You're Blue Now

The hall was longer than he remembered.

Golden sunlight from the unreachable outside world was awash in patches of brilliance here and there, sparkling in through the stained glass depictions of an entire history of monsters. It was a long and storied hall, and so still and silent that the dust particles in the air seemed afraid to touch for fear of breaking the unearthly silence. Nothing breathed, nothing moved.

But sometimes, it changed.

Sans had seen it.

Not just on the stained glass windows depicting the history of underground monsters, but with his own eye sockets. Sometimes, history just... changed. That's simply how it was.

Sans, a skeleton in a blue jumper, stood in shorts and his house slippers against one of the many shadowed columns, as still as the grave itself. He moved not a single inch, head straight toward the end of the hall where one might appear.

And for the longest time, nobody came.

Twilight hummed a cheery tune, carefully making herself a lettuce and cheese sandwich. A couple of sizzling eggs floated in her magical grip as she layered each piece of toast lovingly with mayonnaise, hay, and a little sprig of wild onion. With one hoof she carefully flipped the finished eggs onto the plate, so that her breakfast was almost perfect, identical to Spike's; the only difference being that his looked almost like a smiling face, and was a little bit cooler and had no Spike near it whatsoever. The unicorn finally poured herself a cup of hot coffee, taking in a long, deep breath through her nostrils and letting the scent fill her as her smile grew.

The ground beneath her hooves began to rumble.

Then her kitchen exploded.

Splinters of glass and wood clouded the air as something large and blue blasted through her kitchen window, smashing directly into the table and continuing through it to the floor. Twilight barely had time to register the thing forcibly entering her home, let alone stop it, but she did manage to thankfully bring up a deflective violet shield bare milliseconds before the flying shrapnel made changing her facial expressions very, very unpleasant. She dropped the shield after ensuring that nothing else was about to fly through any more windows. The 'thing' in question was reasonably silent after having utterly demolished both her kitchen and breakfast, and it was then that Twilight finally realized that, after standing there staring with her mouth hanging open like a dolt, she was still hanging on to her somehow untouched cup of still steaming coffee.

Twilight cleared her mind and the air around her with a brush of magic, the dust thicker than she expected. The creature had left impact indents on the floor where it landed, though it was clearly long since dead, as the skeletal remains were still clinging to its odd blue garment. Twilight examined it with a single scan, then the window again.

How in Equestria...?

At the angle it landed, the creature could only have landed; or, rather, been ejected from, the morning sky at an incredible velocity. How exactly it managed to maintain the entirety of its skeleton without falling apart was beyond belief, almost as much as that it hadn't simply vaporized upon impact. Twilight mulled over such thoughts deeply as she paced around the remains of her potentially extraterrestrial 'visitor', slowly magically repairing the damage that it had done in the meantime. After most of the window had been replaced, she turned again to the unfortunate soul that had been, from the looks of it, blasted clean out of the sky. She wondered momentarily if the rest of it had burned away, but shook the ugly thought from her head. The ground rumbled once again, this one stronger than the last earthquake. It even rattled the bones of the thing (perhaps she should begin referring to it as a specimen and stop thinking about how painfully it must have died) enough to make it look as if it were stirring from beyond the grave.

Twilight shuddered a little, magically picking up the remains of the table and clearing away the debris around the 'specimen' and frowned, keeping one eye on it after the rattling died down. It was unnerving in every sense, having a corpse fall into her home, but it could have at least waited until after breakfast. Almost all of the pieces of the table had joined their brothers in Twilight's magical grip, only a few strays littering the floor now.

“Spike,” Twilight called up the stairs. “Never mind about breakfast, it's been... canceled.”

“What?” she heard the drake faintly from their shared bedroom. “Why? What did you break this time?”

“Spike,” she responded with exasperation. “I didn't break anything, something just sort of... came up. Or, came down, rather.”

“Just let me know when breakfast is ready, okay?”

Twilight threw up one hoof with an unsatisfied grunt, certain that the little purple dragon had no problems going back to lying in bed and reading his comics all day. She frowned as she attempted to move the specimen for study, already trying to think of some way to describe in detail to the princess how she wasn't utterly mad.

Then she realized that the specimen was gone.

Twilight blinked once, twice, then again and opened her mouth, but no words came out.

“*Pony.”

Twilight froze stock still in shock, her whole mane bristling along the back of her neck.

“*Don't you know how to greet a new 'friend'? Turn around and shake my hand.”

She swerved, ever so slowly, heart pounding so loudly that she could hear it in her ears. The skeletal figure was standing straight up with its head hanging down, one appendage outstretched in her direction in what have might seemed a greeting gesture were it literally anypony else. The thing wasn't moving though and she didn't trust herself to speak just yet, only slowly, carefully, cautiously prodding one hoof into his outstretched hand.

*Pfffffft.*

“Uh...”

“*Hehehe... the ol' whoopie cushion in the hand trick. That's always funny.”

The thing's head bobbed up right away, revealing odd little eye-like lights in his sockets and a grin that was far too wide to be natural; in fact, he seemed to smile in spite of his visage being too large for his face, like he was trying to show off all of his teeth at once and somehow his bony cheeks were getting in the way.

“*Anyways, you're a pony, right? That's hilarious. I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton.”

“You-you can talk,” Twilight felt the ground beneath her shift as she struggled to accept the impossible situation. “You're speaking plain Equestrian. You can talk. You can talk.”

“*Yeesh, you seem really hung up on the whole talking skeleton thing,” the self proclaimed 'Sans' stuck his hands back into his still slightly crispy blue jacket pockets. Every jerky movement made her want to twitch. Watching the walking dead wasn't something that her brain seemed to want to comprehend, understandably. “*I can just stop talking and start staring awkwardly at you like you are at me, if you want. Is that a custom here or something? If so, it's cool. I'm great at staring contests.”

“I-I don't even-” Twilight started, one hoof running down her face and stretching before she shook herself and forced her racing thoughts down so that she could focus. “You're dead. Whatever you are, you- I mean, you can't possibly- you aren't some... some... my breakfast,” she breathed in half panicked confusion and half exasperation.

“*Oh. Yeah. About that,” Sans shrugged bits of shrapnel off his shoulders and brushed away some dust from his jacket. “*Sorry about the whole 'crashing into your house' thing. I'll try not to do it again, promise.”

Twilight once again found herself speechless, which was not something that she was accustomed to. She had an extensive vernacular for nearly every situation, prepared in at least some measures for any new tests life might have in store.

Alien skeletons, however, she was not prepared for.

She finally managed to clear her throat uneasily as they continued to simply stand there, and Twilight realized that she had been holding the remains of the table directly over the grinning (of course he was, it's what every skeleton does what are you thinking Twi) figure, and magically attempted to stick it back together safely on the ground.

“... I'm going to need something stronger than coffee for this, if you'll excuse me for just a moment,” Twilight's voice came out quieter and shakier than she intended, but at least her vocal chords were responding to the situation at last. The skeleton only shrugged again and made himself comfortable in the chair opposite her as she, without taking her eyes off of him for an instant should he vanish, reached far back into her kitchen supplies and retrieved the gifted bottle of Granny Smith's best cider.

“... You're a skeleton.”

“*Yikes,” his odd sounding chuckle ringing in her ears as he helped himself to the still steaming remains of one of her sandwiches. “*You really are still hung up on that. Are ya' feeling alright, kid? Did you hit your head or something?”

“Did I hit my head?” the unicorn asked in disbelief betwixt strong swigs of the throat burning cider. “How are you even in one piece after that kind of impact?” she asked, noting the cracks in the floor that he had left. “How... what are- how do you even function?”

“*I have a job, if that's what you mean,” he shrugged carelessly as he crossed his feet over and onto the table, one slipper missing and exposing his bony foot. “*Don't get worked up about that too though, it's only part time. Gotta have some time to chill, y'know?”

Twilight finished off the bottle before he had even finished speaking, and reached for the next with wide eyes.

“I-I'm not sure how to even process all this,” she admitted finally after reaching her halfway mark into the amber liquid. “You're dead. You should be dead, are dead, and are still- how are you even eating?” Twilight blurted, staring as he paused mid-bite into her sandwich.

He looked down at his somehow rotund stomach and patted it twice before unzipping his jacket, revealing nothing but ribs before zipping it back up.

“*Beats me. Everybody gets hungry sometimes, I guess.”

Twilight clapped her hooves to her eyes, heavily setting down the bottle on the counter and taking a long, deep breath.

Okay. Okay. Easy, girl. Deep breaths. Don't think about it too hard. Like dealing with Pinkie Pie.

Thinking of the unconcerned skeleton in that manner didn't help much, but it was something. There were some things that Pinkie Pie did on occasion that were simply out of her capacity to scientifically or rationally explain, which half the time she simply chalked up to earth pony magic, which her friend must have had by the barrel-full.

Sans heard the unicorn mutter something dark about wasted potential before taking another long breath.

“Okay,” she shook her head, mane cleared from her eyes and newfound determination sparkling in them. “I'm sorry. I-I really should probably apologize as well. Whatever you are, you're alive... somehow. Are you alright?”

“*... Could have been anything else.”

“Come again?”

“*Maybe another time. But you could have said literally anything else,” Sans had finished up with the sandwich and was looking much better for having eaten. “*What are you doing here comes to mind. Why did you destroy my house. Where did you come from. Why are you here. I'm not all that happy to be here, myself, but at least it's something new.”

“Uh...”

“*But, no,” he beamed up at her with surprising cheerfulness on his face. “*You had to know if I'm alright. And y'know what, kid? I think I am. I'm pretty okay, and I think you are, too.”

“I- well, er, what I mean to say is – I don't really know what I mean to say,” Twilight threw up one hoof eventually. “Thank you...? But I have...”

She blew out her cheeks, running one hoof through her messy mane.

“I have so many questions right now.”

“*Well, I should think so,” he chuckled again. “*I'm nice and comfy in my 'smoking' jacket,” he dusted off a bit of char from his burned blue coat, his grin somehow growing wider. “*Tell you what, kid. I've got... one or two questions as well, so how about we take turns asking? You can even go first. Aren't I a generous guy?”

Twilight swallowed, nodded and shakily took her own seat opposite the skeleton. She'd barely had time to open her mouth before she heard Spike calling down the stairs.

“Hey, Twilight, is breakfast finally ready?”

Sans fought back a chortle watching the unicorn facepalm (facehoof?) and sigh.

“That would be Spike,” she said almost apologetically. “I can't say I'm surprised he's more interested in food than asking about a couple of earthquakes or kitchen-demolishing skeletons.”

“*Aw, it's not that bad,” he gestured around the clearly destroyed (and in some places, still charred) places around the kitchen. Bits of wood and glass stuck out of the wall, one fork with a bit of hay bacon jammed nearly halfway through. “*Definitely could have been worse – hold on, did you say two earthquakes?”

“Er... yes?” Twilight struggled to pour herself a cup of coffee her hooves were still shaking so hard. “I assumed that they had something to do with you, considering... well, everything. But I have to know-”

“*Unless you wanna have a bad time...you need to run.”

Twilight balked at him and shook herself. She could have sworn that for just a moment his eye sockets had gone completely empty, and it was... disturbing, to say the least.

“What?” she managed to spit out. “What do you mean?”

“*I mean that now isn't the time to chat over tea- err, coffee,” Sans stood promptly, the scraping of bone on chair a highly unpleasant noise. “*I've been followed, and if you want to so much as stay alive, if you even value your continued existence, you need to take everyone that you care about, right now, and do the smart thing. Run.”

Author's Notes:

Beware of the man who speaks in hands.

D̡̘͓̩̯a̫̱̭͍̻̲͜r̪̞̱̞̝̘̫k,̼̲̤ ̟͖D̸͈̭͖̝͈̥̞a̛̫͖r͔͜k͏̜͚͎̝̱̗e̮̳̟͓͉͓r̞̳ͅ ̸Y̜̞̜̻̤͘e̗͓̣t̜̲ ͎D͇͔̺̪̼͚ar̭̱̺͟k̹͖̻̝̥̕ér͓͈̩͍̘

“*Trust me on this one, kid,” Sans was quick to pull his coat a little tighter to himself. “*You don't wanna be around for this.”

“Around for what?” Twilight followed him to the door. “What are you talking about? I need to know at least who I'm supposed to be running away from!”

“*You're better off not knowing,” Sans frowned, which Twilight would have previously sworn that skeletons could most certainly not do. “*Happier, too. Just grab who you can and make a break for it.”

Instead of doing as he suggested, he found Twilight instead with her head lowered and horn pointed directly at him, nostrils flaring as she blocked the door.

“Not a chance in Tartarus are you pulling that on me,” she scoffed. “If there's a danger to my friends or family, I'm not just going to run with my tail between my legs and hope for the best. Besides, I still have a LOT of questions that need answers.”

Sans almost physically brushed her out of his way, but paused for a moment before slowly, slowly placing his hands back into his pockets and staring down at his feet, which had somehow miraculously procured his missing slipper.

“... What's so funny?” Twilight's brows furrowed, a little insulted.

“*Nothing,” chuckled the skeleton. “*You just... really reminded me of a very good friend.”

“Would you tell them to run away when they tried to protect their friends, too?”

Sans froze.

There were a great deal of things that Sans did. He made the occasional fart joke. He slept in late and showed up late, usually to do more sleeping. He even tried his hand at cooking once.

What he did not do, however, was freeze.

Something inside him was unnerved by her reserved but defiant expression, and more than that – the fact that he had frozen at all was upsetting. His fists were clenched tightly into little white balls, and he had to consciously release his grip.

“*.... Guess there's no point,” he shrugged with a weak grin afterwards, though they both still seemed tense. “*I can't say no to a face like that, anyway.”

Twilight did not blush, per se, but her neck and ears did grow quite a few shades darker.

“Good,” Twilight let out a breath that she didn't know that she had been holding. “Now, just tell me what's going on and I'll take care of the rest.”

“*Doesn't work like that, kid,” Sans crossed his arms. “I couldn't and wouldn't make you carry a burden like that all on your lonesome.”

“Gee, I'm flattered,” she deadpanned, “but if anyone dangerous is showing up in Ponyville, somewhat like you if I'm guessing correctly, then I'm going to defend these ponies with everything I've got.”

“*Look, kid...” Sans knelt down a little, just below her head height, as if to explain something difficult to a small child, which seemed to infuriate Twilight more than he had thought possible. “*I can't stand here and argue with you all night. You seem pretty determined, I'll give you that, but you can't possibly stop what's coming. Trust me, I've tried. Oh, god help me I've tried.”

“I don't understand,” Twilight's frown etched into her face grew.

“*I don't expect you to unde-”

“No, I mean I don't understand what you meant. It's still morning...”

Sans and Twilight's simultaneous reaction to realizing just how dark it had become were mixed, to put it politely. Twilight, in her boundless curiosity, yanked open the door without warning to discover why the sun had apparently set far too early. Sans, on the other hand, barely managed to tackle her to the ground before she could move more than a foot away.

“What are you d-?!”

There was a slight hum that Twilight's ears barely managed to pick up, as if they were a little too high and low pitched to hear properly at the same time.

Then her living room exploded.

Her tree/house seemed to be doing that a lot more frequently than usual.

She hardly had time to register what had happened, eyes flailing around madly at the source of the explosion as she scrambled to stand, jerking and kicking her way out of the skeleton's surprisingly strong grip.

A tall figure greeted her in her doorway where her door had once stood.

Too tall.

It was thin, and there was a level of darkness that wrapped around him in a way that was mesmerizing to Twilight. It dripped from him in little rivulets and streams and flowed upward in defiance of all logic only to disappear behind him, around him, inside of him. A pale white shirt looked to be growing up from inside to cover his throat, wrapping around his neck so tightly that it looked to be a grim porcelain noose. The black cloaked figure stood taller than even Discord stretching to full length from head to draconequian tail, only revealing a cracked white bony face with empty sockets staring down at her with a severely unnatural smile that reminded her of a clown's painted on face, and a single skeletal hand emerging from the liquid black lab coat with a perfectly circular hole through the palm emerging from the depths of his coat.

Said hand was facing palm up directly at Twilight's face.

“*DOWN!”

Another ground shaking blast rippled in pure black force as it burst out from the hole in his hand, tearing and boiling the air above her as she dropped and singing bits of her mane clean off. The rest of her house, however, was not so fortunate. The blast ripped straight through the perfectly alphabetized bookshelves, through the wall, continuing through until it cut a swath a horse's breadth wide deep into the ground outside.

“*I told you to run!” Sans harrumphed at her, though it was the first time she heard what sounded an awful lot like genuine panic in his voice. Twilight managed to make it a full step before another gigantic blast of energy erupted from the too tall figure's palm, Sans's outstretched hand bathed in blue light-

However, instead of an utterly decimated pony like he had feared, Twilight stood behind a tall magically glowing shield wall that was colored a couple of shades lighter than her. Granted, there were also skid marks on the floor where she'd been digging in her hooves for three or four feet, but still, Sans was mildly impressed.

“*'sup G?” Sans was standing beside Twilight before she knew it. She hadn't even seen him move at all, just how fast was he...?

Hello again, Sans.

Twilight shuddered immediately upon hearing the thing 'talk'. It's brightly glowing yellow and blue eyes flickered back and forth with an intensity that made her flesh prickle unpleasantly, and his mouth didn't even move, again reminding her more of a painting of a grimace onto a mask rather than a face itself.

Why do you look so surprised?

She didn't so much hear his voice as she did feel it reverberate inside her head, like the noise was coming from behind her eardrums. It made her want to scratch them for some mad reason, but she forced herself to stay on guard should the intruder launch another attack. Twilight took what time she could muster to glimpse through the windows, and even the space where he had torn a hole straight through her wall was black; blacker than anything that she had ever seen, the same abyssal darkness that the too tall figure was surrounded in.

“*Now's not really a good time, G,” Sans said casually, one arm outstretched in front of Twilight, though whether it was a defensive gesture or to keep her from moving toward him was unknown.

Come now, boy. When have you ever known time of all things to stop me?

“Whatever you a-are,” Twilight took a quavering step forward, violet glow alighting the top of her horn. “If you're here to hurt my friends, you're going to have to go through me first.”

Her voice sounded hollow and tinny in her ears, and she didn't feel a fraction of the bravery she spoke, but she stood her ground.

The figure only stared.

... Interesting.

“*Come on, G...” Sans clasped his hands together, almost pleadingly. “*This isn't the time or place.”

Oh, but my child, the sweeping figure almost slithered into the room, growing taller and taller until his head almost bumped the ceiling, and he was still slouched over to shine his plastic smile down on them. Time and space is my specialty. Now come along with me. Your cooperation would be... most appreciated.

“Back off!”

A whizzing bolt of purple energy seared through the air from the tip of Twilight's horn, blasting through-

Nothing.

One moment the tall figure had been there, and the next he simply wasn't. Twilight stared at the spot he had been in confusion, only to feel a strong push from her side as another enormous blast of the heavy black energy erupted from the ground beneath her. Had it not been for the phantom shove, she likely would have been incinerated, and still Sans was nowhere to be seen in the darkness...

“*There's the opening,” she heard Sans at her left ear and nearly jumped out of her skin, looking up as he pointed at the wall 'G' had blasted a hole through. “*Make a break for it while you can, alright?”

“Not a chance,” Twilight huffed angrily, scanning visually and magically for any sign of the intruder. “He broke into my home and tried to hurt us both, this jerk has got it coming.”

“*I... don't mean to alarm you or anything,” Sans said after a beat, “*But I can't actually... beat this guy.”

“That's why I'm helping-” Twilight started, only for the skeleton to shake his head sadly.

“*Let me rephrase that. NOBODY can beat this guy,” the face peeled itself out from the inky black darkness covering the walls, the rest of his unearthly body following him. “*He's sort of what you would call, uh... a 'god'.”

Twilight took one long, firm look at the skeleton before frowning, evening her stance and lighting up her horn again.

Still defiant? Why do you fight? the smile almost seemed natural, but everything about the creature gliding over the floor toward them was anything but. Are you truly so despondent and suicidal?

“You aren't the first 'god' I've put in their place,” Twilight's eyes were narrowed sharply. “I'm giving you one opportunity to cease fire, and one chance only. Leave peacefully, or leave in pieces.

The too tall man did something both unexpected and wholly disturbing.

He laughed.

It wasn't a sound like anything she had ever heard before, or ever wanted to hear again. She could hear it inside her head, feel it crawling like spiders over her back. Twilight had to fight to keep from shuddering again, eyes focused solely on her attacker.

Poor, deluded children. What have your poor little heads been filled with? Do you even know why I am here?

“*Guess you wanna be in for the long haul, huh, kid?” Sans asked quietly, but the tall figure tilted his head as if he could hear every word.

“I'd like to have an inkling of what's going on in my own house.”

My apologies. How rude of me, the tall figure swept up a disembodied hand from behind his too black cloak and pulled into a sort of crouched bow. You may call me... Gaster. Doctor Gaster.

“Twilight Sparkle,” the unicorn nodded, noting that Sans was ever so slowly inching toward the opening in the wall. “Now get the buck out of my house.”

Sans.

The skeleton froze for the second time that day, eye sockets wide.

“*... How many times have we done this song and dance, Gaster?” Sans breathed, but still somehow managed to make himself heard. “*How long are you going to keep this up?”

How many are going to have to die before you accept judgment for your sins?

“... Sans,” Twilight said slowly, turning toward the uncomfortable skeleton. “What exactly is this... person talking about? What's going on? Are you under a bounty of some sort?”

“*Kid, you wouldn't believe me if I told you. Granted, I might tell you if you ask, but, uh... please don't ask.”

Let me put it this way, Gaster slid between the two faster than either of them could blink, whining blasts of energy erupting from both of his hands in opposite directions with a squealing, burning glee, forcing them both back on the defensive with Twilight behind her steadily draining shield and Sans's nimble dodging. I'm trying to stop a very bad man from hurting a lot of people.

“*... Is that some kind of sick joke?” Sans was sweating heavily, though how Twilight had no idea. “*You always had an awful sense of humor. I guess you could say you're... kinda killing me.”

Gaster and Twilight both gave him equally blank stares.

Sans shrugged.

“*Worth a shot, nyeh?”

Oh, one or three.

Sizzling energy ripped down from the ceiling like smashing columns into the ground, one after another after Sans – one, two, three, each one closer than the last each time he leaped back and forth, each a little closer to tearing him apart.

The violet lance of pure energy piercing directly through Dr. Gaster's chest was unexpected. He touched the tip of it with one bone finger before glancing with another empty smile back at Twilight.

... Interesting. Very interesting. I love your new project, Sans.

And then he was simply... gone.

“Is... is it over?” Twilight heaved, mane matted from sweat from all the effort of fending off the humanoid assailant.

“*Not until the fat skeleton sings,” Sans was beside her yet again before she could even register it. Just how was he so fast? “*He'll be back. I know he will.”

The sun was shining in through the window again, as if the dark cloudy blackness had never been engulfing her home at all. It didn't help with her labored breathing or skipping heartbeats. It also didn't help with her second destroyed room in the same morning, but she wasn't feeling all up to complaining about it. Were it not for a quick grab beneath her leg, she'd have simply collapsed to the ground. He helped her to half of the sofa, as the other half had been incinerated, but she didn't seem to care about that either before wordlessly passing out.

The last thing that she saw before unconsciousness pulled her down was a tall figure in the doorway standing with a too wide smile, an unmoving drake held afloat in one hand before the whole world went dark.

“*... Boy is that kid gonna be mad when she wakes up.”

Sans pinched somewhere a bridge of a nose might have been on his face, if he had a nose. He stood over her for a few moments, hands deep in his pockets before he dusted his jacket off a little.

He was startled by the shout of a loud draconequus standing huffing and puffing in the doorway.

“I heard chaos,” he screamed at the top of his lungs. “WHY WASN'T I INVITED?!”

On Days Like These

“Twilight. Hey. Come on now. Wake up.”

Twilight grunted and unconsciously reached for her missing blanket, head throbbing horribly.

“Not right now, Discord. I have a headache.”

“Twilight Sparkle. Wake up.”

“*Kid, I think nap time is over.”

Twilight sat bolt upright on her now half of a sofa, bloodshot eyes wide as she jerked herself awake.

“Wh-what happened?” she forced herself to stand, legs feeling oddly wobbly. “Where am I?”

“*Warn me the next time you decide to take a nap like that, kid,” Sans had a single skeletal hand placed over his chest. “*Had me dead worried there for a minute.”

“... Was that a deliberate pun?” Discord blinked.

“*Must have been... bone tired.”

“Your joke is bad and you should feel bad.”

Sans only shrugged.

“*Must not have a funny bone.”

Twilight groaned, head in her hooves as she struggled to reclaim what little sense she could. The talking skeleton didn't seem very pleased with Discord. The fact that there was a talking skeleton in her house at all still upset her to some degree. It was still a matter of piecing together exactly what had happened with the mysterious figure that had barged into her home and t-

“Spike!” Twilight yelped, scrambling down from the sofa so hard that it collapsed completely. “He took Spike!”

“Whoa, easy,” Discord held her back as she frantically strained to pull herself away, suddenly very aware that it was already evening. “Calm down. One thing at a time. Okay? One thing at a time.”

“A-alright – okay, alright,” Twilight nodded.

“That's it,” he pulled away, hands up in what he assumed was a calming gesture. “One thing at a time, Sparkle. First things first. 'He' who?”

“*That would be Gaster,” Sans said quietly, hands still in his jacket pockets. He looked far different from the skeleton that she had met just that morning; his shoulders were slumped, his wide smile was gone and there were, against all logic, what appeared to be worry lines under his eyes.

“Alright, see?” Discord held out his mismatching arms to each side as if to prove a point. “Now we're getting somewhere. Next question... who is Spike?”

Twilight only stared.

“... Are you freaking messing with me?” Twilight's voice involuntarily cracked as a lump formed in her throat.

“Twilight, take it easy-” Discord held out his palms again, but this only seemed to incite her further.

“That's not funny, Discord!” she snapped. “That-that thing foalnapped Spike!”

The draconequus looked genuinely confused, looking back and forth between Twilight and her odd visitor. An uneasy feeling prickled at the base of Twilight's neck the more confused he looked.

“Spike,” she forced herself to say, and her voice came out uneven. “Spike. Dragon. Very short, very purple. My little brother,” she enunciated every syllable.

“... Did she hit her head?” Discord asked out of the side of his mouth, but the skeleton didn't respond.

“Oh, you're useless!” she shoved Discord out of the way, catching him off guard as she stumbled through the smoking remains of her front doorway. She had to fight to keep the panic from taking over, to keep back an unexpected well of tears in order to focus. If she panicked now it would only waste more time, and every second that ticked by was another moment that Spike could be in serious danger, or worse.

That thought didn't help.

Fortunately, she was quick to spot a familiar streaking trail of color high in the sky which gave her a glimmer of hope. Twilight lit a little ball of magic on her horn, focusing intently for a few seconds as she drew in concentration. Then, she sent the little ball as high up into the air as she could and released the energy she had been drawing in.

A vibrant, bright violet explosion of color streamed out in numerous directions, her makeshift flare lighting up the entire village of Ponyville for a single instant before leaving dancing sparks in nearly every inhabitant's eyes.

Twilight was almost prancing back and forth impatiently as Rainbow Dash descended in a swirl, landing already at a full gallop toward her before coming to a screeching halt. The pegasus was nearly out of breath, her chest heaving and her eyes wide.

“Jeez, Twi, just aim right for me next time why don't you?!” she glowered at her hard. “I was already on the way, what'd you do that for?”

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight's relief was plain in her voice, and her friend's irritation evaporated quickly. “I can't begin to describe how happy I am to see somepony sensible. I need help, and fast.”

“Whoa, dude,” Rainbow held up a hoof. “Say no more, just tell me whose flank needs kicking. Is it Discord? I bet it's Discord, he's staring right at us-”

“No, Rainbow,” Twilight struggled to get her attention. “It wasn't Discord. Something bad happened, we need the Elements of Harmony all together, and fast.”

“But... not because of Discord...” Rainbow Dash said slowly, eyeing the destruction that had been wrought upon Twilight's home.

“Time is of the essence here, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight stamped a hoof against the ground. “Something foalnapped Spike!”

“Okay, hold on a second first,” the pegasus held one hoof to her head. “First you want to tell me Discord is, what, innocent? Then what happened to the library? And who's Spike?”

Twilight suddenly felt like throwing up.

The ground shifted hard beneath her hooves all of a sudden, and she had to fight to keep her balance.

“... Twi, have-have you been drinking?” Rainbow Dash asked in a quiet, soft tone that was seldom heard from her, concern etched onto her face.

“Just get the others,” Twilight responded in equal tone. “I'm... I'm going to start damage control.”

“Okay, Twi. Okay.”

Rainbow Dash took off, and Twilight couldn't help but notice that her friend was throwing back several uneasy looks as she did so.

The crunch of wood and glass as she slowly walked back into the ruins of her house was the only sound to be heard, both Sans and Discord waiting for her. They both exchanged what looked to be a shared expression of equal parts confusion and concern, and neither of them spoke.

“... You had better start explaining right the buck now, or I am going to murder somepony.”

“It really wasn't my fault this time,” Discord floated up into the air as she brushed callously by him. “I mean it, I'm just trying to, er... help.”

“Then make yourself useful for once,” Twilight responded darkly. “Go get the others. We need to chat.”

She continued on her way without looking back at him, muttering vehement threats under her breath as she attempted to put her wall by the stairs back together.

Discord had his talons poised to snap before he noticed a slight tug at his opposite arm. Surprisingly, the skeleton stood there with one hand in his jacket pocket, his face blank.

“*Do me a favor?” Sans asked quietly. “*... Take your time. There's something I need to talk to the horse about real quick.”

Discord didn't move for a long moment.

Then, slowly, eyes never leaving the empty sockets, very, very slowly, he tilted his head downward in understanding.

And then he was gone.

Twilight magically slammed piece after piece of wood back into place where Gaster had blown out the wall, and it was evident that there simply wasn't enough of the wall left to repair it all, but that didn't slow the unicorn down.

“*... Hey kid.”

Again she jerked involuntarily away from the skeleton, who looked, unexpectedly, wholly offended.

“... That friend of yours foalnapped my baby brother,” Twilight breathed through tightly clenched teeth. “And when my friends show up, we're going after him.”

“*Sounds like a cool idea,” Sans said casually as she struggled to stretch the wood to fit the hole, several pieces falling out instead. “*How do you plan to do that?”

“I-I...” Twilight refrained from looking at him, just knowing that he was staring at her with a judgmental gaze. Her hooves were shaking so hard that her shoulders hurt.

“... I don't know yet.”

“*Guess we should probably start in on answering some of those questions of yours first,” Sans suggested, pulling what appeared to be a hot dog with cat ears drawn on it out of one pocket and taking a few bites. “*Unless you want to scrap that plan in favor of your new one. Whatever's cool.”

“Why doesn't anypony but me remember Spike?” Twilight blurted aloud, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Sans was quick to stuff the remainder of the snack back into his pocket.

“*Ohh, kid- c'mere,” he hugged her warmly, arms wrapping as far as he could around her neck. “*Hey, it's all gonna work out. You'll be okay.”

“I don't care about me,” she tried weakly to push him off, soon giving up and only standing there shaking. “I-I just want my brother back.”

“*Believe me,” Sans patted her back as he finally released her, and there was something gleaming in his eyes when she looked at him. “*I know exactly that feeling. Right now, you need to know what you're up against.”

A horrible thought occurred to her.

“... Am I going to forget, too?”

Sans didn't look away, but he didn't answer, either.

“*... I know this all seems overwhelmingly unfair,” he said after a couple of seconds. “Downright dastardly, even. But I think you should forget about trying to stick your wall back together and come have lunch with me.”

“I-what?” Twilight balked, suddenly feeling a very strong urge to kick something. “How can you think of food at a time like-”

“*Just come with me, okay?” he said quietly, holding out his hand. “There's a great little place I think you'd really like. I even know a shortcut.”

Twilight looked back at her demolished library. One of her books tumbled from the collapsing shelves and fell apart into ashes before it even hit the floor. Wind flew in from the front opening, the ugly gash a harsh reminder of her last visitor. Somewhere, somehow, she felt that she could find an answer by contemplating the bizarre situation long enough...

Twilight sighed, finally grasping the skeleton's outstretched hand with her own hoof.

*Pffffft. *

“Whoopie cushion?” Twilight deadpanned. “Are you s-”

Then the whole world fell away.

“-erious?”

She almost fell over from the shock, forcing her legs to buckle to keep her upright on the sidewalk, and she was glad that she did. From nearly the moment that she had taken the skeleton's hand it was painfully obvious that she wasn't in her library anymore, and the sudden jump made her head spin.

“... You can teleport,” she breathed after a moment, familiar Ponyville streets both comfortingly familiar and unsettling simultaneously. “That's how you do – how do you even do that? You and that Gaster, both skeletons, both of you can teleport; Sans, what aren't you telling me-?”

“*NOW come all the questions,” he gave a little chuckle, but there didn't seem to be much humor in it. “Can it wait until we grab some grub? I promise, I'll tell you as much as I can.”

Twilight wanted very badly to argue, thinking instead of marching right back over the cobblestone streets across Ponyville and dragging the skeleton all the way home, but decided against it. She swallowed hard and nodded.

“*Cool,” he finally grinned with actual delight as he pushed open a door that Twilight hadn't even been aware of mere moments before. “*Welcome to the Eight Bits Bar and Grill, cheapest place to munch and chill.”

A thin line of hazy smoke wafted out of the door and into the cool evening air, white innards rolling outward into the sky. Twilight paused on the doorway, uncertain. She'd never even heard of the place, and likely wouldn't have bothered stopping at such a run down looking little bar, but what bothered her more was that after all her time both exploring and mapping Ponyville in her spare time she'd never even heard of this place.

And for some reason, Sans knew more about it than she did.

“Heyas bartender,” Sans waved to the unfazed looking lime colored stallion behind the counter, scrubbing away at a perpetually uncleaned spot on a glass mug. “Two of your best burgers. And a bottle of ketchup.”

There were a number of other patrons quietly milling about in the surprisingly spacious bar, all minding their own business, which was all lightly covered by the hum of overhead fans and a worn old beaten up jukebox in the corner, playing an oddly familiar tune.

“... This raises so many more questions,” Twilight took a seat beside Sans, thoroughly unnerved by the fact literally nopony seemed to mind that anything looking like Sans could walk right in completely unchallenged. In fact, nopony even seemed to notice that they were there at all, save the bartender, who was wordlessly setting about a small grill behind the bar.

“*Go ahead,” Sans grinned widely at her, taking a long drought from the glass ketchup bottle without taking his gaze off of her. “*I'm pretty sure you're still curious.”

“How can you teleport?” Twilight blurted, several more important questions fighting for attention behind her thoughts.

“*I can kinda bend time and space. Next question,” he replied casually.”

“... What?”

“*I can kinda-”

“No, I heard you,” Twilight shook her head. “I just-just wasn't expecting an answer like that. How?”

“*That's a very long and complicated story,” Sans said, finishing off the ketchup bottle. “*Short version, Gaster is sort of my father, in a weird 'created you from bits of my own body' kinda way.”

“What?”

“*If that's all you're gonna say we're probably going to be sitting here longer than I expected,” Sans chortled again.

Twilight only glared.

“What do you mean, he's your father? Explain the 'bending time and space' thing first, please, followed by how it's at all related to the fact that my little brother has been foalnapped and his exact location, in that order.”

Sans stared at her for a second, and his grin widened.

“*Well... to start off with, Doctor Gaster kinda... grew me. Those holes in his hands? I used to be just a baby bones.”

Twilight's mouth was hanging open a little.

“*Oh, sorry, sorry, right,” he clapped a bony hand to his forehead with a slap. “You wanted me to explain the other thing first. Right. That's kinda tied into quantum shenanigans and theoretical – well, not really theoretical physics, just regular old physics I guess. Which part of the story do you want me to start at?”

“The-”

“*The beginning, naturally,” Sans rolled the lights in his eye sockets. “Well, see, Doctor Gaster used to be a fairly normal- actually, that's not true at all, he was always a few screwdrivers short of a full toolbox,” he explained as a pair of hayburgers were laid out before them, steaming fries and all, though Twilight payed no mind to the fact that Sans was swiping several of her fries and stuffing them into his face. “But for your average monster... well, no he wasn't average at all. Dude's a genius. More brilliant and dangerous than you can possibly imagine.”

“I am... so confused.”

“*It gets more confusing,” he said with a mouthful. “That's why I'm explaining now so that when you eventually do decide you want to run right into Gaster's trap, you at least know what you're up against.”

“What do you mean, walking into his trap? Why doesn't anypony else but us remember Spike? Wh-”

“*Whoa, kid, lemme ketchup to ya' there...” Sans motioned to the bartender for a refill, and another couple bottles were sent sliding down the bar toward them. “One thing at a time, remember?”

“*So, it starts off like this, see...” Sans made an odd crushing motion with one hand. “Gaster made me as his lab assistant. Created me to do all the heavy lifting. I guess you could say I... put a lot of backbone into it.”

Twilight did not smile.

Sans spun one of the empty ketchup bottles slowly on the table.

“*... Yeesh, tough crowd,” the skeleton shivered. “Anyways, G and I didn't always see eye to eye-”

“Is it because you're fat and short?”

“*ANYWAYS,” Sans continued, “He's the one who imbued me with a little bit of magical power.”

“A little?”

“*Do you want me to finish?” Sans said a little grumpily, unused to being interrupted quite so often. “So, he taught me all sorts of things. Probably a little more than your average monster. One time I tried using that knowledge and magic together and...”

Twilight noticed that the bottle that had previously been spinning had stopped.

At an angle.

“Wh-how...?”

“*I found,” Sans continued quietly, staring straight at the bottle as it ever so slowly began to fall back into place. “*That if I pushed hard enough, I could slow down time. If I pushed harder... I could make it go in reverse.”

“... Oh Celestia I don't like where this is going.”

“*And if I pushed even harder...?” Sans watched the bottle flow back down the countertop and vanish out of sight. “*I could change a lot of things. I could change timelines.”

“That is extremely dangerous,” Twilight hardly dared to breathe. “What were you even thinking? Why would you do something like that?”

Sans didn't answer.

“*So, my turn for a question,” his head perked up with a small smile. “*If you could save somebody's life, to change fate itself so that even against the highest stacked odds an innocent life could still be spared... would you make the gamble?”

Twilight wasn't certain how to respond.

“*Not so easy to answer, is it?”

“... So you're created from Gaster...” she mulled it over, twirling a hay fry around her empty plate, sans burger. Sans, on the other hand, was already helping himself to her sandwich. “Is that where your... 'power' comes from?”

“*Not 'zactly,” he swallowed. “*More of a test run gone wrong.”

“So what about Gaster?”

“*Test run gone extra wrong.” Sans looked away with a shudder, and when he turned back he wouldn't look directly at her. “*He... fell. Into one of his own creations. Scattered across space and time. Everywhere and nowhere at once.”

“So... how did he wind up here? How did you wind up here?”

Sans looked down at his empty plate, hands folded over his lap.

“*... Are you sure you really want the answer to that?” he asked quietly without looking up.

“Yes,” she nodded without hesitation. “Tell me everything.”

Sans only shook his head, as if saddened by something unexplained.

“*I pushed too hard.”

“I... don't understand.”

“*I don't expect you to,” he twiddled his thumbs over his rotund stomach. “*One day I tried pushing too hard. Relied entirely on the magic inside me, and I failed. Or succeeded. Not sure which one is worse, to be entirely honest. Sometimes, you can't change the past or the future. Some things are just doomed to happen. It just wasn't fair. So I decided, from then on, that I wasn't going to play fair either.”

Twilight listened silently to the skeleton's tirade, watching him grow more and more irritated as he twirled the bottle on edge without touching it.

“*Things would start... changing, you know? Not just little things. Sometimes, big things. One time I came back and my own brother didn't know my name. I think that was one of the worst days of my life.”

The bottle fell with a clatter, and Sans was quick to scoop it up.

“*But it wasn't all bad,” he shrugged, finally looking up at her. He looked... tired. More tired than any living creature she had ever seen. “*Sometimes it's easier to just accept that, no matter what you try to do, you're just as weak and powerless as everybody else. Kinda liberating.”

“That isn't exactly helpful,” Twilight frowned, pushing her plate away. “Doing nothing isn't going to save my brother.”

Sans froze.

“*... Do you know what happens if I push as hard as I can?” Sans asked quietly as the bottles gathered together, more of them than she had even seen separately. Several floated up into the air with their own gravity, spinning like slow glass tops. “*I don't break. The world breaks. And, once I knew that, it was only a matter of time before I tried it again. And again. And again.”

“... Why?”

“*Wouldn't you do the same for your brother?”

Twilight thought heavily with her hooves pressed together over her mouth.

“*I know the void that Gaster exists in,” Sans continued quietly, and all the bottles vanished at once. “*I know how to get there. I know how we can get your brother back. But it means accepting some revelations that I'm about to lay down that you might not like.”

“If it saves my brother, I don't care.”

“*See,” Sans unfolded his hands and scratched the back of his head. “*That's exactly the type of attitude that got me killed more times than I can count.”

“But you're still alive,” Twilight began filling in the blanks, her thoughts running rampant through her mind as she explored a multitude of possibilities. “Because you exist in more than one place at once. Just like-”

“*Just like Gaster, yeah,” Sans nodded. “The main difference being that I can exist in the physical world for more than a spare few seconds at a time.”

“So what does it all mean?” the unicorn beside him looked half on the edge of despair at any moment. “Why did he take Spike?”

“*Because he knows what a person will do to save their family. He knows...”

“That we're going to break the world,” Twilight finished for him with a heavy, shaking breath.

“*Damn straight.”

“... I'm going to need more data.”

And the plot to undo all of creation began.

Master Gaster Blaster

Twilight stepped out of the shadows, hoof in hand with Sans.

The familiar sight of her kitchen was pleasantly familiar, to say the least, regardless of whether or not it was still partially destroyed. She let out a long breath that she didn't realize that she had been holding.

“*Your teleports aren't so bad,” Sans acknowledged her with a nod. “*If you keep practicing, I'll bet you can actually land on target someday.”

“Sans, when I do it, I land exactly where I mean to,” she brushed some invisible crumbs off her chest. “It takes years of practice, solid mental gymnastics and sufficient energy.”

“*Whatever you say, kid,” the skeleton shrugged with a grin. “*Just, uh, make sure you don't wind up getting worn out doing it. Take it from me.”

“Wait, is that Twilight?” she heard from the room adjacent, only for Rainbow Dash to barge into the kitchen with Fluttershy in tow, confusion plain on her face. “Twi? How long have you – you weren't even in here a second ago!”

“Twilight, are you alri-” Fluttershy started, voice failing her as she noticed the grinning skeleton standing directly behind her. Even Rainbow Dash seemed taken aback.

“... Jeez,” she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, suddenly noting that she wasn't blinking. “Discord said you had a new friend or something, but, I, uh... thought he'd be...”

“Taller?” Twilight offered helpfully.

Sans was not amused.

“*Name's Sans,” the skeleton waved, smiling wider. “*Nice to meetcha.”

“Is that Twilight?” a familiar southern drawl wafted from upstairs. “Hang on, I'ma comin'!”

“We've been trying to find you,” Rainbow Dash explained a little sheepishly, keeping one eye on the visitor. “Pinkie's out back, and Rarity is throwing a little girly fit over trying to fix your couch. Figures,” she shrugged. “Also, you, uh... you realize that thing is... dead, right?”

“We know,” Twilight nodded. “Sans is going to help us get Spike back.”

The pegasi shared an uncomfortable look for a brief moment. Rainbow leaned against the wall, and Fluttershy played with a wingtip uneasily.

“Um...” she started quietly, unsure of where to look. “Tw-Twilight... Rainbow Dash tells me you've-you've been, um... are you o-okay?” Fluttershy finished weakly.

“I'm think I'm pretty okay,” Twilight walked between them into the room adjacent. “Well, considering. Will somepony get Pinkie? We need everypony ready for saving Spike.”

“Already here!” a vibrantly pink springy mane bobbed into view in the wreckage of her front door, swiftly followed by an interested Pinkie Pie. “Is that the Spike guy? Looks weird, doesn't really look like a 'Spike',” she rubbed the bottom of her chin as she inspected the skeleton more closely. “Spike sounds like a cool dog name though.”

“*Name's Sans,” the skeleton repeated himself, hand sticking out to greet her. “Nice to meetcha.”

“I'm Pinkie Pie!” she grabbed his hand and shook it hard.

*Pfffffft. *

Everyone froze at the sound.

All of a sudden, Pinkie Pie began giggling madly, tiny whoopie cushion revealed in her hoof.

“*I think I like you,” Sans beamed widely. He turned to wave to the final two ponies on the stairwell, the pale white one being forcibly dragged back downstairs by the only pony he'd ever seen with freckles.

“No, no, no that thing is dead and gross!” Rarity wailed as she was forcibly dragged back down. “I'm not shaking hooves, I'm not touching that filthy thing!”

“*Hey,” Sans grinned again, staring her dead in the eyes. “*I'll have you know that I wash my bones on a regular basis.”

Then Rarity fainted.

Applejack sighed heavily, effortlessly throwing the comatose unicorn over her back.

“*Uh... she okay?”

“Don't encourage her,” Applejack deadpanned as the remainder of her friends grouped together and began adorning themselves with odd pieces of golden jewelry. “She tends ta 'faint' pretty regularly. Gotten pretty good at playin' dead.”

“*Not as good as me,” Sans chuckled.

And, to his surprise, Applejack cracked a weak smile.

True to her word, Rarity was standing on her own with an unnerved expression toward Sans a few moments later, pretending to fluff her mane to keep from looking right at him.

“So... is anypony going to explain what's going on?”Rainbow Dash asked at last when they were all prepared. “I mean, Discord said we needed to be here, and I don't trust him as far as I can throw him-”

“Well I do,” Fluttershy interrupted, only to meekly hide behind her curtain of mane when she received a number of glowers.

“Some thing is messing with our timeline,” Twilight finally spoke, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. “To the point that memories are being messed with.”

“So it is Discord's fault,” Applejack stamped a hoof against the floor. “I done told-”

“No, it's really not,” Twilight's determined frown grew. “Something that doesn't belong in our world did this. And if we're going to get my baby brother back, I'm going to need all of your help.”

There were a couple of concerned glances exchanged between her friends, though none of them spoke.

After an uncomfortable silence, Rainbow Dash spoke.

“... Twi,” she shook her head. “Even if I don't really know what's going on, I'm still behind you. No matter what.”

“I secon' that motion,” Applejack nodded, stepping forward into the semicircle. “Even if right now it seems like you're a few apples short of a bushel, somethin' had t'have done this to the library. Too much raw destruction to be Discord...”

“I'll help, but don't let that thing touch me,” Rarity butted in, her own dimly glowing amulet joining the others and growing a little bit brighter when she did. “Sorry, dear, but it's just a matter of principle.”

“*Nah, it's all good,” Sans shrugged in what might have been understanding or irritation, she couldn't tell. “*Not everybody is open minded. If they were, their brains would start falling out,” he grinned.

Rarity muttered something extremely unladylike.

“Um, I-I want to help, too...” Fluttershy stood beside Rarity facing Twilight and Sans in the semicircle they had created. Twilight was the last to adorn her piece, the tiara glowing even more brightly as she approached the others, relieved smile etching its way through weariness.

“... Thank you,” she bowed her head a little, a tear forming in her eye. “Thank all of you. We're going to save Spike. I know it.”

“So, not to point out the elephant in the room...” Pinkie adjusted her own amulet uncomfortably. “But... how are we supposed to save somepony we don't even know?”

“Do you remember when Discord messed with everypony's heads and fiddled with their memories?” Twilight answered coolly, which was met with a round of dissatisfied looks.

“I'd... rather forget that,” Rainbow Dash rubbed her foreleg with the other awkwardly.

“Oh!” Pinkie bounced up and down. “I know what you're getting at, I know I know I know!”

Twilight's horn began to glow brightly.

“The memory sharing spell,” she nodded, firm look in her eyes. “I'll need everypony to hold still for this. I don't know if I can manage to split it equally all at the same time.”

“*Uh, kiddo?” Sans interrupted by tapping her on the shoulder. “I know that now seems like kind of a bad time, but time's a wastin',” he bounced one bone finger off of his wrist a couple of times to emphasize his point.

“Fair enough,” Twilight sighed. “Spike first, memories later. Everypony... link hooves.”

Her friends complied, one by one, each joining another until they stood in unison. Twilight took Applejack's hoof on the end, connecting her other hoof with Sans who took the hoof of a very, very displeased looking Rarity.

“... Everypony ready?” she breathed in both excitement and fear. “We're about to go where nopony has gone before.”

“Does anypony else get a really bad vibe from the way she just described that?” Pinkie frowned suddenly, even looking as if her mane had deflated a little.

“Do it,” the unicorn nodded, and Sans grinned.

Then the world imploded.

One moment they were all standing in a perfect circle in Twilight's demolished living room, charred books littering the ground along with splinters of poorly swept up wood and debris, a little chilly wind blowing straight through. The next, they were all standing stock still in the middle of nowhere.

Literally, nowhere.

It was black as far as they could see, nothing but tarry black shadows all around. For a few moments there was a shared panic from the blindness, but one by one their elemental jewelry began glowing dimly in the darkness, lighting up their faces and revealing their worried expressions, nopony daring to let go of another.

“... Where are we...?” Rainbow Dash shuddered, wings ruffling as she looked around the yawning maw of nothingness.

“*Nowhere,” Sans was standing with his hands in his jacket pockets just outside of the circle. Nopony had even noticed him move. “*Welcome to the void.”

“This is where Gaster is keeping Spike?” Twilight's breath caught in her throat in dismay. She could only imagine what her poor brother must have been going through. “We have to find him, Sans; time is of the essence here!”

“Gaster?” was the general consensus amongst the others, but she didn't bother to clarify. Twilight turned to the skeleton, determination in her eyes.“Sans, do your thing – we need to find him, and fast.”

No need.

The group of ponies broke away from each other with a shriek at the too tall figure that was standing directly in the middle of the circle, painted on smile somehow seeming to look directly into them all at once without moving.

“*... 'sup, G?” Sans waved weakly.

“Now, girls!” Twilight shouted. “All together!”

Doctor Gaster's holed hands were clasped neatly one over the other, almost patiently as the luminescent glow of every pony around him cast brilliant rays into the darkness, swirling and whirling together into a massive, multicolored stream that struck him from every angle all at once. The resounding explosion knocked them back a few feet, and after the smoke cleared, Gaster was nowhere to be found.

“... Did-did we do it?” Rainbow Dash blinked, flicking her amulet once as if to test it, the light inside still glowing brightly. “Was that it?”

“I-I think so...” Fluttershy shifted uneasily, the surrounding darkness suddenly feeling as if it were closing in.

“*No.”

Gaster stood directly behind Twilight, shadows creeping out from the crack over his eye. She jerked away and magically propelled herself backward and out of his reach, brows furrowed and mouth clenched tightly.

Poor, deluded children. What did that awful skeleton fill your innocent little minds with?

“Give me back my brother!” Twilight stamped her hoof against what might have been a floor, but was too dark to make out. Sans was beside her in an instant, something bright and blue glowing in one of his fists, but she couldn't tell what.

He probably told you that I'm just some awful creature, everyone felt his voice inside their heads as he reappeared beside Rainbow Dash, leaning over him with a large smile. She instinctively bucked, but by the time she did he was already towering over a terrified Fluttershy, hands still clasped neatly together.

He probably told you that I'm evil to the core, that I'll make you all suffer for all eternity.

“Where is Spike?” Twilight shouted angrily, drawing in magic to herself in defensive preparation.

Before she knew it the monstrous figure of Doctor Gaster was leaning directly over her, his smile all too wide and little orange and blue lights glowing in his eyes.

You've made a terrible mistake in leaving your trust with him.

Twilight blasted the figure but only wound up heating air, as Gaster was gone when she tried to lance him. The darkness enveloped her, obscuring her vision even with both glowing elelmental amulet and lighting spells. Where had all of her friends gone? Where was Gaster?

Where was Sans?

Where was she?

Twilight paused for a moment, eyes rolling wildly back and forth.

And then, against all odds, she saw him.

Spike was curled up in the fetal position with his back to her, tail tucked up into his arms. Twilight bounded across the darkness with a speed she didn't know that she possessed. She skidded and almost tripped struggling to get to the unconscious little drake, letting out a deep sigh of relief as she scooped him up in both hooves and pressed him to her chest.

Spike was breathing, but just barely.

It was a long, slow sort of breathing, as if he were in a comfortably deep slumber. He didn't move when she called his name, only worrying her further.

“Rainbow?” Twilight shouted for her friends. “Rarity? Pinkie Pie!”

There was no answer.

“Fluttershy?” her voice began cracking and her knees seemed oddly weak. “... Applejack? Anypony?”

Still there was no answer.

“... Princess? Discord? … Sans?” she cried weakly.

But nobody came.

Welcome to my special hell.

Twilight whirled to face the white masked figure, forcing herself to stay standing.

“What have you done with my friends?!” she screamed, magically sending out signals in every direction at once in desperate search for the missing ponies.

“*They're out.”

Twilight jumped at the sound of Sans's soft tones in her left ear, half terrified and relieved in equal measure.

“They're all safe?” Twilight breathed.

“*Well, they're not here anymore,” Sans shrugged, glancing back at the oddly unmoving figure of Gaster. “*I got them out as fast as I could after your plan A went hot dog shaped.”

And after all that effort, Gaster's hands appeared in the air beside him without arms. Not a single one of you bothered questioning, not even wondering why you do the things that you do.

She glanced down at the barely breathing Spike in the crook of her hoof. Something inside her began to burn furiously, the heat growing from her belly up into her throat.

“You foalnapped by brother,” Twilight spat angrily. “What made you think I was just going to let you get away with it?”

Child, you have no idea the things I've done, Gaster's painted smile seemed to stretch a little more, and he was instantaneously a spare few feet before them. And you still haven't asked the most important question of all. What you should have asked since the very beginning, when your little friend began filling your head with lies.

Twilight paused, defensively readying a shield as she glanced over at Sans, who was, for some reason, avoiding her gaze.

Why didn't he save your brother in the first place?

Twilight looked back and forth between Gaster and Sans.

“... What are you talking about? Sans? What does he mean?” she asked with a slowly growing suspicion, feeling as if something unpleasant were crawling along her back.

Yes, little comedian, Gaster's hands were somehow all around them, the empty hole in every single one of them like eyes. When do you plan to tell the truth?

“*... Forgive me, kid.”

“Sans, what does he mean?” Twilight repeated, clutching her brother to her chest even tighter, feeling the drake slowly fall limp. “What have you done?”

“*... So,” he shuffled his feet slowly, as if there were something very important that he had to pay attention to on his slippers. “*You know how I said that Gaster exists in the void?”

Twilight didn't respond.

“*That was only... partially true.”

“What do you mean?”

See for yourself.

The darkness around them... shifted.

It was almost like watching a stone dropped into a pond. Little ripples began swallowing others all around them, on the floor, in the distance, in the blackened sky. The world rumbled, and a clearing opened up above them that took Twilight a long moment to take in.

“... Oh Celestia save us.”

“*It's... not just a void,” Sans said quietly. “*It's the same void that I found when I pushed too hard. Because, I found that when I pushed too hard, when I broke the unbreakable, I found...”

Twilight's mouth was hanging agape as she stared up at the dimly glowing white rectangular figure somehow high above and near at the same time.

Code.

It was lines and lines of code.

“I-I don't understand...”

I don't expect you to, Gaster replied, almost a little sadly as the numerous hands vanished into his flowing black coat.

“*This was your plan the whole time, huh, G?” Sans kicked an imaginary pebble, as if it could kick away some of his frustration. “Terrorize a bunch of innocent kids?”

I am showing you this, Sparkle... Gaster's voice was softer now, but it still almost itched to listen to. Because you alone are capable of changing this.

Lines of code.

Twilight was still reeling as she read further on, some interspersed bits with what appeared to be scripted dialogue.

“Sans, when I do it, I land exactly where I mean to,” she brushed some invisible crumbs off her chest. “It takes years of practice-

“I said that,” Twilight breathed. “Why is it repeating what I said?!”

Sans gave her a sad, almost apologetic look.

“*Sorry, kid. I said you weren't going to like the revelations.”

“Revelations of wh-?”

It was like a book.

From what she read, it was like she was reading the story of her own life. Of the lives of ponies around her. Like everything was recorded in detail, as if it displayed nothing but information about her life.

As if she were no more than an imaginary character in a storybook.

Twilight suddenly felt as if she were going to be sick.

All of creation, all that you know, is nothing more than a lie. A whisper of a dream of a memory, an imagination casting a shadow.

“*I'm sorry.” Sans faced her fully, hands in his pockets. “*I truly am, so, so sorry.”

And now what will you do? Gaster was still standing in the same place, but somehow seemed even closer than before. What will you do, little pony, knowing the nihilism that awaits you?

“... You really want to know?” Twilight stood with her brother dangling from one hoof, her head down and eyes concealed by her mane. “After all this, you really want to know what I'm going to do?”

Twilight brushed the mane from her eyes, revealing that they were glowing bright purple.

“Stick with plan B, and rip you limb from screaming limb.”

... So I see.

Gaster vanished as an enormous blast of violet energy sizzled the place he had just been, missing him by bare inches.

“You want to know what?” Twilight carefully laid her brother on the ground, nodding toward Sans to get him to safety. The skeleton touched her brother gently and vanished, reappearing on her opposite side with a glow in his eye. Said eye was glowing bright blue, emanating a light all on his own. “Even after all this, even after your stupid spiel, I'm still going to kick the ever living crap out of you for hurting my baby brother.”

Gaster's face... melted.

It twisted into a vicious smile, eyes ripping and tearing back and forth for a second as if there were something beneath his mask trying to break its way out.

You are not prepared. You are nothing compared to me.

“And you wanna know something else?” Twilight said loudly, Sans beside her in a flash. “This isn't even the biggest thing I've learned today. Tell me, 'Doctor', did you know that ponies have souls?I sure didn't. But I'm telling – no, warning you. Because I know you aren't that accustomed to my world,” she evened her stance, clearing her mind and drawing in as much magical energy as she could, watching as Gaster pulled his hands together like a puppet master, creating more and more of the floating hands around him in a semicircle, palms facing upward toward them.

“See, doc,” Twilight's eyes narrowed. “I don't care who or what you are. I don't care about your stupid plans. You messed with the wrong unicorn, and you are going to never hurt my family again.”

Twilight's hoof was outstretched towards Sans, who met her with his own firm grasp. The glowing blue light in his eye grew even brighter as rippling chords of pure energy flowed down his arm and into Twilight, her horn suddenly sprouting a whirling blue flame.

Yes, I know, he seemed almost pleased as he launched a blast of crackling black energy toward them. That's the plan.

Twilight met the overwhelming roar of energy with a blast of her own, digging in her hooves and pushing back with all of her might. The violet and blue swarming blast overtook the other in an instant, ripping through the void for what seemed to be miles and miles, an eventual explosion boiling the air and sending shockwaves back toward them. Gaster was standing in the air, one hand flicking toward them.

“*Move!”

Sans was nowhere to be seen, but she leapt sideways anyway, nimbly dodging a number of black bones piercing the ground with a series of cracks. She felt her right hoof lift upward on her own, and an equal number of purple, glowing bones went sailing through the air toward Gaster. He met them with copies of his own, each one exploding into little piles of black and white dust.

“Sans?” Twilight whirled, an odd, burning sensation in her chest as she searched around for the missing skeleton.

“*I'm right here,” she heard herself say in an odd tone, one hoof raised to her chest to feel her heartbeat. “*Right here with you kiddo. So don't hold back, okay?”

Do you even realize, Gaster appeared behind her, the low and high hum the only indication to teleport out of the way in time to see gigantic black lines of pure energy roast the place she had just been. What you're doing? What you are destroying by helping him?

“I'll tear the whole world apart if it means saving my brother!” Twilight screamed, her voice tearing.

I didn't mean him.

Twilight slowed, drawing in magic, feeling the rise and swell of energy come to her so easily she might as well have been beckoning it.

“*Ignore him, just blast him already!”

Twilight did just that.

For a moment she thought that she had managed to destroy Gaster, but when a bit of the smoke cleared a rippling black shield of pure energy fell away from him, and his grin grew.

You idiot.

Two floating hands appeared on either side of her, and she barely managed to force herself out of the way in time to keep from being incinerated. She threw her own blast of magic back at him, hardly noticing the floating white monstrous skulls in the air beside her, humming with that same low and high pitch before launching an earsplitting shriek as humongous bolts of power tore through the void and demolished the spot Gaster had been a bare millisecond previously.

He's just too fast...!

Twilight's shoulders were heaving from the effort, but then she saw it; the little cracks on the figure's face were growing in size, and his leer had changed from one of false cheer to anger.

“*He's falling apart,” she heard Sans behind her ears. “One more ought to do the trick.”

You don't even know why you're doing what you're doing... Gaster's voice seemed quieter, shakier.

Twilight drew in magic, steadying herself.

I could have saved you all.

That got her attention.

Twilight paused momentarily, feeling the heat in her chest turn a little cold.

“... What do you mean?” Twilight asked, cautious in case he should have any more surprise attacks.

You're all doomed, Gaster had only one floating hand outstretched toward her, forefinger pointing accusingly at her. And all because you fail to see the cycle you're forcing yourselves into. I could have broken the cycle. Instead, you choose to break reality.

“... Explain.”

“*Kid, not now...!”

The world as you know it...” Gaster wheezed, drawing near, almost looking to be limping. He didn't seem quite as tall as he did before, either. The illusion that is reality... if we continue this fight, all of creation as you know it shall come unraveled. I assume that the pudgy one told you that this was the only way to truly 'stop' me.

Twilight, ever so slowly, nodded once.

“*No, no no no...!”

Do you even know why I am here? Gaster asked quietly, suddenly standing right in front of her. Tell me if you know. Tell me, child.

“I-I know that you're here to cause chaos,” Twilight backed off a step.

Gaster did something unexpected.

He laughed.

It was a high, hollow sort of laugh, the kind that sent a little shiver down her spine and made her blue mane (blue?) fall into her eyes when she shook her head.

I did not come here to destroy. I followed to escape, he pointed another finger at her, and she noted silently that even his hand seemed to be cracking. To stop the destruction of reality.

... Sans, what does he mean?

“*... If we break this world,” she heard herself say aloud, “*It can be repaired. You can't.”

And thus we come to our age old dilemma, Gaster gave a low, sad sort of smile. Kill millions of innocents in order to stop a single madman, or refrain from action and allow a rampage to occur. What to do, oh what to do.

Gaster stumbled, falling and catching himself, hand resting on one long knee.

Go ahead, he looked up at them. Kill a broken old monster. Have your 'happy ending'. It won't change anything.

“*... Destruction isn't the right way to get what you want, G,” Twilight's vocal chords again worked on their own. “*I could have saved you from the beginning.”

But you didn't. And you never will.

Ever so slowly, Gaster began to fade away. Bits of his head floated away into dust, his hand crumbling and falling away as the lights in his eyes went out.

“*... I'm sorry. I really am, truly, so, so sorry.”

She felt herself crying, shoulders shaking a little, even though she didn't know exactly why.

“*... Come on, kid. Let's forget all of this, and just... go home.”

Twilight hummed a cheery tune, carefully making herself a lettuce and cheese sandwich. A couple of sizzling eggs floated in her magical grip as she layered each piece of toast lovingly with mayonnaise, hay, and a little sprig of wild onion. With one hoof she carefully flipped the finished eggs onto the plate, so that her breakfast was almost perfect, identical to Spike's; the only difference being that his looked almost like a smiling face, and was a little bit cooler and had no Spike near it whatsoever. The unicorn finally poured herself a cup of hot coffee, taking in a long, deep breath through her nostrils and letting the scent fill her as her smile grew.

“Breakfast is great, Twi,” Spike said through a mouthful of hay bacon, gulping down his morning coffee as if he hadn't drank anything in a hundred years.

“I'm glad you like it, Spike,” Twilight kissed the top of his head, making him scrunch up his face.

“Ew, unicorn kisses,” he rubbed the top of his head as if to get it off. “Don't you know that's how you get cooties?”

Twilight only gave a small giggle. The skeleton sitting with his slippers up on the table grinned, hands behind his head in a relaxed sort of way. Sans ate more than both of them combined, although how she couldn't quite determine. All he would say is that it 'tended to go right through him', which Twilight did not find nearly as amusing as Spike seemed to. The sun shined in brightly through the windows, a warm breeze wafting in through as the familiar voice of Rainbow Dash outside rang in her ears.

Twilight's smile grew a little.

It was good to be home.

Spike lay flat on his back in his little bed, listening to the quiet snores of the unicorn sharing the room with him. He stared up at the ceiling for a long while before sitting up in bed, wrinkled blankets falling as he did so.

He glanced toward her with a soft smile on his lips, sneaking out of bed to ensure that she still there, and was sound asleep. Spike gave a little small kiss to the exposed part of her forehead.

Then he smiled, clicked his talons together, and vanished from the world altogether.