Cheerilee hadn't suspected anything would happen when she arranged for a field trip to Canterlot, more specifically to one of the city's most famous landmarks. Her students had all been eager to get their permission slips turned in so they could see the famous sculpture garden on the grounds surrounding the royal palace. The intent was to use the various displays to promote historical awareness, though the opportunity to get away from the classroom for a day had been a plus.
Cheerilee was now leading her students into the garden itself, quickly conducting a mental head count to make sure everypony was present and accounted for. She was particularly worried about a trio of students called the Cutie Mark Crusaders, having called themselves that because they were really determined to get their cutie marks no matter what. And they had attracted a reputation in Ponyville for getting into trouble.
So it was of great relief to the teacher that all three fillies were following along without a fuss. "Come along, students," She called as she began the tour. "I want to start our field trip here, in the world-famous Canterlot sculpture garden. The statues you see here display the various values that Equestria was founded upon and continues to live by to this day," She gestured a hoof to three ponies standing in unison, all appearing to be huddled around something. "That one over there represents 'Friendship'," Then she gestured to a statue of three ponies similar to but also different from the previous three carrying a flag. "And this one represents 'Victory'."
Scootaloo couldn't help but comment aloud. "Wow. Just think, how cool would it be to have that for a cutie mark?"
Apple Bloom replied by lightly ribbing her fellow filly. "I suppose it would be cool, if you were actually victoryful at somethin'."
Sweetie Belle blinked in confusion and concern. "Uh, I don't think that's an actual word."
Scootaloo snorted and rolled her eyes. "What are you, a dictionary or something?"
Cheerilee quickly intervened to break up a potential fight before it could start. "Now girls, there's no need for such arguments. You promised me you'd be on your best behavior today, as did everypony else."
"Sorry, Miss. Cheerilee." All three fillies apologized in unison.
The teacher smiled. "Apology accepted," Then she resumed her tour, stopping in front of a rather strange statue that depicted a creature that nopony had ever seen before. And it appeared to be in a pose as if it were singing. "Now this is a very special statue. It was the first one ever to be placed in this garden. It's called 'Discord' which means a lack of harmony among ponies. A cautionary tale of what we could be if we ever stopped trusting each other," Then she asked. "Now, can anypony tell me what's so special about this statue?"
"Well, it's got an eagle's paw." Apple Bloom noticed.
"Yeah, and a lion's paw too!" Scootaloo added while buzzing her wings in excitement and amazement!
"And I think there's a snake's tail too," Sweetie Belle commented, before her sap green eyes noticed something. "Say, is that crack supposed to be there?"
Cheerilee briefly noticed a small crack that resided at the base of the statue, but she thought nothing of it. "These statues are very, very old, Sweetie Belle. It's probably inevitable that after they've been exposed to wind, rain, sun and snow for so many years that some of them will start to decay. That's why you may only look but not touch the statues. You might break them."
Diamond Tiara then raised a hoof as she asked. "But what is that creature supposed to be, Miss. Cheerilee?" And she shuddered ever so briefly. "It's... creepy. I don't think I like it."
"That creature, Diamond Tiara," Cheerilee cheerfully explained. "Is a draconequus. And in addition to the parts mentioned above, you'll notice it also has the head of pony and the wings of both a bat and a manticore."
The rich filly did her best to appear interested. "That's... cool, I guess. But it's not actually real, is it?"
Cheerilee shook her head. "There are no records of a draconequus of any sort ever existing in Equestria at any point. If there were I doubt Princess Celestia would have a statue of one built." But in the back of her mind she was thinking to herself. "Then again, everypony thought Nightmare Moon was just an old mare's tail, myself included. And yet she turned out to be real. Is it possible that 'Discord' is real too?" She wisely decided against saying this out loud, she didn't want to cause any of her students to worry.
Had one been paying close attention to the statue, they might have briefly seen the crack widen as a faintly visible wave of energy seeped out. But if one had blinked for even just a second they might not have seen it and would've dismissed it as a figment of their imagination.
However, it seemed like out of the blue the Cutie Mark Crusaders were starting to argue and fight with each other! "There's no way that's actually chaos! I've seen chaos before!" Sweetie Belle insisted.
Scootaloo argued back. "If Miss. Cheerilee says it's chaos then it's chaos!"
"Ha, you're wrong!" Apple Bloom taunted. "That thing's just meant to represent confusion. How else can you explain how silly it looks?"
Scootaloo protested while shoving Apple Bloom. "I say it's chaos!"
Sweetie growled. "It's not chaos, you dodo!"
At that the pegasus filly pressed her snout up against the unicorn filly's face. "I told you, don't call me things I don't know the meaning of! I thought we were friends, Sweetie Belle."
"Girls," Cheerilee muttered in annoyance, hoping to make the Crusaders stop fighting. But to her surprise and concern they didn't. "Girls?" She called out, waving a hoof to try and get their attention. But it was as if something had taken hold of them. And now that Cheerilee got a closer look, her grayish green eyes could see what looked like faint traces of sap green colored magic in each of the Crusaders' eyes. "GIRLS!" She yelled at the top of her lungs and stomped the ground hard!
That did the trick, whatever had come over the Crusaders left them and all three stared at each other in disbelief. And none seemed to notice that the crack on the statue in front of them had increased ever so slightly.
Cheerilee was in disbelief. "What has gotten into you three fillies? And after you promised to behave too."
The three fillies whimpered and shrunk from their teacher's harsh gaze. "We're sorry, Cheerilee." They all insisted.
The young mare sighed. "Well, I suppose you three did demonstrate what 'Discord' is."
"We did?!" Apple Bloom stared in disbelief, as if not remembering what had just occurred.
"Don't you remember that fight you just had?" Cheerilee questioned her young charges, all of whom shook their heads in disbelief. "Really? Or are you just pretending?"
Sweetie Belle innocently insisted. "We swear, we don't know what came over us. But it was like suddenly we just had to fight. Honest."
Reluctantly, Cheerilee decided it best not to press further on the issue. None of her other students had appeared to be bothered by the display and none of them had acted strangely. Perhaps it had just been her imagination despite how real it had seemed? Well, she could worry about it later. "Well, I guess I'll take your word for it. But you three are still going to be written up for this," Then she quickly led all her students away. "Come along, children. There's still much to see on our field trip."
But as the group left the statue and made their way further into the garden, they were unaware that the crack was growing rapidly across the entire base of the statue! Light began to poke out from it as a voice could be heard faintly chuckling. "Free again." It whispered and already the mind attached to the voice was beginning to scheme, scheme about how it would succeed where it had failed before: Conquering Equestria for itself!
The first signs of trouble didn't appear in Canterlot, the field trip there proceeded as planned and with no further interruptions. But miles away in Ponyville, strange things were beginning to happen.
Rainbow Dash found herself struggling to deal with clouds that were actually made out of cotton candy. Trying to bust them like normal clouds just caused the brash speedster to get stuck, and it took all her might to free herself.
But things were nowhere near as bad in the skies as they were on the ground, especially at Sweet Apple Acres which was being bombarded with chocolate flavored rain and out of control giant popcorn. "Hey, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack called out to her pegasus friend. "Mind tellin' me what the hay's goin' on with all this crazy weather?"
"Don't ask me, I haven't got a clue," Rainbow responded. "Things are pretty bad everywhere, though. Cloudsdale's been hit with a pretty bad cola storm, but I'm not leaving until I get things under control here in Ponyville. Ponyville's always gonna be my number one priority."
Rarity, meanwhile, had shown up to help out. She was wearing a rather lavishly decorated light purple rain poncho complete with a matching umbrella. "Sorry I'm late, Applejack. It took me ages to find good rain gear," She apologized. "I want to help, as long as I don't have to get wet."
Applejack couldn't help but remark. "Sugarcube, it's just rain. A little rain never hurt anypony."
Rarity wasn't convinced. "It's not every day it rains chocolate milk like crazy. I'm taking no chances."
"Well, I could sure use the extra hooves," Applejack commented. "Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are tryin' to help too, but..." She trailed off as her eyes took notice of what was happening with her friends.
Fluttershy was trying to keep her animal friends under control, which was proving difficult due to their now exaggerated legs that made them run around like crazy! "Oh, it's like they don't wanna listen to me at all," She complained and looked across to Pinkie Pie. "You're supposed to be helping me."
Pinkie Pie was munching away on some clouds of cotton candy that had fallen to the ground, as well as some of the giant popcorn kernels. "I'm trying to!" She insisted between bites, stopping only on occasion to wash it down with some of the chocolate rain. "I thought for sure it would've stopped by now. At this rate, I'm gonna be burning up a lot of crazy energy real soon."
Twilight arrived on the scene a moment later with Spike at her side. And Applejack in particular had never felt so relieved to see the book loving unicorn before.
"Twilight, thank the stars!" Applejack happily exclaimed! "Please tell me you've found a spell that'll put an end to all this madness."
Twilight cleared her throat while surveying the situation. It looked even worse than what she'd been led to assume. "Well, I've never seen anything like this before in my life. And I couldn't find anything in any books about it happening before. However, I'm pretty sure the spell I just perfected will work. Might wanna stand back though, it's going to take a lot of magic!"
Applejack obeyed and all eyes fell upon Twilight as she shut her eyes, concentrating very intensely. Her horn glowed brighter than it had ever glowed before, the light purple aura of her magic shining brightly even in the midst of day! Sparks shot out like embers from a fire as the magic built up inside and the glow grew brighter by the second! At last, Twilight shot off a beam and there was a brilliant, blinding flash of light!
But when Twilight opened her eyes she was dismayed to discover that nothing had changed. It was still raining chocolate milk, the cotton candy clouds were still there, the popcorn continued to grow out of control and the animals just kept running around. Twilight felt her heart sink ever so faintly. "I don't understand... how did that not work?"
"It was a long shot anyways," Spike pointed out before he quickly reassured Twilight. "Come on, Twilight. You're my mother for Celestia's sake. You always come up with a plan that works in the end, even if sometimes it doesn't work exactly like it's supposed to," And he suggested. "I know it's not your thing, but maybe try to come up with something more immediate. Something fast."
The studious unicorn tried her best to do so as she took in the situation again. "Think... think..." She muttered to herself.
However, while Twilight was thinking Applejack had decided to more or less take charge for herself. And the first thing she did was pull a rope out from under her trusty stetson.
Rainbow Dash quickly took notice of the rope and was quite confused. "What do you think you're doing, Applejack?"
"I reckon maybe I can at least pull down a few of them there clouds," Applejack explained as she quickly turned the rope into a lasso. "I'll be darned if I just sit around and do nothin' while my family's way of life is under attack! I don't know if I can save it, but I'm at least gonna try."
Rarity then got an idea. "Why don't I help you, darling? I'm not exactly skilled with ropes, but I should be able to use my magic to pull some of those clouds together like I was sewing them into a dress."
Rainbow eagerly responded while zooming around. "Yeah, now we're talking! That'll make rounding up the rest of the clouds around here way easier for me!"
And at that, Twilight started getting an idea herself. "Wait a minute, that's it! That's the perfect plan!" She excitedly declared. "And I know how we can get rid of those clouds for good once they're on the ground," She looked to Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. "You girls know what to do, right?"
Fluttershy nodded. It didn't take a genius to conclude what Twilight was thinking of. And she was quick to whisper the details to Pinkie to ensure she should understood too. "Let's get to work!"
And it wasn't long before all the cotton candy clouds had been rounded up, tied up and dropped to the ground. And Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie worked quickly to herd the animals over towards the stash, letting them eat to their hearts' content (even though Pinkie couldn't resist getting in a quick bite).
Spike smiled as he playfully poked a claw against Twilight's side. "See, Twilight? I knew you'd pull through for everyone! You really are the best!"
Twilight blushed ever so faintly. "Maybe so, Spike," She quickly recovered. "But that still doesn't explain how or why all this happened all of a sudden. I wish I had some sort of clue or some idea of where to start looking for answers."
As if in response to that suggestion, Spike suddenly belched up a scroll with his flame breath. "I think it's for you, Twilight." He commented as he gave her the scroll.
Twilight unfolded the scroll and read it over. Once she'd done so her moderate violet eyes were filled with a sense of dread. "It's from Princess Celestia," She informed the others. "And it's urgent. We're needed in Canterlot A.S.A.P!"
Spike immediately puffed up his chest! "I'm coming too! I wanna help!"
Twilight would hear nothing of such a suggestion. "No, Spike. You need to stay here. Whatever Princess Celestia needs the girls and I for, it could be very dangerous."
"So? We've faced danger before and come out alright." The little dragon innocently replied.
"Maybe, but you can't deny there's been a lot of close calls," Twilight cautioned in a motherly tone. "If anything were to happen to you now I'd never be able to forgive myself. Far better for the both of us if you remain here, at least until we know what we're dealing with."
Reluctantly, Spike relented though not without letting a sigh. "Fine, I guess I'll stay if you really want me to, Twilight. But you be careful too, okay? I worry about you just as much as you worry about me. And this is starting to remind me an awful lot of that Nightmare Moon fiasco."
The studious unicorn nodded. "Well, I won't be rushing blindly into danger this time. And I promise, I'll come back as soon as I can," Then she turned to her friends. "Come on, girls! Let's hope the trains are still running like normal."
It was of great relief to the six ponies that nothing had impacted train travel yet. They were able to travel to Canterlot with no problems at all. And strangely enough, Canterlot didn't seem to be afflicted by any sort of strange or unexplained phenomenon. The city appeared to the way it always was.
Upon arriving in the city the girls were immediately ushered along by the royal guards and directed to the royal palace for their audience with Princess Celestia. That was when they knew something was up. The alicorn with a majestic white coat was pacing the floor of the throne room rather impatiently and anxiously. "Oh good, you've finally arrived!" She exclaimed with relief.
"We came as soon as we could, Princess Celestia," Twilight told her mentor as she trotted up to her. "Is this about the weather? And the animals? And why my magic didn't seem to have any effect on them?"
Princess Celestia nodded her head in firm confirmation. "Indeed, Twilight. I had hoped this day would never come, alas it has," And she began to explain. "It would appear that an old enemy, one I'd long assumed defeated for good, has escaped. His name... is Discord!"
A series of gasps filled the room before Rarity inquired. "Uh, who's 'Discord' exactly?"
Princess Celestia gestured a hoof to a nearby stained glass window display that depicted a strange and mismatched creature. Said creature was dangling an earth pony, a pegasus and a unicorn over what appeared to be a pit of flames. "Discord is the spirit of chaos and disharmony. Before Luna and I ascended to the throne, he ruled the entire land of Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness. Luna and I saw how he made life miserable for the unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies. He seemed to regard them as little more than playmates or toys to be discarded at will."
"So what happened?" Rainbow questioned. "You kick his sorry butt or what?"
Celestia gestured to another stained glass window, this one depicting her and Luna as they appeared to be circling around the creature from before. But the creature now appeared to be encased in solid stone. "Luna and I discovered the Elements of Harmony, likely a parting gift from our parents who sacrificed themselves to give us a fighting chance. And together we wielded them, turning Discord to stone. All of this occurred thousands of years ago. And Luna and I assumed Discord would remain trapped in stone forever. However, such was not the case."
"How did he escape?" Applejack pondered with concern.
"I'm not sure," Princess Celestia commented as her face took on a look of great concern. "I suspect it has something to do with what happened during the last Summer Sun Celebration. A delayed reaction, most likely," And she then firmly declared. "I need you all to wield the Elements of Harmony again, and stop Discord!"
Fluttershy then forced back a gulp. "Why us? Why can't you and Luna just do it like you did before?"
At that the sun princess unhappily sighed. "Luna is still not back to full power yet. It's entirely possible she may never fully regain all that she had before she became Nightmare Moon. And even if she were fully restored, we've been cut off from the Elements of Harmony. They passed to the six of you."
"Hey!" Pinkie Pie commented as she eyed a stain glass window display of herself and the five other mares using the Elements of Harmony against Nightmare Moon. "We're famous!"
Celestia chuckled a bit at the comment. "You could say that," She quickly composed herself. "But this is no joking matter, you understand. Discord will not be anything like Nightmare Moon. You must be prepared for anything," And looking at the six ponies that gathered she asked them. "Are you sure you're ready? Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to protect Equestria?"
All the mares nodded in unison, although Pinkie then raised a hoof. "You all do know that this chaos comes with unlimited chocolate rain, right?"
"Yes, Pinkie," Twilight replied to her party planning friend. "But it's not just chocolate rain and you know it."
The pink party pony unhappily sighed. "Yeah, I know. But still, it's a bummer. Why can't this Discord just stick to things like chocolate milk and cotton candy, that never hurt anypony?"
"Discord only ever cared about himself. To him it's all a game," Celestia frowned. "Before Luna and I defeated him he enjoyed toying with us. He'll definitely try to do the same to you, but don't let him fool you. Beneath that playful exterior lies a draconequus that will tear Equestria apart if given half the chance."
Twilight firmly declared to her mentor. "Well don't worry, we're more than ready for him! As long as we have the Elements of Harmony we'll be fine," Then she looked all around the throne room. "Where are they, anyway?"
Princess Celestia gestured to a door at the end of the hallway. "I had the elements stored inside a secure vault that only I could access. I didn't expect them to have to be used again so soon." She quickly inserted her horn into a small key hole in the center of the door and turned it. The door began to glow as several circles lit up one by one. Finally, the door opened and a display case the most beautiful shade of blue appeared, decorated with red and yellow gems.
Yet when the case was opened nothing was inside it! It fell to the floor with a thud as even Princess Celestia seemed surprised given her reaction!
The sun princess quickly started pacing anew, wondering what could've gone wrong. "It just doesn't make any sense." She muttered to herself.
Suddenly, an ominous laugh echoed throughout the throne room as an unfamiliar voice taunted. "'Make sense'? Oh come now, what fun is there in 'making sense'? Rather boring if you ask me."
Princess Celestia's attitude seemed to change from one of confusion to one of anger as she grit her teeth and adopted a harsh glare. "Discord!" She bitterly remarked. "I should've known. Show yourself!"
The voice just laughed again as it asked. "Did you miss me, Celestia?" Suddenly, the stained glass display of Discord began to move. And as it moved it spoke with the same voice that had been taunting the alicorn earlier. "Well, I've certainly missed you," The display began to move from one window to another as it went on to say. "Being trapped in stone for thousands of years can make a guy feel pretty lonely. But you wouldn't know that, would you, oh princess?" Without even waiting for a reply it bitterly declared. "Of course you wouldn't, because unlike you I don't turn ponies into stone! And for the record, I don't banish them to the moon just for disobeying me."
If Celestia was at all intimidated by the remark she didn't let it show outwardly. "You're the bad guy here, Discord. Now talk! What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?!"
"Oh, those?" Discord replied as he feigned concern. "Oh, I just 'borrowed' them for a little while," As he spoke the stained glass display that depicted the Elements of Harmony vanished. "It's your own fault for not securing them properly. What did you think would happen when I broke free? Don't tell me you forgot all about me. What am I saying? Of course you did. I can't say I'm shocked, though. You always were a goody two horseshoes, old sunbutt."
The last line from Discord was enough to make Rainbow Dash lose her patience! "Hey, no one talks like that about the princess on my watch!" She immediately flew towards the window where Discord was, only to run smack into said window.
"Ah, you must be Rainbow Dash, the new bearer of loyalty." Discord commented through the window.
Rainbow snorted. "That's right, bozo! And you should know I'll always be loyal to the princess."
"Oh really?" The witty spirit remarked in an unconcerned tone. "We'll just see about that."
"Really, there's no point in talking to him," Rarity insisted. "It's just an illusion. He's not actually here right now. You're just talking to a stained glass window display and looking rather foolish."
"On the contrary, Rarity," Discord replied as he appeared to through another window. "I'm very much here. And I must say, for the new bearer of generosity you are rather beautiful."
Applejack then trotted up. "So you know who we are, huh? Big deal. You think that scares us?"
Discord made the display of himself grow rather tall in response. "It should. I know a lot more than just your names, honest Applejack."
Twilight was quick to point out the realization. "You seem to know what elements we belong to."
The spirit cackled with glee. "That's correct, Twilight! Leave it to the princess' prized protege to figure it out. Your element is magic, Fluttershy's is kindness and Pinkie Pie's is my personal favorite: Laughter."
As Discord was speaking, Pinkie Pie was laughing.
"Pinkie!" Twilight scolded her friend.
"But Twilight, look!" Pinkie giggled as she pointed a hoof. "He's dancing on your head!" And indeed Discord was. He was dancing atop the stained glass display of Twilight, laughing himself silly as he did so.
But Princess Celestia was fast growing impatient. "Enough of your games, Discord!" She stomped a hoof down. "I'm not gonna ask again. The Elements! Where are they?!"
The spirit ceased his dancing. "Oh, you just have to spoil everything, don't you?" After a long, drawn out sigh he relented. "Fine. I'll tell you, but I'll only tell you my way. So you'd better listen and listen good," He proceeded to explain while moving about rapidly. "In order to retrieve your missing elements, just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then you may find the elements back where you began." And with that the voice faded away as the stained glass display ceased to move.
"Just what the hay was that all about, Twilight?" Applejack questioned the book loving unicorn once it was clear Discord wasn't around. "What do you think he meant?"
"It must be some kind of riddle," Twilight pondered while putting a hoof to her chin. "But why would he tell us where to look? Something must be up."
Rainbow Dash wasn't concerned. "Maybe he just doesn't think we're a threat worth taking seriously, Twilight. He probably thinks he's already won. But we'll prove him wrong when we find the Elements of Harmony and teach him a lesson he'll never forget!" And she was quick to encourage. "Now come on, figure out that riddle so we can get going! I'm itching for action!"
The book loving unicorn continued to ponder all the while trotting about, deep in thought. Then, after a bit of silent thinking she came to a conclusion. "I have an idea. Discord said we could find the elements 'where we began'. And we found the elements in the Everfree Forest."
"At the Castle of the Two Sisters!" Rarity realized with a gasp! "Of course, that must be it! But how are we gonna get all the way out to there?"
"We'll take a train back to Ponyville first, and then we'll head to the Everfree Forest and make our way through," Twilight explained to her friends. "At least this time it should be daylight."
"It's worth a shot!" Rainbow eagerly declared. "Let's go!"
Princess Celestia nodded her head in confirmation. "Good luck to you, my little ponies. May the power of harmony protect you, always." And with that she watched the six mares with whom the fate of Equestria was now entrusted trot away. It was out of her hooves now and all she could do was hope for the best.
However, when Twilight and the others reached the train station in Canterlot they were dismayed to learn that the next train to Ponyville wouldn't be arriving any time soon.
"I'm sorry, miss," The ticket sales pony apologized in what sounded like a sincere tone of voice. "Transportation to and from Ponyville has been inexplicably temporarily halted. If you wish to get back to Ponyville, you'd be better off making the journey by hoof."
Fluttershy quickly moved to put a hoof around Twilight upon sensing how disappointed the unicorn mare had become. "Cheer up, Twilight. We must be on the right path. If the Castle of the Two Sisters wasn't the right answer, Discord wouldn't be trying to stop us from reaching it."
"Maybe," Twilight unhappily remarked. "Or maybe I didn't think through the riddle properly. I thought for sure Discord was just playing games when he said 'twists and turns'. But maybe he meant it literally," It was then that a new idea came to her mind. "I wonder if... no, it couldn't be..."
Pinkie Pie bounced over. "Couldn't be what, Twilight?"
The book loving unicorn explained as she gestured a hoof. "There's one place where there are twists and turns everywhere and you can end up back where you started: The royal hedge maze. Maybe that is what Discord meant."
"Sounds like a good place at to least start our search," Applejack declared. "And if ain't, we can always hoof it back to Ponyville and go from there." And so the six mares headed out for the hedge maze.
"Are we gonna have to actually..." Fluttershy forced back a gulp as the mares approached the hedge maze's entrance. "Search the entire maze?"
Rainbow Dash looked to her wings and immediately boasted. "Nope, 'cause Discord forgot all about these babies! I'll just fly right up and get a bird's eye view of the whole thing! This'll just take three seconds!" And with a flap of her wings she was off. However, Rainbow hadn't gotten very far when suddenly her wings disappeared! And Fluttershy's wings disappeared too!
A second later, Twilight and Rarity looked across to each other and noticed that their horns had disappeared as well! "Your horn! My horn!" They screamed at each other and started to freak out.
Applejack and Pinkie Pie began to notice that they too felt different. "Suddenly I don't feel like Bucky McGilacuddy and Kicks Mikgee are listenin' to me." Applejack remarked as she looked down at her hooves.
"And it feels like someone turned off my 'Pinkie Sense'," Pinkie commented. "But that's impossible!"
Then, just as all the mares started to wonder what was going on, they saw a small hole of white light appear before them. And in a dazzling flash, Discord finally appeared to them in all his mismatched, unholy glory! He reared back and roared as lightning struck behind him, leaving all six ponies huddled together in fright.
"Oh, you should see the looks on your faces right now," Discord taunted as he dropped the intimidation and smiled as he held out his paws. "Priceless."
Twilight impatiently stomped a hoof down. "You took away our magical powers. Give them back!"
"Relax, you'll get them all back in due time," Discord explained as he moved between the ponies with ease. "I just took them to ensure there'd be no 'cheating'. For you see, I've decided to play a little game with you ponies. And here's the first rule: No flying and no magic."
Rainbow stared in disbelief. "'The first rule'?"
Discord nodded as he appeared behind the brash speedster. "The second rule is: Everypony has to play, or the game's over and I win. You're all welcome to search to your heart's content, but should any of you happen to find the Elements of Harmony you can't tell anypony. Break any of the rules and... well you already know about rule number two. Good luck to you all! I'll be watching!" And with that he disappeared as quickly and as mysteriously as he had appeared.
"We can't let him rattle us," Twilight insisted. "We still have each other. And together, we'll find the missing elements and put an end to Discord's games. Come on, girls!"
The six mares all stepped into the maze at the same time. But as soon as they'd taken their first steps they were quickly separated one by one, walls were thrown up on either side of them that prevented them from seeing each other. Fortunately, they could still hear each other. "Is everyone alright?" Twilight asked, and quickly received five different confirmations. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. Let's all meet up in the center as quickly as possible!" And with that, each mare set off along their own path.
Unknown to any of the ponies, Discord was watching and observing the whole thing from above. "You don't really think I'm gonna make it easy on you, do you, ponies?" He thought to himself while rubbing his paws together. "This is gonna be fun!"
It didn't take long for the draconequus to settle on his first "target". Although he could've gone for any pony he wanted he decided that he would first go after the Element of Honesty herself: Applejack.
Applejack was rushing through the maze as fast as she could, determined to let nothing stop her. However, when she stopped for a few seconds to catch her breath, she was surprised to see a bunch of apples rolling along by themselves. "What the hay?" She said aloud even though no one else could hear her. With her curiosity aroused, the farm mare followed the rolling apples until they led her to what appeared to be some sort of grotto. Apple trees stood near a small pool that had a very unsettling atmosphere to it.
"Welcome, Applejack," A mysterious (and rather creepy) voice greeted, soon revealing itself as a pile of lush, bright red apples in the form of a face. "We've been expecting you."
"We are the keepers of the Orchard of Truth." A pile of dark red apples explained.
"You may ask us one question," A pile of green apples went on as the three piles surrounded the farm mare. "Any one question your heart desires."
"But beware, you may not like what you find out." The bright red apples cautioned.
Applejack didn't know that these "apples" were actually just well disguised puppets Discord was using. If she had she might not have spoken up to them. "Well, I'm probably gonna regret askin' this, but I just gotta now," She forced back a gulp. "I didn't wanna say anythin' earlier, but I've got a real bad feelin' about this whole Discord business. How it's goin' to end?"
The dark red apples simply instructed. "For the answers that you seek-"
"-Go ahead, take a peek." The green apples encouraged as their eyes turned to the small pool nearby.
Applejack gazed down into the pool, her moderate sap green eyes soon watching as an image took shape right in front of her! It appeared to be Ponyville, but something about it was wrong. Buildings were upside down, the roads had been turned in black and white tiles and she and all her friends seemed to glaring and frowning at each other.
"So it's come to this," Twilight could be heard saying. "There's no point in any of us carrying on."
"I don't wanna see any of you in my life ever again!" Rarity coldly replied. And one by one each of the mares seemed to agree. Just like that, they all trotted away in six different directions with their backs turned to one another. The image faded away a few seconds later.
The farm mare stumbled back in disbelief. "No! Our friendships end?! That... that can't be true!"
"Oh, but you know it is," The bright red apples taunted. "For we have no reason to lie to you. And you know this isn't the first time you've had to confront an unfortunate truth. Remember when you learned about what happened to your parents on that bridge?"
Horrible memories came flashing back to Applejack as she gasped and flinched! "No!" She cried in dismay!
"When all the truth ever does-" The green apples began.
"-Is make your heart ache-" The bright red apples continued.
"-Sometimes a lie is easier to take." The dark red apples concluded as Applejack could hear the familiar voice of Discord whispering to her. Before she even realized what was happening, she found herself losing any will to ever be truthful again. Her entire body dulled considerably, to the point where there was almost no color to be seen.
Just then, the hedge maze opened ever so slightly as Twilight happened to come running past. But she stopped in her tracks upon seeing Applejack, not recognizing at first the change in appearance. "Applejack?! Oh, thank goodness. Glad I found you," She then trotted closer to the first friend she'd made. "But who was that you were talking to?"
"Who, me?" Applejack blinked as she seemed to stare off into the distance. "Why I was talkin' to... no one! Absolutely no one!"
Twilight was confused. "Really? Because I thought for sure I heard-"
Applejack cut her friend off. "-You must be imaginin' things, Twilight. Who would I be talkin' to out here in the middle of nowhere?" Strangely enough, as she talked her eyes seemed to dart about. She was quick to change the subject. "Er... come on! Let's get back to our search. Gotta find the others!" And off she trotted.
Twilight reluctantly followed, but in her mind she was very suspicious. "Applejack wouldn't just lie out of the blue like that. I know I heard her talking to someone," She thought to herself. "Discord must be behind this somehow. I've just gotta get to the rest of my friends before he does!"
However, Discord was already waiting for his next victim. "I was kind of hoping to save her for last, but oh well." He thought to himself while rubbing his paws together in delight.
Pinkie Pie, suspecting nothing, was happily bouncing through the maze without a care in the world. But she stopped upon hearing giggles and music. Following the noise to its source, she stumbled across a garden filled with colorful balloons as far as the eye could see! "Wow! A balloon garden in the middle of a hedge maze! This is my lucky day!" She cheerfully exclaimed, bouncing and skipping along.
But then suddenly, Pinkie tripped and tumbled face first into a puddle of mud. She didn't realize that one of the balloons had grabbed one of her back hooves and caused her to fall. What she did realize, however, was that the balloons now seemed to be laughing at her. "Hey, what's so funny?" She complained. "I could've gotten hurt."
At that moment, Discord appeared in a flash of light. "What's the matter, Pinkie Pie? You always enjoyed a good laugh."
The pink party pony protested. "Well this time it's different. This time they're laughing at me, and I didn't even do anything to deserve it."
The spirit just snorted as he put his head behind a blue colored balloon and spoke through it. "It's hardly different. Your friends laugh at you all the time, you just haven't realized it."
Pinkie Pie shook her head at the notion. "No, you're wrong! I thought that way before and boy did I make myself look silly," She was quick to protest. "My friends laugh with me, not at me. I think."
Having sensed the insecurity in Pinkie's voice, Discord seized the opportunity given to him. "Oh really? Are you sure about that?" And as if on cue several balloons that resembled the faces of Pinkie's friends appeared in front of him. All of them began taunting and laughing at Pinkie Pie with their voices sounding just like the ones of her friends.
"No! Make it stop! Don't laugh at me!" The pink party pony started to roar and growl as she tried to block out the laughs, but to no avail.
Discord turned back towards Pinkie as he locked eyes with her. "Oh, poor Pinkie Pie. And here I always thought laughter made you happy."
As a new sense of frustration and suspicion took hold of her, Pinkie stood up, shook off the mud and declared in a low tone of voice. "Happy? I don't think so! Not anymore!" And just like that, the balloons all popped one by one.
By now, Twilight and Applejack had managed to reach the balloon garden. But when Twilight got a good look at her party planning friend she realized that she was too late. "Pinkie Pie," She unhappily remarked as she hung her head. "I was so happy to see you. But not like this."
"Oh, what's wrong, Twilight?" Pinkie now coldly replied while brushing past Twilight with her tail. "Need a good laugh? Well too bad, I'm not in a laughing mood. And neither should you be," She snorted. "So unless you want to make jokes yourself, stop wasting everypony's time and go find the rest of our 'friends'."
Applejack then declared. "She seems fine to me, Twilight. Probably just goin' through a phase or somethin'." And she trotted off, though silently snickering behind Pinkie's back.
"First Applejack and now Pinkie Pie," The studious unicorn thought to herself. "I'm starting to think coming to this hedge maze was a mistake. I've got to find either the rest of my friends or the Elements of Harmony before it's too late."
Rarity was unaware of anything that had transpired in the hedge maze. Perhaps if she did she might have been more cautious and more urgently trotting through the maze, rather than opting for more of a leisurely stroll. "I was expecting an audience with Princess Celestia, not outdoor sports." She grumbled to herself.
Seconds later, the fashionista bumped into a wall. And when she'd recovered from the impact she was amazed at what she saw! Before her eyes were three diamonds that shone even brighter than her coat.
"Well, Rarity," The familiar voice of Discord spoke up. "It's your lucky day. Hidden behind these small diamonds lies the greatest fortune of all time. A diamond to rival all diamonds. And it can be yours and yours alone."
Rarity found herself inexplicably drawn to the display. "Yes... it is... beautiful..." She declared, but then suddenly she caught herself and shook her head. "No, I'm better than that! I'm not going to abandon my friends, even for a diamond as dazzling as this one."
Discord only taunted the fashionista as she began to trot away. "Come now, you've earned it. Why should you have to give it up for the sake of your friends? They'll only slow you down and insist that you share the diamond with them. Haven't you realized by now that they don't appreciate your talents? You work your tail off and they call you a drama queen for it. But with this diamond you won't need them ever again. You'll have everything you've always desired."
Rarity struggled greatly and heroically against Discord's attempted brainwashing. She could sense what he was trying to do. But unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't resist for long. "I... I... Mine!" She shrieked as her coat and mane and tail dulled considerably, and she started digging at the wall with her bare hooves to get at the diamond!
The "diamond" was really just a rock, but Rarity didn't see it that way. It was truly a diamond as magnificent as herself, and it was all hers for the taking. "Oh yes, my pretty!" She giddily exclaimed. "You are going to make me very wealthy. I'll be the envy of all of Canterlot. No, all of Equestria."
And it was at this moment that Twilight and the others caught up with the corrupted fashionista. And as soon as Twilight saw her fellow unicorn her heart sank anew. "I can't believe it, Rarity. You too?"
The corrupted fashionista only snorted. "I don't know what you think you're trying, Twilight. Don't try to confuse the issue. This here diamond is mine, all mine!"
"What diamond?" Twilight questioned. "All I see is a rock."
Rarity replied by growling. "It's not a rock, it's a diamond! The most beautiful diamond I've ever seen, and none of you are going to take it away from me!" Then she declared. "So long as you all understand that we'll be fine. Now come on, the sooner we find the rest of our friends the sooner I can take this diamond back home with me, where it belongs." And she lugged it away with a great deal of straining.
Meanwhile, Pinkie was confronting Applejack over what she assumed was a laugh directed at the formerly pink party pony. "What are you laughing about?!" She interrogated.
Applejack lied and replied. "Uh... chocolate milk?"
"Don't take me for a fool, I know you were laughing at me!" Pinkie snarled before trotting away. "I'm starting to wonder why we were ever friends in the first place."
"Whoever said we were friends, sugarcube?" Applejack taunted. "We only hung around because of Twilight. She was the leader, and we all followed her."
Twilight was too busy thinking about her other friends to pay any attention to what Applejack was saying. "Please, please let me find Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash before it's too late!" She thought to herself. "This has to be Discord's doing somehow, I just know it."
Fluttershy hadn't been making much progress through the maze. Although she didn't always mind being on her own, being abruptly separated from her friends was an unnerving process that made her feel very uncomfortable.
However, the pegasus mare suddenly noticed some rather strange looking butterflies hovering nearby. She came over to them, suspecting nothing.
To the shy mare's surprise the butterflies actually began to talk. And they spoke in a voice that was instantly recognizable as Discord's. "Fluttershy? It looks like you've been left behind by your so called 'friends' again."
Fluttershy immediately shook her head. "Oh no, they haven't left me behind. I'm sure they're looking for me as we speak."
The butterflies just replied by saying. "So you say. But maybe you think too highly of them. After all, they seem to think you're just weak and helpless, only ever getting in the way."
"Oh no, I'm not weak and helpless," Fluttershy protested with a smile. "But I know my friends enough to know that they're aware I maybe don't contribute as much in these situations as they do. I'm fine with not always rushing into danger. And I appreciate their understanding."
The butterflies somewhat angrily retorted. "Yes, well, surely it must burn you up how they're always pointing out your flaws and weaknesses, right?"
The pegasus mare shook her head again. "Not at all. My friends just want me to be the best I can be. I'll bet if you had friends you would understand."
At that, Discord lost patience! He made the butterflies disappear and appeared before Fluttershy himself! "Oh, for goodness sake! You're not supposed to fight back like this!" He complained and tapped a talon to her forehead, dulling her coat and mane and tail colors in the blink of an eye. "You've been kind for far too long, my dear. It's time to be cruel! Arrivederci, loser!" And then he disappeared, still boiling over with anger.
Just like with all the others, Fluttershy was soon afterward reunited with her friends. But she was far from happy to see them.
"Oh no!" Twilight exclaimed in dismay! "I can't believe it, Fluttershy! Discord's gotten to you too! Oh, what was I thinking coming here? This was a terrible idea!"
Fluttershy coldly and cruelly replied. "Aw, boo hoo hoo. What a baby. Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?" She trotted up to Twilight while asking. "Well why don't you just wave your magic little horn and make everything all better? You know, like you always do?"
The book loving unicorn froze, unable to think of a reply.
Fluttershy then declared. "Oh that's right, you can't. You don't have your horn anymore. None of us have anything thanks to you!" And she trotted away after smacking Twilight with her tail. "Let's just find Rainbow Dash so we can get out of here. Assuming Rainbow hasn't already ditched us."
"I'll bet she would," Applejack lied. "I never trusted her. She always made everythin' worse."
"And she always thought I was just a joke and a good prankster." Pinkie Pie added while sticking out her tongue.
Rarity was only interested in her diamond. "If Rainbow Dash tries to steal my diamond, I'll make her suffer!"
Twilight slowly trotted after her friends, watching with dismay as they seemed to constantly attack each other verbally (and sometimes physically). "You're our last hope, Rainbow Dash. Don't let Discord trick you!" She thought to herself, hoping that maybe somehow her pegasus friend would be able to hear her mental plea.
But Rainbow Dash had no way to know what was going on in the maze, let alone that she was now a target for Discord's corruptive ways. What the brash speedster did know, however, was that she needed to get through the maze as fast as possible. Wings or no wings, she would find a way.
Suddenly, Rainbow stopped in her tracks when she saw a cloud shooting out a rainbow colored lightning bolt, not unlike what was depicted on her cutie mark. She followed it until finally it stopped in a small opening in the maze.
There, lying on a hammock and with a pair of sunglasses on, was none other than Discord himself. "Oh, you found me," He replied with fake concern. "Oh dear, whatever I shall do?"
Rainbow growled! "Okay, Discord! Put 'em up!" She held up her front hooves. "You think you can intimidate me just because you took away my wings and separated me from my friends?! Well I don't scare easily! And I'm about to make you sorry!"
The spirit rose slowly from his hammock and removed his sunglasses. "You wouldn't last five seconds with me. Besides, I'm not here to fight you. I've got a message for you."
"Yeah? Well I've got a message for you too, buddy!" The pegasus mare with a rainbow mane insisted.
Discord simply yawned. "Just pay attention, if you can. What I'm about to tell you is very important," Then he came closer to Rainbow Dash and explained. "A weighty choice will soon be yours to make: The right decision or a big mistake. And if it's the wrong path you choose to pursue, the foundations of home will crumble without you!" Then he made the cloud from earlier appear in front of him.
Rainbow watched as the cloud suddenly began to spin, and before she knew it she could see Clousdale. Except the city was about to quite literally fall out of the sky! And there was nothing she or anypony could do to stop it from happening! "Noooooooooo!" She cried at the top of her lungs, not realizing that this was all part of Discord's "trick". In fact, she had no way to know that her coat and mane and tail colors were dulling fast.
Discord smirked, everything had gone exactly as he had intended. And with a snap of his talons he made a blue colored box with yellow ribbons appear. "Look, Rainbow Dash," He told her as he pointed a claw. "That box contains your wings. Now the choice is yours: You can either take your wings and leave the game, abandoning your friends. Or you can stay in the maze and keep searching, but you'll have no way to know if Cloudsdale is okay." He already knew what decision she would make.
Sometime later, Applejack could be heard saying. "Well, there goes Rainbow Dash. Told ya she wasn't good for anythin'."
"Another one of your lies, Applejack?" Twilight remarked with a frown. "I'm not amused."
Fluttershy, however, insisted. "It's not a lie, she's abandoning us! Take a look for yourself!"
Twilight reluctantly did so, and she saw a greyed Rainbow Dash flying out of the maze with her wings! "No!" She gasped in horror, realizing what that meant.
Just then the entire hedge maze began to rumble. And soon the walls that had previously been dividing the ponies disappeared. In fact, the whole maze disappeared as Discord appeared before the ponies in a cloud of dust. "Well well well, it seems that somepony broke the 'No flying, no magic' rule. And you know what that means," He snapped his talons, giving the other ponies back their wings, horns and magical abilities. "The game's over, my little ponies!" He taunted. "You didn't find your missing elements. And it looks like we might be due for a big old storm of chaos!" He pulled out a pink umbrella and unfolded it to the sound of a cat meowing as lightning struck all around him.