//------------------------------// // Chapter 46: Pieces put together // Story: Little ray of sunshine // by KDS-Writingindustries //------------------------------// The alicorn and doctor were back at the normal lab instead of the creepy one. Alphys walked back and forth, continuously muttering and checking a science-y device that had previously scanned Celestia. Said pony sat down and shot a blank stare at the floor, trying to solve the mystery of the tapes. She snapped out of her trance when Alphys began to gently shake her. "Um... Pony? Did you hear what I said?" "...not really" The filly answered. Alphys shifted uncomfortably, "W-well, I th-thought you would like to know about your magic, health, and SOUL status." Celestia's ears perked up when she heard 'SOUL', Alphys check the device and began to explain, "Well, y-your magic status is stable, a-as well as your DETERMINATION...all vital organs and bones are fine...b-but your SOUL..." "What about my SOUL?" Celestia asked showing concern. "Well, I-I first scanned it while you were, unconscious. It was much stronger than most pony SOULs, about 4 times stronger. B-but now that I've scanned you again, your SOUL is now 4.5 times stronger." Alphys inferred. Celestia thought back to when Sombra's SOUL had strikes hers, 'That must be the reason...' But she also had other things in mind. "Hey, Alphys, is my SOUL strong enough to get me across the barrier AND destroy it?" Alphys took a moment to respond, "W-well, your SOUL can pass through the barrier easily....but, you can't break it, even if you used all your magic. I'm s-sorry pony." The filly felt like a ton of rocks were just put on her back. "I...I can't...break the b-b-barrier..." Tears began to swell up in her eyes. For a long time she had assumed that she could break the thing that has kept her friends and family prisoner, she thought that she could live happily with Papyrus, Uncle Sans, Undyne, Alphys....Toriel. She thought that they could all live in peace on the surface, but now knowing the facts. It tore the pony apart. Alphys comforted the alicorn with a hug, "D-don't cry, pony. It's just t-the way it is." Alphys tried to assure. "*sniff* I...I...I don't wanna go up there!! Not without my Mom! Not without my friends! *hic* I...I promised my mom I would find a way to break the barrier... and I can't do it..." Celestia cried into the scientist shoulder. Alphys said nothing, she knew she couldn't comfort Celestia with words. She pat the pony's back. After a few minutes Celestia pulled out of the hug, staring emotionlessly at the floor. "W-what are you going to do now?" The yellow drake cautiously asked, not wanting Celestia to cry again. "I...I'll..." She didn't know what she was going to do, she raked her mind for any ideas, then she remembered what her mother had said a long time ago. "Celestia, I have only two wishes I request from you... The first wish is to find a way to cross the barrier, the second, is make sure you do not let them... Asgore...Take your SOUL. Can you do that for me, my child?" 'I will' "I'll cross the barrier, I'll get back to the surface, like my mom always planned." She told Alphys. "W-well, I support you either way. Should I call Undyne and your other friends?" The filly nodded. "Okay, good luck." Celestia stood up and teleported out of the lab. *Ring..* "Huh?" Alphys answered her phone, "Hello, who's this? P-papyrus? S-slow down! I can't understand what you're saying.." Celestia teleported back to were she had left off, at Mettaton's stage. She took a deep breath and went forward, exiting the room and walking through the hallway. 'Is this it? Is this how it ends...' The alicorn reached the elevator and went inside, pressing the button to go to the king's castle. 'I don't want leave everything, everyone behind.' The elevator door opened, revealing the grey surroundings, the filly didn't stop to question the strange colour and continued on. 'Should I just give my SOUL to Asgore...? No. That's what mom said not to do... I'll go, I'll make it to the surface...but I'll never forget everything that I've been through, for as long as I live'. Celestia looked up and gasped. A grey city was all around her, it was the city of monsters. Celestia went onwards but still held her star struck face. The pony continued forward until she stopped at a house. It looked like the very same house she had grown up in with Toriel, only this house looked grey. A thousand questions ran through her mind, but she quickly pushed them aside. She was filled with DETERMINATION, 'Here goes.' She stepped into the house. The house looked exactly like her old one, inside and out. Celestia noticed that the way into the basement was chained up, with two padlocks locking it in place. There was a note on one of the padlocks, so the filly began to read: Howdy! I'm in the garden. If you have anything you need to get off your chest, please don't hesitate to come. The keys are in the kitchen and the hallway. Celestial felt the urge to explore/remember the place more, but she decided to wait until she had unclock both padlocks. She walked to the kitchen, but her SOUL had abruptly shot out, two Froggits were in her path. They did not fight, to Celestia's surprise, rather tell the pony a story. "A long time ago, a pony fell into the RUINs." "Injured by his fall, the pony was wounded and alone." The Froggits left, leaving a confused pony. Celestia nonetheless, went into the kitchen to retrieve the first key. The filly looked around seeing that the kitchen here was exactly like the one back at her old home. Celestia walked out, but her SOUL popped out again, two Whimsuns this time, they explained more of the story. "ASRIEL, the king's son, found the pony stranded." "He brought the pony back to his house to help him out." The monsters flew away. 'Asriel...' Celestia knew that name from before, 'Are they telling me how him and Sombra met?'. The pony walked to the hallway but stopped at a door. The door that would've led to her room, if she was in her old home. Celestia entered the room, like she suspected, the room was much like her bedroom, a big difference was that there was another bed and two presents. The curious alicorn opened up the box closest to her. Inside was a ukulele, the filly felt the urge to take it with her, so she did. The next box had a heart-shaped locket inside, with the words 'Best brothers forever' engraved on it. Celestia also took it with her. The pony knew this was Sombra's and Asriel's bedroom, it looked empty, like no one had been in there for a while. She walked out and saw the key in the hallway, but was stopped by monsters, three moldsmals to be exact. "Over time, ASRIEL and the pony became like brothers." "The King and Queen treated the young pony as their own." "The underground was full of hope." As the moldsmals squirmed off, Celestia retrieved the second key and trotted to the padlocks. With a satisfying 'click', the chain fell, and the alicorn went downstairs. As Celestia walked, her SOUL had kept popping out for monsters that she had encountered before, each telling her more of the story. "Then... One day..." "The pony became very ill" More monsters came. "The sick pony had only one request." "To see the flowers from his village." "But there was nothing we could do." "The next day." "The next day." "..." "The pony died." Then more. "ASRIEL, wracked with grief, absorbed the pony's SOUL." "He transformed into a being with incredible power." "With the pony SOUL, ASRIEL was able to cross through the barrier." "He carried the body into the sunset." "Back to the village of the ponies." "ASRIEL reached the centre of the village." "There, he found a bed of golden flowers." "He carried the pony onto it." And more. "Suddenly, a screams rang out." "The villagers saw ASRIEL holding the pony's body." "They thought that he had killed the foal." "Some ponies called for help, others attacked him with everything they had." "...." "He had attained six SOUL's from the battle." "But... The queen of the ponies had come." "ASRIEL was no match to her power. Being hit blow, after blow." "ASRIEL, Clutching the pony..." "Stood still and smiled as the queen struck him with a powerful blast." And more... "Wounded, ASRIEL went back home." "He entered the castle and collapsed." "His dust spread across the garden." "The kingdom fell into despair." "The King and queen had lost two children in one night." "The ponies had once again taken everything from us." "The King decided it was time to end our suffering." "Every pony who falls down here must die." "With enough SOULs, we can shatter the barrier forever." And a few more... "It's not long now." "King ASGORE will let us go." "King ASGORE will give us hope." "King ASGORE will save us all." "You should be smiling, too." "Aren't you excited?" "Aren't you happy?" One last monster stood in her way. "You're going to be free." Celestia trotted into a golden hallway, but she was still shocked about what she had just heard, the pieces were being put together in her mind. She walked silently, staring at the ground. Suddenly bells were ringing, she looked around, only to see a familiar small skeleton in a blue hoodie. "Uncle Sans..." Celestia said blankly, she was still comprehending the story just told to her. Sans looked at her with a serious expression, "So you finally made it. The end of your journey is at hand." He spoke in a serious tone, "In a few moments, you will meet the King. Together... You will determine the future of this world. That's then. Now, you will be judged. You will be judged for your every action. You will be judged for how much Execution points you have earn. There's an acronym for that. EXP. A way of quantifying the pain you have inflicted on others. When you kill someone your EXP increase. When you have enough EXP, your Level of violence increases. There's an acronym for that too, LOVE. A way of measuring someone's capability to hurt. The more LOVE you have, the more easily it is to distance yourself, and the more easily to kill others." There was silence between them, Celestia let that all sink in. Sans closed his eye socket's, only to reopen them with a glint of respect. "...but you. you never gained any LOVE. 'course, that doesn't mean you're completely innocent or naive. just that you kept a certain tenderness in your heart. no matter the struggles or hardships you've faced... you strived to do the right thing. you refused to hurt anyone. even when you ran away, you did it with a smile. you never gained LOVE, but you gained love. does that make sense? maybe not. anyways, I'm rooin' for ya. i know you'll do what's best. 'cause you have something called 'determination'. long as you keep hold on to that, you can do anything." Celestia smiled with pride and gave her uncle a hug, Sans hug back. "Thanks for believing in me, uncle." "well, we're all counting on you tia. good luck." The skeleton pulled away from the hug and walked off, back where the filly came. Celestia didn't feel sad, or sombre anymore. She felt happiness, pride, and DETERMINATION. The filly continued onwards. The grey landscape was back again, although Celestia didn't mind it. Up ahead, she saw what was the entrance to the throne room, or garden. But there was a familiar winged cat blocking her path, with a note in its mouth. The pony smirked, "So, are you going to tell me a story, or lecture me with something philosophical?" The feline shook it's head, and dropped the note infront of the filly, giving her an encouraging meow. Celestia looked down at the note. Brace yourself "I don't get it. What do you-" the cat disappeared. Celestia decided to leave the note there and enter the throne room. As she entered, she heard an all too familiar voice. "I will say this only once more Asgore, WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER!?!?" Two figures were in Celestia's sight, one was presumably the King, looking both sad and concerned. The other... "M-mom...?"