Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow stood at the castle enterance, the unconsious bodies of Sombra and the Storm King laying nearby.
"So..." Chrysalis started. "We're really gonna do this?"
"I guess..." Tirek replied. "Though the fact that this surrounds our past actions kind of makes me a little uncomfortable."
"I'm not," Cozy said, her facial expression giving an obvious fake smile. "I'm fiiiine..."
Chrysalis and Tirek looked at the filly.
"Do you really feel comfortable with this?" asked Chrysalis, raising a brow.
"No, not really..." Cozy admitted, her smile fading and her eyes falling to the ground. "I'm a little uncomfortable as well."
"I admit to the discomfort..." said Chrysalis. Her cheeks suddenly became a slight pink. "N-not what I felt earlier... I mean... I didn't feel anything earlier... what I mean is discomfort for this plan..."
"Are you alright?" Tirek questioned, slightly tilting his head.
Chrysalis' blush remained.
"I'm fine!" Chrysalis waved a hoof. "I just feel discomfort for the plan. But I also know it is the only way for our chances of success to increase."
The trio looked back at the enterance.
"Chrysalis is right," spoke Tirek. "Even if it gives us discomfort, this is our only chance. We need to perform every movement at the correct time. And we need to make sure Grogar does what we need him to do. And we need the right reactions from him. If anything, we will be extremely lucky if this plan even works. And it may not. But even if this fails..."
Tirek paused. He looked at Chrysalis and Cozy, who turned their looks to him.
"...Even if this fails..." Tirek said again. "At least I get to fail with my friends."
Chrysalis and Cozy smiled.
And the unconsious body of King Sombra twitched.
Meanwhile...
Grogar's hooves clicked in the hallway as a smirk remained on his face. Now that he spoke with the so-called "leader" of the foreign creatures, he was going to gather the rest of the prisoners and transfer them to the dungeon. Then he would return to the interrogation room and transfer the already imprisoned human to the dungeon. When all six humans are together, he would turn them to stone and place it in the garden along with the other ponies and creatures that were turned to stone.
CREEEAAAAKKK
Grogar suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned his head in the direction of the sound. It sounded like it was from the enterance. Grogar knew because he was close to it.
"So..." he whispered. "Either my allies have returned or my foes are pathetic enough to face me..."
Grogar turned into a hallway on his left to make his way to the enterance. It only took him half a minute to arrive.
Although the hallway was dark, he still saw King Sombra and the Storm King, oddly stiff, and their facial expressions unmoving and sort of exaggerated.
In the middle of them was the filly Cozy Glow, sitting on her flank, and wirthing around in rope.
"Well, well, well... look what he have here..." Grogar scowled. "I see you got one, but where are the other two?"
"Chrysalis and Tirek got away," Cozy said, no longer wirthing in the ropes.
"I didn't ask you, runt!" Grogar snapped.
Cozy rolled her eyes and continued speaking anyway.
"Your assistants chased us until we knocked them unconsious," she explained. "My pals and I then devised a plan on how to stop you. Unfourtunately, Sombra and the Storm King must have woken up earlier then we thought, because they suddenly grabbed me in their magic grip. Chrysalis and Tirek immediatly ran, but these two allies of yours decided to turn me in first."
Grogar laughed.
"Oh this is sad," he guffawed. "Your pathetic 'friends' actually abandoned you? I would feel bad, but... well... you know."
"You won't get away with this!" Cozy growled.
"I already have," Grogar spat. "Long ago! This would have been so much easier if you have proven yourselves to be twisted long ago! But just that little incident on Mount Everhoof was all I needed to know! Yeah! I know about that! I saw it in your memories! After seeing that, not even the stunt you pulled with the bell was enough to convince me that you three were worthy! And where did it put you three? Here! In my grasp! And now I get to watch the satisfying end of Equestria! In fact... let's celebrate! Sombra, Storm King, you did well! And as a reward, I will transfer some of the magic from my bell to you! A decent amount, at least."
"Really?" Cozy lifted a brow.
"And just what are you looking at me like that for, filly?!?" Grogar growled. "Where's the terror? The shock?"
"Oh I'm shocked all right," Cozy replied. "It's just... you're giving your allies magic. And yet there is a chance they may want to betray you in the future. But what about you? Why can't you celebrate even more and give yourself the same amount of magic you will give them?"
"Oh sure I'm giving my allies enough magic to make you an alicorn," said Grogar. "But they wouldn't dream of it. I could simply vaporize them even when I give them the magic I plan to give them. Besides, I thought you knew better since you used my bell yourself. Every moment of the day, I carry this bell with me, and every night when I go to bed and put it on a nightstand, I put a protection spell on it. I don't need to transfer magic to me in order to have it in my veins. I just need to wear the bell!"
"But some villains don't mind a change of pace," Cozy said. "Unless you're some sort of scared goat who is afraid of having extra magic even without some dumb bell."
Grogar reeled back at the last sentence.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!?" he barked.
Cozy smirked.
"A scared goat," Cozy chuckled.
"I'LL SHOW YOU!!!" Grogar erupted. "Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to give some magic to myself anyway. Now listen! In order for me to do this, I will need you out of my way!"
Grogar's horns lit up and Cozy's vision was caked in a clear yellow as her body began to glow. Cozy then felt her body scootch away from Sombra and the Storm King and closer to the wall next to Sombra. When Cozy was near that wall, the glow around her body faded, and so did the glow on Grogar's horns.
Grogar then made his way to his allies. When he was directly in front of him, he turned his head to Cozy and smirked. Then Grogar turned around and backed away until he was directly between Sombra and the Storm King.
As for Cozy, she felt a hoof touch where her shoulder was. She turned her head to look behind her, smiled, and nodded.
Then everything fell into place.
The Bewitching Bell on Grogar's collar began to glow yellow as soon as Grogar lit his horns yet again. Without a single sound made, the bell was disconnected from the collar and was levitated a decent distance from Grogar and his allies. Grogar rotated the bell so then the glowing eye could face him.
Grogar smiled even wider.
He didn't notice the ropes around Cozy Glow loosen as she continued to squirm in the ropes.
Grogar closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The ropes covering Cozy fell to the ground.
Grogar blasted the bell.
Cozy stood on her hooves.
And then everything fell into place.
The bell rotated so then it's bottom was now facing the three current villains. A yellow swirl materialized and a loud chime escaped from the bell.
And then Cozy sprinted, her intended stopping point to be right in front of Grogar!
As soon as Cozy sprinted, two figures also sprinted out of the shadows. One, the figure of a centaur, was sprinting from the wall opposite from Cozy. The other, a figure of a changeling queen, was sprinting right behind Cozy!
Grogar couldn't hear a single hoofstep due to the loud sounds coming from the bell.
And he was too focused to notice what was going on in his peripheral vision.
And by the time he saw Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, and Tirek, it was too late.
Because when Cozy slid to a stop a few feet away from Grogar, Chrysalis ended her sprint a few feet from Sombra, and Tirek halted a few feet from the Storm King, they immediately jumped.
And the spot that Chrysalis, Cozy, and Tirek were, combined with them jumping, caused them to be right in the path of the bell, blocking the beam from striking Grogar and his assistants.
At the exact same time Cozy, Tirek, and Chrysalis jumped, a black beam fired from the bell.
When the reformed trio was in the middle of their jump, the beam struck them.
The three of them landed on the floor, the beam still attached to them. Their bodies began to strain.
For a moment, Grogar shielded his eyes due to the bright light.
And when the bright light faded, Grogar slowly unshielded his gaze.
He no longer saw the bell in the air. But he saw Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow, their eyes watching their bodies as they began to change.
Tirek's body expanded to it's second form, his horns growing, his body becoming more muscular, and the red on his skin becoming a more appropriate color.
For Chrysalis, her wings started to grow, becoming twice their original size by the time they were done. The top half of her horn became green, the bottom half regaining it's charcoal color. Her eyes also turned green, her slitted pupils being the only things that remained the same. Physical changes aside, green armor then began to materialize on her hooves, barrel, and back. A large, flat, green crown also materialized on her head, the crown extending down to her chin.
And as for Cozy Glow, her tiny pegasus wings began to grow even larger, and matching that of alicorn wings. At the same time, a horn began to grow out of her forehead. A vanilla-colored chestplate formed on her barrel.
And for the first time in a long time, Grogar sported a look that expressed his shock in the trickery that befallen him.
But the disbelief didn't last for long.
When the transformations were complete, Chrysalis immediatly blushed upon laying eyes on Tirek, causing Tirek to express confusion. Cozy looked at Tirek and then turned her head to see Chrysalis. Cozy snickered.
Then the sound of hooves slowly tapping on the ground caused Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow to turn.
"You've done it," said Grogar, tapping his hooves on the ground in a sarcastic manner.