 Later , Twilight and her best friends Applejack , Fluttershy , Pinkie Pie , Rainbow Dash , and Rarity find strange phenomena occurring around Ponyville , such as cotton candy clouds dispensing chocolate milk , ears of corn in their husks instantly turning into popcorn , and Applejack 's apples turning bigger . However , Twilight 's magic is not strong enough to stop it , though they can get some of the phenomena somewhat under control . Soon , Spike coughs up a letter from Celestia , urging Twilight and her best friends to see her in Canterlot . On arrival , Celestia takes them to a grand hall with stained @-@ glass windows , including one heralding the ponies ' defeat of Nightmare Moon , and to the vault where the Elements of Harmony are kept . Celestia tells the ponies that the strange phenomena they have noticed is being caused by an old enemy of hers named Discord , the spirit of chaos and disharmony . Celestia tells of how Discord once ruled Equestria in an eternal state of chaos before she and Luna defeated him by turning him into a stone statue ( the Draconequus statue that stood in the sculpture garden ) . But he has recently escaped his prison and Celestia asks Twilight and her best friends to use the Elements of Harmony ( as they did to defeat Nightmare Moon previously ) to defeat Discord . However , as she offers the Elements to them , they are shocked to find that the box that normally holds the Elements is completely empty . 
