As the sunset shimmers on the horizon, three girls approach a treehouse that has certainly seen its fair share of years, although it is still in amazing condition, proof of the capabilities of its caretakers. The three girls are deep in conversation as they climb the ladder and walk into the building.
“Y’all know as well as I that Rarity and mah sister are definitely gonna make it official after graduation.” One of the girls, the one with light yellow skin, strawberry red hair, and a large pink bow in her hair, states, “After all, with the looks they’ve been giving each other, I’m sure that they’re the only ones who haven’t realized it.”
“I personally hope they make it official sooner, Apple Bloom.” The white-skinned girl with lavender-and-lilac hair and a red headband responds, “That way we can try and convince them to walk at graduation together!”
“That’s a fair point, Sweetie Belle-“ Apple Bloom murmurs, before getting cut off by the last member of the trio.
“I hate to interrupt this very interesting conversation,” The orange-skinned girl with purple hair states with a bit of deadpan, before gesturing at the opposite wall, “But are you two seeing this?”
“Scootaloo, what are you…” Sweetie Belle starts, both her and Bloom turning to look at the wall and stopping in confusion, “That’s… new.” In front of them, a grey door sits, the air around it dense with an air of mystery and tension, the door seeming to beckon them towards it, the pull especially strong with Sweetie Belle, who begins approaching it.
“Sweetie, wait!” Bloom exclaims, grabbing them by the arm, “How do you know that thing’s safe?”
“I don’t, but it’s calling me.” Sweetie replies, still looking at the door with a hint of determination in her eyes, “Besides, I just want to take a look, I’m not going to go through it.”
“Bloom, just let her.” Scootaloo sighs, “We both know it’s impossible to stop her when she gets like this. Besides, aren’t you at least a bit curious?”
“…fine.” Apple Bloom murmurs as she releases Sweetie Belle, who runs over to the door and pulls it open. On the other side, there is nothing but a very thick darkness, one that seems to invade the air around the door, sucking the light out of the atmosphere.
“That’s… freaky.” Scootaloo murmurs, before noticing Sweetie Belle leaning through the door, “Sweetie, what are you doing?”
“I’m just seeing if there’s anything visible on the other-” Sweetie is then cut off as she loses her footing, falling into the darkness, “Bloom, Scoots, help!”
“Sweetie!” Bloom rushes towards the door with Scootaloo, both looking through the darkness, before looking at each other and nodding, “Welp, looks like we’re following her, huh?”
“Yep, let’s go!” Scoots replies, before both jump into the door after Sweetie Belle, the darkness folding around them as the door closes behind them, both losing consciousness as they fall, unaware of the adventure that they are embarking on.
As Sweetie Belle slowly awakens, she can hear a familiar groan to her side, and she looks over to see Apple Bloom lying there, also slowly waking up. The young girl looks around, noticing they’re both lying on a patch of golden flowers with sunlight filtering down from a hole in the sky above, allowing for her to see a path leading to a purple archway.
“Mmh… What happened?” Apple Bloom asks as she sits up, also looking around, “Where are we? And… Where’s Scootaloo?”
“Scootaloo came with us?” Sweetie inquires, tilting her head, “I haven’t seen her, but I only woke up a few seconds before you…”
“Well, it looks like there’s only one way out.” Apple Bloom states before standing up and heading over to the archway, “I think I see a… Flower?”
“I’ll be right over!” Sweetie replies, getting the unnerving sense of being watched and looking around yet not seeing anything. She then slowly picks herself up and dusts herself off, before walking over to join Apple Bloom, the duo slowly approaching the golden flower in the center of the dark room.
“Howdy! I’m Flowey, Flowey the Flower!” The flower exclaims as it gains a smiling face, causing Sweetie to scream and hide behind Apple Bloom, “Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!”
“Well nice to meet y’all,” Apple Bloom greets, somewhat tense, “Mah name’s Apple Bloom, and the scaredy cat behind me is Sweetie Belle.”
“You’re new to the Underground, ain’tcha?” Flowey asks, the friendly smile never leaving his face, “Someone aughta teach you things work around here!”
“T-that would be quite helpful, yes!” Sweetie Belle responds, stepping out from behind Apple Bloom, “Also, have you seen a girl with orange skin and purple hair recently?”
“I can’t say I have, but I’ll let you know if I do!” The golden flower responds, as the world fades to black around them, and a glowing heart appears above each of the Crusader’s chests, Sweetie’s being a deep red while Bloom’s is a vibrant yellow, “Now then, you see those hearts? Those are your SOULs, the very culmination of your beings! Your SOULs start of weak, but they can grow strong with LV!”
“What’s LV?” Apple Bloom asks, tilting her head curiously, “Some kind of vitamin?”
“No, silly! LV stands for LOVE!” Flowey responds with a giggle as five spinning white pellets appear around him, “Here, I’ll share some LOVE with you!”
“Don’t trust him.” A voice states in Sweetie’s ear.
“Down here, LOVE is shared through… little, white… ‘friendliness pellets.’” The flower states, before the pellets begin moving towards the duo, “Move around, catch as many as you can!”
“Okay then, if you say so!” Apple Bloom exclaims, reaching towards one before Sweetie tackles her out of the way, “Hey, what was that for!”
“Just, call it intuition.” Sweetie Belle replies, before standing up shakily.
“So, you think you’re clever, huh?” Flowey asks, the smile fleeing his face as he glares at Sweetie, “You think you know how it works down here? Well then, let me give you one last tip. Down here, it’s kill or be killed. Now die!”
As he says this, more pellets fill the air, surrounding the Crusaders, before launching at the two and striking their SOULs, causing pain to flash through their bodies as they let out pained screams and fall to their knees. Flowey then summons another ring of pellets, only for them to fade away as a fireball hits him, launching him away.
“Oh dear, what a dreadful creature, harming innocent children such as yourselves…” An older goat-like lady murmurs, approaching the two and gently helping them to their feet, a cooling feeling washing over them as their wounds heal, “Do not be afraid, my children, I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins.”
“W-who was that?” Apple Bloom asks as Sweetie hugs onto Toriel for comfort, “D-do you know him?”
“I do not, although I have heard rumors of a talking flower in the Ruins.” Toriel replies, hugging Sweetie Belle against her, “However, we can talk more on the way. Come, I shall guide you through the catacombs.”
“How do we know we can trust you?” Apple Bloom asks, still tense from the encounter with Flowey.
“Bloom…” Sweetie murmurs, looking over at them as her eyes flickers red for a second, “She’s fine… Trust me…”
“…fine.” Bloom replies, before focusing on her friend, “But you and I are gonna have a talk soon about this intuition of yours.”
“That’s fine…” Sweetie states, before letting go of Toriel and letting her lead the way ahead, “Let’s just hope I have answers by then.”
The trio passes through a room with a bed of red leaves flanked by two sets of stairs, Toriel leading the way up while Sweetie takes a moment to touch the golden star above the petals, the mysterious voice echoing in her ears once more.
“Seeing the RUINS loom above and knowing the journey ahead will be long, the power of motherly love fills you with DETERMINATION.”
FILE SAVED
SWEETIE BELLE – LV 1 – 20/20 HP
APPLE BLOOM – LV 1 – 30/30 HP