Discord

Discord is the former ruler of Equestria, and the main antagonist of The Return of Harmony, part 1 and part 2. Once Discord escapes from his stone prison, Twilight Sparkle and her friends must act quickly to summon the Elements of Harmony in order to stop him. He is supposed to be a disharmony of all ponies.

History
Princess Celestia mentions in The Return of Harmony, part 1 that Discord preceded her as ruler of Equestria and caused chaos throughout all of Equestria for earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi alike. Nobody dared stand up to his terrible rule until the sisters Luna and Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to turn him to stone, and took his throne from him. In The Return of Harmony, part 1, Celestia and Luna cannot harness the Elements any more. Discord escapes from his stone prison and takes the Elements of Harmony, hiding them in the Canterlot castle labyrinth. He takes the ponies' wings and horns so there is 'no cheating' in the 'game' to find the Elements, and separates the ponies. Discord uses representations of the cutie marks, and the opposite of their elements, to drain them of color and sever their links to the Elements.



Personality
Discord is a mischevious trickster that uses powerful magic and illusions to alter reality and control others. He seeks revenge against Celestia for imprisoning him in stone, causing chaos all across Equestria. He enjoys having fun, but unlike Pinkie Pie, enjoys having fun and laughing at the expense of others.

Wired.com preview
Wired.com posted a preview of season two's first episode, The Return of Harmony, part 1. In the clip, the six main ponies come across a labyrinth, where they are confronted by Discord who magically takes their wings and horns as part of "a game".

Yahoo Kids preview
Another preview, posted on [http://kids.yahoo.com/movies/videos/video/26602842 Yahoo! Kids], shows Cheerilee walking her class through a statue garden and giving them a brief explanation about the statue of a "draconequus". She asks her students what its incongruous body parts might represent, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders get into a fight over their answers to the question (Apple Bloom with Confusion, Sweetie Belle with Evil, and Scootaloo with Chaos).

Trivia



 * Discord means "a lack of agreement or harmony between things", or "disharmony".
 * He is a draconequus composed of a bat wing, a pegasus wing, a snake tail, a griffon body, an eagle left arm, a lion right arm, a horse head, one fang, a deer left leg, a dragon right leg, an elk horn, a chinese dragon horn, and a snake tongue. He also has different sized pupils.
 * His species name is unclear how its spelt. the hub website puts it as "dragonokis" but closed captioning has it as "draconaquis"
 * His physical appearence, his species name, and the power of his magic suggest that he may be based off of a traditional chinese dragon.
 * Much like John de Lancie's popular character Q on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Discord appears with a bright white flash, and the two even share some mannerisms, including a fondness for "games".
 * He shares many simularities with "Him" from the Powerpuff Girls as they both like to play games in riddles.