"Just stick to the plan girls... He said he would send help when he could... I just hope he hasn't hurt anypony yet...." Twilight and all but Fluttershy slowly made their way into the rather dark Ponyville.
"Oh dear!... just look at what he has done to your castle!" Rarity leveled a hoof at the crystal castle across the distance. Though Twilight was more concerned at the ponies collared and chained at the base of the crudely painted place she once called home.
Gritting her teeth Twilight steeled herself and ignored the cries of anguish as she strode forward. "Just stick to the plan and we should be fine. Just THINK... before you do ANYTHING..."
All five mares jumped at the sudden and very unexpected sound of somepony shouting to them. "RAINBOW DASH!!!" To their surprise something whipped about through the air and fluttered to a stop hovering just in front of Rainbow Dash's face. To her great surprise it was Scootaloo. "Rainbow Dash! look at me! I'm flying!" It did not take long for another two fillies to show up bright smiling faces.
"How in the hay?... Applebloom! what is going on?" The three fillies stopped and their grins wavered but did not vanish.
"We challenged that bad guy... and we won!"
"Wait... WHAT?!..." The five mares stared with open slack jaws.
"Well... we challenged him and he said he was so impressed with our bravery that if we won a game against him that he would grant the desires of our heart.... We won but he totally cheated...."
"How did you win?" Twilight was eager to hear and desperate for hope against this monster, not to mention curious as to what exactly they got from winning.
"Well, he said that he would flip a bit... heads he would win and we would lose, tails he would lose and we would win..." Sweetie Belle slowly explained but quickly came a voice from above her.
"So when he pulled out a bit I grabbed it because I wanted to flip it, but then Applebloom said that was really rude and we started to argue." Scootaloo went on explaining before Applebloom started up cutting her friend off to have her share of story telling.
"Well , then I wanted to flip the coin but Scootaloo wouldn't give it over but finally it fell out of our hooves and landed on tails. He was really angry at first but then he started laughing"
Sweetie Belle scoffed "He has an ugly laugh... oh... oh yeah so he cheated though, he said we won and shot magic at Scootaloo! She was not hurt but we asked him to surrender and turn over control of Ponyville. But he said no. He said we already got what he bet, he said that he said 'the desires of our heart' But he said he was only pointing at Scootaloo when he said it so he gave her one of the desires of her heart... now she can fly...."
"Well.. that certainly is interesting... and kinda a letdown...." Twilight sighed and looked back up at the castle. Her nerves were at their limits. She was frightened and unsure. Entering a battle she had very little chance of winning.
"Oh most certainly not my dear little ponies"
All five mares and three fillies turned to a deeper raspy voice, only to see a cloaked pony slowly walking towards them. Twilight took note that his hoof falls made no sound. She could feel the magic flowing off of him, it was quite impressive and he most certainly was there. But for some odd reason he felt the need to disguise and cast a noise canceling spell on himself.
Twilight took up a defensive stance but the cloaked pony did not move, even when the others joined her. "Who are you?"
"Stay your magic young one... This has been a long time coming, but I do not have long I was sent by a friend and as a friend..." He seemed weak on his hooves but the way he spoke betrayed a sense of power and borderline majesty.
"Discord sent you?.." Twilight did not relax even when his figure nodded calmly.
"I bring with me the only way to put a stop to that vile beast.... Discord talks a tad too mightily. The method as you have heard is very odd, but I believe we can do this with relative safety, its been done before and I will do my best to help and get it done again, though these little fillies bring me knowledge I have not had before... despite all of Nis's powers and his ungodly powerful magic, he can still be defeated by random chance, this is not something I had thought of before.... perhaps chaos can prevail... it must be a last resort however....no sense in gambling when we can rig the game against him."
"Who are you?" Rainbow Dash moved closer trying to get a peek under his hood.
"Do not worry about it, I am here to help and due to the nature of my existence... I will rapidly lose power and my physical form if my name and or affinity is spoken aloud"
Twilight balanced it in her head. If this was a trick of some sort she could sort it out later, but for the moment, she would not turn down free help, especially somepony with that much magic inside him.
"CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG!!!" A little alicorn filly lay passed out amidst empty bottles of hard cider while a black unicorn shouted a harsh encouragement for 'Princess' Trixie to keep chugging the booze he provided. "Come on you little weak sauce priss! chug!"
Eyes blurred and stomach churning Trixie struggled to keep the booze down. Though the whole world seemed to swim around her. This drink was not any normal hard cider. She was certain he had done something to up the alcohol content. It nearly smelled like rubbing alcohol poured over an apple. "Ma...mas...mast...er...I... think... Imma ... urk!" She hastily placed both hooves over her mouth.
"Weakness!... again... jeez I might have to put you back up in chains until you learn your lesson .... you do look good in chains though..." He grinned stepping closer.
"NIS!!" His head tilted back at an impossible angle as he sighed explosively.
"WHAT?!?!?" He grumbled angrily as Trixie puked and passed out onto the crystal floor.
"We are here to get Equestria back from your chacoal colored vile hooves!.... he is Charcoal right?" Pinkie pie butted in to answer the question that had been shot at Twilight.
"... Cant you die to me later? I'm busy!" He glanced over to the passed out Trixie then up at the ceiling. "Damn it! She passed out, never mind whatever come on down and form an orderly line so you can loose one at a time and die or whatever" He sighed with a loud over exaggerated annoyed tone.
With a burst of magic Trixie vanished, mere seconds later so did Luna. The hooded pony flashed into existence before Nis who looked at him with a squinted eye glare.
"Oh!... you... I honestly did not think Unicorns lived that long... But you.... I have a score to settle with you...." He grinned wide as the cloaked pony stepped back.
Staring at Nis he spoke calmly. "Then we are to return to the game?.... very well...." Turning back up and glancing up at Twilight. "Start the clock girl... I will no longer have the power to fight in about 1 hour.... My seals will last until then... two hours and I will perish, unable to return to the form you know me as.... but for now... I don't need to hide anymore...."
Everypony present watched carefully, the actions of the mysterious stallion so far being something of awe to them. The magical seal around him shattered, the sound of bells jingling away could be heard with his every movement. Twilight's eyes shot wide as she pieced together the clues. "... no... no that's not possible... no way in Tartarus!"
Starswirl the bearded threw off his cloak and his magic flared. "Now then Nis... its time for another game..."
A weak lion's paw stroked firmly over a pink mane. This caused Fluttershy to stir, whimpering a for a moment she opened her eyes. "Try and take it easy Fluttershy.... you have been through a bit..."
The sound of Discord's voice made her jump, not because she was not expecting it but simply put that it sounded so weak, like he was sick and injured, at death's door. Struggling to her hooves, her concern for her friend burned away her own trauma. "Discord!! what happened to you?" She winced as she stood still feeling the pain of the life altering dark magics.
Discord simply offered a weak smile. "I am fine, I just have to wait a while...." His skin was pale and his magical power was minuscule.
"What happened to you?"
He frowned "I did what I had to... I just hope the old fart has what it takes...."
"....No..." Nis grinned menacingly and chuckling to himself.
"W...What?..." Starswirl looked at him with great concern.
"Why should I risk it?.... you got me last time... and spending all that time in the tomb has done a LOT to my power.... why should I take you on when as you say, I can just wait a few hours and you will die on your own...."
Starswirl growled. "You could do that yes.... But we are going to prevent that....We came quite prepared..." He tussled his robes and a small box fell out. With a grin he pushed it towards Nis.
His eyes betraying a spark of fear as something shot through him. "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?....There was only supposed to be a minuscule amount within all of Equestria"
"Oh, we have our ways. And we have weaponize it just the right way...."
"You created it didn't you?....no... YOU specifically could not, you wouldn't know how...but... strange... very well then... lets play a game... I win an-"
"NO!.... you are NOT setting the conditions of this duel.... Miss Sparkle please come down here with your friends...." He watched carefully as they descended. And finally he turned back to Nis. "Take your time and read it....."
Starswirl gestured to Twilight who flashed a contract into existence. Nis scooped it up and rapidly read through it. "Peace loving little shits....I get sealed away for losing and you fight me when you lose?..."
"That is your reward for winning. Its not like we stand a chance any other way, take it or leave it Nis!" Twilight smirked
"I AM SIN YOU LITTLE SHIT!" His voice bellowed and his eyes blasted with fire darker than shadows. "I DO NOT BEND TO THE WILL OF PETTY MORTAL FOOLS!... IF YOU DESIRE A FIGHT SO MUCH THEN COME AT ME..." his teeth bared as menacing blade like predator canines and his flesh developed boils and began to rot, releasing the stench of death and decay.
"... Then that is the game we play.... Girls..." Starswirl steeled his will. "I apologize that it had to go down like this..."
Twilight cursed under her breath as fear welled up in her heart. She should have figured that in his intelligence, Nis would see that they would eventually find a way to put everything in their favor. And when threatened to go along, it was too much of a gamble to assume that he would fear them, even if they provided a way to properly fight him.
Starswirl opened the box and reached a hoof inside. All the mares stood ready for a fight they were unsure they would win.
"Good luck little ponies... you will need it!"