visit to your bookstore and look up some ol...Monster Manuals?” She chuckled.

“Ironically, Jerry actually gave Twilight a FINE amount of information on old monster lore before his passing. I was surprised he kept coming back to share things with her.” Toriel admitted.

Unbeknownst to the two, Ahuizotl was busy writing down new plans on a notepad in one of his many lairs, grumbling and mumbling. "I tire of putting up with Daring Do's constant interferences!" He proclaimed loudly, clenching a fist tightly and shaking it in the air. "There must be SOMETHING I can do. I'm done with our little running feud. I must end it with a delicious death, the end of a long conga line of humiliation!" He grumbled as he handed the notepad to his tail-hand, Mardek munching on a fried rat on a stick, sitting nearby in a chair, looking a bit confused as his father paced back and forth. "What to do, what to do?"

"Uh...Dad, if you don't mind me asking, why don't you just shoot her?"

The entire room seemed to get colder as Ahuizotl's face twitched, and he slooooooooooowly turned, looking his son squarely in the face, repeating the words slowly, his body shaking. Not with fear, but...raw, pure, undiluted anger. "Just shoot her?"

"Uh...yeah?" Mardek asked, nervously putting down the fried rat, realizing his dad was getting "that" look in his eyes.

"The death of that pesky Daring Do has to be nothing less than a masterpiece. It must be the triumph of my brilliant intellect, my sheer, raw brilliance...over HER STUPID LITTLE TRICKS!" Ahuizotl roared out, smacking his son squarely in the face, knocking him off the chair as Ahuizotl glowered furiously, glaring down at Mardek as the little fur-covered half-breed gulped in fear, Ahuizotl about to start yelling again before...

He noticed the fried rat and his eyes lit up. "Of COURSE! The Rat King, the Rat King! I'll get hold of the Pied Pony's Pipe in the Royal Equestrian, lure Daring Do to some far-out-of-the-way place..." Ahuizotl chuckled, rubbing his hands together and grinning in delight. "Then when she least expects it, BOOM! She'll fall right down the right trap door and into my specially prepared room filled with hungry rats! The last thing she'll see is their sneering, grinning faces before..."

Then he blinked, sighing. "Oh, wait." He grumbled. "...rats don't grin. I found that out when I tried it on Dr. Caballeron. Is he out of the hospital yet?"

"No." Mardek remarked. "They haven't grown his face back yet."

"Well at least I still have my personality..." Dr. Caballeron mumbled from inside of his bed, his face a stubby, misshapen, bloody, bruised, missing-one-eyeball MESS as the nurse readied the next attempt at a healing salve, snorting so hard she almost dropped it on the floor.

His father storming off, Mardek bit his lip, wrapping his arms around his legs, sighing as he hung his head. “Ohhhh. What am I gonna do? Where’d it all go wrong?”

He bit his lip, then thought back. No. He knew where it had gone wrong.

DARING DO. From the very beginning she’d just messed things up for his dad. She! SHE was the one keeping him from his mom coming back! Keeping them from being a real family! Keeping him from real happiness! Ever since the moment he’d arrived in Equestria…

“I’m trusting you to find a way to bring me back.” His mother’s voice had drifted through his mind. “I NEED you, Mardek. Please. Don’t fail me.” And with that, he had stepped out from the void and into the brightness and color of Equestria, looking up at the man he knew was his father as he gazed down upon Mardek.

“It was a rare, rare honor to be chosen to be mate of Tiamat.” His father had explained to him. “She could have chosen anyone. Choosing me was quite...impressive.” Ahuizotl had remarked with a proud smile as they strode through the jungle path, flowers lining all around them as the call of wild birds with feathers like the rainbow drifted through the air. Mardek gazed in awe at the beauty all about him. Before, the only true color he’d seen was on his mother, on her unique scales and body but here? Here, everything was bright and vibrant and new. “I see you are not used to Equestria.”

“Everything’s so...pretty here.” Mardek admitted as he looked around the room, awed and wowed by what he saw, approaching a tree and reaching up, taking hold of a fruit and sniffing at it before his father snatched it away.

“Now, now. Don’t eat it. I’ve been tricked into eating these Boomba fruit...they make your stomach almost explode.” Ahuizotl said with a shake of his head. “That damnable Daring Do TRICKED me into eating them. Had several cut up into my fruit salad as I had her tied up and when I was incapacitated, she decided to make off with everything I’d rightfully earned! Stole an entire’s MONTH worth of gold and jewelry I’d dug up away from me!”

Mardek listened with rapt attention. Ahuizotl went on and on, talking about how Daring Do was a rotten little thief who was always screwing him over. But of course, that wasn’t all that he did. It wasn’t just enough to demonize your opponent. Oh no. You had to humanize yourself. And so Ahuizotl had talked about his father.

 

“You know, my father used to beat me up quite hard. My father loved using the cane.” Ahuizotl said, holding up a fake cane and thrashing at the air as Mardek sat nearby on a tree stump by a large jungle pyramid. “He would thrash me, again and again! Then raise me in the air by my ears or my hair while he shouted “IT’S GOOD FOR THE BRAIN”!”

“Geez…” Mardek murmured. “That sounds...harsh…”

 

“There was only ONE time I ever saw my father truly happy. He took me to the circus when I was seven.” Ahuizotl said, tone becoming whistful. “See, there was this one clown they had, a silly-looking pony with loooong, checkered pants, and a little tiny dog was always nipping at his heels. And every time the pony tried to stop and KICK at the pup...THWOMP! Down went his pants and he fell right on his rear!” Ahuizotl said as Mardek began to chuckle.

 

“Ha ha ha ha…”

“I thought my father was gonna keel over and DIE laughing! So…” Ahuizotl raised a finger up in the air, chuckling a bit. “I decided that I’d do the same kind of thing! The next day, when my father came back home, there I was wearing one of his his loincloths. I said “Father, look here”, took a big pratfall…”

“Hahahahahahahaha!”

“And THWOOMP! I tore the crotch clean off his loincloth, falling right on my behind!”

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Mardek began to howl with laughter, his father grinning as he calmly waited for his son to finish up before he said, in a deadpan tone-

“He slapped me so hard he broke his pinky and my nose.”

Mardek stopped laughing. He stared at his dad, gaping in surprise.

 

“I learned an important lesson that day. You can’t count on anyone. Especially not your “heroes”.” Ahuizotl remarked with a sigh.

It became clear the more time Mardek spent with his dad and the more his father talked about Daring Do that Ahuizotl had been dealt an awful hand in life. Having finally left his father after that incident with the beating, he had had nothing, and had been forced to steal to survive. And there to screw everything up was the self-righteous Daring Do, always making things miserable for his poor father. What made HER stealing any more right than his dad’s? She HAD a nice job as a writer! And she didn’t mind being single! But Ahuizotl had wanted a family, a real life. You needed money to set that kind of thing up.

Meeting Tiamat was a way to help make that dream come true, and Mardek had sworn to help his father. Now that dream was his as well...

And Mardek knew that dream wouldn’t come true as long as friggin’ Daring Do was still around. Sighing, Mardek looked over his father’s tossed-aside plans, turning them over in his hands and frowning. “Darn it. There has to be SOMETHING in here that I could do that would cheer Dad up and get rid of Dar-”

And then he saw it. He realized what to do and a grin came to his face.

…

…

…

… “You’d all better take a look at this.” Daring Do said, unfurling the magic scroll and tapping the center as an image of Mardek himself materialized before Twilight and Toriel and Spike in her room, all of them sitting around in a half-circle as Spike nervously munched on some cookies.

“I hope this reaches you. I didn’t know if you would get it or maybe if it would blow away or something, but...this is serious. My father’s REALLY lost it. He swore he’d get even with you if it was the, and I quote, “Last damnable thing he ever did”. He’s going to wipe out ALL of Ponyville and you with it, cuz he KNOWS that if you find out an entire town’s going up, you’ll of course come to try and help. Gas bombs, magic barriers to keep anyone from escaping the place when time-activated sigils are used, the whole works! By tomorrow night, the entire town will become one big, charred ghost town! You…” Mardek took a deep breath. “It isn’t fun anymore. I can’t trust him. I wanted to bring my mom over here, but I don’t trust him around her. Or me. I can help you stop him if you promise me protection. Come alone to the lake, tonight, 10:00. I’ll hand over all of my dad’s plans, everything, but ONLY to you. You’re the only one I trust who can stop him.”

With that, the magical scroll faded, Twilight rubbing her chin as she turned to Toriel. “What do you think?”

“He seems terrified.” Toriel admitted. “And normally, I would be more frightened of the prospect of Tiamat returning. But here? With what it sounds like Ahuizotl is planning?”

“He’s always kept pushing the limits of what he’d do.” Daring Do muttered. “I learned that pretty...damn...quick.”

“No KIDDING! I mean, did you HEAR what he did to Dr. Caballeron?” Spike asked as all of them reflexively shuddered. “I heard he got so horrified when they handed him a mirror he tried to EAT HIS OWN HEAD.”

“He DID. They still haven’t fully grown it all back.” Twilight added as she shook her head back and forth.

“Okay, I’ll go.” Daring Do admitted as she rubbed her temples before sighing. “But here’s what we’re gonna do…”

And indeed, that night, Daring Do was making her way towards the lake as the moon reflected softly in the lake’s surface. Mardek was biting his nails, cringing a bit as Daring approached, a suitcase in his tail-hand, wings folded on his back. “You had something for me?”

“H-Here. I’ll-I’ll open it. I know you probably think it’s booby-trapped.”

“I watched for half an hour, checking for henchmen or your dad to show up. Better safe than sorry.” Daring Do reasoned calmly, tilting her hat down a bit as Mardek opened up the suitcase, showing off a wide variety of plans as Daring Do looked them over. “...WOW, some of these are...I mean, WOW. I’d wanna shake Ahuizotl’s hand. Right before I punch him in the face. These are seriously, disturbingly twisted in their brilliance.”

“I GUESS I should be flattered you think so highly of my dad?” Mardek remarked, Daring Do chuckling before coughing, and sneezing a bit, sniffing at the air...before realizing something had been on the plans. A faint, BARELY visible layer of dust-

No. Not dust.

“...you poisoned me.” She realized aloud, Mardek chuckling slightly.

“Well, what can I say? Being devilishly brilliant runs in the family, I guess.” He remarked, Daring Do flopping over onto her side with a THWUMP as Mardek calmly rubbed his hands together.

-------------

“Unnnggghhh…” Daring Do groaned, her head swimming, blinking over and over as she looked around. She was hanging upside-down, layers of chains wrapped around her, hanging over an enormous crystal cage filled with enormous, awful rats that were chittering and chattering and hissing up at her, somewhere in a warehouse. Exactly where said warehouse was, she wasn’t sure. The place was well-lit, but the windows had been boarded up, making it impossible to see outside, and the front door was locked too, a large chain in front of it.

“About time you’re awake. I had to make sure you were chained up, and BOY, took me a while!” Mardek cheerily remarked, sitting on a nearby chair, gnawing away on a rat-on-a-stick, slurping up the tail.

“Your father...wh-where?” Daring Do began to say.

“Ah-ah-ah.” Mardek’s tail hand swept a finger back and forth. “It’s just you, the crystal cage you’re hanging over and me. I finally get to prove to my father I can pull off one of his plans. See, he always wanted you to be, like, eaten by rats, the last sight you ever saw their grinning faces. But he couldn’t ever get them to SMILE, so I had a bright idea. Just turn you upside down! Ta-daaaa! Now those ugly mugs are smiling!” Mardek said with a grin as he gestured at the cage with both hands, grinning in delight as Daring Do wryly looked him over, then down at the rats.

“...yeah. Real clever, I admit.” She commented. “I’m sure your dad would be very proud of you...if he really cared.”

“What do you mean, “if he really cared”?!” Mardek said with a growl.

“If he really cared about you, he wouldn’t treat you just like glorified hired help. A good father wouldn’t put his son in danger. I mean, making you break him out of prison for tax evasion? Stealing silver? And did you even FINISH your classes in the minotaur school system? He didn’t try to give you a normal life.”

“What my father wants is a family! And we’re gonna have that when we build the portal to bring mom over!” Mardek insisted with a frown.

Daring Do shook her head. “Ahuizotl doesn’t love you or your mother. He only loves himself. Who do you think his FIRST lover was? The one who INTRODUCED him to looking for fabulous artifacts? And instead of donating them to museums, wanted to sell them on the black market or use them for his own selfish gain?”

Mardek’s angered face now crumbled as he stared, mouth agape, Daring Do continuing, not blinking once...staring deep into Mardek’s eyes.  “What sob story did he tell you to get you to do what he wanted, Mardek? Was it the one about the abusive father? He got a lot of sympathy out of that. Even Dr. Caballeron, coldhearted as HE is, fell for that tale, especially when he added in the tale of the runaway mom. Time after time when I asked his goons why they’d work for him, it wasn’t just the money. Oh no. It was the same type of story over and over again. Heck, I remember the very first lie he told me back when we were still together…”

Daring Do closed her eyes, reciting from memory as Mardek’s body began to shudder. “There was only ONE time I ever saw my father truly happy. He took me to the ice show when I was seven.”

“...circus.”

“What?” Daring Do asked, opening her eyes, seeing Mardek had turned away from her and was holding his head in one hand, his body shuddering and shaking.

“He said it was the circus.”

“...the only thing Ahuizotl has ever really loved other than power and wealth...is himself. And he has a million stories he tells to guilt trip hired help into throwing their lives away for him. You weren’t any different any more than…” Daring Do bit her lip, sighing. “...any more than I thought I was.”

“Y-You’re...you’re LYING! You always lie! My dad loves me!” Mardek screamed out. “I’ll just lower you into the cage and watch you get eaten alive! THEN after I bring your SCRAPS to him, he’ll-he’ll see!” Mardek screamed, eyes reddened and tearful.

“How’s he gonna know it’s me, Mardek? Rats will eat ANYTHING. All you’ll have are bones and scraps of cloth. Anyone can fake it. Your dad will want to SEE me dead. He won’t believe you really did it unless he sees it with his own eyes, right?” Daring Do asked, Mardek biting his lip as he looked to the crank that held the chained Daring Do over the cage, then to her…

Well. Needless to say, within ten minutes, Toriel and Twilight and Spike saw the “bait” had been taken. They had secretly followed Daring Do after putting a tracer spell on her, and now they saw Ahuizotl racing into a pyramid deep, deep in the Everfree Forest. All three at the ready, they slunk through the forest, Toriel’s fists clenched as burning fire sizzled in her palm, Twilight and Spike readying an imprisonment scroll, Twilight whispering the proper incantations to Spike for him to use in case HER spells got counterbalanced.

“Okay, approach from the west, Spike. Toriel, you take the north, I’ll take the east side-” Twilight began to say before a loud “MARDEEEEK” filled the air, all of their eyes widening at the furious tone of Ahuizotl.

Uhoh.

“I don’t understand, I-I thought you WANTED him gone…” Mardek whimpered, looking up at his father...a visible slap mark all over his face, Ahuizotl having hit him SO hard...he’d almost broken his pinky.

“Only if I’M the one doing it!” Ahuizotl snapped angrily, gesturing back at the cage as Mardek held up the plans he’d used.

“But it’s still your plans, Dad! Look! I just hung Daring Do upside-down. Now the frowns on the faces of the rats look like smiles and it works perfect!”

“Well. That IS interesting.” Ahuizotl remarked, looking the plans over as he turned to Daring Do and smirked. “I guess my son really is a chip off the old block, eh, Daring Do?” Daring Do looked sadly over at Mardek as Ahuizotl frowned. “What? Wishing he could have been yours? You had your chance with me years ago.”

“Funny. I was gonna say the same to you. Why didn’t you tell your son that you used to be married  before you met his mother?” Daring asked, Ahuizotl slowly turning to look at his son, who stared deep into his eyes.

“Is it true, Dad? Did you and Daring Do used to be...in love?”

“I WAS very fond of you, Daring.” Ahuizotl remarked calmly. “Once. But then you had to stand on a stupid principle and interfere. You had everything while I starved and scraped and suffered! I deserved a slice of the pie!”

“Being a successful writer isn’t “having everything”. I have NO family, no children, and most of my money is spent on expeditions to get inspiration for my new books.” Daring Do said with a frown. “You KNEW that when you dated me. I thought you shared my love of finding the unknown, learning about it. But all you did in the end was exploit me for what you wanted, the same way you’re doing to your son.”

“He will honor and obey his father. It’s what a child’s supposed to do.” Ahuizotl said with a dark frown.

“YOU need to obey commandment number 5...THOU SHALT NOT MURDER!” Toriel’s voice rang out as Ahuizotl turned, Twilight standing in the doorway to his right, horn aglow. She launched a burning, purplish-blue set of chains from her forehead, but they bounced off of him as he smirked.

“HA! I’ve an anti-magical barrier over me, my dear.” He said as Spike frowned, his own summoned spell from the scroll he’d transcribed launching waves of lightning at Ahuizotl as they calmly dissipated against a crystalline shield around him, Toriel kneeling by Mardek, gently rubbing over his chin, the wound healing as he looked up at her soft eyes, then at his dad as his father walked towards the crank holding up Daring Do over the rats in the crystal cage. “Really, this is just pathetic. None of you have the raw fighting skills to beat me. All you’ve got are your stupid magical parlor tricks!” Ahuizotl snorted, backhanding Toriel away from his son as he walked right past Mardek…

But then Mardek’s tail hand snatched hold of his dad’s leg, and with a THWOOOOMP! His father was sent FLYING through the air, crashing through the crystal cage, knocking into Daring Do and sending her flopping to the ground nearby as the rats immediately bolted about, then swarmed on Ahuizotl, who was the larger, nicer-smelling treat, unlike Daring Do, who just smelled like sweat and leather. Sometimes it just didn’t help to put heavy conditioner in your fur.

“OW OW OW OW OW OW SONOFA-”

Mardek watched calmly as Toriel began undoing the chains around Daring Do, Spike barreling at Ahuizotl with Twilight as he breathed a burning, searing green fireball, Ahuizotl howling and rolling around on the ground as Toriel finished, then walked over to Ahuizotl, taking hold of him by the scruff of the neck…

And BACKHANDING him so hard he was knocked out, Daring Do looking over at Mardek...who was already long gone out the door.

“...Mardek…” Daring murmured softly.

“He still has all his father’s silver, doesn’t he?” Toriel asked. “He will find a way to bring his mother here as soon as he can. She’s really all he has left now.”

“...I know.” Daring muttered, hanging her head. “I’m not surprised. A boy’s best friend is his mother...”

“Whatever did you SEE in him, Daring?” Twilight asked as Daring Do glanced now at Ahuizotl, cringing.

“Sometimes I wonder. I really do.”

Starlight Glimmer was working hard in Twilight's library that sunny morning. But it was not for a sunny reason. Everything that had been happening lately had her on edge. First the monsters, then came Gaster, then Chara, then the Anomaly, and that is nothing compared to ERROR_SANS and Sombra making an appearance. Things were getting out of hand and she needed to help find answers any way she could.

Fortunetly, she had help.

"Chara, find anything?" She asked of the boy. As she looked in the section on alternate realities, Chara was checking into dimensional rifts and the mysterious power of Fanfics.

"Not much yet. Did find some intresting stuff here though. Apparently there are a few alternate realities that this dimension has catalouged, all related to Equestria."

Starlight blinked. "Really? Like what?"

Chara came over with a book. "Take a look. The more common ones include one where Equestria became a ruined wasteland, and survivors of a fallout struggled to survive. In another that is very similar Ponyville has an added pony, a really pink fluffy one who has eternal love for Chrysalis and tacos. And in another it seems we never existed, but instead the dimension was visited by an immortal human with wings."

Starlight hmmed. "This could confirm something that Sombra said, how every possible choice has some alternate reality tied to it. I have seen the wasted land one myself, thanks to my encounter with Sans and Twilight. The others.... Well We know they exist as well thanks to Molestia." She looked up. "How is she by the way?"

Chara chuckled. "Alright. She moved out to Las Pegasus last I heard. Runs a companion service, which means according to her not solely sex, but also just talk or even just someone to comfort you if your down. She is doing quite well too. As for her zombie ponies... well Twilight has them helping out around here."

Elsewhere in Ponyville, Derpy smiled as Festershy delivered her fresh made batch of muffins, accidentially losing an ear as she handed the basket to her. Derpy smiled all the same, which made the zombie give back a kind, almost tearful, smile in reply.

The thought of it made Starlight giggle. "Well, good thing we still have hope then. Seems every challenge we face gets a second chance... even you and me."

Chara smiled. He loved Starlight more than any other pony because they were so similar in many ways. They shared a bond of being bad guys turned good, the pony instrumental in getting Chara a second chance. While it had resulted in a loss of some memories, most were coming back, and the bad ones he had a lot of help dealing with. The two were together often at the former villian meetings, and had become good friends as a result.

But now was not the time to reflect. "We need to focus for now. We have to find something to stop Error and Sombra. I doubt either of them will repent their ways."

Chara nodded. "Yeah, plus I do not think the Anomaly is gone. Even though it took the six souls, I doubt it would be so easy to defeat. It would take dozens more I thought to completely erase such evil."

Starlight nodded, the two looking through books once more as Frisk entered alongside Spike. With them was some hayburgers for Starlight and some fresh baked apple pie for Chara. The two former villains smiled at their friends as they all gathered around the table.

"Thanks Frisk." Chara said. "Wish I had better news, we haven't found too much to contain the two."

frisk nodded. "I understand. Maybe we can help?" Spike nearby nodded.

"Thanks guys, we could use all the help we can get. But aren't you both busy with chores?"

Spike shrugged. "Twilight is in Canterlot for the day to discuss with the princesses about recent events, and Toriel and Asgore went with her, so we can focus our efforts away from chores for now."

Frisk smiled. "And before you ask Chara, Asriel is already coming. He just had to help out Muffet with her baking again."

Everyone giggled at that. "I can imagine how he is... HELPING... with that!" Chara said.

Spike hmmed as he saw the books the two had found so far. "Looks like your focusing on alternate realities. Think it will help?"

Starlight nodded. "We think so. As far as Chara and I know, this dimension has been influenced in some part by the authors NGrey and Misterebony. We know little about them, except they have influenced dimensions of Equestria before in alternate realities. However, ours is the first case of them working together."

Frisk blinked. "What other realities do you mean?"

Chara shrugged. "we are not sure yet. Dimensional research was sketchy at best based on the books and we have limited resources, but apparently starting a few years ago Equrestria has crossed over with many dimensions, including ones with living animatronics, humans clothed in space armor, and even ones where ponies were giants out to destroy the universe. We cannot be sure how much of i is true or not, but one common theory is that each dimension was influenced, at one point or another, by something called Fanfics."

Spike nodded. "I remember you mentioning that guys. But I thought they were just stories based on different favorite characters."

Frisk sighed. "In some ways yes. But some dimensions have true power in fanfiction. In a sense they explore those 'other decisions' that Sans mentioned. Fanfiction is therefore actually very powerful. It is possible, however unlikely, that they hold the key to the Completionist Anomaly's power. After all, the first question a fiction writer asks is 'What if?', isn't it?"

Everyone was silent at the implication. Did it mean that the authors had more sway than they thought, or were they all still capable of free will? Starlight finally smiled.

"Fanfiction only explores one path though, and an author still doesn't know the end until it's written. So our actions may still hold sway in this world. And sooner or later the authors will depart when their part of the story ends. Maybe they are just preparing us for that end to come."

Spike sighed. "Or preparing the bad guys."

Again there was silence.

*******************

Starlight continued to read the books, still unsure of the implications that had been said. She looked up as the door opened, Asriel walking in, covered in dough and groaning. Starlight was about to speak but Asriel just held up one of his chaos sabers.

"Dont. Ask." He said, fuming. "I thought this was done when I was no longer a flower, but noooooooooo, now I got MUFFET to worry about instead of ponies!"

Starlight laughed. "Oh no, you poor thing. But then you can always say you got really into her baking!"

Asriel glared. "You need to stay away from sans, lest you become another.. .BONE head."

Starlight lost it at that point. it was the laugh she needed given the serious talk. Chara peeked around at the sound.

"I thought that sound meant you were here goatbro." Chara said, hugging the flour coated goat monster. "Glad your here too. We need to go speak to the authors."

Asriel nodded. "I can try. Thing is lately the one has been harder to get in touch with, and the other... well it seems he is getting into a game of some kind. Both are going to be hard to reach right now."

Starlight hmmed. "A game huh? Maybe I can help. I know about a lot of games, and maybe I can reach him through them."

The others gathered about and pondered. "Worth a shot. But we will need some extra help. Too bad we cannot just call on Gaster." Frisk said. "I have a hunch he might help us."

Chara pondered. "Well, I think so, I mean he is helping me, I am sure of it. I think Gaster just cannot interact as himself. He needs a vessel to interact with."

Starlight nodded. "Well, we can make him a temporary one... maybe one of us?"

Spike raised a claw. "I'll do it. Besides, it might be nice to help out in some waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..." Suddenly Spike's color began to dim, a scar appearing on his one eye, the other becoming empty. Grey Spike looked about, crossing his arms. "You know, it is rude to talk about someone when they are listening."

Frisk smiled. "Sorry Dr. G, but we kinda need your help with the fourth wall. Asriel and you have both broken it, and Chara did some. We think with that much power we might be able to reach the Authors and get some help."

Gaster/Greyspike nodded. "It is plausible child. But be warned. Doing this may very well speed the danger that is to come. Knowledge of the creators can be a dangerous thing."

Starlight nodded. "That may be, but you got a different idea? Twilight and Toriel and Asgore are working with the princesses on the direct route.. .so we think we can try something.. indirect."

Spike/Gaster nodded. "Alright. We will try." He looked through the fourth wall, watching the author Misterebony appear. NGrey was away at work it seemed, his area empty. "Alright.... it's open. You realize this interaction will cause his typing to glitch some right?"

Starligth nodded. "If we canget help it is worth it. Besides.. it may prove that they can interact with us.. .and maybe not just them."

Gaster/Greyspike nodded. "Alright. I'll relay a message to NGrey on his messenger service, you try to connect with Misterebony." he turned to Asriel and Chara. "I'll need your help keeping it open. If it gets unstable, Starlight will be trapped outside the dimension... and she cannot exist outside it."

Asriel nodded but Chara went wide eyed. "Wait... so she could...."

"Cease to exist, yes. But we have to try." He turned to Starlight, who made ready.

This would be intresting.

****************

Edward smiled as he looked at his newly downloaded game. He loved Yu-Gi-Oh almost as much as My Little Pony and Undertale. Heck he LOVED games period, and being able to play one he hadn't for some time was pretty awesome. He smiled as he started the app, smiling as  he began to build his deck.

But as he looked through the cards, he paused. There was one that seemed out of place. It showed the title Fourth Wall... and had a picture of a certain pony.

"Starlight?!" He asked.

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After some glitching on the tablet all of a sudden, Starlight turned her head to the author, speaking through the speaker. "Oh good, it worked! Now look, start as game quickly and ask for me as an opponent, we need to talk, and that act will stabilize us for a time."

Edward blinked in shock, but considering since starting Undertales of Friendship with Ngrey the two had been directly effected by Gaster, Molestia, the Anomaly, and now Starlight, nothing shocked him anymore. He just wondered how many of these instances Nick was having, and yet not speaking of yet.  Saying nothing he started a game, choosing Starlight as an opponent.

"There we go. Now then, I need to talk to you about Error."

Edward looked at his starting hand. then spoke. "Well, why ask me? Nick was the one who brought him and Sombra into the story, not to mention Molestia." He played a familiar card. "And since we have to play, I guess I start by summoning my Red Gadget."

Starlight smiled. "Nice play, you now get a yellow Gadget right?"

Edward blinked. "How did you....?"

"You forget our dimension has crossed many others. As a result when I broke the fourth wall I got knowledge on how to play this game easily."

Edward sighed, deciding that this was beyond logic and ended his turn. "So... what do you need to know?"

Starlight drew a card, and played out a Lightsworn Paladin. Oddly, it resembled a pony version of it. "Well, we need help defeating ERROR_SANS and Sombra. We know they are not beaten yet." She hmmed. "I'll have my paladin attack."

Edward watched as his gadget was destroyed, losing life. "Indeed. Simply defeating foes like that one way isn't enough." Edward drew. "They always rise up." He summoned out Yellow Gadget, getting a green gadget, then played double summon.

Starlight blinked as Yellow gadget was tributed to summon a Gadjiltron Chimera. "And sometimes.... stronger than before."

Edward nodded. "Right. See... this is something Nick and I both know. Evil doesn't like to play fair. Gadjiltron attacks your paladin, and after destroying it will deal an extra 700 damage!"

Starlight winced in pain. Edward blinked. Of course she would. For her this game was actually real, considering she was IN the game! "Sorry, you alright?!"

Starlight winced. "Yeah... I've faced Sans remember? That was nothing." She reared up. "Ok... so now you have a big foe... just like we do. How... how can we beat it?"

Edward pondered. "The key is finding out where you are weak and where you are strong."

Starlight blinked. What did Edward mean? Why couldn't he just tell herrrrrrrrr..... ohg no... she was glitching... she had to hurry.

She drew and laid a face down and a spell. But Edward sighed.

"A good try but not enough." He drew and played Space Typhoon, destroying the facedown, then playing Smashing ground to destroy the face down Lightsworn Hunter. Starlight was defenseless.

"Listen to me." Edward said. Relying solely on what you always do will not work in some cases. See Gajiltron as your enemy. Then look at your hand."

Starlight looked and saw the truth. In her hand was a way to discard cards... enough to summon a powerful beast that could have won her the game. She looked as Edward spoke.

"Sombra and Error are the toughest things that Equestria has seen but more is coming. I cannot tell you much, but when the time comes you had better remember what the heart is."

Starlight blinked. "The heart? why?!"

Edward was about to answer as she felt a pulling. She knew her time was up. Even as strong as three wall breakers were she could not come through for long. The Anomaly was able to do so since he had power in this world, but not Starlight... there was no Starlight in Edward's realm...except on TV.

Starlight left with a lot to think about as she saw the duel lost. She began to worry as she saw it. Something bad was about to happen, and when it did simply fighting it would not be enough.

There had to be another way to stop the two and whatever else was coming.

*****************

As his tablet reset, Edward sighed and decided to email NGrey, asking about work and story progress. For some reason he could not say what he wanted to, something was holding him back from telling Starlight the way to beat what was coming. Why? He and Nick both knew it.... so... what was stopping them?

He decided not to find out just yet, but returned to the writing. He figured the group had enough to worry about when the time came, and began to write something silly to lift their spirits. He just hoped it would do so.

He chuckled. wondering why he cared so much this time. He'd have to ask Nick later.

THE END

Alphys stood nervously in the jewelers. She had been coming here every day for the past few weeks, and Filthy Rich, the jewelry shop owner, knew why. He smiled warmly as she gazed at a few certain items. "Still nervous are we Alphys?" He asked the dinosaur scientist, who blushed. "Now I know it is an intimidating thought. But I assure you finding the right jewel for the occasion is not hard. Look at my own little bundle of joy. I knew right away what suited her."

Alphys wrung her claws together. "y-y-y-y-yeah... b-b-b-but the one I am buying for.... isn't typically a jewelry person."

Filthy Rich nodded. "If it is from the heart, she will love it. Besides... I know why you are here."

Alphys was wide eyed. "Y....you do?!"

Filthy Rich nods. "It was obvious when you kept coming in. You want an engagement ring."

Alphys blushed redder than a raspberry. Now her secret was out. For a long time she and her soulmate had been seeing one another, and the thoughts had mixed from anime shojo to downright hentai in nature.

Yeah.... Alphys would die for anime.

Anyways, Alphys was hoping to make something more out of their life. Something very special, so she wanted to take things to the ultimate level. She loved Undyne more than she loved even Mew Mew Kissy Cutie, and that said something. She chuckled as she finally picked a ring meant for humans and monsters, and got out the bits to buy it.

This was it.

********************

Ahuizotl chuckled as he looked over at a tied up Daring Do. The brave adventurer had been soundly caught this time, and the doglike villain was taking no chances this time. He marveled as he examined the temple they now were in.

"You must be REALLY mad about losing your son. How's he been?" Daring Do wisecracked, the tribally-dressed villain giving her a dark glare. "Oh, still not come back?"

"He took ALL...I had at our camps. You wouldn't BELIEVE what I had to do to get the materials for this trap." Ahuizotl grumbled.

"What are YOU smiling about?" Sombra asked of Error Sans as he breathed deeply, resting against a tree, blowing a cigarette.

"...I've been...boning up on building alliances."

"Maybe you're TOO much like the comedian!"

"You won't get away with this Ahuizotl! I will find a way to stop you. Just like I ALWAYS do."

The villain smiled at Daring Do. "MY dear sweet Do, you cannot stop me this time. See, the prophecy foretold that only something a mile high could stop the machine in this place, and we both know you are NOT a mile high. So yes you may "stop me", but I doubt you can stop...IT."

He pointed at the machine in the center of the chamber. It was an ancient yet high tech machine, well over fifty feet high. It looked like a bipedal pony in many ways, it's forehooves glistening with artillery, made of a metal never before seen and encrusted with gemstones. Ahuizotl chuckled, then laughed.

"Soon, the prize will be mine: The Friendship Palace! Imagine, a palace that is virtually a gigantic gemstone. There are already offers in the trillions of bits for it, as well as the ponies and monsters who reside within. Soon I will have my prize, and that upstart friend of yours, Rainbow Dash, will be a splat on the ground, crushed under the heel of the Colossus!"

Daring was wide eyed. "You greedy, twisted monster!"

The doglike being chuckled. "Considering your company as of late... I'll Take that as a compliment. But don't worry, I left you something." He motioned to a rather odd machine, one which, it now appeared, that Daring was tied to.. "This device and several others were from an ancient race of beings, and were they ever masters of war. This one is particularly nasty. It emits a sweet smelling goo that coats the victim and clouds their mind. Bit by bit, it removes all emotion except friendly happy feelings. Then... it leads the victim along to a set of blades, cutting goo and victim down into dog food, even canning it for distribution. And as you know, Diamond Dogs are rather fond of dog food made from ponies."

"That is bucking SICK! You won't get away with this!!!!" Daring Do retorted, secretly cutting her bonds.

"I already have. Now if you will excuse me.. .I have a date with Ponyville and the castle therein. Ta ta!" He climbed into the top of the head, and suddenly the Colossus sprang to life. The eyes glowed green, and the being moved to a full attention position. The machine pointed one hoof upward, and fired a blast of ethereal energy, destroying the roof of the temple. Rockets suddenly engaged in the lower feet as the thing took off, its pilot laughing maniacally.

Daring Do soon cut herself free long before the goo touched her, but she was too late. And now... all she could hope to do was warn Ponyville. She flapped her wings and took to the air, flying as fast as thunder to warn her friends.

She only hoped she would not be too late!

****************

Undyne was in the middle of a fight with Chara, the latter laughing as they sparred using their spears, each holding their own. Nearby, Frisk and Twilight watched with curiosity.

"Ummm.... why are they fighting?" Twilight asked. "Isn't Undyne worried about being turned into dust?"

Frisk nodded. "I wondered that myself."

"Not to worry my little friends." Luna said, coming out to the courtyard outside of the palace of Ponyville.  "Undyne and Chara are using magical spears I helped create with Alphys' help. they shock the one hit with the tip and then return to their original state of a small rod. This allows for harmless sparring to occur."

The two nodded as the fight increased in intensity. Chara chuckled some.

"You know I can beat you Undyne, I have before!" He said. Undyne chuckled, showing her teeth.

"Right now, every one, every where, is on MY side Chara! And when I have that much hope for my victory... I cannot lose!" She used all her force to push Chara off, the two charging again, but Undyne was ready as Chara lept over to stab from behind. A quick turn of the spear and Chara was nailed in the heart. He let out a shriek as he was shocked, falling backwards, his spear dissolving.

"Aw man! I thought I had you that time!" He said, Undyne helping him up then ruffling his hair some.

"You're too aggressive. You need to wait for the right moment to strike. This isn't like your old Genocide ways after all, this is much more difficult. Especially given our newest foes."

Chara nodded. "Ok.... one more time."

Twilight stepped forward and interrupted. "Actually... I think we better stop for now, it is almost time for tea."

Undyne sighed. "Party pooper." She said. Chara agreeing, even as Frisk tried to hide a snort. But everyone froze as suddenly the ground began to shake. Everyone looked about, then finally looked to Luna.

"Don't look at me... I haven't had any beans for sometime now."

Twilight groaned, deciding to fly up to see what was coming.

And when she did, she screamed.

***********************

Alphys walked down the street of Ponyville nervously, holding the fancy ring box and the ring inside. It was perfect for Undyne, perfect for what she wanted to do. She shivered nervously, worried that she would screw it up again like she had so many times before. The one child. Breaking the barrier. The Determination Project. Frisk. His Date with Undyne. So many times she had screwed up and almost lost everything. And yet everyone still loved her and praised her successes. Especially Undyne, the sexy fish she adored.

Alphys began to sob at remembering something from long ago, something she never told anyone, a meeting she had with Undyne once when Alphys was particularly hopeless. Undyne's hope and determination flowed to her. Alphys knew then that she could return the favor with the help of one of the souls, the one who had lept in the waterfall, the one who had not wanted to fight her.

Alphys extracted that particular batch of Determination, and kept it safe like a memory that was always treasured. Undyne had not asked who it was from, but Alphys told her anyway. In a way, that human gave Undyne a new strength. Undyne was, after all, the only monster who successfully absorbed Determination with no ill effects. Alphys remembered what Undyne did.

She cried.

It was the only time Undyne had ever cried that Alphys knew of, the only time SHE begged for comfort. And Alphys gave it, like Undyne gave it to her so many times.

Alphys never forgot that... knowing Undyne depended on her that much to hsare her feleings outside of her awesomeness. And for that, Alphys always would give Undyne her love. And today... she would prove it.

She was drawn out of her thoughts as she saw everyne in Ponyville running fo rtheir lives.

"What the?" She said, but she needed to say no more as she saw it: A massive bipedal pony made of gemstone and obelisk, beams of pure devastation shooting out from it into the streets, one hoof firing the beams the other launching missiles at the palace. This was no pony toy that was for sure, this was a weapon of war of an ancient race.

The Colossus.

"UNDYNE! TWILIGHT!" Alphys shouted, running as fast as she could to the palace, not sure what she could do, but hoping she could do SOMETHING.

*******************

Undyne threw more spears at the giant with no avail, gritting her teeth as it raised its cannon arm. The voice within spoke out.

"Oh please. your pathetic attempts to stop me will not have the slightest effect on my machine. Princess Twilight, I give you this ultimatum... surrender the palace and all within it, including yourself... or I destroy Ponyville and all who live there!"

Luna shouted out. "Curse you, vile fiend!" She blasted a beam of star energy from her horn, but the machine merely made a shimmering shield appear in its one hand, blocking the blast. Luna gasped, as did Undyne, the cannon pointing right at her. The fish gritted her teeth.

"My turn." The being said, firing....

Just as Alphys tackled her, getting her out of the way just in time.

"Alphys! You..... You saved me!" Undyne said, wide eyed. "But... it means nothing if we cannot stop that mecha!"

Alphys went wide eyed. "What did you say?"

"It IS a mecha right? Because anime is real?"

Alphys smacked her forehead. Of course! There WAS one thing she had that could help!

"Twilight, get me to the portal to the Underground and FAST. The only way to beat a Mecha... is with one." Alphys, for the first time in her life, straightened herself up. Undyne was wide eyed.

"Alphys?"

"Undyne... for a long time you have protected me and loved me.... but now..... now I.... I.... I have to protect you. You and all my friends."

Undyne could only stare as Alphys walked off with Twilight. The way she walked then, the way she spoke... she looked.... cool.

Undyne smiled and chuckled. "Go get em Alphys."

*****************

Ahuizotl chuckled as he prepared to raze Ponyville to the ground. Soon, the castle would be his one way or another, and then who knows? Maybe Canterlot? After all there are many who would pay big for an Alicorn sex slave. Perhaps Manehatten, with all its riches therein? Or perhaps the CRYSTAL EMPIRE?!

The possibilities were endl-

BOOM!

A sudden explosion shook the Collosus as the pilot turned to see where it came from. And when he did.. he had to do a double take.

There before his mech was another one, shaped like a mighty knight crossed with a merfolk. In her hand was a massive spear of energy, and in the other a massive, anime style shield. It stood over fifty feet tall as well, it's dark armor glittering in the sun that shone behind it. A single golden eye shining in one of the sockets, the other a red laser that still glowed from the shot it took. There was only one thing to call the machine that stood before him...

The Mecha Undyne!

"Alrright you! You tried to hurt my friends, my home, and the one I love. So now, you got to try and get past me!" The voice rang out from the mech, taking a battle stance. THe Colossus put away its artillery and pulled out a sword and shield of its own, the two charging at high speed, boosted by rockets. They slammed into one another with a crash, and the fight was on.

Alphys was no fighter, nor did she ever try to be one. But she was AWESOME at video games, and she rigged the mecha to pilot like one. So as the blade and the spear mechas clashed, Alphys fought like a pro, her teeth gritting, filled with DETERMINATION.

"CURSE YOU!!!!" The dog fiend said, raising his shield, firing several rockets that slammed into Alphys Mecha, knocking it off balance, several sword slices afterward making Alphys go to her knees, the cockpit sparking. Red indicators lit up showing intense damage.

But Alphys pressed on, getting back up, and firing back with beams of energy, slamming into the Colossus and destroying the shield!

"NO!" The dog pilot shouted. From the ground, Undyne watched in awe. This was her love fighting up there, and she was... she was WINING!!!!

"GET HIM ALPHYS! FINISH HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Alphys raised the spear, lightning seeming to hit the tip of it. Alphys stared at her opponent, hearing below the cries of her friends cheering her on, the shouts of her friends.... and the cry of her love.

"This ends now!" Alphys shouted, the spear tip glowing, taking it and moving into a charging position. Ahuizotl was still reeling from the last blasts, and could only stare in shock as Alphys prepared for a final attack.

The red indicators indicated overheating, that the mecha was breaking down, but Alphys paid itr no head, emitting a cry as she charged, a cry that, with it, vanished all her doubts, all her failures, and all her pain.

She was a hero now, like an anime repentant, and she would end this NOW!

"SPEAR OF THE HERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed, slamming into the Colossus one last time, driving the spear clean through the middle, the power generators of the ancient mech still stuck on the tip of the spear. But the attack was not over, as from the tip emitted a blast of superhot plasma. The force sent the ruined mech flying into the air, Ahuizotl forced to leap to safety.

"Curse you Ponyville!!!!!!" He said... landing right in Daring Do's arms.

"Oh POOP." He whimpered as she grinned evilly.

"I heard you tried to destroy my friends home. I think my good friend Rainbow Dash and I should chat with you for that?"

The dog fiend gulped. "Can't I just go to jail?"

Meanwhile, the Mecha Undyne fell backward, the damage it tok and the energy spent too critical as the systems shut down. Somehow, it crashe din such a way that not one home had been damaged, outside of some dust and dirt that it picked up, in true Anime style.

"ALPHYS!" Undyne shouted, running for the mecha to see if her love was alright. She ran to the cockpit at the head, inside the maw, and opened it, finding Alphys, bruised and breathing hard... but alive.

"Hi." Was all the scientist said, Undyne crying as she held Alphys to her.

"You big damn idiotic bitch! What if you had died?! What if..."

"But I didn't. And... someone had to be YOUR hero for once." Alphys smiled weakly. "I have let everyone down so much... That I..."

"Let us down? Don't you remember what I said? You never do! You give everything you try your all! And that is more than many people do, and then you go and do this! Alphys, you're a big idiot... but you're my hero!"

Alphys was wide eyed. "I am?"

"Always have been, you nerd." Undyne said, crying as she kissed Alphys, holding her tight. "You give me the strength to remain DETERMINED.... because I love you."

Alphys smiled softly, and with what strength she had... withdrew the small box. And inside was a ring with a diamond spear on it for a gfemstone.

"I love you too." Alphys said. "Will... will you marry me?"

Undyne literally got anime eyed as she saw the ring. "Anime is real..." She managed to say. "I... I..... YES!"

The two embraced, nearby Chara, Twilight, and Luna smiling, Frisk finally speaking.

"Bout time."

Meanwhile, not too far away, behind some bushes, Rainbow Dash and Daring Do were spending some quality time with Ahuizotl, teaching him a lesson he would not soon forg-

"Look at it THIS way,Ahuizotl. If you ever have to give birth, now it'll be REALLY EASY." Daring Do laughed evilly.

"OH NO PLEASE STOP AAAA NO PLEASE ITS NOT SUPPOSED TO BEND THAT WAY GAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

"Sombra, do you hear that? That's the sound of ultimate suffering. My heart made it when I realized the expanse of the multiverse. Ahuizotl makes it now." Error Sans remarked, putting a bony hand to his "ear" as Sombra tried not to laugh.

"Do...PFFT...do you think...giggle...we should go help him?"

"Who SAYS you can't be funny?" Error Sans sniggered.

************************

Several weeks later, The two stood before Celestia herself, Alphys dressed in a white gown, Undyne in her armor shined up for the occasion, both holding hands. They had just shared their vows and exchanged rings, and turned to face a crowd of many faces and races, who cheered as Undyne raised Alphys on her back. The cheers of their friends could be heard, Alphys chuckling as she saw Rainbow Dash bawling her eyes out and trying to hide it, and saw Frisk and Chara and Asriel smiling.

Undyne carried Alphys out of the massive castle of Ponyville, amid even more happy faces and crying eyes, rice tossed their way. Alphys couldn't hold it in, she began to sob.

"Don't start crying hero." Undyne said, hugging her. "We have a life to live!"

Alphys nodded, the two climbing into a final invention made by Alphys, a massive ship meant for fast travel. The ship hovered off the ground, then with a blast, sped off into the sky to take the two on their honeymoon, vanishing in the sunset.

Anime had become very real indeed.

 

THE END

Scootaloo was in awe as she watched Rainbow Dash practicing with the Wonderbolts. The fast flying, wise cracking, best friend ever was Scootaloo's idol as well as her best friend. Best of all was that thanks to that friend she and her friends all got tickets to a front row seat at the air show next week. Rainbow Dash was being a special part of that air show, where she would be set up for a Rainboom that would paint the night sky.

As such, she had to practice a lot, and Scootaloo was given special Reserve access to see the practices.

"More speed, Crash! We need you in top form before the show, I wanna see you doing Rainbooms in your sleep!" Spitfire called out. Scootaloo never understood why RD like the name Crash now, given how much negativity her youth had around it... but clearly it was special now, since Spitfire had an equally insulting nickname for every one of them... and had one of her own.

"You got it, Hotflank!" RD called. Scootaloo sniggered at that, the story behind that pretty hilarious. On her first day, long ago when she was a Reserve herself, Spitfire had landed flank first into a hayburger barbecue, setting her tail on fire and almost burning off her cutie mark. Scootaloo knew the reason such a nickname had to be kept secret, and it was the ultimate sign of trust in the Wonderbolts:

Knowing her secret call-sign and being able to use it meant you were that trustworthy to her.

"Clipper! Forebreak! Bank off for the Rainboom!"

On cue, Soarin and Silverwing, respectively, banked to the left and right as Rainbow Dash poured on the speed. At last, the cone of speed appeared, and Rainbow poured it on....

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

The rainboom was now almost second nature for the speedster, and yet whenever it appeared it wowed al around. Instantly RD had massive improvements to speed and flight control, even being able to turn on angles impossible in flight. She sped around, making a massive rainbow outside of the spreading rainboom that covered the sky. It was simply beautiful and amazing all at once.

But too an onlooker, it was more than that. It was an opportunity. Error Sans chuckled as he saw the Rainboom, Sombra nearby drinking some red wine.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Sombra said, walking over to Error . "How sad that they do not understand the kind of power that lay within such a thing. The Rainboom is more than just a beautiful sight."

Error Sans gave a nod. "I can see now why you wanted me to see this. The power it contains is incredible.... especially right where the burst occurs."

"Correct, my fragmented friend." Sombra said. "If we follow the plan, it will be the key to the correction of the timelines. Then we can deal with those who altered them directly later on."

Error nodded. "A sound idea. We will put the plan into action right away."

The two chuckled, watching Rainbow fly, taking in the moment to see her at her best.

If they had their way, it would not be so for much longer.

***********************

"And then, she whizzes around, making a massive rainbow just for me and Spitfire! It was just... just...." Scootaloo was stunned on what to use as she told her classmates. But Diamond Tiara chuckled.

"Awesome?" She said. Scootaloo nodded. "Well of COURSE she is awesome. Even I know she is the best flyer to ever grace the Wonderbolts! Daddy even offered a million bits to make her our personal air show but she turned it down. Imagine, turning that down?"

Frisk chuckled nearby, still holding the backstage pass he and the rest of the Crusaders got. It was a neat feeling now, with him and Chara and Asriel all now officially part of the Crusaders, and each one getting a handkerchief Rarity made herself with what would be their cutie marks if they were ponies, according to the consensus. For Chara, it was a sword and shield, since he was a natural born warrior who now could use his skill to defend others and help make things. Asriel got a smiling flower, since he was once Flowey... but now even when he turned into Flowey he was the best friend anyone could have.

*********************

As a side note, it was almost a pie at Muffet and Pinkie Pie's suggestions, but Asriel quickly shot that down.

*********************

Frisk, however, felt his was too kind. It was engraved with seven hearts , one red one circled by six others. The Six Souls if he thought about it. Being given that made it feel like the other five were making him their leader, and wrongfully so. He was no leader in his own eyes, just someone who showed his SOUL to all around, and who loved everyone with all his heart.

Ironically, that was what made him the best leader ever.

"I envy you Frisk." Diamond Tiara said, trotting over to the human. "I mean, you’re going to get to see the Wonderbolts front and center! You even get to meet them in person, something I never got to do."

Frisk smiled. "Thanks Diamond. But as much as I like it... I don't know if I can go."

Everyone turned in surprise. "WHAT?!"

Frisk shrugged. "Well, mom and dad are being summoned to the castle so someone needs to stay behind and watch the house. I volunteered so that Chara and Asriel can go."

Scootaloo “hmphed”. "Well now that won't do! That settles it, you are coming with me tonight and we are watching the final training together!"

Frisk blinked. "Really? But...well, won'tcha you get in trouble?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "Nah. They are practicing over by the Everfree, and I know that place like the back of my hoof now. Besides, you’re a hero just like Dash is! I highly doubt Spitfire will say no."

Everyone nodded, encouraging Frisk. Frisk finally nodded. "Alright...I'll go."

Everyone cheered in delight, but all were unaware that someone was pulling their strings, setting this very thing up. If they had looked closely, Frisk and Scootaloo might have seen their classmates being hit with a dark purple green magic, ever so slightly. Sombra stood outside and chuckled.

"Phase one complete."

*********************

"At the Everfree forest?" Rainbow Dash asked Spitfire. "Commander Hotflanks, I will admit the idea of flying over it so low in altitude is awesome, and would love to make a massive leaf storm with my speed, but....you really sure that this is safe?"

Spitfire nodded. "Absolutely Crash. I have conformed your little watcher will be well out of range, and have notified Zecora to secure her hut. All variables have been accounted for." She revealed a map of the Everfree. "According to Zecora, this location here will have the least likelihood of disturbing anything nasty in the Everfree. Try to have the Rainboom in this region."

Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Ok.... let's go!" Spitfire said, the forms unaware as a set of blue strings lifted the map up to the window, gazing at the circled area.

"Phase two is as good as done. I better tell Sombra. Soon we will deal with the timeline corruption once and for all." Error Sans whispered.

********************

Taking a road through the Everfree was never easy, but Spitfire had assured Scootaloo yesterday that practice would be far enough away that they would be able to see the Rainboom up close without any ill effects. Scootaloo however was finding it harder than ever this time. Something about the Everfree Forest today seemed.... off.

"Frisk..... maybe we should-"

But he never finished what he said, as a force took hold of him, leading him on. Frisk never caught wind of it, or Scootaloo's initial worry, just following his friend. He hoped that soon he would be watching the Wonderbolts like never before as they rehearsed for the air show tomorrow, and he could not wait to see it so up close.

Suddenly, the section of forest they were in felt darker than usual. Frisk looked about but could not find the path. It was as if light itself had vanished, replaced by the midnight darkness, save for a single patch of light in the trees.

The two, not realizing the truth, went towards the light...

*******************

Rainbow Dash built up speed. Spitfire's suggestion was a good one, the Everfree far enough away to not be a danger to anyone in Ponyville, and Zecora's potions made much of the Everfree a protected region. RD had nothing to worry about.

Or so she thought.

She saw it too late. Emerging from the forest just where the Rainboom would hit.

She saw the Rainboom explode, sending out the shockwave.

And she saw, on the return, that the force had sent two forms flying into the trees. Rainbow was wide eyed with shock as she flew closer...

And saw Frisk and Scootaloo, both unconscious, looking terrible, huge cuts on their heads, and the leg bone of Frisk's right leg sticking out.

"No."

Rainbow Dash was wide eyed in disbelief. Scootaloo never emerged from Everfree near here.. .there was no way!

"NO."

She picked up Scootaloo. The poor filly was barely breathing... and the cut on her head was massive. Rainbow Dash whimpered, looking then to Frisk.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

*************************

Rainbow Dash paced outside the hospital room, almost wearing a track in the hallway. She had taken so many precautions... hadn't see?

No... in hindsight she never double checked.... she just went out to perform, to practice, confident her little buddies would be a safe distance away.

But to emerge right where the Rainboom went off was a near death sentence. The force at the core was like a bomb going off, and the force it generated sent the two flying back into the forest, slamming into trees within. Rainbow was heartbroken.... she knew this was her fault.

Finally, the doctor emerged.

"How... how are they doc?"

The doctor sighed. "Not good I am sorry to say. The human's leg is completely fractured. He wil not walk again for some time, not without some powerful healing spells. But Scootaloo is far worse. Her wings are almost damaged beyond repair, her spine has a crack... and she is in a coma. I'm sorry Rainbow... but Scootaloo is going to be laid up for quite some time."

Rainbow felt her whole weight slump, her whole form give way to pure despair. Frisk, the hero of ponies, monsters, and humans.... laid up like an invalid. Scootaloo, Rainbow's biggest fan and practically her little sister... in a coma. All because of her. All because she did her Rainboom for the Wonderbolts.

"Can I see them?" She asked. The doctor nodded, stepping aside to let her enter. Rainbow was in tears as he saw them.

Scootaloo had a breathing mask on and her forehead was wrapped up in bandages, her one wing in a cast. The chip in her spine apparently wasn't as serious as was believed...but still, the wound to the head was very severe. Frisk looked no better. He winced as he slept thanks to the anesthetic, his leg in a cast, as well as his arm, something the doctor forgot to mention. His forehead also had several bandages, one with a dark stain on it where it had just stopped bleeding.

The sigh was too much for Rainbow, and she began to sob, collapsing on the floor of the hospital. She felt the weight of this sin on her back, and it was crushing her inside.

"Crash?" A voice said behind her. Rainbow Dash looked behind her and saw Spitfire, giving a concerned look. "What...what happened?"

Rainbow Dash sighed. "It was my fault. I did not check for civilians and as a result my Rainboom got them both injured."

Spitfire was wide eyed in shock. "They were THERE? But how?!"

"It doesn't matter... maybe I could have checked more... maybe I missed something... but the point is I am at fault." Rainbow Dash removed her Wonderbolt goggles. "I.... I’m sorry, but I…I quit."

Spitfire gaped, mouth hanging open as she stared in shocked at Rainbow Dash. "What?!"

"If my so called talent is going to get my best friends hurt.... then it's not a talent." She walked past Spitfire, still sobbing. Spitfire turned and looked at her.

"Rainbow Dash! All your life you have never quit anything without good reason, but this is not an example of that! You honestly think Scootaloo will accept this being why you quit?! If you do, you will be haunted by it for the rest of your life. The only thing we can do is get back out there and keep flying, better than before, learning from our mistakes."

Rainbow Dash suddenly turned, slamming into Spitfire. "And when was the last time one of YOUR mistakes got someone nearly killed huh?! I will fly how I choose and the way I choose! I told you before that I don't want to be a part of the Wonderbolts if all they care for is recklessness!"

Spitfire began to sweat. She never had seen Rainbow this angry, and it scared her.

"So you and the rest of the Wonderbolts can go fly into a thunderstorm for all I care! I'M BUCKING DONE!"

With that she threw Spitfire down and walked away, tears falling from her eyes like never before. She had nearly killed her friends and Spitfire told her to forget it and go on? Rainbow Dash knew she couldn't. Next time it could be worse. As it was now... her best friend and little buddy may never wake up.

No.... she had no right being a part of the Wonderbolts if she could do this. Rainbow Dash, Fastest Flyer in Equestria....

Was no more.

*******************

Outside, Error Sans and Sombra watched with delight. Rainbow Dash had been shaken to the core, and with her the house of cards would soon fall.

"Phase two complete." Sombra said. "Now the whispering campaign begins. Those fillies will think it was Frisk's idea to go that way in the Everfree, and when that air show next week is cancelled, everyone will blame the human."

Error nodded. "Soon ponies and monsters will be at each other’s throats, and the monsters will be sent back to the underground. Then we can purge this timeline easily, and start over again."

Sombra and Error began to laugh, watching as Rainbow, tears in her eyes, flew for home, screaming out in pain at what she thought she had done, while inside Spitfire was puzzled. Rainbow Dash HAD checked the sight over. Spitfire had as well.

Plus... there was no way the two emerged on a path out that way without any sign of being in brambles or ponds. Not and be there at the time considered, given when they left Ponyville.

No.... something was very wrong, and if the answer was not found out about soon.....

TO BE CONTINUED...

Twilight was stunned that it was raining again. The pegasi overhead were working to clear the storms away, but it was like nature itself was angry at Equestria. And given what was happening lately.... she couldn't help but agree.

It had been four days since the accident, putting Frisk and Scootaloo in the hospital. Frisk was recovering somewhat, but Scootaloo was still in a coma, and Rainbow as a result was often by her side. Rumors were flying how she had done this to Scootaloo on purpose, because she was ashamed... but they weren't the worst ones. Rumors that Scootaloo was trying to kill Frisk out of jealousy were being spread around, and that Frisk was trying to sabotage the air show somehow, since where he and Scootaloo were there was no way to get to easily.

Worst was that too many ponies and monsters were BELIEVING it. Five days ago Ponyville was a pleasant little town where pony and monster were side by side. But now ponies were hiding in fear from monsters, and monsters were looking at ponies with a worried look. Things were coming to a head, and doing so fast. The incident had made old worries the two species had had about each other boil to the surface.

Twilight sighed as she entered Muffet's Cafe, the outside of it stained with graffiti calling Muffet a coltkiller and baby eater.  Muffet sat behind the counter, sobbing. She looked up and saw Twilight. No words were exchanged. None needed to be.

The two just hugged, Muffet looking to Twilight.

"Is Toriel here?" She asked. Muffet nodded silently, leading her back into the kitchen, where Toriel sat silently with Asriel and Chara. The latter saw Twilight and an to her.

"Twilight, you gotta do something! I cannot take this anymore, the stuff being said about mom and dad.. it isn't true! They are saying that they put Frisk up to doing that to Scootaloo!"

Toriel nodded. "And what my kin are saying about Rainbow Dash.... Twilight, something simply must be done."

Twilight nodded. "Trust me, Toriel. Something will be done. I have been talking to Spitfire, and what she told me makes what happened seem suspicious. But before we can address it I have to help Rainbow Dash.  She is going so deep into depression that I don't know what to do."

Chara nodded. "I can see why. Scootaloo is still in a coma. Frisk is healing well but still unable to walk. And Rainbow still feels responsible."

Twilight nodded. "Well... what I found out may just shake that to the core. Toriel.... I need you to come with me. Rainbow may just need what a mother can provide."

Toriel nodded. Asriel spoke up. "I'm coming to. Sorry to say but I cannot say here with Muffet... you know how she is."

Muffet, hearing that, whimpered and put the cake pan away.

"Alright.... Chara, think you can get Muffet over to Sweet Apple Acres? I already told Applejack you were coming."

Chara nodded. "No worries. I can get her there with no trouble. You just get Rainbow Dash back to her awesome self." He led Muffet out, several ponies muttering under their breath how Muffet was going to eat their kids and shooing fillies away who wanted to see Muffet. Things were really out of hand.

Twilight knew something had to change and fast.

**********************

The Wonderbolts opened the door to Rainbow Dash's cloud mansion, and were in total shock. It used to be that the mansion was adorned with Wonderbolt gear, trophies for flying, Daring Do books.... basically the articles of a star athlete.

But now the walls were bare, the pedestals bare, and most of the items in large bins. Even the entire collection of Daring Do books was in a box labeled "Donations" on the side. Spitfire fumed and went to find the flyer, the others right behind.

"Rainbow Dash! Front and Center!" Spitfire shouted. There was no answer. Spitfire gritted her teeth and was about to shout again as the door opened behind her.

And there stood Toriel, Asriel, and Twilight, the youngest of which still amazed he was walking on clouds. How had Sans pulled it off without a spell?

"Your majesties...." Spitfire said, bowing to the princess and to the queen of monsters, but both eased her back up.

"You need not stand on ceremony, not now... is Rainbow here?" The goat mom said, Asriel looking about in near horror at how bland everything looked.

"Not sure... we were looking for her too." Spitfire said. "We wanted to try and convince her to join back up again. We want to help Scootaloo and Frisk too, and use the sales from the air show to help. But we cannot do that without her. If she quits... we have to cancel the show."

Twilight nodded. "I know. And with everything going on it will just up the tension that much more. If this keeps up it might even lead to a war... and that is one thing we do not want."

Spitfire nodded, everyone heading up into the castle like home of the former speedster, finding the door to her room. Spitfire was going to just knock and open the door. But... she was through being subtle. With a mighty buck, the door flew off its hinges, shocking the pony inside who turned to face the group... wearing a weather control technician uniform.

"Oh no. No no no no NO." Spitfire said, trotting towards Rainbow Dash. But Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"It's my new job. I figure I will still help ponies, still make sure no one gets hurt, especially by me, and it's good solid work."

Spitfire jabbed a hoof into the dour-faced Rainbow Dash's chest. "And you call yourself the element of LOYALTY? You have any idea what your quitting has done?!"

Rainbow nods. "Yeah... everyone is safer now. I hear them talking. I hear them saying how I almost killed them."

Twilight sighed. "Well there is more going around. Some are blaming you for hurting Frisk... others say Scootaloo did it on purpose to get him killed."

Rainbow Dash blinked. "Wait... they're saying what?"

"And that Frisk did the same!"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Really? Frisk try to kill someone? How stupid are ponies?"

There is a long silence, and after a bit, Rainbow blinked. "Wow. We really ARE kinda stupid..."

"More than that." Toriel said. "I have even been accused of brainwashing the two of them because I wanted to declare war on ponies. Everyone's paranoia is flaring up."

Rainbow Dash was now interested. "That's stupid! It was an accident-" She blinked, then turned away. "I know what your trying to do Twi... and it won't work. I know it was my fault. I should have checked the area better."

Spitfire facehoofed. "Would I have let you fly if it WASN'T checked Crash? We did a full fly-through just before you began practice! They were nowhere in sight, and nowhere near that part of the Everfree. In fact, based on where they were and where the Rainboom happened... we are certain this was a setup."

Rainbow blinked. "Wha?"

Twilight used her magic to make the grid again, this time with an image of the Everfree on it, as well as one of Rainbow. "Okay, here's what happened...when you perform the Rainboom, it mostly just creates a huge gust of wind that can remove clouds from the sky, yet still be mostly just the force of heavy wind to ponies and such.. .except in two areas." The image of Rainbow had the rainboom, and Twilight froze the image, showing a straight line running perpendicular to Rainbow just behind her, and a large candle flame shaped area behind her. "The first is more dangerous, and is just behind you when you do the Rainboom. The explosive force you let off when you do it is so powerful, it can devastate anything right behind you. Anyone flying too close behind you when you do it would be lucky to survive. Then... there is where the Rainboom spreads out from." She pointed to the straight line, turning the image to reveal it was a thin circle of affect. "At close range, the force is incredibly high in this thin area once the blast occurs. It lasts only a moment and has a width hat is very small. But if a creature is caught in it they are sent flying with incredible force."

Even Rainbow, who was not very science-y, knew that meant.... "But... how did it hit the two of them? They woul dhave had to be right there right when it occured!"

Twilight nodded. "Right. And based on where they emerged, and when they left... there was no way they could have gotten there that easily!"

Rainbow blinked. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa.... What do you mean?!"

Spitfire interjected. "I can answer that. I tried to guesstimate a safe zone where we knew your little friend could not be hit if he started right out after school. The area in question would have required her to go through a large amount of brambles and even some muck."

Soarin spoke up next. "According to little human dude Frisk, he said they went in on the path by Fluttershy;s cottage, then it got real dark, and then they emerged. We checked that path... there was no way they could have emerged there without being all cut up by brambles!"

Rainbow knew what that meant. "So.... they were teleported there?!"

Twilight nodded. "Right when the Rainboom occurred."

Now Rainbow wasn't feeling sorry for herself. She had been set up.. .and little fillies had gotten hurt. She was pissed now. "WHO."

Toriel spoke up. "There is only one being who uses shadows for teleporting."

Rainbow went wide eyed. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh.... If he did do it... and is trying to get everyone mad.... We got to get to the hospital now!"

*******************

Error Sans and Sombra entered the hospital room finally, after several days of frustration. For some time now the two had been trying to execute the final phase of their plan, but the duo constantly had visitors.

Until now.

"Now I become death, destroyer of worlds." Error said. Sombra nodded in agreement. "With this we accomplish all our goals: Frisk's death will mean the start of the war, and will prevent any future resets."

Sombra nodded. "And with the war, comes the chance to purify everything. We will achieve our goal."

Error nodded, extending a single blue strand. "This will do the trick.... a quick yank at the base of the neck and it will all be..."

WHAM! Error did not even see the rainbow crash through the window and right into him, slamming him into the far wall, pain shooting through his form. But Rainbow was not done. She leaped at the still stunned Sombra and slammed him into the wall, punching him in the face over and over, shouting in rage and not letting up.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!!!!" Rainbow screamed, Sombra getting smashed into the wall so hard his armor began to crack. The Wonderbolts, alon with the Mane Six, soon arrived thereafter, seeing the still stunned ERROR and going to him. But before he could be detained, He suddenly vanished with a pop, everyone turning as Rainbow through Sombra, screaming in pain, to the ground, his armor a shambles, his face covered in blood.

"YOU COLT-KILLING BASTARD!!!!" Rainbow screamed tears pouring from her eyes, Sombra screaming in pain.

"Rainbow..." A weak voice said, but Rainbow kept hitting. "Rainbow!" The voice called again. But Rainbow kept it up, striking again and again.

"RAINBOW!"

RD turned, seeing Frisk, wide eyed and shaking. Despite his injured leg, he left his beg, limping over to her and hugging. "No.... no.... don't kil him....please... don't become like him...."

Rainbow felt his arms wrap around her, and lost it, sobbing into his shoulder, Sombra on the ground to beat up and hurt to do anything but pant and wince in pain. Everyone looked at the sight and had nothing to say, just let Rainbow sob.

Sombra finally did get up, shaking his head. "Never... .again...." He said simply. "I......... I...."

Rainbow turned to him. "If...if you ever.... hurt my little buddy again.... Frisk alone won't be enough to stop me from tearing you apart, and Error as well. Tell him that. Leave the fillies OUT of this."

Sombra faded into the shadows, Rainbow Dash trying hard to comprehend what she had almost done. She looked to the still unconscious Scootaloo, relieved she did not see Rainbow Dash at her worst.

Never again.

*******************

Two days later, Scootaloo finally woke up, and learned the air show had been postponed until she got better. The truth about what happened soon spread all over Ponyville, many adults feeling a little silly at blaming the other race. Many.... but not all.

"Guess there is going to be an element of mistrust for a while." Rainbow Dash said sadly to her friends. "And it wouldn't have been if I had just trusted all of you."

Spitfire smiled. "We are just glad your coming back Crash. When we raise the funds for the injured, we will need your skills."

Rainbow Dash nodded, giving a small smile, but nearby Frisk was uneasy. Chara noticed this and walked to his hospital bed.

"They are closer to their goal now...."

Chara nodded. "Yeah.... what will we do?"

Frisk looked to Chara and held his hand. "We all have to be ready brother. When the time comes..... we may have to do more than just show mercy or fight. We...we may have to SAVE the world."

Chara blinked. "Okay... I get that Frisk... but why so ominous about it? How can we save the world?"

Frisk sighed. "By SAVEing Sombra and Error."

Chara blinked. Suddenly things got really complicated.

*************************

Elsewhere, Error looked at the form of Sombra, totally in a cast. He shook his bony head as he looked Sombra over.

Amazingly, the plan had worked. The seeds of dissension had been sewn, and soon there would be conflict. The fear had been planted. Soon it would sprout. And when it did.... the timelines could be repaired. The Errors would be corrected. Sombra however had a different view. As he lay there, he realized twice now that human had tried to save him, and twice now Sombra had fled. What did he see in the Shadowlord? Was he that naive? That stupid?

Or was he...... that right?

"Error....I believe we need to adjust our plans."

Error Sans chuckled. "No need. The heart is vulnerable at last. Soon we will rip it out, and the rest of the body falls. The time to strike the heart is coming soon... and when it does.... We will achieve our goals."

Sombra did not answer. As he slipped to sleep, he suddenly had a vision of his armor removed, of his form held by Frisk, like a long lost friend. What did it mean? What..... could it mean?

What did the future hold?

What if.....

WHAT..... IF.....

...

...

...

...

...

...Deep in the recesses of the world, the pieces began to stir, torn apart so easily.

And so easily repairing as well.

It said only one thing.

Yes my two little puppets.... heal me... make me strong enough to return. Soon I will have my revenge on the traitor and his family, and all because of your pathetic dreams of perfection.

EHHHHAHAHAHHAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHEEEEHEHEHEHEHEHHHAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAAAAA....

"Ha-ha-ha-HA-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-HA-ha-ha..."

"Hark, hark, the lark!" Burgerpants groaned as he finished sipping from a mug, shaking his head back and forth whilst everyone looked over at the women's bathroom in the bar. Grillby was very much enjoying his new digs, the fire elemental softly gazing at the bathroom along with the others present as they looked from each other to the toilet. For you see, when Shyren entered the bathroom...you left. Immediately. Why?

Cuz she always sang in the bathroom of every building she entered. Always. It was her way to perfect her singing. You could hear Shyren's singing for blocks on end, as both pony and monster cringed and covered their ears as best they could whenever coming anywhere close to her little, fish-faced little hamlet. Her home quite nicely resembled a gigantic Shyren head, a commonality among the former inhabitants of Waterfall; all had houses that so lovingly resembled their own faces. Naturally, Aaron always insisted he had the best for HIS house had "arms", aka a garage and a shed extension made out to look like arms.

But whether they had the best house on the block didn't matter in Ponyville's eastern outskirts, oh no. What mattered was what they agreed on, and ALL agreed that you didn't wanna be anywhere near Shyren's home. Not if you could help it. Cuz she didn't...stop...practicing.

Normally you'd appreciate this. After all, practice makes perfect! But...Shyren?

"I swear, I'm having nightmares about her. I don't mean to, but...I'm having nightmares about her!" Applejack admitted as she shook her head back and forth at the bar, sipping on some hard apple cider as Grillby nodded sympathetically, the nearby stage currently unoccupied as an Earth pony approached, sitting on top a chair and adjusting an acoustic guitar. "I had to teach ol' Apple Bloom about "The Odyssey" and I was dreamin' she was the Siren who lured men's boats into the rocks to crash!"

"What was she singing?" Muffet wanted to know, every single hand holding a different type of drink, for Muffet ADORED indulging.

"A  Screamo cover of "Whole New World"!"

Everyone in the bar cringed at once, Grillby shuddering violently as he shook his head back and forth before Shyren exited the women's bathroom, seeing everyone had been looking right at her and frowning a bit, her seaweed-colored thick locks falling over her faintly fishy face as her deep black eyes stared accusingly at Grillby. "You were all talking behind my back about my singing, weren't you?" She asked.

Grillby just cleaned a mug, nonchalantly staring before Shyren glared at Applejack, who "eeped" as everyone began inching slooooowly away from Shyren as creepy Latin chanting seemed to fill the air. "APPLEJACK. Were you talking about my singing?!"

Applejack bit her lip, quivering in sheer terror. She couldn't lie, but she didn't want to hurt Shyren's feelings either! She was utterly torn between what she knew was right, and what she knew would hurt Shyren's feeling as she grimaced and tugged her hat down over her face. "Y-Yeah...I...I'm real-sorry, but...y-yeah."

"You all think I can't SING, don't you?!" Shyren yelled angrily, waving her faintly muscular arms at them, folding them over her chest and "harrumphing" as Applejack cringed.

"It's just...y'all get real loud..." Applejack tried to say.

"And you sing off-key." Burgerpants added.

"And you mess up the lyrics." Muffet interjected.

Shyren tugged down on her hair, groaning. "So basically, I can't sing?!?"

"Well, not everyone's good at everythin'!" Applejack reasoned nervously as Shyren quivered angrily, shaking, looking really, REALLY hurt. "Shyren, I don't get why this is sucha big deal to ya."

"Yeah, I mean NOBODY in your family can sing except for-"

"AARON." Shyren grumbled, as everyone suddenly went "Ohhhh", nodding in understanding. Now they got it. Aaron, Shyren's brother. Aaron, the horse-headed hunk. The mer-horse, who had such muscular arms, a voice like Right Said Fred, and the surprising catchy skill to match. And, more importantly, who's head was usually so far up his own ass, they were surprised his breath didn't smell like farts. "Aaron can sing. And he never...EVER...let me forget it. Or anyone else for that matter!" She said, throwing her hands in the air.

It was true. So said all the testimonials!

"He NEVER...let us...forget it." Undyne grumbled, she and Alphys trying to ignore Aaron as he waved his trophy in their face, Alphys sighing sadly as she poked at her third-place trophy in the cafe.

"He NEVER lets us forget it!" Woshua complained as Aaron looked his reflection over in the trophy he had, all of them waiting for Temmie to hurry up and serve them some "Tem Ice Cream". it tasted just like real Temmies!

...don't ask me how they know what real Temmies taste like.

"I do say, the cad never ONCE lets us forget his spectacular singing voice." Bob the Temmie grumbled to Frisk as Frisk sympathetically scratched him behind the ears, hiding from Aaron and his creepiness. "He only mentions it and his arms, oh, ten BILLION TIMES A WEEK!"

"Just ONCE, I'd like to..." She trailed off, sighing as she headed for a nearby booth and sank into it, burying her head in her arms.

Just once...she'd like to sing. And have people think it was good.

Just...once.

And it was then that salvation seemed to take center stage...or rather, the bar stage as the Earth pony who was on it now began to strum away on his guitar, and Shyren looked up, seeing Shinedown playing away, the Changeling-blooded Earth pony now perfectly imitating an old woman's voice. In fact...GRANNY SMITH'S voice!

"Oh happy travels for we! All hangin' out in our caravan! Our kids are gone and we have no plan! You never checked out your engine, man! Such happy campers are we! Oh, kings of the road are we! Up a mountain road we wind! With a mile of traffic stuck behind!"

"YOU ASSHOLE!" Shinedown suddenly proclaimed mid-song, now briefly mimicking a clearly angered Canterlot pony even as he continued to strum away, voice shifting back to Granny Smith's.

"Too friendly a folk you wouldn't find! Such cheery old folks are we! We sold the home and 'round we roam, like a pair of drovers 'round we roam! No more winter and no more phones! We're wild and fancy free! And we always camp right near the loo, cuz I have to go every hour or two!"

Applejack, of course, was laughing so hard she'd fallen clear off her chair. "It's funny cuz it's TRUE!" Applejack snorted out, guffawing loudly, whacking the floor of the bar as she kicked at the air.

"Yes, dribble-dribble-dribble's all I do! Such happy campers are we!" Shinedown finished, rising up, taking a bow as everyone in the bar laughed and applauded, Shinedown grinning in delight, his heavily wrapped up arms waving cheerily back at the patrons. He stood up tall on his wrapped-up back feet, Shyren surprised he could so easily stand up so tall on legs that looked like they had endured heavy injuries. Still, another idea was coming to him.

He could sing. And he could change his voice. Maybe...

...just maybe...

...

...

...

... "I know it's a lot to ask for." Shyren asked as Shinedown and she sat in the middle of his home, Squirt currently out playing with Huey the Monster Kid and Asriel out in the backyard, trying to make the world's most giant monster. It involved a large set of King Asgore's old armor, and trying to see if all of them could fit inside it. Shenanigans had ensued, because now the helmet had fallen over Huey and he was running around like a chicken missing its head as Asriel struggled to get off the chest armor, Squirt trying to tug him out.

"It's fine, Shyren. I noticed you were looking at me earlier when I left the bar. How long were you waiting to approach me?" The dark-furred, blue-maned Pony inquired, scratching his headbandaged head.

Shyren bit her lip. "...three days."

"Three Days?" Shinedown asked in surprise as she nervously held up a small poster she'd taken from off the bar wall, a poster that had been repeatedly popping up around town: Singing Competition, Cash Prize, located at the Edge of the Everfree. "I...I want to win. Or at least come close, y'know? I want to finally SING, and for people to like my singing!" Shyren insisted fervently. "I...I want to look at people watching me and know that what I'm singing makes them happy, to look into their eyes and..." She began to stammer, panting a bit. "And to know that they're not just lying to make me happy! I want them to LIKE what I sing, Shinedown! I SO want to sing well! Please, PLEASE promise me you can help me!"

"I can't promise anything." Shinedown said, holding out his hooves, taking her hands, looking deep into her eyes, deep blue into black, his tone soft and gentle. "...but I'll help anyway." He added with a smile.

Soon, he and Shyren were sitting down in the living room, Shinedown strumming away on the acoustic guitar he'd used in the bar, eyes closed as he slowly played. "Now, in the bar, I did a bit of "White Guy With Acoustic Guitar". Pretty much anyone can do it, it's just a matter of pretending to be saying something deeper than-" He then blinked. "Then again, you're a girl. Your equivalent is White Girl With Piano."

"Let's try with the acoustic tunes."  Shyren offered, Shinedown strumming a bit as he began to hum. "So what should I start with?"

"Do you remember what I sang in the bar? Let's try the chorus. Oh happy travels for we!" Shinedown began to sing before gesturing at Shyren, then strumming some more, Shyren clearing her throat.

"All haaaangin' out in our caravan! Our k-kids are gone and we got no plan! Ya never picked out your engine, man! Such happy campers are we!" Shyren croaked out, Shinedown cringing.

"Uh, no, it's You never checked out your engine, man"." He remarked nervously. "Try, um...try a higher note."

Shyren cleared her throat and tried to adjust her voice. "Such happy campers are we!" She tried to sing out, her voice cracking as Shinedown cringed visibly. "Oh, I'm blowing it, aren't I?" She asked, eyes wide as her stubby hands flew to her mouth.

"Let's try again." Shinedown offered gently, clearing his throat. "Let's try something else. Country. Can you do a twang?"

"Oh, I love country! It's goin' dooooown! I'm yellin' Timbeeeeeer!" Shyren proclaimed, holding one hand over her chest, the other stretched wide as the window shattered from her cry, Shinedown blinking a bit as he sighed a little, Shyren blinking stupidly.  "I...um...oh geez."

"You know..." Shinedown offered gently, putting the guitar down on the couch cushion nearby, placing his hooves together. "You COULD do surgery. It's not unheard of for people to do plastic surgery to alter their voice. The most common is CTA, "Cricothyroid approximation". It can be risky, though."

Shyren rubbed her hands together, biting into her lip, head bowed a bit. "I, uh...I dunno, I...that seems like cheating." She admitted softly. "Shouldn't I be capable of winning this contest on my own?" She inquired before cringing. "I mean...I WANT to win on my own skills even...even if I don't have them." She murmured quietly, hanging her head.

"Look, Shyren. It's alright." Shinedown said softly, taking her hands as he nodded his head. "It's okay to think that. But sometimes people CAN'T do things on their own skills, and do genuinely need extreme measures in order to reach their full talent, or to accomplish great things." He offered. "Trust the voice of experience."

"How do you know that?" Shyren asked, Shinedown sighing as he gently let go of her, and then reached up to his arm, and began to unwrap the wrappings around it, first the left, then the right...

Shyren gasping in horror, hands flying to her mouth, gaping in surprise, mouth hanging down. "OH SWEET LORD!" She proclaimed. "OH MY GOD!"

His arms looked near-desiccated, with words carved in so deep you could almost see bone, muscle and underflesh exposed. The bloody words read cruel, biting words like "Traitor", "Murderer", all looking like they'd been dug so deeply into his arms that it was amazing he could still USE the arms.  Worse still, the tattoos were shifting around, moving across the space on his arms, changing words into even more insults like "Monster" and "Demon" as Shyren looked into Shinedown's somber face.

"What...what happened?" She asked.

"You know just like the others that I've been to other dimensions. And I did ugly, sick, twisted, VILE things in the name of stopping people who were truly evil. But to do that, I...I kind of lost my way. I did things as bad as the people whom I fought would do." Shinedown confessed. "I tortured. I killed. I brainwashed. All so I could bring an end to a Bureau of monstrous proportions that sought to convert all humans into ponies." He murmured. "...I went "thug" on them. I left NOTHING...alive...in Canterlot. All to save Earth."

He chuckled wryly. "And it worked! I can tell you, it worked! But you don't think about that when you realize someone's bones and gristle are sliding down your chest, and pieces of their skull are embedded in your hooves. No. You just think "Oh God oh God oh GOD" and you want to die. So I..." He gestured at his arms. "I had that done on my arms. My legs. My...forehead. A reminder that extreme measures can work. And they can work well. But that you HAVE to pay the price for them. Actions have consequences. If there ain't any other way to move forward, then you must do the most extreme measures. But you can't avoid responsibility for them. You have to accept the consequences."

Shyren bit her lip, looking at Shinedown as he began to gently re-wrap the bandages around his arms, sighing. "Squirt knows. It's why I'm so hard on his pranks. I don't want him going anywhere CLOSE to the same path I did."

"...I don't know what to do." Shyren admitted. "Everyone hates my singing, but I can't...I can't sing right no matter what type of song I do! I can't hit those notes, I-I can't remember the lyrics..."

"The lyrics you could get if you practiced enough. It's the NOTES that are the problem, hitting that right pitch..." Shinedown murmured before an idea hit him, and hit him hard as he smacked his face. "DUH! Of course! We've been looking at this all wrong!"

"What do you mean?" Shyren asked as Shinedown clasped her arms, grinning from ear to ear.

"Shyren, I've got a BRILLIANT idea!"

...

...

...

...people waited calmly in the audience, all sitting in large chairs as they watched the stage that had been set up by the Edge of the Everfree, with flowing red curtains and an immense wooden stage. The sun softly beamed down upon them all, a gentle wind blowing as multiple microphones had been erected upon the front end of the stage, people whispering and muttering under their breath before every new entry got on the stage and began to perform for the crowd.

Sans, of course, had been quite a surprise entry, with him and his brother going up to a joint performance of the song by Macklemare and Ryan Lewis, "Thrift Shop". And, of course, he'd been happy to show off what he'd acquired for the song.

"Aww, he got the velcros." Asgore chuckled as he leaned back in his chair, jabbing his arm into Toriel as she giggled at the sight.

Frisk, of course, had also gone onto the stage, and had driven everyone nearly to tears with a performance of "Over the Rainbow". Even Undyne had found it hard to resist.

"Undyne, are you crying?" Alphys whispered, Undyne wiping her good eye.

"NO! I just caught something in my eye."

"What's that?"

"TEARS." Undyne sobbed, covering her face as Aaron grinned, making his way onto the stage, grinning down at Frisk as the kid gave Aaron a look over.

"Not bad at all, kid. But I'm gonna bring the house down." Aaron said, flexing his muscles.

"You're gonna sing "I'm too sexy for my shirt"?" Frisk asked, Aaron chuckled as he struck a pose, arm held up high as his mane fluttered in the breeze.

"Ha! Nothing so unoriginal." Aaron said with a chuckle as he clapped his hooves, and a small horde of monsters all raced behind him, saxophones, trombones and other instruments at the ready as he gave a wink to Frisk, getting on the stage, wheeling around, spreading his arms wide, the instruments beginning to boom, loud and powerful...and catchy.

"I'm that flight that you get on, international!

First class seat on my lap, girl! Riding comfortable!

'Cause I know what the girls all need!"

"Oh GOD, no, please..." Shyren gasped out as she and Shinedown hid behind a nearby tree close to the stage, her mouth gaping. As sleazy and disgusting as the lyrics were, the charisma of his voice, and the MUSIC behind the song...they were undeniable. They couldn't be resisted!

"Been around the world, don't speak their language!

But your booty don't need explaining

All I really need to understand is!

When you!

Talk dirty to me!" Aaron proclaimed, pointing at the audience as the saxophone began to play a little solo, Aaron dancing as fluidly as a leaf dancing on the surface of a river, Shinedown biting his lip.

"Damn! He's GOOD." Shinedown murmured, seeing people were grooving in their seats, Undyne now visibly blushing as Alphys shimmied in her own seat. Nobody could resist a good saxophone riff! "They're getting jazzy on it!"

"Still think I can do this?" Shyren nervously asked, Shinedown clasping her hands, and looking her squarely in the face.

"Don't. Doubt. Yourself." He insisted. "You know what to sing."

Shyren took in a few slow, deep breaths, her eyes closing, her body slightly shuddering. She thought back to what they'd practiced for hours, then DAYS on end, and felt Shinedown's pulse through his hooves.

"You're ready."

"...yeah. I...I think I am." She said, as she approached the stage, getting on top as Aaron winked at her.

"Top that, sis." He chuckled, everyone gulping nervously, many looking down under their seat at the headphones said there...the noise-canceling headphones so many had brought there when they'd heard Shyren was entering the contest.

Just in case, after all. But as Shyren cleared her throat and began to sing, all of them gasped. She...she didn't sound like a SHE!

"There used to be a greying tower alone on the sea?

Yooooou became the light on the dark side of me!

Looooooove remained...a drug that's the high and not the pill,

But did you know? That when it snows...

My eyes become large and...

the light that you shine can be seen?"

And then she clasped her hands tightly into fists before sweeping across the stage, belting out the lyrics as everyone gaped in awe.

"Babyyyyyy! I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey!

Oooooooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeeeaaah!

Now that your rose is in bloom!

A light hits the gloom on the greeeeeeey!"

"Seal." Shinedown said to a stunned Aaron as he gave the mer-horse a wink. "Few songs quite as classy AND nostalgic."  He remarked as everyone began to cheer and whistle in delight, clapping their hands in eager delight, hooting and hollering as Shyren continued to sing on the stage, all eyes now on her as Shinedown softly smiled, Aaron sighing as he hung his head. "Shouldn't you be happy for your sister? What, can't stand that somebody outdid you? It's a brand new day, Aaron." The Earth Pony chuckled.

"You laugh NOW. Wait until she decides to try her hand at anything by Big Sean!" Aaron promised, Shinedown tilting his head to the side, mentally picturing it and shuddering. "EXACTLY!"

Needless to say, though she won second place, there was nothing that topped Frisk's beautiful performance. He would be the one to take home the prize money...but he'd swung by Shyren's house.

"Here." He said, holding the bag of Bits up and smiling warmly. "I don't need it." He told Shyren. "And it was worth it just to hear you sing." He added as she took the bag in her hands, looking like she was going to burst out crying. "Just one request? I overheard Aaron talking to you and I wanted to KINDA get him back for all the times he creeped on me!"

"Su-sure! What?"

THE NEXT DAY...

"Hey Aaaaaaroooon!" Shyren called out, Aaron sighing as he floated out of his house, looking Shyren over as she held up a stereo and grinned at him, Frisk sitting behind a nearby tree, giggling insanely as Shinedown sat with him, a video camera in his hooves. This was mostly for them. And a LITTLE bit for the Internet. He HAD to see this.

"What is it now?" Aaron groaned. "PLEASE don't tell me you're going to try your hand at Rap!"

"Oh, no, that kind of music doesn't appeal to me." Shyren said with a shake of her head, putting the stereo down and pressing the play button, getting the tune ready. "But I wanted to get your opinion on this little tune. I know you said it used to be a big favorite of yours cuz it got played in that film "Dodgeball"?"

Aaron's eyes went wide. Oh god no-

"Myyyyyyyy Milkshake brings all the boys to the yard! And they're like...it's better than yours! Damn right it's better than yours, I could teach you but I'd have to charge!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Aaron ran right through his wall, out through the other side of his house, and clean through Woshua, Moldbygg's and Undyne's homes, Undyne letting out a cry of "What the fuck" as Shinedown began laughing so hard he almost dropped the camera, Frisk giggling in joy as Shyren held her hands up to her chest and faked shaking her breasts, giggling as well.

"Oh, I am NEVER gonna let him forget this." She decided.

Luna smiled as she tucked her big sister in, Celestia smiling happily on her cushion. She looked at Luna and sighed.

"Dream watching tonight?" Celestia asked. Luna nodded.

"Yes. With all that has happened, I could use a smile or two." She replied. "Sleep well sister, but be warned not to indulge too much."

Celestia chuckled, drifting off to sleep, as Luna entered the dreamscape. It was a massive hall, lined with thousands of doors. Luna could see them all in a single night easily, as dream time worked far differently than time outside of dreams. With a smile, Luna chose a random door to begin. She chuckled and saw it belonged to Asriel.

"What a good start." She said, opening the door. Asriel's dreamscape was the cozy home, but Asriel was now grown up, tending to the home and teaching a new generation of ponies. He smiled as he gazed at two familiar looking skeletons, reanimated monster versions of his brothers.

Then Luna eeped as suddenly he saw Asriel blushing, a rather pretty female oat monster walking in. Who she was Luna suspected was just imagination, but Asriel sure had a fine image of what he wanted for a wife. She smiled and closed the door, chuckling as she moved to the next.

It belonged to Pinkie Pie, and as she entered... Luna was in shock. She blushed as she saw Cheese Sandwich in the audience as she danced for him like a Saddle Arabian princess, suddenly bouncing off into his arms and...

OH HELLO!

*SLAM!*

Luna snickered some at the image she had just seen and decided to move younger with the next door, getting Diamond Tiara. As she opened it.... she got a shock.

It was a cozy little farm, Diamond playing in the mud alongside the CMC, laughing happily while Silver Spoon fixed some lemonade for them all. Luna was proud of the CMC if Diamond Tiara would dream of this. She saw how happily the filly was sleeping and left the room, moving to the next door.

Next was Huey, aka Monster Kid, and he was.... ok, that was weird.

"Alphys! Alphys, the baby needs his bottle!"

Undyne. in a housedress. With Huey as her and Alphys baby. Nearby, BarkBark the Timberwolf rolled about, Huey getting a bottle from the two lovers. Luna smiled at the sight, now curious what the two wedded monsters were dreaming of.

She visited Undyne's dream next, and immediately went wide eyed as she was inside a massive anime world, with giant robot warriors fighting over a massive army of psychic warriors, Undyne at the head, shouting for glory! Luna eeped as she realized Alphys was in the mecha, blowing up giant monsters. Luna ducked out just as an explosion rocked the dreamscape.

Huh.

Next up was Alphys, and Luna did not stay long as she heard very...... telling sounds of certain adult activities. Seeing several plastic items of certain shape made her shut the door and lock it for good. Shaking her head, she moved to the next random door.

This one belonged to Frisk, who was having a dream where he was dancing in a field of flowers. Luna chuckled at the innocence of the boy, and decided to make a few revisions, adding some night flowers as well. Luna smiled some and moved to the next. she had barely started her watch and was now really intrigued.

But unfortunately her next door was Muffet, and instantly she found herself in with a massive cake batter as well as every pony in Equestria, all begging to be doughnuts. Luna eeped as she frantically made a beeline for the door even as Muffet ate a Celestia Creame Pie doughnut. Luna panted. That was......GEEZ.

Moving on, she wound up at Twilight's dream next, and half expected a dream about books. But this time, she got a shock. Inside the room was just Twilight and Moon Dancer, her friend from Canterlot. Luna watched as the two were sharing a party together, until....

"Moon Dancer..... I'm sorry."

Moon Dancer smiled as she hugged Twilight. "No forgiveness needed anymore. We will always be friends."

Luna smiled some. She decided to check out another door, leaving the two to what was clearly a shared dream, winding up at Big Macintosh....

HOLY....

WHAT IN EQUESTRIA?!

His dream had him on a big cushion, with Cheerilee nuzzling on one side and Fluttershy on the other, with Marble Pie doing his hooves and kissing them. Luna was wide eyed in shock as she checked that this was indeed Big Macintosh, and sue enough it was HIS dream! Luna was about to say something as soon in came a real shocker, with Bratty and Catty also coming in to comb his mane and to serve him fresh apples. Luna had enough, and left the room, laughing at the thought. Still, Big Macintosh, if any stallion, deserved such a reception.

After seeing that, in she went to Toriel's dream, and smiled as she saw the old Underground, and the six souls. It almost made Luna cry as she saw the souls as children again, laughing and playing like a family with Frisk, Chara, and Asriel. It was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, and Luna stayed for a bit, watching the kids play.

These kind of dreams she loved, the gentle, less extreme ones where happy memories were shared. She stayed and watched as the kids played, sighing happily as she moved on.

Next she wound up in the dream of Whimsun, a shared dream with Whimsalot, two biglike monsters, one brave and the other a coward. But it was the Whimsun here who dreamed of brave things, of being the one who could do anything, as in the dream it faced down an angry army of humans to save his armored older brother. Luna nodded at this dream, it likely a wish to be brave in the face of darkness.

Then came the next dream. It was that of Greater Dog, and it was very ruff, with a remarkable little boy cheering pup the armored doggy, fetching it a treat and some pants. It was simply adogable.

Ok, Luna was done with the puns, and decided it best NOT to visit Sans later as he would get another barrage. He went instead to the door of Snowdrake, who was telling his jokes in a dream on a big stage in Canterlot.

"Okay everyone, I admit being in Snowdin ws so cold, it turned all the rodents into micesicles! But seriously folks, I tried to have a hot drink in Snowdin once, and wouldn't you know it, I wound up with a cocoa cube by the time it hit my mouth! And don't even get me STARTED on the food. The chili was just to chilly for my tastes, and the only thing to drink with it was cold-aid! I mean it! Trying to find warmth in Snoqwdin was like trying to find a virgin in a maternity ward! And on behalf of the Underground, you have been a pretty cool audiance... which explains why I can see my breath! So get lost, see ya later!"

Even Luna clapped. For Snowdrake, he didn't do that bad. Maybe if he could improve his delivery he could do better, but... it was a start.

He smiled as he went to the next door, and was shocked as she saw Rarity on a platter, giggling with an apple in her mouth, Spike nearby sweating away.

"Why Spikey Wikey? Don't you like pretty gems?"

Spike gulped. "Rarity... come on, I promised not to eat crystal ponies!"

Rarity giggled. "But that is the joy of it! I'm a diamond pony, so your fine!"

Luna had to remember to give Spike a good talking to for this drea-wait....

THIS WAS RARITY'S DREAM?!

Luna shut the door and laughed. Ok, creepypasta material invoked! And speaking of which, Papyrus was next, and she heard a familiar tune as she entered the door.

"Ready for this Sans?"

"I'm not so sure we CAN be ready for this...."

"Shut up Sans! You just can't understand perfection!"

Luna giggled as she sat to listen to the music. When it finished, she barely escaped the flaming computer, and was laughing and humming the tune as she moved to the next doors. Some dreamed of great things they did. Some dreamed of their lovers and their families. Still others dreamed based on cutie marks.

Then... she reached Chara's door. As she opened it, she saw the surface of the human world, and Chara as a baby. But this time... he was not a human baby.

He was a colt, sucking on a bottle, held by Starlight Glimmer. He was gazing at her soft, smiling form, and Luna had to watch. Starlight went through the motions of raising chara as her colt, the whole life of the child going in the span of the dream. The first steps, the first words, the hugs, the love.....

Luna smiled as she checked Starlight's door..... this was a shared dream. They wanted this... to be a family together. Luna smiled and laid down, watching here for awhile as they grew, smiling as they lived and loved a history inside a dream.

Then..... the dream shifted.... and they were the same age, sitting on a hill overlooking the sunrise. And beside them was another form, someone who wanted this.

Asriel.

"One day," Chara said in a whisper, "I will show you the sunrise in the human world from Mount Ebbot. It is the most beautiful thing in the world. And they say those who see it will always be friends, no matter what."

Luna smiled as Chara hugged the two, then a third as Frisk appeared, Chara smiling at his new family and his old. Luna tried not to cry at the sight, and went to leave. But then she saw the most amazing thing of all, one that made her almost weep with joy.

Chara was dreaming that humans, monsters, and even ponies were all there, coming up to se the sunrise together, no worries, no hatred, just one big family, together through it all. Luna was smiling. This.... THIS was the true Chara. Not a murderer or a genocide master.

But a child who wanted love.

And now..... he had it.

As Luna closed the door, she began to weep happily. She looked up...

"heyas."

Sans was there.

"now you know what i knew. chara was bad in many ways... but he was also good. under all the hate and evil, under all the torment and sadness.... deep within was that hope for peace and love. here in his dream.... he wishes for the end of all hate or need for his knife... but that he could be redeemed, and that his secret wish, like frisk... is for everyone to be a family."

Luna smiled, Sans doing the unbelievable and hugging Luna. "So.. .you watch him every night?"

"yep." Sans said seriously. "he.... he is my friend. he reminds me of friends i had... long long ago."

Luna then noticed... briefly.... a small red hat on Sans head. Luna was wide eyed as she realized whose hat it was.

"You.....YOU’RE...."

"ah-ah-ah! not for me to say or anyone to know. let them believe anything they want. that is what dreams are after all.... wishes and beliefs." Sans offered his arm. "buy ya a `dog?"

Luna smiled. "I'd be honored." She walked with the Judge of the Underground, smiling knowingly, and so glad in her heart the two worlds were united.

As she watched the rest of the dreams afterward, she kept Chara's close to her heart. Chara and Starlight wanted the same thing now, and it made her proud.

Maybe someday..... dreams would come true.

The Rainbow Falls Exchange was in full bloom it seemed, and Rainbow Dash was more than happy to take Starlight Glimmer along for this year, not to mention Chara and Huey, the Monster Kid. The four were together with various items for trade with the many vendors, and everyone was looking forward to what they might find.

"Chara... what is that?" Starlight asked. Chara smiled as he held a knife similar to his own, but was in truth more meant for plants than what Chara usually used his knife on.

"Request from Frisk. He wanted me to see if I could find someone to trade this for something better. He hoped maybe Magical Cards and Comics had a stand and maybe we could find another book or game from them."

Rainbow Dash chuckled. "You really like going into those don'tcha kid." He ruffled Chara's hair some and nodded. But as he walked he kept staring at Starlight. Lately he had been dreaming of the magical mare, or turning into a pony and spending his life with her: as her colt, as her husband, as something, he didn't know. But he knew he would love to share his life with the pretty pony. He looked at the one thing he brought for his own to trade.

It was a copy of Beauty and the Beast, which he read and was read to by Dr. G to help him get back to normal. As valuable to him as it was, he would trade it gladly for some way of... of...

"Excuse me, you would not happen to be one of the ones from the Underground, would you not?" A voice said. Chara turned, finding out he was so focused on his wishes he got seperated from the group. He looked about and followed the voice to a stand filled with various strange and beautiful items. At the head of it was a rather impressive looing ebony pony, with a long red cape.

"Yes...?" Chara replied as he approached. The pony smiled.

"Welcome to my stand. I specialize in magical artifacts. But I caution you before we make any trade... some may have dire consequences." He motion to an amulaet with a ruby red gem in the center. "This for example grants magical power... but corrupts the wearer." He then turned to a dragon shaped statue. "And this summons a dragon familiar to work for you... but it demands sacrifices." He turned to Chara. "You must be careful around magic."

Chara nodded, his eyes freezing on three very similar necklaces, each with a gem that was always swirling witrh color. The pony ahhed as Chara looked them over.

"Ah, you have a fine eye! These are Dreamer's Stones. They grant one wish to the one who wears them, then turn back into ordinary gems. They are made using substantial effort and power, but using them is easy. But be warned. You only get one wish, and once done... there is no going back."

Chara hmmmed. "Is it hard to make them?"

"Very. Granting wishes takes a lot of time and effort, and even Starswirl himself only ever made seven of them. Two of these were his, and a third, this one in the middle, was made by King Sombra himself."

Chara froze. "Sombra?"

"Oh yes. A little known fact is that he was not totally evil. His slaves worked so hard one year that he actually made one of these to grant his strongest follower a wish. However, in that very time the Crystal Empire was sealed away. This necklace was recovered shortly thereafter and was hidden away for years, many fearing it was an evil talisman. Now that the truth is known... well, it is now in my shop."

Chara pondered what he was about to do. Finally he produced the book. "I'll take it for this... if you will make the trade."

The pony smiled. "Why, its a copy of Beauty and the Beast, and one not bound totally to this plane of existence! I'm impressed! Very well, you have a deal. But remember.... no unwishing."

Chara nodded, putting the necklace on and going off. As he left, the pony glanced beside him, hiding his less... ponylike features. "Ten bits Gaster, I won fair and square."

Gaster grumbled and coughed up the gold, giving it to the pony. "You SURE about this? I mean, selling these artifacts?"

The pony smiled, his one tooth showing. "Kid deserves some happiness, given what we both know is coming.Besides... I think they will make a cute couple."

Gaster smiled his freaky smile. "No argument here. But you still have two left. Who are they for?"

The pony smiled. "Oh you'll see."

***********************

"Spikey, how did your trade go?" Rarity asked, waiting by a cart of items to trade. Spike smiled as he revealed a perfectly cut gem in the shape of Rarity, diamond mixed with sapphire and clearly worth a fortune. Rarity blushed as he gave it to her.

"Why Spike... It's..... it's...."

Spike smiled. "I had to wait a bit for the gem molder to finish it, and it cost me five of my power pony comics, but it was worth it for you."

Rarity began to cry, finally embracing Spike. "You are the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful dragon in the world!" She said, finally kissing him. Spike blushed red, then fell back, sighing happily. "Now Spike, no time for dramatics. I still have to trade my out of date dresses and supplies for something more chique. Be a dear and haul the cart please?"

Spike smiled. "Anything for you." He said, pulling the heavy cart. They said love was blind, but Spike sure would do anything for Rarity, and likely has. Rarity knew that, and in her mind she gazed at the statue. She remembered her dreams, and how they usually were going these days... and how much she liked them. She smiled and wished there was a way to make them come true.

"Excuse me." A deep voice said. Rarity looked and saw a dark pony at a stand full of amazing jewelery. The pony smiled some, two necklaces in front with swirling gems.

"I may have something your looking for."

*******************************

Alphys and Undyne smiled as they walked with Barkbark, the timberwolf getting some spooky stares and eventual pets from the ponies, the timberwolf as harmless as a newborn foal. Alphys looked at her figurines, then back to Undyne.

"You really surre someone will want to trade for these?" Alphys asked. Undyne chuckled.

"My adorable little sex toy, those things are COOL. Someone is sure to want them, especially the one with the giant mallet!"

Alphys held the one in question up, MewMews best friend Nikorita, who used that hammer often if she was in a bad mood. "I hope so, I really wanna get some parts for an upgrade to Mettaton."

Undyne chuckled. "Always thinking of work huh? Well I am going to go trade a suit of my armor for something hot. Later Alphy!" She kissed Alphys, licking the roof of the inside of her mouth, then moving off, leaving Alphys blushing and stunned.

"get a room!" Someone shouted. Alphys could only whimper. She was nothing like Undyne, and honestly she never knew what all Undyne saw in her. More than anything she wished she was less geeky and more..... gorgeous.

"Wish? Did someone think wish?" Alphys turned and saw a stand of antique jewels and gems, including one very interesting necklace...

*******************

Chara held the necklace he had just traded for, looking over at Starlight from the shadows. He sighed deeply and held the amulet tight.

"Okay...... here goes.... I wish I was a stallion a mare like Starlight could fall for." He watched as the jewels light faded, changing into an ordinary black onyx, and felt magic encase him, warping his body. Despite drastically altering his anatomy the process was painless, and thanks to going into the books by Magical Cards and Comics he was used to the form. When it was over, he quickly glanced in a mirror.

He was a DREAM of a stallion, with a flowing dark mane, a trim and muscled form, and a long bushy tail the same color as his mane. He had a sword and shield cutie mark, brown eyes, and a tan coat, but still wore his favorite green and yellow shirt that Toriel had given him. He smiled and nodded, looking firm.

"Alright Chara, now you can be the stallion Starlight wants!" He said, stepping out... but soon was spotted by a couple of mares.

"Oh my, look at HIM girls!" One said. Another nodded, grinning.

"Oh what a stud! Where has HE been all my life?"

"Keep dreaming Berry Punch! I saw him first!"

"That's what you think Carrot Top!"

Soon, several mares crowded around Chara, the boy gulping and wide eyed in fear as they looked at him lovingly. He looked and saw Starlight walking into a stall, knowing he had to go. He tried to leap over.... but a mare caught him by the tail.

Imagine his shock when he saw that it was Spitfire from the Wonderbolts!

"Hold it flyboy!" She said winking. "Old Hotflanks has something she wants to show you!"

Oh for the love of....

*********************

Rarity, meanwhile, looked to the owner of the "toy" shop, the mare smiling some. "Good luck sweetie!" She said, Rarity nodding as she went to an alley between two very busy stalls.

"Ok necklace. This is it. Good thing Princess Celestia has a means of reforming us thanks to Asriel, because when Spikey Wikey gets this, He will see the love is NOT one sided. I cannot think of a better thank you for that adorable widdle dragon. As someone once said, when you give yourself to another, there is no greater gift!!" She smiled. "I wish I could be an absolutely ravishing Crystal Pony, one dragons would consider a delicacy!" She smiled as she felt her body crystalize, shimmering in the light. She looked herself over and smiled her form changing color based on the light, her every part made of shining jewels. Knowing the kind of gems Spiked like most, she knew this would be one he would love. "Okay Rarity, your all dressed for dinner, time to take that dragon out for the best meal he ever had,  and tell him you lov-"

"Excuse me miss!" She heardf a voice say as she went to leave the alley. She turned and froze, seeing a rather dapper looking red dragon, who sniffed the air about her. "Forgive me, but I am a BIG fan of crystal ponies, and I cannot help but notice you seem to be the best of the lot. Might we have a chat?"

Rarity scoffed. "Hmph! I am not for the likes of you, I am for a very special....EEP!"

She turned and saw tha the stall suddenly closed, leaving her trapped with the dragon.

"Oh I INSIST. I have a lot to trade for you my sweet gem delight." The dragon licked his chops, Rarity backing up, dropping her toys on the ground: all the fixings dragons love with crystal ponies.

"Oh no... what have I done?!"

********************

Alphys clutched the medallion she had traded a lot of machine parts for, hoping she could do the wish right. She held the medallion and sighed. "I wish I was big and strong for Undyne!"

She eeped as she felt magic wrap around her... but rather than gain muscles, she began to grow in size! She eeped as she busted out of her clothes and glasses, growing taller and taller, until she had to be about 20 feet tall! She eeped as she looked herself over, loking like a cross between a dragon and a female godzilla!

"Oh no!" She boomed, making the ground shake, several ponies running for their lives. Alphys ran in the opposite direction, trying to figure out what had happened. "Oh Undyne, what have I DONE!!!?!"

She asked that over and over as she felt magical bolts hit her, several royal guardsman from Canterlot blasting her with magical energy.

Alphys eeped and went to run, but every step made the ground shake ad even crushed a house.

"Oh sorry! I'll pay for it when I get back to normal!......... if I get back to normal....."

*****************************

Chara eeped as he hid under a stand, several female stallions looking for him. This was way worse than he wanted. He wished to be a stallion a girl like Starlight would like, and it seemed every girl was now after him in spades! To make matters worse, every time he went to get close to Starlight to confess his love, some other random pony was in his way.

A factor confirmed as he was yanked out by the tail in between Octavia and Vinyl Scratch. He blushed as they smiled at him.

"Well hello there handsome..." Octavia began, but Vinyl finished it for her.

"Wanna have a three way?"

"Vinyl! Have some respect! But.... since you broguht it up..."

Chara eeped and ran for his life, right into a vast mob of female ponies, many making sudden trades for lassos or stun spells or what have you to catch him. Chara eeped as he ducked into another tent....

To be met by a rather unsettling sight, seeing a red dragon glazing a crystal Rarity, who was balling like never before.

"Oh stop whining cutie. It will make you far too salty." The dsragfon said, adding some oregano. Chara huffed.

"Hey! What;s going on here?!" He shouted. Rarity looked up.

"Well.... I kinda used a wish to turn into a crystal pony fit for a dragon so Spikey Wikey could see how I feel, but I bumbld into this dragon and... wait.... who are you?!"

"it's me, Chara!" The pony said, giving his trademark creepy smile. "I may be different looking after my wish but after it all it is still me."

Rarity shot up, the dragon blinking. "What?! You made a wish too? why are yopu a pony? And an adult one at that?!"

Chara blushed. "Well... I kinda have a crush on Starlight and.... I wanted to be a stallion she could fall for. Apaprently so can every other female in Rainbow Falls!"

The dragon spoke up. "Forgive me for uinterrupting, but I WAS about to have crystal pony for dinner."

Chara thought and hmmed. "Can I trade you for her? I mean... she really wants to be someone else's treat."

The dragon hmmmed. "Whatcha got?"

Without thinking, Chara removed his favorite sweated. The dragon hmmed and sniffed it, mmming some.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... I like the smell of it! It has some pony sweat residue on it I assume?"

Chara nodded. "I have been running for awhile."

"I love the taste of pony sweat. It adds a fine seasoning, better than any salt! Alright, I'll make the trade, the crystal pony for the sweater.:"

Rarity ran to the now shirtless Chara, hugging him. Then she remembered. "Wait a minute! If you bought one... and I bought one... and there was one left when I did... that means someone else may have bought that other one!"

Chara blinked. "Yeah but who?"

BOOM.

BOOOOOOOM.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

RRRAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rarity and Chara ran out to see what was making the noise, and blinked as they saw a giant dinosaur monster, trying to swat Pegasi guards away like flies.

"Alphys." The two said in unison. The two decided to go find that odd pony asap. They had the feeling if they did not find the pony in time Alphys would turn the Rainbow Falls Exchange into a warzone!

*******************

In the princess stall, Celestia was nomming happily on a cake that had been traded for thanks to the other just wanting a little bit of her mane. The admirer was already turning it into a locket to keep it close, and the cake was more than worth it, Luna beside her sister and groaning.

"I swear sister, if your not careful your going to look more like a COW than a PONY!"

Celestia smiled. "Just enjoying a gift from an admirer dear sister, like you got from Little Pip?"

Luna stammered, her mane having a homemade braid in it now, a trade with the smallest of colts for a mere kiss from the princess of the moon. Pip had worked for days on it and it was cute as a button, and Luna had no trouble making the trade for the kiss to her little admirer.  She sighed as she went to answer, when she heard a lot of commotion from the main stalls of the exchange.

"What in Equestria?" The two said almost in unison, then were wide eyed as Alphys ran at them, the two eeping as the giant sized scientist almost squished the two of them flat under her massive feat, only just missing by inches. Just behind were Chara and Rarity, who the princesses had to do a doube take on.

"Princess Celestia, did a giant accidentally rampaging dinosaur frightened for her life and making everyone freak out pass by here?"

Celestia looked at the ruined stall and her squished cake, then back to Chara. "Do you REALLY want me to answer that?!"

Luna snickered some, then blinked. "Wait. A. Minute. Whaqt happened to the three of you?"

Chara and Rarity both explaine dhow they had met a mysterious pony who sold magical artifacts, including the Wish necklaces. Celestia nodded.

"Well, the spell can be undone, powerful magic wishes are but not infallible, especially as they are based in Chaos magic."

"Chaos magic?" The two transformed ones said at the same time.

"Yes, wishes coming true is somewhat of a disruption of the natural order, so countering the spell requires similar power." She then smiled. "I think I know who is responsible."

She breahed deathed, and used the Canterlot voice, making when Luna did it seem so.... quiet.

"DISCORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The shout knocked over stands and made everyone go to their knees in fear, even Giant Alphys, as suuddenly a familar looking pony poofed before Celestia, quickly removing his skin like an overcoat to reveal the being beneath.

"Whoa! No need to shout Celestia. I think you broke my eardrums doing that!" He literally pulled out two tiny base drums and quickly repaired them before sticking them back in his ears. "Now, what is the issue?"

Luna spoke up. "Selling wish granting artifacts are we?!"

Discord chuckled. "Hey, its not MY fault the wishes were not like they should be. I think Chara's wish of being a stallion for Starlight to date is really cute! Not my ideal shipping for either of them but certainly not unliked. And Rarity! Even you admitted she took advantage of Spike, so how is he FINALLY getting thanks? With his favorite food! Now how sweet is that?!"

Celestia pointed at Alphys, who sneezed, blowing a tent of Daring Do memorabilia over. "And Her?!"

Discord shrugged. "Hey, she can't accept she is loved for what she is, not my fault." He poofed on Alphys head. "I mean come on! She already is brave enough, given her mecha battle thingie." The he poofed in the hand. "And what about their mutual interest in dirty anime? So what if she is a little tubby in the tummy, or soft on the soles. " he poofed next to her ear. and whispered, though everyone heard it. "It makes you more huggable really, like a teddy bear."

Alphys blinked. "Really?"

Discord smiled. "Now, I can undo the spells in the wishes, but YOU cannot undo the wishes themselves."

Alphys nodded quickly, eager to find her love and go have some terapy cuddles, but the other two were hesitant. Celestia blinked, than smiled.

"We will take care of Alphys. You go fulfill your wishes."

The two nodded, going off. Luna shook her head, watching as Discord shrunk Alphys back to normal. "You are too soft on him sister."

Celestia smiled. "He gives me cake." She winked. "And flowers. and jewelry. and..."

Luna facehooved, giggling some. "Something awful is happening in my mind."

"Not in MINE!" Discord said, making a big red rose appear before the princess of the sun.

*****************

Spike sat with the new ruby he had just traded for, giving some gentle licks as he went into a tent. He sat at a table and chair that he had no idea why they were here as several candles lit up. And when they did, he dropped his ruby.

There on the table, like a roasted piggy, was Rarity as a crystal pony, a big skull sized pearl in her mouth and several opal rings on her back, imitation ruby sauce all over her. Spike was wide eyed at the sight.

"Rarity?!"

She removed the pearl, and he smiled, ready to cry as she spoke.

"I wanted you to have something that says, simply, I love you, and would do and be anything for you, my adorable little dragon."

Spike let the ruby lay in the grass as, sobbing happy tears on hearing her proclamation, he leaned in and kissed her. She would not release the kiss as she suddenly held him, making him get all messy, but he didn't care. Crystal pony, regular pony, dragon, even if she turned into a banana slug by some weird spell, she would always be his Rarity, and he loved her with all his heart.

And she loved him. He knew it now.

"Now then Spike.... Shall we share a private dinner?" Rarity offered, but Spike amazingly refused.

"Nah.... your too pretty to eat Rarity. But I may have to kiss you all over to clean you up."

Rarity smiled sweetly. "Oh Spike...."

**********************

Elsewhere, Starlight had finished her trades and was looking for Chara, but the boy was nowhere in sight. She sat by the rainbow waterfall, watching it quietly, as she heard hoofsteps behind her. When she turned to see the stallion, she knew right away who it was.

"C..... Chara?!" She said in shock.

"You helped me come back to the light." Chara said as he sat near her. "You share so much time with me. I wanted to be more than a little kid.... because... wel... I kinda...."

Starligth smiled, putting her hoof on his mouth. "I already know. I admit I wish circumstances were different that I was a philly again, so we could grow up together. But are you sure this is right? I don't want you giving everything up for me..."

Chara was silent. Being a pony was great, and he would be happy with Starlight. But...

"I know..." He said. "I just wish I could be yours. Your love, your friend, even your child."

Starlight smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek. "You are already all that and more. I would love to share a life with you. But it doesn't have to be as two ponies. Even if you turn back into a human, I will always care for you, because you care for me."

Chara smiled, the two sittng by the falls, nuzzled together. Chara was saddened it would not go further, at least not yet, but he was glad Starlight was his friend. Maybe someday it would be more.

Someday.

***************************

Gaster laughed as he got back his money. Discord grumbled some.

"Say it." Gaster said with a creepy smile of humor.

"No."

"SAY IT."

"You can' t make me."

"Just seven words. Beware the man who speaks with hands..."

Discord hmphed, speaking in a neyh neyh style of voice. "Fine, Better to be glad with what you have than wish for what you don't. You happy now?"

Gaster smiled. "Very."

Discord sighed. "You had to admit though, it would have been cute to see Chara and Starlight as a couple."

gaster watched as they walked away from the falls. "Oh we may yet. Their story is not over." He sighed. "But why Rarity and Alphys?"

Discord smiled. "Honestly? I was eager for some fun. Though imagine who else may have gotten a wish. I mean, what if Twilight had gotten it? Or Toriel? OR ASGORE?"

Gaster blehed. "Oh please no on that last one. I saw the fanfics he had."

Discord laughed and walked with his friend to get some goodies, unaware another form had just fed on what had happened, a red smile watching from the shadows...

Mardek held his hands up in the air, focusing intensely as he closed his eyes. His words were a song that drifted through the air, the silver-crafted gate he'd formed hovering in the air before him as deep blue smoke wafted off his body. He continued to chant, the circular gate beginning to spin around and around as he grimaced. It would take considerable effort for him to call Tiamat forth, for she was in pieces. Literally.

Her consciousness and soul and body had been separated as a result of her...issues...with her previous children. First she would have to be gathered up. And then...brought back. Dragging a goddess back into reality would be a challenge, but the winged little necklace-wearing half dragon, half-cat-like being Mardek was sure he could do it.

What he didn't know was that he'd gotten the attention of Princess Luna. She sat with Frisk in his dreamscape, the two of them resting on a giant cloud as soft stars twinkled in the night sky around them, Luna's face solemn and resolute.

"He's making his move tonight, and we must cut him off while we can." She reasoned. "If we are to keep Tiamat from coming forth, we must keep him from gathering up the pieces of his mother. We will take the Dreamscape, where her memories and spirit and mind reside. Whilst her body is in the realm of the dragons. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Chara, Huey, Spike and Squirt have agreed to sneak to the Ancient Graveyard of the Dragons to get hold of that in the morning. It's so far away from Hearthstone, Capital of the Dragon race, that they should be safe so long as they are cautious. Besides, Spike has a good relationship with the current queen, as you well know."

 

"Thank goodness for that!" Frisk admitted, wiping his brow. "So what will her consciousness and soul look like?"

"They shall look much like her." Princess Luna said, flicking a hoof through the air, bowing her regal head as an image manifested, her horn glowing brightly. Before Frisk's eyes, an image formed of a multi-headed, hydra-esque dragon with enormous wings that spread wide, her body a brilliant teal color, with golden highlights running across her well-endowed chest and gauntlet-esque clawed hands. The claws on her wings were enormous and slightly curved, her horns thrusting back from her head, having seven golden horns each. Three on either side, one in the center of her forehead, with piercing crimson irises and golden pupils, all of which added to a mixture of frightening majesty, for she was beautiful like a thunderstorm was beautiful, having a strange aura to her. "From what we know, she and her husband created dragonkind, they trace their ancestry back to her and presumably, she tried to destroy them all."

"That's so awful." Frisk murmured, his lips pursing. "Why would a mother want to do that to her children?"

"I've no idea." Princess Luna admitted as she shook her head, rising up as a large doorway manifested. "But we must stop her from returning at all costs. Her unique powers almost CONTROLLED her children when they tried to rise up against her, it was a miracle that they were able to stop her before she fully manifested it against all that brought her down." The alicorn informed him. "The tale is a horrifically tragic legend of a monstrous, insane goddess. She MUST be halted before she brings about an endless-" Luna flinched, Frisk walking up to her, giving her a hug.

"You're not her anymore." He said softly, Luna stiffening a bit before clearing her throat.

"Y-Yes, I...sorry, it's just...sometimes I can't help but be reminded of the horrors I did. One can forgive. But one should rarely ever forget."

With that, the two headed into the different doorways, Frisk readying himself as he focused, manifesting the "Gardening Knife" in the dreamscape as he sheathed it, making his way across a starry road, past doorway after doorway, each reading a different resident of Equestria. "She's got to be around here somewhere." Frisk said, opening up one doorway, peeking into Shinedown's mind.

"My lovely, lovely, lovely horse!"

"OKAY, NEVERMIND!" Frisk said, quickly closing the door and shaking his head. "Wrong door." He muttered, trying to go for another nearby doorway that read "Ember". After all, she was a dragon too, looking in the dreams of dragons was as good a place to start as any!

Opening up the door, Frisk could see he was somewhat right after all, for there WAS clearly a piece of Tiamat there. Ember was currently in a large, open valley with immense mountains all around, grassy knolls stretched across the valley whilst soft clouds blew by...but Ember was currently engaging in what appeared to be an immense fight, the horned, teal-scaled dragon flexing immense muscles as she let out a cry.

"DAIYOOOOO!" She proclaimed, a golden aura rising off of her as she faced down the unmistakable ugly mug of the red-scaled Grackle, her body glistening like the sun as she shot towards him, beating the STUFFING out of him as Frisk looked to the left. There was another teal dragon, watching on, small, almost Frisk's size...just a scamp, really. A pup.

But it was DEFINITELY Tiamat, or at least part of her. Frisk approached her, reaching out as she nonchalantly looked at him, and he touched the Memory of Tiamat's side-

Her husband Abzu, who's body was as the sea, frowned darkly. He paced back and forth, large wings spread as Tiamat looked at him. "What on Earth is the matter? And why have our children not come around. You're always so angry lately."

"They've been getting more and more...aggressive. You haven't noticed?" He inquired. "They are always challenging each other to a fight. And ME!" Abzu grumbled before the mountainside nearby seemed to explode into chunks, hearty, raucous laughter ringing through the air. Tiamat cringed a bit as she looked up, seeing their children Anu and Ki were having at it again. As they clashed in midair, wings spread wide, shockwaves ripped through the air and Abzu frowned.

"Okay, I admit, they go too far sometimes. But children must be children. They need room to grow."

"Every place they go is reamed with fire and their own blood." Abzu grumbled. "I don't trust them one bit." He murmured as Tiamat saw the growing fires in the distance.

"Well, just go TALK to them." Tiamat reasoned. "Tell them to tone it back..."

Frisk jolted out of the memory as it faded and he looked down, seeing a faint blue glow over his astral form. He'd...absorbed the memory into himself? He blinked in surprise, fingers flexing before shaking his head. That'd been so strange...the vision had been so vivid!

It had bothered him to see all that. The early dragons had been so wild and rambunctious they lit up everywhere they went, all in the name of simple sparring matches? THAT was their idea of kids being kids? Geez. He knew dragons could get wild but...

"Gotta find more." He reasoned, turning around, heading into another nearby doorway, this time Spike. Sure enough, inside, there was another Memory of Tiamat, who was looking longingly at Spike as he laid on a bed of gigantic crystals, Rarity wrapped around him almost like a blanket as he happily snoozed away in a much more adult, well-built form. It looked like he had everything he wanted!

Frisk gently crept up to the Memory of Tiamat as it laid on a bed of nearby crystals and reached out, grabbing her tail-

Abzu's face looked almost like raw meat as a rotten series of bruises covered his body. But worse still, he had blood all over him and was wiping his mouth, panting and heaving.

"It didn't go well." He grumbled. "I had to discipline them."

"I told you to just TALK to them!" Tiamat insisted as they stood by the beachside, the dragoness glowering at him.

"Oh, they'll live through it. Maybe." Abzu grumbled. "They threw the first punch anyhow. Nearly blinded me!" He added, pointing at a vicious scar on his face. "We need to reign them in with FORCE. It's all they understand!" He snapped. "We coddled them too much when they were younger and you know what happens when you let a child do whatever they want? They fool around, thinking they are above all consequences."

He clenched his clawed fists tightly, his eyes narrowing. "There are always. consequences." He hissed. "We need to do something or they'll kill us to assert control."

"They wouldn't murder their own parents!" Tiamat insisted. "I'LL talk to them, Abzu." She remarked, taking off through the air, finally touching down many miles away, her injured, nursing-their-sore-wounds son Anu and her daughter Ki cringing as they glanced up at her.

"Come to get in some licks of your own, ma?" Ki muttered, the psychic dragon sighing. "Just kidding. I know why you're here. I could foresee it just as I foresaw dad doing THIS to me."  She said, pointing at her side and at the visible BITE mark on it.

"I know that your father is FURIOUS with what's happened. You need to be careful and not anger him. Please just...try and stay away from him for a while. Let him simmer down while I try to work things out with him." Tiamat reasoned, sighing as she held her head in one hand.

"Dad will kill us the first chance he gets." Anu said, nursing a heavy claw-shaped scar over his left cheek. "He's just that mad. I'm going to talk to my own children and we're going to fix this."

"Look, just go apologize to him, say you'll be going away for a while, it'll be fine." Tiamat reasoned. "I'll go let him know you're going to apologize to him. Your father and I will just find somewhere else to live so we won't encroach on you." She said, waving a clawed hand in the air.

"And if he tries something again?"

"You're both very strong, as are your children." Tiamat said warmly. "I've no doubt you'd easily be able to stop him. I've faith in you." She intoned as she flew off back to Abzu, Ki and Anu looking at each other.

"What should we do?" Anu asked as Ki folded her arms over her chest, frowning. "Use your precognitive power!"

Ki closed her eyes, taking in deep breaths. "...there's...a pretty simple way to fix this." She murmured.

"If it is what I THINK it is...I'm all for it."

 

Frisk stiffened, shuddering. Suddenly he was beginning to feel more fear for Tiamat's children and her husband than for her. Tiamat at least seemed to be interested in trying the peaceful route. But her family seemed so much more unpleasant!

Cringing, he made his way out of the doorway of Spike's dreamscape, noticing by a stroke of luck he wasn't far from, of all people, Ahuizotl's own dreamscape. Reaching out, he entered the doorway of the faintly cat/dog-like villain's dreamscape, cringing at the sight. Sure enough, this greedy jerk was sitting on a pile of gold, Daring Do turned into a STATUE that was screaming endlessly as he bathed himself in a shower of gold coins, laughing uproariously.

The only good thing that gave him comfort was the sight of another Memory of Tiamat, who was in an immense mirror. She only APPEARED as a reflection standing by a table with a rose upon it, but Frisk had a feeling it was more than that. He reached out, touching the surface of the mirror as it gave way, and he rested his hand on one of Tiatmat's head.

Sure enough, another memory began to surge through him...

"What have you DONE?" Tiamat whispered, her eyes wide with horror as she beheld the sight before her.

Abzu had been eviscerated, and was lying in a pool of his own organs, bones and blood. His chest had been ripped open, blood and gristle dripping from the mouths and claws of her children and grandchildren as Tiamat shuddered in horror and disgust, her many mouths agape.

"I told you to just TALK to him. I told you to stop him not...not KILL him!" She whispered, hands flying to her central mouth. "Y-you..."

"Ki saw this was the best way to end it." Anu remarked quietly. "So we did. It's better this way."

"...you..." Tiamat murmured, the faint drip...drip...drip...of blood dribbling down from her husband's cracked open chest echoing in her mind. "...you've...you..."

Drip...

...Drip...

......Drip......

"I can't...y-you can't...just..." Tiamat began to say, her body shaking madly. "...YOU..."

Drip...

...Drip...

......Drip......

"Mother, don't make us kill you too." Anu said calmly.

"...YOU!" Tiamat screeched out, her pupils becoming slits, her voice a screaming, baleful wail. "ARE NOT! MY! CHILDREN! ANYMOOOOORE!" She howled, racing forth as they raced at her, Frisk shuddering as he covered his face, unable to watch the horrific slaughter that he knew would come. Anu forced her down, clawed hands slashing at her hinder parts, Ki's spiked tail smashing into her skull. Channels of blood flowed forth and Frisk covered his face, letting out a wail-

 

And then he was yanked forcibly out of the dream, pinned to the starry ground, Mardek glowering down at him, his tail hand rising up. "I see you've collected up my mother's memories." He said, his own body glowing bright blue as Frisk looked behind him, Luna trying to race towards them. "I'LL be taking those."

"Don't you touch him!" Luna cried out, barreling forth at him...

Too late. Mardek's hand grabbed hold of Frisk as they rolled around on the ground, Mardek's teeth digging into his leg as Frisk let out a cry of agony. A minute later with a immense blast of blue light, Frisk and Luna were sent reeling back, Tiamat's mind and spirit now joined with her son as he flexed a bit, Frisk gasping and panting. It felt like his leg was broken as Mardek looked down at him, Luna getting to her hooves.

"Now you see what she saw. The HORRORS she beheld at the hands of her own children. But I won't fail her. I'll make her proud, do what she wants. She's earned it." Mardek insisted. "Her whole family was taken from her, and now she's getting a second chance."

With that, he held up his own hand, and punched himself squarely in the face. "Time to wake up!" He proclaimed, Luna diving at him...

He blew smoke right in her face, making her reel back again before vanishing, Luna now glaring at the air he'd been at only moments before as she flopped to the ground, groaning.

"Damn it." She grumbled. "...I can only hope the others are doing better than we are!"

"I HAVE to get there." Frisk whispered. "Luna, can you teleport us there?"

...

...

...

...the night was falling on the dragon graveyard, the bones of dragons and dragonesses strewn across an empty canyon that was desolate and chilling as a cold wind dug its claws into them all. The Cutie Mark Crusaders made their way forth, Chara holding up a small flashlight as Huey the Monster Kid stood nearby, Spike and Squirt looking over a map Spike had out.

"Okay, we keep following the canyon northwest." Spike whispered, all of them being as quiet as they could as dark clouds obscured the moon overhead, Squirt's deep eyes gazing at the map that Celestia and Luna had given them. "It's a shame Asriel couldn't come with us, but he's visiting Ember at Hearthstone. I hope things don't get so bad we have to ask Ember to use the Bloodstone Scepter."

"I can't help but feel we're forgettin' something." Squirt murmured softly. "...like...um...maybe...why they didn't just destroy her bones?" Squirt wondered quietly, lips slightly pursed as he shook his head back and forth, the Cutie Mark Crusaders approaching one draconic corpse, that of a three-horned dragon with stubby wings as they each tapped different parts of the bones.

"OW." Scootaloo cringed before Spike suddenly noticed an odd texture to the bones as he gave the map to Chara, rushing over to one and licking it. "...EW."

"What are you doing?!" Huey groaned, sticking his tongue out. "Like, gross, man! That's like cannibalism!"

"It's...diamond. Almost." Spike murmured softly. "It tastes kinda like a diamond."

The others blinked, walking over to nearby bony corpses and poking them or rapping their knuckles against them, Huey kneeling down as Chara held the flashlight to the skeletal remains HE was investigating. "You're right, it's definitely some kind of diamond-chitin." Huey murmured. "Kinda like my own species's bones! They're super-hard. I guess it WOULD be difficult to just destroy bones like that." He said, Spike breathing a little green fire on a pinky bone...

NOTHING. It was still cold as ice.

"Wow, they ARE strong. Not even magic fire?" He murmured. "...I guess now I get why they wouldn't just blow them up or launch them into a volcano. Wouldn't work."

"What we need to do is take Tiamat's head and separate it." Chara reasoned. "As many of her bones as we can carry. We'll go and bury them in remote places, we'll toss them under the ocean if we have to! As long as Mardek can't bring 'em together, we'll be fine!"

"Well how close are we to her body?" Sweetie Belle asked before Apple Bloom whistled slightly.

"G-Guys?"

And there it was, off in the distance. Her body had been left to rot there, some of her arms and legs pulled apart, the many skulls slightly cracked, ripcage opened, but other than that...the bones were fine. Her numerous skulls laid about on the dusty canyon floor as they all walked forward, Sweetie Belle's horn glowing as she began to envelop one of the skulls in magical power, Huey adding his own touch. Chara began lifting up one with his own hands as Scootaloo began assisting, Squirt and Apple Bloom lifting up ANOTHER skull as Spike held the flashlight up so they could see what they were doing, his eyes glancing about, peering through the inky blackness that was enveloping them.

"I still think we're forgetting something, but...I can't figure out what it IS..." Squirt murmured softly.

"It's okay, I think taking three skulls oughta do it, right? Let's get 'em out of here and-" Chara began to say.

"Yeah, ah...no." A voice rang out nonchalantly, all of them looking up to see Mardek standing there atop a nearby cliff, tossing a small, familiar-looking HEART up and down as he grinned. "I don't think you'll be doing that." He said. "I stole this from Error Sans when he was nappin'."

"Cariboujangle's heart?!" Squirt gasped out in horror. "That freakin' lich?!"

"Oh not the LICH..." Chara moaned, covering his face and shaking his head back and forth as Mardek smirked.

"Nah, I'm not bringing him back. His heart, however, has power over the dead. And, well, since we're in a dragon graveyard..." Mardek remarked calmly, holding the beating, throbbing, pus-ridden, maggot-infested heart up as it pulsated with foul energy, all of them gulping as it resonated with the many, MANY skeletal corpses around them. They all turned around, seeing the draconic skeletons rising up, roaring in fury, eyes alit with soulless fire as Mardek nonchalantly hopped down. He made his way towards his mother's form, glowing with her spirit as the others BOLTED, trying to get away from the skeletal corpses.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Sweetie Belle screamed out, tearing down the canyon, Scootaloo growling angrily and shaking her hoof back at the chasing skeleton dragon as she rode on top of the terrified Apple Bloom with Sweetie Belle clinging to her tail. "KEEP IT AWAY FROM ME!"

"I shouldn't be so scared, it's frickin' BONES. Would you be afraid of Paris Hoofton?" Squirt inquired, bolting away from the biting jaws of another skeleton, diving into a crack as the monster pawed and clawed at him, Huey slipping further ahead.

"Paris Hoofton has no CLAWS!" He yelled back.

"Fair enough!"

"C'mon, can't we talk about this, one dragon to another?" Spike nervously asked, cornered by three skeletal dragons as they all gnashed their teeth, growling darkly at him before diving forth, Spike leaping up into the air, hopping over their backs as he slid down one's tail and right off onto the other side, all of them crashing into the wall. "Yay!" He cried out...before barely avoiding being clawed by another, bolting across the canyon floor. "Crap crap crap crap crap!"

"Ha!" Chara cried out, his dagger clashing with the claws of a skeletal dragon as he panted a bit before leaping high into the air, the diamond-bladed dagger slicing down, cutting through a weak point at the neck. He grinned in triumph, reddish/brown eyes turning to gaze at the decapitated skeletal dragon...and then frowned as it gave him a look, calmly picking its head up and putting it back on. "...forgot. Skeleton." He grumbled. "They're not like Sans or Papyrus...actually, why DOES cutting their heads off kill them when..."

He didn't get to finish that thought process, cuz a tail thwack sent him flying into a rock as he groaned, sliding down it as Mardek approached his mother's body, putting his hands on it as her form began to glow and shift, flesh regrowing, muscle bulging and throbbing, everyone turning and seeing her now return to her full, immense majesty. She spread her wings wide, clawed hands clenched into fists as she let out a screeching roar.

"IIII LIIIIVE AGAAAAAAAAAIN!" She proclaimed,  eyes glowing brightly as the draconic skeletons all gazed upon her in awe, Tiamat turning to Mardek and happily lifting him up as best she could, giving him a hug. "I am so, SO proud of you! After all these years, I've finally returned." She said, flapping up into the air and landing on the canyon's plateaus above, sighing in delightly. "To feel wind on my scales...to feel fresh grass beneath my talons...to feel WARM or COLD again. To just...feel. My greatest dream for so long has come true." She intoned softly before turning to Mardek. "Come. To the capital of dragonkind. I'm sure the skeletons can handle these mere children?" She inquired, nonchalantly flapping off with Mardek as the others all gulped, the skeletons advancing...

And then, a few moments later, salvation. Luna popped up in a flash of blue light, Frisk by her side, the skeletal dragons all turning and seeing her horn glow with furious light as she gazed angrily upon them.

"Don't...you...BUCKING...TOUCH THEM!" She roared out, the skeletal dragons racing at her...

And with a THRA-SHOOOM, they were gone, Luna panting and heaving, falling to her knees as Frisk knelt by her as best he could with his broken leg, The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Chara, Huey, Spike and Squirt all racing over to them.

"My...my magic is...so spent...I used up so much of it already, I...I need to rest..." She groaned out. "And I think that Mardek may have hurt my magical power with his dirty tricks."

"We've got to get to Hearthstone. If we could warn the dragons in time, maybe they could hold Tiamat off before she manages to overpower them and take control." Frisk insisted with a firm nod. "It's all we GOT now. Wait!" He slapped his face. "Duh! A letter! Spike, we'll just have you send a letter to Ember! Anyone bring any paper?"

They all looked around, feeling through their pockets and backpacks...

...nope.

"...craaaaaaaap." Squirt groaned before realizing- "Wait." His eyes widened as he saw the map, lifting it up. "We'll use this!" He said with a smile. "That'd be perfect!"

"Great! Anyone got a pen?" Frisk inquired.

Crickets chirped.

"...buuuuuuuck meeeee..." Frisk groaned, smacking his face and tugging it down.

"I KNEW we forgot SOMETHING!" Squirt sobbed.

Hearthstone, the capital of Dragonkind. A land of stone and fire, the walls of different shades of brick. The capital had been remade and restructured ten times over, built around an enormous volcano. Fire didn't bother most dragons, so what did THEY have to lose?  Buildings of deep grey and black stone softly glittered in the sunlight, towering structures forged in burning fire with many a perch for the elder dragons to roost upon rose up into the sky, with glistening, almost crystalline pillars in half-circle designs that made up various meeting places. Dragons were speaking to each other by burning bonfires, roasting fresh meat and drinking what was clearly alcohol, getting positively hammered whilst several dragons stood over the bonfire, taller and stronger than the others, all telling stories.

The roads had been carefully re-paved and its princess, Ember Crownflame, was now nonchalantly walking down one with a platoon of guards as Asriel Dreemurr walked along with her, the light-teal-scaled dragoness cheerily having the mighty scepter behind her back as she chatted it up. THE Scepter. The Bloodstone Scepter.

A ruby red as blood at the top of a curved purple staff that twisted up into two claws that held the stone in place, it gleamed bright as her burning eyes as she looked Asriel over, listening to him speak.

"So, the way Papyrus tells it, and the way ALPHYS says it, and the way the good doctor said, evidently all of them were at the lab, and trying to help out with some issues with the CORE, the machine that powered all the technology in the Underground. It converted magma into energy and all that stuff."

"That's pretty impressive." Ember admitted with a grin. "So what about Sans? Your skeleton friend, the comedian?"

"Well, they're trying to get the CORE fixed up, and Sans is running on "Sans Time". As Alphys always said, it's like you add half an hour and multiply by two if it's Taco Tuesday or the like." Asriel chuckled as they walked along the roads, passing close to one immense wall with carefully inscribed burning-hot letters and pictures made of what appeared to be living flame, an enormous metallic “heart” in the center of the city on display on said wall. The wall was the "history of Dragonkind", and every time new history was made, more would be added to it. "So then Sans calls Gaster up on his phone, and he's like "Well, where are you?!" And so Sans says "oh, uh, had to pop right back home. was right outside but had to come back home." And Gaster goes "You had to come back?" "yeah. i had to run back. i forgot my pants"."

Asriel began to giggle almost madly. "I SWEAR to you, in the name of all things holy and sacred! He said..."I had to run back...I forgot my pants." And Dr. Gaster just holds the phone up, mouth gaping and he finally says "You...forgot your pants." "yeah, be back in about five." BOOP. End of the call. The doc turns to everyone else. "He forgot his PANTS." And...there's like SILENCE in the lab. You could hear a pin drop, and finally!" Asriel wiped a tear away from his eye, Ember giggling so hard that she almost fell to her knees. "Finally Alphys asks "How do you forget your" "I DON'T KNOW!"."

"He forgot!? HIS PANTS?!" Ember finally managed to get out in between her laughs, the guards chuckling themselves as they stopped at the wall, Ember trying to steady herself as Asriel held himself at his sides.

"And! And the thing was? It was SO STUPID! It HAD to be true! Y-you don't lie about something like that! Y-you'd say 'I overslept' or something like that! You don't make up a lie so dumb that you say "I forgot my PANTS"!" Asriel guffawed as he laughed and laughed before suddenly taking notice of something that took his breath away. "OHHH. Is...is that?" He murmured, pointing up.

Ember saw what he was pointing at and sighed as she nodded, recomposing herself as she pointed with the Bloodstone Scepter. "Yes. That...is Tiamat." She remarked, pointing at a part of the wall that showed off Tiamat and her husband in a vicious pile, clearly deceased, triumphant dragons standing over her. "It was quite the sight from what the records tell us. They actually built the first capitol over Apsu's bones, just to show him. It sank into the volcano. This was, of course, BEFORE we developed much stronger resistance to volcanoes." She added with a cringe. "He must have been laughing his ass off from Hell."

"Oh, I'm sure he was. I know I was." A voice rang out, loud, proud and slightly maternal as they all stiffened and wheeled up, looking up into the sky as dragons roared and howled in fury and horror, Tiamat folding her arms over her well-toned chest as she smirked a little. "How good to finally come back home. And I see you have the Bloodstone Scepter."

"Oh no you don't!" Ember yelled, pointing it at her. "We ripped this from your very heart! You can't control all of us properly without it and you're not getting it back!" She proclaimed.

"I could beat you all into giving it back into me, my dear. Sometimes a mother must use force to help her children understand that actions have consequences. Not always...but sometimes." Tiamat intoned as Asriel stepped forward, hands clenching as he made them fists.

"STAR BLAZ-"

"MUTE." Tiamat proclaimed, pointing squarely at Asriel as he gasped, holding his paws up to his throat, his voice now seemingly stolen as he blinked in surprise. "My dear little lamb, I'm not just goddess of dragons, I'm a skilled magus. It was my husband who was better at raw fighting prowess. But, well, after years of having my spirit and mind ripped from me, and with nothing but time on my hands as I planned my return from a place way beyond this world...I developed everything I'd need to finally take my rightful place back. And my rightful kingdom."

"Bring it, BITCH!" Ember yelled out proudly. "Everyone, none of this "one on one" nonsense, SWARM HER! Force her back into the volcano, she'll be unable to handle it!" She proclaimed as she grinned in pride. The dragons of Hearthstone racing through the air, fists flying as Tiamat held up her clawed hands.

"PROTECT." She announced, a shimmering shield surrounding her as the dragons tried to pound on her. It was almost like a horde of pirhana trying to tear apart a cow that had stupidly wandered into the Amazon river. Yet despite their continued punching and clawing and biting, none of their attacks seemed to be working.

"It ain't WORKING!" One of the dragon guard yelled out before one of Tiamat's many heads batted him away, her tail wrapping around another as she began using him as a CLUB, beating several dragons over the head, sending them plumetting to the ground. THWAKKA-THWAKKA! Over and over again she kept clobbering them, not showing any signs of letting up as her many hands bit and gnawed on OTHER dragons.

"If we can't force her into the volcano, I'll bring the volcano to HER." Ember reasoned as she and Asriel raced towards the volcano. All she had to do was get close enough to-

But then she and Asriel took a step right near a "stone" that rolled towards them exploded into mist and the two collapsed, coughing and spluttering as Mardek picked up the fallen Bloodstone Ember, walking out from behind a nearby rock and grinning. "I KNEW you'd make for the volcano." He told them. "This is why you must always come prepared. I got a grenade for EVERY occasion." He said as he whistled sharply, his mother grinning in delight.

It was time. She held her hands up and focused intensely. "WARP!" She proclaimed.

With a flash of light, she had teleported from the skies above...to her son below. Picking up the Scepter he gave her, Tiamat pulled the bloodstone out, and reached up to her chest as Mardek tied up Asriel and Ember, the two barely concious and able to see as Tiamat seemingly pulled her chest open, placing the stone in her heart...now fully formed.

Her eyes faintly glowed as Ember let out a gasp, an ususual tingling sensation digging its claws into her as the other dragons all flew down at once, bowing before their matriarch as Tiamat calmly clapped her hands together. "Ahhh, wonderful, wonderful. So much to do, so little time. First thing's first..." She remarked, snapping her clawed hands at Asriel. "ESUNA."

With a THWOOSH like wind, a healing green balm bathed over Asriel, his muteness cured as she smirked at him. "I want you concious so you can tell me about your little friends."

"You might want to do more than simply talk to him." A voice like squishing bugs remarked as she turned, seeing a dark, bony form standing there, eyes looking as though he was eternally crying, Error Sans smirking a bit. "His friends, those children you dismissed, are already on their way. Good on you to use the Lich heart I left out for you, but you shoulda done more than that, Mardek." Error told Mardek with a laugh.

"You LET me take it?!" Mardek grumbled darkly. "What do you want?!"

"The same thing you want. Them out of the way. You're not very GOOD at that though. But hey, now ya got a second chance." Error said with a grin. "They're on their way here from the graveyard, coming in from the Southeast. This time...no foul ups." He added with a dark glint before teleporting away, Tiamat scratching her main head thoughtfully before turning to Asriel.

"Don't you even THINK about hurting them!" Asriel said as he clenched his fist. "CHAOS SABER!" He proclaimed as a powerful-looking heart-insignia'd saber formed in one hand, Mardek making a move to step forward before Tiamat held a clawed hand up.

"Mardek my dear, why not prepare for our "guests"? I can handle ONE unruly child, I believe." She reasoned with a little Mona Lisa smile on every one of her scaly lips. Mardek saluted, whistling sharply as other dragons followed him, Tiamat calmly dusting herself off as she faced down Asriel.

"I'm not letting you get away with this."

"You enjoy cartoons, don't you dear?" She inquired, Asriel looking puzzled as Tiamat shook her many heads. "My son does too. He showed me quite a few through the portals to the other side, and one bit I noticed most of all, is when a house has just been shattered. A giant wrecking ball or something's gone right through it, and there's that one...single moment...where everything is still and quiet." She said, holding her hands up. "Before it ALL falls down. You're IN...that moment child. The wrecking ball has already hit. You just don't realize the house is about to fall down."

"Oh, so you came in like a wreeeecking baaaaaall?" Asriel laughed, swinging his sword over his head as he leapt into the air, slicing at Tiamat as she reeled back.

"Don't make me take back MUTING you." She grumbled, her heads shifting about as Asriel kept slicing, holding up another hand.

"CHAOS SABER! Times TWO!" He proclaimed, spinning around and around, managing to slice her across the chest, forcing her back as she cringed, then all of her mouths opened up. "Oh crap, fire breath!"

"Oh, I don't just have FIRE BREATH..." She remarked with a chuckle as gales of wind blew forth, knocking Asriel back as he cringed, struggling to withstand the maelstrom...only to be BLASTED back by torrents of water, then sent howling, soaring through the air as lightning sizzled at his furry skin.

Of course the good news was a few moments later the ice breath froze him in place so that gave him some relief, but now he was trapped in a giant Asriel-sicle as Tiamat nonchalantly walked over, rapped her knuckles on the little iceberg she'd stuck him in, and THEN, very slowly, breathed a little flame over it.

THWOOSH. He  splatted onto the ground, panting before slowly rising up, Tiamat shaking her many heads.

"I can appreciate the desire to protect those you love, my child. It's a very noble, admirable sentiment. I admire it in my own children. But you really don't stand a chance. It'd be better for you to surrender and pray for mercy."

"My friends wouldn't give up easily. Especially not Chara or Frisk. They'd...stay DETERMINED." He proclaimed, pointing up into the air. "STAR BLAZING!" He roared out as shimmering shooting stars soared forth from the sky, Tiamat's eyes widening as she held up her arms.

"SHE-"

But unfortunately she didn't get the spell out in time. One of the stars struck her squarely on the head, making her fall to the ground as it exploded into other brilliant, gleaming stars which barraged her. She gasped in agony, panting and heaving as she rolled away from another shooting star, then another, leaping to her feet as she spat some blood from a few of her mouths, wiping her face off on her arm.

"...I'm...IRRITATED now." She intoned. "Time for a SPANKING!"

Asriel held up his chaos sabers, charging forward as he let out a roar. "You don't scare me!" He proclaimed, leaping into the air, slamming them down at her as she caught them in midair and toothily grinned with all her fanged heads.

"How about NOW?"

"Okaymaybealittle." Asriel gulped as he limply hung in the air, the main head of Tiamat's jaws opening wide...

Elsewhere, Frisk, Chara, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Huey, Squirt and Spike were now in the middle of a pitched battle of their own. Sweetie Belle was firing bolts of magical energy through the air, panting and heaving and sweating up a storm as Apple Bloom covered up the eyes of one dragon she was riding on top, making him squirm about and run around, his stubby arms too short to reach the top of his head whilst Scootaloo nimbly ducked to the side, another dragon dumbly slamming into a rock face as she chuckled in pride.

Squirt struck from the shadows, kicking into the leg of a dragon that got too close, making him howl as he fell to the ground, leg broken, Squirt vanishing into the darkness again to find ANOTHER target whilst Chara went toe-to-toe with a dragon of his own. He used the knife he had to block the dragon's claws, SCHING-SCHING's echoing through Hearthstone's streets as Frisk ducked and weaved, avoiding the strikes of another. Huey, meanwhile, had hidden himself using the most masterful way possible!

Re-enacting a Tom and Jerry routine, now perfectly positioned behind another dragon, moving in just the right directions to avoid being seen before-KAPOW! He headbutted him out.

Indeed, they were doing well so far!

...but that was all soon going to change. Because more and more dragons kept pouring with, with jaws that bite, the claws that catch! And our poor band was already tired from their last fight. Soon they were sweating up a storm, their movements sluggish, now all against each other's backs and surrounded on all sides as Mardek clapped his hands. "One...two..."

The dragons all breathed fire, Sweetie Belle desperately putting up a shield around them all, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo trying to hold her up as Frisk saw her shiver and shudder, the horn sparking, fizzing...

"It's done. Stop." Mardek chuckled, Sweetie Belle collapsing as  the dragons halted their infernal assault, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom trying to help her up just as Tiamat calmly floated over, looking intrigued.

"Well, well. You managed to survive the skeletal horde from before, but, alas, it would seem my children here are too much for you." She intoned. "And unfortunately for your friend Asriel, I was too much for him." She added. "Now it's time for you to be punished. I don't approve of people beating up my children, after all."

"They started it." Chara weakly reasoned.

"Perhaps, but now I'm FINISHING it." Tiamat retorted, calmly striding on over, clawed hand snatching him up and tossing him into one of her head's open maws. It clamped shut and she swallowed, a distinct bulge going down her long neck, into her waiting stomach where another tiny bulge could be seen as she licked her lips all at once. "Hmm! Humans are quite tasty." She confessed. "But I think I'll save you for last, little Frisk." She remarked. "It's been quite some time since I enjoyed Pony flesh."

"Oh dear." Squirt gulped, Tiamat's many heads leaning down. One by one, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Squirt were all swallowed up, going down her throats like a rat being swallowed like a snake, Tiamat's hand plucking up Huey as he uselessly struggled to get free.

"Now, now, none of that." She told him, giving him a little bop on the nose with one of her clawed digits. "You behave." She said as she tossed him into one of her jaws, before, at last...turning to Frisk and Spike.

"Spike, don't worry, I'm gonna..." Frisk began to say. "...I'll think of something."  He said, Spike nervously looking from Tiamat to Frisk as she realized what Frisk was implying.

Tiamat's eyes softly glowed. "How DARE you, you think I'd hurt another dragon?!" She insisted angrily, hands clenched into fists.

"Er...well, I GUESS n-not, but...I mean..." Frisk began to stutter.

"...SPIKE." Tiamat murmured as Spike's body shuddered and he clutched his head...before slowly looking up, a new look in his eyes. "...if you could?" She said calmly, sitting down and nonchalantly folding her arms as Frisk suddenly felt Spike lift him up.

"What the?!-oh no." Frisk's eyes went wide. Tiamat was using her powers. He felt Spike bringing him over to a table in front of a restaurant as Spike nonchalantly put a little salt on him, Mardek helping out by carefully tying Frisk's hands behind his back and his legs together, ignoring Frisk's yelp of pain.

"Hey c-careful, his leg's broken..." Spike mumbled out, his personality still trying to fight through the control that was washing over him like a tidal wave as he brought out some butter from the restaurant and carefully spread it over Frisk's face like sunscreen, laying him on a plate with a bit of parsley.  

"Oh my, such devotion! In more ways than one. I'm going to love having you as one of my children." Tiamat thought aloud with a happy smile, Spike bringing the plate and Frisk over to her main mouth. Frisk's eyes went wide, her jaws going wider still as he was eased into a world of wet warmth, and slid on in. Tiamtat's tongue bathed over him, tasting his every inch as he slid down, down into the waiting gullet as darkness bathed over him...

As darkness enveloped Frisk, his mind drifted back to...happier times. Simpler times.

...by COMPARISON. And he began to fear for Asgore and Toriel...what would befall them with him and Chara and the others gone? And Sans and Paps! Oh, they’d be worried sick, and poor Undyne and Alphys, they’d just gotten married, what...what would Tiamat do to those he loved?

And poor Luna and Celestia. What would…

...Celestia. Heh. He...he remembered. A funny time. Something that seemed so annoying and aggravating back then, but NOW when compared to what he now faced, was…

...heh...

…

…

…

...Celestia was fuming mad. Not like when she was upset about things in the past, but when it was clear something was a twisting and reworking of facts, she was adamantly against it. And yet, in her position, she could do nothing but watch as the events that were about to unfold occurred. The law required that the case that was about to unfold had to be decided by a jury, NOT an alicorn like other disputes.

She stared angrily at a certain greytone pony standing as the "representative for Equestria", wearing a slick black suit and his eyes narrow slits that seemed to stare into the souls of everyone, seeing their sins. On his flank was a cutie mark of a set of sales, but not ones that were balanced, rather they were down much lower on one side than the other. He was called Harsh Justice, and to Celestia no name could be further from the truth. He had accused many creatures, pony and otherwise, of many crimes, and had won many cases. The thing was, often it was learned later that the facts he found were circumstantial at best, and pure horseapples at their worst. He stared openly at the accused.

Frisk Dreemurr.

And as he did, Celestia recalled the events leading to this "trial", events that, as she looked them over in her mind, made what was happening now a complete travesty.

**********************

All of this had begun a few weeks earlier, when Harsh was in Ponyville on a sort of vacation. While on that vacation, An incident occurred in Sugar Cube Corner, when a fight broke out between Vegetoid and Mrs. Cake over the food being far too unhealthy, with too little veggies and too much sugar. The talk between the two got more heated than anyone in the stand could handle and all went outside to wait for their pastries. It was at that moment that the unthinkable happened as an explosion occurred inside. Everyone was shocked as they went in, seeing Mrs. Cake badly injured. Harsh Justice, who was in line at the time, immediately called for Vegetoid to be arrested as he was the only other one in the building. It seemed reasonable at the time, and Harsh was heeded without question. In hindsight, that was where the trouble began as the local court accused Vegetoid of trying to murder Mrs. Cake.

During the trial, Harsh Justice brought out a lot of circumstantial evidence against the carrot monster, including his attacks on Frisk and his almost zealous backing of the idea that vegetables are the most superior food.  

"Vegetoid has stated time and time again how everyone should just eat their vegetables, and those who do not should be punished or shown the light. Given his words to Mrs. Cake just before the incident, I think it is clear what punishment means."

Vegetoid blinked. "But I would never hurt anyone! I would rather be chopped up for salads than hurt my dear friends.... which incidentally is not a bad idea, since I am rich in beta carotine and vitamins."

Several jury members laughed but Harsh Justice just stared coldly. "Then why be so angry about blueberry muffins or bran muffins, Vegetoid."

Vegetoid blinked. 'But.... I wasn't!"

"I know for a fact at the time of the explosion that she was making those very things. You just wanted YOUR style of nutrition, not anyone else's. The state rests."

Vegetoid slunk back, sobbing out saltwater tears as he sat there. With no evidence to find him innocent or guilty, but based on his past, Vegetoid was sentenced to community service for one month. However, Harsh Justice was far from done.

After the trial was over, Twilight approached him angrily.

"You may have won the case, but you proved nothing. All you did was pin the blame on someone who could not have done what you say."

The pony prosecutor nodded. "You’re right.” He remarked calmly. “Vegetoid could not have worked alone. In my opinion, this is but the first step, and it requires a full investigation."

Twilight blinked. "Wha?"

"I need to see each person who had contact with Vegetoid before the bombing. Someone gave him what he needed for the attack."

It was then that another voice was heard. "There was no attack!"  Twilight and Harsh turned and saw Frisk, looking at Harsh with near contempt. "You convicted an innocent individual! There were no bombs or anything, the explosion was because of an accident!"

Harsh chuckled some, waving a dismissive hoof. "My dear little naive human, one thing I learned is there ARE no accidents. But tell me then... how did it occur?"

Frisk sighed. "Pinkie had several Helium containers near the stove. But in the discussion, one fell over and hit the stove, causing the explosion."

Twilight nodded. "That sounds like Pinkie's style. Still it was an accident."

Harsh chuckled. "Like I said... there ARE no accidents. Clearly someone made the helium unstable or a similar method. And I know just who might be involved."

From then on it was a witch hunt, as Harsh questioned everyone in Ponyville about the incident. It turned out there was not enough helium in the tanks to be fatal, so it was no surprise the explosion was so small. But Harsh knew there was something wrong, or so he said. That was when he found out a few things that happened earlier in the bakery.

Three days prior, Alphys and Undyne were sharing some of Mrs. Cakes special Super Sweet Snickerdoodle Cinnamon Surprise cake, And began to get in the mood for some romance. Alphys was ready to head back, but Undyne wanted to do it right there on the table, considering it was late. Mrs. Cake offered a room for them, and it seemed like they were okay. but Harsh painted a different picture.

"They were kept from doing something romantic by someone who had no reason to butt in on romance. Clearly one of them tempered with the tanks. I will question Mrs. Cake." Harsh went to leave as Twilight stopped him.

"Question her about what? This was accidental, a mistake!"

Harsh hmphed. "So says the one destined to be the Princess of Friendship since she was little. Not to mention you have no room to say someone could not do his if they are 'good', or have we forgotten an incident over tardiness?"

Twilight stammered as Harsh left, Frisk fuming mad. He was going to find the truth himself.

***********************

As the trial of Frisk Dreemurr began, this initial part was reviewed by Harsh, with the pony adding how Frisk interfered with justice, taking the investigation down his own path. basing it on a bias rather than on pure fact, according to Harsh, it showed he was possibly in on it as well and was trying to clear the name of the one involved.

And he succeeded. Or so Frisk thought.

**************************

Frisk had questioned everyone from the time before, including Mrs. Cake, and learned the helium tanks had been used just the morning before the explosion, and on many times before that. If there had been a failure, then it would have occurred much sooner, indicating the tanks had NOT been tampered with. The only reason they were even near the stove was because the place got busy before they could be put away.

But at the trial that followed, where Alphys was fingered for sabotaging the tanks and hiring poor Vegetoid to trigger the explosion, a different picture was painted. Every personal flaw was brought out, including her failures with the Amalgamates, her trying to sway the human with a false danger, and even going so far as to blame her for the Applemagate incident.

"Alphys stole the Determination from the souls of six human children, all of whom innocent and having nothing against them except that she, like so many monsters, wanted to use them to get free. How then can we trust someone's judgement when they would kill children to break a barrier?"

The jury was convinced... at first. Alphys was sobbing and ashamed of her past, and Undyne was fuming that events that had already been settled, with the souls indirectly forgiving her already to say nothing of everyone else.

But Frisk, the good boy he was, presented the facts he had gathered. How the newlyweds had agreed without incident and how Mrs. Cake watched them both go up to the room together, and leave in plain sight of her and Pinkie Pie. How Alphys would NEVER sabotage something of someone else's because all she has ever done in science has been to help others. And most importantly how no one could be blamed for the incident unless you wanted to blame the sudden rush of customers before the helium from the party the night before could be put away. The jury was swayed by Frisk's words and Alphys found innocent.

But Harsh Justice immediately accused Frisk of interfering with the legal system. Frisk could not deny it as he was no lawyer.But worse was his ties to both accused, both monsters he represented as their Ambassador. And according to Harsh... that tied him to the incident and fabricating the facts.

Worse was..... some believed that, and Frisk was arrested amidst universal anger against it. But now here they were, Frisk having been harshly treated in jail by several rough ponies, and the boy still crippled from incidents before yet almost back to normal. The sight was pitiable.

And Celestia could do naught to prevent it. She couldn’t interfere with the court system. Her country was a constitutional monarchy, and she couldn’t directly interfere or even grant a pardon until AFTER the trial was done.

Not too long before Frisk was called into the courtroom, Harsh got a little knock on his door. He opened it up, Shinedown nonchalantly standing there. “...can we talk?” He inquired politely.

“Well...well...well. My favorite criminal investigator.” Harsh said with a little grin. “And what brings you here?” He asked, ushering for him to enter the room.

“I used to be the only real police officer in this town. I solved the crimes. And I did it because I asked three questions. What do you think? What do you know? What can you prove?” Shinedown calmly said, nonchalantly folding his arms over his chest. “...you KNOW nothing, can PROVE nothing, so I ask...what do you think?”

“And I think that, as a friend of Frisk, you’re trying to influence my decision. And to intimidate the prosecution.” Harsh intoned.

Shinedown calmly smiled. “Why, Harsh! You and I both know that if I wanted you dead, you’d be dead by now. In fact, I could make it look like an accident. Or as if you never were.” He remarked cheerily, unraveling one of the many cloth bandages around his arm as Harsh visibly began to sweat. “I didn’t get these for being NICE.” He intoned. “...but I believe in justice, Harsh.” Shinedown added, wrapping the arm back up again. “...and I taught my child that vengeance isn’t justice. That justice sometimes calls for...well...Mercy.”

“And sometimes it doesn’t.”

“Are you throwing the book at the kid because you truly BELIEVE he’s guilty...or because you WANT him to be?”

“Are YOU of all people trying to claim a moral high ground?!” Harsh asked with a laugh.

“Oh, but see, I ADMIT my moral failings. And that allows me to sleep at night. You? You won’t.” Shinedown said softly, getting up from his chair and heading for the door. “...so sweet dreams.”

Harsh DIDN’T sleep well that night. But it might have been because somebody kept egging his house every half an hour and the trial date had to be moved back a night since his eyes were so bloodshot the next day he looked like somebody had shone a flashlight into his sockets for hours on end.

To be fair, Shinedown admitted he’d taught his child that justice called for mercy.’

He did also agree that sometimes it didn’t.

Sometimes it required EGGS.

******************************

Frsk sat there, in a chair to be accused, and looked to the jury. "May I be allowed to speak openly?" He asked. Everyone, even Harsh, nodded.

"From the get go this whole thing has been something truly horrible. I have RESET many times in my life, and seen many possibilities, and this is the worst I have ever seen. It all started with an accident in Mrs. Cake's bakery, where Vegetoid was found guilty of trying to murder her with misplaced helium. Mrs. Cake herself said this was just an accident, that Vegetoid had nothing to do with it, and yet the case was pursued. So much so that it became an immense conspiracy, where Alphys was implicated as a mastermind based on his science background alone and her past mistakes. But the past is the past, and so many, even the six souls, have forgiven her, and she has revealed just how good she truly is. Even now as I see her, sitting with her lifemate Undyne, I know she had nothing to fear. Yet fear and conspiracy, facts being twisted and even abandoned because they do not suit the case, made something of nothing. Now it threatens to go even further. I ask you, stop this now. Stop before the very ideals on which this land was founded become a thing of the past, where suspicion replaces friendship, and fear replaces love."

When he was done, Harsh gave a slow, mocking clap of his hooves. "Very impressive speech. Heartfelt, inspirational... and total hogwash. Worse than a blatantly dishonest individual, is one who uses words like love and friendship to hide his own evil heart." Harsh leaned close. "Oh yes, I already knew about you and your... RESETS. Especially one in particular. You know of what I speak. My talks with Sans were very... INTERESTING on that run."

Frisk shuddered. No.... he paid for it......

"You claim to base yourself on love..... and yet you killed everyone in the Underground on that run. Even your own mother." He leaned close. "Even now you sometimes wish death on others I bet, wonder what it will feel like when you RESET and kill us. A person like you is dangerous." he glanced over at Chara, who stammered. "I often wonder how different you two REALLY are." He stood tall. "Why did you involve yourself in this Frisk?"

Frisk sighed. "I wanted to find out the whole truth about what happened."

Harsh ahhed. "So you question whether or not the legal system had it right?"

Frisk nodded. "I wanted to hear all sides."

Harsh nodded. "How fitting for someone who wanted to play out every route of what happened in the Underground. So like a certain pony among us who sought to destroy our future for her own gain, hmmmmmm?"

Chara glanced at Starlight, who sat by him and was now getting the cold stare, the unicorn almost in tears at recalling that.

"Do you believe the facts you gather prove YOUR innocence in this matter?"

Frisk blinked. "I never found anything of my involvement."

Harsh chuckled. "So you CANNOT prove your innocence. How... convenient."

Frisk chuckled some. "You know, I recall someone saying how everyone is innocent until proven guilty. And of that whole phrase, the last two words are the most key. PROVEN GUILTY. So I ask you... can you say I did it with concrete evidence?"

Harsh slowly widened his eyes. "Excuse me?! You're questioning my judgement in this matter?!"

Frisk nodded. "Not with any of us did you find anything solid to prove them guilty, but you were still not satisfied."

Harsh lost his narrow stare and went wide eyed in anger. "HOW DARE YOU! Your kind is ALWAYS guilty of their actions, always wanting to hurt ponies! You're worse than changelings, who pretend they are at peace with us but secretly plan to devour us all! Or Discord, who seduces the princess in such lude and unspeakable ways that he cannot be anything but a rapist! Beings like you do not DESERVE justice human! They deserve the worst that can be done to them, and I will see to it that your kind GETS the worst if it takes me my whole life, because your past actions, your very existence, is PROOF ENOUGH!"

For a moment after, there was silence. He stood there, breathing heavily, staring with bloodshot eyes and gritted teeth, looking for all the world like a madman. But a madman at least has a reason for his actions. Harsh's reason, pure hatreds of non ponies it seemed, was far worse, because it was a calculated and seemingly intelligent form of madness, one simply called racism.

To Harsh, his views of non-ponies would always to see them as guilty, and that was made clear by his blind hatred.

And as the silence ended it was replaced by the sound of ponies getting up and walking away. There was no reason to listen, no reason to even attend. The jury simply walked out, Several royal guard ponies escorting Frisk out gently, Celestia smiling at the wise little boy before her.

Soon, only Harsh was left in there, still wide eyed with fury, still blinded by his hate, until finally he collapsed in tears, realising the full extent of his sins.

There was no comfort for him for some time.

***********************

Later that night, Frisk stood alone on a balcony in friendship castle. That one speech he gave had far reaching effects. At long last the events that had caused his crippled leg were fading away, and were being replaced by the openness the monsters received when they first arrived not so long ago.

He heard the clopping of hooves behind him and turned to see Celestia herself. She smiled softly to the boy.

"I can see now why you were made ambassador for monsters, little Frisk." She said with a soft smile. "Your words ring true. You exposed the worst form of hate in this kingdom, and for that you have my thanks. Harsh Justice is finished, and his hate will be swept away with help."

Frisk went to speak but  Celestia continued.

"What you said about the accused applies to everyone who has ever committed a wrong and has paid for it. There is no need to bring up old wounds when the world has forgiven you and accepted you for what you are, both the good and the bad. I wish some had realized that before it had been too late, and I am so glad others realize it." Celestia embraced the boy who hugged back. "Your friends and family should be proud of you, little ambassador. May your wisdom from today never fade." She intoned.

Frisk bowed low as she led him back in, the boy shocked to see several former villains and several friends looking at him with proud looks. While he had focused his idea on those who were accused it went much further than that, and showed that those who had repented of their evil should not have to be in fear of their past being a constant thorn in their lives forever. because it had been forgiven, and therefore was washed away.

Frisk was given many handshakes and thank yous and a few hugs before the night ended, all ending with one wink and thumbs up from a certain skeleton joker, who said just four words.

"ya did good, kid."

Frisk could only smile and hug his most dear friend at that, the skeleton hugging back, more hopeful for the future than ever before in his life, their words long echoing in his mind...