Author's Notes:

So yeah, here's the REAL chapter 2. YOu'll notice that the previous one was basically a sneak peek with an alternate ending halfway through, which a few of you already correctly guessed how it would turn out in the end. Enjoy!

Oh yeah, guess what? Azriel is back!

Once again, thanks to my editors Azriel, as well as my proofreaders and Soren Mercer.

Today's chapter was brought to you by this song.

Come join us in the Discord channel! Lonk

Or the official Divine Entertainment group! Divine Universe

Celestia tensely glanced between Atlas and Discord, who were staring each other down with an odd look in their eyes. Atlas probably didn’t know that Discord had been reformed, so some kind of hostility on his part was to be expected. What confused her, though, was the fact that Discord seemed to know who Atlas was. No matter the reason for their standoff, Celestia felt the urgent need to step in and clarify some things for her father, before things started to escalate.

“Dear father, do not feel threatened by Discord’s presence here,” Celestia said, grabbing everyponies attention. “The Discord you knew is gone. He has been reformed thanks to Twilight and her friends.”

“I know,” Atlas relied casually, much to Celestia's confusion.

“Oh, who would have thought I’d see the day,” Discord said, slowly floating to the ground. “Celestia at a loss for words? You do like hiding facts behind smoke and mirrors, but don’t even notice when someone does it to you.”

“I’ve had more practice than her,” Atlas said. “I also know her pretty well, considering I raised her. She’s like an open book to me.”

“Is that so…” Discord said, biting his lower lip.

“Don’t act like you haven’t been leading her on ever since you got released from stone,” Atlas said. “You’re probably the best at hiding your cards out of everyone in this room.”

“I assure you, Discord has been completely reformed and has even helped save Equestria recently,” Celestia commented, in an attempt to mediate between the two. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to mediate, but she tried anyway. “He’s good friends with Fluttershy, and has been on his best behaviour… well, mostly.”

“Not what I’m talking about, Celestia,” Atlas replied, not taking his eyes off Discord. “Now tell me, ‘Mad King,’ am I talking to the character, or am I talking to Discord?”

“I’d say a little bit of both,” Discord replied, his body coiling on the floor like a snake, until only his neck and head were sticking out of the pile. “Keeping up an act for a long time can cause the boundaries to blur you know.”

“I understand,” Atlas nodded. “Now then, Celestia, Luna. I think it’s time for you to learn about another secret I’ve kept from you.”

“Do you think he’s keeping a lot of secrets from the princesses?” Rarity whispered towards Twilight who was following the exchange with apathetic curiosity.

“Judging by their reactions,” Twilight replied, while observing Celestia and Luna's facial expressions. “They seemed to be interested, yet annoyed at the same time, as if this was a common occurrence when dealing with their father. I’d say: yes, most definitely.”
“Element Bearers, this doesn’t concern you directly, but since it will probably clear up some things, I’ll allow you to listen in on this as well,” Atlas stated. “My dear daughters, do you remember the conversation we had before I left?”

Both princesses gave their affirmations, still clearly remembering the day they parted.

“I told you about how I’ve been playing something akin to a game of chess. Moving pieces as I thought right, to manipulate the board in my, or rather, our favor,” Atlas said. “This might come as somewhat of a surprise, but Discord here,” Discord gave a little wave, “Was one of my pieces as well.”

“What does you mean, exactly?” Luna asked, after a few seconds of tense silence.

“It means, well probably, exactly what you think it means,” Atlas said, bracing himself for the inevitable outrage. “The one who unleashed Discord on Equestria was none other than me.”

“What?” Celestia whispered, a look of betrayal in her eyes.

Luna simply looked at her father as if he had grown a second head, her mouth slightly agape, while Twilight let out an audible gasp, which was mirrored by her friends. Something seemed to have changed about Atlas’ posture, although she couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly. The fact that Discord was grinning like a madpony didn’t sit well with anypony either.

“It’s finally time to reveal what I’ve been doing and why I could never tell you before,” Atlas grinned, causing Luna to take a worried step away from her father. “I needed you two to become alicorns and make Equestria a country rich with magic, so ultimately, I could usurp the whole thing and drain it faster than an off brand battery. I’m sorry, but that’s the only way to power the spell I’ve been developing.”

“You… You can’t be serious!” Celestia cried out while every guard along the walls assumed defensive positions.

“Father..?” Luna pleaded silently.

“I hate to break it to you, my dear princesses,” Discord said, coiling himself around Celestia and booping her nose. “But I’m afraid you’ve been played. And dare I say? You lost spectacularly!”

“Come Discord, it’s time for us to go. The preparations are complete and time’s a wastin’,” Atlas said, getting up from the floor and dusting off his coat.

Discord teleported over to Atlas, but when he appeared he had shrunk down considerably, almost looking like a young child on Atlas’ back, similar to how Spike would ride on Twilight. “It was a pleasure doing business with you,” Atlas said, making a deep bow.

“And thanks for all the fish!” Discord called out, an instant before they both vanished in a bright flash, their manic laughter ringing in everypony's ears for a few more seconds.

Everypony in the room seemed to have frozen staring at where the duo vanished. Luna had a thousand yard stare, uncertain on whether she felt furious or sad at her father's betrayal. Celestia blinked a few times, a sinking feeling in her stomach before her thousand years as Equestria’s lone princess caught up to her. It pained her almost more than when Luna had turned into nightmare moon, but if nothing was done right now, Equestria would definitely fall.

“Guards!” Celestia barked, causing movement to explode around the whole room. “Atlas has gone rogue and turned against Equestria. Our sole focus should be on stopping him as fast as possible. He is possibly the most powerful mage in the world and he is cohorts with Discord. Taking them down will not be easy. I want every guard to be mobilized and his hideout to be found post haste. Knowing him, it will be protected by a plethora of wards, so send out scout parties with mages that can recognize them.

“Begin preparations for an emergency War Council, I will recall Shining Armor and Princess Cadence as soon as I can. We’re going to need absolutely everypony that is willing to help, so go and draft as many as you can. Twilight,” Celestia said, smiling down at her former student. “I’m afraid Equestria will have to rely on you and your friends once more.”

“This is all happening really fast...” Twilight replied. “But you can count on us! Right girls?”

Twilight and her friends all gave their consent, not all of them too eager on facing another villain after just defeating Tirek, but still willing to help. “Then, guards! Move out!”

Just as she said these words, another bright flash announced the usage of a teleportation spell, and everypony turned to face the intruders, which turned out to be Atlas and a regular sized Discord, which was still sitting on Atlas, much to his dismay, apparently.

“Oh my god!” Discord laughed out, causing everypony to be stunned once again, even the guards that were just about to run out of the throne room to relay Celestia's orders. “You should see your faces right now! Absolutely priceless!”

“I will admit that Celestia looks pretty funny right now,” Atlas said, chuckling. “Luna… not so much.”

“Atlas!” Celestia called out exasperated. “What is the meaning of this?”

“You could say…” Atlas said, playfully tapping his hoof against his chin. “It was an elaborate ruse, I guess.”

“A ruse?” Luna said softly, hope budding in her voice.

“Yes, now, if you’d please…” Atlas said with a sigh. “Would you mind calling off your lap dogs? If they don’t watch where they point their spears somepony might lose an eye.”

True to his word, the guards had reacted somewhat quickly and surrounded the chaotic duo, holding them at spearpoint, even if most of them thought it was probably useless anyway. Celestia glared at Atlas and Discord, seemingly thinking hard about what to do before letting out a huge sigh and slumping back into her throne.

“Guards, let them go and return to your posts,” Celestia said tiredly. “It would appear we have been pranked.”

“You call almost plunging Equestria into a war ‘a prank?’” Twilight deadpanned.

“Discord has done it at least three times since his reformation Twilight,” Celestia said while dragging a hoof over her face. “And I wouldn’t put it past my father to do something like that as well. I swear, living together with either of them makes you age prematurely.”

“You don’t really grow older, you know that right?” Atlas commented. “It’s physically impossible.”

“Mentally,” Celestia sighed. “I meant mentally, father.”

“Ah, yeah, I guess that’s possible,” Atlas shrugged. “Also, please stop looking at me like that, Luna. It was nothing but a prank and I’m sorry, okay? Come here.”

Atlas opened up his forelegs wide, inviting the seemingly thunderstruck Luna to another hug. He patiently waited for her to move, until she finally started to carefully move towards him, like a stray puppy whose trust Atlas was trying to gain. He wrapped her into a loving hug, into which Luna eventually seemed to melt.

“You’ll find out that there is more to my words than you probably think,” Atlas said cryptically, causing Luna to tense up a little in his embrace and Celestia let out a frustrated groan.

“Please, for the love of god and all that’s holy!” Celestia exclaimed. “Just for once in your life, could you just tell us what’s going on and what you’re planning instead of hiding behind smokes and mirrors and pulling stupid shit like just now?”

It was obvious that Celestia had reached the end of her patience, and everypony in the room could feel it. All decorum had left the body of their ruler and what was left behind was little more than a tired mare. Atlas seemed to consider her words for a few seconds, before finally nodding.

“Alright, after that stunt we just pulled, I guess I owe you at least that much…” Atlas said carefully. “Once again from the start then. The one who unleashed Discord upon Equestria was none other than me.”

“You’re repeating yourself,” Celestia said.

“Yes, but I was afraid you might be thinking that was part of the joke too,” Atlas replied. “I can assure you that this is one-hundred percent fact. Well, technically Discord unleashed himself, I just allowed him to do so.”

“Huh?” Celestia let out a confused noise.

“Yes, you’ve all heard that right,” Atlas confirmed. “In order for me to find you and for you both to become alicorns, Discord's reign was a necessary. So we made it happen.”

“Excuse me for a moment,” Rainbow Dash interjected. “You mean to tell us, just to lure out Celestia and Luna, you doomed an entire country to live in misery for years? Not cool dude…”

“Let’s be perfectly honest here,” Atlas countered. “We operated under the principle that nopony would die during his reign, and I’m proud to say that nopony died aside from natural causes. At most they were slightly inconvenienced during their day to day lives. Seriously. An upside down house might be weird to look at, but does it really matter if the gravity inside is reversed as well? It was basically little more than a nation wide, long-term prank that was mandatory for the entire population.”

“Oh… that’s…” Rainbow Dash staggered with her response. “Okay, it might not have been that bad, but still, not cool.”

“Nopony died? What about our parents?” Celestia said, barely loud enough that everypony could hear.

“You know just as well as I do that that wasn’t Discord’s fault,” Atlas deadpanned. “Your parents died because of a combination of Cockatrice petrification and Luna’s surge. I know it might sound a bit cruel right now, but it’s a fact and I can’t have you blame Discord for something he didn’t do.”

Celestia seemed like she wanted to retort, but realized that she only said that due to the shock of the revelation. She had been riding an emotional rollercoaster during the past half-hour or so and was just about ready to derail, which seemed to cloud her judgement

“Besides, Discord is your brother, so I need you three to play nice with each other from now on,” Atlas said.

For what felt like the tenth time since Atlas entered the room, everypony's mind was thoroughly blown, which almost seemed to become a regular thing when Atlas was present. Atlas received a plethora of blank, unbelieving stares, Luna lifted her head up and away from Atlas’ shoulder, glancing between her father and her ‘brother.’

“Discord is what?” Luna asked with a scrunched up muzzle.

“I adopted Discord, just like I did with you two, so he’s like an adopted brother,” Atlas said. “I love all of you like you’re my own, and I’d hate for you to continue an old feud, even if that is somewhat redundant, now that Discord has been ‘reformed’, I guess.”

“That’s… a lot to take in…” Luna replied. “And I’m not sure I can take a lot more of these life-changing bombs you seem to drop like candies today, father.”

“Don’t worry, there’s just, like, one more,” Atlas patted Luna’s head. “Maybe two.”

Luna took a deep breath at the revelation while a soft groan could be heard from Celestia's general direction. Twilight and her friends as well as the guards were starting to feel like they had become bystanders at some point, and without exception, were wondering if they should even be allowed to hear any of these important informations.

“Now that you finally know our dark and secret past, I think it’s time to drop the curtain on Equestria’s greatest stage play, don’t you think so as well, Discord?”, Atlas smiled towards his son, which replied in kind.

“I’ve been waiting for over a thousand years for this moment, dear father,” Discord replied.

“Then without further ado, might I introduce to you: Discord!” Atlas got up and presented Discord in an overdone fashion. “He has been playing his role as the God of Chaos, also known as the Mad King, for now well over a thousand years. He never broke character once, and everypony has been thoroughly fooled by his masterful performance. This concludes this play, and if you’d like, I’m sure Discord would be more than happy to autograph whatever you want once this discussion is over. Applaud!”

Atlas started to applaud Discords magnificent performance by clopping his front hooves on the floor. That is how ponies do. It took a few moments, but Twilight and her friends as well as the present guards, started to awkwardly join in, their applause seeming not too genuine. Yet, Discord was basking in it nonetheless, bowing for everypony and thanking them over and over again, while his sisters just looked on with a blank stare.

“Thank you! Thank you!” Discord said while bowing. “I’ll be here all week.”

“Truly a wonderful performance,” Atlas commented while the applause was dying down. “Now, it has been a long, long time, Discord, don’t you think? So, now that we don’t have to pretend to be mortal enemies anymore, why don’t you come over here and give your old man an big old hug?”

“There’s nothing I’d rather do right now, dad,” Discord said, a nostalgic smile on his face. “It’s good to finally be able to stop being the chaos god I’ve played for so long, yet I’m afraid that I’ve somewhat become what I’ve been pretending to be…”

“No matter, you’re still and will always be my son,” Atlas waved Discord off. “Now get over here!”

Happy that his father would accept him, even if he had changed a lot since they had last seen each other, Discord went in for the hug. Both of them were holding back some incredibly manly tears, and everypony looking on could really tell just how much they had to love each other, which was enough to prove to them that Atlas words were spoken true this time.

“I can’t believe you’d do something like this to your own son,” Twilight said baffled.

“You know, Twilight,” Celestia said. “He didn’t actually ask us if we wanted to be alicorns either, he just kinda made us.”

“Actually,” Atlas said with Discord now completely coiled around him, only his head sticking out from the mass of chaos. “This was all Discord’s idea… technically.”

“He’s right, you know?” Discord said while holding up a single talon on his claw hand.

“Also, I don’t think you’re in a place to shame me for making you alicorns without asking first,” Atlas commented with a raised eyebrow. “Hey Twilight, did Celestia ask if you wanted to be an alicorn or did she just go ahead and do it?”

“She…Umm…” Twilight stammered looking towards her mentor. “She kinda didn’t…” She added, letting her head fall a bit.

“See? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, am I right?” Atlas let one of his hooves appear from between Discord’s coils, which was promptly high-fived by said Draconequus.

Luna smiled at the dynamic Atlas and Discord seemed to have, the two complementing each other perfectly, and got a little jealous.

“So to summarize,” Twilight spoke up. “You two plunged Equestria into an age of chaos in order to create the two alicorns, Celestia and Luna, just so that Equestria would prosper at a later date?”

“I’d say that’s a pretty accurate summary, yes,” Atlas confirmed. “While Equestria had united under the banner of harmony, it was still not truly unified. By giving them a common enemy and a saviour to rally under, the ponies finally put down their differences for good, which allowed Equestria to come into existence. Although, I’d say that Starswirl helped out a lot too. Where is the old badger anyway?”

“You knew Starswirl?” Twilight asked, a glitter appearing in her eyes, as always when her idol was mentioned.

“Well, yeah,” Atlas said. “He was kind of my partner in crime for a long time. So, what is it Celestia? Did he finally resolve his little issue and kicked the bucket?”

“His situation is a bit… special, to say the least,” Celestia said, trying to avoid the topic. “Suffice to say that he currently isn’t present. I shall tell you more once there are less ears in the room…”

“Starswirl is still alive?” Twilight exclaimed incredulously. “That’s huge news.”

“Well, is he?” Atlas asked. “Or did he just make his little problem into a big problem?” He added with a chuckle.

“A little bit of both I’d say…” Celestia replied, making it clear she wasn’t going into more detail at the moment.”

“So I trust he took good care of you two?” Atlas asked, kind of curious about this bit of information.

“Yes, definitely,” Celestia said, which was confirmed by Luna. “He was our court magician for hundreds of years and helped us out whenever he could. He actually developed a wide plethora of new spells in his time, so much so that we have an entire library dedicated to his works. There’s even a few scrolls that are only accessible by you, if he is to be believed. I’ll have to show them to you later.”

“Now that’s an interesting development right there,” Atlas said happily. “I’ll be looking forward to what he thought up in that crazy brain of his.”

“I’m sure whatever it is will make you really happy and cause a lot of trouble for us, considering what the two of you created before,” Celestia sighed. “But as much as I love all this small-talk, this whole conversation is starting to take a toll on all of us, I believe. Would you care to share with us the real reason why you’ve finally returned, and why you wanted to see Twilight?”

“I guess I can’t put it off any longer,” Atlas sighed. “The final countdown has begun, after all. Then, without further ado, the true reason for my return.”

Everypony sat up a little straighter, making sure to listen closely to what was about to be said. After the crazy revelations that lead up to this, the next one was bound to be a real doozy.

“Twilight Sparkle!” Atlas shouted militaristically, accusingly. “You are responsible for destroying everything I have worked for in the past one-thousand four-hundred and thirty-six years!”