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// (The Punchline & Determination) All this time...had it really been this simple??? 
// Story: The Moon In The Dark: Alt-Endings and Doomed Detours 
// by WorldWalker128 
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And...it gave me the idea.  After all, Dad's body was much stronger than mine in terms of recovery, and he'd recover as long as he had reason to.  I was much more biological.  And a Monster can cross the barrier if they absorb a human soul..."

"You convinced Asriel...to take your soul?" Woona asked worriedly.

"It was a perfect plan.  We'd cross the barrier, find a peaceful way to gather six human souls, absorb them, and break the barrier.  But...when I saw the humans, the ones who had made the barrier that had trapped the monsters, the ones who had made my life on the surface so horrible I was willing to..."  He cut himself off before saying more, not wanting to upset Woona further.



Woona frowned for a moment as she thought over what Chara had just told her. But as she was thinking and feeling sorry for Chara, something occurred to her that pulled her attention from the original subject.
"Chara, you said that a monster can cross the barrier if it absorbs a human SOUL..."
"That's right." Woona nodded.
"So then could a human do the same if he or she absorbed a monster's SOUL?" Chara nodded again. He was just grateful the topic though still related, had changed direction because he hadn't really wanted to talk about it.
"I don't see why not. If it works one way, it should work the other, but the problem with a human absorbing a monster's SOUL is that most monster SOULS vanish around the same time their body dies. The only monster SOUL a human could absorb would have to come from a boss monster like dad's, or mom's." Or Asriel's. He mentally added.
"So then...the only thing that really seems to be needed for going through is one monster SOUL and one human SOUL and it doesn't matter who is alive or not. Why didn't you two just hold hands and walk through the barrier?" Chara blinked. He had thought Woona was just being curious, but this was different. 
"What?"
"Well, if it takes one SOUL of each to go through, and if a monster and a human held hands or one was carrying the other, or they were hugging, and they both still had their SOULS, then wouldn't that still count?"
"I- I don't know. Maybe?"

(Later)



After a time, Asgore managed to calm down and gently set Woona and Chara back down, wiping the tears from his eyes.  "It is wonderful to meet you, Woona," he greeted warmly, his voice deep and strong now.  "And it is good to see you again too, Chara.  Now, is there anything I can do for you both?"



"Actually yeah, dad. Woona had an idea of how we might be able to get everyone out of here without needing a seventh SOUL." King Asgore raised an eyebrow and looked over to Woona.
"Truly? Doctor Alphys has had no luck with such a task, and neither has anyone else. What's your idea?"
"Pick me up, and just walk through it." Now both eyebrows were raised.
"I know how it sounds, dad, but we have literally nothing to lose by trying it."
"Very well." Asgore leaned over, and picked up Woona, who exclaimed in amazement at just how high up she really was. Asgore was a fairly tall man compared most humans, who when fully grown were usually much taller than ponies, and Woona herself was still a small foal.  Asgore smiled at her reaction as he turned and walked carefully across the throne room to the door that led to the barrier. When they arrived before it he stopped and looked down at Woona. "This is the barrier. It may look like a tunnel of light that stretches out into the distance, but in reality it is a solid wall. No weapon or spell has ever been enough to even scratch its surface no matter how many of each were used against it." He held back a sigh. Every effort of every kind had failed, and with each failure a greater feeling of hopelessness had filled his kingdom. He himself was included, and though he refused to burst her bubble he doubted this attempt would be any different. 
"But we aren't going to be attacking it! We're going to show it that monsters can live and work peacefully with others! Let's go!" Woona declared, voice full of certainty and determination. Asgore could not help but smile at her innocence, and stepped closer to the barrier. He reached out a hand to it...
Silver-white. The lighting had gone from dim to everything being blindingly silver-white. The arm he had reached out with quickly moved to cover his eyes, and after ten long seconds it finally began to dim. When it had finally all faded away it was darker than it had been on the opposite side, but in the distance a faint light sifted in from outside. Asgore stood stock-still unable to move. All this time, had it really been this simple??? Had all they really needed to be free was a single human that cared enough to help them in order to be free? Asgore looked down at Chara, tears welling in his eyes. My sons both died as children when they could have grown up together on the surface! The blood of six more children are on my hands! My wife left me because I could not let my bitterness go-
"And all it would have taken was for us- for me to take the path of kindness instead of hostility!" Asgore whispered in a pained voice, the agony of sorrow wracking his mind and body alike. Forgetting Woona and Chara were there, he let her drop to the ground and sank to his knees, his hands gripping his horns.
Asgore's mourning wail echoed through the cavern and out into the woods above, startling the wildlife as well as several travelers making their way through the forest.

Epilogue 

After Luna and Chara managed to calm Asgore somewhat the trio made their way to the surface, and over the next several days to Canterlot where Celestia was overjoyed to have her sister returned to her unharmed and in good health. Luna explained the plight of the monsters, with Chara and Asgore adding details as she went along, and after a time Celestia agreed to send help, and within the next three months monster kind left their prison. One by one each walked out with a pony by their side. Once more they walked the surface of the world and basked in the sun and moon's light. But though most were glad to have their freedom, and were grateful to ponykind for their generosity, there was one monster who felt no gratitude. One monster who could have cared less for the barrier being destroyed. 

Flowey the Flower looked on at their happy little lives, still feeling almost no emotion, and still overall a bitter bud. From time to time reports would come in of hm causing trouble of mostly minor result, but after more than two decades of this Celestia had had enough and ordered that he be captured and brought in. For his assortment of crimes ranging from something as minor as vandalism to those as major as assault and attempted murder, he was placed in a a outdoor prison in the hedge maze garden and turned to stone. Future generations would think him just an odd decoration, and would plant live plants around him.

King Asgore and queen Toriel, despite Luna wanting so much for the two of them to get back together, never did. Though Toriel was willing to give him another chance for Chara and Luna's sake if nothing else, Asgore's revelation that all six of those children died for literally nothing, and worse, they died for nothing because of him were too much for him to bear He eventually Fell Down, much to the sorrow of his kingdom, his wife, Luna, and his son Chara.

Chara became an official member of the equestrian royal family, and when Luna began to become jealous of her sister getting seemingly all the attention and affection of their subjects, he reminded her that most ponies were not nocturnal creatures, but pointed out that the Thestrals are nocturnal. This was small consolation, but this in combination with Chara's unending moral support were just enough so that Nightmare Moon never came to be. In the coming centuries, the Thestral population would become the night time equivalent of Canterlot's daytime citizens in terms of activity, and Canterlot would become the pony version of humanity's New York City: The City That Never Sleeps.

The skeleton brothers moved to the surface and had a house built that looked almost identical to their house in The Underground. Though Papyrus never joined the monster kingdom's royal guard, Luna saw to it that he became a member of Equestria's royal guard instead as a trainer for keeping them in shape. He was thrilled. Sans...didn't really change much aside from eating healthier foods than normal and having more materiel for his jokes, much to the amusement of some, and the annoyance of others.

Undyne remained captain of the royal guard, though once Asgore Fell Down she served under queen Toriel instead of Asgore. Periodically she'd check up on Papyrus and Luna to see how well they were doing, and to occasionally offer encouragement to whatever group of trainees that Papyrus was training with at the time. Her old house, still inhabited by magical fire that burned but did not consume needed to be abandoned full-time, and a new fish-shaped house, this one modeled after a shark instead of a piranha, was rarely used, as she usually worked and slept in the new castle her and her people built for Asgore and Toriel on the surface. She never stopped trying to get stronger, and encouraged those around her to do the same. Sadly, her life would come to an end in battle when Tirek from the centaur lands would learn that there existed not one, but two races practically made of magic that he could use to accumulate more power. His brother would not arrive in Equestria in time to prevent him assaulting the monster kingdom.

Alphys would marry Undyne and live quite happily with her for many years until the advent of Tirek. By then they had raised several adopted children together, who were just as big nerds as their parents. Much to Alphys' (and Undynes) delight, upon the development of time-travel magic by Starswirl the Bearded, she was able to get her claws on more anime from the past, and in mint-condition no less. To this day it is said she's still secreted away from the world watching her shows, or perhaps mourning, or some combination thereof.

As for The Annoying White Dog, this was not the way the world it forged was meant to go according to its intent, still, it was better by far than things could have gone, and at least now he could arrange for an actual bed to sleep in along with all the ear scratches, belly rubs, and treats any canine could ask for.  he has been discovered to be the only non-inertly magical creature to have magical capabilities. After witnessing it live for over two hundred years, walk up and down walls, and sometimes even through them, not to mention see it bark at something and then watch it change shape, Celestia and Luna both concluded that at some point in the past it was Discord's pet, and that keeping it happy (because why would you harm something so friendly and cute?) was simply the best thing to do.

THE END