Chaos in Equestria Book Two: Tabula Rasa

  The crowd thinned out around the crash. The ponies murmured and gossiped about what they thought they saw. They were more concerned about the mess in the city square than the things that Celestia had said.

  Flim and Flam took off their hats in sorrow. There beautiful creation was now a pile of torn fabric and splintered wood.

  Trixie plopped on her belly and shifted through the pile of debris. "Oh!" she cried, "You ruined everything! I was going to have all the things I ever wanted, and you took it away!" she beat her hoofs on the ground and cried.

  A Royal Guard watched her little show, he was not impressed. He rolled his eyes, "Princess," he called, "what do we do with these three?"

  "Just detain them for now," Celestia replied, "They are the least of my concerns." She turned to Twilight. "We need to get to the Sculpture Garden as soon as possible. Twilight, you Rarity and Applejack will come with me." She pointed to her chariot. "Rainbow Dash, I need you to get Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy to Canterlot as fast as you can."

  Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder. "Fluttershy was supposed to be following me..." she said. Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight scrunched into the chariot trying to leave room for Celestia.

  "How fast were you flying, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked.

  Rainbow Dash slapped her face with her hoof. "She could be anywhere between Canterlot and Ponyville by now," she moaned.

  Celestia sat next to Twilight. "I know you can find her," She said, "and when you do, bring her back here. This is a very important task." Rainbow Dash nodded her head and darted off toward Ponyville.

  "Oh, move over, Applejack. I can hardly breath!" Rarity complained

  "Well, I would if I'd anywhere to scoot," Applejack replied.

  Celestia called to the team of four Pegasi pulling the chariot, "I need you to make haste! We haven't any time to spare!"

  The four Pegasi obeyed. Compensating for the added weight, they flapped their wings and towed the chariot toward the Sculpture garden.

  They were inside of the chariot for all of two minutes before they stopped at the Canterlot Sculpture Garden. Celestia led them to the same spot where Discord's lifeless statue once stood. The statue was gone. Nothing was left in its place but a pile of rubble and a peculiar looking duck billed platypus. Celestia inspected the chips of rock. "It was a mistake to leave him here," she announced.

  "No, it wasn't. You had no way of knowing this would happen," Twilight said. In truth, she actually did think that leaving the statue in the open was a bad idea.

  Applejack looked up to the sky. "Er... not to say I'm complainin', but shouldn't it be raining chocolate 'bout now?"

  Celestia moved the rubble around with her hoofs. "It appears I have good news," she said, "Last time Discord was here, I noticed that he seemed weaker than when we first met. I couldn't explain it, but he almost seemed... restricted in the amount of magic he could use."

  "Aren't we all?" asked Twilight.

  "Not Discord," Celestia stated, "Or, at least he shouldn't be. Discord does not only ring chaos, he is chaos. He is powered by chaos, and disharmony. That power source should be unlimited. However, the last time he was freed, he was different. I'm not saying he wasn't powerful, far from it. But he was not the Discord I remembered."

  "And how powerful was he?"Rarity asked.

  "There are some things that cannot be measured in terms you can understand. He didn't have to obey any laws of physics. Instead he made up his own. He could split Equestria in half, control ponies minds, even create new, horrific creatures and bring them to life. He was very powerful the last time he was freed, but had he had as much power as he once did, things would have gotten much worse, much faster!"

  Twilight thought aloud, "So, if he was less powerful the second time..."

  Celestia finished, "This time he appears to be powerless."

  "But, why?"

  "I can only think of one thing that has changed since the first time we battled..."

  Twilight leaned in. "Yes, yes, what is it?"

  "You and your friends."

  Twilight looked confused. "I beg your pardon?"

  "You and your friends have learned so much about friendship and harmony. With each new discovery, you have strengthened your connection with each other, and the Elements of Harmony. As Harmony gains power, Disharmony becomes weaker. There is a balance between the two. If one becomes stronger, the other becomes weaker, and Harmony has never been stronger than it is right now."

  Twilight began to understand. "So, as long as we're connected to the Elements, there's nothing to fear, right?"

  "Only if the Elements are unharmed."

  "Huh?"

  "I think I know what Discord is planning next. I can only hope the rest of your friends show up in time."