Prologue: the Other Side of the Gateway
"Hear me, God! I demand you answer the crying of my soul! Come to me!!"
"Whose that? Is somepony there?"
" Join me... Yes, I will no longer be bound to you nor your consequences."
"Who goes there? Show yourself!"
"I'll force you down to this Earth and into my bones! You have no choice but to be absorbed!!"
Canterlot, Equestria
Celestia gasped in shock and sat up. She scanned her surroundings and sighed in relief that she was in her bedroom. She closed her eyes for a moment to gather her thoughts.
"Just a dream...?"
The white alicorn dragged herself out of bed and trotted towards the balcony. She looked up at the night sky while enjoying the fresh air. However, something was on her mind... That mysterious voice... Something about it was making her feel uneasy. At the same time, she couldn't shake that sinking feeling that something terrible has happened. Where was that coming from? It didn't feel like it was happening here in Equestria or anywhere here at all. It was strange, even to her. She turned around and walked out of her bedroom and into the hallways of Canterlot Castle. The hallways were mostly quiet, but guards and castle staff workers had a presence in this castle. They also had rotating shifts between the day workers and their counterparts who worked at night. Celestia controlled the Sun while her younger sister, Luna, controlled the Moon. Speaking of sister, the tall alicorn was heading over to her sister's room which was on the other side of the castle.
It didn't take too long for her to arrive at her sister's room. She knocked on the door for a moment before talking, "Luna, it's me, Celestia. Mind if I come in?"
"Of course. Please come in."
Smiling with appreciation, the white alicorn entered the room and closed the door behind her. She looked around but saw no sign of her sister. Eventually, she caught her in her peripherals on the balcony and walked over to her.
As ruler of Equestria's night sky, Luna was able to go into anypony's dreams. She was slightly shorter than Celestia and had dark blue fur. She was busy with nightly duties, but she didn't mind her older sister entering her room, "Dear sister, I don't usually see you around at night as much since my return. Are you all right?"
Celestia nodded her head in affirmation but her face was filled with uncertainty, "Yes, Luna. It's just that... It's--"
"You feel as if something terrible just happened?"
The white alicorn froze in place hearing her sister speak.
"I felt it as well. It was as though thousands... No... Millions were screaming in pain and suddenly suffocating all at once..."
"And then there was nothing but silence," Celestia finished, but there was something more to it. "As a matter of fact, I have felt a similar one before."
Luna turned her head towards her in surprise, "You have?"
"A little over four-hundred years ago, while you were still banished as Nightmare Moon, I felt that disturbance. Although, it was on a smaller scale than what you and I had just felt. I fear something terrible has happened," The Princess of the Sun looked up at the night sky once again and was falling into deep thought. "Whatever happened back then has repeated itself once more. What makes it odd that it didn't feel as if it happened here in Equestria or anywhere at all."
"Hm... Do you think both events happened in a different plane of existence?"
Celestia allowed her sister's question to simmer inside her mind for a moment, "That may be possible, but why did we sense such things? What does it have to do with us, Luna?"
"Maybe it is some sort of omen..." Luna answered, "Whatever it is, we must be ready for it. It could affect Equestria in the future."
"It is possible. Hopefully, we look into this soon enough," The white alicorn started to walk away from the balcony to the door leading out of the room. "I'll return to bed now. Twilight will be here tomorrow to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration as her first duty as the Princess of Friendship. Good night, Luna."
"Good night," Luna watched her sister leave the balcony and out of her room. After a moment of silence, she sighed with concern as she looked up at the night sky she had brought upon Equestria. "I hope I'm wrong about this omen, sister. Only if it is any... Still, I fear that something of an unimaginable scale may threaten to befall Equestria, and the Elements of Harmony may not be powerful enough to stop it..."
Central City, Amestris
It was over... It was finally over. Amestris has survived the Promised Day and it ended in failure for Father and the Homunculi who all met their end with the former being the last one. For Edward Elric - the Fullmetal Alchemist - his success came with a great price... His brother, Alphonse, gave up his own soul to restore his older brother's right arm back to normal in order to defeat Father once and for all. He was offered a Philosopher's Stone by Ling Yao to bring Alphonse back. As much as he wanted to, the young alchemist refused to make use of the fabled stone.
"There has to be a way to get Al back... There's got to be. Think, dammit! Think it through!! Just keep thinking!!!"
"Edward."
Another voice dragged him from his thoughts. The boy turned his head towards the voice in question. It was his estranged father, Van Hohenheim. He was gravely wounded during the fight against Father, but he was carried by the shoulder by Edward's alchemy teacher: Izumi Curtis.
"Use my life for the toll," Hohenheim offered to his son. "Use me to save Alphonse. I have just enough life left."
The young alchemist gasped in surprise after hearing his father's offer. Soon, his facial expression turned into that of anger and hatred towards him, "No way! I could never do that, you dumbass!" He replied with anger already boiling over, "This has nothing to do with you. It's our own damn fault. I won't use another human life to get Al back and I don't care whose it is. Why should you sacrifice your life for our mistake!?"
"Because I'm his father," Hohenheim answered. This caused the alchemist prodigy's anger to cool down a little, "And that's the only thing that matters... You don't know how much you boys mean to me and I just want both of you to be happy. I do bear some responsibility for this. None of this would ever happen if I had just been there for you." He paused for a moment as his lips began to quiver while holding back tears, "Ed, I'm sorry. I've lived long enough. Just give me this chance to act like a father for once in my life..."
Edward was left speechless. His golden eyes were beginning to shed some tears, but he immediately closed them in denial. After being gone for the majority of his early life, this man decided to be a father to him and Alphonse right out of the blue? "Shut up, you rotten father!" The boy finally responded as he opened his eyes again, "Say something dumb like that again, and I'll knock you out!"
Hohenheim could do nothing but watch his own son pour out his emotions towards him in full force. He then closed his eyes with remorse, "I'm sorry... Please forgive me."
"Keep thinking again! Come on already," Edward thought to himself after wiping tears from his eyes. As every second passed, the more desperate he became. He looked down at the damaged suit of armor Alphonse's soul was once connected to and clenched his fists in frustration, "You're the youngest state alchemist in Amestrian history, dammit. Even you passed your own Portal of Truth so you can transmute with your bare hands." There had to be a way to bring his younger brother back from the other side without having to use the Philosopher's Stone. He looked down at Mei who was on the other side of the suit of armor mourning for Alphonse. He then started looking around noticing his friends and others who surrounded him.
At that moment, an idea came to mind.
"Mei, stand back for now," Edward suggested to the Chang Clan heiress as he stood up and picked up a discarded stick nearby. Everyone around him was wondering what the boy was doing. Eventually, it all became clear as Edward was drawing an all too familiar circle.
"Wait... Is that..." Ling was initially puzzled until Edward finished drawing, "That's a human transmutation circle!?" The prince yelled in surprise. Why would the young state alchemist attempt the Taboo again despite knowing what will happen?
"I'll be back in a bit... This may be my last transmutation," Edward said as he tossed the stick away and walked to the center of the transmutation circle. "Worst-case scenario; I may not come back at all. Either way, just relax and enjoy the show," He smirked as he clapped his hands together to activate the circle. The people around him could do nothing but watch him deconstruct in front of them. Even his friends were begging him to stop, but it was too late as the transmutation ritual came to an end.
A white void that was all too familiar was where the boy was now. With a tall door behind him, Edward confronted Truth, "You're here to retrieve your brother, huh? How are going to pull an entire human out of here? What's your payment? Do you offer one of your limbs again? Or do you offer something else...?" It asked Edward.
"You said this is my Portal of Truth, right?" The boy asked, "That also means I can do whatever I want with it."
"That is correct. What are you planning to do now?" Truth began wondering what the young alchemist could be thinking now.
Edward turned around to look up at the tall, knobless door that was standing before him. "This portal contains every secret alchemy has to offer, but it also led me astray," He said as he placed his right hand on the portal. Memories of his first time visiting this void as a young child flooded his mind, "After seeing what was behind it, I became convinced that I can solve everything with alchemy. I could never be so wrong. That was just nothing but arrogance."
"Are you about to cast it aside and lower yourself to a mere human?"
"What do you mean by that? Isn't that what I was all my life? Just a simple human who couldn't save a little girl. Not even with alchemy," The alchemic prodigy answered as he looked at the portal with a content expression on his face.
"Think carefully now. Whatever you decide will mean the difference between getting your brother out of here and not," The white figure warned the boy.
Edward turned away from the portal and stared at Truth with determination in his eyes, "I'm here to offer my own body and soul in exchange to free Al from here once and for all."
Truth did nothing but laugh at the alchemist's offer, "Is that so? Your brother will be out of here, but you won't." It said wondering if Edward was starting to have second thoughts.
"Yes, I'm aware of that. After what I've done and the kind of hell I've already been through, that is punishment enough for me," The boy answered again standing firm with his demand.
"Very well... I hope you won't regret this decision. Goodbye, Edward Elric," With that, the white figure started to fade out of Edward's sight. Eventually, another figure and portal appeared behind where Truth once stood. Edward recognized the new figure as Alphonse and his own Portal of Truth.
"Brother," Alphonse weakly stood up as he was fully aware of what was about to happen. His malnourished body stood there in front of Edward.
Edward's smile slowly faded knowing that he just paid the ultimate price to save his younger brother. "I'm sorry Al, but I deserve this more than you ever would," He broke the silence between them.
The younger Elric's fragile body started shaking in denial of what was happening, "No, Brother!" He yelled. "We were supposed to go home together! Everyone is waiting for both of us to come back!!" He begged in an attempt to put some sense into his older brother. "We left home together, but I can't go back home without you."
"Tell Winry I'm sorry. Sorry to make her cry for not coming home... No tears of joy, that's for sure," Edward closed his eyes as his portal opened and its tendrils took hold of him. The time has finally come for their final farewells.
Alphonse's portal opened with its tendrils grabbing him in the same way as his brother's portal. "Brother, please!! This doesn't have to end this way!" He yelled as he vainly extended his arm toward Edward. The situation was becoming more hopeless by the second.
"Goodbye, Al... You and I have been through a lot together..." Edward's portal began closing as he was dragged deeper into it. He could see light coming from his brother's portal. Alphonse was really going home now after all, "You've been here far too long. Continue learning alchemy without me..."
"Ed, no!"
With that, the doors finally shut and there was silence. Alphonse's worrisome face was the last thing Edward saw, as his content expression was the last thing the younger brother saw...
Little did they both know Truth witnessed the exchange from above, "I was hoping you finally knew the right answer, young alchemist. If that were the case, this could have ended differently... Where you're going, you may find yourself thinking about what happened here."
Edward started to feel a bit lighter as the tendrils that grabbed hold of him suddenly let him go. Out of sudden will, he just started walking aimlessly in this endless, dark loop that was the Portal of Truth - The source of all alchemy... It was the very thing that the boy was blessed but also cursed to have while living. He was naive to believe that he can solve everything with the science of alchemy... Unfortunately, no matter when or where it brought him nothing but misery. None of that mattered to him anymore, because Edward saved his younger brother from the very place he was now in.
At least the Portal is not like Gluttony's stomach where there was nothing but an endless sea of blood and chunks of buildings from past eras of Amestrian history. The boy was better off here than being stranded in a sea of blood. Then another thought entered his mind. The Portal of Truth felt much different than the previous times he was here and yet... Edward was struggling to put a finger on it. Then again, anyone's experience with the Portal was different depending on how deep into it they can see before having to pay the "toll."
"Al," Edward whispered to himself. The memory of seeing his younger brother's face for the last time was making the former state alchemist prodigy tremble in sorrow. Was having to give up his own body and soul to free his brother too much for a price? His thoughts were interrupted when a small but bright glint of light was seen ahead. Shielding his eyes, Edward was prepared to confront the unknown. The light drew closer and closer and yet... It felt oddly warm for him. He kept moving forward into the light. Was this the way out of the Portal? If it was, then why now, and who or what was bringing him out of it? None of that mattered now when the light ultimately blinded and consumed him.
(Closing Credits - Ray of Light (English Version) by AmaLee)