Discord

"Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?"

- Discord's famous phrase

Discord is a recurring character in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. He is one of Twilight Sparkle's best friends.

Personality
Discord basically has the traits of a typical on-and-off hero.

He is a mischievous, sneaky trickster who effortlessly pulls pranks on his targets through the use of his powerful magic, illusions, and hypnotism; however, he is learning to consider his victims' feelings more though. He has a sense of showmanship and drama, preferring to be playful towards his victims before getting down to business. He laughs and amuses himself with his magical mischief, hardly at the cost of others. Fortunately, after having had his fun, he will switch it back to normal. He will also gladly spread fun chaos to anypony he can to create happiness and cheer in Ponyville.

In his first appearance in "The Return of Harmony Part 1 and 2," Discord breaks free from his stone imprisonment and turns the ponies against each other, making Twilight miserable and depressed; in the end, he was overpowered and turned back to stone by the Mane Six. In "Keep Calm and Flutter On," upon the request of Princess Celestia, Discord was released from his stone imprisonment by the Mane Six to give him a chance to behave himself. Discord has begun to mellow out after meeting Fluttershy and admitting he has never had a friend before, preferring to remain best friends with the ponies instead of thrive in total mischief.

While being a goodhearted friend, he can also sometimes be a braggart, arrogant, selfish, cocky, self-centered, stubborn, overconfident, and a bit of a liar. Despite having a fondness for chaos and mischief, he can become easily annoyed if things do not go his way.

Being a symbol of chaos, he dislikes order, cleanliness, and predictability. However, he has taken orders before, as well as cleaning up (i.e. taking a shower) and has been somewhat predictable at times.

He tends to use less contractions in his vocabulary oftentimes, giving him a somewhat sophisticated, charismatic, archaic tone to his status as a "chaos god".

Overall, following the first past episodes, Discord has revealed himself to be a truly good person at heart and was simply causing mischief on Ponyville in his first appearance out of self defense, having never been purely evil at all.

The Return of Harmony Part 1 and 2
Discord first appears as the main anti-hero of The Return of Harmony Part 1 and 2.

During the opening scene, he is encased as a statue in the Canterlot sculpture garden. The statue is posed in a cheerful manner in contrast to the frightened pose that Discord assumes when being turned into stone at the end of the next episode, which concludes the story arc. Cheerilee, who is taking her Ponyville class on a field trip, stops the class to point out the draconequus statue. The Cutie Mark Crusaders argue over what it is supposed to represent, only for Cheerilee to break them up. She then tells them to come along and that she does not want any more fighting. As they quietly bicker while leaving, Discord's statue begins to crack and his laughter is heard.

Before he is directly introduced, the Mane Six witness the effects of his power in Ponyville. Inexplicably, things begin acting irregularly, such as clouds made out of cotton candy that move of their own accord, chocolate milk pouring down from the sky like rain, and animals that behave uncharacteristically and spontaneously change shape. Celestia explains to the Mane Six that Discord is the spirit of disharmony in a way similar to Cheerilee's teaching. According to Celestia, he caused unrest and unhappiness throughout all of Equestria for Earth ponies, unicorns, and Pegasi alike. Celestia and her sister Luna stood up to Discord and used the Elements of Harmony to turn him to stone. Celestia says she thought Discord would be contained forever. However, since she and Luna are no longer connected to the Elements of Harmony, the spell imprisoning Discord has broken and he has escaped from his stone imprisonment. When the Elements of Harmony go missing, Celestia accuses Discord of stealing them because they were held in a chamber protected by a spell she thought only she could break. Discord appears in the stained-glass windows of the palace and explains that he simply borrowed the Elements. When demanded to tell them where the Elements are, he gives in, but says he will only tell them his way – he replies with a riddle, making Twilight think he hid the Elements in the Canterlot castle labyrinth.

When the Mane Six venture into the palace labyrinth, Discord prevents them from "cheating" in his "game" by magically removing their wings and horns. This enforces the first rule of his game: No flying and no magic. The second rule is that they must all play the game or else the game is over and he wins. He physically separates them in the maze and the game begins. Discord confronts the Mane Six with trials that make them question themselves, making them contradict the elements they represent. The one exception is Fluttershy, who is not embittered by Discord's claim that her best friends think she is helpless. He gets frustrated at the difficulty of upsetting Fluttershy and manually brainwashes her by force. He tells her she has been kind far too long and it is now time to be cruel, then bids her goodbye with an extremely agitated "arrivederci."

After making Applejack dishonest, Pinkie Pie grumpy, Rarity greedy, and Fluttershy cruel, Discord plays with Rainbow Dash's loyalty to her best friends by showing her a vision that her hometown of Cloudsdale would be destroyed without her. He offers her a choice: She can either have her wings back and go to the aid of Cloudsdale or continue to seek the Elements. Falling for the bait, she flies out of the labyrinth and breaks Discord's "no flying and no magic" rule. Having "won", Discord destroys the entire labyrinth and proclaims they "might be due for a big old storm of chaos" as he opens his umbrella and laughs evilly.

Twilight is upset when Discord takes away the maze before they can find the Elements of Harmony until Discord reveals they were not in the labyrinth. He magically shows her the riddle again and she realizes that the Elements are "back where she began". Afterwards, Discord turns Ponyville into what he claims will be the "chaos capital of the world". Twilight finds the Elements and forcibly places them on the corrupted ponies and Spike, who was hastily substituting for Rainbow Dash. However, the Elements fail miserably just as Discord expected. Twilight loses faith in their mission and almost becomes entirely corrupted herself – until she re-reads the letters she wrote to Celestia about the magic of friendship. With renewed motivation, she cures all her corrupted best friends by making them remember the wonderful times they had together. When they go to confront him, Discord continues to be unconcerned and thus is easily defeated by the reawakened powers of the Elements. After being struck with a rainbow similar to that previously used on Nightmare Moon, Discord is turned back into stone, but this time with an expression of fear frozen onto his face.

Keep Calm and Flutter On
Discord returns as the main anti-hero of Keep Calm and Flutter On. After being brought before the Mane Six by Celestia, Twilight is upset with her for bringing him. Celestia explains that even though she knows of Discord's past misdeeds, she is willing to give him a chance to change his ways. After being released from his stone imprisonment by the Mane Six, Discord immediately begins to cause mischief again, frustrating everypony once again. When Fluttershy tries to use the Stare on him, it fails as Discord appears to be affected, only to burst out laughing. Twilight gives him a warning to behave or they will turn him back to stone. Discord is invited to stay at Fluttershy's house. Later, Discord admits he has never had a friend before, explaining the reason he became antagonistic. He is touched when Fluttershy declares herself to be his best friend and it is this glimpse of genuine friendship that makes him undo the mischief he had originally caused. He states at the end of the episode that he will use his magic for good from now on: "Most of the time." Since then, he has kept his mischievous tendency to a low, though is still more than willing to cause mischief and pull pranks.

Princess Twilight Sparkle Part 1 and 2
Discord is a supporting protagonist in the Season 4 two-part premiere Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1 and Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 2.

In the episodes, Discord indirectly aids the Mane Six in defeating the plunderseeds, which he himself had planted many years ago in a bid to defeat the royal sisters. Even after the force that is most capable of defeating him is gone, he keeps his word to Celestia and does not go on a rampage and is rather easily swayed by Fluttershy.

Three's A Crowd
Discord is a supporting protagonist in Three's a Crowd.

Discord appears to have come down with an illness called the "blu flu", in which he has turned into the color blue. Twilight and Cadence let him stay in the Golden Oak Library to recover. He politely asks for a glass of water and breaks into song, singing "Glass of Water." During the song, Discord makes various popular culture references. Afterwards, it is revealed that Discord having the "blu flu" was fake the whole time, angering Twilight and Cadence. Discord explains that he was only faking it for a good reason, which is because he wanted Twilight and Cadence to look after him and be his best friends. However, even after he congratulates Twilight for passing his "friendship test", she is still angry at him. When Cadence says Discord did not ruin Twilight's visit with her, both Twilight and Discord are shocked. Just then, a tatzlwurm suddenly emerges from underground, frightening Discord and infecting him with a real illness. He is temporarily quarantined in a plastic bubble. When he asks for one more thing, an exasperated Twilight immediately refuses, but Discord states he was simply going to ask for a glass of water and smirks, hinting at this to be another trick of his.

Twilight's Kingdom Part 1 and 2
Discord is the (former) secondary antagonist of the Season 4 finale Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1 and Twilight's Kingdom - Part 2.

After he betrays the ponies of Equestria, Tirek (whom had originally persuaded Discord to join him and become his chief henchman) subsequently betrays him by stealing his magic and telling Discord he is no longer useful to him. He shows deep remorse for his actions and apologizes to the Mane 6, upon realizing the importance of friendship. When the ponies forgive and accept him in the end, Discord is truly happy and satisfied, which he expresses by giving Celestia and the other princesses bouquets of flowers in apology for his past misdeeds.

Make New Friends, But Keep Discord
Discord is the main protagonist of the Season 5 episode Make New Friends, But Keep Discord.

Discord is visiting Fluttershy and as they enjoy their Tuesday teas. He tells her a funny story, in which he finishes by laughing and saying, "But that's not all! When I went to look for them again, they were on the ceiling!". Amused, Fluttershy laughs and tells him that she has never known anypony as funny as him. She says she loves his story about the time he tried to "train his right paw to fetch his left leg" and she giggles some more. When Fluttershy tells Discord she cannot wait to introduce him to her new friend Tree Hugger (whom she believes is also going to love Discord), Discord's happiness has ended. He asks Fluttershy if she could take him to the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala, but she softly declines as she already promised Tree Hugger. Feeling betrayed, Discord leaves Fluttershy's house, bids Fluttershy farewell, and begins to ask everypony else if they could come to the gala with him, but they all refuse. He then goes to Sugarcube Corner and Pinkie Pie greets him and asks if he wants cake. He is about to ask her who she is taking to the gala, but becomes tongue-tied and instead says he is famished and will take all the cakes; this excites Pinkie and she prepares to ship all of the cakes to him. Just then, Discord sees Fluttershy hanging out with Tree Hugger through the window and, becoming upset, tells Pinkie to instead cancel his order and teleports away. Outside, he goes to meet them and Tree Hugger is amazed and pleased to meet Discord. He then leaves, bidding them sarcastic good luck, and returns to his home in another dimension, in which he vents his anger and jealously. Discord becomes jealous to the point where he brings his own friend named the Smooze and goes to extreme lengths in an attempt to prove he is not jealous. However, the Smooze gets out of hand and ruins the gala. Fed up with Tree Hugger, Discord threatens to banish her to another dimension since he feels he cannot let her interfere in his relationship with Fluttershy. Angered, Fluttershy tells Discord to stop, to which he says he will after he gets rid of Tree Hugger. Fluttershy then has an argument with him. He is upset with Fluttershy over her "betrayal" until she tells him that just because she brought a new friend does not mean she and Discord are no longer friends.

In the end, Discord realizes his mistake and apologizes to Tree Hugger, making amends with her. As well, the Smooze joins in the party, which begins to run smoothly.

What About Discord?
Discord is a supporting protagonist in What About Discord?.

Discord inexplicably bonds with Twilight's best friends over a 3-day weekend, much to Twilight's suspicion and envy. When Twilight is excluded from their inside jokes and tries to recreate the circumstances surrounding them, Discord tells Twilight that moments of friendship cannot be manufactured. Eventually, Twilight admits her jealousy and Discord reveals he planned for Twilight to learn this lesson all along.

The Cutie Re-Mark
The fifth alternate timeline created by Starlight Glimmer has Discord still antagonistic, chasing Celestia and Luna around. This timeline along the others that were created by Starlight were all erased when Twilight convinced Starlight to let Rainbow Dash do her Rainboom and history was restored to its original state.

Dungeons & Discords
Discord is the main protagonist again of the Season 6 episode Dungeons & Discords.

Discord joins Spike and Big McIntosh on their guys' night when the Mane Six leave to Yakyakistan. He looks forward to a night of partying and dancing, but it turns out to be an evening of playing the fantasy role-playing game Ogres & Oubliettes, much to his disappointment. Throughout the evening, Discord tries to steer things toward more enjoyable activities, but Spike and Big McIntosh insist on playing their game.

Discord's disinterest in the game and frustration eventually drive him to create a real-life version of Ogres & Oubliettes. However, his efforts are met with Spike and Big Mac's cold reception and he leaves out of embarrassment when he discovers they only invited him on their guys' night because they felt sorry for him. Spike and Big McIntosh soon invite him back to give him a second chance and he joins their role-playing game as an Archer-class character.

To Where and Back Again Part 1 and 2
Discord is a supporting protagonist in the Season 6's two-part finale To Where and Back Again.

In To Where and Back Again - Part 1, Discord meets and teams up with Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, and Thorax to save their best friends - particularly Fluttershy - when they are captured by the changelings.

In Part 2, Discord's magic is disabled in the Changeling Kingdom due to the properties of Chrysalis' throne, forcing him to navigate the castle without teleporting.

While in the castle, Discord has frequent arguments with Trixie because of their clashing personalities. On their way to the throne room, Discord distracts a detail of changeling guards with a stand-up comedy act, but is eventually captured when the changelings all disguise themselves as Fluttershy. After Chrysalis is defeated, Discord joins the ponies in celebrating the Sunset Festival in Our Town and offers to improve Trixie's magic act with his mischief magic.

Celestial Advice
Discord is a supporting protagonist in the Season 7 premiere Celestial Advice.

Discord, Trixie, Starlight, and Thorax have a ceremony held in their honor after saving Equestria from Chrysalis. Afterwards, Discord questions Twilight about what she has planned for Starlight as she has now proven herself as far more than a student, taking great glee in taunting her over not having things planned out for Starlight as Celestia did for her. While Twilight is panicking over what to do, Discord spreads her intentions to announce her plans for Starlight to all the guests at the ceremony. As Twilight, after receiving much needed advice from Celestia, prepares to announce what she has planned for Starlight, Discord takes out filming equipment in order to record her likely humiliating speech, only to be disappointed when Twilight actually does have an idea of what to do for Starlight (that being to graduate her as a student and let her continue at her own pace).

A Royal Problem
Discord makes a cameo appearance in A Royal Problem.

He is seen with the Smooze in one of the dreams Celestia was viewing.

Discordant Harmony
Discord is the main protagonist of the Season 7 episode Discordant Harmony.

Discord invites Fluttershy to his realm. However, fearing she will not appreciate it there, he decides to change everything and himself, but everything does not go as planned.

Appearance
Discord is a creature called a draconequus.

He is described as having the head of a pony (even though his head is more goat than pony). He has a deer antler, goat horn, goat fang, goatee, and mane. He has a right lion paw, a left eagle claw, a right bat wing, a left pegasus wing, a right lizard foot, and a left deer antler.

Powers and Abilities
As an embodiment of chaos and mischief, Discord appears to be borderline omnipotent. He has manifested a great number of abilities and skills over the course of G4 MLP - abilities he has shown so far include:


 * Hybrid Physiology (Discord has a body made of different parts of creatures and animals).
 * Nigh Omnipotence (The source of his reality warping abilities and among other powers, is the power to be near the pinnacle of omnipotence, which makes him the most powerful character in the series. He would may also flawlessly restore anything to its original state, possess a complete, or almost complete and utter collection of powers, heal or fix anything without fail, or even control space-time, or cosmic elements at will if given the proposition).
 * Chaos Magic (Discord is capable of alter reality into many ways and control the laws of nature and the physics of the world with his magic).
 * Reality Restoration (Discord is capable of restoring reality back into its original state. Whichever is more efficient, this can count as a power to balance his reality affecting chaos magic or a counteractive ability to use against other reality warpers).
 * Size-Shifting (Discord has varied in size from very large to being small enough to fit in a pony's ear).
 * Shape-Shifting (Discord has taken many odd forms, some of which defy physics or parody characters).
 * Gesturify (Sometimes he has to require the use of snapping his fingers whenever it comes to most of the reality distorting powers he owns by far, otherwise they would not function correctly as he expects them to. This is a subpower that comes with his magic in general).
 * Probability Alteration / Logic Manipulation (Discord can make extremely unlikely events occur within his vicinity and alter the laws of logic to his whim).
 * Telekinesis (Discord has shown enough telekinetic skill to lift the entire Mane Six up magically, such as when he angrily "grabbed" them by the collars).
 * Hypnotic Magic (Discord has shown the ability to corrupt others and is skilled at hypnotic magic - he can even outright take control of someone's mind, though he prefers not to).
 * Telepathy / Vast Knowledge (Discord was able to know all the strengths and weaknesses of the Mane Six, as well as their names without ever having met them before. He also knew about Twilight's princess coronation and the "Winter Wrap Up Song," despite not being there, and he knew how Twilight felt about her role as princess. However, he was unable to predict that Tirek would betray him, so he is not omniscient nor even semi omniscient. As well, he tends to forget some things).
 * Fourth Wall Awareness (Discord appears to be aware he is in a cartoon, even though he doesn't explain that he does).
 * Teleportation (Discord is able to teleport from one place to another. He can also teleport an object or a creature to him as well. He is also able to make objects disappear out of thin air. As well, he can use this ability to teleport across alternate dimensions such as the real-world of "Ogres and Oubliettes" and his our personal dimension).
 * Creation: (Discord is shown to be skilled with creation magic - he is able to create objects, creatures and plants at will, including powerful magical creations like the Plunderseeds).
 * Levitation (Discord is able to float in the air).
 * Flight (Discord can fly using his wings. He is also able to achieve a supersonic flight similar to Rainbow Dash's).
 * Replication (Discord can create copies of himself. He also once displayed this ability to create a replicate of Trixie out of her hat).
 * Animation (Discord can bring any inanimate object to life).
 * Appendage Generation (Discord can grow extra body parts).
 * Anatomical Liberation (Discord can make parts of his body come apart and is able to move them while detached so. He is also shown using this ability to remove Celestia's tail without her noticing, though he did part her tail back on afterwards).
 * Object Possession (Discord was able to use his head to possess a balloon, he can also appear magically in various objects, such as gems and stained glass windows).
 * Transmogrification (Discord can alter the appearance of objects and creatures, such as giving rabbits deer legs, making a squirrel and a rabbit large and hulking, and turning apples into oranges and oranges into apples).
 * Matter Ingestion (Discord is able to consume matter such as glass, a painting, and a tea cup).
 * Portal Creation (Discord can open portals to different dimensions by using his eagle claw to cut through the fabric of reality).
 * Disease Generation (Discord can inflict ponies with any kind of diseases and illnesses).
 * Blue Flame Generation (Discord is able to generate blue flames, as shown in Three's A Crowd).
 * Smoke Generation (Discord display creating amount of smoke to cover a background as shown in Ogres and Oubliettes).
 * Color Alteration (Discord was able to fade Twilight's best friends' colors, he also changed his color to blue to make it look like he had the "blu flu" and turned a tablecloth from white to red by touching it).
 * Thought Manifestation (Discord is able to show his thoughts to others by using clouds of smoke, such as when showing Twilight and Cadence a flower that would cure the "blu flu").
 * Enhanced Strength (Discord is deceptively strong, enough so to take a tree out of the ground and taking a big rock out of the ground with just one arm).
 * Enhanced Hearing (Discord was able to hear Applejack from far away).
 * Weather Magic (Discord is able to control the weather by making rain clouds go crazy, causing thunderstorms or creating cotton candy chocolate rain clouds).
 * Animal Control (Discord is able to control the animals' behavior by making them go wild unnaturally).
 * Daytime Control (Discord is able to control celestial objects at will to bring about daytime or nighttime).
 * Gravity Control (Discord is able to make things float into the air, and making objects lighter or heavier).
 * Time Travel (Discord is able to project himself and others into events that have happened in the past).
 * Bubble Imprisonment (Discord is able to imprison ponies in magic bubbles which is a similar trait to Tirek).
 * Prehensile Tail (Discord can use his tail to hold things, and can make his tail tuft into a hand).
 * Cartoon Physics (Like Pinkie Pie, he is able to use cartoon physics by stretching his limbs, deflate like a balloon, moving very fast, turning his mouth upside down and appearing out of unexpected places).
 * Magic Imbalance Detection (Discord has the natural ability to sense major disturbances in magic, such as magic being stolen, or transferred into others).
 * Immortality (Discord seems to be immortal as he has stayed in his stone prison for thousands of years without dying. He is also presumably just as old as {if not older than} Celestia and Luna).
 * Master Trickster (Discord is good at deceiving ponies and making them do his bidding without even realizing it).
 * Old Prime (Despite his age, Discord is shown to be skilled at water skating, as well as ice skating).

Weaknesses
Discord's strengths are many while his weaknesses are extremely few. Attacking him head-on is usually doomed to fail as he can easily thwart any assault through his reality-warping power. However, he is vulnerable to the Elements of Harmony, which have successfully turned him to stone twice in "The Return of Harmony Part 1 and 2." Using the Elements also dispels all of his chaotic magic, returning things to their rightful shapes and places.

One important weakness of Discord is himself: He tends to be very overconfident and so assured of his own invincibility that he will not go all-out against enemies. In addition, his tendency to underestimate opponents means he can be taken by surprise and defeated before having the chance to react. While intelligent, he is also not immune to being tricked and fell for Tirek's proposition to become allies, not suspecting that Tirek would betray him in the end. Also, prior to his redemption, he secretly wanted a friend, which allowed Fluttershy to sway him towards the side of good.

As shown in Discordant Harmony, if Discord exhibits as normal behavior more than his mischievous persona, he will slowly fade from existence showing not being chaotic in nature will up destroyed. Luckily, Fluttershy manages to make Discord to snap out of it and was returned to his natural mischievous behavior, thus saving his life. This is why he should not avoid his position of what he represents. However, what really happens after he fades out remains unknown for the time being.

Season 2

 * The Return of Harmony - Part 1
 * The Return of Harmony - Part 2
 * Hearth's Warming Eve (cameo)
 * A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1 (cameo)

Season 3

 * The Crystal Empire - Part 2 (cameo)
 * Keep Calm and Flutter On
 * Magical Mystery Cure (cameo and flashback)

Season 4

 * Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1
 * Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 2
 * Three's A Crowd
 * Trade Ya! (cameo as a lamp)
 * Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1
 * Twilight's Kingdom - Part 2

Season 5

 * Make New Friends but Keep Discord
 * Crusaders of the Lost Mark (mentioned)
 * What About Discord?
 * The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2 (alternate-timeline)

Season 6

 * Dungeons & Discords
 * To Where and Back Again - Part 1
 * To Where and Back Again - Part 2

Season 7

 * Celestial Advice
 * A Royal Problem (cameo)
 * Discordant Harmony
 * Fame and Misfortune (cameo)
 * A Health of Information1 (cameo)
 * Shadow Play - Part 2 (mentioned)

Season 8

 * The Maud Couple (cameo in photo)
 * The Break Up Break Down
 * A Matter of Principles

Films

 * My Little Pony The Movie (cameo)

Friendship is Magic

 * Zen and the Art of Gazebo Repair (cameo)
 * My Little Pirate: Friendship Ahoy (cameo)
 * Reflections (cameo)
 * Discord in Time
 * The Good, the Bad and the Ponies (cameo)
 * Ponyville Days (cameo)
 * Siege of the Crystal Empire
 * Chaos Theory
 * Friendship is Magic Issue 57

Micro-Series

 * Micro-series Issue 8 (cameo)

Friends Forever

 * Friends Forever Issue 2
 * Friends Forever Issue 5
 * Friends Forever Issue 14 (mentioned)
 * Friends Forever Issue 16 (mentioned)
 * Friends Forever Issue 18 (mentioned)
 * Friends Forever Issue 20
 * Friends Forever Issue 28 (mentioned)

FIENDship is Magic

 * FIENDship is Magic Issue 2 (cameo)

Specials

 * My Little Pony Annual 2013 (name only)
 * My Little Pony Annual 2014 (cameo)

Trivia

 * Discord is the second character in the series to reveal their true good colors, the first being Nightmare Moon.
 * He can also be an antagonist when he gets greedy.
 * Discord is similar to Q, another character portrayed by John de Lancie. However, one difference between the two is that Discord was far more mischievous in his first appearance, as well as his usage of less contractions in his daily vocabulary.
 * Discord is often compared to Donald Trump.
 * His quote to make Ponyville the "chaos capital of the world" sounds similar to Trump's quote to make America "great again".
 * Another alleged similarity with Discord and Trump is that they both say different things that are obvious lies (i.e., having met a certain person before and later acting as if they never have).
 * Despite Celestia's claims that Discord once ruled Equestria, many people believe it to be false as Discord never mentions having ruled before. As well, while Celestia was acting serious, she has proven in past episodes that she is not always straight to the point and tends to be roundabout and secretive in her way of explaining things by covering up various aspects of her motivations. As well, it could actually be something more personal and she was just covering it up with the story and the blown-out-of-context windows.
 * It is hinted that Discord may have had a troubled childhood.