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// Prologue 
// Story: Elements of Discord 
// by Inky Scrolls 
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Throughout all of time and space, across Equestria, Earth and the Forgotten Realms, in the furthest reaches of all systems and galaxies and universes, the Elements of Harmony are hailed and revered. They may not be known as such, instead being called such names as 'Christian Qualities', or 'Eternal Tenets', and may not appear in the same form, but the idea of them is the same. They are features and traits to which all right thinking sentient beings aspire, and which should never been taken for granted once gained.

Their existence in Equestria, with which we must now concern ourselves, is of an ancient kind. The Earthen dimension was settled only within the last six thousand years by sentient beings, and is young in contrast; consequently the Elements of Harmony have yet to fully subdue the more irrational and distasteful actions which occur in that world. The Forgotten Realms are of unknown pedigree and age, and vary greatly in their adherence to Harmonic Principles. But even here, the Elements are known.

Equestria is unusual for a dimension in that it is, to use a technical term, 'in reciprocal harmonic balance'. Since the reformations of Luna and Discord, and the defeat of Tirek, the realm has enjoyed relative peace and prosperity, with few non-Elemental circumstances occurring. Of course, crimes are committed and ponies grow old and die, but these sadnesses are balanced by the power of the Elements, and by the friendship of their equine embodiments.

This was not always the case, however. In dark prehistory, before the Elements of Harmony became understood and followed, Equestria was under the subjugation of a different set of Elements. Few today are aware of their existence, and even those who have heard of them frequently dismiss them as a myth. But recent events within the realm have led the majority of ponies to question their past beliefs and come to the conclusion that such things exist.

They are known as the Elements of Discord, and act as counters to the Elements of Harmony. Whilst the Elements of Harmony preserve such qualities as kindness, loyalty and honesty, the Elements of Discord are bastions of such traits as anger, fear and paranoia. They are the original Elements which existed before the creation of Harmony, and which held sway over Existence until their ousting from time and space at the Battle of the Reach of Zogar. There they and their harbingers were destroyed by the Followers of Harmony, and peace began its long reign throughout the dimensions.

Discord was gone, but not forgotten. In all realms a memory remained of the dark times, when one could not trust an acquaintance or a neighbour, or tell friend from foe. Times when insanity, brought on by the sheer weight of malevolent forces, was not uncommon. Times when betrayal was commonplace, and even expected. Although these times had past, those who lived through them remembered them. They told their progeny of the Discordant Era, who listened with wide eyes at the tales of woe they were told. These stories struck a cord with most, ensuring that such times did not again return.

But the Elements of Discord and the consequences of their ruling had been not unkind, even beneficial for some, and these blackened souls yearned for a harking back to the days when they could take advantage of the fear of the world, and use it for their own ends. The tales their children learnt told of how life had been better in the old days, when one was free to do as one pleased without adhering to the principles of Harmony. These young ones would also go on to wish for a new era of Discord, and pass such wishes on to their children. Thus, a different memory of the Elements of Discord was created.

Time passed, thousands upon thousands of years. Still the memories remained, both the good and bad, of the days before Harmony. But these memories had changed. The Followers of Harmony became complacent, proud of the peace which had lasted so long, and self-assured with their own abilities to maintain it. They came to lose the realisation of how hard won the battle had been, and how easily the Elements of Discord could rise again. And still the Harbingers waited, scheming and yet impatient, waiting until the time was right for springing the trap.

In the Earthen Realm Discord was able to grasp a hold quickly and easily, before being ousted by Harmony. Again this happened, and it carried on happening. Every time one set of Elements gained the upper hand on Earth, the other would snatch away the victory. This continued from the time when the first sentients, known as 'humans' lived on Earth, until the present day.

Equestria, in contrast, had no such backwards and forwards disbalance of Elements. The Elements of Discord remained quashed, and the Elements of Harmony victorious. But familiarity breeds contempt and, slowly, the Followers lost the caution they had once had. The Elements of Discord were able to free themselves from ignorance, using the wishes and actions of hardhearted ponies to fuel their ambition. They were able to coalesce into a single, physical, material body. With none of the beauty and symmetry which graced the other sentient species of Equestria, this new creature was instantly recognisable. He need not be described, as I am sure all my readers are aware of whom I write.

Discord kept the name given to him by the separate Elements, and was more powerful than any of them had been on their own. He became a very real threat to peace and unity within Equestria, causing strife and upset for years. Eventually, after beginning the corruption of Princess Luna and throwing the land into disarray, he was defeated by Princess Celestia in the Battle for Harmony. But that was not his last gasp; months later Princess Luna was exiled for the attempted assassination of Princess Celestia.

A sigh of relief breathed across Equestria like a summer breeze, releasing earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns alike from the fear of a return to the Dark. It was felt that Discord had finally been beaten, and could never return again. But all were deceived.

Although encased in stone for a thousand years, Discord retained his cognitive functions. He held a deep seated grudge against the Princess for depriving him of his newly found freedom, and was prepared to do anything to feel avenged. Celestia, aware of the likelihood of these feelings, communed with the Elements of Harmony to find a solution to the inevitable war which would arise. It was decided that Harmony would find a body to inhabit also, a pony with the right qualities to be able to fight back Discord when the time came.

For years Harmony and Princess Celestia searched, trying in vain to find the perfect pony. Eventually they came to the conclusion that a pony with the right innate qualities in their purest form could not be found, and instead settled upon finding six different ponies, who would each have the required character for one of the six Elements. As the thousandth year since Princess Luna's banishment approached, five young ponies were discovered. Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Loyalty and Generosity now all had an equine embodiment. But the sixth Element, Magic, had nopony. Magic was the most important and most powerful of the Elements, for without it the other five were weakened. It was imperative that the right pony be found before long. Celestia knew that Luna, or the Mare in the Moon as she was now known, would be able to free herself from her imprisonment on the thousandth anniversary of the defeat of Discord, and without an embodiment for Magic, there could be no hope of a second victory.

In desperation, the Princess set up a Royal School of Magic, created to teach young unicorns from across Equestria the finer points of magicological study. Many were the pupils who gained their cutie marks at her School, and many were those whom Celestia thought almost perfect for the rôle one of them would have to play. But none were quite as good as Magic expected, and so the vacancy remained unfilled.

With barely fifteen years to go until the coming battle, Princess Celestia was beginning to lose hope. She knew there would be unicorn out there, somewhere in time and space, who was right for the rôle. But she was running out of time.

Then one day a young, purple filly named Twilight Sparkle came to the Royal School of Magic for her entrance exam. She was clumsy and unpractised and somewhat obsessive, but Magic saw great potential within her. The other Elements of Harmony were in agreement, and gave Celestia the sign she needed to know that Equestria's future was safe. Through a remarkable series of events all six of the embodiments, including the newest and youngest, Twilight, all received their cutie marks simultaneously. The Princess could breath freely once more.

And when, on the thousandth anniversary, Luna reappeared in Equestria from her exile on the moon, the Elements were ready to defend their world. With Discord trapped inside his granite prison and unable to fight, Luna was reformed with relative ease. The lost sister was met joyfully by almost the whole of Equestria, and peace looked to remain for a long while.

When Discord was accidentally freed by the arguing of three young fillies the fate of the realm hanged in the balance. For some time Harmony and its six embodiments were unable to defeat the wild, chaotic nature they were presented with, but were eventually able to again defeat the Master of Chaos and free Equestria from his clutches.

Princess Celestia had no secure way of permanently entombing Discord, and he was far too powerful for her to destroy entirely. There were two options available to her. Either she carry on with her present plan, having the Elements of Harmony defeat Discord whenever the need arose, or she could try to have Discord reformed.

When first Celestia thought of the latter solution she pushed it out of her mind; it was impossible, surely? But the more she thought about it the less unreasonable it seemed. Perhaps she could play on Discord's weaknesses, encouraging him to feel unwanted and undervalued. But first she would have to show him, and make him understand, what friendship actually was.

After much discussion with her sister Princess Luna, and after communing with the Elements of Harmony for their collective opinion, Princess Celestia was decided. She would have the embodiments try to reform Discord, with the Element of Kindness, a pale yellow pegasus mare named Fluttershy, taking the central rôle.

The following few days were difficult, both for the Princesses and the Elements. Discord refused to be reformed, instead taking advantage of Fluttershy's kindness by forcing her to agree never to use the her Element against him. Unfortunately for him, and as the Princesses had wished and expected, he came to regret losing the one friend he had ever had, and willingly returned Equestria back to normal.

The Elements of Discord realised that they had been forsaken. The creature they had created no longer needed them, and they came to see that they would be better served in a new form. Whilst Harmony had found the six embodiments to be perfect carriers for the Elements of Harmony, the Elements of Discord were able to seize upon the slight imperfections in their characters. Applejack became the carrier of the Element of Untruthfulness, in direct contrast to her Harmonious Element of Honesty. Fluttershy was possessed by the Element of Anger, and the jovial Pinkie Pie by the Element of Fear. Rainbow Dash, possibly the weakest of the six Harmonious embodiments, became the Element of Betrayal, again in contrast to her Element of Harmony of Loyalty. Rarity became the Element of Self Pity, and Twilight Sparkle the Element of Paranoia.

At the time no-one but Princess Celestia noticed anything amiss, and she kept her thoughts to herself. She thought it odd that the Elements of Discord should so easily be forsaken and left by their former host, and was aware that they were likely to be still in existence, probably in an ethereal form. But, for the time being, it was enough for her to enjoy the relative serenity that came with knowing that the Discordant Elements' most powerful form was denied them, for they were only a threat when together. Apart they could be dangerous, yes, but far less so than when in a single body.

Peace, then, for our time? Not quite...