//------------------------------// // 14. Final Destination // Story: Divine Intervention // by Orthoros //------------------------------// Pre-chapter Authors Note Due to this chapter being the climax of the story, I made it "slightly" longer, so that you can enjoy the whole thing without awkward breaks or cliffhangers. Please read the note at the end for more information on a few things happening in this chapter, as well as the future of this story. Now, without further ado: Please enjoy! Atlas awoke softly, the first thing reaching his ears a cacophony of sounds coming from the sole window occupying his room. The sound was reassuring, as it implied that ponies had diligently continued to work while he retreated for some well earned rest. He took a few deep breaths and let the world be for a few seconds longer before opening his eyes and moving to get up from his comfortable bed. As soon as his hooves connected to the crystalline floor a slight feeling of anxiousness threatened to take over. A feeling, that was wrestled down as quickly as it came. After stretching his limbs to get the blood flowing through them properly he trotted over to the window to see what was going on outside. The window conveniently faced the field where the array was located, providing him with a position where he could easily overlook the whole thing. Ponies of all shapes, sizes, and colors flitted all over the place, setting up mana conductors at extremely specified positions along the runes. Others seemed to be gathered around tables which contained unfurled scrolls that showed them the details of what they were working on, and in the center of the multicolored maelstroem of ponies was a solitary blue speck. Luna commanded the small battalion from the center of the array, unmoving amidst a stream of activity. She was practically surrounded by floating scrolls and books, barking out orders for her little lemmings to follow, and they did as their princess bid. A smile appeared on Atlas face as he took a few moments to simply watch, trying to banish the feeling trying to make itself known in the back of his head. Being nervous would do nobody any good today, for today was where everything finally went down. Eleven days ago Atlas had met with the top mages the country had, and for the eleven days thereafter, all of them had worked themselves to the bone for him. The activation of the array was now mere hours away and everypony seemed to be in hyper-mega-overdrive as they went over last-minute preparations. All of them, except for Atlas. Seeing as today was the day where they either rang in a new era for ponykind or ended up as less than dust in the wind, it was universally agreed upon that Atlas would have to rest up properly in preparation for the event. Since all of the burden rested on his shoulders for actually casting all the spells required to activate the array, having him in anything short of peak condition was deemed unthinkable. Taking his eyes of the busy anthill below him, Atlas turned around, intent on getting some food into his belly. Luna had practically forbidden him from lifting so much as a hoof to help until it was finally time, going so far as to threaten to magically tie him down somewhere and/or rolling him up in a rug should he not comply. A notion seconded by her traitorous sister which had arrived two days ago. Breaking out of their spells would not have been hard, but he got the point and didn’t want to waste even a single bit of mana, lest he’d be short by one in the end. Thinking about it, he should really stop the ponies outside from using up to much of theirs. Smirking an evil smirk, as evil ponies do, he sent out a small magical shockwave. The actual spell took barely any effort or mana to cast, and had an effective range of merely a few feet. What was amusing about it was that it caused a chain reaction all around the point of origin, displacing the mana in the air and causing it to vibrate in a way mana really… shouldn’t. Similar to dominoes falling over, the reaction went for quite a way, give or take a mile. Funnily enough, this caused unicorn horns to tingle. The unexpected sensation was enough to make most unicorns drop the spells they were casting. It only applied to spells that were performed with minimal mental effort, though, which usually meant levitation. He could hear numerous yelps from outside as he passed the halls on his way to breakfast, causing him to chuckle. Even if it was a bit mean spirited, there was no doubt in his mind that Luna would get the hint and make sure that magic use was cut down to a minimum from this point onwards, but just to make sure he sent a short mental message, alongside an apology, to confirm. The miniscule amounts of mana he just used would be replenished within the hour. He finally arrived at the dining room closest to his room, strolling over to the nearest seat available as a maid already approached him, ready to take whatever order he had. The room was completely empty, save for the two. Everypony else was currently out and about going after their own tasks. “Good morning Lord Atlas,” the maid addressed him. “How may I serve you today.” Atlas grumbled a bit when he was addressed as Lord. Celestia had pulled a sneaky on him and added to his already existing titles at some point and it annoyed him to no end. He didn’t know what titles he held by now, only that he didn’t want any of them. Yet, making the live of a simple maid difficult by going off on a rant would help nopony. “Just some cheese sandwiches and a glass of Apple Juice if you don’t mind,” Atlas replied. “Certainly,” the maid didn’t waste any time, bowing curtly and excusing herself through another door, most likely leading towards the kitchens. Atlas didn’t pay her much mind, his thoughts instead lingering on the task at hand. At this point he had done all he could, really, and all that was left for him to do was cast the spell and hope for the best. There was not a single shred of doubt in him about whether or not the spell would work. Luna and him had checked the array again and again to the point of exhaustion, and it was truly flawless. The only uncertainty at this point was the ridiculous amount of mana needed to power a spell of such magnitude. According to the calculations, it should barely be enough. But seeing as these calculations relied mostly on guesswork and estimations, they had to be taken with a grain of salt. The maid returned in short order with a plate holding his breakfast of choice, which Atlas accepted thankfully, before retreating towards the door again, ready to be called at a moments notice. Atlas bit into his first sandwich sighing inwardly. He should have specified that he wanted mayonnaise instead of butter, but it’s not like this was the end of the world. Atlas chuckled dryly at his dumb sense of humor and continued eating at a leisurely pace while mentally going over his to-do list. Luna and Celestia may have forbidden him from working, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t thoroughly prepare himself. He would go back to his study after finishing his breakfast and go over the spells he would need to cast. After that he would make the rounds for one final check of everything. Satisfied with his plan of action, he started on his second sandwich. Atlas watched as various ponies filed into the meeting room he currently occupied. He was sitting at the head of a table, a blackboard behind him, chock-full of notes with barely any space left to write on. The first to enter were the various princesses of Equestria, with Luna and Celestia moving to take up their seats on either side of him, Cadance and Twilight not far behind. The rest of the table was split between the Elements of Harmony on one side and the strongest mages on the other, while Captain Shining Armor took up position next to the door. Once everyone was seated and greeted, Atlas begun the meeting. “I know I already checked earlier, and everything seemed to be going smoothly, but just to be sure: What’s our status?” “We have completed everything in an orderly fashion and triple checked everything, at the very least,” Luna answered, shuffling through a huge pile of papers in front of her while checking for everything she might’ve missed. “The citizens are currently being herded towards the array and their assigned positions in preparation for the spell and the task should be finished on time as well.” “Good,” Atlas closed his eyes and nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. He took a moment to fight down the funny feeling in his stomach before opening them again, looking over the ponies who had helped him so much. “First off, I’d like to thank everypony here for their hard work and help. “Each and every one of us has given this project all they got and then some, in order to see it come to fruition. I think it’s no secret that I never wanted to drag anypony else into this mess, so seeing all of you step forward so willingly and help, really means a lot to me. In just under an hour, I’ll start casting the spell that will decide our fate, and I just want you to know, regardless of the outcome that it was an honor having met all of you. “Even if I might come over as pessimistic sometimes, I don’t want to do something stupid like saying goodbye “just in case”. I believe that we’ll pull this off and be able to enjoy a humongous party that Pinkie no doubt will throw for us,” the pink party pony nodded fervently. “I’m also not one for big speeches, so I’ll cut this short. We’ve all done what could be done, so I want you all to enjoy some well earned rest before we begin. Thanks again for all your help, and I’ll see you outside later.” The room was filled with a subdued cheer, followed by everypony present acknowledging Atlas words and thanking him in turn. Not wanting to waste any time, the mages filed out the room first, which prompted everypony else to leave as well, until only Atlas, Celestia, and Luna remained in their respective seats. “Father,” Celestia spoke after a few silent moments. “How do you feel?” Atlas looked at the table in front of him while contemplating the question. “I’m nervous,” he answered slowly. “I might put on a show of confidence before everypony, but the truth is… I really have no clue whether this will work or not. In theory, everything is fine, but there’s just no absolute way of knowing if we’ll be able to gather enough mana to properly power the array. It’s a close shave no matter how you look at it.” Atlas spilled his thoughts out now that they were in private. He was reluctant to let anypony know just nerve wracking this all was for him, but if he could tell anypony at all, it was his family. For a second everything was still, before he heard shuffling to either side of him, finding himself in the loving embrace of his daughters shortly thereafter. “You’re not alone,” Celestia whispered to his left. “We’re all here for you, no matter what.” “We’ll always be,” Luna added from his right. “No matter where you go.” “For what it’s worth, I’m also here,” A tiny Discord appeared in Atlas mane and hugged his horn. “You know I’d never leave you hanging.” Atlas chuckled at Disords antics while he could feel some of his anxiousness melt out of him. The embrace he found himself in was warm, in more ways than one, causing him to relax just a little bit. He let his guard down because he felt he could do so without causing anypony to worry or judge him. He might have told himself time and time again that this was something he had to do alone, yet here he was. This whole plain of existence existed because of him, and now it faced total annihilation because of a tiny mistake Atlas once made. He fought alone to get to this point, using the ponies around him to further his plans. But now that everything came crashing down on him, his new family was there to reassure him that he was anything but alone. They remained there until it was almost time to leave, and in the presence of the ones he loved, Atlas found the place where he belonged. Zeus stared at the figure in front of him with a scowl, the lightning bolt he summoned illuminated the surroundings nicely so he got a good look at Hermes’ face. There seemed to be equal parts sadness and smugness present on it, which resulted in a rather impressive facial expression. “Oh, I’m not confident at all,” Hermes waved Zeus’s statement away. “After all, you’re King of the gods, the allfather, the almighty Zeus. How could a lowly god, such as I, possibly hope to meet you in battle and do anything aside from perish?” Taken aback by Hermes’ statement, Zeus lowered the bolt in his hand, but didn’t quite dispell it yet. He expected a fight and all he got was a god that wasn’t even on guard against him, almost as if he wouldn’t even try to defend himself, should he be attacked. Furrowing his brows he took one step forward, gouging Hermes’ reaction. “What is your deal?” Zeus asked skeptically after a small smile appeared on Hermes’ face. “Are you going to stop me or not.” “Oh no,” Hermes shook his head. “I wouldn’t think of standing in the way of your glorious plan. By all means,” Hermes took a step to the side and made an inviting gesture towards Atlas’ prison. “Go ahead.” Zeus was still on edge, but time was of the essence here and he couldn’t waste anymore of it by talking to this idiot. He carefully started moving towards the prison, making sure to not leave Hermes’ ever-smiling figure out of his eyes. It didn’t take long for him to reach his destination, so he held out his hand above the sphere held by the miniature Atlas, once again looking for any reaction from Hermes. Seeing that Hermes hadn’t done anything yet, aside from lean against the marble pillar behind him, Zeus took the plunge and set his hand on the sphere, giving the mental command to activate the inscribed array at the same time. He was prepared to feel power rush through him which would undoubtedly be accompanied by copious amounts of pain, a byproduct of forcefully fusing two powerful souls. What he wasn’t prepared for, was the contraption below him to crumble into dust, so he stumbled as his weight wasn’t caught and his hand fell straight down and to the table. A look of confusion and shock crossed his face before being replaced with anger almost immediately. “What is the meaning of this?!” Zeus bellowed towards the still smiling Hermes. “What did you do?” “Oh, nothing much,” Hermes gestured towards the massive table as hundreds of identical looking statues appeared on it, some even sitting in the chairs. “I might have made a few fakes of the prison, though. I must admit they look quite convincing.” Zeus’s right eye twitched as he looked at the statues overflowing on the nearly thirty foot long table. Filled with anger he swiped at the closest one, only to have it turn to dust as well. He tried a few times more, turning whole swaths of statues to nothing as he simply swiped his arms over the table only to come up empty. “Stop this trickery at once!” Zeus shouted with bulging veins around his neck. “I don’t have time to play your games, Hermes!” “Where would be the fun in that?” Hermes chuckled. “I assure you, the original is hidden somewhere in here, as I’m sure you can tell, since you’ve got that stupid tracking spell on it. I bet you regret not making it more accurate, don’t you?” “Enough!” Zeus cried and summoned another lightning bolt, launching it straight at Hermes before he could even react. The resulting explosion shook the whole room and only left behind a crater where once a proud pillar stood. “A valiant try, I give you that,” Hermes’ voice said behind Zeus. “But I’m actually over here.” Shouting out his frustration Zeus turned around and immediately launched another bolt at Hermes. “You know,” another bolt crashed into Hermes who reappeared somewhere else. “You really need to work on your temper,” another bolt hit. “It’s not healthy to be angry all the time,” another explosion. Zeus stood at the head of the table, his breath heavy from anger. His eyes were scanning the whole room for Hermes’ form. Dispelling his illusions would be easy enough if he just knocked out his adversary, and at this point he didn’t care if Hermes’ died or not. He had betrayed him after all. As he searched, Hermes stepped out from behind a still standing marble pillar, but to add injury to insult, multiple copies of the god emerged from every pillar in the room. “You know, you might be a lot faster than Hades,” Hermes voice rang out from all around Zeus. “But as we’re talking, he is making his way here, and once he does, you lose. And every second you waste with me, is a second we get closer to winning.” One of the Hermes copies sat in a chair before Zeus and idly turned one of the statues over in his hand, admiring the craftsmanship. A furious cry rang out before several explosions rocked the room as Zeus eliminated both copies of Hermes and statues in droves in a bout to find the original of either. He knew time was running short and he needed to find the statue soon, or he would be in serious trouble. While this was happening, Hades ran towards the palace as fast as he could. The explosions he heard coming from it lightening his mood all the way, as he knew the plan they had concocted was working. Atlas approached the edge of the rune array, overlooking the the location of his final stand one last time before he started. Behind him stood his daughters, his son, Princess Cadance and her husband, as well as the elements of harmony, all waiting for him to move, yet patiently giving him the time he needed to prepare. The din of conversation rang out all over, as a massive amount of ponies casually held conversations on the array. The weather was perfect, thanks to the local pegasi, a warm breeze caressing their furs. He looked up into the sky, seeing the sun and the moon far above them, the celestial bodies being visible at the same time courtesy of Celestia and Luna and per his request. The whole population of Ponyville was here, their numbers bolstered even further by renowned mages and notable ponies with large mana-pools. Over the span of the past few hours they had been herded onto the array according to the affinity to mana they had. Several circular arrays were spread around the larger platform which now contained a few thousand ponies, most of them not too happy about the cramped arrangements. Still, they didn’t complain, for they knew how important the procedure was and freely offering their help, time, and mana for the cause. As soon as the first few ponies noticed Atlas’ group approaching a hush swept over the ponies, all conversations coming to a grinding halt as they all looked at the new arrivals. And even though Atlas knew most of them couldn’t even see him right now due to other ponies being in the way, he still felt their stares on his form, a cold shiver running up his spine. He found two reassuring wings on his back, as well as a bear paw, causing him to look back. Celestia, Luna, and Discord stood around him, their warm eyes reassuring him that they were all there for him. Atlas took a deep breath, fighting down the severe anxiety that threatened to overtake him by taking solace in the presence of the ponies who loved him. No words were exchanged between them, for everything that needed saying had already been said. With one final mental push, Atlas willed himself to take a step forward. Once he got moving, the act became a lot easier for him. He moved past scores of ponies that watched him like a hawk, making his way to the very center of the formation. Once there, he took up residence in the center of an array that was about twenty feet in diameter. His entourage each moved to their own designated arrays around him. Theirs were a lot smaller, barely big enough to contain their forms. Seeing as all of them had vast amounts of mana at their beck and call, or were at least somewhat connected to something of the like, personal arrays had been made for them to ensure the proper extraction of their mana. Atlas turned around in a circle once, making eye contact with each of them and getting a confident nod back, signaling that everything was ready. Satisfied, and aware that he could no longer prolong this, even if he wanted to, he signaled Luna to start, which she wasted no time in doing. “Citizens of Equestria!” her magically amplified voice sounded out. Her voice was being broadcast to every array location throughout the country by means of Discord, so that everypony could hear her. “As well as everyone from foreign countries who so graciously offered up their help in these trying times! The spell is about to begin in earnest, so please prepare yourselves accordingly. To reiterate once again, most of your mana will be drained during the course of the spell, leaving you weak and maybe a bit nauseous. “Contrary to the time Tirek ran amok through Equestria, not all of it will be taken and you should be back to normal within a few hours. Please do not try to leave your assigned arrays for whatever reason, as that could cause the spell to malfunction. We the Crown of Equestria, thank you for your service.” Discord gave Atlas the go-ahead as he confirmed that the message had properly reached all of the arrays and that everything was ready to go at all locations. Atlas in turn, nodded his understanding and closed his eyes. A pit was present in his stomach and he had the nervous shivers, almost feeling cold in a way. Once more, he took a few seconds for himself, trying to calm himself down with some controlled breathing. Once he was reasonably sure that he was ready, his horn lit up, officially starting the spell that would change the course of this world forever. Zeus was growing desperate as he eliminated fake after fake, seemingly making no progress whatsoever. His frazzled mind went into a state of panic as he threw bolt after bolt of lightning at everything he could see, leaving the once proud hall as a barren wasteland riddled with craters. The mighty pillars that held up the roof were on the verge of collapse, threatening to crash down their charge. The magnificent table was little more than sawdust at this point and fake statues littered the ground, each destroyed one seemingly leaving behind two new ones. In a weird moment of clarity, Zeus realized that he needed to take out everything in one go, or he would be defeated without problem. He stopped his mindless rampage and focused on his powers. Lightning started dancing over his form as he practically began glowing with electricity. A dull thrum filled the hall, causing twenty Hermes’s to frown in unison, before Zeus discharged his full might into the room. A massive explosion rocked the palace as a shockwave race along every inch of space in the hall, carrying with it the destructive might of Zeus’s wrath. What was left behind was a panting Zeus, as well as an unconscious Hermes, that got thrown into a nearby wall. Much to his satisfaction, no more copies popped up to annoy him. Happy with the results, his eyes frantically scanned the vicinity for the object of his desire, smugly noting that the fake statues had vanished as well. Not finding it immediately, he bagan running around with cold sweat running down his back, looking in the shadows of the rare, still intact pillar and other possible places. Until finally, he spotted it. In the far corner of the hall, a faint glow could be seen emerging from some rubble that was pushed there from his outburst. Giddy and panicked at the same time, Zeus ran for it, intent on digging out the statue and completing the ritual before Hades had a chance to show up. He practically blasted the obstruction out of the way, finally spotting the prison containing Atlas. Eagerly he lifted the statue at the base, put his hand on the sphere sitting on top and gave the mental command to start the process of transferring Atlas’ soul… Only for nothing to happen. Confused he gave the command again, yet being met with the same results. “No, no, no, no, no… This can’t be happening…” Zeus gave the command again and again, being met with failure every time he did so. A resounding clap could be heard, and he watched in horror as a small crack formed on the sphere, soon being joined by others that snaked around the surface. It didn’t take long before the whole thing splintered into thousands of shards, falling to the floor in front of a gobsmacked Zeus. He fell to his knees, unable to believe what was happening, and almost as if in a trance, started picking up the pieces, convincing himself that he could just glue it back together or something. His shaky hands tried fitting together two shards as he heard a small chuckle behind him, following by a hacking cough. Slowly he turned around, facing Hermes, who was limply sitting against the wall. “You should see your face right now,” Hermes smirked. “Absolutely priceless.” “What did you do?” Zeus asked weakly, feeling defeated, yet wanting to know how he was tricked so easily. “Just a little bait and switch,” Hermes coughed while doing some peculiar movements with his hands, causing another statue to appear in them, the prison still intact. Zeus couldn’t believe what he saw at first. How could he, after being so thoroughly played for the past few minutes. Hermes saw Zeus’s uncertainty and laughed again, much to the protest of his aching body. “I assure you, this is the real one, I’m afraid I don’t really have the energy for an more shenanigans at this point,” Hermes said, causing a flicker of hope to appear in Zeus’s eyes. “But even if you know where it is now… I do think you have other things to worry about.” Hermes pointed towards the door with a calm smile, causing Zeus to slowly look over. There, in the doorway, stood Hades. A grateful look was sent towards Hermes, before he focused on Zeus again. The two stared at each other for a few infinite seconds, as the realization settled in for both of them. This was their final confrontation. Atlas slowly powered up the array around him, taking care to not do it too fast or too slow. This first part of the spell was solely powered by his own mana, and although he had done this a million times before, he felt as if he was doing it for the first time. A purple glow spread out underneath him, slowly lighting up rune after rune to the “oohs” and “aahs” of the present ponies. Once the array around him was completely lit up Atlas activated it with a gulp. From here on out, a lot of the spell would work on its own. Everything was automated, except the casting of the actual spell. Atlas would function as the funnel through which the collected mana travelled, empowering him to cast the otherwise impossible spell. Ideally, this part would also be handled by a different array, but there simply hadn’t been enough time, leaving Atlas to manually cast it as the only option. Almost immediately, the rest of the massive array around him lit up as well, startling quite a few ponies as their world was suddenly bathed in purple. Atlas felt the connection being established as mana started to pour in, not only from around him, but from all around Equestria. Slowly, multi-colored tendrils of mana started travelling from each of the princesses and the elements, snaking their way from them to Atlas. Each of them had agreed to work as funnels for the incoming mana, to lessen the strain on Atlas at least a little bit. Depending on the pony, they were funneling more or less, but every little bit counted in this scenario. Soon he was surrounded by a multitude of magical beams connecting with him and he felt power rushing through him. Satisfied that the first stage of the spell had gone off without a hitch, Atlas finally re-opened his eyes, which were now glowing a blinding white. He, once more, directed his gaze upwards before a large beam of pure white magic shot out of his horn, travelling straight up at incredible speeds. It climbed up higher than any pony could imagine, ultimately slamming into the surface of the moon. At this point, the only other uncertainty aside from the amount of mana came into play. Over a thousand years ago, when Atlas left the fletchling kingdom, he handed a small letter to Luna containing instructions. They predicted that Luna would eventually find herself on the moon for some reason or other, and if she did, she was to create an array on its surface. After his return to civilization a few weeks ago, he had asked Luna again and again if she had managed to do so, hungry for confirmation that his back-up plan was in place. Much to his relief, Luna had seemingly been able to escape the nightmares control for short times every now and again, during which she managed to complete the array drawn on the instructions. If she had made any mistakes during its creation, be it due to her simply misremembering a single rune or simple negligence on her part, mattered little. If anything was wrong, the whole spell would die right then and there and they would be doomed. Atlas currently couldn’t afford to care, though, so he soldiered on, completely trusting in his daughters words and abilities. Even though the moon was far away, he could feel the feedback of the array slowly activating. He furrowed his brow in concentration as he felt for even the tiniest discrepancy during the process, only releasing the breath he was holding when it activated completely. The array on the moon was technically out-dated, and all things considered not that pivotal in the success of the spell. But it allowed Atlas to use the moon as a sort of catalyst through which he could cast the spell, and since it was a lot closer to where Atlas assumed the “walls” of his prison to be, it would make things a lot easier. With the preparations for the casting of the actual spell finally complete, Atlas went about his demanding task. Careful not to make any mistakes, he manipulated the torrents of mana passing through him expertly, just as he had theorized and practiced over and over again. For a few minutes seemingly nothing happened, which made the ponies around him worry that something had gone awry. “Up there! In the sky!” An unknown pony shouted out, causing everypony to crane their necks upwards. Next to the moon, a massive, purple rune was starting to appear, easily dwarfing both celestial bodies. Atlas had been feeling around for, and finally found his prison-walls, and had now started to etch an array into them. As Hyas had taught him many, many years ago, the only way to escape the fate laid out for him, was to destroy the prison from the inside. According to him, destroying these “walls”, which were the connecting factor between Atlas’ old world and this dimension, would make it impossible for either side to interact with each other ever again. This, of course, would strand Atlas in Equestria, but would also protect the denizens of this world. Slowly but surely, the first rune in the sky was joined by another, and the ponies watched in awe as the sky was being filled with the unfamiliar objects. Twilights jaw had been permanently unhinged ever since the spell started and had almost lost control over her task several times already. A sentiment shared by everypony with said task, aside from Celestia, Luna, and Discord which dutifully funneled all the mana they could, occasionally helping to stabilize the flow of others when it became unstable. The amounts of mana that Atlas was channeling was mind boggling, and every second that passed meant an incredible amount of mana spent. It didn’t take long for him to burn through the mana he had stored in the mountains, or rather, what was left of it. Which mean he had to start draining the ponies of Equestria. As soon as he started supplementing some of the mana this way, a visible lurch went through the crowd. Atlas was making good time on his spell, but seeing that he had to switch mana sources so soon just reminded him that he needed to speed it up a bit, or he wouldn’t be able to finish. More and more runes littered the sky, and it didn’t take long for them to fill up every visible piece of blue. Of course, he was continuing to add runes in places that couldn’t be seen from Ponyville, in order to cover the prison-walls evenly. It didn’t take long before this source of mana ran dry as well, the ponies around him weakly lying on the floor while looking up at the spectacle. They were a bit winded, but no worse for wear, and Atlas switched over to the last available source he had. With their duties of funneling mana fulfilled, it was the princesses and the elements turn to supply what they had. Aside from the alicorns and Discord who had massive mana pools to begin with, Twilight's friends still shared a connection with the elements of harmony. By exploiting that connection a bit and using Twilight’s castle as an impromptu lightning rod for mana, he was able to extract some of the ambient mana from all over Equestria, albeit in very limited quantities. Atlas cast his spell tirelessly and as fast as he could, adding rune after rune to the array in the sky. With a scary efficiency the array grew, getting closer and closer to being completed. Yet, the closer he got to finishing his spell, a slow realization made itself known in the back of his head. The nagging feeling grew larger and larger, together with the array, until a cold hard fact washed over his entire being. “There won’t be enough mana…” Atlas thought as a cold shiver ran down his spine. Hades exchanged violent blows with Zeus, the force of their fists connecting with their targets causing the walls around them to tremor, endangering the already unstable roof. Both of them had mostly forgone using the powers of their domain directly, one for the fear of accidentally destroying the prison and the other for accidentally killing off the unconscious Hermes. Still, every now and again lightning arced through the room when opportunity presented itself, which was usually dodged by Hades or swallowed by a vortex of pure darkness. No words were shared between the two opponents as fist after fist slammed into flesh. Nothing more remained to be said, and everything they wanted to convey would be transmitted through their fists. The slugfest lastet for several tense minutes, the both of them seemingly equally matched. Their whole bodies ached and bled, but for all the pain inflicted, none of them showed any signs of slowing down or giving up. Right up until the moment Zeus slipped on a small puddle of blood on the floor. It was only a split-second, but he lost his balance, which was all the invitation Hades needed. Putting all his strength into his next move, Hades rammed his fist into Zeus’s unguarded stomach, causing him to stumble and gasp for air. The presented opening was promptly exploited by an uppercut that sent Zeus flying into the wall behind him. Hades eased up a bit, relaxing his stance, as he watched his adversary sail away and crumple to a heap where he landed, unmoving. Cautiously, Hades approached the body, keeping a sharp eye out for any suspicious movements from the thunder god. Just to make sure, he sent out a powerful kick into Zeus’s prone form. Aside from the body ragdolling into the wall once more, nothing else happened, and after another few tense seconds, Hades relaxed and and sighed deeply. He had finally won and all that remained to do now was deal with Zeus. The moment Hades relaxed, the prone Zeus exploded into action, using the last of his powers to give himself a boost. Having taken a trick out of Hermes’s book, he tried his hands at deceiving Hades, letting him think he had won. Desperately running towards the unconscious Hermes, and the prisons location, Zeus capitalized on the opening he had created for himself. He heard a gasp behind him as Hades registered what was happening, but it was all too late. A smile spread over Zeus’s face as he got ever closer to his coveted price. Not wanting to take any risks, he practically threw himself the last few feet, diving towards the sphere with an outstretched arm. With about as much grace as a stranded whale, Zeus flew through the air towards his victory as time seemed to slow to a crawl around him. A feeling of pure ecstasy spreading throughout him as he felt the tip of his middle finger make contact with the cold material of the cage. Mentally proclaiming victory with a maniacal laugh, Zeus gave the command to start the transfer. Atlas felt the world around him lurch to a stop. At this point his awareness was spread out almost all over the world as he worked on the array, almost unable to register what was going on around his physical body. But when his worst fears came true and the steady supply of mana suddenly ceased to come, he almost threw up. His mind was rapidly being pulled back into his body, the sensation of it slamming back into its shell caused him to take a few steps back from where he stood. The world spun around him as another wave of nausea washed over him, causing him to close his eyes and sit down in an attempt to steady himself. All the while the fact that he had failed seeped into his very being. The single most important moment of his life had come and passed, and left him standing on the losing side of history. A part of him was still in disbelief, his subconsciousness practically forbidding him from opening his eyes to meet the disappointed stares from the whole population of Ponyville, the elements… and his family. The longer he took, the worse the feeling got. Feeling tears fighting their way out, he finally gave up and opened his eyes to face the ponies he had doomed. The first thing he saw was Celestia, as her position in the array had been straight ahead of him. Meeting her gaze, Atlas felt a shock going through his body, causing him to reflexively avert his eyes, immediately followed by furrowing his brows in confusion. Once again, Atlas looked up, this time taking in his surroundings. It seemed as if a black and white filter had been superimposed over the world, robbing it of all it’s wonderful colors and leaving it as a empty husk. A second glance revealed that time itself, had seemingly come to a complete stop, as not a single being around him moved. Even the mana streams connecting him to the others were frozen in mid-air. Confused about what was happening Atlas got back on his hooves, despite still feeling nauseous, and took a few tentative steps towards Celestia. Upon reaching her still form, he prodded her chest with a reluctant hoof, the sensation being akin to touching a slab of cold, hard metal. With a surprised yelp, he drew back his hoof and stumbled back over his own legs, falling hard. He scrambled back to a standing position, looking around in a panic. Nothing around him moved. He could feel no wind caressing his fur, and worst of all, it was cold. Was this the cause of him failing his task? Had the world already been put to an end? Was his soul about to be ripped apart? Had he truly failed? Thousands of questions raced through Atlas mind and he started to hyperventilate. He spun around in circles, frantically looking for any sign of movement, any sign of life, anything that would prove his suspicions wrong, really. His heart threatened to jump out of his throat, hammering away in his chest, when suddenly, the world around him turned dark. Almost screaming due to the sudden change, Atlas froze in place. Assuming his end had come, he realized how unprepared he was for this eventuality, so there he stood, awaiting pain or worse. As nothing more seemed to happen, his tense body relaxed a bit and he released a shaky breath. Slowly, Atlas turned around, looking for the source of darkness before coming face to face with a familiar form. There, behind him, towered a gigantic figure shaped like a human. He had seen this figure only twice before in his live, instinctively recognizing the titan before him. “Atlas…” Atlas whispered. A tingling sensation filled his body as he slowly morphed back into a human, albeit a tad bit more furry than he was used to. He investigated his strange new features for a moment, finding that he now was a mix between human and pony. “Your soul…” a rumbling voice cut through the silence. “Has changed... a great deal. It has adapted… fused with... what you have become… gave itself a new form…” the titan spoke deliberately. “Souls are weird,” Atlas chuckled dryly, craning his neck to look into the titans face. “Did we fail? Is that why you are here?” “Souls… are a mirror of ones self…” Atlas spoke. “They reflect… what you are… change and grow… contain what makes you… yourself…” “So I look like this because I’ve been a pony for so long that my soul began to accommodate?” Atlas furrowed his brow. “But at this point I’ve been a pony for a lot longer than I was human, how come I’m not a complete pony yet?” “Body of a pony… soul of a human. A big change like that… very slow…” Atlas blinked as if in slow-motion. “Also fusing with my soul… retains some human shape…” “I see,” Atlas nodded slowly. “Now that this is out of the way, let me ask this again, did we fail the spell?” he asked, already dreading the answer. The titan looked around, as if realizing where he was for the first time. His gaze lingered on the ponies below him, before being directed towards the sky, where it remained. Finally, he looked back down to Atlas. “Not… yet…” he said calmly. A huge weight fell from Atlas shoulders as he breathed a sigh of relief. Taking a look around again he resolved himself anew that he’d do whatever it took to save this world. Going over the information he had available, a frown started to form on his face. He was sure that there wasn’t enough mana to complete the spell, so what else could he do? “You say that as if there’s still hope,” Atlas said, looking up to his titan counterpart. “Do you know something I don’t?” “I… know a great many things…” the titan nodded. “There is… still a way… but… it comes at a great cost… for both… of us…” “I’m willing to do anything it takes,” Atlas said without hesitation. “I want to protect this world and its inhabitants, no matter what it takes.” “You… are a lot… like me…” the titan replied, a ghost of a smile on his face. “You… are a worthy… successor…” “Thanks, I guess?” Atlas smiled back. “So? What is this crazy plan you have?” “Change of soul… slow… takes a long time…” the titan repeated himself. “I’ve studied the soul… for almost all… of my existence. I know of a way… to make it faster. Our souls… need to complete... their fusion. We’ve already… fused about sixty percent… can finish rest… in a matter… of minutes.” “That sounds like a great plan,” Atlas nodded. “But how is that going to help me finish the spell, and what’s the catch?” “Change… violent… unnatural… painful…” the titan replied forebodingly. “I’ll just have to bite through it,” Atlas frowned. “So if that’s the catch, what’s the good news?” “You become… akin to a god… become heir… to my domain…” the titan spoke. “Become stronger… and a true immortal.” “I see…” Atlas replied. “But I don’t see how becoming stronger is going to help me… The problematic factor here is the quantity of mana at my disposal, not my physical strength.” “Equus… has no gods… nobody who… manages the realm. With you ascending… the responsibility… will fall to you.” “Alright, so I’ll just be able to gather as much mana as I want, whenever I want?” Atlas asked with a quizzically raised eyebrow. “No…” Atlas denied. “But there is… a part of this realm… that has gone ungoverned… for a long time. Tartarus… the land of the dead. The souls of the deceased… have no guidance… no place to go. As such… they stagnate… wander the earth… doomed to rot for eternity. It is not our domain… but all they need is a helping hand. With a god installed… the task will fall to you. Guide them… to their final… place of rest. Collect… the mana… their lingering souls leave behind…” Atlas was torn between learning of the terrible fate that awaits the creatures of this realm when they passed away, and the revelation of a potentially gigantic source of mana. Seeing as, since the dawn of time, every soul was caught in the limbo between the mortal world and their place of rest, the numbers must be staggering. “You mean to tell me… everyone who ever died never got to find peace?” Atlas asked carefully, the faces of his friends haunting him, his heart aching at the implications. The titan slowly shook his head, a sad frown on his face. “They… did not,” he stretched out an arm, pointing somewhere behind Atlas. “But… they are strong… they endure… they wait.” “Yes, listen to the big guy, dear,” a female voice came from behind Atlas, causing him to freeze up. He knew that voice. The sweet, calm voice that seemed to caress his ears, carrying a promise of love and comfort. The voice of his companion, his friend... his wife. His knees were shaking as he slowly turned around, ultimately coming face to face with Charity Belle. “Belle?” Atlas asked with a shaky voice. “How are you… I thought… Why…?” he stammered unable to form a coherent thought. He slowly stretched out an unstable, furry hand, caressing the face of his long gone lover. The sensation was soft and cold, almost as if she wasn’t really there, and now that he took a closer look, she seemed to be slightly transparent as well. “Still the bumbling fool I see…” Belle put her hoof over Atlas’s hand and held it tightly. “Even though you look a lot weirder than when I last saw you, I’d recognize you anywhere,” she added with a smile. Atlas looked himself over again, temporarily having forgotten that he had turned into a weird pony-human hybrid and let out a small laugh. Memories came back to him of the, admittedly too short time he got to spend with Belle, throwing his emotions into turmoil. Collapsing to his knees, he pulled Belle into a loving hug while simultaneously starting to cry. “I… I never got to say goodbye…” Atlas sobbed. “I’m so sorry! You died because of my carelessness! All because of me… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Atlas continued to apologize over and over again, still blaming himself for what happened so long ago. A serene smile adorned Belle’s face as she returned the hug, stroking the crying Atlas back. “Shhh… It wasn’t your fault,” she reassured him. “It would have happened eventually, it was just an unfortunate accident. It wasn’t your fault…” The two spent a long time in each others embrace, one of them apologising profusely while the other offered up comforting words, patiently waiting until Atlas got his regrets out of his system. Eventually, Atlas calmed down and pulled back, Belle smiling at him all the way. She used her fetlock to wipe away the tears on Atlas face, receiving a quick, loving kiss for her efforts before being pulled into a hug again. “Thanks,” Atlas said before letting go and sitting back with his legs crossed, now being able to make eye-contact without looking down. “How are you here?” he asked with a curious smile. “I’m not sure, actually,” Belle shook her head. “But I’m relatively certain that he has something to do with it,” she added, pointing towards the titan watching them. “I lead them here… as proof…” the titan replied, waving in their general direction. “There are many… there are enough…” For the first time, Atlas actually paid attention to what was going on behind Belle. A massive amount of shadowy wisps had gathered, occasionally taking the form of a pony or other creature before returning to being without form. “Uhhh… hi,” an old stallion that stood at the front said, his form much more defined than the others. His coat was of a bloody red, a purple, messy mane resting on his head. The color of both his tail and his mane seemed washed out, his advanced age clearly visible by the white hairs threatening to become the majority. “Long time, no see.” “Crimson?” Atlas asked with a surprised expression. “Is that you?” “Sure am, old friend,” Crimson chuckled as he took a few steps closer. “And I’m not alone,” the old stallion gesture behind him, where other ponies with solid forms stood and watched. Crimsons wife, Blue Current, wasn’t far behind her husband. She seemed equally old and slightly uncertain on her hooves. Seeing the two like this filled Atlas with happiness, as they undoubtedly had a long and fulfilling life together. Coming up behind them was a young, purple unicorn, his head held high and pride in his eyes. “Amethyst…” Atlas whispered, unable to avert his eyes. “Save your sappy feelings for Belle, Atlas,” Amethyst chuckled as he drew closer. “You know I did what I had to do, because I wanted to. No point in crying over spilt milk, so be happy instead and give your old pal a hug.” Amethyst didn’t wait for an answer and pulled Atlas into a brotherly hug. Being slightly overwhelmed with the current situation, Atlas returned it half-heartedly, but Amethyst either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “I must say…” a middle-aged, green earth pony mare came up to them. Her purple hair neatly arranged in a top-knot. “Yours is a face I didn’t think I’d ever see again,” she chuckled. “Vibrant Colors…” Atlas breathed out. “Ah, so you do know who I am,” Vibrant chuckled. “And here I thought you forgot who I was, what with you never coming back to visit.” “I… I don’t really have an excuse…” Atlas rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “There was just so much going on… and you lived so far away…” “Ahh, pish-posh,” Vibrant waved him off. “Don’t let my words make you feel bad. Besides, I know you’ve been taking good care of my daughters, and for that I can’t thank you enough.” “You know about that?” Atlas asked surprised. “Listen here, we may be dead, but we’re still around,” Vibrant winked at him. “We never really left, and we’ve been watching.” “So you guys were watching over me?” “Sometimes,” Blue Current interjected. “We all know that you would mess up without us around.” “That’s… a bit hard to take in…” Atlas winced. “So you’ve seen all the things I’ve done? All the machinations I’ve put into place?” “Don’t sell yourself short,” Amethyst clicked his tongue. “You’ve done some mean things, but you always had the best intentions. I’d say the end-result justifies your actions.” “It’s not like we’ve watched you all the time, though,” Crimson commented. “Your life was pretty boring over the last millenium or so… Can’t say the same about Belle though, she stuck to you as if she was glued on.” “You did?” Atlas asked with a raised eyebrow, causing Belle to sheepishly look away. “Thank you…” Atlas pulled Belle close again, planting a quick peck on her cheek. “It’s kinda reassuring that you guys were there for me, even though I didn’t realize it at the time.” “Hey, that’s what friends do,” Amethyst shrugged. “We watch out for each other.” “Say…” Atlas started, looking at his gathered friends. “Where’s Amber? I can’t see her anywhere…” “She…” Belle looked uncertain as she answered. “I don’t think she ever joined us…” “What do you mean?” Atlas scrunched his face. “None of us have seen her since… well, we died,” Belle elaborated. “And although we’ve looked around, none of us ever found her in the world of the living, or the dead. And trust me, it’s rather easy to find somepony you know if you have spooky ghost powers...” “Does that mean… she’s still alive somewhere?” Atlas splurted out. “Possibly,” Amethyst shrugged. “Who knows, really?” “That’s… interesting…” Atlas said slowly. “I suppose I should start looking for her if we make it through this.” “I’m sure she would enjoy seeing you again, if she’s still around,” Blue Current nodded. “Somebody… approaches…” the titan behind them suddenly said. He was looking into the far off distance, as if seeing something they couldn’t. The gathered friends directed their gazes to the same direction, looking for anything out of the ordinary, but couldn’t find anything of the sort. “I must say, that’s a pretty impressive set up you’ve got going on here,” a voice behind Atlas casually said. Atlas spun around to face the speaker, the voice sounding oddly familiar. There, behind him, stood Hermes, nonchalantly inspecting the array they were standing on. His eyes were tracing the runes, as if trying to read their exact purpose. “Hermes!” Atlas shouted, immediately recognizing the face that haunted him ever since he arrived in this world. “What are you doing here?! Are you here to destroy me?” he tried firing up his horn, which failed due to him not having one in this body. “Destroy you?” Hermes shook his head. “Quite the opposite actually, I’m here to save you. Or just check up on you, I guess.” “As if I’d believe anything you say!” Atlas shot back. “You’re the reason all of this is happening in the first place!” “One could argue that the one at fault here is Zeus, and that I was only a means to an end,” Hermes commented. “I’m sure you understand, what with all the scheming you’ve done since you got here. In fact, you’re the most influential pony this realm has ever seen, yet barely more than ten people know you even exist.” “Even if that’s true, what business could you possibly have with me, aside from my destruction, if you’re little more than Zeus’s pawn?” Atlas seethed. Atlas’ friends watched over the exchanged with confusion. They all knew that Atlas had still been hiding various things about his curious existence from them, so all of this was news to them. “Here’s the thing though,” Hermes held up a finger. “I’m actually working as a spy for Hades.” “Very likely,” Atlas scoffed, still not able to believe the sudden revelations. “Look, you’re free to not believe me, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for what I did to you,” Hermes rolled his eyes. “But that doesn’t change why I’m here.” Atlas scrutinized Hermes’s face, looking for any kind of trickery for a few tense seconds. Seeing as he hadn’t attacked yet, Atlas came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t hurt to at least listen to what he had to say. “I’m listening…” “I’m sure you are already aware of this, but you are massively running out of time here,” Hermes sighed. “The attack on Zeus has already begun, they are fighting as we speak.” “Cutting it closer than I thought…” Atlas frowned. “Listen, it is entirely possible that Zeus will run once he realizes there’s a chance of him losing to Hades, and when that happens he’ll come straight for you,” Hermes started pacing in front of him. “I’m charged with protecting your prison for as long as I can, to buy Hades time to catch up. That being said, I’m far weaker than Zeus, and all I can do is stall for time by playing to his impatient nature with a few tricks and illusions. “I’ll say this again, your time is up, finish what you’re doing now, or we might be forced to destroy everything from the outside, and neither of us would like to see that happening, I’m sure,” Hermes stopped. “You might have stopped time in here… somehow, but outside it’s flowing perfectly normal.” “So how much time do we have?” Atlas asked, putting aside his hostility in favor of getting more information. “Maybe an hour at most, but the sooner you get done, the better,” Hermes replied. “Damn!” Atlas stomped his hoof. “Anything else you wanna tell me?” “Just that you need to hurry it up if you don’t wanna kick the bucket,” Hermes scoffed. “And… I know you probably won’t believe it, but I’m actually sorry for putting you in this position you’re in. I just did what had to be done.” “I suppose it wasn't entirely your fault…” Atlas relented a bit. “Still mad at you, though.” “I guess that’s all I can ask for,” Hermes nodded, turning around to face the titan behind him. “It was nice seeing you again, big guy… Even though this is a different kind of prison, I hope you will finally be free when this is all over.” The titan Atlas nodded slowly, a forlorn look on his face. “Please… tell them… I’ll be alright…” “Will do, big guy,” Hermes smiled and turned around. “Well then, good luck!” With a flourish, Hermes disappeared from in front of their eyes, leaving behind two beings feeling the pressure of time, and a gaggle of confused dead ponies. “Uhhh… who was that?” Belle asked from right next to Atlas, causing him to jump since he momentarily forgot they had company. “That was…” Atlas winced. “I’d love to be able to explain all of this, but you heard him… We’ve run out of time.” “Right, saving Equestria,” Belle nodded. “That takes priority.” “I’m really sorry for keeping all these secrets from you… from all of you…” Atlas looked around at his friends. “I hope you can forgive me.” “Don’t worry about it,” Crimson said sagely. “We all knew that you’re a weird guy, and your secrets are just a package deal. We wouldn’t hold something like this against you.” Crimsons comment was met with a series of affirmations from everypony present, followed by a quick group hug. Atlas relished in the presence of his old friends before steeling his nerves. Feeling confident that he could face anything if he had his friends at his side, he turned around and faced his other self. “Do your thing.” “When we do this… you’ll become a god…” the titan rumbled. “You’ll be truly… immortal… the only ones… who could end you… will be… forever cut off… from this realm. The realm will… expand… and you’ll need… to govern… forever. Are you… prepared?” Atlas was faced with a few tidbits of information he hadn’t thought about before and could feel his resolve wavering a bit. Another glance backwards to the encouraging faces of his friends steadied his nerves a bit and he took a deep breath. “I’m ready,” Atlas said, stepping forward and closing his eyes. “Please do it…” “You… are going to carry… that weight…” The titan raised his arm, his hand extended flatly, before bringing it down on Atlas’s form, seemingly crushing him like an annoying fly. Immediately, Atlas’s world turned white as blinding pain coursed throughout his body, a blood-curdling scream escaping his lips. A loud scream pierced the air, startling everypony. One second they were enjoying the light show, the next, somepony started screaming their head off. It didn’t take long for them to find the perpetrator in Atlas, who stood in the middle. “Father!” Celestia called out, not daring to move from her position, lest she mess something up. Similar cries could be heard from Luna and Discord, while the others just wore worried expressions. Atlas just stood there, screaming as if in incredible pain, yet not moving a single inch from where he stood. Slowly but surely, a change could be observed, manifesting itself as a glow surrounding his form. Shortly afterwards the cracking of bones could be heard, each one accompanied by a change in pitch from Atlas scream. Before their very eyes, Atlas began to grow bigger. Atlas had always been a slightly bigger than average pony, and when he returned a few weeks ago, he had grown even bigger than they remembered him to be. But now he was threatening to overtake Celestia in size as his form began to expand. Throughout the transformation, the unsettling screaming never stopped, conveying just how much pain he must be enduring, yet, there he stood, unmoving. Atlas continued to grow until he was just about half a head bigger than Celestia, and to the relief of everypony present, the cracking of bones stopped along with his growth. The screaming died down as well, and was replaced with heavy panting from Atlas. Luna wanted to rush out and check on her father, but seeing as he still kept the spell going through all of this, she bit her lip and stayed where she was. Slowly, the mana flow between them fizzled out, as they all threatened to run out of mana. Just as Celestia was about to ask if they had succeed, the beam connecting Atlas to the moon tripled in size, blinding her and everypony else. Atlas started screaming again, although this time it sounded determined, rather than pained. They watched in awe at the display power put before them, as Atlas continued to weave his spell. After about two more minutes, a bright flash colored the entire world purple, causing everypony to look up. “The array is powered up…” Luna muttered, recognizing the tell-tale sign of a sufficiently supplied rune array. With a last grunt of effort, Atlas finished his spell, a big ball of magic detaching from his horn and racing up towards the moon at an unbelievable speed. It disappeared into the moon, and then, everything turned silent. Atlas panted heavily, collapsing to the floor. His eyes lost their magical glow and returned to their usual, cold silver. With the last of his strength, he rolled over on his back, wanting to witness the results in action. “Father…” Luna asked tentatively, still remaining glued to her spot. “Have you succeeded?” Atlas didn’t say anything and simply pointed a hoof skywards with a smile. Wanting him to elaborate, Luna wanted to ask again, but was interrupted by a loud crack akin to glass shattering that caused her to throw her hooves over her ears and wince in pain. Everypony else had a similar reaction, before looking skyward once again. Far, far up above them a giant crack was hanging in the sky. They didn’t have much time to wonder at the seemingly impossible and out of place curiosity, as soon after, another crack appeared in the sky. Accompanied by the sound of glass being obliterated, the cracks spiderwebbed across the entirety of the sky, before it all collapsed. Thousands of undefinable shapes and forms exploded outwards and away from them, disappearing into the afternoon sky, never to be seen again. “It… it was successful, right?” Celestia asked tentatively, still looking up. “I think so,” Luna replied, looking for any leftover runes in the sky, or anything out of the ordinary. Not able to find anything she looked back down to Atlas in order to confirm. “Father, is this what you wanted to… Pfft,” she barely stifled a laugh when she looked at Atlas lying on the ground. “Oh… oh my,” Celestia added, she herself being struck with the odd sight of her father. “What?” Atlas asked, gathering his strength and getting into a sitting position. “You might have some… uhh… additional things to worry about…” Discord pointed at Atlas’s side, barely containing his laughter. “What do you mean?” Atlas asked tiredly, looking towards where Discord was pointing. His eyes remained glued to his side as he regarded the new body he found himself in. Not only had he grown substantially, but a pair of grey wings decorated his new form as well. After checking if he still had his horn, the only logical conclusion was that he had ascended, not only into a god, but also an alicorn. “Ahh, fuck.” Zeus face lit up with happiness as he felt his finger make contact with the prison and immediately gave the mental command to start the process of transferring and fusing Atlas’s soul. His joy only lasted for a split second, though, as halfway through giving the command a foot slammed into his hand from above, almost crushing it under it’s force. “No touching,” Hades seethed. “We still have unconcluded business.” Zeus grimaced as the pain emanating from his hand got worse when Hades started twisting his foot on it. Seeing as his other hand was still free, he went for the cheeky option, and stretched out his other hand, hoping that Hades wouldn’t stomp on it as well. He had just begun moving it, when a crack appeared on the prison before him. “No…” Zeus breathed as fear started to set in, accompanied by a cruel sense of déjà vu. More and more cracks appeared on the surface, threatening to break it all apart. “No, no, no, no, NO!” Zeus’s hand shot forward, giving up on trying to be even remotely sneaky about his attempt, but just before he touched the glass, it shattered into a thousand pieces, causing his hand to not only reach into emptiness, the shards also managed to cut up his hand. “Give it up,” Hades smirked. “Atlas was successful and I won’t let you run away again. We’ve won, whether you like it or not.” “Ha,” Zeus stared at a glass shard that was embedded in the back of his hand, starting to laugh like a maniac. “That was your plan? Instead of breaking it yourself, you made Atlas break it from the inside? Just because you wanted to spare one soul, you risked everything?” “We’re not the same as you,” Hades spat. “Atlas hasn’t done any wrong and didn’t deserve anything you did to him. At least, this way he’ll get another chance at a quiet life, like he always wished to have.” “You’re all fools,” Zeus laughed. “Don’t you see the mistake you’ve made? I knew Hyas was on your side, but I didn’t think him to be this dumb.” “What do you mean?” Hades asked suspiciously. “I’m sure you know that the prison chained Atlas’ soul to its walls, securing him tight so that he couldn’t leave,” Zeus giggled, his hair fraying at the ends. “I’m sure he had to use massive amounts of his worlds mana to achieve his little stunt, and now that he broke it, his soul became untethered.” “What does that have to do with anything?” Hades paled. “Don’t you get it?!” Zeus laughed. “Atlas’ soul is like a ship in a storm that lost its anchor. The violent waves he released will pull and tear at him until he can’t take the strain anymore. If he can’t stabilize himself, he will be torn apart and perish!” Zeus began cackling madly, calling Hades and his posse all kinds of names, which was promptly stopped by a swift kick to the head. Hades mulled over the words of his mortal enemy, trying to gouge whether to believe them or not. His eyes came to rest on the glass splitters littering the floor as he pondered the possibilities. “The rest is up to you…” Hades mumbled, seeing as even if Zeus was right, there was nothing they could do to help Atlas now. “I hope you pull through this…” “Congratulations on becoming the first male alicorn,” Celestia chuckled, coming to a stop next to her father. After Atlas had confirmed that the spell had worked, a huge cheer ran through the crows, slightly matted by the fact that all of the ponies present were exhausted. They slowly shuffled off the array, towards the food and drink that was prepared beforehand in order for them to regain their strength as fast as possible. The core members of the spell had decided to investigate Atlas instead. “Well, I don’t think I ever consented to being one,” Atlas grumbled, pawing at his right wing with his hoof. “Welcome to the club,” all of the present alicorns said simultaneously. “Very funny,” Atlas grumbled. “This is gonna take some getting used to…” Atlas’ left wing suddenly extended, accidentally smacking Twilight across the face. With her already being weakened, it was enough to send her tumbling to the ground. “Oops, incredibly sorry about that,” Atlas apologized as he tried to get his wing under control. “Don’t worry about it,” Twilight said weakly. “I had the same problems when I ascended… Besides, the floor is really cool…” Her statement was soon followed by soft snoring, which caused the others to chuckle. “So we’ve truly succeeded, did we?” Luna asked again, just to make sure. “This isn’t some sort of dream or something?” “I feel like you would be the first one to know if this was a dream,” Atlas commented. “And yes, the spell succeeded. We’re in the clear.” “That is great news,” Celestia breathed a sigh of relief. “So what now?” “I’ll probably take a thousand year vacation,” Atlas grumbled. “I’m sick of runes.” “I hope you stick around a bit this time,” Celestia scoffed. “Now that we finally have you back, I’m not too sure we can just let you go.” “And give up on free lodging and food provided by my daughters?” Atlas chuckled. “Yeah, not happening. I’m stuck to you for a while, whether you like it or not.” Luna squeed when she heard the good news and pulled Atlas into a hug. Just as she was about to go into a tirade of all the cool things they could do together, a massive burp interrupted them. A few raised eyebrows found their way towards Discord, who was the source of the disturbance. “Terribly sorry about this,” Discord said, pounding on his chest a few times. “Not sure what came over me there.” Discord seemed uncomfortable, as was blatantly obvious by his facial expression. His body seemed to contort at specific places, reminding Atlas of having a leg cramp or similar. After a few seconds his belly extended in ways bellies shouldn’t, albeit it wasn’t too weird, considering whose belly it was. The weird phenomenon was shortly followed by another belch. “Ugh, what is going on right now?” Discord asked confused. “You mean that’s not just you being… well, you?” Luna asked, slightly disgusted. “No, something weird is happening, and I’m not sure what it is,” Discord said, watching as other parts of his body started to deform and contort in ways that they shouldn’t. His worried eyes found Atlas’s, who looked equally as worried. “I… I don’t feel so good.” And then Discord exploded.