"Discord! What are you up to this time?!" Twilight looked wildly around the room for the source of the voice.
"Oh, do calm yourself, Twilight Sparkle, we get in one little argument and suddenly somepony can't stop holding a grudge!" The voice chuckled.
"You turned the world upside down for your own amusement and turned all my friends against me! I hardly would call that a little argument!" Twilight all but shouted.
"You made me covet a large rock! It was so tacky!" Rarity yelled, her face etched in disgust.
"You turned me into a danged liar!
"You made me all grey and grumpy! It was hilarious! Still not very nice, when you play games with somepony you should explain the rules better!" Pinkie giggled a bit, but then put on her serious business face.
"You made me into a big meanie jerkface to all my friends! New Fluttershy should kick your flan-" Rarity shoved a hoof in her mouth. "No more of that nonsense dear." She hissed. "Well, perhaps later if it comes to it." She conceded.
"You made me betray all my friends to go nap on a cloud, not cool!"
"Please, children, we played a game, we all played well. I lost, you won. It wasn't all bad was it?"
"I... lost everypony that day..." Twilight looked about ready to cry. Pinkie Pie pulled everyone into a group hug at this.
"Oh, but you got them all back didn't you? I'm willing to bet each and every one of you became closer for having been torn apart. Where was the friendship report for that day? You did a lot of reading, but no writing! Didn't you learn anything?"
Applejack was startled by movement in the corners, some kind of smoke? It was slowly gathering.
Dash broke from the hug and rose her wings in anger. "She learned we can kick your tail when we stand together!"
Discord's disembodied voice chuckled again. "Rainbow Dash, how very loyal of you to speak up for your friend when she is in distress. However the question was directed at Twilight. I wanted to know what she had learned, but perhaps she's too upset with me to give a report right now. Or perhaps she just feels uncomfortable giving reports to anyone but Princess Celestia! Perhaps instead she'd like to hear what I learned."
There, in another corner! Was it fog? No, it reminded her of something...
Discord descended from the ceiling where previously there had been no visible entrance. Fluttershy looked up in bemusement at what appeared to be a giant kitten head peeking from the hole before it vanished completely. He was being rained on by a pink cotton candy cloud. He had on a garish green shower cap. In one hand he was scrubbing himself with a rubber duck and in the other he held a shower brush that squeaked whenever he gripped it tightly.
Rarity laughed a bit. "That doesn't even make any sense."
He tossed the shower brush to the side, where it exploded into a flock of doves, which in turn exploded into confetti. He reached up under his cap and pulled out a snow globe which he balanced precariously on one claw. In the snow globe was a very familiar scene, one the girls had seen many times on their travels, Canterlot Castle.
He gazed into the snow globe, ignoring the flummoxed alicorns before him for the moment. "Dear Princess Celestia, I recently learned from your dear protege just how powerful friendship can be. At first I scoffed at its power, I felt there was no force on Equestria greater than Chaos. Then I witnessed firsthand just how powerful six friends can be in the face of disaster. I was truly impressed. So much so I resolved then and there that I would make some friends of my own, and so, I did." He snapped his fingers.
Six grey Alicorns appeared in a flash of light behind him, their eyes flashing in anger.
Inside the snow globe, movement showed, the Wonderbolts were flying, an airship took off... "No" Twilight thought. "No that's not true. That's impossible... Of course it's possible he is the god of chaos! Get your head in the game, Sparkle!"
Applejack could make out lights in the smoke now, they almost looked like... stars?
Twilight spoke in a low voice "Canterlot..."
Pinkie grinned. "It's only a model!"
Twilight looked annoyed. "No Pinkie, this is the model! Discord has Canterlot in that snow globe!"
"Oh, did somepony finally get a clue? Would anypony care to buy a vowel? Maybe I should just solve the puzzle for you? Yes, you've guessed it, they're all inside here, none of them even know what is going on quite yet. There was quite the panic just now with a giant eyeball peering in from the sky, I think they sent the Wonderbolts to ineffectively try to save the day again, poor dears."
Dash reared up again. "Nopony insults the Wonderbolts, pal!"
Twilight had calmed down by now, and stood up defiantly. "What's the game this time?"
"Calm yourself, Twilight! I have been fair in the past, have I not? I not only gave you your wings and horns back I gave you added bonuses! It's quite simple really, the six of you against the six of them, one on one. In six days if there is no clear majority a final free-for-all will occur."
Pinkie was counting on her hooves, which seemed to be multiplying. "One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... that's not fair that's seven versus six!"
Applejack was fairly certain she remembered now... it looked almost like... oh hay, this was not good, no way she could be back...
Discord grinned, although even he had looked a bit shaken by the seven hooves on one pony. "Well should it come down to that, I will release Luna and Celestia to fight at your side, and at mine.... Well let's say I have an Ace up my sleeve."
The mist that had been gathering at their feet coalesced, and formed into a very familiar shape. "Not so much an Ace as a Queen, but then how is a Joker expected to know the value of other cards?"
Twilight looked on in fright. "How? Luna is free, there is no way-"
Discord smiled slowly, in a grin that seemed to exceed the confines of his face. "Yes, Luna is still free, that's her-" gesturing to Nightmare. "-stake in this. You see we all have our goals, I want to be free to wreak chaos as I choose. Nightmare here wishes to rejoin Luna, or Celestia, or any of you for that matter, she is not picky. In her current form she is powerful, but she is a needs a host to attain full strength. My new friends here simply desire justice for their imprisonment and subsequent use as tools for the ends of Celestia. You most likely desire to see me turned to stone again, and to have your princesses returned to you unharmed. So then, the terms are set, wagers are made, shall we play a game?"