12. The "Mad" King
Ten long years had passed and there was still no sign of Starswirl. Whatever happened to him was still open to speculation. Atlas had spent quite a lot of time studying the research papers Starswirl had left behind, frantically looking for the mistake. But, try as he might, he couldn’t find any. As far as Atlas was concerned, everything should have worked perfectly. The only irregularity in the calculations would have been Starswirl himself. Maybe, just maybe, since Starswirl’s time was technically absent, the spell had gone haywire.
What that truly meant, no one could know. Hopefully he was just simply sent too far into the future, or maybe even the past and had no way to return. The more bleak option would be that Starswirl was now trapped inside an endless limbo of time, forever doomed to wait until someone rescued him.
While this had been at the forefront of Atlas and Discord's mind for quite some time, they had learned to live with it. After having tried pretty much everything they could, all they were left with was to simply wait for some sort of sign from Starswirl. Until then, they decided they would live their life normally.
Well, as normal as their strange little family could, at least.
Atlas sat on a chair on a balcony of outcropping rock outside their secret cave, which had received quite a few additions and upgrades. Aside from more room for experiments, a second floor had been added which served as the new living space. Due to the fact that this balcony was located above the treetops, it allowed for quite the view.
He was sipping on some freshly brewed tea as he watched some birds playing with each other among the trees with the city of Vanhoover’s skyline was visible in the distance.
It really spoke to the efficiency of ponies, that in little more than a decade the town had exploded in size. Whether that was due to the fact it had a naturally deep sea port or that it was one of the merchants main trade routes, there was a great influx of ponies that had settled there. Of course that meant that more and more ponies were pushing to settle the forest.
It wasn’t unusual to see some daring explorers walk past the cave now. Usually these explorers were kids, or even young ponies in love, looking for a retreat. Every now and then, Atlas had noticed unicorns acting suspiciously around the area where his wards were placed. It might have been that they just noticed that there were active spells placed around the area, and for some that might have been the actual reason, but there were some who seemed really interested in the area of the mountain where Atlas’ cave was located.
He could have sworn that one purple unicorn stared directly into his eyes at one point before leaving.
Well, since Starswirl was gone, Atlas had to be the one that went into town to get supplies most of the time, sometimes even accompanied by Discord. As word would most likely travel fast when a weird being such as a draconequus was seen in a city, he had no doubt that somepony with connections that was looking for them would hear about it.
As such, Atlas believed those unicorns to be spies from the Crystal Kingdom, sent to look for him. They no doubt still held a grudge against him after what he’d done all those years ago, and they seemed to be getting a little too close for comfort. Still, Atlas trusted in the spells he had placed together with Starswirl and didn’t pay them too much mind. Just to make sure, he had upgraded each and every single ward around his base, and even added a few new ones.
“I cut us some apples,” Discord said, his serpentine body slithering out of the opening in the mountain.
“Thanks,” Atlas chuckled and levitated a piece off the plate Discord had brought with him while he sat down on his own special chair.
Discord had reached his full size by this point, practically towering over Atlas if he stood up straight. It was a weird thing, seeing the draconequus that he’d raised from a baby becoming an adult. By now, he looked completely like the Discord that Atlas had seen in the show, minus the crazy mindset. It wasn’t just his body had changed in recent years, their relationship had also changed significantly.
Discord was an adult now, so Atlas pretty much gave him the freedom to do whatever he wished, even move out, if that was what he wanted. To his great relief, Discord had decided to stay with Atlas, and while they still had a father-son relationship, they practically lived like roommates.
“I’ve been thinking…” Discord started, staring at the tea in his claw. “You’ve been sitting out here a lot recently.”
“I do quite enjoy this addition to the cave, yes,” Atlas said, unsure of where Discord was going with this.
“I can tell, you know?” Discord continued. “I’ve been with you for all of my life, and it’s glaringly obvious that something's bothering you.”
“Oh?” Atlas hummed curiously.
“You sit out here for hours sometimes, just staring out into the distance, you're letting your research lag behind,” Discord said. “That’s just not like you.”
“Well, maybe I just thought I needed a little break,” Atlas defended himself. “I did pretty much continue to work for years.”
“Which would be understandable,” Discord nodded, still not looking at Atlas. “But, I know that’s not it… I can feel it.”
“So let’s just assume something was bothering me, what would you have me do?” Atlas ventured.
“Couldn’t we… just, like… talk about it?” Discord asked, finally looking up from his beverage, meeting Atlas’ eyes for the first time since coming outside.
Atlas stared up into the eyes of his son, and what he saw was genuine concern, and just a hint of sadness. It would appear that his behaviour had made his son worry, and Atlas felt a twang of guilt at having troubled his own son to this extent. He could feel his own indecision pulling him in different directions, but what actually troubled Atlas was something he couldn’t really openly discuss with anybody.
Especially Discord.
“While I would really like to… I… I just can’t,” Atlas said, tearing his eyes away from Discord’s, looking back over at the city in the distance.
He just couldn’t bear looking him into the eyes while denying him the emotional security that would come with just letting him know. Discord nodded sadly and looked back down at his cup, slowly letting it rotate in the air, contemplating his next words carefully.
“Does it have to do with the future?” Discord blurted out. “Is it because of something that’s going to happen to me?”
Atlas felt his stomach drop, feeling like the kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He slowly turned his head to look back at Discord, who was still fixated on his cup.
“What,” Atlas cleared his throat. “What gave you that idea?” Atlas asked nervously.
“I’m a curious individual…” Discord chuckled. “When someone’s trying to hide something from me, you know that I’ll try everything to sneak a peek at it, right?”
“Yes?” Atlas said, dreading what would come next.
“It took me forever, but… I managed to snag your blue book from where you squirreled it away,” Discord said apologetically, making Atlas feel like his heart was about to stop beating. “I’ve read it,” Discord chuckled. “The whole thing, from beginning to end.”
“Oh…” Atlas said, feeling for once like he was at a loss for words.
While Atlas trusted Discord with his life, the blue book that contained everything Atlas knew about this world and it’s future was the one thing he never wanted Discord to really know about.
“So… you’ve probably read all about yourself, then?” Atlas asked tentatively.
“Yes.”
Atlas shoulders sagged in defeat and he let out a huge sigh. “I never wanted you to know about this, and I’m sure now you know why.”
“It’s not one of my proudest moments,” Discord replied. “But, my curiosity got the better of me, ever since I read the first few pages as a kid, I wondered what else might be in there.”
“I don’t want what’s written in that book to come true, you know? I would never wish a fate like that upon my own son,” Atlas said, trying to explain himself, if just a little bit.
“Neither do I. A thousand years trapped in stone, feared and hated by everypony doesn’t sound like my idea of fun…” Discord chuckled. “But it seems pretty obvious that the alicorns Celestia and Luna are necessary for a truly united and harmonious Equestria.”
“I believe they are, yes,” Atlas said. “That’s why I’ve been waiting, watching, and listening for any sign of the two. I don’t know how much time is supposed to pass before they appear, but as far as I know, they should have already popped up by now. I know that they knew Starswirl, so they should have to exist around this time, but his disappearance has complicated everything. I can’t help but wonder if the future isn’t as set in stone as I thought it would be.”
Discord smiled, happy that his father was finally opening up a bit about what bothered him all this time. But he knew that wasn’t the whole extent of the issue.
“I remember a lot of things that you’ve told me about your old world, father,” Discord started. “But one thing that alway stuck with me is the concept of Yin and Yang.”
“Light within darkness and darkness within light, both in perfect balance forever, neither can exist without the other and both can be found within its counterpart,” Atlas nodded. “What about it?”
“Light can’t exist without darkness…” Discord said tentatively. “Harmony can’t exist… without Discord.”
Atlas wanted to say something, anything to deviate Discord from this idea, but the words stuck in his throat, not wanting to come out. The truth was, that Atlas thought the same.
“What if these two alicorn sisters never appear if I’m not there for them to defeat?” Discord said, gripping his cup tightly, almost threatening to break it. “What if Equestria never gets truly unified, because I’m just a normal being, spending his days happily inside a cave with his father?”
“ I’m sure it’d work out in the end,” Atlas said worriedly. “Equestria is on the right track, you can easily see how far they’ve already come.” Atlas pointed his hooves towards Vanhoover in the distance, the perfect example of the prospering country.
“Sure, everything looks good on the surface, but what about the Crystal Kingdom?” Discord rebutted a bit more forceful than he wanted. “You know full well that they’ve been spying around here recently. That can only mean that they are about to make their move, either on us, or Equestria as a whole!”
“So what? If they come for us we’ll just defend ourselves, we can take them,” Atlas waved them off, getting slightly heated himself.
“Are you sure about that?” Discord replied challengingly. “I know you are very capable, and I can also wreak quite a bit of havoc, but they’ve had ten years and quite a bit more heads to put together to come up with new and improved spells. And what about the rest of Equestria, don’t you care about them?”
“They… they’ll just have to fend for themselves,” Atlas said, cold sweat running down his back. “We just need to worry about ourselves…”
“I know that’s not how you truly feel,” Discord interrupted, shaking his head. “You always want what’s best for everypony.”
“That might be true, but that doesn’t mean you just have to go off on a rampage!” Atlas said, almost shouting now, afraid. “You can just stay with me, and we’ll be happy together!”
“There’s another proverb you told me when I was small…” Discord chuckled once more, finally meeting Atlas infuriated eyes again. “The needs of the many outweighs the need of the few.”
Atlas wanted to rebuke, wanted to tell Discord off, but having his own lessons thrown back at him left him stunned. He was doing his best oppression of a fish, giving Discord enough time to wind up for the final blow.
“All true heroes are defined by the sacrifices they make,” Discord said. “And I think this sacrifice is ours to make, even if nopony will ever know what we did for them.”
“There’s still a chance that they’ll just show up some day, without us having to do anything…” Atlas tried weakly. “Can’t we just wait a little longer?”
“You said it yourself before… They should most likely already be here,” Discord said. “Besides,” he sighed. “I’ve already made my decision anyway.”
Silence fell over the two as Atlas fell back into his chair, defeated and feeling weak. All this time he had worked to try and prevent Discord from experiencing the hell that fate had in store for him, and now, everything was crumbling and falling down around him. He didn’t want to let Discord go through with it, it was the last thing he’d wish for him. But deep down, inside, he knew that Discord was right.
After all, this dilemma was what had been bothering Atlas for years now. There was no way to know if Celestia and Luna would just appear on their own, but there was also the underlying fear of Discord turning rogue by himself due to some unforeseen circumstances. He knew, that the two sisters were necessary for a truly united and peaceful Equestria, but didn’t want to admit, that Discord was as well.
“Everypony will hate you, you know?” Atlas said weakly. “They’ll fear you, even after you’ve spent a thousand years trapped inside a stone prison, they will remember.”
“I know,” Discord said.
“You’ll be alone, with no one to turn to.”
“As long as I know at least you know the truth, I’ll be okay.”
“A thousand years is a long time, you know.”
“I know you’ll be waiting for me at the end.”
Atlas could feel himself tearing up, and he knew without even looking over, that Discord was as well. They watched as the horizon slowly turned orange, as the sun was going down, announcing that the day was about to end.
“The villain,” Atlas said. “It will be the hardest role you’ve ever played.”
Discord chuckled through his tears. “I plan to play the role spectacularly.”
“And I know you will,” Atlas said, a small smile appearing on his face. “You always do.”
Discord stood up from his chair, prompting Atlas to do the same. They shared a look of deep understanding with each other, before Discord kneeled down to give Atlas a hug, which was gladly returned. They stayed like this for a little while, cherishing each other's presence and giving each other some amount of comfort before separating.
“You know you don’t have to start today right?” Atlas said hopefully. “We could still spend a bit more time together.”
Discord shook his head. “I don’t know if I could bring myself to do it if I didn’t go right now.”
Atlas nodded sadly, not surprised at the answer. “Well… break a leg.”
“Take care of yourself,” Discord said, stepping towards the edge of the balcony and looking back one more time. “And don’t forget to eat regularly.”
Atlas nodded, showing Discord one more smile before he jumped off the balcony, flying towards Vanhoover just like a chinese dragon would. Atlas watched him disappear into the distance, suddenly feeling empty inside.
It wasn’t long before the first strange changes were made to the buildings of Vanhoover. Chaos erupted in the city and Atlas could just barely hear the faint screams of panicked ponies in the distance.
Atlas had just unleashed a great “evil” upon Equestria, dooming them to who knows how many years of suffering under a crazy tyrant’s rule. He just hoped, that in the end everything worked out and what he just allowed to happen wasn’t for nothing.
For a long time Atlas stood there on the balcony, watching and listening to the madness that had become Vanhoover. Discord was pulling out all the tricks in the book apparently, doing a mighty fine job of playing the villain. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the chaos unfolding in front of him, watching closely, even through the tears that continued to fall from him.
Discord had accepted his role as the villain, and as his father, Atlas could do little more than wholly support his son in his decision. There was no doubt in Atlas’ mind that the road going forward would be rocky and painful for both of them.
And for the first time since being thrown into this world, Alex felt truly alone.
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This is some Dumbledore/ Harry level dialogue here. As in to say, putting so many implications into so few words.
This chapter was beautiful, and I think it just became my first favourite for this whole story.
I already miss Discord. Wow.
y u do dis
This was a sad chapter but a necessary one.
Lovein the story, we need to find out what happens next.
Jolly good Chapter! I say old boy, if you keep this up I may just have a heart attack!
I can't wait for Discord to be freed. That reunion will be magical.
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I've been setting this up ever since chapter two, I sure hope it's a good one :D Never really thought about this being a Drumbledore/Harry convo, but I can see the similarities, now that you pointed it out ^^
Everybody been speculating how Discord gun turn mad, guess what? You were wrong!
8424137
Considering that the "present" chapter took place during/after Tirek, Discord has already been freed and "redeemed".
I actually teared up a little.
Good job.
;-;
Hmmm, speculating that
Sombra is a pony driven mad by Atlas' actions and turns insane? Or maybe Chrysalis is another botched science experiment?
AHHHH NUUUUUUUU WHY U DO DIS TO MEEEEE?????
My whole perspective on this part of the show just like reversed and went upside down and sideways and inside out and a whole bunch of other stuff that I can't even.........
Oh, oh, oh... Well, uh, fuck. Poor guy, had to sacrifice himself because Harmony is a bitch.
Called it. But y. y u do did.
I...did not see that coming.
Nooooooooooooooooooo
Why...... Just why...
At lest they "reform" him later
8424144
Ah.
I wonder if Discord knows he is awake.
I wonder if Atlas will chime in and tell the sisters of his and his son's ploy. Prolly not. Future knowledge be dangerous, yo.
I totally saw this coming. ^_^ keep up the good work. can not wait for the next chapter now!
;-; who's been chopping all those onions?!
T-T
8424350
... discord ? for the sugar cane in between the onion layrs .
This author in my opinion is probably one of the best on this site simply due to his planning and heart wrenching moments he can come up with as its hard to make a man like me feel sad anymore because of all the shit I've had to deal with in life but even still this made me cry and I'm proud to admit that keep up the good work my friend as I want to see where this ends no matter how long I have to wait
damn you Orthoros...... damn you for kicking me so hard in the feels and making me cry
Your Discord just went from "Amazing Discord" to "Best Discord".
8424186
I've already speculated that the mare who was working on the heart becomes Chrysalis.
ZA TWIST
Every single chapter... your story is an absolute pleasure too read. I thank you for taking the time it demands in producing this wonderful epic saga.
Big hug!
Whet.
You have made me a sad.
Also:
I think you mean "I'll cut us some apples,"
Amazing chapter as always.
8424426
I'm not crying, you're crying.
8424832
no i am not... you are.... *struggling to manly hold bacl manly tears of manly manliness*
8424141
I feel like I've been kicked.
Hopefully time goes by quickly so I can get some resolution.
Go you magnificent bastard.vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/1/15/FANMADE_Rainbow_Dash_salute.png/revision/latest?cb=20120306005927
This chapter was absolutely beautiful.
Hope the truth comes out in the end.
Damn man, dem feels. This chapter hit me like a kick to the guts. Bravo.
Poor Dissy, though. I wonder how will they all react, in the present, now that Atlas just revealed that all that Discord did was an act so that there could be true harmony in equestria
This is actually the second time Atlas has been truly alone. Remember the death of Belle?
Dude... I thought all that thing with Discord and the play was just giving him a little more childhood character and interests instead of just being a small version of the show Discord. I didn't expect it to be building up to this... him making this big of a sacrifice for the sake of Equestria and the possible timeline...
God speed Discord...
While this was excellently written, I can't help but feel that the timing in the story is off. I think that something like this really should have happened after some event where it became clear that the different ponies need the unifying figures that the alicorns represent. As it is, what we've actually seen in the story doesn't really show that there needs to be anything more than time for things to settle down.
There really should be another chapter in-between Starswirl's disappearance and Discord deciding the 'play' the villain to summon the unifying heroes. Maybe you should have had Atlas and Discord go to Starswirl's home in order to preserve his other research, only to find the city in some sort of race riot? Or something along those lines which makes it clear that there's a missing element to Equestria.
Which really isn't to say that this isn't well written, it just feels like there's a missing scene or something.
WELP.
Manly feels were felt.
Ow my haert
'What a twist!'
Damn! I don't know what to say, but I approve.
This version of Discord is great, kinda like batman in a way... Not the hero that they want, the hero they need... Cause make no mistake, taking this kinda bullet for the team is a hero
i.pinimg.com/736x/3b/db/eb/3bdbeb70e833bd40c9c97c2e3e2e8507--mlp-pony-pony-.jpg
his affinity for stage plays suddenly makes perfect sense within the ''canon''....
you planned this months ago didn't you?
THIS IS GOLDEN.
QUALIDAD ULTIMA
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Im not crying...
I have crippling depression. The feels were so real, reality shattered.
I had honestly thought that we were going to see a rise of Sombra, not this. It just breaks my heart into all kinds of sadness to see this happening. What I kind of fear is how long till Discord playing The Villian stops bring just that; a role to play. Staring into the abyss too long has the abyss staring back into you. That is what makes this the most heartbreaking. I don't think that the redemption later in the timeline will be a "redemption", but a real legitimate one.
You MUST hurry up! I cannot wait to see the next chapter, and the one after that, and the one after that, and so on. I NEED to see how this goes, and I'm betting that Atlas is the biological father of the two sisters. I truthfully want to see this. And since the 2 sisters knew starswirl, I can only assume that he went around 100 years into the future, perhaps even 1000. After all, the 2 sisters are... 2000? 3000? Somewhere around there? That is my guess. If that's the case, I wouldn't be surprised if he appeared on a later date, as I'm assuming that the sisters don't meet starswirl until AFTER they become alicorns ( or were they born that way? I cannot remember / do not know ), that is my thought, as sorry to say this, but I haven't even watched the show ( I don't like it, but I do like the fan fictions and OC's, yeah, I don't give a s**t if you hate me or not ), nor read up much on it, other than what creatures there are, names of the most important figures, and such, I don't know the history between starswirl and the 2 sisters, so that is what I think, anyways, that's it for this comment.
I do indeed enjoy your stories. And you did a nice job on how to change discord. But I am worried you are going to brake his mind with his 1000 years in stone.
And remember it's liquid pride.
8430782
I was thinking the biological father thing as well that would be amazing and it would make since because atlas's loneliness would drive him to meet others
Weeeeeeeeeeell, shit.
Is it weird that I feel like this video fits?