“Discord!”

Several voices with varying states of concern called out when Discord quite literally exploded. Unlike a real explosion, Discord’s sudden departure sounded more akin to a big bubble being popped. His limbs flew off into different directions and started to dissolve mid-air.

“Was that one of his bits?” Luna asked slowly, unsure on how to proceed.

“No…” Atlas bit his lips while looking around for any sign of Discord, “I don’t think so.”

“Are you sure?” Celestia asked, her eyes wandering as well, “that seemed awfully Discord-like.”

“I’m pretty sure, yeah,” Atlas replied, “that was… It just seemed… serious. You know Discord doesn’t like being serious. Even if you think he’s like that, I know he wouldn’t pull something like this just for laughs…”

As soon as Atlas had finished relaying his thoughts, a light started appearing where Discord had been, commanding the attention of everypony present. The light grew in intensity, until everypony except for Atlas had to avert their eyes. He simply cast a spell to counteract the brightness, intent on witnessing what was happening.

Slowly but surely, a shadow could be recognized through the binding light. A shadow that was shifting and changing. As the brightness reached its peak, the shadow solidified and sucked in the light around it. What remained after the spectacle was a pony.

They had a brown coat and a messy white mane and tail. The horn sticking out of the mess confirmed the pony to be a unicorn. A wrinkly face revealed the advanced age of the pony, yet they were probably not far past their prime.

“Brown Diamond?!” Atlas recognized the pony before him with a start, “Doc Brown? Is that you, you?”

“Do you know this pony?” Celestia asked carefully, who alternated between looking at Atlas and the prone pony.

“Uh… I think so…” Atlas replied, still not entirely certain that he could believe his eyes. “If I’m right this pony’s name is Brown Diamond… One of the many ingredients that created Discord.”

“Created Discord?” Luna asked, confusion evident in her voice. “What does that mean?”

“A long, long time ago, Discord was just a pony,” Atlas explained, unable to avert his eyes. “But a spell went horribly wrong, and Discord was the result.”

“Ugh…” Doc Brown started to wake up. “What happened?”

“Brown Diamond? Are you alright?” Atlas asked.

“Brown Diamond?” Doc Brown's eyes fluttered open and he looked at the ponies gathered around him. “What do you mean? My name’s Disco… No… wait… This is confusing.”

“Discord?” Atlas asked tentatively.

“Yes, father?” Doc Brown replied immediately focusing on Atlas. “No… not father. Assistant... and partner.”

Doc Brown sat up, mumbling incoherent words as he tried to get his head straight. Something was very obviously wrong, and Atlas was intent on getting to the bottom of it.

“I need you to answer me as good as you can,” Atlas took a deep breath. “Who are you, and what do you remember?”

“I’m… Discord… I think…” The pony said slowly. “There are memories that don’t belong to me… or do they? I’m not sure. I can remember everything from my life as Discord… But there are new memories of a pony named Brown Diamond…”

“Which ones are more dominant?” Atlas asked curiously.

“Right now?” Discord asked. “Brown Diamond’s. I can remember everything so clearly, like it was yesterday, yet I know that they happened so long ago…”

“Damn…” Atlas bit his lower lip. “You think you’re gonna be okay?”

“I think… I just need some time to sort through this…” Discord smiled weakly at Atlas. “There’s a lot of new information and I feel very disoriented right now, but I think I’ll pull through.”

Atlas breathed a sigh of relief and fell back on his rump. It would appear that Discord was still Discord. Albeit with a new appearance and some mental issues. He had always been a strong-minded individual, and there was no doubt in Atlas mind that he’d be able to pull through somehow.

As he sat there contemplating his next move, he could feel his new wings move on their own once again. Mildly annoyed, he shot a glare backwards, only to find Pinkie Pie pawing at them like a cat.

“I thought the afterparty would be the biggest party I’ve ever thrown…” Pinkie said. “But it seems like I’ll have to make it even bigger to account for our newest alicorn.”

“I’m sure we’re all looking forward to it very much,” Atlas smiled, “but we should probably look to it that everypony recovers the necessary strength to properly enjoy said party, don’t you think?” As if on cue, Atlas’ stomach let out a loud grumble, “I, for one, could go for some grub right now.”

The situation caused everypony to let out a weak chuckle, as they found themselves in a similar situation, so they set course for the pre-set-up food stands. The other gathered ponies were already happily eating away and discussing the event in detail. Celestia made sure to levitate the sleeping Twilight along with her and Atlas kept a close eye on Discord, who followed them on unsteady hooves.

As Atlas walked at the spearpoint of their formation he let his eyes wander. The array which now lay dormant. The blue sky high above, free of the walls that were there before, and last but not least, the crowd of happily chatting ponies they were approaching. Just to make sure, Atlas sent out a weak scanning pulse, in case somepony had been drained more than it was supposed to.

Much to his satisfaction, everything seemed to be in order, aside from the two strange pings he felt when he scanned the population the first time. He had almost forgotten about them, and renewed his intention to investigate these two when the opportunity presented itself. Yet, seeing as they had all just survived a potentially world-ending catastrophe. These plans were put on the back-burner.

After all, tomorrow was another day.

Far away from other pony settlements stood a quaint little town. So far away in fact, that if you got off on the last train stop you still had to walk for about an hour before reaching it. The distance to other civilized areas was by design, as the ponies who inhabit said town felt like there was something wrong with society. Afraid that their different ways would brand them as outcasts, they retreated to a place where they could live alongside like-minded individuals.

The town was still in its early stages, and consisted only of two rows of houses that lined it’s singular street. At the head of the town rested one slightly smaller building, and the residence of the settlements self-appointed leader.

Usually, the town was filled with activity, as the few residents went about their daily business. Friendly faces everywhere, a community consisting of humble folks without temptation.

Not now, though.

Not a single sound could be heard in the town, even though it’s residents were out and about. A deathly silence ruled over the town, which had been unbroken for the past few weeks, or, depending on who you’d ask, a few seconds ago.

Not a single pony moved a muscle as they stood, rooted to the spot, frozen in time. A pony, frozen mid-wave, a baker looking into her oven, or friends chatting in the middle of the street. All of them were being watched by a pony, sitting on a nearby hill.

The pony sported an orange coat and a blonde mane with a unicorn horn sticking out of the messy hair. She watched over the frozen ponies with the patience of a saint, content in her task of vigilance, as a pop behind her announced the arrival of her friend and helper.

“Starswirl,” she said simply. “How’d it go?”

“I didn’t really approach. Just like you wanted,” Starswirl replied, sitting down next to her. “It took some effort on my part to not just go out there and hug the old coot, but I managed.”

“And I’m grateful for that,” the pony chuckled, “but we both know that I’m asking about the other thing.”

“As far as I can tell Atlas pulled it off,” Starswirl nodded proudly. “It was quite a sight to see, honestly. Oh, and he’s an alicorn now.”

“Everything as it should be then,” the mare nodded back.

“You know, for how much shit you keep giving me for messing around with time, I still don’t quite understand why you’re allowed to just up and stop the time of an entire town on a whim,” Starswirl complained.

“This isn’t on a whim,” the mare sighed, preparing to explain her actions yet again, “Atlas is a very powerful ally for ponykind, yet even he isn’t infallible. He helped me out in the past, and this won’t be the last time he will play a major role in this planets protection. So, just to make sure everything goes smoothly, I’ll help him out just this once. He’ll need me in the future, as well as you too, but for now, this is all we can do to help.”

“Didn’t you say that this was for the element bearers sake?” Starswirl asked.

“It is, for this town will help them grow,” the mare nodded. “And Atlas will need the bearers at their strongest if he plans to survive what is to come.”

“Alright, if you say so.” Starswirl shrugged, “Will you release them now?”

“Hmm… I think I’ll give Atlas and his friends a day or two to celebrate their victory,” the mare said happily.

“So we’re stuck here for a while, I guess,” Starswirl sighed.

“Time means nothing to you, as well as me,” the mare reminded him.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Starswirl rolled his eyes. “Doesn’t change the fact that I’ll bore myself to death if I sit around doing nothing, I’m not as patient as you. So, what do you say to a few rounds of Magic: The Channeling?”

“A blast from the past, huh?” the mare raised an annoyed eyebrow. “I hope you didn’t go back in time to get yourself a deck?”

“I’ll admit to nothing,” Starswirl huffed. “So what will it be? You in?”

“I suppose we could play a few games,” the mare settled down on a relatively flat surface, so that they could properly play on the ground.

“Today, I’ll finally beat you,” Starswirl said smugly, settling down opposite of her. “I know the guy who made it after all.”

“So do I,” the mare ruffled her wings to get more comfortable. “And I’m proud to say he was the only one who ever beat me.”

“Let me guess. He was the only one who played with you?” Starswirl laughed.

“Shut up and deal the cards, Starswirl.”

“As you wish,” Starswirl rolled his eyes and started distributing the cards among them. “Don’t blame me if you lose though, Amber.”

Author's Notes:

Aaand, we're done! Truly a special moment for me, seeing how much time and effort I put into this project, and now it's finally complete. As I've hinted at in the last chapter, this isn't "the end" by any means, and there'll be more to come, with and/or without Atlas. If you're interested in what is to come check out my blog post here:

Blog Post

With a special guest appearance of the absolute madman, the one and only: Azriel, as an editor! As well as the elusive(now mostly Discord admin), Kilobytes, as a proofreader. As always, Soren Mercer helped out as well in the proofreading department. Love you guys :D

Today's chapter was brought to you by this song. This was the first song I've ever included in an author's note, and what better way to end it, than how it started?

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