"In three days time, it will be Celestia's birthday." Princess Twilight said. "And while I know you're a very good party planner Pinkie Pie, this one is being left to Discord's discretion for personal reasons." She added.

"Does this have to do with wanting to test your student without her realizing it's a test?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Oh, and because you are sending Discord, you want the test to revolve around Celestia needing to help her friends in various ways." She added.

Princess Twilight gave off a heavy sigh. "As usual, you are correct." She said.

"Pinkie Pie, mind telling me just HOW you knew that?" Princess Sunset asked.

"Just a hunch." Pinkie Pie said. "Just like it's just a hunch that Discord's going to make the entire test a giant series of games." She added.

"Well, you never know with Discord. So how could you possibly know that?" Princess Sunset asked.

"Sunset, want to know something I've learnt over the years with Pinkie Pie?" Princess Twilight asked.

"There's a reason I'm being asked isn't there? Fine, what is it." Princess Sunset concluded.

"NEVER QUESTION PINKIE PIE!" Princess Twilight yelled out.

"...Fair enough..." Princess Sunset said.

---

It was the day of Celestia's birthday, but once she left the Golden Oak's library, she noticed that things around town were most certainly NOT normal.

"What the..." Celestia said before a mysterious creature she's never seen before appeared.

"Hello Celestia. You don't know me, but I defiantly know you. Your Princess Twilight's student and the element of Magic. Like what I've cooked up around Ponyville?" The creature said.

"Who are you?" Celestia asked.

"You may call me Discord, the master of all things Chaos. I've done some massive redecorating to Ponyville. If you want a chance to restore Ponyville to normal, then you're going to have to accept and play my game. Otherwise, Ponyville will remain this way forever." Discord said.

"I'll play your game, but when me and my friends get together, you are so going to be blasted with the elements once I tell Princess Twilight." Celestia said

"Oh that's part of the game: See, I've taken the elements from Princess Twilight's secret vault and locked each one behind a very specific task. Your goal of this game is to help your friends win back their elements from the things I've locked them behind. Once you've done that, the task that your specific elements is locked behind will appear. Once you've retrieved it, you can find me within the Everfree Forest which I'm going to transform to serve as your final challenge. Only by passing the final challenge with all six of your friends and the elements, will I uphold my end of the bargain and restore Ponyville to normal. And let me be frank with you: You need all six of your friends and all six of the elements to even attempt the final challenge. If even just one friend is missing or just one element is missing, then you won't be able to enter the renovated Eeverfree Forest and Ponyville will remain this way FOREVER!" Discord explained.

Celestia growled. "Me and my friends won't get separated; we'll beat the socks off you." She said.

"I look forward to playing with you very soon." Discord said before he vanished. A golden pathway soon appeared before Celestia. "Just follow the yellow brick road to reach each of your friends. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye the yellow brick road is not a trap; it's part of my game." Discord's voice echoed.

"...The buck? How does Discord know about that oath?" Celestia asked. She put it aside for now and followed the yellow brick road as instructed. Seeing as how Discord called out a very specific oath just now, she knew she could trust what he just said about the brick road not being a trap. The yellow brick road led her to Chiffon Swirls who was currently up against a giant cake monster.

"Celestia, thank goodness your here. My element came out of nowhere and got absorbed by one of Carrot Cake's cakes. Now it's a giant monster." Chiffon Swirls said.

"Go figure. But I doubt battling this thing is the answer." Celestia said. "Apparently some creature named Discord has turned getting our elements back into some kind of game." She explained.

"So, how do we get the element of laughter back?" Chiffon Swirls asked.

"...Wait a minute...Chiffon Swirls, tell me your best joke. Right now." Celestia said.

"Um...okay. Not sure where you're going with this, but I trust you." Chiffon Swirls said. "So, Celestia, do you know what kind of berry drinks a glass of juice?" She asked.

"Uh...not really, no." Celestia said.

"A Strawberry!" Chiffon Swirls said, and suddenly a rimshot sound effect played out of nowhere.

"...Where'd that come from?" Celestia asked. Suddenly the cake monster laughed itself quite literally to death as it laughed until it literally exploded, sending frosting everywhere. once it exploded, the element of laughter was left behind. "Wow...I was right. These monsters are part of the game. Their meant to test our very element. We have to get to the others. Grab your element and let's get to the next monster." Celestia said.

"How'd you get here with Ponyville messed up anyways?" Carrot Cake asked.

"Discord's set up some kind of pre-determined path for this game. And I'm at the center of it." Celestia said.

"I see. Tell me everything on the way to where-ever we're going next then." Chiffon Swirls said.

"Good luck to you both." Carrot Cake said as he watched the two mares leave. "...Something tells me all six of you are going to need all the luck you can afford." He added.

---

Meanwhile, Discord was watching Celestia through a crystal ball. "Interesting. She's discovered how to win at my game very easily. She's as every bit as smart as her teacher." Discord said. "What fun! I haven't had this much fun in one thousand years!" He added.

Next Chapter: Season 2: Episode 2 - Games of Chaos Part 2 Estimated time remaining: 19 Minutes