The Ordinary Ponies

Chapter 15: The Rise of Discord-Part 1

In sculpture garden in Canterlot, Princess Luna was pacing back and forth in front of a special statue.

This statue had a body resembling a snake, a head resembling a pony, antlers on the right and sheep horns on the left, two long sharp teeth at the mouth, eyes one big and one small, as well as a snake's letter, goat's beard, and thick white eyebrows; The right upper limb was a lion's paw, the left was an eagle's claw, the right leg was a lizard's leg, and the left was a goat's hoof.

It carried bat’s and pegasus’s wings on its back, and its whole body was full of disharmony and chaos.

Since the arrival of spring, she had been patrolling in front of this statue every day and had also deployed many guards nearby. Although she knew that there was a 99% chance that these guards would still be useless, she still had to send them.

The royal guards had no idea what it meant - guarding a statue? That was ridiculous.

Princess Celestia arrived late and flew from the Royal Palace, landing in front of the statue with a somewhat dissatisfied expression. As soon as she landed, the royal guards immediately bowed to her.

“My dear sister, this is the third time you've called me over this week,” said Princess Celestia, half angry and half puzzled. “Why do you suddenly start worrying that Discord will lift the seal?”

“Because Mr. Miracle...because of intuition!” explained Princess Luna eagerly. “I have a feeling that his freedom is getting closer and closer,” she said, placing her hooves on Princess Celestia and shaking her back and forth.

“It doesn’t make sense at all,” Princess Celestia rolled her eyes helplessly. “Today was supposed to be the opening day of Ponyville Schoolhouse, but you cancelled the activity without authorization. It was me who help you explain to them.”

“I know it was a little inappropriate...but I have a good reason! Discord is about to escape, and we must be 200% vigilant!”

“But you don’t have any evidence.”

“You have to believe me! It is true!” Princess Luna looked a little listless. Indeed, she had to patrol ponies’ dreams at night and be responsible for both reforming and this affair, so her dark circles were obvious.

“I suggest you to calm down and take a rest. Maybe it’s just your unnecessary fantasies. Listen, you really need to relax.”

“I know I need it, but I can't rest until the problem is solved.”

“Sister, even if he really breaks through the seal, we still have the Elements of Harmony and can turn him back at any time,” Princess Celestia tried to appease her. “I locked them myself, only my magic can open the lock, there's nothing to worry about.”

“Really, sister? Really?” Princess Luna put on a completely unconvincing look. “He is the chaotic spirit, and can do anything at once, I don't believe your magic can stop him.”

“You don’t believe?” Princess Celestia was a little annoyed. “If you don't believe, you shouldn't have called me here! You know as the ruler of Equestria, I have a lot of things to do, but you keep wasting my time! Every time you call me over, and I have to delay a bunch of affairs and carefully adjust my schedule - why don't you consider my feelings?”

“'Not considering your feelings?' How can you say that?!” Princess Luna was also angry. “I have been strategizing for defense system of Canterlot, patrolling dreams at night, and worrying about the freedom of Discord and other crises...Why can't you, like me, focus on these truly important things? Would you rather waste your time with those fancy ponies than join me in defending Equestria?”

“Of course I am willing to defend Equestria, otherwise what do you think I have been doing all along?! But 'truly important things'? Is that your reason?” said Princess Celestia with a frown. “Guarding the statue and worrying about what would never happen - is this 'truly important things'?”

“Of course! Look at the royal guards, they have been completely powerless for a long time –” she said, turning to the guards beside her and apologizing, “I'm sorry, gentlecolts, but what I'm saying is true - the royal guards have been powerless for a long time, and it's my recent efforts that have made them look like some real guards. I have been preparing for future crises, but you have never expressed gratitude!”

“Gratitude? You turned guards defending ponies into 'violent thugs' with weapons!” Princess Celestia was quite dissatisfied with those armed guards. “Equestria is quiet and peaceful enough and don’t need these terrible weapons at all. Do you know how much panic the guards patrolling with weapons caused? It was me who helped you deal with these troubles, and you never expressed gratitude!”

“The guards should have weapons at the first place, do you really think it’s 'glorious' for them to fight against invaders with empty hooves?”

“There are no invaders at all!”

Two princesses were arguing in front of the guards, and the guards completely didn’t know what to do. They could only maintain their military posture, stand with weapons, and sweat profusely. Looking the princesses arguing fiercely, they completely ignored the cracks appearing on the statue behind them.

“Come straight to the point, sister, what exactly do you want?”

“I just don't want Discord to escape! Why don't you trust me?”

“He never escaped in the first place, and it was you who kept fantasizing.”

“Why do you always behave like this? You didn't want to listen to me a thousand years ago, and now you're still stubborn!” said Princess Luna, her voice trembling as she spoke passionately. “Just admit it: you don't even want me to come back. You just want me to stay on the moon forever!”

“How dare you?!” Princess Celestia suddenly turned her head and was about to continue speaking. Just then she saw the statue that existed before now had disappeared. “You –”

“Just say it – say the word! Why did you stop?”

Princess Celestia trembled with her lips and raised her hoof, pointing towards the disappearing statue. The guards turned around in shock. Princess Luna followed and turned her head, and her face becoming extremely pale.

“I told you!”

“This may just be a coincidence.”

“You just don't want to trust me at all!”

“Can we put this aside for now?” Princess Celestia was still in shock, then turned to the guards and said, “How couldn’t you even notice this?”

The guards were ashamed and lowered their heads, afraid to speak. In fact, they were too focused on listening to the arguing about the two princesses, so they didn't notice the disappearance of Discord - but this reason obviously couldn’t be said aloud.

“I had also told you this: these guards are powerless.”

“When this issue is done, Shining Armor needs to explain it to me properly,” Princess Celestia said to the other ponies in a rare tone.

“So what’s your plan?” Luna asked.

“We definitely can't solve it - our connection with the Elements of Harmony was cut off a long time ago. Now we can only call Twilight.”

“No surprise at all…” Princess Luna murmured softly.

“What?”

“Nothing. If you want to write a letter, you'll have to call for an extra pony.”

……

In Ponyville, the residents hadn’t yet realized that a crisis was coming.

In Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was busy in the farmland, while Mr. Miracle was discussing the rules of Ogres & Oubliettes with Big Mac.

“In theory, if I stack the flame resistance to 100%, I won't be harmed by flames, right?”

“Yep,” Big Mac replied.

“It is also known that resistance can be stacked to over 100% through compliant methods, right?”

“Yep.”

“So if I stack the flame resistance to 150%, I should restore my health by reversing the damage caused by the flame.”

“Nope!” Big Mac shook his head abruptly.

“Why don't you agree? This is a simple mathematical problem that can be solved by formula.”

But Big Mac suddenly lost interest in continuing the discussion and pointed in surprise behind Mr. Miracle. As soon as Mr. Miracle turned around, he saw Rainbow Dash chasing several cotton-candy clouds - no, it should be said that it was the clouds that were chasing her.

The corn field in the acres also experienced something, with harvested and confiscated corn turning into popcorn, flooding a large area.

The chocolate rainstorm wreaked havoc in the garden, the apple trees were bent by the suddenly bigger apple, and the animals became strange. Twilight and the others arrived quickly, but they knew nothing about the current situation (Pinkie was happy to see it happen), except Mr. Miracle. He was well aware of it.

Twilight came up with a quick idea and asked Rainbow Dash to gather the clouds together. Then, Applejack used a condom to pull them to the ground. Finally, Fluttershy encouraged the animals to come and ate the clouds.

“As long as we work together, there is no difficulty that can’t be overcome,” Twilight announced. But Spike's face didn't look well. “Every time I say that, you have this expression -”

Then Spike spewed out a large ball of fire - it was a letter from Princess Celestia.

Twilight used magic to pick it up and looked at it, instantly losing her composure. “Girls, we must depart immediately. Princess Celestia urgently summoned us over!”

They turned their heads and left, but just then, Spike spewed out another flame, which was another letter. Twilight looked at it and saw it was Princess Luna's supplementary explanation: PS - please also call Mr. Miracle.

“Oh, they should have had finished writing at once…” Spike covered his stomach, feeling a little overwhelmed.

So the six and Mr. Miracle hurriedly rushed to Canterlot together. The journey was long, and they had intended to take the train, but for some unknown reason, the track was blocked and they had to walk there.

Then Mr. Miracle suffered from his poor endurance. He hadn’t been a pony for long, and although he had run Cantelot with CMC before, the intensity and speed at that time were not comparable to this time. He was almost panting as he ran behind.

"The two princesses should really send a carriage to pick us up...Anyway, the royal guards have no other job to do." Mr. Miracle could not help but complain.

“If you're too tired, I can carry you,” Rainbow Dash suggested.

“Thanks, but no.” The only reason Mr. Miracle refused was due to his self-esteem. He couldn’t imagine that scene: an adult male pony was being carried by a pegasus...It was too embarrassing to do that just because he was tired.

They kept running into the royal palace, and some of the upper-class looked a bit familiar with the ordinary pony who fell behind. Canterlot was currently quiet and peaceful, it seemed that the chaos hadn’t yet spread here.

Entering the palace, Twilight rose her voice, "Your Royal Highness, here we are!"

“Thank you all for coming here,” said Princess Celestia with a serious expression. “Please follow me.”

“Wait, whoosh...” Mr. Miracle stood by the door, propping his hoof against the wall and panting incessantly with his head down. “Wait for me…to take a moment…to take a breath…just few seconds…whoosh…”

Princess Celestia raised her eyebrows and looked over, only to see a light-brown black mane colt with “ordinary” all over his body. She turned her head to her sister and noticed that Princess Luna's eyes lit up when she saw him, as if he was some pony as important as Twilight.

“Next time, Your Highness, please send a carriage to pick us up, whoosh…” He said as breathing heavily.

“I have never seen an earth pony with such...poor physical strength,” said Princess Celestia gently.

Upon seeing this, Princess Luna walked over and gave him a glass of water. Mr. Miracle drank it all in one gulp, which only slightly comforted him. Princess Celestia thought for a moment and cast a spell on him, instantly sweeping away his fatigue.

Then Twilight and her companions, along with Mr. Miracle, followed the two princesses to the tower chamber where the Elements of Harmony was locked. On both sides of the long corridor were colorful murals depicting various historical events of Equestria.

Princess Celestia began to explain the instigator of this chaotic crisis – all about Discord. After the joint creation of a country three kinds of ponies, Discord arrived and began to rule over the territory.

Under his rule, the country was filled with chaos and disharmony, and ponies could only live a miserable life all day long, but was powerless to resist. The most powerful magic of this chaotic spirit was to achieve anything by snapping a finger, and few magic could surpass it.

It was two princesses who discovered the Elements of Harmony - the most powerful magic, and with their help defeated Discord, sealing it into statues. For a long time, the seal hadn’t been loosened, but the loss of connection between the two princesses and the Elements of Harmony was probably the fundamental reason for this crisis.

“And the direct reason is - my sister doesn't want to believe me at all,” murmured Princess Luna to herself.

“Perhaps that was still an unnecessary fantasy, just happened to bump into him and lift the seal,” Princess Celestia retorted, unwilling to be outdone. “Coincidences can’t prove you were right from beginning.”

“That's better than doing nothing anyway!”

“I’m doing nothing? You -”

“Okay, okay, let's focus on the main task first, okay?” Mr. Miracle interrupted. “Discord is the strongest villain, and only by uniting as one can we possibly defeat him.”

Princess Celesitia nodded, calmed down, and said, “The Elements of Harmony were inside. Now I want you to use them again, and you must prevent Discord before Equestria falls completely into chaos.”

“But...why us?” Twilight was a little worried, more lacking confidence. “You are the princess, and we are just –”

“With the help of the friendship magic, the six of you have defeated...well, some powerful opponents.” Princess Celestia glanced at Princess Luna, who only showed a mischievous look. “Our connection with the Elements of Harmony has been severed, only you can unleash their full power. Only you can defeat Discord.”

“We...understood!” Twilight's eyes became firm. “We won’t let you down.”

“No surprise,” Princess Luna sighed softly. She didn't have any objections to Twilight; on the contrary, she was grateful for Twilight's using the Elements of Harmony to make her abandon darkness and return to the light.

She just didn't want to be some kind of princess like her sister, which couldn’t handle any crisis in the future.

So Princess Celestia poked the horn into the door lock and opened it. After the magic flash, an exceptionally exquisite small box inlaid with gems appeared in the secret room. Rarity's eyes lit up.

“Don't worry, I have confidence in you all. I believe you can –” Princess Celestia confidently opened the box, only to find it empty inside. The whole audience was shocked at this moment - except for Princess Luna and Mr. Miracle who had expected it earlier.

Princess Celestia widened her eyes and dropped the box, her face full of disbelief. The whole room fell silent. Only Pinkie remained optimistic and said, "Okay, I'm going to the chocolate puddle outside and drinking it all day.”

“I cast a powerful spell on this box, only I can open it, that doesn't make sense!” Princess Celestia paced back and forth nervously, feeling so flustered in front of Twilight for the first time.

It seemed that Discord was indeed significant. If they couldn’t stop him, the consequences would be much more serious than imagined.

“Really? Sister, really?” Princess Luna rolled her eyes helplessly. “Is it difficult for a chaotic spirit to teleport the contents of a box without opening it?”

“This...may make sense.”

Just then, a burst of annoying laughter came from all directions. “Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?”

“Discord, show yourself!”

“Hahaha, my dear two princesses, you're still as boring as before.” Suddenly, a moving draconequus appeared in the mural, with a similar image to the statue, but more cartoonish. “Why are you always so boring? No wonder ponies dislike you.”

“No one can offend the princesses!” Rainbow Dash interrupted and immediately rushed towards the mural. Of course, she was only hitting the wall, causing a mess.

“I'm sure you're Rainbow Dash, representing loyalty.” Discord stood in the mural, scanning all the ponies on the field. “Beautiful Rarity represents generosity, Applejack represents honesty, Fluttershy represents kindness, and Pinkie Pie represents my favorite element - laughter; while you, Twilight, represent the strongest element, magic.”

But as he spoke, his expression became strange. “Strange, I remember there were only six elements. Why is there an extra pony?” He naturally referred to Mr. Miracle.

“Stop talking nonsense, Discord! Where did you hide the elements?” Princess Celestia scolded sternly.

“You're quite boring, you know?” Discord rolled his eyes and said slowly, “Okay, I'll tell you, but only in my words –

“To retrieve your missing Elements

Just make sense of this change of events

Twist and turns are my master plan

Then find the Elements back where you began.”

After finishing speaking, Discord portrait stood still as if he had already left.

Applejack asked, “What does 'Twist and turns are my master plan' mean?”

“Twist and turns, twist and turns...” Twilight paced back and forth, pondering. “Aha! I bet the Elements of Harmony must be in the palace labyrinth!”

Princess Celestia nodded and said, "Good luck, my little ponies. The fate of Equestria is-”

“Wait!” the speaker was Princess Luna. “Before departure, you should hear Mr. Miracle's opinion first.”

Except for Princess Celestia, the ponies exchanged a glance and were deeply convinced. “Right, right. How can we forget this?”

“May I ask -” Princess Celestia was confused.

“I think I should introduce myself first,” Mr. Miracle walked up and saluted. "Your Royal Highness, I’m Mr. Miracle from Ponyville...Princess Luna asked me to come because she believes I can give some valuable advices."

“Not just valuable! He can predict the future!” Pinkie blurted out.

“What?!” Princess Celestia widened her eyes, looking at Mr. Miracle and then at Princess Luna. “Really?” She looked incredulous.

"It's true, Princess Celestia," Twilight explained. “Just like Pinkie's premonition, Mr. Miracle can also predict certain events. He comes from a distant country, and it is said that the residents there all have such abilities.”

“I...I've never heard of it before...” Princess Celestia still widened her eyes and paused for a while before saying, “It seems that even I, can't know the whole world...maybe I should visit there in the future.”

“Sister, can we focus on our main tasks?” Princess Luna reminded.

“Oh, oh right! Um...please.”

“This puzzle looks like a poem, and what does poetry often do to rhyme?” Mr. Miracle didn't say it directly, but was accustomed to guiding other ponies to think along.

“Poetry, rhyme...should be about rearranging sentence order and using uncommon expressions...” Twilight pondered.

“That's right. So this poem is the same - the sentence order has been reversed. Pay attention to the last sentence.”

“What I understood is that after twists and turns, we can find the Elements of Harmony, and then back to the start - the place where we fight against Discord,” said Twilight.

“‘Then find the Elements back where you began’...Do you mean the correct order should be 'back where you began, then find the Elements'?” said Princess Celestia.

Mr. Miracle nodded and added, "Although this villain looks careless, the riddles are not nonsense. The second sentence 'Just make sense of this change of events' is the key to solving the puzzle; the third sentence 'Twist and turns are my master plan' is both misleading and implies a convoluted logic of thinking, which means we should also pay attention to ‘twists and turns’ of words when solving puzzles.”

“So that's it!” Rainbow Dash waved her hooves. “Let's hurry back to the start and find the elements!”

“The start, the start…our start began from The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide!” Twilight blurted out.

“But we can't go yet,” Mr. Miracle said.

“Why?”

“Because that villain likes to play without following the rules,” Mr. Miracle explained. “The reason why he set the puzzle is because he wanted to play with you all according to his ideas, otherwise he could have hidden the Elements of Harmony in his stomach. Think about it, what would he do if we solved the puzzle from the beginning and caused his carefully designed and prepared ‘game’ to go down the drain?”

“I guess he'll probably be more furious than normally furious,” said Pinkie.

“Indeed. So he will design another puzzle until we are really misled by him and play the 'game'. No matter how many puzzles we solve, as long as the progress is not as interesting as he thinks, he won’t stop - and I don't have confidence in fighting him for a long time.”

“Isn't this just cheating?” said Applejack. “It’s unfair.”

“It is unfair, because his name is 'Discord', representing chaos and disorder. As long as it's funny, he will do anything,” said Princess Luna.

“It seems that we have only one choice, which is to play with him; and we can’t let him know that we have solved the puzzle, otherwise he will transfer the place where the Elements of Harmony are,” Twilight concluded.

“And that's where I can't change it,” Mr. Miracle sighed deeply. “As long as you play with him, you will definitely be influenced by him. No matter how many times I remind you, it will be of no help. Even if I participate in the game, I will be tempted by him. After being influenced, it will be difficult for your friendship to ignite the Elements of Harmony again.”

“What?! How is it possible?”

“The magic of chaos is so domineering, it's impossible to refuse,” Mr. Miracle lowered his head.

“That’s why only the strongest Elements of Harmony can defeat him,” said Princess Celestia.

“We really have no way out,” sighed Rarity. “If we don't play, he will do everything in his power to force us to play; if we do play, we will be enchanted by his magic and unable to activate the Elements of Harmony.”

“But we have to go, this is our duty,” Twilight's expression was unusually resolute. “Anyway, as I said before - 'As long as we work together, there is no difficulty that can’t be overcome.' I believe in our friendship.”

The other ponies exchanged a glance and became resolute. “We do also believe!”

“So I have one final and only reminder for you: never give up on your friends,” Mr. Miracle said. “Just as you believe in yourself, believe in them; just as you believe in them, believe in yourself.”

Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy all nodded together, ready to depart.

And Mr. Miracle, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna had to buy time for Twilight. Before they defeat Discord, the three of them must gather residents to fight back against the current chaotic phenomenon and rescue the tormented ponies.

“I hope things go smoothly as expected.” Mr. Miracle said.