//------------------------------//
// Chapter 19 - Origin 
// Story: Lost Dreamer 
// by Arceaion 
//------------------------------//

A carriage caring the princesses, High Commanders of the Equestrian Guard and the Ambassador of Equestria flew through the skies, the carriage flew in the direction of the lone mountain at the center of Equestria, the Canterhorn. On this distant mountain far from the Everfree forest and capital of Equestria stood a massive complex that housed the greatest innovations of pony kind, from dangerous magic research to the creation and development of technologies that had never been seen before.

Celestia sighed. "Chara can you please explain to me why we are heading here?" She asked the human who stood at the front of the carriage. 

"Celestia, shortly after I completed my credentials for the Equestrian science comity I requested that you construct the Canterhorn Mountain Research Facility, the plan was to use the abundance of Crystals that grew in the mountain to manufacture Magitech and other devices for Equestria." Chara said calmly.

Celestia nodded. "Yes, but why are we heading there instead of preparing for war against King Sombra and the Crystal Empire."

Chara frowned. " There's information you need to know about and like I said I may have a way to face Sombra on a more equal footing." She said as the facility came into view and the princesses and Frisk gasped in shock.

At the base of the Canterhorn stood massive spires made of black steel and glowing a brilliant blue, the ground around the spires shined in the light of the sun as arcs of glowing blue energy ran throughout it, the entire site looked like a massive circuit board built at the foot of the mountain. 

Chara smiled and pulled out a cellphone. "This is Chara, are you prepared for our arrival?" She asked. The Voice on the other end responded and Chara nodded. "We're arriving now, activate landing strip." She said as she closed the phone, a moment later the princesses saw part of the ground open revealing a landing strip with flashing yellow lights. "Guards, take us down on that strip." Chara ordered, the guards nodded and the carriage tilted down till they landed. When it finally stopped Chara was the first to exit the carriage and as she left several ponies in white lab coats entered the room and moved to controls causing the doors that opened to reveal the landing strip to begin close. Celestia and Luna slowly stepped out in shock as they looked around; Frisk however looked around in a mix of concern. 

"Nothing good ever came from these places Chara, this is an old human city." She said causing the princesses ears to perk up. 

Chara nodded. "This is the last human city in the world still operational after what the humans called 'The Apocalypse'." She explained as and the group exited the room and walked through the halls. Chara turned around and walked backwards, a smirk on her face as she opened her arms. "Welcome Princesses Celestia and Luna to Humanities last resort, the place of our greatest sin and where we wiped ourselves out." She said with pride. The Princesses looked around in shock, just managing to keep walking as they entered an elevator and Chara presses the button for the top floor.

The elevator ascended and the princesses watched as the floors passed by and they saw their ponies working on machines and research they couldn't hope to understand, however the higher they went the less ponies there were till finally there were only a few groups working in massive labs meant for hundreds. When they reached the top there was no one and Chara calmly walked out of the elevator, beside the doors to the elevator was a coat rack holding a single lab coat which Chara put on. "Welcome to the top floor, my personal facilities."

Celestia and Luna looked around in confusion at the massive room they stood in, off to the left side of the wall was a massive laboratory that was petitioned off with a glass wall and doors. On the opposite side ancient armor and weapons used by Humans decorated the walls and stands, this too was petitioned off with a glass wall and doors. Throughout the entire floor gears, cogs and other clockwork pieces turned; the clanks and clicks of the machinery turning the only sound filling the room aside from the foot and hoof steps of its occupants. The Main room they were in was set up as a study with bookshelves and cabinets lining the walls, Chara walked over to a wall that had a window overlooking the entire complex and sat down at a glass desk. "Now let's get down to business." She said as she clasped her hands together.

Celestia frowned. "It seems you've been keeping us in the dark on a lot of things?" She said stoically. 

Chara shrugged. "You never ask about this place or the research that comes from it, besides do you really want the nobles to know about this place."

"Then perhaps you can fill us in Chara." Luna said as she leveled an angry glare at the women before them.

"Chara what's going on?" Frisk said in concern.

Chara nodded. "It's time I fill in the blanks on just what the ponies are and the crimes of not only humanity but the PLAYER as well." Chara said calmly before leaning back and pressing several buttons on the keyboard to her computer. "But first I'll explain what it is we came here to get.” She said as hidden mechanisms in her desk opened up to reveal six vials of different colored glowing liquid. "Before you are six vials, each vile contains the magic of an artificially constructed soul, it's enough to give a single individual the powers of a soul but they are less effective than if one was to have a human." Chara explained.

Frisk looked at the vial in shock while the princesses looked on in concern. "Chara... where did you get these?" Luna asked concerned.

Chara sighed and leaned forward. "I created them." She said calmly. "I used the Hate in my soul as a base template and then manipulated their magic frequency and energy to become what they are."

"Chara, that's horrible!" Frisk cried out. "I understand the necessity but the Soul Magic is extremely dangerous and far too powerful for any of the creatures of this world to wield!" Frisk said as she shook her head though from disappointment or from anger the others couldn't tell. "Not only does it take years to master Soul magic but you expect ponies to use them to fight the Crystal Empire?!"

Chara sighed. "There not the real traits of the Soul and it are not actually that powerful." She replied in a calm voice. "Please let me explain." She asked as she looked at Frisk with tired eyes; Frisk hesitated but finally she nodded, Chara sighed and turned to the three before her. "The original soul traits were extremely powerful and manifested in Humans giving them access to Soul Magic and unique powers." Chara said as she stood and walked to the window that looked out over the entire complex. "Perseverance allows the user to mimic any magic they have seen even if it was seen only once. Patience allows the user to warp space and grants limited teleportation if they can map the weakened walls of reality. Integrity allows the user to alter the localized gravity of the area around them. Justice allows the user to create a long range weapon that can fire shots of magic at an opponent. Bravery grants a temporarily boost in the users stats and manifests a pair of gauntlets around the users arms. Lastly Kindness manifests a protective shield around the user and grants the user the ability to heal themselves and others from wounds." 

Celestia nodded. "And then there is your power, Determination." She said as she looked at the vials on the desk. "I see that one for Determination wasn't created." She said pointedly.

Frisk frowned. "Determination, the power of the previous six combined as well as the ability to alter the Timeline and reality itself, a power given to a single individual every two thousand years. It is because of this fact that only one soul of Determination should ever exist at any given time, the single fact multiple exist at present will prevent any further souls of Determination appearing ever again." She said calmly. "Given the power of Determination it's best we don't make an artificial soul with it."

Chara nodded. "Correct, now as Frisk said these traits, are far too powerful for a pony to control or even host however I did some research and found something... interesting." She said as she returned to the desk and sat down with a smile. "Thanks to some of Dr. Gasters notes on the artificial construction of Monster Souls and experimentation with creating a liquid form of Determination I started thinking that maybe I could artificially create a liquid form of magic that would grant a user the power of a Soul Trait." Chara explained as she leaned forward. "After some experimentation I found that not only was it possible but the chance of corruption was extremely low. The Magic inside these vials are a heavily diluted form of the traits however and that means they’re much weaker that a natural soul."

Frisk frowned. "Wait, I think I understand what you’re getting at." She said causing the princesses to look confused.

"What do you mean Frisk?" Luna asked.

Frisk rose and walked over to where Chara sat with a smile. "The power of a full Soul Trait would over power the user and either drive them insane or corrupt them however if the power was diluted enough it would be able to be used, honey you’re a genius!" She said as she leaned down and kissed her wife.

Chara blushed and looked down hiding it with the bangs of her hair. “Frisk, not in font of people!" She groaned as she covered her face with her hands, Frisk giggled as she pulled the chair she was sitting in next to Chara and leaned on her. Chara sighed and looked at the princesses. "Anyway..." She said her face still red. "I began to synthesize vial of magic that when injected allowed the subject to use soul magic I haven't tested it yet but it's ready when ever it's needed."

Celestia rubbed her forehead and groaned. "So let me see if I can get this right, you've managed to create a synthetic form of Soul Magic that is in liquid form that when injected allows the user access to this magic, it's not as strong as the real thing but even still is extremely powerful and could grant significant benefits to the user?" Celestia asked as she looked at Chara who nodded.

Chara nodded. "Yup, that's about sums it up perfectly." She said with a nod.

Celestia groaned. "Chara, I can't believe you." She said with a sigh before turning to look at the women with a glare. "And exactly when were you planning to tell us about this? Think of the countless lives that could have been saved if you had shown us these centuries ago!" She said angrily.

"And that reaction is exactly why I didn't!" Chara yelled as she rose slammed her fist on the table, Celestia recoiled as if she had been slapped and Luna looked surprised as well. Chara cleared her throat and sat down before taking a deep breath as Frisk rubbed her back, after a moment Chara looked at Celestia with a dark glare. "Celestia, even if this magic is not as dangerous as the original version I and Frisk control it is still extremely dangerous." Chara explained. "Not only are we talking about Soul Magic but the magic itself has requirements for its host." She explained with a sigh. "The risks are too great in comparison to the advantage we would gain."

Luna frowned. "I see, you didn't tell us because it's a power we can't hope to control." Luan said calmly. "Inevitably it would destroy us."

"In my younger years, such as during the great Griffon War, precautions such as this wouldn't have been needed but..." Chara said with a sighed. "Princesses there are many things I do that are difficult to discuss but I feel I need to inform you that my power is... weakening." She said with a sigh.

The Princesses looked confused as Frisk looked concerned. "What do you mean Chara?" Luna asked.

"You both know that I'm Immortal, as is Frisk, but what you don’t know is that our immortality is different from yours." Chara said with a sigh. "Asriel granted Frisk her immortality while I was given it by Shroud." She explained the princesses looked confused however Frisks eyes widened. 

"Chara... you’re dying..." Frisk said but trailed off as Chara nodded.

"When one is granted Immortality some of the traits of that immortal are passed to the one who receives it." Chara explained. "Boss Monsters like Asriel or Grillby are immortal and when Asriel gave Frisk her immortality half her soul became that of a monster, this granted her full access to both Soul Magic and Monster Magic. But I was given my Immortality by a phoenix and like Frisk I took on some of their traits."

Celestias eyes widened. "You have to renew yourself." She said causing Luna to gasp.

Chara nodded. "This crisis couldn't have come at a worse time." Chara said calmly. "Were it not that fact we were under threat by a Corrupted Soul bearer like Sombra I would never have revealed any of that we have discussed today to you all." Chara said and sigh. "But Sombra forced my hand."

"Chara what's going happening to you, you were fine in the battle.” Luna asked in concern. “In fact, even weakened you still managed to face Sombra with enough power to force his retreat."

Chara frowned sadly. "My condition is deteriorating rapidly; it will not be long before I have to be reborn." Chara explained. "This battle, this entire conflict, I will not be able to take part in." She said tiredly. "These Vials are to be given to Asriel, he’s the onlu person that knew about them from the start and will be able to find those who can wield the power." Chara said as she took the vials form their stand and handed them to Frisk.

"And just where will you be going?" Luna asked confused. "You never run from a fight, ever." She said somewhat shocked.

"Rebirth is a private affair to a Phoenix and I understand why, you don't need to know anymore other than that I will be leaving soon to find a place to restore myself." Chara said as she leaned back into her chair. "Now I believe we have one final thing to discuss." She said tiredly.

Frisk nodded her head. "You were going to explain what you meant by what the ponies are, the crimes of humanity and the PLAYER." She said.

Chara nodded. "During my research on how to create the artificial Souls I asked one of the Pony researcher's here if I could look at their soul so I could understand why ponies can't use soul magic, what I found not only linked the cause to this facility but also told me what Humanity had so foolishly done." She said with a sigh. “After learning what I did I used this facility to access a Global Network that gives me precise data on what happened and what Humans were doing prior to their sudden disappearance. 

"Hold on Chara, what's a global network?" Luna asked however Chara shook her head.

"It would take too long to explain it Luna and you wouldn’t understand it anyway." Chara said a she waved her hand dismissively. "However what I found was that Humans were trying to find a way to survive the wastelands left over from their war, not really bad on its own but it's how they did it that makes this Humanities Greatest Sin."

Chara paused and hesitated as she lowered her head. "When the Player used Frisk to reset the world he wasn't powerful enough to reset everything, this is most likely due to her being controlled and unwilling to do it in the first place. Anyway instead of resetting the entire world, like what normally happens, only a portion of the world was reset, the rest was completely unaffected. Humans saw this happen and thought they could manipulate this power so they... harvested... as much determination they could to create a massive machine to rip a hole in time where they would cross through."

Lunas eyes widened. "Isn't this what you and Dr. Gaster were doing?" She asked before the answer struck her. "Oh... they ripped themselves apart."

Chara nodded. "The survivors of this incident named it 'The Apocalypse'." Chara said. "It was then that they constructed this city and proceeded to commit their Sin, they began experimentation with Monster magic and artifacts. From what I've been able to learn they were trying to duplicate the Monsters natural resistance however something went horribly wrong, I'm not entirely sure exactly what they did but in a single day every human was erased."

Celestia frowned. "So they wiped themselves out, that's not exactly a surprise.” She said getting a from from the others in the room. “From what Chara’s said most humans were extremely self-destructive to a borderline suicidal." She explained as she raised her hoofs in mock surrender.

Chara shook her head. "You don't exactly understand, whatever they were working on, they thought they had found the answer and from what I've learned not only were they correct but it worked, just not how they thought it would." She said with a dark smile. "They created a massive Pulse Generator and sent a wave of energy out that covered the entire world, in that instant all humans no matter where they were disappeared." She explained before turning to Celestia and Luna. "And it was also in that instant that ponies were first recorded appearing." The princesses’ eyes widened as they realized what Chara was saying.

"They changed themselves to survive, but the price was the extinction of their own race." Luna said as Celestia went slack jawed.

Chara nodded. "Humanity dared to cross the line and play god." She said solemnly. "They wanted control over magic and the ability to survive the wastelands they created, they got what they wanted in the end but the price was they were transformed in to not just Ponies but Griffons, Minotaur’s, and every other race on this planet. Those who were closest to the blast absorbed the most of all the races and guess what they became?" She asked.

The Two princesses thought for a moment before Luna groaned and Celestia looked down in shame. "Alicorns, they became Alicorns which means that we... we are the greatest Sin of Humanity." Celestia said.

Frisk's eyes darkened in understanding. "And all this happened because the PLAYER reset the world, he destroyed humanity!" She said darkly.

Celestia grit her teeth before looking at Chara. "Is there nothing we can't do?" She asked hate filling her voice. "If we were humans once could you restore us?"

Chara frowned. "What your ancestors did was change you on a genetic level and it's been so long since then that there's most likely no human genetics left in the blood of any of the races. However give me a few years and I may be able to reverse some of the genetic damage to allow you a more human appearance." Chara said as she leaned back in thought. "T Minotaur’s were probably the least affected by the blast so I may be able to acquire some human genetics form them but I doubt it." Chara said before looking at Celestia. "You do know that if I do this then it will alter you heavily; I don't even know what could happen."

Celestia nodded. "I'll assemble the leaders and we will discuss what to do but the Crystal Empire comes first." Celestia said in a tired voice. "Even if the other races don't agree with my decision Equestria will still undergo the change.

Chara nodded. "In that case I will begin work once this conflict ends." She said as she bowed her head.