History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E2TheReturnOfHarmonyPart2

Twilight starts to call out Discord on not playing fair in his little "game" by removing the labyrinth prematurely; Discord points out that he never ''said'' the Elements of Harmony were in the hedge maze, and that Twilight misinterpreted his riddle and fell into his trap as a result. He stays around just long enough to mock Twilight and "the magic of friendship" before leaving to cause more chaos.

Without the bonds of friendship, the Elements are powerless, and Twilight's former companions leave in a huff. Twilight, utterly dejected, finally falls under Discord's corruption; she despondently walks home through the surreal madhouse that is now Ponyville, convinced that her friends (and any hope of defeating Discord) are lost for good.

* NoOntologicalInertia: Everything goes back to normal after Discord gets re-[[TakenForGranite petrified]].

-->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Necklace, necklace, necklace, necklace, and... big crown thingy! All right, let's do this!

* GoBackToTheSource: "Twists and turns are my master plan, then find the elements back where you began."

* AGlassOfChianti: Kid-friendly variation: Discord enjoys a chocolate milk of glass while lounging on his throne. (He conjures a glass, fills it from top to bottom with chocolate milk, and drinks the glass, leaving the chocolate milk intact.... which then explodes.) It's non-alcoholic, but his mannerisms give it the same effect as it was.

* AnAesop: Friendship isn’t easy, but it’s worth fighting for.

* CruelMercy: Discord doesn't break or MindRape Twilight himself and leaves her be... so that the crushing weight of the situation she's in can break her slowly and more completely than he did to the others.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Over the course of the two-part premiere, the Mane Cast has been [[BreakTheCutie broken]] and MindRaped, Twilight driven over the DespairEventHorizon, and had their homeland turned into a chaotic WorldGoneMad around them. Twilight has to ''literally'' fight and physically subdue her friends to turn them back to normal. In the end, they manage to pull together and put Discord in his place. They saved all of Equestria and got their happy ending, but they ''really'' had to earn it!

(later, after Twilight's KirkSummation): [[TastesLikeDiabetes Ugh, gag]]! Fine, go ahead; try and use [[YourLittleDismissiveDiminutive your little elements]]. [[TemptingFate Friend me]].

* KickTheDog: Discord does this a lot, but his BigYes[=/=]VictoryPose when he sees he's [[BreakTheCutie broken Twilight completely]] is the most notable. It stands out because out of all the horrible things he does, this is the only time he doesn't use his FauxAffablyEvil act to hide the fact he's taking sadistic glee in the act.

* DespairEventHorizon: After seeing the Elements of Harmony fail to work and her friendship completely shattered, Twilight Sparkle gives up hope. She was preparing to ''pack up and leave town'' before Celestia returning her letters renewed her hope.

* HeroicBSOD: After spending half the episode trying to stop Discord, Twilight is finally corrupted after the initial attempt to use the Elements against him fails and her friends' behavior proves too much for her.

-> Special Guest Star: Creator/JohnDeLancie as Discord
->Written by M.A. Larson

* AstralCheckerboardDecor: creepy checkerboard ground in the scenes where the mane cast confront Discord on his throne.

-->'''Pinkie Pie:''' You better THINK before you laugh at the PINK! ''[pause]''...ie Pie!

* BadLiar: Corrupted Applejack starts as this, but she becomes a better liar as Discord's corruption gets worse, until she's casually lying about fighting Discord single-hooved. Corrupted Pinkie Pie becomes this as ''she'' gets worse - She tries very hard to be taken seriously, and as such denies when she's having fun.

* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: Discord's method of choice for [[BreakTheCutie breaking]] and corrupting the mane cast was by [[FlawExploitation exploiting their flaws]]. In the end, it's by taking advantage of his flaws, his ego and [[EvilCannotComprehendGood inability to truly understand friendship]], that he's defeated.

* BigYes / VictoryPose: Discord shouts "YES!" and does a celebratory fist pump after [[HeroicBSOD Twilight dejectedly says she's leaving Ponyville]], [[BreakTheCutie broken completely thanks to his actions]].

* BoundAndGagged: Twilight has to physically restrain her friends before she can purify them. Fluttershy, for instance, had to be hogtied to make her hold still long enough.

* BreakTheCutie: Twilight is fully broken after the first failed attempt of fighting Discord. Unlike the others' corruptions, ''she wasn't hypnotized.''

** From the same episode, Pinkie Pie's love of the chocolate rain, enough to get one last mouthful before the mane six put an end to Discord's reign.
* BringIt: Discord does this twice, standing still and letting the Mane Six have a free shot at him because he knows they won't work with the group's friendship shattered and wants to use them failing to [[BreakTheCutie break Twilight's spirit]]. It works just as he planned the first time but results in his defeat the second time, as they've rekindled their friendship, something Discord doesn't realize [[OhCrap until its too late]].

** Also, Spike. Celestia decided to mail back every letter Twilight ever sent about friendship, which means he spent the better part of the day coughing up letters over and over.

** Discord in Part 1 of the episode mentioned that the group were supposed to find the Elements "back where you began". As it turns out, the Elements weren't in the maze and instead, it was in Twilight's library. In fact, they were in the very same book that started the very first episode of MLP:FIM.

** When the mane characters use the Elements of Harmony, they release a [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E16SonicRainboom sonic rainboom.]]

** When Discorded Fluttershy makes Spike, the "new Rainbow Dash", trip with her tail and he crashes, she calls him [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E9BridleGossip "Rainbow Crash"]]

--> "We've got the liar, the grump, the hoarder and the brute. That just about covers it."

--> "I'm going to fight for our friendship!"
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Played straight for the viewers, teased in-universe. Upon arriving back in Ponyville, Spike notes that the corrupted ponies appear gray, and Pinkie Pie has a good laugh about her odd coloring after she's been redeemed. Yet for some reason it never occurs to Discord that the mane cast are a serious threat when they show up fully-colored again, just as Twilight didn't notice anything physically odd about them earlier.
** It's worth nothing that those two are the resident [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth wall breakers]], so it may be them breaking the fourth wall per RuleOfFunny as usual.

* EmbodimentOfVice: Each member of the "mane 6" has been corrupted by Discord to represent the antithesis of their Element of Harmony:
** Pinkie Pie represents cynicism
** Fluttershy represents spite/cruelty
** Applejack represents deceitfulness
** Rainbow Dash represents betrayal and aloofness
** Rarity represents greed and envy
** Twilight Sparkle briefly represents severance and isolation

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Possible case. For a ''very'' brief moment, Discord looks upset and rejected when Twilight doesn't want to get in on the fun, but quickly gets over it due to it meaning he also wins. A similar spec of conscience occurs in "Keep Calm and Flutter On" only that time [[BeingEvilSucks he works out the math why.]]
** Another possible case. Twilight demonstrates that even without the Elements, it's still possible to negate his magic to a degree. Then, in the aforementioned "Keep Calm and Flutter On", Celestia reveals a new spell that prevents him from just forcibly taking the Elements any more, requiring him to be more subtle with his "fun".
** Arguably the most well-known case is Fluttershy being the only one immune to his {{Hannibal Lecture}}s and the least hostile toward him. Guess who officially becomes his MoralityPet in Season 3?

* HesBack: All the mane ponies. Princess Celestia [[InvokedTrope encourages]] this in Twilight with the letters.

''[Fluttershy dumps a bucket of water on Twilight's head]''\\

''[Fluttershy slams the bucket on Twilight's head]''

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The Elements are hidden "Back where [The Mane 6] began." The Elements were hidden in a book in Twilight's library. Specifically, the book that was opened and read at the very beginning of [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon the first episode.]] Back where they began, indeed.

'''Fluttershy:''' ''[gasp]'' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis That. Big. Dumb. MEANIE!]]

--> '''Rarity:''' How in Equestria can she think that tiny patch of cloud is Cloudsdale?\\

-->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' ''[dejected]'' I never thought it would happen. My friends...\\
''[pause]''\\
'''Twilight Sparkle:''' ''[angry]'' ...have turned into '''complete jerks!'''

* PersonalRaincloud: Twilight gets chocolate one when she walks home sadly after her failed first attempt to confront Discord with the Elements. Discord was most likely invoking the trope in order to be a dick.

* RealityWarper: Discord, obviously. Towards the end, he holds out a glass under some chocolate milk rain, which fills from top to bottom. A moment later, he then drinks the glass and throws away the milk. Which then [[MadeOfExplodium explodes]] and the explosion makes things darker.
** In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, when Twilight goes to Sweet Apple Acres to begin redeeming her friends, Applejack is relaxing by the barn, eating an apple IN REVERSE.

-->'''Applejack:''' ''[after the day abruptly turns to night]'' Wow, I can see so much better now.

* SoProudOfYou: Princess Celestia to the Mane 6 at the end for their defeat of Discord.

* SuddenlyShouting: "My friends.......HAVE ''TURNED INTO COMPLETE'' '''''JERKS!!!!!'''''"

-->'''Twilight Sparkle:''' I never thought it would happen. My friends... have turned into '''complete jerks!'''
-->'''Applejack:''' And so I tried to defeat Discord, but none of my ''so-called friends'' would lift a hoof to help me.

-->'''Twilight Sparkle''': With friends like you, WHO NEEDS.........''[[DespairEventHorizon enemies?]]''
* WordSchmord: The brainwashed Rainbow Dash does this with "loyalty".

-->'''Twilight:''' Maybe it's a little early for a group hug.

* OutGambitted: Discord has destroyed all of Celestia's defenses against him via [[ImpossibleThief Impossible Theft]] and breaking her champions but she arranges his defeat by sending some letters.

** Arguably the most well-known case is Fluttershy being both the only one immune to his {{HannibalLecture}}s and the least hostile toward him. Guess who officially becomes his MoralityPet in Season 3?

* AnythingButThat: Fluttershy can't fly fast enough to catch Rainbow Dash (so they can cure her), until she's reminded of that if she doesn't, [[TheBadGuyWins Discord wins]], and [[LetsGetDangerous Fluttershy is so angry at the thought that it causes her to double her speed]].

* XMustNotWin: Where in this case, "X" refers to Discord. It's a major driving force for the main ponies, especially Fluttershy.

* PetTheDog: Subverted. After Twilight has been corrupted, lost all of her friends and is walking dejectedly through Ponyville, Discord seems surprised and concerned for a few seconds, making an attempt to cheer her up by saying that she should learn to have fun in her new home. When she walks away, still dejected, and says that it isn't her home anymore, he stops and looks after her for a moment. [[KickTheDog Cue]] BigYes.