History of Discord

The history of Discord is a long and complicated one, befitting a possibly immortal master of chaos. From living through or visiting the earliest ages of the world of Equestria, to mingling with some of its more famous-and infamous-residents down through time, Discord has experienced much. He has been one of the most powerful menaces of this world, both before and after being "reformed" by the efforts of an unexpected friend, and his actions-whether well or ill-intended-

Early history

Explorer turned tyrant

The actual "early life" of Discord is unknown and given his nature, was probably abstract and chaotic. According to Accord, beings of his level of existence as the underlining principal of whatever they embody, meaning Discord is likely the very embodiment of chaos, at least in his dimension. It's unknown whether or not Discord created the Chaos dimension, if the Chaos dimension created Discord, if they were created by an even greater being, or if they simply came into being someday, but whatever the case may be, Discord and the dimension are deeply connected.

Discord is known to be incredibly long-lived and also known to travel through time and space, notably either being alive during or traveling back to visit the Age of Dinosaurs. There, he befriended a gentle Butterdragon named Hubert. Discord also became well known in ancient Anugypt, gaining the hatred of King Anubis and affection of Baast in his adventures there, whatever they entailed. At another point in his life, he appeared at Centaur Castle in the Infernal Lands during Prince Tirek's punishment.

At some point, Discord created a magical library that, among other works, contained his magical diary and autobiography Dea and Bea. Having become aware of Starswirl the Bearded's insatiable curiosity, he cast a spell on the library so that it would disappear for a hundred years at a time. Discord's villainous career began in earnest when he established himself as a tyrant over the land of Equestria. This seems to have occurred some time after the Pillars of Old Equestria trapped themselves and the Pony of Shadows in limbo and planted the Equestrian Tree of Harmony, unless Discord had already established a domain prior to that event and later came to encroach on the newly established Pony nation.

The Knights of Harmony visited Equestria during Discord's reign, and Discord eagerly attempted to sow division among them. When this failed, Discord vanished, making his way to the lands of Abyssinia, Caninia, and Farasi. Under his influence, the inhabitants of those lands-recipients of their own Trees and Elements of Harmony from the Knights' homeland of Cunabula-turned against their benefactors. The Knights successfully thwarted the invasion of their homeland that Discord inspired, but took no further action against Discord himself.

First downfall

Discord proved a considerable menace, daunting even the formidable Alicorn sisters Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who had stepped up as defenders of the land. Apparently unable to defeat him even with their considerable magic, the sisters retrieved the Elements of Harmony from the Tree and went to confront Discord. Utterly unimpressed, Discord simply laughed, even as the sisters used the power of the Elements to cast a Stone Sleep spell upon him. Unbeknownst to the sisters, Discord had prepared his own contingency plan, scattering Plunderseeds that were intended to grow and drain the Tree of Harmony and capture the sisters.

However, Discord's plan failed to take into the account the magic that remained within the Tree, even without the elements. This magic successfully kept the Plunderseeds from sprouting their vines for thousands of moons, thus leaving Discord trapped in his petrified state much longer than he had anticipated. Unlike most creatures placed under such a spell, Discord remained conscious of what was going on around him. Eventually, Discord’s statue was placed in the Canterlot Sculpture Garden.

Return in a new era

A new reign of terror

Believed to be an ordinary statue, Discord was visited by a class from Ponyville Schoolhouse some time after Princess Luna returned from her exile on the Moon. The Cutie Mark Crusaders fell into an argument over what the statue represented, and shortly after the class departed the outer skin of the statue began to crack. As Princess Celestia subsequently explained to the Mane Six, their taking up the Elements of Harmony severed the connection she and Luna had established with the artifacts. As a result, the spell binding Discord had weakened, allowing the ancient villain to make his return.

Animating the stain glass windows of Canterlot Castle, Discord defied his old adversary and her would be champions, challenging them to locate the Elements of Harmony which he had stolen and concealed.

Unlikely friends

At long last, Discord's Plunderseed plot came to fruition, with vines overcoming the Tree of Harmony's magic and spreading across Equestria. The "reformed" Discord seems to have been either unaware of these developments or uncaring, as he made no attempt to stop the Plunderseeds. Twilight came to suspect his involvement and summoned him to Ponyville, but he disclaimed any responsibility for the chaotic occurrences, and then refused to offer any help based on the Mane Six's accusations. Discord did point out Zecora to the ponies as she emerged from the forest and looked on with amusement as Twilight used a potion to look into Equestria's past.

He took great amusement from Twilight's emotional reactions to the flashbacks, which included visions of his own past, and more from seeing the Mane Six heading into the forest in search of the Tree of Harmony. Discord carelessly looked on as the Plunderseed vines spread across Ponyville, though he did act to rescue Cherry Berry and Comet Tail when Twilight returned and berated him. He expressed some surprise at her return at the insistence of her friends, before insinuating that she thought herself more valuable than the others. Discord was rather disappointed when the Mane Six succeeded in destroying the Plunderseed vines, though he was pleasantly surprised to see them return minus the Elements of Harmony.

Ultimately, Discord would admit to his role in the crisis, though he would claim that his refusal to inform Twilight of this earlier was meant to help her grow as a princess. Discord's next visit to Ponyville was on his own initiative, as he arrived shortly after Princess Cadance also came to visit Twilight. Feigning an attack of blue flu, Discord claimed that he had come seeking Fluttershy only to "forget" that she was visiting the Breezies. Dodging Pinkie Pie's attempt to volunteer to take care of him, Discord turned to Applejack and Rarity, who were soon "infected" with Discord's disease. As such, he sought out the two princesses, who were protected from his symptoms by Twilight's casting of a magic health bubble, and passive-aggressively bullied Twilight into caring for him during his illness.

Twilight's willingness to seek out a magical flower that could cure Discord proved to him that Twilight did value him as a friend, and he admitted to deceiving them. However, his attempts to get a rise out of Twilight were thwarted when Cadance expressed gratitude for the adventure and the opportunity it gave her and Twilight to bond. Discord grew sour over this revelation but was soon distracted by the appearance of an ill tatzlwurm, which sprayed him with a sneeze. Lacking Twilight's protective bubble, Discord soon found himself actually sick with tatzlwurm flu; fortunately, Fluttershy had returned to Ponyville and was able to oversee his healthcare.

Tirek and the CMCs

After it was learned that Tirek had escaped from Tartarus and was stealing magic from Unicorns, Celestia asked Discord to see him out based on his ability to sense the magical imbalance caused by Tirek's magical theft. He appeared at the ruins of the Castle of Two Sisters and taunted Twilight over his being chosen, before turning their attention to the mysterious Chest of Harmony. Having read through the girls' Journal of Friendship, Discord marked a number of passages he dubbed "interesting" before returning it to Twilight. Discord soon located Tirek and shackled him, citing his friendship with Fluttershy as the reason for his helping to capture the Centaur.

However, Tirek was appalled by Discord's confession, and spoke persuasively to him regarding his perception of friendship as an alternative method of imprisonment that forced Discord to suppress his true nature. Moved by Tirek's words, Discord teamed up with the villain and helped him to steal magic from various ponies across Equestria, with the promise that he would be free to terrorize them once Tirek had stolen all their power for himself. Learning of his betrayal, the princesses transferred all of their magic to Twilight, a development that Discord sensed but did not immediately reveal to Tirek. The new partners soon invaded Canterlot Castle, briefly confronting Shining Armor before Tirek went after the older three princesses and Discord began vandalizing the premises with his Chaos Magic.

In token of their alliance, Tirek gifted Discord an amulet that once belonged to his brother Scorpan; touched, Discord then admitted to Twilight's existence and possession of all the Alicorn Magic. Failing to recognize the danger signs of Tirek's anger at his withholding information, Discord led his "ally" to Ponyville and helped him to capture Twilight's friends. However, Tirek then betrayed Discord and stole his power, something that Discord had failed to foresee and was evidently shattered by. Recognizing that he had betrayed his real friends for a false one, Discord expressed contrition to his friends, particularly after Twilight agreed to surrender her magic in exchange for his release in addition to that of her other friends.

Grateful for Twilight's friendship, Discord gifted her Scorpan's amulet, which proved to be the last key needed to open the Chest of Harmony. Discord would look on as the Mane Six used Rainbow Power to defeat Tirek, and had his own magic restored to him. He was grateful to be included among Twilight's closest friends, though his brief annoyance at not receiving a throne in the Castle of Friendship proved that his vanity hadn't been wounded too badly.

Discord later looked on with amusement when the barrier between Equestria and the Mirror-Universe temporarily collapsed. On another occasion, he arrived early for a monthly get-together with Fluttershy and ended up joining her and the CMCs on a field trip. Bored by their mundane animal investigation, he eventually persuadeed Fluttershy to allow him to take them on a trip through time using Dr. Hooves' time machine. The expedition led to a series of dangerous encounters with King Anubis, Cyber and Plant Creature Ponies, and a Roc, though the group would be assisted by Baast, her cats, and Hubert the butterdragon.

The Smooze and other messes

Prior to one Grand Galloping Gala, Fluttershy surprised Discord when she revealed that she was taking Tree Hugger as her plus-one, and that the other Mane Six already had companions or were otherwise involved in the event. Observing Fluttershy interacting with Tree Hugger, Discord's mood grew even blacker, though he was pleasantly surprised when-as Fluttershy had expected-he received his own ticket to the gala. Not wanting anypony to believe that he didn't have any other friends, he appeared at the gala accompanied by the Smooze. However, his jealousy of Fluttershy's friendship with Tree Hugger and general disinterest in the Smooze led-predictably-to chaos. Eventually, Discord became so infuriated that he prepared to banish Tree Hugger to another world, only to be angrily confronted by Fluttershy.

When she pointed out how absurdly he had overreacted, a sheepish Discord cleaned up the mess his behavior had caused, and apologized to Tree Hugger and the Smooze, whom he began to see as friends. As it turned out, Celestia had no complaints about his shenanigans, having invited him to the gala specifically hoping he would liven up the traditionally dull event. Seeking to make amends for previous offenses, Discord gave several of Fluttershy's animal friends the ability to speak and joined them in orchestrating a party for her. This led to a brief, initially tense, exchange with Zecora, who helped Fluttershy investigate the strange occurrence.