My Little Pony (2022 comics) Issue 5

My Little Pony #5, titled Lightning Rod and the Mirror of Mayhem in trade paperback, is the fifth issue of IDW Publishing's My Little Pony comic series, based on the Generation 5 film My Little Pony: A New Generation. In this issue, the ponies, in their search for a clue about Discord's whereabouts, meet an eccentric storyteller who has tales of chaos magic.
==Summary==
Sunny Starscout, Izzy Moonbow, Pipp Petals, and Zipp Storm travel to a lighthouse on the coast in the middle of a rainstorm, where they meet with the pony who sent Pipp the email about Discord at the end of the previous issue: the lighthouse's keeper Lightning Rod. He tells them a story about chaos magic and a magical artifact called the Mirror of Mayhem that caused the destruction of an entire town.
Long ago, the Mirror of Mayhem was brought to Equestria by sea and brought terrible luck and misfortune to any who possessed it. The ship carrying it was attacked by pirates, it caused the downfall of pirate captain Cannon Bone, and a deep sea expedition to recover it was attacked by sharks. The Mirror eventually came into the possession of wealthy shop owner Fet Lockland. Lockland made riches selling the Mirror to ponies and buying it back from them whenever they fell victim to bad luck. He even charged ponies to see the Mirror for glimpses into their futures.
One day, Lockland closed his shop, and when ponies looked in the shop windows, they bore witness to some sort of ritual in which Lockland channeled Discord's spirit dwelling within the Mirror. According to legend, when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna imprisoned Discord in stone, he found a way to continue wreaking chaos by traveling through reflective surfaces like glass and mirrors. Through this, he exerted his influence on ponies and made his way across Equestria until his mirror ended up in the coastal town of Candlebright Cove—and in Fet Lockland's possession. After the ritual left Lockland drained of his power, Discord waited for someone else to come along so that his chaos-wreaking could continue.
Lightning Rod shows the ponies the spot where Candlebright Cove once stood and tells them how he himself caused the town to get destroyed, at the cost of his unicorn horn and magic. He originally came to Candlebright Cove and got a job as the lighthouse keeper. As technology advanced and the town modernized, however, the lighthouse became obsolete. Before Lightning Rod could move on to a new place, Discord reached out to him from within the mirror and offered to make sure the town would always need him and he would always have a home. But in exchange, Discord wanted to spread chaos by causing ships to crash on the shore rocks. To stop him, Lightning Rod used all his magic to destroy the mirror, the amount of power required to do so reducing his horn to a powerless nub. Unfortunately, destroying the mirror also caused all of Candlebright Cove to vanish into thin air.
Ever since that day, Lightning Rod held onto the broken mirror and was wracked with guilt by what he had done; reading Pipp's personal story in the previous issue finally convinced him to get his story out there. He gives the broken mirror to Pipp and her friends so that they can use it to find Discord and stop him from destroying magic. After a friendly farewell and group selfie, the ponies leave to continue their search for Discord. Zipp, however, wonders about some things—like how Lightning Rod was able to send Pipp an email from such a remote location—and when the ponies look behind them, the lighthouse is gone.
==Quotes==
:Pipp Petals: Pippsqueaks, our search for Discord has brought us way out to the coast. If I don't check in soon or... Heh. ...anything weird happens, you know where to find me. I hope!
:Lightning Rod: Tell me... what do you know about chaos magic?
:Pipp Petals: According to Wikiponia, chaos magic was the enemy of the Elements of Harmony and--
:Lightning Rod: Someponies say it's just a legend, others say the Mirror is cursed, some say it can contact spirits--
:Izzy Moonbow: Like Bloody Marey?!
:Zipp Storm: Well?! You can't just leave us hanging like that! Where did he go? Why isn't Candlebright Cove still around? Was Fet Lockland even real? What does this have to do with Discord?! And may I please have some more hot chocolate?!
:Lightning Rod: See that?
:Sunny Starscout: I think I sorta... kinda... No, I absolutely don't.
:Lightning Rod: That used to be Candlebright Cove.
:Zipp Storm: What happened to it?
:Lightning Rod: Me.
:Lightning Rod: That's why I asked you out here.
:Sunny Starscout: That was very brave of you. It must've been so hard.
:Lightning Rod: What woulda been brave was letting the town grow, letting things change. Instead I held on to the past and ended up alone.
:Pipp Petals: Change! That's it! Discord doesn't want anything to change. I bet he still uses the same hideout he did back then!
:Pipp Petals: Everypony loves a story. Everypony loves a little mystery.
:Sunny Starscout: Uhh... Did somepony request a mystery?
:Pipp Petals: I said a little!
Category:Generation 5