The Return of Harmony Part 2

The Return of Harmony Part 2
Season №:	2
Season episode №:	2
Overall episode №:	28
Original airdate:	September 24, 2011
Written by:	M. A. Larson
Storyboard:	Kenny Park & Mike West[1]
Featured characters:	Discord
See also
credits • transcript • gallery • allusions animation errors • statistics • speculation
Episode guide
Previous The Return of Harmony Part 1	Next Lesson Zero

The Return of Harmony Part 2 is the second episode of the second season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the twenty-eighth episode overall. In this episode, Twilight Sparkle must find the Elements of Harmony, and a way to restore her friends, in order to defeat Discord. It is the second half of a two-part episode.

Development

According to Lauren Faust, Applejack was originally scripted to climb to the top of the balloon to get to the basket to rope Rainbow Dash.^[2]

Unlike in Boast Busters, Call of the Cutie, and Party of One, the Treehouse airing of this episode didn't mute the word "loser" when Fluttershy says it.

Summary

A storm of chaos

Continuing after a short recap of the first part, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity argue in the remnants of the castle hedge maze in Canterlot. When Twilight tells Discord he unfairly claimed that the Elements of Harmony were hidden in the maze, he reminds her that he never said so. Discord leaves to begin his reign of chaos, mockingly telling Twilight that maybe the "magic of friendship" can help her. Twilight decides to search for the Elements of Harmony in Ponyville.

Finding the Elements of Harmony

On the return trip to Ponyville by foot, the disgruntled ponies encounter soapy roads and long-legged bunnies. Discord reappears, announces to Twilight that Ponyville will become the "chaos capital of the world", and vanishes. The ponies finally arrive at Golden Oak Library, but when Twilight tries to usher her friends inside, they lose even more of their color. Rarity refuses to go inside, saying she's on to Twilight's "plan" to steal "Tom" from her. Twilight finds out that Tom is Rarity's name for the boulder. Resigned, Twilight levitates the boulder and crashes it through the door, leaving a giant hole in the wall. Once inside, Twilight asks Spike to retrieve the book about the Elements of Harmony, but her friends play a game of Keep Away with the book, keeping it out of her reach. Once Twilight finally gets her hooves on the book, she finds that all of the Elements of Harmony are tucked away inside.

Frustrated that her friends no longer care about this discovery or the current crisis, Twilight forcefully puts the elements on Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Spike, who she assigns the role of Rainbow Dash. Twilight rallies the ponies with the plan of defeating Discord so they never have to see each other again, and they all gleefully go outside, except Rarity, who has trouble pushing "Tom" ahead of her. Twilight angrily chucks the boulder out the window, leaving another giant hole in the wall. Discord appears outside of the library, taunting them into stopping him by making a bulls-eye appear on his chest for them to "fire" at. Twilight attempts to combine the elements' power to defeat Discord, with Spike standing in for Rainbow Dash, but nothing happens. As the ponies go their separate ways, Twilight's colors turn dull and she sheds a tear that splatters in the shape of a broken heart. Discord celebrates his victory as Ponyville is driven even deeper into total chaos.

"With friends like you, who needs...enemies...?"

— Twilight Sparkle

Re-discovering the importance of friendship

Twilight throws away her element of magic tiara and tells Spike that they are leaving Ponyville. However, Spike starts regurgitating a seemingly endless pile of scrolls from Princess Celestia, which turn out to be all of the friendship reports Twilight had sent to her during her time in Ponyville. After reading her own friendship reports, Twilight remembers the importance of friendship, regains her resolve and color, and sets out to restore the rest of her friends.

Reverting to their previous selves

Twilight finds Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres, and uses a memory spell to project memories of past adventures with her friends into Applejack's mind. Applejack regains her color and goes back to her original self. She confesses that she told lies because she could not face a future of their friendship ending. Twilight then performs the same spell on Fluttershy, and Fluttershy exclaims that she just had the worst dream. Twilight restores Rarity, who tosses away the boulder and says, "Let us never speak of this again." Next is Pinkie Pie, who laughs at her previous predicament.

The friends find Rainbow Dash, who is still brainwashed and sitting upon a small cloud, believing it to be Cloudsdale. Twilight and the other ponies sneak up to a sleeping Rainbow Dash in Twilight's balloon, and Fluttershy tries to hold down Dash so Twilight can restore her personality. However, Fluttershy, now back to her kind personality, cannot take an aggressive approach and wakes up Dash to politely ask her if she can hold her down. This prompts Dash to grab onto "Cloudsdale" and fly away. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie give chase in the balloon, which Fluttershy is pulling. Applejack manages to lasso Rainbow Dash, but the rope catches on Pinkie Pie and Rarity's hooves, dragging them out of the balloon as Rarity yells that Pinkie was supposed to secure the rope, still attached to the elusive Pegasus. Fluttershy is unable to keep up until she is reminded about Discord's rule over Ponyville. With that, she outpaces Rainbow Dash and the others are able to secure her while Twilight reverts Dash to her previous self.

Confronting Discord

"I'll tell you what we've learned Discord. We've learned that friendship isn't always easy. But there's no doubt it's worth fighting for."

— Twilight Sparkle

The friends confront Discord, who is sitting on a throne holding a glass of chocolate milk. He drinks the glass and throws away the chocolate milk, which explodes. Discord, still confident of their inability to defeat him, makes himself an open target. However, now that the six ponies can wield their elements, they combine their powers and fire a giant rainbow, just like they did when they defeated Nightmare Moon, causing an explosion much like Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom. Discord watches in horror before he is turned to stone once more. Ponyville goes back to normal, and all chaos and disharmony caused by Discord is neutralized.

Ending

At the end of the episode, Princess Celestia holds a ceremony in Canterlot, honoring the ponies for defeating Discord, where a new stained glass window depicting the friends' victory is unveiled.

Closing sequence

According to director Jayson Thiessen, one of the storyboard artists decided to board the award ceremony sequence at the end of the episode as a shot-for-shot equivalent of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, though parts of the sequence were ultimately cut to shorten the episode.^[3]

Credits

This is the last episode where Lauren Faust is executive producer, the last episode to use the original theme song, and the last episode where DHX Media is credited as "Studio B". This is also the first episode to not feature the My Little Pony theme in the end credits.

Quotes

For more quotes, see the episode's transcript.

Pinkie Pie: You'd better think before you laugh at the Pink...ie Pie!

Fluttershy: Oh, yeah? Well ha, ha.

Pinkie Pie: Quit it!

Fluttershy: No. Ha, ha.

Pinkie Pie: Quit it!

Fluttershy: No. Ha ha-ha ha ha.

Discord: Keep trying, Twilight Sparkle. [mockingly] Maybe the magic of friendship can help you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some chaos to wreak.

Discord: Picture it, the chaos capital of the world!

Twilight Sparkle: I can't picture anything, it's too dark.

Discord: Well, wait a few minutes and then you'll see the beautiful light of day, or not.

Spike: [snore] Ah! Brrr! What did you do that for, Fluttershy?

Fluttershy: 'Cause you just looked so peaceful.

Fluttershy: Hey, Twilight, what's soaking wet and clueless?

Twilight Sparkle: Fluttershy, I've had just about enough–[splash]

Fluttershy: Your face! [bang]

Twilight Sparkle: Where is she? Where's Rarity?

Applejack: Beats me.

Twilight Sparkle: Lies!

Twilight Sparkle: See, girls? We did it! We found the Elements of Harmony! Together!

Applejack: [yawns]

Twilight Sparkle: You don't even care, do you?

All: No!

Twilight Sparkle: [sigh] I never thought it would happen. My friends... have turned into complete JERKS! Necklace, necklace, necklace, necklace, and big crown thingy! Come on, everypony, let's go!

Twilight Sparkle: Congratulations, Spike. You're the new Rainbow Dash. Now let's go!

Spike: Me? B-b-but what if she finds out I've been impersonating her? [moan] That won't end well.

Twilight Sparkle: Too bad! You're Rainbow Dash!

Twilight Sparkle: Look out! Here comes Tom!

Twilight Sparkle: With friends like you, who needs... enemies...?

Twilight Sparkle: I've got to fight for my friendships. For them. For me. For Equestria!

Rarity: Let us never speak of this again.

Rainbow Dash: Pfft! Loyalty, schmoyalty! Have you seen Ponyville? It's a disaster! I'm staying here in Cloudsdale where everything's awesome.

Rarity: How in Equestria can she think that tiny patch of clouds is Cloudsdale?

Applejack: The same way he got you to think that cheap rock was a bona fide diamond.

Rarity: I thought we agreed never to speak of that again.

Fluttershy: Um, I'm just wondering if it's okay if I held you down against your will for a little bit.

Rarity: Oh, Fluttershy, would you be a dear and fly faster, please?

Fluttershy: [whimper] I can't!

Twilight Sparkle: If you can't catch her, Discord wins!

Fluttershy: That... big... dumb... MEANIE!

Rainbow Dash: Lemme go! I don't need you guys! Leave me alone!

Twilight Sparkle: All right, ladies, let's show him what friendship can do!

Pinkie Pie: Wait-wait-wait! [drinks chocolate rain, growl]

Gallery

The Return of Harmony Part 2 image gallery

References

1. ↑ Raven Molisee's DeviantArt journal (2012-02-23). Retrieved on 2012 February 23.
2. ↑ Lauren Faust on Twitter. Retrieved on 2013 March 15.
3. ↑ BroNYcon Jayson Thiessen Q&A (2011-09-24). Retrieved on 2011 September 25.

v • e Episodes, films, and animated shorts

Season one
Episode 1 Friendship is Magic, part 1	Episode 2 Friendship is Magic, part 2	Episode 3 The Ticket Master	Episode 4 Applebuck Season
Episode 5 Griffon the Brush Off	Episode 6 Boast Busters	Episode 7 Dragonshy	Episode 8 Look Before You Sleep
Episode 9 Bridle Gossip	Episode 10 Swarm of the Century	Episode 11 Winter Wrap Up	Episode 12 Call of the Cutie
Episode 13 Fall Weather Friends	Episode 14 Suited For Success	Episode 15 Feeling Pinkie Keen	Episode 16 Sonic Rainboom
Episode 17 Stare Master	Episode 18 The Show Stoppers	Episode 19 A Dog and Pony Show	Episode 20 Green Isn't Your Color
Episode 21 Over a Barrel	Episode 22 A Bird in the Hoof	Episode 23 The Cutie Mark Chronicles	Episode 24 Owl's Well That Ends Well
	Episode 25 Party of One	Episode 26 The Best Night Ever

Season two
Episode 1 The Return of Harmony Part 1	Episode 2 The Return of Harmony Part 2	Episode 3 Lesson Zero	Episode 4 Luna Eclipsed
Episode 5 Sisterhooves Social	Episode 6 The Cutie Pox	Episode 7 May the Best Pet Win!	Episode 8 The Mysterious Mare Do Well
Episode 9 Sweet and Elite	Episode 10 Secret of My Excess	Episode 11 Hearth's Warming Eve	Episode 12 Family Appreciation Day
Episode 13 Baby Cakes	Episode 14 The Last Roundup	Episode 15 The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000	Episode 16 Read It and Weep
Episode 17 Hearts and Hooves Day	Episode 18 A Friend in Deed	Episode 19 Putting Your Hoof Down	Episode 20 It's About Time
Episode 21 Dragon Quest	Episode 22 Hurricane Fluttershy	Episode 23 Ponyville Confidential	Episode 24 MMMystery on the Friendship Express
	Episode 25 A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1	Episode 26 A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2

Season three
Episode 1 The Crystal Empire - Part 1	Episode 2 The Crystal Empire - Part 2	Episode 3 Too Many Pinkie Pies	Episode 4 One Bad Apple
Episode 5 Magic Duel	Episode 6 Sleepless in Ponyville	Episode 7 Wonderbolts Academy	Episode 8 Apple Family Reunion
Episode 9 Spike at Your Service	Episode 10 Keep Calm and Flutter On	Episode 11 Just for Sidekicks	Episode 12 Games Ponies Play
Episode 13 Magical Mystery Cure

Season four
Episode 1 Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1	Episode 2 Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 2	Episode 3 Castle Mane-ia	Episode 4 Daring Don't
Episode 5 Flight to the Finish	Episode 6 Power Ponies	Episode 7 Bats!	Episode 8 Rarity Takes Manehattan
Episode 9 Pinkie Apple Pie	Episode 10 Rainbow Falls	Episode 11 Three's A Crowd	Episode 12 Pinkie Pride
Episode 13 Simple Ways	Episode 14 Filli Vanilli	Episode 15 Twilight Time	Episode 16 It Ain't Easy Being Breezies
Episode 17 Somepony to Watch Over Me	Episode 18 Maud Pie	Episode 19 For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils	Episode 20 Leap of Faith
Episode 21 Testing Testing 1, 2, 3	Episode 22 Trade Ya!	Episode 23 Inspiration Manifestation	Episode 24 Equestria Games
	Episode 25 Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1	Episode 26 Twilight's Kingdom - Part 2

Season five
Episode 1 The Cutie Map - Part 1	Episode 2 The Cutie Map - Part 2	Episode 3 Castle Sweet Castle	Episode 4 Bloom & Gloom
Episode 5 Tanks for the Memories	Episode 6 Appleoosa's Most Wanted	Episode 7 Make New Friends but Keep Discord	Episode 8 The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone
Episode 9 Slice of Life	Episode 10 Princess Spike	Episode 11 Party Pooped	Episode 12 Amending Fences
Episode 13 Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?	Episode 14 Canterlot Boutique	Episode 15 Rarity Investigates!	Episode 16 Made in Manehattan
Episode 17 Brotherhooves Social	Episode 18 Crusaders of the Lost Mark	Episode 19 The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows	Episode 20 Hearthbreakers
Episode 21 Scare Master	Episode 22 What About Discord?	Episode 23 The Hooffields and McColts	Episode 24 The Mane Attraction
	Episode 25 The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 1	Episode 26 The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2

Season six
Episode 1 The Crystalling - Part 1	Episode 2 The Crystalling - Part 2	Episode 3 The Gift of the Maud Pie	Episode 4 On Your Marks
Episode 5 Gauntlet of Fire	Episode 6 No Second Prances	Episode 7 Newbie Dash	Episode 8 A Hearth's Warming Tail
Episode 9 The Saddle Row Review	Episode 10 Applejack's "Day" Off	Episode 11 Flutter Brutter	Episode 12 Spice Up Your Life
Episode 13 Stranger Than Fan Fiction	Episode 14 The Cart Before the Ponies	Episode 15 28 Pranks Later	Episode 16 The Times They Are A Changeling
Episode 17 Dungeons & Discords	Episode 18 Buckball Season	Episode 19 The Fault in Our Cutie Marks	Episode 20 Viva Las Pegasus
Episode 21 Every Little Thing She Does	Episode 22 P.P.O.V. (Pony Point of View)	Episode 23 Where the Apple Lies	Episode 24 Top Bolt
	Episode 25 To Where and Back Again - Part 1	Episode 26 To Where and Back Again - Part 2

Season seven
Episode 1 Celestial Advice	Episode 2 All Bottled Up	Episode 3 A Flurry of Emotions	Episode 4 Rock Solid Friendship
Episode 5 Fluttershy Leans In	Episode 6 Forever Filly	Episode 7 Parental Glideance	Episode 8 Hard to Say Anything
Episode 9 Honest Apple	Episode 10 A Royal Problem	Episode 11 Not Asking for Trouble	Episode 12 Discordant Harmony
Episode 13 The Perfect Pear	Episode 14 Fame and Misfortune	Episode 15 Triple Threat	Episode 16 Campfire Tales
Episode 17 To Change a Changeling	Episode 18 Daring Done?	Episode 19 It Isn't the Mane Thing About You	Episode 20 A Health of Information
Episode 21 Marks and Recreation	Episode 22 Once Upon a Zeppelin	Episode 23 Secrets and Pies	Episode 24 Uncommon Bond
	Episode 25 Shadow Play - Part 1	Episode 26 Shadow Play - Part 2

Season eight
Episode 1 School Daze - Part 1	Episode 2 School Daze - Part 2	Episode 3 The Maud Couple	Episode 4 Fake It 'Til You Make It
Episode 5 Grannies Gone Wild	Episode 6 Surf and/or Turf	Episode 7 Horse Play	Episode 8 The Parent Map
Episode 9 Non-Compete Clause	Episode 10 The Break Up Break Down	Episode 11 Molt Down	Episode 12 Marks for Effort
Episode 13 The Mean 6	Episode 14 A Matter of Principals	Episode 15 The Hearth's Warming Club	Episode 16 Friendship University
Episode 17 The End in Friend	Episode 18 Yakity-Sax	Episode 19 Road to Friendship	Episode 20 The Washouts
Episode 21 A Rockhoof and a Hard Place	Episode 22 What Lies Beneath	Episode 23 Sounds of Silence	Episode 24 Father Knows Beast
	Episode 25 School Raze - Part 1	Episode 26 School Raze - Part 2

Feature films
Equestria Girls	Rainbow Rocks	Friendship Games	Legend of Everfree
My Little Pony The Movie

Specials
Dance Magic	Movie Magic	Mirror Magic	Forgotten Friendship
		Spring Breakdown
Rollercoaster of Friendship	Best Gift Ever	Spring Breakdown

Animated shorts
Rainbow Rocks shorts	Friendship Games shorts	Summertime Shorts	Equestria Girls: Better Together (season 1)
Equestria Girls: Better Together (season 2)	Equestria Girls: Choose Your Own Ending	Equestria Girls Minis	Baby Flurry Heart's Heartfelt Scrapbook
Rarity's Peek Behind the Boutique	Fundamentals of Magic	My Little Pony Established 1983	Best Gift Ever shorts